WO2015170232A1

WO2015170232A1 - Improved handling unit for automatic vending machines and automatic vending machine comprising one or more of said handling units.

Info

Publication number: WO2015170232A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/053167
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simone FARINEA
Original assignee: Pharmalogic S.R.L.
Priority date: 2014-05-05
Filing date: 2015-04-30
Publication date: 2015-11-12
Also published as: EP3140819B1; ES2709452T3; EP3140819A1

Abstract

The invention is a handling unit (1 ) for the distribution of items on sale, comprising a conveyor belt (2) closed so as to form a ring and suited to support and transport the items towards a collection shelf, and one or more partition elements (3) suited to be fixed along the external surface (21 ) of the conveyor belt (2), wherein each one of the partition elements (3) comprises a base (31 ) with a partition (32) developing on a first side (31 a) thereof. In the handling unit (1 ) the external surface (21 ) of the conveyor belt (2) and the second side (31 b) of the base (31 ) of each one of the partition elements (3) are respectively made from a first material (4) and a second material (5) configured in such a way as to allow them to be mutually coupled together in a rapid and reversible manner and to allow each partition element (3) and the conveyor belt (2) to be fixed together in a rapid and reversible manner.

Description

IMPROVED HANDLING UNIT FOR AUTOMATIC VENDING MACHINES AND AUTOMATIC VENDING MACHINE COMPRISING ONE OR MORE OF SAID HANDLING UNITS.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns an improved handling unit suited to be installed in automatic vending machines for the distribution of items on sale. The invention concerns also the automatic vending machine comprising one or more of said handling units.

It is known that in recent years special machines, called automatic dispensing devices or vending machines in technical jargon, have been commonly used in many public places, such as railway stations, airports or hospitals, and in private places, such as companies or sports centres, and these machines allow users to purchase various types of items after paying the same through special systems.

The type of automatic vending machines that is currently most used and widespread comprises a storage compartment substantially in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped and divided in lanes by means of horizontal shelves and, if necessary, vertical walls.

In particular, each one of said walls is configured in such a way as to accommodate, one after the other, a plurality of items of the same type or of different types. These lanes, furthermore, are usually provided with an opening defined in the front part of the automatic vending machine for loading and dispensing the item on sale.

In order to allow the item selected by the user to be dispensed, said type of automatic vending machines comprise, for each lane, a handling unit that makes it possible to transport said selected item over a predefined length, until it reaches, usually owing to gravity, a collection shelf provided in the front part of the same vending machine. Said collection shelf is usually shared by all the lanes and, once the selected item has been released, the user can access said shelf to collect the item itself.

As regards said handling units, according to the known art they are mainly available in three different types that are described here below.

A first type of handling unit comprises spiral-shaped elements, each one of which is arranged at the level of one of said lanes. Each one of said spiral- shaped elements defines a plurality of sectors, in each one of which an item on sale is arranged. By transmitting a rotary motion to one of said spiral- shaped elements, it is possible to cause the items located in it to advance towards the front part of the automatic vending machine, where the collection shelf is located. The duration of said rotary motion is determined in advance, in such a way as to allow exclusively the first item located in said spiral-shaped element to be released towards the collection shelf.

A second alternative type of handling unit comprises at least one conveyor belt for each lane. The items on sale are arranged on said conveyor belt and the advance of the latter causes the items to advance towards the front part of the automatic vending machine device. In this type of handling unit, said sectors are defined by partitions fixed to the conveyor belt at a predefined distance from one another. In practice, when the conveyor belt advances, the partition that is behind each item contributes to transporting the latter towards the front part of the automatic vending machine. Also in this case the advance movement of the conveyor belt is predefined, in such a way as to allow exclusively the first item located on the conveyor belt to be released onto the collection shelf.

However, both of said types of handling unit pose the drawback that they cannot effectively contain several types of items, even considerably different from one another in terms of shape, size and characteristics of the package. These types of handling unit, therefore, cannot fully meet the need for automatic vending machine that, given the same volume of the storage compartment, are capable of dispensing increasingly various types of items. Furthermore, to disadvantage, said handling units of the known art do not allow the automatic vending machine to be comfortably and rapidly adapted for the distribution of types of items that are different from those previously sold.

