JP3143210B2 - 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 provided with a bag supply unit for sending out a bag to be used for storing sold products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a bag supply unit used in a vending machine, there is a configuration disclosed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-31575. The bag supply unit is loaded with a large number of bags, and the bags are discharged one by one by rotating a delivery roller.

[0003]

However, even if such a bag supply unit is provided in a vending machine, not all customers need bags. For this reason, a switch for requesting the bag to be sent may be provided, but if the bag is exhausted, the bag will not be sent even if this switch is pressed, giving the customer distrust.

In addition, if the customer who presses the bag request switch leaves the bag without taking it out, it is not only wasted, but if such a process is repeated and a large number of bags remain, it may cause clogging.

[0005] In view of the above, the present invention provides a vending machine which can display when a bag has run out. Further, the present invention provides a vending machine for stopping the operation of sending out a bag when the bag remains without being taken out.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems] vending machine of the invention of claim 1 in order to solve the above problems, the bag and pressure for commodity storage
And transport the bag for storing the product to the outlet
A bag supply unit provided with a roller,
For instructing the product to carry the bag for storing the product.
The bag request switch and the bag for storing the product are
Bag removal sensor that detects whether or not it is being transported by
When the bag request switch is operated, the bag is removed.
If the delivery sensor does not detect the product storage bag
If, for example, a drive signal for rotating the roller is output,
The bag removal sensor detects the bag for storing the product and
If so, stop the drive signal and idle the rollers.
And a control device for operating the bag request switch.
Even if the bag removal sensor is used,
Is detected, the conveyance of the product storage bag is prohibited.
It stops .

[0007] The automatic vending machine of the invention of claim 2, prior
Presence / absence of the bag for storing the product in the bag supply unit
And a bag sensor for detecting the
Based on the output when it detects that there is no bag
And a display for displaying the information .

[0008]

According to the vending machine of the first aspect of the present invention, a bag is provided.
The bag delivered from the supply unit is detected by the bag removal sensor.
When the bag is detected and the customer removes the bag from the vending machine,
The removal sensor stops the detection output. And bag request
When the switch is pressed, the control device
Drives to bag supply unit on condition that no bag is detected
A signal is given, which causes the bag to be delivered.

According to the vending machine of the second aspect of the present invention, the bag supply unit is operated by pressing the bag request switch.
Is supplied with a drive signal and the bag is sent out. And the bag
The bag sensor detects that the bag has run out when the supply unit runs out of bags.
Then, based on this, the display indicates that the bag has run out.

[0010]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a front view of a vending machine 50, in which a plurality of product samples 51 provided according to the types of products for sale and a product selection switch 52 for selecting a product corresponding to the product sample are arranged. Merchandise selection section 53, signboard section 54, bill insertion slot 55, coin insertion slot 56, and change taking exit 5
7, a bag request switch 58, and a display 59 for indicating that the bag has run out.
A customer service section 61 provided with a bag outlet 60 and a product sales port 63 are formed.

Inside the customer service section 61, the vending machine 5
A control unit 62 for controlling the entire operation of the bag supply unit 0 and the bag supply unit 1 are arranged. Although not shown, a bill processing unit for processing bills inserted into the bill insertion slot 55, a coin mechanism for processing coins inserted into the coin insertion slot 56, and the like are arranged inside the customer reception unit 61. ing. If the inserted bills and coins are appropriate, the bill processing unit and the coin mechanism send an amount signal according to the amount to the control unit 62, and the control unit 62 sends the amount signal to the vending machine 50 based on the sent signal. Is calculated. And
When the product selection switch 52 is operated, the control unit 62 determines whether or not to sell according to the price of the corresponding product, the inserted amount, the size, the presence or absence of change in the coin mechanism, and the presence or absence of the product, and sells. If this is possible, it instructs the sales mechanism (not shown) to sell this product.

The control unit 62 includes a control device for controlling the bag supply operation of the bag supply unit 1, and a bag request switch 58, a display 59 and a bag sensor are connected to this control device. As will become clear later, the bag sensor is a sensor for detecting that the bag has been exhausted in the bag supply unit 1, and the control device responds to the detection of the bag being exhausted by the bag sensor, and instructs the display 59 to output a driving signal for indicating the bag is empty. give.

As will become clear later, the control device is connected to a bag take-out sensor arranged at the bag take-out port 60. The bag removal sensor is a bag supply unit 1
The bag is sent out from the vending machine, and the detection output is stopped when the customer takes out the bag from the vending machine. When the bag request switch 58 is pressed, the control device sends a drive signal to the bag supply unit 1 to control the bag sending operation on the condition that the bag removal sensor does not detect the bag. Sent out.

