JP3206691B2 - Shooter device for unloading products from 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 unloading shooter device suitable for a vending machine equipped with a spiral type product rack.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, FIG. 3 shows a conventional structure of a product carry-out shooter incorporated in a vending machine equipped with a spiral product rack described above. In the figure, 1
Is a spiral type product rack housed in a cabinet body of a vending machine. The product rack 1 is connected to a box-shaped case 2 having an open bottom surface, a bend motor 3 installed on the top of the case 2, and the bend motor 3. Composed of a vertical spiral wire 4 housed in a case, a product (for example, a product in a box-shaped container such as a lunch box) 5 is inserted one by one between each pitch of the spiral wire 4 and tilted slightly backward as shown in the figure. It is stored in the posture that did. When the bend motor 3 is started based on a sales command and the spiral wire 4 is rotated, the product 5 is screwed downward while being guided by the wall surface of the box-shaped case 2. , The products lined up at the bottom are dropped out.

Further, in order to send out the goods 5 paid out from the goods rack 1 to a goods outlet (not shown) opened in the front door of the cabinet, a goods discharge shooter connected to the goods outlet below the goods rack 1. 6 is fixedly provided in a forwardly inclined posture. Then, when the product carried out of the product rack 1 lands on the shooter plate 6, the product 5 slides down along the inclined surface of the shooter plate 6 as shown by a chain line and is sent out to the product takeout port.

[0004]

By the way, in the conventional configuration in which the product unloading shooter 6 is fixedly installed as described above, the following transport troubles often occur. That is, as can be seen from FIG. 3, there is a large drop between the product rack 1 and the shooter plate 6. For this,
While the product 5 paid out from the product rack 1 lands on the shooter plate 6, the product container is inverted due to the disturbance of the posture and the juice inside the product spills out, or the product is dropped by the drop impact force when it lands on the shooter plate 6. In some cases, the container of No. 5 may be damaged, causing collapse of the cargo.

As another problem, in the conventional configuration, the product outlet and the product rack 1 communicate with each other through a product path, and in this state, a rod or the like is inserted into the machine from the product outlet and the product rack is inserted. There is a risk that the goods stored in the garbage will be scraped off by scraping the goods. To prevent this, products such as anti-theft boards are conventionally provided inside the product exit of the front door to prevent product theft. However, since the inside of the product exit is directly accessible, the anti-theft plate is easily destroyed. There were inadequate aspects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned problems and to prevent transportation troubles such as disturbance of the posture of goods and collapse of goods, and also to obtain a high antitheft function. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product take-out shooter device that can be used.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vending machine which slidably sends out a product dropped from a product rack to a product outlet opening forward. A shooter plate for swinging up and down, which is arranged below a product rack with a rear end as a fulcrum, and a swing operation mechanism of the shooter plate, wherein the product is ready for sale when waiting for sale. The shooter plate is pushed up to hold the lower surface of the rack and held at the standby position, and when the product is sold, after receiving the product carried out of the rack at the standby position, the shooter plate is swung to the lowered position where the shooter plate is inclined forward. When the product is delivered to the product take-out port by operating, the front end of the shooter plate is opened at the standby position and the lowering position at the front end side of the shooter plate, and the shooter plate is opened at the standby position. Products in stroke which swings toward the lowered position and those with retractable goods stopper mechanism for locking retained on the shooter plate.

[0008]

With the above arrangement, the swingable shooter plate is pushed upward and closed at the standby position so as to close the exit of the product rack during standby for sales. Therefore, in this state, even if a bar or the like is inserted into the machine from the product outlet, the shooter plate interferes and the bar does not reach the inside of the product rack, so that the product cannot be stolen illegally.

[0009] On the other hand, when the product is carried out of the product rack by a regular selling operation, the product falls down a small drop and is transferred to a shooter plate waiting immediately above the product, and then shakes. The dynamic operation mechanism starts, and swings the shooter plate from the upper standby position to the lowered position to the forwardly inclined posture. When the shooter plate reaches the lowered position, the product slides on the inclined surface of the shooter plate and is sent to the product outlet. As a result, the product carried out of the product rack is sent out to the product outlet in a soft-handling manner, so that it is possible to reliably avoid dislocation of the container, such as inversion of the container, and collapse of the load.

An openable / closable product stopper mechanism provided at the front end of the shooter plate projects upward during the swinging stroke of the shooter plate moving from the standby position to the lowered position and rests on the shooter plate. The product is locked and held, and when it reaches the lowered position, it is moved downward to release the product. Accordingly, the product does not fall off during the tilting of the shooter plate, and the product can be sent out toward the product outlet while maintaining a stable posture.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the drawings of the embodiment, the same members corresponding to those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 1, a product outlet (not shown) is provided below the spiral product rack 1.
And a product unloading shooter device 7 according to the present invention. The shooter device 7 includes an assembly of a swingable shooter plate 8 rotatable in the vertical direction of arrow A with the rear end as a pivot point, and a swing operation mechanism 9 connected to the back surface of the shooter plate 8.

As shown in FIG. 2, the shooter plate 8 has an L-shaped fence 8a at the rear end and a pivot pin 10 having a rear end serving as a fulcrum. Supported. The swing operation mechanism 9 includes a drive motor 11 and a crank arm 1 coupled to an output shaft of the motor 11.
2 and a link 13 connecting between the crank arm 12 and the rear surface of the shooter plate 9. Further, an openable / closable product stopper mechanism 14 is provided on the front end side of the shooter plate 9.
It has. The stopper mechanism 14 is a Z-shaped bent piece pivotally supported on the back side of the shooter plate 8 with the front end 14a facing upward and the rear end 14b facing downward, and a torsion coil spring (not shown). The front end portion 14a is spring-biased so as to protrude upward from the front end of the shooter plate 8 through the like. Further, stoppers 15 and 16 are provided at upper and lower positions of the swing path of the shooter plate 8 so as to face the product stopper mechanism 14.
Is provided.

With such a configuration, the shooter plate 8 is pushed up to the standby position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 (the shooter plate assumes a posture inclined backward with respect to the fulcrum) at the time of selling standby. I'm blocking. Therefore, even if a stick or the like is inserted from the product take-out port by mischief, the shooter plate 8 does not obstruct and the tip of the bar does not reach the inside of the product rack 1. In this standby position, the front end 14a of the product stopper mechanism 14 comes into contact with the stopper 15 and rotates so as to be retracted from the tip of the shooter plate 8.

When a sales command is given in this state, the product 5 carried out of the product rack 1 falls down a slight drop onto the shooter plate 8 waiting thereunder and is received and held. The product 5 does not interfere with the product stopper mechanism 14 during dropping. Here, when the product 5 lands on the shooter plate 8, the drive motor 11 of the swing operation mechanism 9 is next turned on.
Is started, and the shooter plate 8 is lowered through the crank arm 12 and the link 13 (the position of the forwardly inclined posture shown by the chain line in FIG. 1).
Down to In the course of this swinging path, as shown in FIG. 2, the tip end portion 14a of the product stopper mechanism 14 projects from the front end of the shooter plate 8 by urging the spring.
Is changed to the forward leaning posture, the product 5 is moved to the product stopper mechanism 14.
, So that it does not fall off on the way.

When the shooter plate 8 reaches the lowered position, the product stopper mechanism 14 rotates with the rear end portion 14b abutting against the lower stopper 16 to lock the product 5 placed on the shooter plate 8. solve. Thus, the product 5 slides on the shooter plate 8 and is sent out toward the front product outlet.

[0016]

As described above, according to the shooter apparatus of the present invention, a product carried out of a product rack can be sent out to a product outlet in a soft-handling manner. In addition to preventing the transportation troubles such as the disorder of the falling posture of the product and the collapse of the load due to the drop impact, the shooter plate closes the exit of the product rack at the time of standby for sales, thereby ensuring the effective product antitheft function.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a shooter device for carrying out a product according to an embodiment of the present invention combined with a spiral-type product rack.

FIG. 2 is a detailed structural diagram of the shooter device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional product unloading shooter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Spiral-type merchandise rack 5 Merchandise 7 Commodity unloading shooter device 8 Swing type shooter plate 9 Swing operation mechanism 10 Spindle pin of shooter plate 11 Drive motor 12 Crank arm 13 Link 14 Product stopper mechanism

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A merchandise unloading shooter device for a vending machine for slidably sending out a commodity dropped and unloaded from a merchandise rack toward a merchandise outlet opening forward, the rear end of which is a fulcrum below the merchandise rack. And a swing operation mechanism of the shooter plate, which is arranged at a position where the shooter plate is pushed upward so as to close the lower surface of the product rack during standby for sale and held at the standby position. In selling the goods, after receiving the goods unloaded from the rack at the standby position, the shooter plate is swung to a lowered position in which the shooter is tilted forward, and the goods are delivered to a goods outlet. At the front end side of the plate, the front end of the shooter plate is opened at the standby position and the lowered position, and the product locks and holds the product on the shooter plate during the process of swinging the shooter plate from the standby position to the lowered position. Product unloading shooter device for an automatic vending machine characterized in that it comprises an expression product stopper mechanism.