JP2731759B2 - Product guide plate mounting structure for vending machines - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product guide plate mounting structure for a vending machine which sells cans or bottled beverages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, a vending machine of this type is known which has a serpentine rack type product storage column. This product storage column is, for example, a Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-36.
As described in JP-A-581, a plurality of arcuate product guide plates whose upper ends are rotatably supported between a pair of side plates are provided, and the product guide plates are opposed to each other and meandering extending in the vertical direction. Is formed.

[0003]

However, when each of the product guide plates is mounted between the side plates, a shaft serving as a support shaft is provided in a hole provided in each side plate and an insertion portion provided at an upper end of the product guide plate. After inserting, push nuts for retaining are fitted to both ends of the shaft protruding outside each side plate, so the assembly work becomes extremely complicated, and since the number of product guide plates is large, There is a problem that productivity is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a product guide plate mounting structure for a vending machine in which a product guide plate can be easily mounted between each side plate. Is to do.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plurality of arc-shaped product guide plates whose upper ends are rotatably supported between a pair of opposing side plates. In the product guide plate mounting structure of a vending machine in which a meandering product passage extending vertically with the respective product guide plates facing each other, a shaft protruding at both ends in the width direction at the upper end of the product guide plate. At the same time, a radially enlarged enlarged portion is formed at the tip of each shaft portion, and each side plate has a large-diameter hole larger than the enlarged portion of the product guide plate, and a larger diameter than the enlarged diameter of the shaft portion than the enlarged portion. Provide small small diameter holes communicating with each other,
The shaft of each product guide plate is inserted into the large-diameter hole and then moved to the small-diameter hole, and the space between the large-diameter hole and the small-diameter hole is closed by a regulating member that regulates the movement of the shaft. Thereby, by inserting the shaft portion of each product guide plate into the side plate so that the enlarged portion passes through the large-diameter hole of the side plate, and then moving the shaft portion to the small-diameter hole,
The enlarged portion is locked to the side plate, and the movement of the shaft portion in the axial direction is restricted. In this state, by closing the large-diameter hole and the small-diameter hole with the restricting member, the movement of the shaft portion to the large-diameter hole is restricted. Therefore, each product guide plate is mounted between the side plates without separately requiring a shaft serving as a support shaft and a push nut for retaining.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the structure for mounting a product guide plate of a vending machine according to the first aspect, a protruding portion is provided at one end of the plate material serving as the product guide plate so as to protrude in both widthwise directions. A notch extending in the width direction of the plate material is formed at the tip end of the plate material, and the shaft portion is formed by bending at least one end side of the plate material including at least the projecting portion into a circular cross section, and the tip end side of the projecting portion is separated by the notch. Then, the enlarged portion is formed by bending the shaft portion in the radial direction. Thereby, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the shaft portion and the enlarged portion are integrally formed on the product guide plate.

[0007]

1 to 10 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a side view of a product storage column, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the product storage column, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of a support hole, FIG. 5 is a partial front view showing a method of forming a shaft portion and an enlarged portion, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are illustrations showing a method of mounting the product guide plate. FIG. 9 and FIG. 9 are partial plan views of the product storage column, and FIG. 10 is a side view showing a modification of the regulating plate.

[0008] Commodity storage column 1 of the vending machine shown in FIG.
Comprises a pair of side plates 2 facing each other, and a plurality of arcuate product guide plates 3 supported between the side plates 2, and a plurality of meandering shapes extending in the vertical direction with the product guide plates 3 facing each other. The product passage 4 is formed. Each of the product passages 4 accommodates the products A input from the upper end in a vertically stacked manner, and drops and discharges the internal products A one by one by a product discharge mechanism 5 provided at the lower end side. It has become. Each side plate 2 has a large number of support holes 2a for supporting each product guide plate 3, and each support hole 2a is composed of a large-diameter portion 2b and a small-diameter portion 2c formed to communicate vertically. Each product guide plate 3 has a shaft portion 3a protruding on both sides in the width direction at the upper end,
At the tip of each shaft portion 3a, an enlarged portion 3b expanded like a flange
Are formed. In this case, in the support hole 2a of each side plate 2, the large diameter portion 2b is larger than the enlarged portion 3b of the product guide plate 3, and the small diameter portion 2c is larger than the outer diameter of the shaft portion 3a and smaller than the enlarged portion 3b. Is formed.

The shaft portion 3a and the enlarged portion 3b of each product guide plate 3 are provided integrally with the product guide plate 3 and formed by the following method. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), a protruding portion 6a is provided at one end of the plate material 6 serving as the product guide plate 3 so as to protrude on both sides in the width direction. A plurality of cuts 6b are formed. By bending one end side (shaded portion in the figure) of the plate member 6 including the protruding portion 6a into a circular cross section, the shaft portion 3a is formed as shown in FIG. The enlarged portion 3b is formed by separating the side at each notch 3b and bending it outward in the radial direction of the shaft portion 3a.

