JP7489429B2 - Item supply device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an item supply device capable of supplying items.

Regarding the above-mentioned product supply device, Patent Document 1 below discloses a vending machine that can eject capsule products stored in a product storage space from a product ejection outlet by turning a handle to rotate a drum after inserting a coin.

In the case of goods supply devices including the vending machines mentioned above, when the goods storage space is composed of a space surrounded by at least a front wall, a rear wall, a left wall, a right wall, and a bottom wall, the front wall and the front part of the left wall and the front part of the right wall are often configured to form part of the outer wall of the goods supply device and to be see-through, allowing consumers to see the stored goods from the outside. In addition, there are also some where the outer surface of the front wall is configured to be a curved line in vertical cross section in order to increase the number of goods that can be stored or for design purposes (see Figures 1 and 4 of Patent Document 1).

However, since the goods supply device is installed inside or outside a store, as well as in a designated space within a building, if the outer surface of the front wall forms a curved line in vertical section as described above, the angle of reflection when sunlight or lighting is irradiated onto the outer surface of the front wall is not uniform in the vertical direction, and there is a concern that the reflected light from the outer surface of the front wall will cause problems and make it difficult to see the stored goods from outside, regardless of the consumer's eye height.

JP 2006-178612 A

The main objective of the present invention is to provide an item supplying device that improves visibility of stored items from the outside.

An item supplying device according to one aspect of the present invention is an item supplying device capable of supplying items stored in an item storage space, the item storage space being a space surrounded by at least a front wall, a rear wall, a left wall, a right wall and a bottom wall, the front wall, the front portion of the left wall and the front portion of the right wall being configured to form part of the outer wall of the item supplying device and to be see-through, the outer surface of the boundary portion between the front wall and the left wall and the outer surface of the boundary portion between the front wall and the right wall being curved lines in their respective cross sections, and the outer surface of the front wall, the outer surface of the front portion of the left wall and the outer surface of the front portion of the right wall being straight lines parallel to each other in their respective longitudinal sections.

The item supply device according to the present invention can improve the visibility of stored items from the outside.

FIG. 1A is a front view of an article supplying device to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 1B is a left side view of the same article supplying device, and FIG. 1C is a top view of the same article supplying device. Figure 2(A) is a front view corresponding to Figure 1(A) and showing the state in which the front door of the article supply device is open, Figure 2(B) is a top view corresponding to Figure 1(C) and showing the state in which the top plate portion of the article supply device has been removed (components placed on the container are omitted), and Figure 2(C) is a top view showing the state after the container has been removed to the outside from Figure 2(B). 3A to 3C are explanatory diagrams of the parts constituting the container and the assembly method. 4A is a left side view of a container of the article supplying device (components disposed in the container are omitted), FIG. 4B is a top view of the container, and FIG. 4C is a bottom view of the container. Figure 5 (A) is an enlarged top view of the item distribution section of the item supply device, Figure 5 (B) is an enlarged left side view of the same item distribution section, Figure 5 (C) is a partially enlarged vertical cross-sectional view showing the state in which the same item distribution section is placed in a container, and Figure 5 (D) is an explanatory diagram of a modified example of the same item distribution section. Figure 6(A) is an enlarged top view showing the state in which the induction section, first regulating section, second regulating section, stirring section and sold-out detection lever are arranged in the container shown in Figure 4(B), and Figure 6(B) is a partial view showing the state of the stirring section shown in Figure 6(A) as seen from the side. Figure 7(A) is a top view showing the container shown in Figure 6(A) with a sliding part further arranged thereon, and Figure 7(B) is a left side view corresponding to Figure 4(A) showing the sliding part shown in Figure 7(A) as viewed from the left side.

For the sake of convenience, in the following explanation, the near side of Figure 1(A) will be referred to as "front," the far side as "rear," the right side as "left," the left side as "right," the top side as "up," and the bottom side as "bottom," and the directions in the other figures will be referred to in a similar manner.

First, the overall configuration of an item supplying device 10 to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Note that in this description, for convenience, some reference numerals of a container 19 described below will be used, but the specific configuration of the container 19 and the parts arranged in the container 19 will be described in detail later.

The item supply device 10 mainly comprises a device body 11, a top plate 12, an opening/closing door 13, and a container 19.

<<Device body 11>>
The device body 11 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped appearance with a front wall 11a, a rear wall 11b, a left wall 11c, a right wall 11d, an upper wall 11e, and a lower wall 11f (see Figs. 1B, 2B, and 2C). At the lower end of the front surface of the front wall 11a, there is a protruding portion 11a1 with the same external shape as the front end portion of the container 19, so that the bottom view of the device body 11 is substantially the same as the top view of the top plate 12 (see Figs. 1B, 1C, and 2C). In other words, the bottom view and the top view of the article supply device 10 are substantially the same. In addition, above the left side of the protrusion 11a1, there is a continuous protrusion 11a2 that surrounds the lower part of the outlet 17, and the left-right dimension of this protrusion 11a2 is approximately 1/2 the left-right dimension of the front wall portion 11a (see Figures 1(A), 2(A) and 2(C)).

The device body 11 has an upper portion of the front wall 11a, a front portion of the left wall 11c, a front portion of the right wall 11d, and a front portion of the top wall 11e cut away, so that there is an opening (reference number omitted) at the top front of the device body 11 for loading and unloading the container 19 from the front of the item supply device 10 (see Figures 1(B) and 2(C)).

