JPH0326880B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a cup supply device for a cup-type vending machine.

(b) Conventional technology A cup-type vending machine dispenses beverages mixed in the machine into a cup and sells them, but when selling hot beverages, a 7-ounce cup is used to sell cold beverages. When doing so, it is common to use a 9-ounce cup. 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 regardless of whether it is summer or winter, but the ratio of selling hot and cold beverages varies depending on the season. However, because a hot-and-cold machine has a cup turret for hot cups and a cup turret for cold cups side by side, the absolute amount of each hot cup and cold cup is small, and in the summer, cold cups quickly run out and cold beverages become unavailable. On the other hand, in the winter, there is a shortage of hot cups, making it impossible to sell hot beverages.

Therefore, there is a need for a cup supply device that can change the storage ratio of hot cups and cold cups. In order to meet this demand, the
There is a technique disclosed in Publication No. 70281. In this prior art, a plurality of cup storage chambers capable of storing both hot cup rows and cold cup rows are lined up on the circumference of a cup storage drum, and a set of cup ejection mechanisms corresponding to hot cups and cold cups is provided on the outside of the drum. When the cup ejecting mechanism runs out of cups, the cup storage drum rotates to face the cup storage chambers storing the cups corresponding to the cup ejection mechanism, and the cup row delivery mechanism picks up the rows of cups in the opposing cup storage chambers. This is a configuration to be introduced into the extraction mechanism. This allows each cup storage chamber to be arbitrarily set as a hot cup storage chamber or a cold cup storage chamber, thereby making it possible to change the storage ratio.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the prior art, the reason why the cup ejecting mechanism is disposed outside the rotational orbit of the cup storage drum is that if the cup ejecting mechanism is located on the rotational orbit, one cup When a hot or cold cup row is set in the ejecting mechanism, the other cup ejecting mechanism runs out of cups, and the cup storage chamber containing the corresponding cup row is moved to this cup ejecting mechanism in order to replenish cups. Even if you try to do so, the row of cups in the cup ejecting mechanism on the side that is not connected to the cup cutter will get in the way and the drum will not be able to rotate freely.

Therefore, according to the prior art, the device becomes large because the cup ejecting mechanism is disposed outside the rotation orbit of the cup storage chamber, and moreover, it requires a complicated cup arrangement to move the cup row from the cup storage chamber to the cup ejecting mechanism. A column delivery mechanism is required.

In view of the above points, the present invention provides a cup ejection port on the orbit of the cup column, which is a cup storage chamber, and when the cup column reaches the cup ejection port, some cups are separated from the row of cups stored therein. By configuring it to lead to the cup delivery mechanism,
To provide a cup feeding device in which a cup column can freely move even if a cup delivery mechanism is disposed on a movement track of the cup column.

If the configuration is such that some cups are taken out from the cup column, the next time the same cup runs out, the remaining cups will be taken from the cup column that is in the process of taking out the cups that have not been completely taken out, based on the so-called first-in, first-out principle. need to be taken out subsequently. However, in the case of a cup supply device that stores multiple types of cups, the next time you try to take out the same cup, if you have moved a series of cup columns to take out a different type of cup before that, you will not be able to take out the same cup. There is an issue where the columns inside become unclear.

