JP3020322B2 - Vending machine product unloading device - 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 goods such as cans and bottles, and more particularly to a vending machine product carrying device for conveying contents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various contrivances have been made so that the contents of a vending machine which sells products such as cans and bottles can be conspicuously displayed at a take-out opening and can be easily taken out. (For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
No. 4).

[0003] An example of the above-described conventional product unloading device of a vending machine will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 6 to 8, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a door, and reference numeral 3 denotes a plurality of product storage rooms provided inside the main body. Reference numeral 4 denotes a commodity, which is stacked and stored in the commodity storage room 3. Reference numeral 5 denotes an unloading mechanism for discharging the contents 4. Reference numeral 6 denotes a lower guide passage that guides the contents goods 4 ejected from the unloading mechanism 5 to the front door 2 side, and is inclined forward from rear to front. Reference numeral 7 denotes an internal flap, which is located in front of the lower guide passage 6 and is rotatably attached to the main body 1. Reference numeral 8 denotes a take-out opening, which is located at the upper part of the door 2 (at a position about the height of the hipbone of an adult), and has a width dimension that is large enough to allow the contents 4 to be taken out. I have. Reference numeral 9 denotes an outlet flap, which is located at the front of the outlet 8 and is rotatably attached to the door 2.

A bucket 10 is attached to the door 2 and has both ends attached to an up-and-down transfer device 11 which moves up and down in front of the flap 7 in the refrigerator. A belt 12 has one end on the side of the outlet 8 fixed to the lower part of the door 2 and the other end fixed to the upper part of the door 2, bent in a crank shape and slidably engaged with the bucket 10. The dimension of the substantially horizontal portion of the belt 12 in the shape of a crank is smaller than the height of the take-out port 8 located at the top. A pulley 13 is rotatably attached to the bucket 10 and is located at an engagement portion of the belt 12. 14 is a product holding stage, and bucket 1
0 is inclined forward (for example, 40
Ii) It has a size slightly smaller than the width of the outlet 8, and is attached at a position facing the outlet 8 at the upper part. Reference numeral 15 denotes a product guide, which is attached to the door 2 in front of the bucket 12.

The operation of the above-configured merchandise unloading device of a vending machine will be described below with reference to FIGS.

During standby, the bucket 10 is located at a position facing the flap 7 in the refrigerator, and the contents 4 ejected from the commodity storage room 3 by the unloading mechanism 5 pushes the flap 7 in the refrigerator through the lower guide passage 6. Wait to open and dive. When the contents 4 enter the bucket 10, the vertical transport device 11 causes a rising motion, and the bucket 10 moves up. When the bucket 10 is raised, the belt 12 engaged with the bucket 10
The bucket 1 is moved horizontally by the amount of the upward displacement of the bucket 10.
Move relative to 0.

At this time, the belt 12 is bent and supported by the pulley 13, so that the movement resistance is reduced. When the bucket 10 is lifted, the contents placed on the belt 12 move up and move horizontally. When the bucket 10 rises by the dimension a, the contents 4 are moved by the horizontal movement of the belt 12 so that the lower end holding side of the belt 12 is moved. The product moves to a product holding stage 14 provided on the bucket 10, is supported by a product guide 15, and further rises as the bucket 10 rises. When the bucket 10 moves up to a position facing the take-out opening 8, the contents 4 fall into the take-out opening 8 due to the inclination of the product holding stage 14, and the take-out opening flap 9 is opened and taken out. Thereafter, the vertical transport device 11 makes a downward movement, and the bucket 10 descends. The belt 12 performs an operation reverse to that at the time of the rise by the lowering of the bucket 10, the bucket 10 descends to a position facing the flap 7 in the refrigerator, and one carrying-out operation is completed.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional construction, the bucket 10 cannot be lifted until the contents goods 4 discharged from the discharge mechanism 5 enter the bucket 10 and the flap 7 in the warehouse is closed. The time from when the content item 4 is thrown out until it enters the bucket 10 is the content item 4
And the position of the unloading mechanism 5, it is necessary to set the longest standby time, and there is a drawback that the purchaser of the contents 4 in the vending machine waits for a long time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine having a single outlet at a high position and having a short product take-out time. I do.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve this object, a vending machine has a flap opening / closing detecting means for detecting opening / closing of a flap in a refrigerator, and a signal from the flap opening / closing detecting means. And an operation control means for operating the upper and lower transport devices.

