JPH07230577A - Spiral product rack for vending machines - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide a spiral type product rack suitable for a vending machine for a product containing cup noodles and other cup containers, which allows the stored products to be stably dropped and carried out from the product rack in a normal position. [Structure] A rack case 1 is equipped with a rotary spiral 3 with a vertical axis driven by a bend motor 2, and spirally distributes products 4 stored in two rows on the left and right and stored between pitches of the spiral alternately from the bottom to the left and right. In the product-type product rack, the bottom product of the rack case swings between the horizontal position and the drooping position in synchronization with the rotation of the spiral, and receives the lowest product that has slipped out of the spiral in the horizontal position. A pair of left and right openable flappers 6L and 6R, which are held at the sale standby position, are provided, and the flapper is alternately opened and closed by a cam plate 7 connected to the tip of the spiral support shaft 3a to carry out the product.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spiral type product rack mounted on a vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As the spiral type product rack (bend rack) described above, a vertical rotary spiral connected to a bend motor is provided in an open bottom type rack case, and the spiral pitch is divided into two rows on the left and right. It is well known that products stored in between are dropped and carried out alternately from the bottom to the left and right based on a sales command.

This spiral type product rack has a simple structure and has been widely used as a product rack for vending machines such as ice cream or the like having a rectangular package shape. FIG. 4 shows the conventional structure of such a spiral type product rack. In the figure, 1 is a rack case with an open bottom surface, 2 is a bend motor, 3 is a bend motor, and 3 is a vertical axis of the rack case 1. The spiral 3a is a support shaft of the spiral 3, and 3b is a connecting rod as a reinforcing member that is bridged between the spiral 3 and several points on the shaft 3a. In such a spiral type product rack, the products 4 are sorted into two rows on the left and right, and one product is stored between the pitches of the spiral 3.

When the bend motor 2 is started from this state and the spiral 3 is rotated 180 degrees in the direction of arrow A, the stored products 4 are screw-fed downward while being guided by the rack case 1, and the products arranged at the lowest position (# 1) When 4 has come out of the spiral 3, it is dropped down and carried out, and a merchandise conveying mechanism (shooter,
Alternatively, it is sent to the product outlet of the vending machine via a belt conveyor).

[0005]

By the way, recently, a product in which a noodle, an ingredient and a juice are put in a circular cup container such as a cup noodle is stored in the spiral type product rack,
A cup noodle vending machine is being developed, which is carried out from a product rack at the time of sale, then carried into a microwave oven in the machine, cooked, and then sold.

However, when the spiral type product rack of the conventional structure shown in FIG. 4 is directly adopted to sell products in cup containers such as cup noodles, the following problems occur. That is, the behavior of the lowest-order product (# 1) stored in the right column of the rack case 1 in the carrying-out operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (c). The commodity # 1 is stored in a substantially horizontal posture with being sandwiched between the pitches of the spiral 3. From this state, when the spiral 3 is rotated 90 degrees toward the position shown in FIG. 7B from the selling operation, the winding end terminal portion 3c of the spiral 3 moves backward relative to the product # 1, thereby causing the product to move. # 1 is spiral 3 in the first half of the bottom
It loses its support and changes to a forward leaning posture as if it falls forward. Subsequently, when the spiral 3 is rotated 180 degrees to the end position of the selling operation shown in (c), the product # 1 is completely removed from the spiral or 3 and is dropped and carried out.
In this case, the commodity # 1 falls almost in the unloading posture in which the forward tilting posture has been amplified, and falls onto the transport mechanism 5 below the rack shown in FIG.

If the drop between the carry-out end of the product rack and the lower transport mechanism 5 is made smaller than the height of the cup for one product, the product 4 carried out from the product rack reaches an inverted posture. Since it landed on the transport mechanism before, it is possible to prevent the product from tipping over, but if this drop is too small, the product 4 will be caught on the edge of the rack case 1 in the subsequent product transport process, causing transport failure. Actually, it is necessary to secure a head larger than at least the height of one product.

On the other hand, in the case of products such as ice cream, there is no particular problem with the disorder of the carry-out posture from the product rack, and there is no problem even if the product is sent to the product take-out port in the fall posture. However, if a soup-containing product such as cup noodles is carried out from the product rack in an overturned position, it may not be carried into the microwave oven in the subsequent stage and cooked properly, and the soup may overflow from the overturned cup container. There is also. For this reason, in vending machines for cup noodles and the like, it is necessary to stably drop products out of the spiral type product rack while keeping them in a normal posture.