In particular, when spiral-shaped elements are used, it is not possible to arrange items of different types on the same lane, since the sectors defined therein inevitably have the same size. Furthermore, in order to be able to dispense different types of items located on the same lane at different moments, it is necessary to replace the spiral-shaped element with a second element that defines sectors having different widths.

Regarding, instead, the conveyor belts provided with said partitions, they do not allow the size of the sectors where the various items on sale are to be arranged to be changed in a comfortable and rapid manner, either, since said partitions are fixedly coupled with the conveyor belt.

Furthermore, this second type of handling unit poses the further drawback of being more complex to construct, since actuator means configured to set said conveyor belt moving are needed.

Regarding the third type of handling unit, it comprises a pushing element suited to push the line of items arranged in sequence from the back and so that they rest on one another within a single lane. Said pushing element is configured in such a way that it stops when the first item in the line has been released onto the collection shelf. This type of handling unit is not provided with partitions between an item and the immediately adjacent ones and therefore does not pose the drawbacks described above with reference to the other two types of handling units.

However, since the extension of the pushing element for the distribution of each individual item is not defined in advance, this last type of handling unit disadvantageously needs a detection system suited to detect the moment when the first item is released onto the collection shelf. The need for said detection system, therefore, increases the complexity of the handling unit and, furthermore, it is more difficult to adjust said system in order to prevent it from failing to dispense the selected item or from dispensing more than one item at the same time.

The present invention intends to overcome the drawbacks of the known art that have been described above.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a handling unit for the distribution of items to be sold through an automatic vending machine that makes it possible to accommodate different types of items at the same time and to dispense them, wherein said types of items differ from one another in terms of shape, size and type of package.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a handling unit that can be adapted for dispensing a wide range of different items in a more comfortable and rapid manner compared to the handling units of the known art. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a handling unit that makes it possible to simplify and reduce the operations necessary to modify the size of the sectors where the items to be dispensed need to be arranged. It is a further object of the invention to provide a handling unit that requires a smaller number of mechanical and electrical components compared to the handling units of the known art.

It is another, yet not the least object of the invention to provide a handling unit that is considerably more economic than the handling units belonging to the known art.

The objects mentioned above are achieved by the handling unit having the characteristics defined in the main claim.

Further characteristics of the handling unit that is the subject of the invention are described in the respective dependent claims.

The invention includes also the automatic vending machine for the distribution of items on sale according to claim 12.

The objects described above, together with the advantages that are illustrated below, are highlighted in the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention that is provided by way of non-limiting example with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

- Figures 1 a and 1 b show the side view and an axonometric view of the handling unit according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

- Figure 2 shows a detail of the automatic vending machine of the invention with the handling units of the invention according to the preferred embodiment shown in Figures 1 a and 1 b installed thereon;

- Figure 3 shows an axonometric view of a handling unit of the invention according to an alternative embodiment to the one shown in Figures 1 a and 1 b;

- Figure 4 shows the side view and an axonometric view of a partition element belonging to the handling unit of the invention;

- Figure 5 shows the automatic vending machine of the invention comprising the handling units of the invention according to the embodiment shown in Figure 3.

The handling unit of the invention according to a preferred embodiment is shown in Figures 1 a and 1 b, where it is indicated as a whole by 1 , in an isolated configuration, and then it is shown in Figure 2, installed in an automatic vending machine 100 for the distribution of items on sale.

According to said first preferred embodiment of the invention, the handling unit 1 comprises a conveyor belt 2 that is closed so as to form a ring. Said conveyor belt 2 is suited to support and transport the items on sale towards the collection shelf defined in the front part of an automatic vending machine. As an alternative, it cannot be excluded that in a different embodiment of the invention the handling unit 1 may comprise a plurality of said conveyor belts 2 arranged parallel to one another, as shown for example in Figure 3, where there are ten conveyor belts 2.

In any case, each conveyor belt 2 belonging to the handling unit 1 of the invention defines a lane on which it is possible to position in sequence a plurality of items to be put on sale.

The handling unit 1 of the invention comprises, furthermore, one or more partition elements 3 suited to be fixed along the external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2. As shown in Figure 4, each one of said partition elements 3 is provided with a base 31 , on a first side 31a of which two partitions 32 preferably but not necessarily develop in diverging directions in such a way as to define between them a housing 33 suited to accommodate one or more items on sale, as is clearly explained below.