When the container 19 (see FIG. 4) is attached to the article supply device 10 (device body 11) through the opening, the front end of the left wall 11c, the front end of the right wall 11d, and the front end of the upper wall 11e of the device body 11 abut against the left and right step portions 19f that are provided at approximately the center of the front-rear direction of the left and right sides of the container 19 and have an inverted L shape when viewed from the rear, and function as positioning portions 11c1, 11d1, and 11e1 that determine the attachment position (see FIG. 2(B) and FIG. 2(C)). Of course, in order to prevent each step portion 19f from abutting against the front end (positioning portion 11e1) of the upper wall portion 11e in the attached state, for example, a recess may be provided in the front end (positioning portion 11e1) of the upper wall portion 11e so that each step portion 19f abuts only against the front end (positioning portion 11c1) of the left wall portion 11c and the front end (positioning portion 11d1) of the right wall portion 11d.

Incidentally, in the illustrated example of the item supply device 10, for design reasons, the lower part of the front end (positioning portion 11c1) of the left wall portion 11c of the device body 11 and the lower part of the front end (positioning portion 11d1) of the right wall portion 11d are each provided with the same rounded shape (see Figures 1(B) and 2(C)), and similar rounded shapes are also provided in each step portion 19f of the container 19 (see Figure 4).

As can be seen from Figures 1(A) and 1(B), after installation, the front wall 19a, the front portion 19c1 of the left wall 19c, and the front portion 19d1 of the right wall 19d of the container 19 (see Figure 4) form part of the outer wall of the item supply device 10 (device body 11). In addition, the front wall 19a, the front portion 19c1 of the left wall 19c, and the front portion 19d1 of the right wall 19d of the container are each see-through, so consumers can see the items AR (see Figure 7) stored in the container 19 from the outside. Incidentally, in addition to being pulled out from the installed state, the container 19 can also be removed from the item supply device 10 (device body 11) to the outside.

The left wall 11c and the right wall 11d of the device body 11 are provided with guides 11c2 and 11d2 that are rectangular in front view and are positioned above the left and right ends of the upper surface of the front wall 11a (see Figs. 1(A), 1(B), 2(A) and 2(C)). The front ends of the guides 11c2 and 11d2 protrude forward from the front surface of the front wall 11a, and the front end faces of each are approximately flush with the front surface of the opening and closing door 13 in the closed state (see Figs. 1(B) and 2(C)).

In addition, the right surface of guide portion 11c1 protrudes rightward beyond the inner surface of left wall portion 11c, and the left surface of guide portion 11d1 protrudes leftward beyond the inner surface of right wall portion 11d, and the upper surfaces of each protruding portion serve as front-to-rear guide surfaces 11c3 and 11d3 that support the lower end of rear portion 19c2 of left wall portion 19c and the lower end of rear portion 19d2 of right wall portion 19d of container 19 when container 19 is inserted and removed (see Figures 2(C) and 4).

Furthermore, on the front surface of the front wall portion 11a of the device body 11, there are provided an engagement portion 13c1 corresponding to the lock portion 13c of the opening and closing door 13, a rotatable operation portion 14 for supplying items, a coin insertion portion 15, a return button 16 for returning inserted coins, an outlet 17 having a rectangular shape when viewed from the front for removing an item AR to the outside, and a movable shutter portion 18 arranged inside the outlet 17 (see FIG. 2(A)).

An operating shaft 14a is connected to the operating section 14, and the rear end of the operating shaft 14a is connected to a gear mechanism 14b (e.g., composed of multiple spur gears) provided on the inner surface of the rear wall section 11b (see FIG. 2(C)). The top gear of this gear mechanism can be engaged with the gear section 20g of the item distribution section 20 (see FIGS. 5 to 7) of the attached container 19 through the opening 19h6.

Although not shown in the figure, the operating unit 14 can be operated (rotated) on the condition that a specified amount of coins have been inserted into the coin insertion unit 15, i.e., based on the payment of a price. Specifically, when the price has not been paid, the operating unit 14 cannot be operated (rotated) by a locking mechanism (not shown) using a solenoid-driven lock lever or the like, and is configured so that the locking mechanism is released and the operating unit 14 can be operated (rotated) based on the payment of a price.

A supply passage 17a (see Figures 2C and 4) is provided behind the outlet 17 to guide the items AR dispensed from the supply port 19h5 of the container 19 to the outlet 17. In the illustrated example of the item supply device 10, the supply passage 17a is shown as a box-shaped passage with an inclined plate 17b built in, but the supply passage may be a bent or curved cylindrical passage or a groove-shaped passage as long as it can guide the items AR dispensed from the supply port 19h5 of the container 19 to the outlet 17.

Although not shown in the figure, in the illustrated example of the goods supply device 10, when the goods AR dispensed from the supply port 19h5 of the container 19 pass through the supply passage 17a, this can be detected by a reflective or transmissive optical sensor. In other words, it is possible to count the supply based on the detection signal of the optical sensor and manage the remaining number of goods AR, and it is also possible to visually notify the consumer that there is a supply by lighting or blinking a light-emitting element such as an LED separately provided on the front door 13, etc., only when there is a supply.

<<Tabletop section 12>>
The top plate 12 has a flat upper surface with a constant thickness, and is detachably provided on the upper surface of the upper wall 11e of the device body 11. Although not shown, the upper surface of the upper wall 11e has at least two positioning recesses, and the lower surface of the top plate 12 has at least two positioning protrusions that can be inserted into the recesses. In addition, in order to fix the top plate 12 to the upper surface of the upper wall 11e with screws, at least two screw holes are provided on the upper surface of the upper wall 11e, and at least two corresponding screw insertion holes are provided in the top plate 12. The screw holes and screw insertion holes may be formed in the centers of the positioning recesses and protrusions described above.

