JP3468083B2 - vending machine - 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 for selling canned beverage products, paper pack beverage products, cup products, PET bottle products and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an automatic vending machine as described above, a column for storing products arranged in a row in front and back for each column is placed in a cabinet of a main body case having an outer door with a product outlet on the front,
BACKGROUND ART There is a known vending machine equipped with a product storage rack constructed by arranging it on the left and right sides and delivering one product from a column selected based on a sales command and dropping it to a product outlet below.

Further, in order to prevent the product discharged from the column of the product storage rack from being damaged by the landing impact when the product is dropped and carried out to the product outlet, a bucket is mounted in front of the product storage rack in combination with the product storage rack. X to move up and down, left and right
-A Y-transport mechanism is provided so that the product delivered from the column is transferred to the bucket that accessed the column, and then the XY transport mechanism is moved downward to deliver the product to the product outlet in a soft handling manner. The vending machine that has been developed has been developed and commercialized.

[0004]

As described above, the product is transferred from the product storage rack to the bucket, moved to the position of the product outlet by the XY transport mechanism, and then the product is delivered from the bucket to the product outlet. With the vending machine,
For each column of the product storage rack, a gate mechanism is provided at the front end of the column case as a product delivery mechanism, and the products that are aligned and stored in the case are pushed out from the back by the pusher mechanism and delivered, and the products lined up in the front row are It is designed so that it can be transferred by dropping it into a bucket that is in the standby position in the front.

In this case, among the commodities stored side by side in the standing posture in the column, the commodities lined up in the front row are pushed out from the back of the column by the above-mentioned payout operation, and wait in front of the exit end of the column. It leans forward into the existing bucket and falls down by its own weight. For this reason, commodities or the like that are prone to fall down are conveyed toward the merchandise outlet in the bucket unit in the posture of falling forward.

Moreover, when a product such as a tall paper-packed product or a PET bottle product is held in the bucket unit in the forwardly tilted posture, the product protruding forward from the bucket during the subsequent in-machine transfer process is the door of the main body case. The product container is rubbed against the door surface in the process of the bucket receiving the product moving downward in the machine toward the position of the product outlet, and in the worst case It may cause troubles such as bridging between them and making it impossible to convey.

If a sufficient play gap is set in advance between the bucket mounted on the XY transport mechanism and the front door, the product transferred to the bucket will fall in the transport process even if it falls forward. You can prevent transport troubles such as leaning against the front door or getting caught, but with this configuration, if the depth dimension of the vending machine increases more than necessary, or if the depth dimension of the vending machine is suppressed. In order to secure the above-mentioned play gap, the depth dimension of the product storage rack is limited, which reduces the storage efficiency of the products in the machine and reduces the number of products stored.

Further, when the product transferred in the bucket is conveyed while being tilted forward, when the product is carried out from the bucket to the product take-out port, the product comes down on the top of the container having the drinking mouth. The product falls into the box of the product outlet, and the product taken out of the box of the product outlet stands upside down with the mouth facing down. In such a take-out posture, the drinking port of the product container comes into contact with the bottom surface of the box of the product take-out port, and dust accumulated on the bottom surface of the box adheres and is contaminated, resulting in a sanitary problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an X having a bucket unit mounted in front of a product storage rack constructed by arranging a large number of columns vertically and horizontally.
-XY transport of products dispensed from the column of the product storage rack for vending machines that combine the Y transport mechanism and transfer the products dispensed from the column to the bucket unit and transport them to the product outlet. During the process of taking the product into the bucket unit of the mechanism, the product is raised from the tilted position to the standing position to be stably received and held in the bucket unit. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic vending machine having an improved internal mechanism of a bucket unit so that the product can be properly carried out to the product outlet with its mouth facing upward.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the bucket unit is configured such that the products transferred from the column of the product storage rack are changed from the forward tilted posture to the standing posture. Assuming that the article attitude control means to be received therein is provided (Claim 1), the attitude control means is specifically configured in the following form.

