JPH05274541A - Article carrying away mechanism for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten lateral width and length in the direction rectangular to the width direction of an article carrying away mechanism to be used for an automatic vending machine. CONSTITUTION:An article carrying away member 2 is arranged along the lower end part of a column B for stacking and storing plural articles A. The member 2 is supported by a pin 3 so as to be optionally inclined and has the 1st supporting part 2a for supporting the article A arranged on the lowermost stage. When a vertical slider 4 arranged on the back of the member 2 is lifted, the 1st supporting part 2a is exited to the outside of the column B and the article A on the lower-most stage is carried away to the downward. At the time, the 2nd supporting part 2b formed on the upper end part of the member 2 is entered into the column B to interrupt the carrying-away of the 2nd article A following the lowermost article A. When the slider 4 is lifted, the member 2 executes pendulum action and successively carries away the articles A stored in the column B.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article unloading mechanism for an automatic vending machine, which carries out articles stored in the vending machine in order from the bottom to the article outlet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Although there are many kinds of article unloading mechanisms built into automatic vending machines, a roller chain type unloading mechanism as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is used for unloading a box-shaped article such as a candy box. Is often used. Items A are stacked and accommodated in a vertical column B. The lowermost article A in the column B is supported by a pair of support bases 13, 13. A roller chain 15 having pins 14 and 14 is provided below the support bases 13 and 13. The roller chain 15 is stretched between a pair of sprockets 16 and 16 and is driven by a motor 17.

Insert a coin into the coin slot of the vending machine,
When the product button is pressed, the roller chain 15 starts to rotate, and one pin 14 passes between the support bases 13, 13. As a result, the lowermost article A in the column B is discharged along the chute 18. When the delivery of the article A is completed, the other pin 14 hits the lever 19a of the switch 19,
The rotation of the roller chain 15 stops. Each time the article A in the column B is designated, the pins 14 and 14 are attached to the support base 13,
By alternately passing between 13, the articles A are carried out in order.

[0004]

In such an article unloading mechanism, the roller chain 15 is used,
The driving motor 17 and reduction gear protrude in the central axis direction of the sprockets 16, 16. Therefore, article A
When the thickness of the vending machine is thin, the width of the article carrying-out mechanism becomes larger than that thickness, and there is a problem that the space availability in the vending machine deteriorates. Moreover, since the roller chain 15 is located below the column B, the article A cannot be directly carried out downward, but is carried out forward or backward along the large chute 18. Therefore, the length of the article unloading mechanism in the direction perpendicular to the width direction also increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article unloading mechanism for an automatic vending machine, which can reduce the width and the length in the direction perpendicular to the width direction.

[0006]

An article unloading mechanism of a vending machine according to the present invention is provided along an article storage section at the bottom of a column for stacking and storing a plurality of articles, and a lower end portion thereof is inside the column. The middle part is pivotable so that it projects and supports the bottommost article in the column, and when its lower end exits the column, its upper end enters the column and supports the second article from the bottom. It is characterized by comprising a pendulum type article carrying-out member which is pivotally supported by and a carrying-out member driving means for inclining the article carrying-out member so that its lower end portion enters and leaves the column.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a side view showing an example of an article unloading mechanism of an automatic vending machine according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the article unloading mechanism of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 to 6 are operations of the article unloading mechanism of FIG. It is a side view for explaining.

The articles A sold by the vending machine are boxes having a small thickness, and are stacked and accommodated in a vertical column B. The article unloading mechanism is arranged on the side of one end surface b sandwiched by both side surfaces of the column B. The article unloading mechanism includes a mounting base 1 vertically provided along the lower portion of the column B. The mounting base 1 is an angle having a U-shaped cross section, and is composed of a back plate 1a facing the end surface b of the column B and a pair of side plates 1b, 1b.

An article unloading member 2 is provided between the side plates 1b, 1b below the mounting base 1.

The article unloading member 2 faces the lowest article storage section in the column B, and the side plate 1b of the mounting base 1,
An intermediate portion is rotatably supported by a pin 3 mounted between 1b. The column B is provided at the lower end of the article discharge member 2.
Support part 2 that protrudes to the side of and supports the lowermost article A
a is provided. The first support portion 2 a moves into and out of the column B with the pendulum movement of the article unloading member 2 around the pin 3. The upper end of the article carrying-out member 2 is bent to the side opposite to the column to form the second support portion 2b, and when the first support portion 2a exits the column B, the article support member 2 enters the column B and moves downward in the column B. The second item A is supported.

Between the side plates 1b, 1b of the mounting base 1 is also
A slider 4 is provided behind the article unloading member 2.

The slider 4 is a back plate 1a of the mounting base 1.
It is arranged vertically on the column side. The slider 4 is
It has upper and lower elongated holes 4a and 4a, and is movably supported in the vertical direction by two pins 5 and 5 which are fitted into the elongated holes 4a and 4a. An intermediate portion of the slider 4 has a horizontal groove 4b formed on the back side so as to protrude toward the column. Groove 4
The pin 7 attached to the rotary plate 6 is inserted into the b from the back. The rotary plate 6 is held on the column side of the back plate 1a of the mounting base 1 and is rotated by a motor 12 mounted on the back surface of the back plate 1a. Then, the rotation of the rotary plate 6 causes the pin 7 to revolve around the center of rotation thereof, and the revolving movement causes the slider 4 to move linearly up and down.

