JP4501802B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine for carrying out products stored in a product storage rack.

  Vending machines that sell products such as canned beverages, bottled beverages, or plastic bottle beverages are widely known. Such a vending machine incorporates a serpentine-type product storage rack suitable for storing products in containers having a substantially cylindrical shape and high strength.

  The serpentine type product storage rack has a product storage passage provided along the vertical direction, and a bend mech (product delivery section) provided at the lower portion of the product storage passage. The product storage rack stores products that are sequentially thrown in from the bottom by passing the products that are thrown sideways from the top of the product storage passage through the passage and fastening them with a bend mech. Then, the product is carried out (sold) by paying out the product at the lowest position by the bend mech. Further, the Bendmec is provided with a sold-out detection sensor for detecting that the product in the product storage passage is exhausted.

  When a product is clogged inside such a serpentine type product storage rack, for example, a product storage passage or a bend mech, the product storage rack must be removed from the vending machine main body, and then the clogged product must be removed. . For this reason, workability | operativity was bad and it was difficult to eliminate clogging of goods easily. In addition, the work for removing the product storage rack from the vending machine main body is impossible unless the operator is familiar with the vending machine.

  On the other hand, a vending machine has been proposed in which a product storage rack can be pulled out of the vending machine main body without removing the product storage rack from the vending machine main body (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to this vending machine, it is possible to remove a jammed product from the side surface of the product storage rack after the product storage rack is pulled out of the main body of the vending machine.

JP-A-57-90795

  By the way, in a vending machine, electric power must be supplied to the bend mech at the time of sale to the commodity storage rack, and a signal from a sold-out detection sensor must be input. That is, between the vending machine main body side and the product storage rack side, there is connected a cable in which a power line capable of supplying power to the bend mech, a signal line for inputting a signal from the sold-out detection sensor, and the like are connected. However, when the product storage rack can be pulled out of the vending machine main unit, the connection between the bendmech and the vending machine main unit is secured in consideration of the cable routing space according to the drawer of the product storage rack. There is a need to. In particular, it is difficult to use the space at the back or both sides of the product storage rack as a cable routing space because of the desire to store many products.

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention facilitates an operation for removing a product jammed in the product storage rack while securing a cable routing space for connecting the product delivery unit of the product storage rack and the vending machine main body. The purpose is to provide a vending machine that can be used.

In order to achieve the above object, a vending machine according to claim 1 of the present invention is arranged inside a vending machine main body and stores a product storage passage for storing the product, and pays the product from the product storage passage. In a vending machine comprising a product storage rack having a product delivery unit to be taken out, and a shooter that guides the product delivered by the product delivery unit forward and carries it out of the main body of the vending machine, The shooter is integrated with the product storage rack so as to be movable to the outside of the vending machine main body, and electric power is supplied between the product dispensing unit and the vending machine main body when the product storage rack is moved. And a cable for transmitting and receiving signals is arranged in a lower area of the shooter.

  Since the vending machine according to the present invention uses the lower area of the shooter as the cable routing space, it can store many products without providing cable routing space at the back or side of the product storage rack. In addition, it is possible to secure a layout space for connecting the product dispensing unit and the vending machine main body. In addition, by moving the product storage rack to the outside of the vending machine main body, it is possible to easily remove the product jammed in the product storage rack. Furthermore, since the shooter moves integrally with the product storage rack that moves to the pull-out position, the lower area of the shooter is opened, and the maintenance of the parts arranged in this lower area can be easily performed.

  Exemplary embodiments of a vending machine according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is a front view showing a vending machine according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vending machine shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the vending machine shown in FIG. It is a side view.

  The vending machine illustrated here is for selling products such as canned drinks, bottled drinks, or plastic bottle drinks. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the vending machine main body 1 and the outer door 2 are used. And a heat insulating door 3.

  The vending machine body 1 is configured by appropriately combining a plurality of steel plates, and has a rectangular shape with an open front surface. Inside the vending machine main body 1, there is provided a commodity storage 4 as shown in FIG. The commodity storage 4 has a heat insulating structure, and a plurality (three in the present embodiment) of independent storages 4a, 4b, 4c are arranged in parallel.

  The product storage 4 is for storing the product while maintaining the product at a desired temperature, and has an opening on the front surface. A column-shaped product storage rack 6 is disposed above each of the storage boxes 4a, 4b, 4c. Each merchandise storage rack 6 stores the merchandise thrown in from the upper merchandise inlet 6a in the vertical direction, and pays out the lowest merchandise one by one. Below each product storage rack 6, a shooter 7 is provided for transporting products delivered from the product storage rack 6 to the front of the product storage 4. The shooter 7 is provided with a vent hole 7a through which air cooled by a cooling device described later and air heated by a heating device pass. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a duct 8 is provided on the rear side of each commodity storage rack 6. The duct 8 is a conveyance passage for conveying the air in the upper area of the shooter 7 to the lower area of the shooter 7.

