JP5310282B2 - Vending machine product storage rack - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a merchandise storage rack for a vending machine for smoothly storing merchandise, while reducing a cost by simplifying constitution of the merchandise storage rack for storing the merchandise having a catch part in a drinking port portion. <P>SOLUTION: The merchandise storage rack for the vending machine is for selling the merchandise having the catch part in the drinking port portion, and having a soft container form, a frame body for the merchandise storage rack is constructed of vertical and lateral frame materials, a plurality of stages are laid vertical-directionally on the lateral frame material, the catch part of the merchandise is catchedly supported by a pair of right and left merchandise clamping members 31, 31 arranged with a prescribed space, the merchandise is slid by its dead weight to be suspension-stored, by inclination of lowering a rear side with respect to a front side (merchandise feed side), a merchandise support unit 30 having a merchandise carrying-out mechanism 34 is provided in a rear end part, and the clamping members 31, 31 are formed of a thin film-coated steel sheet applied with a lubricating coating film on one face, to enhance the sliding by the dead weight. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vending machine that sells a product having a hook part at a drinking part, and supports the product in a suspended manner, and is inclined so that the rear side is lower than the front side (product input side). The present invention also relates to a product storage rack of a vending machine that stores the product by sliding it by its own weight and has a product delivery mechanism at the rear end.

  The products handled by vending machines are diversified, and in addition to hard canned products and plastic bottled products, containers filled with beverages can be filled with jelly-like food and drink in flexible bag-like containers. A vending machine capable of selling a product (hereinafter also referred to as a pouch product) in which a spout serving as a spout portion made of a hard synthetic resin is fixed to a flexible bag-like container to form a drinking mouth and a cap is attached to the spout. Is required, and a vending machine capable of selling the pouch product is known (for example, Patent Document 1). The vending machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes product storage racks arranged in a plurality of upper and lower stages in the cabinet of the main body cabinet, and left and right with a predetermined interval on the product placement surface of each product storage rack. A plurality of partition walls are provided in the direction, and products are arranged side by side in the front-rear (depth) direction between adjacent partition walls as a product storage passage, and a pusher member that pushes the product forward is provided in each product storage passage for product selection The pusher member is driven by the operation of the button to extrude the product.

  Here, an example of the pouch product is configured as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the pouch products 100 and 200 are formed by fixing a spout 104 as a spout portion made of a hard synthetic resin to a flexible bag-like container 102 and attaching a cap 106 to the spout 104. . The spout 104 is formed with a flange 105. In the example of FIG. 6A, the pouch product 100 having one flange 105 is shown, and in the example of FIG. 6B, the pouch product 200 having two flanges 105 is shown. Yes. A jelly-like food or drink is injected from the spout 104 into the flexible bag-like container 102, and it is difficult to stand up because the flexible bag-like container 102 is soft. Reference numeral 107 denotes a joining flange provided on the spout 104.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-228058

  In the vending machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, a product storage rack is arranged horizontally, and is configured to place and store products in a product storage passage of the product storage rack. For this reason, when a pouch product with a weak container form is stored, the storage posture of the pouch product is disturbed, and when the pouch product is pressed from behind with a pusher member, the pouch product may be crushed and cannot be sold. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the spout 104 of the pouch product is provided with a flange 105, and attention is paid to the fact that the product stands up if the flange 105 is supported as a hook portion. A product support member arranged with a gap therebetween is provided, and a pouch product is loaded and received so that the flange 105 is hooked on the product support member, and is stretched between the front and rear sprockets in proximity to the product support member. A plurality of product partition pins for pressing the spout 104 (or cap 106) of the pouch product from the rear are arranged on the transported chain, and the pouch product is pushed out by the product partition pin by driving the transport chain at the time of sale. It is configured. The vending machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 is excellent in that a pouch product having a soft container form can be sold, but has a problem that the configuration of the product storage rack is complicated and the cost is increased.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and the object thereof is to solve the above-mentioned problem and to simplify the configuration of a product storage rack capable of storing a product having a hook portion at a drinking mouth portion. An object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine product storage rack capable of smoothly storing products while reducing costs.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a product storage rack of a vending machine that sells a product having a hook portion at a drinking part and a soft container form, The frame body of the product storage rack is constructed from the frame material, and the product is hooked and supported by a pair of left and right sandwiching members that are installed in a plurality of stages vertically on the left and right frame materials and arranged with a predetermined gap. and, and, it is provided a product support unit having a product delivery mechanism the product tilted so that the rear side becomes lower in the rear end portion accommodates suspended by sliding by its own weight with respect to the front side, the clamping The member is formed of a thin coated steel plate with a lubricious coating applied on one side, and the other end of the sandwiched steel plate faces the end of the sandwiching member facing each other with a predetermined gap. Double ho to touch And characterized by forming the sliding tree shape by field.