Another problem is that when a circular cup container product is stored by being sandwiched between the pitches of the spiral 3, the storage posture of the product 4 is slightly inclined outward as shown in FIG. On the side close to the support shaft 3a, the peripheral edge portion of the product container easily fits inside the spiral 3. For this reason, if the selling operation proceeds in this storage posture, the radial connecting rod 3b that has rotated together with the spiral 3 hits the peripheral edge of the cup container fitted on the inner peripheral side of the spiral 3. Since this portion is strongly pressed (this collision portion is indicated by P), the cup container may be deformed or damaged and the contents of the product 4 may spill out.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and by improving a spiral type product rack having a conventional structure, the above problems can be solved and stored products can be dropped and carried out from the product rack in a normal position. Another object of the present invention is to provide a spiral type product rack suitable for selling products in cup containers such as cup noodles, which is capable of safely avoiding deformation and damage of the product container due to spiral transportation in the rack.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the above object is to oscillate between a horizontal position and a drooping position on a lower surface side of a rack case in synchronism with rotation of a spiral, and to spiral in a horizontal position. This is achieved by providing an open-and-close flapper that receives the lowest-ranked product that has come out and holds it at the next standby position for sale.

Further, as the openable flapper in the above structure, a pair of flappers corresponding to each product row stored in the rack by being divided into two rows on the left and right are provided on both sides of the spindle of the spiral, and each flapper is described above. A cam member connected to the support shaft may be configured to be alternately opened and closed.
Furthermore, as a means to prevent damage to the product container due to the spiral transportation in the rack, the spiral is made into an outer wound and inner wound double spiral, and the inner wound spiral is spanned between the outer wound spiral and the spiral spindle. There is a structure laid under the connecting rod.

[0013]

According to the above construction, among the products stored between the pitches of the spiral, the lowest product, which has come out from the end of the spiral end of the spiral due to the rotation of the spiral, is not dropped and carried out from the rack. It is handed over to the flapper, which stands in a horizontal position just below the spiral, and is held in a normal position until the next sale at this position. Then, when the spiral rotates again in the next sale operation, the flapper tilts from the horizontal position to the drooping position at once due to its own weight in synchronism with the spiral rotation motion, which causes the product to move downward while maintaining the horizontal normal position. Drop out and carry out. Therefore, even if the product is a product containing soup such as cup noodles, troubles such as inability to carry the product inside the machine and spilling of the juice due to the product falling are prevented.

Further, a structure is adopted in which the spiral is a double spiral of an outer winding and an inner winding, and the inner winding spiral is laid under the connecting rod laid between the outer winding spiral and the spiral support shaft. As a result, the product is held in the storage position by being sandwiched between the spiral pitches of the inner and outer double structure without contacting the spiral connecting rod, which stabilizes the storage posture of the product. Damage to the product due to the collision with the connecting rod or the pressing force can be reliably avoided.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction of an embodiment of the present invention and the product unloading operation will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the drawings of the embodiments, the same members corresponding to FIGS. 4 to 6 are designated by the same reference numerals. First, in FIG. 1, on the lower surface side of the rack case 1, a pair of openable flappers 6L, which individually correspond to the left and right product rows on both sides of the support shaft 3a of the spiral 3,
6R is provided, and a cam plate 7 connected to the tip of the spiral support shaft 3a faces the lower surfaces of the flappers 6L and 6R. Here, the flappers 6L and 6R are rotatably pivoted so as to be in a hanging posture by their own weight with the side close to the support shaft 3a as a fulcrum, and in the height direction between the end of the spiral 3 and the end of winding. Thus, a space h1 is secured which substantially corresponds to the height of one cup of the product (product in a cup container) 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the cam plate 7 has a fan-shaped planar shape. When the cam plate 7 enters the lower surface of the flapper, the flapper is pushed up to a horizontal posture, and conversely, when the cam plate comes out. The flapper opens and closes so that it does not support itself and hangs down in a hanging position under its own weight. The cam plate 7 is fixed to the shaft 3a by setting the cam shaft 7 at a position projecting to the opposite side of the winding end end portion of the spiral 3 with respect to the support shaft 3a.

The spiral 3 incorporated in the rack case 1 has an inner-outer double spiral structure consisting of a large-diameter outer-winding spiral 3A and a small-diameter inner-winding spiral 3B along the inside thereof, and As clearly shown in FIG. 3, the inner spiral 3B is laid under the connecting rod 3b which is bridged between the outer spiral 3A and the spiral spindle 3a.

The other structure is basically the same as that of the conventional spiral type product rack shown in FIG. 4, and the products 4 are divided into two rows on the left and right, and one product is stored between the pitches of the spiral 3. There is. Next, a product unloading operation of the spiral type product rack having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. The symbols # 1 and # 2 attached to the product 4 in the figure represent the lowest products arranged in the right column and the left column, respectively (see FIG. 1).

First, in the sales standby state shown in FIG. 1 (a), the right flapper 6R is pushed up by the cam plate 7 into a horizontal position (closed position), and the left flapper 6L hangs down into a drooping position (open position). There is. Then, in this state, among the products stored in the rack case 1, the lowest product # 1 in the right row, which has come out from the winding end end of the spiral 3, is placed on the flapper 6R and is horizontally held, and the product # 2 is It is held between the pitches of Spiral 3.

