JPH11161834A - Commodity storing device for automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic vending machine capable of surely holding a commodity to be vended next even when commodities stored in a stacked state are comparatively heavy. SOLUTION: A commodity storing device is provided with a commodity column 5 for storing plural stacked commodities S each of which has a circular cross-section, a discharging mechanism for discharging a commodity S1 to be vended at the time of vending, a driving shaft 14 for the discharging mechanism, 1st and 2nd gate plates 17, 16 arranged oppositely to the column 5 and allowed to be rotated around a horizontal axis between a retreated position and a projected position, a cam 19 driven by the shaft 14 and capable of rotating the 1st gate plate 17 to a projected position at the time of vending, and a link member 18 for rotating the 2nd gate plate 16 to the projected position while interlocking with the rotation of the 1st gate plate 17 to the projected position. Each of the gate plates 17, 16 has a circular arc-like notch 21 allowed to be abutted along the side face of the commodity S2 on the projected position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a merchandise storing apparatus for a vending machine of a type in which a large number of commodities such as cup ramen are stacked and stored in a vertical direction and the lowest commodities are paid out at the time of sale.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional product storage device of this type, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 53-148696 is known. As shown in FIG. 10, in the product storage device 51, two rectangular gate plates 53 and 54 are provided at the lower end of one wall 52 a of the product column 52. The upper ends of the gate plates 53 and 54 are rotatably attached to the product column 52, and are configured to be freely protruded and retracted in the product column 52. Also, the upper and lower gate plates 53,
The upper and lower cams 5 are provided on rollers 54 via rollers 55 and 55.
6, 57 are in contact with each other. The cams 56 and 57
The cam surfaces 56a and 57a are provided integrally with a common drive shaft 59 connected to the motor 58, and have a phase difference of 180 degrees from each other.

In the sales standby state shown in FIG. 1, the lower gate plate 54 is protruded into the product column 52 by being pressed by the cam surface 57a of the lower cam 57, and the lowest product (sales product) S1 is provided. The product S1 including the product for sale S1 is held by sandwiching the product for sale S1 between the front end thereof and the opposite wall 52b of the product column 52. On the other hand, at the time of sale, when the motor 58 is operated and the drive shaft 59 rotates by 180 degrees, the upper gate plate 53 is pressed by the cam surface 56a of the upper cam 56 and protrudes into the product column 52. Products (next sale)
S2 is sandwiched in the same manner as the upper gate plate 54 to hold the entire product S except for the sales product S1, and the lower gate plate 54 is retracted from the product column 52, so that the sales product S1 is removed from the product column 52. Pay out. Thereafter, when the drive shaft 59 is rotated again by 180 degrees, the product storage device 51 returns to the sales standby state in FIG.

[0004]

However, the product storage device 51 described above sandwiches the next sale product S2 between the upper gate plate 53 facing obliquely from above and the vertical opposing wall 52b of the product column 52. , Is configured to hold. For this reason, the next-sell product S2 cannot be supported in a well-balanced manner, and the next-sell product S2 tends to tilt toward the upper gate plate 53 side. In addition, since the upper gate plate 53 and the opposing wall 52b come into point contact with the next product S2, the frictional resistance is small, and it is difficult to obtain a large supporting force. As a result, when the weight of the product S is relatively large, or when the taper angle of the side surface of the product S is small, the upper gate plate 53 cannot fully withstand the weight of the product S, and the next sale product S2 becomes the upper gate plate 53. , And the opposing wall 52b easily slips through, and there is a possibility that two products S will be taken out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and even if the weight of stacked and stored products is relatively large or the side surface of the product has a small taper angle, the next sales product is provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product storage device of a vending machine which can reliably hold the product.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a vending machine product storage device of the present invention has a product path for stacking and storing a plurality of products having a circular cross section in a vertical direction, A product column having a payout port formed at the lower end of the product passage, and closing the payout port when waiting for sale to hold the product in the product column, and opening the payout port at the time of sale allows the lowest sales product to be opened. A dispensing mechanism for dispensing, a driving shaft for driving the dispensing mechanism, a retreat position provided at a height corresponding to a second next-sold product from the bottom of a product column, and retracted from a product passage; First and second gate plates rotatable around a horizontal axis between a protruding position protruding into the passage, and abutment against the first gate plate, driven by a drive shaft, and the first at the time of sale. Get A cam for rotating the gate plate to the projecting position, and a cam connected to the first and second gate plates, and rotating the second gate plate to the projecting position in conjunction with the rotation of the first gate plate to the projecting position. And a link member.
Is characterized in that each of the gate plates has an arc-shaped notch that can be brought into contact with the side surface of the next sale product at the protruding position.

