JPH02138697A - Cup carrying device for cup type automatic drink vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the cup carrying troubles such as the jump-out of the cups, the overflow of the drink, etc., by deciding the attachment position of a cup holder to a cup conveyor belt so that the center shift locus of the cup holder is set at the inner circumference side to the conveyor belt and at the same time passes the middle point between the conveyor belt and the center of a pulley. CONSTITUTION:The shift locus (t) of the center (o) of a cup holder 76 is decided so that the locus (t) is set at the inner peripheral side to a conveyor belt 74 and also passes the middle point between the belt 74 and the center O of a pulley 72 of a least diameter. In such a way, the attachment position of the holder 76 is set to the belt 74. Therefore the moving speed of a cup held by the holder 76 is reduced while the cup passes around the pulley 72 due to the reduced radius of the holder 76 compared with the conventional structure. As a result, the moving speed of the holder 76 is also reduced and therefore the cup can be carried in a safe and smooth way.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] This invention is a method of preparing a beverage prepared by adding hot water or diluting water to various powders or liquid ingredients such as coffee, cocoa, tea, or syrup in a cup. This invention relates to the structure of a cup conveying device for conveying cups within a cup-type beverage vending machine for sale.

[Conventional technology]

In conventional cup-type beverage vending machines of this type, powder raw materials and hot water are transported into a mixing bowl inside the machine according to a sales command, and after the raw materials are stirred here and a beverage is prepared, the beverage is transferred from the mixing bowl. A method is adopted in which the liquid is poured into a cup that is carried to a pendo stage through a drinking hose.

However, in such conventional cup-type beverage vending machines, during the process of preparing and dispensing beverages, the dissolution of the beverage leaves behind the inside of the mixing bowl and the beverage hose that follows it, resulting in a long wait time for sales. If the waiting time is too long, bacteria will develop and proliferate in the beverage dregs as the waiting time elapses, creating a sanitary problem in that bacteria will be mixed into the beverage the next time it is sold. Furthermore, since the beverage nozzle and other pipes are exposed near the product outlet, there is a risk of tampering, such as the introduction of foreign objects, which poses problems in terms of safety management.

From this point of view, solving the above-mentioned health and safety problems,
In addition, a cup-type beverage vending machine that can improve maintainability by eliminating the trouble of cleaning work involved has been proposed by the same applicant, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 12903/1983.

Next, an outline of this cup-type beverage vending machine will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a cabinet of a vending machine, and a product outlet 2, which constitutes a bending stage, is opened in the front door 1a of the cabinet. Also, the upper part of the inside of the cabinet 1 is a raw material box 3 containing various raw materials. Hot water tank4. Cup supply mechanism 5. As shown in the figure, beverage stirrers 6 are installed and arranged in a distributed manner around the interior of the refrigerator.

On the other hand, a cup conveying device 7 is installed in the warehouse, facing each of the above-mentioned mechanisms, and horizontally circulating around the interior of the warehouse via the product take-out port 2. This cup conveyance device 7 includes an endless conveyance belt 74 stretched between pulleys 71 to 73 along a predetermined circulating route. Conveyance belt drive motor 75. It consists of a cup holder 76 connected and supported on the circumference of the conveyance belt 74, and the cup holder 76 is transported around the circumference of the conveyance belt 74 during the sales operation cycle, as will be described in detail later. . In addition, the above-mentioned beverage agitator 6 is configured as an elevating type agitator, and as described later, when the cup containing raw materials reaches the beverage agitation position, it descends from the rising standby position and the agitation blade attached to the tip of the agitation motor shaft. is inserted directly into the cup, and the raw materials are stirred in this state.

Further, with respect to the cup conveyance device 7, the cup chute 51 of the cup supply mechanism 5 described above is located on the circulating path of the cup holder 76. Raw material shooter 3 leading to various raw material boxes 3
1 and 32. The opening ends of the hot water supply hose 42 pulled out from the hot water tank 4 via the hot water supply valve 41 and the product outlet 2 are arranged in sequence and facing each other, and the above-mentioned raw material agitation is located at the same position as the opening end of the hot water supply hose 42. A container 6 is installed.

In the illustrated example, five raw material boxes 3 are arranged side by side, and one group has powdered raw material boxes for, for example, coffee, tea, and cocoa, with raw material shooters 31 facing each other, and the other groups have powdered raw material boxes for sugar and milk. Raw material chute 32 with raw material boxes arranged
are deployed facing each other.

As shown in FIG. 4, a stage tongue A-E is set in the middle of the circulation path of the cup conveying device 7, at which the force holder 76 is stopped. Among these stations, station A is a cup delivery position, B and C are powder raw material transport positions corresponding to the raw material chutes 31 and 32 of different types of raw material boxes 3, D is a beverage preparation position where hot water is supplied and drinks are stirred, and E is a product extraction position. The cup take-out position is specified in B2, and the cup holder 76 is moved in the direction of the arrow so that it starts from station A, which is the standby position, and returns to station A after going around the warehouse for each sales operation. Cups are taken out at each station A to E during the patrol,
Raw material supply, hot water supply, and beverage stirring.

