JPH04275698A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve efficiency for adjusting a temperature and to improve the quality of merchandise in the case of adjusting the inside temperature by both or one of cooling and heating mechanisms by stopping the fan of the automatic vending machine for circulating inside air by a control means only during a vending operation. CONSTITUTION:When a CPU 21 receives the signal of a coin receiving mechanism 5 through an I/O 24, a select button part 6 displays the standby of the vending operation. Further, the above-mentioned CPU 21 outputs a stop signal to a driving circuit 25 and stops a fan motor 4. The CPU 21 fetches a push- down signal from the select button part 6 through the I/O 24, the merchandise is carried out, and the vending operation is executed. When a sensor 14 detects that a discharge door (not shown in the figure) is closed, the CPU 21 fetches the detection signal through the I/O 24 and outputs a driving signal through this I/O to the driving circuit 25. Therefore, the flow-out of the inside air due to the vending operation can be reduced, and damage due to bedewing around the above-mentioned discharge door and at the merchandise can be reduced.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] This invention provides cooling and/or
Or related to vending machines that dispense heated products.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In general, many vending machines for beverages etc. use coolers or warmers to cool or warm the products before selling them. For example, a canned juice vending machine has a schematic configuration as shown in FIG. The product 12 is stored in the upper part and rear side of the insulated inner box 41, and the product 12 is rolled on the chute 48 by the carry-out mechanism 47, pushes open the discharge door 49, and is carried out to the outlet 40. Cooler 4
2 is disposed at the bottom of the chute 48, and a fan 43 near the cooler 42 circulates cool air in the direction of the arrow.

[0003] Vending machines that sell hot beverages are equipped with a heater instead of a cooler, and vending machines that sell both cold and hot beverages have two coolers in each inner box. and a warmer, and as mentioned above, the temperature of the product is adjusted by circulating air with a fan.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned vending machines, the air flow is generally directed toward the delivery door 49 as shown in FIG. Therefore, when carrying out the product, the
9 opened, allowing cold or warm air to leak out.

Furthermore, in cold beverage vending machines, not only cold air leaks, but also condensation occurs due to the contact between warm outside air and cold air from the vending machine, resulting in water droplets forming around the delivery door, and these water droplets falling to the exit. There were also problems in that the product got wet and rust was likely to occur around the product. For this reason,
Some products have a heater installed inside the inner box near the delivery door to prevent condensation, but problems remain in terms of space, cost, cooling efficiency, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine that has high efficiency in regulating the temperature inside the machine and discharges highly marketable products.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes both or one of a cooling mechanism and a heating mechanism, and
A vending machine having a fan for circulating air inside the machine is characterized by being provided with fan control means for stopping the fan during vending operation.

[0008]

[Operation] In the vending machine according to the present invention, the operation of the fan that circulates the air inside the machine is stopped during the vending operation. For this reason, when the product is pushed open at the time of sale, the fan operation is stopped and the air flows out as shown in Figure 4.
Since the air does not flow and stagnates as shown by the arrow, it becomes difficult for the temperature-adjusted air to flow out from the delivery door, which increases the efficiency of temperature regulation and prevents condensation and water droplets from forming around the delivery door.

[0009]

Embodiment FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a canned juice vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. This vending machine cools canned juice before taking it out.

First, the outline of this vending machine will be explained. The inner box 1 made of a heat insulating material is insulated from the outside. The canned juice 12 is stored in a storage section 1 that continues from the top of the inner box 1 to the rear side.
It is stored in 3. A discharging mechanism 7 is disposed at the lower end of the storage section 13, and a chute 8 is disposed diagonally below the discharging mechanism 7. A cooler 2 is disposed below the chute 8, and a fan 3 and a fan motor 4 are disposed in front of the cooler 2. The air cooled by the cooler 2 is flowing in the direction of the arrow in the figure. A carry-out door 9 is attached to the inner box 1 at the front side of the chute 8, and an outlet 10 is provided at the lower outside of the carry-out door 9. The sensor 14 is for detecting whether the discharge door 9 is opened or closed. A take-out door 11 is attached to the boundary between the take-out port 10 and the outside of the machine. A select button section 6 consisting of a plurality of select buttons for selecting juice is disposed at the upper front of the main body 20, and a coin receiving mechanism 5 is disposed below the select button section 6 for causing a selling operation by receiving coins. .

[0011] In the selling operation, coins are first inserted from a coin slot (not shown), and when the coin receiving mechanism 5 detects that the total amount of coins has reached the selling price, the select button section 6 lights up, for example. , the sales operation goes into standby state. Next, when one of the select buttons in the select button section 6 is selected and pressed, the carry-out mechanism 7 starts operating and conveys one canned juice to the chute 8. The canned juice 12 rolls down the chute 8 and is carried out to the outlet 10 by pushing open the carry-out door 9 (indicated by the broken line).

At this time, the operation of the fan is stopped just before the coin reaches the selling price and the selling operation starts, and after the canned juice is carried out from the carrying out door 9, the sensor 14 detects that the carrying out door 9 is closed. The fan is stopped until the sales operation is completed, and when the sales operation is completed, the fan is rotated again to circulate the air. This prevents the cold air inside the machine from leaking to the outside through the carry-out door.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of the control section of the vending machine.

A CPU 21 controls the entire vending machine, and is connected to a ROM 22 and a RAM 23. Further, the coin receiving mechanism 5, the select button section 6, a drive circuit 25 for driving the fan motor 4, and the sensor 14 are connected via the I/O 24. A control program is written in the ROM 22 in advance, and the RAM 23 is allocated to a working area. When the total price of coins reaches the selling price in the coin receiving mechanism 5, the signal is sent to the CPU 21.
When the data is received via the I/O 24, the select button section is lit to indicate that the sales operation is on standby, and the CPU 21 outputs a stop signal to the drive circuit 25 to stop the fan motor 4. Select button is pressed,
The CPU 21 receives the signal through the I/O 24, carries out the selected product, and performs a sales operation. When the sensor 14 detects that the product has been carried out to the outlet outside the discharge door and the discharge door is closed, the CPU 21 receives the detection signal via the I/O 24 and sends a drive signal to the drive circuit 25. Output via I/O24.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the fan control operation of the vending machine.

When the power is turned on and the vending machine enters a sales standby state, the fan motor is driven (n1) to keep the temperature inside the machine constant. When the coin is inserted and the selling price is reached (n2), the fan motor is stopped. After that, the select button is pressed (n4), the sales operation is performed (n5), and when the sensor detects that the product is ejected, the sales operation is completed, and the ejection door is completely closed (n6), the process returns to n1 and the fan motor drive again.

In the above configuration, n2 to n6 correspond to fan control means.

In this embodiment, the fan is stopped from when the coin arrives until the ejection door is closed. However, the fan is not limited to this, and in short, the fan may be stopped from the start to the end of the selling operation. For example, from the start of coin insertion to the selection The fan may be stopped until a predetermined period of time (time for the product to roll down) after the button is pressed.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the outflow of air inside the machine from the discharge door due to the vending operation, thereby improving the operating efficiency of the cooling mechanism or heating mechanism. In particular, in cooling vending machines, it also has the effect of preventing dew condensation, so it is possible to reduce condensation without having a heater to prevent condensation, and improve product quality without making products wet. Rust around the discharge door caused by water droplets can also be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a fan control operation of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a part of the control unit of the vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the vending machine.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional vending machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

2-Cooler 3-Fan 4-Fan motor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine that is equipped with both or one of a cooling mechanism and a heating mechanism and has a fan that circulates air inside the machine, the vending machine having a fan control means that stops the fan during vending operation. A vending machine with special features.