JPH0612560A - Merchandise containing device of automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the merchandise containing device of the automatic vending machine, which can contain easily a merchandise without generating surely a noise, and also, can execute simultaneously a collection of a coin at the time of containing the merchandise. CONSTITUTION:Merchandise discharge ports 8 of plural merchandise containing columns 6 are arranged in one vertical line toward the front of a main body 1, and in each of these merchandise discharge ports 8, a rotating body 11 having a merchandise detaining arm 10 protruded into a merchandise passage of the merchandise containing column 6 is supported axially so as to be freely rotatable. In such a state, at the time of discharging a merchandise, this rotating body 11 is subjected to forward turn operation and a cylindrical merchandise 7 accumulated and contained vertically in the merchandise containing column 6 is discharged. Also, at the time of containing the merchandise, the merchandise 7 is inserted from the merchandise dhscharge port 8 by opening the lower part door 2b, the rotating body 11 is subjected to backward turn operation and this merchandise 7 is contained successively into the merchandise containing column 6. Moreover, a safe 5 is drawn out at the time of containing the merchandise if necessary.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product storage device for a vending machine having a product storage column for storing cylindrical products arranged in a line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional product storage device for an automatic vending machine, a cylindrical product is put into a product storage rack at the top of a product storage rack and stored in the product storage rack, and then a sales command is issued. An example of a product which is configured to discharge a product from a product discharge port provided at the bottom of a product storage rack is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-51464.

Further, in such a product storage device for a vending machine, a front door for opening and closing a front opening of the vending machine main body is divided into upper and lower parts in order to prevent leakage of cold air inside the vending machine. Open the upper door only to store the product in the product storage rack, and when collecting coins, etc., open the coin collection door only on the lower door to open the coin box at the bottom of the vending machine. There is also one that is designed to collect coins from.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional product storage device for a vending machine, when storing the product, the product must be lifted up to the product insertion port located at a high position and stored. For this reason, it is difficult to launch products,
Further, there is a problem that a large amount of labor is required, and the loaded product is caught or makes noise in the middle of the product storage rack, and when the product is a bin, the bin is broken due to collision between the products.

Further, in the case where the front door is divided into upper and lower parts, it is troublesome to operate the upper door and the lower door when attempting to store products and collect coins at the same time. There was a problem.

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a product storing device for a vending machine, which can store products easily without generating noise and at the same time collect coins when storing products. is there.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the product outlets, which are arranged side by side in the front and rear of the main body and discharge the cylindrical products that are vertically stacked and stored, are arranged in a row in the vertical direction toward the front surface of the main body. A plurality of product storage columns, a lower door whose lower end is pivotally supported by the lower part of the front surface of the main body, and which is provided to face the product outlet,
It has a product locking arm that projects into the product passage of the product storage column, and is rotatably supported by each of the product discharge ports, and discharges the product by forward rotation, while opening the lower door. And a rotating body for discharging / storing, which sequentially stores the products inserted from the product discharge port of the product storage column in the reverse rotation operation.

Further, according to the present invention, a safe for storing change or the like is detachably attached to the lower door.

Further, according to the present invention, a detection means is provided in each of the product passages of each product storage column to detect the passage of the product, and the detection means counts the number of the products stored at the time of storing the product and at the time of discharging the product. A counter that subtracts the number of sold products from the number of stored products and a display that is provided for each product storage column and displays the remaining number of products measured by the counter are provided.

[0010]

With this configuration, the product outlets of a plurality of product storage columns arranged side by side in the main body are arranged in a row vertically toward the front of the main body, and the product passages of the product storage columns are provided in the respective product outlets. It is possible to rotatably support the rotating body having the product locking arm protruding inward.

When the product is discharged, the rotating body is rotated in the forward direction to discharge the cylindrical products which are vertically stacked and stored in the product storage column. When storing products, the lower end is pivotally supported by the lower part of the front of the main body, the lower door provided facing the product outlet is opened, the product is inserted from the product outlet, and the rotating body is rotated in reverse. This product can be sequentially stored in the product storage column.

Further, when storing products, the lower door can be opened and the safe for storing change or the like can be pulled out.

Furthermore, the passage of the product can be detected by the detection means provided in the product passage of each product storage column, and the counter counts the number of the products stored when the products are stored and the products are discharged when the products are discharged. The number of products sold can be subtracted from the number of products stored, and the number of products remaining measured by the counter can be displayed by the display provided for each product storage column.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a product storage device of an automatic vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,
Reference numeral 1 is a vending machine main body (hereinafter referred to as main body), and 2 is a front door that closes the front opening of the main body 1.

The front door 2 is vertically divided into an upper door 2a and a lower door 2b, and the upper door 2a is axially supported by a first rotating shaft 3a so as to be opened and closed in the left-right direction. The lower door 2b is rotatably supported in the front-rear direction by a second rotating shaft 3b provided at the front upper end of the commodity outlet 4 provided at the lower part of the main body 1.

Here, a coin box 5 which is a safe for storing change and the like is detachably attached to the back surface of the lower door 2b, and when the lower door 2b is opened, the lower portion thereof is opened. A holding member such as a chain (not shown) is attached to hold the door 2b at an angle such that the products can be stored and coins can be easily collected. In addition, by making the lower door 2b half-open as described above, the protruding dimension when the lower door 2b is opened is reduced.

Reference numeral 6 is a product storage column which is arranged in parallel in the front-rear direction inside the main body 1 for stacking and storing the cylindrical products 7 in a vertical row, and 8 is a vertical row in front of the main body 1. It is a product outlet of the product storage column 6 arranged in line. The lower door 2b is attached so as to face the product outlet 8.

A product storing / discharging device 9 is provided above the product discharging port 8. The product storing / discharging device 9 has, for example, four locking arms 10 provided at regular intervals. It comprises a star wheel 11 which is a rotating body for discharging and accommodating, and a drive unit (not shown) for rotating the star wheel 11, which is rotatable forward and backward.

The star wheel 11 is usually 1
The locking arm 10 of the book is projected into the product passage 6a of the product storage column 6 to stop the product 7 in a locked state, and thus the stored product 7 is not locked out of the product storage column 6. I am trying.

Here, in the product storage / ejection device 9, when a product storage button (not shown) is pressed during product storage, the drive unit is driven to rotate the star wheel 11 in the forward direction, which is counterclockwise in this embodiment. 1)
It rotates at a low speed so that it can be locked individually.

Further, at the time of discharging the product, a product sales button (not shown) is pressed, and in response to a sales command issued, the drive unit is driven in the reverse direction and the star wheel 11 is pressed.
Is rotated in the reverse direction and rotated 1/4 to drop one product 7 to the product take-out section 4 below.

Therefore, when the product storage button is pressed when storing the product, the product 7a is held between the predetermined two locking arms 10a and 10b of the star wheel 11 rotating at a low speed as shown in FIG. When the product 7a is inserted, the product 7a is clamped by the two locking arms 10a and 10b, and is also locked by the locking arm 10a on the product discharge port 8 side, and the product storage column 6 is rotated as the star wheel 11 rotates. It is designed to be stored in.

Since the locking arm 10a rotates upward after storing the product 7a in the product storage column 6, the locking of the product 7a locked by the locking arm 10a is released. As a result, the product is retracted toward the product outlet 8.

However, even if the product 7a is retracted in this way, the next locking arm 10c is protruding into the product storage column 6 at this time, and as shown in FIG. It is locked by the locking arm 10c and does not fall out of the product storage column 6.

By the way, a micro switch (not shown) is provided on the top surface 6a of the product storage column 6. Then, when the uppermost product 7b approaches the top surface 6a of the product storage column 6 and eventually comes into contact with the microswitch, the drive unit is stopped.

At this time, the star wheel 11 is designed to stop in a state in which the lowest product 7a is locked by one locking arm 10. As a result, the product 7 can be fully stored in the product storage column 6.

On the other hand, when the product is discharged, the drive unit rotates the star wheel 11 by a quarter turn in response to the sales command, and discharges the lowest product 7a locked by the locking arm 10. The product 7c is prevented from being discharged because it is locked by the locking arm 10 that projects next into the product storage column 6.

Next, the operation of storing and ejecting goods in the vending machine having the above structure will be described.

