JPH11185141A - Article housing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To discharge a desired article as needed even when the articles of different kinds are housed for the respective housing parts of plural stages and to prevent damages at the time of dropping the articles housed in any housing parts. SOLUTION: This equipment is provided with a housing body 10 provided with the housing parts 9 of the plural stages, a discharge means 11 for dropping and discharging the articles A housed in the respective housing parts from the same article discharge direction, a carrying means 4 for carrying the discharged article to a carry- out part and a control means for operating the discharge means based on a carry-out command. The respective housing parts 9 are provided by shifting positions so as to project the article discharge side end part 18 in the article discharge direction more than the article discharge side end part on a lower stage side and the discharge means 11 is provided so as to separately discharge the articles for the respective housing parts. For the carrying means 4, a common rear carrying path 19 for receiving the discharged articles from the respective housing parts and sliding and carrying them toward the rear side of the article discharge direction is provided with an almost fixed interval from the article discharge side end part of the respective housing parts.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage body provided with a plurality of upper and lower storage sections, and a discharge apparatus for dropping and discharging articles stored in the respective storage sections of the storage section from the same article discharge direction. The present invention relates to an article storage facility provided with a unit, a conveying unit that conveys an article discharged by the discharging unit to a discharge unit, and a control unit that operates the discharging unit based on a discharge command.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the above article storage facility, for example,
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-16232, a storage body in which upper and lower swingable shelves are provided in a plurality of upper and lower stages and an upper portion of each shelf is formed as a storage portion, Discharge means is provided for discharging the articles placed on each shelf plate from the same article discharge direction by tilting the article discharge side end so as to be lower, and discharging the articles based on the unloading instruction. One that is configured to do so has been proposed. And
In this conventional technique, a plurality of shelves are provided such that their article discharge side ends are vertically located vertically, and the shelves are sequentially tilted from the lower one to drop articles. , So as to form a drop passage for discharging articles placed on the upper shelf.

[0003]

For this reason, even if different types of articles are placed on each shelf, it is necessary to discharge the articles placed on the lowermost shelf in order from the upper shelf. There is a drawback that desired articles placed on the side shelf cannot be discharged as needed. In addition, as the articles placed on the upper shelf are longer, the fall distance from the shelf is longer, and the impact applied to the articles at the time of falling is greater,
There is also a disadvantage that the article is easily damaged. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and by devising the arrangement of the storage sections provided in the upper and lower stages, even if different types of articles are stored in the upper and lower storage sections, It is an object of the present invention to discharge desired articles stored in storage sections as needed, and to prevent damage to the articles stored in any of the storage sections when dropped. I do.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article storage facility, wherein the article discharge side end of each storage section projects in the article discharge direction from the article discharge side end of the storage section adjacent to the lower stage. So that the articles can be dropped forward in the article ejection direction from the article ejection side end of the lower storage section, as in the conventional case. It is possible to discharge the articles stored in an arbitrary storage section without sequentially discharging the articles stored in the storage section. Further, the conveying means receives the articles discharged from the respective storage sections, and provides a common rear conveyance path for each of the storage sections for sliding down and transporting toward the rear side in the article discharge direction, and an article discharge side end of each of the storage sections. Is provided at a substantially constant interval with respect to, so that the falling distance until the article dropped from each storage unit is received by the rear conveyance path can be made substantially constant. Therefore, even if different types of articles are stored in the upper and lower storage sections, the articles stored in the desired storage section can be discharged as needed, and furthermore, the stored articles can be stored in any of the storage sections. Even if the article is, it can be prevented from being damaged when dropped. The article storage facility according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of storage bodies are arranged in parallel in the article discharge direction and at intervals in the article discharge direction to form a rear transport path. Since each storage part of the storage body adjacent to the front side in the article discharge direction is supported in a plurality of upper and lower stages, compared with the case where the storage body adjacent to the front side in the article discharge direction is provided separately from the transport path forming member. Thus, the structure can be simplified. In the article storage facility according to the third aspect, since storage shelves are provided on both left and right sides of the mounting and transporting path of the mounting and transporting apparatus, a large number of types of articles are stored in each of the storage shelves and discharged as necessary. For each storage shelf, the articles discharged from the storage body and slid down along the rear conveyance path are orthogonal to the article discharge direction along the side conveyance path common to the storage bodies. The articles that have been slid down and transported along the side transport path are received by the common loading and unloading device on each storage shelf and are transported by placing them on the sides. When there are a plurality of articles to be discharged, those articles can be easily transported to the same unloading section. In addition, the space between the storage shelves above the placement conveyance path and sandwiching the placement conveyance path can be used as a work space for replenishing the storage units of each storage shelf with articles. In the article storage facility according to claim 4, when one article is placed on each of the shelves constituting the storage section, and the shelf is tilted so that the article discharge side end is lowered, Since the articles fall from the article discharge side end, the articles can be easily discharged one by one from any of the many shelves. The article storage facility according to claim 5,
The storage unit places a plurality of articles next to each other in the article discharge direction, and has an article mounting surface inclined so that the articles move by their own weight in the article discharge direction, and an article at a leading position in the article discharge direction. And a locking member that locks the article from the front side in the article discharge direction and prevents the article from dropping from the end on the article discharge side, so that a plurality of articles of the same type can be stored in one storage section. You can keep. And the discharging means,
Since the article at the head position is configured to be pushed up from the article mounting surface so as to be unlocked by the locking member and dropped from the article discharge side end, one article is ejected. Then, an article following the article adjacent to the article moves by its own weight in the article discharging direction and is locked by the locking member, and the article is discharged when the discharging means is operated. Therefore, it is possible to discharge the articles one by one as needed while reducing the trouble of replenishing the articles.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a vending machine for articles A as an example of an article storage facility according to the present invention, and a cabinet 1
Inside, a storage shelf 2 for storing a large number of articles A, a conveying means 4 for conveying the articles A discharged from the storage shelf 2 to an article delivery section 3 as an unloading section from which the articles A are delivered, and an operation of the vending machine And a control device 5 as control means for controlling the control.