(1) As a product attitude control means, a pair of guide rollers are erected in a stepped manner at the front upper stage and the rear middle stage by providing high and low steps inside the box of a bucket unit with a flapper on the front side. , Rotate the guide roller when receiving products between buckets / columns, and lift the products that have been caught in the forward tilted position across the guide rollers to the standing position by the guide roller feeding operation and land them on the conveyor. (Claim 2).

(2) As a product attitude control means, a high and low step is provided inside a box of a bucket unit having a flapper on the front side, and a fixed product guide is provided in the upper front part and guide rollers are provided in the middle part of the rear part in different steps. When the product is installed, the guide roller is rotated when the product is received between the bucket and the column, and the product received in the forward tilted position straddling between the fixed product guide and the guide roller is re-established in the standing position by the guide roller feeding operation. Receiving in the unit (Claim 3).

(3) In the above paragraphs (1) and (2), a conveyer conveyor is laid at the bottom of the bucket unit, and a belt is hung between the guide roller and the conveyer conveyor so as to be transmission-coupled to the conveyer motor. The guide roller is driven to rotate (claim 4). (4) In the preceding paragraph (3), a product detection switch combined with a product detection lever is provided at the rear of the bucket unit, and the conveyor motor started when the product is received between the bucket and the column is moved based on the operation signal of the switch. The stop control is performed (Claim 5).

According to the above construction, in the transfer step of transferring the product dispensed from the front end of the column of the product storage rack to the bucket unit waiting in front of it, the pair of front and rear step guides for installing the product in the bucket are provided. The product leans forward and leans between the roller or the fixed product guide in the upper front part and the guide roller in the rear middle part, and is received by the guide roller. When it comes off the middle guide roller, it falls into the bucket unit and is received while keeping the standing posture with the bottom surface facing downward. This allows
The product does not fall forward and stick out of the bucket, and it is possible to avoid transport troubles due to interference between the product and the front door even in the subsequent in-machine transport process.

Further, the bucket unit that receives and holds the product is moved to the position of the product take-out port by the XY transport mechanism, and the bucket carrying conveyor is started at this position to move the product from the bucket unit to the front product take-out port. At the time of delivery, the product standing on the conveyor conveys the flapper on the front of the bucket and opens it, and the bottom of the container faces downward and falls into the product outlet box. Therefore,
The product taken out to the product outlet can always be taken out in a posture with the drinking mouth up, which can solve the problem of hygiene.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the overall structure of the vending machine is shown in FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (d). In the figure, 1 is a main body case (heat insulating case) of a vending machine, 2 is a product outlet 2 at a lower front portion.
Outer door with a, 3 inner door, 4 product 5 for each column
Is a product storage rack constructed by arranging drawer-type columns 6 arranged in a row in the front-rear direction and arranged in the upper and lower rows and in the left-right rows, and 7 is a bucket unit that receives the products dispensed from the column 6 of the product storage rack 4 at its front position. , 8 are Cartesian X-types that are mounted on the bucket unit and move vertically and horizontally.
It is a Y transport mechanism, and moves the XY transport mechanism 8 based on a sales instruction to access the bucket unit 7 to the front position of the designated column 6, and transfers the product 5 dispensed from the column to the bucket unit 7. After loading, the XY transport mechanism 8 is moved down again and the product 5 is delivered from the bucket unit 7 to the product outlet 2a. Reference numeral 2b denotes a sales operation panel provided at one corner of the outer door 2, and a money processing mechanism, a product selection button, a liquid crystal display panel, etc. are provided on the operation panel 2b.

Further, in the vending machine, the products 5 stored in the product storage rack 4 in the warehouse and the products purchased by the customer at the time of sale are transferred from the column 6 to the bucket unit 7 and taken out to the product outlet 2a. The outer door 2 and the inner door 3 of the main body case, which face the product storage rack 4, are each formed of a transparent door plate so that a series of movements of the selling operation up to the opening can be visually observed from the outside. . Note that FIG.
In (b), 9 is a cooler for keeping the product cold stored in the bottom of the case body 1, 10 is a condensing unit of the refrigerator, and 11 is a support rail on which the column 6 can be pulled out forward. .