In the above configuration, when each product guide plate 3 is attached to each side plate 2, as shown in FIG. 6, the shaft portion 3a of each product guide plate 3 is enlarged by the enlarged portion 3b to form the large diameter portion of the support hole 2a. 2
After the b is inserted into the side plate 2 so as to pass through, the shaft portion 3a is moved to the small diameter portion 2c as shown in FIG. Thereby, the enlarged portion 3b is locked to the side plate 2, and the movement of the shaft portion 3a in the axial direction is restricted. Next, as shown in FIG. 8, by inserting the regulating plate 7 into the shaft portion 3a from the side, the shaft portion 3a is housed in the notch 7a of the regulating plate 7, and the large diameter portion 2b and the small diameter portion 2 are inserted.
c is closed, and the movement of the shaft portion 3a to the large diameter portion 2b is restricted. In this case, the regulating plate 7 is inserted between the outer surface of the side plate 2 and the enlarged portion 3b of the product guide plate 3 as shown in FIG. If a plurality of notches 8a are provided in the vertical direction as in the regulating plate 8 shown in FIG. 10, the movement of the plurality of product guide plates 3 to the large diameter portion 2b with respect to the shaft portions 3a is restricted. can do.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the shaft 3a provided at the upper end of each product guide plate 3 is connected to the support hole 2a of the side plate 2.
And the shaft portion 3a is connected to the large-diameter portion 2 of the support hole 2a.
b to the small-diameter portion 2c to lock the enlarged portion 3b provided at the tip of the shaft portion 3a on the side plate 2, thereby restricting the movement of the shaft portion 3a in the axial direction, and further restricting the shaft portion 3a from being inserted into the shaft portion 3a. The plate 7 closes between the large-diameter portion 2b and the small-diameter portion 2c to restrict the movement of the shaft portion 3a to the large-diameter portion 2b. Each product guide plate 3 without the need for a separate push nut
Can be mounted between the side plates 2, and the mounting operation can be performed extremely easily. Further, since each of the shaft portions 3a and the enlarged portions 3b is formed integrally with the product guide plate 3 by bending a part of the plate material 6 serving as the product guide plate 3, the number of parts can be reduced.

[0012]

As described above, according to the first aspect, each product guide plate can be mounted between the side plates without separately requiring a shaft serving as a support shaft and a push nut for retaining. Therefore, the mounting operation can be performed extremely easily, and the productivity can be improved.

According to the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, since the shaft portion and the enlarged portion can be formed integrally with the product guide plate, the number of parts can be reduced.
This is extremely advantageous for reducing manufacturing costs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a product storage column provided in a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of a product guide plate.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a support hole.

FIG. 5 is a partial front view showing a method of forming a shaft portion and an enlarged portion.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a method of attaching a product guide plate.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a method of attaching a product guide plate.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a method of attaching a product guide plate.

FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of a product storage column.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a modification of the regulating plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... side plate, 2a ... support hole, 2b ... large diameter part, 2c ... small diameter part, 3 ... product guide plate, 3a ... shaft part, 3b ... enlarged part, 4 ...
Product passage, 6: plate material, 6a: protrusion, 6b: cut,
7,8 ... Regulatory plate.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of arcuate product guide plates having an upper end rotatably supported between a pair of side plates facing each other,
In a product guide plate mounting structure of a vending machine in which a meandering product path extending in a vertical direction with each product guide plate facing each other is provided, and at the upper end of the product guide plate, a shaft protruding on both widthwise sides is provided. A radially enlarged enlarged portion is formed at the tip of each shaft portion, and a large-diameter hole larger than the enlarged portion of the product guide plate and a small-diameter hole larger than the diameter of the shaft portion and smaller than the enlarged portion are formed on each side plate. Are provided in communication with each other, and the shaft of each product guide plate is inserted into the large-diameter hole and then moved to the small-diameter hole, and a regulating member that regulates the movement of the shaft between the large-diameter hole and the small-diameter hole is provided. A product guide plate mounting structure for a vending machine, which is closed. 2. A protruding portion protruding from both sides in the width direction is provided at one end side of the plate material serving as the product guide plate, and a notch extending in the width direction of the plate material is formed at a leading end side of the protruding portion. The shaft portion is formed by bending one end side of the plate material into a circular cross section, and the enlarged portion is formed by separating the distal end side of the protruding portion by the cut and bending the shaft portion in the radial direction. The structure for mounting a product guide plate of a vending machine according to claim 1.