Therefore, the present invention further provides a cup feeding device that allows first in, first out by setting one of a plurality of cup columns connected in a closed loop as a reference column so that the column being taken out can be known. It is something to do.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the cup feeding device according to the present invention is a cup supplying device that can store a substrate and a plurality of different types of cups, and has cups stacked vertically. A cup column for storing cups in rows, a cup turret for connecting the cup columns in a closed loop on the substrate and moving the cups along the closed loop, a display section provided for each cup column to display the type of stored cups, and a display section for displaying the type of cup stored in the cup column; a reference column display section provided at one of the cup columns to indicate that the cup column is a reference column; a cup ejection port formed on the moving track of the cup column according to the cup type; A cup type sensor is provided for each cup outlet, and the cup column that has reached the outlet is used as a reference. a reference column sensor that detects whether the cup is in a column on the reference column display section; a cup column sensor that is installed at each cup outlet to detect when the cup column has arrived; and a cup column sensor that is installed at each cup outlet to detect when the cup column has arrived. a cup sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a cup; a cup dispensing mechanism disposed below the cup dispensing port for dispensing a cup in response to a predetermined cup supply signal; a cup separation mechanism that separates a cup from a row of cups in a predetermined cup column and introduces it into the cup delivery mechanism when the mechanism cuts a cup; a counter that, when detected by a sensor, sets the reference column as the first column and performs a counting operation every time the cup column sensor detects the arrival of another cup column; and detection signals from each of the cup type sensor and the cup sensor. Based on the count value of the counter and the stored previous cup column information, the cup separating mechanism determines the cup column from which the cup is to be separated, and the count value of the counter corresponding to the cup column is set as the previous cup column information. a cup column scanning means for storing information; and a cuplet control means for driving the cup turret when a cup is cut by the cup delivery mechanism and stopping the cup turret when the cup column indicated by the cup column scanning means reaches the corresponding cup outlet. Equipped with:

(E) Function The cup delivery mechanism stores the corresponding types of cups, and when a predetermined cup supply signal corresponding to the cup type is generated, the cup delivery mechanism corresponding to this type is driven and delivers the cup. do.
Thus, when any cup delivery mechanism runs out of cups, the cup turret control means drives the cup turret. As a result, each time a cup column passes through each cup outlet, the cup type sensor placed at that cup outlet detects the type of cup stored in the passing cup column, and the reference column sensor detects the type of cup stored in the passing cup column. The cup column sensor detects passing of the cup column, and the cup sensor detects whether a cup is stored in the cup column passing through. Then, when the reference column sensor detects the passing of the reference column, the counter sets the reference column as the first column and thereafter performs a counting operation every time the cup column sensor detects a cup column.

The cup column scanning means determines the cup column from which the cup is to be taken out based on the detection signals of the cup type sensor and the cup sensor, the count value of the counter, and the stored previous cup column information, and also calculates the count value of the counter corresponding to this cup column. is stored as the previously retrieved cup column information. The cup turret control means stops driving the cup turret when the cup column indicated by the cup column scanning means reaches the corresponding cup outlet. Subsequently, when the cup separation mechanism operates, a part of the cup row stored in the cup column stopped at the cup ejection port is separated, and cups are supplied to the cup delivery mechanism through the cup ejection port. It turns out.

In this way, when replenishing the same cup delivery mechanism with cups, the cup column taken out last time is searched for and the cups are supplied from this column, but this cup column scanning means uses a cup sensor to detect whether the cup column is When it is detected that the cup is broken, the cup column from which the next cup is taken out is determined based on the respective detection signals of the cup type sensor and the cup sensor.

(f) Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a cup feeding device according to the present invention, in which a cup turret 21 has nine cup columns 2 arranged in an oval shape on a base plate 1, each of which can accommodate both hot cups and cold cups. The cup columns 2 are arranged in a closed loop, two adjacent ones of each cup column 2 are connected at two upper and lower places by a connecting member 3, and the cup columns 2 are sequentially moved by a sprocket 8. The coupling member 3 has a pair of holes 4 and 5 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and is connected to the cup columns 2 ₁ and 2 _{2 .}
One of the holes 4 is provided with a protrusion 6 which fits into a groove 7 formed in the cup column ₂₁ . Therefore, one cup column 2
₁ is fixed to the coupling member 3 ₁ , but the other cup column 2 ₂ has no protrusion formed in the hole 5 and is therefore free to rotate relative to the coupling member 3 ₁ . However, the cup column _{2 1 fixed} to the coupling member 3 1 is not fixed to the coupling member 3 ₂ and is in a free state. In this manner, the nine cup columns 2 are connected in a closed loop such that one cup column 2 is dependent on the movement of the other cup column 2 fixed to the coupling member 3. Therefore, by rotating the sprocket 8, each cup column 2 moves in an elliptical orbit, and at this time, a guide portion 9 is provided at a position where the direction of the cup column 2 is changed by the sprocket 8 to make the movement smooth. The cup column 2 accommodates a row of cups in which hot cups or cold cups are stacked vertically, and a bottom plate 11 that can be opened and closed using a shaft 10 as a fulcrum is provided at the bottom as shown in FIG. Roller 1 is on the opposite surface of
2, the cup column 2 has a sprocket 8
It moves on the substrate 1 by the rotation of.

