JP2616046B2 - Vending machine product unloading device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field to which the Invention Belongs] The present invention relates to a product stored vertically and vertically stacked in a shelf passage of a product storage shelf of a vending machine, from the lowest order based on a sales order. The present invention relates to a merchandise unloading device for a vending machine which is unloaded one by one.

[Conventional technology]

For products containing paper packs such as soft drinks and milk, which are to be sold, the products are placed vertically one on top of the other in a product storage shelf that is a box-shaped container with an open bottom, and one product from the bottom at each sales operation A vending machine product discharge device that discharges products one by one is known from Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-166081.

In such a product unloading device, the products lined up in the shelf are placed and supported on a product unloading flapper arranged at the exit of the product storage shelf in a sales standby state, and the products arranged second from the lowest in the shelf operation are put into the shelf during the selling operation. While the product holding flapper is pressed against the shelf side wall and nipped, the product discharge flapper is opened to separate the lowest product and drop it to discharge.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, the above-mentioned conventional product unloading device is limited to a product in which the product to be sold is deformable in a paper pack, and the unloading operation is unstable when selling a product having a solid content such as ice cream. There was a problem.

That is, in the conventional apparatus, in the course of the unloading operation, as described above, in order to separate the products arranged in the upper part of the shelf from the lowermost products and stop and hold the products in the shelf, the product discharging flapper protruding into the passage in the shelf is used. The products arranged second from the bottom are pressed against the shelf side wall, and the paper pack is slightly deformed so as to be sandwiched between the product holding flapper to prevent the products from falling off. Therefore, the contents are solid,
In the case of a product that does not deform even when pressed against the shelf side wall by the product holding flapper, the holding of the product by the pressing of the product holding flapper becomes unstable, and the product slips off the shelf under its own weight. Unloading troubles such as unloading of more than one product may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and by improving the holding form of the second-to-lowest products during a selling operation, it is difficult to handle a product other than a paper pack, which is difficult to handle with a conventional device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine product unloading device capable of controlling the unloading of shaped products and the like with a stable operation.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a merchandise unloading device for a vending machine for unloading merchandise stored vertically and vertically in a merchandise storage shelf one by one based on a sales order, Product storage shelves with an open box-shaped container with the width of the passage in the shelf at the lower end thereof increased in a range corresponding to the height of one product, and a drive unit for each sale which is arranged beside the product storage shelves. A slider that reciprocates in the vertical direction by operation, and is swingably supported by a horizontal support shaft so as to be able to appear and retract in the passage in the shelf, and always stands on the side of the shelf facing the lowest product,
A pusher that pushes the lowest order product in the direction of the enlarged product passage and projects into the lower surface of the second lowest order product when projecting into the shelf product passage in conjunction with the reciprocating movement of the slider; A product outlet flapper which is supported so as to be able to normally close the product outlet of the product storage shelf and carry the stored products thereon in a directly stacked manner, and which opens and closes in conjunction with the reciprocation of the slider. It is characterized by comprising.

[Embodiment of the invention]

According to the above configuration, the slider reciprocates via the link mechanism by the driving operation of the solenoid or the motor based on the sales instruction, so that in the forward stroke, the pusher is moved to the shelf side via the actuator or the link in conjunction with the slider. From the other standby position to the passage in the shelf. When the pusher projects into the shelf product passage, it pushes the lowest product in the direction of the enlarged product passage and enters the lower surface of the second lowest product. The pusher can temporarily hold the second and subsequent products that have entered the lower surface of the second lowest product, and at the same time, the product discharge flapper is opened, and the lowest product is dropped and discharged from the shelf. When the slider retreats to the return path, the product discharge flapper closes again and closes the exit of the shelf, and the pusher protruding into the shelf retreats sideways from the shelf passage,
As a result, the temporary holding of the second product by the pusher is released, and the second and subsequent products fall on the shelf and are carried on the product carrying flapper.