According to the product storage rack of the vending machine according to claim 1 of the present invention, the product storage rack of the vending machine has a hook part in the drinking part and sells a product having a soft container form. The frame of the product storage rack is constructed with the upper, lower, left, and right frame members, and the product hooking portion is mounted on a pair of left and right sandwiching members that are installed in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction on the left and right frame members and arranged with a predetermined gap. A product support unit having a product take-out mechanism at the rear end, and is provided with a slant so that the rear side becomes lower with respect to the front side, and the product is slid and accommodated by its own weight. The end portion of the sandwiching member which is formed of a thin coated steel plate having a lubricious coating film on one surface and is opposed to each other with a predetermined gap. The faces touch each other In by forming the sliding tree-like double hold, it has a portion hooked to the spout portion, and can be a commodity storage rack container form for accommodating a fragile product with a simple configuration, also, Since the sandwiching member that supports and suspends the product can be formed of a thin steel plate, it is possible to reduce the weight of the vending machine, and even when the product is in contact with the upper and lower surfaces of the sandwiching member Since the frictional resistance between the product and the sandwiching member is small, the product can be smoothly slid, so that the inclination angle of the sandwiching member can be increased.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a perspective view of the outer door open state which shows the whole structure of the vending machine which is Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is principal part side surface sectional drawing of FIG. It is a perspective view of the whole structure of the slant type goods storage rack which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The product support unit constructed in the slant type product storage rack of FIG. 3 is shown, (a) is a perspective view seen from the front, (b) is a perspective view seen from the rear. The product carrying mechanism mounted in the product support unit is shown, (a) is a perspective view in which a part of the product carrying mechanism is disassembled, and (b) is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the product carrying mechanism. A container form shows a soft pouch product, and (a) and (b) are front views of different types of pouch products. The state which loads a goods into a goods support unit is shown, (a) is a mimetic diagram of the state where goods are loaded into a goods support unit, and (b) is a front view showing the state where goods were loaded into a goods support unit. . It is a side view which shows the state which accommodated the goods in the goods support unit. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state in which the pouch goods loaded in the goods support unit slide. It is a top view for demonstrating the carrying-out operation | movement of a goods carrying-out mechanism. The adapter member for giving compatibility with a serpentine type goods storage rack is shown, (a) And (b) is a partial exploded perspective view for explaining attachment of a different adapter member, respectively. The merchandise support unit built in the slant type merchandise storage rack in the vending machine which is Embodiment 2 of this invention is shown, (a) is the disassembled perspective view of the whole structure, (b) is the assembly drawing.

Hereinafter, a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
First, the overall structure of the vending machine will be described with reference to FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body cabinet having an open front surface. The main body cabinet 1 is configured as a heat insulating casing by disposing heat insulating boards made of urethane foam on the inner side of the outer box made of steel plate, that is, on the upper wall, the left and right side walls, the back wall, and the bottom wall 1a. The inside of the product storage box surrounded by the heat insulation board of the main body cabinet 1 is divided into a plurality of product storage rooms 12, 13, and 14 in the left-right direction by the heat insulation partition plate 11, in this embodiment. The left and right product storage chambers 12 and 14 are serpentine-type product storage racks 121 configured by meandering product passages that are arranged in a front-rear direction and arranged in parallel with segment rows in which curved segments are well connected in the vertical direction. , 141 are arranged in two rows on each of the left and right sides. A slant-type product storage rack 20 (to be described later) provided by the present invention is stored in the center product storage chamber 13. A shooter 2 which is inclined downward and has innumerable holes is disposed below the product storage racks 121, 141 and 20. Below the shooter 2 is a cooling unit or cooling / heating unit that cools or heats the respective product storage chambers 12, 13, and 14 and stores the products stored in the product storage racks 121, 141, and 20 in a cold hot state. A unit is provided. The lower part of the bottom wall 1a of the main body cabinet 1 is formed as a machine room. The machine room has a compressor 3 (see FIG. 2) and a condenser 4 constituting a refrigeration cycle with the cooling unit of the cooling / heating unit. An expansion mechanism (not visible in the figure) and an outside fan 5 for blowing air to the condenser 4 are disposed. The product storage room in which only the cooling unit is disposed is a cold dedicated room, and the product storage room in which the cooling / heating unit is disposed is a hot / cold combined room. In the example shown in the figure, the product storage room 12 is dedicated to cold. The product storage chambers 13 and 14 are hot / cold combined chambers. In this case, the product storage chamber 12 which is a cold exclusive chamber is compressed and condensed by the compressor 3 and the condenser 4 in the machine room. The evaporator 6 and the internal fan 7 in which the refrigerant is circulated are installed as a cooling unit, and the evaporator 6 and the internal fan 7 are disposed in the lower part of the product storage chambers 13 and 14 serving as hot / cold combined rooms. In addition, a heater 8 for heating the product is installed as a heating unit. A circulation duct 9 is provided in communication with the cooling unit or the cooling / heating unit at the back of each of the product storage chambers 12, 13, and 14, and the upper end 9a of the circulation duct 9 is positioned at a substantially middle position of the product storage. Is open. Reference numerals 122 and 142 denote fixing brackets for fixing the product storage racks 121 and 141.

  As is well known, a display chamber for a product sample placed on a display stand is formed on the front surface of the outer door 10 (see FIG. 1), which is mounted on the front surface of the main body cabinet 1 so as to be freely opened and closed. A product selection button unit having a product selection button provided corresponding to each product sample is disposed on the transparent plate covering the front of the room, and in addition to the product outlet 10a, a coin input port, a bill input port, A change return port, a return lever, a handle lock device with a cylinder lock, etc. are assembled. The inner door 15 that closes the front surface of the product storage in the main body cabinet 1 is divided into upper and lower parts in this example, and the lower inner door 15 faces the shooters 2 of the product storage chambers 12, 13, and 14. A product exit opening that is always closed by the exit door 15a is provided at a position where the exit is performed. The merchandise exit door 15a is pivotally supported at its upper end to constantly close the merchandise exit to prevent outflow of cold air or warm air, and is formed so as to be pushed open by the product delivered through the shooter 2. Has been.

