JPH0568757B2 - - 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) Prior art A plurality of product transport rack devices for horizontally transporting loaded and stored products are arranged in parallel in upper and lower stages, and a passageway extends vertically corresponding to the product delivery end of each product transport shelf device. Conventionally, there has been a product discharging device for a vending machine that is configured to receive a product carried out from the product discharging end into a product receiving shelf of an elevator device that moves up and down within the aisle, and transport the product to a product takeout port. Are 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. Such a configuration is shown in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 60-87081.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the case of a product conveyance device having such a configuration, since the product is carried out using a product conveyance shelf device and an elevator device, due to its structure, the shape of the product to be stored and sold or It has the advantage of being less restricted by size. Therefore, the shapes and sizes of products stored and sold using this type of product delivery device vary widely.

For this reason, when a product with a handshake part protruding from the outside of the container, such as the recent draft beer products in large containers, is placed and stored on the product delivery device,
The handshake part of the first product may protrude into the aisle of the product receiving shelf. Therefore, if the product shelf is locked to a product protruding into the passageway, a locked state may occur, which may cause damage to the product or malfunction of the product shelf, elevator system, etc.

In addition, in order to prevent the products protruding into the aisle from becoming locked, the gap between the product delivery end of the product transport shelf device and the product shelf must be made large, which requires a large device. Along with becoming
If the product being transported from the product delivery end to the product receiving shelf is a small product, there is a risk that a malfunction may occur during the transfer.

As described above, the present invention is advantageous in that even if a part of the product protrudes into the aisle, a locked state due to engagement between the product and the product receiving shelf does not occur, and the product delivery end and the product receiving shelf are kept close to each other. The present invention provides a product delivery device that can be installed.

(d) Measures to solve the problem A product transport shelf device that horizontally transports loaded and stored products is installed in multiple stages above and below, and upper and lower shelves are installed corresponding to the product output end of each product transport shelf device. In the vending machine, the vending machine is equipped with a passageway extending into the passageway, and an elevator device for receiving the merchandise carried out from the merchandise delivery end into a merchandise receiving shelf that moves up and down within the passageway and transporting the merchandise to the merchandise taking out port. The shelf consists of a bottom plate that receives the products introduced from the product transport shelf device, and a movable plate that is rotatably connected to the bottom plate at one end and extends toward the product delivery end side at the other end. The movable plate and the bottom plate are configured such that the bottom plate is located above the movable plate at a connecting portion where they overlap vertically.

(E) Function The product receiving shelf can reliably receive products using a movable plate extending toward the product delivery end side of the product transport shelf device. This rotating plate can freely rotate upward, but cannot rotate downward because its back surface collides with the end of the bottom plate. Therefore, when the product receiving shelf moves down the aisle, even if there is a product that protrudes into the aisle from the product delivery end of the product transport shelf device, the rotating plate will rotate upward if it bumps into this product. A lock condition can be avoided. Conversely, if a product protrudes into the aisle from the product delivery end of the product transport shelf device when the product receiving shelf moves up the aisle, the product can be pushed and moved outside the aisle.

(F) Embodiments FIGS. 1 to 12 show embodiments of the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of the vending machine, on the front of which a door 5 having a coin slot 2, a product selection button 3, a product takeout port 4, etc. is arranged, is pivotally supported so as to be openable and closable. Reference numeral 6 denotes 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. Then, when the conveyor 7 rotates, the lock mechanism 6B releases the rotation prevention of the stopper member 6A,
It enables the first product to be carried out from the product delivery end, and when the product is carried out, it is returned to its original state by a spring (not shown), and is held in a state of preventing rotation by the locking mechanism 6B, thereby locking the next product. I'm starting to do that. 9 is a product conveyance shelf device 66 arranged side by side on the left and right.
It is an elevator device provided extending in the vertical direction between the two, and a product receiving shelf 10 is provided so as to be movable up and down, and is configured to be able to be positioned corresponding to the product delivery end 8 of each product transport shelf device 6. That is, the elevator device 9 includes an endless chain 11 stretched in the vertical direction, and a track rail 12 installed extending along the endless chain 11.
A pair of upper and lower movable bases 13 and 14 are attached to the track rail 12 so as to be movable up and down, a top plate part 15 is fixed to the upper movable base 13, and a shaft is rotatably attached to the lower movable base 14. It includes a supported shelf portion 16 and a drive motor 17 that rotates the endless chain 11 and is capable of forward and reverse rotation. Then, the lower movable base 14 is connected to the endless chain 11, and the track rail 12 is rotated by forward and reverse rotation of the endless chain 11.
The upper movable base 14 is placed on the upper end of the lower movable base 14, and moves on the track rail 12 while accompanying the vertical movement of the lower movable base 14. It can be moved up and down. That is, the upper moving base 1
3 is pushed up and moved upward by the upward movement of the lower movable base 14, and when the lower movable base 14 moves downward, it is moved downward by its own weight.

On the other hand, the top plate part 15 fixed to the upper movable base 13 and the shelf part 16 rotatably supported by the lower movable base 14 form a pair of upper and lower parts to form the product shelf 10. Between the top plate part 15 and the receiving shelf part 16, the products carried out from the product discharging end 8 of the left and right product transporting shelf devices 6 are placed on the product receiving shelf 1.
An opening 18 is formed to be receivable within the opening.

