JPH0418066Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention targets a serpentine-type product transport shelf that handles cans, bottles, etc., and calculates the product size of the product by measuring the product aisle width at the exit end of the product shelf. The present invention relates to the configuration of a product aisle width adjustment device that adjusts the width to an appropriate width according to the width of the product aisle.

[Conventional technology]

The serpentine type product transport shelf mentioned above is the third one.
As shown in the figure, rail segments 2 are arranged in a meandering manner spanning the left and right shelf side plates 1 from the product input port to the product transport end to define a product path 3, and a product path is provided at the product delivery end of the product path. A star wheel type bending mechanism 4 and a product holding plate 5 that regulates the width of the exit passage are installed facing each other with the product holding plate 5 in between, and the products are lined up on a shelf held between the bending mechanism 4 and the product holding plate 5. It is configured such that the lowest stored product 6 is dropped and carried out from within the shelf by the operation of the bending mechanism 4 based on a sales command.

On the other hand, in order to sell products of various sizes with different diameter dimensions on such a product transport shelf, it is necessary to particularly regulate the width of the exit end of the product aisle 3 to an appropriate width corresponding to the size of the product 6. As a means for this purpose, as shown in Fig. 4, an attachment with a thickness dimension C, indicated by reference numeral 7, is prepared, and when selling a large-diameter product 6A, the attachment 7 is removed and the width of the product passage is set to A. When changing the product 6 to a smaller diameter product 6B, it has been known to set the attachment 7 inside the product holding plate 5 within the shelf to restrict the aisle width to B. However, with this lever method, it is necessary to prepare several types of attachments depending on the size of the product to be sold, and the management and replacement operations are troublesome. For this purpose, as another method, instead of the above-mentioned attachment, a movable product holding plate is latched and supported via through pins into the stepped adjustment grooves opened in the left and right shelf side plates, and the product holding plate is supported along the adjustment groove. The same applicant has already proposed a system in which the product aisle width is adjusted by moving the product (Utility Model Application No. 60-52574).

[The problem that the idea aims to solve]

By the way, according to the knowledge obtained by the inventor from the results of improvement research on the star wheel type product transport shelf shown in the figure, it is possible to maintain products stably on the shelf and smoothly carry out product transport by using a shelf configuration with the aisle width as narrow as possible. As an improvement measure, it has been found that it is better to change the surface of the product holding plate 5 facing the bending mechanism 4 from the flat surface of the conventional structure to a concave surface by forming a slight depression in the center to match the outer shape of the product. . However, in the method of movably adjusting the product aisle width using the step-like adjustment grooves described above, the overall position of the product holding plate moves in the vertical direction as the aisle width is adjusted.
If a concave product holding plate were to be adopted, the concave function of the product holding plate would become useless because the position of the recess on the product holding plate would move up and down relative to the bending mechanism. In other words, when employing a concave product holding plate, it is necessary that the product holding plate can be adjusted horizontally while always maintaining the correct relative positional relationship with the bending mechanism, regardless of the movement operation for adjusting the aisle width.

Therefore, this idea was developed to allow the product aisle width of a vending machine to be variably adjusted according to the product size by adjusting the horizontal movement of a concave product holding plate with a recess formed in the center with a simple one-touch operation. The present invention aims to provide a width adjustment device.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, this invention has a bend mechanism installed at the product delivery end of the product shelf, which is arranged opposite to the product aisle defined between the left and right side panels of the shelf, and is adjustable. A product aisle width adjustment position that variably adjusts the width of the product aisle according to the size of the product to be sold by moving the product holding plate forward and backward toward the product aisle by operation,
a product holding plate which is superimposed on a shelf side plate of a product shelf and is latched and supported via a through pin into a stepped adjustment groove opened in the shelf side plate, and has a recess formed in the center thereof corresponding to the external shape of the product; By adjusting the slide plate to move along the stepped groove, the position of the product holding plate is moved back and forth through the through pin inserted in the long groove, and the product holding plate is restrained and held at a position where the width of the product passage is changed. It consists of a restraining means.

[Effect]

According to the above means, the slide plate is superimposed on the shelf side plate of the product shelf and is latched and supported via a through pin into the stepped adjustment groove opened in the shelf side plate, and the vertical long groove opened in the slide plate. and a product holding plate that is hung between the shelf side plates by hanging from a through pin passed through the intersection of the long groove in the longitudinal horizontal direction opened in the shelf side plate, and the slide plate is moved along the stepped adjustment groove. By manually adjusting the movement with a single touch, the width of the product passage can be variably adjusted by moving the product holding plate back and forth through the through pins inserted at the intersections of the vertical and horizontal long grooves.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main parts of an embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 2 shows an assembly and use state diagram for explaining the adjustment operation of the product passage width, and the same members corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals. First, in Fig. 1, a sliding plate designated by reference numeral 8 is superimposed on the outside of the shelf side plate 1 (only one of the left and right shelf side plates is shown, but the other shelf side plate has a similar configuration). The slide plate 8 is latched and supported via through pins 81 and 82 into a step-like multi-stage adjustment groove 11 that is opened at two locations on the upper and lower sides of the shelf side plate 1. Further, between the through pins 81 and 82, a substrate 9 is interposed between the left and right shelf side plates 1 and supports a product holding plate, which will be described later, from behind.
has been erected. Note that 91 and 92 are curled portions through which the through pins 81 and 82 are passed, and 93 is an operation window into which a fingertip is inserted to grasp the board 9. On the other hand, a long groove 12 in the longitudinal horizontal direction is opened in the shelf side plate 1 in line with the stepped adjustment groove 11, and a long groove 83 in the vertical direction is opened in the slide plate 8 side corresponding to this long groove 12. A product holding plate 5 superimposed on the inside of the substrate 9 is suspended and supported by a through pin 84 extending between the left and right shelf side plates 1 and passed through the intersection of the long grooves 12 and 83. The product holding plate 5 has a concave shape with a recess 51 formed in the center corresponding to the external shape of the product stored in the shelf, and the through pin 84 is attached to the curled portion 52 at the upper end.
is inserted. Further, a torsion coil spring 53 is installed on the through pin 84 by cutting out a part of the curled portion 52 and biasing the product holding plate 5 in the direction of arrow P toward the board, and a torsion coil spring 53 is attached to the lower part of the holding plate. includes upper and lower hook pieces 54 that protrude to engage with the lower curled portion 92 of the board 9;
55 and an operating handle 56.

Further, the restraining means is the hook pieces 54, 55 mentioned above.
and a curled portion 92 of the substrate 9, which engage with each other, and the product holding plate 5 and the slide plate 8.
and fixes and holds the substrate 9 in a predetermined position.

Next, the operation of the product aisle width adjusting device having the above structure will be explained with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the bending mechanism 4 includes a star wheel 41, a swinging locking piece 42 that locks and releases the starwheel 41, a solenoid 43 for releasing the locking piece 42, and a locking piece 4.
It is constructed as an assembly of two return springs 44, etc. On the other hand, 6A, 6B, and 6C represent products of large diameter, medium diameter, and small diameter, respectively, and here, the product holding plate 5 and board 9 at the solid line position in the figure correspond to the large diameter product 6A. A state in which the width dimension of the product aisle 3 is regulated is shown. When changing the product to be sold from this state to the medium-diameter product 6B, first press the handle 56 of the product holding plate 5 with your fingertips to detach the hook piece 55 from the board 9, and at the same time open the operation window 93 into the board 9. Put your other fingers between the boards to pinch the board, and then slide the board 9 along the stepped adjustment grooves 11.
Lift it up to the adjustment step above. As a result, the product holding plate 5 is pushed by the substrate 9 from behind and moves forward in the horizontal long groove 12 from the solid line position 1 in FIG. It will be restrained at the point of the chain line regulated by the intersection of the long grooves 12. When you let go of the handle 56, the product holding plate 5 comes into close contact with the board 9 due to the bias of the spring 53, and at the same time, the curled part 92 of the board 9 rides on the upper surface of the lower hook piece 55, and the two are mutually connected. By engaging with each other, the product holding plate 5, slide plate 8, and substrate 9 are restrained and fixed in this position. In addition, when changing the product to the small diameter size 6C, the board 9 is pushed up to the top of the stepped adjustment groove 11 in the same manner as described above, and the product holding plate 5 is directed to the chain line position in Fig. 2. It moves horizontally to regulate the product aisle width to a width corresponding to the size of the small-diameter product 6C. Further, in this state, the curled portion 92 of the substrate 9 rests on the upper surface of the hook piece 54 of the product holding plate 5, and the two come to engage with each other.

