JP3700111B2 - Vending machine product passage width adjustment device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vending machine provided with a product storage chamber for storing cylindrical products such as can beverages and bottled beverages in a lying position and storing them, and more particularly to an apparatus for adjusting the longitudinal width of the product delivery passage.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As the adjusting device, a device for moving the adjusting plate arranged in the product carry-out passage back and forth is conventionally known. Hereinafter, this conventional apparatus will be described. First, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which a front door of a vending machine provided with such a product passage width adjusting device is opened. In FIG. 5, in the vending machine main body 1, product storage shelves 2 are arranged in a plurality of rows side by side, and the opening on the front surface of the main body is blocked by the inner door 3 and the outer door 4. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing one row of the product storage shelf 2 in FIG. In the illustrated case, the product storage shelf 2 is composed of two front and rear units 2A and 2B, and a meandering vertical product storage chamber 5 is formed in the front unit 2A by a combination of arc-shaped segments. In addition, similar product storage chambers 5 are formed in the front and rear units 2B in the rear unit 2B, and both sides of each product storage chamber 5 are surrounded by side plates 6 separately for the units 2A and 2B.
[0003]
The product storage chamber 5 has a product discharge passage 7 perpendicular to the lower end, and a cylindrical product (canned beverage, etc.) (not shown) stored in a stacked manner in a lying position in the product storage chamber 5 is disposed in accordance with a sales command. Are dropped and carried out one by one. The product take-out passage 7 is formed between a fixing plate 8 and an adjustment wall 9 which are vertically arranged opposite to each other, and a product take-out mechanism (not shown) is incorporated in the fixing plate 8, while the adjustment plate 9 facing this is as follows. As will be described later, it is configured to advance and retract in the front-rear direction so that the front-rear passage width of the product carry-out passage 7 can be changed according to the diameter of the product.
[0004]
FIG. 7 is a side view of the main part showing the inside of the product storage shelf 2 of FIG. The left side of FIG. 7 is the front side of the vending machine, and the fixing plates 8 of the double product carry-out passages 7 of the unit 2A are installed back to back, and the respective adjustment plates 9 are installed so as to face them. ing. Further, in the unit 2B, the fixing plate 8 and the adjustment plate 9 are installed in the same arrangement as the unit 2A for the first and second product carry-out passages 7 from the front, but the adjustment plate for the third product carry-out passage 7 is provided. 9 is installed in front of it, that is, back-to-back with the adjustment plate 9 of the second product carry-out passage 7, and the fixing plate 8 facing it is installed alone.
[0005]
Here, a large number of cylindrical products 10 such as canned beverages and bottled beverages are laid side by side and stored in each product storage chamber 5, and the lower end portion of this product row is in the product carry-out passage 7 and is a fixed plate. 8 and the adjusting plate 9. On the other hand, the product carry-out mechanism incorporated in the fixed plate 8 has a flapper 11 that protrudes in a stand-by state for sale, and the lowermost product 10 is locked by the flapper 11 to prevent its dropping. Then, when there is a sales instruction, the flapper 11 is moved backward to drop the lowermost product 10 onto the shooter 12, and at the same time, another flapper (not shown) protrudes to lock the second product 10 from the bottom. Since such a product carry-out mechanism is well known, a detailed description of its configuration is omitted.
[0006]
8 is an enlarged side view showing a portion P of FIG. 7 in which two adjustment plates 9 are installed back to back, FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing two adjustment plates 9 in FIG. 8 separately, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state in which two adjusting plates 9 of FIG. In FIG. 9, a rectangular adjustment plate 9 having a height of, for example, about 170 mm and a width of, for example, about 150 mm is made of, for example, a galvanized steel plate having a thickness of 1 mm, and side walls 9a having a height of, for example, 7 mm are provided on the rear side. It is integrally formed so as to be bent at the (anti-product side), and the upper end portion is bent slightly to the back side in a scalloped shape for introducing the product 10. Further, the lower end portion that is gripped when the adjusting plate 9 described later is moved is curled. Further, support pins 13 having a diameter of, for example, 3.5 mm are attached to the upper and lower ends of the side wall 9a by being inserted through holes formed in the side wall 9a so that both ends protrude from the side wall 9a at a vertical interval of, for example, 125 mm. It has been.
