JPH06348946A - Article storage device for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the article storage device for automatic vending machine with high reliability to guide articles housed at random to an article path part surely while arranging them in one line. CONSTITUTION:Concerning an article storage device 1 for automatic vending machine provided with a storage part 3 for storing many cylindrical articles P at random inside an enclosure 2 equipped with an article ejecting port 4 at the lower edge part while laterally toppling them over sideways, article ejecting means 5 for ejecting the articles P one by one from the article ejecting port 4 to the outside, article path part 6 for guiding the articles P inside the storage part 3 to the article ejecting means 5 while arranging them in one line, and narrow-down part 7 for guiding the articles P inside the storage part 3 to the article path part 6 while arranging them in one line, the narrow-down part 7 is provided with an article arranging means 8 for sliding the articles P upward in contact with the articles P.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vending machine product in which a large number of cylindrical products such as canned juice and canned coffee are randomly stored and the stored products are appropriately dispensed based on a sales order. It relates to a sales device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a product storage device of an automatic vending machine that sells products of this type, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-247794 is known. This product storage device
The lower end portion has a pair of product dispensing means and a pair of product dispensing outlets, so that the products in the product storage rack can be dispensed from two locations. The lower part of the product storage rack is partitioned into a front and a rear by a partition wall that houses the internal device of the product delivery mechanism. Between the partition wall and the front and rear introduction plates provided opposite to the partition wall, there are formed two front and rear rows of product passages for feeding products one by one to the product delivery mechanism. Further, on the upper side of each product passage, there is provided an alignment mechanism for aligning randomly stored products in a line and guiding the products to the product passage. Each alignment mechanism includes a pair of first guide plates arranged in an upper stage and facing each other in an inverted "H" shape, a second guide plate arranged in a lower stage, and a cam mechanism for swinging these guide plates. It is composed of. The pair of first guide plates are respectively bent in the same direction, and a gap through which one product can pass is formed between the tip ends thereof. The second guide plate is bent in the opposite direction to the first guide plate, and is formed so as to feed the product into the product passage. The cam mechanism is attached to each guide plate and is configured to individually swing each guide plate at a predetermined timing. Commodities guided between the first guide plates from above are aligned by being appropriately swung by the cam mechanism via the first guide plates, and are lowered one by one from the gap between the first guide plates, and then the lower stage. It is sent to the product passage through the second guide plate. The product delivered to the product passage is delivered to the outside by being dropped from the product delivery outlet by the product delivery means.

[0003]

According to this conventional product sales device, the guide plates for aligning the products are attached in a cantilever manner, and the load of the stacked products is applied to the entire surface thereof. , The cam mechanism repeatedly receives the compulsory rocking motion. Therefore, the problem of bending and breakage of each guide plate is likely to occur, and since each guide plate is individually swung by the cam mechanism, the structure and control are complicated, and a failure or the like is likely to occur. There is a problem of lack of reliability.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and it is possible to reliably arrange randomly stored products in a line and guide them to the product passage. It is an object of the present invention to provide a high-quality vending machine product storage device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a housing having a product outlet in the lower end,
A storage unit that randomly stores a large number of cylindrical products in a horizontally laid-down state, a product delivery unit that delivers products to the outside from a product delivery outlet, and a product passage unit that guides the products in the storage unit in a row to the product delivery unit. In a product storage device of a vending machine, which is provided with a narrowing unit that aligns the products in the storage unit in a line and guides the products to the product passage unit, in the narrowing unit, the product aligning unit that contacts the products and rubs the products upward. It is characterized by having.

[0006]

According to the commodity storage device of this vending machine, a large number of commodities randomly stored in the storage section in a horizontally laid-down state are aligned in the narrowing section and sequentially fed into the aisle section in a line. The products waiting for sale in a line in the passage portion are paid out to the outside one by one from the lowest product by the product payout means operated based on the sales command.

