JPH0587677U - Vending machine product container - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide a product container for a vending machine in which the serpentine column portion and the product carry-out path are connected to each other in a shape suitable for moving the product. A first inclined guide plate 21 extending forward from an upper end edge of the wall is formed on a front wall member 18 that forms a product discharge path and is movable in the front-rear direction, and the arc plate 5 of the serpentine column is formed. Connect the lower end adjacent to the plate,
Second tilt guide plate 25 extending parallel to the first tilt guide plate 25
Is provided in front of the front wall member, and the first tilted guide plate is provided on the second tilted guide plate over the movement adjustment range of each tilted guide plate. Adjacent and connected to each other. [Advantage] The wall spacing is adjusted by moving the front wall member, and the serpentine column and the product discharge path are provided with the first and second inclined guides over the combination of the respective movement adjustments of the front wall member and the guide adjustment member. The plates have smooth shapes and are connected to each other in a state suitable for moving products.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a product container of a serpentine type vending machine, and more particularly to an adjusting mechanism for adjusting a wall interval of a product discharge path.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 A product container of a vending machine in which the distance between the front wall and the rear wall forming a product discharge path can be individually adjusted to suit each size of the product is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-87. Have been described. FIG. 2 is a simplified perspective view showing a part of such a product container.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a box of a product container, which forms serpentine column type product guide paths 3a and 3b (only 3a is shown) extending vertically between the side plates 2a and 2b. Each of these stores a product. The lower part is provided with an opening 4 for taking out the product, which opens to the front. Each of the product guide paths 3a and 3b is formed by a front side arcuate plate 5 which is vertically arranged and a rear side arcuate plate 6 which is alternately arranged with the arcuate plate 5 and the lower part thereof. Further, a product unloading path including a front wall member 7 and a product unloading controller 8 which is a rear wall member is provided. The products are carried out one by one from the product carry-out path and sent to the opening 4 by the shooter 9. The upper and lower ends of the circular arc plates 5 and 6 are fixed to the side plates 2a and 2b on both sides, and the product discharge controller 8 is also fixed to the side plates 2a and 2b at both end faces thereof. The front wall member 7 has a mounting plate 7b rising from both sides of the back portion 7a to the front side. Two wall member support shafts 10a and 10b are laterally passed through the mounting plate 7b, and the wall member support shafts 10a and 10b are supported by being inserted through slanted elongated holes 11 provided in the side plates 2a and 2b. There is.

Reference numeral 12 is a positioning lever that adjusts and locks the front-rear position of the front wall member 7, is attached to the front wall member 7, and is biased by a spring 13 to move in the direction of the side plate 2a or 2b. There is. The side plates 2a, 2b are provided with a plurality of circular adjustment holes 14a, 14b, 14c arranged in parallel with the elongated hole 11, into which the tip end of the positioning lever 12 is selectively inserted, so that the front wall member 7 is provided. The front and rear positions are adjusted.

This vending machine has a door 16 on the front surface of a main body 15, and the door 16 is provided with a product outlet 17 at a position facing the opening 4 so that the product can be taken out therefrom. The position of each front wall member 7 is adjusted with the door 16 open. In adjusting the position, the front wall member 7 can be moved back and forth by pulling the positioning lever 12 sideways against the return force of the spring 13 and pulling out the tip of the positioning lever 12 from the adjustment hole 14a in this case. Then, when the front wall member 7 is moved so that the tip end faces the adjustment hole 14b and the hand is released, the tip end is inserted into the adjustment hole 14b and the front wall member 7 is locked at the adjustment position.

[0006]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the above-mentioned product container, assuming that the front wall member in the product discharge path is position-adjusted without adjusting the mutual distance between the arc plates facing each other of the serpentine column, the connection relationship between the arc plate and the front wall member is assumed. There was a problem that the position was shifted and the product did not move smoothly.