As shown in FIG. 5, a hot cup outlet 13 and a cold cup outlet 14 are provided on the movement trajectory of the cup column 2 of the board 1, and as shown in FIG. Exit 1
3 and 14, the support of the bottom plate 11 by the substrate 1 is released, but instead the bottom plate 11 is maintained in the closed state by the support member 15. The support member 15 is
As shown in FIG.
7, the lever 16 is rotatably supported by a wall 18, but its rotation in the direction of the arrow a is prevented by a wall 18, and the other end of the lever 16 is rotatably supported by a drive shaft 19. . Therefore, when the lever 16 is rotated in the direction of the arrow shown by the dashed dotted line by driving the drive shaft 19, the support member 15 is also rotated in the same direction, and the bottom plate 11 is released from the lock. Further, above the take-out ports 13 and 14, a wedge plate 26 for taking out about 10 cups from the cup row 25 is rotatably supported by a drive shaft 27, and is driven as shown in FIG. axis 27
When driven, the wedge plate 26 rotates in the direction of the arrow,
A wedge plate 26 comes into contact with the cup row 25 and is wedged into the gap between the curls of the cups. At the same time that the wedge plate 26 separates the cups from the cup row 25, the bottom plate 1 is removed by the support member 15.
1 is released, a plurality of cups are stacked and dropped from the cup row 25 through the outlets 13 and 14. The cup separating mechanism 23, which separates the cup from the cup row 25 by the wedge plate 26 and the support member 15, is provided at the outlet ports 13 and 14, respectively. 12 and 13 show the configuration of the drive section of the cup separating mechanism 23, and gears 60 and 61 are provided on the drive shaft 25 of the wedge plate 26 and the drive shaft 19 of the lever 16 that drives the support member 15. are installed respectively. The gears 60 and 61 are gears 63 and 63 mounted on the deceleration output shaft 62 of the separation motor 48.
64, and gear 6 in Fig. 12.
4 is shown by a solid line, and the gear 63 is shown by a wavy line.
Furthermore, a cam 65 is attached to the output shaft 62 of the separation motor 48.
is installed, and one cycle of the cam 65 accomplishes the cup separation operation. Separation motor 4
When the output shaft 62 is rotated in the direction of the arrow by the drive of the gear 63, the tooth 60A is inserted into the recess 63A of the gear 63 in the standby state.
The gear 60 facing the gear 63 has teeth 63B of the gear 63.
It engages and rotates. Accordingly, the drive shaft 27 rotates and the wedge plate 26 is wedged into the cup row 25. On the other hand, the drive shaft 19 is biased by a spring 66 to rotate in the direction of the arrow, but the gear 6
1 is in contact with the protrusion 64A of the gear 64 and is therefore locked. When the concave portion 64B reaches the gear 61 due to rotation of the gear 64, the drive shaft 1
9 is unlocked and rotated in the direction of the arrow by the spring 66, so that the support member 15 moves away from the cup row 25 and the bottom plate 11 opens. Therefore, some of the cups separated from the cup row 25 by the wedge plate 26 lose their support from the bottom plate 11 and are separated, leading to the removal ports 13 and 14.
and is introduced into the cup delivery mechanism 22. Further, the output shaft 62 rotates and the teeth 64C of the gear 64 are connected to the gear 61.
When engaged with the teeth 61A, the drive shaft 19 rotates in the opposite direction of the arrow against the spring 66, and the bottom plate 11 is closed. The concave portion 63A of the gear 63 is the gear 60.
When facing the gear 60, the gear 60 becomes free, so the drive shaft 27 is urged by the spring 67 and rotates in the opposite direction of the arrow, and the wedge plate 26 separates from the cup row 25. As a result, the cup row 25 that has been locked by the wedge plate 26 falls onto the bottom plate 11. This one-cycle operation is linked to the rotation of the cam 65.
It is detected by the full cycle switch 43 which turns on and off. Also, the cup row 25 of the wedge plate 26
A recess 28 is formed in the piece that comes into contact with the cup, and a recess 28 that substantially matches the circumference of the cup is formed, and a step 29 is formed in the inner wall of the cup column 2 facing the wedge plate 26, so that the wedge plate 26 is difficult to curl. When the cup is inserted, the cup to be separated is urged toward the recessed portion of the step 29, so that it can be separated more smoothly than the cup row 25.