[0006] The cabinet 1 has two reception units 7 on the left and right sides each including a sales request reception operation panel 6 and an article dispensing unit 3 for dispensing an article A according to the sales request.
A display shelf 8 for displaying sample articles and a door 1a through which an operator P enters and exits for maintenance and inspection work and article replenishment work are provided. An identification code corresponding to each sample article is displayed on the display shelf 8, and the user inputs the identification code of the article A to be purchased on the reception operation panel 6 and purchases the article A. It is configured as follows.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the storage shelves 2 are provided one by one at an interval in the front-rear direction.
Are the articles A discharged from the storage shelves 2 and the article dispensing section 3 on the reception operation panel 6 side that has received the sales request.
It is configured to be conveyed to.

The storage shelf 2 is constituted by providing a plurality of storage units 10 each having a plurality of storage units 9 in upper and lower stages.
As shown in FIG. 8, each of the discharge means 11 for dropping and discharging the articles stored in the storage section 9 from the same article discharging direction, that is, from the right side in FIG. 5 is configured to operate the discharge means 11 of the corresponding storage unit 9 based on a sales command as a carry-out command.

The storage unit 10 includes storage units (hereinafter, referred to as “single-item storage units”) 13 in which a plurality of different types of articles A are placed and stored on a shelf board 12 in a plurality of upper and lower stages. A storage unit (hereinafter, referred to as a single article storage body) 14 and a plurality of small articles A1 (A) of the same type placed and stored on the shelf 15 with a plurality of them being adjacent to each other in the article discharge direction. A storage unit (hereinafter, referred to as a plural-item storage unit) 17 having a plurality of upper and lower stages 16 is provided, and the single-item storage unit 13 is variously provided in accordance with the size of the storage target item. .

In both the single article storage unit 14 and the multiple article storage unit 17, the article discharge side ends 18 of the respective shelves 12, 15 constitute storage sections 13, 16 adjacent to the lower stage. The shelves 12 and 15 are provided at different positions so as to protrude forward in the article discharging direction from the article discharging side end portions 18 of the shelf boards 12 and 15.

The main part of the storage shelf 2 is constituted by a large number of single article storage bodies 14 arranged side by side in front, rear, left and right.
Is constituted by a plurality of article storage bodies 17 arranged side by side in the front-rear direction perpendicular to the article discharge direction. Also,
The storage units 14 and 17 are arranged side by side in the front-rear and left-right directions with the article discharging direction by the discharging unit 11 aligned in the same direction, and the storage units 14 and 17 adjacent to each other in the article discharging direction are provided at an interval, and The single article storage body 14 adjacent to the cabinet 1 is provided such that the number of mounting steps of the storage section 13 is reduced as the one is closer to the lateral side wall of the cabinet 1 and the lower end position of the storage shelf 2 is gradually increased.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the transport means 4 is provided for each of the storage bodies 14 and 17, and receives the articles A discharged from the storage sections 13 and 16. A rear transport chute 19 serving as a common rear transport path for each of the storage sections 13 and 16 that slide down and transport toward the rear side in the article discharge direction, and the article A transported down each of the rear transport chute 19. And a side transport chute 20 provided across the entire width of the storage shelf 2 as a side transport path common to each of the storage units 14 and 17 that slides and conveys to the side orthogonal to the article discharge direction. An electric belt conveyor 21 serving as a common placement and transport device for each of the storage shelves 2 that receives and places and transports each of the articles A that have been slid down and transported along the side transport chute 20, and transported by the belt conveyor 21 That has been A bucket conveyor 23 having a bucket 22 into which the articles A dropped from the end of the sheet feeding are provided. The bucket conveyor 23 receives the articles slid down and discharged from the buckets 22 and slid and transports the articles A to the article payout section 3. A payout chute 24 is provided.

The rear conveying chute 19 is provided with a series of chute forming members 25 having a U-shaped cross section at substantially constant intervals from the article discharge side end 18 of each of the storage sections 13 and 16. The chute forming member 25 is provided so as to be able to receive the article A discharged from each of the storage sections 13 and 16 and, as described later, each single article storage body 17 adjacent to the front side in the article discharge direction. Is also used as a supporting member for supporting the shelf plate 12 in a plurality of upper and lower stages.

A loading / conveying path 21a of the belt conveyor 21 is provided between the two storage shelves 2 so as to be sandwiched from both left and right sides. After being transported downhill, the articles A transported downhill along the side transport chute 20 are further placed and transported to the storage shelves 2 on a common belt conveyor 21.

The bucket conveyor 23 is an electric motor that connects a pair of right and left endless chains 27 wound around upper and lower sprockets 26 to the left and right sides of the bucket 22 and drives and rotates the endless chains 27. With the forward and reverse drive of M, the bucket 22 is moved obliquely upward in a standby position where the bucket 22 waits at the lower end at the transport end of the belt conveyor 21 and a discharge position where the article A is slid down from above the payout chute 24. It is configured to reciprocate up and down.

Idle rollers 28 are supported on both left and right lateral sides of the bucket 22, and the idle rollers 28 are inserted into each of a pair of left and right support frames 29 supporting the upper and lower sprockets 26 to rotate the rollers. Guide groove 3 for guiding the moving direction
1 is provided with a U-shaped guide rail 30 having a U-shaped cross section, and the upper end of the guide groove 31 is closed by an arc-shaped surface concentric with the rotation axis X1 of the upper sprocket 26.

Further, between the left and right support frames 29,
While the bucket 22 is moving upward, the bucket 22
To prevent the article A from falling from the discharge port 51 of the cover plate 5.
2 are provided.

The bucket 22 is moved up and down between the standby position and the vicinity of the discharge position so that the bucket bottom surface 32 is held substantially horizontally.
At the discharge position in contact with the upper end portion of the bucket 1, the bucket bottom 32 is tilted around the rotation axis X <b> 1 with the rotation of the endless chain 27 so that the bucket bottom surface 32 is inclined, and is thrown into the bucket 22. The article A slides down along the bucket bottom surface 32 and is discharged above the payout chute 24.

As shown in FIG. 4, a floor surface 33 is provided to cover the upper portion of the transfer path 21a of the belt conveyor 21, and the floor surface 33 is provided at the upper portion of the transfer path 21a. The space between the two storage shelves 2 sandwiching the road 21a is
A work space S is provided for the worker P to replenish the storage units 13 and 16 of the storage shelves 2 with the articles A. Then, the worker P inserts his hand from the work space S into the storage bodies 14 and 17 to replenish the article A.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the single article storage body 14 is adjacent to the storage body 1 adjacent to the rear side in the article discharge direction.
A plurality of upper and lower shelves 12 are swingably supported around a horizontal axis X2 on a chute forming member 25 provided corresponding to every 0, and each shelves 12 is placed on the shelves 12. The articles A placed on the shelf 12 are tilted so that the article discharge side end 18 of the shelf 12 is lowered so that the stored articles A can be individually ejected. Discharge means 34 (11) for dropping from the discharge side end 18 is provided.

