JPS6362792B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a cup dispensing device for a cup vending machine that dispenses and sells beverages into cups.

(b) Conventional technology A cup vending machine dispenses hot or cold drinks into different cups and sells them. Conventionally, cup vending machines were set up as dedicated machines for hot or cold beverages, respectively. . Recently, however, hot and cold machines have appeared that sell both hot and cold beverages with one machine. Such hot-and-cold machines achieve stable sales irrespective of whether it is summer or winter, but because there is a difference in cup size for selling hot and cold drinks, For example, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-55086, it is common to have two types of cup feeding mechanisms each accommodating different types of cups with different capacities.

(c) Problems to be solved by the invention By the way, the sales ratio of hot and cold beverages varies depending on the season. However, hot
Because an and-cold machine has a cup turret for hot cups and a cup turret for cold cups installed side by side, the absolute amounts of both hot and cold cups are small, and in the summer, cold cups quickly become scarce and cold beverages cannot be sold. On the other hand, in the winter, there is a shortfall in hot cups that quickly become scarce and hot beverages cannot be sold.

In view of the above points, the present invention arranges a supply cup row that matches the cup row of any one of the cup turrets between a set of cup turrets each housing a variety of different cups, This invention provides a cup delivery device that can change the storage ratio of two types of cups by introducing a replenishment cup row.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the cup delivery device according to the present invention includes a rotating shaft and a plurality of partition plates extending radially from the rotating shaft, and a plurality of partition plates extending radially from the rotating shaft. A cup storage section formed in the cup storage section stores a row of cups in which a large number of cups are stacked vertically, and the row of cups is urged by the partition plate by rotation of the rotating shaft and introduced into a predetermined drop hole. a set of cup turrets, a set of support plates that lock the sides of a row of replenishment cups loaded between the set of cup turrets, and a set of support plates that swing between the set of cup turrets; a delivery plate supported by the arm so as to move between the support plates when the arm swings, and one end of which is attached to a drive shaft so that the arm swings when the arm swings. an actuating plate engaged with the arm; a pair of limit switches for detecting when the arms are positioned at extreme positions toward the respective cuplets; and a state where the arms are positioned at extreme positions close to the respective cuplets. a drive device that applies a rotational force to the drive shaft so as to swing the arm toward the other cup turret when at least one row of cups in the cup storage section in the other cup turret runs out; The replenishment cup row is introduced into the other cup turret by movement of the delivery plate as the arm swings.

(E) Function If the replenishing cup row is compatible with the cup row of one cup turret, the arm is set to be located at the extreme end closer to the other cup turret. When there is no cup row in at least one cup storage section in one of the cup turrets, the drive device operates to apply rotational force to the drive shaft, thereby causing the actuating plate to rotate about the drive shaft. The arm swings from the other cup turret toward one cup turret by rotation of the actuating plate, and the row of replenishing cups is urged against the delivery plate and introduced into this one cup turret.

