JPH05120536A - Merchandise transporting device of automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The product transporting device for lifting and discharging the products delivered to the lower part to the upper product outlet is small and has a simple structure. [Structure] First with a warp portion 17B on the conveyance side of a product M
An endless conveyance having a guide member 17 and a second guide member 19 that supports the product M from the warped portion 17B and guides it to the product outlet 10 and has a conveyance piece 26 that engages the product inside The belt 16 is stretched along the first and second guide members 17 and 19, and the conveyor belt 16 is rotated by the driving of the belt driving pulley 20 to lift and discharge the product M to the product outlet 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product transfer device for an automatic vending machine having a product outlet in the upper part.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an automatic product outlet is provided at the top so that a customer can easily take out a sold product in a natural posture while standing up without taking a posture such as bending over. Vending machines have been proposed.

In this case, the structure of the merchandise selling mechanism is such that the merchandise delivered from the merchandise storage section is placed on a horizontally moving conveyor provided in the lower part of the vending machine, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-147481. And moves it laterally, and then at its lateral feed end, this time it is passed to an elevator arranged vertically, and the elevator is driven to lift the product, and the product is conveyed to the upper product take-out port.

As described above, the conventional product transfer device has a horizontal transfer mechanism such as a belt conveyor for moving the product laterally to the lower part.
Then, an up-down transport mechanism such as an elevator that transports the product to the upper product outlet is arranged at one end side.

[0005]

However, such a conventional product transporting device has two transporting mechanisms, which makes the mechanism complicated and the size of the device large and the cost high. Since the two transport mechanisms are used to transport the product, when the product is delivered from the horizontal transport mechanism to the vertical transport mechanism, the product may not be delivered well,
There is also a problem that the reliability of the sales operation is lost because the product does not come out of the outlet and the customer cannot receive the product.

Further, since two merchandise conveying mechanisms are operated during continuous purchase of merchandise, there is a drawback that the selling time is long.

In addition, there is a positional restriction that the product outlet provided at the upper part is arranged near the upper end of the vertical transport mechanism, and the product outlets arranged in the left and right lateral directions provided in the heat-insulating door in the warehouse are vertically aligned. Since it is difficult to provide a product delivery port at a position corresponding to the transport mechanism, the placement of the product delivery ports arranged side by side in the left-right direction is restricted and
There was also a drawback that the number of products accommodated was affected by the restriction.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
To provide a further improved product transfer device for a vending machine, which promises a small, reliable, and speedy transfer operation, can easily set the transfer mechanism, and can contribute to an increase in the number of products stored. With the goal.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an automatic vending machine configured to send a product from a product storage column below a front portion of a main body and then convey the product to an upper product outlet.
A plurality of product outlets arranged side by side in the left-right direction for delivering the products from the product storage column, and guides the lateral transportation by receiving the products delivered from the respective product outlets, and the lateral feed end. Guide member having a warp portion that warps the product in an upward tilted posture, and a second guide member that receives and supports the product from the warp portion and guides it obliquely upward to an upper product outlet. And an endless conveyor belt having a conveyor piece inside for locking the commodity sent out from the commodity outlet and pushing it up to the commodity outlet along the first and second guide members, and the endless conveyor belt. And a drive means for driving the conveyor belt.

Further, the first guide member is composed of a pair of guide rail plates having a horizontal portion for guiding the lateral transportation of the delivered product and the warp portion continuous with the end of the horizontal portion. At the same time, the second guide member is provided with a warp portion corresponding to the warp portion of the first guide member, and the product delivered from each product delivery port is carried on a conveyor belt that moves under the horizontal part and is conveyed. The guide rails are separated from each other by a predetermined distance so that the conveyance of the first and second guide members before the portion between the warp portions is carried up by the conveyance piece of the conveyance belt.

[0011]

When the product is delivered from the delivery port, the product is received on the first guide member. When the endless conveyor belt is driven, the product conveyor piece inside the belt engages with the product to laterally convey the product, and the first guide member, which is the end of the conveyor, bends the product in an arcuate curved portion to bend the product endlessly. Then, in that position, it slides on the second guide member and pushes up diagonally upward, and lifts and discharges it to the product outlet.

