JPH11219477A - Commodity containing device of automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a commodity containing device of an automatic vending machine where commodities with various heights are properly contained by selecting one among plural fitting parts, fitting a commodity shelf and adjusting the height of a containing space in the upper part of the commodity shelf. SOLUTION: Respective finger pressing parts 11d of a commodity shelf 11 are pushed inward by finger so that an interval between fitting parts 11b is made narrow and respective fitting projections 11c are removed from respective round holes 4b on the lower side. Then, the commodity shelf 11 is drawn-out to this side at first so as to slide respective projections 11e along respective guide grooves 4c, the rear end of a rack is moved upward and pushed backward and thereby, the projections 11e are moved from the lower horizontal parts to the upper horizontal parts of the guide grooves 4c. Thereafter, the finger is separated from the finger pressing parts 11d, the fitting projections 11c are snapped and fitted to the upper holes 4b by using the elasticity of the fitting parts 11b. Thus, the fitting position of the commodity shelf 11 is changed. Therefore, the height of the containing space is easily adjusted and the commodities are properly contained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine product storage device for storing a large number of products in a storage in a front-rear direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 5, a product storage device for a vending machine of this type is known. In this product storage device 70, a storage 72 having heat insulating properties is provided in a vending machine main body 71a of a vending machine 71, and the storage 72 has eight storage units 72 arranged at equal intervals in the vertical direction. A product shelf 73 is accommodated. Each of the product shelves 73 extends in the front-rear direction and is screwed to a wall of the storage 72 in a horizontal posture, and a product rack 74 is mounted on an upper surface thereof. The product rack 74 stores a large number of products (not shown) in the front-rear direction, and has a payout mechanism 75 for paying out the stored products one by one at the front end thereof.
Is provided.

[0003]

According to the above-mentioned conventional product storage device 70, since the product shelves 73 are spaced at equal intervals and each of the product shelves 73 is screwed to the wall of the storage 72, The height of the storage space above the product shelf 73 cannot be easily changed. Therefore, for example, when a low-height product is stored in the product rack 74, there is a problem that a useless space is generated between the product and the product shelf 73 above the product, resulting in poor storage efficiency. Conversely, when storing a tall product such as a plastic bottle, the product cannot be stored as it is. Therefore, one product shelf 73 is removed from the storage 72 by removing the screws. In addition, a storage space having a height enough to store the PET bottles must be secured. The operation of removing the product shelf 73 is troublesome and time-consuming, and burdens the operator. In addition to this, since the height of the storage space secured by removing the product shelf 73 is constant, even when the plastic bottle is stored in this space, depending on the height of the plastic bottle, the plastic bottle and its upper part may be placed. Useless space may be generated between the product shelf 73 and the product shelf 73.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the height of a storage space of a product shelf can be easily adjusted, and a product storage of a vending machine capable of appropriately storing products of various heights. It is intended to provide a device.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine product storage device comprising: a product shelf; a product rack attached to the product shelf for storing a plurality of products arranged in the front-rear direction; And a storage having a plurality of mounting portions arranged in a vertical direction in which product shelves can be mounted, wherein the product shelves are configured to be movable between the plurality of mounting portions. Features.

According to this vending machine product storage device,
By selecting one of the plurality of mounting sections and mounting the product shelf, the height of the storage space above the product shelf can be adjusted. Thereby, when the goods to be stored are changed, the height of the storage space above the product shelves can be easily adjusted to an appropriate height without excess or deficiency according to the change in the height of the goods. Therefore, goods of various heights can be appropriately stored by effectively using the storage space.

In the above, one of the left and right ends of the product shelf and the left and right walls of the storage has projections projecting to the other side, respectively, and the other guides the projections in the vertical direction.
In addition, it is preferable to have guide grooves that can be locked at a plurality of positions in the vertical direction.

According to the merchandise storage device of the vending machine,
The two left and right projections formed on one of the walls of the product shelf and the storage box are moved up and down by being guided by the other two left and right guide grooves, and are locked at a plurality of positions. In this way, only by forming the left and right protrusions on one of the product shelf and the storage, and the left and right guide grooves on the other,
The mounting position can be changed vertically without removing the product shelf from the storage, and a structure for adjusting the height of the storage space above the product shelf can be realized at low cost. Therefore, for example, even when the product rack storing the products is mounted on the product shelf, the mounting position of the product shelf can be changed only by partially supporting these weights by moving the protrusions along the guide grooves. , Which makes the work easier.

