JP5386251B2 - Method of selling pouch food by vending machine and cover member for pouch food - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for selling pouch foods by a vending machine, which can be surely sold one by one even if the pouch food is filled with a jelly beverage or the like, and the pouch used at that time. The present invention relates to a food cover member.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, pouch foods are commercially available that are made by filling a pouch with a stopper having a straw-shaped mouth portion to which a stopper is attached with fluid foods such as fruit juice drinks and jelly. This type of pouch food is in increasing demand and it is desirable to be able to use vending machines. On the other hand, vending machines applied to packed beverages generally store products in a row in a rack, and push the product at the end of the rack by the thickness of one product with a pusher, so that the product is The products are sequentially pushed forward, and the products are carried out one by one from the rack tip.

  However, since the pouch food is relatively flexible and easily deformed, the thickness is not constant and tends to be uneven. Therefore, even if the pouch food at the end of the rack is pushed by the thickness of one pouch by the pusher, the pouch food in front of the pouch is crushed and the pouch food on the rack front side cannot be taken out. was there. In addition, when the pouch food is deformed in the middle of pushing, the pouch food may become unstable and the pouch food may fall down.

  In order to solve the above problem, for example, the following Patent Document 1 includes a pair of product sandwiching plates, an endless transport chain, a product partition pin that partitions back and forth at a predetermined interval, and a drive unit that drives the transport chain. In addition, a product storage / dispensing device for a vending machine is described. And by sandwiching the mouth of the pouch food by a pair of product sandwiching plates, suspending freely in the depth direction, driving the product partition pin by the transport chain, and sequentially pushing the mouth of the pouch food, Pouch foods are paid out one by one.

  In addition, as a technology for keeping a flexible pouch food in a predetermined shape and making it possible to sell it with a vending machine, the following Patent Document 2 includes a pair of halved products formed of a transparent or translucent synthetic resin. It is configured in a cylindrical shape that can be sold with a beverage can vending machine by butting each other so as to be detachable, a plurality of through holes are formed in the peripheral surface, and a pouch food for sale etc. inside The container for sale used for the vending machine in which the packed product of this is accommodated is disclosed.

  Each half product includes a peripheral wall portion having a semicircular cross section and extending a predetermined length, and a pair of half-moon shaped end plate portions fixed to both upper and lower ends of the peripheral wall portion, and one end plate portion has an engagement hole. It is made of a molded product having the same shape in which an engaging tongue piece having a protrusion is extended and an engaging claw is protruded from the other end plate portion. Then, the other half product is assembled upside down with respect to one half product, and the engagement hole of one engagement tongue piece and the other engagement claw are engaged, and the other engagement By engaging the engagement hole of the tongue piece and one of the engagement claws, both the half-cut products are joined.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-228058 Utility Model Registration No. 3147147

  However, the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 requires a structure for hanging and supporting the mouth portion of the pouch food, and requires a mechanism for sequentially pushing the mouth portion, which has the disadvantage that the structure of the vending machine becomes complicated. is there. In addition, since it is a vending machine dedicated to pouch foods, it cannot be sold together with other products such as packed beverages.

  Moreover, in the container for sale of patent document 2, as mentioned above, the other half-divided product is assembled upside down with respect to one half-divided product, and the upper and lower end plate portions of each half-divided product are engaged. There is a problem in workability because the holes and the engaging claws must be engaged respectively. In addition, the container itself is bulky and processing the container after taking out the pouch food becomes difficult. Furthermore, although each half-finished product has the same shape, it has an engagement tongue piece and engagement claw with an engagement hole, and has a relatively complicated shape, so there is a problem in terms of cost. There is.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make a pouch by a vending machine that is relatively simple and can reliably sell pouch foods one by one with a vending machine, is easy to carry without being bulky, and does not leave large unnecessary items. The object is to provide a food sales method and a pouch food cover member.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, products are stored in a row in a product storage rack, the products are transported one by one from one end of the product storage rack, and received by a bucket of the product transport device. In a method of selling pouch food filled with food and drink in a bag-like container having a mouth part with a cap attached by a vending machine configured to convey to a product outlet,
Using a cover member having a front and rear surface connected to the upper part, a frame having a flat bottom surface connecting the lower sides of the front and rear surfaces, and a mouth receiving hole provided in the upper center of the frame,
By attaching the cover member to the pouch food by projecting the mouth part to which the cap is attached from the mouth part accommodation hole,
The pouch foods to which the cover member is attached are stored side by side in the product storage rack of the vending machine, and are discharged one by one from one end of the product storage rack by operation of the vending machine, Provided is a method for selling pouch food by a vending machine, wherein the vending machine conveys the product to the product outlet by a bucket.