The product is then transported to the product outlet.

Next, the beverage sales operation will be described. In the sales standby state, the cup holder 76 of the cup conveyance device 7 is in a standby position at station A, and when a sales command is given here, the cup supply mechanism 5 is first operated and Carry out the cups 8,
The cup is passed through the cup shooter 41 to the cup holder 76 waiting at stage A in FIG. When the cup holder is handed over, the cup conveyance device 7 is started and the cup holder 76 is conveyed along the circulation route. Here, when the cup 8 moves from station A to B together with the cup holder 76, the cup conveyance device 7 temporarily stops, and at the same time, raw materials for the selected beverage are directly thrown into the cup from the raw material box 3 through the cup shooter 31. After this raw material has been loaded, the cup transport bag f7 moves again and stops at station C, and raw materials such as sugar and milk are loaded into the cup 8, and then moves to station D. Here, the hot water supply valve 41 of the hot water tank 4 is first opened, and the amount of hot water necessary to melt the powdered raw material is injected into the cup 8 through the hot water supply hose 42. At the same time, the stirring blade of the beverage stirrer 6 is lowered from the raised standby position and inserted into the cup 8, and the stirring motor is started here to stir the raw material in the cup and dissolve the powdered raw material in hot water. Subsequently, the stirring motor is stopped and the stirring blade is returned to the raised standby position, and at this point additional hot water is supplied to prepare a specified amount of hot beverage in the cup 8.

After the beverage is prepared in this way, the cup conveying device 7
starts moving again, transports the cup 8 containing the beverage to station E facing the product outlet 2, and stops at this position. When the customer takes out the cup from the product outlet, it is detected that the cup holder 76 is empty, and the cup transport device ff7 resumes movement, and the cup holder 76 returns to the original waiting station A and stops. At this point, the series of sales cycles ends and the product returns to the sales standby state again.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the cup conveyance device described above, if sudden acceleration, deceleration force, or excessive centrifugal force is applied to the cup received and held in the cup holder while the cup is being conveyed, the cup may jump out of the cup holder and fall off, or the beverage may There is a risk of problems such as the beverage overflowing from the cup, so sufficient consideration must be given to this aspect when designing.

When considering the above-mentioned cup conveying device from this point of view, the following problems arise. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, in the conventional structure, the cup holder 76 protrudes further from the outer peripheral surface of the conveyance belt 74 and is connected and supported. On the other hand, if the number of revolutions of the drive motor 75 during cup conveyance is constant, the conveyance belt 74 also moves at a constant speed (2). In this case, pulley 71
Focusing on the pulley 72 with the smallest diameter among the pulleys 73 and 73, if the pulley diameter is R, the radius of the cup holder 76 is r, and the distance between the conveyance belt 74 and the center 0 of the cup holder 76 is l, then the cup holder 76 is The moving speed of the center 0 of the cup holder 76 in the process of moving through the circumferential area of the pulley 72 is increased by CR+1)/R times the moving speed (2) of the conveyance belt 74. Furthermore, when looking at the tip of the cup holder 76, the circumferential speed is increased by (R+Z+r)/R times. This means that a sudden acceleration or deceleration force is applied to the cup received and held in the cup holder 76 in the process of passing through a part of the circumferential corner of the pulley 72, and in this process, the cup is centrifuged in the radial direction. Force also comes into play. Therefore, due to the combined force of the acceleration, deceleration, and centrifugal force, troubles may occur, such as the cup held in the cup holder 76 popping out and falling off, or the liquid beverage in the cup overflowing. There is.

Note that if l+r is constant in the above formula (R-11+r)/R, the smaller R, that is, the smaller the pulley diameter, the larger the speed fluctuation ratio of the cup.

This invention skillfully prevents sudden acceleration, deceleration force, or excessive centrifugal force from being applied to the cup during the process of passing around the pulley in a complete cup conveyance device, thereby safely and smoothly conveying the cup. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cup conveying device that can perform the following functions.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a cup holder is connected and supported on a conveyor belt stretched between pulleys, and a cup supply mechanism is distributed throughout the product takeout port and inside the machine, and a cup supply mechanism for distributing various beverages is provided. Powder raw material box.

In a cup conveyance device of a cup-type beverage vending machine that conveys cups along a circulating route via each discharge end of a hot water tank, etc. and a beverage stirrer, the attachment of the cup holder to the conveyance belt is determined by the position of the cup holder. It is assumed that the locus of movement of the center of is determined to be on the inner circumferential side of the conveyor belt and pass halfway between the center of the pulley and the center of the pulley.

