JPH07272080A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain robbery prevention effect for preventing an article from being extracted and reduce an article vending sound by reducing the top-bottom size of an internal vending opening. CONSTITUTION:The top-bottom size of the internal vending opening 33 which covers an internal vending opening door 32, i.e., the vertical size of the center hollow of an internal vending opening frame 31 is made larger than the largest diameter A among articles vended by the automatic vending machine and smaller than the shortest height among the vended articles, i.e., the height of the article having the least axial length. Consequently, even if an article reaches the internal vending opening door 32 at a standing attitude, the upper end of the article abuts on the internal vending opening frame 31 and the article is forcibly fallen down and passes through the internal vending opening door 32 in a horizontal state. Thus, the internal vending opening 33 is formed small as mentioned above, so a hand can not be inserted into the internal vending opening 33 to reach the column side. Further, the internal vending opening 33 is small, the sound of an article falling from the column hardly leaks to the outside.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine, and more particularly to an automatic vending machine for selling tubular products such as canned coffee and bottled juice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The above-mentioned vending machine has a column for storing products, and an outer sales door and an inner sales door are arranged before and after the product sales opening. In this vending machine,
The products dropped from the column onto the chute reach the sales outlet by pushing the inside sales outlet door, and are collected in the center by the sales roller.

The commodity dropped on the chute normally rolls in a horizontal posture, that is, a horizontal posture. However, when it collides with the shoot, it may bounce and slide on the shoot while standing. Further, although the product rolls over, the axis of the product (can, bottle) may slide on the chute in an oblique state, not at right angles to the traveling direction of the product. this house,
In particular, the vertical dimension of the inside sales door or the inside sales opening is the height of the product, that is, the axial length, so that the product can pass through even when the product reaches the inside sales opening door while standing. It is formed larger than that.

Further, in the conventional vending machine, in order to prevent rainwater from entering the inside of the vending machine through the outer vending door, the outer vending door is opened by rotating it so as to lift it outward. ing.

Further, in the conventional automatic vending machine, a metal anti-theft plate, an anti-theft shaft or the like is attached to the product sales port as a measure for preventing the product from being taken out.

[0006]

However, the above vending machine has the following drawbacks.

(1) Since the inner sales door is large, it is possible to pull out the products in the column by inserting a hand from here. Also, the collision sound (product sales sound) when the product falls on the chute is often heard outside.

(2) The installation of anti-theft parts such as anti-theft plates and anti-theft shafts is necessary to prevent the products from being taken out of the domestic sales outlet, but the number of parts is large and the cost is high, so It becomes a hindrance when taking out products,
There is a loud noise when the product hits the anti-theft plate.

(3) Since it is a system in which the outer sales outlet door is lifted to the outside and opened, it is necessary to open the outer sales outlet door with one hand and insert the other hand into the product sales outlet to take out the product. Yes, it is not easy to take out products.

(4) When a product passes through a chute or an in-door sales door in an oblique or standing position, a plurality of products may be crossed with each other, resulting in product jamming.

The present invention is intended to solve at least the drawbacks (1) and (2) among the above-mentioned various drawbacks.

[0012]

An automatic vending machine according to claim 1 has a column for storing tubular products such as cans and bottles, and an external sales door and an internal sales door before and after the product sales opening. In an automatic vending machine provided with a mouth door, the vertical dimension of the inner seller covered by the inner seller door is larger than the maximum diameter of the sold product and smaller than the maximum height of the sold product.

In the vending machine according to claim 2,
The outer sales door is rotatable inward of the vending machine.

In the vending machine according to claim 3,
An attitude control plate for products was installed at the bottom of the product storage column.

In the vending machine according to claim 4,
The inner sales door is biased inward by a spring.

In the vending machine according to claim 5,
The bottom of the sales outlet was formed into a V-shaped cross section.

