JP4525819B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

  According to the present invention, a cooling unit or a cooling / heating unit is provided in a cabinet of a main body cabinet serving as a heat insulating casing, and a product is obtained by circulating and blowing cool air or warm air into a product storage through a rear duct connected to the wind tunnel of the unit. Products related to cans, bottled drinks, plastic bottle drinks, etc. stored in storage racks are sold or sold as cold or hot products by cooling or heating them to a suitable temperature, especially for storing products The present invention relates to a mounting structure for a product carry-out shooter that transports a product carried from a rack to a product take-out port.

Vending machines that sell products such as canned beverages, bottled beverages, and plastic bottle beverages store the products in a cold and hot state in the cabinet of the main body cabinet, which is an insulated case, and display on the outer door A plurality of product samples are displayed side by side in the room, and a product selected based on an operation of a product selection button provided corresponding to the product sample is sold. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of a vending machine equipped with a serpentine product storage rack as an example of this type of conventional vending machine.
In FIG. 4, 1 is a main body cabinet of a vending machine that is a heat-insulating housing whose front is open, 2 is an outer door that is supported on the front of the main body cabinet 1 by a hinge so that it can be opened and closed, and 3 is a front surface inside the cabinet of the main body cabinet 1. 4 is a product outlet formed in the outer door 2, and a product storage rack (serpentine product rack) 6 containing products 5 is mounted on the upper part of the main body cabinet 1. Yes. On the bottom side of the inside of the main body cabinet 1 is a product carry-out shooter 7 disposed in a forward tilting posture so as to guide the product 5 carried out and dropped from the product storage rack 6 to the product take-out port 4, and a fan 8 in the cabinet, heat A cooling / heating unit 11 formed by combining an exchanger (evaporator for refrigerator) 9 and a heater (heater) 10 is provided. Further, the back wall of the main body cabinet 1 is provided with a back duct 12 that is connected to the wind tunnel 11a of the cooling / heating unit 11 and rises to the upper part in the cabinet. A condensing unit 13 of a refrigerator including a compressor, a condenser, an outside fan, and the like is disposed in the machine room on the bottom surface of the main body cabinet 1. In addition, the inside where the cooling / heating unit 11 is provided is used as a cold / hot use room. In the case of a cold-only room, the inside fan 8 excluding the heater and the heat exchanger 9 are provided to constitute the cooling unit. To do.

  The product carry-out shooter 7 is made of a processed product of a thin steel plate having a number of ventilation holes punched on the bottom surface thereof, a fixed piece bent downward is provided on the front end side, and the main body of the product carry-out shooter 7 is provided on the rear end. A pair of left and right tongue-shaped claws protruding integrally are provided. The rear duct 12 is obtained by processing a thin steel plate into a U-channel shape. The lower portion of the rear duct 12 is connected to the wind tunnel 11a of the cooling / heating unit 11, and a product carry-out shooter 7 is provided above the duct. A slit groove for locking and holding is perforated. The product carry-out shooter 7 has a rear end side claw portion inserted into a slit groove formed in the rear duct 12 and locked, and a front end side fixing piece is attached to the front edge of the bottom of the cabinet of the main body cabinet 1. Attached to the frame (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the cold operation mode in which the product is cooled and sold in the vending machine configured as described above, the cold air exchanged heat with the cooler 9 is blown forward from the wind tunnel 11a through the internal fan 8, and the product discharge shooter 7 After the inside of the product storage rack 6 is ventilated through the ventilation holes, the product is circulated and returned to the heat exchanger 9 through the rear duct 12 opened at the back of the interior. The accommodated product 5 is kept cold as a cold product at an appropriate sales temperature. In the hot operation mode in which the product is heated and sold, the heater as the heater 10 is energized instead of the heat exchanger 9 and the warm air heated by the heater is circulated and blown into the cabinet to make the product 5 as a hot product. Heat to a suitable sales temperature. In such a configuration, the product 5 that has been unloaded from the product storage rack 6 based on the operation of the product selection button and dropped onto the product carry-out shooter 7 slides or rolls on the product carry-out shooter 7 to the product take-out port 4. Sent out.