  A heat exchanger is disposed in a lower area defined by the shooter 7 in the commodity storage 4. For example, when the storage 4a located on the left side of the front is dedicated to cooling, as shown in FIG. 3, the evaporator 111 of the cooling device, the internal fan 120, and the internal fan motor 121 are used as heat exchangers. Prepare. On the other hand, for example, when the storage 4b located in the center and the storage 4c located on the right side of the front can be switched between cooling and heating, as shown in FIG. In addition to the evaporator 111, the internal fan 120 and the internal fan motor 121, a heater 122 which is a heating device for heating the inside of the product storage 4 is provided.

  A machine room 5 is provided at a position below the commodity storage 4 (4a, 4b, 4c). The machine room 5 is for housing machine parts that are commonly used in the above-described storage boxes 4a, 4b, and 4c. Specifically, components of the cooling device such as the compressor 112, the condenser 113, and the expander 114, the external fan 123, and the external fan motor 124 are disposed. In addition, an electromagnetic valve 115 for selecting the evaporator 111 to be driven is individually provided in the refrigerant supply pipes branched from the expander 114 and reaching the respective evaporators 111 disposed in the respective storages 4a, 4b, 4c. It is provided.

  The cooling device sucks and compresses the refrigerant from the evaporator 111 when the compressor 112 is operated, and sends the compressed refrigerant to the condenser 113. The refrigerant sent to the condenser 113 is radiated and liquefied and reaches the expander 114. In the expander 114, the refrigerant is depressurized and the evaporation temperature and flow rate are controlled to reach the evaporator 111. The refrigerant supplied to the evaporator 111 absorbs heat and is vaporized as heated steam. The air around the evaporator 111 is cooled by the heat absorption of the refrigerant. The refrigerant is sucked from the evaporator 111 to the compressor 112 and returned to circulate.

  Then, by operating the internal fan 120, the cooled air around the evaporator 111 is sent from the lower area of the shooter 7 to the upper area of the shooter 7 through the vent hole 7a. For this reason, the inside of the product storage 4 is cooled, and the product stored in the product storage rack 6 is cooled. Further, by operating the internal fan 120, air in the upper area of the shooter 7 is sent to the lower area of the shooter 7 through the duct 8.

  In the warming device, when the voltage is applied to the heater 122, the heater 122 is heated and the surrounding air is warmed. Then, by operating the internal fan 120, the heated air around the evaporator 111 is sent from the lower region of the shooter 7 to the upper region of the shooter 7 through the vent hole 7a. For this reason, the inside of the product storage 4 is heated, and the product stored in the product storage rack 6 is heated. Further, by operating the internal fan 120, air in the upper area of the shooter 7 is sent to the lower area of the shooter 7 through the duct 8.

  The outer door 2 of the vending machine has a size sufficient to cover the front opening of the vending machine body 1 and is made of a solid steel material. It is supported. As shown in FIG. 1, the outer door 2 has a display window 201, a selection button 202, a coin insertion slot 203, a bill insertion slot 204, a display 205, a coin return slot 206, and a commodity outlet 207 on the front (outer surface) side. Is provided. The display window 201 is a window for allowing the user to visually recognize the product sample 201 a and the lighting plate 201 b arranged inside the outer door 2. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, a coin processor 211, a coin collection box 212, a banknote processor 213, a display door 214, and a main control box 215 are provided on the back surface (inner surface) side of the outer door 2. The display door 214 is for arranging the product sample 201a and the lighting plate 201b.

  The heat insulating door 3 of the vending machine has a size large enough to cover the opening on the front surface of the commodity storage 4 (4a, 4b, 4c) provided in the vending machine main body 1, and is insulated by steel. It is prepared. In the illustrated example, as shown in FIG. 2, the heat insulating door 3 is divided into upper and lower parts 3A and 3B so that each can be opened and closed individually. The heat insulating door 3 (3A, 3B) insulates the inside of the product storage case 4 from the outside by closing the front opening of the product storage case 4 in a sealed state.

  The upper heat insulating door 3 </ b> A is attached to the inner surface side of the outer door 2 and opens and closes together with the outer door 2. The heat insulating door 3 </ b> A closes the upper area of the front opening of the product storage 4 which is the product input port 6 a of the product storage rack 6 when the outer door 2 is closed, and stores the product when the outer door 2 is opened. The upper region of the front opening of the product storage 4 that is the product input port 6a of the rack 6 is opened. When the product inlet 6a of the product storage rack 6 is opened by the heat insulating door 3A, the product can be replenished from the product inlet 6a.