Here, the product storage rack 4 is provided with a product delivery mechanism 12 for each column 6, as shown in FIG. The product dispensing mechanism 12 includes a swing opening / closing gate 12a (see FIG. 4) provided on the front end surface of the column case 6a so as to cross the product storage passage, and the products 5 stored in the column from the back. Pusher 1 pushed forward
2b, a belt mechanism 12c connected to the pusher 12b and laid on the bottom side of the column, and a drive gear 12d connected to a pulley of the belt mechanism 12c. The gate 12a is connected to a cylindrical cam mechanism (not shown), and the gate 12a can be operated by pushing a pusher pin from the front of the column.
It is configured to open and close. Also, 12e is a clip for fixing the pusher 12b to the belt mechanism 12c so as not to retract from the position.

When the product is sold, the gate 5a of the designated column 6 corresponding to the selected product is opened, and then the belt mechanism 12c is driven to move the pusher 12b forward so that the products 5 in the front row are moved forward. It is pushed out and is discharged toward the bucket unit 7 (see FIG. 1) which is waiting by accessing the front position of the column 6. In addition to the method in which the commodity dispensing mechanism 12 is driven by providing a power source such as an electromagnetic solenoid and a drive motor for each column, a power source common to each column is mounted on the bucket unit 7 and designated. There is a system in which power is transmitted from the bucket side to the product delivery mechanism 12 of the column 6 at a position where the bucket unit 7 is accessed to the column 6 to deliver the product.

The shape of the gate 12a is shown in FIG.
As shown in Fig. 7, from "straight piece" to "reverse L" as shown in Fig. 7.
It can be implemented by changing it to a “letter shape”. That is, FIG.
If the shape of the gate 12a is a "rectangular piece" as shown in, a short product slips under the gate 12a at the closed position indicated by the chain line, or the head of the product container is suppressed and the storage posture is rearward. In addition to tilting, in the case of a paper-packed product or the like, the product container may be deformed into an inverted "U" shape by pressing the pusher 12b from the back, and the product dispensing operation may not be performed normally. is there. In this regard, if the shape of the gate 12a is "inverted L-shaped" as shown in FIG. 7, the products lined up in the front row of the column 6 can be vertically pressed from the front by the tip 12a-1 of the gate 12a, As a result, it is possible to prevent the above-mentioned dispensing operation trouble that a short product slips under the gate 12a.

On the other hand, the XY transport mechanism 8 equipped with the above-mentioned bucket unit 7 is composed of a combination of an X-axis transport section 8x and a Y-axis transport section 8y as shown in FIG. It is mounted on the shaft conveying unit 8x and is guided and supported so as to be movable in the X-axis direction along a guide rail laid on the bottom side thereof. 8x-1 is the X-axis motor and 8x-2 is the X-axis motor.
A timing belt that is stretched between the shaft motor 8x-1 and the bucket unit 7, 8y-1 is a Y-axis motor, and 8Y-2 is Y.
It is an axial timing belt. With such a configuration, the bucket unit 7 moves in the X and Y axis directions by driving the X axis transfer section 8x and the Y axis transfer section 8y. The bucket unit 7 and the X-axis transport unit 8x are provided with a stop position sensor (not shown), and an XY command is issued by the control unit.
The transport mechanism 8 is driven to access the bucket unit 6 to the selected column and the product outlet position.

Next, the construction of the bucket unit 7 mounted on the XY transport mechanism 8 is shown in FIGS. That is, the bucket unit 7 is a box whose upper surface, front surface, and upper half area of the rear surface are open, and is provided with a flapper 7a biased in the closing direction by a spring on the front surface thereof. ) 13, and an attitude control mechanism 14 including front and rear guide rollers 14a and 14b that are installed in different stages inside the bucket unit 7 as a product attitude control means,
And the product detection switch 15 is equipped.