Another aspect of the present invention is a cover member that is attached to a pouch food product in order to sell the pouch food product filled with food or drink in a bag-like container having a mouth portion with a cap attached thereto. And
It has a frame having a front and rear surface connected to the upper part and a flat bottom surface connecting the lower sides of the front and rear surfaces, and a mouth receiving hole provided in the upper center of the frame,
A pouch food cover member is provided which is configured to be attached to the pouch food by causing the mouth portion to which the cap is attached to protrude from the mouth accommodating hole.

  According to the present invention, since the cover member is attached to the pouch food, the pouch food can be held in a predetermined shape by holding the pouch food in a predetermined shape, and further supported by the flat bottom surface of the cover member, The pouch food can be kept upright. Since the pouch foods with the cover members are stored side by side in the product storage rack and are delivered one by one from one end of the product storage rack, even pouch foods that are flexible and easily crushed can be reliably delivered one by one. Then, it can be taken out from the product outlet. In this way, the pouch food can be carried out with a simple configuration simply by attaching the cover member to the pouch food, and a special mechanical structure for supporting the pouch food as in the above-described Patent Document 1 is unnecessary. Therefore, the distribution cost of the pouch food can be reduced. Moreover, it can be sold together with other packed drinks by a general vending machine.

  In addition, when attaching the cover member to the pouch food, the pouch food can be easily attached simply by inserting the pouch food from the side of the cover member and causing the mouth portion to protrude from the mouth receiving hole. Can be improved. Furthermore, since the cover member has a simple structure including only the frame body and the opening accommodating hole at the top of the frame body, the cover member is not bulky when it becomes an unnecessary object, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the present invention, the cover member includes a frame having a front and rear surface to which upper portions are connected, and a flat bottom surface that connects lower sides of the front and rear surfaces, and a mouth receiving hole provided in the upper center of the frame. And a slit from one side of the upper portion of the frame to the mouth accommodating hole,
It is preferable that the cover member is attached to the pouch food by inserting a portion located below the cap of the mouth of the pouch food into the mouth accommodating hole through the slit. .

  According to this, since the slit reaching the mouth receiving hole is provided in the frame of the cover member, the part located below the cap of the mouth of the pouch food from the upper side of the frame of the cover member The mouth portion is inserted into the mouth portion accommodation hole and the cover member can be attached to the pouch food by a simple operation of simply pushing it through the slit, and the attachment workability can be further improved.

  In the present invention, the cover member is preferably formed of a transparent plastic sheet. According to this, since the cover member is transparent, it is possible to visually recognize characters and designs applied to the outer surface of the pouch food, and it can be simply stored in the product storage rack of the vending machine. It is no longer necessary to place product samples on the product, and costs can be reduced. In addition, since the cover member is a plastic sheet, the cover member can be held at an appropriate rigidity without being too hard and not too soft.

  In the present invention, the cover member includes a front and rear wall, a bottom wall connecting the lower sides of the front and rear walls, and a top wall connecting the upper sides of the front and rear walls, and a rectangular frame as viewed from the side. Preferably it consists of. According to this, since the cover member has a rectangular frame made up of the front and rear walls, the bottom wall, and the top wall, the front and rear walls are parallel, improving the handleability in the vending machine, and the front and rear walls. Since it can be folded into a flat shape so as to be close to each other, convenience is improved without being bulky when managing and transporting the cover member.

  In the present invention, the mouth receiving hole is formed at the center of the top wall of the cover member, and a concave notch is provided on one side of the top wall. The notch and the mouth It is preferable that the slit is formed between the housing hole.

  According to this, since a concave notch is formed on one side of the top wall, using this notch as a guide, by pushing the cap lower part of the pouch food to the inside of the top wall, The slit can be pushed through and inserted into the mouth receiving hole, and the cover member can be easily attached to the pouch food.

  As described above, the insertion guide is provided with a concave notch for receiving the lower part of the cap of the pouch food, so that insertion can be facilitated even if the gap between the slits is reduced and formed with a predetermined length. And can be securely attached so that the cover member does not come off the pouch food. For this reason, it can prevent that a cover member remove | deviates when it falls to the goods extraction port of a vending machine, and can prevent that the removed cover member accumulates in a goods extraction port.

  According to the present invention, by attaching the cover member to the pouch food, the pouch food can be kept in a predetermined shape and held at a constant thickness, and can be kept upright on the flat bottom surface of the cover member. Therefore, like other packed drinks, it can be reliably carried out one by one from the vending machine and taken out from the product outlet.

  Further, the cover member can be easily mounted simply by inserting the pouch food from the side of the cover member and causing the mouth portion to protrude from the mouth housing hole, and the mounting workability can be improved. Further, since the mouth of the pouch food protrudes from the mouth receiving hole of the cover member, the pouch food can be eaten as it is without removing the cover member, and convenience is improved.

It is a perspective view of the vending machine used for the sales method of the pouch food by the vending machine of this invention. It is a front view of the vending machine. It is a perspective view of the goods carrying-out apparatus of the vending machine. It is a perspective view of the goods storage rack of the vending machine. It is explanatory drawing which shows the carrying-out mechanism of the goods storage rack of the vending machine. It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the cover member for pouch foods of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which attached the cover member to the pouch food. It is a perspective view of the state which folded the cover member. It is a perspective view which shows the state which accommodated the pouch food equipped with the cover member in the goods storage rack. It is a perspective view which shows other embodiment of the cover member for pouch foods of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which attached the cover member to the pouch food. It is a perspective view of the state which folded the cover member. It is a perspective view which shows other embodiment of the cover member for pouch foods of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a vending machine used in the present invention. The vending machine 10 includes a box-shaped main body 11 having a rack storage shelf 11a that is open at the front, and a door 12 that is attached to the main body 11 so as to be openable and closable. The rack storage shelf 11a of the main body 11 stores product storage racks 30 (hereinafter referred to as “rack 30”), which will be described later, in a plurality of rows in the vertical direction and in a plurality of rows in the horizontal direction. Referring also to FIG. 2, a transparent panel 12 a is arranged at a portion corresponding to the rack housing shelf 11 a of the door 12, and the pouch food P (see FIG. 7) housed in the rack 30 can be visually recognized. It has become. Furthermore, a product outlet 12b for taking out the pouch food P is provided below the door 12.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the front of the rack storage shelf 11 a of the main body 11, a product carry-out device 20 (1) that receives the pouch foods P stored in the rack 30 one by one and transports them to the product outlet 12 b. Hereinafter, it is referred to as “unloading device 20”. Referring also to FIG. 3, the carry-out device 20 includes a U-shaped frame 21, a vertical moving table 22 that is installed on both sides of the frame 21 and moves vertically in the vertical direction of the main body 11, A bucket 24 is disposed on the vertical movement table 22 and moves laterally in the left-right direction of the main body 11.

  A wire 22c is stretched on both sides of the frame 21 via a pulley 22b that is rotated by a motor 22a. One end of the wire 21c is connected to both sides of the vertical moving table 22, and the other end is below the frame 21. It is connected to the weight 22d. When the motor 22a above the frame 21 is driven and the wire 22c slides up and down via the pulley 22b, the up-and-down moving table 22 moves up and down.

