JP2723394B2 - Vending machine product delivery device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article dispensing apparatus for a vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
To the configuration shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, on a receiving shelf 2 in a vending machine main body 1, there is provided a front side 4
One stocker 3 is arranged side by side, and each stocker 3 has four rows of product storage paths 4 extending vertically, two rows in front and back,
A total of four rows are arranged. As shown in FIG. 10, in each product storage path 4, a product X in which contents are packed by paper, synthetic resin, or the like is stacked vertically, and one set is provided for two rows of product storage paths 4. Are arranged in upper and lower tiers.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, in each of the commodity dispensing apparatuses 5A and 5B, a drive shaft 7 having a rectangular cross section rotated by a drive motor 6 is vertically interposed between two rows of commodity storage paths 4. At the lower end of the drive shaft 7, a product support plate 8, which rotates integrally with the drive shaft 7 and protrudes and retracts from the product storage path 4, is fixed in a substantially semicircular shape in plan view.
Also, on both sides of the upper position of the product support plate 8, a product receiving plate 10 is provided.
The product receiving plate 10 is rotatable in the direction a around a horizontal pin 9 attached to an inner wall 4 a forming the product storage path 4. When the product support plate 8 protrudes into the product storage path 4 due to the rotation of the drive shaft 7, the product support plate 8 pushes up the product receiving plate 10 to stably support the product X from below. On the other hand, when the product support plate 8 retreats from the product storage path 4, the product receiving plate no longer supported by the product support plate 8
The product 10 rotates downward by its own weight and the product X on the product receiving plate 10
Is to be dropped downward.

[0004] An elevating frame 13 is provided at a position above the product support plate 8 on the drive shaft 7. At the upper and lower positions of the lifting frame 13, the bearing body 1 having the drive shaft 7 penetrated and the lifting frame 13 externally fitted to the outer cylindrical portion.
4 and 15 are provided, and the lifting frame 1
3 moves up and down without rotating along the drive shaft 7. On the upper part of the lower bearing body 15, a product holding cam 18 having a substantially fan shape in a plan view is formed, and on both sides near the product holding cam 18, product holding plates 19 are provided, respectively. The product holding plate 19 is supported around a lateral support pin 20 attached to the elevating frame 13 so as to be rotatable in the direction b, and when the lower portion is brought into contact with the product holding cam 18,
The second product X from the bottom protrudes into the product storage path 4 and is sandwiched between the outer wall 4b of the product storage path 4.

A resilient knob member 16 having a U-shape in plan view is attached to a side surface of the elevating frame portion 13, and a stepped plate for locking the knob member 16 is provided on an inner wall portion 4a between the product storage paths 4. 17 (see FIG. 13) is attached. And
The gripping member 16 is engaged with the step 17a of the stepped plate 17 while the lifting frame 13 is raised and lowered with the gripping member 16, so that the product holding cam 18 and the product presser provided on the lifting frame 13 are held. The plate 19 can be held at a desired position. Note that 21 in FIGS. 9 and 10 is a front door.

A procedure for paying out the product X in the conventional vending machine will be described. First, in the non-payout state shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, when a coin is inserted into the insertion slot and the product selection button is pressed, the drive motor 6 of the product X corresponding to the product selection button is operated, and the drive shaft 7 Is rotated in the c direction. Then, the product holding cam 18 at the position a in FIG. 14 is also integrally rotated in the same direction and abuts on the product holding plate 19 on the right side of FIG. 14, and when the product holding cam 18 comes to the position B, the product The holding plate 19 rotates upward with the lateral support pin 20 as a fulcrum and projects into the product storage path 4, and clamps the second bottom product X with the outer wall 4 b of the product storage path 4. Further, the product support plate 8 is also integrally rotated together with the drive shaft 7, and as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 14, when rotated 90 degrees, it escapes from under the product receiving plate 10 on the right side of FIG. 14, and the product receiving plate 10 on the right side of FIG. Only X is paid out.

[0007] The goods X paid out from the lower payout device 5A are guided by the chute 11 and supplied into the goods outlet 12. Also, the commodity X paid out from the upper payout device 5B.
Is dropped on the stacked products X supported by the lower payout device 5A.

