JP2914407B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine for selling frozen products such as ice cream, and more particularly to a structure of an in-machine freezer equipped with a product rack.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The vending machines mentioned above are generally multi-selection machines in which a plurality of merchandise racks are installed in a freezer in the machine in order to sell various kinds of merchandise in one machine. Also, in this case, in the conventional vending machine, in order to be able to store as many products as possible in the product rack, the highest priority is given to the product storage efficiency in the refrigerator, and the remaining space in the refrigerator is considered. Multiple product racks are fixedly arranged side by side over the entire width of the warehouse space without leaving, or product racks connecting two columns of front and rear product racks are installed for each unit so that they can be pulled out forward and selected. A configuration that increases the number is adopted.

[0003]

However, when a frozen product such as ice cream is loaded and refilled into a product rack of a vending machine, there are the following problems to be solved. That is, it is necessary to always keep frozen products in a frozen state in order to maintain quality. Therefore, usually, the goods are delivered by a delivery vehicle equipped with a freezer from the freezer at the product distribution center to the location of the vending machine at the end, where the carton case is opened for each type of product and the product is taken out. The product rack is loaded. Thus, the number of replenishment of various commodities that can be loaded in the commodity rack of the vending machine is not constant, and the opened carton case has a very high frequency of replenishment, resulting in surplus fractional commodities. In this case, if the vending machine is installed at a store that has a freezer stocker facility, fractional products in the carton case can be stored in the freezer stocker in the store. If there is no suitable storage facility such as a stocker, the delivery vehicle must take the product back each time, which makes distribution management of the product troublesome. In this regard, if the fractional merchandise remaining in the carton case without being fully refilled in the merchandise rack can be temporarily stored in the freezer in the vending machine, such a problem in distribution management can be solved.

[0004] However, it is necessary to provide a storage space dedicated to fractional goods in the vending machine in advance only for the purpose of storing the fractional goods, in view of the utilization rate of the space and the above-mentioned commodity storage efficiency. Is also disadvantageous. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to effectively use the space in a vending machine to reduce fractional products remaining during product replenishment without lowering the inherent product accommodation efficiency. It is an object of the present invention to provide a configuration of a vending machine that can be stored in a cool state inside the machine.

[0005]

According to the present invention, a plurality of merchandise racks are arranged in front and rear two rows in a freezer having a merchandise loading door on the front side, and the front row merchandise racks are arranged. By providing a retractable space for the product rack on the moving path in the refrigerator as a movable type, and including the pre-cooling shelf for storing the fractional product remaining at the time of replenishing the product, by using the retracted space as a spare storage space for the product. Achieved.

[0006] Here, the pre-cooling shelf in the above configuration is installed at a height position that does not interfere with the front row of product racks that move in the refrigerator. In addition, as an embodiment of the product racks installed in the refrigerator, the product racks in the front row are rotatably movable racks that can be turned forward with one end as a fulcrum, or the product racks in the front row are individually moved left and right. There is a configuration in which a slide movable rack is installed as possible.

[0007]

According to the above arrangement, at the time of product replenishment at the vending machine location, fractional products remain in the carton case when the products are refilled in a predetermined order in the front and rear rows of product racks arranged in the machine. In this case, return the product rack in the front row to the fixed position, store the fractional products in the carton case, use the evacuation space of the product rack, place them on the pre-cooling shelf in the refrigerator provided here, and keep them in a cool state Then, it can be loaded on the product rack at the time of the next product replenishment. Thereby, troublesome work such as transferring the fractional product remaining in the carton case at the time of refilling the product to a freezing stocker facility or the like separate from the vending machine and storing the product, or taking it back in a delivery car, can be omitted.

In addition, the above-mentioned product rack evacuation space, which is used as a spare storage space for commodities, is a necessary space peculiar to a vending machine originally provided for replenishing commodities from the front into commodity racks arranged in a rear row in the warehouse. By effectively using the evacuation space, the original product accommodation efficiency does not decrease. In addition, by adopting a rotary movable rack or a slide movable rack for the product racks arranged in the front row in the warehouse, it is not necessary to pull the product rack out of the warehouse when refilling the products, so that the invasion of outside air is suppressed to a small extent. This can improve the cooling performance of the product.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Example 1 In FIG. 1, 1 is a main body case of a vending machine in which a freezer is defined as an insulated housing, 2 is a front door of the main case 1, 3 is a product outlet provided on the front door 2,
Reference numeral 4 denotes a product loading door (insulated door) having a two-part structure provided inside the front door 2, and reference numeral 5 denotes a refrigeration unit, and a plurality of product racks arranged in front and rear two rows in the cabinet of the main body case 1. 6 (Each product rack has rack number # 1
# 10), an unloading shooter 7 leading to the product outlet 3 disposed below the product rack 6, an evaporator 5a of the refrigeration unit 5, and the like.

