JPH07210737A - Article sellout detecting mechanism for spiral article rack - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the sellout detecting mechanism for the spiral srticle rack which surely prevents the sale trouble of a 'short sale' due to 'article absence' in a small space with a small number of components. CONSTITUTION:As for the article sellout detecting mechanism for the spiral article rack where articles 5 are divided and stored in two right and left arrays between pitches of a longitudinal shaft rotary spiral 2 incorporated in a rack case 1, an article sellout detecting mechanism 6 consists of a couple of reed switches 6c which face each other across a gap, a magnet 6d for driving the switches, two swing type actuators 6a which individually correspond to the right and left article arrays and respond to whether or not there are bottom articles in the racks, and flag type magnetic shield plates 6b which are added to the actuators and enter and exit from the gap; when an actuator detects a 'no article' state including 'article absence' of one of the right and left article arrays, the corresponding reed switch is turned OFF and a control part 7 judges an 'article sellout' and stops the vending operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product sold-out detection mechanism for a spiral type product rack mounted on a vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, FIG. 3 shows an outline of a spiral type product rack to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 1 is a rack case with an open bottom surface, 2 is a rotary spiral with a vertical axis built in the rack case 3, 3 is a spindle of the spiral 2, and 4 is a bend motor connected to the spiral spindle 3. With respect to such a spiral type product rack, as shown in the figure, the products 5 are divided into two rows on the left and right with the support shaft 3 as a boundary, and one product is stored between each pitch of the spiral 2. As is well known, when the spiral motor 2 is rotated 180 degrees in a fixed direction by the drive of the bend motor 4 based on the sales instruction, the products 5 are screw-fed downward by one pitch and are sequentially delivered from the products arranged in the lowest order. Is.

Further, FIGS. 4A to 4D show a conventional structure of a product sold-out detection mechanism incorporated in a spiral type product rack,
And the detection operation thereof, the sold-out detection mechanism 6
Is a swing-type sold-out detection actuator 6 that has a flapper structure installed so that it comes in contact with the products lined up at the bottom from the back.
a, a flag type magnetic shield plate 6b attached to the actuator, reed switches 6c arranged on both sides of the magnetic shield plate 6b, and a switch driving magnet 6d, which are usually combined. It is installed only on one side (left side in the illustrated example) of the product row that is distributed to the left and right.

The product sold-out detection mechanism 6 operates as follows. That is, in the state of "in-stock" of the products 5 in the rack, the actuators 6a are pushed back by the products 5 arranged in the lowest position and retracted behind the rack 1. In this case, (c) in FIG. Magnetic shield 6 as shown in
b enters the gap (magnetic path) between the magnet 6d and the reed switch 6c, and the magnetic shield (the magnetic flux φ emitted from the N pole of the magnet 6d passes through the magnetic shield plate 6b between the reed switch 6c and the magnet 6d. Pass through and return to the south pole)
To do. Therefore, the magnetic field of the magnet 6d does not act on the reed switch 6c, so that the reed switch 6c
Is turned off, and the control unit 8 receiving this OFF signal determines that "there is a product".

On the other hand, when there is no product in the rack and the product is "out of stock", the actuator 6a is urged by a spring (not shown) and protrudes into the rack toward the position indicated by the chain line in FIG. While swinging in such a manner, in this state, the magnetic shield plate 6b retracts from the gap between the reed switch 6c and the magnet 6d as shown in FIG.
Magnetic flux φ passes through the reed switch 6c). This allows
The reed switch 6c acts as O by the action of the magnetic field of the magnet 6d.
The N operation is performed, and the control unit 8 determines that the product is "sold out", displays the sold-out state, and stops the sale of the vending machine.

[0006]

By the way, as described above, when the product sold-out detection mechanism 6 is installed only on one side of the products lined up in two rows in the rack, the sold-out detection function is reduced. The following problems occur. That is, if a product is left in a part of the spiral due to an error in replenishing the product rack with the product, this part will be in a "product missing" state. In this case, when there is a "product missing" in the product row on the side where the product sold-out detection mechanism is not installed (the right product row in FIG. 4A), the product 5 remains in the left row in the rack. As long as the reed switch 6c is turned off, the control unit 8 judges that "there is a product" and continues selling the vending machine. "Sold short" (the product does not come out even if a coin is inserted) Sales trouble Occurs.

On the other hand, as a measure for preventing "short-selling" sales troubles as described above, two sets of product sold-out detection mechanisms corresponding to the left and right product rows stored in the product rack are individually incorporated, and either of them is installed. A method is also adopted in some cases, in which the product is judged to be sold out and the sale is stopped under the condition that the reed switch of one set is turned off. In this method, two sets of reed switch and magnet are used. In addition to the requirement, the logic circuit for judging "commodity sold out" in the control unit becomes complicated and costly, and the occupied space of the product sold-out detection mechanism in the warehouse increases and the product Reduce storage efficiency.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to reliably prevent a "short sale" sales trouble due to a "missing product" with a small number of parts and space saving. It is to provide a sold-out detection mechanism for the spiral type product rack.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the product sold-out detection mechanism of the present invention has two sets corresponding to left and right product rows in which a sold-out detection actuator is housed in a rack. A magnetic shield plate for each actuator is provided so that it can be inserted into and removed from a gap between a set of reed switches and a magnet.