Below the outlet ports 13 and 14 are disposed cup delivery mechanisms 22 which receive the cups separated from the cup row 25 and deliver the cups one by one in response to a predetermined cup delivery signal. The cup delivery mechanism 22 includes a plurality of cup droppers 30, as shown in FIG. 8, and the cup droppers 30 support the curled portion of the lowest cup _C1 . When a cup drop motor (not shown) is driven by a predetermined cup delivery signal, each cup dropper 30 rotates about the shaft 31, and separates the cup C ₁ from the cup row 25 and delivers it. ₂
New support for. The detection member 33 moves in and out depending on the presence or absence of a cup in the cup delivery mechanism 22.
The cup switch 32 detects the presence or absence of a cup in response to the movement of the detection member 33.

Also, an exterior case 34 that accommodates the cup column 2
Sensors 3 are installed on the inner wall of the
5, 36, and 37 are arranged, and display portions 38, 39, and 40 are formed in portions of each cup column 2 facing the sensors 35, 36, and 37. A reflective member such as silver paper is attached to the display section 39 of each cup column 2, and a reflective member is attached to the display section 40 when the stored cups are hot cups. Also, as will become clear later, a reflective member is attached to the display section 38 of the cup column 2, which is set as the reference column. The sensors 35, 36, and 37 irradiate light onto the display sections 38, 39, and 40, and detect the presence of a reflective member based on the amount of reflected light. Accordingly, the sensor 37 determines whether the storage cup in the cup column is a hot cup or a cold cup. The sensor 36 detects whether the cup column 2 is in the outlet 13 or 1.
4 is reached, and the sensor 35 determines whether the detected cup column 2 is the reference column. Alternatively, a reflective member may be attached to the display section 40, and the position of the reflective member relative to the sensor 37 may be changed by sliding the display section 40 depending on the hot cup or cold cup. Further, the sensor 41 detects the presence or absence of a cup row within the cup column 2.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the control circuit.
42 is a turret motor that drives the sprocket 8, and 48A and 48B are hot side and cold side cup disconnectors, respectively. The separation motors 46 and 47 that drive the mechanism 23 are cup drop motors that drive the hot side and cold side cup delivery mechanisms 22, respectively. Also, the sensor 3 mentioned above
5, 36, 37, 41 and the cup switch 32 are installed on the hot side and the cold side, respectively. Therefore, the hot side of the sensor 35 will be referred to as the drawing number 35A, the cold side will be shown as the drawing number 35B, and the hot side of the sensor 36 will be shown as the drawing number. 36A cold side is number 3
6B, regarding the sensor 37, the hot side is shown in the drawing number 37A.
The cold side is indicated by the figure number 37B, the hot side with respect to the sensor 41 is indicated by the figure number 41A, the cold side is indicated by the figure number 41B, and the hot side with respect to the cup switch 32 is indicated by the figure number 32A, and the cold side is indicated by the figure number 32B.
Similarly, the full cycle switch 43 of each cup separating mechanism 23 is also indicated by the figure numbers 43A and 43B depending on the hot side and cold side. 1 from Figure 11A
1C to 1C are diagrams for explaining the cup turret operation by the microcomputer 45, and FIG. 11A shows the state immediately after each cup column 2 is filled with hot cups or cold cups. In this example, the cold cup is filled by setting the cup column 2 above the cold cup outlet 14 as the reference column.
1) Filled with cold cup expressed as 1
Indicates that it is the th cup column. Therefore, the cup columns 2 behind the cup column (C-1) are the second, third, and so on, respectively, but in this example, each cup column up to the fourth is filled with cold cups, and the fifth to fifth cup columns are filled with cold cups. Each cup column up to the ninth is filled with hot cups.

