JP3948331B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vending machine that sells products in cans, bottles, and plastic bottles as cold or hot products, and more particularly to the structure of a vending machine aimed at improving energy saving.
[0001]
[Prior art]
First, FIG. 2 shows a conventional configuration of a vending machine equipped with a serpentine product storage rack. In the figure, 1 is a main body case that is opened as a front surface and is formed as a heat-insulating housing, 2 is disposed in the main body case 1 in a single-opening manner, and is an outer door that opens and closes the front opening. It is a heat insulating inner door that covers the inner front surface, and a serpentine type product storage rack 4, a product carry-out shooter 5, and a cooling / heating unit 6 are installed in the main body case 1. The product carry-out shooter 5 has a large number of air guide holes on its plate surface, and the cooling / heating unit 6 has a cooler (evaporator) 6a and an electric heater 6b in the wind tunnel. The internal fan 6c is combined with the front surface of the main body case 1, and is connected to the suction duct 8 provided on the back side of the main body case 1 at the bottom of the internal storage.
[0002]
The heat insulating inner door 3 is provided with a flap type merchandise discharge door 7 formed of plastic having a thickness of several millimeters so as to close a merchandise carry-out opening that leads from the merchandise carry-out shooter 5 to a merchandise take-out opening 2 a provided in the outer door 2. It is arranged. As shown in FIG. 3, the product carry-out door 7 is formed as a curved surface, and a front wall 7a in which reinforcing ribs 7b are formed on the curved surface 7a, and side walls formed on both left and right sides of the front wall 7a. 7c and a shaft portion 7d formed on the left and right of the upper end. The shaft portion 7d is pivotally supported on the frame of the product carry-out port and is swingably attached. Note that the interior of the main body case 1 is divided into a plurality of product storage chambers arranged on the left and right by partition walls (not shown). A heating unit 6 is provided, and a product exit having a flap-type product exit door corresponding to each product storage chamber is formed in the heat insulating inner door 3.
[0003]
In such a configuration, the sales mode is set to cold or hot for each product storage room, and the cooling / heating unit 6 selects and operates either the cooler 6a or the electric heater 6b in accordance with the cold / hot sales mode. Is done. Thereby, the internal air cooled or heated by the cooler 6a or the electric heater 6b is blown forward by the internal fan 6c, and the cold airflow or the warm airflow changes its direction upward as indicated by the arrows in the figure. The air is ventilated, and the air is circulated from the back side in the cabinet through the suction duct 8 and returned to the cooling / heating unit 6 again. Then, the product 9 stored in the serpentine-type product storage rack 4 is cooled or heated by heat exchange with the cold airflow or the warm airflow (hereinafter referred to as “circulating airflow”). At this time, the product carry-out door 7 provided at the product carry-out port of the heat insulating inner door 3 is always closed so as to prevent the cool air and warm air inside the product from leaking out of the product from the product carry-out port.
[0004]
Products 9 are stored in each column of the serpentine-type product storage rack 4 as shown in the figure, and when a bend mechanism (not shown) selected based on a sales command is activated, the products lined up at the bottom of the column Is discharged downward, rolls along the slope of the product delivery shooter 5, pushes the product delivery door 7 open, and is delivered to the product outlet 2a. The product delivery door 7 pushed open by the product in the process in which the product delivered from the product storage rack 4 rolls on the product delivery shooter 5 and is delivered to the product outlet 2a returns by its own weight after the product has passed. Close the product exit.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the serpentine-type product storage rack 4 in the conventional vending machine is configured to pay out from the lowest product, and therefore, the circulating air flow blown out from the cooling / heating unit 6 (internal fan 6c). Thus, the product in the lower area stored in the product storage rack 4 is cooled and heated. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2 , the circulating air flow passing through the inside of the warehouse passes from the cooling / heating unit 6 (inside warehouse fan 6c) through the air guide hole of the product carry-out shooter 5 and changes its direction upward. The product stored in the product storage rack 4 is cooled and warmed by ventilating the inside, and part of the circulating air flow is connected to the product outlet 2a from the product delivery shooter 5 in the circulation ventilation process. The direction is changed by hitting the door surface of the arranged product delivery door 7. At this time, the circulating air flow that changes its direction by hitting the door surface of the product carry-out door 7 is air that has been cooled or heated by the cooling / heating unit 6 and blown out by the internal fan 6c. The temperature difference is the largest. Moreover, since the conventional product carry-out door 7 is made of a light and thin flapper plate so as not to hinder the carry-out operation of the product 9, the heat insulation is low, and this product carry-out door is used as a heat transfer path outside and inside the store. The amount of heat that enters and exits between them increases. Therefore, the amount of heat that enters and exits between the inside and outside of the warehouse through the product carry-out door 7 increases, so that the heat load of the cooling / heating unit 6 increases and the running cost of the vending machine increases.