Further, by arranging a pair of guide rails having a horizontal portion and a warp portion and forming the first guide member with an appropriate interval set therebetween, the fed product is laterally fed on the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt is pushed up by the conveyor strip to convey the conveyor belt from the warped portion, avoiding shocking contact between the conveyor strip and the product, and preventing foaming of the content drink.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a main body of a vending machine, 2 is a product storage chamber surrounded by a heat insulating wall 2a, and a plurality of serpentine type product storage columns 3 are arranged in front and rear thereof. In addition, a plurality of these product storage columns 3 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction when viewed from the front direction of the main body 1. A front opening of the product storage chamber 2 is closed by a heat insulating door 4 in the storage, and a plurality of product outlets 5 corresponding to the product storage column 3 are formed side by side in the left-right direction in the heat insulating door 4 in the storage. At the same time, each product delivery port 5 is provided with a heat-insulating sales door 6 which is pivotally supported at the upper end and is normally in a closed state, and which is opened and rotated forward by the product M that is discharged and dropped at the time of sale. There is.
Below each of the product storage columns 3, a product delivery device 7 that operates based on a sales command is provided to deliver the products M one by one. The delivered product M slides down the product drop chute 8 and exits from the product discharge port 5.

A front door 9 is provided on the front surface of the main body 1 so as to be openable and closable, and is located outside the in-compartment heat insulating door 4. A product outlet 10 is provided above the front door 9, and the product transfer device 1 receives the product M delivered from the product outlet 5 and lifts and ejects the product M to the product outlet 10.
2 is provided inside.

In the product conveying device 12, an endless conveying belt 16 is stretched in a substantially triangular shape by a belt driving pulley (described later), guide rollers 13a and 13b, and pulleys 14 and 15, and is driven by a drive motor (described later). It is rotated in a fixed direction (arrow direction). In this case, the endless conveyor belt 16 extends horizontally at the lower position corresponding to the product outlet 5 to form a triangular base, and the product outlet 10
The product delivery port 5 and the product delivery port 10 are arranged in a substantially triangular shape formed by the endless conveyor belt 16 so that the product delivery port 5 and the product delivery port 10 are arranged so as to extend to the apex.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the details of the goods transporting device 12, and further explaining according to the same drawing, 17 is a first guide member consisting of two guide rail plates 18 and 18, and the guide rail plate 18 is shown. , 18 are composed of a horizontal portion 17A and an arcuate warp portion 17B continuous to the left end thereof. Then, the two guide rail plates 18 and 18 are juxtaposed in the horizontal portion 17A at appropriate intervals so that the products M sent out from the respective product sending ports 5 can be received therebetween. Guides the conveyance to the warp section 1
7B, the commodity M laterally fed is bent to face upward in a supine posture.

Reference numeral 19 is a second guide member consisting of a single guide rail plate installed so as to connect the product delivery end of the first guide member 17 and the product take-out port 10, and the first guide member 19 has the first guide member at one end thereof. A similar arcuate warp portion 19B that faces the warp portion 17B of the first guide member 17 is formed. And
When the product M comes up between the warp portions 17B and 19B, the product M is received and supported by the inclined plate portion 19A,
The product is guided to the product outlet 10.

The endless conveyor belt 16 passes under the first guide member 17, and a pair of opposed guide rollers 13a, 13a, pulleys 14, 14, respectively.
15, 15 and the cylindrical guide roller 13b, and a pair of belt driving pulleys 20 are hooked as shown in the drawing. In addition, the warp portion 17B of the first guide member 17
A plurality of small-diameter guide rollers 21 are also interposed between and. A belt driving motor 24 transmits the rotational power of the motor to the belt driving pulley 20 via a power transmission belt 25.

