JPH10340378A - Article housing device for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely detect the sold-out of articles by providing the article receiving plate of a body separate from a flapper on the article locking surface side of the flapper and providing a load sensor for detecting the load of the article. SOLUTION: The article receiving plate 10 of the body separate from the flapper 6 is provided on the side of the article locking surface (upper surface) 9 of the flapper 6 and the load sensor 15 is provided on the surface 9 of the flapper 6. The plate 10 is floated and supported to the flapper 6 by the spring 11 of a small spring constant in a state where the load of the article 3 is not applied on it (sold-out state). Then, when the load of the article 3 is applied to the plate 10, the plate 10 floated and supported to the flapper 6 is moved to the side of the surface 9 and the plate 10 is moved to the side of the surface 9 by the load sensor 15 and abutted to the load sensor 15. By the load sensor 15, the load of the product 3 on the plate 10 is detected. Thus, the sold-out state or the like of the product 3 is accurately detected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a merchandise storing apparatus for a vending machine which stores commodities in a merchandise path in a stacked manner, and more particularly to a merchandise storing apparatus for a vending machine having a sold-out detecting means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a vending machine for selling products such as paper cartons, bottles, cans, bottles, etc., products can be stacked directly,
There is a product passage that stacks products on the inclined shelf,
Vending machines that sequentially carry out and sell products from the bottom row are well known. Further, as a product unloading mechanism for sequentially unloading products from the bottom product, a product having a flapper for controlling the unloading of the bottom product, and a separator above the flapper for holding the following product when the bottom product is unloaded. An unloading mechanism is known.

In the merchandise storage device of a vending machine as described above, for example, a sold-out detection lever is urged toward the inside of a merchandise passage so as to detect the sold-out of the merchandise, and the merchandise in the merchandise passage is sold out detection lever. Is pushed back to the outside of the product passage to detect the presence or absence of the product and detect the sold-out (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-24202), or a sold-out detection plate is provided on the surface of the flapper on which the product is placed. A method of detecting the presence / absence of a product by urging the product placed on the flapper surface toward the direction away from the surface and pushing the sold-out detection plate back to the flapper surface side, thereby detecting the sold-out state ( JP-A-5-108943) has already been proposed.

[0004]

However, in the above proposal, it is necessary to separately provide a sold-out detection member (detection lever, detection plate) in the product passage, so that an increase in cost due to an increase in the number of parts cannot be avoided. Further, if a sold-out detection member is separately provided in the product passage, the structure of the product passage becomes complicated, so that the sold-out detection member hinders the conveyance of the product in the product passage or the removal of the product from the product passage. There is a risk.

Further, in the above proposal, when the shape or size of a product changes due to a change in a product to be sold or the like, there is a possibility that reliable sold-out detection cannot be performed unless the detecting member is replaced each time.

The object of the present invention is to pay attention to the above-mentioned problems, and to ensure the smooth transportation and unloading of the product, and to ensure that even if the product shape or the like changes due to a change in the product to be sold, the product can be reliably used. An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive vending machine product storage device that can detect a sold-out product and can detect a sold-out product with high reliability with a simple mechanism.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a commodity storage device of a vending machine according to the present invention locks a commodity stacked in a commodity passage with a flapper on a lower surface of a commodity at a lowermost stage. Then, in the product storage device of the vending machine in which the lowermost product is sequentially taken out by the opening operation of the flapper, a product receiving plate separate from the flapper is provided on the product locking surface side of the flapper. The product receiving plate is floatingly supported on the flapper, and a load sensor is provided for detecting a load applied to the product receiving plate when the load is applied to the product supporting plate.

The load sensor is desirably provided on the upper surface of the flapper, that is, on the side of the flapper where the product is locked. Further, it is desirable that the commodity receiving plate can be operated substantially integrally with the flapper.

In the merchandise storage device of a vending machine as described above, when a load of the merchandise is applied to the merchandise receiving plate (when the merchandise can be sold), the merchandise receiving plate floatingly supported by the flapper is not provided. The product is pushed down by the product load toward the product locking surface of the flapper, and the load is detected by the load sensor. On the other hand, when the product load is not applied to the product receiving plate (in the case of the sold-out state), the floating support state of the product receiving plate is maintained, and the product load is not detected by the load sensor. That is, the load sensor can directly detect the product load, and accurately detect the sold-out state of the product or the like through the detection, so that the reliability of the device can be improved.

Further, if the load sensor is provided on the upper surface of the flapper (on the side of the product locking surface), the product load acting on the product receiving plate can be detected with high sensitivity and accuracy.

Further, according to the present invention, the load of the product can be accurately detected irrespective of the shape and size of the product while using a simple mechanism, so that the versatility of the apparatus is improved and the cost is increased. It can be greatly suppressed.

Further, since the structure in which the product detecting member is extended in the product passage unlike the conventional apparatus is not adopted, the smooth transportation of the product in the product passage and the removal of the product from the product passage is ensured. can do. Further, if the product receiving plate floatingly supported by the flapper is configured to be able to operate substantially integrally with the flapper, it is possible to smoothly carry out the product from the product passage, in particular.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a merchandise storage device 1 of a vending machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
A row of product passages 2 is shown. In each product passage 2,
Products 3 are stacked and stored.

The product passage 2 is defined by a separator unit 4. A product outlet 5 is provided below the product passage 2, and the product outlet 5 is provided with a flapper 6 (product outlet control mechanism) that can open and close the outlet 5. The flapper 6 is rotatably supported via a shaft 8, and rotates around the shaft 8 to open and close the carry-out port 5. Then, the commodities 3 stacked in the commodity passage 2 are flapper 6 on the lower surface of the commodity 3 at the lowermost stage.
When the flapper 6 is opened, the products 3 are sequentially carried out from the lowermost item. In the product passage 2, a separator 7 can be extended from the unit 4 side.

When the lowermost product 3 is sold by the opening operation of the flapper 6, the separator 7 projects to the product holding position (the dotted line position in FIG. 1) inside the product passage 2 and holds the next product 3. Then, after the lowermost product 3 is sold (unloaded), when preparing for the next sale, that is, when transferring the next product 3 onto the flapper 6, the product 3 is retracted and the holding of the product 3 is released. It has become.

A product receiving plate 10 separate from the flapper 6 is provided on the product locking surface (upper surface) 9 side of the flapper 6. The load sensor 1 is provided on the product locking surface 9 of the flapper 6.
5 are provided. The product receiving plate 10 has the product 3 thereon.
In the state where the load of is not applied (sold out state),
The flapper 6 is floatingly supported by a spring 11 having a small spring constant. Then, when the load of the product 3 is applied on the product receiving plate 10 (sellable state), the product 3 moves from the floating supported position to the product locking surface 9 side of the flapper 6 and contacts the load sensor 15, The load of the product 3 on the product receiving plate 10 is detected by the sensor 15.

One end of a guide bar 12 is fixed to the lower surface of the product receiving plate 10, and the movement of the product receiving plate 10 is guided by the guide bar 12. That is, the guide bar 12 is inserted into the flapper 6, and the guide bar 12 also moves in the vertical direction according to the movement of the product receiving plate 10. The other end of the guide rod 12 is screwed with a nut 13 for retaining. Guide rod 1
A split pin 14 is inserted through the other end of the nut 2 and the nut 13, and the split pin 14 prevents the nut 13 from dropping off the guide rod 12.

The commodity receiving plate 10 is designed to operate integrally with the flapper 6 when the flapper 6 is opened when selling the commodity 3 (carrying out the commodity 3 from the commodity passage 2).

In the merchandise storage device 1 of the vending machine according to the present embodiment, when a load of the merchandise 3 is applied to the merchandise receiving plate 10, the merchandise receiving plate 10 floatingly supported by the flapper 6.
Moves toward the product locking surface 9 and comes into contact with the load sensor 15. Then, the load sensor 15 detects the load of the product 3 on the product receiving plate 10. Therefore, the load sensor 15
Thus, the load of the product 3 can be directly detected, and the sold-out state of the product can be accurately detected based on the presence or absence of the detection, so that the reliability and versatility of the device can be improved.

Since the load sensor 15 is provided on the product locking surface 9 of the flapper 6, the load 3 acting on the product receiving plate 10 can be detected with high sensitivity and accuracy. For this reason, good detection accuracy, such as a sold-out state of goods, can be ensured.

In the present embodiment, the flapper 6
Since the product receiving plate 10 also operates integrally with the opening operation of, the smooth conveyance and unloading of the product 3 is sufficiently ensured.

FIG. 3 shows a product unloading mechanism of a product storage device for a product of a vending machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the flapper 16 and a product receiving plate 18 provided on the product locking surface 17 of the flapper 16 are supported by a common shaft 19. A spring 20 is provided on the distal end side 18a of the product receiving plate 18, and the spring 2
0, the product receiving plate 18 becomes the product locking surface 17 of the flapper 16.
The side is floating supported. Further, a U-shaped portion 21 is formed on the flapper 16, and a load sensor 22 is provided on the U-shaped portion 21.

In this embodiment, when the load of the product 3 is applied to the product receiving plate 18, the distal end 18 a of the product receiving plate 18 floatingly supported by the spring 20 is pushed down to the product locking surface 17 of the flapper 16. On the other hand, the rear end side 18b of the product receiving plate 18 pivots upward with the shaft 8 as a fulcrum according to the principle of leverage, and comes into contact with the load sensor 22 provided on the U-shaped portion 21 of the flapper 6. Then, the load of the product 3 on the product receiving plate 18 is detected by the load sensor 22.

Since the flapper 16 and the product receiving plate 18 are supported by a common shaft 19, the product receiving plate 18 also rotates integrally with the opening operation of the flapper 16.

Also in this embodiment, since the load 3 on the product 3 applied to the product receiving plate 18 can be directly detected by the load sensor 22, the sold-out state of the product and the like can be accurately detected based on the detection. be able to. Therefore, while improving the reliability and versatility of the device,
Unloading can be secured.

[0026]

As described above, according to the vending machine product storage device of the present invention, while a simple and inexpensive mechanism is used, smooth transportation and unloading of products is ensured.
It is possible to reliably detect a sold out product or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a product storage device of a vending machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a product unloading mechanism of the product storage device of the vending machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a product unloading mechanism of a product storage device of a vending machine according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Merchandise storage apparatus of vending machine 2 Merchandise passage 3 Merchandise 4 Separator unit 5 Merchandise outlet 6 and 16 Flapper 7 Separator 8 and 19 Shaft 9 and 17 Merchandise locking surface 10 and 18 Merchandise receiving plate 11 and 20 Spring 12 Guide rod 13 Nut 14 Split pin 15, 22 Load sensor 18a Front end 18b Rear end 21 U-shaped part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A product storage of a vending machine in which commodities stacked in a commodity passage are locked by a flapper on the lower surface of the lowermost commodities, and are sequentially carried out from the lowermost commodities by opening the flapper. In the apparatus, a product receiving plate separate from the flapper is provided on the product locking surface side of the flapper, and the product receiving plate is floatingly supported on the flapper, and a load of the product is placed on the floating supported product receiving plate. And a load sensor for detecting a load when a load is applied. 2. The merchandise storage device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said load sensor is provided on an upper surface of a flapper. 3. The merchandise storage device for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said merchandise receiving plate is operable substantially integrally with said flapper.