JPH10214378A - Commodity discharging device for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity discharging device for vending machine which surely discharges commodities one by one even at the time of storing long commodities. SOLUTION: A commodity discharging device 1 for vending machine is provided with a pair of passage walls 4 and 5 which are provided under a commodity rack 2 and constitute a commodity passage 3, first and second support shafts G1 and G2 stretched over the passage wall 4 in the horizontal direction, a support member 11 which is fixed to the passage wall 4 and controls bend of support shafts G1 and G2, upper and lower dam plates 6 and 7 which are freely turnably attached to support shafts G1 and G2 respectively and can be turned between projection position where they project to the commodity passage 3 and retreat positions where they retreat from the commodity passage 3, and a driving means which holds upper and lower dam plates 6 and 7 in the retreat position and the projection position respectively to make the lower dam plate 7 detain a commodity S1 for sale in the lowest position at the time of waiting for sale of the commodity S and turns the upper dam plate 6 to the projection position to detain a next commodity S2 in the second lowest position and turns the lower dam plate 7 to the retreat position to discharge the commodity S1 for sale at the time of selling the commodity S.

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 dispensing apparatus which is provided at the lower part of a product rack of a vending machine for selling products such as canned beverages and bottled beverages and pays out products one by one at the time of sale. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 1 and 7 show, for example, a conventional product dispensing apparatus of this type. The commodity dispensing apparatus 1 is provided at a lower portion of a commodity rack 2 and defines a chassis 4 and a movable plate 5 defining a commodity passage 3 therebetween, an upper weir plate 6 rotatably attached to the chassis 4 and A lower dam plate 7 and a drive mechanism (not shown) for driving these upper and lower dam plates 6 and 7 are provided.
The product S is stored in a state of lying down inside.

The chassis 4 has a flat passage wall surface, and as shown in FIG. 1, two chassis are provided in a back-to-back state as a set, and are arranged so as to face the left and right commodity passages 3, respectively. . The upper dam plate 6 and the lower dam plate 7 are
As shown in FIG. 7, the first support shaft G1 and the second support shaft G2, which extend horizontally to the chassis 4, are rotatably attached to the first support shaft G1 and the second support shaft G2, respectively. It is driven between the state and the selling operation state shown in FIG.

In the sales standby state shown in FIG.
The upper weir plate 6 is held at the retracted position, and the lower weir plate 7 is held at the protruding position by a driving mechanism. The lower weir plate 7 locks the lowest sales product S1 from below, and the sales product S1 is held. The entire product S including the product is prevented from falling. When selling product S,
When the driving mechanism is operated, the upper weir plate 6 rotates to the projecting position from the selling standby state, and locks the second selling product S2 from the bottom from the lower side, thereby preventing its falling. When the lower weir plate 7 is rotated to the retracted position by the weight of the sale product S1, the sale product S1 falls and is paid out (FIG. 1B). Subsequently, the upper weir plate 6 is returned to the retracted position and the lower weir plate 7 is returned to the protruding position, respectively.
2 is locked to the lower weir plate 7 as the next product to be sold S1, and returns to the sales standby state. By the above operation, the goods S in the goods passage 3 are paid out one by one.

[0005]

In the conventional product dispensing apparatus 1 described above, when storing a long product S in the product passage 3, it is necessary to increase the lateral width of the upper dam plate 6 and the lower dam plate 7. is there. In this case, the deflection of the first support shaft G1 of the upper weir plate 6 and / or the second support shaft G2 of the lower weir plate 7 may increase during operation due to the weight of the stacked products S. Therefore, there is a drawback that the dispensing becomes impossible at the time of the dispensing operation of the commodities, or that two commodities are paid out.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2B, for example, when the upper weir plate 6 locks the next sale product S2 during the selling operation, the contact point between the upper weir plate 6 and the next sale product S2 is established. However, a relationship located on or near a line connecting the center O of the next-sell product S2 and the center of the first support shaft G1 is preferable in order to perform a normal product S payout operation. However, when the first support shaft G1 and / or the second support shaft G2 is largely bent as described above, this positional relationship is broken, and the contact point is shifted upward or downward from the line. For example, if the contact point shifts downward, the upper weir plate 6 exceeds the dead point when returning and rotating to the retreat position, so that the product S must be lifted. For this reason, the upper weir plate 6 may not be able to rotate to the retreat position, and the payout of the product S may not be possible. Conversely, when the product S2 is shifted upward, the next sale product S2 is not locked to the lower weir plate 7 and is erroneously paid out together with the sale product S1, which may result in two payouts. . further,
Since the two chassis 4 are arranged back to back, if the first support shaft G1 and / or the second support shaft G2 of one chassis 4 bends, it interferes with the other chassis 4 side. Also, the merchandise delivery operation may be affected by the merchandise passage 3 on the other chassis 4 side.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and a product dispensing apparatus for a vending machine capable of reliably dispensing products one by one even when long products are stored. It is intended to provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, a commodity dispensing apparatus of a vending machine according to the present invention is provided with a pair of passage walls provided at a lower part of a commodity rack so as to face each other and constituting a commodity passage. A first support shaft and a second support shaft, each of which extends horizontally in one of the passage walls, and a first support shaft and a second support shaft which are fixed to one of the passage walls and support the first support shaft and the second support shaft; And a first support shaft and a second support shaft, each of which is rotatably mounted on the first support shaft and the second support shaft, and each of which is rotatable between a protruding position protruding into the product passage and a retreat position retreating from the product passage. The upper and lower weir plates and when waiting for product sales,
By holding the upper weir plate at the evacuation position and the lower weir plate at the protruding position, the lowermost sales product is locked to the lower weir plate,
When selling the product, the upper weir plate is rotated to the protruding position to lock the second next sale product from the bottom, and the lower weir plate is rotated to the retracted position to drive out the sold product. Means.