In addition, a groove 12a is provided in the left-right direction at the front of the top surface of the top plate 12. This groove 12a is intended for removably inserting and positioning an introductory panel or other promotional panel that contains explanatory text and images relating to the items AR that can be supplied by the item supply device 10.

The reason why the top plate portion 12 has a constant thickness and a flat upper surface is to make the top plate 12 easier to handle and to reduce the maximum vertical dimension of the article supplying device 10. In addition, the reason why the top plate portion 12 is removable is so that another article supplying device 10 can be stacked and installed on the upper surface of the upper wall portion 11e of the device main body 11 after the top plate portion 12 is removed. Incidentally, another article supplying device 10 stacked on the upper surface of the upper wall portion 11e of the device main body 11 is connected to the lower article supplying device 10 (without the top plate portion 12) using an appropriate connector.

Regarding stacking of item supply devices 10, when the top plate portion 12 of the illustrated item supply device 10 is removed, the front portion of the container 19 is open when viewed from above (see FIG. 2(B)). However, when another item supply device 10 is stacked, the open portion of the container 19 is blocked by the underside of the lower wall portion 11f and the protruding portion 11a1 of the device body 11 of the other item supply device 10, so no separate part dedicated to blocking is required.

{Opening and closing door 12}
At the left and right ends of the top surface of the opening/closing door 13, there are notches 13a1 that receive the front end protruding portions of each guide portion 11c2 and 11d2 of the device body 11, and on the left side of the bottom surface there is a notch 13a2 that surrounds the protruding portion 11a2 of the front wall portion 11a of the device body 11 and the upper part of the removal opening 17, and at the lower right side of the front surface there is a protruding portion 13a3 that is approximately symmetrical to the protruding portion 11a2 of the front wall portion 11a of the device body 11 when viewed from above (see Figures 1(A), 2(A) and 2(C)).

The opening and closing door 13 is supported rotatably by a shaft 13b1 provided on the front end protruding portion of the left guide portion 11d1 and the protruding portion 11a2 at a portion (axial support portion) 13b between the front end protruding portion of the left guide portion 11d1 and the protruding portion 11a2, allowing it to rotate in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction when viewed from above (see FIG. 2(A)).

The door 13 is also provided with a locking section 13 for locking the door 13 in a closed state, and has exposure holes 13d, 13e, and 13f for exposing the operation section 14, coin insertion section 15, and return button 16 to the front of the door 13 in the closed state (see Figures 1(A) and 2(A)).

Furthermore, the upper end of the inner surface of the opening and closing door 13 in the closed state abuts against the stopper portion 19g of the container 19 in the attached state, and functions as a withdrawal prevention portion (reference numeral omitted) that prevents the container 19 from being withdrawn (see Figs. 1(A), 1(B) and 2(A)). In other words, the container 19 in the attached state can only be withdrawn if the front door 13 is open, and therefore cannot be withdrawn when the front door 13 is closed.

Next, the components constituting the container 19 and the assembly method will be described with reference to FIG. 3, and then the specific configuration of the container 19 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. Note that 19A and 19B used in FIG. 3 are reference numerals indicating the components constituting the container 19, and are different from the reference numerals 19a and 19b used in FIG. 4.

<<Components and assembly method of container 19, see FIG. 3>>
The container 19 is composed of a first part 19A and a second part 19B. The first part 19A is an opaque part and has a rear wall 19A1, a left wall 19A2, a right wall 19A3, and a bottom wall 19A4. The front-rear dimension of the bottom wall 19A4 is larger than the front-rear dimensions of the left wall 19A2 and the right wall 19A3. In addition, flanges 19A21 and 19A31 that protrude outward in the left-right direction are provided at the front ends of the left wall 19A2 and the right wall 19A3, and the left-right dimension of the front part of the bottom wall 19A4 is the same as the left-right distance between the left surface of the flange 19A21 of the left wall 19A2 and the right surface of the flange 19A31 of the right wall 19A3.

The second part 19B is a transparent or nearly transparent translucent part, and has a front wall 19B1, a left wall 19B2, and a right wall 19B3. The vertical dimensions of the front wall 19B1, the left wall 19B2, and the right wall 19B3 are larger than the vertical dimensions of the rear wall 19A1, the left wall 19A2, and the right wall 19A3 of the first part 19A, and the horizontal distance between the inner surface of the left wall 19B2 and the inner surface of the right wall 19B3 is the same as the horizontal distance between the left surface of the flange 19A21 of the left wall 19A2 of the first part 19A and the right surface of the flange 19A31 of the right wall 19A3. In addition, protrusions 19B21 and 19B31 that protrude inward in the left-right direction are provided at the rear ends of the upper surfaces of the left wall 19B2 and the right wall 19B3, and the left-right dimension of each protrusion 19B21 and 19B31 is the same as the sum of the thickness of the left wall 19A2 of the first part 19A and the left-right dimension of the flange 19A21 and the sum of the thickness of the right wall 19A3 and the left-right dimension of the flange 19A31.

When assembling the container 19 using the first part 19A and the second part 19B described above, the inner surface of the front wall 19B1 of the second part 19B is abutted against the front surface of the front portion of the bottom wall 19A4 of the first part 19A, and the bottom surfaces of the protrusions 19B21 and 19B31 of the second part 19B are positioned above the flanges 19A21 and 19A31 of the first part 19A. Then, the protrusions 19B21 and 19B31 of the second part 19B are connected to the flanges 19A21 and 19A31 of the first part 19A.

The above connection is preferably achieved by inserting a screw into a screw insertion hole provided in the projections 19B21 and 19B31 of the second part 19B and screwing it into a screw hole provided in the flanges 19A21 and 19A31 of the first part 19A. Of course, it is also possible to use a method in which the lower surface of the projections 19B21 and 19B31 of the second part 19B is joined to the upper surface of the flanges 19A21 and 19A31 of the first part 19A using an adhesive, or a method in which the contact portion of the second part 19B with the first part 19A is joined using an adhesive, and these methods can be used in combination with the above screw fastening.

After assembly, the container 19 has a space enclosed by the rear wall 19A1, left wall 19A2, right wall 19A3, and bottom wall 19A4 of the first part 19A, and the front wall 19B1, left wall 19B2, and right wall 19B3 of the second part 19B, which serves as an item storage space (reference number omitted).

Specific configuration of container 19: see FIG. 4
The container 19 has a front wall 19a, a rear wall 19b, a left wall 19c, a right wall 19d, and a bottom wall 19e, and is box-shaped with an open top, and has a rectangular parallelepiped appearance. That is, the internal space of the container 19 surrounded by the five walls 19a to 19e serves as an item storage space (reference numerals omitted).

The front wall 19a of the container 19, the front portion 19c1 of the left wall 19c, and the front portion 19d1 of the right wall 19d are configured to form part of the outer wall of the item supply device 10 and are see-through (transparent or semi-transparent that is close to transparent), while the rear portion 19c2 of the left wall 19c, the rear portion 19d2 of the right wall 19d, the rear wall 19b, and the bottom wall 19e are configured to be opaque (regardless of whether they are achromatic or chromatic).

Also, at approximately the center in the front-to-rear direction of the left surface of the left wall portion 19c and the right surface of the right wall portion 19d of the container 19, there are left and right step portions 19f that form an inverted L shape when viewed from the rear, and the upper end portions of the step portions 19f are located at the front ends of the upper surfaces of the rear portion 19c2 of the left wall portion 19c and the rear portion 19d2 of the right wall portion 19d. Due to the presence of these step portions 19f, the left-to-right dimension of the front portion 19e1 of the lower wall portion 19e is larger than the left-to-right dimension of the rear portion 19e2. In addition, the lower portion of each step portion 19f is provided with a roundness of the same shape as the lower portion of the front end (positioning portion 11c1) of the left wall portion 11c of the device main body 11 and the lower portion of the front end (positioning portion 11d1) of the right wall portion 11d described above.

Furthermore, the front surface of the front wall 19a of the container 19, the left surface of the front portion 19c1 of the left wall 19c, and the right surface of the front portion 19d1 of the right wall 19d are configured to be parallel lines in their respective longitudinal sections, and the outer surface of the boundary portion 19a1 between the front wall 19a and the left wall 19c, and the outer surface of the boundary portion 19a2 between the front wall 19a and the right wall 19d are configured to be parallel lines in their respective longitudinal sections. In addition, the front surface of the front wall 19a and each of the boundary portions 19a1 and 19a2 are configured to be curved lines in their respective transverse sections.

Furthermore, a bottomed tubular portion 19h that is circular when viewed from below is provided at the rear portion of the bottom wall portion 19a of the container 19 to form a placement recess 19h1 for the item distribution section 20 on the upper surface of the bottom wall portion 19a, and the left-right dimension of the inner shape of the placement recess 19h1 matches the left-right dimension of the upper surface of the rear portion of the bottom wall portion 19a. In addition, the bottomed tubular portion 19h has a protruding portion 19h2 that protrudes downward from the lower surface of the rear portion 19e2 of the bottom wall portion 19e, and the left-right dimension of the outer shape of the protruding portion 19h2 is slightly smaller than the left-right dimension of the rear portion of the lower surface of the bottom wall portion 19e.

In more detail, the difference between the left-right dimension of the outer shape of the protruding portion 19h2 of the bottomed tubular portion 19h of the container 19 and the left-right dimension of the bottom surface of the rear portion 19e2 of the bottom wall portion 19e is equal to the sum of the thickness of the rear portion 19c2 of the left wall portion 19c of the container 19 and the thickness of the rear portion of the right wall portion. To achieve this, each of the left and right portions of the protruding portion 19h2 of the bottomed tubular portion 19h is provided with a flat surface 19h3 that is parallel to the left surface of the rear portion 19c2 of the left wall portion 19c of the container 19 and the right surface of the rear portion 19d2 of the right wall portion 19d.

Furthermore, a shaft portion 19h4 having a circular shape when viewed from above is provided at the center of the bottom surface (upper surface of the bottomed cylindrical portion 19h) of the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19 for rotatably supporting the item distribution portion 20, and a distribution port 19h5 having a circular shape when viewed from above is provided outside the shaft portion 19h4 for dropping the item AR into the supply passage 17a. In addition, an opening portion 19h6 having an L-shaped vertical section is provided at the rear end of the placement recess 19h1. This opening portion 19h6 is for engaging the gear portion 20g of the item distribution portion 20 with the uppermost gear of the gear mechanism 14b (see FIG. 2C) provided on the inner surface of the rear wall portion 11b of the device main body 11 described above when the container 19 is attached.

Next, the configuration of the parts arranged in the container 19 (item distribution section 20, guidance section 21, first restriction section 22, second restriction section 23, stirring section 24, sold-out detection lever 25, and sliding section 26) will be described using Figures 5 to 7.

(Item distribution section 20, see FIG. 5)
The article supply section 20 has a cylindrical supply section main body 20a having a circular upper wall in a top view, a plurality of article holding holes 20b (five in the illustrated example of the article supply device 10) having a substantially circular shape in a top view and penetrating the top wall of the supply section main body 20a at equal angular intervals in a top view, and a substantially pentagonal prism-shaped protrusion 20c provided in the center of the top wall of the supply section main body 20a. The outer shape of the supply section main body 20a is slightly smaller than the inner shape of the arrangement recess 19h1 of the container 19. Incidentally, the top view shape of each article holding hole 20b does not need to be circular as long as the top view shape is such that the article AR can enter and pass through it.

