JPS5827852B2 - Volume adjustment device for quantitative containers - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a volume adjusting device that can freely vary the internal volume of a container containing a fixed amount of powder or granular material.

2. Description of the Related Art A large number of quantitative containers are used in various industrial fields, and are constructed so that a fixed amount of content is stored in the container, the content is released at any time, and then new content is supplied to the container.

This type of metering container can be configured so that its internal volume can be changed as necessary, and the amount of the contents can be adjusted freely, so that it can be suitably used, for example, in a metering supply mechanism for powder or granular materials. can.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used as a capacity adjustment device for a metering container that is incorporated into a metering supply mechanism of a vending machine that stores coffee beans or coffee powder and releases a metered amount of coffee beans or other granules under advance control operation. However, its use is not limited to this, and can be widely applied to various quantitative containers.

Next, the device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, with a preferred embodiment in which the device is applied to a fixed-dose dispensing mechanism of a coffee bean vending machine.

In the accompanying drawings, reference numeral 10 indicates a metering container for accommodating coffee beans or the like. Consists of a casing.

A rectangular input port 12 and a rectangular discharge port 13 are provided at the curved top and bottom of the quantitative container on the same side of the longitudinal axis thereof, respectively.

Further, one side of the container is provided with a convex opening 14 as shown in FIG. 1, and a rotating shaft 16 is inserted through the center of curvature of both sides defined by the curved top and bottom. I'll keep it.

FIG. 2 shows a partition member 18 that is housed inside the quantitative container 10 and adjusts the volume.
, a substantially rectangular substrate 20, and a similarly rectangular flexible partition plate 22 made of an elastic material fixed by means such as spot welding so that it can be elastically bent at the F end of the substrate 20. It basically consists of a combination of.

The upper edges of both the substrate 20 and the partition plate 22 are bent slightly outward to form bent edges 24 and 26, respectively, and a sleeve 28 is provided on the bent edge 24 of the substrate 20 in parallel with this edge. A guide slit 30 is provided at the longitudinal center of the substrate surface.

Two L-shaped support plates 32 and 32 are fixed to the substrate surface at opposing positions with the slit 30 in between, and an egg-shaped deformable cam element 34 (see FIG. 3) is rotatably mounted between the support plates. It is pivoted via a split pin 36 so that its cam surface faces into the slit 30 and comes into sliding contact with the partition plate 22 (see FIG. 2).

As is clear from FIGS. 4 and 5, the partition member 18 consisting of the combination of the substrate 20 and the flexible partition plate 22 configured as described above is housed in the quantitative container 10 and the substrate 20 is
An L-shaped support plate 32° 32 provided at 0 and a cam element 34 pivotally connected thereto are connected to the opening 14 provided on one side of the container.
facing the outside of the container through the

Next, the partition member 18 is placed at the upper edge of the substrate 20.
It is pivotally connected to the sleeve 28 and a pivot 37 inserted through the outer wall of the container so as to be freely tiltable.

Further, an adjusting arm 38 that is curved at a predetermined curvature is provided adjacent to the opening 14 of the container 10, and a lever part 40 provided at one end of the cam element 34 is scattered on this arm 38 in an arcuate trajectory. It is adjustably connected to a large number of adjustment holes 42 formed in a dotted manner via pins 46 .

Note that a large number of adjustment holes 42 are drilled in this adjustment arm 38.
The arrangement trajectory will be described later.

The basic operation of adjusting the volume of the metering container configured as described above will be explained with particular reference to FIGS. 5 to 9. When the cam element 34 is disconnected from the adjustment arm 38, the partition member 18 is in the position shown in FIG. 5 within the container 10.

Now, the pivot 37 inserted through the container 10 and the sleeve 28
When the partition member 18 is pressed around , the partition member 18 tilts in the container 10 as shown in FIG. Draw a trajectory.

Furthermore, when the cam element 34 is rotated counterclockwise about the split pin 36 in the state shown in FIG. The partition plate 22 is in contact with the substrate 20 as the cam element 34 rotates, and the cam surface is deformed into an oval shape.
It elastically flexes and separates (see Fig. 7).

At this time, the pivot hole 44 of a part of the lever draws a trajectory indicated by a dotted arrow.

Therefore, the cam element 34 is rotated so that the pivot hole 44 follows a trajectory C (see FIG. 9) that is a combination of the trajectory of the arrow a shown in FIG. 6 and the trajectory of the arrow A shown in FIG. 7. Then, as the substrate 20 tilts in the container 10, the partition plate 22 is also pressed and bent by the cam surface, and as a result, the partition plate 22 moves toward the center of the metering container 10, reducing the internal volume of the container (first (See Figure 8).