Here, the transport conveyor 13 is a conveyor for sending out the product 5 received from the column 6 to the product outlet 2a (see FIG. 1), and is laid on the bottom side of the bucket unit 7 with a slight forward inclination. Has been done. The guide rollers 14a and 14b are installed so as to cross the inner space of the bucket unit, and
Is arranged in the front upper stage, and the guide rollers 14b are arranged side by side in the rear middle stage position, and a height difference H is set between them. Then, the belt 14c is spanned between the pulleys of the transfer conveyor 13 and the pulleys of the guide rollers 14a and 14b, and the conveyor motor 13a for driving the transfer conveyor 13 drives the transfer motor 13 in a fixed direction (counterclockwise rotation). ing. Further, the product detection switch 15 is in the column 6
To detect the product 5 transferred from the bucket unit 7 to the bucket unit 7, and the detection lever 15a of the switch 15 projects to the upper surface side of the rear portion of the bucket unit.

The product passing operation between the column / bucket unit having the above-mentioned structure is performed as follows. That is,
After the XY transport mechanism 8 moves from the sale standby position (home position) based on the sales instruction to access the bucket unit 7 to the designated column 6, the gate of the product dispensing mechanism 12 mounted on the column 6 at this access position. When 12a is opened and the pusher 12b is further moved forward, the products 5 in the front row stored in the column 6 are dispensed forward. Here, the product 5 pushed out from the column 6 falls down by its own weight and is taken into the bucket unit 7, and then the take-in operation of the guide rollers 14a and 14b equipped in the bucket unit 7 as the posture control means. By this (this operation will be described later), the posture is controlled so as to rise from the forward leaning posture to the standing posture, and then the robot falls on the transport conveyor 13 and lands.

Next, the operation for loading the product 5 into the bucket unit 7 will be described with reference to FIG. Note that FIG.
In, I to V represent the behavior in the process of receiving the product 5 transferred from the column 6 to the bucket unit 7.
That is, the product 5 paid out from the front end of the column 6 to the front.
Is tilted forward into the bucket unit 7 as represented by I → II → III, and after the product detection switch 15 (see FIG. 4) is operated on the way, the guide rollers are arranged in a row in front and rear. It is received so that it leans forward and leans over between 12a and 12b.

On the other hand, in the bucket unit 7, the column 6
Conveyor motor 13a according to the operation of delivering goods from the
Is started and the guide rollers 14a and 14b are rotated (counterclockwise rotation). As a result, the product 5 carried between the guide rollers 14a and 14b is fed so as to squeeze forward, and the standing posture is deepened as shown in III → IV, and the rear end of the bottom surface of the product container is located at the rear middle stage. When it comes off the guide roller 14b, the bottom surface faces downward and falls downward as IV → V, and is landed in an upright posture on the transport conveyor 13 laid on the bottom of the bucket and received and held. The conveyor 13 is designed to stop after the landing of the product 5, and therefore, a slight delay time is set by timer control or the like from the time when the product detection switch 15 detects the loading of the product 5 and the conveyor motor 13a. Stop control.

As described above, the column 6 of the product storage rack
The product 5 transferred from the bucket unit 7 to the bucket unit 7 is raised from the forward tilted posture to the standing posture, and the conveyor 1 in the bucket is moved.
By receiving and holding it on top of 3, it is possible to avoid a transportation trouble in which the product 5 protruding forward from the bucket is rubbed or caught by the middle door 3 or the like during the in-machine transportation process of the subsequent bucket unit 7, and the following will be described. As described above, the product 5 can be carried out from the bucket unit 7 to the product outlet 2a in a stable posture.