In addition, a high back portion 20d protruding upward from the top surface of the supply unit main body 20a is provided on the rear side in the rotational direction near the upper end of each item holding hole 20b of the item supply unit 20 (see the arrow in Figure 5 (A) for the rotational direction), and a low back portion 20e protruding upward from the top surface of the supply unit main body 20a is provided on the front side in the rotational direction near the upper end of each item holding hole 20b (see the arrow in Figure 5 (A) for the rotational direction). The vertical dimension of the low back portion 20e is smaller than the vertical dimension of the high back portion 20d.

Each of the high back portions 20d of the goods distribution section 20 is arch-shaped when viewed from above, and each inner surface is continuous with the inner surface of the goods holding hole 20b without any step, while each of the low back portions 20e is arch-shaped when viewed from above, and each inner surface is continuous with the inner surface of the goods holding hole 20b without any step. In addition, the pair of high back portion 20d and low back portion 20e for each goods holding hole 20b is separated on the outer periphery of the distribution section main body 20a (goods distribution section 20).

In addition, in Figures 5(A) to 5(C), the adjacent high back portion 20d and low back portion 20e are also shown separated at the outer periphery of the main body 20a (goods supply section 20) of the supply section 20 at a location where there is no item holding hole 20b. However, as shown in Figure 5(D), an auxiliary low back portion 20e1 may be provided at the separated location, which has the same or slightly smaller vertical dimension as the low back portion 20e and has the same arch shape as the outer periphery of the main body 20a (goods supply section 20) when viewed from above.

Regarding the high back 20d and low back 20e of the goods distribution section 20, in the goods supply device 10 of the illustrated example, the outer peripheral surface of the raised portion 20c has five curved surfaces (reference numbers omitted) that correspond to each pair of high back 20d and low back 20e for each goods holding hole 20b and are continuous with the inner surface of each pair of high back 20d and low back 20e, so that above each goods holding hole 20b there is a surface that is C-shaped in top view with the outer peripheral portion open and is composed of the inner surface of the high back 20d and the inner surface of the low back 20e and the curved surface. Of course, the top view shape of the raised portion 20c may be made smaller and the inner parts of the high back 20d and low back 20e may be extended to form a C-shaped surface in top view with the outer peripheral portion open and composed of the inner surface of the high back 20d and the inner surface of the low back 20e above each goods holding hole 20b.

Furthermore, the item distribution unit 20 has a sharp projection 20c1 at the center of the upper surface of the raised portion 20c, a support shaft 20f that is circular in bottom view below the center of the lower surface of the raised portion 20, and a face gear-shaped annular gear portion 20g at the bottom of the distribution unit main body 20a. The support shaft 20f is a part that is rotatably supported by the shaft portion 19h4 of the container 19.

The item supply unit 20 is rotatably arranged in the placement recess of the container 19 in the manner shown in Figure 5 (C). Incidentally, the rotation direction of the item supply unit 20 when supplying the item AR is clockwise when viewed from above (see the arrow in Figure 5 (A)), and when there are five item holding holes 20b, the angle by which the item supply unit 20 rotates with one operation (rotation) of the operating unit 14 is approximately 72 degrees.

As can be seen from FIG. 5(C), when the item distribution section 20 is placed in the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19, the upper end of each item holding hole 20b does not protrude above the upper end of the placement recess 19h1. This "not protruding" includes cases where the upper end of each item holding hole 20b coincides with the upper end of the placement recess 19h1, as well as cases where the upper end of each item holding hole 20b is lower than the upper end of the placement recess 19h1.

When the item distribution unit 20 is placed in the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19, each of the high backs 20d of the item distribution unit 20 protrudes upward from the upper end of the placement recess 19h1, while each of the low backs 20d may or may not protrude upward from the upper end of the placement recess 19h1 when the item distribution unit 20 is placed in the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19. This "not protruding" corresponds to the case where, when the item distribution unit 20 is placed in the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19, the upper end of each item holding hole 20b is lower than the upper end of the placement recess 19h1, and this lowering is equal to or greater than the vertical dimension of each low back 20d.

<<Guiding portion 21, first restricting portion 22, second restricting portion 23, stirring portion 24, and sold-out detection lever 25, see FIG. 6 >>
After the item distribution section 20 is placed in the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19, the container 19 is appropriately arranged with the guidance section 21, the first regulating section 22, the second regulating section 23, the stirring section 24 and the sold-out detection lever 25 shown in Figure 6 (A).

The guide portion 21 is a component located on the left side of the rear end of the upper surface of the lower wall portion 19e of the container 19, and serves to guide the article AR that has entered this area forward using the inclined upper surface. This guide portion 21 is fixed to the lower wall portion 19e of the container 19 using screws or the like (not shown). Of course, this guide portion 21 may be formed integrally with the container 19 in advance.

The first restricting portion 22 is a part located on the right side of the rear end of the upper surface of the lower wall portion 19e of the container 19, and serves to prevent the article AR from falling from above and entering the article holding hole 20b of the article supply unit 20 that has stopped above the supply port 19h5 of the container 19. This first restricting portion 22 is fixed to the lower wall portion 19 of the container 19 using a height adjustment part and screws (not shown) so that it does not come into contact with the article AR that has already entered the article holding hole 20b of the article supply unit 20 that is about to stop above the supply port 19h5 of the container 19. Incidentally, it is preferable that the upper surface of the first restricting portion 22 is an inclined surface that can guide the article AR that has entered above the first restricting portion 22 forward or diagonally forward.