As is clear from the above description, as the product aisle width is adjusted, the product holding plate 5 is restrained by the vertical long groove 83 opened in the slide plate 8 within the horizontal long groove 12 opened in the shelf side plate 1. Move back and forth as shown by arrow Q. Therefore, at each adjustment position, the relative position between the star wheel 41 of the bending mechanism 4 and the product holding plate 5 remains unchanged in the vertical direction, and regardless of the size of the product, the bending mechanism 4 does not hold the product in the sales standby state. and the concave portion 51 of the product holding plate 5. Furthermore, movement adjustment of the product holding plate 5 can be performed with a single touch operation. Note that the recess 51 formed on the surface of the product holding plate 5 is not necessarily limited to an arcuate concave surface as shown in the figure, but may be a stepped surface.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to this invention, there is a slide plate that is superimposed on the shelf side plate of a product shelf and is latched and supported via a through pin into a stepped adjustment groove opened in the shelf side plate, and an opening in the slide plate. The product is suspended from a through pin passed through the intersection of the vertical long groove opened in the vertical direction and the longitudinal horizontal long groove opened in the shelf side plate, and is supported by being latched between the shelf side plates. A position where the width of the product passage is changed by moving the formed product holding plate and the slide plate in the front and back direction via a through pin inserted in the long groove by adjusting the movement of the slide plate along the stepped groove. The product holding plate can be moved horizontally back and forth in response to a one-touch movement operation in the vertical direction of the slide plate that moves along the stepped adjustment groove. This makes it possible to maintain the correct relative position to the bending mechanism even when using a product holding plate with a recess formed on the plate surface that corresponds to the external shape of the product, while also adjusting the bending mechanism according to the size of the product being sold. The width of the product aisle between the two can be adjusted appropriately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the main parts of a product aisle width adjustment device based on an embodiment of this invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a serpentine type product transport shelf, and FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional product aisle width adjustment device. In the figure, 1...Shelf side board, 3...Product aisle,
4...Bend mechanism, 5...Product holding plate, 6, 6
A, 6B, 6C...Product, 8...Slide board, 9
... Board, 11 ... Stepped adjustment groove, 12 ... Horizontal long groove, 54, 55 ... Hook piece of product holding plate, 81, 82 ... Through pin for locking the slide plate, 83 ... Vertical direction Long groove, 84...Through pin that hangs the product holding plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] 1. A bending mechanism installed at the product delivery end of a product aisle defined between the left and right shelf side panels of a product shelf is placed facing across the product aisle, and by adjusting the bend mechanism. A product aisle width adjustment position that variably adjusts the width of the product aisle according to the size of the product by moving the product holding plate forward and backward toward the product aisle. A slide plate is hooked and supported via a through pin into a step-like adjustment groove opened in the shelf side plate, and a slide plate is inserted through the intersection of the vertical long groove opened in the slide plate and the longitudinal horizontal long groove opened in the shelf side plate. By adjusting the movement of the product holding plate, which is suspended from a through-pin and latched between the shelf side plates, and has a recess formed in the center thereof corresponding to the external shape of the product, and the slide plate is moved along a stepped groove. A vending machine characterized by comprising a restraining means that moves the position of the product holding plate in the front-back direction via a through pin inserted in a long groove to restrain and hold the product holding plate at a position where the width of the product passage is changed. product aisle width adjustment device. 2 Utility Model Registration Scope of Claim 1. The product passage width adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the restraining means is arranged behind a product holding plate and is supported by being hooked to a through pin for supporting a slide plate; A product aisle width adjustment device for a vending machine, characterized in that the product aisle width adjustment device for a vending machine is comprised of a hook piece that protrudes to the rear side of the product holding plate and engages with the board to restrain and hold the product holding plate together with the board.