JP3831969B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vending machine that heats and sells canned beverages with a heater.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 8 is an internal layout diagram of a conventional vending machine, and FIG. 9 is an electric circuit diagram of a heater unit of the conventional vending machine. 8 and 9, 1 is a vending machine, 2 is a can slot, 3 is a can rack, 4 is an ejector mechanism, 5 is a heater unit, 6 is a heater, 7 is a heater fan, 8 is a thermal fuse, 9 is A bimetal, 11 is a thermistor in the cabinet, 12 is a condenser, 13 is an exhaust fan, and 14 is a leakage breaker.
[0003]
The inside of the vending machine 1 is divided into a left warehouse A, a middle warehouse B, and a right warehouse C with a heat insulating wall between each other, and a plurality of can racks 3 are provided in each warehouse. The can beverage is sold by setting whether the internal can beverage is heated or cooled for each product storage. As described above, in order to heat or cool the can beverage in each product storage, a heater unit 5 and a cooling evaporator (not shown) are provided at the bottom of each product storage. In the case where the can beverage in the can rack 3 is cooled and sold, the refrigerant sent from the condenser 12 is cooled by flowing it to the evaporator, and when the can beverage is warmed and sold, the heater of the heater unit 5 is used. 6 to warm. The heat generated in the heater 6 is sent into the cabinet by the heater fan 7.
[0004]
When heating by the heater 6 in such a manner, in order to keep the product temperature within a predetermined temperature range, an in-house thermistor 11 is provided in a part of the ejector mechanism 4, thereby detecting the temperature of the next sale can. On / off of the heater 6 is controlled by controlling opening / closing of the relay contact R (FIG. 2) by the control microcomputer based on the detected temperature. As a result, the internal temperature is maintained within a certain temperature range around a predetermined set temperature T ₀ as shown in FIG.
[0005]
On the other hand, the bimetal 9 disposed at the leeward side in the vicinity of the heater 6 operates when the heater 6 becomes overheated due to failure of the heater 6 or failure of the heater fan 7 due to failure. Turn off the heater circuit. Similarly, the thermal fuse 8 disposed in the immediate vicinity of the heater 2 is blown when the bimetal 9 stops operating and the heater 6 is overheated, and the heater circuit is quickly turned off.
[0006]
Incidentally, as a conventional document relating to such a vending machine, there is, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-41785 (F25D 23/12, G07F 9/10).
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional technology, until the interior reaches a predetermined temperature T ₀ at the start of operation or when switching the mode from cooling operation to heating operation at the change of season from autumn to winter, etc. There is a problem that the pull-up time (time t _{p in} FIG. 7), which is the time required for the above, is as long as about 12 to 13 hours. In such a vending machine, the distance between the internal thermistor 11 and the heater unit 5 is large, and there is a proportional relationship between the internal temperature detected by the internal thermistor 11 and the temperature of the heater unit 5. It is gone. Therefore, even if the wattage of the heater 6 is simply increased in order to shorten the pull-up time, the heating output of the heater is too large and the temperature of the heater unit 5 becomes excessive before the internal temperature reaches a predetermined value. There is a problem that the temperature fuse 8 and the bimetal 9 are moved up and operated. In addition, if the wattage of the heater 6 is increased, the required current capacity of the power source becomes too large, and it becomes impossible to take power from a normal power line outlet, so that special electrical work is required. It was.
[0008]
An object of the present invention is to solve such problems, shorten the pull-up time, prevent malfunction of the thermal fuse 8 and the bimetal 9, and suppress the necessary current capacity of the power source within a predetermined range. Is.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the vending machine of the present invention, a product storage unit that stores products to be sold after heating, a first temperature detection device that detects the temperature of the product in the product storage unit, A variable output heater provided under the product storage unit, a heater overheat protection device that operates based on the temperature of the heater in the vicinity of the heater and turns off the heater when the heater is overheated, and the heater A second temperature detection device for detecting the temperature of the overheat protection device, and at the start of the heating operation, the detected temperature of the first temperature detection device is less than a first predetermined value, and the second temperature detection device When the detected temperature of the device is less than a second predetermined value lower than the operating temperature of the heater overheat protection device, the output of the heater is increased, and the detected temperature of the second temperature detecting device is the second predetermined value. When it rises above, the heater It was that it comprises a heater controller for controlling to reduce the force.
