JP2906362B2 - Vending machines and their shelf - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention stacks a plurality of article support units and makes each section independent, discharges articles corresponding to each step and each section according to a discharge command, and sells the articles. The present invention relates to a vending machine and an article shelf therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vending machine having a structure in which a rotary plate on which articles are placed is rotated by a predetermined angle in accordance with an instruction of an article selection button and articles on the rotary plate can be discharged one by one from an outer peripheral edge thereof. An article shelf is known (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 55-891).
No. 84).

[0003]

According to the above prior art, the rotation of the rotating plate must be accelerated in order to align the articles on the outer peripheral side by utilizing the centrifugal force accompanying the rotation of the rotating plate. If the rotation speed is increased, sliding friction occurs between the lower surface of the article that is not ejected and the upper surface of the rotating plate, and there is a problem that the lower surface of the article is damaged. In addition, since a motor must be provided for each rotating plate, there are various problems such as a complicated rotating mechanism, and it is difficult to increase the number of steps and types of articles (restriction of the number of steps).

[0004]

According to the present invention, since the spiral guide plate is provided above the rotary support plate, the rotary support plate can be guided inward by turning the rotary support plate by a small rotation angle. Thus, the displacement between the lower surface of the article and the upper surface of the rotation support plate can be minimized. In addition, since the rotation is transmitted to the rotation support plate, the support units can be relatively low, the number of stacking stages can be increased, and the guide plate can be formed in a double row spiral shape, so that the types of stored articles can be increased. . For example, in the case of a 10-tier stack of articles, a two-row spiral guide plate can accommodate 20 types of articles, and a three-row spiral guide board can accommodate 30 types of articles.

That is, according to the present invention, a plurality of article support units each having a spiral guide plate provided above a rotary support plate are stacked to form an article storage, and an article is stored in the center of the storage. Vertically installed, the lower end of which is connected to the outlet,
Each rotation support plate of the support unit is independently connected to a transmission means for transmitting a rotational force by an output of a control system, and near an end of a guide plate close to the drop cylinder, interlocked with an article selection button, The vending machine is provided with article control means for controlling the discharge of articles.

Further, in the present invention, the spiral guide plate is a vending machine having a single-row spiral shape or a double-row spiral shape, and is fixed to an airframe. Is provided with necessary functions such as an article take-out port, an article storage window with a door, an article selection button, a sample display window, and a toll gate. The transmission means of the rotational force is a gear transmission with a gear, a belt with a pulley and a belt, and a rack with a gear and a rack. It is provided with a speed reduction means or a speed reduction means and a buffer means.

According to the invention of an article shelf, a spiral guide plate is provided above the rotary support plate, an outer end of the spiral guide plate is provided with an article storage opening, and an inner end is used for article discharge. It is a goods shelf of a vending machine characterized by having an outlet to a falling cylinder.

Since the transmission means in the present invention is intended to rotate the rotary support plate, a gear or the like is provided on the outer peripheral edge of the rotary support plate, and a gear or the like is provided on the lower surface of the central portion of the rotary support plate. May be provided, but the restriction on the installation of gears and the like is relatively less when provided on the outer peripheral edge of the rotation support plate.

[0009] Inside the falling cylinder, a speed-reducing means or a speed-reducing means and a buffer means are provided to keep the articles falling from the uppermost part of the article shelf and the articles falling from the lowermost part at substantially the same falling speed. , Deformation or noise can be prevented beforehand.

The vending machine may be round or square in shape depending on the installation location, but the storage is round. Therefore, when a thin vending machine is required, the diameter of the rotation support plate is set to a size corresponding to the depth of the vending machine. When the accommodated number decreases as a result of reducing the diameter of the rotating support plate, it can be covered by installing the rotating supporting plates in parallel. Further, if the single spiral is used instead of the double spiral, the outer diameter is considerably reduced when the number of articles is the same, so that the thickness can be reduced accordingly.

In the vending machine of the present invention,
It can be used to sell all commonly used products such as bottles and bricks. In addition to the above, the present invention can also be used for automatic sales of refrigerated or frozen articles (for example, ice creams) requiring special consideration.

[0012]

According to the present invention, since the spiral guide plate is provided above the rotary support plate, if the rotary support plate is rotated toward the spiral winding side of the guide plate, the rotation angle corresponds to the rotation angle. Thus, the article can be moved toward the center of the rotating support plate.

Further, since the article does not receive an external force exceeding its own weight due to the structure of the article shelf, the article is deformed,
There is no risk of damage and it is easy to discharge.

