JPH0927066A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the automatic vending machine which facilitates loading operation by article cases without any hindrance to the delivery of articles. SOLUTION: The automatic vending machine 1 is so constituted that an article case 6 containing many articles 6 is put directly in an article storage box 5, and a vending mechanism 10 is set opposite a discharge opening 6a formed at the bottom of the article case 6 and pays articles A in the article case 6 out of the discharge opening 6, one by one. Then the automatic vending machine is equipped with a shelf member 11 which supports the article case 6 and slanting mechanisms 13-17 which slant the shelf member 11, and the slanting mechanisms 13-17 slant the shelf member 11 between a horizontal support position where the article case 6 is supported horizontally and a discharge support position where the articles A roll out of the discharge opening 6a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine of a type in which a product is loaded while being housed in a product case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic vending machine of this type is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-137194, which sells canned beverages. This vending machine is provided with a shelf plate for placing a product case in a product storage and a bend mechanism at the front end of the shelf plate. The shelf board is arranged diagonally forward and downward, and the product case is diagonally forward and downward,
The outlet formed in the lower part of the front surface is directed obliquely downward so that the product rolls out from the outlet. The bend mechanism faces the discharge port from the lower side, and the products are paid out one by one from the discharge port by this bend mechanism and transported to the sales port.

[0003]

In such a conventional vending machine, since the shelves are arranged diagonally forward and downward,
When the product case is loaded from the front, it is necessary to push the product case diagonally upward while preventing the product case from sliding down, which causes a problem of complicated loading work. In particular, when the product case is pushed into a shelf plate at a low position, an unnatural posture of leaning forward is forced, and the work is complicated due to the weight of the product case.
Further, since the bending mechanism is fixedly provided at the front end of the shelf, there is a problem that a dispensing error occurs when it is used for both thick and thin cans.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic vending machine which does not hinder the delivery of products and facilitates the loading operation for each product case. Has an aim.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention stores a product case containing a large number of products directly in a product storage, and has a bend mechanism at a discharge port formed at the bottom of the product case. In the vending machine in which the products in the product case are dispensed one by one from the discharge port by the bend mechanism, a shelf member that supports the product case and a tilting mechanism that tilts the shelf member are provided,
The tilting mechanism is characterized by tilting the shelf member between a horizontal support position for supporting the product case substantially horizontally and a discharge support position for tilting the product so that the product rolls out from the discharge port.

In this case, it is preferable that the bend mechanism is detachably attached to the product case.

[0007]

According to the automatic vending machine of claim 1, the shelf member is tilted to the horizontal support position by the tilting mechanism, the product case containing a large number of products is loaded therein, and when the loading is completed, The shelf member is tilted to the discharge support position and put in a standby state for sale. In this case, since the shelf member is tilted to the horizontal support position at the time of loading, the loading operation may be performed by pushing the product case horizontally, and it is not necessary to support the product case from sliding down. Also, in the sales standby state, the shelf member can be tilted to the discharge support position, the product case can be tilted, and the product can roll out from the product case discharge port. Can be paid out.

According to the vending machine of claim 2, the bend mechanism is detachably attached to the product case, so that the bend mechanism is adapted to the outlet of the product case or the shape of the product. The bend mechanism can be set at an appropriate position each time. Also, if you prepare various bend mechanisms, you can set a dedicated bend mechanism according to the product.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An automatic vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This vending machine is of a type that loads canned beverages such as canned juice and canned coffee for each product case and uses the product case itself as a product column. 1 to 4
FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of each state from loading of the vending machine to sale of goods. As shown in FIG. 2 (standby state), this vending machine 1 is composed of a vending machine body 2 and a main door 3 which is attached to the front surface of the vending machine body 2 so as to be openable and closable. Inside the vending machine body 2, a product storage 5 having a heat insulating door 4 on the front side is widely provided, and in the product storage 5, three-stage case shelves 7 for storing product cases 6 are arranged. There is.

At the lower front part of the main door 3, there is a product sales opening 8
Is provided inside, and a product transfer device 9 that transfers the product A paid out from each product case 6 to the product sales port 8 is provided inside. On the other hand, a bend mechanism 10 is attached to the front surface of the product case 6 set on each stage of the case shelf 7, and the product A in each product case 6 is sent to the bend mechanism 10 and the bend mechanism 10 It is paid out one by one.

