JP3178166B2 - Product transfer device for vending machine with built-in microwave oven - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of a product conveying device mounted on a vending machine with a built-in microwave oven.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a vending machine for frozen goods and the like, a microwave oven is built in the machine, and a product delivered from a product rack based on a sales order is carried into a microwave oven, thawed, cooked, and then microwaved. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known a vending machine in which a vending machine is taken out from a vending machine and sent to a product outlet.

[0003] Further, as a product transfer device in the machine in the vending machine, a microwave oven arranged on the left and right in the machine and a product lifter leading to a product outlet are linked so as to transfer the product delivered from the product rack. A device equipped with a microwave oven and a reversible reversing horizontal conveyor for conveying the product toward a product outlet has already been proposed by the same applicant as Japanese Patent Application No. 3-296083.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the vending machine with a built-in microwave oven as proposed above. In the figure, 1 is a main body case of the vending machine, and 2 is a product rack housed in a freezer of the main body case 1. (For example, spiral product rack),
Reference numeral 3 denotes a shooter for guiding a box-shaped product 4 taken out of the product rack 2 to a product outlet 5 with a door that opens at the center of the refrigerator. Reference numeral 6 denotes a microwave oven built inside a front outside door (not shown) of the vending machine. Reference numeral 7 denotes a product outlet which is open to the front outer door at the middle position opposite to the microwave oven, 8 denotes a product lifter incorporated in the product outlet 7, 9 denotes a microwave oven 6 and a product outlet 7 arranged side by side.
And a reversible horizontal conveyor laid between the product lifters 8 in cooperation with each other. The horizontal conveyor 9 stretches an endless transport belt between the left and right belt pulleys,
A belt-type conveyor driven by a reversible motor is employed. The microwave oven 6 has an elevating door 6a at an entrance, and a built-in conveyor 6b for taking in and out of products in cooperation with the horizontal conveyor 9 in the microwave oven.

In this configuration, when the product 4 is carried out of the product rack 2 based on the sales command, the product 4 drops and lands on the horizontal conveyor 9 via the shooter 3 and the product outlet 5 (arrows I and II). Subsequently, after the door 6a of the microwave oven 6 is lifted to open the entrance, the horizontal conveyor 9 and the conveyor 6b with the built-in microwave oven are driven synchronously to the right to deliver the goods 4 mounted on the horizontal conveyor 9 to the conveyor 6b. To the microwave oven 6 (arrow III). Here, after the door 4a is closed and the product 4 is thawed and cooked, the door 6a is opened again, and the horizontal conveyors 9 and 6b are driven in the opposite direction to the left to drive to the left, and the cooked product from the microwave oven 6 is opened. Is taken out and transported toward the product lifter 8 waiting on the left side (arrow IV). When the product 4 is transferred to the lifting table 8a of the product lifter 8 (arrow V), the product lifter 8 moves up and sends the product 4 to the product outlet 7 (arrow V).
I). This completes one sales operation and returns to the sales standby state again.

[0006]

However, in the in-machine transport device having the above-described structure, the following problems may occur particularly when goods are transferred between the horizontal conveyor and the microwave oven. That is, since the commodity 4 carried out of the commodity rack 2 falls freely on the horizontal conveyor 9 via the shooter 3, the landing posture is not fixed, and the commodity which should originally land in the sideways posture (the commodity in the box-shaped container) ) May be delivered from the horizontal conveyor to the microwave oven 6 while being inverted on the horizontal conveyor 9 as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, between the horizontal conveyor 9 and the entrance of the microwave oven 6,
A gap g is provided to secure an ascending / descending passage for the relatively thick door 6a which is an electromagnetic wave shielding door. For this reason, when the product 4 is transported in the inverted posture as described above, the During the delivery process, the leading end of the product 4 may fall into the gap g, causing a problem that the product 4 is bridged at that position and cannot be transported. Similar transport troubles also occur during the transfer process of transferring goods 4 from the microwave oven 6 to the horizontal conveyor 9.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is directed to the above-mentioned vending machine with a built-in microwave oven. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product transport device that enables smooth delivery and transport.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a gap between the end of a horizontal conveyor and the entrance of a microwave oven is driven by the opening and closing operation of a microwave oven door. A guide roller mechanism for moving the guide roller up and down between a guide position arranged on the product conveyance path and a retreat position, the guide roller mechanism comprising: a guide roller;
It is an assembly of a lifting roller holder that supports the guide roller and a biasing spring that pushes the roller holder upward, and when the lifting door of the microwave oven is closed, the guide roller is retracted by the door itself. To be pushed down.

