JPH11272950A - Merchandise ejecting device for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively prevent a merchandise from dropping undesirably owing to vibrations, etc., with a simple structure by setting the top plane of a device body as a front inclination plane of a prescribed angle that makes an upslope from its rear edge part to its front edge part. SOLUTION: The top plane 12 of a device body 11 is realized as an inclination plane forming an upslope from its rear edge part to its front edge part and its inclination angle θ is set to 5 to 15 deg., preferably to 10 deg.. The plane 12 of the body 11 which makes such an inclination plane takes a part of inclining plural merchandises S which are heaped on the plane 12 and are stored in a merchandise column 2 backward by the angle θ and of shifting them to the back side of the column 2 (rear plate 21 side). As a result, plural merchandises S which are heaped in a backward inclination state and stored in the column 2, their rear end parts are controlled by the plate 21 and they are stored in a stair-shape with their front ends stuck out little by little.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article dispensing apparatus having a simple structure which can effectively prevent double ejection of articles from an article column in a vending machine.

[0002]

[Related Background Art] A vending machine for selling packaged products such as cigarettes comprises a plurality of product columns 2 for stacking and storing a plurality of products inside a box-shaped vending machine main body 1 as shown in FIG. It has. In response to a selective operation of a product selection button (not shown) provided on the front door 3, the corresponding product is selectively paid out from the product column 2, and is delivered via a product chute 4 to a product takeout unit 5. It is configured to lead to.

[0005] In the lower part of each of the product columns 2, for example, a product payout device 6 configured as shown in FIG. 5 is incorporated. The product dispensing device 6 has a device main body 7 having an upper surface thereof as a product mounting surface, and an endless orbit provided in a front-rear orbit from the upper surface of the device main body 7 to the inside thereof. Belt 8 and the endless belt 8
And a pressing member 9 attached to the outer periphery of the main body. The endless belt 8 is driven to run in response to a product selection operation, and the pressing member 9 is caused to travel around from the rear end of the upper surface of the apparatus main body 7 toward the front end thereof, whereby the belt is placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 7. The placed product (not shown) is configured to be extruded and discharged to the front (the front side of the product column 2).
Reference numeral 10 in the drawing denotes a sold-out detection lever which is pressed by a product placed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 7 and is buried inside the apparatus main body 7 to bias a sold-out detection switch (not shown).

The product column 2 constructed by incorporating the product dispensing device 6 having such a structure at a lower portion thereof is generally divided by a back plate provided at a back portion thereof and a partition plate forming a side wall. Product storage space, and a product guide is provided on the front side thereof so as to be freely opened and closed. The lower part of the commodity guide and the upper part on the front end side of the commodity dispensing device 6
It is opened to the extent that only individual products can pass through, and this is used as a product payout exit. When the commodity dispensing device 6 is driven, the lowermost product placed on the upper surface of the commodity dispensing device 6 and stored in the commodity column 2 is pushed by the pressing member 9 and is pushed out of the commodity dispensing outlet. Payed forward. At this time, the next product placed on the lowest product is prevented from moving forward by the product guide.
As a result, each time the commodity payout device 6 is driven, the payout is performed one by one starting from the lowest commodity.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, product column 2
When there are few products remaining in the vending machine, if unintentional vibration is applied to the vending machine from the outside, there is a risk that the storage posture of the products will collapse and the products will fall out of the product payout exit. Therefore, conventionally, for example, a leaf spring-shaped falling-off preventing member is provided at the commodity payout port to prevent the commodity from falling off due to the vibration or the like. Then, when the commodity dispensing device 6 is driven and the commodity is dispensed, the dispensing of the commodity is realized by elastically displacing the falling-off preventing member against the spring force of the commodity pushed out by the pressing member 9, and thereafter, The fall prevention member is returned to the original position by using the spring force.

However, depending on the shape and weight of the product, the spring force of the drop-out preventing member may be insufficient, and the drop-out preventing member may not function effectively. Conversely, if the spring force is increased, the product itself may be paid out. May be hindered.
Also, even if the spring force of the falling-off prevention member is provided so as to be adjustable, individually adjusting the spring force according to the type of the product stored in each product column is extremely troublesome, and the configuration becomes large. Can not deny.

Further, by using a rotation biasing lever that rotates backward in conjunction with the movement of the pressing member 9, the next product falling on the upper surface of the product delivery device 6 is shifted backward.
It is also considered to prevent unwilling delivery of the next product. However, it is unavoidable that a complicated mechanism is required to provide such a rotation bias lever and to drive the rotation bias lever in conjunction with the movement of the pressing member 9.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a vending machine which has a simple structure and can effectively prevent unintentional falling off of a product due to vibration or the like. The object of the present invention is to provide a commodity dispensing device.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-described object, a vending machine product dispensing apparatus according to the present invention is incorporated in a lower portion of a product column for stacking and storing a plurality of products, and is stored in the product column. The apparatus is used to pay out the product at the lowermost position to the front thereof, and in particular, the apparatus main body having the upper surface as a product mounting portion, and the upper surface of the apparatus main body is moved and driven from the rear end to the front end. And a pressing member that pushes out a product placed on the upper surface of the device main body.The upper surface of the device main body is set as an inclined surface having a predetermined angle forming an uphill slope from a rear end toward a front end. It is characterized by: In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the inclination angle of the upper surface of the apparatus main body is set to 5 degrees.
It is characterized in that it is set as １５15 °.

That is, according to the present invention, the upper surface of the apparatus main body, which is incorporated in the lower part of the product column and forms a mounting portion of the product, forms an uphill from the rear end toward the front end, for example, from 5 to 5 m.
An angle of inclination of 15 ° shall be provided so that the product placed on the upper surface is shifted to the rear end so that it does not fall off the front end even if some vibration is applied. It is characterized by.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention; As shown in FIG. 3, the product payout device is incorporated in a lower portion of the product column 2 of the vending machine and is used for paying out the product S from the product column 2. Incidentally, the commodity dispensing apparatus A has an upper surface 12 of a box-shaped apparatus main body 11 as a surface on which a commodity is placed. In particular, the upper surface 12 is an inclined surface which forms an uphill from a rear end to a front end. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of commodities S are inclined backward and stacked in a stepwise manner in cooperation with the back plate 21 of the commodity column 2.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 22 denotes a front panel which is provided on the front of the product column 2 so as to be openable and closable.
Reference numeral 3 denotes a base on which the commodity delivery device A is placed and fixed. The front panel 22 has a merchandise payout opening 24 large enough to pay out the merchandise S one by one between the front end portion of the merchandise payout device A mounted on the base 23 and incorporated in the lower part of the merchandise column 2. It is formed and provided. As a product guide for guiding a plurality of products S stacked and stored in the product column 2 to the upper surface 12 of the product delivery device A, and as a blocking member for preventing delivery of the next product when the product delivery device A is operated. Function.

Now, as shown in FIG.
At the center of the upper surface 12, a groove 14 forming a running path of the endless belt 13 is provided in the front-rear direction.
The endless belt 13 is separated from the groove 14 by the
1 to form a circular orbit. The endless belt 13 is driven to run in the groove 14 from the rear end to the front end of the apparatus main body 11 by a drive motor (not shown) incorporated in the apparatus main body 11.

On the outer periphery of the endless belt 13, the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 projects from the upper surface 12.
A pressing member 15 that presses the rear end of the product S placed on the device main body 11 and pushes the product S to the front side of the apparatus main body 11 is attached.
The pressing member 15 is formed, for example, in a shape that is lower than the height of the product and narrower than the width of the product.
2 is realized as a T-shaped member in order to abut only the lowest product S placed on the tray 2 and to push the product S forward without any inclination in the width direction.

A sold-out detection lever 16 for the product S is provided on the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 so as to protrude from the upper surface 12 at a side of the groove 14. The sold-out detection lever 16 receives the load of the product placed on the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11, is pressed and pushed into the apparatus main body 11. A sold-out detection switch (not shown) is urged by the sold-out detection lever 16 to detect the presence of the product S.

Although FIG. 1 shows a state in which the pressing member 15 protrudes from the upper surface of the apparatus main body 11, the pressing member 15 is always located at a predetermined stop position inside the apparatus main body 11. The pressing member 15 protrudes from the rear end of the apparatus main body 11 to the upper surface 12 thereof along with the traveling drive of the endless belt 13 due to the energization of the drive motor, and moves along the upper surface 12 toward the front side. The device body 1
The product S placed on the upper surface 12 of the first product 1 is pushed out. The pressing member 15 is connected to the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 (the product column 2).
After completing the dispensing of the commodity from the commodity dispensing outlet), the commodity goes around the front end of the apparatus main body 11 and enters the inside of the apparatus main body 11. Thereafter, when the pressing member 15 reaches a predetermined position inside the apparatus main body 11, the energization of the drive motor is stopped, and the running of the endless belt 13 is stopped to complete one product payout operation. I do. The pressing member 15 is located at the above-mentioned predetermined stop position inside the apparatus main body 11.

Here, the commodity dispensing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment
0 is characterized in that the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 configured as described above is realized as an inclined surface that forms an uphill from the rear end to the front end, as described above. Angle θ is 5 to 15 °, preferably 10
The point is set to °. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 having such an inclined surface is obtained by tilting a plurality of products S stacked on the upper surface 12 and stored in the product column 2 backward by the above-mentioned inclination angle θ. The product column 2
To the rear side (the rear plate 21 side). As a result, the plurality of commodities S stacked and stored in the commodities column 2 in a rearwardly inclined state have their rear end positions regulated by the back plate 21 and have a step-like shape in which the front ends thereof slightly protrude forward. It will be stored in.

The delivery of the commodity S at the lowermost position from the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 is performed by pressing the rear end face of the commodity S at the lowermost position by the pressing member 15 accompanying the traveling drive of the endless belt 14. Done. By the pushing by the pressing member 15, the commodity S at the lowermost position is pushed up by the inclination angle θ toward the front along the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 and is discharged from the commodity payout port 24. Then, with the delivery of the product S at the lowermost position, the next product placed thereon falls to the front surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 and is ready for the next product delivery.

Here, the upper surface 12 forming the inclined surface will be described in more detail. The inclination angle θ is set in consideration of the length L of the product S and the position G of the center of gravity. That is, the depth of the product column 2 is set in consideration of the maximum length of the product S stored therein, for example, 100 mm. However, the product S stored in the product column 2 is not necessarily limited to the 100 mm length (super king size), but may be a 85 mm length (king size) product S or 60 m long.
In some cases, a product S having an m length (short size) is stored.

Considering the length L of the various products S and the position G of the center of gravity, for example, when a short-sized product S is stored as shown in FIG.
Are stacked on the basis of the rear end face, so that the product S at the lowermost position is pushed out only for a relatively short distance, and the center of gravity Gs of the next product is displaced from the rear end of the product S at the lowermost position and its storage posture May collapse. In particular, when the number of the commodities S in the commodity column 2 is small, the load for holding the next commodity from above and keeping the accommodating posture constant to a certain extent is insufficient, so that the accommodating posture is likely to collapse as described above. Therefore, even if the storage posture is collapsed, in order to quickly place the product S on the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11, the inclination angle θ is desirably about 15 ° at the maximum from a practical viewpoint.

Incidentally, when the inclination is further increased, the backward inclination of the articles S stored in the article column 2 becomes tight, and the number of articles S stored in the article column 2 is reduced, and the inclined surface is increased. A large force is required as a driving force of the pressing member 14 for pushing out the commodity S at the lowermost position along the line. That is, a motor having a large torque is required. Therefore, in consideration of these points, as the inclination angle θ of the upper surface 12,
It is desirable that the angle be up to about 15 °.

On the other hand, when a super king size product S is stored, since the center of gravity GL of the next product is located forward of the center of gravity Gs, the product S at the lowermost position is located.
Is stably held until the next product S is pushed out to some extent. Therefore, in such a case, the product S placed on the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 may have an inclination such that it does not shift to the front end side due to vibration or the like, and consideration is given to a shock applied intentionally. In this case, if the inclination angle is set to about 5 °, the effect can be expected to some extent.
However, considering the short-sized product S mentioned above,
Since the weight of the product S itself is light, it is preferable to provide a margin of the inclination angle θ of about 10 ° from the viewpoint of preventing the product S from falling off.

Accordingly, as described above, 5 to 15 °, particularly 10 °
According to the commodity dispensing apparatus A in which the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 is set as an inclined surface of about °, the vending machine main body 1 is temporarily
Even if the device S is tilted forward by about 0 °, the upper surface of the apparatus main body 11 does not reach the horizontal state and is only tilted backward by about 5 °, so that the product S does not slide down along the upper surface 12. When vibration is applied, the apparatus body 11
The product S is shifted to the rear end side (the rear side in the product column 2) of the upper surface 12 along the inclined upper surface 12, so that the product S does not drop unintentionally due to the vibration. Therefore, only by simply forming the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 to be inclined by about 10 ° as described above, a great effect in practical use such as the unintentional falling off of the product S can be effectively prevented. Can be done.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, a ball screw may be used as a drive mechanism of the pressing member 15, and a chain may be used instead of the endless belt 14 described above. In addition, the inclination angle θ of the upper surface is 5 to 1 as described above.
It is sufficient to set appropriately within the range of 5 °. Needless to say, the length of the upper surface 12 of the apparatus main body 11 may be determined based on the maximum length of the product S placed thereon. In short, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.

[0025]

As described above, in the commodity dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, the upper surface forming the surface on which the commodity is placed is formed as an uphill slope from the rear end to the front end.
Since the inclination angle θ is set to 5 to 15 °, preferably about 10 °, it is possible to effectively prevent unintentional falling off and double payout of the product due to vibration or the like. In addition, since it has a very simple configuration, it is possible to achieve a great effect in practical use, such as realizing a commodity dispensing device at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a schematic configuration of a product payout device of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure for assembling the commodity dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment into a lower part of a commodity column.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state of dispensing goods in the commodity dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment, and a tilt angle of an upper surface thereof.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vending machine.

FIG. 5 is an external view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional product delivery device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Commodity payout device S Commodity 1 Vending machine body 2 Product column 11 Machine body 12 Top surface 13 Endless belt 15 Pressing member 16 Sold-out detection lever 21 Back plate 22 Front panel 23 Base 24 Product exit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A commodity dispensing apparatus which is incorporated in a lower part of a commodity column for stacking and storing a plurality of commodities and pays out a lowermost commodity stored in the commodity column in front of the commodity column. A device main body as a mounting portion, and a pressing member that is driven to move the upper surface of the device main body from the rear end toward the front end to push out the product mounted on the upper surface of the device main body. The product dispensing device of a vending machine, wherein an upper surface of the device main body is set as an inclined surface having a predetermined angle that forms an uphill from a rear end portion to a front end portion. 2. The inclination angle of the upper surface of the apparatus main body is 5 to 5.
The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the angle is set to 15 °.