JP 2000-57427 A

  By the way, the product carry-out shooter 7 inserts the claw portion protruding from the rear end side into the slit groove of the rear duct 12, and in this case the claw portion is placed in the rear duct so that the claw portion of the product carry-out shooter does not fall out from the slit. It is configured to advance deeply. For this reason, the nail | claw part which advanced into the said back surface duct becomes resistance which interrupts the flow of the circulating airflow in the back surface duct 12. FIG. On the other hand, the claw portion is concentrated in order to increase the mechanical strength of the claw portion because the stress caused by the impact when the product carried and dropped from the product storage rack 6 collides with the product carry-out shooter 7 is concentrated. I must. In order to meet such conflicting demands, in the conventional structure, a pair of left and right claws are formed on the product carry-out shooter 7 so that the stress applied to the claws is dispersed. However, in order to maintain the mechanical strength of the claw portion, the claw portion must be formed to have a certain width. Therefore, the pair of left and right claws protruding from the product carry-out shooter 7 hinder the circulating airflow flowing through the rear duct 12, and there is a problem that the cooling / heating ability of the product is reduced due to insufficient circulating airflow of cold air / warm air. .

In order to solve the above-described problem, it is conceivable to increase the thickness of the product carry-out shooter 7. However, in this case, it is impossible to absorb the drop impact of the product and the cost increases. Further, a claw portion is removed from the product carry-out shooter 7 to provide a reinforcing metal fitting that is made of a separate part from the thin product carry-out shooter 7 and that has a claw portion made of a thicker steel plate than the product carry-out shooter 7. It is conceivable that the reinforcing metal fitting is spot welded to the product carry-out shooter 7 to thereby reduce the width of the claw portion and suppress the adverse effect on the circulating airflow flowing in the rear duct 12. However, in this case, it is necessary to provide a reinforcing bracket made of a separate component from the product carry-out chute 7, which increases the number of components and increases costs, which is not a good idea.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the object thereof is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to maintain the mechanical strength of the claw portion that locks and fixes the product carry-out chute while reducing the circulating air current in the rear duct. An object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of suppressing the influence.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a cooling / heating unit having a product carry-out shooter and a fan in the cabinet on the bottom side of the cabinet of the main body cabinet in which the product storage rack is housed in the cabinet as a heat insulating casing. A vending machine that cools or heats the product by circulating and blowing cool air or warm air into the cabinet through the cooling / heating unit, and is connected to the wind tunnel of the cooling / heating unit on the back wall of the main body cabinet. In the vending machine in which a rear duct that rises upward in the cabinet is installed, and a claw portion formed on the rear end side of the product carry-out shooter is inserted into a slit groove provided in the rear duct and locked. The claw portion of the product carry-out shooter is formed in a three-dimensional shape as a cylindrical portion protruding integrally from the rear end of the product carry-out shooter.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the vending machine according to claim 1, the cylinder part forming the claw part is formed in a substantially concave section.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that, in the vending machine according to claim 1, the cylindrical portion forming the claw portion is formed in a curl shape.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in the vending machine according to claims 1 to 3, the cylinder part forming the claw part is closed.

  According to the vending machine according to claim 1 of the present invention, a cooling / heating unit with a product carry-out shooter and a fan in the cabinet on the bottom side of the cabinet of the main body cabinet in which the product storage rack is housed in the cabinet as a heat insulating casing. A vending machine that cools or heats the product by circulating and blowing cool air or warm air into the cabinet through the cooling / heating unit, and is connected to the wind tunnel of the cooling / heating unit on the back wall of the main body cabinet. In the vending machine in which a rear duct that rises upward in the cabinet is installed, and a claw portion formed on the rear end side of the product carry-out shooter is inserted into a slit groove provided in the rear duct and locked. Since the claw part of the product carry-out shooter is formed into a three-dimensional shape as a cylindrical part that projects integrally from the rear end of the product carry-out shooter, the mechanical strength of the claw part can be increased, The width of the claw portion enters the plane duct it is possible to reduce relative flat claw portion in the conventional structure, it is possible to suppress the adverse effect on the circulating air current flowing in the rear duct.

    In addition, according to the vending machine according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the cylindrical portion forming the claw portion is formed in a substantially concave cross section, the cylindrical portion can be easily manufactured by drawing. .

  Further, according to the vending machine according to claim 3 of the present invention, the cylindrical portion forming the claw portion is formed in a curl shape, so that the circulating airflow flowing in the rear duct is applied to the curled surface of the cylindrical portion. It has the advantage that it can flow smoothly along.