Here, among the product racks 6, the product racks # 1 to # 6 arranged in the rear row in the warehouse are fixedly installed side by side in the entire width of the space in the warehouse, whereas they are fixed in the front row. Commodity racks # 7 and # 8, and # 9 and # 10, which are adjacent to each other, can be pivoted forward with the support shaft 8 attached to the corner near the center of the refrigerator as a fulcrum after connecting two adjacent units together. The product racks # 7, # 8, # 9, and # 10 are supported on the support shaft 8 at the center of the warehouse, which is configured as a rotatable and movable rack installed in the front row. There is provided an empty space 9 (this space is referred to as a retreat space) in which the product rack can be retracted when the product rack is rotated forward. Further, a pre-cooling shelf 10 is provided in the retreat space 9 at a position slightly lower than the product rack so as to avoid interference with the rotary movable product rack. This pre-cooling shelf is used as a support for storing the remaining fractional products that could not be fully loaded into the product rack 6 at the time of product replenishment, as described later.
Numeral 1 denotes a carton case containing fractional products and stacked on the pre-cooling shelf 10.

Next, an operation of replenishing goods to the vending machine according to the above configuration will be described. First, in order to replenish the merchandise racks # 1 and # 2 among the merchandise racks 6, one (left side) of the merchandise loading door 4 is opened as shown in FIG. Rack # 7, # 8
Is pivoted forward around the support shaft 8 to retreat to the evacuation space 9. In this state, product rack # 1, #
Since the front surface of the product 2 is opened, the product 12 taken out of the delivery carton case can be loaded in the product rack. Next, after returning the merchandise racks # 7 and # 8 to the original positions again, merchandise racks # 3 and # 7 and # 8 are refilled with merchandise. Next, after opening the right product loading door 4, the product rack #
By rotating and operating # 9 and # 10, the product rack #
4 to # 6, # 9, and # 10 can be refilled with products. Since the product rack 6 is not pulled out of the refrigerator during the product replenishment operation, the intrusion of outside heat into the refrigerator can be minimized, and the rise in product temperature can be prevented.

At the end of the series of product replenishment operations, if there is any fractional product that could not be replenished in the carton case, the fractional product is placed in the carton case 11 as shown in FIG. Pre-cooling shelf 1 installed in the evacuation space 9 to be used as a spare storage space for products
Stack them in 1 and keep them cool. The fractional product stored here is once taken out of the warehouse when the next product replenishment is performed, and then loaded and replenished in a predetermined product rack.

Embodiment 2: Next, a different embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the commodity racks # 7 to # 10 arranged in the front row of the refrigerator are slidably movable racks which are suspended from the support guide rails 13 laid in the upper part of the refrigerator and individually movable in the left and right directions. In addition, a retreat space 9 of an empty space corresponding to at least one merchandise rack is provided at a corner in the warehouse on the moving route of the merchandise rack in the front row. When replenishing products in the rear row product racks # 1 to # 6, the product racks # 7 to # 10 arranged in the front row are appropriately slid to the left and right using the evacuation space 9 to move the rear row product racks # 7 to # 10. The rack is filled with goods and refilled.
The configuration and arrangement of such a product rack is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-15 / 1984.
No. 4592, proposed by the same applicant as the present invention. In contrast to the above-described in-machine freezer, a pre-cooling shelf 1 for storing fractional products remaining in the carton case at the time of product replenishment in an evacuation space 9 provided in the refrigerator similarly to the first embodiment.
0 is set.

[0014]

As described above, the vending machine according to the present invention has the following advantages. In other words, when refilling products at the location of the vending machine, if fractional products remain in the carton case for delivery at the time of refilling the products in each product rack in the machine, the mobile type After returning the product rack to the home position, put the fractional products in the carton case and place them on the pre-cooling shelf provided here using the evacuation space of the product rack and store them in a cool state. , So that the troublesome work of transferring the fractional goods to a vending machine and another freezing stocker facility or the like can be eliminated.

In addition, the above-mentioned product rack evacuation space, which is used as a spare storage space for products, is a necessary space inherent in a vending machine originally provided for replenishing products from the front to the product racks arranged in a rear row in the warehouse. By effectively using the evacuation space, the original product accommodation efficiency does not decrease. In addition, by adopting a rotary movable rack or a slide movable rack for the product racks arranged in the front row in the warehouse, there is no need to pull the product rack out of the warehouse when refilling the products, and therefore, the invasion of outside air heat can be suppressed to a small extent. As a result, the cooling performance of the product can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B are configuration diagrams of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional plan view of the internal structure, and FIG.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of a product replenishment operation according to the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view of an internal structure according to a different embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case of vending machine 4 Commodity loading door 5 Refrigeration unit 6 Commodity rack 8 Rotating support shaft of rotating movable rack 9 Evacuation space 10 Pre-cooling shelf 11 Carton case 12 Commodity 13 Support rail of sliding movable rack

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vending machine for selling frozen goods such as ice cream with a plurality of merchandise racks in a freezer in the machine, wherein a plurality of merchandise racks are provided in a freezer having a merchandise loading door on a front surface. Are arranged in front and rear two rows, and the product rack in the front row is movable, and a space for evacuating the product rack is provided on the movement path in the warehouse, and the above-mentioned space for evacuating is used as a spare storage space for the product. A vending machine provided with a pre-cooling shelf for placing fractional products. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the pre-cooling shelf is installed at a height position that does not interfere with a commodity rack in a front row moving in the refrigerator. 3. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the merchandise rack in the front row is a rotatable and movable rack installed so as to be pivotable forward with one end serving as a fulcrum. 4. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the merchandise racks in the front row are slide-movable racks installed so as to be individually movable left and right.