JPH0792863B2 - Product fall prevention mechanism for conveyor-type product shelves - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a product fall prevention mechanism for a conveyor-type product shelf of an automatic vending machine.

[Conventional technology]

As a product transport shelf device for a vending machine that handles fragile products such as bottle products and paper pack products, horizontal conveyor shelves with upper and lower tiers for loading the products in a row, conveyor shelves for each tier, and a product outlet. It is well known that the soft handling system is used in combination with an elevator mechanism for product relay that links between the above and below and relays the product carried out from the conveyor shelf according to the sales command to the elevator through the elevator mechanism. Is.

Regarding the in-machine layout of the product shelving device in such a vending machine, the conveyor shelves at the upper and lower stages are installed in the machine in the depth direction, and the elevator mechanism for product relay to the conveyor shelves is installed in the interior of the machine. Has also been commercialized.

Next, a conventional structure of the vending machine is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a vending machine cabinet, 2 is a front door, 3 is an inside door, and 4 is a product outlet. On the other hand, in the cabinet 1, horizontal conveyor shelves 5 laid in the depth direction are vertically arranged in a plurality of stages, and the cabinets are connected so as to be connected between the conveyor shelves 5 at each stage and the product outlet 4. An elevator mechanism 6 for relaying products is provided in the inner part of the storage compartment 1. In addition, 7 is a lifting guide rail of the elevator mechanism 6, and 8 is a product delivery shooter that is arranged at the bottom of the inside of the warehouse in line with the product outlet 4.

Here, the conveyor shelf 5 is composed of an endless conveyor belt 5c stretched between a pair of front and rear sprockets 5a and 5b as shown in FIG. 6, and a conveyor drive motor 5d. They will be mounted side by side in a row on the top surface of 5c.

With such a configuration, when a sales instruction is given, first, the elevator mechanism 6 rises to the selected position of the conveyor rack 5 and stands by, and the products 9 lined up in the front row on the rack are moved by the subsequent product discharging operation of the conveyor rack 5. It is delivered to the bucket 6a of the elevator mechanism 6. After the delivery of the product, the elevator mechanism 6 descends inside the warehouse with the product 9 mounted, and when the bucket 6a hits the stopper 6b provided on the ascending / descending path, the product tilts forward and the product 9 to the shooter 8. discharge. Then, the product 9 rolls on the inclined surface of the shooter 8 and is taken out to the product outlet 4.

On the other hand, in the conventional conveyor shelf, as shown in FIG. 6, a rotary gate mechanism 10 provided with a U-shaped bar is provided on the conveyor shelf 5 side on the product carrying-out end side. This gate mechanism also serves as a product detection lever having a stopper function of holding the product 9 mounted on the horizontal conveyor shelf 5 in the storage position in a sales standby state and an actuator function of a switch for detecting product discharge, Cams 10b and 10c and a return spring are provided on the support shaft that supports the U-shaped bar 10a.One cam 10b is provided with a solenoid locking mechanism 11, and the other cam 10c is provided with a product detection switch 12 facing each other. Has been done. In the figure, 13 indicates a sales control unit.

With this configuration, the solenoid type locking mechanism 11
Locks the bar 10a in a standing posture by locking the cam 10b of the gate mechanism 10 and holds the product 9 mounted on the conveyor shelf 5 at the storage position. When a sales command is given to the control unit 13, the solenoid type locking mechanism 11 is first retracted to move to the gate mechanism.
Unlock 10 restraints. Then, when the products 9 lined up on the conveyor belt 5c are moved toward the carry-out end by the subsequent operation of the drive motor 5d, the bar 10a of the gate mechanism 10 is rotated so as to be pushed down by the products 9 lined up in the front row. Product detection switch
The product 12 is detected by operating 12 and the controller 13 controls the drive motor 5d to stop by the product carry-out detection signal. Further, when one product 9 is carried out, the bar 10a of the gate mechanism 10 is rotated and returned to the original standing posture by the spring bias, and the solenoid type locking mechanism 11 is also returned to the standby state for the gate mechanism 10 again. Lock in position.

