JP3244327B2 - Cup 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 so-called cup-type vending machine provided with a plurality of raw material discharging devices each storing various powder raw materials such as coffee, sugar and milk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this kind of vending machine has a cup supply mechanism for supplying a cup to the inside of a vending machine, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-199855 (G07F13 / 06), and coffee and milk. A plurality of raw material supply mechanisms for storing raw materials such as sugar and sugar, and a diluent supply mechanism for supplying a diluent such as hot water. Then, the selling operation is started based on the operation of the customer to insert coins and bills, and the selection operation of the product, the cup is dropped from the cup supply mechanism, the cup is transferred to the lower part of the shooter by the cup transfer mechanism, and into the shooter. After dropping and collecting the raw materials from each of the raw material supply mechanisms and simultaneously supplying each raw material into the cup from the lower end discharge port of the shooter, then transferring the cup to a predetermined supply position where the diluent is supplied, The diluent was supplied.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-179594 (G
In 07F13 / 06), a similar discharge port at the lower end of the shooter is made to enter the cup, and fine powder scattered by the force of falling is sucked by the fine powder collection duct.
The structure was such that the fine powder in the raw material powder did not scatter around the cup.

[0004]

As described above, in each of the conventional structures described above, the raw materials delivered from each raw material supply mechanism are collected in one shooter and supplied to the cup from the discharge port of the shooter. there were. Therefore, for example, if coffee containing sugar and cream is sold for the first time, sugar, cream, and coffee are sent from each raw material supply mechanism to the shooter and dropped into the cup from the discharge port of the shooter. At this time, if the cream and sugar are left attached to the inner surface of the shooter, etc., the next sales will be relatively small if the coffee containing sugar or cream is the same as the first time. Is selected, the cream or sugar remaining on the inner surface of the shooter is mixed, and there is a problem that not pure black coffee but black coffee mixed with a small amount of sugar and cream is caused. In addition,
The fine powder of the powder material is scattered by the force of
The fine powder collection duct provided to suck the fine powder
Increase the manufacturing cost of vending machines. Also, fine powder recovery
Vending machine size is large due to duct installation space
There was also the problem of becoming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art, and prevents unnecessary materials from being mixed into selected products, and furthermore, by supplying powder materials.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vending machine in which scattering of generated fine powder is reduced .

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cup-type vending machine comprising: a raw material outlet 4A, 5A;
6A and shutters 12S, 13S, 14 for temporarily holding the powder raw materials from the raw material outlets 4A, 5A, 6A through the upper opening and sending the powder raw material to the cup 1 through the lower opening.
Raw material shooters 12 , 13 , 14 in which S is installed , and
For pressing the end opening to the raw material outlets 4A, 5A, 6A
Rubber packing 4 arranged at raw material outlets 4A, 5A, 6A
P, 5P, and 6P, a plurality of raw material unloading devices 4, 5, and 6 containing different powder raw materials, a cup supply device 2, and a cup for transferring the cup 1 discharged from the cup supply device 2. A transfer device 17 and a control device 31 for controlling the raw material unloading devices 4, 5, 6 and the cup transfer device 17 are provided. , 5, 6
When the powder raw materials from the raw material outlets 4A, 5A, and 6A are temporarily held on the shutters 12S, 13S, and 14S, the upper ends of the openings are closed by rubber packings 4P, 5P.
P, 6P and are joined to the material outlets 4A, 5A, 6A, and when the cup 1 arrives, the material unloading device 4,
It is characterized in that the powder raw materials on the shutters 12S, 13S and 14S in 5 and 6 are respectively fed into the cup 1 through the lower end opening.

[0007]

According to the cup-type vending machine of the present invention, the control device 31 controls the cup transfer device 17 to sequentially transfer the cup 1 to each of the raw material unloading devices 4, 5, and 6, and the raw material delivery ports 4A, 4A. 5A, 6A powder material from the shutter 12
When temporarily holding on S, 13S, 14S, open the upper end opening
Pressing the rubber packings 4P, 5P, 6P into contact
A, 5A, and 6A, and when the cup 1 arrives, the shutters 12S in the raw material unloading devices 4, 5, and 6 are used.
Since the powdery raw materials on the 13S and 14S are respectively sent into the cup 1 through the lower end openings, the unnecessary materials for the selected product (cup beverage) are not sent out into the cup 1. Furthermore, the falling force of the powder raw material is reduced, and the scattering of fine powder due to the drop of the powder raw material can be significantly reduced. In addition, dust in the air does not enter and can be maintained in a sanitary manner.

