JPH08315242A - Article payout device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To surely take out one spherical article and to cope with an increase in the number of storage articles. CONSTITUTION: The bottom surface of a hopper part 2 is slanted so that the front side is lower, and a lift means formed by fitting a hook 21 to a horizontal belt 20 is provided on its hopper front part. A hook main body 24 is opened for elevation in the hopper part 2 and closed to move down the side of a taking- out part 6, and the projection length in the hopper part 2 is made a little larger than the radius of a capsule 3. Further, a fall guide 36 which projects onto the passing track of the capsule 3 that is to be mounted on the hook 21 and to be pushed up and conveyed is provided, and the capsule 3 which is to be conveyed, is pushed to fall capsules 3 other than the capsule 3 which has been mounted directly on the hook main body 24, so that only one capsule 3 can be pushed up and discharged. Further, a detecting means consisting of a detection switch 37 and a detection lever 38 is provided above a discharge opening 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spherical product, particularly a spherical product containing a product, such as a dispenser for a spherical product in a vending machine, particularly a dispenser for a spherical capsule containing a product, a prize game machine installed in a game center or the like. The present invention relates to a capsule dispensing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-15171, a cylindrical product is laid sideways, both ends are aligned and stored in bulk in a storage box (hopper), and the bottom surface of the hopper is inclined downward toward the front side. In addition, by providing a lift mechanism that moves the push-up piece upward along the guide groove by chain drive, the product in the inclined corner of the bottom of the hopper is pushed up along with the piled product along the front side of the hopper to the discharge port at the upper front surface to wait for discharge. There is described a cylindrical product dispensing device that discharges one product at a position and detects it with a detection switch. Further, JP-A-6-131557, JP-A-6-131558 and JP-A-6-131559.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-131558 discloses a product dispensing device having a similar mechanism. Among them, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-131558, the spacing between push-up members attached to a chain is set so that only one product can be inserted. It is described that one piece is achieved by.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Cylindrical merchandise is placed sideways, both ends are aligned and accommodated in a hopper in bulk, the bottom of the hopper is inclined downward toward the front side, and the merchandise on the front side of the hopper is lifted. The above-mentioned conventional technique that pushes up to the upper discharge port has the following problems.

In the device described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-15171, the detection means detects the discharge of the product to stop the lift means. In this case, even if the lift means is stopped, the inside of the hopper is Depending on the accommodation state of the product, the second product may jump out of the outlet with a strong force, and it is not possible to reliably achieve the single product delivery. Further, as described in JP-A-6-131558 and the like, when the spacing of the push-up members is set to allow only one product, the number of push-up members increases, the number of parts increases, and the bridge Occasionally, there is a case where the product does not enter between the push-up members, and the reliable payout cannot be realized.

Further, these problems become more remarkable when the above-mentioned conventional technique is applied to a dispenser for spherical articles such as spherical capsules containing goods and spherical capsules containing prizes. Further, in the case of a dispenser for spherical articles, in a structure in which only one spherical article can be arranged in the width direction of the hopper, when the number of articles to be accommodated is increased, the front and rear or top and bottom dimensions of the hopper become significantly large. Will end up.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an article dispensing device which can surely achieve the dispensing of a single spherical article and can easily cope with an increase in the number of articles stored. The purpose is to

[0007]

An article dispensing apparatus according to the present invention stores a plurality of spherical articles in bulk in a hopper,
An article dispensing device that discharges one by one from a discharge port at an upper part of a front surface, wherein a bottom surface of the hopper is an inclined surface that descends downward toward the discharge port, and the discharge port is at least from a bottom portion inside the hopper along a front surface of the hopper. An endless flexible member (belt, chain, etc.) that is driven in one direction up to, and a hook that is fixed to the endless flexible member and that rises along the front surface in the hopper when the endless flexible member is driven, A lift means is provided for placing the spherical article in the hopper on the hook and pushing it up to a position where it is discharged from the discharge port, and also on the path of passage of the spherical article placed on the hook of the lift means and conveyed up. A drop guide is provided for throwing off the spherical articles excluding the lowermost spherical article out of the spherical articles that are projected and placed on the hook in a plurality of stages.