〔Example〕

Next, the configuration and operation of one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a product storage shelf, and box-shaped products 2 (labeled I, II, III, and IV in order from the bottom) are arranged in a line in the upper and lower rows. It is stored in a direct stack type. Here, the product storage shelf 1 is a box-shaped container with an open lower surface, and the lower end of the product storage shelf 1 is within the height of two storage products 2 and at least corresponds to the height of one product within the shelf. The width of the product aisle has increased to the side.

On the other hand, a product carrying device having the following configuration is provided on the side of the product storage shelf 1. This product unloading device includes a solenoid 3 as a drive unit disposed at an upper portion, a vertically reciprocating slider 7 connected to the solenoid 3 via links 4, 5, and 6, and a product 2 arranged at the bottom. An oscillating pusher 8 that rotates about its horizontal support shaft 8a as a fan-shaped cam (circular angle 90 °) that protrudes into and out of the passage in the shelf from the side opposite thereto.
And a product discharge flapper 9 supported on a horizontal support shaft 9a, which is arranged at the lower opening end of the product storage shelf 1 and swingably opens and closes.

Further, in the illustrated example, pushers 8 are provided vertically at two locations, and an actuator 10 for operating the pushers 8 to move toward and away from the product passage is attached to the slider 7 opposite to the rear of each pusher 8. Further, among the pushers 8 arranged vertically, the upper pusher is installed at the boundary between the lowest product I and the second product II arranged thereon. The product discharge flapper 9 is pivotally supported by a support shaft 9a and is linked to the tip of the slider 7 in a link manner. Reference numeral 11 denotes a return spring of the solenoid 3, and reference numeral 12 denotes a slider guide pin fitted in the long groove 7a of the slider 7.

With this configuration, when the solenoid 3 is not energized, the slider 7 is lifted by the spring force of the return spring 11 as shown in FIG. 2, and the product discharge flapper 9 is held in a horizontal position, and the product storage shelves 1 The outlet is closed and the goods 2 stacked directly thereon are carried thereon. In addition, the pusher 8 is pushed back by the product 2 stored in the shelf, and is retracted to the side of the shelf as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, when the solenoid 3 is excited from the above state, the link 4 is pulled up against the return spring 11 as shown in FIG. 3, and the slider 7 moves down via the rotary link 5 and the link 6. As a result, the pusher 8 is rotated by 90 ° about the support shaft 8a by being pushed by the actuator 10, and on the other hand, the product discharge flapper 9 swings to the hanging posture to open the outlet of the product storage shelf 1. Next, solenoid 3
Is released, the slider 7 returns to the state shown in FIG. 2 from FIG. 3 again by the spring force of the return spring 11.

Next, the unloading operation of the product 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, during the forward stroke in which the slider 7 is moved down by the solenoid 3 from the sales standby state shown in FIG.
Pusher 8 is pushed by actuator 10 as shown in the figure.
Swings and protrudes from the side into the passage in the shelf, and pushes the products I lined up at the bottom toward the enlarged portion of the passage in the shelf. At the same time, the upper pusher 8 protruding into the shelf enters the lower surface of the second lowest product II, and temporarily locks and holds the higher product in the storage position. Moreover, in this state, the pusher 8 is restrained at a position protruding into the shelf by the actuator 10, so that the product II, which is held on the pusher 8 in a form of being hooked, falls short and falls down in the shelf. There is no fear. On the other hand, the aforementioned slider 7
In conjunction with the lowering of the product, the product discharge flapper 9 is opened, whereby the lowermost product I is separated from the products arranged in the higher rank, and slips through the flapper 9 to be dropped and discharged from the exit of the product storage shelf 1. In addition, the product carried out of the shelf is sent to a product take-out port via a carry-out chute (not shown).

Next, when the excitation of the solenoid 3 is released and the slider 7 is lifted up and returned after the product I is carried out, the fifth forward stroke is performed.
As shown in the figure, the product carrying flapper 9 returns to the horizontal position and closes the exit of the shelf. At the same time, the actuator 10 rises, and the pusher 8 becomes free, swings due to the weight of the goods stored in the shelf, and retreats to the side of the shelf, and is lined up with the upper portion temporarily locked and held by the pusher 8 during the outward path. Each product I
I, III, and IV are released from the restraint with the pusher 8 and fall on the shelf one pitch at a time, and land on the product carrying flapper 9 to be carried. This completes one sales operation and returns to the sales standby state again. Thereafter, the above operation is repeated for each sale, and the goods 2 are carried out one by one in the order of II, III, IV.