  Further, according to the vending machine according to claim 4 of the present invention, since the cylindrical portion forming the claw portion is closed, the circulating air flow in the rear duct flows along the surface of the cylindrical portion. It is possible to prevent such a problem that the air current stays in the cylindrical portion.

Hereinafter, a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a vending machine according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention in an outer door open state, FIG. 2 shows a main part of Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4B is an exploded perspective view of the shuter and the rear duct, and FIG. The overall configuration of the vending machine is the same as that shown in FIG. 4, and the same components as those shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vending machine according to the present invention comprises a main body cabinet 1 having an open front surface and an outer door 2 supported on the front surface of the main body cabinet 1 by a hinge so as to be opened and closed. The main body cabinet 1 is configured as a heat insulating casing by disposing heat insulating boards made of urethane foam on the inner side of the outer box made of steel plate, that is, on the upper wall, the left and right side walls, the back wall, and the bottom wall 101. The interior of the product storage box surrounded by the heat insulation board of the main body cabinet 1 is partitioned into a plurality of product storage chambers 103, 104, and 105 in the left-right direction by a heat insulation partition plate 102. Each product storage chamber 103, 104, 105 stores a product and a product storage rack 6 having a product delivery mechanism for discharging the products one by one at the lower end thereof (in this example, a product having a meandering product passage called a serpentine type) Each of the storage racks is housed, and a product carry-out chute 70 that is inclined forward and downward is disposed below the product storage rack 6. The front end of the product carry-out chute 70 is screwed to the front edge of the bottom wall 101 of the main body cabinet 1, and the rear end is configured to be locked to the rear duct 12 (see FIG. 4). It will be described later. A decorative frame 106 is attached to the front edge of the bottom wall 101 of the main body cabinet 1, and a gasket is formed on the front surface of the decorative frame 106.

  As is well known, a display room for product samples placed on a display stand is formed on the front surface of the outer door 2, and a transparent plate covering the front surface of the display room is provided corresponding to each product sample. A product selection button unit provided with the selected product selection button is provided. Further, on the front surface of the outer door 2, a coin insertion port and a bill insertion port of the coin processing device 21 and the banknote processing device 22 attached to the back surface of the outer door 2, a change return port of the coin processing device 21, and a product outlet 4, return lever, handle lock device with cylinder lock, etc. are assembled. In this example, the inner door 3 that closes the front surface of the commodity storage in the main body cabinet 1 is divided into upper and lower parts, and the lower inner door is disposed at the lower part of each of the commodity storage chambers 103 to 105 and the commodity discharge shooter. A merchandise carry-out port having a carry-out door 3 a is provided at a position where 70 and the product take-out port 4 are linked. The carry-out door 3a is pivotally supported at its upper end and always closes the product carry-out port to prevent the outflow of cold air or warm air, and is formed so as to be pushed open by the product delivered through the product carry-out shooter 70. Yes.

  In the lower part of the product carry-out shooter 70 arranged in the lower part of the product storage chambers 103 to 105, the products stored in the product storage rack 6 by cooling or heating the product storage chambers 103 to 105 are brought into a cold or hot state. A cooling / heating unit similar to the cooling / heating unit 11 shown in FIG. A lower part of the bottom wall 101 of the main body cabinet 1 is formed as a machine room, and in this machine room, a cooling unit of the cooling / heating unit and a condensing unit 13 of a refrigerator constituting a refrigeration cycle (see FIG. 4) are arranged. It is installed. In FIG. 4, the heater 10 is used as a heater for the cold / hot chamber, but a heat exchanger (evaporator for the refrigerator) 9 may be used as a heating unit instead of the heater 10. In this case, in addition to the circuit constituting the refrigeration cycle of the condensing unit of the refrigerator, the high-temperature refrigerant gas from the compressor is supplied to the heat exchanger via the heat exchanger in the cold / hot chamber. A refrigerant switching circuit that flows to the condenser of the condensing unit is provided, and in the hot operation mode, the heat exchanger is configured to function as a condenser by the refrigerant switching circuit. In addition to the heat exchanger installed in the cold / hot chamber, a heating-only heat exchanger may be installed as a heater.

  Now, a product carry-out shooter 70 made of a processed product of a thin steel plate having a number of ventilation holes punched on the bottom surface thereof is shown in FIG. The product carry-out shooter 70 shown in FIG. 2 is installed in the product storage chamber 104 of FIG. As shown in the figure, the product carry-out shooter 70 is provided with a fixed piece 71 by bending the front end side downward, and at the rear end is provided with a pair of left and right claws 72 protruding integrally from the main body of the product carry-out shooter 70. ing. Here, as can be seen from FIG. 2B, the claw portion 72 is formed in a three-dimensional shape as a cylindrical portion having a substantially concave cross section, and an open portion having a substantially concave cross section faces downward, and the claw portion 72. Drop-off preventing projections 72a and 72a are formed at the tips of the concave leg pieces. A reinforcing rib 73 is provided near the front end of the bottom surface of the product carry-out shooter 70. The guide part 74 formed at the left end of the product carry-out shooter 70 guides the product carried out from the product storage rack 6 toward the product carry-out port of the inner door 3, and the right end of the product carry-out shooter 70. A notch 75 formed on the front side is for passing a pipe between the condensing unit of the refrigerator in the machine room and the heat exchanger in the cabinet.

  On the other hand, a rear duct 12 that rises to the upper part of the interior of the cooling / heating unit 11 and is connected to the wind tunnel 11a (see FIG. 4) is formed into a U channel shape by sheet metal processing, and is formed along the wind tunnel 11a at the lower part. A pair of left and right slit grooves 121, 121 are provided above the formed window 120. The slit grooves 121 and 121 latch and hold a pair of left and right claw portions 72 of the commodity carry-out shooter 70, and the slit grooves 121 and 121 have protrusions 122 and 122 that fit into the recesses of the claw portion 72. Is provided.

  The above-described assembly of the product carry-out shooter 70 is performed as follows. That is, after inserting the claw portion 72 formed on the rear end side of the product carry-out shooter 70 into the slit grooves 121, 121 of the rear duct 12, the fixing piece 71 on the front end side is connected to the front edge of the bottom wall 101 of the main body cabinet 1. The fixing piece 71 is fixed to the bottom wall 101 with a screw. In addition, when inserting the claw part 72 of the product carry-out shooter 70 into the slit grooves 121 and 121 of the rear duct 12, the protrusions 122 and 122 formed in the slit grooves 121 and 121 are fitted in the recesses of the claw part 72. To close the gap between the claw portions 72 (recesses thereof). Since the claw portion 72 of the product carry-out shooter 70 assembled in this way is cylindrical and formed in a three-dimensional shape, the mechanical strength can be increased compared to the conventional flat plate-like claw portion. Thus, the width of the claw portion 72 can be reduced. Therefore, the influence which the nail | claw part 72 which advanced into the back surface duct 12 with respect to the circulating airflow which flows through the inside of the back surface duct 12 can be suppressed.

  Further, the recess of the claw portion 72 of the product carry-out shooter 70 inserted into the slit grooves 121, 121 of the rear duct 12 is closed by the projections 122, 122 formed in the slit grooves 121, 121. It is possible to prevent the circulating airflow flowing in the rear duct 12 from the concave portion of the claw portion 72 from leaking. Furthermore, since the mechanical strength of the claw portion 72 can be increased, it is possible to reduce the product drop impact by reducing the thickness of the product carry-out shooter 70. When the thickness of the product carry-out shooter 70 is reduced, the product carry-out shooter 70 is greatly bent due to the fall of the product, and the claw portion 72 tries to come out of the slit grooves 121 and 121 of the rear duct 12 due to the deflection. Since the drop-off preventing projections 72a and 72a provided on the portion 72 engage with the groove edges of the slit grooves 121 and 121 of the rear duct 12, the product carry-out shooter 70 does not drop off.

  In the above-described first embodiment, the configuration in which the protrusions 122 and 122 are formed in the slit grooves 121 and 121 of the rear duct 12 to close the concave portion of the claw portion 72 of the product carry-out shooter 70 has been described. However, it is not limited to this. For example, a heat insulating material made of urethane foam can be fitted into the concave portion of the claw portion 72.

