JPH03273476A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply supply goods by housing a container rack in a main body after a goods container is get into the container rack, opening a shutter, feeding goods to a goods storehouse and charging them in an automatic vending machine. CONSTITUTION:When a container rack 8 is pushed into a main body 1, a guide rod 24 provided at the end of a rotating lever 24 slides on the bottom face of the container rack 8. When the guide rod 24 reaches the end portion 28 of the container rack 8, a rack 21 moves leftward by the urging force of a spring 22 and the guide rod 24 rotates clockwise. According to the movement of the rack 21, a gear 20 meshing with the rack 21 rotates clockwise. A guide rod 26 fixed to the gear 20 rotates lock levers 19 counterclockwise to thereby release the fixing state of a shutter 15. Thus, cans 16 stored in a goods container 12 fall into serpentines 6 due to their self-weight to so as to be easily charged in an automatic vending machine.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (b) Industrial application fields The present invention relates to a vending machine.

(b) Conventional technology For example, in conventional vending machines for canned soft drinks, when replenishing products, the products must be loaded one by one into the predetermined product storage positions of the vending machine. However, the work was very troublesome and took a lot of time. This was true not only for vending machines for canned soft drinks, but also for vending machines for other products such as cigarettes.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 46-36721 discloses that the product storage device is configured to be rotatable from the main body of the vending machine, and its opening is made large, so that the product storage device can be opened after storing a large number of products in the product storage device. Although a vending machine is shown in which the vending machine is rotated and positioned within the main body, even with such a configuration, there is no change in the task of loading the product into the product storage device of the vending machine, which is tedious and takes a lot of time. It required

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention eliminates the need to perform the troublesome and time-consuming work of individually loading products into predetermined product storage positions of a vending machine, and allows replenishment of products. To provide a vending machine that can be easily used in a short time.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The vending machine of the present invention is a product storage box that stores a plurality of products, has a downward opening, and is equipped with a shutter that restricts passage of the products through the downward opening. a product storage device provided on the main body of the vending machine; a storage box rack provided above the product storage device of the main body and capable of accommodating the product storage box; It is characterized by comprising an opening/closing mechanism that opens and closes the shutter in response to the entrance and exit, and a product discharge mechanism that is coupled to the product storage device and discharges the products sent therefrom.

(E) Function: When a product storage box containing multiple products and the shutter is closed is placed in the storage box rack, and then the storage box rack is inserted into the main body, the shutter is opened in response to this action.
The product is sent to the product storage device and loaded into the vending machine.

Then, the product is released and sold by the product release mechanism.

(F) Embodiment FIGS. 1 to 6 show a canned soft drink vending machine which is an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows the main body of the vending machine.

1 is the main body of the vending machine; 2 is a front cover that has a product takeout port 3, a product display section (not shown), and an operation panel; is attached to the front of the main body 1 so as to be openable and closable; Reference numeral 4 designates three sets of vending devices built into the main body 1, and numeral 5 designates a synchronizer for guiding the products discharged from each vending device 4 to the product outlet 3 as described later.

The vending device 4 includes a serpentine 6 as a product storage device fixed inside the main body 1, a product discharging mechanism 7 coupled to the lower part of each serpentine 6 for discharging the product sent from there, and a structure directly above each serpentine 6. It is comprised of a storage box rack 8 which is provided so as to be freely accessible and can accommodate product storage boxes to be described later.

2 and 3 show the storage box rack 8 pulled out from the main body l.

9 is a handle fixed to the storage box rack 8, 1° is the main body 1
A rail body 11 is fixed to the storage box rack 8 and is guided by the rail body 1o so that the storage box rack 8 can be pulled out from the main body 1. A rail rack 12 is a rail body fixed to the storage box rack 8 in the depth direction thereof. It is a resin product storage box that stores four items side by side. In each vending device 4,
Serpentines 6 are provided in four rows in the depth direction of main body 1, and product storage boxes 12 accommodated in storage box rack 8 correspond to each row of serpentines 6.

13 is a lower opening formed in the product storage box 12; 14 is a shaft provided in the lower opening 13; 15 is a shutter that rotates around the shaft 14 to open and close the lower opening 13; 16 is a product storage box A plurality of canned soft drinks of a single type (hereinafter simply referred to as cans) are stored in a plurality of cans 12, and 17 is a window formed on the side of the product storage box 12 for checking the remaining amount of the cans 16.

18 is a shaft provided in the lower opening 13 in parallel with the shaft 14;
A lock lever 2o, which is rotatably provided on the shaft 18 and controls the opening and closing of the shutter 15, is a gear rotatably provided on the side wall of each row of serpentines 6;
1 is a rack slidably provided on the side wall of the serpentine 6 in mesh with each gear 20, and 22 is a rack with the rack 21 facing forward of the main body 1 (toward the left in FIGS. 3 and 4). 23 is a rotating lever that rotates according to the movement of the rack 21; 24 is a guide ring fixed to the rotating lever 23; 25 is a guide ring fixed to the side wall of the serpentine 6; 26 is a gear 2o. This is a guide ring fixed to the These constitute an opening/closing mechanism that opens and closes the shutter 15 in response to the coming and going of the storage box rack 8. The shutter 15 opens and closes the lower opening 13 of the product storage box 12, and restricts the cans 16 stored therein from passing through the lower opening 13.

Therefore, when loading products into this vending machine, a product storage box 12 is prepared in which cans 16 are stored in advance and the shutter 15 is locked to the lock lever 19 to prevent the cans 16 from falling out. I'll keep it. Then, the storage box rack 8 is pulled out from the 5-body machine and the product storage box 12 is stored in a position corresponding to the row of serpentines 6 to be replenished (FIG. 4). When all the product storage boxes 12 have been stored, the storage box rack 8 is pushed into the main body 1.

The operation during such pushing will be described in detail below.

Storage box rack 8 pulled out 1! ! From (Figure 4),
When the storage box rack 8 is pushed into the main body 1, the rotation lever 23
A guide rod 24 provided at the tip of the storage box rack 8 slides on the bottom surface of the storage box rack 8 (FIG. 5).

When the guide rod 24 reaches the end 28 of the storage box rack 8, the rack 21 moves to the right in the figure due to the bias of the spring 22 via the rack 21, and the guide rod 24 rotates clockwise in the figure. (Fig. 6) As the rack 21 moves, the gear 20 meshing with the rack 21 rotates clockwise in the figure, and the guide rod 26 fixed to the gear 20 moves the lock lever 19 counterclockwise. and shutter 15.
Unfix. As a result, the can 16 stored in the product storage box 12 falls into the serpentine 6 due to its own weight and is loaded.

Normally, the can 16 housed in the serpentine 6 of the main body I is cooled by the operation of a cooling device (not shown). The product is sold by releasing the fixation of the can 16 and releasing it by a product release mechanism 7 having a well-known structure. The can 16 discharged by the product discharger $7 is sent to the product takeout port 3 of the front lid.

When a certain type of product is sold out, the storage box rack 8 can be pulled out, the empty product storage box 12 can be taken out, and the cans 8 can be replenished using the same procedure as described above for loading.

When the storage box rack 8 is pulled out, the guide rod 24 fixed to the rotating lever 23 comes off the end 28 of the storage box rack 87) and slides on the bottom surface of the storage box rack 8, and the rack 87) slides on the bottom of the storage box rack 8.
moves to the right in the figure.

Therefore, the gear 20 meshing with the rack 21 rotates counterclockwise in the figure, and the guide rod 26 fixed to the gear 20 separates from the lock lever 19.
is rotated counterclockwise by a torsion spring 29 provided on the shaft 18.

At the same time, the shutter 15 is pushed by a guide rod 25 fixed to the storage box rack 8 and rotates counterclockwise.
The shutter 15 is fixed in a closed state by a lock lever 19.

Note that the product storage box 12 that is empty after the cans 16 have been fed into the serpentine 6 and has been loaded may be taken out by immediately pulling out the storage box rack 8; however, at that time, the cans 1
If a new product storage box 12 containing cans 6 is stored in the storage box rack 8, the product storage box 12 also acts as an auxiliary product storage device, allowing more cans 16 to be stored in the vending machine. It can be stored.

According to the above configuration, a plurality of cans 16 are stored and the shutter 1
When the product storage box 12 with 5 closed is stored in the storage box rack 8, and then the storage box rack 8 is placed into the main body, the shutter 15 is opened in response to the operation, and the can 16 is opened as a product storage device. It is sent to Serpentine 6 and loaded into a vending machine. Therefore, there is no need to carry out the troublesome and time-consuming work of loading the cans 6 one by one into predetermined product storage positions of the vending machine. Therefore, products can be easily replenished in a short time. Furthermore, since the product storage box 12 can be used as an auxiliary product storage device, the product storage capacity of the vending machine can be increased.

It is preferable that the product storage box 12 stores the cans 16 of the soft drink at the time of shipment from the factory.
Even if the cans 16 are replaced from the regular storage box to the product storage box 12 of the present invention in the office of a vending machine administrator, although the replacement takes time and effort, the installation location of the vending machine is There is no difference in the fact that the work of filling products in the system becomes easier and the time can be significantly shortened. In the embodiment, the product storage box 12 is made of resin, but may be made of other materials.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, when a product storage box containing a plurality of products and its shutter is closed is stored in a storage box rack, and then the storage box rack is inserted into the main body, the storage box is The shutter is opened, the product is sent to the product storage device, and the vending machine is loaded. This eliminates the troublesome and time-consuming task of loading each product individually into the designated product storage position of the vending machine. There is no need to perform any necessary work, and product replenishment can be easily done in a short time. Furthermore, the product storage box also acts as an auxiliary product storage device, increasing the product storage capacity of the vending machine.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show a vending machine for canned soft drinks which is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of the vending device, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are perspective views. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the vending device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Main body, 6... Serpentine, 7... Product release mechanism, 8... Storage box rack, 12... Product storage box, 13... Lower opening, 15... Shutter, 16・
...Can, 19...Lock lever 20...Gear, 21
... Rack, 22 ... Spring, 23 ... Rotating lever ... Guide rod. 24゜25゜

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A product storage box that stores a plurality of products and has a lower opening and a shutter that restricts passage of the products through the lower opening, and a product storage device provided in the main body of the vending machine. a storage box rack provided above the product storage device of the main body and capable of accommodating the product storage box; and an opening/closing mechanism that opens and closes the shutter in response to the coming and going of the storage box rack; A vending machine characterized by comprising a product discharging mechanism coupled to the product storage device and discharging products sent therefrom.