On the inner side of the conveyor belt 16, a conveyor piece 26 for projecting the goods M and conveying them along the first and second guide members 17 and 19 is provided in a protruding manner. It is desirable that a plurality of the transport pieces 26 be provided at equal intervals, and if they are made of a material such as hard rubber, they can withstand a deformation caused by a shock of hitting the delivered product M for a long time. The transport piece 26 projects from between the two guide rail plates 18 and 18 and moves as a guide path between the two guide rail plates 18 and 18 while pushing the rear side of the product M and delivering the product M to the product outlet 10.

In order to reliably receive the product M from the product delivery port 5 between the two guide rail plates 18, 18 of the first guide member 17, as shown in FIG.
It is advisable to form the surfaces 18S, 18S of 18 into tapered surfaces that are inclined inward.

Similarly, in the second guide member 19 as well, the cross-sectional shape of the inclined plate portion 19A that slides the commodity M upward and inclines the tapered surfaces 19S, 1S as shown in FIG.
It is better to form it in 9S.

Here, when the product M is discharged to the product outlet 10, the end of the inclined plate portion 19A of the second guide member 19 (not shown), that is, immediately before the product outlet 10, is used to stop the conveyor belt 16. A stop switch for detecting the product M and stopping the rotation of the belt driving motor 24 is arranged at the position. On the other hand, the start of the conveyor belt 16 is synchronized with a sales command to the product delivery device 7, or a predetermined amount sufficient for the product M delivered from the product delivery device 7 to reach between the guide rail plates 18, 18. After a lapse of time, or when a detection sensor (not shown) detects that the product M has been delivered onto the first guide member 17, it may be driven.

Next, the product transporting operation of the product transporting device 12 thus constructed will be described.

Assuming that the product M selected by the customer is delivered from the central product delivery port 5 as shown in FIG. 4A, for example, the product M rides on the first guide member 17. The belt driving motor 24 is driven when the fact that the product M has been placed on the first guide member 17 is detected by, for example, a detection sensor (not shown). Therefore, the conveyor belt 16
4 is rotated by the belt driving pulley 20 in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 4B, and eventually the transport piece 26 is pressed against the rear end of the product M. The transport piece 26 laterally transports the product M, and then the product M is in the upward posture at the warp portions 17B and 19B as shown in FIG.
As shown in (d), sliding on the second guide member 19,
The product M is pushed up by the transport piece 26,
As shown in (e), the product is pushed up and discharged to the product outlet 10. 4F shows the situation in which the stop switch detects the product M just before the product M enters the product outlet 10, and the transport piece 26 is in the same standby position as in FIG. 4A. As described above, the conveyor belt 16 finishes one conveying operation and stands by to receive the product M to be sold next.

As described above, the single endless conveyor belt 16 stretched in a loop shape can push up and discharge the product M to the product outlet 10 in a short time. Even if the position of the product outlet 10 changes in the left-right direction, the product can be conveyed to the position of the product outlet 10 by stretching the conveyor belt 15 around the product outlet 10 at the position.

Further, even if there are a large number of product outlets 5 on the left and right, the product can be transported as long as the space for the tensioning of the conveyor belt 16 including them can be secured. 3 can be added and the number of products stored can be increased. That is, in the case of the product transport device 12 of the present invention, the portion installed on the side of the product delivery port 5 may be the thickness dimension of the transport belt 16 and the dimension size through which the product M passes. Compared with the lifting mechanism, it can be installed in a smaller space, and other devices can be installed in the triangular shape formed by the conveyor belt 16.

Next, when the product M is a carbonated drink in a can such as a soft drink or beer, it is possible to convey the contents drink without causing foaming.
An embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the present embodiment, in the horizontal part of the first guide member 17, the product M delivered from the product delivery port 5 is placed on the conveyor belt 16 located below the horizontal part as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the guide rail plates 18 and 18 are arranged with a wide interval.

Reference numeral 27 is a belt support rail, which is a conveyor belt 1.
6 slides on the belt support rail 27 and moves. Therefore, the lateral feed conveyance at the horizontal portion 17A of the first guide member 17 is performed not by the conveyance piece 26 but by the conveyance belt 16. The warp portion 1 of the first and second guide members 17 and 19
From the location of 7B and 19B, the product M is conveyed by pushing it up by the conveying piece 26 on the conveying belt 16. With this configuration, it is possible to mitigate the impact when the transport piece 26 hits the product M and prevent the occurrence of foaming of carbonated beverages and the like.

In other words, considering the case where the lateral transport of the product M is performed by the transport piece 26, as shown in FIG. 9, the first guide member 1 is used.
The transport piece 26 moving at a certain speed hits the rear portion of the product M received by the horizontal portions 17A, 17A of the No. 7 product. At this time, the gas layer 30a and the liquid layer 30b in the can move largely during the impact force and during the transportation by the transportation piece 26, so that foaming is likely to occur.

However, with this structure, the product M is gradually accelerated by the conveyor belt 16 from an initial speed of 0 (slip on the conveyor belt 16 at the beginning of rotation of the conveyor belt 16), so that a violent liquid layer is formed. The movement of 30b does not occur. Therefore, foaming does not occur. Then, the product M that has reached the warp portions 17B and 19B stops until being pushed by the transport piece 26, but when the transport piece 26 eventually hits the product M, the impact by the transport piece 26 is as shown in FIG. As M is moved upward, it is dispersed, and as a result, the air layer 30
There is little movement of a and the liquid layer 30b, and foaming hardly occurs.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, since an endless conveyor belt is used to convey a product to a product outlet, there is no need to control the attitude of the product and the continuous selling time of the product can be shortened. In addition, the product transport device can be downsized.

Further, since the goods are conveyed by utilizing the inner side of the loop of the endless conveyance belt, the conveyance mechanism can be set without being influenced by the commodity delivery position provided on the in-compartment heat insulation door. The position of the product outlet can also be set freely, and the front appearance design of the vending machine can be diversified. Further, since it is possible to carry the content drink without being greatly shaken during the carrying, it is suitable for carrying out carbonated drinks and the like without generating foaming.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an automatic vending machine equipped with a product transfer device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the same vending machine.

FIG. 3 is an overall perspective view of the product transportation device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a transport operation diagram showing how products are transported to an upper product outlet by the product transport device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of a first guide member having a structure for ensuring the conveyance guide of products.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of a second guide member having the same purpose as in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a first guide member according to another embodiment that is configured to prevent the occurrence of foaming and is suitable for carrying out products such as carbonated drinks.

FIG. 8 is a conveyance operation diagram for explaining a state in which the liquid layer and gas layer in the contents are less moved by another embodiment in which the product is conveyed by the conveyance piece from the warped portion.

FIG. 9 is a transport operation diagram for explaining a situation in which the liquid layer and the gas layer in the contents are largely moved when the product is horizontally transported by the transport piece.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 product storage column 5 product discharge port 10 product outlet 12 product transfer device 16 transfer belt 17 first guide member 17B, 19B warp portion 18 guide rail plate 19 second guide member 26 transfer piece M product

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic vending machine configured to deliver a product from a product storage column to a lower part of a front portion of a main body and then convey the product to an upper product take-out port. The product outlets arranged side by side in the left and right direction and the products delivered from the product outlets are received to guide the lateral conveyance, and the products are bent at the lateral feed end to have a tilted posture in the upward direction. A first guide member having a warp portion, a second guide member for receiving and supporting a product from the warp portion and guiding the product obliquely upward to an upper product take-out port, and a product sent from the product delivery port. An endless conveyor belt having a conveyor piece inside which is stopped and pushed up to the commodity outlet along the first and second guide members and conveyed, and a drive means for the endless conveyor belt. Vending machine product transfer device. 2. The first guide member is composed of a pair of guide rail plates having a horizontal portion for guiding the lateral transportation of the delivered product and the warp portion continuous to the end of the horizontal portion. At the same time, the second guide member is provided with a warp portion corresponding to the warp portion of the first guide member, and the product delivered from each product delivery port is carried on a conveyor belt that moves under the horizontal part and is conveyed. The guide rails are separated from each other at a predetermined interval so that the conveyance of the first and second guide members before the position between the warp portions is carried up by a conveyance piece of the conveyance belt. 1. The product transfer device of the vending machine according to 1.