JPH11161835A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic vending machine capable of easily positioning a commodity carrying unit on a storing rack in respect to an automatic vending machine vertically arranging plural commodity storing racks in a cabinet and arranging a commodity storing unit in the front of these storing racks. SOLUTION: An inner box 18 vertically arranging plural commodity racks 24 for storing commodities S in the back-and-forth direction in a main body 12 of an automatic vending machine 10, a commodity carrying unit 32 provided with a vertically movable carrying means 36 for carrying a commodity S in each storing rack 24 to a commodity take-out port 30 is detachably arranged on the inside of an aperture part of the inner box 18 opened to the front and the inner box 18 provided with the racks 24 and the unit 32 for carrying each commodity from each rack 24 are integrally formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vending machine that sells beverage containers such as cans and bottles and products such as cigarettes, storage shelves are arranged in a cabinet in multiple stages, and the products are placed in each storage shelf in a front-rear direction. Some items are stored side by side.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the related art. The cabinet of the conventional vending machine 100 includes a main body 101 opening forward and a front door 102. On the inner wall surface of the main body 101, storage shelves 103 for storing the products S in the upright state in the front-rear direction are arranged vertically. Mounted in multiple stages. Then, the merchandise S is transferred from each storage shelf 103 to the front door 10.
A product transport unit 105 for transporting the product to the second product outlet 104 is arranged in front of these storage shelves 103.
In this product transport unit 105, guide rails 106 are arranged on both left and right sides of the main body 101, horizontal elevators 107 are erected on the left and right guide rails 106, and the elevators 107 are moved up and down, so that each storage The product S on the shelf 103 is transported to the product outlet 104.

[0004]

As described above, in a vending machine in which the product transport unit 105 is arranged in front of the storage shelf 103, the product transport unit 105 may be removed at the time of product supply or maintenance. In this case, in the configuration in which the product transport unit 105 is provided in front of the main body 101 of the cabinet as in the related art, since the distance between the product transport unit 105, particularly the elevator 107 and the storage shelf 103 is long, the removed product transport unit When resetting the 105 in the cabinet, it is difficult to accurately position the product transport unit 105 with respect to the storage shelf 103.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a vending machine in which storage shelves for commodities are arranged in a cabinet in upper and lower tiers and a merchandise transfer unit is arranged in front of these storage shelves. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which can be easily positioned.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine in which an inner box is arranged in a cabinet, and storage shelves for arranging goods in the inner box in a front-rear direction are vertically arranged in multiple stages. A vending machine in which a product transport unit is provided in front of these storage shelves, and the product transport unit includes a vertically movable transport means for transporting the product in each storage shelf to a product outlet in the front of the cabinet. The product transport unit is removably mounted inside the opening of the inner box that opens forward.

[0007] As described above, the commodity transport unit for transporting commodities from the storage shelf is directly attached to the inner box in which the storage shelves are arranged, and the two are integrated to be removed during supply of the commodities or maintenance. When the product transport unit is reset in the cabinet, the product transport unit can be easily positioned with respect to the storage shelf in the inner box. That is, it is easy to improve the positional accuracy between the goods arranged on the storage shelf and the transporting means, and to carry out the goods reliably. Therefore, the serviceability such as maintenance is excellent.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the first aspect, the commodity transport unit includes a frame member that follows an opening shape of the inner box, and the transport means moves up and down in the frame member. The frame is arranged so as to be engageable with upper and lower end portions of the frame member and inner box side engaging portions provided at upper and lower end portions of the opening of the inner box. A frame member side engaging portion for positioning the member is provided.

In this case, when the product transport unit is attached to the inner box, the upper and lower frame member side engaging portions provided at the upper and lower ends of the frame member are connected to the upper and lower frame members provided at the opening of the inner box. The frame member is fixed to the inner box by engaging with the inner box-side engaging portion. Thus, the position of the product transport unit with respect to the storage shelf in the inner box is determined.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the second aspect, the inner box side engaging section is a horizontal shaft attached to an opening of the inner box, and the frame member side engaging section. Are recesses for receiving the shaft in the vertical direction.

In this case, the frame member and the inner box are positioned by inserting the recess of the frame member into the shaft of the inner box.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the second aspect, the frame-member-side engaging portion is a protrusion protruding in the up-down direction, and the inner-box-side engaging portion is connected to the protrusion. It is a receiving recess.

In this case, the positioning of the frame member and the inner box is performed by inserting the projection of the frame member into the recess of the inner box.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the vending machine according to the first aspect, the inner box is removably inserted into the cabinet from the front thereof.

By configuring the inner box so as to be detachable in the cabinet, serviceability such as maintenance can be improved.

According to the present invention, a transparent plate is provided on a front surface of a cabinet, and goods stored in an inner box can be seen from the outside of the cabinet through the transparent plate.
It is particularly suitable for so-called see-through type vending machines.

[0017]

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

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a vending machine 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the vending machine 10, FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view, and FIG. It is.

The vending machine 10 sells beverage containers (hereinafter, referred to as products) such as cans and PET bottles. The front door 14 includes a cabinet including a main body 12 that opens forward and a front door 14 that opens and closes the front surface. The front door 14 incorporates a transparent glass 16 having a heat insulating property. This is a so-called see-through type vending machine configured so that a product S inside the cabinet can be seen from the outside.

Inside the main body 12, an inner box 18 opening forward is arranged. The inner box 18 is detachably inserted into the main body 12 from the front thereof. Specifically, a pair of locking portions 20, 20 are provided in which the upper ends of the left and right side walls of the inner box 18 are bent outward and downward and extend in the front-rear direction.
A pair of left and right support rails 22, 22 for guiding the locking portion 20 and supporting the inner box 18 are provided on the inner upper wall of the inner box. 18 is slidably inserted into the main body 12.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 8 denotes a heat insulating material, and reference numeral 9 denotes a compressor.

In the inner box 18, a storage shelf 2 for storing goods
4 are arranged in upper and lower tiers, so that the inside of the inner box 18 is an exhibition storage room in which products to be sold are displayed and stored. Each of the storage shelves 24 is removably inserted from the front of the inner box 18. More specifically, a plurality of pairs of support rails 26 are attached to the left and right side walls of the inner box 18 at right and left sides, and the left and right support rails 26 are used to connect both ends of the plate-shaped storage shelf 24. I have come to support it.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a plurality of columns 28 are arranged in each storage shelf 24 in the left-right direction (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the x-axis direction) for storing the products S arranged in the front-rear direction in an upright state. Have been. Thus, a plurality of columns 28 are arranged in the inner box 18 in the left-right direction and in a plurality of stages in the up-down direction (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the y-axis direction).

In front of the plurality of columns 28, that is, in front of the storage shelves 24, a product transport unit 32 for transporting the products in each column 28 to a product outlet 30 provided below the front door 14 is provided. Have been.

As shown in FIG. 1, the product transport unit 32 has a rectangular frame member 34 along the opening shape of the inner box 18.
And is arranged movably up, down, left and right within this frame member 34,
A manipulator 36 is provided as a transporting means for carrying out the product S to each column 28 and transporting the product to the product outlet 30.

More specifically, the frame member 34 includes a pair of left and right y-axis rails 38, 38 extending in the y-axis direction, and upper and lower horizontal members 40 connecting the upper and lower ends of the y-axis rails 38, 38, respectively. , 40.

An x-axis rail 42 extending in the x-axis direction extends between the pair of y-axis rails 38, 38, and the manipulator 36 is arranged on the x-axis rail 42 so as to be able to run.

At both ends of the x-axis rail 42, a pair of left and right sprockets 44, 44 are arranged.
4, a forward / reverse drive motor 46 is connected, and a running belt 48 is stretched between the sprockets 44, 44.
Further, the manipulator 36 is connected to the traveling belt 48 so that the manipulator 36 is guided by the x-axis rail 42 and travels left and right.

Further, a pair of upper and lower sprockets 50 and 50 are disposed at both ends of the y-axis rail 38, and the upper and lower left and right sprockets 50 and 50 are interlocked between the pair of y-axis rails 38 and 38. Sprockets 50, 50 are connected by a horizontal shaft 52. On the other hand, the lower sprockets 50 are rotatably attached to the lower horizontal member 40 of the frame member 32, respectively. A forward / reverse drive motor 54 is connected to the shaft 52, and a running belt 56 is stretched between the pair of upper and lower sprockets 50. Further, both ends of the x-axis rail 42 are connected to the running belt 56. Thus, the x-axis rail 42 is guided by the y-axis rails 38, 38 and travels up and down.

Further, the manipulator 36 is provided with an arm portion 58 composed of a pair of left and right holding plates for gripping a product.
As shown in FIG. 7, when the arm 58 moves to the front of the column 28 of the selected product,
The product S in the front row of No. 8 is grasped, and the product S is taken out from the column 28 by moving forward in this grasped state. The manipulator 36 moves to the product outlet 30 while holding the product S with the arm 58, where the arm 58 is opened and the product S is carried out to the product outlet 30.

As shown in FIG. 1, the product transport unit 32 is configured to be detachably attached to the inside of the opening, which is the front end of the inner box 18. Specifically, a horizontal shaft 60 that crosses the opening is attached to the upper end and the lower end of the opening of the inner box 18, respectively. On the other hand, concave notches 62, 62, 62, 62 for vertically receiving the upper and lower shafts 60, 60 are provided at the upper and lower ends of the y-axis rails 40, 40 of the frame member 32.

