JPS594758B2 - Vending machine product ejection device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention is configured such that a large number of product holders with a plurality of products placed on one product holder are attached to a rotating transfer belt, and the products are discharged to one product. This invention relates to a product ejecting device for a vending machine.

Conventionally, multiple products were placed on one product holder,
If the product receiver is tilted just before the product is ejected so that multiple products can be ejected in sequence, a step-like notch is provided on the side plate that prevents the product from being ejected so that the product reaches the notch. The products were dropped one after another from the notch and were discharged.

This method requires precision in the stopping position of the product holder, and furthermore, assuming that, for example, three products are placed on one product holder, the accuracy of the stop position of the product holder is Since the moving distance of a single product holder that can be discharged at an angle is divided into 1/3 strokes, the width of the notch is small.
If the product is smaller than the standard, it will fall off the cutout, and on the other hand, if the product was a dog, it would not fall off even if it reached the predetermined cutout position.

The present invention was invented in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and the leading piece of the product holder, which has a U-shaped cross section, is divided into a plurality of pieces in one-to-one correspondence with the product, and folded. It consists of a curved fixed piece and a movable flap that is pivoted four times, a retaining piece is provided protruding from this flap, and a step-shaped tripper is provided that engages with this retaining piece. By engaging the engaging piece with the tripper by rotating the rotary transfer band, the flap is forcibly rotated downward, and the products placed on the upper part of the flap are sequentially discharged. The purpose is to ensure that the products fall one after another, regardless of their weight.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drawings showing one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a rotary transfer belt, which is formed into an endless belt-like shape using a chain or the like, and is attached by passing a frame between an upper pulley 2 and a lower pulley 3.

Either of the pulleys 2 and 3 is intermittently driven by an electric motor (not shown), and the rotary transfer band 1 moves in the direction of the arrow.

A large number of product holders 4 are mounted at equal intervals on this rotational movement band.

This product holder 4 has a substantially U-shaped cross section as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and is screwed onto the chain-shaped rotation transfer band 1 with a screw 5 through an attachment part 6. be.

Among the U-shaped pieces, the one that precedes when being transferred is formed by dividing it into a plurality of parts with respect to the bottom part 7 (the illustrated example is divided into three parts), and the one at the end is connected integrally with the bottom part 7 and forms a right angle. The fixing piece 8 is formed by bending the fixing piece 8, and its depth and width are approximately 1/2 the width of the other U-shaped piece 9.

The other plurality of divided pieces are manufactured separately, and the flap 10.11
It becomes.

The flaps 10, 11 each have a retaining piece 12 towards the rear.
．． 13 is provided so as to protrude.

Furthermore, hinge metal fittings 14 and 14' are provided on both sides of the engaging pieces 12 and 13, and hinge metal fittings 16 protrude from the product holder main body 15.
．． 16' via shafts 17 and 17', and springs 18 and 18' are inserted to apply biasing force so that the flaps 10 and 11 are always held in the U-shaped position.

Additionally, an overlapping portion 19.1 is provided at one end of the flap 10.11.
9', one side of the flap 10 overlaps one side end of the fixing piece 8, and one side of the flap 11 overlaps the other end of the flap 10.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, the rotary transfer body 1 is provided in the center of the G-post vending machine housing (not shown), and side plates 20 and 21 are attached to the side surfaces of the housing, and the product holder The outer part of the product 22 placed on the guide plate 4 acts as a sliding guide plate.

When the product 22 lifted upward on the product holder is reversed by the two pulleys, if the product falls and flies out of its normal position, it will be caught between the side plate 21 and the product holder and crushed. To prevent this, a product support 23 is provided.

As shown in Figure 2, this product support is a plate part 2 that supports the product.
4, a claw part 26 formed at one end of this plate part for hanging the spring 25, and a stopper part 2 bent toward the opposite side of the claw part.
7, and is movably attached by passing the claw part 26 through a square hole 29 made in the outer frame 28 and pulling it from the back side with a spring 25.

Place the shoulder part of the product at the angle where the product will fall, and place it on the product support plate 2.
4, and when the body rotates further, the torso is held down to prevent it from falling downward.

When the product is further rotated, it comes off from the plate part 24, but at this time, the other side piece 9 (long side) of the previous product receiving part is located directly below, so it is supported by this and returned to the normal position. placed.

When the product 22 is removed from the support plate 24, the plate 24
It returns to the old position by the pulling force of 5, but is stopped at a specified angle by the stopper 27 and waits for the next product to arrive.

The side plates 20 and 21 regulate the size of the product by the distance between the bottom 7 of the product holder 4 and the surface of the side plate, but if the product is small, there is a risk of it falling between the product holder and the side plate, so the side plates are location needs to be managed.

The place where small products may fall is the lowest product holder on the right side of Figure 1 (excluding those slanted downwards), and products in product holders higher than this are placed in the previous column. Since the long side portion of is located directly below, the product is supported here, so the distance between the side plate and the product holder may be large.

That is, the adjustment is easy because the dimensions can be adjusted by moving only the lower part of the side plate as shown by the dotted line.

(Previously, it was moved both up and down.

) Since the product holder on the left side of the figure receives the product with its long side facing down, the mounting dimensions of the side plate 20 can be adjusted to match the dimensions of the large product to be sold, and there is no need for adjustment.

