JPH05338540A - Lent article management device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a lent article management device which stimulates a guest to return a lent article such as handcart to an original place in a supermarket, etc. CONSTITUTION:A handcart 1 is equipped with a connection fitting 4 which can be connected with a chain 5 installed on an another handcart 1a. A lock piece 6 is installed at the top edge of the chain 5, and a lock piece insertion port 11, coin feeding port 12, and a coin discharge port 14 are formed on the connection fitting 4. When coins are fed into the coin feed-in port 12, in lending of the handcart 1, a lock mechanism inside the connection fitting 4 is lock- release-operated, and the lock piece 6 is released. When the lock piece 6 is inserted into the lock piece insertion port 11, in the return of the handcart 1, the lock mechanism is lock-operated, and the lock piece 6 and the connection fitting 4 are connected, and the fed-in coins are returned from the coin discharge port 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lending article management device used for managing articles lent to customers (hereinafter referred to as "lending articles"), such as a hand cart in a supermarket. The present invention relates to a device for encouraging a customer to return such a lending item to a lending place.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a supermarket, a large number of carts are prepared for the convenience of shoppers.
These hand carts are placed at designated places in the supermarket, and the shopper can freely borrow the hand cart for shopping.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when a shopper finishes shopping, the shopper often does not return the cart to the original lending place and leaves it at an appropriate place. Get in the way. Therefore, the store clerk needs to regularly collect the hand carts left everywhere and move them to the lending place, and the work burden on the store clerk is heavy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a lending article management apparatus capable of urging a customer to return a lending article to a lending place, thereby reducing the work load on the lending side. The purpose is to

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a lending article management device provided between a lending article and a restraint for restraining the lending article, the restraint member being provided on the restraint. It comprises a connecting member that is connectable to the restraint member provided on the rental article. The restraining member has a key piece at the tip, and the connecting member has a key piece insertion opening in which a lock mechanism and a lock detecting body for detecting the state of the lock mechanism are provided, and a coin communicating with each other through a coin passage. It has a slot and a coin outlet. The coin passage is provided with a coin detection body that operates the lock mechanism in response to the detection of a coin in the vicinity of the coin insertion opening, and in the vicinity of the coin discharge opening in response to the detection operation of the lock detection body. The operating restriction piece is provided so that it can be retracted.

[0006]

Before operation, the connecting member is connected to the restraining member before the lending, and the lending article is restrained by the restraint at the lending place. When borrowing a loaned item, when a predetermined coin is inserted into the coin insertion slot of the connecting member, the coin detector detects it and unlocks the locking mechanism. Can be pulled out more. As a result, the restraint member and the connecting member are disconnected from each other, and the rental article is released from restraint by the restraint object. At this time, the lock detector detects the unlocked state,
Since the restriction piece is projected into the coin passage, the inserted coin remains in the coin passage. When returning the rental item, if you insert the key piece into the key piece insertion port, the locking mechanism will lock.
The connecting member and the restraint member are joined together, and the rental article is restrained by the restraint object. At this time, the lock detector detects the locked state and causes the restriction piece to exit from the coin passage, so that the coin passage is opened and the inserted coin is discharged from the coin discharge port.

[0007]

FIG. 1 shows an example in which the rented article management device of the present invention is applied to a trolley cart lending system in a supermarket. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is necessary to collect the lent article to the lending place. If there is one, it can be applied to articles other than the hand cart.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a hand cart.
A hand push handle 3 is horizontally provided at a rear end portion of the shopping basket storage portion 2. As shown in FIG. 2, each hand cart 1 has a connector 4 attached to one end of a hand handle 3 and a chain 5 in place, and each interlocking device 4 is attached to another hand cart. It can be connected to the chain 5 of 1a.

A key piece 6 made of a metal plate is attached to the tip of the chain 5. The key piece 6 is provided with hook-shaped portions 7 and 7 protruding at both ends at the tip thereof, and the tip end surface of each hook-shaped portion 7 is formed into a taper 8.

The interlocking device 4 has a key piece insertion port 11 for inserting the key piece 6 into the front inclined end surface 10 of the housing 9.
However, a coin insertion opening 12 for inserting a hundred-yen coin into the rear side inclined end surface 36 and a coin ejection opening 14 for discharging a inserted coin into the rear vertical end surface 13 are opened, respectively. The port 12 and the coin discharge port 14 are communicated with each other via a coin passage 15 inside the housing 9.