After filling the cup, when the start switch 50 is operated to output a start signal to the microcomputer 45, the microcomputer 4
Step 5 determines whether the cup column 2 is above the hot cup outlet 14 and the cold cup outlet 13 based on the outputs of the sensors 36A and 36B. In this case, there is a cup column (C-1) above the cold cup outlet 14, and then the microcomputer 4
5, the sensor 35B detects that this cup column is the reference column, and the cold counter 53 counts "1" with the cup column above the cold cup outlet 14 as the No. 1 column. Next, the microcomputer 45 outputs a drive signal to the turret motor 42 to rotate the sprocket 8 and move each cup column 2 in the direction of the arrow. As shown in FIG. 11B, when the sensor 35B detects that the cup column (C-1) has reached the hot cup outlet 13, the hot counter 51 counts "1". At this time, the cup column (C
-2) passes and the sensor 36B generates a detection signal, the microcomputer 45 adds "1" to the cold counter 53 and counts "2".

Next, the microcomputer 45 detects the presence or absence of a cup in each of the hot cup and cold cup delivery mechanisms 22 using the cup switches 32A and 32B. Then, the cup switch 3 is activated due to the hot cup being disconnected from the hot side cup delivery mechanism 22.
When the hot cup turret signal is output from the hot cup 2A, the microcomputer 45 uses the sensor 37A to determine whether the cup column (C-1) above the hot cup outlet 13 is a hot cup, but in this case, it is a cold cup. Therefore, a drive signal is output to the turret motor 42. Therefore, the cup columns (C-2), (C-3), and (C-4) reach the hot cup outlet 13 in sequence, but since they are all filled with cold cups, the turret operation is not maintained. Ru. Then, as shown in FIG. 11C, when the cup column (H-5) reaches the hot cup outlet 13 and the sensor 41A detects that this cup column is filled with cups, the turret motor 42 is stopped and the hot cup is disconnected. Operate the motor 48A. Then, the microcomputer 45 rotates the cam by driving the disconnection motor 48A and switches the full cycle switch 43.
When detecting that A changes from OFF to ON and then turns OFF again, the disconnection motor 48A is made inoperable. Therefore, the cup delivery mechanism 22 on the hot side is connected to the cup column (H) by the cup separation mechanism 23.
-5) Hotcups separated from the body are replenished. Therefore, when the state of FIG. 11B changes to the state of FIG. 11C due to the turret operation, the cup column (C-
2), (C-3), (C-4), and (C-5) arrive in sequence, the microcomputer 45 adds "1" to the hot counter 51 each time the arrival of each column is detected by the sensor 36A. are doing. Then, when the cup column (H-5) reaches above the hot cup outlet 13 and detaches the hot cup, the count value "5" of the hot cup 51 is stored in the register 52 for storing cup column information, and the fifth It is remembered that the hot cup was taken out from the cup column (H-5). Also, this turret movement moves the top of the cold cup outlet 14 to the cup column (C-3).
When (C-4), (H-5), and (H-6) arrive in sequence, the microcomputer 45 adds "1" to the cold counter 53 each time the arrival of each column is detected by the sensor 36B. Therefore, the 11th
The cold counter 53, which is counting "2" in the state shown in Figure B, is now counting "6".

