JPH0433092A - Cup carrying device for automatic cup type vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce dead space and to improve operability when cups are packed by providing a conveyer device which makes it possible to slide a endless belt without edges to the downward direction of a main body and moving a cup line on the endless belt to a cup separating drum. CONSTITUTION:This device is equipped with the conveyer device which makes it possible to slide the endless belt 12 to the downward direction of the main body, a cup separating drum 15 extended to the upper direction of a cup discharging port 20 and a control device which rotates a belt driving mortor 13 and a drum driving mortor 17 through control switches 24 and 26. Therefore, an entire apperance is shaped like a square and the size of a depth is a little larger than that of a diameter of a cup 1 so that the cup can be stored efficiently according to an outside diameter. Moreover, when the cups are packed, the arrangement for storing the cups is a straight line from left to right so that the cups can be packed easily. Thus, it is possible to reduce the dead space, to reform the entire device and to improve the operability when the cups are packed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a cup dispensing device for a cup-type vending machine.

(Conventional Technique v#) In recent years, vending machines, mainly beverage vending machines, have become rapidly popular. Beverage vending machines contain cans,
There are bottles, cups, etc.

Here, we will take a cup vending machine as a conventional example.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, cup-type vending machines that dispense beverages such as coffee or juice into cups require a cup delivery device that supplies cups one by one to predetermined sales positions based on sales instructions. In order to store and supply a large number of cups, this cup discharging device usually has a plurality of cup rows in which a plurality of cups are stacked, and is equipped with a delivery mechanism that delivers cups one by one from these cup rows. The mainstream method is to move the cups one by one to a dispensing position, then separate the cups one by one from this row and drop and supply them to a sales position.

Conventionally, this type of cup discharging device was manufactured by the Special Publication Publication No. 62-4.
A cylindrical model with a plurality of cup accommodating parts as shown in No. 4316, Noya, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 19789/1989
A device having an elliptical storage section as shown in the No.
Since the limited space cannot be utilized effectively, the number of cups that can be accommodated is small compared to the external dimensions.

In order to solve these problems, the cup feeding device shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-39815 has a rectangular storage section to improve storage efficiency, as shown in FIG. A cup rail 2 on which a plurality of stacked cup rows 1 are linearly and slidably placed adjacent to each other.
By moving each cup row 1 forward on the cup rail 2 and dropping it one cup row at a time, the cup row 1 is guided to the cup discharging mechanism and the cups are separated from the cup row 1 one by one. In a cup feeding device that discharges
A cup push plate 3 is provided above the cup rail 2 so as to be movable in the vertical direction and along the cup rail 2.
A sprocket 4 whose upper outer circumferential surface touches the bottom surface of the cup row 1 at the front end and moves the cup row 1 forward during rotation, and a cup pusher connected to the cup pusher plate 3 and the sprocket 4 via a chain 5 as an interlocking mechanism. A cup feeding motor 6 is provided to synchronously drive the plate 3 and sprocket 4 in the forward movement direction of the cup row 1.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above conventional configuration, the mechanism portion that drives the cup pushing plate 3 that pushes the cup row 1 on the cup rail 2 forward, that is, the chain 5. sprocket 4
etc., and the depth dimension is somewhat larger than the diameter dimension of the cup, so it is efficient with no dead space in the left and right direction in which the cup row 1 moves, but in the front and rear direction there is no dead space. It was large due to the space available, and there was still room for improvement as a whole.

In addition, in this device, when the cup row 1 is moved due to sales and the stored cup row 1 is running low, when replenishing the cup row 1, the motor 6 is reversed by a changeover switch to move the cup push plate 3 to the right. In order to prevent the refilled cup row 1 from falling to the left or right after refilling, the motor 6 is rotated in the normal direction to move the cup pusher plate 3 to the right. It must be stopped at the position where the cup pressing plate 3 contacts the right end.

In practice, such an operation is a time-consuming task, and the operation of stopping the cup push plate 3 at the position where it contacts the right end of the cup row 1 in the aforementioned cup row replenishment operation requires some skill. However, it also had drawbacks in terms of operability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and to provide a cup discharging device that has less dead space and also improves operability when filling cup rows.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The cup dispensing device of the cup-type vending machine of the present invention includes a driven pulley inscribed in one end of the inner side of an endless belt below the cup dispensing device, and a movable pulley inscribed in the other end of the endless belt. A conveyor device in which the endless belt is tilted so that its traveling direction is downward by being pivotally supported with a vertical difference, and the endless belt is slidable by a belt drive motor connected to the moving pulley; A cup discharge port opened apart from the pivot end of either the driving pulley or the follower pulley of the conveyor device, a semicircular cup separation drum extending vertically above the cup discharge port, and the cup separation drum. The upper and lower ends of the drum are rotatably supported at the center of the semicircular shape, and a hollow gear is provided around the outer periphery of the semicircular lower end of the cup separating drum, and the cup separating drum is connected to a hollow gear. a drum drive motor that rotationally drives the belt drive motor; and a control switch that controls the operation of the belt drive motor.

