JPH07334739A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an automatic vending machine which neither generates a noise nor damages article when article is fallen although the article is carried out by being fallen from an article storage part. CONSTITUTION:When an article A is fallen from the article storage part, the article A strikes on the door 16a of an article taking-out opening 16 provided at the fall position of the article A and the door 16 is opened by the shock, so that the article A is carried out of an article carry-out opening 16. At this time, the door 16a of the article carry-out opening 16 is energized in a closure state, so the fall shock of the article A is absorbed by the energizing force of the door 16a to prevent a noise from being generated and the article from being damaged when the article is fallen.

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 that drops a product stored inside and carries it out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an automatic vending machine of this type, as described in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-23284, a delivery chute inclined downward to the front is provided below a product storage unit to store products. There is known a product in which a product carried out from a unit is dropped onto a delivery chute, rolled forward, and carried out to the outside through a product carrying-out port provided on the front surface of the product storage chamber.

[0003]

However, in the conventional vending machine, since the product carried out from the product storage column is designed to drop directly onto the delivery chute, noise and product There is a problem that damage is caused and serviceability and reliability are deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent noise and damage to a product when the product is dropped even in a structure in which the product is dropped from the product storage section and carried out. It is to provide a vending machine that never occurs.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is provided with a product storage unit for dropping a product and carrying it out, and the product carried out from the product storage unit is provided with a predetermined product outlet. In the vending machine that is carried out to the outside through the product, the product carry-out port is arranged at the drop position of the product carried out from the product storage unit, and the product carry-out port is urged to close the door that opens and closes in the product falling direction Is provided.

[0006]

According to the automatic vending machine of the present invention, when a product falls from the product storage unit, the product hits the door of the product carry-out port provided at the product drop position, and the impact causes the door to open and carry the product. It is carried out of the exit. At that time, since the door of the product carrying-out port is biased to the closed state, the impact of dropping the product is absorbed by the biasing force of the door, and noise and damage to the product when the product is dropped are prevented.

[0007]

1 to 5 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of an automatic vending machine, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view thereof.

This vending machine has a vending machine main body 1 whose upper surface is inclined forward and downward, an upper door 2 for opening and closing the upper surface of the vending machine main body 1, and a product storage section 3 for storing a large number of products A.
And a product unloading mechanism 4 for unloading the product A in the product storage unit 3, and sells bottles, canned beverages, and the like as the product A.

The vending machine body 1 is surrounded by a heat insulating wall 5, and a product storage section 3, a product unloading mechanism 4 and a cooler 6 are housed inside the heat insulation wall 5. A machine room 7 is provided in the lower part of the vending machine body 1, and a compressor 8 and a condenser 9 that together with the cooler 6 constitute a refrigeration circuit are housed inside the machine room 7. In addition, a coin slot 1 is provided on the upper surface of the vending machine body 1.
0, an amount display section 11, and a total of three product selection buttons 12 are provided, and a coin return port 13 and a product outlet 14 are provided at the lower front portion of the vending machine body 1. Further, a transparent window 15 formed of transparent glass is provided on the front upper portion of the vending machine body 1, and the inside of the vending machine body 1 can be viewed from the outside through the transparent window 15. Further, a product carry-out port 16 is provided on the bottom surface of the heat insulating wall 5, and the product carry-out port 16 is arranged at the dropping position of the product A. The product outlet 16 has a door 16 that opens and closes in the vertical direction.
a is provided, and one end of the door 16a is rotatably supported by the pin 16b on the side surface of the commodity outlet 16. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a coil-shaped spring 16c is wound around the pin 16b of the door 16a, one end of the spring 16c is fixed to the side surface of the product outlet 16, and the other end is fixed to the door 16a. That is, the door 16a is held in the closed state by the urging force of the spring 16c. A chute plate 17 that is inclined toward the product outlet 14 is provided below the product outlet 16.

One end of the upper door 2 is rotatably supported by the rear portion of the vending machine body 1, and is opened and closed vertically with this as a fulcrum. Further, the upper door 2 is provided with a see-through window 18 made of transparent glass, and the inside of the vending machine body 1 can be seen from the outside through the see-through window 18.