In the above-described product sold-out detection mechanism, the reed switch is turned on when both of the two actuators detect "product present", and read when either one of the actuators detects "product not present". The switch is turned off and the "commodity sold out" signal is output.

[0011]

In the above structure, if there are product stocks in the left and right rows of the spiral of the product rack, the two sets of sold-out detection actuators are pushed by the product and both swing to the "product-existing" detection position, and Retract the shield from the gap between the magnet and the reed switch. Therefore, the reed switch is turned on, and the control unit determines that there is a product.
As a result, the vending machine can be sold.

On the other hand, when at least one of the two actuators detects "no product" and responds, the magnetic shield plate enters the gap between the reed switch and the magnet. Block the magnetic path between them. Therefore, the reed switch is turned off, and the control unit receiving this switch operation signal determines that the product is sold out and stops selling the vending machine.

Therefore, one set of reed switch and magnet can accurately detect the presence or absence of products in the left and right rows housed in the spiral of the product rack, and even if there is a "product missing" in either one of the left and right product rows. As the product sale progresses, the "product missing" part moves to the lowest position in the rack, and the actuator responds by detecting "no product", and turns off the reed switch as described above. Since the sale will be stopped, it is possible to reliably prevent "short sale" sales troubles where the product does not come out even if a coin is inserted.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the drawings of the embodiments, the same members corresponding to those in FIG. That is,
1A and 1B, in the rear portion of the rack case 1, two sets of sold-out detection actuators 6a corresponding to the respective products 5 in the left and right rows housed in the spiral 2 and the upper ends of the actuators 6a are provided. A merchandise sold-out detection mechanism 6 including a pair of lead spirals 6c and a magnet 6d facing each other with a flag-shaped magnetic shield plate 6b protruding rearward from is provided. Here, the actuator 6a is swingably supported with a central support shaft 6e as a fulcrum, and is biased by a biasing spring (not shown) so that its tip projects into the rack.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
Will be described. First of all, the products 5 on the left and right rows in the product rack.
If there is, the actuator 6a is pushed by the products arranged in the lowest order and moves to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 1 (b). In this state, as shown in FIG. 2A, the magnetic shield plate 6b attached to the actuator 6b is connected to the reed switch 6c and the magnet 6b.
Since it retreats from the gap between the reed switch 6c and d, the reed switch 6c is turned on by the magnetic flux φ of the magnet 6d to detect "there is a product". On the other hand, if at least one of the product rows lined up on the left and right disappears the product 5 lined up at the bottom,
The actuator 6a is urged by a spring to swing to the position indicated by the chain line in FIG. 1 (b), and the magnetic shield plate 6b moves between the reed switch 6c and the magnet 6d as shown in FIG. 2 (b) or (c). It is divided into the gap and magnetically shielded so as to block the magnetic flux φ. As a result, in both cases of FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C, the reed switch 6c is turned off to detect "no product", and the control unit 7 receiving this signal determines that "product is sold out". And stop selling the vending machine.

Therefore, even if there is a "commodity omission" in the middle of the product row on either the left or right row, the product sold-out detection mechanism 6 operates when the "product omission" portion moves to the lowest position. "Vending machine" is detected and the vending machine stops selling based on this, so the occurrence of "short sale" sales troubles can be avoided.

[0017]

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, only one set of reed switch and magnet is incorporated in the product rack for each product line sorted in the left and right rows and stored in the product rack. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent not only the usual "product sellout" but also the "short sale" sales troubles caused by the "product dropout". Moreover, since the number of parts of the product sold-out detection mechanism and the space occupied by the mechanism can be reduced, there is no effect on the product accommodation efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a configuration layout diagram of a product sold-out detection mechanism when a product rack is viewed from the front,
(B) is the same side view

2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams of the operation of FIG. 1, in which FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a detection operation of “product present”, and FIGS. 2B and 2C are diagrams showing a detection operation of “product sold out”, respectively.

[Fig.3] Schematic diagram of spiral type product rack

FIG. 4 is a configuration layout of a conventional product sold-out detection mechanism and an operation explanatory diagram thereof, (a) is a configuration layout view of the product sold-out detection mechanism when the product rack is viewed from the front, and (b) is the same side. A view, (c) is a diagram showing a detection operation of "product present",
(D) Diagram showing the detection operation of "sold out"

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 rack case 2 spiral 5 product 6 product sold-out detection mechanism 6a sold-out detection actuator 6b magnetic shield 6c reed switch 6d magnet 6e spindle 7 control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A product sold-out detection mechanism for a spiral-type product rack, which comprises a vertical spiral type spiral in a rack case, and stores the products in two rows between the pitches of the spiral. The reed switch with a cut detection mechanism facing each other across a gap, a magnet for driving the switch, and an oscillating sold-out detection actuator that responds to the presence or absence of the product lined up at the bottom of the rack A flag-shaped magnetic shield plate, two sets of sold-out detection actuators are separately provided for the left and right product rows housed in the rack, and one set of magnetic shield plates for each actuator is provided. A product sold-out detection mechanism for spiral-type product racks, which is arranged so that it can enter and leave the gap between the switch and the magnet. 2. The product sold-out detection mechanism according to claim 1, wherein when the two actuators both detect "product present", the reed switch is turned on, and one of the actuators detects "product not present". A product sold-out detection mechanism for a spiral-type product rack, which is characterized by occasionally turning off the reed switch and outputting a "product sold-out" signal.