JP3219507B2 - Product payout detection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is incorporated in a vending machine for selling goods such as frozen foods, for example, and detects that the goods have been paid out of a goods storage of the vending machine.
The present invention relates to a product payout detection device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a conventional product payout detecting device mounted on a vending machine. As shown in the figure, the payout detecting device 41 supports a movable plate 43 facing a payout port 42 at the bottom of a product storage inside a vending machine, and rotatably supports the movable plate 43 via a support shaft 44. A support plate 45;
It comprises a return spring 46 spanned between the support plate 45 and the base of the movable plate 43, and a detection switch 47 attached to the support plate 45. Movable plate 43
Is rotated by the weight of the product A dropped from the product column in the product storage to allow the product A to pass through the payout port 42, and is returned to the payout port 42 by the return spring 46 after the product A passes. It is returned to its original position. The detection switch 47 is turned ON-OFF-ON by the actuator 48 of the movable plate 43 in response to the reciprocating rotation of the movable plate 43 when the product A passes, and the delivery of the product A is detected. Is done.

[0003]

In such a conventional payout detecting device 41, the movable plate 43 is returned to the original position by the return spring 46 after the commodity A has passed. Is always urged by a return spring 46 in a direction to close the payout port 42. On the other hand, when the product A is dropped on the movable plate 43, the movable plate 43
The product A is rotated by the weight of the product A against the urging force of the return spring 46. Therefore, if the urging force of the return spring 46 is too strong compared to the weight of the product A, the movable plate 43 becomes difficult to rotate. In particular, since the tension of the return spring 46 increases as the rotation angle becomes deeper, if the product A does not drop vigorously, the product A may be clogged at this portion. Conversely, if the urging force of the return spring 46 is too weak compared to the weight of the product A, there is a problem that the movable plate 43 will not return to the original position. For this reason, it is necessary to finely balance the relationship between the weight of the product A and the spring force of the return spring 46. In particular, in the case of a relatively lightweight product A such as frozen food, the movable plate 43
It itself had a certain weight, and it was extremely difficult to adjust including this.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the spring force can be easily adjusted.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a product payout detection device that can eliminate clogging of a product and poor return of a movable plate.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a payout opening through which a dropped product passes while being rotatably supported by a support member via a support shaft.
A movable plate that pivots from a closed position that closes the payout port to an open position that allows the passage of the product by the weight of the product, a return spring that returns the movable plate from the open position to the closed position, and a movable plate that passes through the payout port of the product. And a detection switch for detecting the reciprocating rotation of the product, wherein the movable plate is in the closed position.
When it is located, it is spaced from the spindle and almost directly above the spindle
It has a weight portion provided so as to be positioned .

[0006]

When the commodity is dropped into the payout port, the movable plate is rotated downward by the weight of the commodity, and the commodity passes through the payout port.
When the commodity passes through the payout port, the movable plate is returned to the original closed position by the return spring. The reciprocating rotation of the movable plate is detected by the detection switch, and the delivery of the product is detected. In this case, the movable plate is supported when it is located at the closed position.
So that it is spaced from the shaft and located almost directly above the support shaft,
Since the weight portion is provided, when the movable plate starts to rotate, the position of the weight portion shifts from immediately above the support shaft, and the weight of the weight portion gradually moves in the direction in which the movable plate rotates. I will join. That is, as the rotation advances and the tension of the return spring increases, the rotational moment by the weight portion increases, and the tension of the return spring is offset. Therefore, the movable plate always rotates while receiving a constant urging force (return force), and once it starts to rotate, the turning operation does not stop halfway, and the urging force of the return spring is set somewhat stronger. Therefore, there is no possibility that the movable plate cannot return.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the accompanying drawings, a description will be given of a case in which a commodity payout detecting apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vending machine having a spiral type commodity storage column. This vending machine warms and sells frozen foods (commodities) such as Shumai, and FIG. 1 is a cut-away side view showing the internal structure of the vending machine. As shown in FIG. 1, the vending machine 1 includes a product storage 3 having a plurality of product storage columns 2 built therein, a microwave 4 disposed below the product storage 3, And an indoor unit 5 disposed on the side. The product A is stored in a frozen state in the product storage column 2 by the indoor unit 5, and is dropped from the product storage column 2 and passes through the payout detection device 6 based on the sales command.
, Is heated here, and then led to the sales outlet 7.

The commodity storage 3 is constructed by attaching a heat insulating door 9 to a box-shaped storage main body 8 made of a heat insulating material, and has a payout port 10 formed at the bottom. Product storage 3
, A plurality of spiral type product storage columns 2 in which a large number of products A are stored are suspended, and the products A are insulated doors 9.
Are opened, and are stored in such a manner as to be inserted into the upper and lower gaps of the spiral member 11 of each product storage column 2. In the lower part of the product storage 3, fixed chutes 12, 13 which are inclined toward the payout port 10 are provided in front and rear, respectively. In addition, the payout port 10 is provided with a payout detection device 6 for the commodity A facing this. The product A dropped by the rotation of the spiral member 11 has two fixed chutes 12,
It is guided to the payout port 10 by 13 and passes through the payout detecting device 6, where the payout is detected and then dropped into the microwave oven 4.