[0010]
Further, the heater is formed by a plurality of heaters, and a heater output is changed by turning on / off some of the heaters.
Further, after the heater is formed by two heaters and the detected temperature of the first temperature detecting device becomes equal to or higher than the first predetermined value, only one of the two heaters is used. I decided to control it.
[0011]
Furthermore, it has a plurality of product storage units, compressors, and lighting device functional blocks that are thermally shielded from each other, set a priority for each functional block, and enable power control for each functional block, The power source of each functional block is controlled according to the priority order so that the total value of the currents of the functional blocks does not exceed a predetermined value.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an internal layout of a vending machine according to the present invention. Reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 8, and 10 is a heater unit thermistor.
[0013]
In this embodiment, a plurality of heaters are used for each commodity storage as the heater 6. For example, two heaters are used, one of which is the main heater and the same wattage as the heater of a conventional vending machine of the same size, and the other is a sub-heater that has a lower wattage than the main heater (e.g. When the wattage ratio of the main heater is 100, the wattage ratio of the sub heater is about 20). Then, when the vending machine is turned on or when the setting mode is switched from the cooling operation to the heating operation, all the heaters are energized in order to shorten the pull-up time.
[0014]
However, if all the heaters are energized as they are, the heater unit 5 may be overheated and the temperature fuse 8 and the bimetal 9 may operate before the inside temperature reaches a predetermined value. Therefore, when the temperature of the thermal fuse 8 or the bimetal 9 is detected by the heater unit thermistor 10 and the value rises to near the operating temperature of the thermal fuse 8 or the bimetal 9, the energization of the sub-heaters in the two heaters is stopped. The thermal fuse 8 and the bimetal 9 are prevented from operating.
[0015]
FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram of the heater unit. Reference numerals correspond to those in FIG. 1, 6-1 is a main heater, 6-2 is a sub-heater, 15 is an AC 100V power source, and R ₁ and R ₂ are relay contacts that are controlled to open and close by a control microcomputer. In this figure, only one commodity storage, for example, the right warehouse is shown, but the same circuit is used in the middle warehouse and the left warehouse.
[0016]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control unit. Reference numerals correspond to those in FIGS. 1 and 2, 20 is a control microcomputer, 21 is an AD converter, and 22 is a current-voltage converter.
When the temperature near the next sale can detected by the internal thermistor 11 is significantly lower than a set temperature (for example, 55 ° C.) when the control microcomputer 20 is turned on or when the cooling operation is switched to the heating operation, Electricity is supplied to both the main heater and the sub-heater of the heater unit 5 of the commodity storage warehouse, the heating output is increased, and the internal temperature is quickly raised. At that time, the heater unit thermistor 10 detects the temperature in the vicinity of the thermal fuse 8 and the bimetal 9 and performs on / off control of the sub-heater so that the thermal fuse 8 and the bimetal 9 are not actuated due to rapid heating.
[0017]
Next, switching control between the main heater and the sub heater by the control microcomputer 20 will be described with reference to a flowchart.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a switching control procedure between the main heater and the sub heater.
Step 1: It is determined whether or not the operation mode of the product storage is set to the heating mode.
Step 2... If the heating mode is set, the internal temperature is detected by the internal thermistor 11.
Step 3: It is determined whether or not the internal temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature (for example, 55 ° C.).
[0018]
Step 4... If not exceeded, the relays R ₁ and R ₂ are energized to turn on both the main heater 6-1 and the sub heater 6-2.
Step 5: Based on the output of the heater unit thermistor 10, it is determined whether or not the vicinity of the heater has reached a predetermined temperature (eg, 100 ° C.) or higher.
