JP3149519B2 - Pusher-type product unloading device for vending machines - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pusher type product unloading device mounted on a vending machine for selling box-shaped products such as tobacco.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows the structure of a pusher type product unloading device which has been well known. In the figure, 1
Is a product rack for stacking products 2 (numbered # 1 and # 2 in order from the bottom), 3 is a stage of the rack 1 on which the products 2 are placed, and 3a is a product exit end side passage of the stage 3. , 4 is a pusher arranged on the stage 3 so as to face the product 2, 5 is a pusher 4
Is an operation unit for performing forward and backward movement operations. The operation unit 5 includes a linear actuator 9 in which a napier screw 6, a carrier 7 that moves along the screw groove of the screw, and a drive motor 8 are combined, and a case 10, and is disposed inside the stage 3. I have. The upper end of the carrier 7 projects above a slit opened on the upper surface of the stage 3 and is connected to the pusher 4.

The operation of such a pusher-type product unloading device is well known. When a sales command is given to the operation unit 5 from the sales standby state shown in FIG. 1A, the motor 8 is driven to interlock with the carrier 7 of the linear actuator 9. Then, the pusher 4 moves forward from the illustrated standby position, and pushes out the commodity # 1 arranged at the bottom as shown in FIG. When the carrier 7 of the operating section 5 reaches the stroke end of the forward travel, the carrier 7 is guided by the thread groove of the napier screw 6 to return backward, and the pusher 4 retreats to the standby position together with the carrier 7 and detects this position to drive. The motor 8 stops. The product # 1 carried out of the rack 1 slides on the chute 3a and is taken out to a product outlet (not shown).

[0004]

In the above-described conventional pusher-type product unloading device, since the pusher 4 and the carrier 7 of the linear actuator 9 are directly connected, the reciprocating stroke of the pusher 4 (standby position and product) Stroke between the carry-out position) and the linear actuator 9
The same as the carrier movement stroke (defined by the length of the napier screw 6), especially for the sale of large-size (large-length) products 2, the specifications correspond to the size of large-size products. A linear actuator having a large moving stroke is required.

[0005] That is, if it is attempted to sell the shaped product shown in FIG. 4 (the product shown in FIG. 3 is a short size S and the product shown in FIG. 4 is a long size L) using a product carrying device having the same specifications as that shown in FIG. The product 4 stops at the position indicated by the dashed line in FIG. However, separately manufacturing the operation units of various specifications according to the size of the product to be sold causes a cost increase, and particularly, the operation unit of the specification for large products has a large external dimension in the front-rear direction. Therefore, the rack stage accommodating the operation unit is also large, and as a result, the depth dimension of the entire vending machine is increased. In this regard, there is a growing demand for vending machines to be installed in stores or the like to be formed as thin as possible with the overall depth dimension being as small as possible in order to keep the protruding portion off the road.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned problems. The present invention employs a small linear actuator having a small stroke for an operation section of a pusher, and reduces the movement stroke of the pusher by the stroke of the linear actuator. An object of the present invention is to provide a pusher-type product unloading device that can be expanded to accommodate large-size products.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, in a pusher-type product unloading device according to the present invention, a pusher and a linear actuator are connected to each other, and an operation unit is provided near a stroke end of the linear actuator. It is assumed that a stroke expanding mechanism for expanding the movement stroke of the pusher is provided.

Here, as an embodiment of the stroke amplifying mechanism, a lever-type link having an intermediate point pivotally supported on a carrier of a linear actuator and an upper end thereof connected to a pusher,
A fixed-side stopper is provided at a position slightly before the stroke end of the linear actuator to stop the lower end of the lever link at that position. Alternatively, instead of providing the stopper on the fixed side, the lower end of the lever-type link is formed into an inverted T-shape, and the end is abutted against the wall surface on the fixed side at a position slightly before the stroke end of the linear actuator to stop. There is a configuration.

[0009]

In the above construction, when the linear actuator of the operating section is operated by a stroke, the lower end of the lever-type link abuts the stopper on the fixed side at a point near the stroke end, or the lower end of the link itself. Abuts against the fixed side wall surface (case wall surface) and is stopped at that position, but the carrier continues to move to the stroke end, so that the lever-type link swings in the carrier movement direction with the lower end as a fulcrum. As a result, the lever-type link operates as a lever, and the pusher connected to the upper end of the link expands its stroke in accordance with the lever ratio of the link (the ratio of the distance between the middle point and the upper-end working point with the lower end as a fulcrum). . That is, the movement stroke of the pusher is larger at the end of the stroke than the movement stroke of the carrier defined by the stroke of the linear actuator.

