JPH08138138A - Article rack for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provided an article rack of an automatic vending machine whose structure is simple and which is constituted to be compact so that high article storage efficiency is secured. CONSTITUTION: The article rack for automatic vending machine is used for arranging can and bottle articles 8 laying them on their sides and vertically piling up them in a line and transporting them from the article arranged in the lowest place one by one based on a sales command. A top tray for article supply 6 is provided at the upper part of an article path 4 formed between right and left rack side boards 2 and a bending mechanism 7 is provided at a lower part. Distance pieces 5 (through pins which are horizontally provided across the right and left side boards) are arranged in a staggered form at prescribed pitches on the both front and rear sides of the article path along the article path in the rack. The articles 8 dropped in the article path at the time of supplying the articles are caused to repetitively collide with the distance pieces 5 so as to reduce dropping speed and to control a posture.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product rack of a vending machine suitable for selling can and bottle products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Serpentine type product racks are well known as product racks applied to the above-mentioned automatic vending machine for cans and bottles. This serpentine-type product rack has arc-shaped curved track segments facing each other forward and backward between the left and right rack side plates, and is staggered in the vertical direction to define a meandering product path, and the upper part of the product path. On the side, a top tray leading to the product inlet opening on the front of the rack is incorporated, and on the bottom, a bend mechanism for controlling the delivery of the product is incorporated. With such a configuration, the products loaded in a horizontal position from the upper loading port of the product rack are stacked and stored in a vertical line in a meandering product passage while rolling along the rack segment. Then, by the operation of the bend mechanism according to the sales command, the products arranged in the lowest order are dropped and carried one by one, and sent out to the product take-out port via the shooter.

Also known are double serpentine racks, triple serpentine racks, and the like, in which a meandering product passage is defined between the left and right rack side plates in the front-rear direction in a double or triple manner.

[0004]

By the way, the above-mentioned conventional serpentine type product rack requires a large number of track segments as rack constituent parts, and the assembly cost thereof is high because the assembly thereof is troublesome. Moreover, in the double and triple serpentine racks in which a plurality of columns are defined in the same rack in the front and rear, dead spaces occur in order to prevent curved track segments from interfering with each other in the front and rear. As the product accommodation efficiency decreases, the depth of the product rack also increases.

Further, as the depth dimension of the product rack increases, the depth dimension of the main body cabinet of the vending machine equipped with the product rack also correspondingly increases, and therefore the road of the vending machine installed along the road. The problem of sticking out is derived. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to solve the above problems, to provide a product rack of a vending machine that has a simple structure and is compact in size so as to ensure high product storage efficiency. Especially.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, cans and bottles are arranged in a horizontal position and stacked and stored in a row in the vertical direction. It is a product rack of a vending machine that carries out one product. It has a top tray for product loading in the upper part of the product passage defined between the left and right rack side plates and a bend mechanism in the lower part. Along the front and rear sides, distance pieces for product velocity control and attitude control shall be arranged in a staggered pattern at regular pitches.

Further, in the above construction, the distance piece can be constituted by a through pin which is horizontally installed so as to straddle between the left and right rack side plates. Further, there is also a configuration in which a vertical partition wall is provided at the center of the rack side plate and a plurality of columns of product passages are defined in the front and rear thereof.

[0008]

With the above structure, the products loaded from the product loading port roll on the inclined surface of the top tray, fall from the end of the product into the product passage, and are stacked and stored in one line in the vertical direction. At this time, the products that fall in the product passage collide with the distance pieces (horizontal through pins that are installed between the rack side plates) arranged in a staggered pattern in the front and back of the passage, and the falling speed is reduced while repeating the direction change, and Receives attitude control. As a result, it is possible to prevent landing impact force and prevent damage to the product container while preventing product clogging due to inversion in the passage.

Moreover, since the curved track segment incorporated in the conventional serpentine type product rack is not used, the structure is simple and the manufacturing cost is low.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The illustrated embodiment shows an embodiment corresponding to a conventional double serpentine rack in which two columns arranged in front and rear are defined inside one product rack. In the figure, a product rack 1 includes a pair of left and right rack side plates 2, a vertical partition wall 3 arranged in the center thereof, and two product passages 4 defined in front and back with the partition wall 3 sandwiched therebetween. Distance pieces 5 are arranged in a zigzag pattern at regular pitches in the front and back, and a top tray 6 arranged on the upper side of the product passage 4.
And a bend mechanism 7 arranged on the lower unloading end side. Here, the rack side plate 2 is formed with a bent edge portion 2a in which the front and rear end edges are bent inwardly in an L shape except for a product inlet opening on the front surface thereof, and the left and right rack side plates 2 as the distance piece 5 are formed. A through pin is horizontally installed between them.

With this structure, a product 8 in a can or a bottle
When replenishing the inside of the rack, the products 8 are loaded onto the top tray 6 from the product loading port 1a opened at the upper front of the rack. As a result, the product 8 rolls on the inclined surface of the top tray 6 and falls from the rear end into the product passage 4. Here, the distance pieces 5 are arranged alternately in a staggered pattern along the product passage 4 before and after the product passage 4, and the products 8 are repeatedly decelerated by sequentially colliding with the distance pieces 5 arranged in the upper position to decelerate and pose. While being controlled, the bent edges 2 formed at the front and rear ends of the rack side plate 2 at the same time
a, and by being restrained by the partition wall 3 and turning back and forth, it follows a meandering path as shown by the arrow and falls, and lands in a stable posture on the product 8 stored earlier. .

In this case, in order to prevent the damage of the container due to the landing impact of the product 8, it is preferable to reduce the falling speed of the product as much as possible. For that purpose, the arrangement pitch of the distance pieces 5 is as small as possible (distance). It is advisable to set the distance between pieces to be close to the diameter size (thickness) of the product 8) and increase the number of distance pieces to increase the number of collisions of the products.

Then, when a sales command is given to the product rack with the products 8 stored therein, the bend mechanism 7 operates based on the command, and the products arranged in the lowest order are sequentially dropped and delivered one by one. The operation and function of the bend mechanism 7 are well known, and the description thereof is omitted here.

[0014]

As described above, the structure of the present invention has the following effects. (1) Compared with the conventional serpentine type product rack in which a large number of curved track segments are arranged in the rack, the rack structure is simple, the number of parts is small, and the rack can be manufactured at low cost.

(2) In the conventional serpentine type product rack (double, triple serpentine rack, etc.), the problem of dead space between track segments arranged in the front and rear rows is eliminated, and a high product storage efficiency can be secured with a compact structure. (3) Therefore, especially for product racks that define multiple columns in the front and back, the depth of the rack is reduced to make the vending machine thinner (recently, the road protrusion of vending machines installed along the road is strictly regulated. Therefore, it is an important issue to make vending machines thin in structure).

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are configuration diagrams of a product rack according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a side view showing its internal structure, FIG. 1B is a front view, and FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 product rack 1a product inlet 2 rack side plate 3 partition wall 4 product passage 5 distance piece 6 top tray 7 bend mechanism 8 product

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A product rack of a vending machine in which cans and bottles are arranged in a horizontal position, stacked and stored in a row in the upper and lower direction, and one of the products arranged in the lowest order according to a sales instruction is delivered to the left and right rack sides. For products with a top tray for product insertion in the upper part of the product passage defined between the plates and a bend mechanism in the lower part, it is used to regulate the falling speed of the product and to control the attitude of the product along the product passage inside the rack. A product rack for vending machines, characterized in that distance pieces are arranged in a staggered pattern at regular pitches. 2. The product rack of a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the distance piece is a through pin horizontally installed across the left and right rack side plates. 3. A product rack for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a vertical partition wall is provided at the center of the rack side plate, and a plurality of columns of product passages are defined in front of and behind the partition wall. rack.