Further, in the above, one of the left and right ends of the product shelf and the left and right walls of the storage box further have fitting projections projecting in a state of being urged to the other side.
Each of the other sides preferably further has a plurality of holes which can be fitted to the fitting protrusions and are arranged at a plurality of positions corresponding to the vertical direction.

According to the merchandise storage device of the vending machine,
Each of the right and left fitting projections is removed by applying a force in the opposite biasing direction and then released, so that the right and left fitting projections can be fitted into the right and left holes by using the biasing force. As a result, as described above, the product shelf whose mounting position has been changed can be positioned and fixed to the storage at that mounting position, and the operation of changing the fixing position can be easily performed. Further, for the same reason, a structure in which the product shelf is fixed to the storage and the fixing position is changed can be realized at low cost.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
A commodity storage device of a vending machine according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described. 1 and 2 show a vending machine 1a provided with a product storage device 1 of the present embodiment. The vending machine 1a is a so-called see-through type in which a product S to be actually sold, such as a canned beverage such as canned coffee or a plastic bottled beverage, can be visually recognized from the outside. The vending machine 1a includes a vending machine main body 2 and a main door 3 that opens and closes the front of the vending machine main body 2. The main door 3 has a transparent heat insulating glass 3a and a control panel 3
b is attached, and the product purchaser can refer to the product S stored in the vending machine 1a via the insulating glass 3a when purchasing the product. The control panel 3b includes a cash input unit 3c and a product selection button 3d.

In the vending machine main body 2, a storage 4 is arranged. The wall 4a of the storage case 4 is filled with a heat insulating material (not shown), so that the storage case 4 has heat insulation (heat insulation). This storage 4 is provided with a partition plate 5
The upper and lower storage compartments 6a and 6b are partitioned by the upper and lower compartments. The upper storage room 6a is a heating room for storing the product S while heating it, and a heating mechanism 7 having a heater, a fan, and the like is arranged near the ceiling. The lower storage room 6b is a cooling room for storing the products S while cooling them, and a cooling mechanism 8 including an evaporator, a compressor, a fan and the like is arranged below the lower storage room 6b.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
In a, four steps in the left-right direction are taken as one step, and three steps in the up-down direction,
12 product racks in total (hereinafter referred to as “rack”) 9
Are stored in the lower storage chamber 6b, and four racks 9 are stored in the vertical direction, with four racks 9 in the left-right direction being one tier, and a total of 16 racks 9 are stored therein. Each rack 9 stores a large number of products S in two rows in the front-rear direction.
At the time of merchandise sales, payouts are dispensed diagonally forward and downward one by one by a dispensing mechanism 9a provided at a payout port at the front end of the rack 9. An unloading path 10 extending in the vertical direction is formed between the front end of the rack 9 and the heat insulating glass 3a.
The goods S paid out from the payout port are carried out downward by an elevator 14 which moves up and down in the carry-out path 10 as described later. The commodity dispensing mechanism 9a includes a transparent opening / closing plate 9b, and through the opening / closing plate 9b and the heat insulating glass 3a,
From the front, the product (sales product) S at the forefront position among the products S stored in the rack 9 can be visually recognized from the front, and the appearance that the sales product S is paid out into the carry-out path 10 and is carried downward can be visually recognized. It has become.

Each of the four racks 9 in each stage is attached to a product shelf 11. The product shelf 11 is manufactured by bending a steel plate, and is partitioned into four storage portions 11a in the left-right direction as shown in FIG. These storage portions 11a are formed so as to extend in the front-rear direction in parallel with each other.
The rack 9 is accommodated. The left and right ends of the product shelf 11 are attached to the left and right walls 4 a, 4 a of the storage 4. At both left and right sides of the front end of the product shelf 11, there are formed mounting portions 11b, 11b which are cut out and bent obliquely outward. Each mounting portion 11b includes a cylindrical fitting protrusion 11c protruding outward, and a finger contact portion 1 extending forward of the fitting protrusion 11c.
1d, and is elastically deformed by pressing the finger pad 11d. Furthermore, product shelf 1
Protrusions 11e, 11e (only one is shown) similar to the fitting protrusion 11c are formed symmetrically on the left and right sides of the rear end of the unit 1.

On the other hand, two round holes (a plurality of holes) 4b, 4b are formed at the front of the left and right walls 4a, 4a of the storage case 4, respectively. The upper round hole 4b of each wall 4a
The lower round hole 4b is similarly symmetrically arranged as a set of left and right pairs. Each round hole 4b has a diameter that can be fitted to each fitting projection 11c of the commodity shelf 11. In addition, the rear of the left and right walls 4a, 4a of the storage box 4 has a U-shaped
The two guide grooves 4c, 4c are formed symmetrically to each other, and the interval between the upper horizontal portion and the lower horizontal portion of each guide groove 4c is set substantially the same as the interval between the upper and lower round holes 4b, 4b. I have. Each protrusion 11e of the product shelf 11 is formed to be slidable along each guide groove 4c.

In the commodity shelf 11 configured as described above, each fitting projection 11c fits into each lower round hole 4b, and each projection 1c
1e is engaged with the lower horizontal portion of each guide groove 4c (see FIG. 3 (b)), and each fitting protrusion 11c is located in each upper circular hole 4c.
b, and each of the projections 11e is selectively attached to the storage 4 at an upper attachment position where each projection 11e engages with the upper horizontal portion of each guide groove 4c. That is, the fitting projection 11c and the round hole 4b, and the projection 11e and the guide groove 4c each constitute a mounting portion for mounting the product shelf 11 to the storage case 4.

The partition plate 5 for partitioning the storage case 4 is made of steel filled with a heat insulating material such as polyurethane foam, and has a high heat insulating property. As shown in FIG. 2, the partition plate 5 has an opening 5b constituting a part of the carry-out path 10 between the partition plate 5 and the heat insulating glass 3a, and includes a flat shutter 12 for opening and closing the opening 5b. I have. The shutter 12
It is movably attached to the front end of the lower surface of the partition plate 5, and is driven in the front-rear direction by a drive mechanism 13 attached to the lower surface of the partition plate 5. The shutter 12 is made of steel and filled with a heat insulating material such as foamed polyurethane, and has a heat insulating property.

An elevator 14 is arranged in the carry-out path 10, and a sales port 15 for selling a product S, a sales port shutter 16 for opening and closing an upper opening of the sales port 15 are provided below the elevator 14. Is provided. Elevator 14
Has a mounting table 14a, and when the goods are sold, the goods S paid out from the payout mechanism 9a of each rack 9 are placed on the mounting table 1a.
4a, it is conveyed to the vicinity of the sales port 15 and then paid out downward. At the time of this product sale, the shutters 12, 16 are opened and closed as needed.

Next, an operation for changing the mounting position of the product shelf 11 in accordance with the change in the height of the product S stored in the rack 9 will be described. As described above, the product shelf 11 is
It can be selectively attached to one of two mounting positions, for example,
When the position of the product shelf 11 is changed from the lower mounting position to the upper mounting position, each finger contact portion 11d of the product shelf 11 is pressed inward with a finger to reduce the distance between the mounting portions 11b, 11b, and to fit each fitting. Remove the projections 11c from the lower round holes 4b. Next, the product shelf 11 is first pulled out to the front so that each projection 11e slides along each guide groove 4c, the rear end of the rack 9 is moved upward, and then pushed backward to guide the projection 11e. The groove 4c is moved from the lower horizontal portion to the upper horizontal portion. After that, release your finger from the finger rest 11d,
The fitting projection 11c is snap-fitted into the upper round hole 4b by utilizing the elasticity of the mounting portion 11b. By the above operation, the mounting position of the product shelf 11 can be changed from the lower mounting position to the upper mounting position. Also, when changing from the upper mounting position to the lower mounting position, the same operation can be performed.

As described above in detail, according to the commodity storage device 1 of the present embodiment, the commodity shelves 11 are configured to be mounted at the two upper and lower mounting positions of the storage box 4, so that they are stored in the rack 9. The product shelf 1 according to the height change of the product S
It is possible to easily adjust the interval between the first and the eleventh and to an appropriate one, and it is possible to appropriately store products of various heights. Also, as described above, the work of changing the mounting position,
Position of Fitting Protrusion 11c into Round Hole 4b and Protrusion 1
Since it is only necessary to change the position where 1e is locked in the guide groove 4c up and down, it is possible to easily perform the operation without removing the product shelf 11. Thus, for example, even when the product S is fully stored in the rack 9 of the product shelf 11, the weight is moved only by partially supporting these weights by moving the protrusion 11e along the guide groove 4c. The mounting position can be easily changed.

Further, in the structure for changing the mounting position of the product shelf 11, the fitting protrusion 11c and the protrusion 11e
, And only need to form the round hole 4b and the guide groove 4c in the wall 4a of the storage case 4. Therefore, it is possible to realize, at low cost, a structure that adjusts the distance between the product shelves 11 and 11 to an appropriate one without excess or shortage.

In the above embodiment, the product shelf 1
The projection 11e moves in the guide groove 4c, and the fitting projection 11c is a round hole 4b.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 4, a pair of left and right grooves 4d, 4d formed in the left and right walls of the storage case 4 so as to extend in the front-rear direction. A large number of sets may be arranged in the up-down direction, and a flat product shelf 11 may be inserted into the grooves 4d of each set. In this way, the position at which the product shelf 11 is inserted into the set of grooves 4d, 4d is changed in accordance with the change in the height of the product S stored in the rack 9 of the product shelf 11, thereby achieving the same as in the above embodiment. ,
The distance between the product shelves 11, 11 can be adjusted to be appropriate and appropriate. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the product shelves 11 are arranged in eight vertical stages to store the products S in accordance with the height of the products S to be stored, or as shown in FIG. The product shelves 11 can be arranged in seven stages up and down to store the products S.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the vending machine in which the commodities S are arranged and stored in the racks 9 arranged in a substantially horizontal direction has been described, but the commodities S are stored in the racks arranged diagonally downward. The product storage device 1 of the present invention may be applied to a vending machine. Further, in the above embodiment, the position of the product shelf 11 is changed to two upper and lower mounting positions. However, a number of round holes 4b are formed vertically and a guide groove 4c is formed in a shape having a number of horizontal portions. By doing so, the position of the product shelf 11 may be changed to a large number of mounting positions in the vertical direction. In addition, the fitting protrusion 11c and the protrusion 11e may be formed on the wall 4a of the storage case 4, and the round hole 4b and the guide groove 4c may be formed on the product shelf 11.

[0024]

As described above, according to the merchandise storage device of the vending machine of the present invention, the height of the storage space above the merchandise shelves can be properly adjusted according to the change in the height of the merchandise. It can be easily adjusted to a product and can appropriately store products of various heights.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view and FIG. 1B is a front view of a vending machine to which a product storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the structure of the product storage device.

3A is a perspective view and FIG. 3B is a front view showing a configuration of a product shelf.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a vending machine provided with another product storage device.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing the structure of a conventional product storage device of a vending machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Commodity storage apparatus 1a Vending machine 2 Vending machine main body 4 Storage 4a Storage wall 4b Mounting part, hole 4c mounting part, guide groove 4d mounting part, groove 9 Product rack 11 Product shelf 11c Fitting protrusion 11e Projection S Product

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A merchandise shelf, a merchandise rack attached to the merchandise shelf, for storing a plurality of merchandise arranged in the front-rear direction, provided in a vending machine main body, and arranged in a vertical direction in which the merchandise shelf can be mounted. And a storage having a plurality of mounting portions, wherein the product shelf is configured to be movable between the plurality of mounting portions. 2. One of the left and right ends of the product shelf and the left and right walls of the storage has projections projecting to the other side, respectively, and the other guides the projections vertically. The product storage device for a vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising guide grooves that can be locked at a plurality of positions in a vertical direction. 3. The left and right ends of the product shelf and one of the left and right walls of the storage box each further include a fitting projection that projects in a state of being urged to the other side. 3. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein each of the other has a plurality of holes which can be fitted to the fitting projections and are arranged in the plurality of positions corresponding to a vertical direction. Machine storage device.