JPH117580A - Cup supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a cost and to simplify a structure by making a soldout detection means detect a cup and stopping a moving machine when a cup housing part is moved to the upper part of a cup carry-away mechanism and the cup inside the cup housing part is dropped to a cup carry-away mechanism side. SOLUTION: The cup carry-away mechanism 10 is provided with a sold-out detector 13 composed of a microswitch or the like and the sold-out of the cup 1 of the cup carry-away mechanism 10 is detected by the sold-out detector 13. When the sold-out of the cup 1 of the cup carry-away mechanism 10 is detected by the sold-out detector 13, the respective cup housing parts 20 are moved by a moving mechanism. When the cup housing part 20 is moved to the upper position of the cup carry-away mechanism 10, the cup 1 inside the cup housing part 20 is dropped to the side of the cup carry-away mechanism 10, the sold-out detector 13 detects the cup 1 and the sold-out detector 13 is canceled, the moving mechanism is stopped. Thus, since the need of separately providing a position detector for detecting the stop position of the cup housing part 20 is eliminated, the cost is reduced and the structure is simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cup dispenser for a vending machine for dispensing beverages and the like into cups for sale.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a beverage vending machine using a cup, when a desired beverage is selected from a plurality of types of beverages, the cup is carried out to a predetermined outlet and the beverage is poured. I have. Such a vending machine has a cup supply device that includes a cup unloading mechanism that unloads vertically stacked cups one by one and a plurality of cup housings that accommodate a row of cups supplied to the cup unloading mechanism. There is known one provided with a part. In this cup supply device, when the sold-out of the cup in the cup unloading mechanism is detected, an arbitrary cup accommodating portion is moved above the cup unloading mechanism, and a new cup is supplied from the cup accommodating portion to the cup unloading mechanism. . In this case, each of the cup housings has an open bottom surface, and when the cup housing moves above the cup carrying-out mechanism, the cup in the cup housing falls down to the cup carrying-out mechanism. Further, in this cup supply device, the position of the cup housing moved by the moving mechanism is detected by the position detector, and when it is detected that the cup housing has moved above the cup unloading mechanism, the moving mechanism is stopped. ing.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned cup supply device requires a position detector for detecting the position of the cup housing in order to stop the cup housing above the cup unloading mechanism. There are problems that the cost required for the position detector increases and the structure becomes complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to provide a cup discharging mechanism of a cup unloading mechanism without separately providing a position detector for detecting the position of the cup storing unit. An object of the present invention is to provide a cup supply device that can be stopped at an upper position.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention accommodates a cup unloading mechanism for unloading vertically stacked cups one by one and a cup supplied to the cup unloading mechanism. A plurality of cup housings each having an open bottom surface as a cup outlet; a moving mechanism for moving each cup housing; and sold-out detecting means for detecting sold-out of the cup of the cup unloading mechanism. When the sold-out of the cup of the unloading mechanism is detected, the moving mechanism moves an arbitrary cup accommodating section above the cup unloading mechanism, and the cup in the cup accommodating section is dropped to the cup unloading mechanism. Then, the cup falls from the cup accommodating portion moved above the cup unloading mechanism to the cup unloading mechanism side, and the sold-out detecting means is closed. And a control means for stopping said moving mechanism to detect the. Thus, when the cup storage unit moves above the cup unloading mechanism and the cup in the cup storage unit drops toward the cup unloading mechanism, the sold-out detection unit detects the cup and stops the moving mechanism. There is no need for a separate position detecting means for stopping the above the cup unloading mechanism.

[0006]

1 to 9 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of a cup supply device, and FIG.
3 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part thereof, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the control unit, and FIGS. .

The cup supply device includes a cup unloading mechanism 10 for unloading the vertically stacked cups 1 one by one from below, and a plurality of cup storage units for accommodating a row of cups supplied to each cup unloading mechanism 10. 20, a moving mechanism 30 for moving each cup housing section 20, and a control section 40 for controlling the operation of the moving mechanism 30.

The cup unloading mechanism 10 includes a case 11 formed in an annular shape so as to surround the cup 1 from the peripheral surface side, and a large number of unloading elements 12 provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction in the case 11.
A spiral groove (not shown) that engages with the peripheral edge of the cup 1 is provided on the peripheral surface of each of the unloaders 12. That is, by rotating the unloading elements 12 in the same direction by driving means (not shown), the cups 1 are separated one by one from the cup row and unloaded downward. Further, the cup unloading mechanism 10 has a sold-out detector 13 composed of a microswitch or the like.
As a result, the sold out of the cup 1 of the cup unloading mechanism 10 is detected.

Each cup accommodating portion 20 is formed by a cylindrical partition wall 21 extending vertically.
Is open as a cup outlet.

The moving mechanism 30 has a rotating plate 31 for supporting each cup housing 20.
1 are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. The rotating plate 31 is rotatably supported on a substrate 32 via a support shaft 33, and is rotated by a motor 34 about the support shaft 33 in a forward direction (solid arrow in FIG. 2) and a reverse direction (broken arrow in FIG. 2). It is made to let.

The control unit 40 is constituted by a microcomputer, and is connected to the sold-out detector 13 and the moving mechanism 30.

In the cup supplying apparatus constructed as described above, when refilling the cup 1 into the cup unloading mechanism 10, an arbitrary cup accommodating section 20 is moved to a position above the cup unloading mechanism 10 by the moving mechanism 30, Housing part 2
A new cup 1 is supplied to the cup unloading mechanism 10 by dropping the cup 1 in the container 0 into the cup unloading mechanism 10. At that time, the moving mechanism 30 is operated by the control unit 40 as follows.

That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, when the sold-out detector 13 detects the sold-out of the cup 1 of the cup unloading mechanism 10 (S1), the moving mechanism 30 stores each cup as shown in FIG. The section 20 is moved (S2), and as shown in FIG. 7, the cup accommodating section 20 moves to a position above the cup unloading mechanism 10, and the cup 1 in the cup accommodating section 20 falls on the cup unloading mechanism 10 side.
When the sold-out detector 13 detects the cup 1 and cancels the sold-out detection (S3), the moving mechanism 30 is stopped (S3).
4).

As described above, according to the cup supply device of the present embodiment, the cup 1 of the cup housing section 20 moved by the moving mechanism 30 falls to the cup unloading mechanism 10 side, and the sold-out detector 13 detects the cup 1 When the sold-out detection is released, the moving mechanism 30 is stopped.
There is no need to separately provide a position detector for detecting the stop position of the cup housing portion 20, which can reduce costs and simplify the structure.

[0015]

As described above, according to the cup supply apparatus of the present invention, it is not necessary to separately provide a position detector for detecting the stop position of the cup housing, so that the cost is reduced and the structure is simplified. This is advantageous in improving productivity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a cup supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cup supply device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of the cup supply device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the cup supply device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the cup supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... cup, 10 ... cup unloading mechanism, 13 ... sold-out detector, 20 ... cup accommodation part, 30 ... moving mechanism, 40 ... control part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cup unloading mechanism for unloading vertically stacked cups one by one, and a plurality of cup storage units which accommodate cups to be replenished to the cup unloading mechanism and have a bottom opening as a cup unloading port. And a moving mechanism for moving each cup accommodating portion, and sold-out detecting means for detecting sold-out of the cup of the cup unloading mechanism, and when the sold-out detecting means detects the sold-out of the cup of the cup unloading mechanism, the moving mechanism In a cup supply device in which an arbitrary cup accommodating portion is moved above the cup unloading mechanism and the cup in the cup accommodating portion is dropped to the cup unloading mechanism side, the cup from the cup accommodating portion moved above the cup unloading mechanism. When the cup falls to the unloading mechanism side and the sold-out detecting means detects the cup, a control means for stopping the moving mechanism is provided. Cup dispenser, characterized in that was e.