JP2022116819A - Article storage unit - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an article storage unit capable of storing more articles of many kinds.SOLUTION: An article storage shelf 1 includes: a shelf part 1a formed in a box shape by a wall surface and a frame and having an opened bottom surface; and a plurality of article carry-out modules 2 having a column 10 that has an opening in a bottom surface and stores commodities arranged in a vertical direction, and a motor unit that moves the commodities downward, for moving the commodities by the motor unit to sequentially carry out the commodities through the opening. The article carry-out module 2 is supported so as to move in a longitudinal direction relative to the shelf part 1a, and the column 10 has a rectangular box shape, and has only a rear wall 18 of side walls in the longitudinal direction, and stores the commodity between the rear wall 18 and the front article carry-out module 2 adjacent to each other or a front wall 4 of the shelf part 1a.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article storage unit that stores articles arranged in a vertical direction and carries them out one by one.

A spiral-type article delivery module used in vending machines and the like stores an article (product) by inserting it between spirals arranged in a column, and one end of the spiral is driven by a motor. It is a device that sequentially carries out articles from the other end of the spiral by rotating and driving by.

In recent years, it is common for a single vending machine to store and sell multiple types of items, and has a spiral-type item carrying-out module that can store and sell items of different sizes. Vending machines have also been developed.

For example, in the vending machine disclosed in Patent Literature 1, two spirals are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction in one article storage unit (product conveying shelf) so as to extend in the vertical direction. This allows a plurality of rows (two rows) of articles to be stored in one article storage unit.

Furthermore, the side walls of the column in the article storage unit are movable in the left-right direction. Thus, by changing the left-right width in the column, one article storage unit can store products of different widths.

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-009888

In Patent Document 1, since the position of the spiral in the lateral width direction is fixed with respect to the article storage unit, the number of article carry-out modules installed in the article storage unit, that is, the number of article storage rows is limited. Therefore, when storing articles with relatively small widths in multiple rows, the side walls of the columns are arranged so that the width of each column is narrowed, resulting in a dead space between adjacent columns. .

In particular, when a large number of article carrying-out modules are arranged side by side on a single article storage shelf, when an attempt is made to store a large number of articles with relatively small lateral widths, a large number of dead spaces are created between adjacent columns. formed.

However, in vending machines, it is possible to minimize the dead space formed in the product storage shelf as described above, store more products in the limited space of the product storage shelf, and store and sell larger products. are required to do so.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and is an article storage unit configured with an article carrying-out module for storing articles. To provide an article storage unit capable of

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an article storage unit of the present invention is formed into a box shape by a plate member or a frame, and has a shelf with at least an opening on the bottom surface and an opening on at least the bottom surface so that articles can be arranged vertically. an article unloading module having a column for storing and an article moving section for moving the articles downward, wherein the article moving section moves the articles downward and sequentially unloads the articles from the opening; wherein the article carrying-out module is supported movably in a predetermined direction perpendicular to the vertical direction with respect to the shelf,
The column has a rectangular box shape, and has only one side wall of both side walls located on the predetermined direction side.

Preferably, the shelf supports a plurality of the article carry-out modules arranged in the predetermined direction so as to be movable in the predetermined direction. It is preferable that the article is stored between the side wall on the predetermined direction side.

Preferably, a rail extending in the predetermined direction is provided on the upper portion of the shelf, and the article carry-out module is provided with a roller rotatably suspended on the rail.

Preferably, fixing means for fixing the article unloading module at a predetermined position in the predetermined direction with respect to the shelf may be provided.

Preferably, the article moving section includes a motor section supported on the upper part of the column, and a motor section arranged in the column, one end of which is connected to the rotating shaft of the motor section, and the other end of which is connected to the column. a spiral extending downward to support the article, and the article carrying-out module sequentially carries out the article downward from the column by rotating the spiral with the motor section. It may be an article unloading module.

Preferably, a spacer inserted between the spiral and the wall surface of the column is provided, and the spacer is provided with sold-out detection means for detecting that the article has been carried out from the column.

According to the article storage unit of the present invention, only one of the side walls of the column of the article carrying-out module located on the predetermined direction side of the column has a wall surface. Width can be changed. This makes it possible to store a plurality of types of articles with different widths as needed. In addition, the width of the article storage unit in the predetermined direction can be used without forming a dead space.

Therefore, in an article storage unit having an article carrying-out module for storing articles in the column, it is possible to store more articles of various sizes.