In FIG. 6, the bucket unit 7 that has received the product 5 is conveyed to the position of the product outlet 2a of the outer door 2 by the downward movement of the XY transfer mechanism 8, and at this position the product outlet 2a.
It is explanatory drawing showing the behavior of the goods 5 when sending out to. In FIG. 6, 2c is a flapper door arranged at the product outlet 2a of the outer door 2 and 3a is a flapper arranged at the product outlet of the inner door 3. Here, when the bucket unit 7 reaches the position of the product outlet 2a (this position is detected by a switch (not shown)), the conveyor motor 13a incorporated in the bucket (see FIG. 4) starts and the conveyor conveys. 13 is driven in the direction of the arrow. As a result, the product 5 placed on the conveyor 13 is conveyed forward, and the front flapper 7a of the bucket unit 7 and the flapper 3a of the product outlet provided on the inner door 3 are pushed open to open the product outlet 2a. Put it in a standing posture with the bottom face down in the box. In this state, the customer who purchased the product can push out the flapper door 2c of the product outlet 2a to take out the product 5 from the box. In this case, since the merchandise item 5 stands up in the box of the merchandise outlet 2a with the bottom face down, there is no fear that the drinking port on the upper surface of the container will be contaminated and the customer will be given a sense of trust.

Next, different embodiments of the product attitude control means incorporated in the bucket unit 7 are shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b). In this embodiment, with respect to the bucket unit 7, the upper guide roller 14 shown in the embodiment of FIG.
Instead of a, the product regulation guide 14d fixed at this position
Is installed, and the attitude of the product 5 taken into the bucket unit 7 is controlled in cooperation with the guide roller 14b provided at the rear middle position. The guide roller 14a is drivingly connected to the conveyor 13 via a belt 14c.

The product regulation guide 14d is shown in FIG. 8 (b).
As shown in FIG. 4, a horizontally long swing support plate 14d-1, a commodity regulating plate 14d-2 that is pivotally connected to the rear end of the support plate 14d-1 and rises obliquely upward, and support pins 14d-3, 14d. -4, the support pin 14d-3 is fitted in the bearing hole 7b formed in the side wall of the bucket unit 7, and the rear support pin 14d-4 is fitted in the elongated slot in the vertical direction at 7c. 14d-2 is inserted inside the protruding piece 7d and guided and supported in an inclined posture.

In such a structure, in the process of taking the product 5 dispensed from the column of the product storage rack into the bucket unit 7, the product 5 is provided with a guide roller 14b at the rear part and a product regulation guide installed on the upper part of the front part as shown by the solid line in the figure. 1
After being caught in a forward leaning position across 4d,
By the feeding operation of the guide roller 14b, the direction is changed from the forward tilted posture to the standing posture, and when the rear end of the lower surface of the product 5 comes off the guide roller 14b, the product regulation guide 14d.
And land on the transport column 13 laid on the bottom side in a standing posture. As a result, the same effect as described with reference to FIG. 5 is achieved.

FIG. 9 is a detailed structural diagram of the bucket unit 7 constructed based on the embodiment of FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b). In this embodiment, the product delivery mechanism 1 provided in the bucket unit 7 for each column 6 (see FIG. 2) of the product storage rack.
The drive unit common to the two is mounted, and power is transmitted from the bucket unit 7 to the product delivery mechanism 12 at the access position to the column 6 to deliver the product.

That is, the right side of the bucket unit 7 is provided with a pusher pin 16 for opening and closing the gate 12a of the column 6, a feed screw mechanism 16a for the pusher pin 16 and a drive motor 16c, and further the guide roller 14 described above.
A connecting gear 17 for power transmission is meshed and coupled to the shaft end of b via a gear. Then, at the position where the bucket unit 7 is accessed to the column, the belt gear 12c and the pusher 12b are driven by meshing the connecting gear 17 with the drive gear 12d (see FIG. 2) arranged at the front end of the ram 6 to drive the product from the column 6 Are paid out to the bucket unit 7.

