RU2717879C1 - Automatic device for storage and dispensing of piece goods - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: satisfaction of human vital needs.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the field of automatic (vending) trade and can be used in creation of various vending machines and automated shops for sale of piece goods, mainly packaged frozen and cooled food products. Automatic device for storage and dispensing of piece goods includes at least one refrigerating chamber, elevator arranged in it with goods cassettes, moved along closed trajectory, means of movement of goods relative to cartridge and means of transportation of goods, delivering them to place of issue. Device for movement of goods relative to cartridge is made in form of gripping mechanism installed with possibility of movement of goods between cassette arranged in upper extreme level of elevator, and goods transportation means arranged outside refrigerating chamber and made with possibility of reversible movement.

EFFECT: technical result consists in elimination of condensate formation and related problems, improvement of device operation reliability.

7 cl, 5 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of automatic (vending) trade and can be used to create various vending machines and automated stores for the sale of piece goods, mainly packaged frozen and chilled food.

State of the art

A known machine for selling frozen products, such as ice cream (see patent TWM 556113, IPC: A47F10 / 00, G07F9 / 00, published 01.03.2018), containing a refrigerator with a storage system in it in the form of fixed shelves equipped with piece mechanisms deliveries that push the goods from the shelf to the receiving tray, located under the refrigerator compartment and separated from it by an automatically controlled flap that works simultaneously with the mechanism of piece delivery. After the shutter closes, separating the refrigerator from the tray, the dispensing window opens and the goods are picked up by the buyer.

This is how most well-known automatic machines work. The main problem of the automatic trade in frozen products using such structures is the possibility of penetration into the machine of warm air, which enters through the dispensing window, and then, upon subsequent operation of the damper, according to the laws of physics, rises up into the refrigerator, where it condenses on the internal surfaces of mechanisms and packages with goods turning into ice. The formation of ice leads to jamming of the moving parts of the mechanisms and the inability to separate the packages of goods from each other during delivery.

The mentioned problems increase significantly when replenishing inventory - loading goods carried out manually through the open door of the refrigerator. Moreover, the restoration of the required temperature inside the chamber after loading takes time and leads to a significant increase in the load on the refrigeration units.

It is known to use replaceable cartridges filled with goods outside the machine, see patent SU 175759, publ. 12/23/1965, which allows to reduce the negative effects of the download, however, this does not solve the above problems.

There are known constructions of vending machines in which, in order to reduce cold losses and limit the penetration of warm air, the internal volume of the refrigerator is divided into cells, each of which is equipped with a separate access window (see, for example, JPH 1186127, publ. 30.03.1990, US patent 4317604, publ. 02.03.1982 or patent DE 69502464, publ. 03.09.1998).

In the design of a vending machine for frozen confectionery products according to patent RU 2214781, IPC: A47F3 / 04, publ. 10/27/2003, to eliminate problems associated with the formation of ice inside the machine, a periodically turning on heating system was installed.

Known devices in which the freezer is additionally separated from the rest of the machine by a movable wall (for example, patent US 5236103, IPC: G07F11 / 00, published on 17.08.1993).

However, all of the above solutions are associated with an additional complication of the design of the machine and at the same time do not exclude the formation of condensate.

Another significant drawback of all the aforementioned analogues is the limited volume of goods, which is due to the use of shelf storage systems with fixed shelves. In these cases, an increase in the volume of goods is possible only by expanding the occupied retail space, since the height of the storage system is limited by the height of human growth, which allows reaching the corresponding window with the goods, and the safe height of the goods falling from the shelf.

As the closest analogue for the claimed technical solution, the design of the device for storing and dispensing piece goods used in an automatic machine for selling frozen piece goods was adopted, see patent SU 210509, IPC: G07F11 / 00, publ. 11/06/1968

According to the patent SU 210509, a device for storing and dispensing piece goods contains at least one refrigerating chamber in which at least one elevator is located with cartridges moving along a closed path, means for extracting goods from the cartridge and means for transporting goods to place of issue. The mentioned features are similar to the essential structural features of the claimed device.

Cassettes for goods used in the aforementioned device are made in the form of box-shaped links for piece-wise placement of goods, which are installed one after another and pairwise connected by hinges with the formation of an endless chain. The chain of cassettes moves like a normal vertical conveyor by means of two gear wheels, alternately capturing the axis of the hinges with their teeth.

In the process, the cassette with the selected product, moving in a closed circuit, moves to a predetermined level, where the product is pushed out of the cassette and, through a system of trays, rolls down into the delivery niche.

A significant advantage of the closest analogue is the use of an elevator system for storing goods, which provides a large commodity capacity of the machine with a small footprint.

The disadvantage of the closest analogue is the low reliability of the device, which is due to the possibility of penetration of warm air into the refrigerator when dispensing goods and loading and ice formation on the moving parts of the drive mechanisms and packages of goods.

The invention is aimed at solving the aforementioned problem of condensation and freezing inside the refrigerator compartment and the development of a design characterized by a large commodity capacity and high operational reliability.

Achievable technical results are to increase the reliability of the device at low temperatures by eliminating the ingress of warm air into the refrigerator and the formation of condensate and the ability to perform automatic loading of goods through the dispensing window.

Disclosure of Invention

The aforementioned technical problem is solved and the results are achieved due to the fact that in the automatic device for storing and dispensing piece goods containing at least one refrigerating chamber, an elevator with cassettes for goods moving along a closed path, a means for moving goods relative to the cassette and means of transportation of goods, delivering them to the place of issue, according to the claimed invention, the means of moving goods relative to the cartridge is made in the form of a gripping mechanism, installed with the possibility of moving the goods between the cassette located in the extreme upper level of the elevator, and means of transporting goods placed outside the refrigerator and made with the possibility of reverse movement.

Let us explain the terms used in the formula.

Cassettes - carriers of goods, interchangeable devices that provide optimal conditions for the placement, storage and transportation of goods.

An elevator is the same as a vertically closed circulating conveyor that provides the movement of cartridges with goods along a closed path and their fixed stop at a given level for delivery and loading of goods.

Gripping mechanism - a lifting device (lifting mechanism), with the help of which they capture the goods and hold it during various movements. Typically, the gripping mechanism includes a gripping body (clamp, grip proper) and a means of its relative vertical movement, which allows the extraction (unloading, delivery) of goods from the cassette and its loading into the cassette.

As in the closest analogue, thanks to the use of an elevator system for storing goods (elevator, vertically closed conveyor), a large commodity capacity of the device is provided with its high compactness and small footprint.

A significant difference between the proposed device and the closest analogue is that the delivery of goods is carried out from the top level of the storage system to which the elevator displays a cartridge with the desired product.

The means of moving the goods relative to the cartridge, made in the form of a gripping mechanism, removes the goods from the cartridge located in the extreme upper level of the elevator, and moves it outside the refrigerator compartment to the means of transportation that deliver the goods to the place (window) of delivery.

At the same time, due to the implementation of means of transporting goods with the possibility of reverse movement and the possibility of two-way reciprocating movement of the gripping mechanism between the cassette located in the extreme upper level of the elevator and the means of transporting goods, the device provides the ability to automatically load goods through the dispensing window using the same mechanisms as when issuing the goods.

Due to the fact that all manipulations with the goods are carried out in the very top of the refrigerator, the penetration of warm air into the storage system is excluded. Warm air that enters the loading and unloading zone of the goods does not descend into the storage system below, according to the well-known laws of physics, which states that warm air always rises. As a result, condensation is eliminated, ice formation and related problems are prevented, which ensures reliable and uninterrupted operation of the device throughout the entire period of operation.

 As means of transportation, simple linearly moving mechanisms can be used.

Preferably, the means of transporting goods include a lift located near the refrigerator compartment for vertically moving the goods between the extreme upper level of the elevator and the delivery level, and, in some cases, a conveyor belt connecting the operating zones of the gripping mechanism and the lift.

As a gripping mechanism, it is preferable to use a vacuum gripper or a gripper with turbine suction cups mounted on a horizontally movable, that is, having a reciprocating horizontal movement of the carriage.

Vacuum gripping means any devices whose design is based on the principle of creating a vacuum, which provides the ability to capture goods with one-sided access to it.

The use of mechanisms of simple (linear) action additionally contributes to the reliability of the device. The work of such mechanisms can be carried out in parallel, i.e. with a time overlap, which allows to achieve high output and load performance.

Depending on the type of products (goods) to be placed, the refrigerator is configured to maintain a temperature of (-18 ± 2) ° С, or (2 ± 2) ° С, for placing frozen and chilled products, respectively.

There may be two, three or more refrigerators, of which one part can be used to place chilled products, the other for frozen ones.

In this case, the conveyor belt connects the lift zones and the gripping zones of all the refrigeration chambers.

The proposed device has almost unlimited possibilities of increasing the capacity, and hence the product range, with a constant occupied area, by increasing the elevator height. The possibility of automatic loading from a convenient ergonomic level of the dispensing window removes almost all the restrictions of increasing the elevator height. The height of the latter can be limited only by the height of the room and the technological parameters of the mechanisms used.

All of the above technical results provided by the proposed design contribute to the economic attractiveness of using the proposed device in automated stores and vending machines for the retail sale of food products.

In a specific example of the device’s implementation, a circulating conveyor with step-by-step movement of cartridges along a closed path is used as an elevator, while the path of cartridges is formed by a set of guides that form two parallel vertical channels, in each of which cartridges are mounted one on top of the other, and the drive for moving cartridges includes mechanisms the vertical movement of the cassettes along the channels and mechanisms for transferring between the channels of the cassettes located in the extreme upper and lower extreme nyah.

The absence of chain drives and the use of simple mechanisms for moving cassettes, in this case, further contributes to reliable operation at low temperatures.

The cassettes are preferably made in the form of rectangular containers open at the top, enabling the placement of at least one stack of goods.

In some cases, the cartridge may consist of several compartments, each of which is made with the possibility of placing a stack of goods. In this case, the means for moving the goods relative to the cartridge is made with the possibility of independent interaction with each compartment of the cartridge.

The essence of the proposed technical solution is illustrated by the following examples of implementation and drawings, which depict:

in FIG. 1 is a general view of a vending machine using the proposed device for storing and dispensing piece goods;

in FIG. 2 - section aa with figure 1;

in FIG. 3- an example of a cartridge (in three forms);

in FIG. 4 (a-d) - illustrates the operation of the device;

in FIG. 5 is an example embodiment of a device for storing and dispensing piece goods with several refrigerators.

The implementation of the invention

An automatic device for storing and dispensing piece goods, mainly frozen and chilled food products in individual packaging, can be used in various designs of vending machines. A general view of one such vending machine is shown in FIG. 1.

In the general case, the vending machine comprises a housing 1 with a dispensing window 2, a product selection panel 3, a payment terminal 4, and other elements necessary for making a choice and purchasing a product located on the outer surface of the housing. For the convenience of the buyer, a countertop 5 can be arranged.

In the case 1 of the machine there is a device for storing and dispensing piece goods (see Fig. 2), including a vertical chamber 6, equipped with a refrigeration unit (hereinafter referred to as the refrigeration chamber 6) in the volume of which an elevator 7 is placed with carriers of goods - cartridges 8, transported along a vertically closed path, a gripping mechanism 9, for example, a vacuum gripper mounted on a horizontally movable carriage 10, and a hoist 11 located close to, i.e. not far outside, refrigerator compartment 6.

As the elevator 7, various designs of vertical conveyors can be used, for example, elevator-type racks, also known as paternoster. However, it is more preferable to use a design with a chainless cassette drive.

In a preferred embodiment of the device, the trajectory of the cartridges 8 is formed by a set of guides (not shown in the drawings) forming two parallel vertical channels, in each of which the cartridges 8 are mounted on top of each other.

The drive for moving the cartridges 8 includes mechanisms for the step-by-step movement of the cartridges along the channels: lifting - in one channel and lowering - in another, and mechanisms for transferring between the channels of the cartridges located in the extreme upper and lower extreme levels. In the simplest case, this may be a system of pushers 12 (shown in the drawings conditionally).

The absence of chains contributes to the high reliability of the drive mechanisms in conditions of negative temperatures and the reliability of the machine as a whole.

The cassette 8 is made in the form of a container open at the top, for example, see FIG. 3, allowing you to place a stack of goods. In each cassette 8 place the goods of the same name (type, article). Products stacked in rigid rectangular boxes, for example, pizzas, pies, as well as products (goods), packed in soft bags, such as dumplings, dumplings, etc., can be stacked in the foot.

A cassette can consist of several compartments, each of which provides the ability to place a stack of goods.

To reduce the friction when moving in the guides of the cassette 8 can be equipped with rollers.

Depending on the type of products being placed, the refrigerating chamber 6 can be made low-temperature, with an operating temperature (-18 ± 2) ° С, necessary for placing frozen products, or medium-temperature with an operating temperature (2 ± 2) ° С - when placing refrigerated products .

In some cases, it is advisable to provide a supply of cold air with a temperature of (2 ± 2) ° C in the area of the lift 11, for example, in the case of the operation of the machine at elevated temperatures. This can be realized through the use of a two-channel cooling system.

The delivery and loading of goods is carried out automatically under the control of a computer (electronic) control system with appropriate software (not shown in the drawings).

The control system is electrically connected to the product selection panel 3 and the payment terminal 4, monitors the availability and assortment of goods placed in the cartridges 8, controls the operation of the drive mechanisms and can be connected wirelessly to a remote monitoring server of the trading network.

A device for storing and dispensing goods works as follows.

The buyer, using panel 3 and payment terminal 4, selects and pays for the goods. Upon receipt of the corresponding signal, the control system raises the cartridge 8 with the desired product 13 to its highest position, indicated in the drawings as 8 '(see Fig. 4)

The vacuum grip 9 mounted on the carriage 10 removes the goods 13 from the cartridge 8 'and, holding it, moves it outside the refrigeration chamber 6 to the load-bearing platform 14 of the elevator 11, which lowers the goods from the level corresponding to the highest level of the elevator to the level of the dispensing window 2, from where the product is picked up by the buyer. If necessary, a pusher 15 can be installed in the level of the dispensing window 2, which allows moving the goods 13 from the load-bearing platform 14 of the lift 11 closer to the buyer (see Fig. 4 a - d).

If the buyer selects several products, their delivery is carried out sequentially.

     The device allows loading goods through the dispensing window 2, using the reverse of the elevator 11 and the possibilities of reciprocating movement of the capture 9. The sequence of loading operations is reverse.

For loading, the operator servicing the vending machine puts the control system in load mode and selects the type of goods to be loaded by pressing the appropriate buttons on the control panel. The control system raises the corresponding cassette 8 to its highest position - to the upper level of the elevator.

The goods are alternately placed through the dispensing window 2 on the load-bearing platform 14 of the elevator 11 located at the same level as the window, which carries out the vertical movement of the goods. From the load-bearing platform of the elevator 11, the goods are taken by the gripper 9 and moved to the cassette located in the upper level.

Due to the fact that the issuance and loading of goods is carried out through the top of the refrigerating chamber 6, the penetration of warm air into the storage system of goods is excluded, and therefore the formation of condensate on the surfaces of movable mechanisms and packages with goods inside the refrigerating chamber 6 is excluded, which ultimately ensures uninterrupted operation of the device and machine as a whole, throughout the entire period of operation.

The proposed design can be used as a standard module in the creation of vending machines and automated stores of large capacity.

In FIG. 5 shows an example of the implementation of the proposed technical solution when four cold rooms 6 are located in one building of the vending machine¹, 6², 6³, 6⁴ , in each of which there is an elevator 7.

Part of the chambers is used to place frozen products, for which they maintain a constant temperature of -18 ± 2 ° С, the other - to place chilled products with a storage temperature of 2 ± 2 °.

Each elevator 7 is serviced by its own vacuum gripper 9 mounted on the carriage 10. The device further comprises a horizontal belt conveyor 16 connecting the operating zones of the elevator 11 and the vacuum grippers of all refrigeration chambers. The work of all mechanisms is synchronized by the control system.

It is possible to place in each chamber not one but two or more elevators 7, preferably each serviced by its gripping mechanism.

The above examples of specific implementation serve to better understand the essence of the claimed invention and show the possibility of its industrial applicability. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the examples given.

Claims (7)

1. An automatic device for storing and dispensing piece goods, containing at least one refrigerating chamber, an elevator located therein with goods cartridges moving along a closed path, means for moving goods relative to the cartridge and means for transporting goods to deliver them to the place of delivery characterized in that the means of moving the goods relative to the cartridge is made in the form of a gripping mechanism installed with the ability to move goods between the cartridge located in the extreme upper level ie the elevator, and means of transportation of goods, placed outside the refrigerating chamber and configured to reverse movement. 2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means of transporting goods include a hoist located near the refrigerator, configured to move goods between the extreme upper level of the elevator and the level of delivery. 3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that the means of transporting goods include a conveyor belt connecting the zones of action of the gripping mechanism and the lift. 4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the vacuum gripper mounted on the carriage with the possibility of reciprocating horizontal movement is used as the gripping mechanism. 5. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that each cassette is made in the form of a rectangular container open at the top, making it possible to place at least one pile of goods. 6. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the refrigerator is configured to maintain a temperature of (-18 ± 2) ° C. 7. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the refrigerator is configured to maintain a temperature of (2 ± 2) ° C.

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