JPH05325013A - Automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the automatic vending machine which can display a shortage of bags if the automatic vending machine which can supply bags runs out of stock of bags and also stop sending a bag out if a bag is not taken out and left. CONSTITUTION:With a bag request switch 58 depressed, a bag supply unit 1 sends a bag out, but when there is no bag left, a bag sensor detects the shortage of bags and a display unit 59 displays the shortage according to its detection result. The bag which is sent out of the bag supply unit 1 is detected by a bag takeout sensor, and when a customer takes the bag out of the automatic vending machine, the bag takeout sensor stops the detection output. When the bag request switch 58 is pressed, a controller included in a control unit 62 supplies a driving signal to the bag supply unit 1 on condition that the bag takeout sensor detects no bag, thereby carrying out said sending-out operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine equipped with a bag supply unit for sending out a bag to be used for storing sold products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a bag supply unit used in an automatic vending machine, there is a structure shown by the applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-312575. This bag supply unit is loaded with a large number of bags, and the bags are discharged one by one by the rotation of the delivery roller.

[0003]

However, even if the vending machine is equipped with such a bag supply unit, not all customers necessarily need bags. Therefore, a switch for requesting the delivery of the bag may be provided, but in the case of running out of the bag, the bag is not delivered even if this switch is pressed, which gives the customer distrust.

Further, if the customer who has pressed the bag request switch remains without removing the bag, it is useless, and if a large number of bags are left by repeating such a process, it may cause clogging.

From the above point of view, the present invention provides an automatic vending machine capable of displaying when a bag is out. Further, the present invention provides an automatic vending machine which stops the operation of delivering the bag when the bag is left without being taken out.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an automatic vending machine according to the invention of claim 1 is a vending machine equipped with a bag supply unit for delivering a bag for storing goods,
A bag sensor that detects the presence or absence of a bag stored in the bag supply unit, an indicator that indicates when the bag is out of bag based on the detection of no bag by the bag sensor, and an instruction to send the bag to the bag supply unit. And a bag request switch for.

Further, the vending machine according to the invention of claim 2 is a vending machine equipped with a bag supply unit for sending out a bag for storing goods, and a bag take-out sensor for detecting a bag sent out from the bag supply unit. And a bag request switch for instructing the bag supply unit to send out a bag, and driving the bag supply unit on condition that the bag take-out sensor does not detect a bag when the bag request switch is operated. And a control device for giving a signal.

[0008]

According to the automatic vending machine of the first aspect of the present invention, when the bag request switch is pressed, a drive signal is given to the bag supply unit and the bag is delivered. Then, when the bag is exhausted in the bag supply unit, the bag sensor detects that the bag is out,
Based on this, the display indicates that the bag is out.

According to the automatic vending machine of the second aspect of the present invention, the bag delivered from the bag supply unit is detected by the bag take-out sensor, and when the customer takes out the bag from the vending machine, the bag take-out sensor. Stops the detection output. And
When the bag request switch is pressed, the control device gives a drive signal to the bag supply unit on condition that the bag take-out sensor has not detected the bag, whereby the bag is delivered.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a vending machine 50, in which a plurality of product samples 51 provided according to the types of products for sale and a product selection switch 52 for selecting a product corresponding to the product sample are arranged. Product selection section 53, signboard section 54, bill insertion slot 55, coin insertion slot 56 and change exit 5
7, a bag request switch 58, and an indicator 59 for displaying a bag shortage
A customer service section 61 provided with a bag outlet 60 and a merchandise sales opening 63 are formed.

Inside the customer service section 61, the vending machine 5
A control unit 62 for controlling the overall operation of the bag 0 and the bag supply unit 1 are arranged. Although not shown, inside the customer service section 61, a bill processing unit for processing bills inserted into the bill insertion slot 55, a coin mechanism for processing coins inserted in the coin insertion slot 56, and the like are arranged. ing. When the inserted bills and coins are proper, the bill processing unit and the coin mechanism send an amount signal corresponding to the amount to the control unit 62, and the control unit 62 sends to the vending machine 50 based on the sent signal. Calculate the input amount of money. And
When the product selection switch 52 is operated, the control unit 62 determines whether or not the product can be sold according to the price, the amount of money, the size of the product, the presence or absence of change in the coin mechanism, and the presence or absence of the product. If possible, the sales mechanism unit (not shown) is instructed to sell this product.

The control unit 62 includes a control device for controlling the bag supply operation of the bag supply unit 1, and the bag request switch 58, the display 59 and the bag sensor are connected to the control device. As will be described later, the bag sensor is a sensor that detects when the bag supply unit 1 runs out of bags, and the control device responds to the bag sensor detection of bag exhaustion and outputs a drive signal indicating that the bag is out of bag to the display 59. give.

As will be apparent later, a bag take-out sensor arranged at the bag take-out port 60 is connected to the control device. The bag take-out sensor is the bag supply unit 1
The bag is sent out from the vending machine and the detection output is stopped when the customer takes out the bag from the vending machine. When the bag request switch 58 is pressed, the control device gives a drive signal to the bag supply unit 1 to control the bag delivery operation on the condition that the bag take-out sensor has not detected the bag, whereby the bag is released. Sent out.

Next, a specific example of the bag supply unit 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a side view of the bag supply unit 1 in which the bag B is loaded, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the bag supply unit 1 in an empty state. The bag supply unit includes a main body 9, a roller 11, a pressing plate 12, coil springs C1 to C4, and a lock lever 13.
It consists of and. The main body 9 comprises a front wall 14 made of a metal plate, left and right side walls 16 and 17, and a rear wall 18 facing the lower part of the front wall 14, and a suspension rod 19 projects rearward at the upper end of the front wall 14. Installed. Also the main body 9
A slit-shaped through hole 21 is formed on the left and right in the lower portion of the front wall 14 facing the rear wall 18, and a roller 11 is provided here, and a part of the roller 11 faces the inside of the main body 9.

The roller 11 has two roller clutches 24 mounted on the rotary shaft 23 of the gear motor 22 via the roller clutches 24, and is made of a material having a large friction coefficient on the surface thereof. The roller clutch 24 transmits the driving force of the rotating shaft 23 to the roller 11 only when the rotating shaft 23 rotates clockwise in FIG. 2, and when the rotating shaft 23 is stopped, only the roller 11 rotates clockwise in FIG. When the roller 11 rotates, the connection between the roller 11 and the rotary shaft 23 is disconnected, and only the roller 11 acts so as to freely idle.

The pressing plate 12 is made of a metal plate and has a main body 9
Is provided on the inner side of the front wall 14 facing the roller 11. The pressing plate 12 has a width dimension that extends between the left and right side walls 16 and 17 of the main body 9, and has an abutting portion 26 that abuts on the roller 11 via the bag B and is continuous from the upper and lower ends of the abutting portion 26. A front and rear guide shaft formed on the left and right side walls 16 and 17 of the main body 9 and formed on the left and right side walls 16 and 17 of the main body 9. It is supported by the main body 9 by being slidably fitted in the holes 31, 31.

The coil springs C1 to C4 are the same coil spring and have the same elastic force. This coil spring C1,
C4 is bent in a left and right side portion between the pressing plate 12 and the rear wall 18 so as to have an arcuate shape having an upper part as an apex, and a front end thereof is attached to the lower end of the back side of the contact portion 26 of the pressing plate 12 and extends across the left and right shafts 32. , And the rear end is fixed to the lower part of the front surface of the rear wall 18. The coil springs C2 and C3 are bent inside the coil springs C1 and C4 so as to have an arc shape with the lower part as an apex, the front end is engaged with the support shaft 29 of the pressing plate 12, and the rear end is the upper front part of the rear wall 18. It is fixed to. It has been found that the coil springs C1 to C4 exert a substantially constant repulsive force irrespective of the bending angle of at least 90 degrees or more when the pressing plate 12 is in contact with the roller 11 as shown in FIG. ing. Therefore,
Each of the coil springs C1 to C4 can apply substantially the same pressing force to the bag B even if the amount of the bag B loaded between the roller 11 and the pressing plate 12 increases or decreases and the distance between the two changes.

The lock lever 13 is inserted into the main body 9 through the through hole 33 formed in the rear wall 18, and the tip thereof is at the pressing plate 12.
Of the shaft 34 provided on the back surface of the contact portion 26 of the
It is attached so that it can rotate freely, and its rear end is through hole 33.
It projects further back. Further, a cutout 36 is formed in the lower surface of the middle portion of the lock lever 13. A micro switch 60 as a bag sensor is attached to the front wall 14 of the bag supply unit 1. In order to detect the presence or absence of the bag B, the micro switch 60 exposes the tip end of the actuator to the bag storage portion of the bag supply unit 1. This tip portion advances to the bag storage portion as shown in FIG. 3 when the bag B is lost in the bag supply unit 1, so that the micro switch 60 is turned on / off depending on the presence or absence of the bag B.

When the control device included in the control unit 62 detects the absence of the bag B by the signal from the micro switch 60, it controls the display 59 to display the running out of the bag. Therefore, although this causes the administrator to load the bag, the lock lever 13 is pulled out to the rear wall 18 side against the repulsive force of the coil springs C1 to C4, and the notch 36 formed in the lock lever 13 as shown in FIG. The through hole 33 formed in the rear wall 18 is engaged. In this state, the pressing plate 12 is the roller 1
Since it is held in a state of being separated from 1, the bag B can be loaded. This bag B has a length of 310 mm, for example.
Is a bag made of reinforced polyethylene and has a hole (not shown) formed in the upper portion, and the pressing plate 12 and the roller 11 are provided at the front end.
It is inserted in the space, this hole is inserted in the suspension rod 19, and a plurality of sheets are stacked and loaded as shown in FIG.