[0008]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In a vending machine (not shown) of the present invention, a cup supply device 2 for supplying a cup 1 on the left side as shown in FIG. 2 and a hot water tank 3 provided with heating means such as a heater (not shown) on the right side as shown in FIG. The raw material carrying-out devices 4, 5, and 6 containing the raw material powders of cream, coffee, and sugar, respectively, are arranged in parallel.

The cup supply device 2 discharges the lowermost cup 1 to a predetermined cup supply position indicated by P1 in FIG. 2 when a predetermined selling operation is started. A hot water valve 8 is attached to the hot water tank 3, and the hot water valve 8 is
A hot water supply pipe 11 is provided above a predetermined hot water supply stirring position indicated by middle P2.
Extends. Above the hot water supply stirring position P2, a vertically movable and rotatable stirring blade 15 and a stirrer 16 are provided.

Further, raw material outlets 4A, 5A, 6A are formed at the front lower end portions of the raw material unloading devices 4, 5, 6 so as to protrude forward and then open downward, respectively. As shown in FIG. 1, shutters 12S, 13S, and 14S are provided below and below 5A and 6A, respectively. , 14 are arranged.

The lower end openings of the raw material shooters 12, 13, and 14 are open above predetermined cream raw material supply positions, coffee raw material supply positions, and sugar raw material supply positions indicated by P3, P4, and P5 in FIG. 2, respectively. . Also,
The cup supply position P1, and each raw material supply position P3, P
4, P5 and the hot water supply stirring position P2 are arranged in a straight line in the embodiment, and a beverage supply position P6 for providing a beverage to a customer is formed on a straight line ahead of the hot water supply stirring position P2. It is located inside the vending machine (not shown).

A gear motor 57 is attached to the lower front part of the raw material unloading device 4 (the raw material unloading devices 5 and 6 are also the same, and the description is omitted). Are rotatably connected at their lower ends. The upper end of the crank 51 reciprocates up and down by the rotation of a gear motor 57, and a vertically extending rail 54 having a base 64 is rotatably attached to the upper end of the crank 51. The shooter 12 is mounted and supported on the base 64. With this configuration, when the gear motor 57 rotates,
The raw material shooter 12 smoothly reciprocates up and down between the top dead center and the bottom dead center.

The raw material shooter 12 is formed of a hard synthetic resin into a cylindrical shape.
(Same for the shutters 13S and 14S) have a disk shape that matches the inner surface shape of this cylinder. Further, the shutter 12S is rotatably provided in the raw material shooter 12 by a horizontal rotation shaft penetrating the diameter thereof, and the peripheral surface thereof abuts on the inner surface of the raw material shooter 12 as shown by a solid line in FIG. In this state, the inside of the raw material shooter 12 is vertically divided.

Further, on the outer surface of the raw material shooter 12,
An operation rod 60 is mounted on the raw material shooter 12 so as to be rotatable with respect to the rotation shaft of the shutter 12S. The operating rod 60 is constantly pulled up at the front end by the coil spring 74. When the raw material shooter 12 is at the top dead center, the shutter 12S partitions the raw material shooter 12 as shown by a solid line in FIG. Also,
In such a state, the upper end opening of the raw material shooter 12 is in pressure contact with a rubber packing 4P provided in the raw material outlet 4A. Then, when the raw material shooter 12 descends and reaches the bottom dead center, the rear end of the operation rod 60 is connected to the pin 6 provided below the raw material outlet 4A.
7, the operation rod 60 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 1 (shown by a broken line in FIG. 1), and the shutter 1
2S is configured to stand upright in the vertical direction as shown by the broken line in FIG.