The hopper may contain a plurality of types of the spherical articles whose radii do not differ by three times or more, and in that case, the projection length of the hook into the hopper depends on the spherical articles contained in the hopper. It is preferable that the radius is set to be larger than the radius of the largest spherical article and smaller than three times the radius of the smallest spherical article.

The hopper may have a size capable of arranging one spherical article in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the lift means.

Further, the hopper may be of a size capable of arranging a plurality of spherical articles in the width direction orthogonal to the carrying direction of the lift means. In that case, it is preferable that the bottom surface of the hopper be, for example, a valley shape that is inclined toward the front surface side of the hopper and that has a low center in the width direction.

Further, when the hopper has a size capable of arranging a plurality of spherical articles in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction by the lift means, the bottom surface of the hopper is inclined to the front side of the hopper and the width direction is increased. It may have a low valley shape on one side.

Further, the spherical article dispensing device according to the present invention is
Preferably, it has a detection means for detecting a spherical article which is pushed up and conveyed by the lift means and discharged from the discharge port.

[0013]

In the article dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, the spherical articles housed in the hopper are stacked from below the discharge port because the bottom surface of the hopper is an inclined surface which is inclined downward toward the discharge port. Then, when the lift means is driven, the spherical article is placed on the hook and is pushed up and conveyed in the hopper from the bottom portion toward the discharge port, and the spherical article on the hook touches the drop guide in the middle of the push-up conveyance.
Then, the spherical article that is placed on the upper stage side and pushed up and conveyed is overlaid on the spherical article that is directly placed on the hook,
Because of the unstable loading condition, the ball is pushed off by the drop guide and is thrown off.Only the spherical article placed directly on the hook does not fall off even if pushed by the drop guide. , Is continuously pushed up and transported,
It is discharged from the discharge port. The length or width of the hook and the protruding amount or the protruding position of the drop guide are such that only one spherical article is directly placed on the hook, and the directly placed spherical article touches the drop guide during the push-up conveyance. However, the center of gravity is set so as not to exceed the edge of the hook. Even if the spherical article is placed on the hook in a plurality of stages and pushed up and conveyed, the spherical article on the upper stage side is wiped off by the dropping guide in this way, so that the spherical article pushed up to the discharge port is always one, and thus, A single piece of spherical article is reliably achieved.

The hopper may contain a plurality of types of spherical articles, in which case the spherical articles do not differ in radius by more than a factor of 3 and the length of protrusion of the hook into the hopper is accommodated. By setting the radius larger than the radius of the largest spherical article among the spherical articles and smaller than three times the radius of the smallest spherical article, it is possible to surely achieve the dispensing of the spherical article.

The hopper may be of a size such that one spherical article can be arranged in the width direction, and by doing so,
The installation area of the hopper can be reduced.

Further, the hopper may have a size capable of arranging a plurality of spherical articles in the width direction, and by doing so, it is possible to increase the article accommodation amount. In this case, the bottom of the hopper is inclined toward the front side of the hopper and has a valley shape with a low center in the width direction, or is inclined toward the front side of the hopper and has a valley shape with a low width on one side in the width direction. By doing so, an inclined surface that descends downward toward the discharge port is configured, whereby the spherical article in the hopper is guided to the lower side of the discharge port and reliably placed on the hook of the lift means, It is pushed up and conveyed.

The detection means detects that the spherical article has been discharged from the discharge port. The lift means stops the drive upon receiving a detection signal from the detection means, for example.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing the overall structure of an article dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Further, FIG. 2 is a perspective view (a) schematically showing the shape of the hopper portion in the apparatus of this embodiment and a view (b) taken along arrow A thereof.