The bar 10a of the gate mechanism 10 has a relatively short arm length protruding from the conveyor shelf 5 in order to avoid interference with the elevator mechanism 6 when the bar 10a is rotated as the product is unloaded. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional conveyor type product shelf, the following problems often occur during product loading.

That is, at the time of product loading, the front door 2 and the in-compartment door 3 in FIG. 5 are opened, and then the products 9 are inserted into the horizontal conveyor shelves 5 at the respective stages from the front of the cabinet 1 to be replenished. Since there is only a small residual space between the lower conveyor shelves 5 and the conveyor shelves 5 are installed in the depth direction in the warehouse, it is difficult to visually confirm the product storage state at the back of the shelves. For this reason, if a replenishment product is forced into the interior of the shelf more than necessary, or if a product storage space on the conveyor shelf is erroneously determined and a product 9 having a capacity larger than the storage capacity is packed, As shown in Fig. 7, the products 9 lined up in the front row pushed forward are easily overcome the bar of the gate mechanism 10 (the protruding length of the bar is short as described above) in the locked state, and the elevator passage of the elevator mechanism is easily reached. This causes troubles such as bottle products being damaged as a result.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and by adding a simple mechanism, it is possible to reliably prevent the product from accidentally falling off the conveyor shelf forward at the time of loading the product, thereby improving the workability of the product loading. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product fall prevention mechanism for a conveyor-type product shelf that can be improved.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention hangs and supports the above-mentioned conveyor rack with a gate mechanism from above so as to block the passageway on the product discharge end side of the conveyor rack, and the tip has a gate mechanism when waiting for sale. An oscillating flapper for product fall prevention is provided which is engaged with and is restrained at the passage closed position.

[Action]

With the above-mentioned configuration, the flapper can swing forward in the unrestrained state, and does not hinder the product unloading operation from the conveyor rack accompanying the sales operation. On the contrary,
When the flapper engages with the gate mechanism installed on the conveyor shelf side and is restrained in the drooping posture, the flapper completely blocks the product passage on the carry-out end side of the conveyor shelf, forcing the product on the conveyor shelf. Even if you push it into the back or try to pack more than the storage capacity, the products in the front row on the shelf hit the flapper and cannot move further forward, making sure that the product falls from the conveyor shelf Can be prevented. Since the flapper is suspended and supported above the horizontal conveyor shelves, there is no risk of interfering with the elevator mechanism even if the flapper swings forward when the product is unloaded in the unconstrained state. It does not depend on the size.

Moreover, in the standby state for sale, the tip of the flapper is restrained in a hanging posture through a gate mechanism provided on the conveyor shelf side. Therefore, even if you forcibly push the replenished product into the warehouse during the product loading work, it will be blocked by the flapper,
It is possible to reliably prevent the product from accidentally falling from the conveyor shelf to the passage in the interior of the refrigerator. In addition, since the flapper itself can release the restraint in conjunction with the release of the lock of the gate mechanism during the selling operation, it does not hinder the delivery operation of the product.

〔Example〕

1 to 3 are configuration diagrams of an embodiment of the present invention showing a product loading operation state, and FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram at the time of sale, and the same reference numerals are given to the same parts corresponding to FIG. Is attached.

