JPS6231495A - Cup feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a cup feeding device for a cup-type vending machine.

(b) Conventional technology Cup-type vending machines dispense drinks mixed in the machine into cups, but when selling hot drinks, 7-ounce cups are used to sell cold drinks. If so, use a 9-ounce cup.
Common. Recently, however, hot-and-cold PBs have emerged, which sell both hot and cold beverages with one machine. Such hot-and-cold machines can achieve stable sales regardless of whether it is summer or winter, but the ratio of selling hot and cold beverages varies depending on the season.However, hot-and-cold machines can A cup turret for cups and a cup turret for cold cups?Because they are installed side by side, the absolute quantities of hot cups and cold cups are small. In the winter, there is a shortcoming that hot cup I!1''--hot drink TJ''--can no longer be sold due to shortage.

Therefore, there is a need for a cup supply device bt that can change the storage ratio of real cups and cold cups.

There is a technique disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-70281 that meets this demand. In this conventional technology, a plurality of cup storage chambers capable of storing both hot cup rows and cold cup rows are arranged around the circumference of a cup storage drum, and a set of cup ejection mechanisms corresponding to hot cups and cold cups is provided outside one chamber. When there are no more cups in the cup take-out mechanism, the cup storage drum is rotated so that the cup storage chambers storing the cups corresponding to the take-out mechanism face each other, and the cup row delivery mechanism opens the cup rows of the cup storage chambers facing each other. is introduced into the cup ejection mechanism. As a result, each cup storage chamber can be arbitrarily set as a hot cup storage chamber or a cold cup storage chamber, making it possible to change the storage ratio.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, in the prior art, the reason why the cup ejecting mechanism is disposed outside the rotational orbit of the cup storage drum is that if the cup ejecting mechanism is located on the rotational orbit, one of the cup ejecting mechanisms When the cup ejecting mechanism '/c is set to a hot or cold cup row, the other cup ejecting mechanism b' is out of cups, and the cup stored in the corresponding cup row is refilled. Even if an attempt is made to move the storage chamber to this cup take-out mechanism, the cup rows of the cup take-out mechanism on the side that are not out of cups get in the way and the drum b cannot rotate freely.

Therefore, according to the prior art, in order to arrange the cup ejection mechanism outside the rotational trajectory of the cup storage chamber, the device b'--dog-shaped, and force) is also used to move the cup row from the cup storage chamber to the cup ejection mechanism. In this case, a cup row delivery mechanism b1 is required depending on the cup type (IIB: the device becomes complicated).

In view of the above points, the present invention provides an apparatus in which the cup storage chamber can be freely moved even if the cup ejection mechanism is disposed on the moving orbit of the cup storage chamber.

(→ Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a cup column that can store any of a plurality of different types of cups and stores the cups in rows stacked vertically, and a cup column. A cup turret that moves on the board along a predetermined first closed loop, a cup ejection port formed on the movement trajectory of the cup column of the board, and a cup supply port provided below the cup turret according to the cup type to respond to a predetermined cup supply signal. a cup delivery mechanism that responsively delivers the cup; and a cup delivery mechanism drive that moves the plurality of cup delivery mechanisms along a second closed loop that overlaps at least a portion of the cup delivery opening. A control device that controls a cup turret and a cup delivery mechanism drive device such that when the cup delivery mechanism runs out of a cup, the cup delivery mechanism and the cup column storing the corresponding cup type are positioned at the cup delivery port, and a cup delivery port. The cup separating mechanism separates the cup from the cup row of the cup column located at the cup column and introduces the cup through the cup outlet into the cup delivery mechanism located below.

(e) Operation With the above configuration, the cup turret and the cup delivery mechanism drive device are driven to make the cup delivery mechanism and the cup column storing the corresponding cup types face each other via the cup ejection port, and the cup separation mechanism is activated. A portion of the cup row of the cup column is introduced into the cup delivery mechanism.

(v) Embodiment Figure 2 shows a plan view of the cup turret (6), and the board (11) has six cup columns (2) in a circular shape that can accommodate both hot cups and cold cups. Each cup column (2) is connected to a drive motor (3).
It is connected to arms (5) extending radially at equal intervals from a drive shaft (4) connected to the drive shaft (4). The cup column (2) houses a row of cups in which hot cups or cold cups are stacked vertically.