In this case, since the merchandise aligning means is provided in the narrowing portion, the merchandise contacting the merchandise is rubbed upward by the merchandise aligning means. By this rubbing operation, the products rotate and the frictional force between the products decreases,
The force of the adjacent products to drop in the vertical direction is promoted, and only one product with the strongest force to drop in the narrowing portion is reliably fed into the passage portion one by one. That is, the bridge state between products can be easily eliminated. In this case, the bridge state can be eliminated without pushing or pulling the product, that is, without applying a large force, and the product arranging means can be configured with a simple structure.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A commodity storage device for an automatic vending machine according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This product storage device is applied to an automatic vending machine that sells cylindrical products such as canned juice and canned coffee, and can store two types of products with different diameters. FIG. 1 is a side view of cutting a main part of the product storage device, and FIG. 2 is a front view of partial cutting thereof.
FIG. 6 is a rear view of the partial cutting.

As shown in FIG. 1, the product storage device 1 has a vertically long product storage rack 2 (housing) having a product discharge port 4 at a lower end thereof, and an uppermost storage part 3 and a product discharge port 4. The merchandise payout mechanism 5 (commodity payout means) for paying out the merchandise P from the product, the introduction path 6 (commodity passage part) for lowering the merchandise P in the storage part 3 one by one to the product payout mechanism 5, and the product in the storage part 3 It is configured by a narrowing portion 7 that aligns P in a single row and sends it to the introduction path 6, and the narrowing portion 7 is configured to include an aligning device 8 (commodity aligning means). The storage rack 2 has a vertically divided two-part structure including an upper part on which the storage part 3 is arranged and a lower part on which the aligning device 8, the introduction path 6 and the product dispensing mechanism 5 are arranged. The commodities P are randomly (randomly) filled and replenished in the storage section 3 from a commodity inlet (not shown), aligned by the aligning device 8 of the narrowing section 7, and passed through the introduction path 6 one by one. The product delivery mechanism 5 waits for the sale.
From this state, the merchandise P is ejected one by one to the outside (commodity takeout port) from the merchandise payout outlet 4 by the merchandise payout mechanism 5 that operates based on the sales command.

The product storage rack 2 includes a front plate 9, a rear plate 10,
It is configured in a rectangular shape with both side plates 11, 11 and a top plate (not shown). A product insertion port (not shown) is provided on the front surface of the upper end, and a product dispensing outlet 4 is provided on the lower end of the rear part. There is.
The width of the product storage rack 2 is formed according to the length of the cans of the products P to be stored, and the depth is formed so as to correspond to the diameters of the thick cans Pa and the thin cans Pb of the products P so that no wasted space is generated. Has been done. That is, regarding the depth of the product storage rack 2, as shown in FIG. 5, the gap between the rear plate 10 of the product storage rack 2 and the thin can Pb is A, and that between the thick can Pa is B. , D is the diameter of the thin can Pb, and D is the diameter of the thick can Pa.
(A <A <1 / 2d) and B (b <B <1 / 2D). As a result, a large number of products P are loaded into the product storage rack 2 through the product loading port, and are randomly stored in a laterally laid state without any wasted space.

The merchandise dispensing mechanism 5 is located below the introduction path 6 and is attached to both side plates 11 of the merchandise storage rack 2 so as to be rotatable. It is composed of a star wheel 13 and a first input gear 14 fixed to the end of the rotary shaft 12 (see FIG. 1).
And FIG. 4). In order to receive the cylindrical product P, the star wheel 13 is formed with arcuate concave portions 15 at positions (4 places) distributed in the circumferential direction at 90 degrees,
It has a star-shaped cross section. The star wheel 13 is in a stand-by state for sale and is stopped at a position with the one concave portion 15 facing upward, and receives the product P at the bottom of the introduction path 6. When a sales command is issued, the star wheel 13 rotates 90 degrees clockwise in the drawing via the first input gear 14, and the product P
Is moved to the product payout exit 4 side, and this is paid out. At the same time, in preparation for the next sale, the subsequent recess 15 faces the lower side of the introduction path 6 and receives the product P to be sold next from the introduction path 6,
The rotation is stopped and one cycle is completed. On the other hand, the rotation of the star wheel 13 is stopped by the plate cam 16 provided on the first intermediate gear 19 that meshes with the first input gear 14. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the gear space 1 is provided on the outer surface of one side plate 11 of the product storage rack 2.
7 is provided and the first input gear 1 accommodated therein is provided.
4 and an output gear 18 to be described later, the first input gear 14
A first intermediate gear 19 having the same diameter as that of the first intermediate gear 19 is provided, and the plate cam 16 is provided on the same axis 20 of the first intermediate gear 19. A detection switch 21 is attached to the plate cam 16 so that the star wheel 13 rotates 90 degrees, that is, the first switch.
When the intermediate gear rotates 90 degrees, the switch end of the detection switch falls into the cam groove of the plate cam, and the detection switch 21 turns off.
The FF is performed and the rotation of the star wheel 13 is stopped.