The product storage unit 3 has a first storage passage 3a formed in three stages in the vertical direction along the upper surface of the vending machine body 1.
The second storage passage 3b and the third storage passage 3c, and the carry-out passage 3 vertically formed along the front surface of the vending machine body 1.
and one end of each of the storage passages 3a, 3b, 3c communicates with the unloading passage 3d. A member having transparency is provided between the first and second storage passages 3a and 3b, for example, a wire guide 1 made of rods provided with a gap therebetween.
It is partitioned by 9, and the product A in the first storage passage 3a rolls on the wire guide 19. The second and third storage passages 3b and 3c are partitioned by the wire guide 20 similar to that described above, and the product A in the second storage passage 3b rolls on the wire guide 20. The product A in the third storage passage 3c rolls on the bottom plate 21. On the other hand, the front wall of the carry-out passage 3d is formed by the wire guide 22 similar to that described above. In addition, each storage passage 3a, 3b,
A flapper 23 serving as a passage switching unit is provided at one end of 3c, that is, at the boundary with the discharge passage 3d. Each flapper 23 is rotatably mounted above the passage, closes the passage at one end, and presses the microswitch 24 provided at the upper end of the passage at the other end. In this case, when the product A is in the passage, the flapper 23 is pushed open by the weight of the product A, and the other end of the flapper 23 is separated from the micro switch 24. Also,
One ends of the flappers 23 of the second and third storage passages 3b and 3c are held closed by stoppers 25, respectively. Each stopper 25 is attached to a drive source such as a solenoid and can be arbitrarily separated from the flapper 23. Each micro switch 24 is electrically connected to the drive source of each stopper 25, and when the micro switch 24 in the first storage passage 3a is pressed by the flapper 23, the stopper 25 in the second storage passage 3b is released, and the second storage passage 3b is released. When the micro switch 24 in the passage 3b is pressed again by the flapper 23, the stopper 25 in the third storage passage 3c is released. A plurality of such product storage units 3 are provided in the width direction of the vending machine body 1, and different kinds of products can be stored in each of them.

The product unloading mechanism 4 is disposed below the unloading passage 3d, the lowest product A in the unloading passage 3d is locked by a pair of unloaders 4a, and the product A is released by unlocking each unloading member 4a.
Are designed to be dropped one by one. Since a conventional product discharge mechanism such as a serpentine column can be applied as the product discharge mechanism 4, a detailed description of the structure will be omitted.

In the vending machine configured as described above, when any product selection button 12 is pressed, the product unloading mechanism 4 of the product storage unit 3 corresponding to this is operated, and the product A is carried. The product is unloaded to the product outlet 14 via the outlet 16. At that time, as shown in FIG.
When stored in each of the storage passages 3a, 3b, 3c, the product A in the upper first storage passage 3a is carried out to the carry-out passage 3d, and the product A in the second and third storage passages 3b, 3c is The flapper 23, which is held closed by the stopper 25, blocks entry into the carry-out passage 3d.
In this case, since the product A stored in the first storage passage 3a and the carry-out passage 3d is viewed from the outside through each of the see-through windows 15 and 18, these actual products A are effectively displayed outside. At this time, when the amount of the product A in the first storage passage 3a becomes small, the product A stored in the second storage passage 3b is displayed in the space portion thereof through the gap of the wire guide 19. Next, when all the products A in the first storage passage 3a are carried out, the flapper 23 in the first storage passage 3a is closed, the micro switch 24 is pressed, and the stopper 25 in the second storage passage 3b is released. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3A, the product A in the second storage passage 3b pushes open the flapper 23 and enters the discharge passage 3d. At that time, when the amount of the product A in the second storage passage 2a becomes small, the product A stored in the third storage passage 3c is displayed in the space portion through the gap of the wire guide 20. Further, the second storage passage 3b
When all the products A are unloaded, the flapper 23 of the second storage passage 3b is closed, the micro switch 24 is pressed, and the stopper 25 of the third storage passage 3c is released. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, the product A in the third storage passage 3c pushes open the flapper 23 and enters the discharge passage 3d.

Further, the product A dropped from the product storage portion 3 at the time of carrying out hits the door 16a of the product carry-out port 16 at the drop position as shown in FIG. 4, and the impact causes the door 16a.
Opens and the product A is carried out. At that time, since the door 16a of the product carry-out port 16 is biased to the closed state, the drop impact of the product A is absorbed by the biasing force of the door 16a,
No noise or damage to merchandise will occur during shipping.

As described above, according to the automatic vending machine of this embodiment, the commodity outlet 16 is arranged at the dropping position of the commodity A, and the commodity outlet 16 is closed by the spring 16c. 16 a is provided, and the product A dropped from the product carry-out port 16 is applied to the door 16 a to absorb the drop impact of the product A.
Even in the structure in which the product A is dropped and carried out from the product, the serviceability and the reliability can be improved without causing noise and damage to the product A when dropped.

Although the coil spring 16c is used as the means for urging the door 16a in the above embodiment, a leaf spring or the like may be used instead of the spring 16c, or the door itself can be elastically deformed. It may be formed by a member. Further, if a non-metallic member such as synthetic resin is used for the material of the door 16a, the sound deadening and buffering effect can be further enhanced.

[0017]

As described above, according to the vending machine of the present invention, even when the product is dropped from the product storage portion and carried out, noise and damage to the product do not occur when the product is dropped. Therefore, serviceability and reliability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a vending machine showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] Side sectional view of a vending machine

[Figure 3] Operation explanatory diagram of the vending machine

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the product outlet.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the main part of the vending machine.

[Explanation of Codes] 3 ... Merchandise storage section, 16 ... Merchandise outlet, 16a ... Door, 16
c ... spring, A ... commodity.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic vending machine comprising a product storage unit for dropping a product downward to carry out the product, wherein the product carried out from the product storage unit is carried out to the outside through a predetermined product carry-out port. The vending machine is characterized in that the product is placed at the position where the product is carried out from the product storage section, and a door for opening and closing the product in the product falling direction is biased in a closed state at the product carrying-out port.