JPH04120687A - Commodity replenishing device for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently replenish an automatic vending machine with commodities by providing a commodity transporting vehicle provided with commodity take-out ports through which commodities can be taken out under a condition where the commodities are classified by brands and a commodity replenishing cart which throws commodities in the corresponding replenishing ports after carrying the commodities to the automatic vending machine and raising a housing bucket. CONSTITUTION:A commodity carrying vehicle A can load commodities 2 to be sold by an automatic vending machine C on its bed 1 under a condition where the commodities are classified by brands. The vehicle A is provided with take-out ports 3 at the lower section in the rear so that each brand of commodities can be taken out from each compartment. On the other hand, a loading port 6 which is opened and closed by means of a shutter 5 is provided through the top of the bed 1 and such a member that can supply commodities from a stockroom to the machine C through a hopper 7 is provided to the port 6. A commodity replenishing cart B transports commodities 2 from the vehicle A to the machine C. The cart B is provided with a housing bucket 11 which can be raised above an undercarriage 9 by means of a lift 10 and can be fitted to the take-out ports 3 after the bucket 11 is lowered and moved under the bed 1 of the vehicle A. When the replenishment of the commodities 2 is completed, the cart B is set in the vehicle A and the vehicle A moves to the next automatic vending machine C.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention reduces the number of manpower required for replenishing products as much as possible, and
This invention relates to a product replenishment device for vending machines that keeps products sanitary.

[Conventional technology]

Although many efforts are being made to increase the reliability of individual mechanisms in vending machines and add new functions, it is important to consider the production, supply, and sales of products as an integrated system.
Not much research has been done to fundamentally improve this.

At most, the design of the front panel of the vending machine body could be changed, or the brand (type) and number of products sold could be detected using a microcomputer sensor to automatically manage inventory.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, the most difficult task with vending machines is replenishing the products that require the most labor, but this is done in the old-fashioned way, in which two people watch how much product is running out and manually replenish the remaining amount as needed. It was done the same way.

Therefore, under the current labor shortage, it becomes difficult to replenish products, and some vending machines end up becoming inoperable due to a lack of products.

This invention solves these problems,
Its purpose is to efficiently replenish products with as little manpower as possible.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following measures. First, the first invention is a goods transport vehicle which loads goods by sorting them by brand and loading them on a loading platform, and which has an outlet at the lower rear of the loading platform from which the goods can be sorted by brand and taken out.

A storage packet for sorting and storing the products by brand is provided on the vehicle chassis so that it can be raised and lowered by a lift, the storage packet is lowered and attached to the outlet, and the product is sorted by brand from the outlet. At the same time, the products are transported to the vending machine, where the storage packets are raised, and the products are put into the corresponding replenishment ports provided at the top of the vending machine, separated by brand. 9. A product replenishment device for a vending machine comprising a product replenishment cart and a vending machine having the replenishment port at the top and having a normal vending function.

He provided the following.

Next, the second invention.

A product transport vehicle that stores products for each brand in cassettes of the same standard and loads them on a loading platform, and has an outlet for the cassettes at the rear of the loading platform.

A platform on which the cassette is placed is provided on the vehicle platform so that it can be raised and lowered by a lift, and is attached to the outlet, and the cassette is transferred from the outlet to the platform and transferred to a vending machine, and the cassette is transferred to the vending machine. and a product replenishment cart for loading the vending machine into corresponding replenishment ports provided for each of the cassettes.

A product replenishment device for a vending machine, comprising a vending machine having the replenishment port and having a normal vending function of selling the product stored in the cassette.

He provided the following.

[Effect]

By taking the above means, the two products are transported in the order of the product transport vehicle, product supply cart, and vending machine with as little human intervention as possible, which is labor-saving and quick. Furthermore, during this transportation, there is no opportunity for human hands to directly touch the products, so the products are kept sanitary.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an overview of the first invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view as well, and this invention is comprised of a product transport vehicle A, a product supply cart B, and a vending machine C.

Product transport vehicle A is a general refrigerated cargo transport vehicle with the following improvements. First of all, that loading platform 1? The products 2 to be sold in the vending machine C can be loaded in a state where they are sorted by brand. As a specific example of this division, partitions may be provided in the width direction of the loading platform 1, and only products 2 of the same brand may be loaded in each partition. Next, a take-out port 3 is provided at the rear lower part of the loading platform 1 so that each product 2 can be taken out from each partition. The take-out port 3 is provided with a take-out mechanism 4, and the take-out mechanism 4 is operated manually or automatically to take out the necessary number of products 2. From these facts, it can be interpreted that the loading platform 1 itself has a structure similar to that of a large-sized vending machine. On the other hand, when loading the product 2 onto the product transport vehicle A, in order to save labor as much as possible, there is a loading port 6 on the ceiling of the loading platform 1 that is opened and closed by a shutter 5 or the like.
It is conceivable to provide a loading port 6 with the material supplied from a factory or storage through a hopper 7. Incidentally, since the brands of the products 2 are separated by partitions formed in the width direction of the loading platform 10, the brands of the products 2 to be supplied also correspond to this. That is, the position of the hopper 7 is made to correspond to the brand of the product 2, and the feeder fj! controls the supply and stop of the product 2 to each hopper 7! 8, product 2
It is possible to supply the required number of each brand.

The product supply cart B4 transports the product 2 from the product transport vehicle A to the vending machine C. This product supply cart B is placed on the chassis 9 and can be raised and lowered using a lift 10.
The storage bucket 11 is lowered and inserted under the loading platform of the goods transport vehicle A, and is attached under the outlet 3. If the take-out mechanism 4 is operated in this state, the product 2 will fall into this storage brush hole Il. By the way, at this time, the product 2 needs to be stored in the storage container 11 in a state where it is sorted by brand, so the product transport vehicle A
Similar to the loading platform 1, a partition is provided in one width direction, and the partition is used to divide the cargo. The product supply cart B loaded with the products 2 in this manner is moved to the vending machine C. Note that if the product replenishment cart B is equipped with a traveling mechanism 12 driven by an engine, a motor, etc., it can be easily moved.

Next, the vending machine C used here has the following improvements in addition to the one having a normal vending function.

That is, the replenishment port 13 for the product 2 is provided on the upper ceiling side, and is opened and closed by a door 14 or the like. Note that this door 14 does not need to open the entire upper ceiling surface, and may cover only a necessary portion of the supply port 13. By the way, in the vending machine C, each product 2 is naturally filled in a state separated by brand, but in this case, the product storage shelf 15 is divided in the width direction, and the structure is such that the product is separated by this partition. If a product is selected, product transport vehicle A and product supply cart B
This is suitable because it corresponds to the classification of When the replenishment cart B has moved to the vicinity of the vending machine C, the storage brush 11 is raised to the position of the replenishment port 13 using the lift 10.
The product 2 is transferred to the supply port 1 by manually or automatically operating the release mechanism 17 provided near the release port 16 of the storage brush 11.
Add it to 3. Note that the width of product replenishment cart B cannot be made unnecessarily large, so if there are more brands of product 2 to be sold in vending machine C than products 2 that can be loaded into cart B, the width of product replenishment cart B cannot be increased unnecessarily, so if the number of brands of product 2 to be sold in vending machine C is greater than the number of brands of product 2 that can be loaded in cart B, the width of product supply cart B cannot be increased unnecessarily. The W7 product transport vehicle A and the vending machine C can be separated and made multiple trips back and forth between the W7 product transport vehicle A and the vending machine C.
(See Figure 2). When the replenishment of the products 2 is completed in this manner, the product replenishment cart B is loaded onto the transport vehicle A and moved to the secondary vending machine C.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, some of the recent vending machines C use a microcontroller to read the inventory and sales numbers of each product 2 for each brand and store it on a magnetic card, etc. It is conceivable that the ejecting mechanism 4 provided in 3 may be controlled by this card or the like. In other words, goods transport vehicle A
A cart reading device 18 is provided on the loading platform 1, etc., and when an operator 2 inserts the card extracted from the vending machine C into the cart reading device 18, the ejecting mechanism 4 automatically operates to read the necessary information for each product 2. This is to ensure that only the number of supplies is received. With this arrangement, one worker only has to operate the product replenishment cart and go back and forth between the product transport vehicle A and the vending machine C, which is extremely labor-saving.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the outline of the second invention. This invention is also composed of a product transport vehicle A, a product supply cart B, and a vending machine C, but a certain number of Product 2
The difference is that the products are stored in a cassette 19, the brands are sorted using the cassette 19, and the cassette 19 is used as a handling unit.

The product transport vehicle A loads the above-mentioned cassettes 19 on the loading platform 1. At this time, the cassettes 19 may be loaded randomly, but it is preferable to provide several shelves 2o in the loading platform 1 and to load each column 20 with cassettes 19 of the same type. An outlet 3 for taking out the cassette tray 19 is provided at the rear of the loading platform, and is opened and closed by a door 21. Further, the loading of the cassette 19 is performed by opening the door 22 of the loading port 6 provided on the ceiling of the loading platform 1 (it may also be loaded from the takeout port 3).

The product supply car 1-B has a loading platform 23 on the chassis 9 that can be raised and lowered by a lift 1o, and an operator manually takes out a cassette 19 from the loading platform 1 and places it on the loading platform 23. Transfer to machine C. Therefore, the raising and lowering of the mounting table 23 is for convenience when taking out the case 149 from the shelf 2o of the loading platform 1 or when replenishing the vending machine C with the products 2. Note that the traveling mechanism 12 may be provided as in the case of the invention described above.

The vending machine C stores the products 2 in a cassette 19, and when this cassette 19 is placed in a specific cassette device slot 24 that is associated with each brand, the products 2 inside are automatically dispensed. The product should be structured so that it will flow out to the product storage shelf 15 or the like.

Load the cassette 19 onto the product supply cart B and go to the vending machine C.
Once the cassettes 19 have been transferred, the supply port 13 is opened and the corresponding cassettes 19 are exchanged. At this time, some cassettes 19 still have unsold products 2,
All the cassettes 19 are replaced at the same time without replenishing the remaining products 2 by the reduced amount.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the first invention, the following effects can be expected.

i) It is easy and labor-saving to transfer the products from the transport vehicle to the supply cart, and from the supply cart to the vending machine, since no human intervention is required. In particular, automatic loading of products from factories to product transport vehicles, automatic reloading of products from product transport vehicles to product supply carts using carts,
Furthermore, if the product replenishment cart runs automatically, there is no need for any manual work by nine people, resulting in labor savings for the - layer.

ii) This means that goods can be loaded and unloaded and replenished in a short time, increasing overall speed and increasing efficiency.

iii) It is hygienic because there is no opportunity for human hands to touch the product.

iv) To replenish the vending machine with products, all you have to do is open a small refill port. 2) Unlike conventional vending machines that open the front or back completely, it consumes less electricity and takes up less space. It is also safe for transportation.

The following effects can also be expected from the second invention.

a) Since the products are handled in a cassette, they do not come into contact with two people's hands, making it sanitary.

b) Products are accumulated in the cassette.

Unlike those that handle individual products, loading and unloading work can be shortened and replenishment work can be done quickly.

C) The product replenishment cart's loading table can be raised and lowered, and it can also travel automatically, which is labor-saving.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an overview of the first invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view, and FIG. 3 is a side view showing an overview of the second invention. (Symbol) A... Product transport vehicle B... Product supply cart C... Vending machine 1 - Loading platform 2... Product 3... Outlet 9... Car platform 10... Lift 11... Storage bar 12... Traveling mechanism 13... Supply port 19... Cassette 23... Mounting table

Claims (1)

[Claims] [1] Products (2) are sorted by brand and placed on a loading platform (1).
The product (2) is loaded onto the back and lower part of this platform (1).
A product transport vehicle (A) having an outlet (3) for separating and taking out the products by brand, and a storage bucket (11) for storing the products (2) by classifying them by brand are lifted onto the vehicle chassis (9). The storage bucket (11) is lowered and attached to the outlet (3), and the products (2) are sorted by brand from the outlet (3) and stored. bucket(
11) and transferred to the vending machine (C), the storage bucket (11) is raised, and the products (2) are placed on the top of the vending machine (C), separated by brand. A vending machine consisting of a product replenishment cart (B) that is loaded into a corresponding replenishment port (13), and a vending machine (C) that has the refill port (13) at the top and has a normal vending function. Machine product replenishment device. [2], Product (2) is sold in cassettes of the same standard for each brand (
19) and loaded onto the loading platform (1).
A goods transport vehicle (A) having an outlet (3) for the cassette (19) at the rear of the vehicle, and a loading platform (23) for placing the cassette (19) on the vehicle chassis (9) using a lift (10). The cassette (19) is attached to the outlet (3) so that it can be raised and lowered, and the cassette (19) is transferred from the outlet (3) to the mounting table (23) and transferred to the vending machine (C). Cassette (19)
a product replenishment cart (B) for inserting the product into corresponding replenishment ports (13) provided in the vending machine (C) separately for each cassette (19); and the replenishment port (13). , and a vending machine (C) having a normal vending function for selling the product (2) stored in the cassette (19). [3], the supply cart according to claim [1] or [2] (
C) is a product replenishing device for a vending machine having a self-propelled traveling mechanism (12).