JPH076259A - Spiral commodity container shelf for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the deformation and damage of a commodity by constituting the shelf of a rotary shaft extended vertically in a commodity container chamber, a spiral wire around the rotary shaft, and a fixing device fitted to the upper part of the spiral wire and fixed to the rotary shaft while its upper and lower position is changed. CONSTITUTION:A spiral wire 14 is made of a soft resilient spring material and a rotary shaft 3 is arranged so as to pas through the center of the wire 14. A lower end of the spiral wire 14 is fixed to the rotary shaft by a support arm 5. An upper end of the spiral wire 14 is fixed to an upper support arm 15 and the other end of the upper support arm 15 is fixed to a fixing device 10 and fixed to the rotary shaft 3 slidably. Since the upper end of the spiral wire 14 is fixed to the upper part of the rotary shaft 3 to be slidable vertically, the total length of the spiral wire 14 is changed in matching with the height of the commodity to change an inter-wire pitch and even when commodities small in height are contained, an angle theta between the commodities and a side wall of the commodity container chamber 1 is made small.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spiral type product storage shelf of a vending machine which is provided with a spiral wire in an upright position in a product storage room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, spiral type product storage shelves for vending machines have been required to be able to store various products having different shapes due to the diversification of products sold (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-61397). .

An example of the conventional spiral type product storage shelf of the above-mentioned vending machine will be described below with reference to the drawings. 5 to 9 show a conventional spiral type product storage shelf. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a product storage chamber which is partitioned and formed by a thin iron plate and whose front and bottom surfaces are open. A drive motor 2 is provided so as to be supported by a ceiling wall of the product storage chamber 1. A rotary shaft 3 is directly connected to the output shaft of the drive motor 2, and the rotary shaft 3 extends vertically in the product storage chamber 1. The lower end of the rotating shaft 3 is the product storage chamber 1
Is supported by a bearing attached to the frame plate 1a at the lower part of the front surface.

The first spiral wire 4 is constructed by using a wire material such as hard steel wire, and the rotating shaft 3 has holes 3a, 1a at the upper end of the first spiral wire 4 and a pitch of one pitch.
It has a hole 3b (see FIG. 8). The number of holes may be any suitable number. The first spiral wire 4 is arranged so that the rotating shaft 3 is inserted through the center thereof, and both ends are fixed by the supporting arms 5 and 6 welded to the first spiral wire 4 and the rotating shaft 3, respectively. Has been done.
The support arms 5 and 6 are attached to the first spiral wire 4
And extends at a right angle to the rotary shaft 3. The first spiral wire 4 fixed in this way
It is normal to have a gap of about 10 mm between the inside of the side wall of the product storage chamber 1 and the inside. The product is stored so as to be held by the first spiral wire 4. This product is a product 7a with a large height or a product 7 with a small height as shown in FIG.
b is stored. A product guard 8 is provided on the ceiling wall of the product storage chamber 1 and the frame plate 1a at both upper and lower ends so as to prevent the products 7a and 7b from falling off, and is provided along the front surface.

The product guard 8 is moved to the left and right when the product is stored, and is opened to the front. The diameter of the second spiral wire 9 is smaller than the inner diameter of the first spiral wire 4 and is housed inside the first spiral wire 4.
The pitch is the same as that of the first spiral wire 4.

The pitch of the holes 3a at the upper end and the holes 3a at the lower end on the rotary shaft 3 is the same as the overall length of the second spiral wire 9, and the holes 3b are the same. The fixing device 10 has a semicircular shape and is fitted to the rotary shaft 3. The fixing device 10 is provided with a second support arm 11,
The tip is welded to the upper end or the lower end of the second spiral wire 9. The fixing pin 12 has a hole 12a at the tip and a protrusion 12b at the other end.

The diameter of the fixing pin 12 is such that it can be inserted into the holes 3a and 3b of the rotary shaft 3 and the hole 10a of the fixing device 10, and the projection 12b has a projection 12b when the fixing pin 12 is inserted into the hole 3a or 3b and the hole 10a. The size is such that it does not penetrate. Further, the hole 12a is formed by fixing the fixing pin 12 to the hole 1
It is located at a position outside the fixing device 10 when inserted into 0a and 3a or 3b. A fixing clip 13 can be inserted into the hole 12a of the fixing pin 12. This fixing clip 1
3 is made of, for example, an elastic wire clip, and has a structure in which it cannot be easily pulled out without applying force after insertion.

