JPH0486987A - Automatic vending machine with stocking machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always store at least a set quantity of commodities in an automatic vending machine by providing a transferring device which transfers commodities from a stocking machine to the upper section of the automatic vending machine and a distributing device which distributes commodities from the transferring device to aimed commodity storing sections. CONSTITUTION:At the time of replenishing an automatic vending machine with commodities, plural kinds of commodities are randomly thrown into the machine from a commodity supplying port 22. The commodity group is carried to a distributing device 35 after being received by a commodity receiving device 26 and supplied to the starting ends of commodity stocking sections 30. As a result, each commodity stocking section 30 is replenished with a prescribed quantity of commodity. When the stock in the commodity storing section 4 of the automatic vending machine becomes less than a set quantity, it is detected and a transferring and distributing devices 45 and 60 are actuated. Namely, commodities are transferred from the commodity stocking section 30 to the vending machine by means of the device 45. The transferred commodities are distributed by the device 60 and supplied to their commodity storing sections 4 from the top.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a vending machine that handles products such as canned drinks and bottled drinks.

2. Prior Art Conventionally, this type of vending machine has been developed, for example, by
The structure seen in Publication No. 16697 is provided.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, within the product storage section 70, a plurality of product storage sections 71 in the contraction direction are arranged side by side in the left-right direction as well as in the front-rear direction, and a chute 72 facing below the group of product storage sections 71 is provided. In addition to providing this chute 72
A door section 74 is provided with a product dispensing lower 3 which can be freely opposed to the lower end of the door section 74.

According to this conventional configuration, the products 75 that have been selectively dispensed from below the product storage section 71 group are taken out to the product dispensing lower 3 via the chute 72. In such vending machines, store managers and route personnel
For example, the product 75 is replenished periodically. This replenishment of the products 75 is performed by opening the door section 74 and then inserting the products 75 into the group of product storage sections 71 from above the front surface.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention According to the above conventional configuration, the loading position is quite high;
This loading operation is not easy to perform, and moreover, a large number of products 75 have to be loaded many times, making it a total labor-intensive task. Especially for the elderly and women who are often seen as store managers, restocking products is a difficult task due to their height and physical strength. The replenishment process requires a considerable amount of time, and during this time the door section 74 is opened and closed, which causes cold air to flow out and the noise from the charging process to spread to the surrounding area. For products 75 that sell even better, there are times when the remaining amount is low when replenishing, and in this case, the product 75 that has just been replenished is located near the lower end of the product storage section 71, so that it is not sufficiently cooled (warmed). There is a risk that the money will be paid even though it has not been paid.

It is an object of the present invention to be able to replenish products with light work, to prevent the outflow of cold air and the spread of noise, and to have a sufficient stock of products that sell well.
The point is that an automatic a-vending machine with a stocking device is provided which can always dispense at a suitable temperature.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, a vending machine with a stocking machine of the present invention consists of a vending machine and a stocking machine installed side by side. The replenishment port, the product receiving device connected to it, and this product receiving device! It has a plurality of upper and lower product stocking sections formed above, and a distributing device that receives the product from the terminal end of the product receiving device and supplies it to the starting end of the product stocking section group, and connects the stocking machine to the vending machine. A transfer device is provided to transfer the products from the end of the product stock section group to the top of the vending machine, and the products from the transfer device are transferred to the top of the vending machine in which a plurality of vertical product storage sections are arranged side by side. A sorting device is provided to supply the product to the product storage section for the purpose.

Effects According to the configuration of the present invention, when replenishing products, first, a plurality of types of products are randomly introduced from the product replenishment port. The loaded product group is received by the product receiving device and then conveyed, and the products that have not reached the end of the product receiving device are received by the distribution device and supplied to the starting end of the product stock section. As a result, each product stocking section is replenished and stocked with a predetermined amount of products. In a vending machine, when the amount stored in the product storage section becomes less than the set amount, the transfer device and sorting device are activated based on this detection! is activated. That is, a product is taken out from the product stock section, and the product is transferred from the stock machine to the vending machine by the transfer device. The products transferred to the vending machine are then sorted by a sorting device and targeted (detected).
The product storage section is supplied from above.

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

The main body 1 of a vending machine in which two (or more than one, but one) vending machines are arranged side by side each consists of a product storage part 2 and a door part 3.In the product storage part 2, the products in the vertical direction A plurality of storage units 4 are arranged in parallel in the left-right direction and the front-back direction.

The lower end of each product storage section 4 serves as a dispensing port 5, and each dispensing port 5 is provided with a shutter member 6 that can be opened and closed.

A chute 7 is provided facing the dispensing port 5 of each product storage section 4 from below, and the chute 7 is arranged to be inclined so that the rear side is upward. A product takeout port 8 is formed in the door portion 3 facing above the front end of the chute 7, and a cover integral 9 that can be opened and closed manually is provided on the front side of the product takeout port 8. A transfer device 11 is provided within the cover unit 9 to receive the product 10 from the chute 7 and deliver it to the product takeout port 8. This transfer device 11 is located at a position connected to the chute 7 and at a product outlet 8.
It consists of a lifting platform 12 that can be raised and lowered from one position to another, and a lifting drive device 13 for the lifting platform 12, and the upper surface 12a of the lifting platform 12 is formed into an inclined surface along the chute 7 in order to automatically transfer the items. has been done. Note that the transfer device 11 may be omitted and the product 10 from the chute 7 may be guided directly to the product takeout port 8.

On the outer surface of the main body 1, a set of stock machines is arranged side by side. That is, the main body 21 of the stocking machine is box-shaped, and a product replenishment port 22 is formed at the lower front surface thereof. This product replenishment port 22 can be opened and closed by a cover frame 24 attached with its lower part as a fulcrum 23, and the cover frame 24 when opened also serves as an introduction member for the product 10. Note that the cover frame 24, which has been increased by +qm, can be fixed freely with the lock 25. A product replenishment device 26 connected to the product replenishment port 22 is installed at a lower portion of the main body 21 . This product quantity putting device 26 includes, for example, an inclined plate 27 below the rear rear door, a stopper plate 28 attached to the rear end of this inclined plate 27 so as to be able to stand up and fall down horizontally, and a rotary solenoid that causes the upright and sideways movement of the stopper plate 28. 29, etc., which may be of a conveyor type. Above the product stocking device 26, a product stock section 30 is disposed in a plurality of upper and lower stages.

These product stock sections 30 include stock plates 31 that are inclined in the opposite direction to the inclined plate 27, and these stock plates 31.
It consists of a cut-out plate 32 attached to the front end so that it can be raised up and down, and a rotary solenoid 33 that allows the upright and downturn operations to be performed separately.

In the rear part of the main body 21, the amount of products mentioned above is loaded! 2
Receiving the product 10 from the end of 6, the product stocking section 3
A distribution device 35 is provided which supplies the starting end of group 0. That is, in the rear part of the main body 21, there is provided a rear lifting device 38 consisting of a product volume control section 36 and an elevating device 37 linked to the product volume control section 36. The portion is formed into a transfer plate 39 that can be raised or lowered. The amount of the product is distributed by 36 to 40, which are provided with a barcode reader 40 that reads the barcode 10a of the product 10 received by the stopper plate 28 at the rear end of the putting device 26! 35.

A transfer device 45 is provided extending from the stock machine to the vending machine to transfer the products 10 from the end of the group of product stock sections 30 to the upper part of the vending machine. This transfer device 45 includes a front lifting device 46 that receives and moves the products 10 from the product stock section 30 to the top, and a front lifting device 46 that transfers the products 10 from the front lifting device 46 to a desired column in the product storage section 4 group. It consists of a traversing device 50 for opposing each other. The front lifting device 46
The product quantity control unit 47 consists of a product quantity control unit 47 and an elevating device 48 that is linked to the product quantity control unit 47. The cross-feeding device 50 has a guide rail section 51 in the left and right direction corresponding to the product storage section 4, to which a section 47 for controlling the amount of products that has not reached the lifting limit can be freely connected. One part is formed into a spanning board 52 that faces the rows of product storage sections 4 and can be raised or laid down for each row. A pair of left and right wheel bodies 53.5
A chino 55 is stretched across the chino 55, and one or more horizontal pushers 56 are attached to the chino 55.

One of the wheels 53 and 54 is operatively connected to a lateral movement device 57. Note that the upper surface 51a of the guide rail portion 51
The rear part is formed on a sloped surface at the top.

A lid plate 15 that can be opened and closed is provided at the upper end of the product storage section 4, and the lid plate 15 is opened and closed in a hanging manner.

The opening/closing movement is performed by a solenoid 16, for example. A sorting device 60 is provided above the group of lid plates 15 to supply the products 10 from the transfer device 45 to the intended product storage section 4 . That is, in each row, a pair of left and right support rails 61 are arranged in the front and rear direction,
These support rails 61 are arranged so as to be inclined downward at the rear side. It is formed in the upper divided rail portion 61a of each product storage section 4, and these divided rail portions 61a can be raised up or down by the operation of the rotary lenoid 62. By tilting each divided rail section 61a sideways, the support rail 61 has an upper surface and the rear side forms a lower sorting route 63, and by standing up, the supporting rail 61 forms a lower sorting route 63, so that the target product storage section 4 can be The upper part is open, and a stopper is formed below the open part. The cross-feeding device 50 and the sorting device 60 are arranged in a sorting main body 64 disposed between the upper parts of the vending machine main body 1 and the stock machine main body 21.

A product selection button 65 is provided on the front side of the door portion 3,
Furthermore, a digital display 66 is provided for displaying the amount of money inserted and the amount of change. This digital display 66 is displayed in each product storage section 4 and each product stock section 3 by opening the lock 25, or by operating an internal switch after opening the lock 25 and opening the cover frame 24. It is configured to display the type, remaining amount, replenishment amount, etc. of the product 10 in the product. Note that the door section 3 is provided with a control section 67, and the product storage section 2 is provided with a refrigerator 168 and the like.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

The user inserts money and selects the desired product button 6
By pressing 5, the shutter member 6 of the target product storage section 4 opens and one product 10 is dropped. As a result, product 10 fell onto chute 7.
rolls on this chute 7 and is guided onto the lifting platform 12. Then, by raising the lifting platform 12 to face the product take-out port 8, the product 10 is transferred from the top surface 12a and guided to the product take-out port 8, and by opening the cover unit 9, the product 10 is delivered to the target product. Can take out 10.

Next, replenishment of the products 10 from the stock machine to the vending machine based on control via the control unit 67 will be explained.

That is, by taking out the product 10 as described above,
When the remaining amount of a specific product storage section 4 reaches a set amount, a detection device (not shown) detects this and transfers it to the transfer device 45.
Also, the sorting device 60 is activated. First, the control section 6
7, as shown in FIG. 5, the lid plate 15 of the target product storage section 4 opens to open the upper end, and the corresponding divided rail section 61a stands up to take the position of a stopper. Become. Furthermore, the spanning board 52 corresponding to that row is laid down. In this state, the component receiving part 47 is positioned in front of the lower end of the product stocking part 30 in which the target product 10 is stocked. Next, by turning the cutting plate 32 sideways, the product 10 at the front end is cut out into the component receiving part 47. Note that a stopper mechanism (not shown) is provided to prevent the second product 1G from being cut out unexpectedly. After performing the desired cutting, the cutting board 32 is erected, and the component receiving part 47 is raised and connected to the guide rail part 51.Then, by the operation of the lateral movement device 57, it is pushed horizontally through the chino 55. The tool 56 is moved, and the horizontal pushing tool 56 is brought into contact with the product 10 and moved within the guide rail portion 51. And product 10
#Ifs #52 of the gangplank! When it reaches the upper surface 5
Using the slope of 1a, it rolls toward the rear side and supports the support rail 6.
1 is taken out. Furthermore, product 10 has support rail 61
The product rolls on the top and falls into the target product storage section 4 while coming into contact with the stopper-like divided rail portion 61a. Such operations are repeated until the product storage section 4 is replenished to a predetermined amount. Thereafter, other product storage units 4 are replenished in the same manner as necessary.

Next, replenishment of the products 10 from the outside to the stocking machine based on control via the control unit 67 will be explained.

That is, the manager or route man first opens the lock 25 and switches the cover frame 24, which is in the upright closed position as shown by the phantom line in FIG. 3, to the open position in which it is laid down as shown by the solid line. By this operation, or by operating an internal switch after opening, the digital display 66 is switched to the replenishment display side, and the dispensing device 35 is further activated. In this state, a specific product stock section 3G is designated by pressing the product selection button 65 or by pressing another operation button. As a result, the type, remaining amount, replenishment amount, etc. of the product 10 in the specific product stock section 30 are displayed on the digital display 66, which can be checked (recorded etc.), and a new specific stock section can be added in the same manner as described above. Specify 30 and check.

After checking all the stock units 30 in this way, the manager or route man puts the replenishment equivalent amount of products 10 into the charging case 18, for example, based on the data. Then, the case 18 is placed horizontally on a frame 19 set near the product take-out port 8, and a plurality of types of products 10 are randomly thrown in from the product replenishment port 22. These 10 groups of products are the parts receiving equipment 22.
After being received by the inclined plate 27 of No. 6, it is conveyed by transfer, and is received by the stopper plate 28. The barcode 10a of the accepted product 10 is sent to the barcode reader 40.
By detecting this, the rank and type of product 10 can be grasped. And we accept parts! ! Product 1 that reached the end of 226
0 is received by the parts receiving part 36 of the dispensing device 35 by falling the stopper plate 28 sideways, and then by raising the parts receiving part 36, it is placed at the outer rear end of the target product stock part 30. . Then, by turning the transfer plate 39 sideways, the products 10 in the product amount section 36 are supplied to the starting end of the product stock section 30 as the target. By repeating such operations, each product stocking section 30 is replenished and stocked with a predetermined amount of products 10.

In the above embodiment, the distribution device 35 has a type in which the product quantity is raised and lowered by the part 36 in a reciprocating manner;
In addition, in the above embodiment, one stocking machine is set for each vending machine, but this may be a set of multiple stocking machines. .

In the above embodiment, the quantity of the product is determined by reading the barcode 10a of the product 10 that has reached the rear end of the putting device 26, and distributing the product 10 to the product stock section 30 according to the type. The products 10 are randomly and quickly supplied to the products 10, and after the barcode 10a of the products 10 lifted by the transfer device 45 is read by the barcode reader 40, the products 10 are distributed by the cross-feeding device 50, the sorting device 60, etc. It may be in the form of

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention having the above configuration, when the storage amount of a specific type of product in the vending machine becomes less than the set amount, the transfer device and the sorting device are activated, thereby distributing the product from the product stock. After being taken out from the storage section, the products can be transferred from the stocking machine to the vending machine by a transfer device, and then sorted by a sorting device and fed from above to the intended product storage section.

In this way, vending machines can be replenished sequentially from the stock machine side, so the vending machine side always stores more than the set amount of products, ensuring sufficient storage time and always maintaining the appropriate temperature. products can be paid out. To replenish the stocking machine, multiple types of products are randomly input from the product replenishment port, and the input product group is received by the product loading device and transported, and then transferred to the product stocking section by the distribution device. This can be done by supplying it to the starting end of. In other words, replenishing products from the outside can be done quickly and with light work by supplying products in a pouring manner from the product replenishment port provided at the bottom of the main body, such as at the bottom of the front of the door. This can be done without opening the parts, which eliminates the outflow of cold air and the spread of noise. Moreover, by effectively using the group of product stocking sections, the stocking machine can sufficiently stock products that sell well, and it is possible to respond to requests from the vending machine.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, with Figure 1 being a partially cutaway perspective view, Figure 2 being a longitudinal side view of the vending machine section, and Figure 3 being a longitudinal sectional view of the stocking machine section. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the upper part of the product storage section, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a conventional example. 1... vending machine body, 2... product storage section, 3...
・Door part, 4...Product storage part, 8...Product outlet, 10...Product, 10a...Barcode, 11.
...Transfer device, 15...Lid plate, 21...Stock machine body, 22...Product replenishment port, 24...Cover frame, 2
6...Product quantity is a loading device, 27...slanted plate, 30.
...Product stock department, 31...Stock board, 35.
...Distribution! , 36... Product quantity is in parts, 38... Rear upper feeding device, 40... Barcode reader, 45... Transfer device, 46... Front upper feeding device, 47... Product amount Part 50... horizontal feed equipment! , 56... horizontal pusher, 60
...Distribution outfit! , 61... support rail, 61a...
...Divided rail section, 66...Digital display, 67.
...Control unit. Agent Yoshihiro Morimoto Figure 3 Figure 5/j Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Consists of a vending machine and a stocking machine installed side by side. A distribution device is provided which receives the product from the end of the product receiving device and supplies it to the starting end of the group of product stock units, and the product stock is distributed from the stock machine to the vending machine. A transfer device is provided to transfer the products from the end of the group to the upper part of the vending machine, and a plurality of vertical product storage sections are arranged side by side. A vending machine with a stock machine, characterized in that it is equipped with a sorting device that supplies supplies to the department.