Further, the guide roller mechanism in the above configuration can be embodied specifically in the following configuration. (1) The guide roller mechanism incorporates power transmission means for rotating the guide roller by the rotational force of the horizontal conveyor.

(2) In the configuration of the above (1), the power transmission means is provided at a raised position of the guide roller mechanism so as to abut on the lower surface of the horizontal conveyor and rotate between the driven roller and the guide roller. And a transmission gear for coupling the transmission gears.

[0011]

In the above construction, when the elevating door of the microwave oven is lowered to close the entrance, the door itself pushes the guide roller down to the retracted position below. On the other hand, when the door of the microwave oven is opened when goods are transferred between the horizontal conveyor and the microwave oven, the restraint by the door is released, and the biasing spring force of the guide roller mechanism is moved upward, whereby the guide roller is moved. Penetrates into the gap between the end of the horizontal conveyor and the entrance of the microwave oven, and is arranged on the transport path. Therefore, if the goods are conveyed in this state, even if the goods are transported upside down, the goods are smoothly transferred on the guide rollers without falling into the gap and bridging.

In this case, a power transmission mechanism is incorporated in the guide roller mechanism, and the guide roller is rotated in the direction of transporting the product by using the rotational force of the horizontal conveyor, thereby further improving the transport operation of the product delivery. It can be done smoothly.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each embodiment, the same components corresponding to FIGS. 4 and 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Embodiment 1 In FIGS. 1A and 1B, a guide roller mechanism 10 according to the present invention is provided in a gap between a microwave oven 6 and an end of a horizontal conveyor 9 laid on an entrance side thereof. . The guide roller mechanism 10 includes a guide roller 11 for guiding a product transport, an elevating roller holder 12 having the guide roller 11 mounted and supported on a top, a guide rod 13 for vertically guiding the roller holder 12, and a guide rod. It is configured as an assembly with an urging spring (compression spring) 14 that presses the roller holder 12 upward on the shaft 13.

The guide roller mechanism 10 having such a configuration operates as follows. First, when the door 6a of the microwave oven is lowered and closed, for example, during standby for sale or during product heating in the microwave oven 6, the guide roller 11 is pushed down by the door 6a as shown in FIG. Has been retracted to the standby position. On the other hand, the horizontal conveyor 9 and the microwave oven 6
When the door 6a of the microwave oven 6 is raised to the open position as shown in FIG. 1B in order to deliver the product between the guide roller mechanism 10 and the guide roller mechanism 10, which has been pushed down by the door 6a, is released. The roller holder 12 moves up along the guide rod 13 by the spring force of the urging spring 14, and
A guide roller 11 breaks into the gap between the end of the horizontal conveyor 9 and the entrance of the microwave oven 6, and the conveyors 9, 6b
Are arranged on the conveyance path at the same height position as. Therefore, in this state, the goods 4 are transferred to the horizontal conveyor 9 and the microwave oven 6.
If the product 4 is conveyed between the conveyor and the built-in conveyor 6b, the product 4 moves while being guided by the guide rollers 11, so that the product 4 does not fall into the gap g as shown in FIG. , Are smoothly transported and delivered.