When the drive shaft 7 is further rotated beyond 90 degrees, the commodity receiving plate 10 on the right side of FIG. 14 which has been rotated downward returns to a horizontal state while being supported by the commodity support plate 8 again.
Further, the product holding cam 18 is separated from the product holding plate 19 on the right side of FIG. 14, and the product holding plate 19 is rotated downward and retreats from the product storage path 4, and the held product X and the product X are placed thereon. The stacked products X are dropped on the product receiving plate 10.

Next, when the drive shaft 7 is rotated by 180 degrees and the product holding cam 18 comes to the position C in FIG.
Is stopped, and the payout devices 5A and 5B enter a non-payout state.
Next, when the coin is inserted again into the slot and the product selection button is pressed, the drive motor 6 drives the drive shaft 7 in the same manner as described above.
Is rotated 180 degrees in the direction c, and the commodity X on the left side of FIG. 14 is paid out.

In the conventional vending machine product dispensing apparatus, the rotation direction of the drive motor 6 is limited to only one direction (the direction c in the above description), and the left side product X and the right side product X in FIG. It was configured to pay out,
Even if different types of products are stored and paid out in the product storage path 4, if the stacked height of the products is the same,
By rotating the drive motor 6 in the forward and reverse directions, the product on any side can be paid out. In other words, from the non-payout state shown in FIG. 14, the product is paid out by rotating the rotating shaft 7 to the side of the product to be paid out by 90 degrees, and then the rotating shaft 7 is rotated in the opposite direction so that the product support plate 8 and the product holding The product on any side can be paid out by returning the use cam 18 to the original position of A. Therefore, different commodities can be paid out as long as the commodities have the same stacking height.

[0011]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional product dispensing apparatus of a vending machine, even if commodities having different stacking heights are separately stored in the left and right merchandise storage paths 4 and are to be dispensed, the products on both sides are dispensed. Since the height of the product holding plate 19 cannot be made different, there occurs a problem that one of the products does not drop at all or two pieces drop at a time. As described above, in the vending machine having the conventional configuration, it was not possible to reliably pay out products having different stacking heights one by one or a predetermined number.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem. In a vending machine in which a plurality of vertically extending product storage paths are juxtaposed in the horizontal direction, even if the products have different heights when they are stacked, one product can be surely obtained. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing device for a vending machine which can pay out the vending machine at a time.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a first means of the present invention comprises a plurality of vertically extending product storage paths arranged side by side in a horizontal direction, and a drive vertically extending between the product storage paths. A shaft is arranged, and is integrally rotated by the drive shaft,
A product support that projects freely from both product storage paths and supports the product from below when protruding is disposed at the lower end of the product storage path, and the tip is freely projectable to a position above the product support in the product storage path. A product holding plate is provided slidably up and down for each of the product storage paths, and a product holding cam, which is attached to the drive shaft and is integrally rotated, is provided within a sliding range of the product holding plate. The product holding plate is formed so as to correspond to the product holding plate, and a protruding portion is formed on the product holding plate so as to protrude toward the product holding cam and directly contact the product holding cam, and the product holding cam is provided through the projecting portion. The holding plate protrudes into the product storage path so that the product can be held between the wall of the product storage path.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a notch portion for passing a product holding cam is formed in the product holding plate.

[0015]

In the above-mentioned first means, the upper and lower sides of each product holding plate are arranged such that the tip of each product holding plate projects toward the side of the second product from the bottom of the product group stacked on the product support. By adjusting the position and rotating the product holding cam to protrude the product holding plate into the product storage path, the second product is held and the product support is retracted from the product storage path, thereby stacking the products. Products with different heights can be paid out one by one. Further, by adjusting the position of the product holding plate so that the product holding plate sandwiches the product one higher than the number to be paid out, it is also possible to pay out a predetermined number of products.

Further, since the notch portion for passing the product holding cam is formed in the product holding plate by the second means, the product holding plate and the product holding cam can be brought close to each other, and the product dispensing device is provided. Can be formed compactly.

[0017]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that only a part of the dispensing device is different from that of the conventional vending machine.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, as in the prior art,
A product support plate 8 having a semicircular shape in a plan view is fixed to the lower end of the drive shaft 27, and a product receiving plate that is rotatable in the direction a around the horizontal pin 9 is provided on both sides above the product support plate 8. 10 are provided respectively. When the product support plate 8 projects into the product storage path 4 due to the rotation of the drive shaft 27, the product support plate 8 pushes up the product receiving plate 10 to support the products X and Y. When the support plate 8 is withdrawn from the product storage path 4, the product receiving plate 10, which is no longer supported by the product support plate 8, rotates downward by its own weight, and the product X on the product receiving plate 10 is moved to the chute 11. (See FIG. 10).
The drive shaft 27 has a round cross section, and the product support plate 8 is pin-coupled to the drive shaft 27 so as to rotate integrally with the drive shaft 27.

By the way, in the dispensing device 30, a lift frame 31 is provided at a position above the product support plate 8 on the drive shaft 27.
A and 31B are provided on the left and right sides of the drive shaft 27, respectively, and the lift frames 31A and 31B are slidable up and down in a sliding state with each other while being guided by the inner wall 4a between the product storage paths 4. A height adjusting shaft 32 is slidably mounted in the upper portion of each of the lifting frame portions 31A and 31B so as to be slidable in the lateral direction. The height adjusting shaft 32 is engaged with the lifting frame portions 31A and 31B. A spring member 33 locked to the piece 31c is mounted on one end and urged to be located at the position shown in FIG.
On one side surface (the left side surface in FIG. 2) of the inner wall portion 4a of the product storage path 4, a hole portion 34 fitted to one end of the height adjusting shaft 32 is provided.
Are formed vertically, and a height adjustment plate is provided on the other side surface (the right side surface in FIG. 2) of the inner wall portion 4a of the product storage path 4.
The height adjusting plate 35 has a wide groove 35a fitted to a projection 32a provided at the other end of the height adjusting shaft 32.
Are formed at appropriate intervals. And the height adjustment shaft 32
Is pulled in the direction d (see FIG. 2), the engagement between one end of the height adjusting shaft 32 and the hole 34 and the engagement between the projection 32a of the height adjusting shaft 32 and the wide groove 35a are released. And each lifting frame
The vertical position of 31A, 31B can be freely adjusted.

At the lower part of each of the elevating frames 31A and 31B, a product holding plate supported on a horizontal support pin 36 and rotatable in the direction e is provided.
37 are provided. Further, a product holding cam 38, which is integrally rotated, is fixed to the drive shaft 27 by pin connection, and this product holding cam 38 is vertically extended corresponding to the sliding range of the product holding plate 37. ing. And the product holding plate 37
A projecting portion 37a that protrudes toward the product holding cam 38 and comes into contact with the product holding cam 38 is formed on the back side of the device.

The procedure for dispensing goods X and Y having different stacking heights in the vending machine will be described. When switching between different types of products X and Y, the lifting frame portions 31A and 31B are raised and lowered in advance with the height adjusting shaft 32 being pulled, and the respective product holding plates 37 are respectively positioned second from the bottom. Adjustment is made so as to face the products X and Y.

First, in the non-payout state shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when a coin is inserted into the insertion slot and a product selection button corresponding to the product Y on the left side in FIGS. The drive motor 6 of the product Y corresponding to the selection button is operated, and the drive shaft 27 is rotated in the f direction. Then, the product holding cam 38 at the position a in FIG. 5 is also integrally rotated in the same direction, and abuts on the protruding portion 37a of the product holding plate 37 on the left side in FIG. When it comes, as shown in FIG.
Is pivoted upward with the fulcrum as a fulcrum and protrudes into the product storage path 4, and the second product Y from the bottom is placed on the outer wall 4
b. The product support plate 8 is also rotated integrally with the drive shaft 27, and when rotated 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 2, escapes from under the product receiving plate 10 on the left side of FIG.
The product receiving plate 10 rotates downward about the horizontal pin 9 and only the bottom product Y is paid out.

Thereafter, the drive shaft 27 moves in the opposite direction (counter-f direction).
The product receiving plate 10 on the left side of FIG. 1 that has been rotated downward by 90 degrees returns to a horizontal state while being supported by the product support plate 8 again, and the product holding cam 38 is moved to the left side of FIG. The product holding plate 37 pivots downward away from the plate 37 and retreats from the product storage path 4, and the product Y being sandwiched and the product Y stacked thereon are dropped onto the product receiving plate 10. It is. In this state, the product receiving plate 10 and the product holding cam 38 have returned to their original positions (position A in FIG. 5).