[0007]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, a pair of upper and lower slots 14 and 15 are punched and formed on the side plate 6 of the product storage shelf 2 corresponding to the upper and lower support pins 13 of each adjustment plate 9. The adjustment plate 9 is supported by hanging the left and right projecting ends of the upper and lower support pins 13 in the slots 14 and 15. As shown in the drawing, the upper slot 14 is S-shaped and the support pin 13 is positioned at two positions 14a and 14b, and the lower slot 15 is C-shaped and is supported at two positions 15a and 15b. 13 is positioned. Therefore, when the support pin 13 is hooked on one of the positions 14a and 15a, the adjusting plate 9 moves backward to widen the passage width T of the product carry-out passage 7, and corresponds to the large-diameter product 10 (FIG. 7). Moreover, when it is hung on the other position 14b, 15b, it advances, narrows the passage width T, and respond | corresponds to the goods 10 of a small diameter. As shown in FIG. 7, the shooter 12 is inclined downward to the left in FIG. 7 toward a product take-out port (not shown) of the vending machine, and the deepest product carry-out passage 7 is a product carry-out passage in front thereof. Since it is in a higher position, the rearmost (right side) product adjustment plate 9 in FIG. 8 is positioned higher than the front (left side) product adjustment plate 9.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the product storage shelf 2, in order to reduce the required space, it is desirable to arrange the multiple product storage chambers 5 as closely as possible in the front and back, and accordingly, in FIG. The adjusting plate 9 is brought close to the limit at each retracted position, and the gap S between the side walls 9a is set to 0.5 mm, for example. FIG. 10 shows such an approaching state.
[0009]
However, even if the two back-to-back adjustment plates 9 are arranged as close as possible as described above, the side walls 9a are in a state of abutting each other in the past, so that the space between the front and rear adjustment plates 9 is separated by the side walls 9a. The distance D (FIG. 8) cannot be reduced to a size that is twice the height of the side wall 9a and a gap S between them, which is 14.5 (7 × 2 + 0.5) mm or less in the illustrated example. There was a useless space between the back surfaces of the two sets of adjusting plates 9.
Therefore, the present invention aims to save space by reducing the distance between the two sets of adjusting plates arranged back to back as compared with the prior art, and thus to make the vending machine more compact. is there.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has an adjustment plate in a product carry-out passage of a product storage chamber for storing cylindrical products stacked in a horizontal position, and the adjustment plates are formed on left and right side walls that are bent to the back side. A pair of upper and lower support pins attached so that both ends protrude from the side wall are hung and supported by a slot formed in the product storage chamber side plate, and the position of the support pin in the slot is In a product passage width adjusting device of a vending machine that moves forward and backward by being turned over and adjusts the front and rear passage width of the product carry-out passage according to the diameter of the product, the side wall of the adjustment plate is attached to the side wall of the support pin. Notch except for the periphery, when the adjustment plates of the product storage chambers adjacent to each other in the front and back are arranged back to back, the side walls of the adjustment plates are configured to alternately hug each other. A backup pin that is positioned between the upper and lower support pins and that has both ends projecting from the side wall is attached to the side wall of the adjustment plate, and the groove on which the support pin is hung on the side plate corresponding to the backup pin A slot having a width wider than the hole is formed, and both ends of the backup pin of the adjustment plate abutted forward and backward are brought into contact with the edge of the slot having the wide width to support the adjustment plate from the back side. It is what you want to do. Thereby, since the side wall of each adjustment plate can enter the notch part of the other side wall, the front-rear space | interval of an adjustment plate can be reduced compared with the conventional structure which has a side wall mutually abutted.
[0011]
On the other hand , the side wall of the adjustment plate serves to increase the bending rigidity in the front-rear direction of the adjustment plate, in addition to holding the support pins. Therefore, in order to address the reduction of the rigidity that by the cutting away the side walls and is positioned between and below the support pin, both ends on the side wall of the adjusting plate is attached to the backup pins projecting from the side wall Corresponding to the backup pin, a groove having a groove width wider than the groove on which the support pin is hung is formed on the side plate of the product storage shelf, and the groove is widened forward and backward at the edge of the groove. and it is to support the adjustment plate from the back surface is brought into contact with both ends of the backup pins of the adjusting plate having. Thereby, the center part of an adjustment board can be supported from a back surface via a backup pin, and the fall of the rigidity of an adjustment board can be compensated.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is used for the part corresponding to a prior art example, and description is abbreviate | omitted about the substantially same component. First, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing two sets of adjusting plates 9 arranged back to back, separated from each other. In FIG. 3, what is different from the prior art is that a backup pin 16, which is positioned between the upper and lower support pins 13 and protrudes from the side wall 9 a on the side wall of the adjustment plate 9, is attached in the same configuration as the support pin 13. In addition, the side wall 9a is cut out except for the periphery of the support pin 13 and the backup pin 16.
[0013]
The dimension of each part of the adjusting plate 9 is the same as that of the conventional example, and the vertical dimension of the side wall 9a portion left around the support pin 13 and the backup pin 16 is, for example, 20 mm, 16 mm, and 28 mm from the top, and is cut out. The vertical dimension of the portion 17 is, for example, 45 mm and 40 mm from the top. When these two sets of adjusting plates 9 are displaced from each other vertically and close to each other, as shown in FIG. 4, the side walls 9a of the adjusting plates 9 enter the notch 17 of the counterpart. And they will be hugging each other.