  The lower heat insulating door 3 </ b> B is attached to the vending machine main body 1 side through a hinge and the other end is a single opening that opens and closes with respect to the opening on the front surface of the product storage 4. It is configured as an equation. The heat insulating door 3B closes the lower region of the front opening of the commodity storage 4 when closed (closed state). Moreover, the heat insulation door 3B opens the lower area | region of the front opening of the goods storage 4 at the time of the opening (open door state). Further, the heat insulating door 3B is provided with a product delivery port 3Ba for sending the product carried out by the shooter 7 to the product take-out port 207 of the outer door 2 corresponding to each of the storage boxes 4a, 4b, 4c. When the front opening of the product storage 4 is opened by the heat insulating door 3B, for example, maintenance of the product storage rack 6 or replacement of components in the product storage 4 can be performed. Thus, the heat insulation door 3B opens and closes the front opening of the commodity storage 4 together with the heat insulation door 3A. In addition, in this Embodiment, although the structure which divided | segmented the heat insulation door 3 into the upper and lower heat insulation doors 3A and 3B is made into an example, one heat insulation door 3 which is not divided | segmented into the upper and lower heat insulation doors 3A and 3B is like the heat insulation door 3B. It may be configured as a single-open type and the front opening of the product storage 4 may be opened and closed.

  By the way, in the vending machine mentioned above, the serpentine type thing suitable for accommodation of the goods of a container with a substantially cylindrical shape and high intensity | strength as the goods storage rack 6 is employ | adopted.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the serpentine-type product storage rack 6 includes a top tray 62, a product storage passage 63, and a bend mech (product delivery section) 64 in order from the top between the left and right side plates 61.

  The top tray 62 is a plate-like member disposed so as to be gradually lowered from the front opening of the commodity storage 4 toward the back side, and a plurality of the top trays 62 are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction and are adjacent in the vertical direction. A product slot 6a is defined between the two. And the goods thrown in from the goods insertion port 6a are conveyed from the near side of the top tray 62 to the back side by rolling or sliding on the top tray 62 in a state of lying down.

  The merchandise storage passage 63 is used to deenergize merchandise conveyed from the top tray 62 in a lying position and to store merchandise therein, so that curved segments are opposed to each other on the front side and the back side. Are connected so as to meander along the vertical direction. The upper end side of the product storage passage 63 is a product input side, and the lower end side is a product carry-out side. Therefore, the product conveyed from the top tray 62 does not break / deform the container due to an impact when passing through the product storage passage 63. In the present embodiment, six commodity storage passages 63 are provided in a six-unit configuration from the front side to the rear side of the commodity storage case 4.

  The bend mech 64 controls the sale of merchandise, and is attached to the lower outlet of each merchandise storage passage 63. Then, the product that has passed through the product storage passage and has reached the bottom (dropped) stays at the bend mech, and the next product is stacked on top of it and stored in the product storage passage 63 one after another. . Although not shown in the drawing, the bend mech 64 is composed of a pair of upper and lower pedals, a bend solenoid, and a link mechanism. The lower pedal fastens the product at the lowest position in the product storage passage 63, while paying out the product at the lowest position. The upper pedal keeps the second product from the bottom while paying out the second product. The link mechanism is provided between the bend solenoid and the upper and lower pedals, and transmits the drive of the bend solenoid to the upper and lower pedals. That is, when power is supplied to the bend solenoid, the lower pedal pays out the lowest product, and the upper pedal holds the second product from the bottom, so that one product is paid out. When the supply of power to the bend solenoid stops, the product that has been fastened by the upper pedal is paid out, and the lower pedal fastens the product. Although not shown in the figure, the bend mech 64 is provided with a sold-out detection sensor. The sold-out detection sensor includes, for example, a switch that is turned ON / OFF depending on the presence / absence of a product, and outputs an ON / OFF signal when there is no product to be fastened by the bend mech 64 (that is, when there is no product in the product storage passage 63). The bend mec 64 is provided for each of the six product storage passages 63. In the present embodiment, the two bend mecs 64 are configured so as to be back-to-back between the two product storage passages 63. is there.

  A shooter 7 is integrally provided in the product storage rack 6 having the above-described configuration. That is, the shooter 7 is attached in a form that is supported between the left and right side plates 61 of the commodity storage rack 6. As shown in FIG. 2, the product storage rack 6 has two left storage boxes 4a, one central storage box 4b, and right storage boxes 4a, 4b, 4c. Two are arranged in the storage 4c. On the other hand, one shooter 7 is arranged in each storage 4a, 4b, 4c. For this reason, the shooter 7 is provided integrally with the two product storage racks 6 provided in the storage 4a, and is provided integrally with the one product storage rack 6 provided in the storage 4b. The two product storage racks 6 provided in the storage 4c are provided integrally. In addition, you may comprise the shooter 7 integrally with each goods storage rack 6, respectively.