[0017]

[Operation] In the automatic vending machine according to claim 1, it is not easy to insert a hand from here and pull out the product in the column because the inside sales opening is formed small, and the anti-theft effect is great, and Also, the collision noise when a product falls on the chute from the column is unlikely to leak to the outside. Further, as described above, since it has an anti-theft effect, there is no need to install a special anti-theft plate or anti-theft shaft, the number of parts can be reduced, the cost can be reduced, and the product can be used as an anti-theft plate. There is no impact sound when a collision occurs. Furthermore, since the internal sales port is small, it is difficult for outside air to enter the product storage column, and cooling efficiency is improved.

In the vending machine according to the second aspect of the present invention, the outer sales opening door covers the inner sales opening door by rotating the outer sales opening door inward to open the outer sales opening door. I can't reach the in-door sales door. Therefore, the anti-theft effect becomes greater. Also, when the purchaser takes out the product, he / she can use one hand to push the other hand into the vending machine to open the in-sale door and take out the product at the product sale opening with that hand. No need.

In the automatic vending machine of claim 3, even when the product dropped from the column is bounced and stands on the chute, the attitude control plate provided at the lower part of the column causes the upper part of the product to move in the product traveling direction. When pressed in the opposite direction, the product falls. As a result, since the inner sales outlet door is not pushed while the product is standing, the products are not caught at the inner sales outlet and jammed. Further, even if the product tries to slide on the chute in an oblique state, it collides with the automatic control plate, so that the axis of the product becomes a posture perpendicular to the product traveling direction. Therefore, similarly, it is possible to prevent the commodities from being crossed and jammed.

In the automatic vending machine according to claim 4, since the inner sales outlet door is biased inward by the spring, even when the product stands up or is inclined to pass through the inner sales outlet door. As a result, strong resistance is exerted on the inner sales outlet door, and as a result, the posture of the product is controlled so that the product rolls over and extends parallel to the outer sales outlet door. In addition, since the inside sales door is biased inwardly and is strongly closed in this way, it is more difficult for the outside to hear the dropping sound of the product on the chute.

In the automatic vending machine of claim 5, tentatively,
Even when the product reaches the sales outlet in a standing state or in an inclined state, the bottom portion of the sales outlet is formed into a V-shaped cross section, which allows the product to roll over and be parallel to the outside sales outlet door. The posture is controlled so as to extend to. As a result, a plurality of products do not intersect at the product sales outlet, and it is possible to prevent product jams.

[0022]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 10 is an automatic vending machine, which comprises a main body 12 and a door 14 in front of the main body 12. The main body 12 is provided with column assemblies 15 and 16. Each column assembly 15, 16 has two columns 18, 20 and 2 respectively.
It has 2, 24. Each column 18, 20, 22, 2
A known bending mechanism including a product discharge device 26 and a discharge adjusting plate 28 facing the product discharge device 26 is provided at the lower end of 4. Below the columns 18, 20, 22, 24, there is provided a chute 30 for discharging products.

On the lower part of the front surface of the main body 12, an inner sales opening frame 31 is provided at the lower end of the chute 30. This frame 31
In the opening, that is, the inner sales opening 33, the inner sales opening door 32 is rotatably held around the upper end 34 thereof.

The portion of the vending machine door 14 in front of the inner sales door 32 is formed in a hollow shape. This is the product sales outlet 36. A bottom portion 38 having a V-shaped cross section is provided below the product sales port 36.

An outer sales port frame 40 is provided on the front surface of the door 14 in front of the product sales port 36. This frame 4
The hollow portion at the center of 0 constitutes the outside sales port 42. An outer sales outlet door 44 is arranged inside the outer sales outlet frame 40.
The upper end 46 of the door 44 is hingedly supported on the upper end portion of the outer sales opening frame 40 as described later. As a result, the outer sales port door 44 can be pushed inward of the vending machine.