On the other hand, each raw material shooter 12, 13, 14
A cup transfer device 17 is provided below at least from the cup supply position P1 to the beverage supply position P6. The cup transfer device 17 includes a long frame 18
And a drive pulley 19 and a driven pulley 21 rotatably supported at both ends of the frame 18, and both pulleys 19 and 21
Belt 22 stretched across, and cup holding arm 23
A, comprising a cup holding device 23 attached to the belt 22 and a transfer motor 24 attached to drive the drive pulley 19.

In the embodiment, the transfer motor 24 is constituted by a DC motor with a commutator. When the transfer motor 24 is started, the belt 2 is driven via the drive pulley 19.
2 is driven, whereby the holding device 23 attached to the belt 22 moves. The cup holding arm 23A
Holds the cup 1 discharged from the cup supply device 2 at the cup supply position P1, so that the cup 1 is moved from the cup supply position P1 within the range of the beverage supply position P6 with the movement of the holding device 23. Is done.

On the other hand, an encoder 26 is attached to the output shaft of the transfer motor 24. This encoder 2
6 rotates with the rotor of the transfer motor 24 and generates a predetermined rectangular pulse at each predetermined rotation angle. By counting such rectangular pulses, the transfer distance of the cup 1 is detected. The cup 1 can be transferred to a predetermined position and stopped. for that reason,
It is assumed that a value obtained by converting the distance between each of the positions P1 to P6 into the number of rectangular pulses is stored in the microcomputer 32 in advance.

In the embodiment, since the positions P1 to P6 are arranged in a straight line, the cup transfer device 17 is also constituted by a straight line. However, depending on the structure of the vending machine, the cup dispensing position P6 and other positions may be different. The positions P1 to P5 may not be aligned in a straight line. In such a case, the cup transfer device 17 of FIG. 2 is used as the x axis, a cup transfer device in the y-axis direction extending in a direction orthogonal to the transfer device 17 is added, and the holding device 23 is attached thereto. The transfer device in the y-axis direction may be configured to be moved by the belt 22.
According to such a configuration, it is possible to transfer the cup 1 to any position on the xy plane constituted by both transfer devices, so that the positional relationship between the devices such as the cup supply device 2 can be determined. The degree of freedom increases.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control device 31 of the vending machine according to the present invention. The control device 31 is composed of a general-purpose microcomputer 32, to which a rectangular pulse and a predetermined sales command signal from the encoder 26 are input. The output of the microcomputer 32 includes the hot water valve 8, the stirrer 16, the cup supply device 2, the raw material unloading device 4,
Auger motors 4M, 5M for feeding a predetermined amount of powdered raw material from raw material outlets 4A, 5A, 6A of 5, 6;
6M and the cup holding arm 23A are connected, and the gear motor 5 for moving the raw material shooter 12 up and down.
7 and a gear motor 5 for raising and lowering the raw material shooters 13 and 14, respectively, similarly to the gear motor 57.
8, 59 are connected. The stirrer 16 in FIG. 3 includes a motor 15M for rotating the stirring blade 15 in FIG. 2 and a motor 16M for moving the stirring blade 15 up and down. Further, the holding arm 23A is
The motor is driven to expand and contract by a motor (not shown) built in the microcomputer. The motor is controlled by the microcomputer 32.

On the other hand, the transfer motor 24 of the cup transfer device 17 is a switching element 3 composed of a thyristor.
6, and is connected to a DC power supply DC via a changeover switch 39 for switching between forward and reverse rotations. Further, a series circuit of a switching element 37 and a resistor 38 formed of a triac is connected between input terminals of the transfer motor 24. Have been. The switching elements 36 and 37 and the changeover switch 39 are configured to be triggered or switched by the microcomputer 32.

The operation of the vending machine of the present invention having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of the microcomputer 32 shown in FIGS.
Note that the holding device 23 of the cup transfer device 17 is initially at the cup supply position P1, which is the origin, each of the raw material shooters 12, 13, and 14 is at the top dead center, and each of the shutters 12S, 13S, and 14S is Each raw material shooter 12,
It is assumed that the insides of 13 and 14 are vertically divided, and the upper end openings are pressed against the rubber packings 4P, 5P and 6P. Assuming that a customer inserts coins or bills and selects, for example, hot coffee containing sugar and cream, the microcomputer 32 starts a selling operation in accordance with a sales command issued based on the selection.