  Next, FIG. 3 shows a vending machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the claw portion in the commodity carry-out shooter showing the main part of the second embodiment of the present invention. The entire configuration of the vending machine is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. The difference between the invention according to the second embodiment and the invention according to the first embodiment is the shape of the cylindrical portion constituting the claw portion 76 of the product carry-out shooter 70. As shown in FIG. The cylindrical portion constituting the claw portion 76 is curled. Thus, the cylindrical part which comprises the nail | claw part 76 is formed in curl shape, Therefore The circulation airflow which flows through the back duct 12 smoothly follows the curl-shaped surface of the nail | claw part 76 which advanced into the back duct 12. The adverse effect on the circulating airflow caused by the claw 76 that has flowed into the rear duct 12 can be further reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the claw portion 76 of the product carry-out shooter 70 is formed in a curl shape, the slit groove of the rear duct 12 that holds and holds the claw portion 76 is formed in a circular shape. Thus, by making the slit groove of the back duct 12 circular, it is possible to prevent a problem that stress is concentrated at the corners and cracks occur, for example, like a rectangular slit groove. Then, by closing the tip of the claw portion 76 of the product carry-out shooter 70 with a stopper, it is possible to prevent the circulating air current in the back duct 12 from leaking through the hollow claw portion 76. In this case, it is possible to prevent leakage of the circulating air current in the back duct 12 by fitting a heat insulating material made of urethane foam into the curled inside of the claw portion 76 instead of the stopper.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the product carry-out shooter 70 and the internal fan 8 are provided with the cooling / heating unit 11 on the bottom side of the internal cabinet 1 in which the product storage rack 6 is stored in the storage as a heat insulating casing. A vending machine that cools or heats the product by circulating and blowing cool air or warm air into the cabinet through the cooling / heating unit 11, and the wind tunnel 11 a of the cooling / heating unit 11 is placed on the back wall of the main body cabinet 1. A rear duct 12 that rises upward in the cabinet is installed, and a claw portion 72 (76) formed on the rear end side of the commodity carry-out shooter 70 is inserted into a slit groove 121 provided in the rear duct 12. In the vending machine locked and fixed, the claw portion 72 (76) of the product carry-out shooter 70 is a cylindrical portion (substantially concave in cross section, carved out from the rear end of the product carry-out shooter 70). By forming the three-dimensional shape as Jo), it is possible to increase the mechanical strength of the claw portion 70 against the flat plate-like claw portion of the conventional structure. Therefore, the width of the claw portion 70 entering the back duct 12 can be made smaller than that of the flat claw portion in the conventional structure, and adverse effects on the circulating airflow flowing in the back duct 12 can be suppressed.

  In addition, the shape of the cylinder part which comprises the nail | claw part 72 (76) of the said product carrying out shooter 70 is not restricted to the cross-sectional substantially concave shape and curl shape which were described in embodiment, In order to raise the mechanical strength of a nail | claw part. Including a three-dimensional shape.

It is a perspective view of the outside door open state which shows the whole structure of the vending machine which is embodiment of this invention. 1 shows main parts of the vending machine shown in FIG. 1, wherein (a) is an exploded perspective view of a product carry-out shooter and a rear duct, and (b) is an enlarged view of a claw portion of the product carry-out shooter. It is an enlarged view of the nail | claw part of the goods carry-out shooter in the vending machine which is different embodiment of this invention. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the whole structure of the vending machine concerning the implementation object of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body cabinet 2 Outer door 4 Merchandise exit 6 Merchandise storage rack 8 Internal fan 9 Heat exchanger (evaporator)
11 Cooling / heating unit 70 Commodity carry-out shooter 72, 76 Claw portion 72a Drop prevention protrusion 121 Slit groove 122

Claims (4)

A cooling / heating unit with a product carry-out shooter and an internal fan is provided on the bottom side of the main body cabinet that stores the product storage rack in the storage as a heat-insulating housing, and cool air or A vending machine that circulates and blows warm air to cool or heat the product, and a back duct that rises in the cabinet and is connected to the wind tunnel of the cooling / heating unit on the back wall of the main cabinet. In a vending machine in which a claw portion formed on the rear end side of the product carry-out shooter is inserted and locked in a slit groove provided in a rear duct, the claw portion of the product carry-out shooter is integrated from the rear end of the product carry-out shooter A vending machine characterized by being formed into a three-dimensional shape as a cylindrical portion protruding into the box. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder part forming the claw part is formed in a substantially concave cross section. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical portion forming the claw portion is formed in a curl shape. 4. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder part forming the claw part is closed.

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