JP2010152673A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine capable of restraining an unfamiliar noise from being generated in a solenoid valve, and capable of inexpensively operating highly reliably a compressor. <P>SOLUTION: The vending machine is structured to constitute a cooling circulation circuit of a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser arranged in an outside of box, and for condensing the refrigerant, an expansion means for expanding the refrigerant, a distributor for distributing the refrigerant expanded by the expansion means, and a plurality of in-box heat exchangers provided in the box from the distributor via a cooling solenoid valve, and for evaporating the refrigerant, and to constitute a heating and cooling circulation circuit of operating an heat pump, by a cooling circulation circuit, an in-box heat exchanger for condensing the refrigerant compressed via a heating solenoid valve from the compressor, and a second expansion means for expanding the condensed refrigerant, and has a controller for controlling the compressor, the cooling solenoid valve and the heating solenoid valve, and the controller restrains the unfamiliar noise from being generated in the solenoid valve, by determining closing timing of the heating solenoid valve under an opened state when stopping the heat pump operation, to timing when a pressure difference between inlet and outlet parts of the heating solenoid valve gets substantially balanced, after stopping the compressor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine that sells a product such as a beverage in a container such as a can, a bottle, a pack, or a plastic bottle after being cooled or heated in a refrigerant circuit.

  Reducing carbon dioxide emissions has become a challenge with recent global warming, and energy-saving vending machines have been developed. As one of the methods, a heat pump type vending machine that uses the heat of the condenser, which has been exhausted in the past, to heat the inside of the cabinet has attracted attention (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  As shown in FIG. 8, the vending machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 is divided into a hot / cold switching room 1z, a cold dedicated room 2z, and a second cold dedicated room 3z as shown in FIG. The switching chamber evaporator 20z and the switching chamber condenser 21z are installed in the hot / cold switching chamber 1z, the evaporator 5z is installed in the cold dedicated chamber 2z, and the second evaporation is stored in the second cold dedicated chamber 3z. 6z is installed, and an outdoor heat exchanger 7z and a compressor 8z are installed outside the storage room.

  The expansion valve A9z, the expansion valve B10z, the expansion valve C11z, and the resistor 22z each have a closing function while reducing the pressure of the refrigerant passing therethrough. The on-off valve A12z, the on-off valve B13z, and the on-off valve E23z are each It controls the presence or absence of refrigerant flow. As the on-off valve A12z, on-off valve B13z, and on-off valve E23z, a normal low cost type direct acting solenoid valve 80 as shown in FIG. 9 is used. As shown in the figure, the direct acting solenoid valve 80 has a cylindrical cylinder 81a inside a solenoid valve main body 81, and an inlet 81b is connected to the side end face of the cylinder 81a, and an outlet 81c is connected to the lower surface. A valve seat 81d is formed in the shape of a truncated cone on the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the outlet portion 81c. Inside the cylinder 81 a, a spherical valve body 82 that comes into contact with the valve seat 81 d and a spool 83 that is attached to the valve body 82 and biases the valve body 82 with gravity and a spring 84 are inserted. An iron armature 85 is connected to the spool 83, and a solenoid 86 is provided on the upper peripheral side of the armature 85.

  With this configuration, when the solenoid 86 is in the non-energized state, the valve body 82 is brought into contact with the valve seat 81d by the gravity of the spring 84 and the spool 83 as shown in FIG. The communication of the exit part 81c is sealed. When the solenoid 86 is energized, as shown in FIG. 9B, the armature 85 is attracted and moved upward by the magnetic force of the solenoid 86, so that a gap is formed between the valve body 82 and the valve seat 81d, and the inlet The part 81b and the outlet part 81c communicate with each other, and the refrigerant can pass therethrough.