The microcomputer 32 supplies the cup 1 from the cup supply device 2 to the cup supply position P1 in step S1 simultaneously with the start of the selling operation. Further, the auger motors 4M, 5M, and 4M of the raw material unloading devices (in this case, all the raw material unloading devices 4, 5, and 6) corresponding to the selected powder raw material.
6M is driven for a predetermined time, and each powder raw material is fed into a raw material outlet 4A,
From 5A, 6A, it is sent into the raw material shooters 12, 13, 14 and temporarily held on the shutters 12S, 13S, 14S.

Next, in step S2, the cup holding arm 23
A is opened and closed to hold the supplied cup 1. When the cup 1 is held in this way, while the changeover switch 39 is closed to the a side, the switching elements 36 and 37 are trigger-controlled, the transfer motor 24 is driven to rotate in the normal direction, and the cup holding device 23 is supplied with hot water. Move to position P2. The microcomputer 32 turns on a switch (not shown) of the hot water valve 8 for a short time in step S3 and opens the hot water valve 8 for a short time in the next step S4 to supply a small amount of hot water into the cup 1.

Then, in step S5, the changeover switch 3
9 is switched to the b side, the switching elements 36 and 37 are trigger-controlled, the transfer motor 24 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, and the cup holding device 23 is moved to the cream ingredient supply position P3.
Move up to Cup 1 is cream ingredient supply device P3
Arrives at the next step S6.
Is rotated to lower the raw material shooter 12 to the bottom dead center. Due to this descent, the lower end opening of the raw material shooter 12 enters the cup 1 as shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, and at the same time, the shutter 12S stands upright as described above, whereby the cream raw material held thereon is removed. It is dropped and supplied into the cup 1.

Next, in step S7, the microcomputer 32 switches the changeover switch 39 to the "a" side again, and similarly controls the switching elements 36 and 37 to trigger the transfer motor 24 to rotate in the normal rotation direction. To move the cup holding device 23 to the coffee raw material supply position P4. When the cup 1 arrives at the coffee raw material supply position P4, the gear motor 58 is rotated in step S8 to lower the raw material shooter 13 to the bottom dead center. Due to this descent, the lower end opening of the raw material shooter 13 similarly enters the cup 1, and at the same time, the shutter 13S stands upright as described above, whereby the coffee raw material held thereon falls into the cup 1. Supplied.

Next, in step S9, the microcomputer 32 controls the switching elements 36 and 37 in the same manner while keeping the changeover switch 39 closed to the side "a", and drives the transfer motor 24 to rotate in the normal direction. The cup holding device 23 is moved to the sugar raw material supply position P5. When the cup 1 arrives at the sugar raw material supply position P5, the gear motor 59 is rotated in step S10 to lower the raw material shooter 14 to the bottom dead center. Due to this lowering, the lower end opening of the raw material shooter 14 similarly enters the cup 1, and at the same time, the shutter 14S stands upright as described above, whereby the sugar raw material held thereon falls into the cup 1. Supplied.

Thus, the raw material shooters 12, 13,
When the powder raw material held in 14 is poured into the cup 1,
The lower end opening of the raw material shooters 12, 13, 14 is a cup 1
Therefore, the falling force of the raw material is reduced, and the scattering due to the falling of the raw material can be significantly reduced. On the other hand, the raw material shooters 12, 13 and 14 are moved up to the top dead center again by the gear motors 57, 58 and 59 after arriving at the bottom dead center. Since the inner surfaces of the rubber packings 4P, 5P, 6P of the raw material outlets 4A, 5A, 6A are pressed against each other, dust in the air does not enter and can be maintained in a sanitary manner.