  Now, the configuration of the slanted product storage rack 20 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, a pair of vertical frame members 23 and 23 are secured to the pair of left and right upper support frame members 21 and 21 and the lower support frame members 22 and 22 in the front and near the center by screws. The upper support frame members 21 and 21, the lower support frame members 22 and 22, and a pair of vertical frame members 23 and 23 provided near the front and center respectively constitute a frame material for constructing a product storage rack. A plurality of beam members 24 are fixed in the vertical direction between the front vertical frame members 23 and 23, and the beam members 24 are also fixed to the upper ends of the vertical frame members 23 and 23 near the center. The rear side of the upper support frame members 21 and 21 and the lower support frame members 22 and 22 (which is a depth side as can be understood from FIG. 2 and the rear side is also referred to as a depth hereinafter) is closed by a back plate 25 and a side plate 26. Yes. The closed space extending in the vertical direction is formed as a merchandise passage through which merchandise falls. A U-shaped delivery member 27 opened upward is attached below the back plate 25 and both side plates 26 so as to incline downward as it goes higher toward the rear side. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the delivery member 27 connects the vertical product passage to the product take-out port 10 a of the outer door 10 through the product take-out port of the shooter 2 and the inner door 15. Each member of the product storage rack 20 is formed of a thick steel plate, and this product storage rack 20 is supported by an upper frame on a frame (not shown) laid on the ceiling of the product storage of the main body cabinet 1 (see FIG. 1). The frame members 21 and 21 are attached directly or via attachment members (adapter members).

An inclined product support unit 30 is mounted on the front and rear vertical frame members 23 and 23 fixed to the upper support frame members 21 and 21 and the lower support frame members 22 and 22. Although the mounting of the product support unit 30 will be described later, for the mounting of the product support unit 30, the left and right pair of vertical frame members 23, 23 are formed with four notches 231 in the vertical direction. This notch 231 constitutes an engaging portion of the vertical frame member 23.
The configuration of the commodity support unit 30 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the product support unit 30 includes a pair of left and right holding members 31, 31, a pair of front and rear connecting members 32 and 33 that connect the holding members 31 and 31, and a product installed on the rear connecting member 33. It comprises an unloading mechanism 34 and mounting brackets 35, 35 fixed to the pair of left and right holding members 31, 31 so as to protrude outward.

  The pair of left and right sandwiching members 31, 31 is a long member formed in an L shape by a thin coated steel plate (hereinafter also simply referred to as a thin steel plate) having a lubricating coating applied to one surface thereof, They are arranged opposite each other with a predetermined gap t. The leg ends of the pair of left and right clamping members 31 and 31 forming the gap t are double-held by folding so that one surface (coating surface) is outside (reference numeral 36 is attached). The upper and lower surfaces of the leg end portion forming the gap t are coating surfaces (that is, surfaces having good lubricity). The double hold 36 at the leg end portion of the pair of left and right clamping members 31, 31 constitutes a portion that comes into contact with a hook portion (flange 105) of a product (pouch product 100) formed in a sliding tree shape. The pouch product is suspended and supported by the pair of left and right clamping members 31, 31, and the loading of the pouch product will be described later. The connecting members 32 and 33 are configured as a frame so as to surround the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31 and 31 leaving a gap t. The pair of left and right sandwiching members 31 and 31 are firmly fixed to the connecting members 32 and 33 by screws, respectively, so that the gap t is kept constant between the leg ends of the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31 and 31. I'm leaning. A front-side connecting member 32 is integrally formed with a T-shaped attachment piece 321 in front view. The attachment piece 321 is engaged with the beam member 24 of the commodity storage rack 20 shown in FIG. 3, and the upper end thereof is bent in a bowl shape, and a screw hole 322 is formed near the center of the leg piece. Yes. The mounting bracket 35 is formed of a thick steel plate in a hat shape in cross section, and the flanges are screwed to the clamping members 31, 31. A stepped screw 351 is screwed to the head of the mounting bracket 35, and this stepped screw 351 is formed in the notch 231 formed in the vertical frame members 23, 23 near the center in the product storage rack 20 shown in FIG. Is engaged. The merchandise carry-out mechanism 34 has a carry-out mechanism incorporated in a box made up of a base 341 and a cover 342. The carry-out mechanism is shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view as seen from obliquely above with the cover 342 of the product carry-out mechanism 34 removed. In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes a solenoid as a drive source, and a stopper member 42 is connected to a plunger 41 of the solenoid 40. In the stopper member 42, stepped screws 421 and 421 are loosely fitted in elongated holes 43 and 43 parallel to the moving direction of the plunger 41. The stopper member 42 is slidably disposed in the moving direction of the plunger 41 and the return spring 44. Is installed. A first stopper 45 and a second stopper 46 extending downward are formed at the rear end of the stopper member 42. The second stopper 46 extends downward through an opening (not shown) provided in the connecting member 33 that connects the base 341 and the left and right holding members 31, 31. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the second stopper 46 is engaged with a locking member 461 having a pressing piece 462 which is bent toward the rear side by being bent at the tip.

  The first stopper 45 is located at the rear end of the pair of clamping members 31, 31, and the second stopper 46 is arranged at a position away from the first stopper 45 by a predetermined distance to the front side. In the sales standby state (the solenoid 40 is in a non-excited state), the first stopper 45 is positioned facing the gap t formed by the pair of clamping members 31, 31, and the second stopper 46 is moved from the gap t. When the solenoid 40 is energized, the first stopper 45 is retracted from the gap t and the second stopper 46 is moved so as to face the gap t. is there. Reference numeral 47 denotes a product detection switch (sold-out switch) composed of a micro switch, and the micro switch operation lever 471 (see FIG. 4) is disposed so as to face a gap t formed by the pair of clamping members 31 and 31. ing. Reference numeral 48 denotes a socket to which a power line for supplying power to the solenoid 40 and the product detection switch 47 and a signal line for transmitting a detection signal from the product detection switch 47 are connected. A connector attached to the product support unit 30 It is to be attached to.

The product support unit 30 configured as described above is mounted on the product storage rack 20 as follows. Now, a case where the product support unit 30 is mounted in an empty area at the uppermost position of the four levels in the vertical direction shown in FIG. 3 will be described as an example. The front vertical frame member 23 constituting the product storage rack 20 is described. , 23, the product support unit 30 is inserted. In this case, the product support unit 30 is inserted while being tilted so that the left and right mounting brackets 35 are aligned on the vertical line . This is because when the product support unit 30 is inserted between the vertical frame members 23 and 23 with the left and right mounting brackets 35 and 35 positioned on a horizontal line, the mounting brackets 35 and 35 become the left and right vertical frame members 23 and 23. This is to avoid this because it abuts. Then, the product support unit 30 is moved backward while returning the product support unit 30 to the original posture when the mounting brackets 35, 35 of the product support unit 30 pass between the front vertical frame members 23, 23. Next, the stepped screws 351 and 351 screwed into the mounting brackets 35 and 35 of the product support unit 30 are engaged with the respective notches 231 formed in the vertical frame members 23 and 23 near the center constituting the product storage rack 20. Let In this state, a T-shaped attachment piece 321 formed on the connecting member 32 on the front side of the commodity support unit 30 is engaged with the beam member 24 and screwed. In this way, the product support unit 30 mounted on the product storage rack 20 is inclined such that the front side (product input side) is high and the rear side (product unloading mechanism 34 side) is low.

A pouch product loaded in the product support unit 30 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6A, the pouch product 100 is formed by fixing a spout 104 as a spout portion made of a hard synthetic resin to a flexible bag-like container 102 and attaching a cap 106 to the spout 104. The spout 104 is formed with a flange 105. In the example of FIG. 6A, the pouch product 100 having one flange 105 is shown, and in the example of FIG. 6B, the pouch product 200 having two flanges 105 is shown. Yes. A jelly-like food or drink is injected from the spout 104 into the flexible bag-like container 102, and it is difficult to stand up because the flexible bag-like container 102 is soft. Reference numeral 107 denotes a joining flange provided on the spout 104.
As described above, since the pouch product having a soft container form is difficult to stand up, in the present invention, it is supported by being suspended by the product support unit 30 described above, and then the product support unit. The loading (replenishment) of the pouch product to 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The figure shows a case where the pouch product 100 is loaded, and the pouch product 100 is loaded from the front of the product support unit 30 as indicated by a white arrow. That is, the spout 104 is inserted into a gap t formed between the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31, 31 of the commodity support unit 30, and the flange 105 formed on the spout 104 is connected to the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31, 31. Hang on. Here, the gap t formed between the pair of left and right holding members 31, 31 is set to a predetermined dimension that is larger than the width of the spout 104 of the pouch product 100 and shorter than the length of the flange 105. In the pouch product 100 suspended by hanging the flange 105 on the pair of left and right holding members 31 and 31 of the product support unit 30, the flange 105 slides on the pair of left and right holding members 31 and 31 and moves rearward by its own weight. . The pouch product 100 that has moved to the rear of the product support unit 30 is locked by a first stopper 45 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) of the product carry-out mechanism 34, and is suspended and supported in a state of being stopped at that position. Next, the loaded pouch product 100 comes into contact with the product locked by the first stopper 45 and stops. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the pouch product 100 is replenished and accommodated in the product support unit 30 in this manner, and the pouch product 100 is suspended and supported by the product support unit 30 in a posture along a substantially vertical line by gravity. .

  Here, the pouch product 100 is accommodated by inserting the spout 104 into the gap t between the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31 and 31 of the product support unit 30 and hooking the flange 105. As shown in FIG. 5, the lower portion of the cap 106 exists as a hooking portion in addition to the flange 105. For this reason, when the pouch product 100 is loaded into the product support unit 30, there is a possibility that the cap 106 (the lower end) is erroneously loaded so as to be hooked on the pair of left and right holding members 31, 31 of the product support unit 30. If there is such an erroneous loading, the lower end of the cap 106 may be fitted between the gaps t between the pair of left and right holding members 31 and 31 to cause product clogging or drop off in the worst case. As a solution to this problem, the fact that the thickness dimension tb between the cap 106 and the flange 105 is formed smaller than the thickness dimension ta between the flange 105 and the joining flange 107 (ta> tb), It can be considered that the steel plate constituting the pair of left and right clamping members 31, 31 is a thick steel plate so that the lower end of the cap 106 cannot be hooked. However, if a thick steel plate is used for the pair of left and right clamping members 31, 31, the weight increases and the cost increases. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, even if a thin steel plate (coated steel plate) is used, it is possible to prevent erroneous loading, so that the leg ends of the sandwiching members 31 and 31 that are arranged to face each other with a gap t therebetween. The part is bent and double-held. Here, the thickness x of the leg end portions (thickness regulating member 36) of the holding members 31, 31 that have been double-held is defined as ta> x ≧ tb. Thus, by double-holding the thin steel plate (coated steel plate), it is possible to hook the lower portion of the flange 105 having the thickness dimension ta, and it becomes difficult to hook the lower portion of the cap 106 having the thickness dimension tb. Incorrect loading such as erroneous loading of the hooked portion is prevented.