The operation of the spiral type storage rack of the vending machine configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 5, when storing a product 7a having a large height, the hole 10a of the fixing device 10 is aligned with the hole 3a located on the upper side of the rotary shaft 3, the fixing pin 12 is inserted, and the second spiral wire 9 is inserted. It is fixed to the rotating shaft 3. At this time, the fixing clip 13 is inserted into the hole 12a so that the fixing pin 12 does not come off. In this case, the product 7a is housed between the first spiral wire 4 and the second spiral wire 9 without any gap, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. Product 7 by rotation
a moves downward.

When the product 7b having a small height is to be stored, the second spiral wire 9 is fixed to the lower hole 3b on the rotary shaft 3 in the same manner as described above.
Is housed so that there is no gap between the product 7b and the first spiral wire 4 and the second spiral wire 9 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 9, and is moved downward by the rotation of the drive motor 2 while maintaining the gap. To do.

[0010]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when the product 7b having a small height is stored as shown in FIG. 9, the angle θ formed between the side wall of the product storage chamber 1 and the product is high. Since it is set for a large commodity 7a, it becomes large. Therefore, the frictional force between the product 7b and the side wall of the product storage chamber 1 is large, and the product 7b is caught between the first spiral wire 4 and the side wall of the product storage chamber 1 to cause deformation and damage of the product. .

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, the second spiral wire 9 moves in the first spiral wire 4 and the product 7b having a small height is stored. Since only one product is accommodated in the pitch, even if the second spiral wire 9 is set to the product 7b having a small height, there is a drawback that the total number of products accommodated is the same.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a spiral type product storage shelf of an automatic vending machine capable of selling products of various heights.
Another object of the present invention is to accommodate a product with a small height,
The dead space is eliminated to increase the number of items that can be accommodated, and the number of items that can be accommodated can be changed according to the height of the product.

[0013]

In order to solve this object, a spiral type product storage shelf of a vending machine according to the present invention is, as a first means for solving the problems, a rotary shaft extending vertically in a product storage chamber and the rotation. It is composed of a spiral wire that goes around the shaft and a fixing device that is attached to the upper part of the spiral wire and changes the vertical position with respect to the rotation shaft to fix the spiral wire.

As a second means for solving the problems, a rotary shaft extending vertically in the product storage chamber, a spiral wire around the rotary shaft, and a fixing device for fixing a plurality of coils above the spiral wire in a close contact state. It is configured.

[0015]

By the means for solving the above first problem, when a product with a small height is to be stored, the inclination angle of the spiral wire is loosened by moving the fixing device for the rotating shaft at the upper part of the spiral wire to the lower part. Therefore, the frictional resistance between the product and the side wall of the storage chamber is small, and deformation damage of the product is eliminated.

Further, when a product having a small height is to be stored by the second means for solving the problem, the pitch of the spiral wires which can be stored becomes small by removing the fixing device for the plurality of coils in the upper part of the spiral wire which are in close contact with each other. Since the inclination angle becomes gentle and the number of pitches also increases, the number of accommodated items can be increased according to the height of the products, and the dead space can be reduced.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of a spiral type product storage shelf of a vending machine according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same components as those described as the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a spiral type product storage shelf of a vending machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the spiral type product storage shelf of the vending machine of the embodiment.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 14 is a spiral wire made of a soft elastic spring material, the center of which is the rotating shaft 3.
Are arranged so as to penetrate. The lower end of the spiral wire 14 is fixed to the rotating shaft 3 by a support arm 5. The upper end of the spiral wire 14 is fixed to the upper support arm 15, and the other end of the upper support arm 15 is fixed to the fixing device 10 having the same structure as the conventional example, and is slidably attached to the rotary shaft 3.

The pitch of the holes 3a and 3b of the rotary shaft 3 is
The holes 3a are provided at positions where the pitch between the spiral wires 14 is a pitch for accommodating the product 7a having a large height.
However, the holes 3 are formed at the positions where the pitch between the spiral wires 14 becomes the pitch for accommodating the product 7b having a small height.
b is set. The other configurations are the same as the conventional ones.