The microwave oven 4 includes a microwave oven 14 in the first half.
And a receiving box section 15 in the latter half, and the goods A dropped from the payout port 10 are received by the box section 15 and sent to the range section 14. The receiving box section 15 is provided with a receiving table 16, a range rear door 17 and a push rod 18 configured to be able to move forward and backward. The product A that has fallen on the receiving table 16 is pushed into the range unit 14 as the rear door 17 moves forward to close the range unit 14, and is transferred to the rotary table 19 of the range unit 14. Next, the comb-shaped protruding stick 1
8 further pushes the rotary table 19 to the center. Here, the product A is cooked, and then when the sliding door type front door 20 is opened, the push rod 18 moves forward and drops the product A from the range portion 14 into the sales outlet 7, where the cooked product A is placed. Provided to buyer. And
The activation of the microwave oven 4 is performed by a commodity detection signal of the payout detection device 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the payout detecting device 6
A movable plate 22 rotatably mounted on a support plate 21 for supporting the front fixed chute 12;
2 and a side plate portion 23 erected from the front end side portion.
, A detection switch 25 fixed to the support plate 21 corresponding to the actuator portion 24, the support plate 21 and the side plate portion 2.
3 and a return spring 26 bridged between them. The main part of the movable plate 22 is made of a plate material such as ABS resin, and is rotatably attached to the rear end of the support plate 21 via a support shaft 27. In this state, the movable plate 22
Is rotated from the closed position, which faces the payout port 10 and closes the payout port 10, to the lower open position with its weight after the product A is dropped onto the movable plate 22, and further moves the product A further downward. Let pass through as if dropped. On the other hand, the movable plate 22
The return spring 26 urges the product A in the counterclockwise direction in the drawing so that it can return to the closed position after the commodity A has passed.

The return spring 26 is formed of a long coil spring so that the spring force is constant with respect to the stroke of the spring. One end is located above the front end of the support plate 21, and the other end is located at the front middle of the side plate 23. Each is hooked. The detection switch 25 is configured by a reed switch or the like, and is turned on and off by the actuator 24 of the side plate 23.
FF is performed. At the position where the movable plate 22 closes the payout port 10, the actuator unit 24 sets the detection switch 25 to the O position.
In a series of operations in which the product A rotates from the closed position passing through the payout port 10 and returns to the closed position, the detection switch 25 is turned ON-OFF-ON, The payout of the product A is detected. .

On the upper part of the side plate part 23, a balance weight 28 which is located almost directly above the support shaft 27 and constitutes a weight part is provided.
Is attached. The balance weight 28 can be adjusted in accordance with the weight of the product to be handled, whereby the tension of the return spring 26 and the product A
And the rotational moment of the movable plate 22 in consideration of the weight of The balance weight 28 is rotated together with the movable plate 22. When the movable plate 22 is in the closed position, the balance weight 28 is located directly above the support shaft 27 and does not contribute to the rotation moment. From the perpendicular passing through to the payout port 10 side, and is added to the rotational moment. That is, the balance weight 28 acts to offset the tension of the return spring 26 that increases as the rotation proceeds, and eventually keeps the tension of the return spring 26 constant.

Here, the movement of the movable plate 22 will be described with reference to FIG. The product A dropped from the product storage column 2 by the sales command is guided to the payout port 10 by the fixed chutes 12 and 13, and once rides on the movable plate 22.
Here, the movable plate 22 is moved downward (clockwise) by the weight of the product A.
It is rotated to. At this time, the balance weight 28 is also rotated at the same time, and works to promote the rotation of the movable plate 22. When this rotation proceeds to a certain point, the product A slips again from the movable plate 22 by its own weight and falls again into the receiving box portion 15 of the microwave oven 4. When the product A slides down from the movable plate 22, the movable plate 22 is rotated in the opposite direction (counterclockwise) by the reaction of the movable plate 22 and the urging force of the return spring 26, and returns to the original closed position. The reciprocating rotation of the movable plate 22 allows the product A to pass through the payout port 10 and activates the detection switch 25, so that the payout of the product A is detected.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the support shaft 27
Of the balance weight 2 on the movable plate 22.
Since the movable plate 22 is provided, the weight of the balance weight 28 works so as to gradually promote the rotation of the movable plate 22 as the movable plate 22 rotates. That is, as the rotation advances and the tension of the return spring 26 increases, the rotational moment by the balance weight 28 also increases, and the return spring 2
The tension of 6 is offset. Therefore, the movable plate 22 always rotates while receiving a constant urging force (return force), the turning operation does not stop halfway, and the urging force of the return spring 26 can be set relatively high. Therefore, the movable plate 22 does not become unable to return. Therefore, the movable plate 22 does not hinder the payout of the product A, and the product A
Is effectively prevented from being clogged or undetectable.

In this embodiment, the balance weight is provided on the side plate of the movable plate of the payout detecting device.
The side plate itself may be made of a heavy material.

[0016]

As described above, according to the commodity payout detecting device of the present invention, when the movable plate is located at the closed position,
At a distance from the spindle and located almost directly above the spindle
In addition, since the weight portion is provided, the movable plate is rotated with a constant return force, and even a light product can pass through the payout port without fail. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate clogging of the product and poor return of the movable plate, and it is possible to easily adjust the spring force of the return spring.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cut-away side view of a vending machine to which a payout detection device according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the payout detecting device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating an operation of the payout detection device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a conventional payout detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vending machine 6 Dispensing detector 21 Support plate 22 Movable plate 25 Detection switch 26 Return spring 27 Support shaft 28 Balance weight A Product

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-49-51647 (JP, A) JP-A-4-313185 (JP, A) JP-A-5-500036 (JP, A) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07F 11/24 G07F 5/00-9/10

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A product which is rotatably supported by a support member via a support shaft, faces a payout port through which a dropped commodity passes, and is closed by closing the payout port. A movable plate that rotates to an open position that allows passage, a return spring that returns the movable plate from the open position to the closed position, and a detection switch that detects reciprocating rotation of the movable plate due to passage of a product payout port. In the commodity payout detection device, the movable plate is connected to the support shaft when the movable plate is located at the closed position.
Set so that there is an interval and it is located almost directly above the spindle.
A product payout detection device having a weighted portion .