As shown in FIG. 2, a bottom plate αυ that can be freely opened and closed is provided as a fulcrum of the axis uO)'v, and a roller α2 is provided on the surface of the bottom plate (Ll) facing the substrate (1). Therefore, the cup turret (6) is driven by the drive device (3) to move each cup column (2) along a circular closed loop to the substrate (1).
) to move the top.

A cup outlet (11-) is formed on the movement track of the cup column (2) of the substrate (1), and a cup column +2 is formed.
When the 6"-output port α stage is reached, the support of the bottom plate αυ by the substrate (1) is released, but the bottom plate (11) is maintained in the closed state by the support member (19. Support member 05). , as shown in FIG. 3, the first end is rotatably supported by the stepped portion αη of the lever (L6), but rotation in the direction of the arrow a is prevented by the wall U. The other end of the lever Oe is rotatably supported by a drive shaft 119. did b
When the lever a61 is rotated in the direction of the arrow shown by the dashed line by driving the drive shaft α9, the support member a2 is also rotated in the same direction.

The bottom plate σ11 is located at the point where the lock is released from the outer track.A wedge plate (2b) for taking out about 10 cups from the cup row (251) is connected to the drive shaft (5) above the cup takeout port 03).
), and as shown in Fig. 4, when the drive shaft (5) is driven, the wedge plate (26) rotates in the direction of the arrow, comes into contact with the cup row (to), and removes the cup. At the same time as the wedge plate (C), in which the wedge plate (261) is inserted into the gap between the curls, is separated from the cup row (C), the support member (15) engages the bottom plate αB. When the stop is released, a plurality of stacked cups from the cup row □□□ are dropped and sent out from the outlet 11. In this example, the cup row is separated by the wedge plate (2e and support member u5). (25) forms a cup separation mechanism (23 (Fig. 7)) that separates the cup. Figs. 5 and 6 show the configuration of the drive section of the cup separation mechanism,
A gear [F] 0 is attached to the drive shaft α9 of the lever (16) that drives the drive shaft (c) of the wedge plate (26) and the support member (15).
) and 6υ are installed respectively. Gear t60), (61
) is the deceleration output shaft (62) of the drive motor decoy of the disconnection mechanism (29).
In Fig. 5, the gear (61) is shown by a solid line, and the gear Q113 is shown by a half-dot line.
A cam (b) is attached to the cup 6, and the cup separating operation b' is achieved by one cycle of the cam.

When the output shaft (48) is driven by the drive motor (48) and the output shaft (48) rotates in the direction of the arrow, the gear +60 whose teeth (60A) are facing the recess (63A) of the gear (63) in the standby state rotates.
31 teeth (63B) and rotates, so the drive shaft (5) rotates and bites into the wedge plate 4''-kakupu row (c).

On the other hand, the drive shaft Q9 is urged to rotate in the direction of the arrow by the spring IfEl, but the 1st gear [F]υ is locked because it is in contact with the convex part (64A) of the gear (64). . When the rotation of the gear (64) reaches the concave portion (64B) of the gear (bt), the drive shaft Ql is disengaged from the lock b'' and is urged by the spring Fie to rotate in the direction of the arrow. 151b = Cup row (c)
The bottom plate α1) is opened by moving away from the bottom plate α1). Some of the cups separated from the cup row C25) by the bt wedge plate (a) lost support from the bottom plate (111) and are separated from the cup delivery mechanism (27) through the outlet α3.
When the output shaft (62) rotates and meshes with the gear (ring teeth (64C) b) and the teeth (61A) of the knee gear 6D, the drive shaft (9) is introduced into the drive shaft in the opposite direction of the arrow, against the spring force. When the concave portion (63A) of the gear (63) faces the gear side, the gear (130) becomes free and the drive shaft @ is biased by the spring (67) and reverses. Rotating in the direction of the arrow, the wedge temporary ■e separates from the cup row (c), so the cup row (25), which was locked by the wedge temporary 00, falls onto the bottom plate U. This is a normal one-cycle operation. is 0N-O in conjunction with the rotation of each cam.
The FF full cycle switch (detected by 43. In addition, a recess (C) that substantially matches the circumference of the cup is formed in the piece of the cup row (251) of the wedge temporary C6 that comes into contact with the cup, and a wedge plate (2I3) ) A step is formed on the inner wall of the cup column (2) facing the wedge plate (
26) b'' - When the cup is inserted into the gap between the curls, the cup to be separated is urged toward the recess of the stepped portion, so that it can be separated more smoothly than the cup row (c).

Below the substrate (1), a cup delivery mechanism (22 is connected to a drive shaft according to the cup type) receives the cups separated from the cup controller and delivers the cups one by one in response to a predetermined cup delivery signal. They are arranged in a circle with (7) as the center.

The drive shaft (7) is connected to a drive motor (8) and a cup delivery mechanism drive device (9). The cup delivery mechanism drive device (9) moves each cup delivery mechanism (22) along a circular closed loop by driving the drive motor (8). In the example cup column (2)
The movement trajectory of 22 and the cup delivery mechanism (the movement trajectory of 22 is a circle l
ωI is formed at the circle, but 2 at the cup outlet Q3)
As long as the two moving trajectories overlap, closed loops of different shapes may be used. When the cup delivery mechanism @ reaches the cup outlet (13), it is connected to the drive shaft of the cup drop motor (to). Each cup delivery mechanism (2 hot water is equipped with a plurality of cup droppers), and the cup dropper (
(to) supports the curl part of the lowest cup. When the cup drop motor (to) is driven by a predetermined cup delivery signal, each cup dropper (to) of the cup delivery mechanism located at cup outlet 0 rotates and removes the lowest cup from the stacked cups. Separate and send out.

The next cup is newly supported as the lowest cup, and the sensor (3z) detects the presence or absence of a cup in the cup delivery mechanism (221).

Further, as shown in Fig. 8, sensors (36) C3η are arranged at each outlet 03 on the inner wall surface of the outer case (B) that accommodates the cup column (2).
There is a display section Gl in the part facing the sensor (to) (9).
(A reflective material such as silver paper is attached to the display part of each cup column (2) forming 4G, and the display part (
If the stored cup is a real cup, a reflective member is attached to 40. Sensor (36)G7)c
i Display section C31 (4G) is irradiated with light and the presence of a reflective member is detected based on the amount of reflected light.Thereby, the sensor (37) detects whether the cup stored in the cup column is a hot cup or a cold cup, and the sensor (37) g) detects whether the cup column (2) has reached the cup outlet 03.Also, a reflective member is pasted on the display section (40), and the display section ll is slid according to the hot cup or cold cup to display the sensor. 137) of the reflecting member may be switched.Furthermore, the sensor (41) detects the presence or absence of a cup row within the cup column (2).

Furthermore, each cup delivery mechanism (2) is formed with a display part 5115:l similar to the cup column (2), and the sensor 153 disposed at the cup outlet (13) is formed with a display part 6υ.
is detected, the cup delivery mechanism (22) determines whether the type of cup delivered is hot or cold, and the sensor 5 detects the display section (■), and the cup delivery mechanism (23b' - determines whether the cup output port 0 has been reached). Determine.Also, the cup outlet α
The cup delivery mechanism (221k-!, sensor C3'2 detects the presence or absence of a cup to be delivered). A cup chute (to) and a pend stage (to) are arranged below the movement trajectory of the cup delivery mechanism. In the pend stage (to), a cup is introduced from the cup chute, and depending on the type of cup, a cold drink or a hot drink is poured into the cup.

In this example, a cup chute (to) is disposed opposite to the cup ejection port 03). The stages may be provided depending on whether the cup is a hot cup or a cold cup.

FIG. 9 shows a control circuit, and the control device is composed of, for example, a microcomputer (c) that controls the cup feeding operation according to a predetermined program. When the sensor C33 detects a cup breakage in the mechanism @, the microcomputer (machine) activates the drive motor (6) of the cup turret (6).
3) to sequentially move the cup column (2) by applying a drive signal. and microcomputers (4!19%j
When detected by the sensor (reaching) the cup outlet (13) of the cup column (2), this cup column (2)
Types of storage cups: Hot or cold sensor (3'rI detects), and sensor (40) detects whether or not the cup is stored.Also, microcomputer + 451 Gt sensor ■Cup removal port α3
) The cup delivery mechanism located at K (23) is determining the delivery cup type, and is it the same cup type?When the stored cup column (2)bζ reaches the cup outlet 0■.

The output of the drive signal to the drive motor (3) of the cup turret (6) is stopped. And a microcomputer (
A drive signal is given to the drive motor (4 seconds) of the cup separation mechanism C23.The cam [F] 511!l' is driven by the drive motor (481).

When the microcomputer (451) detects that the full cycle switch (451) turns ON and then turns OFF again, the microcomputer (451) stops outputting the drive signal to the drive motor (4 seconds). In one cycle operation of (48), the cup row (
Some of the cups are separated from the bottom plate (Ill) by the supporting members α, and the separated cups are supplied to the cup delivery mechanism C2 below through the cup outlet (li-). A microcomputer (49 is a cup dispensing mechanism (2 is a designated cup type The sensor 5z detects whether the cup delivery mechanism @ does not accommodate the designated cup type, the drive motor (8) of the cup delivery mechanism drive device (9)
) to give a driving signal.

The sensors (515 and 54) detect the arrival at the cup feeder groove (220 force pick outlet α3) that accommodates the designated cup type. and a predetermined cup delivery mechanism (22
tJ'' - cup outlet 03), the output of the drive signal to the drive motor (8) is stopped.
131 cup delivery mechanism (2a b; when a designated cup type is stored, a microcomputer (4) gives a drive signal to the cup drop motor (c) to control the cup ejection operation.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, in order to take out the corresponding predetermined type of cup from the cup column and introduce it into the cup delivery mechanism, the storage ratio of the cup type can be arbitrarily changed according to the cup column bt can. Since the cup take-out operation is performed below the moving track by the closed loop of the cup column, the cup is not moved in the horizontal direction from the moving track, thereby making it possible to downsize and simplify the device. Furthermore, since some of the cups are separated from the cup column and introduced into the cup delivery mechanism, a stable cup delivery operation can be achieved without placing a large load on the cup delivery mechanism. Furthermore, by making the cup delivery mechanism movable in a closed loop, there is an advantage that only a bat is required to introduce the cup from the cup column to the cup delivery mechanism, even though there are multiple types of cups.b'-
be. It is also possible to make a configuration in which one pen stage is shared by each type of cup.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the cup feeding device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the cup turret, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the support member, Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the wedge plate, and Fig. 5 is an illustration of the operation of the wedge plate. 6 is a side view of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of the cup separating mechanism, and FIG. 8 is a relationship between the display section of the cup column and the sensor. 9 are control circuit diagrams. (11...Substrate, (2)...Cup column, (
6)...Cup turret, (9)...Cup delivery mechanism drive device, (13...Cup outlet, @...
・Cup delivery mechanism. (C)...Cup separation mechanism, (49...Control device. Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 2, Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cup column that can store any of a plurality of different types of cups and that stores the cups in a vertically stacked cup row, and a cup that moves the cup column on a substrate along a predetermined first closed loop. a turret, a display section provided for each cup column to display the stored cup type, a cup outlet formed on the movement trajectory of the cup column of the substrate, and a cup column that has reached the cup outlet to indicate that the cup column is of a predetermined type. At least a portion of the sensor includes a sensor that detects whether a cup is stored on the display section, and a cup delivery mechanism that is provided below the cup turret according to the type of cup and delivers the cup in response to a predetermined cup supply signal. a cup delivery mechanism drive device that moves the plurality of cup delivery mechanisms along a second closed loop overlapping the cup outlet;
The cup turret and the cup delivery mechanism driving device are controlled so that when one of the cup delivery mechanisms runs out of a cup, the cup delivery mechanism and the cup column storing the corresponding cup type are positioned at the cup takeout port. A cup feeding device comprising: a control device; and a cup separation mechanism that separates a cup from a row of cups in the cup column located at the cup outlet and introduces the cup through the cup outlet into the cup delivery mechanism located below. .