[0012]

With this configuration, when the contents goods carried out of the goods storage room are opened and closed by opening and closing the flaps in the refrigerator via the bottom guide passage, the flap open / close detecting means detects the opening and closing of the flaps in the refrigerator and makes the operation control means. Send a signal. Since the operation control means outputs a signal in response to this signal to drive the vertical transport device, the contents in the bucket can be operated immediately after entering the bucket earlier than a predetermined standby time, thereby shortening the carry-out time.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention; The same parts as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, reference numeral 16 denotes a flap opening / closing detecting means which is mounted below the internal flap 7 at a position where the flap 7 operates in a closed state. The flap open / close detecting means 16 is in the form of an infrared reflective switch or a magnetic reed switch. Reference numeral 17 denotes an operation control means, an input of which is connected to the flap opening / closing detection means 16, and an output of which is connected to the vertical transport device 11.

The operation of the merchandise unloading device of a vending machine configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0016] Contents goods 4 ejected by the unloading mechanism 5
Pushes the inner flap 7 through the lower guide passage 6 and enters the bucket 10. When the flap 7 is opened and the contents goods 4 are sent out and the flap 7 is closed again, the flap open / close detecting means 1
6 detects the ON-OFF signal and sends it to the operation control means 17. The operation control unit 17 determines whether the flap opening / closing unit 16 has been turned ON and OFF as shown in the operation flowchart of FIG. 5 (step 1). Flap opening / closing means 16 is O
If it is turned off after N, the process proceeds to the next step, where the operation control means 17 sends an operation signal to the vertical transport device 11, and the vertical transport device 11 operates (step 2). Vertical transport device 1
When 1 raises, the contents goods 4 are conveyed to the take-out opening 8 by the same operation as the conventional one.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to recognize that the contents goods 4 have entered the bucket 10 by opening and closing the flap 7 in the refrigerator, so that the contents goods 4 unloaded from the unloading mechanism 5 are stored in the bucket 10. Time to enter is the contents 4
Depending on the type and the position of the unloading mechanism 5 in the storage, the standby time of the bucket 10 can be set to a necessary time, so that the unloading time can be shortened.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a take-out opening provided at a position other than the lower part of the door and having a width about the size of taking out the contents, and an internal flap provided at the front of the lower guide passage. , A bucket for receiving the contents sent out from the flap in the refrigerator, a vertical transport device for raising and lowering the bucket, a product holding stage attached to the bucket at a position facing the take-out opening, and one end fixed above the take-out opening A belt fixed at the other end below the lower guide passage, bent and supported in a crank shape by a fulcrum provided on the bucket, and sends out the contents received by the bucket to the goods holding stage by lifting the bucket; By providing a flap open / close detecting means near the flap in the warehouse in the product discharge device provided with In order to operate in accordance with the time, without having to wait for a long time to the purchaser of the contents of goods, it can be carried out to concentrate on the outlet of the take-out easy height and in one place.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a central cross-sectional view of a product unloading device of a vending machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of the device from the front.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a central sectional view of a conventional product discharging device of a vending machine.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a main part of the device from the front.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a main part of the apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Commodity storage device 4 Contents merchandise 5 Carry-out mechanism 6 Low guide passage 7 Internal flap 8 Take-out port 10 Bucket 11 Vertical transport device 12 Belt 14 Product holding stage 16 Flap open / close detecting means 17 Operation control means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of commodity storage rooms provided in a vending machine main body having a door provided to be openable and closable at an entire opening portion, contents stored in the product storage rooms in a stacked manner, and the product storage A carry-out mechanism provided at the lower part of the room for ejecting the contents, a bottom guide passage for guiding the ejected contents, an internal flap provided in front of the bottom guide passage, and the door. At a position other than the lower part, and a take-out port provided with a width of about the size of taking out the contents item, a bucket for receiving the contents product sent out from the flap in the refrigerator, and a vertical transport device for raising and lowering this bucket, A product holding stage attached to the bucket at a position facing the take-out opening, one end fixed above the take-out opening and the other end fixed below the bottom guide passage; And a belt that is bent and supported in a crank shape by a fulcrum provided on the bucket and that sends out the contents product received by the bucket to the product holding stage by raising the bucket. An automatic vending machine comprising: a flap opening / closing detecting means for detecting opening / closing of a flap in the warehouse in front of the guide passage; and an operation control means for operating the vertical transport device based on a signal from the flap opening / closing detecting means. Equipment for unloading goods.