JP4389638B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine that cools or heats products such as beverages in containers such as cans, bottles, packs, and PET bottles for sale.

Conventionally, this type of vending machine aims to effectively save energy and prevent warming deterioration by dividing the inside of the product storage room into upper and lower parts and bringing the upper part to room temperature and cooling or heating only the lower part. Things are known. (For example, Patent Document 1)
This vending machine is called a so-called two-divided rack vending machine. The product rack is divided into upper and lower parts, a shutter device is installed between them, and only the products stored in the lower part of the product storage are concentrated. Thus, cooling / heating is performed. More specifically, the cool air / warm air blown out from the cooling / heating device disposed at the bottom of the product storage space cools / heats the lower product in the product rack and then moves along the lower surface of the shutter device. Then, the air is sucked into the suction port of the circulation duct, passes through the circulation duct, returns to the cooling / heating device, and is cooled / heated again. On the other hand, the product at the top of the product rack is in a state where the cool air / warm air blown from the cooling / heating device is blocked by the shutter device and stored at room temperature. For this reason, cooling / heating is performed only in the lower part of the product storage, and power consumption is low, effective energy saving can be performed, and the product in the upper part of the product rack is stored at room temperature during heating operation. In other words, it is possible to prevent the product from being deteriorated by being stored in a heated state for a long time.

Note that the product in the upper part of the product rack is appropriately transported and replenished to the lower part of the product rack whenever a product is sold or when the product in the lower part is reduced to a predetermined amount.
JP-A-10-91855 (page 4, FIG. 1)

  However, although the shutter device is formed in the structure of airflow shielding and thermal insulation, there are the following problems.

  1) Since the shutter device is a mechanism that performs opening / closing driving to supply the product in the upper part of the product rack to the lower part, there is a gap that communicates between the drive unit and the fixed unit or between the drive units. To do. Power consumption due to cooling / heating increases by the amount of cool air / warm air flowing in and out through the gap.

  2) Since the cool / warm airflow directly collides with the lower surface of the shutter device after cooling / heating the product, the shutter device itself is cooled / heated, and the heat is transferred to the product above the product rack by heat conduction and heat transfer. The power consumption due to cooling / heating increases accordingly.

  3) Especially during the heating operation, if the product is not sold for a long time, the product located in the lower part of the product in the upper part of the product rack may be stored in a warmed state for a long time. There is a risk of deterioration.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and reduces heat intrusion and heat outflow during heating or cooling to a non-heated cooling region as much as possible to reduce power consumption and prevent deterioration of hot products. An object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine capable of improving the quality.

In order to achieve the above object, a vending machine according to claim 1 of the present invention divides a product into a product storage box surrounded by a heat insulating material and divides it into upper and lower parts and stores products in a vertical direction as appropriate. A product rack having a function of carrying out the product, a shutter device having a heat insulation structure interposed between the left and right side plates of the rack and the upper lower rack, and a product cooling / heating device disposed at the bottom of the cabinet And a vending machine provided with a circulation duct on the back side of the cabinet, which is in contact with one or both surfaces of the left and right side plates of the rack in the product storage , and has a suction port below the shutter device. A side passage means having a blow-out port facing the suction port of the circulation duct is provided.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the vending machine according to the claims of the present invention, the side passage means has a suction port at the lower side of the shutter device and communicates with the circulation duct. By arranging the means, the wind from the fan toward the product reduces the leakage heat flow flowing in and out from the gap formed in the shutter device as much as possible, and the shutter device itself is heated by colliding with the shutter device. In addition, since it is possible to prevent the commodity stored above from being heated, there is an effect of reducing power consumption.

  Moreover, at the time of heating operation, the product on the top of the product rack is prevented from being stored for a long time in a warmed state, and the effect of improving the performance of preventing the deterioration of the hot product is achieved.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by this embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a side view showing a first embodiment of a vending machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view around a shutter device. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing main parts such as a product rack and a horizontal suction duct part in FIG.