The product case 6 is a case made of, for example, cardboard, which is used when the product A is transported, and the case shelf 7 is used.
6a, the lower part of the front surface is cut along the perforations to discharge the product A.
Is formed. Although not shown in particular, each stage of the case shelf 7 is provided with a claw that regulates the setting position of the product case 6. When the product case 6 is pushed into the case shelf 7 during loading, the product case 6 The positions of the front and rear are regulated by the claw and the back plate 13 of the case shelf 7.

The case shelves 7 are 3 corresponding to the respective stages.
In addition to having three shelf plates (shelf members) 11, three top plates 12 and three back plates 13, these three top plates 12 and 3 are provided.
A connecting plate 14 for connecting the back plates 13 is provided. The crank plate 15 and the connecting arm 1 are provided above the connecting plate 14.
A crank mechanism composed of 6 and a motor 17 for operating the crank mechanism are connected. In this case, the motor 17
When the crank plate 15 is rotated by the rotation of, the connecting plate 14 moves up and down via the connecting arm 16, and the three top plates 1
Two and three back plates 13 move up and down at the same time.

On the other hand, each shelf 11 has a rear portion supported by a horizontal piece 13a of the back plate 13 and an intermediate front portion supported by a fulcrum rod 18, and when the motor 17 moves the back plate 13 up and down. The shelf board 11 rotates about the fulcrum rod 18. In this rotation, when the back plate 13 reaches the upper moving end position, the shelf plate 11 tilts diagonally forward and downward, and when reaching the lower moving end position, the shelf plate 11 becomes horizontal. That is, the shelf board 11 is tilted between a horizontal support position for horizontally supporting the product case 6 and a discharge support position where the product A rolls out from the discharge port 6a of the product case 6. . In this way, the back plate 13, the connecting plate 14, the crank plate 15, the connecting arm 16
A tilting mechanism that tilts the shelf 11 is configured by the motor 17 and the motor 17. The front end of the shelf 11 at the discharge support position faces the payout opening 4a formed in the heat insulating door 4, and functions as a chute when the product A is paid out.

The bending mechanism 10 includes a pair of front and rear weir plates 19a and 19b and an operating device (not shown) for operating the pair of weir plates 19a and 19b, respectively.
It is housed inside and is attached to the front surface of the product case 6. The next-sale product A stands by between the pair of barrier plates 19a and 19b, and when the sales command is issued, the rear-side barrier plate 19b blocks the delivery of the sales product A one after another. , The front weir plate 19a rotates to send out the next-sale product A, and the rear weir plate 19b rotates at the timing when the front-side weir plate 19a returns to successively sell the product A to the front-side weir plate 19a.
It is supposed to be sent to. This allows
Item A is paid out one by one.

Bending mechanism 1 constructed in this way
Reference numeral 0 is independent of other components and is detachably attached to the front surface of the product case 6 by a metal fitting (not shown). In this case, the attachment position of the bend mechanism 10 with respect to the product case 6 can be arbitrarily set, and the bend mechanism 10 can be set according to the shape of the product A.
Is installed in the position that works most accurately. As described above, since the bend mechanism 10 is an independent component and attached to the product case 6, the bend mechanism 10 can be used for various products A such as long cans and sheet cans as well as thick cans and thin cans. Can be attached to a position that functions properly, and misdelivery can be prevented. Further, depending on the case, a dedicated bend mechanism 10 may be prepared corresponding to a thick can, a thin can and the like.

The product transporting device 9 receives the product A dispensed from the product case 6 and transports it to the product selling port 8, and is arranged along the heat insulating door 4. Although not shown in detail, the product transporting device 9 includes a tray 21 for receiving the product A and a tray 21 for selling the product.
An inclining mechanism 22 for inclining to the side, a horizontal moving mechanism 23 for moving the inclining mechanism 22 in the left-right direction together with the tray 21,
Inclination mechanism 22 and horizontal movement mechanism 23 together with tray 21
And a vertical moving mechanism 24 for moving the vertical direction. Each moving mechanism 22, 23, 24 is equipped with a motor (not shown), and is controlled and operated by a controller (not shown) based on a sales command.

