JPH11167671A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vending machine which efficiently performs zone cooling and improves cooling efficiency thereby. SOLUTION: This vending machine 1 is provided with plural wall parts 3a to 3e of hollow, storage chambers 4 which are demarcated and formed by the parts 3a to 3e, store a plurality of merchandises vertically and also eject the merchandise at the bottom among the phrality of merchandises at the time of vending, insulating material that is filled inside each of the parts 3a to 3e, a cooling and heating mechanism which is arranged near the stored in the chambers 4 in the lowest part and heats or cools a plurality of merchandises and slit strings 13 which are formed on at least one surface of plural wall parts 3a to 3e and have plural slits that are linearly arranged in the depth direction of the chamber 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine that heats or cools stored goods and sells the vending machines, and more particularly to a structure of a vault thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a vending machine of this kind, FIG.
The following are known. The vending machine 50 includes a vending machine main body 51 and a storage 52 arranged in the vending machine main body 51. The storage 52 has two side walls 52a, 52a, a top wall 52b, and a bottom wall 52c.
, A back wall portion 52d, and two partition wall portions 52e, 52e, and by these wall portions 52a to 52e,
In the storage 52, three storage rooms 53a to 53c are defined. Each of these wall portions 52a to 52e is a hollow member manufactured by processing a steel plate, and the inside thereof is filled with polyurethane foam as a heat insulating material.

On the other hand, the storage rooms 53a to 53c store product columns, respectively. These product columns store a large number of products in the vertical direction, and among the products stored at the time of sale, Lower-level products are paid out downward as sales products (both are not shown). In addition, a cooling mechanism including a cooling device including an evaporator and a heating device (heater) is provided below the storage chamber 53, and air cooled or heated by the cooling device is supplied to a product column. A fan is provided on the side (both are not shown). When the vending machine 50 is operated, the products stored in the product column in each storage room 53 are cooled or heated from the lower side to the upper side by the operation of the cooling mechanism and the fan. I have.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned conventional vending machine 50, at the time of sale, the lowest order product among the products stored in the product column is paid out as a sales product, so that each storage room 53 is raised. When considering the storage zone of the half and the lower half separately, cooling or heating the storage zone of the lower half rather than the upper half (intensively) (zone cooling or zone heating. This is referred to as “zone cooling temperature”), which is advantageous in terms of the operating efficiency of the cooling mechanism. For this reason, a cooling mechanism and a fan are provided below the storage chamber 53 to cool or heat from the lower side to the upper side. However, in the conventional vending machine 50, since the walls 52a, 52d, and 52e of the storage 52 are all made of steel plates, heat conduction occurs vertically through the steel plate portions on these surfaces. This causes a problem that the cooling efficiency or the heating efficiency (hereinafter, referred to as “cooling / heating efficiency”) is reduced when the lower half is cooled in the zone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of efficiently performing zone cooling and heating, thereby improving cooling and heating efficiency. And

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine which is defined by a plurality of hollow walls and a plurality of these walls for accommodating a plurality of commodities in a vertical direction. Storage room configured to pay out the lowest order product at the time of sale, insulation material filled in each of the plurality of walls, and the lowest order product stored in the storage room. A cooling / heating mechanism that is provided nearby and heats or cools a plurality of products, and a slit row that is formed on at least one surface of the plurality of walls and has a plurality of slits linearly arranged in a depth direction of the storage chamber. , Is provided.

According to this vending machine, a storage room configured to store a plurality of commodities in a vertical direction and to pay out the lowest commodities of the plurality of commodities at the time of sale is provided with a plurality of walls. Section, and a cooling mechanism for heating or cooling a plurality of products is provided near the lowest product, so that products stored at the bottom including the lowest product, that is, sales products, The zone is cooled by a cooling mechanism. At this time, since at least one surface of the plurality of walls is provided with a row of slits in the depth direction of the storage chamber, heat conduction occurs between the upper side and the lower side of the storage chamber via the walls. In doing so, the heat transfer path intersects the slit row. As a result, the width of the heat transfer path is narrower than that of a conventional wall portion having no slit row, so that heat conduction is less likely to occur, and the heat insulation of the wall portion is improved. As a result, the zone cooling temperature can be efficiently performed, and the cooling temperature efficiency at the time of performing the zone cooling temperature can be improved.

In the above description, the slit row is composed of a plurality of parallel slit rows, and each slit row has a plurality of slits arranged in a straight line, and the plurality of slit rows are adjacent to each other. It is preferable that one of a plurality of slits of the two slit rows is arranged so as to be shifted from the other plurality of slits.

According to this vending machine, on at least one wall, each of a plurality of parallel slit rows is formed by:
It has a plurality of slits arranged in a straight line. One of the plurality of slit rows adjacent to each other among the plurality of slit rows is arranged in a state shifted from each other with respect to the other plurality of slits, so when heat conduction occurs, The heat transfer path repeats the detour, and the distance of the heat transfer path becomes longer than that of the conventional heat transfer path having no slit row. Thereby, the heat insulation of the wall portion can be further improved, and the zone can be cooled more efficiently.