In the article dispensing apparatus 1 of this embodiment, a large number of spherical capsules (hereinafter, simply referred to as capsules) 3 containing products or prizes are stored in bulk in a hopper section 2 and pushed up by a lift means 4 and conveyed. The hopper is configured to be discharged one by one from the discharge port 5 at the upper front part of the hopper to the product discharge port 7 at the lower front part. Left and right side plates 9 and 10 which are erected parallel to each other, a vertical back plate 11 which covers the back of the device, and a top plate 12 which covers the front and top of the device.
And form a thin cabinet-like device outer shape on the left and right. Inside the device, a pair of substantially vertical front and rear plates 13 (which are seen to overlap in FIG. 1) are arranged near the front of the top plate 12, and at the bottom, the front plate 13 is arranged. The bottom plate 14 is arranged so as to descend and incline from the rear side of the device toward the vicinity of the lower end of the front plate 13 and the front plate 13 and the bottom plate 1.
The inside of the device is partitioned by 4. And the front plate 13
The rear side is a hopper portion 2 having the top plate 12 as the hopper upper surface, the front plate 13 as the hopper front surface, and the bottom plate 14 as the hopper bottom surface, and the front side is the take-out portion 6. Also, the bottom plate 14
A notch 14a through which a hook 21 of the lift means 4 described later passes is provided at the front end portion of the.

The top plate 12 is made of transparent plastic,
An article insertion port 16 that is opened and closed by a supply door 15 is provided on the upper surface of the hopper. The replenishment door 15 is also made of transparent plastic, and accommodates three capsules 3 to form a container that can be displayed as a sample. Further, the front portion of the top surface of the top plate 12 is an inclined surface, and inside the inclined surface portion, a display panel 39 for displaying the sold-out of the article, a payout error, etc. is installed. An outlet door 17 is provided at the outlet 7.

The pair of front plates 13 has a gap between the upper end thereof and the top plate 12 to serve as the discharge port 5, and a gap between the lower end and the base 8 for about one capsule. As described above, the inside of the apparatus is partitioned into front and rear, and the lift means 4 is installed in a slit-shaped gap extending vertically between the pair of front plates 13. The lift means 4 includes a pair of upper and lower pulleys 18, 19 pivotally supported on the upper and lower ends of the left and right front plates 13, and the pulleys 18, 19, respectively.
It is composed of a flat belt 20 hung around the flat belt 20 and four hooks 21 for pushing up articles arranged at equal intervals on the flat belt 20, and a pulley 22 on the lower end side is chain-driven by a motor 22. The motor 22 is arranged below the front part of the bottom plate 14. A power supply device 23 is disposed below the rear portion of the bottom plate 14.

The hopper portion 2 has a dimension D _{1 in the} width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the lift means 4 (see FIG. 2B).
However, only one capsule 3 can be arranged, and the inclination angle of the bottom surface to the front surface side (α in (a) of FIG. 2) is
For example, it is set to 10 to 20 °. The lift means 4 is located substantially in the center of the front surface of the hopper in the width direction.

The hook 21 comprises a hook main body 24 on which the capsule 3 is placed and a hook receiver 25 pivotally supporting the hook main body 24. 3 is a side view (a) and a front view (b) of the hook 21, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the hook 21.

The hook body 24 has a substantially H shape, and has a pin insertion hole 27 through which a pin 26 for pivotally supporting the hook body 24 on the hook receiver 25 is inserted. On the other hand, the hook receiver 25 is the hook receiver 2
5, a back surface portion 30 having a pin insertion hole 29 through which a crimping pin 28 for fixing 5 to the flat belt 20 is inserted, and the back surface portion 30.
Between the support surface of the step portion 31 and the back surface portion 30, and the step portion 31 protruding from the rear end portion in the transport direction and forming the support surface with the front surface in the transport direction inclined slightly to the front end side from the direction perpendicular to the transfer direction. The hook body 24 is formed to have a width dimension that is slightly smaller than the gap between the shaft support side ends of the hook body 24 and fills the substantially central portion in the width direction, and the hook body 24 is pivotally supported corresponding to the pin insertion holes 27 of the hook body 24. And an engaging portion 33 having a pin insertion hole 32 through which the pin 26 can be inserted. The hook body 24 has a shaft support side end portion having a pin insertion hole 27 engaged and fitted to the engagement portion 33 of the hook receiver 25, and the pin insertion hole 27 of the hook body 24 and the pin insertion hole 32 of the engagement portion 33. It is rotatably supported by the hook receiver 25 by a pin 26 penetrating therethrough.

The hook 21, which is composed of a set of hook main body 24 and hook receiver 25, has a step portion 31 disposed at a predetermined position on the flat belt 20 toward the rear side in the conveying direction, and a rear portion 30 of the hook receiver 25. The caulking pin 28 is inserted into the pin inserting hole 29 from the front side to penetrate the pin inserting hole on the flat belt 20 side, and the tip of the caulking pin 28 is caulked to fix the pin.

When the hook 21 is on the hopper section 2 side, the hook body 24 of the hook 21 fixed to the flat belt 20 is opened to a position where it comes into contact with the supporting surface of the step section 31 of the hopper receiver 25 by gravity. The hook 21 projects into the hopper portion 2 in a posture in which the tip end side is slightly higher than the horizontal direction, and the hook 21 pulls out the take-out portion 6.
When it is on the side, it is closed by gravity and takes a substantially vertical posture. The projection length of the hook main body 24 into the hopper portion 2 is slightly larger than the radius of the capsule 3 to be housed, and two capsules 3 cannot be placed side by side, but they are directly placed on the hook main body 24. For the capsule 3 only, the center of gravity is set to a length that does not exceed the tip position of the hook body 24 even if the drop guide 36 described later is touched and pushed.

In the case of a device handling a plurality of capsules having different diameters, the minimum protrusion length of the hook body 24 is the minimum length based on the above-mentioned setting when the maximum capsule radius is used as the lower limit. A length smaller than 3 times the radius of the capsule is set as the upper limit. In that case, for the largest capsule, one capsule 3 is placed in a stable state as shown in FIG. 5 (a), and for the smallest capsule as shown in FIG. 5 (b). Drop the capsules and place only one capsule 3 directly.

Above the front plate 13, there is provided an upper surface guide plate 34 which constitutes the upper surface of the discharge port 5 and guides the discharged capsule 3 downward and forward. Further, at a position in front of the front plate 13 that is close to the front plate 13 and does not interfere with the passage of the hook 21, the discharged capsule 3 is guided downward while being separated from the lift means 4. Part 6
There is provided a bottom guide plate 35 which forms the bottom surface of the capsule 3 and retains the capsule 3 at the position of the article outlet 7.

On the front plate 13, the hook 2 is provided on the surface of the front plate 13 near the hopper portion 2 near the upper edge of the front plate 13.
There is provided a drop guide 36 which is placed on the hook body 24 of No. 1 and which is projected upward on the path of passage of the capsule 3 which is pushed up and conveyed. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the upper portion of the front plate 13 provided with the drop guide 36 as seen from the upper rear portion of the apparatus. Further, FIG. 7 is a side view (a) and a rear view (b) for explaining the arrangement and operation of the drop guide 36.
The drop guide 36 touches the capsules 3 that are directly or indirectly placed on the hook body 24 of the hook 21 and pushed up and conveyed, and pushes these capsules 3 toward the rear surface side of the hopper to directly place them on the hook body 24. The capsule 3 on the upper side, which is placed on top of the capsule 3 on the lower stage, is wiped off as shown by the arrow in FIG. 7A, and only the capsule 3 directly placed on the hook body 24 is As shown by the chain double-dashed line in (a) of FIG.
It is stopped so that it does not exceed the tip position of No. 4. Therefore, the capsule 3 placed directly on the hook body 24
Only this is held on the hook body 24, pushed up to the discharge port 5, and discharged.

Above the discharge port 5, a detection means including a detection switch 37 and a detection lever 38 is provided.
The detection switch 37 is located on the side of the top guide plate 34 that forms the top surface of the discharge port 5 facing the top plate 12, and slightly ahead of the position just above the front plate 13. Also, the detection lever 38 is
The detection switch 3 touches the capsule 3 discharged from the body and is pushed by the discharged capsule 3 to escape forward.
It hangs from 7 and inclines slightly forward. Further, when the detection lever 38 hits the capsule 3 which is pushed up and conveyed by the lift means 4 and discharged from the discharge port 5, but does not hit the hook 21 and an empty hook 21 on which the capsule 3 is not placed passes. Is set to pass through the cutout portion of the hook body 24 having a substantially H shape as shown in FIG.

The operation of the above-mentioned article dispensing device will be described below.

In response to a payout signal from the device itself or an operation from outside the device, the motor 22 operates and the lift means 4 is driven. Then, the flat belt 20 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1, and the capsule 3 is placed on the hook main body 24 while the hook 21 moves up in the hopper portion 2. The placed capsule 3 is placed on the discharge port 5. It is pushed up and conveyed.

The drop guide 36 touches the capsule 3 pushed up to the front of the discharge port 5, and these capsules 3
Push to the rear side of the hopper. At that time, the capsule 3 on the upper side, which is placed on top of the capsule 3 directly placed on the hook body 24, is removed, and only the capsule 3 placed directly on the hook body 24 is dropped. Escape.

The lift means 4 further pushes up only the capsule 3 placed directly on the hook body 24 to the discharge port 5 and discharges it.

When the capsule 3 is discharged from the discharge port 5, the detection lever 38 detects this. Then, the detection switch 37 issues a detection signal, and in response to this, the motor 22
Stops.

When the ejection of the capsule cannot be detected within a fixed time (for example, 30 seconds) after receiving the dispensing signal,
An operation error signal is issued and displayed on the display panel 39.

The capsule 3 ejected from the ejection port 5 reaches the article ejection port 7, and the user opens the ejection door 17 to take out the article.

In the above embodiment, the case where the width dimension D ₁ of the hopper portion 2 (see FIG. 2B) is such that only one capsule 3 can be arranged is described, but as another embodiment, The hopper portion 2 may have a shape and size as shown in FIG. 9 or 10.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the hopper unit 2
Is capable of arranging a plurality of capsules 3 (for example, two capsules) with a width dimension D ₂ , and the bottom surface of the hopper is inclined toward the front side at an angle α and the center portion in the width direction has a low valley shape on both sides. It is supposed to be inclined at an angle β from. Here, the angles α and β are both set to 10 to 20 °, for example. The lift means 4 is provided at the center of the front surface of the hopper in the width direction.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the hopper unit 2
Has a width dimension D _{3 in} which a plurality of capsules 3 (for example, two capsules) can be arranged, and the hopper bottom surface is inclined to the front side at an angle α and is inclined to one side in the width direction at an angle β. ing. Here, the angles α and β are both 1
It is set to 0 to 20 degrees. Further, the lift means 4 is provided on the front side of the hopper in the width direction at the lower end.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the drop guide 36 pushes the capsule 3 placed on the hook body 24 of the hook 21 to the side of the hopper, as shown in FIG. It is also possible. In this case, the capsule 3 on the upper tier, which is placed on top of the capsule 3 on the lowest tier, which is placed directly on the hook body 24, is
As shown by the arrow, it is brushed off to the side. On the other hand, even if the capsule 3 placed directly on the hook body 24 is touched and pushed by the drop guide 36, the center of gravity does not protrude from the hook body 24 as shown by the chain double-dashed line in the figure. Therefore, only the capsule 3 directly placed on the hook body 24 is pushed up to the discharge port 5 while being held on the hook body 24 and discharged.