(F) Embodiment FIGS. 1 and 2 show a plan view and a perspective view of a cup dispensing device according to the present invention, in which a pair of cuplets 1 and 2 are erected on a substrate 7 so as to be parallel to each other. The rotating shafts 1A, 2A and the rotating shafts 1A, 2
It is provided with four partition plates 1B and 2B extending radially from A at equal intervals, and the rotating shafts 1A and 2A are independently rotated clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively, by a drive device (not shown). It is configured as follows. And the cutterlets 1 and 2 are each partition plate 1
Cup storage areas 1D and 2D formed between B and 2B
Cup rows made up of stacked cups are manually set and stored by the administrator, and partition plates 1B,
The rows of storage cups are sequentially introduced into drop holes 1C and 2C formed in the substrate 7 by rotation of the cup 2B.
These drop holes 1C and 2C are provided on the rotation circles of the partition plates 1B and 2B, respectively, and at positions where they face each other. In addition, a pair of support plates 3 and 4 facing the drop holes 1C and 2C are arranged between the cup turrets 1 and 2, and a row of cups for replenishment is housed between the support plates 3 and 4. is detected by switch 8. Each of the support plates 3 and 4 is pivotally supported on one side by shafts 9 and 10, and is configured to be movable to the facing drop holes 1C and 2C on the other side. Furthermore, the support plates 3 and 4 are urged by relatively weak springs in a direction away from the opposing drop holes 1C and 2C, so that the reinforcing cup rows are retained and held by the support plates 3 and 4. A delivery plate 6 that moves between the support plates 3 and 4 is connected by a shaft 12 to the swinging side end of an arm 5 that can swing about a shaft 11 as a fulcrum. The arm 5 is provided with a long hole 13, and one end is attached to a drive shaft 14 of a deceleration motor (not shown).
A rotatable actuating plate 15 connected to is provided with a locking pin 16 at the other end that slides while engaging with the elongated hole 13. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
When the locking pin 16 rotates about the shaft 14, the locking pin 16
In order for the arm 5 to slide through the elongated hole 13, the arm 5 is attached to the shaft 11.
It is configured to swing between the cup turrets 1 and 2 under the control of limit switches 17 and 18 with the fulcrum being the fulcrum.

With the above configuration, when hot cups are stored in each cup storage section 1D of cup turret 1 and cold cups are stored in each cup storage section 2D of cup turret 2, when a row of hot cups for replenishment is loaded between support plates 3 and 4. Turn the limit switch 18 so that the delivery plate 6 is located on the cartridge 2 side.
The deceleration motor is operated in advance until it is turned on by the arm 5, and when loading a row of cold cups for replenishment between the support plates 3 and 4, the limit switch 17 is operated by the arm so that the delivery plate 6 is positioned on the cup turret 1 side. 5, the deceleration motor is operated in advance until it is turned ON. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the operation when a row of cold cups is loaded between the support plates 3 and 4, and the drop hole 2C of the cup turret 2 is filled with the row of cold cups A. A well-known cup ejecting device is disposed on the back side of the substrate 7 in correspondence with the drop hole 2C, and the cup ejecting device separates cups one by one from the cold cup row A each time a cold beverage is sold, and picks them up in a predetermined position. cold beverage supply location. When the cup switch installed in the cup take-out device detects that a cup in cold cup row A has run out, switch 8 is activated.
The deceleration motor is driven on the condition that the arm 5 detects the presence of a replenishment cup row and the limit switch 17 is turned on by the arm 5. At this time, the arm 5 is located on the cup turret 1 side, so when the deceleration motor is driven, the arm 5 moves in the direction of the arrow a, and the cold cup row I is introduced into the drop hole 2C by the delivery plate 6. Further, the arm 5 moves the delivery plate 6 against the bias of the support plate 4, but the cold cup row I is guided to the drop hole 2C while being held between the delivery plate 6 and the support plate 4. You won't fall over. When the limit switch 18 detects that the arm 5 has swung until the cup row I is introduced into the drop hole 2C,
The deceleration motor stops driving and the replenishment operation of the cup row I is completed. However, when the supplied cup row I also runs out of cups, at this time there is no cup row for replenishment and switch 8 is turned OFF.
The drive device of the cup turret 2 operates to rotate the partition plate 2B one pitch and introduce the cold cup row B into the drop hole 2C. Similarly, when cold cup row B runs out, cold cup rows C and D
are sequentially introduced into the drop hole 2C by rotation of the partition plate 2B. When all the cold cup rows are gone, even if the partition plate 2B is rotated, no cold cup rows will be introduced into the drop hole 2C, so the cup switch installed in the cup ejecting device will not turn on and cold cup breakage will be detected. be done. In this way, when the cold cup runs out, the vending machine stops supplying cold beverages.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the operation when a row of hot cups is loaded between the support plates 3 and 4, and the drop hole 1C of the cup turret 1 is filled with a row of hot cups E. Similarly to the cup turret 2, the cup dispensing device provided corresponding to the drop hole 1C separates cups one by one from the hot cup row E and sends them to a predetermined hot beverage supply position each time a hot beverage is sold. be. When the cup switch installed in the cup ejecting device detects a broken cup in the hot cup row E, the switch 8 detects the presence of the replenishing cup row, and the limit switch 18 is turned on by the arm 5. Driven by a deceleration motor. In this case, the arm 5 is located on the cup turret 2 side, so when the deceleration motor is driven, the arm 5 moves in the direction of the arrow b, and the hot cup row I' is introduced into the drop hole 1C by the delivery plate 6. Ru. At this time, the hot cup row I' is guided to the drop hole 1C against the bias of the support plate 3. However, the cup line that was replenished
When the cup I' runs out, since the switch 8 is OFF, the drive device of the cup turret 1 operates to rotate the partition plate 1B by one pitch and introduce the hot cup row F into the drop hole 1C. And below,
When the rows of hot cups G and H are sequentially introduced into the drop hole 1C and no cups are detected by the cup switch installed in the cup ejecting device even if the partition plate 1B is rotated, the vending machine stops dispensing hot beverages as the hot cups are out. Stop.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above configuration, and as shown in _FIG .
It is also possible to adopt a configuration other than the above. In Fig. 6, a cup row _I0 for replenishment is introduced into the cup turret 1, and when the cup row _E0 runs out, the partition plate 1
After the cup row F ₀ is introduced into the drop hole 1C by the rotation of the arm 5, the arm 5 is rotated to introduce the cup row I ₀ into the position where the cup row H ₀ was present. Therefore, each time the partition plate 1B rotates after the cup row F ₀ disappears, the cup rows G ₀ , H ₀ and I ₀ are sequentially introduced into the drop hole 1C.