The mounting structure of the outside sales door 44 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
Details are given in. The upper end 46 of the outer sales outlet door 44 is wound around the pin 48. Both ends 50, 51 of the pin 48 are
It fits into the notch parts 54, 54 formed in the cut-and-raised parts 52, 52 provided at the left and right ends of the outer sales opening 42, which is the central empty space of the outer sales opening frame 40, whereby the outer sales opening door 44 is a frame. It is rotatably supported by 40. Outside sales door 44
A substantially L-shaped protrusion 54 is provided on one end side of the upper end 46 in the width direction. Reference numeral 52 denotes a coil spring, the coil portion of which is fitted on one end 51 of the pin 48, and an end portion 56 extending horizontally from one end side of the spring 52 is in contact with a vertical leg portion 58 of the protrusion 54. Further, the end portion 60 extending vertically from the other end of the coil spring 52 is in contact with the inner surface of the frame 40. As a result, the horizontal end portion 56 of the spring 52 biases the vertical leg 58 of the protrusion 54 of the outer sales outlet door 44 rearward, that is, rightward in FIG. Therefore, the outer sales outlet door 44 is biased to the front side, that is, to the left in the figure, and the lower end 62 of the outer sales outlet door 44 contacts the inner surface of the lower portion 65 of the frame 40.

A gutter 68 is provided at the upper end of the lower portion 65 of the frame 40, that is, at the lower edge of the outer sales port 42. Outside sales door 4
Since 4 is a push-in method, rainwater is discharged by this gutter 68 so that rainwater does not enter the outside sales port.

The vertical dimension of the inner sales opening 33 that covers the inner sales opening door 32 (the vertical dimension of the central empty space of the inner sales opening frame 31) is the largest diameter of the products sold by the vending machine. It is larger than the diameter of A and smaller than the height of the product B that has the smallest height, that is, the axial length (B) (FIG. 1). As a result, even if the product reaches the in-sale door 32 while standing, the upper end of the product will be in the in-sale frame 31.
And is forced to roll over, and passes through the inner sales outlet door 32 in a horizontal state. Further, since the inner sales port 33 is formed in such a small size, it is impossible to insert the hand from the inner sales port 33 to the column side. In addition, the sales outlet 33
Since the product is small, the impact sound of the product dropped from the column colliding with the chute is unlikely to leak to the outside.

The outer sales door 44 is pushed inward and opened as shown by the phantom line in FIG. At this time, the outside sales door 44
The lower end 62 of the abutment contacts the lower end 35 of the inner sales outlet door 32, and the outer sales outlet door 44 covers the inner sales outlet door 32. Therefore, even if a hand is inserted into the vending machine from the outer sales port door 44 in an attempt to pull out the product in the column, the hand cannot reach the inner sales port door 32 and cannot be opened.

Attitude control plates 70 are suspended from the lower ends of the columns. That is, the upper end of the attitude control plate 70 is wound and the pin 72 is inserted into this position, and both ends of the pin 72 are supported by both side walls (not shown) on the front side and the back side of the paper surface of FIG. . The posture control plate 70 prevents the commodity dropped from the column from slipping on the chute as it is, even if the commodity bounces and stands. That is, when the commodity tries to slide on the chute 30 in a standing state, the upper portion of the commodity is blocked by the posture control plate 70 and the lower portion tries to move forward, so that the commodity is forcibly overturned. In addition, when the product rolls over on the chute in a tilted state, the product collides with the lower part of the position control plate 70, and the product is in a posture such that the axis of the product is perpendicular to the traveling direction. Is controlled. Therefore, the distance between the lower end 74 of the attitude control plate 70 and the chute 30 is smaller than the minimum length of the sold product, and any product is always in contact with the attitude control plate 70.

The attitude control plate 70 is provided with a coil spring 76, as clearly shown in FIG. Coil spring 7
One end 77 of 6 is a shaft 78 fixed to both side walls of the column.
The other end 80 is in contact with the front surface side of the attitude control plate 70. As a result, the attitude control plate 70 is always biased to the rear side. With this configuration, the resistance of the attitude control plate 70 to the progress of the product is large, and the attitude control function of the attitude control plate 70 becomes more effective. The attitude control plate 7
0 is prevented from rotating backward from its vertical posture by a stopper (not shown).

If the attitude control plate 70 provided in each column does not perform the attitude control well, the product arrives at the inner sales outlet door 32 while standing or in an oblique state. However, as described above, when this product collides with the in-door sales door 32, the product is horizontally rolled, and the oblique state is corrected so that the product is positioned in parallel with the in-sales door 32. Controlled. For that purpose, although not shown, the upper end 34 of the inside sales door 32 is
However, it is preferable to urge the lower end 33 of the inner sales outlet door 32 toward the inner side of the vending machine by providing a coil spring similar to the coil spring 76 in FIG. 3 described above.