In the state shown in FIG. 11C, when a cold cup is output from the cup switch 32B due to a cold cup run out in the cold side cup delivery mechanism 22, the microcomputer 4
5 detects whether the cup column 2 is above the cold cup outlet 14 by the sensor 36B.
At this time, since the cup column 2 is not above the cold cup outlet 14, a drive signal is output to the turret motor 42. Therefore, a cup column (H-
7), (H-8), and (H-9) arrive in sequence, but the turret operation is maintained because the hot cup is filled in each case. And the cup column (C-
1) reaches the cold cup outlet 14 and the first
When the state shown in FIG. 1A is reached and the sensor 41B detects that the cup column is filled with cups, the turret motor 42 is stopped and the separation motor 48B is operated. In this case, similarly to the hot side, the microcomputer 45 is turned on in conjunction with the cam attached to the separation motor 48B.
The motor 48B is controlled by the full cycle switch 43B, which is turned OFF, and the cup separating mechanism 23 separates the cold cup from the cup column (C-1) and introduces it into the cup delivery mechanism 22 on the cold side. Then, when transitioning from the state shown in FIG. 11C to the state shown in FIG. 11A, the microcomputer 4
5 is a cup column (H-7), (H-8), (H-
9) passes through the cold cup outlet 14, "1" is added to the cold counter 53, but when the sensor 35B detects that the cup column (C-1), which is the reference column, has arrived, the cold counter 53 is added. Set to “1”. Then, by disconnecting the cold cup from the cup column (C-1), the microcomputer 45 takes out the count value "1" of the cold counter 53 last time, stores it in the register 52 for storing cup column information, and stores it in the register 52 for storing cup column information. C
-1) Remember that you took out the hot cup. This turret operation also moves the cup column (H-6) and (H-6) above the hot cup outlet 13.
7).(H-8) passes, the microcomputer 45 adds "1" to the hot counter 51 each time the arrival of each column is detected by the sensor 36A. Therefore, in the state shown in FIG. 11C, "5"
The hot counter 51 that is counting is "8".
is being counted.

When a predetermined cup is separated from the cup column 2 and introduced into each cup delivery mechanism 22 in this manner, the retrieved cup column number is stored in the registers 52 and 54. Therefore, when the cup delivery mechanism 22 runs out of cups again, it searches for the cup column 2 from which the cup was previously taken based on the values in the registers 52 and 54 and takes out the cup from the same cup column 2. For example, in the state shown in FIG. 11A, when a hot cup turret signal is generated in the cup switch 32A due to a cup breakage in the hot cup delivery mechanism 2, the turret motor 42 is driven and the cup column (H- 9) reaches, the hot counter 51 counts "9", and then when the sensor 35A detects that the reference column, the cup column (C-1), arrives, the hot counter 51 is set to "1", and then the cup column (C-1) is set to "1". (C-2)・(C-
3), (C-4), and (H-5) arrive in sequence, the hot counter 51 counts "5", and the register 52
When the value becomes equal to the stored value, the microcomputer 45 stops the turret motor 42. Therefore, the state shown in FIG. 11C is reached again, and the hot cup is separated from the cup column (H-5) by the cup separating mechanism 23 and introduced into the cup delivery mechanism 22. At this time, if the sensor 41A detects that there is no cup in the cup column {H-5), the microcomputer 45 continues to drive the turret motor 42. Then, the cup column (H-6) reaches above the hot cup outlet 13,
When the sensor 37A detects that this cup column is a hot cup storage column and the sensor 41A detects that a cup is stored, the drive of the turret motor 42 is stopped.
Then, the hot cup separation mechanism 21 on the hot side separates the hot cup from the cup column (H-5) and introduces it into the cup delivery mechanism 22. At this time, the hot cup 51 is counting "6" and the microcomputer 45 is in the register. “6” in 52
is stored to remember that the hot cup has been separated from the cup column (H-6). On the other hand, the cold counter 53 has cup columns (C-2), (C-3), (C-3) on the cold cup outlet 14.
4), (H-5), and (H-6) are reached in sequence, so "6" is counted.