  First, the overall configuration of the vending machine will be described, and then the flow of the cooling / heating airflow according to the present invention will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a product storage box in which a heat insulating casing is formed on the inner wall of a vending machine cabinet and an opening is provided on the front surface. The equipped front outer door, 2a is a product outlet provided at the lower part of the outer door 2, and 3 is a heat insulating inner door. The product storage 1 and the heat insulating inner door 3 prevent heat from entering from the outside. Reference numeral 4 denotes a cooling / heating unit as an assembly of an evaporator (refrigerator evaporator) 4a, an electric heater 4b, a fan 4c, and a wind tunnel 4d disposed at the bottom of the product storage 1, and circulates cold air / warm air By doing so, the inside of the product storage 1 is cooled / heated. Reference numeral 5 denotes a product carry-out shooter that communicates with the product take-out port 2a, and a plurality of holes through which cool air / warm air pass are perforated in the flat surface portion. 6 is a serpentine type product rack which is located above the product carry-out shooter 5 and is combined with the product storage part divided into upper and lower parts, and its outer dimensions (left and right, depth) are displayed in the product storage 1. Designed to match the cross-section of the created space. 7 is a product that is sequentially stored from the top tray 8 installed on the top of the product rack 6 and sold after being cooled / heated in the product storage 1. Reference numeral 9 denotes a shutter device installed at a position divided into two at the upper and lower portions. Normally, the shutter device is in a closed state and is opened by the gravity when the upper product 7 falls, and after the product 7 passes through the shutter device 9. Is closed again by the biasing force. 10 is a cutting device installed at the lower ends of the upper and lower product racks 6, and the cutting device 10a installed in the lower product rack has a function of operating the sales signal to pay out the products, The cutting device 10b installed in the upper product rack 6 has a function of appropriately transporting and replenishing the lower product rack according to a command from a control device (not shown) when the lower product is reduced. Reference numeral 11 denotes a circulation duct that collects cool air / warm air that has cooled / heated products in the product storage 1 and circulates them again to the cooler / heater 4. The rear intake port 11 a is provided below the shutter device 9. And it has a blower outlet in the position facing the evaporator 4a. Reference numeral 12 denotes a horizontal suction duct as a side passage means that sucks cold air / warm air that has cooled / heated the product in the product storage 1 from the side surface of the product rack 6 and guides it to the circulation duct 11. It is arranged below. Reference numeral 13 denotes a wind shielding material for preventing the cool air / warm air discharged from the fan 4c from passing between the front surface of the product rack 6 and the heat insulating inner door 3 and flowing into the upper portion. It abuts and is attached to the front surface of the product rack 6.

  Here, as is well known, the serpentine type product rack 6 defines a meandering product passage (column) in which arc-shaped rail segments are laid between the left and right rack side plates, and the upper end of each column is defined. The top tray 8 for product introduction is provided on the side, and the cutting device is provided on the lower carry-out end side. In the illustrated rack, the columns are arranged in five rows. Although not shown, the interior of the product storage 1 is generally partitioned into a plurality of rooms arranged side by side through a heat insulating partition, and the product rack 6 and a cooling unit or cooling / heating unit is provided for each room. Unit 4 is installed and used as a cold product room or a cold / hot product room.