After the bag B is loaded, when the lock lever 13 is lifted and the notch 36 is removed from the through hole 33, the lock lever 13 is pulled back into the main body 9 by the repulsive force of the coil springs C1 to C4 and the pressing plate 12 is pressed. The contact portion 26 contacts the back surface of the outermost bag B as shown in FIG.
Press on 1 to complete the bag loading.

When the control device included in the control unit 62 outputs a drive signal for sending a bag to the bag supply unit, the gear motor 22 is driven for a predetermined time to rotate the roller 11 clockwise in FIG. Inner bag B is roller 1
It is moved toward the lower delivery port 42 by the friction with 1 and is torn off from the suspension rod 19 and delivered.
The bag that has reached the delivery port 42 is detected by the bag take-out sensor 61. The bag take-out sensor 61 is an optical sensor including a pair of light emitting / receiving elements.

Since the lower end of the bag B advances to the bag outlet 60 by this sending out, when the purchaser pulls out the bag B, the roller 11 and the roller clutch 24 in that direction.
As described above, the bag B idles as described above, so that the bag B can be easily pulled out from the bag supply unit 1. At this time, when the purchaser leaves the bag without pulling it out, the bag take-out sensor 61 continues to detect the bag B, so that even if the bag request switch 58 is pressed next time, the control device included in the control 62 is The drive signal for bag delivery is not output to the bag supply unit 1.

When the bags B are successively sent out in this manner, the pressing plate 12 comes into contact with the roller 11 and the distance between the roller 11 and the pressing plate 12 decreases, but the coil springs C1 to C are used.
4 exerts a substantially uniform repulsive force irrespective of the change in this distance, so that the pressing plate 12 presses the bag B against the roller 11 with a substantially constant pressure regardless of the change in the number of bags B. Therefore, even if the number of bags B changes, the frictional force between the roller 11 and the bags B becomes substantially constant, and the delivery is smoothly performed.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example in which the lever 62 and the switch 63 are used for the bag take-out sensor 61. When a transparent or semi-transparent material is used for the bag B, the bag take-out sensor 61 by the optical sensor deteriorates the bag detection accuracy. In such a case, it is effective to configure the bag take-out sensor 61 with a lever and a switch. That is, the lever 62 is provided in the delivery port 42 so as to be rotated by being pushed by the bag B delivered by the rotation of the roller 11, and the switch 63 is activated by the rotation of the lever 62. There is.

However, a disadvantage of the bag take-out sensor 61 using the lever and the switch is that the bag B cannot push the lever 62 when the bag is weak and the bag B is blocked by the lever 62 and is not delivered. is there. Therefore, in this example, the bag take-out sensor 61 including the lever 62 and the switch 63 is arranged so as to be offset to the left or right with respect to the center line 63 in the sending direction of the bag b1 to be sent out as shown in FIG. With this arrangement, the one side of the bag B1 proceeds normally without being disturbed by the lever 62 against the delivery.
The other side has a wrinkle 64 because the movement is blocked by the lever 62.
Occurs, and the bag B1 is deformed into a door shape. However, the restoring force of the bag B1 is accumulated on the ground side where the wrinkles are generated, and this force eventually pushes out the lever 62, whereby the bag B1 is surely sent to the bag outlet 60. In the case of the bag take-out sensor 61 constituted by the lever 62 and the switch 63, the lever 62 is provided with the switch 6 until the bag B1 is taken out from the bag take-out port 60.
3 is continuously held in the operating position.

[0026]

According to the present invention, since the bag is provided only to the customer who has pressed the bag request switch, the bag is not wasted, and when the bag is out, this is displayed on the display. In order to do so, the customer desiring the bag can be informed why the bag cannot be provided. Then, unless the bag once sent out is removed, the bag is not sent out even if the bag request switch is pushed next time, so that it is possible to prevent the occurrence of jamming by sending out many bags.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a vending machine including a bag supply unit.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the bag supply unit with a bag loaded therein.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the bag supply unit in an empty state.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a bag loading state of the bag supply unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a bag supply unit according to another embodiment.

6 is a diagram showing a state in which the bag supply unit of FIG. 5 is delivering a bag.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the delivery state of the bag in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 bag supply unit 58 bag request switch 59 indicator 60 bag sensor 61 bag removal sensor 62 control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vending machine equipped with a bag supply unit for sending out a bag for storing products, and a bag sensor for detecting the presence / absence of a bag stored in the bag supply unit, and no bag by the bag sensor. An automatic vending machine, comprising: an indicator for indicating that the bag has run out based on detection of the bag, and a bag request switch for instructing the bag supply unit to send the bag. 2. In a vending machine equipped with a bag supply unit for sending out a bag for storing goods, a bag take-out sensor for detecting a bag sent out from the bag supply unit and a bag supply unit for sending out the bag. A bag request switch for instructing, and a control device for giving a drive signal to the bag supply unit on condition that the bag take-out sensor does not detect a bag when the bag request switch is operated. Characteristic vending machine.