According to the merchandise storage device of the vending machine,
At the time of standby for sales, since the payout mechanism closes the payout port of the product column, it holds a plurality of products having a circular cross section that are vertically stacked and stored in the product passage of the product column. On the other hand, when the product is sold, the cam rotates by driving the drive shaft to rotate the first gate plate to the projecting position, and in conjunction with this rotation, the link member moves the second gate plate to the projecting position. Rotate. The first and second gate plates pivoted to the protruding position support the next-sell product in a state where their arc-shaped notches abut along the side surface of the second-succeeding product from the bottom. In addition, the payout mechanism is operated by driving the drive shaft, and the payout port is opened, thereby paying out the lowest sales product from the product column.

As described above, in the product storage device of the present invention, the next sales product can be supported by the first and second gate plates from both sides with good balance. Also, in this state, the arc-shaped notches of the first and second gate plates come into line contact with the side surfaces of the next sale product, so that a large frictional resistance is obtained,
Greater supporting force can be secured. Therefore, even when the weight of the product is relatively large or the taper angle of the side surface is small, it is possible to surely hold the next-sell product and the higher-order product. Further, the first and second gate plates are linked by a link member so as to interlock with each other, and are driven by the drive shaft of the payout mechanism.
A common drive source is sufficient, and the number of drive sources can be reduced accordingly.

In this case, the link members are disposed at a distance from each other at a distance larger than the maximum diameter of the product, and a pair of link members having both ends connected to the first and second gate plates, respectively. It is preferable to be composed of

According to this structure, the article can pass between the pair of link members, and the two gate plates are connected by the pair of link members, so that both the gate plates can be smoothly linked with each other. The supporting force can be increased.

Further, in this case, the product column is provided at a position above the pair of link members so as to face each other at a smaller interval than the interval between the pair of link members, and guides the product between the pair of link members. It is preferable to have a pair of guide walls.

In this configuration, the product can be smoothly guided between the link members by the pair of guide wall portions without climbing or contacting the link members.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A merchandise storage device of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the vending machine 1 is for selling cup ramen as a product S, and includes a vending machine main body 3 accommodating a merchandise storage device 2 and a main door for opening and closing the front of the vending machine main body 3. 4 is provided.

The product storage device 2 according to the present invention comprises three product columns 5, 5, 5, which are arranged in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1) and store products S stacked vertically. 5 is held at the time of standby for sale, and at the same time, the payout mechanisms 6, 6 for paying out the lowest sales product S1 at the time of sale, and the products S other than the sales product S1 at the time of sale so as not to be paid out. Next-sell product holding mechanisms 7 and 7 are provided.

The product columns 5, 5, 5 are formed by integrally connecting three column bodies 5a, 5a, 5a extending vertically, and the right side surface (the front side in FIG. 1) of each column body 5a. The column door 5b is attached to the opening of the (surface). The product passage 8 is defined by the column body 5a and the column door 5b, and the same type of product S is stored in each product passage 8. Further, the lower end of the column body 5a is opened to form a payout port 5c.

The product column 5 includes a rail 9 and a roller 1.
0 (see FIG. 1), the main body 4 can be pulled out forward from the vending machine main body 3, and when loading the product S, the main door 4 is opened, and the product column 5 is integrally pulled out from the vending machine main body 3, As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the operation is performed in a state where the column door 5b is opened. Reference numeral 11 in FIGS. 2 and 3 denotes a stopper attached near the opening 5b of the column main body 5a. This stopper 11
It is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and has a locking portion 11a that projects obliquely inward. When the product S falls down to the front side to some extent, the locking portion 11a as shown in FIG. By locking the product S at 11a, it is possible to prevent the product S from collapsing during loading.