When the product selection button corresponding to the product X on the right side is pressed, the drive shaft 27 is rotated 90 degrees in the anti-f direction, and the product holding cam 38 comes to the position C in FIG. Product X stored in the right product storage path 4
Only be paid out. Thereafter, the drive shaft 27 is rotated 90 degrees in the direction f and returned to the original position (position A in FIG. 5), and the held product X and the product X stacked thereon are placed on the product receiving plate 10. Dropped on top.

As described above, even when the commodities X and Y having different stacking heights are stored in the respective merchandise storage paths 4, the commodities X and Y can be paid out without any trouble. Also, by applying this, the same product is stored in each storage path, while one is
It is also possible to pay out one by one and pay out a plurality at a time from the other. Also, without interposing parts between the product holding plate 37 and the product holding cam 38, the projecting portion 37a is formed on the product holding plate 37, and the product holding plate 37 directly contacts the product holding cam 38. The configuration simplifies the structure and reduces the number of parts.

FIGS. 5 to 8 relate to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the structure is almost the same as that of the above embodiment, but the following points are different. That is,
A notch portion 37b for passing the product holding cam 38 is formed in the support portion of the product holding plate 37 so that the product holding cam 38 does not interfere with the product holding plate 37. Accordingly, the horizontal support pin 36 is also divided into two. .

In the above configuration, as in the case of the above-described embodiment, it is possible to reliably pay out a predetermined number of products having different heights when stacked. Moreover, since the notch 37b for passing is formed in the support portion of the product holding plate 37 so as not to interfere with the cam 38 for holding the product, the product holding plate 37 and the cam 38 for holding the product can be brought close to each other. As a result, the projecting length of the projecting portion 37a of the product holding plate 37 can be reduced, and the width L of the product payout device can be made compact.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of product holding plates whose tips can freely protrude above the product support in the product storage path are vertically moved corresponding to each product storage path. Since it is slidably provided, it is possible to reliably pay out a predetermined number of products even when they are stacked at different heights.

In particular, since the product holding plate is formed with a protruding portion that comes into contact with the product holding cam, and the product holding plate directly contacts the product holding cam, the structure is simplified.
The number of parts is small. Furthermore, by forming a notch portion for passing the product holding cam so that the product holding cam does not interfere with the support portion of the product holding plate, the product holding plate and the product holding cam can be brought close to each other, The product dispensing device can be made compact.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing a commodity dispensing apparatus of a vending machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view showing the commodity delivery device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view showing a non-payout state of the commodity payout apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a non-payout state of the commodity payout apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway front view showing a commodity dispensing device of a vending machine according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway side view of the commodity delivery device.

FIG. 8 is a plan view taken on line BB of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a schematic overall cross-sectional view of a vending machine.

FIG. 10 is a schematic overall vertical sectional view of a vending machine.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway front view of a conventional product dispensing device of a vending machine.

FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway side view of the conventional product delivery device.

FIG. 13 is a front view of a stepped plate of the conventional product delivery device.

FIG. 14 is a partially cutaway side view showing a non-payout state of the conventional product payout apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a non-payout state of the conventional product payout apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Commodity storage path 4a Inner wall 4b Outer wall 7 Drive shaft 8 Commodity support plate 10 Commodity receiving plate 31A, 31B Elevating frame 32 Height adjusting shaft 37 Commodity holding plate 37a Projecting portion 37b Notch 38 Compression cam

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of vertically extending product storage paths are laterally arranged, and a vertically extending drive shaft is disposed between the product storage paths. A product support that is protrudable from the path and supports the product from below when protruding, is disposed at a lower end of the product storage path, and a tip of the product support is protrudable to a position above the product support in the product storage path. A plate is provided slidably up and down for each product storage path, and one product holding cam that is attached to the drive shaft and that is integrally rotated corresponds to the sliding range of the product holding plate. Extend vertically and project the product holding plate to the product holding cam side to hold the product
Formed directly into contact with the cam
The product holding plate is moved by the product holding cam
A product dispensing device of a vending machine that protrudes into a road and allows a product to be pinched between walls of a product storage path. 2. The product dispensing device of a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a cutout portion for passing a product holding cam is formed in the product holding plate.