The discharging means 34 includes a pair of link members 36 for supporting the article mounting surface 35 of the shelf plate 12 so as to be held substantially horizontally, and forcing the pair of link members 36 rearward in the article discharging direction. And a solenoid 37 which is bent in the middle. An oscillating shaft member 38 for oscillatingly connecting the link members 36 is provided so as to protrude toward the solenoid 37. The solenoid 37 has an L-shaped cross section that moves back and forth by ON / OFF operation. Is provided.

One end of the link member 36 is swingably connected to one end in the width direction of the shelf 12, and the other end is a link mounting plate 4 screwed to the chute forming member 25.
The solenoid 37 is connected to the solenoid mounting plate 41 screwed to the chute forming member 25.
It is fixed to.

The swing shaft member 3 of the link member 36 when the article mounting surface 35 of the shelf 12 is held substantially horizontally.
8, the movable locking piece 39 when the solenoid 37 is in the OFF operation is locked from the front side in the article discharging direction, and the controller 5 controls the solenoid 37 based on the sales command.
Is turned on, the swing shaft member 38 is retracted rearward in the article discharge direction, the link member 36 is forcibly bent toward the rear side in the article discharge direction, and the shelf 12 is moved to the article discharge side end. The part 18 is tilted so as to be lowered, and the articles A placed on the article placing surface 35 are dropped by their own weight and discharged. It is to be noted that the regulating member 42 which comes into contact with the shelf plate 12 and regulates its tilting range is formed by the chute forming member 2.
5 side.

The control device 5 turns on the solenoid 37.
It is provided so that it is turned off immediately after the operation. When replenishing the shelf A after dropping the shelf A with the article A, the shelf 12 is pushed up by a manual operation so that the link member 36 is slightly bent toward the front side in the article discharging direction. The broken state is held by contact with the movable locking piece 39 of the swinging shaft member 18, and the article mounting surface 3
5 is held substantially horizontally.

FIG. 10 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of articles A1 (A) of the same type are arranged on the shelf frame 43 in a plurality of vertical stages on the shelf frame 43 so that a plurality of articles A1 (A) of the same type can be placed side by side in the article ejection direction. It is configured to support.

Each of the inclined shelves 15 is arranged so as to be lower toward the article discharge side end portion 18, and the article placement surface 44 is inclined so that the placed article A moves by its own weight in the article discharge direction. The plurality of articles A mounted on the article mounting surface 44 are locked from the front side in the article discharging direction with respect to the article A at the leading position in the article discharging direction, and the articles of the article A are Engagement member 45 for preventing falling from discharge side end 18
A discharging means 46 which pushes up the article A from the article mounting surface 44 so that the locking of the article A at the leading position by the locking member 45 is released, drops the article A from the article discharge side end 18 and discharges it. 11).

The discharging means 46 is provided with an O
A swing member 48 that swings around the horizontal axis X3 by N-OFF operation.
Is provided with a flip-up portion 49 that moves back and forth over the upper side and the lower side of the article mounting surface 44, and a locking member 45.
Are provided on the swing member 48 by screws.

When the control device 5 turns on the solenoid 47 based on the sales command in a state where the article A is locked on the locking member 45, the flip-up portion 49 and the locking member 45 are integrated. The flip-up portion 49 protrudes from the opening 50 formed in the inclined shelf 15 to the upper side of the article placement surface 44 to flip up the article A at the leading position, and the locking member 45 is locked. By swinging downward on the release side, the engagement with the article A is surely released, and the article A falls from the article discharge side end 18 toward the rear transport chute 19.

After the flip-up unit 49 flips up the article A, the control device 5 immediately turns off the solenoid 47 so that the article A placed next to the article A next to the flip-up unit is turned off. Before moving its own weight into the rocking path of 49,
The flip-up portion 49 is configured to return and swing to a position lower than the article placement surface 44.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, an article vending machine is shown as an article storage facility, but may be an article storage facility installed in an automatic warehouse or the like. 2. In the above-described embodiment, an article storage facility is configured by installing storage shelves provided with a plurality of storage bodies in front, rear, left, and right.However, storage shelves in which a plurality of storage bodies are provided only in a row along the article discharge direction, Alternatively, a storage shelf in which a plurality of storage bodies are provided in a single row along a direction orthogonal to the article discharge direction may be installed, or a storage shelf in which a single storage body is provided may be installed. 3. In the above-described embodiment, the discharge means for tilting the shelf and dropping and discharging the articles placed on the shelf is shown. A storage surface provided with a mounting surface, and a locking device that locks the product mounted on the product mounting surface to prevent the product from dropping from the end on the product discharge side, and stores the products one by one; Make up the department,
Discharging means provided with a retracting mechanism for moving the locking tool back and forth between the locking position and the unlocking position is provided, and when the locking tool is moved to the unlocking position, the locking tool is stored in the storage body. It may be configured such that the article being dropped by its own weight. 4. An unloading section may be provided at the transfer terminal end of the rear transfer path, and the transfer means may be configured to convey articles downhill to the unloading section only by the rear transfer path. 5. The storage shelves and the loading / unloading device are provided so as to vertically overlap each other to receive the articles that have been slid down and transported along each of the rear transport paths, and the loading and unloading device places and transports the articles toward the unloading section. Alternatively, an article that has been slid down and transported along the side transport path may be configured to be received and placed and transported toward the unloading section by the loading and transporting device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a partially cutaway vending machine.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of a partially cutaway vending machine.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the inside of a vending machine.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a main part inside the vending machine.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a main portion inside the vending machine.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part inside the vending machine.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a main part.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a main part.

FIG. 9 is a view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a main part.

FIG. 11 is a side view of a main part.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Storage Shelf 3 Carry Out Unit 4 Conveying Means 5 Control Means 9 (13, 16) Storage Unit 10 Storage Body 11 (34, 46) Ejecting Means 12 Shelf 18 Article Discharge Side End 19 Backward Conveying Path 20 Lateral Conveying Path 21 Placement / conveyance device 21a Placement / conveyance path 25 Conveyance path forming member 44 Article placement surface 45 Lock member A Article S Work space

Claims (5)

[Claims] A storage unit having a plurality of upper and lower storage units; a discharge unit configured to drop and discharge articles stored in each of the storage units of the storage unit from the same discharge direction; and the discharge unit. And a control means for operating the discharge means on the basis of a carry-out command, wherein the article discharge side of each of the storage sections is provided. The end portion is provided so as to be shifted in position so as to protrude in the article discharge direction from the end portion of the storage section adjacent to the lower side in the article discharge direction, and the discharge means discharges the articles separately for each of the storage sections. The conveying means receives the articles discharged from each of the storage sections, and performs a common rear conveyance path that slides down toward the rear side in the article discharge direction, and discharges the articles from the respective storage sections. Keep a substantially constant distance from the side edge. An article storage facility configured with 2. A conveyance path forming member for forming a rear conveyance path, wherein a plurality of the storage bodies are arranged in parallel with an article discharge direction aligned in the same direction and at an interval in the article discharge direction. 2. The article storage facility according to claim 1, wherein the article storage facility is also used as a support member that supports the storage sections of the storage body adjacent to the front side in the discharge direction in a plurality of upper and lower stages. 3. A storage shelf is provided in which a plurality of the storage bodies are arranged side by side in the front-rear and left-right directions with the article discharge directions aligned in the same direction, and the transport means is slid down and transported along each of the rear transport paths. And a common side transport path for receiving and transporting the articles slid down to the side orthogonal to the article discharge direction, and receiving and placing each of the articles slid down and transported along the side transport path. The storage shelves are provided on both the left and right sides of the mounting and transporting path of the mounting and transporting device, and articles discharged from the storage sections of the storage shelves are shared by the common mounting and transporting device. The space between the storage shelves above the placement conveyance path and between the storage shelves sandwiching the placement conveyance path is used for replenishing articles in the storage sections of the respective storage shelves. 3. The work space according to claim 1, wherein the work space is formed in a work space.
Item storage facility as described. 4. The storage section is provided with a shelf on which articles are placed one by one, and the discharge means tilts the shelf so that an article discharge side end of the shelf is lowered, An article according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the article is dropped from the article discharge side end.
Item storage facility described in the item. 5. An article placement surface in which a plurality of articles are placed adjacent to each other in an article discharge direction, and the articles are inclined so that the articles move by their own weight in the article discharge direction. A locking member that locks the article at the leading position from the front side in the article discharging direction to prevent the article from dropping from the end on the article discharging side. The article according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the article is pushed up from the article mounting surface so as to be released from the article mounting surface so that the article is released from being locked by the locking member, and is dropped from the article discharge side end. An article storage facility according to claim 1.