The dispensing mechanisms 6, 6 and the next-sale product holding mechanisms 7, 7 are provided in common for the two front product columns 5, 5 and independently for the rear product column 5, Each is provided. Since these payout mechanisms 6 and 6 and the next-sale product holding mechanisms 7 and 7 have the same basic configuration, the following description will be made by taking the front-side payout mechanism 6 and the next-sale product holding mechanism 7 as examples. It shall be.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the dispensing mechanism 6 includes opening / closing plates 12, 12 for opening and closing the payout ports 5c, 5c of the commodity columns 5, 5, respectively. The lock plate 13 is configured to be released. Each of the opening / closing plates 12 has a substantially rectangular shape (see FIG. 8 and the like), and has a rotating shaft 12 whose inner end extends horizontally in the left-right direction.
a, which is horizontally rotatable to the payout port 5c as shown in FIG. 5, and closes the payout port 5c to hold the product S. 5c
Is openable and can be rotated between an open position where the selling product S1 is paid out.

The locking plate 13 has a substantially semicircular shape (see FIG. 8 and the like), and is disposed below the two opening and closing plates 12 and 12. The locking plate 13 is fixed to the lower end of the drive shaft 14, and the drive shaft 14 vertically moves between the column bodies 5a, 5a of the two product columns 5, 5, as shown in FIG. And its upper end is connected to the drive motor 15. The drive motor 15 is connected to a control unit (not shown), and its operation is controlled by the control unit.
With this configuration, the locking plate 13 is driven to rotate integrally with the drive shaft 14 by the drive motor 15, so that the locking position (the position in FIG. 8) that locks and supports the two open / close plates 12, 12 simultaneously. , One of the product columns 5 from this locking position
It is rotatable 90 degrees to the side, and can be rotated between an unlocking position (the position in FIG. 9) for unlocking the other opening / closing plate 12.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the next-sale product holding mechanism 7 is connected to front and rear gate plates 16 and 17, which are rotatably provided on the product column 5, and to both gate plates 16 and 17, respectively. And a pair of left and right link members 1
8, 18 and the drive shaft 14, both gate plates 16,
17 and a cam 19 for driving the link members 18. The front and rear gate plates 16 and 17 and the link members 18 and 18 are provided on the product columns 5 and 5 respectively, and are arranged symmetrically about the cam 19. The configuration will be described by taking the provided one as an example.

The front and rear gate plates 16 and 17 are provided on the front and rear walls of the column main body 5a of the product column 5 at a height corresponding to the next sale product S2 and opposed to each other. At these positions on the front and rear walls of the column body 5a, openings 5d are formed, respectively, and the gate plate 1 is formed.
The upper ends of 6, 6 are rotatably attached to rotating shafts 16a, 17a extending horizontally in the left-right direction. With this configuration, the gate plates 16 and 17 have a retracted position (the position in FIG. 4) in which the lower end portions abut the lower edge of the opening 5 d and are retracted from the product passage 8, and a protruding position (the position protruded into the product passage 8). (Position in FIG. 5). The lower edge of the opening 5d of the column body 5a has a sloped guide surface that becomes wider as it goes upward, thereby smoothly guiding the product S downward. ing.

The gate plates 16 and 17 are formed with notches 21 each having a substantially semicircular arc shape having a predetermined radius. When the gate plates 16 and 17 are located at the protruding positions, these cutouts are formed. The notch 21 comes into contact with the side surface of the next-sell product S2, that is, in a line contact state.

