JP4802374B2 - Cap vending machine for cup type vending machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is installed in a cup-type vending machine that sells various drinks such as syrup drinks and coffee cooked in the machine in cups, and a cap is supplied to and attached to the upper surface of the cup containing drinks after cooking. The present invention relates to a cup supply device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a cup-type vending machine, the cup supply mechanism, beverage canister, beverage extractor (brure), syrup tank, carbonated water carbonater, hot / cold water tank, ice making machine, and cup transport mechanism In the course of the route of holding the cup dispensed from the cup supply mechanism at the time of beverage sales to the cup transport mechanism and transporting it in the machine, the ingredients, hot water / cold water are put in the cup in order, and the beverage is cooked by stirring In addition, cup mixing vending machines that deliver beverage cups to product outlets, and mixing powders and hot water into a mixing ball installed in the machine and stirring them, the beverage prepared here is mixed. There is a mixing ball type cup vending machine that pours and sells from the ball to the cup waiting on the bend stage. It is known.
[0003]
In addition, in the above cup-type vending machine, a large number of caps are stored in the machine in order to prevent the user from spilling beverages when carrying a beverage-containing cup taken out from the product outlet. It is known that a cap storage is equipped and a cap paid out from the cap storage at the time of sale is attached to the upper surface of the cup containing beverage. In this case, the cup mixing vending machine sets a capping point on the transport route for sending the cup containing the beverage after cooking toward the product outlet, and stores it in the cap storage in the machine according to the beverage sales operation. Therefore, a dish-shaped cap (lid) is taken out and supplied to the capping point via a cap shooter so as to cover the upper surface of the beverage cup. Further, in the mixing ball type vending machine, the cap paid out from the cap storage is supplied to the upper surface of the beverage-containing cup placed on the bend stage through a shooter or the like.
[0004]
Next, taking the above-described cup mixing type cup type vending machine as an example, conventional configurations of the vending machine and the cap supply device are shown in FIGS. First, in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), 1 is a cup supply mechanism, 2 is a powder raw material canister, 3 is a hot water tank, 4 is a beverage cooking unit equipped with stirring blades, and 5 is a cup transport mechanism (rectangular coordinate type). 5a is a cup hand equipped in the cup transport mechanism 5, 5b is a cup stage, 6 is a bend stage leading to the product outlet, 7 is a capping mechanism disposed immediately above the cup transport route between the cooking unit 4 and the bend stage 6. , 8 is a cap storage unit, and the cap storage unit 8 and the capping mechanism 7 are combined to form a cap supply device.
[0005]
With such a configuration, the cup 9 dispensed from the cup supply mechanism 1 at the time of beverage sales is held in the cup hand 5a of the cup transport mechanism 5 waiting in the station I on the cup transport route, and then the station II on the transport route. Ingredients are supplied from the canister 2 to the cup 9 and hot water is added at the subsequent station III, and the ingredients in the cup are agitated by the stirring blades provided in the cooking unit 4 to prepare the beverage. When 9 reaches station IV, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 6, a cap 10 paid out from the cap storage portion 8 is attached to the upper surface of the beverage cup 9 via the capping mechanism 7, and then the beverage cup is attached at station V. The product is sent to the bend stage of the product outlet 6.
[0006]
Next, the conventional structure and the cap supply operation of the cap supply device 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the cap storage portion 8 is attached to a cap storage cylinder 11 that loads a large number of caps 10 from the upper surface side and stacks and stores them in the column, and a column outlet end of the cap storage cylinder 11. The cap drop ring 12 for cutting out the caps 10 one by one is combined, and the cap drop ring 12 is operated based on the beverage sales instruction, and the caps 10 cut out one by one from the column of the cup storage cylinder 11 are cap shooters 13. Then, the capping mechanism 7 is supplied. The cap drop ring 12 has the same principle as that of the cup carry-out drop ring disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-168484.
