JPH10103829A - Dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To hold satisfactory visibility of supply state of a material to be supplied to a container by preventing external projection of the material from a container placing part in the case of supplying the material to the container placed on the placing part. SOLUTION: A bottom 22 of a container accommodating chamber 20 provided under a discharge port l4a of a body 10 is extended by a predetermined length from a front surface of the body 10, and a weir 28 is formed at its front part. A swinging door 48 openable for a removing opening 18 is horizontally rotatably pivotally secured to the front surface of the body 10. The door 48 is set to a height side of substantially half an opening height of the opening 18. When the door 48 is opposed to a closing position, a lower half of the opening 18 is closed. That is, when the door 48 is opposed to the closed position, even if ice 12 dropped from a supply port 26a and not introduced into the container 24 is jumped up, projection of the ice 12 to the exterior is effectively prevented by te door 48.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dispenser, and more particularly, to a method in which a supply object falling from a supply port is supplied to a container mounted on a container mounting portion provided below a supply port formed in a main body. The present invention relates to a dispenser adapted to be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In coffee shops, restaurants and other eating and drinking establishments, when providing drinks such as "cold" and "juice", ice of various shapes such as ice cubes and hemispherical ice is supplied to containers such as cups. Dispensers are used. If the basic structure of this dispenser is described as an example, as shown in FIG.
0, an ice storage 14 for storing ice 12 of a predetermined size manufactured by an ice making machine (not shown) is formed. Exit 1
An ice transport device 16 that transports the ice 12 toward 4a is provided. Then, by pressing a release button (not shown) of the ice 12, the ice transport device 16 is operated, and the ice 12 in the ice storage is discharged from the discharge port 14a to the outside of the storage.

[0003] Further, a discharge port 14a in the main body 10 is provided.
At a position facing downward, a container storage chamber 20 formed with a take-out port 18 opening forward is recessed inward, and a container 24 faces upward on a bottom surface 22 as a container mounting portion of the storage chamber 20. It is to be placed on. The opening size of the outlet 18 is set to a value that allows the container 24 to be easily taken in and out. A top plate 26 that defines the container storage chamber 20
Is formed with a supply port 26a communicating with the discharge port 14a, and the ice 12 discharged from the discharge port 14a is supplied to the supply port 2a.
It is configured to be dropped and supplied to the container 24 via 6a. In addition, a weir portion 28 that rises upward by a predetermined height is formed at a front end of the bottom surface of the container storage chamber 20,
It is configured to prevent water drops and the like dropped on the bottom surface 22 from flowing out to the front surface of the main body.

[0004]

When the ice 12 is supplied to the container 24 in the dispenser, the discharge button is pressed while the container 24 is placed on the bottom surface 22 of the container storage chamber 20, and the ice transport device 16 is moved. If activated, outlet 1
The ice 12 is dropped and supplied to the container 24 via the supply port 4a and the supply port 26a. The container 24 may have any size as long as it can be accommodated in the container storage chamber 20, and various sizes are used by the user. In this case, when the opening size of the container 24 is small, or when the falling position of the ice 12 is displaced from the mounting position of the container 24 as shown in FIG. In some cases, it did not enter the container 24. The ice 12 falling out of the container in this way
Has a problem in that it jumps up on the bottom surface 22 of the container storage room 20, jumps out of the container storage room 20 to the outside, falls on the floor, and wets the floor.

The weir 28 formed in the container storage chamber 20
Is increased, the ice 12 can be prevented from escaping to the outside.
8 has a drawback that it becomes inconvenient to take the container 24 in and out because the size of the container 8 becomes small. Therefore, it is conceivable to provide a door that covers the entire outlet 18 in the main body 10 so as to be freely opened and closed. However, if the entire surface of the outlet 18 is covered with the door, the container 2
4 is placed inside the main body and the outlet 18 is set at a low position (position close to the floor), so that the visibility inside the container storage chamber 20 decreases,
There is a difficulty that the supply amount of the ice 12 is difficult to confirm. That is, in the dispenser, the ice 12 is supplied while the discharge switch is pressed, so that the ice 12 may overflow from the container 24 by mistake when the switch is turned off, and a large amount of useless ice 12 is generated. Further, a drawback that the handle for opening and closing the door must be attached as a separate part and the number of parts increases is pointed out.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks inherent in the conventional dispenser, and has been proposed to solve the problem suitably. The present invention is applied to a container mounted on a container mounting portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispenser that can prevent a supplied object from jumping out of a container mounting portion when supplying a supplied object, and can maintain good visibility of a supply state of the supplied object to a container. I do.

