JPH0432993A - Cup carrying-out device of cup type automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve operability by separating and falling a cup array in a cup separation drum, cup by cup, and a cup sending-out device and supplying a cup every time drink is sold, and storing the cut array in the cup separation drum by a conveyor device and placing it in a stand-by state. CONSTITUTION:The cup array 1a is charged in the cup separation drum 15 from its semicylindrical opening part 15b and mounted on the sending-out device and a cup array pressure plate 28 is pressed to the left; and another cup array 1b is mounted on an endless belt 12 opposite the cup separation drum 15 and while the cup array pressure plate 28 is pressed to the left, cup arrays 1c - 1f are mounted on the endless belt 12 to complete the charging operation of the cup arrays 1, so that the cup array 1a is separated and fallen, cup by cup, and sent out. Then the cup arrays 1b - 1f move to the right as the endless belt 12 moves, the cup array 1b separates from the endless belt 12 and is put in the cup separation drum 15 and fallen and mounted on the sending-out device 19, and the cup arrays mounted on the endless belt 12 are put in the cup separating drum 15 and sent out, cup by cup, by the sending-out device 19. Consequently, the operability is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a cup dispensing device for a cup-type vending machine.

(Prior Art) In recent years, vending machines, mainly beverage vending machines, have become rapidly popular. Beverage vending machines contain cans,
There are bottles, cups, etc.

Here, we will take a cup vending machine as a conventional example.

Conventionally, cup-type vending machines that dispense beverages such as coffee and juice into cups require a cup delivery device that supplies cups one by one to predetermined sales positions based on sales instructions. In order to store and supply a large number of cups, this cup dispensing device usually has a plurality of cup rows in which a plurality of cups are stacked upright, and is equipped with a delivery mechanism that delivers the cups one by one from these cup rows. The mainstream method is to move the cups one by one to a dispensing position, then separate the cups one by one from this row and drop and supply them to a sales position.

Conventionally, this type of cup discharging device was manufactured by the Special Publication Publication No. 62-4.
There are cylindrical ones with multiple cup storage parts as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4316, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 197890/1986.
A device with an elliptical storage section as shown in the publication has been proposed, but since all of them are rotary, there is dead space around the outer periphery of the cylindrical section and near the center of rotation, and the space is limited. Since the space cannot be used effectively, there is a problem in that the number of cups that can be accommodated is small compared to the external dimensions, and this problem must be solved in some way.

In order to solve these problems, FIG. 7 shows a cup feeding device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-39815, in which the storage section is made square to improve storage efficiency.

In the same figure, a cup rail 2 is provided on which a plurality of stacked cup rows 1 are linearly and slidably placed adjacent to each other, and each cup row 1 is moved forward on the cup rail 2. In a cup feeding device that separates and discharges cups one by one from the cup row 1 by guiding the cup row 1 to the cup discharging mechanism by dropping the cup row 1 at a time, a cup pushing plate 3 is placed above the cup rail 2. is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction and along the cup rail 2,
A sprocket 4 whose upper outer peripheral surface touches the bottom surface of the cup row 1 at the front end of the cup rail 2 and moves the cup row 1 forward during rotation is connected to the cup push plate 3 and the sprocket 4 via a chain 5 as an interlocking mechanism. A cup feeding motor 6 is provided to synchronously drive the cup pushing plate 3 and sprocket 4 in the forward movement direction of the cup row 1.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the mechanism portion that drives the cup pushing plate 3 that pushes the cup row 1 on the cup rail 2 forward, that is, the chain 5. Space is required to accommodate sprocket 4, etc., and the depth is somewhat larger than the diameter of the cup, so cup row 1
The left and right movement is efficient with no dead space.

The front and back direction is large due to the space of the mechanical parts, and there remains room for improvement as a whole.

In addition, in this device, when replenishing the cup row 1 when the cup row 1 moves due to sales and the number of stored cup rows 1 decreases, the motor 6 is reversed by a changeover switch to move the cup push plate 3. It needs to be moved to the right,
In addition, after refilling, in order to prevent the replenished cup row 1 from falling to the left or right, the motor 6 is rotated in the normal direction to move the cup pusher plate 3 to the left, so that the cup pusher plate 3 is placed at the right end of the cup row 7 to be refilled. It must be stopped at the position of contact.

In practice, such an operation is a time-consuming task, and the operation of stopping the cup push plate 3 at the position where it contacts the right end of the cup row 1 in the aforementioned cup row replenishment operation requires some skill. .

It had drawbacks in terms of operability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and to provide a cup discharging device that has less dead space and also improves operability when filling cup rows.

(Means for Solving the ml! Problem) The cup dispensing device of the cup-type vending machine of the present invention includes a follower pulley pivotally supported at one end inside an endless belt below the cup dispensing device main body, and a driven pulley pivotally supported at the other end of the cup dispensing device. A conveyor device consisting of a supported moving pulley, a belt drive motor connected to this moving pulley, a cup discharge port separated from the shaft support end of this conveyor device, and a semicircle extending vertically above this discharge port. a cup separating drum having a shape, the upper and lower ends of the cup separating drum being rotatably supported at the center of the semicircular shape of the cup separating drum, and a hollow gear provided around the outer periphery of the lower end of the semicircular shape of the cup separating drum. a drum drive motor that is connected to the hollow gear to rotationally drive the cup separation drum; a control switch that controls the operation of the belt drive motor; and a control switch that controls the belt drive motor and the drum drive motor via the control switch. A control device for controlling rotation, a guide rail fixed above the main body facing the conveyor device, a cup row push plate that is suspended from the guide rail and can be slid from side to side, and one end is attached to the cup row push plate, A wire rope whose other end is attached to one end of the guide rail, and when this wire rope is bent and stretched in a substantially S-shape, one end is engaged with one of the bent portions, and the other end is attached to one end of the guide rail. A tension spring attached to the other end is engaged with a rotatable fixed pulley to the other bent part, and this fixed pulley is rotatably attached to one end of the guide rail. .

(Function) According to the present invention, with the above configuration, the cup separating drum is normally placed on standby with the opening of the semicircular portion facing forward.

Then, a cup row in which a plurality of cups are stacked is inserted through this opening. Thereafter, the cup rows are sequentially placed on the endless belt from the cup separation drum side to complete the cup row filling operation.

Then, as a normal sales operation, the cups are carried out by sequentially separating and dropping the rows of cups in the cup separating drum from below by a delivery device disposed at the bottom of the cup separating drum. After that, when the cup row in the cup separation drum is eliminated by the delivery device, a cup detection switch built into the delivery device energizes the drum drive motor, rotates the cup separation drum 90 degrees, and stops it by a control switch. let As a result, the opening of the semicircular portion of the cup separating drum is placed on standby with the opening of the semicircular portion facing the endless belt side, and the control switch causes the endless belt to be transferred to the cup separating drum side by the belt drive motor. The row of cups moves toward the cup separating drum, and the row of cups closest to the cup separating drum is separated from the endless belt, falls into the cup separating drum, and is stored. Then, the cup detection switch is actuated by the dropped cup row, and the cup separation drum is further rotated by 270', and is stopped again by the control switch, thereby completing the preparation for the selling operation by the delivery device again.

The rows of cups on the endless belt are transferred into the cup separation drum in a similar manner.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, and the same components as those of the prior art will be given the same reference numerals and detailed explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a cup dispensing device of a cup-type vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an E-E in FIG.
Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the lower part of Figure 1 when the cup separation drum is in the normal standby state, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view when viewed in the direction of the arrow along the line, Figure 4 is when the cup separation drum is rotated 90 degrees. 1, FIG. 5 is a control circuit diagram in FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is a control circuit diagram in FIG. 4.

In FIGS. 1 to 6, reference numeral 8 denotes a main body composed of a frame, and a follower pulley 9 arranged as a conveyor device at the bottom of the main body 8, and a moving pulley 10 arranged apart from the follower pulley 9. is rotatably supported by the belt support plate 11. 12 is an endless belt, which has a follower pulley 9 and a driving pulley 1.
It is suspended between 0 and 0.

13 is a belt drive motor, and the moving pulley 10 is gear 1.
connected by 4. A semicircular cup separation drum 15 is disposed on the side of the follower pulley 9, extends vertically, and is rotatably supported at its upper and lower ends. A hollow gear 16 is provided around the lower end of the cup separation drum 15. The outer periphery of the hollow gear 16 is provided with a gear portion 16a for receiving rotational power. 17 is a drum drive motor, a drive gear 18 for transmitting rotation to the hollow gear 16 is attached to the output shaft 17a, and a gear portion 16a of the hollow gear 16 is attached to the output shaft 17a.
is engaged with. Reference numeral 19 denotes a delivery device, which is attached to a discharge port 20 located directly below the cup separation drum 15, and is controlled by a full cycle cam 22 mounted on an output shaft 21a by a force of 11 rotations by a cup delivery motor 21. The switch 23 detects this, stops the rotation, and sequentially delivers the cups. This is a conventionally known mechanism as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-39498, and its explanation will be omitted.

24A and 24B are drum control switches, and energization to the drum drive motor 17 is controlled by the cycle cam 25 attached to the support shaft 15a attached to the upper end of the cup separation drum 15. 626 is a drum control switch of the cup separation drum 15. With the cup detection switch located below, the cup separation drum 15
The presence or absence of the cup row 1a within the cup is detected by the contact and separation of the cup/<-26a, and the energization is controlled as a control switch for the belt drive motor 13.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a guide rail fixed above the main body 8, and a roller 28a that moves left and right is rotatably attached to a cup row pusher plate 28 suspended from the guide rail 27. 2
Reference numeral 9 denotes a wire rope, one end of which is connected to the guide rail 27 and the other end connected to the cup row press plate 28. A fixed pulley 30 is rotatably attached to one end of the guide rail 27 and recoils. Reference numeral 31 is a tension spring whose one end is fixed to the other end of the guide rail 27. and wire rope 29
is bent and tensioned in a substantially S-shape, one bent part 29a is connected to a fixed pulley 30, and the other bent part 29b is connected to a tension spring 3.
1, and usually a tension spring 3
1 biases the cup row pushing plate 28 toward the cup separation drum 15 side.

The operation of the cup carrying device constructed as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

First, a cup row 1a in which a plurality of cups are stacked is filled through the semicircular opening 15b of the cup separation drum 15 and placed on the delivery device 19. Next, press the cup row pressing plate 28 to the left, and separate the cup row 1b between it and the cup separation drum 15.
is placed on the endless belt 12. Sequentially, cup row push plate 2
The filling operation for the cup row 1 is completed by placing the cup rows IC to 1f on the endless belt 12 in the same manner as described above while pressing the cup row 1 to the left. At this time, the cup row push plate 28
is in contact with the left side of the cup row 1f that was filled last and is constantly pressed to the right by the tension spring 31).

In this state, when the cup delivery motor 21 of the delivery device 19 is energized by a sales command, the cups are separated and dropped one by one from the cup row 1a and delivered. When this cup row 1a disappears due to the above-mentioned feeding operation, the contact between the detection renovator 268 of the cup detection switch 26 and the cup row 1a is released, the cup detection switch 26 is activated, and the drum drive motor 17 is energized. , the drive gear 18, and the hollow gear 16 rotate the cup separation drum 15 in the direction of arrow C. After rotating 90 degrees, the detection lever 24a of the drum control switch 24A is attached to the peak 25a of the cycle cam 25 that is pivoted to the upper end of the cup separation drum 15.
The rotation of the two-force separation drum 15 is stopped. At the same time, the belt drive motor 13 is energized by the operation of the drum control switch 24B, and the cup rows 1b to 1f move to the right along with the movement of the endless belt 12. Eventually, the cup row 1b separates from the endless belt 12 and the cup separation drum 1
5, and is dropped and placed on the delivery device 19. Then, when the cup row 1b is placed on the feeding device 19, the cup row 1b and the cup detection switch 26 come into contact again, and the belt drive motor 13 is turned off, and the drum drive motor 17 is energized again to separate the cups. Rotate the drum 15 in the direction of arrow C.

After 270″ rotation, drum control switch 24A.

24B is the detection lever 24 in the valley 25b of the cycle cam 25.
a enters and stops the rotation of the cup separation drum 15.

By performing this series of operations up to the cup rows 10 to 1f, the cup row 1 placed on the endless belt 12 is stored in the cup separation drum 15 and sent out one by one by the delivery device [19]. It turns out.

Note that when the cup separation drum 15 rotates 270 degrees, the brim of the cup row 1b entering the cup separation drum 15 and the brim of the next cup row 1c engage with each other to prevent the cup row 1b from falling into the delivery device 19. Although it is expected that this problem may occur, this problem can be solved by rotating the cup separation drum 15 while intervening between both the cup rows lb and lc. Another normal sending device! During the delivery operation of the cup rows 1 by the cup separation drum 19, the cup rows 1 that have entered the cup separation drum 15 move downward to drop the cups one by one. Since they are separated, there will be no operational problems due to engagement between the ribs.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, an endless belt is provided below the main body, and is composed of a driven pulley pivotally supported at one end inside the endless belt, a movable pulley pivotally supported at the other end, and a belt drive motor connected to the movable pulley. A slideable conveyor device, a semicircular cup separation drum extending above and below a cup discharge port separated from a shaft support end of the conveyor device, and a semicircular cup separation drum that connects the upper and lower ends of the cup separation drum to the top and bottom of the cup separation drum. A hollow gear is rotatably supported at the center of the cup separation drum, and is provided around the outer periphery of the semicircular lower end of the cup separation drum. Each control switch that controls the operation, a guide rail fixed above the main body facing the conveyor device, a cup row push plate that is suspended from this guide rail and can slide left and right, and one end of the cup row push plate. , a wire rope whose other end is attached to one end of the guide rail, and a tension spring that engages with the bent portion of the wire rope to apply an attractive force.
It consists of a cup delivery device located directly below the discharge port, and normally the cup delivery device separates and drops the rows of cups in the cup separation drum one by one to supply cups each time they are sold. When the cup row in the drum runs out, the cup separation drum is rotated 90 degrees and stopped in order to replenish it, and another row of cups filled and placed on the endless belt is stored in the cup separation drum by a conveyor device. Stop and turn the cup separation drum again to 270
° By rotating and stopping to enter standby mode,
Complete the replenishment operation.

With the cup delivery device configured in this manner, the overall appearance is square, and the depth dimension is only several square meters larger than the diameter dimension of the cup, so that the cup can be stored efficiently in relation to the external dimension. In addition, during cup filling work, the arrangement of the cups when stored is a straight line from left to right, making the filling process easy.Furthermore, when filling a cup row, filling is performed sequentially from the cup delivery port side to the left side, so that new cup rows can be easily filled. When replenishing, the left side of the row of remaining cups is always filled, making it possible to sell the oldest cups first, so-called first-in, first-out, which has a great practical effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a cup dispensing device of a cup-type vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an E-E in FIG.
3 is an enlarged plan view of the main part of the lower part of FIG. 1 when the cup separating drum is in the normal standby state, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view when the cup separating drum is rotated 90 degrees. An enlarged plan view of the main parts at the bottom of Figure 1, Figure 5 is a control circuit diagram in Figure 3, Figure 6 is a control circuit diagram in Figure 4, and Figure 7 is a conventional cup-type vending machine cup. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the unloading device. 1... Cup row, 8... Main body, 9... Follower pulley, 10... Drive pulley, 12... Endless belt, 13... Belt drive motor, 14... Gear, 1
5...Cup separation drum. 16...Hollow gear, F...Drum drive motor, 20...Discharge port, 24A, 24B...
Drum control switch, 25...Cycle cam, 26.
...Cup detection switch, 27...Guide rail, 2
8... Cup row push plate, 29... Wire rope, 30
... Fixed pulley, 31... Tension spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A conveyor device comprising a driven pulley pivotally supported at one end inside an endless belt below the main body, a moving pulley pivotally supported at the other end, a belt drive motor connected to the moving pulley, and a pivot end of the conveyor device. a semicircular cup separation drum extending vertically above the cup discharge ports separated from each other; A hollow gear disposed around the outer periphery of the semicircular lower end of the cup separating drum, a drum drive motor connected to the hollow gear to rotationally drive the cup separating drum, and a control switch that controls the operation of the belt drive motor. a control device that controls the rotation of the belt drive motor and drum drive motor via the control switch; a guide rail fixed above the main body facing the conveyor device; A slideable cup row pusher plate, a wire rope having one end attached to the cup row pusher plate and the other end attached to one end of the guide rail, and when the wire rope is bent and stretched into a substantially S-shape. A tension spring has one end engaged with one bent part and the other end engaged with the other end of the guide rail, and a rotatable fixed pulley is engaged with the other bent part, and the fixed pulley is engaged with the other bent part. The cup type is rotatably attached to one end of the guide rail, and the cup row press plate slides and presses in a direction opposite to the urging direction of the tension spring. Cup dispensing device for vending machines.