  Further, the above-described product storage rack 6 is attached to the upper part of the product storage 4 via a rail 65 as a moving mechanism. The rail 65 extends from the back side of the product storage case 4 toward the front opening, and supports the product storage rack 6 so as to be movable along the extending direction. And the goods storage rack 6 moves along the extension direction of the rail 65, the accommodation position accommodated in the inside of the goods storage 4 as shown in FIG. 3, and the goods storage as shown in FIG. From the front opening of 4, it reaches the drawing position where it is pulled out of the commodity storage 4.

  By the way, as described above, the bend mech 64 of the product storage rack 6 is provided with a bend solenoid and a sold-out detection sensor. A power line for supplying power from the vending machine body 1 is connected to the bend solenoid, and a signal line for outputting a sold-out signal to the vending machine body 1 is connected to the sold-out detection sensor. These are routed under the shooter 7 as a single cable 66 as shown in FIG. The cable 66 is connected to the vending machine main body 1 side. In this way, the bend mech 64 and the vending machine main body 1 are connected via the cable 66 that transmits and receives power and signals between them. Further, the cable 66 is arranged in a lower area of the shooter 7 when the commodity storage rack 6 is moved.

  In the vending machine configured as described above, when the commodity storage rack 6 is moved to the storage position as shown in FIG. 3, the cable 66 routed to the lower part of the shooter 7 is routed in the lower area of the shooter 7. . That is, the cable 66 is housed together in a space below the shooter 7 in which the evaporator 111 of the cooling device, the heater 122 of the heating device, the internal fan 120, and the internal fan motor 121 are arranged. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the product storage rack 6 is moved to the drawing position, the shooter 7 is also moved together with the product storage rack 6. For this reason, the cable 66 is pulled out from the space below the stored shooter 7 as the commodity storage rack 6 moves.

  Therefore, the vending machine described above is provided so that the shooter 7 is integrated with the commodity storage rack 6 so as to be movable outside the vending machine main body 1, and the bend mec 64 and the vending machine are moved when the commodity storage rack 6 is moved. A cable 66 for connecting the main body 1 was arranged in a lower area of the shooter 7. For this reason, as the distribution space of the cable 66, the lower area of the shooter 7 in which the evaporator 111 of the cooling device, the heater 122 of the heating device, the internal fan 120, and the internal fan motor 121 are arranged is used. To secure a routing space for connecting the bend mech 64 and the vending machine main body 1 while allowing a large number of products to be stored without providing a routing space for the cable 66 at the back or side of the product storage rack 6. Is possible. Moreover, the operation | work which removes the goods jammed in the goods storage rack 6 can be easily performed by moving the goods storage rack 6 to a drawer position. Furthermore, since the shooter 7 moves integrally with the product storage rack 6 that moves to the drawer position, the lower region of the shooter 7 is opened, and the evaporator 111 of the cooling device and the heater of the heating device disposed in this lower region. Maintenance of 122, the internal fan 120, the internal fan motor 121, etc. can be performed easily.

It is the front view which showed the vending machine concerning this invention. It is a perspective view of the state which opened the inside of the vending machine shown in FIG. It is a cross-sectional side view of the vending machine shown in FIG. It is a cross-sectional side view of the vending machine in a state where the commodity storage rack is moved.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine main body 2 Outer door 4 (4a, 4b, 4c) Goods storage 5 Machine room 6 Goods storage rack 6a Goods insertion slot 61 Left right side plate 62 Top tray 63 Goods storage passage 64 Bendmek (goods delivery part)
65 Rail 66 Cable 7 Shutter 7a Vent 8 Duct 111 Evaporator 112 Compressor 113 Condenser 114 Expander 115 Electromagnetic valve 120 Fan in the chamber 121 Motor for the fan in the chamber 122 Heater

Claims (1)

A product storage rack disposed within the main body of the vending machine and storing a product, a product storage rack having a product delivery section for delivering the product from the product storage passage, and a product delivered by the product delivery section in the guided forward vending machine and a chute that carried to the outside of the vending machine body,
The shooter is integrated with the product storage rack so as to be movable to the outside of the vending machine main body, and electric power is supplied between the product dispensing unit and the vending machine main body when the product storage rack is moved. And a vending machine characterized in that a cable for transmitting and receiving signals is arranged below the shooter.

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