JPS6331184Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] This invention provides a cup ejecting section with a cup ejecting mechanism outside the rotational movement locus of the cup storage drum, and feeds a row of cups from the cup storage drum to the cup ejecting section. The present invention relates to a cup supply device for a beverage vending machine, in which a cup is separated from the lowest cup in the cup row one by one by a cup take-out mechanism, carried out, and supplied to a bending stage.

[Prior Art] Recently, in order to respond to the diversification of beverage products, cup-type beverage automatics have been introduced that are capable of preparing and selling hot beverages such as coffee and cold beverages such as soft drinks on the same machine. Vending machines are appearing. Since the yields of cold drinks and hot beverages are different in such machines, two types of special cups with different capacities are stored inside the machine, and depending on the product selection, one of the special cups is placed on the bending stage. need to be supplied.
As a cup feeding device for this purpose, a device that is capable of handling multiple types of cups at the same time has already been proposed.

A description will now be given of FIGS. 1 and 2 showing an outline of the cup feeding device. In the figure, 1 is a vertically rotating cup storage drum, 2 is its drive motor,
Reference numerals 3 and 4 refer to a type-specific cup take-out section defined on the outer periphery of the rotational locus of the cup storage drum 1, and 5 is installed below the cup passing holes formed in the cup take-out sections 3 and 4. 6 is a cup delivery mechanism, 7 is a movable base plate of the cup delivery mechanism 6, and 8 is a fixed base laid along the rotational movement locus of the cup storage drum except for the movable base plate 7. A plate 9 is an outer cylinder 1 surrounding the outer periphery of the cup storage drum 1 and the cup take-out parts 3 and 4.
Reference numeral 0 designates a base plate of the cup feeding device on which each of the mechanisms described above is mounted and supported. On the other hand, a cup row 12 in which a large number of cups 11 are stacked vertically in a row is housed in each cup storage chamber in the cup storage drum 1. In the illustrated example, the cup storage drum 1 has eight rows of cups.
2 are stored, some of which are dedicated to cold beverages, and the remaining cup rows are dedicated to hot beverages, and the ratio of the number of stored cups is arbitrarily set according to the degree of demand.

In the above configuration, the standby state is as shown in the figure, and when a product sales command is given from here, in response to a hot beverage or cold beverage selection signal, the cup set in the cup ejecting section is placed in the lowest position. One cup is cut off and carried out in the direction of arrow A, and then supplied to a bending stage (not shown). On the other hand, for example, when the number of cups remaining in the cup take-out section 4 becomes small, the cup detection switch detects this and rotates the cup storage drum 1 in the direction of arrow B. Therefore, each row of cups 12 housed in the drum moves on a rotational trajectory together with the drum 1 while sliding on the fixed base plate 8 and the movable base plate 7. When a row of cups of the same type as the cups handled by the cup take-out section 4 approaches the position opposite the cup take-out section 4, a type-specific cup discrimination mechanism (not shown) operates to stop the drum 1, and the cup delivery mechanism A signal is given to 6 to send the row of cups 12 placed on the movable base plate 7 toward the cup take-out section 4 in the direction of arrow C. When this cup row enters the cup takeout section 4,
A gate mechanism (not shown) works to keep only the cup row 12 in the take-out section 4, and at the same time, the movable base plate 7 returns to its original standby position. Therefore, the cup row 12 falls onto the cup ejecting mechanism 5 and is refilled. When the number of cups remaining in the cup take-out section 3 becomes small, the other type of cup row is replenished from the cup storage drum 1 to the cup take-out section 3 in the same manner as described above.

As mentioned above, the cup feeding device, which is configured to have a cup ejecting section outside the rotation locus of the cup storage drum and feed a row of cups from the cup storage drum to the cup ejecting section, was developed by the same applicant as the inventor of this invention. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application No. 57-24931 and Japanese Patent Application No. 1983
- Proposed and implemented in No. 36977.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

By the way, as in the above-mentioned configuration, the cup feeding device is configured such that the cup ejecting sections 3 and 4 are provided outside the rotational movement locus of the cup storage drum 1, and the cup row 12 is sent from the cup storage drum 1 to the ejecting section 3 or 4. Now, move the base plate 1 along the rotational movement trajectory.
A fixed base plate 8 and a movable base plate 7 are arranged side by side on top of the cup storage drum 1, and a cup row 12 slides along with the cup storage drum 1 through the upper surface thereof. In this case, it is necessary for the cup row 12 to slide smoothly on the base plates 7 and 8, but if a step is created at the boundary between the fixed base plate 8 and the movable base plate 7, In the unlikely event that the cup row gets caught on this step, the cup row 12 will be locked on the spot, and there is a possibility that the cup feeding operation will not be possible. For this reason, it is extremely important to ensure that the cup rows move smoothly at the boundary between the fixed base plate and the movable base plate in order to maintain the reliability of the cup feeding operation.

In this regard, in the conventional configuration, the fixed base plate 8 and the movable base plate 7, which are flat plates, are simply arranged with the same surface height, and assembly errors or repeated operations of the cup delivery mechanism may occur. A difference in level occurs between the movable base plate 7 and the fixed base plate 8 due to the displacement of the movable base plate caused by this, and this causes the cup row 12 that slides in the direction of arrow B to move to the above-mentioned step. It may get stuck and cause immobility.

Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to reliably prevent the cup row from getting caught and locked at the boundary between the fixed base and the movable base when it slides as the cup storage drum rotates. To provide a cup feeding device which guarantees smooth sliding movement of a row of stored cups as a cup storage drum rotates and improves reliability.

[Means to solve the problem]

This purpose was achieved through the development of a vertically rotating cup storage drum that stores a large number of cups stacked vertically in a row on the circumference, and a cup retrieval drum provided on the outer periphery of the rotational locus of the cup storage drum. A cup ejector with a mechanism, a cup delivery mechanism that sends out a row of cups from the storage drum toward the ejector,
A fixed base plate, on which the cup row slides, is arranged along the rotational movement locus except for a portion corresponding to the cup ejection part, and a cup ejection part on the rotational movement locus is arranged on the same surface as the fixed base plate. In a cup feeding device comprising a movable base plate of the cup delivery mechanism installed at a location corresponding to This is achieved by diagonally cutting the upper edge of the front end of the base plate located on the downstream side along the direction to form an upwardly inclined surface in the direction of movement of the cup rows.

[Effect]

The cup rows slide on the upper surfaces of the fixed base plate and the movable base plate as the cup storage drum rotates. Due to this sliding movement, when the cup row passes through the boundary between the fixed base plate and the movable base plate, it is formed from the upper surface of the base plate on the upstream side of the fixed base plate and the movable base plate to the base plate on the downstream side. Once on the inclined surface, it moves to the upper surface of the base plate on the downstream side. Therefore, even if there is a step between the upper surface of the fixed base plate and the upper surface of the movable base plate, the cup rows will not get caught on the end surface of the base plate at this boundary and can move smoothly.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of this invention will be described below in detail based on the drawings. First, in the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4,
FIG. 4 shows a part of the arrangement of the base plates in FIG. 3 developed along the circumferential direction, and fixed base plates 8 and movable base plates 7 are arranged alternately along the circumferential direction. Of these, the fixed base plate 8 is divided into a base plate 8A and a base plate 8B sandwiched between two movable base plates 7. By the way, with this invention, at the boundary between the fixed base plates 8A, 8B and the two movable base plates 7, which are arranged adjacent to each other, a position on the downstream side along the sliding movement direction B of the cup row is made. The upper edge of the front end of each base plate is cut diagonally, and this part is marked with arrow B.
A gentle upward slope 13 is formed along the direction. Note that in this embodiment, the above-mentioned inclined surface 1
An inclined surface 14 parallel to the inclined surface 13 is also formed at the lower edge of the rear end of each base plate located on the upstream side opposite to the inclined surface 13.

According to the above configuration, the fixed base plates 8A, 8B
Even if the movable base plate 7 is vertically misaligned due to an error in assembling the movable base plate 7 or due to repeated operations of the cup delivery mechanism 6, the top surface of the base plate can be slid along the direction of arrow B. When the movable cup row passes the boundary between the fixed base plate and the movable base plate, the sloped surface of the upper edge of the front end of the base plate aligned downstream from the rear edge of the base plate located on the upstream side. You will be able to move on top of 13 and proceed further. Therefore, for example, at the boundary between the leftmost fixed base plate 8A and the movable base plate 7 in the figure, there is a step in the positive or negative direction between the upper surface of the fixed base plate 8A and the upper surface of the movable base plate 7. Even if there are cups, there is no fear that the row of cups passing through this boundary will catch on the end face of the base plate and become locked, allowing smooth movement.

FIG. 5 shows a modified embodiment of FIG. 4, in which the cut inclined surface 14 at the lower edge of the rear end in FIG.
is omitted. In this case as well, as long as a large step does not occur at the boundary, smooth sliding movement of the cup row in the direction of the arrow via the inclined surface 13 can be ensured.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to this invention, in a cup feeding device of a type in which a cup ejecting section is provided outside the rotation locus of the cup storage drum and a row of cups is sent from the cup storage drum to the cup ejecting section, the cups stored in the cup storage drum are To provide a highly reliable cup feeding device that can guarantee smooth sliding movement of a cup row on a base plate without fear of the cup row locking at the boundary between a fixed base plate and a movable base plate.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the general configuration of a cup feeding device to which this invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the arrow in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the arrangement of base plates according to an embodiment of this invention. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of FIG. 3 developed in the circumferential direction, and FIG. 5 is a developed cross-sectional view of an embodiment different from FIG. 4. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Cup storage drum, 3, 4... Cup take-out part, 5... Cup take-out mechanism, 6... Cup delivery mechanism, 7... Movable base plate, 8... Fixed base plate, 11... Cup, 12 ...Cup row, B...
The sliding direction of the cup row.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A vertically rotating cup storage drum that stores a large number of cups stacked vertically in a vertical row arranged on the circumference, a cup ejector with a cup ejecting mechanism provided on the outer periphery of the rotational movement locus of the cup storage drum, A cup delivery mechanism that sends out the cup row from the storage drum toward the take-out section, a fixed base plate on which the cup row slides, which is arranged along the rotational movement trajectory except for the part corresponding to the cup take-out section; In a cup feeding device comprising a movable base plate of the cup delivery mechanism arranged on the same plane as the base plate and installed at a position corresponding to the cup ejecting portion on the rotational movement locus, the fixed base plates are adjacent to each other. At the boundary between the movable base plate and the front end of the base plate located on the downstream side along the circumferential movement direction of the cup row, the upper edge of the front end of the base plate is cut diagonally, and the upper edge of the base plate is cut diagonally. A cup supply device for a beverage vending machine characterized by forming an inclined surface.