In the above embodiment, the slider 7 is connected to the solenoid 3
In this example, the pusher 8 is pivoted by the actuator 10 while the slider 7 is reciprocated by the rotation of the motor instead of the solenoid, and the pusher 8 and the slider 7 are connected by a link to swing. It can also be operated dynamically. 6 and 7 show this embodiment, in which 13 is a drive motor, 14 is a reduction gearbox, 15 is a rotating disk, and a crank is provided between the disk 15 and the slider 7. The slider 7 and the pusher 8 are connected to each other through an arm 16 by a link 17.

In this configuration, when the drive motor 13 is operated, the disk 15 rotates, and the slider 7 reciprocates in the vertical direction via the crank arm 16, and at the same time, the pusher 8 projects and retracts toward the product passage via the link 17. The carry-out flapper 9 is swung so as to open and close the shelf opening, whereby the commodity carry-out operation is performed in the same manner as in the embodiment of FIG. In addition, since the slider 7 and the pusher 8 are connected via the link 17, the pusher 8 is retracted compared to the embodiment of FIG. 1 (the slider 7 and the pusher 8 are separated). Will be performed reliably. The drive motor 13 is controlled to stop by an operation signal of a self-propelled cam switch (not shown) or a switch for detecting reciprocation of the slider 7.

〔The invention's effect〕

The merchandise carrying-out device of the present invention has the following effects by being configured as described above.

(1) During the product unloading operation, the pusher projecting into the shelf of the pusher pushes the lowermost product to the enlarged portion of the passage width in the shelf, and at the same time, the pusher projecting into the shelf passage is placed under the second product. The upper products that enter the shelves and remain on the shelves are received and temporarily held in the shelves, so the products inside are solid compared to the conventional method of holding the products by pressing them against the side walls of the shelf. Even if it is a non-deformed pack product, there is no risk of trouble that the products lined up in the shelf drop out unexpectedly during the selling operation and are carried out together with the lowest product, It is possible to carry out various kinds of products such as ice cream, which has fixed contents, in a stable manner, without being limited to products containing paper packs such as milk.

(2) The slider is reciprocated in the vertical direction, and the pusher and the product discharge flapper are swingably supported by respective horizontal support shafts. The pusher and the product discharge flapper are rocked in conjunction with the vertical reciprocation of the slider. Since it is configured to be operated in a dynamic manner, the required occupied space can be reduced, and the compactness and compactness of the product discharging device can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the configuration of a product discharging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a different operation state diagram corresponding to FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a product unloading operation corresponding to the forward and backward strokes of the slider in FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a drive unit showing an application embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is a partial side view. In the figure, 1: product storage shelf, 2: product, 3: solenoid, 7: slider, 8:
Pusher, 9: Product discharge flapper, 13: Drive motor.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vending machine merchandise unloading device for unloading merchandise stored vertically and vertically in a merchandise storage rack one by one based on a sales command, the box-shaped container having an open bottom surface. Product storage shelves with the width of the passage in the shelf at the lower end thereof expanded in a range corresponding to the height of one product, and arranged on the sides of the product storage shelves, and each drive is operated in the vertical direction by operating the drive unit. A reciprocating slider and swingably supported by a horizontal support shaft so as to be able to move in and out of the passage in the shelf, always stand by the side of the shelf facing the lowest product, and A pusher that pushes the lowest order product in the direction of the expanded product passage when projecting into the product passage in the shelf in conjunction with it and enters the lower surface of the second product from the bottom, and is swingably supported by a horizontal support shaft, always Closes the product exit of the product storage shelf and stores It was carried on directly loading type, commodity transfer device for an automatic vending machine, characterized by being configured to and a product unloading flapper opens and closes in conjunction with the reciprocation of the slider.