The second restricting portion 23 is a component disposed inside the first restricting portion 22 without contacting the first restricting portion 22, and serves to prevent the article AR from entering the article holding hole 20b of the article supply portion 20 that has stopped above the supply opening 19h5 of the container 19. This second restricting portion 23 is made of an elastically deformable rod-shaped component, such as a tension coil spring-shaped component, and both ends are fixed to the bottom wall portion 19e of the container 19 using height adjustment components and screws (not shown) so as not to come into contact with the article AR that has already entered the article holding hole 20b of the article supply portion 20 that is about to stop above the supply opening 19h5 of the container 19.

Multiple stirring units 24 (three in the illustrated example of the goods supply device 10) are used, and are components arranged on the raised portion 20c of the goods supply unit 20, and serve to stir the goods AR on the goods supply unit 20. Each stirring unit 24 is made of an elastically deformable rod-shaped component, such as a tension coil spring-shaped component, and each base 24a is fixed to the raised portion 20c of the goods supply unit 20 using screws (not shown) or the like so that it does not come into contact with the goods AR already inserted in the goods holding holes 20b of the goods supply unit 20 and each faces diagonally upward.

Regarding the agitation section 24, when the item distribution section 20 has five item holding holes 20b and three agitation sections 24, as shown in FIG. 6(A), the three agitation sections 24 are arranged at 120 degree intervals in a top view, with one of them being arranged so as to be located above the gap between two of the five item holding holes 20b, and the remaining two being arranged so as to be located above the other two of the five item holding holes 20b. Incidentally, it is preferable that the shape of each agitation section 24 has a base section 24a facing upward, a middle section 24b facing diagonally upward, and a tip section 24c facing horizontally, which are continuous, as shown in FIG. 6(B).

The reason for adopting the above-mentioned arrangement and shape for each stirring section 24 is to facilitate good stirring of the items AR above the item distribution section 20 and to facilitate smooth insertion of the items AR into the item holding holes 20b of the item distribution section 20 (excluding the item holding holes 20b below the first restriction section 22).

Of course, even if the number of item holding holes 20b in the item distribution section 20 is more than five and the number of stirring sections 24 is more than three, the same benefits can be obtained by arranging some of the multiple stirring sections so that their tips are positioned above some of the inter-hole portions of the multiple item holding holes, and arranging other of the multiple stirring sections so that their tips are positioned above other of the multiple item holding holes.

The sold-out detection lever 25 is a part located in front of the placement recess 19h1 on the upper surface of the lower wall 19e of the container 19, and serves to detect whether an item AR is in the item holding hole 20b of the item distribution unit 20 stopped in front of the distribution opening 19h5 of the container 19. The sold-out detection lever 25 is an L-shaped part when viewed from above, and is rotatably supported on the lower wall 19e of the container 19 using a screw or the like (not shown) so that the bent part at the rear end enters the item holding hole 20b of the item distribution unit 20 stopped in front of the distribution opening 19h5 of the container 19, and is biased in the clockwise direction when viewed from above by a torsion coil spring or the like (not shown).

To add to the sold-out detection lever 25, when no item AR is in the item holding hole 20b of the item distribution section 20 stopped in front of the supply port 19h5 of the container 19, the sold-out detection lever 25 is rotated and displaced to the solid line position in FIG. 6(A) by the biasing force of a torsion coil spring or the like (not shown), and when an item AR is in the item holding hole 20b of the item distribution section 20 stopped in the same front position, the sold-out detection lever 25 is rotated and displaced to the two-dot chain line position in FIG. 6(A) by the pressure of the item AR. Therefore, if the position of the front end of the sold-out detection lever 25 is configured to be detectable by a detection mechanism using an on-off switch or a reflective or transmissive optical sensor, it can be detected whether the item AR is sold out based on these detection signals.

Slider 26, see FIG. 7
The sliding part 20 is a part disposed on the front part 19e1 of the lower wall part 19e of the container 19, and serves to guide the article AR contained in the container 17 rearward. The sliding part 20 is plate-shaped, has an arc-shaped recess 26a in a top view at its rear end, and has triangular wall parts 26b in a left-right view at each of its left and right ends, and is fixed to the lower wall part 19e of the container 19 using a height adjustment part and screws (not shown) so that the gap between the sliding part 20 and the lower wall part 19e of the container 19 in the vertical direction (the gap for preventing contact with the sold-out detection lever 25) is inclined downward toward the rear as a whole, and so that the recess 26a does not protrude into the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19 when viewed from above.

Next, the method of use and operation of the aforementioned item supply device 10 will be explained, along with its main effects. Note that the container 19 in this case has the guide section 21, the first restricting section 22, the second restricting section 23, the stirring section 24, the sold-out detection lever 25, and the sliding section 26 arranged thereon (see FIG. 7). Also, the explanation starts with the item supply device 10 in the state shown in FIG. 1, and with a large number of items AR stored in the item storage space of the container 19.

The object AR may be a toy stored in a divisible spherical case, a case covered with a synthetic resin film, or a spherical toy covered with a synthetic resin film. In other words, as long as it has an external shape that allows it to roll, it does not necessarily have to be spherical, and there are no particular restrictions on the type of toy.

<<Method of use and operation related to supply of item AR>>
Prior to purchasing the article AR, a consumer visually checks the article AR contained in the container 19 through the see-through parts (front wall 19a, front part 19c1 of left wall 19c, and rear part 19d2 of right wall 19d) of the container 19. Then, a consumer who wishes to purchase the article AR inserts a predetermined amount of coins into the coin insertion portion 15 and rotates the operation portion 14 by a predetermined angle (e.g., about 360 degrees).