  When the hot / cold switching chamber 1z is heated in FIG. 8, the on-off valve A12z, the on-off valve E23z, and the expansion valve A9z are closed, the on-off valve B13z and the resistor 22z are opened, and the compressor 8z is driven. . The refrigerant discharged from the compressor 8z is partially condensed in the switching chamber condenser 21z and again condensed in the outdoor heat exchanger 7z, and then decompressed by the expansion valve B10z and the expansion valve C11z, respectively, and the evaporator 5z. , And supplied to the second evaporator 6z. Then, a heat pump operation in which the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator 5z and the second evaporator 6z is returned to the compressor 8 is performed. When the heating temperature in the chamber reaches an appropriate temperature and the heat pump operation is stopped, the compressor 8z is stopped, and then each on-off valve is closed.

JP 2005-227833 A

  However, in this type of vending machine, when the heat pump operation is stopped, if the on-off valves B13z and the on-off valves 23z are closed at the same time immediately after stopping the compressor, the inlet side of the switching chamber condenser 21z is closed. Since the piping is arranged outside the warehouse, the temperature drops, and the piping on the outlet side of the switching chamber condenser 21z is kept at a high temperature inside the warehouse. The refrigerant in the inlet-side piping of the switching chamber condenser 21z is reduced in temperature and pressure, and thus a reverse pressure is generated from the outlet of the on-off valve B13z. When the reverse pressure is generated, the valve body 82 is pushed up in the same manner as in FIG. 9B, and a gap is formed between the valve seat 81d. When the gap is formed, the outlet side and the inlet side communicate with each other and have the same pressure. Therefore, the valve body 82 again comes into contact with the valve seat 81 to close the passage. Then, since a back pressure due to the temperature difference is formed again, the vibration of pushing up and pushing back the valve body 82 is repeated. This phenomenon continues until the temperature difference (pressure difference) becomes small, and there is a possibility that an annoying sound (hereinafter referred to as an abnormal sound) generated when the valve body 82 collides with the valve seat 81 may continue to be generated. In order to prevent this, it is conceivable to use a large solenoid valve that resists reverse pressure, but this increases the cost.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vending machine that solves the above-described problems, suppresses noise from the electromagnetic valve, and can operate a compressor at low cost and high reliability. And

  In order to achieve the above object, the vending machine according to claim 1 of the present invention has a plurality of product storages for cooling and heating, and selectively cools the product storages according to the cooling and heating operation mode. A vending machine that heats, a compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that is provided outside the refrigerator to condense the refrigerant, an expansion means that expands the refrigerant, a distributor that distributes the refrigerant expanded by the expansion means, A cooling circulation circuit is configured by a plurality of in-compartment heat exchangers that are provided in the warehouse via a cooling solenoid valve from the distributor and evaporates the refrigerant, and the cooling circulation circuit and the heating solenoid valve from the compressor A heating / cooling circulation circuit for performing a heat pump operation with an in-compartment heat exchanger provided in the condensing unit for condensing the refrigerant compressed via the second expansion unit and a second expansion unit for expanding the condensed refrigerant Configure the compressor, the cooling electromagnetic In the vending machine having the control device for controlling the heating electromagnetic valve, the control device is configured to close the heating electromagnetic valve in the open state when the heat pump operation is stopped, after the compressor stops, the heating electromagnetic valve It is characterized in that it is determined at a time when the pressure difference at the inlet / outlet portion is substantially equilibrated.

  In the vending machine according to the first aspect of the present invention, the pressure difference at the inlet / outlet portion of the heating solenoid valve is substantially balanced after the compressor is stopped when the heating solenoid valve is closed when the heat pump is stopped. As a result of the time being set, the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the heating solenoid valve is reduced, and as a result, the generation of noise from the solenoid valve due to the reverse pressure as described above can be suppressed at a low cost.

  Exemplary embodiments of a vending machine according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

  First, a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 is a perspective view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the vending machine shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a refrigerant circuit diagram. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control device, FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the flow of refrigerant in the cooling operation for cooling all three chambers, and FIG. 6 is in the heat pump operation for cooling one chamber and heating two chambers. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of a refrigerant | coolant. FIG. 7 is a time chart when the heat pump operation is stopped.