Next, in step S11, the microcomputer 32 controls the switching elements 36 and 37 in the same manner while the changeover switch 39 is closed to the side a, and drives the transfer motor 24 to rotate in the normal direction. The cup holding device 23 is moved to the hot water supply stirring position P2. When the cup 1 arrives at the hot water supply stirring position P2, the process proceeds to step S
The hot water valve 8 is opened at 12 and a required amount of hot water is supplied into the cup 1, and the motors 16 M and 15 M of the stirrer 16 are driven to lower the stirring blade 15 into the cup 1 and rotate to rotate the cup 1. Stir and mix the hot water and raw materials.

When the stirring of the hot water and the raw material powder is completed,
Next, the microcomputer 32 controls the switching elements 36 and 37 in the same manner while keeping the changeover switch 39 closed on the side a in step S13, and
4 is rotated in the normal direction to move the cup holding device 23 to the beverage providing position P6, and the beverage in a cup is provided to the customer as in step S14. When the cup 1 is taken out by the customer, the microcomputer 32 proceeds to step S
At 15, the changeover switch 39 is switched to the b side, the switching elements 36 and 37 are similarly trigger-controlled, and the transfer motor 24 is rotated in the reverse direction to rotate the cup holding device 23.
To the cup supply position P1, which is the origin, and the selling operation ends.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the selling operation is started, the raw material shooters 1
The powder raw material is held and placed in advance in 2, 13, and 14, and when the cup 1 arrives, the powder raw material held is replaced with the cup 1
Since the supply operation is carried out by dropping into the inside, the time from the start of the sales operation to the end of the sales operation can be extremely reduced. This helps customers reduce their waiting time,
Sales efficiency can be improved.

In particular, the raw material shooters 12, 13, and 14 are provided in the raw material unloading devices 4, 5, and 6, respectively, and each of the raw material shooters 12, 13, and 14 holds and supplies the raw material powder into the cup 1, so that the other raw material shooters 12, 13, and 14 are provided. , 14 can be prevented from being mixed into the cup 1 unnecessarily.

[0032]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the control device controls the cup transferring device to sequentially transfer the cups to the respective raw material unloading devices, and temporarily transfers the powder raw material from the raw material sending port onto the shutter. When holding, open the upper end opening with a rubber
Pressed against the Kin joined to the raw material feed port, because the cup is through the lower end opening of the powder material on the shutter in the material carry-out device at the arrival stages sent respectively into the cup, the cup beverage product selected by a customer The inconvenience of mixing unnecessary materials can be reliably prevented. Furthermore, the falling force of the powder raw material is reduced, and the scattering of fine powder due to the drop of the powder raw material can be significantly reduced. In addition, dust in the air does not enter and can be maintained in a sanitary manner. This makes it possible to realize the sale of high-quality cup beverage products.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a raw material shooter provided in a raw material unloading device of a vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of each device provided in the vending machine of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a vending machine control device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a program of a microcomputer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a program of the microcomputer following FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 cup 2 cup supply device 3 hot water tank 4 raw material unloading device 5 raw material unloading device 6 raw material unloading device 4A raw material outlet 5A raw material outlet 6A raw material outlet 12 raw material shooter 13 raw material shooter 14 raw material shooter 12S shutter 13S shutter 14S shutter 17 cup Transfer device 24 Motor 31 Control device 32 Microcomputer 57 Gear motor 60 Operation rod

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A raw material having a raw material delivery port through which a powder raw material is delivered, and a shutter provided therein for temporarily holding the powder raw material from the raw material delivery port via an upper end opening and delivering the powdered raw material to a cup via a lower end opening. Shooter and the upper end opening
Arranged at the raw material outlet for pressing against the raw material outlet
The rubber gasket, made of a plurality of raw material carry-out device housing a different powder material, respectively, and the cup dispenser, a cup transfer device for transferring the cups discharged from the cup dispenser, the material carry-out device and the cup A control device for controlling a transfer device, wherein the control device sequentially transfers the cup to each of the raw material unloading devices by the cup transfer device, and transfers the powder raw material from the raw material sending port onto the shutter. when temporarily held in the
The upper end opening is pressed against the rubber packing and
Joined with the cup type automatic vending machine, characterized in that the respectively transmitted into the cup of powder material on the shutter in the material carry-out device at a stage where the cup has arrived through the lower opening.