[0014]
FIGS. 1 and 2 are side views of the main part of the product storage shelf 2 to which the adjustment plate 9 is mounted. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the front and rear adjustment plates 9 retreat and come closest to each other, and FIG. Shows the state. In FIG. 1, two sets of front and rear adjustment plates 9 are alternately embraced by side walls 9a, and in this state, if the gap between the side wall 9a of one adjustment plate 9 and the back surface of the other adjustment plate 9 is 0.5 mm, for example, The distance D between the front and rear adjustment plates 9 is a dimension obtained by adding the above gap and the thickness of the other adjustment plate 9 to the height of one side wall 9a, which is 8.5 (7 + 0.5 + 1) mm in the illustrated example. Compared to 14.5mm, it can be reduced by 6mm (about 40%).
[0015]
1 and 2, the side plate 6 of the commodity storage shelf 2 is punched and formed with a groove width 18 wider than the groove holes 14 and 15 corresponding to the backup pins 16, and the adjustment plate shown in FIG. Both ends of the backup pin 16 are in contact with the vertical edge of the slot 18 in the retracted position and the adjusting plate advanced position in FIG. As a result, the central portion of the adjustment plate 9 is supported from the back by the side plate 6 of the product storage shelf 2 via the backup pin 16, and resists the pressing force from the product (not shown) that acts on the product guide surface 9b. The reduction in rigidity due to the cutout is compensated.
[0016]
In the embodiment, an example in which the same two sets of adjustment plates 9 are vertically displaced and held together is shown. However, when the front and rear adjustment plates are installed at the same height position, each adjustment plate The height positions of the side walls are shifted from each other and embraced. Further, in the embodiment, the example in which the adjustment plate is advanced and retracted in the front and rear two stages has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the case where the adjustment plate is advanced and retracted by the front and rear three stages or more. Further, although the example in which the side wall of the adjustment plate is integrally bent from the adjustment plate main body has been shown, it can be fixed separately by welding or the like.
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the adjustment plate side walls are cut back except for the periphery of the support pins, and the adjustment plates of the product storage chambers adjacent to each other are arranged back to back, the side walls of the adjustment plates By constructing them so as to embrac each other, the distance between the front and rear adjustment plates can be minimized, and the size of the vending machine can be reduced by reducing the front and rear dimensions of the product storage shelf accordingly. At this time, a backup pin is attached between the upper and lower support pins, and the backup pin is brought into contact with the groove edge of the product storage shelf side plate so that the side wall is cut out. The decrease in rigidity can be compensated.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state in which two sets of front and rear adjustment plates of an apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention are held together.
FIG. 2 is a side view of a state in which the adjustment plate in FIG. 1 is advanced.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where two sets of adjusting plates in FIG. 1 are separated from each other.
4 is a perspective view of a state in which the two sets of adjustment plates of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied with the front door opened.
6 is a perspective view showing one row of product storage shelves in FIG. 5. FIG.
7 is a side view showing a conventional product passage width adjusting device in the product storage shelf of FIG. 6. FIG.
8 is an enlarged view of a portion P in FIG.
9 is a perspective view showing a state in which the two sets of adjustment plates in FIG. 8 are separated from each other. FIG.
10 is a perspective view showing a state where the two sets of adjusting plates in FIG. 9 are brought close to each other. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 Product storage shelf 5 Product storage chamber 6 Side plate 7 Product carry-out passage 8 Fixed plate 9 Adjustment plate 9a Side wall 10 Product 13 Support pin 14 Slot 15 Slot 16 Backup pin 17 Notch 18 Slot T Channel width

Claims (1)

There is an adjustment plate in the product carry-out passage of the product storage room that stores cylindrical products stacked in a lying position, and this adjustment plate is attached to the left and right side walls that bend to the back side so that both ends protrude from this side wall A pair of upper and lower support pins are suspended and supported by a slot formed in the product storage chamber side plate, and the product moves forward and backward by changing the position of the support pin in the slot. In the product passage width adjusting device of the vending machine that adjusts the front and rear passage width of the carry-out passage according to the diameter size of the product,
The side walls of the adjustment plates are cut out except for the periphery of the support pins, and when the adjustment plates of the product storage chambers adjacent to each other are arranged back to back, the side walls of the adjustment plates are staggered. It is constructed so as to hold each other and is positioned between the upper and lower support pins, and attached to the side wall of the adjustment plate are backup pins whose both ends protrude from the side wall, and the side plate corresponding to the backup pin, A slot having a width wider than that of the slot on which the support pin is hung is formed, and both ends of the backup pin of the adjustment plate abutted forward and backward are brought into contact with the edge of the slot having the wide slot. 2. A product passage width adjusting device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting plate is supported from the back side .

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