Further, since the movement of the article is controlled by the rotation of the rotary support plate, the power transmission system can be simplified and the occurrence of failures can be significantly reduced.

[0015]

Embodiment 1 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, double spiral guide plates 4 and 5 are suspended from a support plate 3 fixed to a wall plate 2 above a rotation support plate 1 to constitute a support unit 9 for an article 8. I do.
Above the support plate 3, the rotation support plate 1 is rotatably supported via rollers 6,6.

The support unit 9 is connected to a cylindrical body 10
The storage 11 is constructed by stacking 10 layers inside (FIG. 3) (FIG. 3). At the center of the storage 11, a drop tube 12 common to the support units 9 is vertically installed, and the lower end of the drop tube 12 is connected to the outlet 13 of the article 8, and is provided at the center of each support unit 9. In addition, a discharge port 14 for the article 8 is formed, and elastic plates 15, 15 are installed on the inner wall of the drop cylinder 12 so as to form a drop port 16 smaller than the diameter or width of the article 8 to be dropped.

An article 8 is provided near each of the outlets 14, 14.
Stoppers 17 and 17 are provided to regulate the discharge of the gas. The stopper 17 is constituted by an electromagnet 18 and a stopper 19 with a plate spring 19a (FIGS. 5C and 5D).

A ring gear 20 is fixed to the lower surface of the peripheral edge of the rotation support plate 1, a pinion 21 is engaged with the ring gear 20, and the pinion 21 is loosely fitted on a rotation shaft 22, and each pinion 21 has a clutch. 23 are installed facing each other. Since the clutch 23 is slidable in the axial direction and constrained in the rotational direction, when the electromagnet 27 of the operation piece 24 of the clutch 23 is energized, the operation piece 24 moves about the bin 53 in the direction of the arrow 38 so that the clutch 23 moves. Since the abutment 23 is in contact with the pinion 21, the rotation of the rotation shaft 22 is transmitted to the pinion 21, and the rotation support plate 1 is rotated via the pinion 21. When the rotation support plate 1 rotates and the article 8 falls, the circuit of the electromagnet 27 is cut off and the operation piece 24 is
(It may be a leaf spring.)

In the above embodiment, the selection button 7 in FIG.
When the button is pressed, the motor 26 and the electromagnets 18 and 27 corresponding to the selection button 7 are energized via the controller 25, and the stopper 1
7, the clutch 23 is moved, and the pinion 21 is rotated. Accordingly, the rotation support plate 1 rotates in the direction of arrow 28 in FIG.
Move in the direction of. Since the stopper 17 opens here,
The leading-edge article 8 moves as indicated by the arrow 30, passes through the discharge port 14, and falls into the drop cylinder 12. In this case, if the chute 32 is attached via the leaf spring 31, when the article 8 moves on the chute 32 by half or more,
The article 8 falls in the direction of arrow 33. Article 8 that has fallen
Is moderately decelerated by the elastic plate 15 and abuts against the buffer plate 34 inside the outlet 13 and stops. In the figure, 35 is a cover attached to the outlet 13, and 52 is a door of an article storage window.

[0021]

Embodiment 2 An embodiment of an article shelf will be described with reference to FIGS.

The double spiral guide plates 4 and 5 are suspended from the support plate 3 fixed to the wall plate 2 above the rotation support plate 1. The rotation support plate 1 is rotatably supported on the support plate 3 via rollers 6 and 6, and forms an article shelf 36.

According to the article shelf 36, the article 8 is moved toward the center of the guide plates 4, 5 by rotating the rotary support plate 1 so as to wind the spiral guide plates 4, 5. Can be.

[0024]

Embodiment 3 The embodiment of FIG. 9 shows an article shelf 37 of a relatively thin vending machine. That is, the rotation support plate 1a,
1b, a single spiral guide plate 4a, 4b is provided above each of the rotation support plates 1a, 1b.
2a and 12b are drop cylinders. According to the embodiment, since the single spiral guide plates 4a and 4b are respectively provided, the diameter of the rotary support plates 1a and 1b is double spiral guide plate 4,
5 is about 60% or less of the diameter of the rotating support plate 1 (the number of articles accommodated is the same as that of the guide plate 4), and accordingly, it is almost 60% to 70% as compared with the vending machine of the first embodiment. Vending machines with a depth of. In this case, the storing and discharging of the article 8 are all the same as those in the first embodiment, and a detailed description is omitted.