[0006]
For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3, the heat insulating material 7f is stuck on the goods carry-out door 7, and the heat insulation is improved. However, it is common that the product carry-out door 7 is formed transparent so that the inside of the warehouse can be visually observed through the door. When the heat insulating material 7f is attached, the product carry-out door 7 is passed through the product carry-out door 7. It has the disadvantage that it cannot be visually observed and the number of parts increases. Although it is possible to increase the heat insulation by increasing the thickness of the product carry-out door 7, in this case, the weight of the door itself increases and there is a risk of causing a carry-out trouble that makes it impossible to open the door with the light product 9. Because it is not practical.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its object is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and skillfully reduce the heat intrusion into the cabinet without increasing the number of parts so that a high energy saving effect can be obtained. Is to provide an improved vending machine.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a cooling / heating unit combined with a product storage rack, a product carry-out shooter, and an internal fan is arranged side by side in the main body case formed as a heat insulating housing, A vending machine that sells products stored in the product storage rack as cold products or hot products, and cools or heats the products by circulating or blowing the air cooled or heated by the cooling / heating unit through the internal fan. The product is ejected from the product storage rack and rolled through the product delivery shooter to the product delivery port formed in the heat-insulated inner door that closes the front surface of the warehouse, and is opened by the product. in those with normally closed article carrying-out door to return by gravity after passing through closing the product outlet port, a hollow structure having a shaft portion of the article conveying doors on the left and right of the upper end Formed as a door, characterized in that the article carrying-out door of the hollow structure mounted axially supports the shaft portion to the product unloading opening (claim 1).
[0009]
The product discharge door having the hollow structure can be formed by gas assist molding, and air is sealed in the hollow portion of the product discharge door by the gas assist molding (Claim 2), or the hollow portion of the product discharge door is evacuated. (Claim 3).
According to the above configuration, the product carry-out door disposed at the product carry-out port of the heat-insulated inner door has a hollow structure in which an air layer is enclosed or a vacuum layer is provided, so that high heat insulation is achieved without substantially increasing the weight of the door itself. Even if a cold airflow or warm airflow blown forward from the cooling / heating unit hits the product delivery door, heat loss entering and exiting between the outside and inside of the cabinet can be kept low by using this prize delivery door as a heat transfer path. Accordingly, the heat load of the cooling / heating unit can be reduced, and the running cost of the vending machine can be reduced.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the embodiment shown in FIG. In the drawings of this embodiment, members corresponding to those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a product carry-out door showing an embodiment corresponding to claims 1 and 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 70 shows the goods delivery door arrange | positioned at the goods delivery outlet of the heat insulation inner door 3 (refer FIG. 2). The product carry-out door 70 has a hollow portion 71 formed by gas assist molding, and air is sealed in the hollow portion 71. The outer shape of the product carry-out door 70 is the same as the outer shape of the conventional product carry-out door shown in FIG. 3, and is composed of a curved front wall and side walls formed on the left and right sides of the front wall. The shaft portion is formed on the left and right. 1 shows a state in which the hollow portion 71 is formed in the curved front wall 70a of the product carry-out door 70, the hollow portion 71 is formed in the front wall and the side wall of the product carry-out door 70. Has been. By adopting a product carrying door 70 having a hollow structure in which the enclosed air is used as a heat insulating layer, it is possible to secure a high heat insulating property while maintaining the rolling and carrying out function of the product while keeping the weight of the door small. it can. The inside of the hollow structure can be evacuated.