The control device includes a control device that controls the rotation of the belt drive motor and drum drive motor via this control switch.

(Function) According to the present invention, with the above configuration, the cup separating drum is normally placed on standby with the opening of the semicircular portion facing forward. Then, a cup row in which a plurality of cups are stacked is inserted through this opening. Thereafter, the cup rows are sequentially placed on the endless belt from the cup separation drum side to complete the cup row filling operation.

Then, as a normal sales operation, the cups are carried out by sequentially separating and dropping the rows of cups in the cup separating drum from below by a delivery device disposed below the cup separating drum. Thereafter, when the cup row in the cup separation drum is exhausted by the delivery device, a cup detection switch built in the delivery device energizes the drum drive motor to rotate the cup separation drum 90', and a control switch make it stop. by this,
The opening of the semicircular portion of the cup separation drum is placed on standby with the opening facing the endless belt, and the control switch causes the belt drive motor to transfer the endless belt to the cup separation drum side, thereby separating the rows of cups on the endless belt. Shifting to the cup separation drum side, the cup row closest to the cup separation drum is separated from the endless belt, dropped and stored in the cup separation drum. Then, the cup detection switch is actuated by the row of dropped cups, and the cup separation drum is further rotated by 270 degrees, and then stopped by the control switch again, completing preparations for the selling operation by the delivery device again.

Thereafter, the rows of cups on the endless belt will be transferred into the cup separation drum in a similar manner.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same configuration as the conventional one will be given the same reference numerals and a detailed explanation will be omitted. A front view of the cup discharging device of the cup vending machine, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line E-E in FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrow, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the main part of section F in FIG. 1 when the cup separation drum is rotated by 90 degrees, FIG. 5 is a control circuit diagram in FIG. FIG. 6 is a control circuit diagram in FIG. 4.

In FIGS. 1 to 6, 8 is a main body composed of a frame, and a follower pulley 9 is arranged at the bottom of the main body 8 as a conveyor device. A moving pulley lO is rotatably supported on the belt support plate 11. Reference numeral 12 denotes an endless belt, which is stretched between the driven vehicle pulley 9 and the driving vehicle pulley 10 so that its traveling direction is downward. 13 is a belt drive motor, driving pulley 10 and gear 1
connected by 4. A semicircular cup separation drum 15 is disposed on the side of the follower pulley 9, extends vertically, and is rotatably supported at its upper and lower ends. A hollow gear 16 is provided around the lower end of the cup separation drum 15. A gear portion 16a for receiving rotational power is provided on the outer periphery of the hollow gear I6. Reference numeral 17 denotes a drum drive motor, and a drive gear 18 for transmitting rotation to the hollow gear 16 is attached to the output shaft 17a, and the gear portion 16 of the hollow gear 16
It is engaged with a. Reference numeral 19 denotes a delivery device, which is attached to a discharge port 20 located directly below the cup separation drum 15, and a cam control switch 23 is activated by the rotation of a full cycle cam 22 mounted on an output shaft 21a by a cup delivery motor 21. It detects the rotation, stops the rotation, and sequentially delivers the cups. This is a conventionally known mechanism as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-39498, and its explanation will be omitted.

Reference numerals 24A and 24B are drum control switches, and energization of the drum drive motor 17 is controlled by a cycle cam 25 attached to a support shaft 15a attached to the upper end of the cup separation drum 15. 26 is a cup detection switch disposed below the cup separation drum 15;
The presence or absence of the cup row 1a in the cup detection lever 26a is detected by the contact and separation of the cup detection lever 26a, and energization is controlled as a control switch for the belt drive motor 13.

The operation of the cup dispensing device of the cup-type vending machine constructed as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. First, the cup row 1a in which a plurality of cups are stacked is placed in the semicircular opening 15b of the cup separation drum 15.
Another cup row 1b is placed on the endless belt 12 on the left side of the zero-order cup separation drum 15, which is then filled with more cups and placed on the delivery device 19.

The filling operation of the cup row 1 is completed by sequentially placing the cup rows 10 to 1f on the endless belt 12. At this time, since the endless belt 12 of the cup row 1 is tilted downward to the right, its inverted position acts as a biasing force that causes it to fall to the right.1 Normally, this biasing force is supported by the cup separating drum 15. This prevents the cup row 1 from falling over.

In this state, when the cup delivery motor 21 of the delivery device 19 is energized by a sales command, the cups are separated and dropped one by one from the cup row 1a and delivered.

Then, when the cup row 1a disappears due to the above-mentioned feeding operation, the detection lever 26a of the cup detection switch 26 and the cup row 1a are released from contact, the cup detection switch 26 is operated, the drum drive motor 17 is energized, and the drum drive motor 17 is driven. gear 1
8. The cup separation drum 15 rotates in the direction of arrow C by the rotational drive transmission of the hollow gear 16.