  In these drawings, the vending machine has a main body cabinet 10 formed as a rectangular heat insulator having an open front surface, an outer door 20 and an inner door 30 provided on the front surface, and an interior of the main body cabinet 10 in two directions. The bottom plate 11 is partitioned and formed at the stage, and the upper part is cooled by, for example, three independent product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c separated by two heat insulating partition plates 40w, and the lower part product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c are cooled or Cooling / heating of the vending machine by the temperature sensor Ta, Tb, Tc disposed inside the machine room 50 for storing the cooling / heating unit 60 for heating and the outer door 20 and in the product storages 40a, 40b, 40c. And control means 90 for controlling operation and the like.

  More specifically, the outer door 20 is used to open and close the front opening of the main body cabinet 10 and is not shown in the figure. Product display room, selection button for selecting the product to be sold, money slot for inserting money, product outlet 21 for taking out the paid-out product, etc. Is arranged.

  The inner door 30 opens and closes the front surfaces of the product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c to keep the products in the interior warm. The inner door 30 is a box-shaped structure that is divided into upper and lower stages and has a heat insulator inside. The upper inner door 30a is pivoted at one end to the outer door 20, and the other end is engaged with the outer door 20, and the upper inner door 30a is opened at the same time as the outer door 20 is opened to facilitate replenishment of goods. It is to make. The lower inner door 30b is in a closed state when one end pivots on the main body cabinet 10 and the other end is hooked on the main body cabinet 10 with a latch (not shown) and the outer door 20 is opened. It is possible to prevent the cool air or warm air in the storage cases 40a, 40b, and 40c from flowing out, and to open as necessary during maintenance.

  The product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c are for storing products such as canned beverages and beverages containing plastic bottles at a desired temperature, and the capacity of the storage units is the product storage units 40a, 40c. , 40b in a large manner. In this embodiment, the product storage 40a is exclusively used for cooling, and the product storages 40b and 40c are also used for cooling and heating. The product storage racks 40a, 40b, and 40c store the products in a manner that they are arranged in the vertical direction, and are provided with a product storage rack R that includes a product delivery mechanism for discharging the products one by one in response to a sales signal. There is a product carry-out chute 42 for carrying the discharged product S to the sales port 21 of the outer door through a carry-out door 31 installed in the inner door 30b.

  The cooling / heating unit 60 includes a compressor 61, a condenser 62, expanders (expansion means) 63 and 79, an accumulator 69, and an auxiliary heat exchanger 76 in the machine room 50, and extends across the bottom plate 11. The internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c are connected to each other by refrigerant piping. The cooling / heating unit 60 cools or heats the product S in the product storage rack R by circulating cold air or warm air in the cabinet according to the cooling / heating operation mode.

  The compressor 61 for cooling and heating is for compressing the refrigerant and circulating it in the circuit. When using a chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant, it is used at an evaporation temperature of about −10 ° C. and a condensation temperature of about 40 ° C. during the cooling operation. In the heating operation, the evaporation temperature is about -10 ° C and the condensation temperature is about 70 ° C.

  The condenser 62 is a fin tube type heat exchanger, and discharges unnecessary condensation heat during the cooling operation. A fan 62f is installed at the rear of the condenser 62. The fan 62f sucks air from the front opening of the machine chamber 50, sucks heat of condensation by the condenser 62, and absorbs exhaust heat of the compressor 61. Thus, the air is exhausted to the rear opening of the machine room 50.

  The expander 63 decompresses the refrigerant passing during the cooling operation and adiabatically expands, and is, for example, a capillary, a temperature expansion valve, or an electronic expansion valve.

  The flow divider 64 is for distributing the refrigerant adiabatically expanded by the expander 63 to the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c.

  The internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, and 65c are for cooling the product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c, and the internal heat exchangers 65b and 65c are the second ones that heat the product storage units 40b and 40c. It also serves as an internal heat exchanger. The internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c are installed at the lower part of each product storage, surrounded by a wind tunnel 67, a fan 65f is installed behind them, and a duct 67d is installed behind them. Has been. For cooling and heating in the product storage, the air cooled or heated by the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c is blown to the product S in the product storage, and the duct 67d as shown by the arrow in FIG. It is done by collecting more.

