JPH049664Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention relates to a vending machine that can display the remaining amount of products such as canned drinks.

(Prior Art) A vending machine for canned drinks, etc. generally has a serpentine-shaped product passageway with a rail between two side plates inside the housing, and the product is inserted through the upper slot and placed in the product passageway. The stored products are sequentially discharged by a discharge mechanism provided at the bottom.

(Problem that the invention aims to solve) However, with this type of vending machine, it is not possible to know the quantity of products remaining in the product aisle, so it is difficult to replenish products to the vending machines installed on the roadside or in front of stores. In this case, we transport a large number of products and take back any surplus products after replenishment. However, in this case, if the quantity of supplies ends up being small, many products must be transported on the way back, resulting in a great deal of wasted labor.

In order to eliminate this inconvenience, it is possible to provide a sensor that detects the presence or absence of products in the product aisle and display the information using light emitting diodes or the like to inform the approximate quantity of remaining products.
This requires a special electronic circuit powered by dry batteries, which is disadvantageous in terms of cost, and also makes it troublesome to replace the batteries.

This idea was made in view of the above circumstances.
The purpose is to provide a vending machine that can display the remaining quantity of products with an extremely simple structure.

[Structure of the invention] (Means for solving the problem) The present invention consists of a movable rail that moves back and forth depending on the presence or absence of products in a part of the rail constituting the product aisle, and the product aisle is formed on this movable rail. A convex portion that protrudes outward from a hole formed in the side plate of the side plate and interlocks with the movable rail is integrally molded, a display member is rotatably provided on the convex portion, and the convex portion is provided on the periphery of the opening of the hole. an operating body protrudingly provided on the side plate so as to be located in the middle of a reciprocating movement range of the convex portion, and changing the direction of the display member by abutting and separating the display member in accordance with the reciprocating movement of the convex portion; It is characterized in that it is provided with.

(Function) The movable rail is in a state of moving in one direction when the product up to the location where the movable rail is present remains, and is in a state of moving in the other direction when the product is gone.

This movement of the movable rail causes the convex portion to move. Then, the display member supported by the convex portion comes into contact with the operating body or becomes separated from the operating body. Since the orientation of the display member changes between the state in which it is in contact with the operating body and the state in which it is separated from the operating body, it is possible to check whether or not the product remains at the location where the movable rail is located, depending on the orientation of the display member.
This allows you to know the remaining amount of the product.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In Fig. 5, 1 is a housing, which has a double wall structure consisting of an outer box 3 filled with a heat insulating material 2 and an inner box 4, and has a lockable door 5 on the front.
is provided so that it can be opened and closed. 6 is a product aisle unit, which has four product aisles 7 to 10 extending vertically in a serpentine shape;
Inlet ports 11 for inserting products, for example, canned drinks, into each of the product passages 7 to 10 are provided in a one-to-one relationship in the upper part, and each of the product passages 7 to 10 is provided in the lower part.
A discharge mechanism 13 for sequentially discharging the products inside to a sales outlet 12 below the door 5 is also provided in a one-to-one relationship. Note that a cooler 14 for cooling the product is provided in the lower part of the housing 1.

