JPH0219896Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention is a cup-type beverage automatic machine that can sell both cold drinks such as syrup and hot drinks whose main ingredients are powdered ingredients such as coffee and cocoa using the same machine. Like a vending machine, multiple types of beverage cups are stored inside the aircraft, such as a large cup for cold drinks and a small cup for hot drinks, and one of the cups can be taken out depending on the product selected. This invention relates to a beverage cup supply device for a vending machine that supplies beverage cups to a bend stage.

[Conventional technology]

As a beverage cup supply device for a vending machine, it is equipped with a vertically rotatable cup storage drum that has multiple cup storage chambers on the circumference, and each cup is equipped with a cup storage drum that is driven by a vertical axis and has a plurality of cup storage chambers on its periphery. For example, there is a type that is stored in each storage room.
It is known from Publication No. 43596.

This type of beverage cup dispensing device usually has a cup ejecting mechanism below the cup storage drum, opposite one of the cup storage chambers, and according to the sales directive,
Cups in a group of cups in a cup storage chamber located opposite to a cup take-out mechanism are sequentially taken out from the lowest one. When there are no more cups in the cup ejecting mechanism, the cup storage drum rotates to replenish the cup ejecting mechanism with a group of cups from the next cup storage chamber.

On the other hand, recently, in order to be able to respond to the diversification of beverage products and to require less installation space for vending machines, we have combined traditional syrup-based cold beverage machines with powder-based hot beverage machines. Vending machines that are configured as a single vending machine and can sell cold drinks and hot drinks together have started to appear. In this case, since cold beverages and hot beverages have different yields, two types of beverage cups of different sizes are prepared and stored on board, and depending on the product selection, one can It is necessary to transport and feed the cup to the bending stage.

However, since the above-mentioned conventional beverage cup supply device installed in such a cold and hot beverage vending machine can only supply one type of cup, the combined vending machine has two types of cups, one for cold beverages and one for hot beverages. There will be two independently configured beverage cup dispensing devices each handling 100 cups. Further, the number of cups accommodated in the two beverage cup supply devices is set in accordance with demand in summer for cold beverages, and demand in winter for hot beverages. This is because there is a high demand for cold beverages in the summer, and conversely, there is a high demand for hot beverages in the winter.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

By the way, as mentioned above, when two conventional beverage cup supply devices are installed to configure a machine for selling both cold beverages and hot beverages, there are the following difficulties.

In other words, the demand for hot beverages in the summer is
Additionally, as the demand for cold beverages decreases in the winter, the sales turnover rate for hot beverage cups in the summer and cold beverage cups in the winter is extremely low.As a result, one of the two beverage cup supply devices takes up a large amount of space inside the aircraft. Although it occupies the area, its utilization rate is poor. In other words, during the summer, the cup supply device for hot beverages
Also, in the winter, cup dispensing devices for cold beverages occupy extra installation space that contributes little to sales, resulting in an increase in the size of the vending machine cabinet.

Therefore, when configuring a machine that sells both cold and hot beverages, the idea was to use a single cup supply device instead of installing two cup supply devices, and to meet the demand for cold and hot beverages in the summer and winter. By making it possible to accommodate the appropriate quantity of each dedicated cup,
To provide a beverage cup supply device for a vending machine which can reduce the installation space occupied by the cup supply device inside the machine and downsize the cabinet.

[Means for solving problems]

This invention provides a box-shaped cup housing having three or more cup storage compartments arranged horizontally in a row and communicating with each other, each of which accommodates a group of cups stacked vertically in a row; Cup ejecting mechanisms for each type are installed at the lower end of the cup storage areas adjacent to the left and right sides of a specific shared cup storage area located in the center;
In the standby state, the group of cups stored in the shared cup storage section is held in that position, and based on the command, the group of cups is sent out in the stacked position toward the adjacent cup storage section on either the left or right side. A beverage cup supply device of a vending machine is provided with a cup dispensing mechanism that can be selectively switched, and the shared cup storage section is used in correspondence with one of the cup dispensing mechanisms for each type. It is composed of

[Effect]

According to the beverage cup supply device based on the above means, when the cup storage section has five compartments, for example, the cup storage section has a cup ejection mechanism 2 for cold drinks, and the cup storage section has a cup ejection mechanism 3 for hot drinks. A cup storage section between the cup storage section and the cup storage section is set as a shared cup storage section. Then, when there is a high demand for cold drinks in the summer, the cup delivery direction of the cup delivery mechanism is set so that the groups of cups stored in the shared cup storage part are sent out toward the cup storage part, A group of cups for cold beverages is accommodated within the storage section, and a group of cups for hot beverages are accommodated within the cup storage section. Therefore, in this case, the ratio of the number of cold beverage cups to the number of hot beverage cups is 3:2. On the other hand, when there is a high demand for hot beverages in the winter, the cup delivery direction of the cup delivery mechanism is set so that the groups of cups stored in the shared cup storage part are sent out toward the cup storage part, A group of beverage cups is accommodated, and a group of hot beverage cups are accommodated within the shared cup storage section, the cup storage section, and inside. Therefore, in this case, the ratio of the number of cold beverage cups to the number of hot beverage cups is 2:3. In this way, one cup supply device can accommodate cold beverage cups and hot beverage cups in a quantity ratio that corresponds to demand.
This eliminates unnecessary cup storage space when two conventional cup feeding devices are mounted, thereby reducing the space occupied by the cup feeding devices, and as a result, the cabinet can be made smaller.

〔Example〕

Examples of this invention will be described below based on the drawings.

First, the overall configuration is shown in Figures 1 and 2, and Figure 3 shows the overall configuration.
The cup feeding operation will be described in figures a to c. In each figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a box-shaped cup housing, and the inside thereof is divided into five cup storage sections indicated by the symbols .about. in this case. Furthermore, the cup storage section located in the center is used as a shared cup storage section,
The cup storage areas adjacent to the left and right sides of this cup are provided with well-known cup ejection mechanisms 2 and 3 at their lower ends.
is installed. One of the cup ejecting mechanisms 2 and 3 is adjusted to the size of the cold beverage cup, and the other is adjusted to the size of the hot beverage cup. Also, the cup storage rooms on both the left and right ends are
These cup storage units are selected in the same series as the cup storage units in which the cup ejecting mechanisms 2 and 3 are installed, and at the bottom of each cup storage unit, there is a fixed cup sliding guide 4 that is inclined toward the cup storage unit. , 5 are installed, and a cup holding mechanism (not shown), for example, a rotary lever type, which is operated by solenoids 6 and 7, is provided at the boundary between the cup storage section and the cup storage section. On the other hand, the central shared cup storage section is equipped with the following cup delivery mechanism. In other words, the cup delivery mechanism includes a removable cup sliding guide 8 located at the bottom of the shared cup storage section that can switch the direction of the slope to either left or right, and a cup guide connected to two swing links 9. A tube 10,
It is comprised of a solenoid 11 as a release mechanism that holds and restrains the cup guide cylinder 10 in the central cup storage position in a standby state and releases the restraint based on an external command. Moreover, the fulcrum 12 on the fixed side of the swing link 9 is located in the cup storage area as shown in FIG. 1 or 2.
It is removable so that it can be selectively attached to either side.

Now, in the above configuration, during the summer season when there is a high demand for cold drinks, the cup sliding guide 8 is set so as to be tilted downward from the shared cup storage section and oscillates as shown in FIG. The link 9 is attached so that the fixed side fulcrum 12 is located in the cup storage section. On the other hand, during the winter when demand for hot beverages is high, the second
As shown in the figure, the direction of inclination of the cup sliding guide 8 and the mounting position of the swing link 9 are selectively set to be opposite to those in FIG. 1. Prior to sale, each cup storage section in the cup housing stores a group of columnar cups in which the cups are stacked vertically in a row. This situation is shown in FIG. 3a, especially for the summer sales mode. In the figure, 13 is a cup for cold beverages, and 14 is a cup for hot beverages. The cold beverage cups 13 are stacked and stored in the cup storage chamber, and the hot beverage cups 14 are stored in the cup storage chamber. In other words, in this accommodated state, cups 13 and 14
The accommodation ratio is 3:2.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. When a sales command is given from the state shown in FIG. It is well known that they are separated and transported by falling. When sales progress and only a few cups remain in the cold beverage cup ejecting mechanism, a cup detection switch built into the mechanism operates and sends an operating signal to the corresponding solenoid 6. . As a result, the cup holding mechanism at the boundary between the cup storage section and the cup storage section is released, and the cups that have been stored in the cup storage section until now are released from the restraint, and the cup sliding guide 4 is moved as shown by arrow A in Fig. 3a. It slides on top of the cup due to its own weight, moves toward the cup storage section, and properly places itself on top of the remaining cups, and sales continue in this state. Similarly, if there are only a few cups remaining in the cup ejecting mechanism 3 for hot beverages, the third
A group of cups stored in the cup storage section is moved to the cup storage section as indicated by arrow B in FIG. This state is shown in Figure 3b.
Shown below. Next, when sales progress further from the state shown in FIG. Release the restriction on the guide tube 10. Therefore, the cup guide tube 10 swings toward the cup storage section via the swing arm as shown by the arrow C in FIG. The group of stored cups in the cup storage section slides on the cup sliding guide 13, as shown in FIG. 3c, and moves to the cup storage section, and then moves onto the remaining cups. On the other hand, in FIG. 3c, if the cup inventory in the cup storage section runs out, the hot beverage type becomes sold out and a sold out display is displayed.