Next, a specific example of the bag supply unit 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a side view of the bag supply unit 1 in a state where the bag B is loaded, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the bag supply unit 1 in an empty state. The bag supply unit includes a main body 9, a roller 11, a pressing plate 12, coil springs C1 to C4, and a lock lever 13.
It is composed of The main body 9 includes a front wall 14, left and right side walls 16, 17 formed of a metal plate, and a rear wall 18 facing the lower part of the front wall 14. At the upper end of the front wall 14, a hanging bar 19 projects rearward. Attached. Also body 9
At the lower part of the front wall 14 facing the rear wall 18, slit-shaped through holes 21 are formed on the left and right, and the roller 11 is provided here, and a part thereof faces the inside of the main body 9.

The roller 11 has two roller clutches 24 attached to the left and right sides of the rotating shaft 23 of the gear motor 22 via the respective shafts, and is made of a material having a large friction coefficient on its surface. The roller clutch 24 transmits the driving force of the rotating shaft 23 to the roller 11 only when the rotating shaft 23 rotates clockwise in FIG. 2, and only the roller 11 rotates clockwise in FIG. 2 when the rotating shaft 23 is stopped. In this case, the connection between the roller 11 and the rotating shaft 23 is broken, and only the roller 11 acts so as to be able to rotate freely.

The pressing plate 12 is made of a metal plate.
The roller 11 is provided inside the front wall 14 facing the roller 11. Pressing plate 12 has a width dimension over between the left and right side walls 16, 17 of the body 9, and a contact portion 26 and the roller 11 Ru abutment to <br/> through the bag B, the contact portion 26 And upper and lower flanges 27 and 28 continuously bent rearward from the upper and lower ends.
An instruction shaft 29 across the right and left attached to the rear upper end of the contact portion 26, the main body 9 by slidably engaging the left and right side walls 16, 17 longitudinal direction of the guide holes 31, 31 formed in the body 9 Has been instructed.

The coil springs C1 to C4 are the same coil spring and have the same elastic force. This coil spring C 2 ,
C 3 is bent so that the bow where the upper vertex in the right and left sides between the rear wall 18 and the pressing plate 12, the front end passes to the left and right, which is attached to the back lower end of the contact portion 26 of the pressing plate 12 shaft 32, the rear end of which is fixed to the lower front part of the rear wall 18. The coil springs C 1 , C 4 are bent inside the coil springs C 2 , C 3 so as to form a bow having a downward apex, and the front end is engaged with the pointing shaft 29 of the pressing plate 12, and the rear end is located at the rear. It is fixed to the upper part of the front surface of the wall 18. The coil springs C1~C4 is found that the pressing plate 12 as shown in FIG. 3 to exert a substantially constant repulsive force regardless of the angle at least 90 degrees or more bending angle in a state that abuts on the roller 11 ing. Therefore,
Each of the coil springs C1 to C4 can apply substantially the same pressing force to the bag B even when the amount of the bag B loaded between the roller 11 and the pressing plate 12 increases or decreases and the distance between the two changes.

The lock lever 13 is inserted into the main body 9 through a through hole 33 formed in the rear wall 18 and the tip thereof is
Shaft 34 provided substantially at the center of the back surface of the contact portion 26
The rear end is provided with a through-hole 33
It protrudes more backward. A notch 36 is formed in the lower surface of the middle part of the lock lever 13. A microswitch 60 as a bag sensor is attached to the front wall 14 of the bag supply unit 1. The microswitch 60 has the front end of the actuator facing the bag storage section of the bag supply unit 1 in order to detect the presence or absence of the bag B. When the bag B disappears from the bag supply unit 1, the tip portion advances to the bag storage section as shown in FIG.

When the control device included in the control unit 62 detects the absence of the bag B based on the signal from the microswitch 60, the control device controls the display 59 to indicate that the bag has run out. Accordingly, the bag is loaded by the administrator, but the lock lever 13 is pulled out toward the rear wall 18 against the repulsive force of the coil springs C1 to C4, and the notch 36 formed in the lock lever 13 as shown in FIG. The through-hole 33 formed in the rear wall 18 is engaged. In this state, the pressing plate 12 is
Since the bag B is held in a state separated from the bag 1, the bag B can be loaded. This bag B has a length of, for example, 310 mm.
A reinforced polyethylene bag having a hole (not shown) formed in the upper portion thereof.
The hole is inserted into the hanging bar 19, and a plurality of the holes are loaded as shown in FIG.

After the bag B is loaded, when the lock lever 13 is raised and the notch 36 is removed from the through hole 33, the lock lever 13 is pulled back into the main body 9 by the repulsive force of the coil springs C1 to C4. As shown in FIG. 2, the contact portion 26 contacts the rear surface of the outermost bag B to apply the innermost bag B to the roller 1.
1 to complete the loading of the bag.