[0034]

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, in the process of transferring the product dispensed from the column of the product storage rack to the bucket unit accessed to the front position during the sale operation, the inside of the bucket unit is transferred. The product taken in can be restored from the forward leaning posture to the standing posture and can be received and held in the bucket unit. As a result, it is possible to prevent a transport trouble while the product transferred to the bucket unit is transported in the machine toward the product outlet.
In addition, if a conveyor is laid at the bottom of the bucket unit and the products received by the conveyor are sent to the product outlet, when the products received in the bucket are carried out to the product outlet, the conveyor is used. The product can be delivered to the product outlet in the correct posture with the drinking mouth facing upward by the transport operation of.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a front view of the inside of a refrigerator with a front door removed, (b) is a vertical side view, and (c) is. Front view with door installed, (d) external view with door open

2 is a column structure of the product storage rack in FIG. 1,
And an explanatory diagram of the product dispensing operation

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an XY transport mechanism in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective overhead view showing the main mechanism of the bucket unit in FIG.

5 is an explanatory view of a product receiving operation between the bucket unit and the column shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a product unloading operation from the bucket unit shown in FIG. 4 to a product outlet.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of a gate provided in a column of a product storage rack.

8 is a configuration diagram of an application example of the present invention equipped with a product attitude control means different from that of FIG. 4, (a) an explanatory diagram of a bucket unit configuration and a product taking-in operation, and (b)
(a) Exploded perspective view of the fixed product guide in the figure

9 is a perspective view showing the detailed structure of a bucket unit configured based on the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 body case 2 outer door 2a Product outlet 4 product storage racks 5 products 6 columns 7 bucket unit 8 XY transport mechanism 12 Product delivery mechanism 13 Transport conveyor 13a Conveyor motor 14a, 14b Guide rollers (product attitude control means) 14c belt 14d Product Regulation Guide 15 Product detection switch

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-143694 (JP, A) Actual opening Sho-49-103494 (JP, U) Actual opening Sho-61-78381 (JP, U) Actual opening Flat 5- 43286 (JP, U) Actual development 4-120185 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07F 11/00-11/72

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of columns for arranging and storing products in a standing posture for each column are arranged in a vertical row and a left and right row in a cabinet of a main body case having an outer door with a product outlet on the front surface. Equipped with a product storage rack, a bucket unit that receives products that have been dispensed forward from the column of the product storage rack, and an XY transport mechanism that mounts the bucket unit and moves in the vertical and horizontal directions. Based on this, move the XY transport mechanism to access the bucket to the designated column,
In a vending machine that transfers a product discharged from the column to a bucket unit and then moves the bucket unit to the position of the product outlet to carry the product to the product outlet, in the bucket unit, from the column of the product storage rack. An automatic vending machine, comprising: a product attitude control means for recovering the received product from the forward tilted position to the standing position and receiving it in the bucket unit. 2. The automatic vending machine according to claim 1, wherein as a product attitude control means, a height difference is provided inside a box of a bucket unit having a flapper on a front surface, and a front upper stage,
And the guide rollers are installed in different steps at the rear middle position,
When the product is received between the bucket and the column, the guide roller is rotated so that the product received in the forward tilted position straddling between the guide rollers is raised to the standing position by the guide roller feeding operation and received in the bucket unit. A vending machine that is characterized by 3. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein as a product attitude control means, a high and low step is provided inside a box of a bucket unit having a flapper on a front surface thereof, and a fixed type product guide is provided at a front upper stage. , The guide rollers are installed in different stages in the middle of the rear part, and the guide rollers are rotated when the product is received between the bucket and the column, and the products received in the forward tilted posture are straddled between the fixed product guide and the guide rollers. An automatic vending machine characterized by being raised in a standing posture by a feeding operation and received in a bucket unit. 4. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein a conveyor is laid at the bottom of the bucket unit,
An automatic vending machine characterized in that a belt is hung between a guide roller and a conveyer conveyor, and the guide roller is transmission-connected to a conveyor motor. 5. The vending machine according to claim 4, wherein a product detection switch combined with a product detection lever is provided at the rear of the bucket unit, and the conveyor motor started at the time of product reception between the bucket / column is switched to the switch. The vending machine is characterized in that stop control is performed based on the operation signal of.