1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an article storage shelf according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is the perspective view seen from the left rear which shows the structure of the article unloading module in this embodiment. It is the perspective view seen from the right front which shows the structure of the article unloading module in this embodiment. It is a vertical cross-sectional view of an article storage shelf. It is a cross-sectional view of an article storage shelf. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of arrangement of article carry-out modules in an article storage shelf; FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing an example of arrangement when an elevator-type article carrying-out module and a spiral-type article carrying-out module are installed on an article storage shelf;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

An article storage shelf 1 (article storage unit), which is an embodiment of the present invention, is employed, for example, in a vending machine, stores products (articles) to be sold, and stores them in response to a purchase operation by a purchaser or the like. It has a function to carry out products one by one.

In the following description, when the article storage shelf 1 is mounted on the vending machine, the front side of the vending machine is the front side, the back side is the rear side, and the right hand side is the right side and the left hand side is the left side. do.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an article storage shelf 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. 2 and 3 are perspective views showing the structure of the article carry-out module 2 in this embodiment. 2 is a perspective view seen from the rear left, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view seen from the front right. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the article storage shelf 1. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the article storage shelf 1 taken along a plane including the axis of the spiral 20 of the article carry-out module 2 and extending in the vertical and horizontal directions. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the article storage shelf 1. As shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane extending in the front-rear and left-right directions and passing through substantially the middle position in the up-down direction of the article storage shelf 1. As shown in FIG.

The vending machine has a plurality of article storage racks 1 detachably mounted inside a box-shaped cabinet.

Further, the article storage shelf 1 includes a box-shaped shelf portion 1 a and a plurality of article carry-out modules 2 . A plurality of article carry-out modules 2 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction on the article storage shelf 1 . Although three article carrying-out modules 2 are shown on the front side in FIG. 1, two more article carrying-out modules 2 can be mounted on the rear side, for a total of five article carrying-out modules 2 . Inside the article carry-out module 2, articles (articles) to be sold are arranged and stored in the vertical direction.

The shelf 1a has a top wall 3, a front wall 4 and a rear wall 5, and is open on the left and bottom surfaces. On the right side of the shelf portion 1a, the right end portion of the front wall 4 and the right end portion of the rear wall 5 are connected by several frames 6 extending in the front-rear direction. A frame 7 extending in the front-rear direction from the right and left ends and connecting the lower ends of the front wall 4 and the rear wall 5 is provided on the lower surface of the shelf 1a. The upper wall 3, the front wall 4, the rear wall 5, and the frames 6 and 7 are fixed to each other by bolts or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the article carry-out module 2 is a spiral type article carry-out module including a column 10, a motor unit 11 (motor section, article moving section), and a spiral unit 12 (article moving section). .

The column 10 is formed in a rectangular box shape that is slightly smaller than the article storage shelf 1 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, with the bottom surface, the front surface, and the left side surface being open.

The column 10 includes a box-shaped main body 13 having a substantially L-shaped cross section with front, lower and left side openings, and a door 14 covering the left side opening of the main body 13 . . The door portion 14 is supported by the main body portion 13 and can open and close the left side opening of the main body portion 13 by opening and closing the front end portion thereof to the left.

The motor unit 11 is configured by mounting a motor 15 and a speed reduction mechanism 16 in a box-shaped case, and is fixed to the upper wall 17 of the column 10 . The output shaft (rotating shaft) of the motor unit 11 has its tip (lower end) extending downward from the upper wall 17 of the column 10, and extends downward in parallel with the side walls (rear wall 18 and right side wall 19) of the column 10. arranged to extend.

The spiral unit 12 is composed of a spiral 20 and a guide portion 21 .

The spiral 20 is formed by spirally winding a rod-shaped member. One end (upper end) of the spiral 20 is detachably fixed to the output shaft of the motor unit 11, the center axis extends downward coaxially with the output shaft of the motor unit 11, and the other end (lower end) is a column. It extends to near the lower end of 10 .

The guide portion 21 is formed by bending both upper and lower end portions of a plate member having a width of several cm. The guide portion 21 has its upper end portion supported at the center of the upper end portion of the spiral 20 so as to be rotatable about the axis of the spiral 20, and extends radially outward (rearward) of the spiral 20 from the support position. 20 extends vertically outward (rearward) from the central axis of the spiral 20 . A lower end portion of the guide portion 21 extends toward the rear wall 18 of the column 10 below the spiral 20 and is detachably fixed to the rear wall 18 .