[0019]
Step 6: When the vicinity of the heater becomes more than a predetermined temperature, so that the temperature fuse 8 and the bimetal 9 does would provide an operation to suppress the temperature rise by turning off the sub-heater 6-2 de-energized the relay R _2.
Step 7: Wait for a predetermined time.
Step 8: Based on the output of the heater unit thermistor 10, it is determined whether or not the vicinity of the heater is still above a predetermined temperature.
Step 9 ... When the temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature, the main heater 6-1 is also turned off so that the thermal fuse 8 and the bimetal 9 do not operate.
Step 10: Wait for a predetermined time and then return to Step 2.
[0020]
Step 11 ... If the internal temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature in Step 3, the sub heater 6-2 is kept off after that, and the heater control similar to the conventional one is performed only by the main heater 6-1. .
[0021]
In the present invention, the pull-up time is shortened by performing the switching control of a plurality of heaters as described above. Furthermore, when all the heaters are turned on, the current value of the entire vending machine On / off control is performed for each functional block unit such as a heater, a compressor, and a fluorescent lamp in each store in the vending machine according to the current value of each unit so that the value does not exceed a predetermined value. In order to perform such control, as shown in FIG. 3, the current for each block unit is detected by a current transformer CT provided in each functional block unit, and the current-voltage converter 22 and the AD converter 21 detect the current. The detected current is converted into a digital signal and then input to the control microcomputer 20.
[0022]
Based on these signals, the control microcomputer 20 sequentially turns off the functional blocks having lower priorities so that the entire current falls within a predetermined value. The priority order of each functional block unit varies depending on the season. For example, in the winter season, (1) fluorescent lamp, (2) main heater, (3) sub-heater, and (4) compressor order may be considered. The reason why the fluorescent lamp is given the highest priority is that if it is turned off, it is determined that the vending machine is out of order and the sales opportunity is lost.
[0023]
When the priority order is set in such a manner, when the entire current value is likely to exceed a predetermined value, the compressor is first turned off. If the overall current value still seems to exceed the predetermined value, the sub-heater is turned off even though the lowest priority is set in the commodity storage.
In addition, as each functional block part, it is good further as compared with said case, for example, it is good also considering the main heater and sub-heater of each goods storage as a separate functional block part. Further, when the control microcomputer 20 includes an AD converter, the AD converter 21 is not necessary.
[0024]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a current detection circuit of each load. Reference numerals 15 and 20 correspond to those in FIG. In FIG. 4, a case where there are _two loads L ₁ and L ₂ will be described.
Currents flowing through the loads L ₁ and L ₂ are detected by the current transformers CT ₁ and CT ₂ , rectified by the rectifiers D ₁ and D ₂ , and voltages corresponding to the current values of the loads L ₁ and L ₂ are obtained. obtain. This is input to the control microcomputer 20 via the operational amplifiers OP ₂ and OP ₃ to perform the control as described above.
In FIG. 4, the AD converter is shown as being built in the control microcomputer 20. The operational amplifier OP ₁ gives an analog reference voltage to the control microcomputer 20.
[0025]
Next, current control by the control microcomputer 20 will be described with reference to a flowchart.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a current control procedure.
Step 1 ... The load of each function block is turned on.
Step 2: The current value of each load is input to the control microcomputer 20.
Step 3... It is determined whether or not the sum of the current values of the respective parts exceeds the rated current.
Step 4 ... When the rated current is exceeded, the load of the block unit with the lower priority is turned off based on the preset priority.
Step 5: If the rated current is not exceeded in Step 3, normal operation is continued.
[0026]
In the above embodiment, the current for each functional block is detected, but the total current value flowing through the vending machine may be detected at one location. Moreover, in the said embodiment, the thermal fuse 8 and the bimetal 9 are provided as an overheat protection apparatus of a heater. However, in the present invention, since the heater unit thermistor 10 detects the temperature of the thermal fuse 8 and controls the heater so that it does not exceed the melting temperature of the thermal fuse 8, the bimetal 9 can be omitted. However, when the relay contact R ₁ is burned out or an error of the control microcomputer occurs, such control cannot be performed. In such a case, the thermal fuse 8 is necessary to reliably protect the heater unit. is there.
In addition, as a means for changing the heater output, in the above-described embodiment, a plurality of heaters are used to selectively turn on and off heaters to be energized. The heater output may be changed by changing the output.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the vending machine of the present invention, at the start of heating operation, such as at the start of operation or mode switching from cooling operation to heating operation at the turn of the season from autumn to winter, etc. The heater output is increased, and the temperature of the thermal fuse 8, the bimetal 9 or the like, which has not been considered in the past, is monitored, and heating is performed with the maximum heater output within a range where they do not operate. As a result, malfunctions of the thermal fuse 8 and the bimetal 9 can be prevented while efficiently reducing the pull-up time of the vending machine.
[0028]
In addition, if two heaters are used as heaters for each commodity storage and one heater is turned on or the heater output is changed depending on whether the two heaters are turned on, one heater can be used for existing equipment. All that is necessary is to make a slight improvement by adding a sub-heater. In that case, the control can be performed with high accuracy by setting the wattage of the sub-heater different from the wattage of the main heater and setting the optimum size.
[0029]
In addition, after the temperature detected by the thermistor in each product storage reaches the predetermined temperature, if the sub-heater is turned off and temperature control is performed using only the main heater, the subsequent temperature control is Similar to the above, since only one main heater needs to be controlled based only on the inside temperature, the control becomes simple.
[0030]
Furthermore, since the priority order is set for each function block, and the power supply can be turned on / off for each function block, each function block is configured according to the priority order so that the total current value is within a predetermined value. If the block is controlled to be turned on / off, the entire current flowing through the vending machine can be kept within a predetermined value while maintaining the minimum sales function of the vending machine.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an internal layout of a vending machine according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram of a heater unit. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control unit. ] Flow chart showing switching control procedure of main heater and sub-heater [FIG. 6] Flow chart showing current control procedure [FIG. 7] Figure showing an example of temporal change in the inside temperature [FIG. 8] Inside of conventional vending machine Layout [Fig. 9] Electrical circuit diagram of heater unit of conventional vending machine [Explanation of symbols]
1 Vending machine 2 Can inlet 3 Can rack 4 Ejector mechanism 5 Heater unit 6 Heater 7 Heater fan 8 Thermal fuse 9 Bimetal 10 Heater unit thermistor 11 Internal thermistor 12 Condenser 13 Exhaust fan 14 Earth leakage breaker

Claims (4)

A product storage unit for storing products to be heated and sold;
A first temperature detection device for detecting the temperature of the product in the product storage unit;
A variable output heater provided on the lower side of the product storage section;
A heater overheat protection device that operates based on the temperature of the heater in the vicinity of the heater and turns off the heater when the heater is overheated;
A second temperature detection device for detecting the temperature of the heater overheat protection device;
At the start of the heating operation, the detected temperature of the first temperature detecting device is lower than the first predetermined value, and the detected temperature of the second temperature detecting device is lower than the operating temperature of the heater overheat protection device. When the temperature is less than a predetermined value of 2, the output of the heater is increased, and when the detected temperature of the second temperature detection device rises above the second predetermined value, the output of the heater is decreased. A vending machine comprising a heater control device for controlling.   2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said heater is formed by a plurality of heaters, and a heater output is changed by turning on / off some of the heaters. The heater is formed by two heaters, and temperature control is performed using only one of the two heaters after the detected temperature of the first temperature detecting device becomes equal to or higher than the first predetermined value. The vending machine according to claim 2.   It has multiple product storage units, compressors, and lighting device function blocks, priorities are set for each function block, and power control is enabled for each function block, and the total current of each function block 4. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the power supply of each functional block is controlled according to the priority order so that the value does not exceed a predetermined value.

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