  The accumulator 69 is a sealed container for flowing the refrigerant evaporated from the internal heat exchangers 65 a, 65 b and 65 c, separating the gas and liquid to store the liquid refrigerant, and returning the gas refrigerant to the compressor 61. The accumulator 69 is also a container for storing the refrigerant remaining in the refrigerant circulation of the circuit.

  The auxiliary heat exchanger 76 is a fin tube type heat exchanger, and discharges unnecessary condensation heat during heating operation.

  The expander 79 decompresses the refrigerant passing during the heating operation and adiabatically expands, and is, for example, a capillary, a temperature expansion valve, or an electronic expansion valve.

  The heaters 66b and 66c (see FIG. 3) are installed in front of the internal heat exchangers 65b and 65c, and assist heating of the product storage units 40b and 40c.

  The inside temperature sensors Ta, Tb, Tc are installed on the upper surface of the wind tunnel 67 in the product storage 40a, 40b, 40c, and are used to detect the inside temperature of the product storage 40a, 40b, 40c. is there.

  The condenser electromagnetic valve 68 opens and closes the refrigerant passage between the compressor 61 and the condenser 62, and the heating electromagnetic valves 68b and 68c are compressed between the compressor 61 and the internal heat exchangers 65b and 65c. It opens and closes the refrigerant passage. The cooling electromagnetic valves 70a, 70b, 70c open and close the expanded refrigerant passage between the flow divider 64 and the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c, and the outlet electromagnetic valves 72b, 72c perform internal heat exchange. The passage of the evaporated refrigerant between the devices 65b and 65c and the compressor 61 is opened and closed. All of these solenoid valves have the structure of a direct acting solenoid valve as shown in FIG.

  The refrigerant circuit configuration of the cooling / heating unit 60 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The refrigerant circuit configuration includes a cooling circuit 60A that only cools the inside of the cabinet and a heating / cooling circuit 60B that simultaneously performs cooling and heating inside the cabinet (performs a heat pump operation). In addition, the enclosure of the dotted line in the figure has shown typically goods storage 40a, 40b, 40c.

  The cooling circuit 60A is connected to the flow divider 64 via the compressor 61, the condenser electromagnetic valve 68, the condenser 62, and the expander 63, and is connected to the cooling electromagnetic valves 70a, 70b, and 70c from the flow divider 64. Via the valves 71b and 71c (there is no check valve 71 on the outlet side of the cooling electromagnetic valve 70a), connected to the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b and 65c, the piping from the internal heat exchanger 65a, This is a circuit that collects piping through outlet electromagnetic valves 72b, 72c from the internal heat exchangers 65b, 65c in the collector 67 and then returns to the compressor 61 via the accumulator 69.

  On the other hand, in addition to the cooling circuit 60A, the heating and cooling circuit 60B includes heating electromagnetic valve inlet pipes 168b and 168c connected in parallel to the condenser electromagnetic valve 68 from the compressor 61 and connected to the heating electromagnetic valves 68b and 68c, Heating solenoid valve outlet pipes 165b and 165c for connecting the check valves 71b and 71c and the interior heat exchangers 65b and 65c to the heating solenoid valves 68b and 68c, respectively, and the interior heat exchangers 65b and 65c A pipe connected via the valves 71 and 71 and connected to the auxiliary heat exchanger 76 and a pipe 84 connected from the auxiliary heat exchanger 76 via the expander 79 to the distributor 64 are provided.

  Thus, the heating / cooling circulation circuit 60B is connected to the internal heat exchangers 65c, 65b from the compressor 61 via the heating electromagnetic valves 68b, 68c, and the check valves 71, 71 are connected to the internal heat exchangers 65c, 65b. To the distributor 64 via the auxiliary heat exchanger 76 and the expander 79, and to the internal heat exchanger 65 a via the cooling electromagnetic valve 70 a from the flow divider 64, and the collector 67 and accumulator 69 are connected. It is a circuit that returns to the compressor 61 via.

  As the refrigerant, R134a is used as a refrigerant used within a critical pressure, for example, a fluorocarbon refrigerant. Further, a refrigerant used outside the critical pressure, for example, a carbon dioxide refrigerant may be used.

  The control means 90 controls the cooling or heating of the product storage boxes 40a, 40b, and 40c by the cooling and heating operation mode. As shown in FIG. 4, a CPU and a memory are provided inside, and control such as opening and closing of the solenoid valve of the refrigerant circuit is performed according to the cooling heating operation mode determined by the setting of the operation mode setting SW91. The operation mode indicates the cooling or heating operation of the product storage units 40a, 40b, and 40c by C and H, and in the order of (40a, 40b, 40c) from the left side of the product storage unit, for example, all are cooling Is described as CCC mode, and when only the left product storage is heated, it is described as HCC mode. Further, the control means 90 controls the compressor 61, the condenser electromagnetic valve 68, the cooling electromagnetic valves 70a, 70b, 70c, the outlet electromagnetic valves 72b, 72c, the heating electromagnetic depending on the temperatures detected by the internal temperature sensors Ta, Tb, Tc. The interior temperature is maintained at an appropriate temperature by controlling the valves 68b, 68c and the like and performing thermocycle operation in which the interior is controlled to be turned ON / OFF within a certain temperature range.

  When the operation mode is set to the CCC mode by operating the operation mode setting SW 91 in such a configuration, the control unit 90 opens the condenser electromagnetic valve 68, the cooling electromagnetic valves 70a, 70b, 70c, the outlet electromagnetic valves 72b, 72c, and the heating electromagnetic The valves 68b and 68c are closed. As shown by the thick line in FIG. 5, the high-temperature refrigerant compressed by the compressor 61 is condensed by the condenser 62 to become a liquid, expands by the expander 63, and becomes a low-temperature gas-liquid two-phase flow. And then flows into the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, 65c. The inflowing refrigerant evaporates in the internal heat exchangers 65a, 65b, and 65c, cools the product storages 40a, 40b, and 40c, and the evaporated refrigerant collects in the aggregator 67 to store the liquid refrigerant. Then, the gas and liquid are separated and returned to the compressor 61. In this cooling, the controller 90 controls the internal temperature to an appropriate temperature by the thermocycle operation by the internal temperature sensors Ta, Tb, and Tc.

  Next, when the operation mode is set to a CHH mode in which the left chamber is cooled and the middle and right two chambers are heated by operating the operation mode setting SW 91, the control means 90 controls the heating electromagnetic valves 68b and 68c, the cooling electromagnetic The valve 70a is opened, and the condenser solenoid valve 68, the cooling solenoid valves 70b and 70c, and the outlet solenoid valves 72b and 72c are closed. As indicated by the thick line in FIG. 6, the high-temperature refrigerant compressed by the compressor 61 passes through the heating electromagnetic valve inlet pipes 168b and 168c, the heating electromagnetic valves 68b and 68c, and the heating electromagnetic valve outlet pipes 165b and 165c. It flows into the exchangers 65b and 65c. The refrigerant flowing into the internal heat exchangers 65b and 65c is condensed, heats the product storage 40b and 40c, collects via the check valves 71 and 71, and further condenses in the auxiliary heat exchanger 76 to expand the expander. 79 flow into. The refrigerant that has flowed into the expander 79 expands to become a low-temperature gas-liquid two-phase flow, and flows into the internal heat exchanger 65a via the flow divider 64 and the cooling electromagnetic valve 70a. The refrigerant flowing into the internal heat exchanger 65a evaporates in the internal heat exchanger 65a, cools the product storage 40a, and returns to the compressor 61 via the collector 67 and the accumulator 69. In this heat pump operation, the inside of the cabinet is maintained at an appropriate temperature by the thermocycle operation as described above.

  When one of the product storage units 40b and 40c, for example, the product storage unit 40c reaches an appropriate temperature, the heating electromagnetic valve 68c is closed to cool and heat the internal heat exchanger 65a and the internal heat exchanger 65b. Do the driving. When the commodity storage 40b reaches an appropriate temperature, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 7, the compressor 61 is stopped at the time T1, the cooling electromagnetic valve 70a is closed at the time T2, and then the entrance and exit of the heating electromagnetic valve 68b. The heating electromagnetic valve 68b is closed at time T3 after about 30 seconds have elapsed from the stop time T1 of the compressor 61 in such a manner that the pressure difference between the parts becomes balanced.

In this way, the closing timing of the heating electromagnetic valve 68b (or heating electromagnetic valve 68c) that is open when the heat pump operation is stopped is the closing timing of the heating electromagnetic valve 68b (or heating electromagnetic valve 68c) after the compressor 61 stops. Since the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the heating solenoid valve is reduced, the generation of abnormal noise from the solenoid valve due to the back pressure can be suppressed. Moreover, since the refrigerant circuit can be configured with a small direct acting solenoid valve, the compressor can be operated at low cost and high reliability.
Moreover, in this Embodiment, although the heat exchanger in a store | warehouse | chamber demonstrated with the refrigerant circuit which combined cooling and heating, the heat exchanger in a store | warehouse | chamber as shown by the prior art example shown in FIG. A similar effect can be obtained even in a refrigerant circuit in which cooling and heating are provided separately.

  As described above, the vending machine according to the present invention is suitable for cooling or heating a product such as a beverage contained in a container such as a can, a bottle, a pack, or a plastic bottle in a refrigerant circuit.

1 is a perspective view showing a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the vending machine shown in FIG. It is a refrigerant circuit figure concerning the example of the present invention. It is a block diagram of a control apparatus. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of the refrigerant | coolant in the cooling single operation which cools all the three chambers. It is a circuit diagram which shows the flow of the refrigerant | coolant in the heat pump driving | operation which cools 1 chamber and heats 2 chambers. It is a time chart at the time of a stop of heat pump operation. It is a refrigerant circuit figure concerning a conventional example. The block diagram of a direct acting type solenoid valve is shown, (a) is a state when the solenoid is not energized, and (b) is a state when the solenoid is energized.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Main body cabinet 20 Outer door 30 Inner door 40a, 40b, 40c Product storage 60 Cooling / heating unit 61 Compressor 62 Condenser 63, 79 Inflator 64 Shunt 65a, 65b, 65c Intra-chamber heat exchanger 68 Condenser electromagnetic Valve 68a, 68b Heating solenoid valve 70a, 70b, 70c Cooling solenoid valve 72b, 72c Outlet solenoid valve 80 Direct acting solenoid valve 81a Valve seat 82 Valve element 83 Spool 84 Spring 90 Controller 91 Operation mode selection SW
165b, 165c Heating solenoid valve outlet piping 168b, 168c Heating solenoid valve inlet piping

Claims (1)

A vending machine having a plurality of product storages for cooling and heating, and selectively cooling or heating the product storages according to an operation mode of cooling and heating,
A compressor for compressing the refrigerant; a condenser for condensing the refrigerant outside the storage; an expansion means for expanding the refrigerant; a distributor for distributing the refrigerant expanded by the expansion means; and a cooling electromagnetic valve from the distributor via the cooling solenoid valve. A cooling circulation circuit is configured with a plurality of internal heat exchangers that are provided in the storage and evaporates the refrigerant,
The cooling circulation circuit, an in-compartment heat exchanger provided in the compartment for condensing the refrigerant compressed from the compressor via a heating electromagnetic valve, and second expansion means for expanding the condensed refrigerant And configure a heating and cooling circuit that performs heat pump operation,
In the vending machine having a control device for controlling the compressor, the cooling electromagnetic valve, and the heating electromagnetic valve,
The controller sets the closing timing of the heating solenoid valve that is open when the heat pump operation is stopped to a timing when the pressure difference at the inlet / outlet portion of the heating solenoid valve is substantially balanced after the compressor is stopped. And vending machine.

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