As shown in FIG. 1, the introduction path 6 includes a rear plate 10 of the product storage rack 2 on the front plate 9 side of the product storage rack 2,
It is formed so as to be recessed, and is configured in a gap between the vertical plate 23 of the recessed portion 22 and the front plate 9. In this state, the introduction path 6 allows the product P in the thick can Pa to pass through, and the thin can Pb.
It is configured so that two of them cannot pass at the same time. The merchandise P is dropped into the merchandise delivery mechanism 5 with the introduction paths 6 aligned in a line. A product detection switch 24 is provided below the introduction path 6 so as to face the inside of the introduction path 6 from the front plate 9 of the product storage rack 2 and detects the presence or absence of the product P in the introduction path 6. Then, a "sold out" signal of the product P can be output.

The narrowing portion 7 is formed in a hopper shape by an inclined plate 25 which constitutes the top plate of the recessed portion. The inclined plate 25 extends from an intermediate portion of the rear plate 10 of the product storage rack 2 in the vertical direction toward the front plate 9 of the product storage rack 2.
It is formed in a front-down direction with an inclination of about 0 degrees and is continuous with the vertical plate 23 of the introduction path 6 at the front end. The product P in the storage unit 3 is
While descending toward the introduction path 6 side by the inclined plate 25,
This part is lined up. Then, in order to promote the alignment, the narrowing portion 7 is provided with an aligning device 8.

The aligning device 8 faces the inclined plate 25, and the product P
A scrubbing mechanism 26 for scrubbing, a drive motor 27 that operates the scrubbing mechanism 26 and constitutes a drive source for the star wheel 13, and a gear train 28 that transmits the power of the drive motor 27 to the scrubbing mechanism 26. It is composed of.
The drive motor 27 uses the tip of the drive shaft 29 as the gear space 1
It is arranged in the recessed portion 22 in a state of facing 7. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the gear train 28 is accommodated in the gear space 17 and is fixed to the drive shaft 29 of the drive motor 27, and the second input for operating the scraping mechanism 26. It is composed of a gear 30 and a second intermediate gear 31 arranged between the both gears 18, 30. The output gear 18 meshes with a first intermediate gear 19 that operates the product dispensing mechanism 5, and transmits the output of the drive motor 27 to the upper scraping mechanism 26 on the one hand and the product dispensing mechanism 5 on the lower side on the other hand. You can do it. That is, the scraping mechanism 26 and the product dispensing mechanism 5 are linked by the same drive source.

The scraping mechanism 26 is shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, a pair of left and right timing belts 32, 32, a pair of driving pulleys 33, 33 and a pair of driven pulleys 34, 34 that bridge the timing belts 32, 32, and respective driving pulleys 33, 33. And two intermediate pulleys 35, 35, 35, 35 arranged between the driven pulleys 34, 34, respectively. The second input gear 30 is fixed to the ends of the rotary shafts 36 of the main drive pulleys 33, 33, and the power of the drive motor 27 is input from the second intermediate gear 31 to the main drive pulleys 33, 33 so that the timing belt 32, Run 32. The intermediate pulleys 35, 35, 35, 35 are installed between the main drive pulleys 33, 33 and the driven pulleys 34, 34 so that the timing belts 32, 32 are not bent by the load of the product P, and the intermediate product pulleys 35, 35, 35, 35, respectively. Two side plates 11 are rotatably supported. Timing belt 32, 32
Is made of rubber or urethane having a high coefficient of friction, and is formed from two cutout holes 37 formed in parallel with the inclined plate 25 so that the upper surface thereof extends along the inclined plate 25.
Are arranged so as to face the inside of the. The timing belts 32, 32 are driven by the drive motor 27 through the gear train 28 in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and scrape up the product P in contact therewith.