That is, as long as the pivot hole 44 moves on the trajectory C shown in FIG. It is understood that it can be adjusted to

In order to enable the adjustment movement of the partition plate 22 in stages,
The adjustment arm 38 has a large number of adjustment holes 42 arranged in a scattered manner according to the trajectory C shown in FIG. pivot.

As long as this trajectory C is followed, it goes without saying that instead of drilling a large number of pivot holes, an arcuate long groove with a width that allows the pin 46 to be inserted may be extended; (
It is even more advantageous if the adjustment of the internal volume of the container (rather than stepwise) is achieved.

The quantitative container 10 configured in this manner can be suitably used by being incorporated into, for example, a quantitative dispensing mechanism 50 for coffee beans 48, as shown in FIG.

That is, the discharge mechanism 50 operates by energizing the solenoid 58 about the rotating shaft 16, so that the metering container 10 is placed between the inlet 54 of the hopper 52 and the outlet 56 communicating with a coffee bean grinder (not shown). The container 10 is arranged so as to be able to swing from side to side under the action, and when waiting for release, the outlet 13 of the container 10 is closed (the state shown in FIG. It is configured to communicate with the outlet 56 so that the coffee beans stored in the container 10 in a fixed amount can be discharged all at once.

Therefore, in order to adjust the amount of coffee beans 48 stored in the container 10, as described above, by arbitrarily rotating the cam element 34 along the adjustment hole 42 of the adjustment arm 38, the partition plate 22 can be easily adjusted by moving inside the container 10 to change the internal volume.

The device for adjusting the volume of a metered-quantity container according to the present invention has the advantage that it has a wide metering adjustment range and can be easily adjusted from the outside of the container.

Further, since it is easy to disassemble and assemble, it is convenient for periodic inspection, and it is possible to maintain it in a sanitary condition at all times, so its practical value is extremely great.

Although the apparatus of the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto; various improvements and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a metering container into which the device of the present invention is preferably incorporated, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a partition member, Fig. 3 is a plan view of a cam element, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a metering container in which the device of the present invention is preferably incorporated. A partially cutaway perspective view showing a state in which the partition member is housed in the container, FIGS. 5 to 8 are longitudinal cross-sectional views illustrating the operating state of the adjustment mechanism of the metering container according to the present invention, and FIG. 9 is an adjustment arm. FIG. 10 is a partially sectional plan view showing a state in which a metering container equipped with a device according to the present invention is incorporated into a coffee bean metering discharge mechanism. 10...Quantitative container, 12...Input port,
13...Discharge port, 14...Opening, 16
... Rotating shaft, 18 ... Partition member, 20
......Substrate, 22...Flexible partition plate, 24
．． 26...Bent edge, 28...Sleeve, 30...Slit, 32...L-shaped support plate, 34...Cam element, 36... split pin, 37... pivot, 38... adjustment arm, 40... lever part, 42... adjustment hole, 44... Pivot hole, 46... Pin, 48... Coffee beans, 50... Metered discharge mechanism, 52... Hopper, 54...
Inflow port, 56... Outlet port, 58... Solenoid.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. One side of the metering container is opened, a combination of a substrate and a flexible partition plate is pivotably pivoted into the metering container adjacent to the opening, and the substrate is further attached to the substrate. A metering container configured to have a cam element rotatably mounted, a guide slit for the cam element, and a capacity change by moving a flexible partition plate toward the center of the metering container under the action of the cam element. Volume adjustment device. 2. One side of the metering container is opened, a combination of a substrate and a flexible partition plate is pivotably pivoted in the metering container adjacent to the opening, and a cam element is rotatably attached to the substrate. The cam element consists of a cam surface and a part of the lever, and the cam surface faces into the guide slit and comes into sliding contact with the partition plate. A portion thereof is adjustably connected to an adjustment arm provided on the outside of the container through the opening of the metering container, and the flexible partition plate is adjustably moved toward the center of the metering container under the action of the adjustment arm and the cam element. A volume adjustment device for a quantitative container configured to change the volume by changing the volume. 3. A patent for drilling an adjustment hole in the adjustment arm along a trajectory that is a combination of the trajectory drawn by the pivot hole provided in a part of the lever when the board is tilted, and the trajectory drawn by the pivot hole when the cam element is tilted. A volume adjustment device for a quantitative container according to claim 2.