According to the commodity dispensing apparatus, when the commodity is on standby for sale, the driving means holds the upper weir plate at the retracted position and the lower weir plate at the protruding position, so that the lower weir plate is at the lowest position. When the product is locked, when the product is sold, the upper weir plate is rotated to the projecting position to lock the second next-selling product from the bottom, and the lower weir plate is rotated to the retracted position. , Pay out the goods for sale. At this time, the upper weir plate and the lower weir plate are rotatably supported by a first support shaft and a second support shaft, respectively, and the first support shaft and the second support shaft are supported by a support member. Since the bending is restricted, the bending due to the weight of the product is prevented, so that the upper dam plate and the lower dam plate are always maintained at the predetermined height position. As a result, even when a long product is stored, the positional relationship between the product and the upper weir plate does not deviate, so that the upper weir plate can securely lock the second next product from the bottom during the dispensing operation. In addition, it is possible to reliably return to the retracted position. Therefore, even if a long product is stored, it is possible to pay out the products one by one without causing dispensation or dispensing two products. In addition, this allows products of various lengths to be stored and paid out in the product passage.

In the above, the support member extends in a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the first support shaft and the second support shaft, and the central portions of the first support shaft and the second support shaft rotate respectively. It is preferable to have two holes that fit as possible.

According to this commodity dispensing device, the central portions of the first and second support shafts fit into the two holes of the support member extending in a direction perpendicular to the first and second support shafts. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the first support shaft and the second support shaft from bending with a simple configuration.

[0012]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vending machine according to the present invention; In addition, the same reference numerals are used for components common to the above-described conventional product dispensing apparatus. The product dispensing device 1 is used for a vending machine that sells canned beverages, bottled beverages, and the like, and is provided below a product rack 2 of the vending machine, as shown in FIG. The merchandise rack 2 is configured to store a large number of the same type of merchandise S, which are horizontally input from a merchandise insertion opening (not shown), in the merchandise passage 3 in a vertically stacked state. Is to pay out the products S in the product passage 3 one by one from the lowest order.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the commodity dispensing apparatus 1 is provided on a chassis 4 and a movable plate 5 which are attached to a lower portion of a commodity rack 2 so as to face in the front-rear direction. Upper dam 6 and lower dam 7
And a drive rod 8 (drive means) for driving these upper and lower dam plates 6 and 7.

The chassis 4 constitutes one of the lowermost passage walls of the commodity passage 3, and the movable plate 5 constitutes the other passage wall. As shown in FIG. The product rack 2 is fixed at a predetermined height position in a back-to-back state. In addition, the movable plate 5
Can be fixed at two positions in the front-rear direction (the left-right direction in the figure), so that the width of the product passage 3 (the width in the left-right direction in the figure) formed between the chassis 4 and the chassis 4 can be reduced. And large-diameter products.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, the upper and lower dam plates 6 and 7 are respectively rotated by a first support shaft G1 and a second support shaft G2 which extend horizontally to the chassis 4. It is freely attached and is rotatable between a protruding position protruding into the product passage 3 and a retreat position retracting from the product passage. The drive rod 8 is engaged with or connected to the upper and lower dam plates 6 and 7 and has a coil spring 9.
(FIGS. 2 and 4) are always urged downward. A plunger 10a of a solenoid 10 is connected to the drive rod 8, and is driven upward by excitation of the solenoid 10. With the above configuration, the upper dam plate 6 and the lower dam plate 7 are rotated in conjunction with the drive rod 8 being driven up and down by excitation and non-excitation of the solenoid 10.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a support member 11 is fixed to the chassis 4 via two screws N. The support member 11 extends in a vertical direction, that is, a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the first support shaft G1 and the second support shaft G2, and has two holes 11a and 11b arranged vertically. And these holes 11a, 11a
The center portions of both support shafts G1 and G2 are fitted to b. These holes 11a and 11b are respectively
The support shafts G1 and G2 are formed to have a slightly larger inner diameter than the outer diameters of the support shafts G1 and G2 so that the support shafts G1 and G2 can be supported rotatably and without play. Since both support shafts G1 and G2 are supported by the support member 11 at the central position, the upper weir plate 6 and / or the lower weir are weighted by the goods S stacked in the goods passage 3. The plate 7 does not bend, and therefore, the distance and the positional relationship between the two support shafts G1 and G2 do not change.