An object of the present invention is to provide a product container of a vending machine in which the spacing between walls can be easily adjusted and the serpentine column part and the product carry-out path are connected in a state suitable for moving products. is there.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is formed by connecting a front wall member and a rear wall member with a gap between a pair of side plates, and connecting a product discharge path to a product outlet of a serpentine column. Then, one wall member is fixedly attached to both side plates, and the other wall member supports the wall member support shaft in a slot provided on both side plates substantially parallel to the inclination of the lower end of the serpentine column. In a product container of a vending machine that is supported by being inserted therethrough so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, the other wall member extends from the upper edge of the wall to the opposite side of the opposing wall along the lower end of the serpentine column. A first inclined guide plate that extends is formed, and the lower end portion of the serpentine column is adjacent to and connected to the first inclined guide plate over the movement adjustment range of the other wall member. On the opposite side of the member from the facing wall A guide adjustment member including a support main body supported by the both side plates so as to be movable and adjustable in a direction parallel to this, and a second inclined guide plate extending from the upper end of the support main body in parallel with the first inclined guide plate. The first inclined guide plate is adjacent to and connected to the second inclined guide plate over the movement adjustment range of each inclined guide plate.

[0009]

[Action]

 According to the present invention, the serpentine column and the product discharge path are connected via the first and second inclined guide plates over the combination of the movement adjustments of the other wall member and the guide adjustment member. The amount of overlap between the inclined guide plates is reduced at the adjustment position where the distance between the wall members is small to increase the length of the connecting portion, and is increased at the adjustment position where the distance is large. If the related dimensions of each tilt guide plate are set in order to absorb the decrease in the length of the connecting part by the overlapping amount, the maximum space required by each of these component parts of the product carry-out path is Less.

[0010]

【Example】

 FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a product container showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and different parts will be described below.

A front wall member 18 is used in place of the front wall member 7 of FIG. The front wall member 18 is supported by inserting the wall member support shafts 10a and 10b mounted on the mounting plate 18b into the slanted elongated holes 20 provided in the side plates 19a and 19b, and a product discharge controller facing the same. Together with 8, they constitute a product delivery route. Reference numeral 21 denotes a first inclined guide plate, which extends from the upper edge of the wall formed by the back portion 18a of the front wall member 18 to the lower end portion of the arc plate 5 of the serpentine column from the side opposite to the wall of the product discharge controller 8. The lower end portions of the serpentine columns are adjacently connected to each other on the plate surface of the front wall member 18 over the movement adjustment range. The slot 20 has an inclination angle substantially equal to that of the lower end of the arc plate 5, and the first inclined guide plate 21 is parallel to the slot 20.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a guide adjusting member, which is on the opposite side of the front wall member 18 from the wall of the product unloading controller (rear wall member) 8 and has both sides of a back portion 22 a having the same configuration as the front wall member 18. From the front to the front side of the mounting plate 22b through the two adjusting member support shafts 23a, 23b to form a support body, which is parallel to the elongated holes 20 formed in the side plates 19a, 19b. The adjusting member support shafts 23a and 23b are inserted into and supported by the elongated holes 24. Reference numeral 25 denotes a second inclined guide plate, which extends from the upper end of the back portion 22a in parallel with the first inclined guide plate 21 and has substantially the same longitudinal dimension, and extends over the movement adjustment range of the guide adjustment member 22. The first inclined guide plates 21 are adjacently connected to each other on the plate surface.

The mounting plate 18b of the front wall member 18 is provided with a locking portion 26 bent from the front end edge thereof in order to lock the guide adjusting member 22. The length of the long hole 20 sets the adjustable range in which the back portion 22a of the guide adjusting member 22 is brought into contact with the locking portion 26, and the length of the long hole 24 is set to the movement of the front wall member 18. Therefore, the adjustable range with or without contact is set. Further, the respective inclined guide plates 21 and 25 are related to each other so that the respective connections are secured when the front wall member 18 and the guide adjusting member 22 are respectively moved to the maximum forward or the maximum backward. Is set. Further, the inclined guide plates 21 and 25 are arranged such that their end edges when they are moved to the maximum forward are substantially aligned with each other so that the respective end edges do not project forward of the arc plate 5, for example. The size of the direction is made as small as possible.