The operation of the spiral type product storage shelf of the vending machine configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. When storing a product 7a having a large height, the fixing clip 13 is removed, the fixing pin 12 is pulled out, the fixing pin 12 is inserted by aligning the hole 10a of the fixing device 10 with the hole 3a of the rotary shaft 3, and then the fixing clip 13 Set. As a result, the entire length of the spiral wire 14 is extended, the pitch between the wires is widened, and the product 7a having a large height can be stored.

On the other hand, in the case of storing a product 7b having a small height, when the fixing device 10 is set in the hole 3b of the rotary shaft 3 in the same manner as the above operation, the entire length of the spiral wire 14 is reduced and the pitch between the wires is reduced. The angle θ between the product 7b and the side wall of the product storage chamber 1 is smaller than that when the product 7a having a high height is stored.

As described above, the spiral type product storage shelf of the vending machine according to this embodiment has the soft elastic spiral wire 14
And the fixing device 10 for fixing the upper end of the spiral wire 14 by sliding it up and down on the rotary shaft 3, so that the total length of the spiral wire 14 is changed according to the height of the product, and the pitch between the wires is changed. Since the product 7b having a small height can be stored, the angle θ between the product 7b and the side wall of the product storage chamber 1 can be made small, and the product 7b having a small height can be changed.
It is possible to prevent winding deformation damage between the spiral wire 14 and the side wall of the product storage chamber 1.

Next, a second embodiment of the spiral type product storage shelf of the vending machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the spiral type product storage shelf of the vending machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts of the spiral type product storage shelf of the vending machine of the same embodiment.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 16 is a spiral wire made of a soft elastic spring material, which is arranged so that the rotary shaft 3 passes through the center thereof, and the upper and lower ends thereof are provided with the support arm 5
And is connected to the rotary shaft 3. The spiral wire 16 has a pitch number that can accommodate a maximum number of products 7b having a small height in the product storage chamber 1. The wire fixing device 17 has a holding function capable of clamping and fixing a plurality of coils on the upper part of the spiral wire 16 in a close contact state, and has an opening at a part thereof to be detachable from the wire.

The operation of the spiral type product storage shelf of the vending machine configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. When storing the product 7a with a large height, when the wire fixing device 17 is attached to the spiral wire 16, the coils above the spiral wire 16 are brought into close contact with each other, and the pitch between other wires is widened to accommodate the product 7a with a large height. Becomes

On the other hand, when the product 7b having a small height is to be stored, if the wire fixing device 17 is removed, the upper several pitches are released from the close contact state, the pitch between the wires is reduced, and the storable number is increased, and The angle θ formed by 7b and the side wall of the product storage chamber 1 is smaller than that when the product 7a having a high height is stored.

As described above, the spiral type product storage shelf of the vending machine according to this embodiment has the soft elastic spiral wire 16
And a wire fixing device 17 for fixing the upper several coils of the spiral wire 16 in a close contact state, and since the pitch number of the spiral wire 16 can be changed according to the height dimension of the product 7, the product having a small height Even if 7b is stored, the dead space in the product storage chamber 1 can be reduced.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description of the embodiments, the present invention comprises a spiral wire and a fixing device for moving the upper end portion of the spiral wire up and down on a rotating shaft, so that the height is small. Even when the product is stored, the contact angle between the side wall of the product storage chamber and the product becomes small, and the product deformation and damage due to frictional resistance can be prevented.

Further, according to the present invention, since the spiral wire and the fixing device for fixing the plurality of coil portions on the upper part of the spiral wire to each other in a close contact state, a number corresponding to the height of the product can be stored, so that the product storage chamber The dead space of can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of a spiral type product storage shelf of a vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main part from the front of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a second embodiment of the spiral commodity storage shelf of the vending machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the device from the front.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a spiral type product storage shelf of a conventional vending machine.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the device from above.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the main part of the device.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the main part of the apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the main part of the device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Fixing device 14 Spiral wire 16 Spiral wire 17 Wire fixing device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A rotary shaft extending vertically in a product storage chamber,
A spiral type product storage shelf for a vending machine, comprising: a spiral wire that goes around the rotating shaft; and a fixing device that is attached to an upper portion of the spiral wire and changes the vertical position with respect to the rotating shaft to fix the spiral wire. 2. A rotating shaft extending vertically in the product storage chamber,
A spiral-type product storage shelf for a vending machine, comprising a spiral wire around the rotating shaft and a wire fixing device for fixing a plurality of coils above the spiral wire in a close contact state.