The lower end of the right side plate 21 is the lower rotation start position of the product holder, so the rotation locus of the outer part of the product becomes a dog, so the side plate corresponding to this position has a separate elastic spring plate 30. Fix and install.

Next, FIGS. 5 and 6 are basic explanatory diagrams of the product discharge operation, in which the product receiver 4, which has descended along the side plate 21 due to the rotation of the rotating transfer band 1, is placed on the right side of the lower pulley 3. The engaging piece 13 protruding from the flap 11 of the product holder 4 engages with the tripper 31 attached to the other fixed part, and the flap 11 engages with the shaft 17.
The flap 11 is forcibly rotated clockwise using the
is opened downwards.

Therefore, the product placed on the flap 11 falls downward.

Similarly, if another product placed on the flap 10 is engaged with another tripper, the flap 10 can be rotated downward and dropped downward.

For products placed on the fixed piece 8, the lower end of the side plate is cut off at a position where the angle of inclination of the fixed piece 8 is such that the product can slide sufficiently when the product holder rotates on the pulley part. Therefore, it is possible to drop it.

FIG. 7 to FIG. 12 are explanatory diagrams showing the order of product discharge according to the present invention, in which the tripper 31 is formed in a step shape, and the tripper 31 is
b, and the upper end of the tripper 31a is the tripper 31b.
It is set at a higher position, and the lower end of the tripper 311 is provided to extend downward from the triper 31b.

In addition, three products are placed side by side on one product holder, with the product 22a being placed on the flap 11, the product 22b being placed on the flap 10, and the product 22b being placed on the fixing piece 8. Product 22
C is placed respectively.

The engaging piece 13 of the flap 11 of the product receiver 5 that has descended first engages with the tripper 31a, and the flap 11 falls down, causing the product 22a to fall.

At this time, the retaining piece of the flap 10 is still attached to the tripper 31b.
, the flap 10 maintains its horizontal position and the product 2
2b (Figures 7 and 8).

Next, when the one-pitch product holder descends, the retaining piece 12 of the flap 10 engages with the tripper 31b, causing the flap 10 to fall down and the product 22b to fall.

At this time, the flap 11 maintains its fallen position.

(Figures 9 and 10). Next, when the selling pitch product holder descends, the flaps 10 and 11 as well as the trippers 31a and 32
b, and is returned to the old state by the springs 18, 18'.

The product holder tilts downward and stops, but since it has passed the lower end of the side plate 21, the product 22G slides and falls due to the inclination (FIGS. 11 and 12).

When one product receiver finishes discharging the product, the product receiver in the next stage repeats the product discharging operation in the same way.

The tripper is provided in a stepped manner, and when the product receiving section passes through the tripper, the protruding retaining piece of the flap engages and the flaps are successively removed. At this time, the flap that falls down first is the last flap. The tripper will maintain the fallen state until it returns, and when it returns, it will return in the reverse order of the knockdown.
The length of is set.

To further explain the ejection operation described above, first, three products are placed side by side on a large number of product receivers, and one product is placed on one of the product receivers 4 according to the product ejection signal.

It is moved intermittently at a pitch equal to the moving distance τ.

The product that has reached the upper pulley 2 is guided as described above via the product support 23, and when it reaches the tripper 31af, which reverses and descends, the flap 11 first collapses downward, ejecting the product 22a, and then Product 22 with flap 10 falling down
Discharge b.

Next, the product on the fixed piece 8 falls due to the inclination.

In the above embodiment, an example in which three products are placed is described, but by providing an arbitrary number of flaps, the number of products to be placed can be arbitrarily determined.

As described above, according to the present invention, a rotatable flap is provided on the product receiver on which the product is placed, and the engaging piece protruding from the flap is engaged with the tripper by the rotation of the rotary transfer band. By forcibly folding down the flap itself to eject the product, the product can be ejected reliably regardless of the weight of the product, eliminating the risk of malfunction due to changes in the size of the product. It has the characteristics of being able to

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the product discharging device of a vending machine according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is an explanatory longitudinal cross-sectional side view showing the outline of the discharging device, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the product support part, and FIG. The figure is a perspective view with a part of the product receiver cut away, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the product receiver, FIGS. 5 and 6 are vertical side views showing the basic operation of product ejection, Figures to Figures 12 are explanatory diagrams showing the order of discharging the products of the present invention, Figures 7, 9, and 11 are longitudinal sectional side views, and Figures 8, 10, and 12 are product receivers. 1 shows a front view. 1...Rotating transfer belt, 4...Product holder,
8... Fixed piece, 10, 11... Flap, 12, 13... Engaging piece, 19, 19'...
...overlapping part, 22, 22a. 22 b, 22 C---product, 31,311
, 31b... Tripper-0

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A large number of product holders with a U-shaped cross section, attached to a rotating transfer band, on which multiple products are placed, and a leading piece of this product holder in a one-to-one correspondence with the products. It is divided into a plurality of parts, one of which is used as a fixed piece, and the rest is a movable flap that is dynamically pivoted four times, and is engaged with a retaining piece protruding from the flap. The movable flap is forcibly rotated by engaging the retaining piece with the tripper by rotating the rotary transfer band, thereby sequentially dropping the products. A product ejecting device for a vending machine characterized by: