JPH05242345A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an automatic vending machine(AVM) capable of easily replenishing commodities and setting up a commodity taking-out position. CONSTITUTION:The AVM is provided with many commodity storing units 10 to be vertically moved. When an optional unit 10 is moved to an approximate center in the vertical direction (commodity carrying-out position) of the AVM body 1, the commodities A in the unit 10 are carried out from the body 1 to a commodity takeout port 3. Since the port 3 is arranged on the approximate center in the vertical direction of the body 1, the carried-out commodity A can be taken out by a customer in his erected posture. When an optional unit 10 is moved to the lower part (commodity replenishing position) of the body 1 and drawn to the front part of the body 1, new commodities A can be replenished to the unit 10. Since the commodity replenishing position is arranged on the lower part of the body 1, commodity loading work to the unit 10 can be executed on a lower position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine advantageous for replenishing merchandise.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vending machine for beverages in cans or bottles has a serpentine having a plurality of vertically extending product storage passages as described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-108189. Expressions are used.
This vending machine is equipped with a product unloading mechanism that drops the products in the product storage passage one by one at the bottom of each product storage passage, and collects the products dropped from any product storage passage at the bottom of the vending machine body. It is designed to be carried out to the exit. Further, the upper ends of the product storage passages are opened substantially at the top of the main body of the vending machine, and when replenishing the products, the products are inserted one by one from here.

[0003]

However, in the conventional vending machine, the product insertion opening of each product storage passage is located at a high place, and only one product can be inserted at a time. There was a problem that it was difficult.
Furthermore, since the product outlet is located at the bottom of the vending machine body, the user must take a bent posture and lean forward when taking out the product, which reduces the serviceability to the customer. there were. In addition, as described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-70689, by providing an elevator mechanism that raises a carried product on a bucket,
There are also known vending machines that make it easier to pick up products by raising the position of the product outlet, but in this case, a large space for installing an elevator mechanism is required on the front side of the vending machine body. However, the vending machine itself has become larger and the structure has become complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vending machine capable of easily replenishing products and raising the product take-out position. Especially.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the vending machine of the present invention comprises a plurality of product storage containers each having an opening through which a product can be inserted, and an optional product storage container. The drive mechanism that moves in the vertical direction of the vending machine, and the product take-out port provided in the vertical direction center of the vending machine main body And a support mechanism that supports the product storage container, which has been moved to the product replenishment position located below the vending machine body, so as to be pulled out in front of the vending machine body.

[0006]

According to the automatic vending machine of the present invention, an arbitrary product container is moved to the product unloading position by the drive mechanism, and the product in the product container is unloaded to the product outlet by the product unloading mechanism. At this time, the product take-out port is provided substantially vertically in the center of the vending machine body, so that the carried-out product is taken out by the customer in an upright posture. Further, when replenishing a product in an arbitrary product storage container, the drive mechanism moves the product storage container to the product replenishment position, and the product storage container is supported by the support mechanism. In this supported state, the product container is pulled out to the front of the main body of the vending machine, and a new product is inserted through the opening of the product container to replenish the product. At this time, since the product replenishment position is located below the vending machine body, the product loading operation into the product storage container is performed at a low position.

[0007]

1 to 9 show an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a main body of a vending machine having a front opening, and an openable and closable outer door 2 is attached to the opening. On the outer surface of the outer door 2, a product sample 2a, a product selection button 2b, a coin insertion slot 2c, an amount display section 2d, a return lever-2e, a return slot 2f, and the like are arranged, and in the substantially vertical central portion. A total of three product outlets 3 and their receiving portions 3a are provided. Further, a total of three product storage sections 4 partitioned in the width direction are formed inside the vending machine body 1, and a machine room 5 is provided below each product storage section 4. The front opening of each product storage unit 4 is covered by an openable / closable inner door 6, and a total of three product carry-out ports 6a corresponding to each product take-out port 3 are provided at the substantially central portion in the vertical direction. ..

Reference numeral 10 denotes a large number of product storage containers housed in the respective product storage units 4, and as shown in FIG.
The opening 10a serves as a product insertion port. The product container 10 is formed to be long in the front-back direction of the vending machine body 1, and the length in the width direction corresponds to the longitudinal direction of the canned product A. That is, a large number of products A are stacked in the product container 10 with the longitudinal direction thereof oriented in the width direction of the vending machine body 1. Also, the product storage device 1
The bottom surface of 0 is formed by two inclined plates 11 which are arranged on both sides in the width direction and which are arranged in the forward and downward directions, and a gap shorter than the longitudinal direction of the product A is uniformly formed between the inclined plates 11. .. On the other hand, the product outlet 1 is provided at the lower front of the product container 10.
0b is provided, the front end of each inclined plate 11 projects outward from the product outlet 10b, and the projecting portion is curved upward with the same curvature as the circumferential surface of the product A. Further, a connecting member 12 for connecting to a drive mechanism 20 described later is attached to the center of the rear surface of the product container 10, and an identification mark 13 which is different for each product container 10 is provided on one side surface of the product container 10. ing.

Numeral 20 is a drive mechanism for moving each product storage container 10, which is provided in each product storage unit 4, respectively.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each drive mechanism 20 includes an endless belt 21 that supports each product storage container 10 (eight in total for one drive mechanism 20), and the belt 21 for the product storage unit 4.
It is composed of a total of four pulleys 22 which are rotatably supported in the vertical direction on the rear side of the inside, and a motor 23 which rotates the belt 21, and the motor 23 is arranged in the machine room 5. Has been done. A drive pulley 24 is coaxially connected to one of the lower pulleys 22, and a rotary shaft of a motor 23 is connected to the drive pulley 24 via a gear box 25 and a drive belt 26. Has been done. Further, a total of eight connectors 27 extending toward each product storage container 10 are attached to the belt 21 at equal intervals, and the connectors 27 are inserted into the holes 12a of the connector 12 as shown in FIG. By doing so, the product container 10 is detachably connected to the belt 21. With this drive mechanism 20,
The belt 21 is rotated by the operation of the motor 23, and each commodity container 10 is moved vertically along the track of the belt 21. Further, by detecting the identification mark 13 of each product storage container 10 by a detector (not shown), an arbitrary product storage container 10 is carried out to the product delivery position (the second right side from the bottom in FIG. 3) and the product is replenished. It is possible to stop at each of the positions (the lowest right side in FIG. 3). A chain or the like may be used for the belt 21.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a product unloading mechanism for unloading the product in the product container 10, which is provided below each product unloading port 6a. As shown in FIG. 6, each merchandise carry-out mechanism 30 includes a pair of pulleys 31, 32 arranged vertically, a drive unit 33 for rotating the lower pulley 32, and each pulley 31, 32.
An endless belt 34 connecting the 32 and the upper pulley 3
1, the arm-shaped carry-out element 35 is attached, and the upper pulley 31 rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the lower pulley 32. As shown in FIG. 7, the carry-out element 35 includes a fixed portion 35a fixed to the pulley 31 and a fixed portion 35a.
A foldable portion 35b rotatably connected to the foldable portion 35b, and a protrusion 35c for locking the fixed portion 35a at the base end of the foldable portion 35b.
Is provided. That is, when the inclinable portion 35b rotates clockwise in the drawing to be in a straight line with the fixed portion 35a, the protrusion 35c is locked to the fixed portion 35a to restrict the rotation of the inclinable portion 35b. It has become. In this product unloading mechanism 30, when the lower pulley 32 rotates counterclockwise in the drawing due to the operation of the drive unit 33, the upper pulley 3 interlocking with this rotates.
The carry-out element 35 rotates in the same direction together with 1. As a result, the carry-out piece 35 rises toward the product container 1 at the product carry-out position, and passes between the front ends of the inclined plates 11 of the product container 1. And the product A on the forefront of each inclined plate 11
6 is transferred onto the carry-out element 35 as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 6 (a), and is also thrown into the receiving portion 3a of the commodity outlet 3 by the carry-out element 35 which continues to rotate. Further, when the carry-out element 35 that has completed the carry-out operation returns to the initial position by the reverse rotation of the pulley 31, the next article A is waiting at the forefront of each inclined plate 11, and therefore the carry-out element that tries to return. Although it interferes with 35, the collapsible part 33b of the carry-out element 35 hits the product A and pivots to the opposite side as shown in FIGS. 6 (b) and 7, and the catching with the product A is avoided.

