JPH03218595A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a display device thin without lowering the luminance of a surface by controlling reflected light and using a specified multiprism sheet. CONSTITUTION:A reflecting surface 15 is provided with a function to make the greater part of light reflected by its surface incident obliquely to the multiprism sheet 16, and in addition, a prism group arranged as extending along and in parallel with a light source and providing with the function to emit the light incident obliquely either direction or after being reflected concentrically to a prescribed direction is formed on the inner surface of the multiprism sheet 16. Accordingly, in an inner illumination type display device, the greater part of the light reflected by the reflecting surface 15 is made incident obliquely upon the multiprism sheet 16, and the light incident on the multiprism sheet 16 either directly or obliquely can be emitted concentrically to a display surface direction. Thus, even if the device is made thin by arranging the light source 14 and the multiprism sheet 16 so as to be close to each other, the luminance of the display surface can be made uniform.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to vending machines such as canned beverage vending machines, cigarette vending machines, and ticket vending machines. This invention relates to an internally illuminated display device that improves advertising effectiveness.

"Prior Art" In recent years, vending machines have become widespread, and it is expected that the number of installed vending machines and the items sold by vending machines will continue to increase in the future.

As the number of vending machines increases, it is estimated that the sales format in which many vending machines are lined up at one storefront will also increase.

In such a situation, the appearance of the vending machine becomes an important selling point, and there is a need to provide a vending machine with excellent advertising effects that can attract customers.

Further, since vending machines are not only installed outdoors, but can also be installed in various locations, it is desired that the appearance and display be appropriate to the location where they are installed.

Conventionally available vending machines, such as vending machines for canned drinks, have a sample display section on the front of the vending machine that displays samples of the products to be sold. By displaying a product PR effect or a decorative effect in the moe market area other than the display area, it is possible to improve the advertising effect of the vending machine.

Traditionally, display devices installed in vending machines include:
Many products simply incorporate a lamp into the display section, but this does not provide a sufficient display effect, and recently, a lamp is built into the housing.
A structure is provided in which a book or two or more fluorescent lamps are arranged, a diffuser plate is arranged at an appropriate distance from the fluorescent lamps, and a desired display is provided on the outer surface of the diffuser plate.

However, in such devices, if there is not enough distance between the fluorescent lamp and the diffuser plate, the bright line of the fluorescent lamp, called a slim line, will be visible, making it difficult to ensure uniform brightness on the display screen. In order to achieve this, the depth of the display device must necessarily be increased. Also, it is inconvenient to have the display device protrude from the front side of the vending machine, so if the display device becomes deep, the inside space of the vending machine must be recessed to install the display device. As a result, the product storage capacity will decrease.

Also, if you try to reduce the depth of such a display device, you will have to increase the diffusion performance of the diffuser plate, but this will reduce the light transmittance and make it darker, so it is necessary to maintain the same brightness. We had no choice but to increase the number of fluorescent lights,
Problems such as increased power consumption and countermeasures against temperature rise have arisen.

In order to solve these problems, a method has been considered in which the distance between the light source and the diffuser plate is reduced, and the area directly above the light source is blocked to eliminate the bright line that appears directly above the light source, thereby making the brightness of the display surface uniform. However, in this method, the brightness is made uniform by adjusting the level to the dark part of the surface, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of the efficiency of using the amount of light.

In addition, it is possible in principle to place a lamp at the focal point of a convex lens using the point light source approximation, and apply the fact that the light that passes through the convex lens becomes a parallel destination, and use a Fresnel lens with this function as a light source. However, since fluorescent lamps are not so-called point light sources, the reproducibility of the principle is poor and it is currently impossible to put them into practical use.

"Problem to be Solved by the Invention" In view of this situation, the inventors of the present invention have discovered that bright lines appear when a linear light source such as a fluorescent lamp is brought close to the illumination surface, and that such bright lines can be eliminated. Therefore, if a shielding member is used, the overall brightness will be lowered and the efficiency of using the amount of light will be lowered. Similarly, if a diffuser plate with high diffusion performance is used to achieve uniformity, the surface will become dark, so to speak. Recognizing that there is a trade-off between making a display device thinner without reducing its brightness, we have conducted extensive research to achieve thinner display devices while effectively utilizing the light energy emitted by the light source as much as possible. As a result, they discovered that this could be achieved by controlling reflected light and using a unique multi-prism sheet, and completed the present invention.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In other words, the present invention has been made to achieve the above problems, and its gist is to provide an automatic vending machine with an internally illuminated display device attached to the front of the main body. In the vending machine, the internally illuminated display device includes a box-shaped housing provided with a display on the outside of the display surface, a linear light source built in the housing or a linearly arranged light source, The light source includes a reflective surface provided on the back surface, and a multi-prism sheet provided on the inner surface of the display surface, and the reflective surface is arranged so that a large portion of the light reflected thereon is diagonal to the multi-prism sheet. Prisms are arranged on the inner surface of the multi-prism sheet to extend parallel to the light source, and have the function of concentrating and emitting diagonally incident light directly or by reflection in a predetermined direction. There is a vending machine characterized in that groups are formed.