A drive pin 8 is attached to the lower end of the slider 4. The drive pin 8 is parallel to the pin 3 that supports the article unloading member 2, and the side plate 1 b of the mounting base 1
It is possible to freely move up and down along the long hole 1c provided in the. One end of a link 9 is rotatably connected to the drive pin 8, and the other end of the link 9 is rotatably connected to a pin 10 attached to the lower end of the article discharging member 2. It is connected. Therefore, when the slider 4 rises, the lower end portion of the article unloading member 2 is pulled toward the back plate 1a of the mounting base 1, and the article unloading member 2 is moved to the column B.
By tilting forward to the side of, the first supporting portion 2a is withdrawn outside the column B, and the second supporting portion 2b in its place enters into the column B.

A switch 11 is provided above the slider 4. The switch 11 is used to control the motor 12, and is attached to the inner surface of one side plate 1b of the attachment base 1. The switch 11 is provided with a switch rod 11a extending downward. When the slider 4 is at the lower limit, the switch rod 11a is not pushed in and the switch 11 is off. When the slider 4 moves up,
The switch rod 11a is pushed in at the tip thereof, and the switch 11 is switched from off to on.

Next, the operation of the article unloading mechanism will be described.

When the article unloading mechanism does not operate, as shown in FIG. 1, the slider 4 is at the lower limit, the first supporting portion 2a of the article unloading member 2 is in the column B, and the column B is in the column B.
It supports the article A at the bottom of the table.

Insert a coin into the coin slot of the vending machine,
If you press the product button and specify item A, slider 4
Until the switch rod 11a is pushed in by the tip of
The current required to raise the slider 4 is the motor 1
It flows to 2. Switch rod 11a at the tip of slider 4
When is pressed, the switch 11 is switched from off to on, so that the motor 12 continues to rotate. As a result, the rotary plate 6 continues to rotate, and the slider 4 further rises. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the lower end portion of the article unloading member 2 is drawn to the back plate side of the mounting base 1 via the link 9, and the article unloading member 2 leans forward to the column B side.

When the slider 4 further rises, as shown in FIG. 4, the forward inclination angle of the article discharge member 2 further increases,
The first support portion 2a completely exits the column B.
As a result, the lowermost article A in the column B falls below the column B. At this time, the second support portion 2b of the article unloading member 2 enters the column B, and the second support portion 2b from the bottom of the column B is
The second article unloading member 2 is supported. When the first support portion 2a is completely retracted out of the column B, the pin 7 attached to the rotary plate 6 is located at the uppermost portion, and the slider 4 starts descending.

When the slider 4 descends, the first supporting portion 2a of the article carrying-out member 2 enters the column B and the second supporting portion 2b retreats outside the column B. And slider 4
5 returns to the lower limit, as shown in FIG. 5, the article A in the column B descends, and the next article A is held at the bottom of the column B. When slider 4 returns to the lower limit, switch 1
1 is turned off, and the motor 12 stops rotating.

By repeating this, the articles A in the column B are unloaded in order from the bottom.

As described above, the article carrying-out mechanism is provided in the column B.
The article A in the column B is unloaded by the so-called pendulum motion in which the article unloading member 2 provided on the lowermost end face b side repeats forward tilting with respect to the column B. Here, the article unloading member 2
Is driven by the vertical movement of a vertical slider 4 provided behind it, and the slider 4 is driven by a rotary plate 6 and a motor 12 provided further behind it. for that reason,
Even when the thickness of the article A is thin, the width of the article unloading mechanism can be suppressed to the same level as the thickness of the article A. Further, since the article A is carried out below the column B, the chute required for the conventional mechanism of FIG. 6 is unnecessary. Therefore, the dimension of the article unloading mechanism in the direction perpendicular to the width direction can also be suppressed. Therefore, the article unloading mechanism is significantly downsized.

[0022]

As described above, in the case of the article carrying-out mechanism of the vending machine according to the present invention, the article carrying-out member provided along the article housing section at the lowermost stage of the column repeatedly tilts forward toward the column. Since the articles in the column are sequentially carried out by the movement, even if the article is thin, the lateral width of the article carrying-out mechanism can be accommodated within the thickness. Further, since the article is directly carried out to the lower side of the column, a large chute becomes unnecessary, and the length of the article carry-out mechanism in the direction perpendicular to the width direction can be suppressed. Therefore, the space utilization rate in the vending machine is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of an article unloading mechanism of an automatic vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the article unloading mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view for explaining the operation of the article unloading mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view for explaining the operation of the article unloading mechanism of FIG.

5 is a side view for explaining the operation of the article unloading mechanism of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a conventional article unloading mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a conventional article unloading mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A article B column 1 mounting base 2 article unloading member 2a first support portion 2b second support portion 4 slider 6 rotating plate 8 drive pin 9 link 11 switch 12 motor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A column is provided along a lowermost article accommodating portion for accommodating and stacking a plurality of articles, and a lower end portion projects into the column to support the lowermost article in the column. A pendulum type article carrying-out member having an intermediate portion pivotally supported so that an upper end thereof enters the column and supports the second article from the bottom when the article exiting from the column, and the article carrying-out member And a carrying-out member driving means for inclining and moving the lower end of the product to and from the column, the article carrying-out mechanism of the vending machine. 2. A slider, wherein the carrying-out member driving means is located behind the article carrying-out member and linearly reciprocates along a column, and a lower end portion of the slider and both end portions of the lower end portion of the article carrying-out member are pivotally supported. The article unloading mechanism of the vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a linked link.