When a coin of a predetermined amount is inserted into the coin insertion portion 15, the lock mechanism of the operation portion 14 is released and the operation portion 14 can be operated (rotated). When the operation portion 14 is operated (rotated), the gear mechanism 14b operates through the operation shaft 14a, and the gear portion 20g of the goods supply portion 20, which is engaged with the top gear of the gear mechanism 14b, rotates a predetermined angle (approximately 72 degrees when there are five goods holding holes 20b), and the goods AR that are inserted in the goods holding holes 20b of the goods supply portion 20 located in front of the supply opening 19h5 of the container 19 drops into the supply passage 17a through the supply opening 19h5 of the container 19, and the dropped goods AR are guided to the take-out opening 17. The goods AR guided to the take-out opening 17 come into contact with the shutter portion 18 and stop, so the consumer pushes the shutter portion 18 aside with his or her fingertips to take out the goods AR from the take-out opening 17.

In the above-mentioned article supply device 10, the front surface (outer surface) of the front wall portion 19a of the container 19, the left surface (outer surface) of the front portion 19c1 of the left wall portion 19c, and the right surface (outer surface) of the front portion 19d1 of the right wall portion 19d are configured to be parallel to each other in their respective longitudinal sections, and the outer surface of the boundary portion 19a1 between the front wall portion 19a and the left wall portion 19c and the outer surface of the boundary portion 19a2 between the front wall portion 19a and the right wall portion 19d are configured to be parallel to the above-mentioned straight lines in their respective longitudinal sections. Therefore, even if the article supply device 10 is installed inside or outside a store or in a specified space within a building, the reflection angle of sunlight or lighting light irradiated on the outer surface of the see-through portion of the container 10 can be made uniform in the vertical direction. Therefore, regardless of the consumer's eye height, the above-mentioned reflected light is prevented from interfering with the visibility of the stored items AR from the outside, and the visibility of the stored items AR from the outside can be significantly improved. In addition, the outer surface of the boundary between the front wall portion 19a and the left wall portion 19c and the outer surface of the boundary between the front wall portion 19a and the right wall portion 19d are configured to be curved lines in their respective cross sections. Therefore, the visibility of the stored items AR from the outside can be improved compared to a case in which the outer surface of the front wall portion 19a is configured as a flat surface, and the boundary between the front wall portion 19a and the left wall portion 19c and the boundary between the front wall portion 19a and the right wall portion 19d are configured to be excluding the roundness and intersecting at a right angle in a top view. Furthermore, by configuring it to be a curved line in the cross section, the risk of injury, etc. can be reduced even if a person unexpectedly collides or comes into contact with the above-mentioned boundary portion of the container 19, and safety is taken into consideration.

In addition, in the above-mentioned item supply device 10, the left-right dimension of the inner shape of the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19 matches the left-right dimension of the upper surface of the rear portion 19e2 of the lower wall portion 19e, so it is possible to reduce the left-right dimension of the container 19 and therefore the left-right dimension of the item supply device 10 compared to when the left-right dimension of the inner shape of the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19 is smaller than the left-right dimension of the upper surface of the rear portion 19e2 of the lower wall portion 19e. This makes it possible to reduce the installation space per item supply device 10, and also to increase the number of item supply devices 10 that can be installed side-by-side.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned item supply device 10, a high back portion 20d is provided on the rear side in the rotational direction near the upper end of each item holding hole 20b of the item distribution section 20, and a low back portion 20e is provided on the front side in the rotational direction near the upper end of each item holding hole 20b, so that the item AR guided to the top of the item distribution section 20 by the sliding portion 26 can be received by the high back portion 20d and can be reliably inserted into the item holding hole 20b, thereby allowing every last item AR contained in the container 19 to be supplied.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned item supply device 10, by adopting the above-mentioned arrangement and shape for each stirring section 24, it is possible to effectively stir the items AR above the item distribution section 20, and to smoothly insert the items AR into the item holding holes 20b of the item distribution section 20 (excluding the item holding holes 20b below the first restriction section 22).

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned item supply device 10, when the container 19 is attached to the item supply device 10, the lower end of the boundary between the front wall portion 19a and the left wall portion 19c and the lower end of the boundary between the front wall portion 19a and the right wall portion 19d are configured not to be supported by the guide surface 11d3 of the guide portion 11d2. Therefore, when the container 19 is attached to the item supply device 10, the travel distance on the guide surface 11d3 is minimized, and the effort required for attachment can be reduced.

<<Method of use and operation for replenishing item AR>>
When an item AR is supplied by a consumer and no item AR is present in the item holding hole 20b of the item distribution section 20 which has stopped in front of the distribution port 19h5 of the container 19, the sold-out detection lever 25 rotates to the position shown in Figure 7, and the detection mechanism detects the sold-out state based on the rotational displacement.

When sold-out is detected, the owner of the item supply device 10, or a maintenance company entrusted with management by the owner, unlocks and opens the door 13, then pulls out the container 19 or takes it outside and refills the item AR. After refilling the container 19 with the item AR, it is reinserted, and after reinsertion, the door 13 is closed and locked again.

The above-mentioned item supply device 10 is configured such that the lower end of the rear portion 19c2 of the left wall portion 19c of the container 19 and the lower end of the rear portion 19d2 of the right wall portion 19d are supported by the front-rear guide surfaces 11c3 and 11d3 of the two left and right guide portions 11c1 and 11d2 of the device main body 11, so that the container 19 can be accurately pulled out, removed, and reinserted when replenishing the above-mentioned items. In other words, even if the left-right dimension of the inner shape of the placement recess 19h1 of the container 19 is made to match the left-right dimension of the upper surface of the rear portion 19e2 of the lower wall portion 19e, the container 19 can be smoothly pulled out, removed, and reinserted without increasing the left-right dimension of the container 19.

Next, we will explain a modified example of the item supply device 10 described above.

In the above-mentioned item supply device 10, the internal space of a container 19 that can be attached to and removed from the item supply device 10 is used as the item storage space. However, even if a container 19 is not used and the upper part of the front wall 11a of the device body 11, the upper front part of the left wall 11c, and the upper front part of the right wall 11d are configured to form part of the outer wall of the item supply device 10 and to be see-through (see the above-mentioned Patent Document 1), the visibility of the stored items AR from the outside can be similarly improved by configuring the outer surfaces of each of them to be parallel straight lines in a vertical cross section.

In addition, in the above-mentioned item supply device 10, the lower part of each step 19f of the container 19 and the lower part of the front end of the left wall part 11c and the lower part of the front end of the right wall part 11d of the device main body 11 are each provided with the same rounded shape. However, even if these are configured to be linear by removing the rounded shape, the visibility of the stored items AR from the outside can be similarly improved if the outer surface of the front wall part 19a of the container 19, the outer surface of the front part 19c1 of the left wall part 19c, and the outer surface of the front part 19d1 of the right wall part 19d are configured to be parallel straight lines in their respective longitudinal sections.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned item supply device 10, payment is made by inserting a specified amount of coins into the coin insertion unit 15, but the coin insertion unit 15 may be replaced with a device that allows payment using an electronic money card or code payment (payment) using a smartphone or the like.

10...Item supply device, 11...Device body, 11a...Front wall, 11b...Rear wall, 11c...Left wall, 11c1...Positioning portion, 11c2...Guide portion, 11c3...Guide surface, 11d...Right wall, 11d1...Positioning portion, 11d2...Guide portion, 11d3...Guide surface, 11e...Upper wall, 11f...Lower wall, 12...Top plate, 12a...Groove, 13...Front door, 13b...Axle support, 13b1...Axle, 14...Operation portion, 14a...Operation shaft, 14b...Gear mechanism, 15...Coin insertion portion, 16...Return button, 17...Return outlet, 17a...Supply passage, 18...Shutter portion, 19...Container, 19A...First part, 19B...Second part, 19a...Front wall, 19a1, 19a2...Boundary portion, 19b...Rear wall portion, 19c...left wall portion, 19c1...front portion of the left wall portion, 19c2...rear portion of the left wall portion, 19d...right wall portion, 19d1...front portion of the right wall portion, 19d2...rear portion of the right wall portion, 19e...lower wall portion, 19f...step portion, 19g...stopper portion, 19h...bottomed cylindrical portion, 19h1...disposition recess, 19h2...protruding portion, 19h3...flat surface, 19h5... Supply port, 20...goods supply section, 20a...supply section main body, 20b...goods holding hole, 20d...high back section, 20e...low back section, 20f...axial support section, 20g...gear section, 21...guiding section, 22...first restricting section, 23...second restricting section, 24...mixing section, 24a...base section, 24b...middle section, 24c...tip section, 25...sold-out detection lever, 26...sliding section, AR...goods.

Claims (10)

An article supplying device capable of supplying an article,
A device body,
A box-shaped container that is detachable from the device body and has an opening at the top;
an item dispensing unit provided in the container and configured to dispense items contained in the container;
a recessed portion provided as a bottomed cylindrical portion on a lower wall portion of the container, in which the article supply portion is rotatably disposed;
The arrangement recess protrudes downward from the lower surface of the lower wall portion of the container, and at least a part of the right and left surfaces of the outer shape of the arrangement recess are parallel flat surfaces, and the other surfaces are curved surfaces that constitute the bottomed tubular portion.
Goods supply device. The arrangement recess constitutes a bottomed tubular portion that is circular when viewed from below,
The outer circumferential surface of the bottomed tubular portion is configured to include the flat surface and the curved surface.
The article supplying device according to claim 1 . The placement recess is configured to be usable for positioning the container when mounting the container on the device body.
3. An article supplying device according to claim 1 or 2. The article supply section includes a high back section and a low back section protruding upward from an upper surface thereof, and a plurality of article holding holes;
The high back portion is provided on the rear side in the direction of rotation near the article holding hole, and the low back portion is provided on the front side in the direction of rotation near the article holding hole.
The article supplying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The high back portion and the low back portion are arched in top view.
5. The article supplying device according to claim 4. the device body includes a top plate portion that covers the opening of the container when the container is attached to the device body,
The top plate portion includes a flat upper surface and is configured to be detachable from the device body.
An article supplying device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The container includes a front wall portion and a right wall portion and a left wall portion connected to the front wall portion,
Boundaries between the front wall portion and the right and left wall portions are configured to form straight lines parallel to each other in their respective longitudinal sections.
An article supplying device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The container is provided with an agitator that agitates the articles on the article delivery section and has a base and a tip;
The article supply section includes a plurality of article holding holes,
The stirring part is an elastically deformable rod-like member, and is provided so that the tip part is positioned above the article holding hole.
An article supplying device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The stirring unit is configured to face in different directions depending on its location.
The article supplying device according to claim 8. The device further includes an outlet provided in the device body and capable of taking out the article dispensed from the article dispenser,
The outlet is configured to be covered by a shutter portion,
The shutter portion is configured to stop the movement of the article guided to the outlet.
An article supplying device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.