  The serpentine-type product rack 6 has a product storage section divided into an upper rack section 6A and a lower rack section 6B, and a shutter device having a heat insulating structure between the upper rack section 6A and the lower rack section 6B. 9 is interposed. As a result, the shutter device 9 is used as a heat shield partition, and the lower half heating / cooling region 1a in which the interior of the product storage 1 is kept cold or heated, and the upper half non-heated from the heating / cooling region 1a. It is divided into a heating / cooling region 1b (close to room temperature).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the shutter device 9 has a shutter mounting frame 9 a having a length in the front-rear direction corresponding to the interior depth of the product storage 1 and a lateral width corresponding to the column width of the product rack 6. The heat insulating material partition plate 9b installed on the upper surface side of the mounting frame 9a according to the columns of the product racks 6 arranged in the front and rear rows, and the swing-opening type heat insulation supported on the mounting frame 9a corresponding to each column. It consists of an assembly with the shutter 9c. Further, the heat insulating shutter 9c is made of, for example, a hard resin having low heat conductivity, and is pivotally supported downward in a double-split manner as a set of two sheets, and is urged by the supporting shaft as shown in FIG. A spring (torsion coil spring) 9d is provided to provide an automatic return type shutter that is urged in the closing direction of the shutter 9c.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the structure of the horizontal suction duct 12 is a long passage wind shield which is a lower position of the shutter device 9 and is pasted on the side surface of the product rack 6 in a U shape with the front closed. The material 12a, the blowout opening 12b in which one side of the long passage wind shielding material 12a attached in a U-shape is opened, and the position inside the passage wind shielding material 12a on the side surface of the product rack 6 The product rack 6 includes a suction port 12c that is also used as a plurality of holes perforated on the side surface. The blowout port 15b faces the back surface suction port 10a of the circulation duct 10 and is disposed at a position where there is little fluid resistance of cool air / warm air flowing out from the blowout port 15b.

  In FIG. 3, the horizontal suction duct 12 is installed on the right side of the product rack 6 when viewed from the front, but may be installed between the two product racks on the left side. Moreover, you may install in several positions.

  Next, a description will be given of the flow of airflow related to cooling / heating in this configuration. As shown by the arrows in FIGS. 1 and 3, the cool air / warm air from the fan 4c toward the product 7 passes through the holes of the shooter 5 and heats / cools the product 7 sequentially from below, and then the suction port 12b of the horizontal suction duct 12 The air then passes through the inside of the horizontal suction duct 12 and flows to the rear suction port 11a of the circulation duct 11, and returns to the evaporator and the heater to be reheated / cooled. By continuing this circulation, the lower-side product is heated / cooled to an appropriate temperature.

  That is, with such a configuration, an air curtain is formed in the lower part of the shutter device, and leakage of airflow to the upper part of the shutter device 9 in the product rack 6 can be reduced. Specifically, the flow rate of the cool air / warm air reaching the lower surface of the shutter device 9 is reduced, the flow velocity that directly collides with the heat insulating shutter 9c is reduced, and the cool air that flows out from the gap of the shutter device into the upper product warehouse. / The flow rate of warm air is also significantly reduced. For this reason, the heat insulating device 9 itself is directly cooled / heated to prevent the product 7 from being cooled / heated by heat conduction, and heat transfer to the product due to leaked cooling / heating air is reduced. The upper product is not cooled / heated more than necessary, and power consumption can be reduced. In addition, during the heating operation, the product stored in the upper part of the product rack 6 is stored near the normal temperature point without being heated for a long period of time, and it is possible to prevent deterioration in quality.

It is a side view which shows embodiment of the vending machine by this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the periphery of the shutter device in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing main parts such as a product rack and a horizontal suction duct part in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Commodity storage 1a Heating / cooling area | region 1b Non-heating cooling area | region 4a Cooling device 4b Electric heater 4c Fan 5 Shuter 6 Commodity rack 7 Commodity 9 Shutter apparatus 10 Cutting-out apparatus 11 Circulation duct 12 Horizontal suction duct

Claims (1)

In a product storage box surrounded by heat insulating material, a product rack having a function of storing the product in the vertical direction and storing the product in the vertical direction and then transporting the product downward in the vertical direction between the left and right side plates of the rack In a vending machine with a heat insulating shutter device interposed between the lower rack, a product cooling / heating device arranged at the bottom of the cabinet, and a circulation duct arranged on the back of the cabinet,
A side passage having a blow-out port that is in contact with one or both surfaces of the left and right side plates of the rack in the commodity storage , has a suction port below the shutter device, and faces the suction port of the circulation duct. A vending machine characterized in that means are provided .

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