In the above configuration, when the front wall member 18 is moved to the maximum front position as indicated by the chain double-dashed line, the guide adjustment member 22 also moves to the maximum front position accordingly. When each positioning lever 12 is inserted into the adjustment hole 14a, it is set to the adjustment position applicable to the product with the largest dimension. At this time, the inclined guide plates 21 and 25 connect the circular arc plate 5 to the first inclined guide plate 21 in a state in which their respective edges are substantially aligned with each other and overlap each other. When narrowing the product delivery path from this state, each positioning lever 12 is pulled out and the front wall member 18 is moved rearward. The guide adjusting member 22 also moves rearward due to its own weight. When the front wall member 18 is moved to, for example, the rear maximum position and the positioning levers 12 are inserted into the adjustment holes 14c, they are set to the adjustment position applicable to the minimum-sized product. At this time, the guide adjusting member 22 has the adjusting member support shafts 23a and 23b locked to the rear ends of the elongated holes 24, and the inclined guide plates 21 and 25 are connected to each other in a stretched state and arced. Retains the connection with the plate 5 mutually.

[0016]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, among the wall members forming the product discharge passage at the product outlet of the serpentine column, the wall member that is movable in the front-rear direction is adjusted to the upper end of the wall. A first inclined guide plate extending from the edge to the opposite side of the opposing wall is formed, and the lower end of the serpentine column is adjacently connected to the plate so as to oppose the opposite wall to the movement-adjustable wall member. A guide adjusting member having a second inclined guide plate extending in parallel with the first inclined guide plate is provided on the side, and the first inclined guide plate is provided on the second inclined guide plate over the movement adjustment range of each inclined guide plate. Since the inclined guide plates are adjacent to each other and connected to each other, the serpentine column and the product unloading path are provided with the first and second inclined guides over the combination of the movement adjustment of the movement-adjustable wall member and the guide adjustment member. Products that have a smooth shape with each other through a plate It is connected in a state suitable for transfer. At the adjustment position where the distance between the wall members is small, the overlapping amount between the inclined guide plates is reduced to increase the length of the connecting portion, and at the adjustment position where the distance is large, the connecting portion is increased to increase the connecting portion. If the relative dimension of each inclined guide plate is set so that the decrease in the length of the product is absorbed by the amount of overlap, the maximum space required by each component of the product carry-out path is reduced accordingly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a product container showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a simplified perspective view showing a part of a conventional product container.

[Explanation of symbols]

5, 6 ... Arc plate, 8 ... Product discharge controller, 10a, 10b
... Wall member support shaft, 12 ... Positioning levers, 14a, 14
b, 14c ... adjusting hole, 18 ... front wall member, 20, 24 ... elongated hole, 21 ... first inclined guide plate, 22 ... guide adjusting member, 2
5 ... 2nd inclination guide plate, 26 ... locking part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A product carrying-out path formed by facing a front wall member and a rear wall member with a space between a pair of side plates, is formed by being connected to a product outlet of a serpentine column, and one wall member is The other wall member is fixedly attached to both side plates, and the other wall member is inserted through the wall member support shaft into an elongated hole that is provided substantially parallel to the inclination of the lower end of the serpentine column on both side plates, and is supported so that it can be moved forward and backward. In the product container of the vending machine described above, the other wall member extends along the lower end of the serpentine column from the upper edge of the wall to the side opposite to the opposing wall.
And a lower end portion of the serpentine column is adjacent to and connected to the first inclined guide plate over the movement adjustment range of the other wall member. And a second tilt extending from the upper end of the support body in parallel with the first tilt guide plate, the support body being supported by the both side plates on the opposite side of the facing wall so as to be movable and adjustable in a direction parallel to the opposite wall. A guide adjusting member including a guide plate, and the first inclined guide plate is adjacently connected to the second inclined guide plate over the movement adjustment range of each inclined guide plate. Vending machine product container.