The housing 9 has a structure in which a synthetic resin plate is fitted on both sides of a central metal substrate and is integrated by screws. In FIGS. 3 and 4, one synthetic resin plate is removed. The internal structure is shown in a closed state.

In the figure, the shaded area represents the surface of the metal substrate 16, and by subjecting the metal substrate 16 to groove processing,
A key piece insertion path 17 communicating with the key piece insertion opening 11, a coin passage 15 communicating with the coin insertion opening 12 and the coin ejection opening 14, and a mechanism chamber 18 communicating with the key piece insertion path 17 are formed. There is.

A lock mechanism 21 and a lock state detecting mechanism 29 are incorporated in the mechanism chamber 18, and the coin passage 1
In FIG. 5, a coin detector 19 is located near the coin slot 12, and a restriction piece 20 is located near the coin outlet 14 so that they can be retracted into and out of the coin passage 15.

The lock mechanism 21 includes a lock plate 22 and an extruding plate 23. One end of the lock plate 22 has a hooking piece 24 for engaging and disengaging with the hook 7 of the key piece 6, and the other end thereof. The coin detectors 19 are integrally formed. The lock plate 22 is swingably supported by a pivot 25 near the coin detector 19. The lock plate 22 and the metal substrate 16
A spring spring 26 is provided between
The lock plate 22 is biased so that 4 is tilted in the direction of the key piece insertion path 17 and the coin detection body 19 projects straight into the coin path 15.

The front end surface of the hooking piece 24 is formed in a taper or arc shape, and the key piece 6 is inserted when the key piece 6 is inserted.
When the taper 8 pushes the tip end surface of the hooking piece 24, the lock plate 22 swings and displaces in the direction opposite to the key piece insertion path 17 against the spring force of the spring spring 26, and then, The hook portion 7 is engaged by the spring force of the spring spring 26.
Further, the tip surface of the coin detecting body 19 is formed in an arc shape, and when a 100-yen coin is inserted into the coin insertion slot 12, the lock plate 22 similarly resists the spring force of the spring spring 26 and causes the key piece. Swing displacement in the direction opposite to the insertion path 17 causes
And the hook-shaped part 7 are disengaged.

The width of the coin insertion slot 12 is substantially equal to the diameter of the 100-yen coin, so that coins with a diameter larger than the 100-yen coin (500-yen coins and 10-yen coins) are inserted into the coin-yet insertion port 12. I can't. Further, the coin detector 19 is set to have a protruding length such that the lock plate 22 is not rocked when a coin having a diameter smaller than a hundred-yen coin (five-yen coin or one-yen coin) is inserted into the coin insertion slot 12. ..

The push-out plate 23 includes a hooking piece 24 and a hook-shaped portion 7.
It is for pushing back the key piece 6 when the engagement with is disengaged. One end is swingably supported by the pivot 27, and the leaf spring 28 is provided between the pushing plate 23 and the metal substrate 16.
Is provided to urge the other end of the push-out plate 23 toward the key piece insertion port 11.

The regulation piece 20 is a small shaft body and is integrally formed at one end of a swing plate 30 which is swingably supported by the pivot 25 on the rear surface of the metal substrate 16. The rocking plate 30 constitutes a lock state detecting mechanism 29 together with a plate spring 31 for biasing the rocking plate 30 in the direction in which the regulation piece 20 is retracted from the coin passage 15 and a lock detecting body 33 described later.

The lock state detecting mechanism 29 is provided in the coin slot 1
When the lock mechanism 21 is unlocked by inserting a coin into the coin 2, the control piece 20 is detected to project into the coin passage 15 and the key piece 6 is inserted into the key piece insertion port 11 to lock the lock mechanism. When the locking operation of 21 is detected, the restriction piece 20 is detected and the restriction piece 20 is withdrawn from the coin passage 15.

A hole 32 reaching the inside of the coin passage 15 is formed in the metal substrate 16, and the restricting piece 20 is projected from this hole 32. When the swing plate 30 swings, the restricting piece 2 is formed.
0 appears and disappears in the coin passage 15.

On the other end of the oscillating plate 30, a small shaft-shaped lock detecting body 33 is integrally formed. The metal substrate 16 is provided with a window portion 34 that opens into the mechanism chamber 18, and the lock detection body 33 is projected into the mechanism chamber 18 through the window portion 34, and the key piece 6 is inserted into the key piece insertion path 17. When the key piece 6 is locked, the tip of the key piece 6 pushes the lock detector 33 to swing the swing plate 30.

The chain 5 has its mounting position and length set so that the key piece 6 at the tip thereof is not inserted into the key piece insertion port 11 of the connecting tool 4 provided on the same hand cart 1. Of course.