The left and right link members 18, 18 have their rear ends at the left and right ends of the rear gate plate 17 via pins 22, and their front ends at the left and right ends of the front gate plate 16 via pins 23. , Are rotatably connected to each other. The distance D1 between the link members 18, 18 is set to be larger than the maximum diameter of the product S.
The product S can pass between the gate plates 16 and 17 and the link members 18.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, on the left and right walls of the column body 5a, guide walls 24, 24 narrowed inward are formed at positions above the link members 18, 18, respectively. Have been. The distance D2 between the guide walls 24 is set to be slightly smaller than the distance D1 between the link members 18 so that the product S can ride on or contact the link member 18. Instead, the guide is smoothly guided between the link members 18.

Both gate plates 16, 17 and link member 1
Cams 19 for driving the motors 8 and 18 are provided integrally with the drive shaft 14 and are always in contact with the rear gate plate 17. Also,
The cam 19 has a cam surface 19a as shown in FIGS.
When the rear gate plate 17 is pressed by the cam surface 19a, the rear gate plate 17 is rotated between the retracted position and the projected position.

Next, the operation of the product storage device 2 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 4, 6, and 8 show a state of the product storage device 2 at the time of selling standby. That is, in this sales standby state, the drive motor 15 is stopped and the drive shaft 14 is at the home position, so that the lock plate 13 of the payout mechanism 6 is held at the lock position. The two opening / closing plates 12 are provided with a locking plate 13.
The product S is held by being locked / supported in the closed position by the above. Also, the cam 1 of the next-sale product holding mechanism 7
9 is located at a neutral position where its cam surface 19a is not in contact with the rear gate plate 17, whereby the front and rear gate plates 16 and 17 are located at the retracted position and separated from the next sale product S2. I have.

When selling the product S stored in the front product column 5 from the selling standby state, for example, the drive motor 15 is operated under the control of a control unit (not shown), and the drive shaft 14 is moved to the position shown in FIG. , The locking plate 13 and the cam 19 integrated with the drive shaft 14 also rotate by the same angle in the same direction. With the rotation of the drive shaft 14, first,
When the cam surface 19a of the cam 19 presses the rear gate plate 17, the rear gate plate 17 is gradually rotated from the retracted position toward the projecting position. Also, the front gate plate 16 connected to the rear gate plate 17 via link members 18, 18.
Rotates from the retracted position to the protruding position in synchronization with and in synchronization with the rear gate plate 17. When the drive shaft 14 rotates by about 30 degrees, the front and rear gate plates 16 and 17 reach the protruding position, and the notches 21 and 21 are in contact with the side surface of the next sale product S2. It supports the next-sell product S2 and holds the next-sell product S2 and its higher-order products S (see FIG. 7).

Thereafter, when the drive shaft 14 is further rotated by about 30 degrees, the locking plate 13 reaches the unlocked position,
Deviate from 2. Then, the unlocked opening / closing plate 12 is released.
By rotating downward from the closed position to the open position due to the weight of the sold product S1, the sold product S1 is paid out from the product column 5 (see FIGS. 5 and 9). The drive shaft 14 is further rotated for about 30 degrees, and thus from the home position to an angle position of about 90 degrees in order to ensure the dispensing of the sale product S1, and then for a predetermined time,
Stopped. FIGS. 5 and 9 show this state.
As shown in FIG. 1, the paid-out sales product S1 falls on the chute 25, is guided to the sales port 26 along the chute 25, and is provided to the purchaser.

Thereafter, when the drive shaft 14 rotates in the opposite direction to the home position, the article storage device 2 returns to the sales standby state. That is, first, the locking plate 1
3 rotates to the locking position and pushes up the opening / closing plate 12 to return the opening / closing plate 12 to the closed position. Then, the cam surface 19a of the cam 19 separates from the rear gate plate 17 so that the front and rear gate plates 16 are moved. , 17 are pressed by the next sale product S2, and return to the retreat position, respectively. This allows
The holding of the next sale product S2 is released, and the whole product S including the next sale product S2 descends, is supported by the opening / closing plate 12 that has already returned to the closed position, and enters a sales standby state. In this case, the guide walls 24 provided above the link member 18 smoothly guide the product S downward between the link members 18 without climbing over or contacting the link member 18. Can be.