That is, when a sales command is issued, first, the vertical movement mechanism 24 is driven to move the tray 21 at the home position near the product sales port 8 to the dispensing port 4a in front of the corresponding product case 6. The tray 21 is moved up to the height position, and then the horizontal movement mechanism 23 is driven to move the tray 21 in the left-right direction.
Position. Here, the product A is received in the tray 21, and the tray 21 is again moved in the downward direction and the left-right direction to the position of the product sales port 8. When the tray 21 is moved to the position of the product sales port 8, the tilting mechanism 22 is driven this time, and the tray 21 is tilted obliquely and dropped into the product sales port 8.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, a series of operations from loading to selling of the automatic vending machine 1 of the embodiment will be described step by step. FIG. 1 shows a state when the product A is loaded. The back plate 13 of the case shelf 7 is at the lower end position, and the shelf plate 11 is rotated to the horizontal support position. On the other hand, prior to loading, the bending mechanism 10 is attached to the product case 6, and
The lower part of the front surface of the product case 6 is cut out to form a discharge port 6a. In this state, the product case 6 having the bend mechanism 10 mounted thereon is pushed horizontally to the set position on the shelf board 11 to perform the loading operation.

When the heat insulating door 4 is closed after all the product cases 6 have been loaded, the motor 17 drives the back plate 13 to the upper end position. Thereby, the shelf board 1
1 tilts to the discharge support position, tilts the product case 6 downwards, and enters a standby state for sale (see FIG. 2). Here, when the selection button is pressed and a sales command is issued, the product transport device 9 is driven to move the tray 21 to the position of the corresponding product case 6. At the same time as this movement is completed, the bend mechanism 10 is activated to dispense the product A from the product case 6. The dispensed product A rolls on the shelf board 11 and is guided to the tray 21 from the dispensing port 4a (see FIG. 3). When the receipt of the product A is detected in the tray 21, the product transporting device 9 is driven again to move the tray 21 on which the product A is placed to the position of the product selling port 8 to sell the product A. Drop into mouth 8 (see Figure 4).

As described above, according to the vending machine 1 of the embodiment, the shelf 11 is made horizontal during loading, and
At the time of sale, since the shelf board 11 is tilted forward and downward, the product case 6 can be pushed horizontally so that the loading operation can be performed and the product A can be paid out using its own weight. it can. Therefore, when loading, the tip of the product case 6 is moved to the shelf board 11
All you have to do is put it on and push it in, and the work can be done easily. Further, the structure of the bend mechanism 10 can be simplified. Moreover, since the bend mechanism 10 is detachably attached to the product case 6, it is possible to dispose the bend mechanism 10 at an appropriate position and prevent dispensing errors.

As the product case, a product case having a product passage formed therein may be used. Further, the shelf board at the horizontal support position may be slightly tilted backward and downward. By doing so, the loading operation becomes even simpler.

[0022]

As described above, according to the vending machine of the present invention, the shelf member is tilted so that the product case is supported substantially horizontally at the time of loading, and the product in the product case rolls out at the time of sale. Since the product case is tilted, the loading operation of the product case can be facilitated without hindering the delivery of the product.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an automatic vending machine according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention during loading.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the automatic vending machine according to the embodiment when waiting for sale.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view during a vending operation of the vending machine according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vending machine according to the embodiment when the selling operation is completed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vending Machine 5 Product Storage 6 Product Case 6a Ejection Port 10 Bend Mechanism 11 Shelf Board 13 Backboard 14 Connecting Plate 15 Crankboard 16 Connecting Arm 17 Motor A Product

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A product case containing a large number of products is directly housed in a product storage box, and a bend mechanism is made to face an outlet formed at the bottom of the product case. In the vending machine that dispenses the products of the item one by one from the discharge port, a shelf member that supports the product case and a tilting mechanism that tilts the shelf member are provided, and the tilting mechanism includes the shelf member. An automatic vending machine, wherein the product case is tilted between a horizontal support position that supports the product case substantially horizontally and a discharge support position that tilts the product case so that the product rolls out from the discharge port. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the bend mechanism is detachably attached to the product case.