Then, in the state shown in FIG. 11C, the cup delivery mechanism 22
When a cold cup turret signal is generated in the cup switch 32B due to the cup breakage, the turret motor 42 is driven and the cup column (H-
7), (H-8), and (H-9) reach the cold cup outlet 14 in sequence, the cold counter 5
3 is counted and ``9'' is counted, and ``1'' is set when the cup column (C-1) is reached. The value of this counter 53 and the stored value of the register 54 match, and the microcomputer 4
5 stops the turret motor 42 and restarts the 11th motor again.
In the state shown in Fig. A, the cold cup is separated from the cup column (C-1) by the cup separating mechanism 23 on the cold side and introduced into the cup delivery mechanism 22. At this time, if the sensor 41B detects that there is no cup in the cup column (C-1),
The microcomputer 45 is the turret motor 4
2, the cup column (C-2) reaches above the cold cup outlet 14, the sensor 37B detects that this cup column is a cold cup storage column, and the cup is stored. When detected by the sensor 41B, the driving of the turret motor 42 is stopped. Then, the cold cup separation mechanism 23 on the cold side separates the cold cup from the cup column (C-2) and introduces it into the cup delivery mechanism 22. At this time, the cold counter 53 is counting "2" and the microcomputer 45 is “2” in register 54
is stored to remember that the cold cup was separated from the cup column (C-2).

The microcomputer 45 drives the corresponding cup drop motors 46 and 47 in response to a hot cup supply signal or a cold cup supply signal output from the main body control circuit of the vending machine to dispense hot cups or cold cups.

(G) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, there is no need to move the cup row to perform the take-out operation below the rotating orbit, and the device can be made more compact. Since the cup delivery mechanism introduces some cups separately from the cup row, the cup delivery mechanism can perform a reliable cup delivery operation without being loaded with the entire weight of the cup row. Once some cups are removed from a particular cup column, each cup column can be emptied one by one in order to ensure that future cups of that type are removed from the same cup column. Therefore, the cups are fed in the order in which they are filled.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the cup turret, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the connection of the cup columns, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the cup turret.
4 is a diagram showing the main parts near the outlet, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional plan view showing the main parts near the outlet.
Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the support member, Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the wedge plate, Fig. 8 is a configuration diagram of the cup delivery mechanism seen from the front, Fig. 9 is a diagram of the arrangement of the sensor,
Figure 0 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the control circuit, Figure 11A,
FIGS. 11B and 11C are explanatory diagrams of the cup turret operation, FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the driving portion of the cup separating mechanism, and FIG. 13 is a side view of FIG. 12. 1... Board, 2... Cup column, 13, 14
...Cup outlet, 21...Cup turret,
22...Cup delivery mechanism, 23...Cup separation mechanism, 35...Reference column sensor, 36...Cup column sensor, 37...Cup type sensor, 41
...Cup sensor, 45...Microcomputer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate, a cup column which can store any of a plurality of different types of cups and which stores the cups in a vertically stacked row of cups, and the cup column is connected to the substrate in a closed loop and is connected along the closed loop. A cup turret to be moved, a display section provided for each cup column to display the stored cup type, a reference column display section provided in one of the cup columns to indicate that the cup column is a reference column, and a display section provided for each cup column to display the stored cup type; A cup outlet is formed on the moving track according to the cup type, and a display section is provided for each cup outlet to indicate whether the cup column that has reached the outlet by driving the cup turret is storing a predetermined type of cup. a standard column sensor installed at each cup outlet to detect whether the cup column that has reached the outlet is a reference column by means of the reference column display; A cup column sensor is provided for detecting the arrival of the cup column; a cup sensor is provided for each cup outlet to detect the presence or absence of a cup in the reached cup column; and a cup sensor is provided below the cup outlet to detect the presence of a cup in the cup column. A cup delivery mechanism for delivering a cup in response to the cup, and a cup dispensing mechanism provided above the cup delivery port to separate a cup from a cup row of a predetermined cup column and introduce it into the corresponding cup delivery mechanism when the corresponding cup delivery mechanism runs out of a cup. When the separation mechanism and the cup turret are operated, when the reference column sensor detects the arrival of the reference column at the cup outlet, the reference column is set as the first column and thereafter, when other cup columns arrive, the cup column is a counter that performs a counting operation each time a sensor detects a cup; a detection signal from each of the cup type sensor and the cup sensor; a count value of the counter; cup column scanning means for determining a cup column from which a cup is to be separated, and storing the count value of the counter corresponding to the cup column as the previously taken out cup column information; a cup feeding device comprising cup turret control means for stopping the cup turret when the cup column indicated by the means reaches the corresponding cup outlet.