[0010] Therefore, even a large-sized product that cannot be coped with by the movement stroke of the operation unit itself can be reliably carried out by the push-out operation of the pusher.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings of the embodiment, the same members corresponding to those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Embodiment 1 FIGS. 1A to 1C show an embodiment corresponding to claim 2 of the present invention.
The carrier 7 of the linear actuator 9 and the pusher 4 are connected via a lever-type link 11. Here, the lever link 11 has a lower end as a free end, an intermediate point of which is pivotally supported by the carrier 7 via a pin 12, and an upper end and the pusher 4 are connected by a pin 13. Further, stoppers 14 and 15 are attached to the case 10 so as to cross the movement path of the link 11 at a position slightly before the front and rear stroke ends of the linear actuator 9 so as to face the lower end of the lever type link 11. .

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. First,
(A) shows the state where the pusher 4 is retracted to the standby position, and the carrier 7 of the linear actuator 9 is stopped at the position of the retraction stroke end. The lever-type link 11 has a lower end abutting against the stopper 14 and has a rearwardly inclined posture. In this rearwardly inclined posture, the pusher 4 connected to the upper end of the link 11 is retracted behind the rack 1.

Here, the linear actuator 9 is started by the sales command, and the carrier 7 is moved along the axis of the napier screw 6.
Is pushed forward, the pusher 4 moves forward from the retracted position and pushes the product # 1 forward. When the carrier 7 moves to near the stroke end of the forward travel, the stopper 15 hits the lower end of the lever-type link 11 just before the stroke end as shown in FIG.
Following the forward movement of the remaining steps of the carrier 7, the link 11
Swings clockwise around the lower end. This allows
The pusher 4 connected to the upper end of the link 11 further moves forward beyond the stroke end of the linear actuator 9 by the principle of leverage, and carries out the product # 1.

When the carrier 7 moves to near the stroke end in the retreating stroke of the linear actuator 9,
This time, the lower end of the lever type link 11 abuts against the stopper 14. As a result, the link 11 swings counterclockwise as shown in FIG.
To the rear of the rack 1. That is, the movement stroke associated with the reciprocating movement of the pusher 4 is enlarged before and after the stroke defined by the length of the napier screw 6 of the linear actuator 9 at the stroke end. Therefore, a large-sized product can be reliably carried out by a small-stroke linear actuator.

By changing the positions of the stoppers 14 and 15 and the lever ratio of the lever type link 11 (the ratio of the link length to the upper end and the lower end centering on the pin 13) in the above-described configuration, the pusher 4 is moved. Can be adjusted and changed. Embodiment 2 FIG. 2 shows an application example of the embodiment 1 corresponding to claim 3 of the present invention. In this embodiment, instead of the stoppers 14 and 15 installed on the fixed side in the first embodiment, an inverted T-shaped stopper 11a is formed at the lower end of the lever link 11 itself. When the linear actuator 9 moves to the near position near the stroke end in such a configuration, the stopper 11a abuts against the wall surface of the case 10 and swings the link 11 forward and backward. As a result, as in the first embodiment, the movement stroke of the pusher 4 is extended before and after the stroke specified by the linear actuator.

[0016]

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, since the moving stroke of the pusher is expanded beyond the stroke of the linear actuator as the operating portion, a small linear actuator having a small stroke is adopted. It is also possible to deal with the sale of products of various sizes including large products. In addition, by adopting a small linear actuator as an operation unit of the pusher-type product unloading device, there is obtained an advantage that the vending machine can be made thinner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a pusher-type product unloading device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a standby state diagram,
(B) is a state diagram of the product being carried out, (c) is a front view of the internal mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a pusher-type product unloading device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a conventional pusher-type product unloading device, where FIG. 3A is a standby state diagram and FIG. 3B is a product unloading state diagram.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the unloading operation when the product unloading device of FIG. 3 is applied to a large-sized product.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rack 2 Merchandise 3 Stage 4 Pusher 5 Operation part 6 Napier screw 7 Carrier 8 Drive motor 9 Linear actuator 11 Lever type link 11a Stopper 14 Fixed side stopper 15 Fixed side stopper

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A pusher and an operation section for moving the pusher forward and backward by a linear actuator, and sequentially pushes out the products placed on a stage and stacked and stored in a rack from the lowest position by reciprocating operation of the pusher. In a pusher-type product unloading device of a vending machine for unloading, a stroke expanding mechanism is provided in an operation unit for connecting the pusher and a linear actuator and expanding a movement stroke of the pusher near a stroke end of the linear actuator. A pusher-type product unloading device for a vending machine. 2. The pusher-type product unloading device according to claim 1, wherein the stroke expanding mechanism includes a lever-type link having an intermediate point pivotally supported on a carrier of the linear actuator and an upper end thereof connected to the pusher, and a stroke of the linear actuator. A pusher-type product unloading device for a vending machine, comprising a fixed-side stopper which is installed at a position slightly before the end and stops the lower end of the lever-type link at that position. 3. The pusher-type product unloading device according to claim 1, wherein a lever-type link is connected between the pusher and the linear actuator carrier by pivotally supporting an intermediate point on the carrier of the linear actuator. Reverse T at lower end of link
A pusher-type product unloading device for a vending machine, characterized in that the end portion is formed into a character shape and is stopped by abutting against the fixed-side wall surface at a position slightly before the stroke end of the linear actuator.