Next, the operation of the rental article management device having the above-mentioned configuration will be described. A large number of hand carts 1 at designated lending locations
, The chain 5 of the adjacent hand cart 1a is connected to the connecting tool 4 of each hand cart 1, and all the hand carts 1 are connected.
Are in mutual restraint.

In this connected state, the key piece 6 at the tip of the chain 5
Is inserted into the key piece insertion port 11 of the connecting tool 4, and the hook portion 7 of the key piece 6 is engaged with the hooking piece 24 of the lock plate 22. When the lock plate 22 is in the posture, the coin detecting body 19 is in a state of protruding into the coin passage 15. Further, since the lock detection body 33 of the swing plate 30 is pressed by the key piece 6, the swing plate 3
0 is inclined and the restriction piece 20 is retracted from the coin passage 15 (state of FIG. 3).

When borrowing the cart 1, when the shopper inserts a 100-yen coin into the coin slot 12, the coin detector 19 is pushed by the coin, and the lock plate 22 is oscillated and displaced. And the hook 7 of the key piece 6 are disengaged.
At this time, the pushing plate 23 is pressed by the spring force of the plate spring 28.
, And the key piece 6 comes out of the key piece insertion port 11. As a result, the chain 5 is disengaged from the connecting tool 4 of the hand cart 1, and the hand cart 1 is released from the restrained state.

When the key piece 6 is pushed out, the lock detecting body 33 is released from the pressing force of the key piece 6, and the rocking plate 30 is rocked and displaced by the spring force of the plate spring 31. As a result, the regulation piece 20 projects into the coin passage 15 to hold the inserted coin, and the coin remains in the coin passage 15 (state of FIG. 4).

When the hand cart 1 is returned, the connector 4
When the key piece 6 of the chain 5 of the other hand cart 1 at the lending place is inserted into the key piece insertion port 11 of the lock plate 22, the locking piece 24 of the lock plate 22 is pushed by the tip of the key piece 6, Is oscillated and displaced, and the hook-shaped portion 7 of the key piece 6 causes the hook piece 2 of the lock plate 22 to move.
Engage with 4.

When the lock detecting body 33 is pushed by the tip of the key piece 6, the rocking plate 30 rocks and the restricting piece 20 moves the coin passage 15.
In order to move out further, the coins remaining in the coin passage 15 are released from the restrained state and discharged from the coin outlet 14.
Returned to shopper.

In the above embodiment, the chain 5 of another hand cart 1 is connected to the connector 4 of the hand cart 1 to restrain the hand cart 1, but as shown in FIG. The chain 5 may be attached to the restraint A such as a wall or a wall, and the key piece 6 at the tip of the chain 5 may be coupled to the coupling tool 4 to constrain the hand cart 1.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the lending item is provided with the connecting member that can be connected to the restraint member, the coin is inserted to release the connection, and the lending item is released from the restraint state. By returning the coin to the place and connecting the connecting member and the restraining member, the inserted coin can be returned, so it is possible to encourage the user to return the loaned item to the lending place, and the work burden on the lending side is reduced. The effect is that it can be significantly reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example in which the lending article management device of the present invention is applied to a lending system for a hand cart.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view showing a state in which a connecting tool of a rental cart is connected to a chain of another rental cart and a state in which the connection is released.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an internal mechanism of the connecting tool and an operating state of the connecting tool when the key piece is inserted.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing an internal mechanism of the coupling tool and an operating state of the coupling tool when the key piece is detached.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hand cart 4 Connector 5 Chain 6 Key piece 9 Recess 10 Key piece insertion opening 12 Coin insertion opening 14 Coin ejection opening 15 Coin passage 19 Coin detection body 21 Lock mechanism 20 Locking piece 29 Lock state detection mechanism 33 Lock detection body

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lending article management device provided between a lending article and a restraint for restraining the lending article, wherein the restraint member provided on the restraint and the restraint provided on the lending article. The lock member includes a lock member that is connectable to a member, the restraining member includes a key piece at a tip thereof, and the lock member is provided with a lock mechanism and a lock detecting body that detects a state of the lock mechanism. A coin detecting port for operating the lock mechanism in response to detection of a coin in the vicinity of the coin insertion port, the coin detecting port including a coin opening and a coin insertion port communicating with each other through a coin passage. Is provided, and a regulation piece that operates in response to the detection operation of the lock detection body is provided near the coin discharge port so as to be retractable and retractable.