It cannot be excluded, however, that in different embodiments of the invention said partition elements 3 may comprise a single partition or more than two partitions that develop in a substantially orthogonal direction with respect to said base 31.

According to the invention, the external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2 and the second side 31 b of the base 31 , opposite said first side 31a, of each one of the partition elements 3 are respectively made from a first material 4 and a second material 5, configured in such a way that they can be mutually coupled together in a rapid and reversible manner. In other words, the use of said first and second material 4 and 5 makes it possible to fix each one of the partition elements 3 to the external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2 in a rapid and reversible manner.

In this context, the expression "rapid coupling" means the coupling of two elements, in this case of two materials, without the aid of external tools. The expression "reversible coupling", instead, means the coupling of two elements or materials that can be separated with the same rapidity.

This characteristic advantageously makes it possible to comfortably and rapidly arrange a plurality of partition elements 3 on said conveyor belt 2 and to define, between each pair of adjacent partition elements 3, a sector 6 whose size is suitable for accommodating a specific item to be put on sale.

In particular, to advantage, the handling unit 1 of the invention makes it possible to define, on said conveyor belt 2, several sectors 6 having different sizes, in such a way as to accommodate items that have different shapes, sizes and types of package on the same conveyor belt 2, and therefore on the same lane of the automatic vending machine. Furthermore, thanks to the reversible nature of said coupling between the partition elements 3 and the conveyor belt 2, it is advantageously possible to rapidly modify the composition of the previously defined sectors 6, in such a way as to adapt the specific lane or the entire automatic vending machine to different sales needs.

Regarding said first and said second material 4 and 5, with which the external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2 and the second side 31 b of the base 31 of each partition element 3 are respectively made, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention they respectively comprise a strip of hairy fabric provided with the so-called "loops", and a strip of fabric provided with the so-called "hooks", which make up the material known as Velcro®.

Alternatively, in a different embodiment of the invention the first material 4 may be provided with the hooks and the second material 5 may be provided with the loops of the Velcro.

Furthermore, according to other embodiments of the invention, different types of materials may be used to make said external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2 and the second side 31 b of the base 31 , provided that said materials are configured in such a way that they can be coupled together and, therefore, so as to allow each one of the supporting elements 3 and the conveyor belt 2 to be fixed together in a rapid and reversible manner.

For example, said first material 4 and said second material 5 may respectively comprise a magnetic material, like for example a permanent magnet, and a ferromagnetic material.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, as shown in Figures 1 a and 1 b, the handling unit 1 furthermore comprises a supporting plate 7 around which the conveyor belt 2 is wound so as to form a ring. Said supporting plate, in particular, has its two opposite ends 71 and 72, on which the conveyor belt 2 is wound as a ring, in a substantially rounded shape.

This characteristic advantageously allows the conveyor belt 2 to slide around said supporting plate 7 with no need to provide or use more complex moving mechanisms.

Preferably but not necessarily, the supporting plate 7 is made in a single piece, with its two ends 71 and 72 folded in such a way as to define said rounded shape.

In different embodiments of the handling unit 1 of the invention, said supporting plate 7 may comprise two rollers that are revolvingly hinged at the level of said ends 71 and 72. Even adopting said solution, in fact, the two ends 71 and 72 assume said rounded shape. In particular, this last alternative embodiment allows the conveyor belt 2 to rotate together with the rollers, thus reducing the friction that is inevitably generated between the same conveyor belt 2 and the supporting plate 7 according to the preferred embodiment just described above.

Furthermore, as can be observed in Figure 2, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention the supporting plate 7 is configured so that it can be rested on and fixed in a stable manner to one of the shelves 101 of the automatic vending machine 100. In particular, for this purpose, it is provided, at the level of its underside 73, with first coupling means 74 that are clearly shown in Figures 1 a and 1 b and are suited to cooperate with second coupling means 102 provided on said shelf 101 , in such a way as to guarantee that they can be coupled together in a stable manner.

Said first coupling means 74 advantageously make it possible to simply and rapidly release the handling unit 1 of the invention from the automatic vending machine 100.

It cannot be excluded, however, that in a different embodiment of the invention, as shown in Figure 3, the supporting plate 7 corresponds to one of the shelves 101 of the automatic vending machine 100. In this case the handling unit 1 of the invention comprises several conveyor belts 2 arranged as a closed ring around said shelf 101 /supporting plate 7 and positioned so that they are parallel to one another, as shown in Figure 3.

Among the other things, it is important to underline that the solution with the supporting plate 7 with rounded ends 71 and 72, in any of the embodiments described above, could be claimed per se, with no need for the handling unit 1 to be provided with said partition elements 3 and with no need to make the external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2 using the first material 4. In fact, said last solution alone makes it possible to obtain an extremely economic handling unit 1 , in any case comprising a conveyor belt 2 capable of sliding on the supporting plate 7. According to the preferred embodiment described herein, the handling unit 1 that is the subject of the invention furthermore comprises operating means 8 configured in such a way as to move said conveyor belt 2 in order to dispense the item selected by the user. In particular, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention, said operating means 8 are provided with a powered wheel 81 whose perimeter surface 81a is made from said second material 5. Regarding the preferred embodiment, said second material 5 corresponds to said hooks of the Velcro, which can be coupled in a rapid and reversible manner with the first material 4, in particular the loops, from which the external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2 is made. In fact, said powered wheel 81 is configured in such a way that it rests on the external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2 belonging to the same handling unit 1 , at least when the user selects an item located on the conveyor belt 2.

As the external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2 and the perimeter surface 81a of the powered wheel 81 are respectively made from said first and said second material 4 and 5, the rotation of the powered wheel 81 resting on the same conveyor belt 2 causes the latter to move, with very limited dispersion of the moment of the force generated by it.

In the case where the handling unit 1 , according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, should comprise more than one conveyor belt 2, this may be provided with a single powered wheel 81 configured so as to be moved at the level of the specific conveyor belt 2 on which the item to be dispensed is located.

Alternatively, it cannot be excluded that the handling unit 1 of the invention, provided with a plurality of conveyor belts 2, may comprise a powered wheel

81 for each one of said conveyor belts 2. In this case, once a user has selected an item on sale, only the powered wheel 81 arranged at the level of the conveyor belt 2 on which said item is located is operated.

Furthermore, it cannot be excluded, however, that in different embodiments of the handling unit 1 of the invention said operating means 8 can be different from said powered wheel 81 , provided that they can transfer a rotary motion to the conveyor belt 2.

In addition to the above, in further alternative embodiments of the invention, it cannot be excluded that the handling unit 1 of the invention may not be provided with said operating means 8. In fact, these may belong to the automatic vending machine 100. In particular, said vending machine 100 is configured in such a way as to position, with a movement along the horizontal and/or vertical axis, said operating means at the level of the conveyor belt 2 of the handling unit 1 of the invention where the item to be dispensed is located. Finally, also in this case it is important to highlight that said solution including the powered wheel 81 , together with the presence of the supporting plate 7 with rounded ends 71 and 72 on which the conveyor belt 2 is wound as a closed ring, may be claimed per se, with no need for the handling unit 1 of the invention to be provided with said partition elements 3. Clearly, it is important that the external surface 21 of the conveyor belt 2 be made using said first material 4, suited to be coupled in a rapid and reversible manner with said second material 5 from which the perimeter surface 81a of the same powered wheel 81 is made.

As mentioned above, the invention includes also the automatic vending machine 100, shown as a whole in Figure 5, for the distribution of items on sale, of the type comprising one or more handling units 1 of the invention, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention or according to any of the variant embodiments just described above.

In practice, the operator who has to load the items to be sold through the automatic vending machine 100 of the invention evaluates, for each one of the handling units 1 of the invention, in particular for each conveyor belt 2, what type of items can be arranged therein. Based on said evaluation, for each one of the conveyor belts 2 present in the vending machine 100, the same operator positions or modifies the position of said partition elements 3, in such a way as to define for each pair of adjacent partition elements 3 a sector 6 suited to accommodate that specific type of item. As an alternative, in the case where the items to be placed on the conveyor belt 2 are rather thin, for example in the case of freeze-dried soup packets, they can be introduced in the housing 33 defined in each partition element 3 between the two diverging partitions 32, according to the preferred embodiment described above. In this case, the various partition elements 3 can be coupled with the conveyor belt 2 one after the other, with no solution of continuity.

As already explained, at the moment when the items located on a specific conveyor belt 2 run out, if the operator needs to change the type of item to put on sale, he/she can rapidly modify the position of the partition elements 3 on the same conveyor belt 2, in such a way as to define sectors 6 suited to accommodate this new type of items.

Furthermore, at the moment when it is necessary to vary the number of lanes on a shelf 101 of the automatic vending machine 100, and thus the number of conveyor belts 2, the operator, in the case of the handling unit 1 according to the preferred embodiment shown in Figures 1 a and 1 b, may simply remove or add from/to the shelf 101 one or more of said handling units 1.

Alternatively, in the case where the handling unit 1 corresponds to the one of the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the operator can simply change the position of the conveyor belts 2 along the direction defined by said ends 71 and 72 and, when needed, can add one or more conveyor belts 2 making them adhere to said supporting plate 7, or can remove one or more conveyor belts 2 withdrawing them from the same supporting plate 7.

According to the above, it can thus be understood that the handling unit and the automatic vending machine of the invention achieve all of the set objects. In particular, the invention achieves the object to provide a handling unit for the distribution of items to be sold through an automatic vending machine that makes it possible to accommodate and dispense different types of items that differ from one another in terms of shape, size and type of package.

The invention also achieves the object to provide a handling unit that can be adapted for the distribution of a wide range of different items in a more comfortable and rapid manner compared to the handling units of the known art. In particular, the invention achieves the object to provide a handling unit that makes it possible to simplify and reduce the operations necessary to modify the size of the sectors where the items to be dispensed need to be placed.

The invention also achieves the object to provide a handling unit that requires a smaller number of mechanical and electrical components compared to the handling units of the known art.

Finally, the invention also achieves the object to provide a handling unit that is considerably more economic than the handling units belonging to the known art.

Claims

1 ) Handling unit (1 ) suited to be installed in an automatic vending machine (100) for the distribution of items on sale, of the type comprising:

- at least one conveyor belt (2) closed so as to form a ring and suited to support said items and transport them towards a collection shelf defined in said automatic vending machine (100);

- one or more partition elements (3) suited to be fixed along the external surface (21 ) of said conveyor belt (2), each one of said partition elements (3) comprising a base (31 ) with at least one partition (32) developing on a first side (31 a) thereof,

characterized in that said external surface (21 ) of said conveyor belt (2) and the second side (31 b) of said base (31 ), opposite said first side (31 a), of each one of said partition elements (3) are respectively made from a first material (4) and a second material (5) configured in such a way as to allow said materials to be mutually coupled together in a rapid and reversible manner and to allow each one of said partition elements (3) and said conveyor belt (2) to be fixed together in a rapid and reversible manner.

2) Handling unit (1 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that it comprises a supporting plate (7) around which said conveyor belt (2) is wound as a ring, the two opposite ends (71 , 72) of said supporting plate (7) being substantially rounded in shape.

3) Handling unit (1 ) according to claim 2, characterized in that said supporting plate (7) is made in a single piece with said two ends (71 , 72) folded in such a way as to assume said rounded shape.

4) Handling unit (1 ) according to claim 2, characterized in that said supporting plate (7) comprises two rollers that are revolvingly hinged at the level of said two ends (71 , 72).

5) Handling unit (1 ) according to any of the claims from 2 to 4, characterized in that said supporting plate (7) is configured so that it can be rested on and fixed to one of the shelves of said automatic vending machine (100).

6) Handling unit (1 ) according to any of the claims from 2 to 4, characterized in that said supporting plate (7) corresponds to one of the shelves (101 ) of said automatic vending machine (100).

7) Handling unit (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first and said second material (4, 5) constitute the loops and the hooks of the Velcro.

8) Handling unit (1 ) according to claim 7, characterized in that said first material (4) constitutes the loops of the Velcro and said second material (5) constitutes the hooks of the Velcro.

9) Handling unit (1 ) according to claim 7, characterized in that said first material (4) constitutes the hooks of the Velcro and said second material (5) constitutes the loops of the Velcro.

10) Handling unit (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that each one of said partition elements (3) comprises two walls (32) that develop diverging from said first side (31 a) of said base (31 ) in such a way as to define between them a housing (33) suited to accommodate one or more of said items.

1 1 ) Handling unit (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises operating means (8) provided with a powered wheel (81 ) the perimeter surface (81 a) of which is made from said second material (5), said powered wheel (81 ) being configured so that it can be rested on said conveyor belt (2) and set it moving.

12) Automatic vending machine (100) for the distribution of items on sale, characterized in that it comprises one or more handling units (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims.