JPH0535918B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (b) Industrial application fields The present invention relates to a product delivery device for a vending machine.

(B) Conventional technology A plurality of product transport rack devices for horizontally transporting loaded and stored products are arranged in parallel in upper and lower stages, and products carried out from the product delivery end of each product transport shelf device are moved up and down. Receive it in the product shelf of the elevator equipment,
2. Description of the Related Art A product delivery device for a vending machine configured to transport products to a product takeout port has been known. In a vending machine with such a configuration, when a product is selected by a customer, the elevator device operates to move the product receiving shelf to the product delivery end of the product transport shelf device corresponding to the selected product, As a result, the product transport shelf device transports the loaded products toward the product delivery end and carries out the first product to the product receiving shelf, and the product receiving shelf moves downward when receiving the product. The vending machine then moves to the product takeout port, allowing the product to be taken out from the front of the vending machine. Further, the product receiving shelf is formed in a substantially U-shape, including a receiving shelf portion for receiving and placing products, and a top plate portion located above the receiving shelf portion and facing each other,
By making the opening formed between the receiving shelf section and the top plate correspond to the product discharging end of the product transporting shelf device, the product is configured to be received from the product discharging end. 60-87081.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the prior art with such a configuration, the product being carried out from the product transport shelf device to the product receiving shelf may be delivered to the product receiving shelf in a perfect state due to an unloading error or the like. First, when the end of the product remains at the product delivery end, when the product shelf moves down, the product becomes locked and strongly pinched between the product delivery end and the top plate. There was a risk of product damage or malfunction of product shelves, elevator equipment, etc.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a product delivery device that does not cause a locked state even if the product is incompletely transferred from the product transport shelf device to the product receiving shelf.

(d) Means for solving the problem A product transport shelf device that horizontally transports loaded and stored products is arranged in multiple stages above and below, and products are carried out from the product delivery end of each product transport shelf device. In the vending machine, the product receiving shelf includes a receiving shelf section for receiving and placing the products, and an elevator device for receiving products on a vertically moving product receiving shelf and transporting the products to a product takeout port. and a top plate part installed opposite to each other, an opening for receiving the product from the product delivery end is formed between the top plate part and the receiving shelf part, and the receiving shelf part and the top plate part are vertically separated. The elevator apparatus has a structure in which the receiving shelf is mounted on the elevator apparatus, and the top plate is mounted so as to be vertically movable on the track of the receiving shelf.

(E) Effect When the shelf part and the top plate part of the product shelf are separated vertically and the product shelf is moved down with the end of the product transported from the product transport shelf device remaining on the product delivery end. ,
The top plate remains in that position while being locked to the product.
To prevent a locked state from occurring by moving only the receiving shelf part downward.

(F) Embodiments FIGS. 1 to 15 show embodiments of the present invention. 1 is the main body of the vending machine, and the front side has a coin slot 2, a product selection button 3, and a product takeout port 4.
A door 5, which is equipped with a door 5, is pivotally supported so that it can be opened and closed. 6
is a product conveyance shelf device comprising a conveyor 7 that rotates when a product sales command is delivered; The stored products are transported in eight directions toward the product delivery end. Further, a stopper member 6A is rotatably provided at the product delivery end 8, and the stopper member 6A locks the first product on the product delivery end 8 side during sales standby. Rotation is prevented by. When the conveyor 7 rotates, the lock mechanism 6B releases the rotation prevention of the stopper member 6A, allowing the first product to be carried out from the product delivery end 8, and when the product is carried out, a spring (not shown) is activated. It is then returned to its original position and held in a rotationally prevented state by the locking mechanism 6B to lock the next product. Reference numeral 9 denotes an elevator device that extends vertically between the product transport shelf devices 6 and 6 that are arranged side by side on the left and right. It is configured so that it can be located in a position corresponding to the discharge end 8. That is, the elevator device 9 includes an endless chain 11 stretched in the vertical direction,
A track rail 12 extending along the endless chain 11, a pair of upper and lower movable bases 13 and 14 attached to the track rail 12 so as to be able to move up and down, and a top plate portion fixed to the upper movable base 13. 1
5, a receiving shelf portion 16 rotatably supported by a lower movable base 14, and a drive motor 17 that rotates the endless chain 11 and is capable of forward and reverse rotation. The lower moving base 14 is connected to the endless chain 11, and can move up and down on the track rail 12 by forward and reverse rotation of the endless chain 11, and the upper moving base 14 is connected to the lower moving base. 1
4, and is freely movable up and down on the track rail 12 while following the up and down movement of the lower movable base 14. That is, the upper movable base 13 is pushed up and moved upward by the upward movement of the lower movable base 14, and the lower movable base 14
When it moves downward, it will move downward due to its own weight.

On the other hand, the top plate part 15 is fixed to the upper movable base 13, and the receiving shelf part 16 is rotatably supported by the lower movable base 14. A pair of upper and lower shelves constitute the product receiving shelf 10, and between the top plate portion 15 and the receiving shelf portion 16, products to be carried out from the product discharging end 8 of the left and right product transporting shelf devices 6 are placed. , product shelf 1
An opening 18 is formed such that it is receivable within the opening. In addition, the upper movable base 13 is fixed to the top plate part 15 so that it extends horizontally into the passage 19 in which the product receiving shelf 10 moves up and down, and the receiving shelf part 16 is arranged as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The upper end of the rear part is rotatably supported on the lower movable base 14, and a roller 20 rotatably provided at the rear end of the lower part is attached to a guide rail 21 provided on the front surface of the track rail 12. It is abutted and supported and extends horizontally into the passageway 19 . The lower end of the guide rail 21 is bent rearward as shown in FIG. The portion 16 is configured to have a forward leaning posture. Then, the top plate portion 15 is placed at a position where the receiving shelf portion 16 corresponds to the product outlet 4.
is located below the product conveyance shelf device 6 at the lowest stage and closes the passage 19.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the receiving shelf section 16 is provided with movable plates 16B rotatably supported on both sides of the bottom plate 16A, and the movable plates 16B extend and support to both sides of the bottom plate 16A. It is also possible to rotate upward. As shown in FIG. 6, when the receiving shelf section 16 moves downward and the product C on the lower product transport shelf device 6 protrudes into the passage 19, the movable plate 16B is moved by the product C. Then, it is rotated upward to avoid a locked state between the receiving shelf section 16 and the product C, and when the contact with the product C is released after passing downward, the product C is rotated downward again.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a lock member whose lower end is rotatably provided on the rear surface of the lower movable base 14, and when the lower movable base 14 is moved down to a position where the receiving shelf portion 16 is located corresponding to the product outlet 4, The upper end locking portion 22A is pressed and rotated forward by the pressing member 23, and the locking portion 22A is inserted and locked into the locking hole 24 of the upper moving base 13 located on the lower moving base 14. The upper and lower movable bases 13 and 14 are connected to each other. That is, lock member 2
2 is engaged with the pressing member 23 and rotated forward when the receiving shelf portion 16 is positioned corresponding to the product outlet 4;
The upper and lower movable bases 13 and 14 are connected to prevent the top plate portion 15 that closes the passage 19 from being moved upward by mischief or the like.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a shutter device provided at the lower part of the passage 19, which is pivotally supported so as to be able to open and close the passage 19. Normally, the passage 19 is closed and kept in the closed state by a locking device 27 comprising a solenoid 26. Then, when the receiving shelf section 16 moves downward and reaches a predetermined position above the shutter device 25,
The solenoid 26 operates to release the locked state held by the locking device 27, and the receiving shelf 16, which moves downward, pushes open the shutter device 25 downward and moves it to the position corresponding to the product outlet 4. I'm trying to make it possible. Further, when the shelf portion 16 moves upward, the shutter device 25 returns to its original position due to the elasticity of the spring 28, closing the passage 19 and locking the lock device 2.
7 to keep it closed.

Reference numeral 29 denotes a movable shelf provided in the product storage chamber 30 formed between the product transport shelf devices 6, 6 arranged vertically, and has locking pieces 31, 32 protruding from the left and right sides of the rear end, respectively. A fixing member 34 is provided on the left and right sides of the front end and is biased by a spring 33 so as to be freely retractable on both sides. and locking piece 3
1 and 32 in the locking holes 35A of the rear mounting frame 35, and locking the fixing members 34 in the locking holes 37 of the front mounting frame 36, the products on the product transport shelf device 6 can be fixed. The movable shelf 29 corresponding to the delivery end 8 side is installed in an inclined state so that the side end part is high and the opposite side end is low, and the small diameter cylindrical product B
The product B stored on the movable shelf 29 is configured to fall onto the conveyor 7 through an opening 38 formed at the lower end of the slope. There is. In addition, the movable shelf 29
are removed from the mounting frames 35 and 36, or the locking pieces 31 and 32 are inserted into the locking holes 39 of the rear mounting frame 35.
The product transport shelf device 6
A large product C can be stored and placed on the conveyor 7.

Next, a normal sales operation with the above configuration will be explained. When the product is on standby for sale, the product receiving shelf 10 is located at the upper end of the passage 19, and the shutter device 25 closes the lower part of the passage 19. Therefore, when the product is on standby, the product transport shelf device 6 is moved from the product takeout port 4 to
The shutter device 25 prevents tampering.

Here, a predetermined amount of money is inserted from the money slot 2,
When the product selection button 3 is operated, a sales command is sent, the elevator device 9 is operated, and the product receiving shelf 10 is
is moved downward, and the product receiving shelf 10 stops at a position corresponding to the product delivery end 8 of the product transport shelf device 6 corresponding to the selected product. Due to this stop, the conveyor 7 of the corresponding product delivery shelf device 6 rotates, and the locking mechanism 6B operates to stop the stopper member 6A.
becomes rotatable. Therefore, the product A on the conveyor 7 is conveyed in the direction of the product discharge end 8, and the first product A is transported from the product discharge end 8 to the opening 1.
8 and is carried out into the product receiving shelf 10. When the conveyance of the product A is detected by a detection switch (not shown), the conveyor 7 stops rotating and transporting the product, and the stopper member 6A returns to rotation and stops the next product A. and lock mechanism 6
B is held in an unrotatable state.

On the other hand, when product A is received in the product receiving shelf 10,
The product shelf 10 moves down again. When the shelf section 16 of the product shelf 10 reaches a predetermined position above the shutter device 25, the solenoid 26 is activated and the locking state of the shutter device 25 by the lock device 27 is released. Therefore, the product receiving shelf 10 moves downward by pushing open the shutter device 25, and stops at a position corresponding to the product outlet 4. At this time, the shelf part 16 of the product shelf 10 is supported by the lower end of the guide rail 21 with the roller 20 bent backward, so it assumes a forward tilted position so as to move downward in the direction of the product outlet 4. The product A on the receiving shelf section 16 is then delivered to the product takeout port 4. Furthermore, if the receiving shelf section 16 is located at a position corresponding to the product outlet 4, the locking member 2
2 is engaged with the pressing member 23 and rotated forward, and the upper and lower moving bases 13 and 14 are connected.
The top plate portion 15, which has been moved downward with accompaniment at 6, is in a state where its upward movement is prevented. Therefore, the top plate part 1
5 closes the passage 19 in place of the shutter device 25, and the product transport shelf device 6 in this state
to prevent mischief.

When a detection switch (not shown) detects that the product A has been delivered from the top of the shelf section 16 to the product takeout port 4, the elevator device 9 is reversed, and the product shelf 10 is returned to its upward movement to return to the sales standby state. Become.

Product A is then carried out from the product transport shelf device 6
The operation when the item is exported in an incomplete state will be explained. For example, due to a defective delivery by the conveyor 7, a part of the product A is transferred to the product delivery end 8 as shown in FIG.
When the product receiving shelf 10 moves downward in the state where it is locked at the top, the product A is held between the product delivery end 8 and the top plate portion 15. However, since the top plate part 15 and the receiving shelf part 16 have a separate structure, only the receiving shelf part 16 connected to the endless chain 11 moves downward.
Therefore, the product A is sandwiched between the product delivery end 8 and the product delivery end 8 due to the load of the top plate portion 15, so that the product A is not strongly pinched and is not damaged or deformed. Further, the receiving shelf portion 16 can be moved downward without any hindrance, and an excessive load is not applied to the elevator device 9, and a locked state can be prevented. Therefore, the receiving shelf section 16 moves down independently to reach the product outlet 4.
It will be located corresponding to. However, since the product A is not placed on the receiving shelf 16, the delivery of the product from the receiving shelf 16 to the product takeout port 4 is not detected by the detection switch (not shown), and a timer device (not shown) is activated. After a certain amount of time has elapsed, the product will be considered malfunctioning and sales will be discontinued.