When a sales command is given, the bend motor 2 (see FIG. 1) starts to rotate the spiral 3 counterclockwise (the rotation angle of one selling operation is 180 degrees), and the spiral 3 rotates. The cam plate 7 rotates in synchronization with. Then, as shown in FIG.
When it has rotated nearly, the left flapper 6L, which has been open in the drooping posture until now, is pushed up by the cam plate 7 and begins to close. At this point, the flapper 6R on the right side is placed on the cam plate 7 to maintain the horizontal posture. When the spiral 3 continues to rotate up to 180 degrees, the cam plate 7 disengages from the right flapper 6R and pushes up the left flapper 6L to the closed position as shown in FIG. The end part comes out of the product # 2 completely. As a result, the flapper 6R is no longer supported by the cam plate 7 and suddenly opens to the drooping posture, and the product # 1 which has been carried on the flapper 6R and held in the sales standby position until now is almost horizontal without any disturbance. With the posture maintained, the robot is dropped and carried out, and landed on the lower transport mechanism 5 (see FIG. 1). On the other hand, the product # 2 in the left column separated from the spiral 3 is transferred onto the flapper 6L pushed up to the horizontal closed position by the cam plate 7 and is carried in this horizontal position. The product unloading operation ends.
Thereafter, each time a new sales command is given, the products 4 sorted into the left and right rows and stored are alternately carried out by the same operation as described above.

As described above, in the system in which the next product to be sold is placed on the flapper in the horizontal position and kept in the normal position, the flapper is opened all at once at the next selling operation to drop the product out. Even if the drop distance between the product rack 1 and the transport mechanism 5 below the product rack 2 is about twice the height of the product 4, the falling posture of the product 4 is not disturbed and is stable on the transport mechanism 5. It has been confirmed from the results of the actual machine test that it is possible to land with a posture.

As described above, the spiral 3 has an inner-outer double-winding structure, so that the product 4 stored between the pitches of the spiral 3 straddles both the outer spiral 3A and the inner spiral 3B. Supported, the storage posture is stable. Further, the inner spiral 3B laid on the lower surface side of the connecting rod 3b laid between the outer spiral 3A and the spiral support shaft 3a separates the connecting rod 3b and the product 4 from each other as shown in FIG. This serves to prevent deformation of the product container due to contact with the connecting rod 3b,
You can avoid damage.

[0022]

As described above, the structure of the present invention has the following effects. (1) According to the configurations of claims 1 and 2 of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the product from falling over when it is carried out from the spiral type product rack, and to stably drop and carry out the product while maintaining the normal posture.

(2) According to the third aspect of the present invention,
The storage posture of the product is stable, and the spiral connecting rod does not hit the product at the storage position, which prevents the product from being deformed or damaged. (3) Therefore, by adopting the spiral type product rack of the present invention, it is possible to safely handle soup products such as cup noodles in a cup container without trouble such as spilling of the soup.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a spiral type product rack according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams of the product unloading operation according to the configuration of FIG. 1, in which FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a sales standby state, FIG. 2B is a state diagram in the middle of unloading operation, and FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a storage state of products in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a conventional spiral type product rack.

5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams of a product unloading operation according to the configuration of FIG. 4, in which FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a sales standby state, FIG. 5B is a state diagram in the middle of unloading operation, and FIG.

6A and 6B are explanatory views showing a trouble occurrence situation in a stored product having the configuration of FIG. 4, in which FIG. 6A is a side view and FIG. 6B is a plan view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Rack case 2 Bend motor 3 Spiral 3A Outer spiral 3B Inner spiral 3a Support shaft 3b Connecting rod 3c End of winding 4 Product 5 Transport mechanism 6L, 6R Flapper 7 Cam plate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vertical spiral type spiral driven by a bend motor is provided in an open-bottom type rack case.
In a spiral-type product rack of a vending machine that sorts and stores products stored in each row between spiral pitches from the lowest position alternately to the left and right, the vertical position of the spiral type product rack on the bottom side of the rack case is synchronized with the rotation of the spiral. A spiral of a vending machine, which is swingable between a hanging position and a retractable flapper that receives the lowest product that has come out of the spiral in a horizontal position and holds it at the next sales standby position. Formula product rack. 2. The spiral type product rack according to claim 1, wherein a pair of flappers individually corresponding to the left and right product rows are provided on both sides of a support shaft arranged at the shaft center of the spiral, and each flapper is provided with the support shaft. A spiral-type product rack for a vending machine, which is configured so that opening and closing control is alternately performed by a cam member connected to. 3. The spiral product rack according to claim 1, wherein the spiral is a double spiral of an outer winding and an inner winding, and the inner winding spiral is bridged between the outer winding spiral and the spiral spindle. A spiral type product rack for vending machines, which is laid under the bar.