[0025]

Embodiment 4 The embodiment shown in FIG.
Is a pulley 40, and a belt 43 is mounted between the pulley 40 and the pulley 42 fixed to the rotating shaft 41 (clutch connection / disconnection).

That is, by rotating the pulley 42 according to the instruction of the selection button, the rotation support plate can be rotated.

In FIG. 4B, the pinion 46 is rotated by moving the rack 44 in the direction of arrow 45, whereby the rotation support plate 1 can be rotated.

FIG. 4C shows that the pinion 49 is rotated by moving the claw piece 47 in the direction of the arrow 48, whereby the rotation support plate 1 can be rotated. In the drawing, reference numeral 50 denotes a spring for bringing the claw 47 into contact with the pinion, and reference numeral 51 denotes a cam for moving the claw 47.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the articles to be stored are placed on the respective rotary support plates, so that the articles are only subjected to their own weight, unlike the direct stacking and the vertical stacking of articles. Absent. Further, since the spiral guide plate is used, there is an effect that the number of containers accommodated in the same volume is about 1.5 times that of a conventional vending machine having the same volume.

When storing articles, only the outer storage port of the spiral guide plate needs to be opened, so that the area of the door can be significantly reduced and the required opening and closing angle can be reduced . Further, since the articles are moved by the rotation of the rotary support plate, there is almost no noise when the articles are stored, and all the articles are discharged using the falling cylinder, so that the article outlet can be made extremely narrow .
Therefore, there is an effect that the effective volume for storing articles is increased . However, the fall tube is used to store articles in the center of the spiral guide plate.
The space that can not be used for storage is effectively
There is an effect that can be used.

Further, since the external shape of the vending machine can be formed in a cylindrical shape, there is an effect that the design of the vending machine and the design of the vending machine can be made identical to be used as an advertising medium.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view of an article shelf according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially longitudinal enlarged view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway front view of the embodiment of the vending machine of the present invention.

FIG. 4A is a plan view showing the pulley transmission of the rotation support plate. (B) Similarly, the top view which shows the rack transmission of a rotation support plate. (C) Similarly, the top view which shows the nail piece of a rotation support plate, and pinion transmission.

FIG. 5 (a) is an explanatory front view of a stopper and a chute. (B) Similarly, a plane explanatory view. (C) Similarly, front explanatory drawing at the time of a stopper operation. (D) Similarly, front explanatory drawing at the time of a stopper inoperative.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing the relationship between the gear and the clutch.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control system.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view in which a part of the falling cylinder is omitted.

FIG. 9 is a plan view in which a part of another embodiment of the present invention is omitted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rotation support plate 2 Wall plate 3 Support plate 4, 5 Guide plate 6 Roller 7 Selection button 8 Article 9 Support unit 10 Airframe 11 Storage 12 Drop tube 13 Outlet 14 Discharge port 15 Elastic plate 16 Drop port 17 Stopper 18, 27 Electromagnet 19 Stop piece 20 Ring gear 21 Pinion 22 Rotation axis 23 Clutch 24 Operation piece 25 Controller 26 Motor 31 Plate spring 32 Chute 34 Elastic plate 35 Cover 36, 37 Article shelf 39 Door 40, 42 Pulley 41 Rotation axis 43 Belt 44 Rack 46 , 49 Pinion 47 Claw piece 50 Spring 51 Cam

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Mikio Takahashi 4-5-27, Noribori, Nishi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Hironobu Sangyo Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-5-120530 (JP, A) JP-A Sho 54-99499 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 61-84979 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 51-122699 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 54-79194 (JP, U) (58) Fields surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G07F 11/00-11/72

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An article support unit comprising a single row or double row spiral guide plate provided above a rotary support plate is stacked in a plurality of stages to form an article storage. A drop cylinder for articles is installed vertically in the center, the lower end of the drop cylinder is connected to the outlet, and a side wall of the drop cylinder is provided for each stage of the support unit.
The discharge port at the end of the spiral guide plate is connected and opened, and the support unit is opened.
An article storage port is provided at the start end of the knit spiral guide plate, and a transmission means for transmitting a rotational force by an output of a control system is independently connected to each rotation support plate of the support unit,
An automatic vending machine, wherein an article regulating means is provided near an end of a guide plate close to the drop cylinder and in conjunction with an article selection button to control the discharge of articles. 2. A wall plate is provided around an outer periphery of the storage, and a suitable wall plate is provided.
At the place where goods are taken out, goods storage windows with doors, goods selection buttons,
2. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising necessary functions such as a sample display window and a toll gate .