[Effect]

Since the movement locus of the center of the cup holder is on the inner side of the conveyor belt and passes through the center of the pulley, the radius of rotation of the cup holder in the process of passing around the pulley is small.
At least keep the center moving speed of the cup holder equal to or lower than the moving speed of the conveyor belt to avoid excessive acceleration of the cup. It is possible to prevent f2 speed and centrifugal force from being applied.

〔Example〕

1 and 2 show the structure of main parts according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts corresponding to FIG. That is, an L-shaped cup holder pedestal 78 is attached to the top of the conveyor belt 74 via a mounting tool 77, and the cup holder 78 is attached to the pedestal 78.
6 is installed. Note that the cup holder 79 that comes into contact with the cover 9 surrounding the belt conveyance mechanism is a guide roller for controlling the posture of the stand.

Here, the attachment position of the cup holder 76 to the conveyance belt 74 is set as follows. In other words, the movement locus t of the center 0 of the cup holder 76 is set to pass through an intermediate position between the center 0 of the pulley 72 and the center 0 of the pulley 72 which is on the inner circumferential side of the conveyor belt 74 and has the smallest diameter.

As described above, by setting the position of the attachment of the cup holder 76 to the conveyance belt 74, the moving speed of the cup holder 76, and hence the cup received and held by the cup holder, in the process of passing through the circumferential area of the pulley 72 can be adjusted. Compared to the conventional structure described in FIG. 5, the radius of rotation of the cup holder 76 relative to the pulley 72 is smaller, and the moving speed of the cup holder 76 is accordingly reduced.

If the installation position is set so that the center O of the cup holder 76 coincides with the conveyor belt 74, the moving speed of the center of the cup holder and the moving speed of the conveyor belt will be the same, and it will pass through the circumferential area of the pulley 72. During this process, acceleration and deceleration forces cease to act. However, in this case, a centrifugal force corresponding to the radius R of the pulley 72 will act. On the other hand, if the mounting position is selected so that the center 0 of the cup holder 76 passes through the center 0 of the boo 1J72, the cup holder 76 moving at the same speed as the conveyance belt 74 passes around the pulley 72. In the process, the center movement speed of the cup holder 76 becomes 0,
After turning by 90 degrees, it again exits from the pulley 72 at the same speed as the conveyance belt. Therefore, in this case, the entrance to Boo IJ72.

Acceleration and deceleration forces act on the cup at the exit, but the centrifugal force at the center of the cup is 0, and the resultant force acting on the entire cup can be kept low enough to prevent transport problems. You can expect great effects.

In actual design, in order to set the mounting position of the cup holder mentioned above, it is necessary to consider the correspondence between the various mechanisms facing the cup transporting device on the transport path and the cup, the required speed of the transporting device, the holding function of the cup holder, and the cup holder. The optimum conditions are determined by taking into account the amount of liquid in the beverage to be accommodated.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, a cup holder is connected and supported on a conveyor belt stretched between pulleys, a cup supply mechanism is distributed throughout the product outlet and the inside of the machine, and powder raw material boxes for various beverages are provided. 1. In a cup conveying device of a cup-type beverage vending machine that conveys cups along a circulation route via each discharge end of a hot water tank, etc. and a beverage stirrer, the attachment of the cup holder to the conveyance belt is determined by the position of the cup holder. By configuring the movement locus of the center of the holder to be on the inner circumferential side of the conveyor belt and passing halfway between the center of the pulley,
During the in-machine transport process, the movement speed of the cup held in the cup holder along with the conveyance belt as it passes around the pulley is suppressed, and the acceleration, deceleration, and centrifugal force acting on the cup are reduced compared to conventional methods. As a result, it is possible to prevent transportation troubles such as the cup popping out and overflowing of liquid beverage, thereby achieving the effect that the cup can be transported safely and smoothly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a side sectional view and a plan view showing the main structure of a cup conveyance device according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are cup-type beverages equipped with a conventional cup conveyance device. A front view and a plan view showing the internal configuration of the vending machine, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the operation during cup conveyance in FIG. 4. In each figure, 2... Product outlet, 3... Raw material box, 4... Hot water tank, 5... Cup supply mechanism, 6... Beverage stirrer, 7...
...Cup conveyance device, 71-73...Pulley, 74.
...Transport belt, 75...Drive motor, 76...Cup holder, 8...Cup, O...Center of cup holder, 0...Inside of pulley Fig. 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A cup holder is connected and supported on a conveyor belt stretched between pulleys, and each outlet end includes a product outlet, a cup supply mechanism distributed within the machine, a powder raw material box for various beverages, a hot water tank, etc. In a cup conveying device of a cup-type beverage vending machine that conveys cups along a circulation route via a beverage stirrer, the installation position of the cup holder relative to the conveyance belt is determined so that the movement locus of the center of the cup holder is higher than the conveyance belt. A cup conveying device for a cup-type beverage vending machine, characterized in that the pulley is located on the inner peripheral side and passes through the center of the pulley.