The product passages 7 to 10 are formed by respectively disposing a front rail 17 and a rear rail 18 between two side plates 15 and 16, as shown in FIG. 6, and these rails 17 and 18 are circular. It is constructed by stacking a large number of arc-shaped curved plates 19 in series. For example, a curved plate 19 forming the rear rail 18
The upper, middle and lower three curved plates in the middle of product aisles 7 to 10 are pivoted so as to be pivotable back and forth about a pivot 20 at the upper end, as shown in FIG. A movable rail 21 is used. 22 is a curled portion at the lower end of the movable rail 21 as shown in FIG.
This is a convex part formed integrally with a part of the convex part 1a facing the side, and the end of this convex part 22 is extended outward from a long hole 23 formed in the side plate 15 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. One end of a display plate 24 serving as a display member is rotatably supported by the protruding end. On the front side of the display board 24, as shown in FIG. 7, display characters "remaining amount low" are attached. On the other hand, reference numeral 25 denotes a torsion coil spring wound around the pivot shaft 20 of the movable rail 21, which always rotates the movable rail 21 toward the front, that is, toward the inside of the product passages 7 to 10, and absorbs the shock when products are inserted. I try to do that. Therefore, when there is a product there, each movable rail 21 rotates forward (to the right in FIG. 1) against the spring force of the torsion coil spring 25, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, due to the weight of the product. It is in a state of dynamic displacement,
When the product runs out, it is rotated forward by the spring force of the torsion coil spring 25, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Reference numeral 26 denotes a pin as an operating body provided upright on the side plate 15, and this pin is located in the middle of the range of reciprocating movement of the convex portion 22 in the opening periphery of the elongated hole 23, for example, near the lower edge of the approximately central portion. . Therefore, display board 2
4, when the movable rail 21 is rotated backward due to the presence of the product, the other end is brought into contact with the pin 26 and the pin 26 is rotated upward, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. In this state, the display board 24 is not visible from the front surface. Furthermore, when the movable rail rotates forward when the product is gone, the display board 24 separates from the pin 26, causing the display board 24 to sag under its own weight as shown by the broken line in FIGS. 3 and 1. Because of this, the displayed characters on the front surface of the display board 24 can be visually recognized from the front.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. When replenishing a vending machine with products, first grasp the remaining quantity of the products. To grasp this, open the door 5 and check each product aisle 7.
This is done by checking in which direction the three movable rails 21 of 1 to 10 are rotated forward or backward. That is, for example, if the remaining number of products in the product aisle 7 is at the height shown in FIG. 6 and exists between the lower and middle movable rails 21, the lower movable rail 21 is located at the rear (left in FIG. 6). Both middle and upper movable rails 21 are in a state of being rotated forward (to the right in FIG. 6). The rotational state of each movable rail 21 is determined by visually checking whether the displayed characters are visible when the display board 24 provided on the outside of the side plate 15 is in a hanging state, or whether the displayed characters are not visible when it is in a horizontal state. It can be easily identified by this.

Therefore, regarding the product aisle 7, it can be determined that among the three movable rails 21, the upper and middle ones are rotating forward, and only the lower one is rotating backwards, so the product It turns out that at least up to the lower movable rail 21 remains. In this way, in the same way as described above for each product aisle 7 to 10 of each product aisle unit 6, the remaining quantity of products is roughly determined from the rotating state of the three movable rails 21, and replenishment is based on this. Approximately grasp the quantity of products to be purchased. Next, we actually transport the determined number of products to the vending machine,
Products are loaded through each input port 11 until the product passages 7 to 10 are full. Even if there is a surplus of products after the products have been introduced, the amount will not be that large, and the inconvenience of having to take many products home as they are can be eliminated.

In the above embodiment, the movable rails 21 are provided in the upper, middle, and lower three stages of each product aisle 7 to 10, but it is also possible to provide only one movable rail 21 in the lower stage, or all the curved plates 19 are provided with the movable rails 21. It may be configured by

[Effects of the invention] As is clear from the above explanation, the present invention can determine the remaining quantity of products in the product aisle, so when replenishing products, the quantity of products to be transported can be adjusted to match the actual quantity to be supplied. In addition, it is possible to reduce the number of products to be brought home after replenishment, and it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience of having to waste a lot of effort in transporting the products. In addition, at least a part of the rail of the product aisle is constructed of a movable rail that reciprocates depending on the presence or absence of products, and this movable rail is integrally provided with a protrusion that protrudes outward from a hole formed in the side plate of the product aisle. A display member is rotatably provided in the convex portion, and an operating body that changes the orientation of the display member by contacting and separating the display member according to the reciprocating movement of the movable rail is inserted into the hole. Since the structure is such that it is located in the middle of the reciprocating range of the convex part of the opening periphery of the display member, the structure is simple and costs can be reduced. Since it confirms the position of the movable rail, it has various effects such as being able to confirm the position of the movable rail easily and accurately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of the main part, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the movable rail, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are the main parts shown in different states. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional side view schematically showing the entire vending machine, FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the product passage partially removed, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the display member. In the figure, 7 to 10 are product aisles, 11 is an input port,
13 is a discharge mechanism, 15 and 16 are side plates, 17 and 18
are front and rear rails, 21 is a movable rail, 22 is a convex portion, 23 is a long hole (hole), 24 is a display plate (display member), and 26 is a pin (operating body).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In the vending machine, a product passageway extending vertically is formed by rails between two side plates, and products inputted from an input port at the top and stored in the product passageway are sequentially discharged by a discharge mechanism provided at the bottom. A movable rail provided in a part of the middle of the rail and reciprocated depending on the presence or absence of a product, and a movable rail integrally formed with the movable rail so as to protrude outward from a hole formed in the side plate and interlocked with the movable rail. a convex portion that is reciprocally moved; a display member that is rotatably supported by the convex portion; an operating body that changes the orientation of the display member by bringing the display member into contact with and separating from the vending machine according to the reciprocating movement of the vending machine.