JPH02100791A - Commodity heating device for automatic vending machine of can commodities - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the time required to heat the can commodities up to a prescribed temperature in the sales operations by performing both the rotating and stirring operations of the can commodities in the dielectric-heating processes of them for the purpose of improving the heating efficiency. CONSTITUTION:When a drive motor 16 is started, a pair of rollers 14 are revolved via a gear mechanism and a rocking mechanism and at the same time a support stage 13 is reciprocated alternately right and left. Therefore the can commodities 9 sent out of a commodity storing part 4 are held on a saddle- shaped dielectric-heating coil 7 of a commodity heating device 6 in their fallen attitudes. Under such conditions, the electric power is supplied to the coil 7 and at the same time the motor 16 is driven. The commodities 9 are dielectric- heated and at the same time the contents of the commodities 9 are stirred by the rotating and right-left rocking operations. Thus it is possible to shorten the time required to heat the commodities 9 up to a prescribed temperature.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention targets a vending machine for canned products such as coffee, and stores canned products stored at room temperature or preheated inside the machine in a product storage section. The present invention relates to a product heating device for a vending machine for canned products, which heats the product to a temperature suitable for sales during the product delivery route from the can product to the product takeout port before selling the product.

[Conventional technology]

For example, the product heating device mentioned above is equipped with a high-frequency induction heating device inside the product outlet, and the canned product taken out from the product storage section at the time of sale is guided to the induction heating device and heated. It is known as JP-A-54-699.

On the other hand, in regular can vending machines, we take into consideration the fact that the can products taken out from the product storage section are transferred over the chute and taken out to the product takeout port, and the material handling efficiency and heating efficiency of the can products in the machine are improved. With the aim of improving this, a product heating device in which a saddle-shaped induction heating coil is used to receive and heat canned products in an inverted position was proposed by the same applicant as Special No. 170149/1983. More suggested.

Here, FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a can product vending machine equipped with the product heating device proposed above. In the figure, 1 is the cabinet of the vending machine, 2 is the front door, 3 is the product outlet provided in the door, 4 is the product storage area inside the warehouse, 5 is the carry-out chute, and 6 is the inside of the product outlet 3. This is an induction heating type product heating device installed inside the door. This product heating device 6 includes an induction heating coil 7 as a sheath-shaped coil with an open top surface and a high frequency tit! Consists of 8.

With this configuration, the canned product 9 is stored in the product storage section 4 while being preheated to about 40°C.

On the other hand, when the canned product 9 is carried out from the product storage section 4 due to the selling operation, the canned product 9 is transferred to the top of the chute 5 toward the product ejection port 3 while remaining in an inverted position, and falls from the front edge of the chute 5. is received and held on the induction heating coil 7 described above. At the same time, the induction heating coil 7 receives power from the high frequency II source 8 for a predetermined time (about 10 seconds) to inductively heat the can product 9, raising the temperature of the can product 9 to about 60° C., which is suitable for sales temperature.

Note that when a predetermined induction heating time has elapsed, the power supply to the coil 7 is stopped, and in this state, the customer can open the door 3a of the product takeout port 3 and freely take out the product.

On the other hand, regarding the product heating device equipped with the saddle-shaped induction heating coil described above, the heating surface area of the can product facing the induction heating coil is provided with a rotation means for rotating the can product with the can product loaded on the induction heating coil. The same applicant has proposed a device in which the can is successively moved along the circumferential surface of the can to perform induction heating from the entire circumferential surface.

Furthermore, a device is equipped with a stirring means that shakes the can product in the left and right direction while the can product is loaded on the induction heating coil, and the beverage inside the can product is stirred during induction heating to improve heat transfer efficiency. Patent application No. 63-170148 from the same applicant
It is proposed as.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, some results can be obtained by equipping an induction heating type product heating device with either the rotating means for canned products or the stirring means proposed above, but in order to obtain even higher heating effects, During induction heating, it is desirable to rotate the can product and stir the beverage inside at the same time.