As shown in FIG. 6, the inner sales door 32 may be provided with a large number of ribs 82 on its column side surface. By doing so, as shown in FIG. 7, when the product reaches the inner sales port door 32 in an oblique state, the contact area between the product and the inner sales port door 32 is small, so that the product is sold in the inner sales port door 32. It is in contact with 32 and slippery. Therefore, the product is
The posture is corrected so that its axis is parallel to the inside sales door 32. In addition, 83 is a pin which supports this inside door.

Even when the attitude of the product is not controlled by the inside sales door 32, the product has a bottom portion 38 having a V-shaped cross section.
It falls onto the top of the body, and the position corrects the posture so that the body is forced to be horizontal and straight.

[0036]

According to the automatic vending machine of the first aspect, since the vertical dimension of the inner sales port is made small, there is an anti-theft effect that can prevent the product from being taken out, and the sound of selling the product can be reduced.

Furthermore, since it has an anti-theft effect, the anti-theft plate,
It is possible to omit anti-theft parts such as anti-theft shafts. If this is omitted, the number of parts will be small and the cost will be reduced, and the product purchaser's hands will not hit the anti-theft plate, so it will be easy to take out the product, and the impact sound when the product collides with the anti-theft plate will be generated. Can be prevented.

Further, since the internal sales port is small, it is difficult for outside air to enter the product storage column, the cooling efficiency is improved, and the energy is saved.

According to the vending machine of the second aspect, since the outside sales outlet door is of the pushing type, the door can be released and the product can be taken out with one hand, and the product can be taken out easily. Also, when this door is pushed in, the inner sales port door is covered by this outer sales port door, so it is difficult for the hands to reach the inner sales port door, and the product in the column is more effectively prevented from being pulled out. be able to.

According to the automatic vending machine of claim 3, when the commodity is standing, or even if it is horizontally laid over and slanted, the automatic control board collides with the chute. As a result, the product horizontally rolls over, and the product axis is at a right angle to the product traveling direction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the commodities from being crossed and jammed at the chute-shaped portion or the portion of the inner sales outlet door.

In the vending machine according to claim 4,
Since the inner sales door is biased inward by the spring, it is more difficult to hear the falling sound of the chute at the time of selling the product to the outside. Also, when the product reaches the location of the inner sales door while standing on the chute or in an oblique state, the inner sales door will push the product back in the direction opposite to the traveling direction, As a result, the attitude of the product is always horizontally laid and parallel to the outside sales outlet door. Therefore, at this point, there is no possibility that products will be crossed and jammed.

In the automatic vending machine according to the fifth aspect, even when the product reaches the bottom of the selling mouth through the chute and the inner selling mouth door in a standing state or an oblique state, the bottom portion having the V-shaped cross section is used. The product is held in a horizontally overturned state and parallel to the outside sales outlet door. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the commodities from being crossed and clogged at this point.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view showing a front portion of an automatic vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the rear side of the vending machine continued from the previous figure.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the attachment structure of the outside sales outlet door.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a mounted state of the previous figure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a mounting structure of a position control plate on a column.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a modified example of an inside sales door.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing a position control method using the inside sales door of the previous figure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Vending Machine 18, 20, 22, 24 Product Storage Column 32 Inner Sales Door 36 36 Product Sales 38 Bottom of Product Sales 44 Outer Sales Door 70 Automatic Control Board

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine having a column for storing tubular products such as cans and bottles, and an outer sales door and an inner sales door being arranged before and after the product sales outlet, An automatic vending machine characterized in that the vertical dimension of the inside sales port covered by the door is larger than the maximum diameter of the sold product and smaller than the maximum height of the sold product. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the outer sales door is rotatable inward of the vending machine. 3. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising an attitude control plate for a product provided below the product storage column. 4. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the inner sales door is biased inward by a spring. 5. The vending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bottom of the selling port is formed in a V-shaped cross section.