With this configuration, in the summer, the replenishment cup row is set as a cold cup, and the delivery plate 6 is set in a standby state close to the cup turret position.
In the winter, the storage ratio of the two types of cups can be changed by setting the replenishing cup row to hot cups and setting the delivery plate 6 in a standby state close to the cup turret 2. Therefore, the occurrence of cold cups running out in the summer and hot cups running out in the winter is reduced, and sales efficiency can be improved.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, in an apparatus equipped with a set of cup turrets, there is no need to provide a replenishment cup row for each cup turret in order to load a replenishment cup row between the cup turrets, and the apparatus is improved. Can be made smaller. Since the cartridge to be replenished is determined by placing the standby position of the delivery plate close to which cartridge, the setting is easy and replenishment is reliable. No matter which cup turret is to be replenished, this is achieved by the same action of rotating the actuating plate, so there is no need to switch the operation depending on the cup turret to be replenished, which facilitates control.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the cup delivery device, Fig. 2 is an external perspective view, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the actuating plate, Figs. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams of the operation, and Fig. 6 is another embodiment. FIG. 1A, 2A... Rotating shaft, 1B, 2B... Partition plate, 1C, 2C... Drop hole, 1, 2... Cup turret, 3, 4... Support plate, 5... Arm, 6
...Delivery plate, 14...Drive shaft, 15...Operation plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotating shaft and a plurality of partition plates extending radially from the rotating shaft are provided, and a cup storage section formed between the partition plates stores a row of cups in which a large number of cups are stacked vertically, The row includes a set of cup turrets that are urged by the partition plate by rotation of the rotating shaft and introduced into a predetermined drop hole, and a row of replenishment cups that are loaded between the set of cup turrets. a set of support plates that lock the sides of the cup, an arm provided to swing between the set of cup turrets, and a support plate supported by the arm so as to move between the support plates when the arm swings. an actuating plate having one end attached to a drive shaft and engaged with the arm so that the arm swings by rotation; a pair of limit switches that detect when the cup row in at least one of the cup storage sections in the other cup turret runs out when the arm is positioned at an extreme position close to one cup turret; a drive device that applies a rotational force to the drive shaft so as to swing toward the other cup turret, and the replenishing cup row is moved toward the other cup turret by the movement of the delivery plate as the arm swings. A cup dispensing device for a vending machine that is characterized by being introduced.