The spiral unit 12 is formed integrally with a spiral 20 and a guide portion 21 and is detachably connected to the column 10 and the output shaft of the motor unit 11 .

In the article delivery module 2 configured as described above, the article is stored in the column 10 by opening the door portion 14 of the column 10 and inserting the article between the pitches of the spiral 20 through the opening on the left side. . Therefore, the commodities are stored in the column 10 in a line in the vertical direction.

By driving the motor 15 to rotate the spiral 20, the articles supported by the spiral 20 in the column 10 move downward and are conveyed downward from the column 10 one by one.

At this time, even if the output shaft of the motor unit 11 rotates and the spiral 20 rotates, the guide portion 21 does not rotate or move. The guide part 21 appropriately supports the rear side of the product moving downward due to the rotation of the spiral 20, and serves as a guide for smoothly moving the product downward.

Two rollers 25 are arranged in the front-rear direction on the upper wall 17 of the shelf 1a of the article carry-out module 2. As shown in FIG. The axial centers of the rollers 25 are arranged so as to extend in the horizontal direction. On the other hand, the upper wall 3 of the article storage shelf 1 is provided with a rail 26 extending in the front-rear direction (predetermined direction). The rollers 25 of the article carrying-out module 2 are rotatably suspended on the rails 26 of the article storage shelf 1 . Therefore, the article carry-out module 2 is supported by the article storage shelf 1 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the upper wall 3 of the article storage shelf 1 and the upper portion of the column 10 of the article carry-out module 2 are fixed with bolts via brackets 27. As shown in FIGS. In this embodiment, the bracket 27 is provided with three bolt holes 27a at different positions in the front-rear direction. 1, the fixing position of the article carry-out module 2 in the front-rear direction can be changed. Note that the bracket 27 and the bolt correspond to the fixing means of the present invention.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the left frame 7 has a column 10 mounted thereon corresponding to the front and rear positions of the three bolt holes 27a of the bracket 27, i.e., corresponding to the front and rear positions of the article carry-out module 2. A set of three cutouts 28 into which the lower left end of the rear wall 18 is inserted is provided at a total of four locations. By inserting the lower left end of the rear wall 18 of the column 10 into an arbitrary notch 28 , the article carry-out module 2 can be easily positioned at a predetermined front and rear position (predetermined position) with respect to the article storage shelf 1 .

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the front end portion 30 of the right side wall 19 of the column 10 is vertically bent leftward by several centimeters. Further, a spacer 31 is detachably fixed between the front end portion 30 of the right side wall 19 of the column 10 and the rear wall 18 . The spacer 31 is formed in a rectangular box shape having substantially the same horizontal length as the front end portion 30 and substantially the same vertical length as the column 10 .

A sold-out detection device 40 (sold-out detection means) is provided below the spacer 31 . The sold-out detection device 40 has a rod-shaped lever 41 projecting leftward inside the column 10 from the left side surface of the spacer 31 and a switch 42 arranged in the spacer 31 for detecting the swing angle of the lever 41 . The base end of the lever 41 is supported by the spacer 31 so as to be vertically swingable. The lever 41 can swing between a state in which it extends in a substantially horizontal direction and a left end portion which can swing downward by approximately 90 degrees, and is biased upward by a spring or the like (not shown). The front end of the lever 41 can swing vertically at a position adjacent to the front side of the spiral 20 .

The sold-out detection device 40 detects that the product is supported at the lower end of the spiral 20 in the column 10, that is, if the product has not been completely sold out from the column 10 and the product is not sold out, the product is supported at the lower end. Lever 41 is pushed downward by the product being held. The switch 42 can detect that the product in the column 10 is not sold out by detecting the angle of the lever 41 being pushed downward by the product and swinging downward.

On the other hand, when the product is not supported by the lower end of the spiral 20 in the column 10, that is, when the delivery of the product in the column 10 is completed and the product is sold out, the lever 41 swings upward. Become. The switch 42 can detect that the commodities in the column 10 are sold out (delivery has been completed) by detecting the angle (predetermined angle) at which the lever 41 swings upward.

6A and 6B are explanatory diagrams showing an arrangement example of the article carry-out module 2 in the article storage shelf 1 (FIGS. 6a and 6b). FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the article storage shelf 1. As shown in FIG.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, an article storage shelf 1 is provided with five article carry-out modules 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, and 2e. Note that the article delivery modules 2a to 2e all have the same shape and configuration. The article carry-out modules 2a to 2e can move the article storage shelf 1 forward and backward as described above.

As shown in FIG. 6a, for example, the distances between the rear walls 18 of the columns 10 of the article unloading modules 2a to 2e adjacent in the longitudinal direction are set to L1, L3, L1, and L3 in order from the rear. do. As for the article carrying-out module 2e located at the forefront, the distance between the rear wall 18 of the column 10 and the front wall 4 of the article storage shelf 1 is set to L2. It should be noted that the lengths satisfy L1 < L2 < L3, and the lengths are predetermined by the bolt holes 27a used for fixing among the three bolt holes 27a in the bracket 27 described above. At these positions, the article carrying-out modules 2a to 2e are fixed to the article storage shelf 1, respectively.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6b, for example, the second article unloading module 2d from the front is unlocked and moved forward so that the rear wall 18 of the article unloading module 2d and the article unloading module 2e positioned in front thereof are generally separated. By setting the distance between the rear wall 18, that is, the column width of the article carrying-out module 2d, to L1, the width of the column 10 of the article carrying-out module 2c located behind it, more specifically, the setting of the product in the column 10 is reduced. The possible front-to-rear width can be changed significantly to L3.

As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to arbitrarily change the position of each of the plurality of article carry-out modules 2 (2a to 2d) in the front-rear direction with respect to the article storage shelf 1. FIG. Further, only the rear wall 18 is provided among both side walls of the column 10 in the front-rear direction of the article unloading module 2. A space for storing commodities is formed between the article storage shelf 1 and the front wall 4. - 特許庁Accordingly, the width of the column 10 can be easily changed by moving the article carrying-out module 2 to change the distance between the adjacent article carrying-out module 2 and the front wall 4 of the article storage shelf 1 . Therefore, it is possible to change the width of the column 10 while using a plurality of article delivery modules 2 having the same shape. As a result, it is possible to share the article carrying-out module 2 and store articles of a plurality of widths. In addition, the front-to-rear width of the article storage unit 1 can be efficiently utilized without forming a dead space between the article carry-out modules 2 . As described above, the article storage unit 1 can store more products of various sizes.

Any number of article carry-out modules 2 can be installed on the article storage shelf 1 . The article carry-out module 2 includes rollers 25 , which are rotatably supported on rails 26 extending in the front-rear direction in the article storage shelf 1 . As a result, the article carrying-out module 2 can be easily moved to the article storage shelf 1 . Furthermore, the article carry-out module 2 can be attached to and detached from the article storage shelf 1 . Therefore, according to the size and number of types of products to be stored in the product storage shelf 1, the product carry-out modules 2 can be easily attached, detached, moved, and fixed, and the number of modules can be arbitrarily set.

In addition, since the front end portion 30 of the right side wall 19 of the column 10 is vertically bent leftward by several centimeters, when two adjacent article delivery modules 2 are brought closer to each other in the front-rear direction and brought into contact with each other, The front surface of the front end portion 30 of the right side wall 19 of the column 10 on the rear side and the right side wall 19 of the column 10 on the front side come into contact with each other. As a result, even if the article delivery modules 2 are to be brought closer to each other in the front-rear direction, tilting of the front column 10 in the front-rear direction can be suppressed, and positioning of the article delivery modules 2 can be facilitated.

A spacer 31 having substantially the same vertical length as the column 10 is provided between the front end portion 30 of the right side wall 19 of the column 10 and the rear wall 18, i.e., in the right rear portion of the column 10. The left side of spacer 31 can support the right side of the product in column 10 . Therefore, when the spiral 20 rotates, the products are supported by the spacer 31 as a guide, and the products are prevented from moving to the right from the central position of the spiral 20, so that the products can be carried out smoothly and sequentially.

Furthermore, since the spacer 31 is provided with the sold-out detection device 40, the horizontal position of the tip of the lever 41 with respect to the right side of the product accommodated in the product carry-out module 2 can be made constant. For example, when goods having different left and right widths are stored in the article unloading module 2, spacers 31 having different left and right widths may be prepared in advance and used as appropriate. As a result, the position of the tip of the lever 41 relative to the product can be appropriately set, and the sold-out detection device 40 can accurately detect the product.