After rotating by 90 degrees, the detection lever 24a of the drum control switch 24A rests on the peak 25a of the cycle cam 25 pivoted on the upper end of the cup separation drum 15, and the rotation of the cup separation drum 15 is stopped. At the same time, the belt drive motor 13 is energized by the operation of the drum control switch 24B.
The cup rows 1b to 1f move to the right as the endless belt 12 moves, and eventually the cup row 1b separates from the endless belt 12, is stored in the cup separation drum 15, and is dropped and placed on the delivery device 19. Then, when the cup row 1b is placed on the feeding device 19, the cup row 1b and the cup detection switch 26 come into contact again, and the power supply to the belt drive motor 13 is stopped, and the drum drive motor 17 is again energized, so that the cup separation drum 15 in the direction of arrow C.

After 270° rotation, the drum control switch 24A.

24B is the detection lever 24 in the valley 25b of the cycle cam 25.
a enters and stops the rotation of the cup separation drum 15.

By performing this series of operations up to the cup rows 10 to 1f, the cup row 1 placed on the endless belt 12 is stored in the cup separation drum 15 and sent out one by one by the delivery device 19. It turns out.

Note that when the cup separating drum 15 rotates 270'', the brim of the cup row 1b entering the cup separating drum 15 and the brim of the next cup row 1c engage with each other to prevent the cup row 1b from falling into the delivery device 19. However, this problem is solved by rotating the cup separating drum 15 while intervening between the two cup rows lb and lc.1. Also, the cup row 1 that has entered the cup separation drum 15 separates the cups by 1.
Although the cups move downward one by one to fall, in this case as well, since the cup separation drum 15 separates both cup rows 1, no malfunction occurs due to the engagement of the brim with each other.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, the driven pulley inscribed in one end of the inner side of the endless belt and the drive pulley inscribed in the other end of the endless belt are respectively pivotally supported with a vertical difference in the lower part of the endless belt. A conveyor device in which the belt is tilted in the direction of travel and the endless belt can be slid by a belt drive motor connected to a driving pulley. an open cup discharge port, a semicircular cup separation drum extending vertically above the cup discharge port, and upper and lower ends of the cup separation drum rotatably supported at the center of the semicircular shape; A hollow gear installed around the outer periphery of the semicircular lower end of the cup separation drum, a drum drive motor that is connected to the hollow gear to rotate the cup separation drum, and control switches that control the operation of the belt drive motor. And through this control switch.

It consists of a control device that controls the rotation of a belt drive motor and a drum drive motor, and a cup delivery device disposed directly below the cup discharge port. The cup separation drum is rotated 90 degrees and stopped, and the cup separation drum is rotated 90 degrees and stopped, and the cup separation drum is rotated 90 degrees and stopped, and the cup separation drum is rotated 90 degrees and stopped. Another row of filled and placed cups is stored in a cup separation drum by a conveyor device and stopped;
The replenishment operation is completed by rotating the cup separation drum again by 270 degrees and stopping it to enter the standby state.

With the cup delivery device configured in this manner, the overall appearance is square, and the depth dimension is only several inches larger than the diameter dimension of the cup, so that the cup can be stored efficiently in relation to the outer diameter dimension. In addition, during cup filling work, the arrangement of the cups when stored is a straight line from left to right, making the filling process easy.Furthermore, when filling a cup row, filling is performed sequentially from the cup delivery port side to the left side, so that new cup rows can be easily filled. When replenishing, the left side of the remaining cup row is always filled, allowing for so-called first-in, first-out, where the oldest cups are sold first.Furthermore, the endless belt is such that the side receiving cups is lower than the side replenishing them. Therefore, replenishment can be carried out extremely smoothly, and its practical effects are extremely large.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a cup dispensing device of a cup vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line E-E in FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrow, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the main part of section F in FIG. 1 when the cup separation drum is in a normal standby state; FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the main part of section F in FIG. 1 when the cup separation drum has rotated 90 degrees; 3 is a control circuit diagram of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a control circuit diagram of FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a front view of a conventional cup dispensing device of a cup-type vending machine. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Cup row, 8... Main body, 9... Follower pulley, 10... Drive pulley, 12... Endless belt, 13... Belt drive motor, 14... Gear, 15... ...Cup separation drum, 16...Hollow gear, 17...Drum drive motor, 20...Discharge port, 24A, 24B...Drum control switch, 25
...Cycle cam, 26.Cup detection switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] By supporting a driven pulley inscribed in one end of the inner side of the endless belt below the main body and a driving pulley inscribed in the other end with a vertical difference, the endless belt is tilted so that its traveling direction is downward. and a conveyor device in which the endless belt can be slid by a belt drive motor connected to the driving pulley, and a cup discharge opening separated from the shaft support end of either the driving pulley or the follower pulley of the conveyor device. a semicircular cup separation drum that extends vertically above the outlet and the cup discharge port; and upper and lower ends of the cup separation drum are rotatably supported at the center of the semicircle, and the cup separation a hollow gear disposed around the outer periphery of a semicircular lower end of the drum; a drum drive motor connected to the hollow gear to rotationally drive the cup separation drum; and a control switch that controls the operation of the belt drive motor; A cup dispensing device for a cup-type vending machine, comprising a control device that controls rotation of the belt drive motor and the drum drive motor via the control switch.