That is, for each horizontal conveyor shelf 5 arranged in each of the upper and lower stages in the cabinet 1, a swingable product drop prevention flapper 14 is hung and supported from above so as to cross the product passage at the product carry-out end side. It is provided. This flapper 14 is the second
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
It is suspended and supported on the lower surface of the conveyor shelves 5 arranged on the upper stage via a, and the tip end portion 14b of the flapper is engaged with the U-shaped bar 10a of the gate mechanism 10 provided on the conveyor shelf 5 from the front. It projects downward. Reference numeral 14c is a return spring that is attached to the above-mentioned hinge portion and works to return the flapper to the hanging posture.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. First, FIG. 1 shows a work state of loading a product. In this state, the gate mechanism 10 mounted on the conveyor shelves 5 at each stage holds the bar 10a in a locked posture in an upright posture, and the flapper 14 stands by in a hanging posture in front of the bar 10a so as to block the product discharge passage. .
Here, when the replenishment product 9 is mounted on the conveyor shelf 5 and pushed inward, as shown in FIG. 3, the products 9 arranged in the front row are pushed and the flapper 14 swings, and the tip thereof is the gate mechanism. It is locked by hitting the bar 10a of 10. In this state, the flapper 14 is prevented from further swinging through the gate mechanism 10 in the locked state, and therefore, even if the product 9 is forcibly pushed, it cannot move further, and as shown in FIG. As described above, it is possible to reliably prevent the product 9 from getting over the bar of the gate mechanism 10 and falling off the conveyor shelf 5. Further, this locked state is maintained even while the product loading number is on standby.

On the other hand, during the sale operation, the lock of the gate mechanism 10 is first released as described with reference to FIG.
The flapper 14 restraint by 10 will also be released. Therefore, when the products 9 lined up on the shelf are moved toward the carry-out end by the subsequent moving operation of the conveyor rack 5, the flapper 14 is pushed by the products 9 lined up in the front row, and as shown in FIG. Swing upward toward the position to open the product unloading passage. As a result, the product 9 slips through the flapper 14 and further pushes down the bar 10a of the gate mechanism 10 to push down the conveyor rack 5
It is carried out from the container and is delivered to the bucket of the elevator mechanism 6 which is in the standby position in front of it. Then, when the product 9 completely rubs through the flapper 14, the flapper 14 is again biased by the return spring and returns to the chain line position before the gate mechanism 10, and after a slight delay, the bar 10a of the gate mechanism 10 is returned.
Returns to the chain line position and returns to the locked state of FIG.

〔The invention's effect〕

The product fall prevention mechanism of the conveyor type product shelf according to the present invention,
Since it is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) When loading a product, the flapper blocks the carry-out end side of the product passage and is restrained in a drooping posture through a gate mechanism equipped on the conveyor shelf, and the product is replenished on the conveyor shelf from the front side. Forcibly push it into the shelf,
Even if you try to pack an extra number of products, the products lined up in the front row on the shelf will hit the flapper, so you can reliably avoid the trouble of products overcoming the gate mechanism and falling off the shelf forward.

(2) Since the flapper is configured to be restrained and released by effectively utilizing the gate mechanism equipped on the conveyor shelf side, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated locking mechanism for the flapper, and the flapper can be implemented with a simple mechanism. .

(3) Since the flapper for preventing product drop does not depend on the shape and size of the product, it can be applied to various products such as bottle products and paper pack products.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention showing a product loading operation state, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are front views and side views showing a detailed structure of a product fall prevention mechanism in FIG.
FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of the product fall prevention mechanism at the time of sale operation,
FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a vending machine equipped with a conventional conveyor-type product shelving device, FIG. 6 is a mechanism diagram of the conveyor shelf in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a product loading process by the conveyor shelf in FIG. FIG. In the figure, 1: vending machine cabinet, 5: conveyor rack, 6: elevator mechanism, 9: product, 10: gate mechanism, 11: solenoid lock mechanism, 12: product detection switch, 14: product fall prevention Flapper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] Installed in the vending machine in the front-back direction,
It is a horizontal conveyor shelf that carries out the products mounted side by side on its upper surface at the time of sale and transfers it to the elevator mechanism located in the interior of the warehouse, and also serves as a product detection lever on the product carrying-out end side of the conveyor shelf, In addition, in the one equipped with a rotating gate mechanism that is locked and released in accordance with standby and sale, the product is supported by being suspended from above so as to block the passageway on the product carrying-out end side of the conveyor shelf, and the tip is in standby during sale. A product fall prevention mechanism for a conveyor type product shelf, comprising a swingable product fall prevention flapper that is engaged with the gate mechanism and is restrained at a passage blocking position.