Embodiment 2 FIGS. 2 and 3 show an applied embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a guide roller mechanism 10 is provided with a guide roller 11 by utilizing the rotational force of a horizontal conveyor 9. A power transmission mechanism for positive rotation is incorporated. The power transmission mechanism includes a driven roller 15 arranged in parallel with the guide roller 11 and disposed on the lower surface side of the horizontal conveyor 9.
And gears 17 and 18 for connecting between a support shaft 16 of the roller 15 and a shaft of the guide roller 11.

Next, the guide roller mechanism 1 having the above configuration
The operation at 0 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in the state in which the door 6a of the microwave oven 6 is closed (a),
Similarly to the first embodiment, the guide roller 11 is pushed by the door 6a and retreats to the lower standby position. On the contrary,
(B) As shown in the figure, when the door 6a of the microwave oven 6 is opened, the roller holder 12 is raised by the spring force of the urging spring 14 together with the guide roller 11 and the driven roller 15, and the driven roller 15 is moved at this position. Comes into contact with and is pressed against the lower surface of the belt of the horizontal conveyor 9. Therefore, when the horizontal conveyor 9 rotates in this state, the rotating force of the conveyor is reduced by the driven roller 15 and the two spur gears 1.
The guide roller 11 is transmitted to the guide roller 11 via the rollers 8 and 17, whereby the guide roller 11 rotates in the same direction as the rotation of the horizontal conveyor 9, thereby assisting the conveyance of the product 4.

[0017]

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, the goods being conveyed fall into the gap between the entrance with the door of the microwave oven and the horizontal conveyor laid in the machine in connection with the entrance. Troubles such as bridging can be avoided by the guide roller mechanism disposed in the gap. In addition, since the guide roller mechanism is moved up and down by following the opening and closing of the door of the microwave oven, it does not hinder the opening and closing operation of the door.

In addition, by adopting a configuration in which a power transmission mechanism for positively rotating the guide rollers by utilizing the rotational force of the horizontal conveyor is incorporated in the roller guide mechanism, the distance between the horizontal conveyor and the microwave oven is increased. Can be performed more smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration of a goods transport device according to a first embodiment of the present invention,
It is explanatory drawing of operation | movement, (a) is a state figure in which the door of the microwave oven was closed, (b) is a goods conveyance state figure which opened the door of the microwave oven.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a configuration of a product transport device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation by the configuration of FIG. 2;
Is a state diagram in which the door of the microwave oven is closed, and FIG.

FIG. 4 is a conventional configuration diagram of a vending machine with a built-in microwave oven to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a situation of a transport trouble generated in a process of carrying goods into a microwave oven by the configuration of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Product rack 6 Microwave oven 6a Elevating door 6b Conveyor 7 Product outlet 9 Horizontal conveyor 10 Guide roller mechanism 11 Guide roller 12 Roller holder 13 Guide rod 14 Urging spring 15 Follower roller 17, 18 Gear

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A vending machine product in which a microwave oven is built in the machine, and a product taken out of a product rack based on a sales order is loaded into a microwave oven, heated, taken out of the microwave oven, and sent out to a product outlet. In a transfer device, in which a horizontal conveyor is laid in cooperation with a microwave oven and a product outlet, a gap between an end of the horizontal conveyor and an inlet of the microwave oven is used to open and close a door of the microwave oven. A guide roller mechanism that moves the guide roller up and down between a guide position and a retreat position arranged along the product transport path following the guide roller,
This guide roller mechanism is composed of an assembly of a guide roller, an elevating roller holder that supports the guide roller, and an urging spring that pushes the roller holder upward, and the elevating door of the microwave oven is closed. In the vending machine with a built-in microwave oven, the guide roller is pushed down to the retreat position by the door itself. 2. A vending machine with a built-in microwave oven, wherein the guide roller mechanism comprises a power transmission means for rotating the guide roller by the rotational force of a horizontal conveyor. Commodity transport device. 3. The article conveying device according to claim 2, wherein the power transmission means is a driven roller that rotates while contacting the lower surface of the horizontal conveyor at a position where the guide roller mechanism is raised, and between the driven roller and the guide roller. And a transmission gear for connecting the vending machine to a vending machine with a built-in microwave oven.