[0007]
Then, when the cooked beverage cup 9 reaches the station IV (see FIG. 5) corresponding to the capping mechanism 7, the cup stage 5b on which the beverage cup 8 is placed rises after the cup transport mechanism 5 is temporarily stopped. Subsequently, the shutter 7a of the capping mechanism 7 is opened and the cap 10 that has been held by the shutter 7a is dropped onto the cup 8, and the cup 8 is raised after the shutter 7a is closed. Press against the lower surface to adhere to the cup 8.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the cap storage cylinder having the conventional structure shown in FIG. 7 is difficult to handle, particularly the workability of a route man who goes around the vending machine at the location to load the cap 10 into the cap storage cylinder 11 is difficult.
That is, the cap storage cylinder 11 provided in the upper part of the vending machine is not provided with a sufficient working space between the open top surface and the ceiling of the vending machine. The caps cannot be loaded in a lump with the caps stacked, and the caps are loaded so that the caps are divided into small portions and dropped into the cup storage tube. For this reason, there is a problem that the loading operation of the cap is troublesome and the loading posture is disturbed when the cap is loaded, thereby causing trouble in the carrying-out operation.
[0009]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to easily carry out a loading operation of a cap to be replenished to the cap storage from the outside, and to perform a switching operation with a single drive motor for discharging the cap and transferring the replenished cap to the sales position. An object of the present invention is to provide a cap supply device having excellent handling and function.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, a beverage manufactured in-machine is placed in a cup and used in a cup-type vending machine for sale, and a cap is supplied to the upper surface of a cooked beverage-containing cup. A cap supply device to be attached, and in the cap storage, a sales column for stacking and storing a large number of caps at the sales position, a cap drop ring for cutting out the caps one by one from the sales column, and a cap row from the outside A pull-out type replenishment column to be loaded, an extruding mechanism that collectively feeds a cap row accommodated in the replenishment column to a sales column, and a drive unit are provided, and the drive unit includes a reversible drive motor, a cap drop A yoke cam consisting of a combination of a yoke and an eccentric cam linked to the slider arm of the ring, and a rotary groove cam linked to the cap push-out mechanism , Composed of a combination of a drive motor output shaft and the eccentric cam and groove cam of the yoke cam, and a clutch that switches the power transmission to the eccentric cam and groove cam side in accordance with the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor are those were, when forward the driving motor, the payout cut one by one the cap from the sales column operating the cap drop ring and reverse the drive motor, pushing plate is the standby position of the extrusion mechanism The caps housed in the replenishment column are pushed out to the sales column all together while maintaining the stacked posture.
[0011]
Thereby, the cap loading operation to the cap storage portion can be easily performed without being restricted by the space in the vending machine. In addition, since the drive unit having the above-described configuration is provided, the cap discharge from the cap drop ring and the transfer operation of the cap row from the replenishment column to the sales column can be performed by normal rotation and reverse rotation of the drive motor.
[0012]
In addition, after the cap row loaded in the replenishment column during the loading operation of the cap is transferred to the sales column, another cap row is additionally replenished to the empty replenishment column, and the sales column is sold at a later beverage sale. If the extrusion mechanism is operated based on the detection signal when the battery becomes empty, the cap can be continuously supplied while preventing the cap from being inadvertently sold out.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the examples shown in FIGS. In the drawings of the embodiment, members corresponding to those in FIGS. 6 and 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
First, the whole structure of the cap supply part 8 is shown to FIG.1 (a)-(c). That is, the cap storage portion 8 defines a sales column 14a for stacking and storing a large number of caps 10 at the sales position in a corner of the cap storage 14 which becomes a box-shaped case, and the cap is placed on the outlet side at the bottom. The drop ring 12 is mounted, and the cap replenishment column 15 and the pushing mechanism 16 are arranged in a row in parallel with the sales column 14 a inside the cap storage 14. Further, the cap drop ring 12 and the pushing mechanism 16 are arranged. The drive unit 17 is configured to be incorporated in the base 14 b of the cap storage 14.
[0014]
Here, as shown in FIG. 1 (c), the replenishment column 15 is a cylindrical container 15a having a hollow structure whose front and rear surfaces are open, and a pair of left and right urged by a return spring at an opening on the front side thereof. A flapper door 15b is provided, and the cylindrical container 15a is mounted and supported so as to be able to be pulled out from the cap storage case 14 via a drawer mechanism 18 including a support arm that rotates in the horizontal direction.
[0015]
Further, the extrusion mechanism 16 has a structure in which a pantograph-type parallel link 16b is combined with a belt-like extrusion plate 16a extending in the vertical direction, and the link plate 16b is operated by the drive unit 17 to move the extrusion plate 16a. It protrudes inward from the rear opening of the replenishment column 15, and the cup row accommodated in the replenishment column is pushed out from behind to the sales column 14a.
[0016]
On the other hand, as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 2, the drive unit 17 includes a reversible drive motor 19, a clutch 20, a rotary groove cam 21 for driving an extrusion mechanism, a cup in which an eccentric cam 22a and a yoke 22b are combined. It is comprised with the assembly with the yoke cam 22 for a drop ring drive. Here, the clutch 20 is a bi-directional clutch composed of three hook wheels 20a, 20b, and 20c that are overlapped with each other in the vertical direction, and the hook wheel 20a is connected to the output shaft 19a of the drive motor 19 as a drive hook wheel. The claw wheels 20b and 20c are respectively connected to the groove cam 21 and the eccentric cam 22a of the yoke cam 22 as driven claw wheels. With this structure, when the drive motor 19 is rotated forward, the ratchet wheels 20a and 20c are engaged with each other, the power of the drive motor 19 is transmitted to the yoke cam 19, and the ratchet wheel 20b is idled. On the other hand, when the drive motor 19 is reversely rotated, the claw wheels 20a and 20b are engaged with each other, and the motor power is transmitted to the groove cam 21, so that the claw wheel 20c is idled.
[0017]
The yoke cam 22 is connected to the cup drop ring 12 as shown in FIG. 3 (a), and a slide arm 12b for operating the cap cutting cam 12a arranged along the inner peripheral surface of the cup drop ring 12 is connected to the yoke 22b. Is engaged. As shown in FIG. 3B, the groove cam 21 is connected to the cap push-out mechanism 16, and a corrugated cam groove in which a roller 16d provided on the operation rod 16c of the link 16b is formed on the peripheral surface of the groove cam 21. 21a is inserted.
[0018]
4 (a) and 4 (b) are actual assembly structures of the drive unit 17 described above. The assembly of the drive unit includes the pressing spring 23 of the clutch 20 in addition to the elements shown in FIG. , An operation position detection switch 24, a stopper 25, and the like are provided.
With such a configuration, when a cap dispensing command is given to the cap storage in accordance with the beverage sales operation of the vending machine and the drive motor 19 of the drive unit 17 is rotated forward, the cap drop ring 12 is activated and shown in FIG. Cut out the caps 10 one by one from the sales column 14a.
[0019]
On the other hand, cap replenishment when the sales column 14a is sold out (empty) is performed according to the following procedure. First, the replenishment column 15 is pulled out from the storage position to the side of the cap storage 14 as indicated by a chain line in FIG. Load it. Subsequently, the replenishment column 15 is stored in the cap storage 14, and when a cap transfer command is given to the drive unit 17 in this state, the drive mortar 19 reverses and the push-out plate 16a of the push-out mechanism 16 advances from the standby position. The cups 10 accommodated in the replenishment column 15 are collectively pushed out to the sales column 14a while maintaining the stacked posture.
[0020]
During the cap loading operation described above, after the cap row loaded in the replenishment column 15 is transferred to the sales column 14a by operating the extrusion mechanism 16, another refill column 15 is additionally replenished to the empty replenishment column 15. In addition, when the sales column 14a is sold out in the subsequent beverage sales, by driving the extrusion mechanism 16 via the drive mechanism 17 with the signal of the cap sold-out switch provided in the sales column 14a, The cap row replenished to the replenishment column 15 can be automatically transferred to the sales column 14a and the cap can be continuously supplied.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, in addition to the cap column, the sales column for stacking and storing a large number of caps at the sales position, and the cap drop ring for cutting out the caps one by one from the sales column, Equipped with a replenishment column for loading a cap row from the outside, and an extrusion mechanism for collectively sending the cap row accommodated in the replenishment column to the sales column, and further, a cap drop ring and a push-out mechanism for discharging and transferring the cap Equipped with a drive unit that operates in accordance with the command, the cap loading work to the cap storage unit at the location of the vending machine can be done easily and easily.
[0022]
The drive unit includes a reversible drive motor, a yoke cam that is a combination of a yoke and an eccentric cam linked to a slider arm of a cap drop ring, a rotary groove cam linked to a cap pushing mechanism, and a drive A combination of a motor output shaft and the eccentric cam and groove cam of the yoke cam, and a clutch that switches the power transmission to the eccentric cam and groove cam side according to the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor. As a result, it is possible to perform the operation of unloading the cap and transferring the cap from the replenishment column to the sales column with a single drive motor, which contributes to the low cost, small size and compactness of the cap supply device.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cap supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a side view, (b) is a plan view, and (c) is a perspective view of a supply column. Fig. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the drive unit in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a connection diagram between the drive unit of Fig. 2 and a cap drop ring and an extrusion mechanism equipped in the cap storage. (A), (b) FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing the connection between the yoke cam of the drive unit and the cup drop ring, and the connection between the groove cam of the drive unit and the pushing mechanism. FIG. 4A is an assembly structure diagram of the drive unit shown in FIG. The side view, (b) is a plan view [Fig. 5] A schematic view of the interior of a cup-type vending machine equipped with a cap supply device, (a) is a front view, (b) is a plan view [Fig. 6]. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cap supply device in FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional structure of a cap supply cylinder in FIG.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cup supply mechanism 2 Raw material canister 4 Cooking part 5 Cup conveyance mechanism 6 Product outlet 7 Capping mechanism 8 Cup storage part 9 Cup 10 Cap 12 Cap drop ring 14 Cap storage 14a Sales column 15 Supply column 16 Extrusion mechanism 16a Extrusion plate 17 Drive unit 19 Drive motor 20 Clutch 21 Groove cam 22 Yoke cam 22a Eccentric cam 22b Yoke

Claims (1)

This is a cap supply device that is installed in a cup-type vending machine that sells beverages manufactured in the machine for sale by supplying them to the upper surface of a cup containing beverages that have been cooked. , A sales column for stacking and storing a large number of caps at the sales position, a cap drop ring for cutting out the caps one by one from the sales column, a drawer-type supply column for loading the cap row from the outside, and the supply column Equipped with an extruding mechanism that feeds the cap rows collectively to the sales column and a drive unit , the drive unit comprising a combination of a reversible drive motor, a yoke linked to the slider arm of the cap drop ring, and an eccentric cam A yoke cam, a rotary groove cam linked to the cap push-out mechanism, an output shaft of the drive motor and the yoke cam Cam, is interposed between the grooved cam, and the forward rotation of the driving motor, the eccentric cam power transmission in accordance with the reverse rotation is obtained by a combination of a clutch for switching the groove cam side, forward the drive motor Then, the cap drop ring is actuated to cut out the caps from the sales column one by one, and when the drive motor is reversed, the push-out plate of the push-out mechanism moves forward from the standby position and is stored in the supply column. A cap supply device for a cup-type vending machine, wherein the caps are pushed out into the sales column all together while maintaining a stacked posture.

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