[0043]

The spherical article is placed on the hook of the lift means, and the spherical article on the hook is dropped and brought into contact with the guide while being pushed up and conveyed in the hopper from the bottom to the discharge port, and placed directly on the hook. Since the spherical article placed on the upper side overlapping on the spherical article that has been placed is wiped off, only the spherical article directly placed on the hook is continuously placed and pushed up and conveyed, and discharged from the discharge port. It is possible to surely achieve the single ejection of the spherical article.

Further, even in the case of accommodating the spherical articles of a plurality of sizes, it is possible to surely achieve the single ejection of the spherical articles.

Further, the width of the hopper can be arranged so that one spherical article can be arranged to reduce the installation area of the hopper, and the width of the hopper can be arranged so that a plurality of spherical articles can be arranged. It is possible to easily cope with an increase in the number of articles stored.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the overall structure of an article dispensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the shape of a hopper section in the apparatus of FIG.

3 is a side view and a front view of a hook in the device of FIG.

4 is an exploded perspective view of a hook in the device of FIG.

5 is an explanatory view of the operation of the hook in the device of FIG.

6 is a perspective view of the front plate upper part of the front surface of the hopper portion having the drop guide in the device of FIG. 1 as viewed from the upper rear part of the device.

7A and 7B are a side view and a rear view for explaining the arrangement and operation of the drop guide in the apparatus of FIG.

8 is a rear view for explaining the arrangement and operation of the detection means in the apparatus of FIG.

9A and 9B are a perspective view schematically showing the shape of a hopper portion according to another embodiment of the present invention and a view taken along arrow A thereof.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view schematically showing the shape of a hopper portion according to still another embodiment of the present invention and a view taken along arrow A thereof.

FIG. 11 is a rear view for explaining the arrangement and operation of the drop guide in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Item Dispensing Device 2 Hopper Part 3 Spherical Capsule with Gift 4 Lifting Means 5 Ejection Port 13 Front Plate 14 Bottom Plate 20 Flat Belt 21 Hook 22 Motor 24 Hook Main Body 25 Hook Holder 36 Drop Guide 37 Detection Switch 38 Detection Lever

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An article dispensing device for accommodating a plurality of spherical articles in bulk in a hopper and discharging the spherical articles one by one from a discharge port at an upper front portion, wherein the bottom surface of the hopper descends downward toward the discharge port. And an endless flexible member that is driven in one direction along at least the bottom surface of the hopper from the bottom of the hopper to the discharge port, and is fixed to the endless flexible member to drive the endless flexible member. A lift means is provided that is configured with a hook that rises along the front surface in the hopper with it, and that lifts and conveys the spherical article in the hopper to a position where the spherical article is placed on the hook and discharged from the discharge port, A spherical shape that is projected on the path of passage of the spherical article that is placed on the hook of the lifting means and that is pushed up and conveyed and that excludes the spherical article at the bottom of the spherical articles that are placed in multiple steps on the hook. An article dispensing device, which is provided with a dropping guide for dropping articles. 2. The hopper can accommodate a plurality of types of the spherical articles whose radii do not differ by three times or more, and the projection length of the hook into the hopper is equal to that of the spherical articles accommodated in the hopper. The article dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the radius is set to be larger than the radius of the largest spherical article and smaller than three times the radius of the smallest spherical article. 3. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hopper has a size capable of arranging one of the spherical articles in a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of the lift means. 4. The hopper has a size capable of arranging a plurality of the spherical articles in a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction by the lift means, and a bottom surface of the hopper is inclined toward a front side of the hopper and the width. The article dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein the center of the direction has a low valley shape. 5. The hopper has a size capable of arranging a plurality of the spherical articles in a width direction orthogonal to a conveying direction of the lift means, and a bottom surface of the hopper is inclined toward a front surface side of the hopper and the width. The article dispensing device according to claim 1, wherein one side in the direction has a low valley shape. 6. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising detection means for detecting a spherical article pushed up and conveyed by said lift means and discharged from said discharge port.