The case where the commodity S is paid out from the front commodity column 5 has been described above. However, as described above, the payout mechanism 6 and the next-sale commodity holding mechanism 7 connect the front and rear commodity columns 5, 5. Because it is arranged symmetrically in the front and back,
By rotating the drive shaft 14 in the opposite direction, the product S can be paid out from the rear product column 5 by the same operation.

As described above, in the product storage device 2 of the present invention, the next-sale product S2 can be supported by the front and rear gate plates 16 and 17 from both sides in a well-balanced manner. Further, in this state, the arc-shaped notches 21 and 21 come into line contact with the side surface of the next sale product S2, so that a large frictional resistance is obtained.
Greater supporting force can be secured. Therefore, even when the weight of the product S is relatively large or the taper angle of the side surface is small, it is possible to reliably hold the next-sell product S2 and the higher-order product S, thereby causing a problem such as taking out two products S. Can be reliably prevented.

The two gate plates 16 and 17 are linked by a pair of left and right link members 18 and 18 so as to be interlocked with each other, and can be driven by one common drive motor 15. Since the number of driving sources is thirteen, the number of driving sources can be reduced accordingly. Further, since the link members 18 are provided as a pair, the gate plates 16 and 17 can be smoothly interlocked and the supporting force thereof can be increased.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but can be implemented in various modes.
For example, although the embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a vending machine for cup ramen, the present invention can be widely applied to a product storage device of a type in which circular cross-sectional products are stacked and stored in the vertical direction. Can be. In the embodiment,
Although the link member that links the two gate plates is configured as a pair, it may be a single link member. Others
The configuration of the details can be appropriately changed within the spirit of the present invention.

[0034]

As described above, according to the merchandise storage device of the vending machine of the present invention, even when the weight of the stacked and stored merchandise is relatively large or the taper angle of the side surface of the merchandise is small, the following items can be obtained. This has the effect that the merchandise can be held securely.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a vending machine incorporating a product storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the product storage device in a state where products are being loaded.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the article storage device in a state where articles are almost completely loaded.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the product storage device in a sales standby state.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of the product storage device in a sales state.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the next-sale product holding mechanism in a sales standby state.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state of selling the next-sale product holding mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the product storage device in a sales standby state.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the product storage device in a sales state.

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of a conventional product storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine 2 Commodity storage apparatus 5 Commodity column 5c Payout port 6 Dispensing mechanism 8 Commodity passage 14 Drive shaft 16 Front gate plate 17 Rear gate plate 18 Link member 19 Cam 21 Notch 24 Guide wall portion D1 Distance between link members D2 Spacing between guide walls S Product S1 Sale product S2 Next sale product

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A product column having a product passage for stacking and storing a plurality of products having a circular cross section in the vertical direction, a product column having a payout port formed at a lower end of the product passage, and closing the payout port during standby for sales. A payout mechanism for holding the product in the product column and opening the payout port at the time of sale to pay out the lowest sales product; a drive shaft for driving the payout mechanism; It is provided opposite to each other at the height corresponding to the second following product from the bottom, and pivots around a horizontal axis between a retracted position retracted from the product passage and a projecting position projected into the product passage. First and second possible gate plates, a cam which abuts on the first gate plate, is driven by the drive shaft, and rotates the first gate plate to the projecting position at the time of sale; A link member connected to the first and second gate plates, the link member rotating the second gate plate to the protruding position in conjunction with the rotation of the first gate plate to the protruding position; The merchandise storage device for a vending machine, wherein the first and second gate plates each have an arc-shaped notch that can be abutted along a side surface of the next merchandise at the protruding position. 2. A pair of links, wherein the link members are arranged at a distance larger than the maximum diameter of the product between each other, and both end portions are respectively connected to the first and second gate plates. Characterized by being composed of members,
A vending machine product storage device according to claim 1. 3. The product column is provided at a position above the pair of link members so as to be opposed to each other at an interval smaller than the interval between the pair of link members. 3. The vending machine product storage device according to claim 2, further comprising a pair of guide walls for guiding the vending machine.