[0011]
In such a configuration, the sales mode is set to cold or hot for each product storage room, and the cooling / heating unit 6 (see FIG. 2) is operated in accordance with the cold / hot sales mode. The blown circulating air flow strikes the curved surface of the product carry-out door 70 and changes its direction. At this time, since the product carry-out door 70 is formed as a hollow structure in which an air layer is enclosed or a vacuum layer is provided, it has high heat insulating properties. Therefore, even if a cold airflow or a warm airflow blown forward from the cooling / heating unit 6 hits the product carry-out door 70, the heat loss that goes in and out between the outside and the store using this product carry-out door 70 as a heat transfer path is low. It can be suppressed. In addition, the product carry-out door 70 is arranged at a position where the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the door becomes the largest, as it is cooled or heated by the cooling / heating unit and directly hit by the air blown out by the inside fan. Although the temperature difference is large, since the heat insulation performance of the product carry-out door 70 is high, it is possible to prevent frost on the surface of the product carry-out door 70. Therefore, the frost adhering to the merchandise carry-out door does not drop on the merchandise outlet as in the conventional apparatus.
[0012]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the cooling / heating unit combined with the product storage rack, the product carry-out shooter, and the internal fan is arranged in the vertical direction in the main body case formed as a heat-insulating housing. It is a vending machine that sells products stored in a rack as cold products or hot products, and air cooled or heated by the cooling / heating unit is circulated and blown into the cabinet by a fan in the cabinet to cool or warm the product. The product is discharged from the product storage rack and is pushed open by the product rolling through the product delivery shooter to the product delivery outlet formed on the heat insulating inner door that closes the front of the interior, and after the product has passed in those with normally closed article carrying-out door for closing the return to product unloading opening by its own weight, forming a door hollow structure having a shaft portion at an upper end of the article conveying door By mounted axially supports the shaft portion of the article conveying doors of the hollow structure to the product unloading opening, products are lightweight Product Weight Product unloading door in order to enhance the heat insulating property of the product unloading door is increased There will be no unloading trouble that the unloading door cannot be opened, and the air immediately after being blown out by the cooling fan is cooled or heated by the cooling / heating unit, and the temperature inside and outside the chamber The heat loss that enters and exits through the product carry-out door arranged at the position where the difference becomes the largest can be kept low, thereby reducing the thermal load of the cooling / heating unit and improving the energy saving effect.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a product carry-out door provided at a product carry-out port of a heat-insulated inner door according to an embodiment of the present invention. (a) is a side cross-sectional view, (b) is a front cross-sectional view [Fig. 3] A perspective view of a conventional product carry-out door provided at a product take-out port of a heat-insulated inner door [Explanation of symbols]
1 Main body case 3 Insulated inner door 4 Product storage rack (serpentine product storage rack)
5 Commodity carry-out shooter 6 Cooling / heating unit 6a Cooler 6b Heater 6c Internal fan 70 Commodity carry-out door 70a Front wall 71 Hollow part

Claims (3)

Cooling / heating units combined with product storage racks, product carry-out shooters, and internal fans are arranged one above the other in the case of the main body case formed as a heat-insulating housing, and the products stored in the product storage rack are cold or hot products. The vending machine sold as: the air cooled or heated by the cooling / heating unit is circulated and blown into the cabinet by the fan in the cabinet to keep the product cold or warm, and the heat insulation that closes the front of the cabinet The product exit formed in the inner door is pushed open by the product delivered from the product storage rack and rolled through the product delivery shooter , and returns by its own weight after passing the product to close the product exit. in those with normally closed article carrying-out door, formed as a door of a hollow structure having a shaft portion of the article conveying doors on the left and right of the upper end, the article carrying-out door of the hollow structure Vending machine, characterized in that mounted axially supports the shaft portion to the product carry-out port. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein air is sealed in a hollow portion of the product carry-out door. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein a hollow portion of the product carry-out door is evacuated.

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