In addition, even in the pouch product 200 having two flanges 105 shown in FIG. 6B, the lower flange 105 must be hooked and loaded, but the upper flange 105 exists as a hook portion. Although there is a risk of erroneous loading such as hooking the upper flange 105 from the bottom, the dimension td between the two flanges 105 is smaller than the dimension tc between the lower flange 105 and the joint flange 107 (tc>). td), it is possible to prevent erroneous loading by bending the leg end portions of the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31, 31 and double-holding them.
Further, the pouch product 100 is configured such that the flange 105 is placed on the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31 and 31 of the product support unit 30 and slides by its own weight. It is desirable that the frictional resistance with the leg end portions of the pair of clamping members 31, 31 is small. In response to this requirement, the product storage rack according to the embodiment of the present invention in which the leg end portions of the pair of left and right holding members 31, 31 opposed to each other with a gap t are folded and held is advantageous. That is, a generally used steel sheet is a coated steel sheet coated with a lubricious coating film on one surface to facilitate the cutting process. By double-holding so that the film-coated surface is on the outside, the upper and lower surfaces of the leg end portions of the pair of left and right clamping members 31 and 31 forming the gap t are surfaces with good lubricity (friction resistance is Small surface). For this reason, the frictional resistance between the flange 105 of the pouch product 100 and the leg end portions of the pair of left and right clamping members 31 and 31 can be reduced. Further, by increasing the inclination angle of the product support unit 30, sliding due to the weight of the pouch product 100 is improved. On the other hand, when the inclination angle of the product support unit 30 is increased, the pouch product 100 itself is positioned along a substantially vertical line due to gravity. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the flange 105 and the joint flange 107 of the pouch product 100 come into contact with both the upper and lower surfaces of the leg ends of the pair of left and right clamping members 31 and 31 at the same time. In this case, when the leg end portions of the pair of left and right clamping members 31, 31 are not double-held, either the flange 105 or the joint flange 107 of the pouch product 100 and the leg ends of the pair of left and right clamping members 31, 31 are used. In the sandwiching members 31 and 31 of the embodiment of the present invention that is double-held so that one surface (coating surface) of the coated steel plate is on the outside, the frictional resistance with the portion increases. Even if the flange 105 and the joint flange 107 of the pouch product 100 are simultaneously brought into contact with the upper and lower surfaces of the leg end portions 31 and 31, the frictional resistance between them can be reduced. Therefore, the inclination angle of the product support unit 30 can be increased in order to improve slippage due to the weight of the pouch product 100, and the pouch product can be smoothly accommodated in the product support unit 30.

  Further, in the pouch product as shown in FIG. 6, the width L1, L2 of the flange 105 (for example, depending on the content of the food or drink filled in the flexible bag-like container 102 or the contents L1 and L2 (for example, L1 <L2) is different. In particular, in the case of pouch products having the same food and drink filled in the flexible bag-like container 102 and different contents, there is a possibility that they are erroneously loaded because their outer shapes are similar. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, a pair of regulating members 37 and 37 are provided that are planted in the vicinity of the leg ends of the pair of left and right clamping members 31 and 31. The dimension L0 between the pair of regulating members 37, 37 is determined as L1 <L0 <L2 (provided that L1 <L2) with respect to the widths L1, L2 (see FIG. 6) of the flange 105 of the pouch product. ing. Accordingly, the pouch product having the flange 105 dimension L0 or less is allowed to be inserted and loaded between the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31, 31, and the pouch product having the flange 105 dimension L0 or more is regulated member 37. , 37 prevents loading of different types of pouch products. In addition, although the thing which planted the member for exclusive use as the regulating members 37 and 37 was demonstrated in FIG. 7, a pair of right and left clamping members 31 and 31 and the connection member 32 which connects this clamping members 31 and 31 are fixed. Screws can also be used, and in this case, the number of parts can be reduced.

  Next, the cooling / heating operation of the product storage rooms 12, 13, 14 in the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. First, when the product storage chambers 13 and 14 (hot / cold chamber) are used as cold chambers, the heater 8 is turned off, and the refrigerant compressed and condensed by the compressor 3 and the condenser 4 is sent to the evaporator 6. Then, the cool air exchanged by the evaporator 6 is blown out from the lower side of the shooter 2 by the internal fan 7 to cool the products in the product storage racks 20, 141 to the evaporator 6 through the circulation duct 9. Cool air circulation to return. On the other hand, when the product storage chambers 13 and 14 are used as hot chambers, the refrigerant to the evaporator 6 is stopped and the heater 8 is turned on, and the product is heated by circulating warm air in the same manner as described above. The product storage rooms 13 and 14 are switched to hot / cold rooms at the turn of the season. In addition, the product storage room 12 which is a cold exclusive room always cools the product in the product storage rack 121 by blowing the cold air exchanged by the evaporator 6 from the lower side of the shooter 2 by the internal fan 7 into the storage. Cold air circulation is performed so as to return to the evaporator 6 through the circulation duct 9. Note that the product storage room 13 in which the product storage rack 20 is stored is used as a hot / cold room, but this is provided in the event that a product to be sold as a hot product appears as a pouch product.

Next, the operation at the time of sale in the vending machine according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 shows the operation of the first stopper 45 and the second stopper 46 during the operation of the product carry-out mechanism 34. The sales operation will be described with reference to FIG. To do.
In the sales standby state, the solenoid 40 is in a non-excited state, and the first stopper 45 protrudes to the position of the gap t between the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31, 31 so that the product with the highest sales order (hereinafter referred to as the sales product). The second stopper 46 located between the sold product and the second-ranked product (hereinafter also referred to as the next sold product) is located between the pair of left and right clamping members 31, 31. Retreating from the position of the gap t. In this state, the operation lever 471 of the product detection switch (sold-out switch) 47 formed of a micro switch comes into contact with the sales product and outputs a product detection signal. Now, when a product selection button provided on the outer door 10 (see FIG. 1) is operated, an excitation signal having a predetermined time width is supplied from a control unit (not shown) to the corresponding product delivery mechanism 34 (solenoid 40). When the solenoid 40 is excited, the stopper member 42 moves in the left-right direction (right direction in FIG. 5) via the plunger 41 shown in FIG. As a result, the first stopper 45 and the second stopper 46 move to the left in FIG. 10, that is, the first stopper 45 is retracted from the gap t, and the second stopper 46 protrudes into the gap t. With the retraction of the first stopper 45 from the gap t, the product for sale is released from being locked by the first stopper 45. At the same time, in the process in which the second stopper 46 moves so as to protrude into the gap t, the pressing piece 462 of the locking member 461 provided in the first stopper 46 presses the sold product and puts the sold product into the product support unit 30. After discharging from the second stopper 46, the second stopper 46 projects into the gap t. When the sale product is unloaded, the product after the next sale product loses its support, so that it is slid toward the rear end of the product support unit 30 and locked by the second stopper 46 protruding into the gap t and temporarily held. Is done.

When the excitation signal to the solenoid 40 is cut off, the plunger 41 is returned to the original position (the state shown in FIG. 5) by the return spring 44 so that the first stopper 45 protrudes to the position of the gap t, and the second stopper 46 retreats from the gap t. When the second stopper 46 is retracted from the gap t, the product after the next sale product held by the second stopper 46 slides toward the rear end of the product support unit 30 and protrudes into the gap t. It is latched by the stopper 45 and enters a sales standby state. In addition, the product which is carried out by the product carry-out mechanism 34 and falls from the rear end portion of the product support unit 30 is sent to the shooter 2 via the delivery member 27 of the product storage rack 20 shown in FIG.
FIG. 1 shows a vending machine in which a product storage rack 20 according to the present invention is arranged side by side with serpentine product storage racks 121 and 141. This is because vending machines can sell a wide variety of products (products in which containers represented by canned beverages and the like are rigid and products in which containers represented by pouch products are relatively soft). However, in order to be able to sell a wide variety of products, the existing vending machine must be replaced with a new vending machine if the configuration is significantly changed with respect to the existing vending machine. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the product storage rack 20 that can store the pouch products is made compatible with the serpentine product storage rack (mounted with the serpentine product storage rack). The product storage rack 20 according to the present invention can be mounted. Hereinafter, the commodity storage rack 20 that is compatible with a known serpentine commodity storage rack will be described.

FIG. 11 shows a product storage rack 20 that is compatible with a known serpentine product storage rack. There are the following two types of methods for arranging a known serpentine type product storage rack in the product storage of a vending machine. First, the method will be described.
First, in the first method, as shown in FIG. 11A, a main body side hook fitting 50 extending in the front-rear direction is laid on the ceiling surface of the vending machine, and the main body side hook fitting 50 is provided with a product storage rack 121. 141, and the second method is that a main body side hook metal fitting 55 extending in the left-right direction is laid on the ceiling surface of the vending machine as shown in FIG. This is a fixing method in which the product storage racks 121 and 141 are fixed to the metal fitting 55. For example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-122596, the hooking method is engaged with the hooks 501 of the main body side hook metal fittings 50 at the upper ends of a pair of left and right rack side plates constituting the product storage racks 121 and 141. A rack side hook is provided, and the rack side hook is engaged with the hook 501 of the main body side hook metal fitting 50. In this hooking method, the product storage racks 121 and 141 are slid using the main body side hook metal fitting 50 as a guide. It can be stored in the warehouse or pulled out from the warehouse. On the other hand, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-288768, the fixing method is such that rack-side hook metal fittings are installed on a pair of left and right rack side plates constituting the product storage racks 121, 141, and the rack-side hook metal fittings are attached. The main body side hook metal fitting 55 is engaged with the hook 551 and screwed to both.

As described above, the known serpentine product storage racks 121 and 141 are disposed in the product storage box using the main body side hook fittings 50 and 55 shown in FIG. Accordingly, the inventors have determined that if the product storage rack 20 according to the present invention can be mounted on the main body side hook metal fittings 50 and 55, it is possible to provide compatibility with the serpentine product storage racks 121 and 141. An adapter member for mounting the rack 20 to the main body side hook metal fittings 50 and 55 has been developed.
FIG. 11 shows an adapter member for attaching the product storage rack 20 to the main body side hook metal fittings 50 and 55. Note that the commodity storage rack 20 shown in FIG. 11 is assembled as described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11A shows the adapter member 51 employed in the above-described hooking method, and the adapter member 51 includes a pair of left and right rack fixing brackets 52 and a rack side hook bracket 53. The pair of left and right rack fixing brackets 52 are made of thick steel plates having a Z-shaped cross section, and one end thereof is fixed to the pair of left and right upper support frame members 21 and 21 constituting the product storage rack 20 by screws. The other end is fixed to the rack side hook metal fitting 53. The rack side hook metal fitting 53 is formed in a box shape having a lower surface made of a thick steel plate, and rack side hooks 54 that engage with the hooks 501 of the main body side hook metal fitting 50 are formed on both left and right ends. Two sets of adapter members 51 are fixed to the upper support frame members 21 and 21 in advance in the commodity storage rack 20. When arranging the product storage rack 20 in the product storage, first, the rack-side hook 54 of the rack-side hook fitting 53 in the adapter member 51 on the rear side is opposed to the hook 501 of the body-side hook fitting 50 so that both Similarly, the hook 54 of the rack side hook metal fitting 53 of the adapter member 51 is engaged with the hook 501 of the main body side hook metal fitting 50 and is slid and assembled.

  FIG. 11B shows the adapter member 56 employed in the above-described fixing method, and the adapter member 56 includes a rack-side hook fitting 57. The rack-side hook metal fitting 57 is formed of a flat plate of a pressure plate steel plate, and a lower end of the rack-side hook metal fitting 57 is fixed to the lower arm of the pair of left and right upper support frame members 21 and 21 constituting the product storage rack 20 and fixed to the upper end. A rack side hook 59 that engages with the hook 551 of the main body side hook metal fitting 55 is formed. Two sets of adapter members 56 are fixed to the upper support frame members 21 and 21 in advance in the commodity storage rack 20. When the product storage rack 20 is disposed in the product storage, the rack side hooks 59 of the respective adapter members 56 are opposed to the hooks 551 of the main body side hook metal fittings 55 to engage with each other. Next, the adapter member 56 and the main body side hook metal fitting 55 are assembled by screwing. As shown in FIG. 11, by providing the adapter members 51 and 56, the product storage rack 20 for storing the pouch product can be made compatible with the known serpentine product storage racks 121 and 141, It can be exchanged for a serpentine product storage rack of the vending machine.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, as described above, the product storage rack 20 according to the present invention is structurally compatible with the serpentine product storage rack, and the serpentine product storage rack of the existing vending machine is provided. In addition to being interchangeable, it is also electrically compatible. This is because in the merchandise unloading mechanism of the serpentine merchandise storage rack, the lower stopper and the upper stopper are moved into the merchandise path by driving the lower stopper that latches the merchandise and the upper stopper that latches the next merchandise with a solenoid. In view of alternately projecting, the product storage rack 20 according to the present invention also uses the solenoid 40 as a drive source of the product carry-out mechanism 34, and the solenoid 40 drives the stopper member 42 to lock the sold product. The stopper 45 and the second stopper 46 that locks the next sale product are configured to alternately appear and disappear in the gap t between the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31. Further, a product detection switch 47 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) for detecting a product loaded in the product storage rack 20 is provided, and the product detection switch 47 is configured to output a product sold-out detection signal. Yes. By using such a product carry-out mechanism 34 and product detection switch 47, the product carry-out mechanism 34 executes a product carry-out operation by a power supply or control signal supplied to the product carry-out mechanism of the serpentine type product storage rack, and the product detection switch 47 Sends a sold-out signal to the control unit of the vending machine. In other words, the product storage rack 20 according to the present invention is replaced with a serpentine product storage rack and wiring connection is made immediately without changing the control program of an existing vending machine equipped with a serpentine product storage rack. The vending machine can be operated.

  As described above, according to the commodity storage rack of the vending machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the commodity (pouch commodity 100, 200) having a hook portion (flange 105) at the drinking portion and a soft container form. ), The product storage rack 20 by the upper and lower, left and right frame materials (upper support frame materials 21, 21, lower support frame members 22, 22, and vertical frame materials 23, 23). The frame is constructed in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction on the left and right frame members (vertical frame members 23, 23), and the product is placed on a pair of left and right product sandwiching members 31, 31 arranged with a predetermined gap t. The hook part (flange 105) is hooked and supported, and tilted so that the rear side is lowered with respect to the front side (product input side), and the product is slid by its own weight and suspended. In addition, a product support unit 30 having a product carry-out mechanism 34 is provided at the rear end portion, and a portion of the holding members 31, 31 that comes in contact with the hook portion (flange 105) of the product (pouch product 100, 200) Specifically, the sandwiching members 31 and 31 are formed of a thin coated steel plate having a lubricating coating on one surface and face each other with a predetermined gap. By holding the end portions of 31 and 31 so that the other surfaces of the coated steel plates are in contact with each other, a product having a hook portion (flange 105) in the drinking mouth portion and having a soft container shape is provided. Since the product storage rack 20 to be stored can be configured simply and the holding members 31 and 31 for hanging and supporting the product can be formed of thin steel plates, the weight of the vending machine Further, the product can be smoothly slid because the frictional resistance between the product and the holding member is small even when the product is in contact with the upper and lower surfaces of the holding members 31, 31. Therefore, it is possible to increase the inclination angle of the clamping members 31 and 31 in order to improve slippage due to the weight of the product.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 12 shows a product support unit installed on a slanted product storage rack in the vending machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The slant-type product storage rack in the vending machine according to the second embodiment is mainly different from the slant-type product storage rack in the vending machine according to the first embodiment in the product support unit constructed on the slant-type product storage rack. In other words, the same members as those in the first embodiment or those having the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.
In FIG. 12, a product support unit 30A is installed on the slant-type product storage rack of the vending machine according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This product support unit 30A is the product support unit 30 described in the first embodiment. The difference is that, in the first embodiment, the leg ends of the pair of left and right clamping members 31, 31 are double-held, whereas in this embodiment, the leg ends of the pair of left and right clamping members 31, 31 are provided. The rails 360 and 360 are mounted on the leg end portions of the pair of left and right clamping members 31 and 31 and the curved end portions 31A and 31A that are curved in the direction away from each other at the front end portion. In other respects, the configuration is the same as that of the commodity support unit 30 of the first embodiment.

  Here, as is apparent from FIG. 12A, the rails 360, 360 are removed from the leg ends of the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31, 31, and the leg ends of the sandwiching members 31, 31 are clear. The groove portions 361 and 361 into which the portions are fitted are formed, and curved surface portions 362 and 362 that are curved in a direction away from each other are formed at the front end portions. The rails 360 and 360 can be formed as plastic molded products, and the rails 360 and 360 constitute a portion that comes into contact with the flange 105 (hanging portion) of the pouch product 100 formed in a sliding tree shape. As shown in FIG. 12B, the rails 360 and 360 are mounted by fitting the leg end portions of the clamping members 31 and 31 into the groove portions 361 and 361 of the rails 360 and 360, respectively. In this case, the clamp members 31 and 31 are mounted so that the curved surface portions 31A of the leg ends and the curved surface portions 362 and 362 of the rails 360 and 360 coincide with each other. A pair of left and right clamping members that form a gap t, like the double hold 36 of the clamping members 31 and 31 in the first embodiment, by mounting the rails 360 and 360 on the leg ends of the clamping members 31 and 31 as described above. The upper and lower surfaces of the leg end portions 31 and 31 can be surfaces having good lubricity (surfaces having low frictional resistance). Then, when the slipperiness of the rails 360, 360 deteriorates due to secular change, only the rails 360, 360 need be replaced, and maintenance parts can be made cheaper than when the product support unit 30A itself is replaced. it can.

Further, since the front end portions of the rails 360 and 360 are formed as the curved surface portions 362 and 362, the front end portions of the pair of left and right sandwiching members 31 and 31 are widened forward, that is, wider than the width of the gap t. It has been. Therefore, when the pouch product 100 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) is loaded from the front of the product support unit 30 as indicated by the white arrow, the pouch 104 of the pouch product 100 may be loaded along the curved surface portion 362. Since the spout 104 of the pouch product 100 is inserted into the gap t between the pair of holding members 31, 31, the replenishment operation can be easily performed.
In each of the above-described embodiments, the pouch product having the hook portion at the mouth portion and the soft container form has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a product that is difficult to stand up even if the container is hard, or that is difficult to roll in a lying position, and that has a hook on the drinking mouth, or has a deformed shape and a drink The product storage rack according to the present invention can be applied to a product having a cap or the like attached to the mouth portion, and is not limited to the embodiment.

  Further, in the present invention, the sliding tree shape does not mean the sliding tree itself that suppresses wear, but means that the frictional resistance of the portion of the clamping member that contacts the product hook is small and the sliding property is good. It is.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main body cabinet, 2 ... Chute, 3 ... Compressor, 4 ... Condenser, 6 ... Evaporator, 9 ... Wind tunnel, 10 ... Outer door, 12, 13, 14 ... Merchandise storage, 15 ... Inner door, 20 Product storage rack 21 Upper support frame material 22 Lower support frame material 23 Vertical frame material 24 Beam 30 Product support unit 31 Holding member 31A, 362 Curved surface portion 32, 33 ... Connecting member 34... Product carrying mechanism 36. Double hold (thickness restricting member) 37. Width restricting member 40. Solenoid (drive source) 41. Plunger 42. Stopper member 44. ... 1st stopper, 46 ... 2nd stopper, 47 ... Merchandise detection switch (sold-out switch), 50, 55 ... Main body side hook metal fittings, 51, 56 ... Adapter member, 52 ... Rack fixing metal fittings 52, 53, 57 ... Rack side hook metal fittings, 54, 59 ... Rack side hook, 100, 200 ... Pouch product, 102 ... Flexible container, 104 ... Spout, 105 ... Flange, 106 ... Cap, 107 ... Fixing ring, 360 ... Rail, 361 ... groove.

Claims (1)

A product storage rack of a vending machine that has a hook part at the mouth portion and sells products with a soft container form, and constructs a frame of the product storage rack with upper, lower, left and right frame materials, Plunged vertically on the frame material and supported by a pair of left and right sandwiching members arranged with a predetermined gap by hooking the product's hook, and tilted so that the rear side is lower than the front side The product is slid and accommodated by its own weight, and a product support unit having a product carry-out mechanism is provided at the rear end, and the sandwiching member is provided with a lubricating coating on one surface. It is formed of a thin coated steel plate, and the end of the holding member facing each other with a predetermined gap is double-held so that the other surfaces of the coated steel plate are in contact with each other and formed into a sliding tree shape Characteristic self Commodity storage rack of the vending machine.

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