  On the other hand, the bucket 24 arranged on the up-and-down moving table 22 can be moved in the left-right direction on the up-and-down moving table 22 by a drive mechanism including a motor, a pulley, a belt stretched on the pulley and the like (not shown).

  When an electric signal is sent to the vertical movement table 22 and the bucket 24 through an electric circuit (not shown) by a button operation by the operation unit 12c (see FIG. 2) disposed on the front surface of the door 12, the vertical movement table 22 is While moving in the vertical direction, the bucket 24 is moved in the horizontal direction, and the bucket 24 is arranged in front of a predetermined rack 30.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a lever 38 of a rack 30 to be described later is pushed into the bucket 24, and a lever pushing portion 25 for rotating the gate 39 upward and a belt 34 of the rack 30 to be described later are rotated. The rack drive unit 26 moves the pusher 35 to the front side of the rack.

  The lever pushing portion 25 includes a motor 25b supported by the bracket 25a, a ball screw 25c that extends toward the rear side (rack 30 side) of the bucket 24 and rotates via the motor 25b and a gear (not shown), and the ball screw. A slide plate 25d into which 25c is screwed and a push pin 25e fixed to the slide plate 25d and protruding toward the rack 30 are provided. Further, a connecting gear 27 that meshes with a rack gear 36 of the rack 30 described later is supported on the slide plate 25d. Accordingly, when the motor 25b is driven and the ball screw 25c is rotated, the slide plate 25d slides back and forth as indicated by the arrow F, the push pin 25e protrudes and retracts from the rear surface of the bucket 24, and the connecting gear 27 is attached to the rack. It protrudes to the 30 side.

  On the other hand, the rack drive unit 26 includes a motor 26a, a drive gear 26b rotated by the motor 26a, a first driven gear 26c meshed with the drive gear 26b, and a belt 26d connected to the first driven gear 26c. The second driven gear 26e that is interlocked and the connecting gear 27 that meshes with the second driven gear 26e are provided. Therefore, when the motor 26a rotates, the connecting gear 27 rotates through the drive gear 26b, the first driven gear 26c, the belt 26d, and the second driven gear 26e. The first driven gear 26c is also adapted to interlock with the adjusted conveyor belt 26g between the pulley 26f and the first driven gear 26c. The conveyor belt 26g serves to move the pouch food P extruded from the front end of the rack 30 to the inside of the bucket.

  When the slide plate 25d of the lever pushing portion 25 moves to the rack 30 side and the connecting gear 27 rotated by the rack driving portion 26 protrudes to the rack 30 side, the connecting gear 27 moves to the rack gear 36 of the rack 30. The rack gear 36 is rotated by meshing.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, the rack 30 in which the pouch food P is accommodated extends in a predetermined direction and has a box shape with an upper surface and an open front, and can accommodate a plurality of pouch foods P arranged in a row. ing. The rack 30 in this embodiment has two pouch storage portions 32, 32 defined by a partition plate 31 extending in the longitudinal direction at the center in the width direction, and can store the pouch foods P in two rows. It has become.

  At the center in the width direction of the bottom 33 of the rack 30, a belt 34 is stretched along the longitudinal direction of the rack 30 via a rotation shaft (not shown), and a pusher 35 is attached to the rear end of the belt 34. Is installed. Further, a rack gear 36 is fixed to a rotation shaft on the front opening side of the rack 30, and when the connecting gear 27 that rotates the bucket 24 is engaged with the rack gear 36, the belt 34 rotates and the pusher 35 rotates. Is moved forward to carry out the pouch food P one by one from the rack tip.

  Further, a stopper 37 that swings up and down is provided in front of the bottom 33 of the rack 30. The stopper 37 swings upward to prevent the pouch food P from falling when the rack 30 is not stored in the rack storage shelf 11a of the main body 11, and the rack 30 is stored in the rack storage shelf 11a. And swings downward.

  Further, at the front end of each pouch housing portion 32 of the rack 30, there are a lever 38 biased forward by a biasing means (not shown), and a gate 39 above the lever 38 and rotatable up and down. Is provided. When the pushing pin 25e protrudes from the rear surface of the bucket 24 and the lever 38 is pushed against the urging force of the urging means, the gate 39 rotates upward, and the front opening of the rack 30 opens and the pouch is opened. The food P can be taken out. On the other hand, when the push pin 25e is pulled inward of the bucket portion 24, the lever 38 is pushed forward by the urging means, and the gate 39 rotates downward to close the front opening of the rack 30. It has become.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the pouch food P accommodated in the rack 30 has an elongated straw-like mouth portion 3 to which a cap 5 is screwed, and is made of a material obtained by laminating metal foil on a synthetic resin film. The formed container 1 having flexibility and having a bag shape is filled with food and drink such as a fruit juice drink and a fluid jelly drink. Further, the lower part of the cap 5 of the mouth 3 has a columnar shape that is thinner than the cap 5. In the following description, this portion is referred to as a neck portion 7, and this neck portion 7 means a “portion located below the mouth cap of the pouch food” in the present invention.

  The pouch food P is attached with a pouch food cover member 50 (hereinafter referred to as “cover member 50”) according to the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 6 to 9, the cover member 50 includes a frame body 51 having a front and rear surface to which upper portions are connected, and a flat bottom surface that connects lower sides of the front and rear surfaces, and an upper portion of the frame body 51. It is provided in the center and has a mouth receiving hole 57 for projecting the mouth 3 of the pouch food P.

  The frame body 51 in this embodiment is arranged in parallel with each other at a predetermined distance, and has a rectangular plate-like front wall 52 and rear wall 53, and side sides along the longitudinal direction of the front and rear walls 52, 53. A long plate-shaped bottom wall 54 that connects the lower sides orthogonal to the upper side and the upper side that is orthogonal to the side sides along the longitudinal direction of the front and rear walls 52, 53 are connected to each other, and a long plate-shaped top wall parallel to the bottom wall 54 is connected. And has a rectangular shape when viewed from the side.

  Further, a mouth receiving hole 57 is formed at the center of the top wall 55 of the frame 51. The mouth receiving hole 57 in this embodiment has a substantially elliptical shape, and its long axis is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the top wall 55. A concave notch 58 is formed on one side of the long plate-like top wall 55 (a side perpendicular to the side along the longitudinal direction connected to the front and rear walls 52, 53). . The notch 58 has an arc shape so that the columnar neck 7 of the pouch food P can be received.

  A slit 59 is formed between the notch 58 and the mouth receiving hole 57. In this embodiment, the slit 59 is in the center of the top wall 55 in the width direction and has an elongated groove shape extending linearly along the longitudinal direction, and one end thereof communicates with the center of the bottom of the concave notch 58. The other end communicates with the mouth receiving hole 57.

  Moreover, although the dimension of the opening part accommodation hole 57 of the cover member 50, the notch part 58, and the slit 59 changes also with the magnitude | sizes of the outer diameter of the neck part 7 of the pouch food P to mount | wear, for example, the outer diameter of the neck part 7 Is 11 mm, it is set as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the opening width A on the short axis side of the substantially elliptical mouth receiving hole 57 is preferably 12 to 25 mm, and the opening width A ′ of the notch 58 is 12 to 12 mm. It is preferably 25 mm. Furthermore, the length B of the slit 59 is preferably 8 to 30 mm, and the opening width t of the slit 59 is preferably 1 mm or less. It may be simply cut the top wall 55 or may be adjusted to be 0.01 to 1 mm. Moreover, it is preferable that the opening width A of the mouth receiving hole 57 and the opening width A ′ of the notch 58 are the same.