However, if the rotating means and stirring means disclosed in the above-mentioned proposal were to be incorporated into the product heating device as is, there would be a rotating means for holding the can product on a roller and rotating it, and a rotating means for holding the can product at both ends and moving it back and forth. The agitation means interfere with each other, making it impossible to perform rotation and agitation operations at the same time.In other words, when the agitation means clamps and restrains the can product, even if the rollers are rotated, the can cannot be rotated. The product does not rotate.

The present invention has been developed in consideration of the above points, and is intended for a product heating device that heats can products by loading them in an inverted position on a saddle-shaped induction heating coil, and simultaneously rotating the can products during the induction heating process. The object of the present invention is to provide a product heating device capable of stirring operations.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the product heating device of the present invention has the following features:
While rotating the can product at the loading position on the induction heating coil,
At the same time, the device is configured to include a rotation/stirring means for shaking the canned product in the left and right directions to stir the beverage inside without restricting the rotation of the canned product.

Here, the rotating/agitating means includes a rotating roller set that is juxtaposed to the induction heating coil and supports the can product in an inverted position, and a rocking mechanism that also serves as a support frame for the can product on which the induction heating coil and the rotating roller set are mounted. A drive motor, a gear mechanism in which the drive motor and the rotating roller are electrically coupled, and a swing link mechanism in which the drive motor and the support platform are electrically coupled. has been done.

[Effect]

With the above configuration, by operating the rotation/stirring means with the canned product loaded on the induction heating coil, the induction heating area facing the induction heating coil rotates along the circumferential direction of the can, and at the same time, The can reciprocates in the left and right direction, stirring the contents of the beverage, and as a result, the can product receives induction heating on its entire circumference, and at the same time, the heat generated on the induction heating surface of the can is efficiently transferred through forced convection of the contents of the beverage. Heat is transferred.

Regarding the rotation/agitation means, when the drive morph is started, the roller rotates via a gear mechanism, and the can product supported on the roller rotates, and at the same time, the support base is rotated via the swing link mechanism. It moves back and forth in the left and right direction. Moreover, since the can product is loosely supported by the support base, the can product can reciprocate in the left-right direction together with the support base without restricting rotation.

〔Example〕

1 to 4 show the structure of an embodiment of the present invention, and the same members corresponding to those in FIG. 5 are given the same reference numerals.

First, in FIG. 1, a coil mount 13 is provided on the top of a box-shaped base 10 that also serves as a wind barrel via parallel swing links 11 and 12, and a saddle-shaped induction heating coil 7, and a total of 4 arranged on both sides of the induction heating coil 7.
A rotating roller set 14 consisting of several rollers is mounted. In addition, on the top surface of the mounting base 13, there is a window 1 that loosely fits and supports canned products.
5 is open.

On the other hand, the base 10 is equipped with a drive motor 16, and there are three spur gears 17, 18, 19, a helical gear 20, and a helical gear 20 shown in FIG. They are transmission-coupled via a spur gear 21 or the like. The spur gear 17 is coupled to the output shaft of the drive morph 16, the spur gear 18 is coaxially supported on the base 10 with the swing link 12, and the spur gear 19 is connected to the tip of the swing link 12. They are arranged coaxially and supported by a mounting base 13. With this configuration, when the drive motor 16 is rotated, each roller of the roller set 14 is rotated synchronously in the same direction via the gear mechanism described above. When the can product 9 is supported on the roller m14 with its peripheral surface in contact with the roller m14 as shown in FIG. 3, the can product 9 rotates in the direction of rotation as shown by the arrow P.

Returning to FIG. 1, a bifurcated fork 22 is formed at the lower end of the aforementioned swing link 12, and this fork 22 engages with a crank pin 23 attached to the spur gear 19. As a result, when the spur gear 19 is rotated by the drive motor 16, as shown in FIG. As a result, the support base 13 connected to the swing links 11 and 12 reciprocates in the left and right direction of the arrow Q while maintaining a horizontal position. therefore,
If the canned goods 9 are loaded on the support stand 13 as shown in the figure, the canned goods 9 are swung left and right alternately together with the support stand 13.