Then, the goods transport unit 32 is placed in the inner box 18.
When mounting, the notches 62 on the upper side of the frame member 32, 62
Is hooked on the upper shaft 60 of the inner box 18 and the upper part of the unit 32 is inserted into the inner box 18, and then the lower shaft 60 of the inner box 18 is inserted into the notches 62, 62 on the lower side of the frame member 32.
So that the lower part of the unit 32 is
8 and fix it. Thereby, the product transport unit 32
Is attached to the inner box 18 with one touch in a state of being accurately positioned.

FIG. 5 shows another example for positioning the product transport unit 32. In this example, a pair of left and right protrusions 64, 64 projecting downward is provided on the lower surface of the horizontal member 40 below the frame member 34 of the product transport unit 32, while the protrusions 64, 64 are formed on the lower surface of the inner box 18. The engagement holes 66, 66 for receiving the first and second projections 64, 64 are provided.
Are dropped into the corresponding engaging holes 66, 66, so that the unit 32 can be attached with one touch while being positioned in the inner box 18. In addition, the positioning by the engagement between the projection 64 and the engagement hole 66 is as follows.
It can also be applied to the upper side of the product transport unit 32, and the upper side is determined by the engagement between the projection 64 and the engagement hole 66, and the lower side is determined by the engagement between the shaft 60 and the notch 62. Can also be performed.

Here, the structure for attaching the lower sprocket 50 to the horizontal member 40 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 6, the lower sprocket 5
0 is rotatably mounted on a horizontal shaft 70. Both ends of the shaft 70 are supported by bearing members 72, and the bearing members 72 are tension springs 74.
Urged downward.

Specifically, a cut-and-raised portion 72 a is provided on the lower surface of the bearing member 72, and the fixture 7 is provided on the upper surface of the horizontal member 40.
6 is provided, and the upper end of the tension spring 74 is cut and raised.
The lower ends of the sprockets 50 are fixed to the fixing members 76 so that the lower sprocket 50 is always attached to the horizontal member 40 while being urged downward.

On both sides of the sprocket 50, a pair of left and right guide members 78, 78 are mounted and fixed on the horizontal member 40. The guide member 78 has guide holes 80, 80 extending in the vertical direction. The guide holes 80 receive both ends of the shaft 70 and guide the shaft 70 so that the shaft 70 does not move on a horizontal plane.

As described above, the sprocket 50 on the driven side (lower side) located on the side opposite to the sprocket 50 on the driving side (upper side) driven by the motor 54 has the spring 74 Thus, by applying a load in a direction in which the interval between the upper and lower sprockets 50, 50 is increased, the tension applied to the traveling belt 56 can be made constant.

That is, when the belts 56 and 48 are used to move the manipulator 36 as the conveying means in the above-described commodity conveying unit 32, the belts 56 and 48
It is necessary to apply a constant tension to 48. However,
If the sprockets 50 and 44 are simply fixed, the tension is not constant due to elongation of the belts 56 and 48. Therefore, it is necessary to always measure the tension and check the drive. In particular, the belt 56 running in the up-down direction tends to elongate, and it is difficult to keep the tension constant. Thus, by attaching the sprocket 50 using the spring 74 as described above, the pair of sprockets 5
A constant load force can always be applied to the traveling belt 56 even if the pitch between the axes 0 and 50 is slightly shifted.

FIG. 7 shows another example of the attachment of the lower sprocket 50 to the horizontal member 40. In this example, the lower sprocket 50 is provided by using two tension springs 74. Load on the running belt 5
The tension applied to 6 is constantly adjusted.

In this example, locking grooves 71, 71 are provided at both ends of the shaft 70, and the upper ends of the tension springs 74, 74 are attached to the locking grooves 71, 71, respectively. It is fixed to the member 40. Thereby, the shaft 70 is formed by the two springs 74, 74.
Is urged downward.

As described above, the number of the springs 74 for applying a load to the shaft 70 may be two or more.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the position at which the lower end of the spring 74 is mounted is variable so that the tension of the belt 56 can be adjusted.

In the example shown in FIG. 8A, mounting portions 76a, 76b and 76c for a plurality of springs 74 are formed in a vertical direction on a fixture 76 for mounting the lower ends of the springs 74. Then, when it becomes difficult to apply a predetermined tension at the upper end mounting portion 76a due to an increase in the extension of the traveling belt 56, the mounting position is sequentially changed to the lower mounting portions 76b and 76c. Thus, the tension can be easily adjusted by the same spring 74.

In the example shown in FIG. 8B, the upper end of the fixture 76 is formed with a step-like step, and a spring 74 is provided for each step.
8a, the attachment portions 76a, 76b, 76c and 76d are provided at the lower end of the same spring. In this case, as in the example of FIG.
4, the tension can be easily adjusted.

