JP2731326B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vending machine having a plurality of merchandise passages extending in a meandering manner in a vertical direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vending machine which sells canned or bottled beverages, a column assembly which is a portion for accommodating commodities is constructed as shown in FIG. That is, for example, four merchandise passages 1 formed so as to extend in a meandering shape in the vertical direction are arranged in front and rear, for example, four in a row, and accommodate goods to be input from the upper input port 2 in a vertically aligned state. It is supposed to. A discharge mechanism 3 is provided at the lower part of each product passage 1, and the operation of the discharge mechanism 3 discharges the products one by one to the product outlet based on the selling operation.

The product passage 1 has a large number of front guide plates 4 and rear guide plates 5 each of which is curved in an arc shape.
Are rotatably mounted between the left and right side plates 6 (only the left side plate is shown in the figure) by pins 7 so as to extend in a meandering manner in the vertical direction.

[0004]

However, the conventional structure described above requires a large number of front and rear guide plates 4 and 5 to form the product passage 1, so that the number of parts is large, and There is a problem that the assembling is troublesome and requires many man-hours for assembling.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of greatly reducing the number of parts forming a product passage and reducing the number of assembly steps.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vending machine in which a plurality of merchandise paths extending vertically meandering and accommodating merchandise therein are juxtaposed. , A passage forming member disposed between adjacent product passages, the passage forming member extends in a meandering shape in the vertical direction, and each of the curved portions has a raised portion protruding in the protruding direction thereof. There is a feature in that the structure is formed.

In this case, it is preferable that a pin is inserted into the inside of the convex portion of the passage forming member, and the convex portion is supported by the pin.

Further, a plurality of protruding pieces may be integrally provided at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction on a side edge portion of the passage forming member, and the protruding pieces may be caulked to a predetermined portion and fixed.

[0009]

According to the above-mentioned means, since the passage forming member disposed between the adjacent product passages is constituted by one component, a plurality of guide plates are required between the adjacent product passages. Compared with the configuration, the number of parts can be significantly reduced.

At this time, by inserting a pin inside the convex portion of the passage forming member and supporting the convex portion with the pin, the passage forming member can be reinforced.

In addition, a plurality of projections are integrally provided on the side edge of the passage forming member, and the projections are caulked and fixed to a predetermined portion, so that the passage forming member can be reinforced.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, in FIG. 1 showing a schematic configuration of the entire vending machine, a main body 12 having a door 11 at a front portion is shown.
Inside, a product passage 1 extending in a meandering manner in the vertical direction.
A plurality of column assemblies 14 are provided in the front-rear direction, in this case, a plurality of column assemblies 14 are arranged side by side (only one is shown in FIG. 1).

At the upper part of the front of each column assembly 14, a product inlet 15 is provided corresponding to each product passage 13.
By introducing the product 16 from the product insertion port 15, the product 16 is guided to the product passage 13 via the chute 17 and is accommodated in each of the product passages 13 in a vertically aligned state. .

A discharging mechanism 18 is provided below each product passage 13, and the discharging mechanism 1 corresponding to the selling operation is provided.
8 is operated so that the selected products 16 are discharged one by one to the product outlet.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair of side plates 19, 19 are disposed on both left and right sides of the product passage 13, and a metal plate is formed between these side plates 19, 19 respectively. Front guide plate 20 and rear guide plate 21
By arranging the three passage forming members 22, 23, and 24, four product passages 13 are formed.

The front guide plate 20 has a configuration in which a plurality of arcuate portions 25 protruding forward and protruding portions 26 protruding rearward are alternately provided. The front guide plate 20 is disposed on the front side of the commodity passage 13 in the frontmost row. ing. Inside each projection 26, both side plates 19, 1
9, a pin 27 is inserted through the
The portion has a form supported by the pin 27.

The rear guide plate 21 has a configuration in which a plurality of arcuate portions 28 projecting rearward and a plurality of projections 29 projecting forward are alternately provided. Have been. Like the front guide plate 20, a pin 30 is inserted between the two side plates 19, 19 inside each protrusion 29, and each protrusion 29 is in a form supported by the pin 30. .

The three passage forming members 22, 23,
Numeral 24 is formed so as to extend in a meandering manner in the vertical direction, and a convex portion 32 projecting in the projecting direction is formed on each curved portion 31 having an arc shape projecting forward and backward by so-called cut-and-raised. It is comprised between the goods passages 13 and 13 adjacent to each other.

The projection 3 of each of the passage forming members 22, 23, 24
2, a pin 33 extends between both side plates 19, 19.
Are inserted, and each convex portion 32 is in a form supported by its pin 33.

According to the above configuration, the passage forming members 22, 23, 2 disposed between the adjacent commodity passages 13, 13
Since each of the components 4 can be constituted by one component, the number of components forming the product passage 13 can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional configuration that requires a large number of guide plates between the product passages. In addition, assembling is facilitated, and the number of assembling steps can be significantly reduced.

At this time, the passage forming members 22 and 2
By inserting a pin 33 inside each of the projections 32 of each of the third and fourth projections 32, each of the projections 32 and thus each of the passage forming members 2
There is an advantage that 2,23,24 can be reinforced.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the first embodiment in the following points. That is, in the first embodiment, one convex portion 32 is formed in each curved portion 31. In the second embodiment, two convex portions 34 are formed in each curved portion 31.

FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the first embodiment in the following points. That is, in the first embodiment, each of the passage forming members 22, 23, 2
In the third embodiment, the pins 33 are inserted through the insides of the projections 32 of the fourth embodiment.
A plurality of protruding pieces 35 are integrally provided at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction on both left and right side edges of the 24, and these protruding pieces 35 are inserted through holes (not shown) of the side plates 19, 19, respectively. Is fixed by caulking. If you do this,
There is an advantage that the number of pins 33 can be significantly reduced.

[0024]

According to the vending machine of the first aspect,
Since the passage forming member disposed between the adjacent product passages can be constituted by one component, a component for forming the product passage as compared with the conventional configuration which requires a large number of guide plates between the adjacent product passages. Can be greatly reduced, thereby simplifying the assembly and reducing the number of assembly steps.

According to the vending machine of the second aspect, by inserting a pin inside the convex portion of the passage forming member and supporting the convex portion by the pin, the convex portion, As a result, the passage forming member can be reinforced.

According to the vending machine of the third aspect, a plurality of protruding pieces are integrally provided on the side edge portion of the passage forming member, and the protruding pieces are caulked to a predetermined portion and fixed to the vending machine. The forming member can be reinforced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an overall schematic longitudinal side view showing a conventional configuration.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 is a main body, 13 is a product passage, 14 is a column assembly, 16
Is a product, 19 is a side plate (predetermined part), 20 is a front guide plate,
21 is a rear guide plate, 22, 23 and 24 are passage forming members,
31 is a curved portion, 32 is a convex portion, 33 is a pin, 34 is a convex portion,
Reference numeral 35 denotes a projecting piece.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A device comprising a plurality of product passages extending in a meandering manner in a vertical direction and accommodating products therein, wherein a plurality of product passages are provided between adjacent product passages. The vending machine is characterized in that the passage forming member extends in a meandering manner in the vertical direction, and is formed by cutting and raising each curved portion with a protruding portion protruding in the protruding direction. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a pin is inserted inside the convex portion of the passage forming member, and the convex portion is supported by the pin. 3. A plurality of projections are integrally provided at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction on a side edge portion of the passage forming member, and the projections are caulked and fixed to a predetermined portion. The vending machine described.