Next, when the product receiving shelf 10 storing the products moves downward, a part of the first product on the conveyor 7 of the product transporting shelf device 6 located below protrudes into the passage 19 of the product receiving shelf 10. This section explains what happens when the That is, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, in the case of a product C in a large container such as beer, a handle provided on the outer surface of the container may protrude into the passage 19. When the product receiving shelf 10 moves downward to the position of the protruding product C, the movable plate 16B of the receiving shelf 16 comes into contact with the protruding handle of the product C, but this movable plate 16B rotates upward. to avoid a locked state with product B. Therefore, the receiving shelf section 16 can be moved downward without being locked onto the protruding product C. At this time, since the top plate part 15 is locked to the protruding handle part, only the shelf part 16 of the product receiving shelf 10 moves downward.
Then, the receiving shelf section 16 that has moved downward returns to the upward movement after delivering the product A to the product takeout port 4 at the lower part of the passage 19, but at the time of this upward movement, the movable plate 16B of the receiving shelf section 16 protrudes into the passage 19. The protruding state can be corrected by rotating the handle portion upward and out of the passage 19 as shown in FIG. Therefore, for example, by reciprocating the product receiving shelf 10 once after loading the product onto each product transport shelf device 6, the posture of the product protruding into the aisle 19 can be corrected. For this reason,
The product delivery end 8 and the product receiving shelf 10 can be disposed close to each other without increasing the distance between them.

(G) Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention separates the shelf part and the top plate part of the product receiving shelf vertically, so that the end of the product carried out from the product transport shelf device is placed above the product delivery end. When the product shelf moves down with the product remaining in the product position, the top plate remains in that position with the product still in place, and only the product shelf moves downward. Even if the product being carried out to the product receiving shelf becomes caught between the product receiving shelf and the product delivery end due to an unloading error, etc., it will not be strongly pinched, and there will be no damage to the product or product receiving. It is possible to prevent failures of shelves, elevator equipment, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a side view of the product shelf section, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the top plate section,
Figure 3 is a plan view of the shelf, Figure 4 is a side view of the shelf corresponding to the product outlet, Figure 5 is a perspective view of the shelf, and Figure 6 is the product and movable plate. 7 is a configuration diagram of the shutter device part, FIG. 8 is a front view of the product conveyance shelf device part, FIG. 9 is a front view showing the same part in another state, and FIG. 10
The figure is a perspective view of the movable shelf, Figure 11 is a perspective view of the vending machine, Figure 12 is a front view of the inside of the vending machine, Figure 13 is a side sectional view of the vending machine, and Figure 14 is a view of the product. FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the top plate portion is locked, and FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which a product protruding into the aisle is corrected. 8...Product delivery end, 9...Elevator device, 1
0... Product shelf, 12... Track rail, 15...
Top plate section, 16...shelf section, 18...opening.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A product transport shelf device that horizontally transports the loaded and stored products, which are arranged in multiple upper and lower stages in parallel, and products that are carried out from the product delivery end of each product transport shelf device.
In a vending machine equipped with an elevator device for receiving products on a vertically moving product receiving shelf and transporting the products to a takeout port, the product receiving shelf has a receiving shelf section for accepting and placing products, and a receiving shelf section facing above the receiving shelf section. an opening for receiving the product from the product delivery end is formed between the top plate and the receiving shelf;
It has a structure in which the shelf part and the top plate part are separated vertically, the shelf part is mounted on the elevator device, and the top plate part is mounted so as to be vertically movable on the trajectory of the shelf part. Product delivery device for vending machines.