Further, the top plate part 15 is fixed to the upper movable base 13 so as to extend horizontally into the passage 19 in which the product receiving shelf 10 moves up and down, and the receiving shelf part 16 is fixed 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 supported and extends horizontally into the passageway 19 . The lower end of the guide rail 21 is bent rearward as shown in FIG. The shelf portion 16 is configured to be in a forward leaning position. 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.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the receiving shelf section 16 is provided with a pair of movable plates 16B on both sides of the bottom plate 16A, which extend toward the product delivery end side of the product transport shelf device 6. The movable plate 16B is rotatably supported by the bottom plate 16A;
The movable plate 6A and the movable plate 16B are connected such that the bottom plate is located above the movable plate at the portion where they overlap vertically. As a result, the movable plate 16B is free to rotate upward, but its downward rotation is blocked because its back surface collides with the end of the lower plate 16A. Therefore, when the receiving shelf section 16 moves downward as shown in FIG. Therefore, since it is rotated upward, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of a locked state between the receiving shelf 16 and the product C, and when the contact with the product C is released after passing downward, the product 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. , and is configured to connect the upper and lower movable bases 1314. That is, the lock member 22
When the receiving shelf section 16 is positioned corresponding to the product outlet 4, it engages with the pressing member 23 and is rotated forward, connecting the upper and lower movable bases 1314, and opening the passage 1.
This prevents the top plate part 15 which closes the top part 9 from being moved upward by mischief or the like.

A shutter device 25 is provided at the lower part of the passage 19, and is pivotally supported to open and close the passage 19. Under normal conditions, the shutter device 25 closes the passage 19 and maintains the closed state by a locking device 27 comprising a solenoid 26.
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 locking state held by the locking device 27, and the shelf section 16 moves downward. The receiving shelf section 16 pushes open the shutter device 25 downward so that it can be positioned at a position corresponding to the product outlet 4. Further, when the shelf section 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 locking device 27.
It is designed to be kept closed by.

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, when a predetermined amount of money is inserted from the money slot 2 and the product selection button 3 is operated, a sales command is sent, and the elevator device 9 is operated to move the product shelf 10 down. is the product delivery end 8 of the product transport shelf device 6 corresponding to the selected product.
It will stop at the corresponding position. As a result of this stop, the conveyor 7 of the corresponding product transport shelf device 6 rotates, and the lock mechanism 6B operates to rotate the stopper member 6.
A becomes rotatable. Therefore, the products A on the conveyor 7 are transported in the direction of the product delivery end 8, and the first product A is delivered from the product delivery end 8 through the opening 18 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 6B
It is held in an unrotatable state by.

On the other hand, when product A is received in the product receiving shelf 10,
The product shelf 10 moves downward 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 section 16 of the product shelf 10 is supported by the lower end of the guide rail 21 with the rollers 20 bent backward, so it is tilted forward 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. Further, when the receiving shelf section 16 is positioned corresponding to the product outlet 4, the locking member 22 engages with the pressing member 23 and is rotated forward to connect the upper and lower movable bases 1314. The top plate part 15, which has been moved down by its own weight to the receiving shelf part 16 at the upper part of the top plate part 15, is in a state where its upward movement is prevented. Therefore, the top plate section 15 closes the passage 19 in place of the shutter device 25, and prevents tampering with the product transport shelf device 6 in this state.

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 the upward movement position to return to the sales standby state. Become.

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. 10, for example, in the case of a product C in a large container such as beer, a handshake portion 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 portion 16 comes into contact with the protruding handshake portion of the product C, but this movable plate 16B rotates upward. to avoid a locked state with product C. 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 handshake part, only the shelf part 16 of the product receiving shelf 10 moves downward. Then, the receiving shelf section 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 during this upward movement, the movable plate 16B of the receiving shelf section 16 protrudes into the passage 19. The protruding condition can be corrected by rotating the handgrip upward and out of the passageway 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, in the present invention, the product receiving shelf is extended and supported toward the product delivery end side, and has a movable plate that is rotatable upward, so that the product receiving shelf does not catch the protruding product when it is moved downward. When the product is stopped, it rotates upward to avoid the occurrence of a locked state, and when it moves upward, it presses and removes the protruding product to the outside of the aisle, so a locked state occurs between the product and the product receiving shelf. In addition, the product receiving shelf can be installed close to the product discharging end, making it possible to downsize the device, and also making it easier to transfer small products from the product discharging end to the product receiving shelf. It is something that plays.

[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,
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the shelf, Fig. 4 is a side view of the product shelf corresponding to the product outlet, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the shelf, and Fig. 6 is the product transport shelf device. A front view of the parts, Figure 7 is a front view of the inside of the vending machine body, Figure 8 is a front view of the parts.
Figure 9 is a side sectional view of the vending machine, Figure 9 is a perspective view of the vending machine, Figure 10 is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the product and the movable plate are in contact, and Figure 11 is an illustration of the product protruding into the aisle. FIG. 12, which is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the correction is made, is a configuration diagram of the shutter device portion. 8...Product delivery end, 10...Product receiving shelf, 16...
...Receptacle part, 16A...Bottom plate, 16B...Movable plate,
19...Aisle.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A product transport shelf device that horizontally transports loaded and stored products and is arranged in a plurality of upper and lower stages in parallel, and extends vertically corresponding to the product delivery end of each product transport shelf device. In a vending machine comprising a passageway and an elevator device for receiving a product carried out from the product delivery end into a product receiving shelf that moves up and down within the aisle and transporting the product to the product takeout port, the product receiving shelf is configured to The movable plate consists of a bottom plate that receives the products introduced from the product transport shelf device, and a movable plate that is rotatably connected to the bottom plate at one end and extends toward the product delivery end side at the other end. and the bottom plate are located above the movable plate at a connecting portion where the bottom plate and the bottom plate overlap each other vertically.