  As a material of the cover member 50, for example, a plastic sheet such as pet (PET: polyethylene terephthalate), polyethylene, or polypropylene, a thin metal plate, cardboard, or the like can be used. In particular, a plastic sheet that is relatively soft and has an appropriate rigidity is preferable, and a transparent sheet is more preferable. As described above, when the cover member 50 is made of plastic, the cover member 50 can be held at an appropriate rigidity without being too hard and not too soft, and the shape retaining property of the pouch food P can be improved and kept constant. Further, there is an advantage that the pouch food P is easily crushed when eaten. In addition, when the cover member 50 is transparent, characters, symbols, and the like applied to the outer surface of the pouch food P can be visually recognized, and can be accommodated in the rack 30 as they are. That is, since it is not necessary to place a product sample or the like on the front surface of the vending machine 10, the cost can be reduced.

  Further, as described above, the cover member 50 has the front and rear walls 52, 53, the bottom wall 54, and the top wall 55, and is formed of a rectangular frame 51 when viewed from the side. Before covering, the front and rear walls 52 and 53 can be folded so as to be close to each other via the upper and lower sides of the front and rear walls 52 and 53, as shown in FIG. As a result, since the cover member 50 can be made compact without being bulky, convenience in management, transportation, and the like is improved.

  Next, a method for selling pouch food by the vending machine according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “sales method”) and a method for using the cover member according to the present invention using the vending machine 10 and the cover member 50 configured as described above. explain.

  First, the cover member 50 in a folded state as shown in FIG. 8 is assembled into a rectangular frame shape as shown in FIG. Then, the neck portion 7 of the pouch food P is aligned with the concave cutout portion 58, and the lower portion of the pouch food P is aligned with the side opening of the frame 51. In that state, the pouch food P is pushed toward the inside of the cover member 50. Then, the neck 7 passes through the slit 59 having a long and narrow groove, the neck 7 is inserted into the mouth receiving hole 57, the cap 5 of the mouth 3 protrudes from the mouth receiving hole 57, and the pouch. A portion below the neck portion 7 of the food P is inserted and arranged in the frame 51, and the cover member 50 can be attached to the pouch food P as shown in FIG.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the concave notch 58 that can receive the neck 7 is formed separately from the slit 59, and by pushing the neck 7 from the concave notch 58, the slit 59 Since it is configured to be inserted while expanding, it is not necessary to particularly increase the opening width of the slit 59, it can be formed with a small opening width, so that the cover member 50 does not come off from the pouch food P, Can be securely attached. As a result, as will be described later, it is possible to reliably prevent the cover member 50 from being detached from the pouch food P when the pouch food P is carried out to the product outlet 12b of the vending machine 10, and the removed cover member 50 Accumulation at the product outlet 12b can be effectively prevented.

  Further, as described above, the pouch food P is inserted into the cover member 50 from the side opening, pushed through the slit 59, and the mouth 3 is projected from the mouth receiving hole 57 by a simple operation. The cover member 50 can be smoothly and easily attached to the pouch food P. On the other hand, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, a complicated operation is required in which the other half-finished product is turned upside down with respect to one half-finished product and then the engagement hole and the engagement claw are engaged. However, in the present invention, such work is not necessary, so that the workability of mounting the cover member 50 can be improved.

  Then, the pouch foods P to which the cover member 50 is attached are stored in a line in the pouch storage portions 32, 32 of the rack 30 (see FIG. 9). Thereafter, when the rack 30 is housed in a predetermined position of the rack housing shelf 11a of the main body 11, the stopper 37 of the rack 30 swings downward, and the pouch food P is brought into a standby state.

  After setting each rack 30 as described above, the operation unit 12c of the door 12 is instructed to purchase the desired pouch food P. Then, the vertical movement table 22 is moved in the vertical direction so as to coincide with the vertical position of the predetermined rack 30 by a sensor or the like (not shown), and the bucket 24 is moved left and right so as to coincide with the horizontal position of the predetermined rack 30. The bucket 24 is disposed in front of a predetermined rack 30.