The above describes a summer sales mode in which the shared cup storage area is used for cold beverages, but conversely, in the winter when demand for hot beverages is high, a second sales mode is used.
As shown in the figure, a shared cup storage section is used for hot beverages, and hot beverage cups are stored here. In this case, the ratio of the number of cold beverage cups to the number of hot beverage cups is 2:3. And cold beverage cups are sold in the cup storage section →
On the other hand, the hot beverage cup storage section is sold in the order of →→.

In the above embodiment, the 5 cup storage sections ~ are allocated to the shared cup storage section, and the number of cups for cold beverages and the number of cups for hot beverages are set at a ratio of 3:2 or 2:3 according to seasonal beverage demand. Although this is an example in which the cup storage section is changed, the number of cup storage sections may be three sections. Furthermore, for the 5 compartments of cup storage areas, if a cup ejecting mechanism is installed in the left and right end cup storage areas, and the middle 3 compartments are used as shared cup storage areas, it is possible to store different types of cups. The ratio is 1:4, 2:3, 3:2, 4:
It is possible to change the setting to 1. However, in this case, the cup delivery mechanism will be different from the one shown.

[Effect of idea]

As is clear from the above explanation, according to this invention, it is possible to store and handle multiple types of beverage cups with one beverage cup supply device. You can change the ratio of the number of cups accommodated. As a result, the beverage cup supply device can be used to make maximum use of the limited cup storage capacity, and as a result, it has practical value by reducing the installation space occupied inside the vending machine and making the vending machine more compact. A high quality beverage cup supply device can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are configuration diagrams of an embodiment of this invention showing states set in different sales modes, respectively, and FIGS. 3 a to 3 c are explanatory diagrams of the cup feeding operation in the sales modes corresponding to FIG. 1. . DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Cup housing, 2, 3...Cup ejection mechanism, 8...Cup sliding guide of cup delivery mechanism, 9...Swing lever, 10...Cup guide tube,
11... Solenoid as a release mechanism...
...Cup storage section.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. A box-shaped cup housing having three or more cup storage compartments arranged horizontally in a row and communicating with each other, in which a group of cups each stacked vertically in a row is housed; Cup retrieval mechanisms for each type are installed at the lower end of the cup storage areas adjacent to the left and right sides of a specific shared cup storage area located in the center of the cup storage area, and when in standby mode, the shared cup storage area A cup that holds a stored cup group in its position and, based on a command, sends out the cup group in a vertically stacked position toward an adjacent cup storage section on either the left or right side.The cup can selectively change the feeding direction. 1. A beverage cup supplying device for a vending machine, comprising a feeding mechanism, and a shared cup storage section is configured to be used in correspondence with one of the types of cup dispensing mechanisms. 2. Scope of Utility Model Registration Claims In the beverage cup dispensing device as set forth in claim 1, the cup dispensing mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the shared cup storage section, the cup sliding guide is capable of changing the direction of inclination, and the fulcrum on the fixed side is A cup guide tube is cantilever-connected to a swinging link that can be selectively attached to either side of the left or right cup storage sections adjacent to the shared cup storage section, and in the standby state, the cup guide tube is connected to the shared cup storage section. A beverage cup dispensing device for a vending machine comprising a release mechanism that operates to hold and restrain a cup inside the cup and release the restraint based on an external command.