JPS6348767B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a spiral article discharging device used in a vending machine or the like.

An automatic vending machine in which articles are inserted and stored in each space between adjacent convoluted portions of a spiral, and the articles are sequentially advanced to a discharge position by rotating the spiral around its longitudinal axis. In article discharging devices such as machines, there is a problem that articles pushed out from the front end of the spiral tend to roll and fall from the article shelf on which the articles were placed, so that they tend to get stuck in the space of the falling path in a bridging state. have.

In particular, for thin plate products such as record boards with flexible packaging, even if the record 1a of the product 1 remains flat, the corner 1b may be bent, as shown in Figure 4. Because of this, when the product 1 is pushed forward, a phenomenon occurs in which the bent corner 1b gets caught in the bottom of the next product 1. Therefore, the product 1 pushed out from the front end of the spiral becomes the next product. There is a problem in that the product gets stuck in the state shown in Figure 5, 1c, and this problem can also occur with other thin sheet products if the packaging is poor. It is pregnant with sex.

In view of these circumstances, the present invention not only sequentially transports the articles forward at the turning portion of the spiral as in the past, but also transfers the articles pushed out to the front end of the spiral by imparting elastic force to the spiral. This was done with a focus on further ejecting the energy.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Below, a case where the present invention is applied to a product discharging device of a vending machine will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a product storage shelf to clearly illustrate the ejecting device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the product ejecting process. Also the third
The figure is a view of the storage shelf portion of FIG. 1 viewed from the front.

In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a spiral formed of a spring member such as a spring stainless steel wire, and is driven to rotate around a longitudinal axis by an electric motor 3 with a speed reducer as a power source. It is composed of

Reference numeral 4 denotes a product storage shelf on which the products 1 arranged in the front-rear direction are placed by being inserted between adjacent spiral portions of the spiral 2. In the central portion of this storage shelf 4, the spiral portions of the spiral 2 are placed. A longitudinal groove 5 into which the lower end portion is inserted is formed.

Further, in the groove 5 of the storage shelf 4, the spiral 2 engages with the turning portion of the front end of the spiral 2 recessed into the groove 5 at every predetermined rotation angle range of the spiral 2, and rotates the spiral 2 in the longitudinal direction. A protrusion 6 is provided which is compressed.

Furthermore, a contact plate 8 is disposed at the front upper part of the storage shelf 4 for abutting against the upper end portion of the product 1 discharged from the storage shelf 4 to guide the product 1 to the falling path 7.

Next, the ejection operation of the product 1 will be explained.

First, when the product discharging device is in a standby state as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, when the electric motor 3 is driven to rotate the spiral 2 in the direction of arrow A, the spiral 2 rotates at each turning portion to release the product. Each product 1 is moved forward by being displaced so as to push the product 1 forward.

However, since the front end of the spiral 2 is engaged with the protrusion 6 and displacement in the longitudinal direction is suppressed, the spiral 2 becomes gradually compressed, and the product 1 at the front is pushed into the spiral 2.
In the state where it is released from the body and pushed forward, the compressed state reaches almost the maximum as shown in FIG.

In this state, when the spiral 2 further rotates in the direction of arrow A and exceeds a predetermined rotation angle range from the start of rotation, the front end 2a of the spiral 2 disengages from the protrusion 6 and is compressed. Power is instantly released,
One ejection operation is completed by hitting the rear side of the foremost product 1, which has already been pushed out to the front end, with this elastic force and ejecting it from the storage shelf 4 to the falling path 7 side.

At this time, since the protrusion 6 is placed on the underside of the product 1, the spiral 2 applies an elastic force to the bottom surface of the product 1, so the product 1 appears to be subject to a forward tilting force. The product can be ejected in a stable falling position without becoming unstable.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 5, even if the corner 1b of the package of the product 1 to be discharged is caught on the bottom surface of the product 1 on the rear side, the product 1 is
The structure is such that it is forcibly ejected by hitting the bottom of the bottle, so it can be ejected safely and reliably.

Furthermore, it also has the effect that the ejecting stroke of the foremost product can be made larger due to the ejecting effect caused by the elastic force.

In particular, by forming the foremost end 2a of the spiral 2 by slightly bending it outward in the longitudinal direction as shown, the elastic force and ejection stroke of the spiral 2 can be increased.

The above ejecting operation is performed by one rotation of the spiral 2 (=
360°), and by rotating the product one rotation each time it receives a sales signal from the outside, it is possible to reliably discharge the products 1 placed on the storage shelf 4 in order from the front. .

On the other hand, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented as appropriate without departing from the concept thereof. It is obvious that you can obtain

As explained above, the present invention enables a spiral-type article discharging device to not only move the article forward by simply pushing it out using the rotating part, but also to give the spiral itself an elastic force so as to move the article forward in a single movement. It is designed to eject an article every time it is ejected, and has an excellent effect in that it can safely and reliably eject thin plate articles such as records.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing the structure of the ejecting device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing the ejecting operation, and FIG.
The front view of the figure, FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively show thin plate products such as records. 1...Product, 2...Spiral, 3...Electric motor, 4...
...Accommodation shelf, 5...Groove, 6...Protrusion.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An article discharging device configured to insert and store articles between adjacent convoluted portions of a spiral, rotate the spiral around a longitudinal axis, and sequentially move and discharge the articles forward, The spiral is formed of a spring member, and a protrusion is formed that engages with the rotating portion of the front end of the spiral and compresses the spiral in the length direction at every predetermined rotation angle range of the spiral. Features: Article discharge device.