JP3074516B2 - Article removal device and vending machine using the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article take-out apparatus for discharging a single article contained in a case, for example, milk, soft drinks, and other articles (paper containers and other packages), and an apparatus therefor. And vending machines using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a pusher for extruding articles in a horizontal direction is provided at an end portion of articles arranged side by side in a case, and an article presser for pushing articles arranged side by side toward a pusher position in each article shelf. There is known a vending machine merchandise selling shelf provided with (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-100885).
An invention using a spiral spring as the power for the pressing piece is also known (JP-B-63-61007).

[0003]

According to the above-mentioned known technique, an article holder and a pusher are essential requirements, and there is a problem that a large space and an interlocking device are required above and below the pusher.

In general, the conventional vending machine has a problem that the volume of a device for controlling the article storage is larger than the volume of the article storage, and the so-called effective volume of the article storage is small.

[0005] In addition, the vending machine has a large thickness for accommodating articles, and it is difficult to make the vending machine thin.

[0006]

According to the present invention, however, the push piece and its driving force are installed in the case for storing the articles.
The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems by remarkably increasing the article storage volume (for example, 1.5 times or more) and enabling a thin vending machine.

That is, the take-out device has a gutter-like case in which guide side plates are provided on both sides of the bottom formed so that the article slides on the upper surface in parallel with the traveling direction of the article. A push piece is slidably provided along the bottom of the case, and a traction strip is stretched between a lower portion of the push piece and an article discharge side of the case. An article take-out device, wherein a take-up means is provided reversibly, and a discharge control means is provided on a discharge side of the article in the case, wherein the article advances on both sides of a bottom formed so that the article slides on the upper surface. A guide side plate is provided in parallel with the direction to form a gutter-shaped case, and a push piece is slidably mounted along the bottom of the case on one side of the case, and a traction strip is provided below the push piece. One end is fixed, and the traction strip is arranged on the bottom of the case toward the discharge side of the article. Is, the other end of the traction conditions, coupled with the drum rotated by installing the spiral spring to the bottom lower surface of the case, an article take-out apparatus characterized by annexed the discharge control unit of the articles on the case. Further, the article discharge control means is a stopper for stopping the movement of the pressing piece, an article stopper at the discharge port, and an instruction button for releasing the stopper.

[0008] Next, the invention of a vending machine is capable of side-by-side storing packaged foods contained in paper or other packaging containers, and stacking up and down a case provided with means for taking out the packaged foods and means for taking out the packaged foods. In the vending machine, the packaged food storage is configured so that the packaged food in the case of the storage can be discharged one by one according to an instruction of the takeout instruction button. the pressing is pressing piece, and connected to one end of the traction conditions, Quai the other end of the traction strip
The push piece is slidably mounted along the bottom surface of the case in connection with the winding means at the bottom of the case, and the control unit controls the take-out control of the packaged food for each case by the instruction button. A vending machine characterized in that a means for taking out the packaged food is attached to one side of the storage box. In addition, the packaged food contained in paper or other packaging containers can be stored side by side in parallel, and a means for removing the packaged food,
In a vending machine in which a case provided with a takeout control means is stacked up and down to constitute a packaged food storage box, and by an instruction of a takeout instruction button, the packaged food in the case of the storage box can be discharged one by one, In the case, a push piece for pressing the packaged food in the unloading direction is connected to one end of a traction strip, and the other end of the traction strip is connected to a winding means at a lower portion of the case , and the push piece is a case. The package, which is slidably mounted along the bottom surface, and is provided with the packaged food taking-out control means for each case in conjunction with an instruction by the instruction button, and is vertically communicated with one side of the storage box. An automatic vending machine, wherein a falling gap for food is provided, an elastic plate is provided in the falling gap for sliding contact with a side wall of the falling packaged food, and a lower end of the falling gap is connected to the packaged food outlet. And a means for pulling the pusher A spiral spring in which a winding shaft is installed vertically on the bottom surface of each case, a winding means of a traction strip constituted by a drum rotated by the spiral spring, and a lower part of the pressing piece and a rotary drum connected to each other, It is characterized in that it is a tow strip wound around a drum.

In the present invention, a spiral spring is used as the power for the pressing piece, and the spiral spring is installed on the back side of the case with the winding shaft set up vertically. . However, the spiral spring can be attached to the rear part of the pressing piece, and the height of the case can be reduced.

Further, since the driving force for pushing out the articles is provided for each case, no apparatus is required on the main body side for pushing out the articles, so that the whole apparatus can be made compact.

The case can be stacked vertically and horizontally (conventional vending machine) or vertically (ultra-thin vending machine).

[0012]

According to the present invention, a push piece of an article is slidably mounted on a case formed to move the article, and one end of a traction strip is connected to the push piece, and a spiral spring is used to power the traction strip. Therefore, installation can be performed for each case, and the article removal control means is provided, so that one article can be sequentially taken out.

In a vending machine, the cases are stacked up, down, left and right, and in conjunction with an instruction button,
Since the article removal control stopper is removed, it is possible to easily and smoothly take out one predetermined article by the instruction of the article instruction button.

[0014]

Embodiment 1 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

A large number of rollers 2, 2 are rotatably mounted on the bottom of a case 1 (gutter-like shape) having a U-shaped cross section (FIGS. 1, 4).
The spacers 5, 5 for aligning the articles 4 are attached to the side walls 3, 3 (guide side plates or side frames), respectively. A push piece 6 slidable on the rollers 2, 2 is installed in the case 1, and both sides of a support plate 7 at a lower end of the push piece 6 are provided on the both side walls 3,
3 is loosely fitted in a guide groove 8 provided in a lower portion of the push piece 6.
One end of a wire 9 (a pulling strip) is fixed to the lower end of the case 1. The wire 9 is guided by annular grooves 2a, 2a provided in the center of the rollers 2, 2, and extends to the other end of the case 1. The drum 12 is turned upside down to reach the lower part of the rollers 2 and 2 and is rotated by the spiral spring 11 in the spring box 10.
Is connected to the take-up part. A stopper rod 13 is slidably attached to the side wall of the case 1, and a protrusion 30 is provided at one end of the stopper rod 13 so as to face the guide groove 8. As shown in FIG. 5A, the projection 30
0b and the hook side 30a, and the hook side 30a and the notch 7a of the support plate 7 are hooked. Therefore, when the pressing piece 6 is moved in the direction of the arrow 14 in FIGS. 1 and 5, the tip end projection of the stopper rod 13 is formed by the oblique side 30b.
It is elastically deformed as shown in C and passes through the support plate 7. Next, when the notch 7a of the support plate 7 passes through the protrusion 30, the notch 7a of the support plate 7 and the hook side 30a of the protrusion 30 are locked. When the stopper rod 13 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 15 in FIGS. 1 and 5, the oblique side 30b is guided by the guide rod 29 (fixed to the case) and elastically deforms (FIG. 5, b).
5 is retracted in the direction of arrow 16 in FIG. 5 and no longer engages with the support plate 7, so that the pressing piece 6 can move in the direction of arrow 17.

In the above, when the push piece 6 is moved from the position A to the position B in FIG. 1, the wire 9 is pulled out in the direction of the arrow 18 as the push piece 6 moves (FIG. 1).
The spiral spring 11 is wound around via a drum 12,
The rotational force of the drum 12 is accumulated.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 19 denotes a closing plate provided at an outlet of the case 1. Therefore, the article 4 is pinched and moved between the closing plate 19 and the pressing piece 6.

In the above, the articles 4 are arranged in parallel between the closing plate 19 and the pressing piece 6. Next, when the article 4 on the closing plate 19 side is pulled out as shown by an arrow 20, the other articles 4, 4 are pressed by the pushing pieces 6 to fill the gaps between the articles 4 and move from the direction of the arrow 21, so that the case This means that the article 4 is always on standby at the take-out side of No. 1.

[0019]

Embodiment 2 A vending machine will be described with reference to FIGS.

The case 1 shown in the first embodiment is stacked up, down, left, and right. A tiltable chute 22 is provided below the take-out end of the case 1, and a drop path 23 for the article 4 is provided above and below the chute 22. On the falling path 23 of the article 4, elastic plates 24, 24 are provided in a cantilever manner on three sides of the inner wall, and the area surrounded by the elastic plates 24, 24 on the same plane is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the article 4. . However, since the elastic plates 24, 24 are cantilevered, the article 4
When the object 4 falls, the elastic plates 24, 24 are pushed and expanded in the direction of the arrow 31 by the weight of the article 4. Therefore, control is performed so that the article 4 and the elastic plate 24 are elastically slidably contact with each other, and the falling speed of the article 4 is reduced.

As described above, the outer wall of the article 4 and the elastic plate 2
The falling speed of the article 4 is controlled by sliding friction with the articles 4 and 24 so that the article 4 does not collide with the receiving bottom 25.
In the figure, 32 is an article take-out port, 33 is its cover, and 34 is a door.

In the above embodiment, when the instruction button 35 is pressed, the chute 22 at the discharge end of the case 1 in which the indicated article 4 is contained is inclined in the direction indicated by the arrow 26.
The leading-edge article 4 moves along the chute 22 as indicated by an arrow 36 and is discharged to the falling path 23. In this case, since the rear projection 27 of the chute 22 blocks the following article 4,
The articles 4 fall exactly one by one in one operation. In the figure, reference numeral 37 denotes a stopper, and 38 denotes a case base. The article 4 is held at the tip end of the case 1 by the stopper 37 and the chute 22.

As described above, although the article 4 falls under its own weight, the falling speed is controlled by the large number of elastic plates 24, 24 provided in the drop path 23, whereby the article 4 can be prevented from being damaged. Therefore, the weight of the article 4 and the elastic plate 24
It is necessary to control the falling speed by adjusting the contact pressure as appropriate and adjusting the frictional force. The link between the instruction button 35 and the chute 22 uses a known electric link control system. The inclination of the chute 22 is controlled by the stopper 39.

The elastic plate 24 can be formed, for example, by stamping or cutting a part of an elastic thin plate, but can also be constructed by incorporating a spring behind a thin plate that does not elastically deform.

The means for discharging the articles is merely an example, but various known mechanisms can be employed as a mechanism for guiding the articles discharged from the discharge end of the case to the article outlet.

In the above embodiment, a paper container is assumed, but in the case of other packaging containers, the shape of the case may be changed according to the case.

[0027]

According to the present invention, since articles are stored in a gutter-shaped case, push pieces are provided, and a pulling means for the push pieces is provided for each case, the articles are stored in the case. , Even if each case is stacked,
There is an effect that one article can be smoothly taken out from the end of the case without fear of weight increase .

Therefore, the article take-out device is made compact, and there is an effect that the article storage capacity within the same volume can be drastically increased, not only for display shelves but also for vending machines. . In addition, since articles can be stored and managed by stacking gutter-shaped cases in one row, an ultra-thin vending machine is also possible (gutter-shaped case width + α thick), and installation restrictions due to the installation area are greatly reduced. There is an effect that can be reduced. In the present invention, since the pushing piece is wound around by the tension spiral spring with the pulling strip, the spiral spring can be remarkably reduced in size and has an effect of facilitating the winding of the pulling strip. The towing strip is easier to install and handle than the spring strip, and has various effects such as being able to be stored in a relatively small volume in the case.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view in which a part of an embodiment of a case of the present invention is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a plan view partially omitted.

FIG. 3 is a partially cross-sectional enlarged bottom view.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinally enlarged side view of the same.

FIG. 5 (a) is a partially enlarged plan view showing the engagement of the pressing piece. (B) The partially enlarged top view which similarly shows the release release of the press piece.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of the embodiment of the vending machine.

FIG. 7A is a view showing a state immediately before the article is discharged. (B) The figure which similarly shows the end time of discharge of goods.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 2 Roller 3 Side wall 4 Article 5 Spacer 6 Press piece 7 Support plate 8 Guide groove 9 Wire 10 Spring box 11 Spiral spring 12 Drum 13 Stopper rod 19 Closure plate 22 Chute 23 Drop path 24 Elastic plate 25 Receiving bottom 27 Projection 32 Projection 32 Article take-out port 33 Cover 34 Door 35 Instruction button 37, 39 Stopper 38 Case stand

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuo Iida 2-3-6 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Meiji Dairies Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Mikio Takahashi 4-5-27 Nishi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Hironobu Sangyo Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-53-81300 (JP, A) JP-A-4-257095 (JP, A) JP-A-49-14196 (JP, A) JP-A-60-100885 (JP, U) JP-A-56-172174 (JP, U) JP-A-56-156180 (JP, U) JP-A-6-38735 (JP, U) JP-B-63-61007 (JP, B2) US Patent 2,893,596 (US, A) U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,520 (US, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07F 11/16 B65G 47/68 B65G 47/88

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A packaged food storage box is formed by vertically stacking packaged foods contained in paper or other packaging containers side by side, and stacking up and down a case provided with a means for taking out the packaged foods and a control means for taking out the packaged foods. Then, in the vending machine in which the packaged food in the case of the storage can be discharged one by one by the instruction of the takeout instruction button , the case presses the packaged food in the takeout direction and moves along the case bottom surface. Tezuri
The dynamic capable bridged been pressing piece, and connected to one end of the traction strip, connecting the other end of the towing strip traction means of the case bottom, the traction
The means is a spiral swirl with a winding shaft installed vertically below the bottom of each case.
Pulling and the drum rotated by the spiral spring
And a lower portion of the pressing piece.
And the rotating drum are connected and wound on the rotating drum.
A tow strip, and the packaged food takeout control means for each case, provided in conjunction with an instruction by the instruction button,
A vending machine, wherein a means for taking out the packaged food is attached to one side of the storage. 2. A packaged food storage box is formed by vertically stacking packaged foods stored in a paper or other packaging container in a side-by-side manner, and vertically stacking a case provided with a means for taking out the packaged food and a control means for taking out the packaged food. Then, in the vending machine in which the packaged food in the case of the storage can be discharged one by one by the instruction of the takeout instruction button, the case presses the packaged food in the takeout direction and moves along the case bottom surface. Tezuri
The dynamic capable bridged been pressing piece, and connected to one end of the traction strip, connecting the other end of the traction strip to the winding means of the case bottom, the traction
The means is a spiral swirl with a winding shaft installed vertically below the bottom of each case.
Pulling and the drum rotated by the spiral spring
And a lower portion of the pressing piece.
And the rotating drum are connected and wound on the rotating drum.
A tow strip, and the packaged food takeout control means for each case, provided in conjunction with an instruction by the instruction button,
A drop gap for the packaged food vertically communicated with one side of the storage box is provided, and an elastic plate is provided in the drop gap for sliding contact with a side wall of the packaged food falling. A vending machine that is connected to the exit.