Reference numeral 40 denotes a support mechanism for supporting the lower surface of the product storage container 10, which is provided below each product replenishment position. Each of the support mechanisms 40 includes an elevating part 41 which is attached below the commodity replenishing position so as to be able to elevate and lower, a drive part 42 which elevates and lowers the elevating part 41, and an elevating part 41 as shown in FIG.
The slide plate 43 is slidably attached to the upper surface of the slide plate 43. Although not shown, the slide plate 43 is supported by the elevating part 41 via a roller or the like so that it can slide smoothly. In the support mechanism 40, when the elevating part 41 is raised by the operation of the drive part 42, the lower surface of the product storage container 10 at the product replenishing position is supported by the elevating part 41. When the product container 10 is pulled forward of the vending machine body 1 in this supporting state, the connector 12 is released from the connector 27, and the product container 10 is pulled out together with the slide plate 43 as shown in FIG.

In the automatic vending machine of this embodiment, by pressing the product selection button 2b, the drive mechanism 20 of the product storage container 10 corresponding to the selected product is operated, and the product storage device 10 is moved to the product delivery position. Moving. Next, the product unloading mechanism 30 corresponding to the product container 10 is operated, and the product A in the product container 10 is carried out to the product outlet 3 as shown in FIG. At this time, since the product outlet 3 is provided at a substantially central portion in the vertical direction of the vending machine body 1, the carried-out product A is taken out in a posture in which the purchaser stands upright.

In addition, when replenishing merchandise in the automatic vending machine, first, the drive mechanism 20 of the merchandise container 10 corresponding to the merchandise to be replenished is operated by an operation unit (not shown) to move the merchandise container 10 to the merchandise replenishing position. Move to. Next, the support mechanism 40 corresponding to the product container 10 is operated, and the support mechanism 40 supports the product container 10.
Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the inner door 6 is opened, the product storage container 10 is pulled out to the front of the vending machine body 1, and a new product A is inserted from the opening 10 a of the product storage device 10 to store the product. Replenishment is complete. At that time, since the product replenishment position is located below the vending machine body 1,
The loading operation of the product A is performed at a low position.

As described above, the vending machine according to the present embodiment is provided with a large number of vertically movable commodity containers 10, and an arbitrary merchandise container 10 can be installed at substantially the center of the vending machine body 1 in the vertical direction (commodities). By moving to the carry-out position), the product storage device 1
Since the product A of 0 is carried out to the product outlet 3,
The position of each product take-out port 3 can be raised, and the carried-out product can be taken out easily by the purchaser in an upright posture. At that time, since there is no need for an elevator mechanism as in the prior art, there is an advantage that the vending machine body 1 does not become large and the structure is not complicated. In addition, by moving an arbitrary product storage device 10 below the vending machine body 1 (product replenishment position) and pulling out the product storage device 10 to the front of the vending machine body 1, a new product A is stored in the product storage device 1. 1
Since the product is replenished to 0, the product loading position is lowered, and the product replenishment work can be performed extremely easily.
In addition, since the product storage container 10 is formed in a box shape with an open upper surface, a large number of products can be loaded at one time,
The product can be replenished more quickly.

[0016]

As described above, according to the vending machine of the present invention, the product take-out position can be raised, so that the carried-out product can be taken out easily by the customer in an upright posture. Therefore, it is possible to further enhance the service for customers. At that time, the conventional elevator
Since there is no need for a switching mechanism, there is an advantage that the vending machine body is not upsized and the structure is not complicated. Further, since the product loading position can be lowered, the product replenishment work can be performed very easily, which is extremely advantageous in a sales corner or the like where the replenishment frequency is high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a vending machine showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view showing the appearance of a vending machine.

[Figure 3] Front sectional view of a vending machine

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a product storage container.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing a connection structure between a product storage unit and a drive mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory diagram of a product unloading mechanism.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part of a product unloading mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a support mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the main part of the vending machine showing the time of replenishment of products.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main body of vending machine, 10 ... Product storage container, 10a ... Opening part, 20 ... Drive mechanism, 30 ... Product delivery mechanism, 40 ... Support mechanism, A ... Product.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of product storage containers having openings for loading products, a drive mechanism for moving an arbitrary product storage container in the vertical direction of the vending machine body, and a substantially vertical center of the vending machine body. The merchandise unloading mechanism that unloads merchandise from the merchandise container that has been moved to the merchandise unloading position to the merchandise outlet located approximately in the vertical center of the vending machine body, and the merchandise replenishment that is located below the vending machine body An automatic vending machine, comprising: a support mechanism that supports a commodity storage container that has been moved to a position so that it can be pulled out in front of a main body of the automatic vending machine.