The operation of the commodity storage device 1 will be briefly described with reference to FIG. When the drive motor 27 rotates in response to a sales command from the sales standby state, the star wheel 13 starts rotating via the first input gear 14 and the first intermediate gear 19, and the second input gear 30 and the second intermediate gear 31 also start. The scraping mechanism 26 operates via the. When the scraping mechanism 26 operates, its timing belts 32, 3
2 rubs up the product P that is in contact therewith.
As a result, the product P is rotated without moving upward due to the weight of the upper product P, and this rotation reduces the frictional force between the product P and the adjacent product P. Then, the product P having the largest force to fall downward, that is, the forefront product P (the upper product P has the largest weight) preferentially falls downward. On the other hand, as the star wheel 13 rotates, the product P for sale is dropped through the product payout opening 4,
At the same time, the product P to be sold next gradually falls into the recess 15 of the star wheel 13 that follows. Then, this recess 15
At the same time that the product P to be sold next is received, one product P in the narrowing unit 7 is dropped into the introduction path 6 as described above. In this way, the star wheel 13
When rotated by 0 degrees, the detection switch 21 is turned off, the drive motor 27 is stopped, and at the same time, the product dispensing mechanism 5 and the scraping mechanism 26 are stopped, and one cycle of product sales is completed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the product P
Since the scraping mechanism 26 scrapes up the products P that are in contact therewith in association with the dispensing operation of the product P, the frictional force between the products P decreases, and the adjacent products P move vertically. The force to descend is promoted, and only one product P having the strongest force to descend in the narrowing portion 7 is surely sent to the introduction path 6 one by one. Therefore, without causing a bridge in the products P stored in large numbers at random,
The products P can be paid out one by one.

A timing belt is used in the rubbing mechanism described in the embodiment of the present invention, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, a surface treatment is performed using a material having a high friction coefficient,
Alternatively, a roller wound with rubber or the like may be used. Further, the traveling timing of the timing belt may be, for example, such that the traveling operation is performed for a certain period of time after the sales operation is completed, and it goes without saying that each is configured arbitrarily. In addition, the detailed configuration can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0019]

As described in detail above, the product storage device of the present invention is provided with a product scraping mechanism at the narrowing portion in the storage rack, so that a bridge may occur between the products in the storage rack. It can be easily solved, and the products can be surely aligned in a line and guided to the product passage portion with a simple structure. Therefore,
The reliability of the vending machine can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cut side view of a main part of a product storage device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a partially cut front view of a main part of the product storage device.

FIG. 3 is a partially cut rear view of the main part of the product storage device.

FIG. 4 is a gear mechanism diagram of a gear that operates a product storage device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a series of operations of the product storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 product storage device 2 product storage rack 3 storage unit 4 product payout port 5 product payout mechanism 6 introduction path 7 narrowing unit 8 alignment device P product

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A housing having a product dispensing outlet at a lower end thereof,
A storage unit that randomly stores a large number of cylindrical products in a horizontally laid state, a product dispensing unit that dispenses one product to the outside from the product dispensing outlet, and a product in the storage unit in a row in the product dispensing unit. In a product storage device of a vending machine, which includes a leading product passage portion and a narrowing portion that aligns the products in the storage portion in a line and guides the product passage portion to the product passage portion, wherein the narrowing portion is in contact with the product A product storing device for a vending machine, characterized in that it is provided with a product arranging means for rubbing the above.