"Function" The vending machine according to the present invention is provided with an internally illuminated display device on the front side of the vending machine main body, and the advertising effect of the vending machine can be improved by the display of this device. In this internally illuminated display device, most of the light reflected by the reflective surface is incident obliquely on the multi-prism sheet, and the light that is directly or obliquely incident on the multi-prism sheet is concentrated and emitted toward the display surface. By arranging the light source and the multiprism sheet close to each other, the brightness of the display surface can be made uniform even if the device is made thinner.

In addition, by installing a dark area removal sheet between the display and the multi-prism notebook, it is possible to align the light emitted at an angle deviating from the normal direction of the multi-prism sheet to the normal direction, resulting in uniform brightness on the display surface. The properties are even better.

"Example" Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and reference numeral 1 in this figure represents a vending machine.

The vending machine 1 has a sample display section 2, a charge input/operation section 3, a product takeout section 4, and a display device 5 arranged on the front side of a main body housing products.

The sample display section 2 is configured by arranging samples of products to be sold and a light source for illuminating the samples in a cover 6 made of transparent resin. Further, the fee input/operation section 3 includes a coin input slot 7 and a plurality of product selection buttons 8 . In addition, the product take-out port 4 is the take-out port 9 for selling products.
and a change return opening lO.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the display device 5 includes:
A box-shaped housing i3 with a display sheet l2 attached to the outside of the display surface l1, a light source l4 built into the housing l3, a reflective surface 15 provided on the back of the light source l4, and the above-mentioned display. It is comprised of a multi-prism sheet 16 provided on the inner surface of the surface I1, and a dark area removal sheet 17 provided between the multi-prism sheet 16 and the display sheet 12.

As the light source l4, a commercially available linear fluorescent lamp (for example, lOW, 20W, or 30W) can be used. Note that the tube diameter D of these commercially available fluorescent lamps is, for example, 2
5mmφ, 27mlllφ, 32fflIIlφ or 38+nmφ.

As the reflective surface 15, for example, a 25 μm thick silver-deposited polyester film laminated on the surface of a 0.5 fflI1 thick aluminum notebook can be used. When using this laminated film, a silver-deposited polyester film is used as the top surface.

This reflective surface l5 is designed so that the light reflected from most of the surfaces except for the position directly below the light source l4 enters the multi-prism notebook 16 obliquely. 50 to 80 for the symbol L in the figure
The structure is such that the light can be incident at an incident angle of about .degree., and the arrangement of the reflecting surface l5 is one of the conditions for achieving the function of the present invention.

In order to confirm this point, the luminance distribution of the display was examined using a configuration as shown in FIG. 5, that is, a reflective surface 15b having a flat portion on the bottom surface. When the distance R of the flat surface is changed in the device shown in Fig. 5, when R = 2D or R = 3D with respect to the tube diameter D of the fluorescent lamp (light source 14), the part R becomes dark and the display It has been found that the uniformity of the brightness of surface 11 is reduced.

As partially shown in FIG. 4, the multi-prism sheet I6 has an arrangement pitch of P, a prism angle α1,
It consists of a sheet in which a group of prisms with a parietal angle α are arranged and extend parallel to the light source l4 and parallel to each other.

The multi-prism sheet 16 can be obtained, for example, by using a colorless and transparent acrylic resin plate (about 1 mm thick) and hot pressing it together with a mold.

The pitch P is, for example, 0.38+a+, and the prism angle α1. α, both are, for example, 31.5° and the parietal angle α
is 63°.

A surface with uniform brightness can be obtained by using such a multi-prism meter I6 alone, but in order to prevent dark areas from forming on the display surface I1, it is necessary to maintain a small interval (about several hundred microns).
It is necessary to assemble the light source l4 and the multi-prism unit I6, which is difficult in practice. For this reason, it is desirable to remove the dark areas using the dark area removal sheet 17.

In the dark area removing sheet l7, the brightness in the normal direction due to the light that has passed through the multi-prism sheet 16 tends to be low right above the light source (that is, in this part, the light is mainly directed in the normal direction to the multi-prism sheet 16). The light is incident from the L direction, and is thus emitted from the sheet in an oblique direction, for example, at an angle of 60 to 8-0 degrees with respect to the normal direction), so it is emitted at an angle deviating from the normal direction of the multiprism sheet l6 This serves to align the light in the normal direction.

As the dark area removal sheet 17, it is possible to use a semi-transparent plate having a certain degree of diffusivity, for example, a semi-transparent plate of various synthetic resins (for example, about 1 to 2 mm thick) or a film. can. An example of the sheet is shown below.

・Acrylic resin breast half plate manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. [Acrylite #432J (thickness 2ffiI1) ・Acrylic resin breast half plate manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. [Acrylite #422J (
Thickness 2 ++ n)・Acrylic resin breast half plate made by Mitsubishi Rayon [Acrylite #609J (thickness 2 is)・Acrylic resin breast half plate made by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. [Acrylite #6
10J (thickness 2 am) Acrylic resin milk half plate manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. [Acrylite #613j (thickness 2I
Acrylic resin breast half plate manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. [Acrylite #M3J (thickness l m+n) The above housing I3 can be formed using a synthetic resin plate into a box shape with an opening at the top. .

A multi-prism sheet l6 is attached to the opening of the housing l3 with the prism group facing the light source l4, and a dark area removal sheet l7 and a display are provided on the outer surface (display 11) of the multi-prism sheet l6. Sort+
2 is installed.

The display sheet l2 is made of a transparent plate material such as an acrylic plate.
A desired display such as a product PR display, a decorative display, a seasonal display, etc. is printed. Further, instead of this display sheet l2, a film with a display attached may be pasted on the outer surface of the dark part removal sheet l7, or furthermore, the display may be printed directly on the outer surface of the dark part removal sheet l7. . It is desirable that the display sheet 12 is installed in a replaceable manner on the dark area removal sheet 17. By making it replaceable, it is possible to change the display sheet 12 depending on the season, the atmosphere of the installation location, the release of new products, etc. The display can be changed depending on the situation.

The vending machine 1 configured in this manner is provided with a display device 5 on the front side of the vending machine main body, and the advertising effect of the vending machine 1 can be improved by the display of this device. Further, in the display device 5, most of the light reflected by the reflective surface 15 is incident obliquely on the multi-prism sheet l6, and the light that is directly or obliquely incident on the multi-prism sheet l6 is concentrated and output in the direction of the display surface. , bright and highly uniform display is possible by effectively utilizing the light from the light source l4.

Furthermore, effects such as the ability to make the display device 5 thinner can be obtained.

Although the present invention has been described in detail according to the examples above, the content of the present invention is not limited to these examples, and various modifications are possible. For example, as the light source 14, in addition to a linear light source such as a fluorescent lamp, a linearly arranged light source such as an LED array, a link lamp, or a quenching lamp can be used. Further, the number of light sources l4 is not limited to one, but may be two or more.

Further, as for the reflective surface, an appropriate metal reflective surface or the like can be selected, and if it has the function of reflecting the light from the light source 14 and making most of it enter the multiprism sheet 16 obliquely, for example, a flat surface can be selected. The shape does not matter, such as a concave upwardly made surface made of laminated material.

As the multi-prism sheet 16 used in the present invention,
In addition to acrylic resin, synthetic resins such as polycarbonate resin, styrene resin, and vinyl chloride resin, or inorganic glass can be used. The multi-prism sheet 16 may be not only plate-shaped (approximately 0.5 to 5 mm thick) but also thinner film-shaped. Also, the shape of the prism
Direct light from a linear light source or light that has been reflected and is incident from an oblique direction in a direction perpendicular to the multi-prism 16;
Alternatively, the prism angle may be set depending on the direction in which the light is concentrated and emitted in an arbitrary direction.

Furthermore, as the dark area removal sheet 17, in addition to the acrylic resin translucent plate used in the example, a sheet or film with similar performance can be used, but depending on the purpose, the total light transmittance and the incident An appropriate one may be selected by considering the peak output angle and the angular width at that time.

In addition, the multi-prism sheet 16 and the dark area removal sheet 17
If necessary when using a thin plate or film as
may be interposed between the multi-prism sheet l6 and the light source l4.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, the vending machine of the present invention is provided with a display device on the front of the vending machine main body, and the advertising effect of the vending machine can be improved by the display of this device. In addition, in the display device, most of the light reflected by the reflective surface is incident on the multi-prism sheet obliquely, and the light that is directly or obliquely incident on the multi-prism sheet can be concentrated and emitted in the direction of the display surface. Bright and highly uniform display is possible by effectively utilizing the light from the light source. moreover,
This has excellent effects such as making it possible to make the display device thinner.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and is a perspective view of a vending machine, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing a display device used in the vending machine shown in FIG. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the display device, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the display device with display sorting removed, Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the main parts of the multiprism sheet, and Fig. 5 is a flat bottom part. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a display device according to a modification of the present invention. ... Vending machine ... Display device (internally illuminated display device) l ... Display surface 2 ... Display sheet (display) 3 ... Housing 4 ...Light source 5 ・Reflection surface 6 ...Multi prism unit 7 ... Dark part removal sheet.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A vending machine with an internally illuminated display device attached to the front of the vending machine main body, the internally illuminated display device comprising a box-shaped housing with a display provided on the outside of the display surface, and a A linear light source or a linearly arranged light source built into the housing, a reflective surface provided on the back surface of the light source, and a multiprism sheet provided on the inner surface of the display surface, the reflective surface has the function of allowing most of the light reflected by the surface to enter the multi-prism sheet obliquely, and on the inner surface of the multi-prism sheet are arranged parallel to the light source, direct or reflective. 1. A vending machine comprising a prism group having a function of concentrating and emitting light obliquely incident in a predetermined direction. (2) Between the above display and the above multi-prism sheet,
2. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a dark area removing sheet for eliminating a dark area directly above the light source.