When the product 7 is stored in the vending machine,
First, the lower door 2b is opened downward, and then the product storage button is pressed to rotate the star wheel 11 in the normal direction, before the second locking arm 10a discharges into the product passage 6a as shown in FIG. When the product 7a is inserted into the product discharge port 8, the product 7a will soon become the locking arm 10a and the locking arm 10b immediately before.
It is clamped by and is locked by the locking arm 10a and stored in the product storage column 6.

In this way, the commodities 7 are sequentially stored, the product storage column 6 is eventually filled with the products 7, and the topmost product 7b is the top surface 6 of the product storage column 6.
The drive unit stops when it comes into contact with the microswitch a, and the star wheel 11 stops with the lowest product 7a being locked by one locking arm 10c.

On the other hand, at the time of discharging the product, when the sales button is pressed, the drive unit is driven in the opposite direction in response to the sales command, and the star wheel 11 is rotated in the reverse direction to rotate 1/4 and the locking arm 10c is engaged. The lowest product 7 that is stopped is discharged.

When the products are stored, the lower door 2b is held by a holding member at an angle such that coins can be easily collected, as shown in FIG. The coin can be easily collected by pulling it out.

As described above, the product discharge port 8 is provided with the star wheel 11 capable of forward / reverse operation, and when the product is stored, the star wheel 11 is normally rotated to allow the product discharge port 8 to move.
Items can be stored from.

In addition, at the time of product discharge, according to the sales command,
By rotating the star wheel 11 in the reverse direction and rotating it by 1/4, one product 7 can be discharged. Further, since the products 7 can be stored until the product storage column 6 is full, the product storage amount can be increased.

As shown in FIG. 4, a micro switch MS for detecting the passage of the product 7 is arranged inside the star wheel 11 of the product discharge port 8 and each product storage column 6 is provided. By providing a counter (not shown), the number of products stored in each product storage column 6 can be counted.

That is, when the micro switch MS is turned on and a product detection signal is generated as shown in FIG. 5 during the reverse rotation of the star wheel 11, 1 is added to the count value and the product detection is performed during the forward rotation of the star wheel 11. When the signal is generated, 1 is subtracted from the count value to count the number of stored products in the corresponding product storage column 6.

Then, by displaying the measurement result on a display unit (not shown) provided in each product storage column 6, the number of products 7 currently stored in the product storage column 6 can be known at a glance, which is necessary for replenishment. It suffices to prepare as many products 7 as possible, and the product preparation work for storing the products can be efficiently performed.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the product is stored, only the lower door is opened and the product is pushed in order from the product discharge port of the product storage column to store the product upward. The product can be stored without lifting it up and without damaging it. As a result, the product can be reliably stored easily without generating noise. At this time, coins can be collected at the same time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a product storage device of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of essential parts showing a product storing operation of the product storing device.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of an essential part showing how the product storage device prevents products from falling.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of essential parts showing a state in which a micro switch is attached to the product storage device.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of essential parts showing a state in which the micro switch is turned on.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vending Machine Main Body 2b Lower Door 5 Coin Box 6 Product Storage Column 7 Product 8 Product Ejection Port 9 Product Storage Ejection Device 11 Star Wheel MS Micro Switch

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Imamura 2-18 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of product storage columns, which are arranged side by side in the front and rear of the main body, and in which a plurality of product discharge ports for discharging cylindrical products that are stacked and stored vertically are arranged in one row vertically toward the front of the main body, Each of the product outlets has a lower door that is pivotally supported at the lower part of the front surface of the main body and has a lower door that faces the product outlet and a product locking arm that projects into the product passage of the product storage column. The product is rotatably supported and discharges the product in forward rotation, while the lower door is opened and the products inserted from the product discharge port of the product storage column are sequentially rotated in the product storage column. A product storage device for a vending machine, comprising a rotating body for storing and discharging. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a safe for storing change and the like is detachably attached to the lower door. 3. A detection means provided in each of the commodity passages of each commodity storage column to detect passage of the commodity, and the detection means counts the number of commodities stored when the commodity is stored and at the time of discharging the commodity, the commodity. 2. A counter for subtracting the number of sold products from the number of stored products, and a display provided for each of the product storage columns and displaying the remaining number of products measured by the counter. Product storage device for the described vending machine.