[0007]

[Means for solving the problems] To overcome the above-mentioned problems,
In order to suitably achieve the intended purpose, the present invention provides a supply port opened downward in the main body, and provided below the supply port,
A container mounting portion on which a container to be taken in and out through an outlet opening to the front is placed, and a supply object is dropped and supplied to the container placed in the container mounting portion through the supply port. The dispenser is configured to be rotatably disposed on the main body, and provided with an opening / closing door capable of opening and closing the outlet, and the opening / closing door has an upper end when facing the closed position. It is characterized in that it is set so as to define a required gap between itself and the main body.

[0008]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a dispenser according to the present invention. The same components as those of the dispenser described in the related art with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, a bottom surface 30 of the ice storage 14 formed inside the main body 10 is formed so as to be inclined downward from the front side to the rear side, and a screw constituting the ice transport device 16 is formed. 32 is disposed parallel to and close to the bottom surface 30. As shown in FIG. 4, a receiving portion 34 that rises obliquely toward the rear wall is formed at the inclined lower end of the bottom surface 30, and a bearing protrusion 36 is formed on the receiving portion 34.
It is projected in parallel with. A recess 38a is formed at the shaft end of the screw 32 on the inclined lower end side of the rotating shaft 38, and by fitting this recess 38a into the bearing projection 36, the screw 32 is rotatably pivotally supported. I have. The screw 32 is connected to a drive motor (not shown) disposed on the main body 10, and the screw 32 is rotated by the motor to rotate the ice 12 as the supply target stored in the ice storage 14. Is configured to be transported upward along the bottom surface 30. A discharge port 14 a that opens downward is formed at the inclined upper end of the bottom surface 30, and the ice 12 conveyed by the rotation of the screw 32 is formed.
Is discharged outside the refrigerator through the discharge port 14a. The motor of the ice transport device 16 is set to operate only while a discharge button (not shown) arranged on the front surface of the main body is being pressed.

A root portion 36a of the bearing projection 36 has
As shown in FIG. 4, R-chamfering is performed so that dust and the like are not easily collected, so that cleaning can be easily performed. Further, since the concave portion 38a of the rotating shaft 38 is opened obliquely downward, the molten water of the ice 12 does not accumulate in the concave portion 38a, so that it is possible to always maintain the sanitary condition. In addition, a discharge pipe 40 is formed at the inclined lower end of the bottom surface 30 of the ice storage 14 so as to discharge the molten water from the ice 12 to the outside of the storage.

As shown in FIG. 1, the regulating plate 42 is provided inside the ice storage 14 at a position corresponding to the position of the screw 32 and at a position inside the ice storage from the position where the discharge port 14a is formed.
Are rotatably suspended. The restricting plate 42 is pressed by the ice 12 conveyed by the screw 32 to open the discharge port 14a to allow discharge of the ice 12, and to return to the initial position when the ice conveying device 16 stops. To close the discharge port 14a and prevent the outside air from entering the ice storage 14 via the discharge port 14a.

A bottom surface 22 as a container mounting portion of a container storage chamber 20 provided at a position facing the discharge port 14a of the main body 10 extends from a front surface of the main body 10 by a required length, and is provided at a front portion thereof. A dam 28 is formed. Further, a drain pipe 44 is formed on the bottom surface 22 so as to discharge water collected on the bottom surface 22 to the outside.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the front surface of the main body 10, there is provided a pivot 46 which is perpendicular to the side of the outlet 18 of the container chamber 20. An opening / closing door 48 that can be opened and closed is pivotally supported to be horizontally rotatable.
The opening / closing door 48 is set to have a height approximately half the height of the opening of the outlet 18, and when the opening / closing door 48 faces the closing position (see FIG. 1), the lower half of the opening 48 is opened. Is set to close. That is, when the door 48 faces the closed position, a required gap is defined between the upper end 48a and the main body 10, and the user can use the upper end of the door 48 through the gap. 48a can be easily held with fingers. The opening / closing door 48 is formed so as to bulge forward in response to the bottom surface 22 of the container storage chamber 20 extending forward, and is configured to cover the front end of the bottom surface 22. Thereby, if the opening / closing door 48 faces the closed position as shown in FIG.
The ice 12 that has fallen from a and did not enter the container 24
Even if the ice 12 jumps up, the ice 12 is reliably prevented from jumping outside by the opening / closing door 48.

As shown in FIG. 3, the opening / closing door 48 is always brought out of the outlet 18 by the elasticity of a torsion spring 52 disposed between the main body 10 and a metal fitting 50 provided on the opening / closing door 48.
Is biased in the direction to close the door. That is, the door 4
8 by hand and pulling it forward,
Is horizontally rotated about the pivot 46 against the elasticity of the torsion spring 52 to completely open the outlet 18. When the finger is released from the door 48, the door 48 is automatically returned to the closed position by the elasticity of the torsion spring 52.

[0015]

Next, the operation of the dispenser according to the embodiment will be described. By holding the upper end portion 48a of the opening / closing door 48 with a finger and pulling it forward, the door 48 is horizontally rotated about the pivot 46, and the outlet 18 is completely opened. The container 24 is placed on the bottom surface 22 of the container storage chamber 20 through the outlet 18 in the fully opened state while the opening / closing door 48 is held at this open position. When the finger is released from the door 48, the door 48 automatically returns to the closed position by the elastic force of the torsion spring 52. In this state, when the release button disposed on the main body 10 is pressed, the ice transport device 16 is operated, and the ice 12 stored in the ice storage 14 falls through the discharge port 14a and the supply port 26a, and the container 24 Supplied to

In this case, if the position of the container 24 placed on the bottom surface 22 and the falling position of the ice 12 are shifted or the container 24 has a small opening size, the ice 1
2 may not enter the container 24 well, but may fall to the bottom surface 22 and jump up. In the dispenser of the embodiment, since the lower half of the outlet 18 is closed by the opening / closing door 48, the ice 12 jumped up on the bottom surface 22 is reliably prevented from hitting the opening / closing door 48 and jumping out (FIG. 1). reference).
Since the door 48 is always urged in the closing direction by the torsion spring 52, the ice 12 is not easily opened when the ice 12 hits the door 48.

Further, since the upper half of the outlet 18 is open, the status of the ice 12 supplied to the container 24 stored in the container storage chamber 20 can be easily visually recognized, and the discharge button is pressed for a long time. The situation in which the ice 12 overflows from the container 24 after that can be prevented. That is, the amount of the ice 12 discarded wastefully can be reduced, and the ice 12 stored in the ice storage 14 can be used effectively. Note that the opening / closing door 48 partially closes the outlet 18, and it is not necessary to separately provide a handle for opening and closing the opening / closing door 48, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Furthermore,
In the case where the bottom surface 22 is largely extended to the front of the main body as in the embodiment, it is not necessary to provide the large container storage chamber 20 that exposes the entire container 24 to the inside of the main body 10. It becomes possible.

[0018]

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment. Since the basic structure is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, only different parts will be described. At the lower end of the opening / closing door 48, a guide portion 48b that is bent toward the bottom surface 22 of the container storage chamber 20 is formed, and the open end of the guide portion 48b is located on the upper side inside the weir 28 at the front end of the bottom surface 22. Is facing. That is, when the ice 12 that has fallen out of the container when the ice 12 is supplied to the container 24 hits the opening / closing door 48, water droplets attached to the inner surface of the door 48 drop onto the bottom surface 22 via the guide portion 48b. Can be recovered. This can prevent water droplets attached to the inner surface of the opening / closing door 48 from flowing to the main body surface.

FIG. 6 shows still another embodiment, in which the bottom surface 22 of the container storage chamber 20 only slightly extends from the front surface of the main body 10, and is disposed in the front-rear direction of the dispenser. The length dimension is shortened. In this alternative embodiment, the outlet 1 of the container storage chamber 20 is also provided.
Numeral 8 is configured to be opened and closed by an opening / closing door 48 set to a height approximately half the height of the opening, so that ice 12 can be prevented from jumping out and ice 1
2 can be easily visually recognized. In addition, the opening / closing door 48 is not configured so as to protrude greatly from the main body 10 like the bottom surface 22, and the thickness dimension of the opening / closing door 48 is set to be thin. In another embodiment shown in FIG.
As in another embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a guide portion 48b can be formed at the lower end of the door 48. 1, 5 and 6, the lower end of the opening / closing door 48 is rotatably arranged in the front-rear direction on the weir 28 via a hinge or the like, and is taken out by the door 48. A configuration in which the lower half of the opening 18 is opened and closed can be adopted.

The screw 3 in the ice conveying device 16
The shape of the bearing protrusion 36 that rotatably supports the second rotating shaft 38 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG.
For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the open end of the protrusion 36 may be formed in a circular shape. In addition, the shape of the open end of the bearing protrusion 36 may be C-chamfered or R-chamfered. However, the concave portion 38 a of the rotating shaft 38 needs to be formed in a shape corresponding to the shape of the bearing protrusion 36. As means for holding the door 48 in the closed position,
Although the torsion spring 52 is used in the embodiment, a configuration in which the opening and closing door 48 is held at the closed position by a magnet, a hook, or the like can be appropriately adopted. Further, in the embodiment, the case where ice is used as the supply object supplied by the dispenser has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and may supply various articles that may jump out of the container storage chamber.

[0021]

As described above, according to the dispenser of the present invention, even when the supply object dropped from the supply port does not enter the container, the supply object jumps out of the container by the opening / closing door. Can be reliably prevented. Moreover, since there is a gap between the upper end of the door and the main body,
Since the user can easily open the door with his fingers,
There is no need to attach a separate handle, and the production cost can be reduced. In addition, since the supply state of the article to be supplied to the container can be easily confirmed through the gap between the opening and closing door and the main body, an appropriate amount of the article to be supplied can be supplied to the container.

Further, by extending the container mounting portion to the front of the main body, there is no need to secure a space for allowing the entire container to face the inside of the main body, and the main body itself can be made thin. Further, by forming the guide portion at the lower end of the opening / closing door, water droplets and the like attached to the inner surface of the door can be collected in the container mounting portion, so that an advantage that water droplets and the like can be prevented from flowing out to the surface of the main body. Having.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a main part of a dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is cut longitudinally.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a main part of the dispenser according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a pivot portion of the opening / closing door according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exploded side view showing a main part of the ice transport device according to the embodiment, in which the rotating shaft and the bearing protrusion are disassembled.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a main part of a dispenser according to another embodiment in a longitudinal section.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a main part of a dispenser according to still another embodiment in a longitudinal section.

FIG. 7 is an exploded side view of a main part of a modification of a rotating shaft and a bearing protrusion of the ice conveying device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing a main part of a dispenser according to a conventional technique, which is cut longitudinally.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing a main part of a dispenser according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 body, 12 ice (supplied material), 18 outlet, 22
Bottom (container mounting part) 24 container, 26a supply port, 48 door, 48a upper end, 48b guide

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A supply port (26) opened downward in a main body (10).
a) and a container mounting part (22) provided below the supply port (26a) and on which a container (24) to be taken in and out through an outlet (18) opened forward is mounted. , This container receiver (2
In a dispenser configured to drop and supply the supply target (12) to the container (24) mounted on the container (24) via the supply port (26a), the dispenser is rotatably disposed on the main body (10). The outlet (1
8) is provided with an opening / closing door (48) that can be opened and closed.When the opening / closing door (48) faces the closed position, a required clearance is provided between the upper end (48a) and the main body (10). A dispenser characterized in that a dispenser is defined. 2. The container mounting part (22) extends from a front surface of the main body (10) by a required length, and the opening / closing door (48) is disposed so as to cover the container mounting part (22). The dispenser of claim 1, wherein 3. A guide portion (48b) is formed at a lower end of the opening / closing door (48) toward an upper portion inside from a front end of the container mounting portion (22). 3. The dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the dispenser is configured to guide water droplets or the like attached to the inside of the container to the container mounting portion (22) via the guide portion (48b).