When a control device included in the control unit 62 outputs a drive signal for sending a bag to the bag supply unit, the gear motor 22 is driven for a predetermined time to rotate the roller 11 clockwise in FIG. Roller 1 is the innermost bag B
1 is moved toward the lower outlet port 42 by the friction between them, and is torn off from the suspension bar 19 and is sent out.
The bag that has reached the outlet 42 is detected by the bag removal sensor 61. The bag removal sensor 61 is an optical sensor including a set of light receiving and emitting elements.

Since the lower end of the bag B advances to the bag outlet 60 by this delivery, if the purchaser pulls out the bag B, the roller 11 is moved in the roller clutch 24 in the direction.
As a result, the bag B can be easily pulled out from the bag supply unit 1. At this time, if the purchaser leaves the bag without pulling it out, the bag removal sensor 61 continues to detect the bag B. Therefore, even if the bag request switch 58 is pressed next time, the control device included in the control 62 The drive signal for bag delivery is not output to the bag supply unit 1.

When the bags B are successively sent out in this manner, the pressing plate 12 comes into contact with the roller 11 and the distance between the roller 11 and the pressing plate 12 is reduced.
4 exerts a substantially uniform repulsive force irrespective of the change in the distance, so that the pressing plate 12 presses the bag B against the roller 11 with a substantially constant pressure regardless of the change in the number of the bags B. Therefore, even if the number of bags B changes, the frictional force between the roller 11 and the bags B becomes substantially constant, and the feeding is performed smoothly.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example in which a lever 62 and a switch 63 are used for the bag removal sensor 61. FIG. When a transparent or translucent material is used for the bag B, the bag detection accuracy of the bag removal sensor 61 by the optical sensor is reduced. In such a case, it is effective to configure the bag removal sensor 61 with a lever and a switch. That is, the lever 62 is provided in the outlet port 42 so as to be pushed and rotated by the bag B sent out by the rotation of the roller 11, and the switch 63 is operated by being urged by the rotation of the lever 62. I have.

However, a drawback of the bag removal sensor 61 using the lever and the switch is that if the bag is weak, the bag B cannot push the lever 62, and the bag B is blocked by the lever 62 and is not sent out. is there. Therefore, in this example, it is arranged offset to one lateral relative the bag was taken out sensor 61 consisting of the lever 62 and the switch 63, sending direction of the center line 63 of the bag B 1 fed out (Fig. 7). With this arrangement, one side of the bag B1 proceeds normally without being disturbed by the lever 62, but the other side is prevented from proceeding by the lever 62. Transforms on the door. However, the restoring force of the bag B1 is accumulated on the other side where the wrinkles are generated, and this force is pushed until the lever 62 is pushed out sometime, and the bag B1 is surely sent to the bag outlet 60. In the case of the bag removal sensor 61 configured by the lever 62 and the switch 63, the lever 62 is continuously held at the position where the switch 63 is operated until the bag B1 is removed from the bag outlet 60. .

[0026]

According to the present invention, the bag is provided only to the customer who pressed the bag request switch, so that the bag is not wasted, and when the bag is exhausted, this is displayed on the display. In order to do so, the customer who wants the bag can be informed why the bag cannot be provided. Then, as long as the bag once sent is not removed, the bag is not sent out even if the bag request switch is pressed next time, so that a number of bags are sent out and clogging is prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a vending machine provided with a bag supply unit.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the bag supply unit with a bag loaded.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the empty bag supply unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a loaded state of bags in the bag supply unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a bag supply unit according to another embodiment.

6 is a diagram showing a state in which the bag supply unit of FIG. 5 is delivering bags.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a state in which the bag is delivered in FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 bag supply unit 58 bag request switch 59 indicator 60 bag sensor 61 bag removal sensor 62 control unit

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
Bags with rollers that convey product storage bags to the delivery port
A supply unit, and conveyance of the bag for storing the product to the bag supply unit.
And a bag request switch for instructing whether the product storage bag has been conveyed to the outlet.
A bag removal sensor for detecting whether or not the bag removal switch is operated;
If the sensor has not detected the product storage bag,
Outputting a drive signal for rotating the roller,
A bag removal sensor detects the bag for storing the product.
If so, stop the drive signal and idle the roller.
And a control device for controlling the bag removal even when the bag request switch is operated.
When the sensor is detecting the product storage bag,
A vending machine characterized by prohibiting the transport of bags for storing goods . 2. The product in the bag supply unit.
A bag sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a storage bag, and the bag sensor
Output when detects that there is no bag for storing the product
And an indicator for displaying running out of the bag based on the
The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein: