JP3051848B2 - Vending machine product unloading device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine product discharge device for sequentially discharging a substantially cylindrical product such as a can or a bottle from a column.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 8, conventionally, cans K are provided in a lower part of a column for stacking and storing cans K in a rolling state.
Are sequentially provided.

In this apparatus, reference numeral 112 denotes a support piece projecting into the column, which supports the can K located at the lowest stage of the column.

[0004] Reference numeral 114 denotes a temporary fixing piece which protrudes into the column in the sales state and supports the can K located at the second stage from the bottom of the column.

[0005] Reference numeral 116 denotes a solenoid that moves in response to a sales command signal, and a plunger 118 protrudes from the solenoid 116. This plunger 118
Is attached to the support piece 112.

Reference numeral 120 denotes a spring for urging the tip of the support piece 112 to rotate upward.

In the operation state of the product unloading device 110, in the sales standby state, the support piece 112 projects to support the lowermost can K, and the sales command signal is transmitted to the solenoid 116.
The plunger 118 rises and the support piece 1
12 is retracted out of the column, and
Into the column. By this, the bottom can K
Falls into a transport path leading to a take-out port provided on the front face of the vending machine, and the second-stage can K is held by the temporary fixing piece 114. When the lowermost can K is completely dropped, the supporting piece 112 projects again by the urging force of the spring 120, the temporary fixing piece 114 is retracted outside the column, and the can K supported by the temporary fixing piece 114 is supported. It falls on the piece 112.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned article unloading device 11
At 0, since the support piece 112 is directly connected to the plunger 118 of the solenoid 116, the suction force of the solenoid 116 is transmitted to the support piece 112 as it is.
Therefore, the strength of the suction force of the solenoid 116 must be at least sufficient to move the support piece 112. Therefore, the output of the solenoid 116 cannot be reduced or downsized. It was difficult to downsize the whole.

Further, since the spring 120 for returning the support piece 112 is provided below the support piece 112, a space for mounting the spring 120 is required below the support piece 112. There was also a problem that the device became large by the amount.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a vending machine product discharge device capable of reducing the size and output of a solenoid.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic vending machine having an automatic vending machine provided at a lower end of a column for stacking and storing substantially cylindrical products such as cans and bottles. A support piece that protrudes into the product carry-out path and supports the lowermost product of the column, and is provided above the support piece, and is in a sale standby state. A temporary fixing piece retracted to the outside of the product carry-out path, a driving unit having a driving unit that rises when a product sales command signal is input, and a rotatable arrangement centered on a fulcrum, one end of which is connected to the driving unit. And a connecting member having one end connected to a portion other than the fulcrum of the lever and the other end connected to either the support piece or the temporary fixing piece, and in the selling state, the drive The drive of the member rises By rotating the lever, together with the connecting member is raised or lowered, the support piece is retracted out of the commodity discharge path, the lowermost commodity is dropped, and the temporary fixing piece is moved into the commodity discharge path. Protruding from the bottom 2
This is to support the products on the stage.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine, comprising:
3. The device according to claim 2, wherein a fulcrum is provided at the other end of the lever, and one end of the connecting member is connected between both ends of the lever.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine product carrying device,
3. The device according to claim 2, wherein a fulcrum is provided at a position other than both ends of the lever, and one end of the connecting member is connected between the one end of the lever and the fulcrum.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine, comprising:
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a lower end portion of the main body of the commodity discharging device that rotatably supports the support piece and the temporary fixing piece is provided above a lower end portion of the support piece.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vending machine, comprising:
2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a connecting position of one end of the connecting member in the lever is variable.

[0016]

A description will be given of an operation state of the commodity discharging device of the vending machine according to the first embodiment.

In the sales standby state, the support pieces protrude into the commodity carry-out path and support the commodity at the bottom of the column. In addition, the temporary fixing pieces are retracted outside the commodity carry-out path.

In this state, when a product sales command signal is input to the driving means, the driving section moves up. Then, the lever connected to the drive section of the drive member rotates about the fulcrum, and the connection member moves up or down according to the leverage principle. When the connecting member is raised or lowered, the support pieces are retracted out of the product carry-out path to drop the lowest product, and the temporary fixing pieces project into the product carry-out path to support the second product from the lowest level. .

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the fulcrum is provided at the other end of the lever, and one end of the connecting member is connected between both ends of the lever. When the member is raised or lowered by the drive unit, one end of the connecting member is raised or lowered about the fulcrum at the other end.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the driving portion of the driving member connected to one end of the lever rises, the lever rotates about a fulcrum provided at a position other than both ends of the lever. Then, the connecting member moves up or down accordingly.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the lower end portion of the main body of the commodity discharging device that rotatably supports the supporting piece and the temporary fixing piece is provided above the lower end portion of the supporting piece. Therefore, the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the connecting position of one end of the connecting member of the lever is variable, the connecting position of one end of the connecting member of the lever can be changed according to the weight of the product supported by the support piece.
By changing the connection position, the force applied to the driving means can be adjusted.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a delivery plate provided at a position opposite to the commodity discharging device 10. The space between the delivery plate 12 and the product unloading device 10 is a product unloading path for unloading the can K.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a main body of the commodity unloading device 10, and a rectangular opening 16 is opened below the front wall 17 which is a rectangular metal plate, and both edges are bent rearward. Side walls 18 are provided.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a plate-like support piece disposed below the opening 16. The support piece 20 is provided on both side walls 18,
1 and 2 so as to be rotatable by a rotary shaft 22 provided between the support pieces 2.
The front end of 0 protrudes into the product carrying path.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a temporary fixing piece disposed above the supporting piece 20, which is rotatably provided by a rotary shaft 26 provided between the side walls 18, 18. The front end of the temporary fixing piece 24 is in the state shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
Protrudes into the product exit path. In addition, the first protrusion 28 protrudes from the rear end of the temporary fixing piece 24, and presses the rear upper surface of the support piece 20 in the state of FIGS. Further, a second protrusion 30 is provided on the upper surface of the temporary fixing piece 24.

Reference numeral 32 denotes a solenoid provided on the upper left side of the rear surface of the front wall 17 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).
When a sales command signal is input to the solenoid 32, the plunger 34 is raised.

Reference numeral 36 denotes a thin plate-like lever. A fulcrum 38 is provided at the right end of the lever 36, and the left end is rotatably connected to the lower end of the plunger 34.
In the vicinity of the right end of the lever 36, an operation projecting portion 40 projecting downward is provided.

Reference numeral 42 denotes a connecting member for connecting the working protrusion 40 and the second protrusion 28 of the temporary fixing piece 24.

Reference numeral 44 denotes a coil-shaped spring provided between the lower end of the main body 14 and the second projection 30 of the temporary fixing piece 24. The spring 44 urges the second protrusion 30 downward.

The operation of the commodity carrying out device 10 having the above configuration will be described.

In the sales standby state, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the second projection 30 of the temporary fixing piece 24 is urged downward by the spring 44, and the temporary fixing piece 24 stands upright. . In this case, the first protrusion 28 of the temporary fixing piece 24
However, since the support piece 20 presses the rear upper surface of the support piece 20, the support piece 20 is held in a state of protruding into the product carry-out path.
Thereby, the lowermost can K placed on the upper surface of the front part of the support piece 20 is held in the product carrying path without falling.

When a sales command signal is input to the solenoid 32 in the above state, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the plunger 34 is sucked upward, and the lever 36 rotates about the fulcrum 38, and the principle of leverage As a result, the operation protrusion 40 moves upward. As a result, the connecting member 42 also moves upward, and rotates in the direction in which the temporary fixing piece 24 protrudes into the product carrying path. In addition, since the first protrusion 28 is retracted to the right in FIG. 3, it no longer presses the rear upper surface of the support piece 20. Thus, the front end of the support piece 20 that has lost support of the temporary fixing piece 24 by the first protrusion 28 rotates downward, and the lowermost can K supported by the support piece 20 falls. On the other hand, the second-stage can K is supported between the front end of the temporary fixing piece 24 protruding into the product carry-out path and the delivery plate 12, and is prevented from falling.

When the input of the sales command signal is completed and the suction force of the solenoid 32 is removed, the second protruding portion 30 moves downward by the force of the spring 44, and the temporary fixing piece 24 retreats from the product carry-out path. On the other hand, the rear end of the support piece 20 is pressed by the first protrusion 28 of the temporary fixing piece 24 and rotates clockwise, and the front end of the support piece 20 projects again into the product carrying path. for that reason,
The second stage can K that has lost the support of the temporary fixing pieces 24 is the supporting piece 2
Fall on zero.

As described above, the temporary fixing piece 24 and the supporting piece 2
The movement of the solenoid 32 is transmitted via the lever 36 instead of transmitting the movement of the plunger 34 of the solenoid 32 as it is.
Thus, even if the suction force of the solenoid 32 is weakened, the support piece 20 and the temporary fixing piece 24 can be operated as in the conventional case. Therefore, the size of the solenoid 32 can be reduced, and the size of the product discharging device 10 can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 5, the front walls 17 of the solenoids 32, 32 of the two back-to-back product discharge devices 10, 10, which are provided in two adjacent columns, respectively.
By reversing the attachment position to the left and right, the two commodity carrying-out devices 10, 10 can be attached to each other close to each other. Thereby, the distance between the columns can be reduced, and the vending machine can be made thinner.

A product discharging device 80 according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the structure of the lever 36.

That is, in this embodiment, the lever 3
6, a plunger 34 is attached to the left end, and a spring 46 is provided at the right end. The fulcrum 38 is provided at a position between the left and right ends. Further, the operation protrusion 40 is provided between the fulcrum 38 and the left end.

Even in the commodity discharging device 80, the suction force of the solenoid 32 can be amplified by the lever 36 and transmitted to the temporary fixing piece 24.

A product discharge device 90 according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

This embodiment is a modification of the second embodiment, and differs from the second embodiment in that the height of the front wall 17 is reduced.

That is, in this case, as in the second embodiment, the spring 46 is provided between the right end of the lever 36 and the upper part of the front wall 17 as in the second embodiment. Need not be provided at the lower end of the front wall 17. Therefore, the lower end of the front wall 17 is omitted, and the overall size is reduced.

Product delivery device 1 according to the above three embodiments
At 0, 80, and 90, when the attachment position of the operation protrusion 40 on the lever 36 can be freely changed, the force transmitted from the solenoid 32 to the temporary fixing piece 24 can be changed. For example, when a heavy product is stored and the supporting force of the temporary fixing piece 24 is desired to be increased, the operation protrusion 40 may be provided at a position close to the fulcrum 38. In this case, since the suction force of the solenoid 32 is changed as in the related art, it is not necessary to replace the solenoid.

Although the connecting member 42 is connected to the temporary fixing piece 24 in the above embodiment, the connecting member 42 may be connected to the supporting piece 20 instead.

[0047]

According to the merchandise unloading device of the vending machine of the first aspect of the present invention, the force of the driving means is transmitted to the supporting piece and the temporary fixing piece using the lever. Power can be amplified and transmitted.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by providing a fulcrum at the other end of the lever, the force of the driving means can be amplified and transmitted to the support piece and the temporary fixing piece by the lever principle. Can be.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the fulcrum is provided at a position other than both ends of the lever, and one end of the connecting member is connected between one end of the lever and the fulcrum. According to the principle of leverage, the power of the driving means can be amplified and transmitted to the support piece and the temporary fixing piece.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the lower end of the main body is provided above the lower end of the support piece, the size of the main body can be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the connecting position of one end of the connecting member in the lever is made variable, the position can be changed according to the required force of the supporting piece. According to the principle of leverage, various products can be supported without changing the power of the driving means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a product unloading device according to a first embodiment in a sales standby state.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the product unloading device in a sales standby state.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the product unloading device in a sales state.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the product unloading device in a sales state.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state in which two product carrying devices are combined.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the product unloading device of the second embodiment in a sales standby state.

FIG. 7 is a rear view of the product unloading device according to the third embodiment in a sales state.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional product unloading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Commodity carry-out apparatus 12 Delivery plate 14 Main body 16 Opening 18 Side wall 20 Support piece 22 Rotating shaft 24 Temporary fixing piece 26 Rotating shaft 28 First protruding part 30 Second protruding part 32 Solenoid 34 Plunger 36 Lever 38 Support point 40 Working protruding part 42 connecting member 44 spring

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vending machine product delivery device provided at a lower end of a column for storing substantially cylindrical products such as cans and bottles in a stacked manner, wherein the product delivery device is in a product delivery path in a standby state for sale. A support piece that protrudes and supports the lowermost product of the column; a temporary fixing piece that is provided above the support piece and that retreats outside the product carry-out path in a standby state for selling; and a product sales command signal is input. Then, a driving means having a driving portion that rises, a lever rotatably arranged around a fulcrum, one end of which is connected to the driving portion, and one end connected to a portion of the lever other than the fulcrum, The end comprises a connecting member connected to either the supporting piece or the temporary fixing piece, and in a sales state, a driving portion of the driving member rises to rotate the lever, and together with the connecting member, Rises Alternatively, the support piece is lowered and retracted out of the commodity discharge path to drop the lowermost commodity, and the temporary fixing piece is projected into the commodity discharge path to support the second commodity from the bottom. An unloading device for a vending machine. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fulcrum is provided at the other end of the lever, and one end of the connecting member is connected between both ends of the lever. 3. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a fulcrum is provided at a position other than both ends of said lever, and one end of said connecting member is connected between said one end of said lever and said fulcrum. Product unloading device. 4. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the lower end of the main body of the commodity discharging device that rotatably supports the support piece and the temporary fixing piece is provided above the lower end of the support piece. Product unloading device. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a connecting position of said one end of said connecting member in said lever is made variable.