[0010] In the above, the heat insulating material filled in at least one of the wall portions is constituted by a plurality of heat insulating materials having different heat conductivities. It is preferable that the heat-insulating material provided with is disposed on the cooling / heating mechanism side.

According to this vending machine, since the heat insulating material having a low thermal conductivity among the plurality of heat insulating materials is arranged on the cooling / heating mechanism side, the heat insulating property of the wall on which the zone is cooled / heated is further improved. Therefore, the zone cooling temperature can be more efficiently performed.

[0012]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
A vending machine according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the vending machine 1 has a storage 3 disposed inside a vending machine main body 2. This storage 3
Three side walls 3a, 3a, a top wall 3b, and a bottom wall 3c
And a back wall 3d and two partition walls (partition plates) 3e, 3
e, and three storage rooms 4a to 4c are defined in the storage 3 by these wall portions 3a to 3e. The left storage room 4a is a cooling room dedicated to cooling, and the central storage room 4b and the right storage room 4c are dual-purpose rooms for both cooling and heating, and are used by switching between the cooling room and the heating room as needed. .

In these storage rooms 4a to 4c, serpentine column type product columns are stored, respectively. These product columns store products in the up and down direction and have a product payout mechanism with a payout port at the lower end thereof. It pays out downward from the payout exit. In addition, a cooling mechanism including a cooling device having an evaporator and the like and a heating device (heater) are provided below each of the storage chambers 4, and the air heated or cooled by the cooling device is used as a product. A fan for feeding the rack side is provided (neither is shown).

The side wall 3a, the back wall 3d and the partition wall 3e of the storage 3 have substantially the same structure as each other. Here, the structure of the partition wall 3e will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the partition wall portion 3 e is a rectangular plate extending in the vertical direction, and includes two side plate portions 10 and 1.
0 and a peripheral wall portion 11 provided between the peripheral edge portions of the side plate portions 10 and 10. The partition wall portion 3e is formed hollow by these side plate portions 10, 10 and the peripheral wall portion 11, and the inner space thereof is filled with a vacuum heat insulating material 20 and a foamed polyurethane 12, respectively. The side plates 10, 10 and the peripheral wall 11 are each manufactured by processing a steel plate, and the partition wall 3e is assembled by combining and fixing them. A hole 11a is formed in the peripheral wall 11 at the upper edge of the partition wall 3e.
The hole 11a is used as an injection hole for the polyurethane foam 12 when the partition wall 3e is manufactured.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a slit row 13 is formed at the center of each side plate section 10. In this slit row 13, two or three rows arranged in the front-rear direction are formed. With the slit 14 as one row, a total of three upper, lower, middle and lower slit rows 13a to 13c are arranged in parallel with each other.
Further, the upper slit row 13a and the middle slit row 13b are such that the position of each slit 14 is shifted in the front-rear direction by almost a half pitch, and the position of each slit 14 of the middle slit row 13b and the lower slit row 13c is also It is also shifted. When heat conduction occurs in the vertical direction via the side plate portion 10 made of a steel sheet due to such a shift in the slit position of each slit row 13, as shown in FIG. 4, the heat is transmitted while bypassing in the left-right direction. (The figure shows the case where heat is transmitted upward). Due to the presence of the slit row 13, compared to the case where there is no slit row 13 as in the related art,
As the heat transfer path becomes longer and the path width becomes narrower, heat conduction in the vertical direction via the side plate 10 is less likely to occur. That is, the slit row 13 acts to suppress heat conduction in the vertical direction in the partition wall portion 3e. Also, as shown in FIG.
Similar slit rows 13 are formed in the same height and arrangement as the slit rows 13 of the side plate sections 10 a and the back wall 3 d.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vacuum heat insulating material 20 is accommodated in the lower half of the partition wall 3e below the above-mentioned slit row 13, and the peripheral wall 11 of the lower edge and the front and rear edges of the partition wall 3e. And a certain distance between them. The space between the peripheral wall portion 11 and the vacuum heat insulating material 20 is filled with the polyurethane foam 12. Also, as shown in FIG.
The vacuum heat insulating material 20 is housed in the partition wall 3e in a state of being in close contact with the two side plates 10, 10.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vacuum heat insulating material 20 includes a core material (heat insulator) 21 and a film container 22 for sealing the core material 21. The core material 21 is made of foamed polyurethane in which open cells are entirely formed.
It has a high open cell ratio of around 7%. The film container 22 is made of nylon, aluminum-deposited PET (polyethylene terephthalate), aluminum foil, and HDPE.
(High-density polyethylene) and a bag formed of a laminated film having a four-layer structure in which the core material 21 is evacuated when the core material 21 is sealed therein. The vacuum heat insulating material 20 includes a getter (not shown). The getter is for preventing a decrease in the degree of vacuum by adsorbing water vapor or carbon dioxide gas generated from the core material 22. It is composed of calcium and the like.

The foamed polyurethane 12 is injected through the hole 11a (one-shot molding) while reacting the raw materials of diisocyanate, polyol and catalyst during the production of the partition plate 1 so as to enter the partition wall 3e. It is filled, mainly in the upper half. When the foamed polyurethane 12 is filled in the partition wall 3e, the foamed polyurethane 12 enters the four sides of the vacuum heat insulator 20 so that the vacuum heat insulator 20 is fixed in the partition wall 3e.

The thermal conductivity of the vacuum heat insulating material 20 (unit is k
cal / mhr ° C), the value of the foamed polyurethane 12 is 0.017, while the value of the vacuum heat insulating material 20 is one digit lower than that of the foamed polyurethane 12. Thus, the vacuum heat insulating material 20 is made of foamed polyurethane 1
Thermal conductivity is much lower than that of No. 2, in other words, it has high heat insulation. As a result, in the partition wall 3e, heat leakage in the left-right direction is less likely to occur in the lower half than in the upper half.

Although detailed description is omitted, the storage 3
The top wall portion 3b and the bottom wall portion 3c are hollow plate members made of a steel plate having the same side plate portion and peripheral wall portion as the partition wall portion 3e.
Is filled.

According to the vending machine 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above, when each storage room 4 is divided into a lower half and an upper half zone, Since the cooling mechanism and the fan are provided, when the vending machine 1 is operated, the lower half is zone-cooled by these. Also,
The slits 13 are formed in the side wall 3a, the back wall 3d, and the partition wall 3e in a portion between the lower half and the upper half, respectively. When heat is transmitted through the surfaces of the walls 3a, 3d, 3e made of
The heat transfer path detours in the left-right direction. As a result, the heat transfer path becomes longer and the path width becomes narrower than a wall part having no slit row 13 as in the related art.
Vertical heat conduction is less likely to occur. In addition to this,
On the partition wall 3e, the side wall 3a, and the back wall 3d, a vacuum heat insulating material 20 having higher heat insulating property than the foamed polyurethane 12 is provided.
Since the lower half of the storage chamber 4 is housed in the lower half below the slit row 13, the lower half of the storage chamber 4 has better heat insulation (heat retention) than the upper half. Therefore, the lower half of the storage chamber 4 can be efficiently zone-cooled and cooled by the effect of suppressing the heat conduction in the vertical direction by the wall slit row 13 and the improvement of the heat insulating property by the vacuum heat insulating material 20. , Its cooling efficiency can be improved.

In the above embodiment, the vending machine 1 has a serpentine column in the storage 3 as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention may be applied to a vending machine in which merchandise racks are vertically arranged in the storage 3. In this case, if the vending machine pays out the sales products stored in the front end of the product rack in order,
The first half of the storage room is zone-cooled, and a slit row 13 is formed between the first half and the second half of the storage room so as to extend in the vertical direction. Should be accommodated.

In the above embodiment, the wall 3
Although the vacuum heat insulating material 20 and the foamed polyurethane 12 are filled in a, 3d, and 3e, the present invention is not limited to this, and glass fiber, asbestos, calcium silicate, and polystyrene foam may be filled. 2 with the property
And the higher heat insulating property may be accommodated in the wall on the cold side of the zone. Further, a plurality of heat insulating materials may be accommodated in combination in the wall on the cold side of the zone. Furthermore, the number of the slit rows 13, the size and shape of the slits 14, the spacing between the slits 14, and the like may be any as long as the action of suppressing heat conduction can be appropriately exerted.

[0024]

As described above, according to the partition plate of the present invention, the zone can be cooled efficiently, and the cooling efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the inside of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a partition wall.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which heat is transmitted while bypassing a slit row.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing the inside of a conventional vending machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine 3a-3e Wall part 3e One wall part 4 Storage room 12 Polyurethane foam (heat insulation material) 13 Slit row 14 Slit 20 Vacuum heat insulation material (heat insulation material with low thermal conductivity)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of hollow walls defined by a plurality of walls, the plurality of walls store therein a plurality of commodities in a vertical direction, and the lowest order commodities of the plurality of commodities are paid at the time of sale. A storage room configured to be put out; a heat insulating material filled in each of the plurality of wall portions; and a plurality of the plurality of products provided near the lowest order product stored in the storage room. A cooling / heating mechanism for heating or cooling; and a slit row formed on at least one surface of the plurality of walls and having a plurality of slits linearly arranged in a depth direction of the storage chamber. Vending machine. 2. The slit array is composed of a plurality of parallel slit arrays, and in each slit array, the plurality of slits are arranged in a straight line, and the plurality of slit arrays are adjacent to each other. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of slits in each of the two slit rows is arranged to be shifted from the other plurality of slits. 3. 3. The heat insulating material filled in the at least one wall portion is constituted by a plurality of heat insulating materials having different thermal conductivity, and a low heat conductivity among the plurality of heat insulating materials is provided. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the provided heat insulating material is disposed on the cooling / heating mechanism side.