Next, the basic dispensing operation of the commodity dispensing apparatus 1 thus configured will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 1A and FIG. 2A show a standby state for selling the commodity delivery apparatus 1. First, before the introduction of the product S, the solenoid 10 is in a non-excited state,
As a result, the drive rod 8 is located at the lowered position by the spring force of the coil spring 9, and the lowered drive rod 8 holds the upper dam plate 6 at the retracted position and the lower dam plate 7 at the projected position. ing. In this state, when a product S is inserted from a product insertion port (not shown), the first product S
Are locked by the lower weir plate 7 at the projecting position, and
It becomes 1. Similarly, the next product S overlaps the sales product S1 and becomes the next sales product S2. Hereinafter, the third and subsequent products S are sequentially stacked on the next sales product S2, and are in a sales standby state. At this time, a large downward load is applied to the lower weir plate 7 by stacking a large number of products S in the product passage 3, but as described above, the second support shaft G2
Is supported by the support member 11 at the center thereof, and thus does not bend, so that the subsequent payout operation can be performed without any trouble.

Next, when a sales command is issued from this sales standby state, the solenoid 10 is energized and driven by the plunger 10a of the solenoid 10,
The drive rod 8 moves up. In conjunction with this, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the upper weir plate 6 pivots to the projecting position to lock the next sale item S2 from below, thereby preventing the next sale item S2 from dropping and engaging with the drive rod 8. When the lower weir plate 7 having been released is rotated to the retracted position by the weight of the sold product S1, the sold product S1 falls and is paid out. At this time, since the first support shaft G1 and the second support shaft G2 are supported by the support members 11, they do not bend. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2B, the contact point of the upper weir plate 6 with the product S is located on or near a line connecting the center of the upper weir plate 6 and the center O of the product S. Since the next-sell product S2 can be locked with an appropriate positional relationship, the next-sell product S2 can be prevented from being erroneously dropped, and can be returned to the retracted position after the sale of the sale product S1. it can.

Subsequently, the solenoid 10 is de-energized at a predetermined timing. Accordingly, the spring force of the coil spring 9 causes the upper weir plate 6 to return to the retreat position and the lower weir plate 7 to return to the projecting position, respectively. Return to the sales standby state.

As described above, according to the commodity dispensing apparatus 1 of the present invention, both the support shafts G1 and G2 of the upper and lower dam plates 6 and 7 are rotatably supported by the support member 11 at the central positions thereof. Therefore, even when a long product S is stored in the product path 3, it does not bend. Thereby, the upper and lower weir plates 6,
Since 7 is always maintained at the predetermined height position, the commodity S can be reliably paid out one by one without occurrence of unpayable or double payout. In addition, since it becomes possible to store and pay out products S of various lengths in the product passage 3, the use of the product rack 2 is expanded, and convenience is improved.

[0021]

As described above, the commodity dispensing apparatus for a vending machine according to the present invention can surely dispose one commodity at a time even when long commodities are stored. Further, since it becomes possible to store and pay out products of various lengths in the product passage, convenience is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing (a) a standby state for sale and (b) a payout operation in a product rack equipped with a product payout device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a chassis of the commodity delivery device.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a chassis of the commodity delivery device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a chassis of the commodity delivery device.

FIG. 6 is a view taken in the direction of arrows AA in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a chassis of a conventional product delivery device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Commodity payout apparatus 2 Commodity rack 3 Commodity passage 4 Chassis (passage wall) 5 Movable plate (passage wall) 6 Upper dam plate 7 Lower dam plate 8 Drive rod (drive means) 11 Support member 11a Hole 11b Hole G1 First support shaft G2 2nd spindle S product S1 sale product S2 next sale product

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hideki Fujimoto 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Hidemitsu Masada 2-chome Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka No. 5 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pair of passage walls which are provided opposite to each other at a lower portion of a commodity rack and constitute a commodity passage, and a first support shaft and a second support shaft which are respectively passed horizontally to one of the passage walls. A support member fixed to the one of the passage walls, supporting the first support shaft and the second support shaft, and restricting bending of the both support shafts; and the first support shaft and the second support shaft An upper weir plate and a lower weir plate, each of which is rotatably attached to the product passage and which is rotatable between a projecting position protruding into the product passage and a retreat position retracting from the product passage; At the time, the lower weir plate is retained at the lower weir plate by holding the upper weir plate at the retracted position and the lower weir plate at the protruding position, respectively. Is rotated to the protruding position, so that the second Causes sealed, the article dispensing device for an automatic vending machine characterized in that it comprises a driving means for paid the commodities by rotating the lower dam to the retracted position. 2. The support member extends in a direction orthogonal to an extending direction of the first support shaft and the second support shaft, and has a central portion between the first support shaft and the second support shaft. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein each of the vending machines has two holes that are rotatably fitted.