  Then, the slide plate 25d of the lever pushing portion 25 of the bucket 24 moves to the rack 30 side, and the pushing pin 25e protrudes from the rear surface of the bucket 24, and the lever 38 of the rack 30 is pushed against the urging force of the urging means. By pushing in, the gate 39 rotates upward and the front opening of the rack 30 opens. At the same time, a connecting gear 27 that is rotated by the rack driving portion 26 of the bucket 24 protrudes toward the rack 30 side. Then, the connecting gear 27 meshes with the rack gear 36 of the rack 30 and rotates the rack gear 36, whereby the belt 34 rotates and the pusher 35 moves forward. Then, the pusher 35 pushes the pouch food P in the rearmost direction, pushes the pouch food P in front of the pouch food P sequentially, and finally pushes out the pouch food P from the front opening (one end) of the rack 30. . At this time, the pusher 35 is controlled to move by the thickness of one pouch food. Then, after the pouch foods P are unloaded one by one from the front opening of the rack 30 and delivered to the bucket 24, the unloading device 20 returns to the initial position, and the pouch food P is returned to the product take-out port 12b. Is transported.

  Thus, according to this sales method, by attaching the cover member 50 to the pouch food P, the outer surface of the pouch food P is covered with the frame body 51 and can be held in a predetermined shape. The food P can be held at a constant thickness, and further, the pouch food P is supported by the flat bottom wall 54 of the cover member 50, and the pouch food P can be maintained in an upright state. Then, as described above, the pouch food P that is flexible and easy to be crushed can be surely received one by one by storing it side by side in the rack 30 of the vending machine 10 and carrying it out one by one from one end of the rack 30. It can be taken out and taken out from the product outlet 12b. As described above, in the present invention, the pouch food P can be reliably carried out one by one by a normal vending machine with a simple configuration in which the cover member 50 is simply attached to the pouch food P. Thus, the special mechanical structure for supporting the pouch food such as hung is not necessary, and the distribution cost of the pouch food P can be reduced.

  10 to 12 show another embodiment of the pouch food cover member of the present invention. Unlike the cover member 50 of the above-described embodiment, the pouch food cover member 50a (hereinafter referred to as “cover member 50a”) is not formed with the concave cutout portion 58, and is formed from the mouth portion accommodation hole 57 to the ceiling wall. The opening width is gradually increased toward one side of 55, and a slit 59a having a substantially C shape is formed.

  Then, the neck portion 7 of the pouch food P is pushed from the side of the cover member 50a and inserted into the mouth receiving hole 57 through the slit 59a, so that the cover member 50a is attached to the pouch food P as shown in FIG. can do.

  In this embodiment, the cover member 50a is provided with the slit 59a having a substantially C shape, so that the pouch food P can be inserted more easily. Similarly to the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the cover member 50a can be folded into a flat shape.

  FIG. 13 shows still another embodiment of the pouch food cover member of the present invention. The pouch food cover member 50b (hereinafter referred to as “cover member 50b”) has front and rear walls 52 and 53 whose upper sides are connected to each other, and a bottom wall 54 that connects the lower sides of the front and rear walls 52 and 53. The frame 51 is substantially triangular when viewed from the side. The front and rear walls 52, 53 are provided with semicircular cutouts, which form the mouth receiving holes 57. The pouch food P can be attached to the pouch food P by inserting the pouch food P slightly obliquely from the side opening of the cover member 50 b and projecting the mouth 3 from the mouth receiving hole 57. it can. In the cover member 50b of this embodiment, since the ceiling wall 55 is unnecessary, it can be made a simpler structure, and the manufacturing cost can be further reduced.

P Pouch Food 1 Container 3 Mouth 5 Cap 7 Neck 10 Vending Machine 11 Main Body 11a Rack Storage Shelf 12 Door 12a Transparent Panel 12b Product Takeout Port 12c Operation Unit 20 Product Unloading Device (Unloading Device)
21 Frame 22 Vertical movement table 22a Motor 22b Pulley 22c Wire 22d Weight 24 Bucket 25 Lever pushing portion 25a Bracket 25b Motor 25c Ball screw 25d Slide plate 25e Pushing pin 26 Rack driving portion 26a Motor 26b Driving gear 26c First driven gear 26d Belt 26e First 2 driven gear 26f pulley 26g conveyor belt 27 connecting gear 30 product storage rack (rack)
31 Partition plate 32 Pouch accommodating portion 33 Bottom portion 34 Belt 35 Pusher 36 Rack gear 37 Stopper 38 Lever 39 Gate 50, 50a, 50b Pouch food cover member (cover member)
51 Frame body 52 Front wall 53 Rear wall 54 Bottom wall 55 Top wall 57 Mouth receiving hole 58 Notch 59, 59a Slit

Claims (10)

A vending machine configured to store products in a row in a product storage rack, carry out products one by one from one end of the product storage rack, receive them with a bucket of a product delivery device, and transport them to a product outlet. In a method of selling pouch food filled with food and drink in a bag-like container having a mouth part with a cap attached by a machine,
Using a cover member having a front and rear surface connected to the upper part, a frame having a flat bottom surface connecting the lower sides of the front and rear surfaces, and a mouth receiving hole provided in the upper center of the frame,
By attaching the cover member to the pouch food by projecting the mouth part to which the cap is attached from the mouth part accommodation hole,
The pouch foods to which the cover member is attached are stored side by side in the product storage rack of the vending machine, and are discharged one by one from one end of the product storage rack by operation of the vending machine, A method for selling pouch food by a vending machine, wherein the product is conveyed to the product outlet by a bucket. The cover member includes a frame having a front and rear surface to which upper portions are connected and a flat bottom surface connecting lower sides of the front and rear surfaces, a mouth receiving hole provided at an upper center of the frame, and the frame And has a slit from one side of the upper part to the mouth receiving hole,
The method for selling pouch food according to claim 1, wherein the cover member is attached to the pouch food by inserting a portion located below the cap of the mouth of the pouch food into the mouth receiving hole through the slit. .   The method for selling pouch food by a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the cover member is formed of a transparent plastic sheet.   2. The cover member includes a front and rear wall, a bottom wall that connects the lower sides of the front and rear walls, and a top wall that connects the upper sides of the front and rear walls and a rectangular frame as viewed from the side. The sales method of the pouch food as described in any one of -3.   The mouth receiving hole is formed in the center of the top wall of the cover member, and a concave notch is provided on one side of the top wall. Between the notch and the mouth receiving hole The method for selling pouch food by a vending machine according to claim 4, wherein the slit is formed in the vending machine. In order to sell pouch food filled with food and drink in a bag-like container having a mouth with a cap, in a vending machine, a cover member to be attached to the pouch food,
It has a frame having a front and rear surface connected to the upper part and a flat bottom surface connecting the lower sides of the front and rear surfaces, and a mouth receiving hole provided in the upper center of the frame,
A cover member for a pouch food, wherein the mouth portion to which the cap is attached is configured to be attached to the pouch food product by projecting from the mouth portion accommodation hole. A frame having a front and rear surface connected to the upper part, and a flat bottom surface connecting the lower sides of the front and rear surfaces, a mouth receiving hole provided in the upper center of the frame, and one side of the upper part of the frame A slit from one side to the mouth receiving hole,
The pouch food according to claim 6, wherein the pouch food is configured to be attached to the pouch food by inserting a portion located below the cap of the mouth of the pouch food into the mouth receiving hole through the slit. Cover member.   The pouch food cover member according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the cover member is formed of a transparent plastic sheet.   The said cover member consists of a rectangular frame when it sees from the side which has a front-and-back wall, a bottom wall which connects the lower side of this front-and-back wall, and a top wall which connects the upper side of this front-and-back wall. The cover member for pouch foods as described in any one of -8.   The mouth receiving hole is formed in the center of the top wall of the cover member, and a concave notch is provided on one side of the top wall. Between the notch and the mouth receiving hole The pouch food cover member according to claim 9, wherein the slit is formed in the pouch food.