FIG. 9 shows still another example of attachment of the lower sprocket 50 to the horizontal member 40. In this example, a compression spring 82 is used to lower the sprocket 5 on the lower side.
By applying a load to zero, the tension applied to the traveling belt 56 is adjusted to be constant.

In this example, the upper and lower sprockets 50, 5
A compression spring 82 is arranged between the zero positions to urge the lower sprocket 50 downward. That is, the bearing member 72 of the shaft 70 of the lower sprocket 50 is formed so as to cover the upper surface of the sprocket 50, and the guide member 84 having the guide holes 80 for guiding both ends of the shaft 70 in the vertical direction is provided. The bearing member 7
2, the compression spring 82 is fixed at the lower end to the upper surface of the bearing member 72 and at the upper end to the lower surface of the guide member 84. As a result, the compression spring 82 disposed between the bearing member 72 and the guide member 84 urges the lower sprocket 50 downward to apply a load to the sprocket 50, thereby providing a constant tension to the traveling belt 56. Is applied.

The vending machine 10 according to the embodiment described above.
By integrating the inner box 18 in which the storage shelves 24 are arranged and the product transport unit 32, when the product transport unit 32 removed at the time of product supply or maintenance is reset in the cabinet, the unit 32 in inner box 1
8 can be easily positioned relative to the storage shelf 24. In particular, the distance between the unit 32 and the storage shelf 24 in the front-rear direction can be easily kept constant. Therefore, it is easy to improve the positional accuracy between the product S arranged on the column 28 of the storage shelf 24 and the manipulator 36 and to surely transport the product S. Therefore, it leads to improvement of serviceability such as maintenance.

The springs 74 and 82 are attached to the sprocket 50 on the driven side of the traveling belt 56 extending in the vertical direction to apply a load to the sprocket 50.
A constant tension can always be applied to the traveling belt 56 even if the pitch between the shafts between the pair of sprockets 50 is slightly shifted.

In the vending machine 10 of the above-described embodiment, the manipulator 36 is configured to move up, down, left and right as a transport means of the product transport unit 32. However, the transport means is not limited to this. By doing so, it is also possible to use an elevator-type conveying means for receiving and conveying the goods sent from the column.

[0051]

According to the vending machine of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, the product transport unit is directly attached to the inner box in which the storage shelves are arranged, and the two are integrated, so that the product can be supplied and maintained. When the sometimes removed product transport unit is reset in the cabinet, the product transport unit can be easily positioned relative to the storage shelf in the inner box.
Therefore, it is excellent in serviceability such as maintenance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a vending machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the vending machine.

FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view of the vending machine.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a main part showing a modification for attaching a product transport unit to an inner box of the vending machine.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of an essential part showing an example of attachment of a lower sprocket to a frame member in a product transport unit of the vending machine.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing another example of attachment of the lower sprocket to a frame member.

FIGS. 8 (a) and (b) are perspective views showing an example of attachment of a spring attached to the lower sprocket to a frame member.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of an essential part showing still another example of attachment of the lower sprocket to a frame member.

FIG. 10 shows a conventional vending machine,
(A) is a longitudinal sectional view, and (b) is a plan sectional view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Vending machine 12 Main body 14 Front door 16 Glass 18 Inner box 24 Storage shelf 30 Product outlet 32 Product transport unit 34 Frame member 36 Manipulator 60 Shaft 62 Notch 64 Protrusion 66 Engagement hole S Product

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An inner box is arranged in a cabinet of a vending machine, and storage shelves for storing products arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged in upper and lower tiers in the inner box, and a product transport unit is provided in front of these storage shelves. A vending machine, wherein the product transport unit is provided with vertically movable transport means for transporting a product in each storage shelf to a product outlet on the front surface of the cabinet, wherein the product transport unit opens forward. A vending machine which is detachably mounted inside an opening of an inner box. 2. The commodity conveying unit includes a frame member that follows the shape of the opening of the inner box, and the conveying unit is disposed in the frame member so as to be movable up and down. The frame member side engaging portions for positioning the frame member with respect to the inner box by engaging with inner box side engaging portions provided at upper and lower ends of the opening portion of the inner box, respectively. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the vending machine is provided. 3. The inner box-side engaging portion is a horizontal shaft attached to an opening of the inner box, and the frame member-side engaging portion is a concave portion that receives the shaft in a vertical direction. The vending machine according to claim 2, characterized in that: 4. The frame member-side engaging portion is a protrusion protruding in a vertical direction, and the inner box-side engaging portion is a concave portion for receiving the protrusion. Vending machine. 5. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the inner box is removably inserted into the cabinet from the front thereof. 6. The cabinet according to claim 1, wherein a transparent plate is provided on a front surface of said cabinet, and goods stored in said inner box can be seen from outside of said cabinet through said transparent plate. 1. The vending machine according to 1.