Here, drive motor 16. In other words, the change in the amplitude of the support base 13 with respect to the rotation angle of the crank pin 23 is approximated by a sine curve, and the amplitude acceleration changes slowly and rapidly during the reciprocating process.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the beverage 9a contained in the canned product 9 loaded on the support stand 13 is shaken and agitated within the can due to the change in direction and change in amplitude acceleration caused by the reciprocating movement of the support stand 13. Become so.

In FIG. 1, a cooling air intake 25 is opened at one end of the base 1o which also serves as a wind cylinder, and a blower fan 26 is provided at the other end. This is to cool the induction heating coil 7 and prevent the coil itself from overheating due to energization.

As is clear from the above description, in the above-mentioned configuration constituting the rotation/agitation means, when the drive motor 16 is started, the rotating roller &[
At the same time as l14 rotates, the support stand 13 alternately reciprocates in the left and right directions. Therefore, due to the selling operation described in FIG.
Power is supplied to the induction heating coil 7 while being received and held on top of the coil.

In addition, by operating the drive motor 16, the can product 9 undergoes induction heating while simultaneously rotating and stirring the beverage inside by swinging in the left and right directions. In addition,
The canned product 9 fits into the opening window 15 of the support base 13 and is loosely supported, and the support base 13 includes an induction heating coil 7,
Since the rotation roller set 14 and the rotary roller set 14 are integrated together, the rotation operation of the can product 9 by the roller M14 is not hindered during the above-mentioned operation process.
receives induction heating over its entire circumferential area, and the rocking agitates the beverage inside, increasing heat conductivity, making it possible to effectively raise the temperature of the beverage inside with short induction heating.

Furthermore, according to the results of experiments conducted by the inventor in order to confirm the evaluation on this point L2, heating efficiency can be increased by 20% by rotating the can product compared to when the can product is induction heated in a stationary state. It has also been confirmed that the stirring operation increases the heating efficiency by 30%, and the total heating efficiency increases by about 50%.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the product heating device of the present invention is configured as described above, it achieves the following effects.

(1) By incorporating rotation and stirring means into the product heating device, it is possible to simultaneously rotate and stir canned products during the induction heating process of canned products, increasing heating efficiency. The heating time required to raise the temperature of canned products to a predetermined temperature can be significantly shortened.

(2) The rotation/stirring means is arranged in parallel with a saddle-shaped induction heating coil to support a can product in an inverted position, and a support frame for the can product is installed. a swing-type support base; a drive motor; a gear mechanism in which the drive motor and the rotating roller are electrically coupled; and a swing link mechanism in which the same drive motor and the support base are electrically coupled to each other; With this configuration, the rotation operation and the stirring operation of the canned product can be performed at the same time with one drive motor without any problems.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view showing the overall configuration of a product heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram of a gear mechanism of a rotating roller set inside the support stand of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a rotation operation of a can product. An explanatory diagram, Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the stirring operation of canned products, and Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of a canned product vending machine equipped with a product heating device. Storage part, 6: Product heating device,
7: Induction heating coil, 12: I moving unit, 13: Mounting base, 14: Rotating roller set, 16: Drive motor, 19-21
: Gear, 23: Crank pin, P: Rotation direction of canned product,
Q: Direction of swing of canned products. Row 214 7 carp) Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 30

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A product heating device that heats canned products transported from a product storage section to a product take-out port during the transport route, and inductively heats canned products received and held in an inverted position from the bottom side. Equipped with a saddle-shaped induction heating coil with an open top surface,
While rotating the can product at the loading position on the induction heating coil,
A product heating device for a can product vending machine, characterized in that it is equipped with a rotating/agitating means for stirring the beverage inside by shaking the can product in the left and right directions without simultaneously restricting the rotation of the can product. 2) In the product heating device according to claim 1, the rotating/stirring means includes a rotating roller set juxtaposed to the saddle-shaped induction heating coil to support the canned product in an inverted position, and the induction heating coil and rotating roller set. A swing-type support stand that also serves as a support frame for the loaded can products, a drive motor, a gear mechanism that is transmission-coupled between the drive motor and the rotating roller, and a link between the same drive motor and the support stand. A product heating device for a can product vending machine, characterized in that it is comprised of a transmission-coupled swing link mechanism.