The article storage shelf 1 may be equipped with not only the spiral article delivery module 2 as described above, but also other types of article delivery modules.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an arrangement example when the elevator-type article carrying-out module 50 and the spiral-type article carrying-out module 2 are installed on the article storage shelf 1. As shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, the article storage shelf 1 is equipped with two elevator-type article unloading modules 50 (50a, 50b) on the rear side and three spiral-type article unloading modules 2 (2c to 2d) on the front side. It is shown.

The elevator type article delivery module 50 has a column 10 having the same shape as the spiral type article delivery module 2 and an elevator unit 51 (article moving section) instead of the motor unit 11 and spiral unit 12 . The elevator unit 51 includes a driving portion 52 having substantially the same outer shape as the spacer 31 at the right rear portion of the column 10, and a plurality of lifts 53, which are platforms on which products are placed, are arranged vertically in the column 10. I have one. The drive unit 52 is, for example, a motor and chain drive mechanism, and moves the lift 53 in the vertical direction.

The article carry-out module 50 carries out the articles one by one downward from the opening of the lower surface of the column 10 by moving the lift 53 downward by the drive unit 52 .

Similarly to the article carrying-out module 2, the article carrying-out module 50 does not have the right side wall of the column 10, and can be moved forward and backward relative to the article storage shelf 1 and fixed. can be changed.

Furthermore, it is preferable to provide a mechanism for movably fixing the spiral 20 and the lift 53 to the column 10 in the forward and rearward positions. 7, for example, when the longitudinal width of the column 10 is changed, the central axis of the spiral 20 and the lift 53, especially the spiral 20, is the center of the column 10 in the longitudinal direction. The spiral 20 or the like can stably support the central portion of the product.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. The detailed structures of the shelf portion 1a of the article storage shelf 1 and the article carry-out modules 2 and 50 may be changed as appropriate. For example, the shelf portion 1a of the above-described embodiment has an open right side surface, and the front wall and the rear wall are connected by two frames 7 in the middle portion in the vertical direction, but the right side surface may be a wall surface.

Further, the article carry-out modules 2 and 50 may have a structure in which the left side of the column 10 is opened without providing the door portion 14 provided on the left side of the column 10 .

Furthermore, although the number of bolt holes 27a in each bracket 27 is three, the number of bolt holes 27a is not limited and may be four or more. As a result, the column width can be widened to handle products longer than L3. At that time, the number and positions of the bolt holes 27a can be freely changed according to the size of the stored product.

In addition, the present invention can be widely applied to units for storing and unloading articles in various systems other than vending machines.

1 Article storage shelf (article storage unit)
1a shelf 2, 50 article carry-out module 10 column 11 motor unit (article moving section, motor section)
18 rear wall (side wall)
20 Spiral (goods moving part)
26 rail 25 roller 27 bracket (fixing means)
31 Spacer 40 Sold-out detection device (sold-out detection means)
51 Elevator unit (Goods moving part)

Claims (6)

a shelf formed in a box shape by a plate member or a frame and having at least an open bottom surface;
A column having at least a downward opening for storing articles arranged in a vertical direction; an article unloading module for sequentially unloading the articles from the unit;
An article storage unit comprising
the article unloading module is supported movably in a predetermined direction perpendicular to the vertical direction with respect to the shelf;
The article storage unit, wherein the column has a rectangular box shape, and has only one side wall among both side walls positioned on the predetermined direction side. the shelf supports a plurality of article carrying-out modules arranged in the predetermined direction so as to be movable in the predetermined direction;
2. The article storage unit according to claim 1, wherein the article is stored between the side wall of the article carry-out module on the side of the predetermined direction and the side wall of the adjacent article carry-out module on the side of the predetermined direction. A rail extending in the predetermined direction is provided on the upper part of the shelf,
3. An article storage unit according to claim 1, wherein said article carry-out module comprises a roller rotatably suspended on said rail. 4. The article storage unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising fixing means for fixing the article carry-out module at a predetermined position in the predetermined direction with respect to the shelf. The article moving unit is
a motor unit supported on the top of the column;
a spiral arranged in the column, one end of which is connected to the rotating shaft of the motor unit, and the other end of which spirally extends downward from the column to support the article;
5. The article delivery module according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the article delivery module is an article delivery module that sequentially delivers the articles downward from the column by rotationally driving the spiral by the motor section. Item storage unit as described. having a spacer inserted between the spiral and the wall surface of the column;
6. An article storage unit according to claim 5, wherein the spacer is provided with sold-out detection means for detecting that the articles have been carried out from the column.

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