JPH0578486B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a rotary storage cabinet that is particularly suitable for storing tableware and is capable of sterilizing trays and stored items on the trays using a germicidal lamp. be.

(Prior art and its problems) Trays connected in an endless manner in three warehouses are supported so that they can be circulated along a circulation path, and the group of trays is circulated in order to call any tray to the article loading/unloading port. Rotating storage cabinets equipped with a drive means to move them are used in various fields, but this type of rotary storage cabinet is often used to store tableware in large-scale cooking rooms of hotels and inns. When used for storage, it is necessary to efficiently sterilize the large amount of tableware stored therein. Of course, it is possible to attach sterilizing lamps to all of the many trays, or to place the same number of sterilizing lamps as the number of trays next to the circulation path, corresponding to each tray when the trays are stopped on the circulation path. However, such a method requires a large number of germicidal lamps, and both equipment costs and running costs are high, making it impractical.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention proposes a sterilizable rotary storage that can solve the conventional problems as described above. In the storage room, a sterilization lamp is installed beside the tray circulation path,
A sterilization mode is set in which the tray group is circulated and rotated by the drive means for a certain period of time at a speed lower than the speed during tray call control, and the sterilization lamp is turned on at least while this sterilization mode is being executed. The point is in the composition.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below based on the attached illustrative drawings.

The rotating storage 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a large number of trays 2 that rotate along a vertical circulation path inside the storage, and an article loading/unloading opening 4 equipped with a door 3 that can be opened and closed. have Each of the trays 2 is fixedly connected to a pair of left and right endless chains 8 suspended between an upper free-rotating toothed wheel 5 and a lower driving toothed wheel 7 attached to a common drive shaft 6 via respective hanging links. They are connected at intervals, and although not shown in the drawings, as is well known in the art, tray guide means for maintaining the upright posture of each tray 2 as it rotates along the vertical circulation path is provided. . Each tray 2 is composed of left and right side plates 2a, 2b, a bottom plate 2c, a back plate 2d, and a shelf plate 2e, and a bottom plate 2c on which tableware is placed.
The shelf board 2e is inclined slightly upward, and the back board 2e is tilted slightly upward.
d stands up at right angles to these bottom plate 2c and shelf board 2e. Reference numeral 9 denotes a drive means for rotating each tray 2, which includes a reducer 11 interlockingly connected to a motor 10, a gear wheel 12 interlockingly connecting the output shaft of this reducer 11 and the drive shaft 6, 13
and a chain 14. Reference numeral 15 denotes a workbench protruding outside the warehouse adjacent to the article loading/unloading port 4.

The motor 10 of the driving means 9 is controlled by a motor controller 16, and this motor controller 16 is controlled by a control means 17 such as a microcomputer. When the calling command 18 for a specific tray is input to the control means 17, the positional relationship between the current position of the calling tray and the article loading/unloading port 4 is calculated based on the tray position information 19, and the motor controller 16 The motor 10 can be controlled via the motor 10 to call a calling tray out of a large number of trays 2 to a position corresponding to the article loading/unloading port 4.

In the above-mentioned rotary storage, both the front and rear elevating path sections 2 in the vertical circulation path of the tray 2 are provided.
Multiple pieces above and below between 0a and 20b (one piece is fine)
A germicidal lamp 21 is installed horizontally so as to irradiate a light beam toward the rear elevation path section 20b. In the rear lifting path section 20b, the front of each tray 2 faces toward the front lifting path section 20a, so the irradiation light from the germicidal lamp 21 illuminates the inside of the tray 2 adjacent to the germicidal lamp 21. You can.

The arrangement position and number of germicidal lamps 21 are not limited to the above example. For example, as shown by the virtual line in Figure 1,
The sterilizing lamp 21 can also be arranged in a corner of the interior of the refrigerator adjacent to the upper end of the front elevation path section 20a.

A control program for executing the sterilization mode is input to the control means 17. This control program performs the control shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 using the set times t1 and t2 input in advance.

That is, for example, the control means 1 determines the tray stop time after the driving means 9 is activated for the task of calling a specific tray 2 to the article loading/unloading port 4.
When the tray stop time reaches the set time t1, the motor 10 of the drive means 9 is driven via the motor controller 16 to control the tray loading. The tray 2 is rotated in a predetermined direction along the vertical circulation path at a sterilization mode speed set lower than the speed of . At this time, a check is made to see if the tray call command 18 is entered.
It is desirable to control the motor 10 so that it is driven only when the tray call command 18 is not received. Of course, the set time t1 is set shorter than the elapsed time during which the tray 2 and the tableware placed on the tray 2 are expected to be contaminated with germs if left unattended, but it can be set as desired depending on the situation. It can be changed to .

When the set time t2 has elapsed after the tray 2 starts rotating, the motor 10 is stopped and the tray 2 stops rotating. This set time t2 is the time required for all the trays 2 to pass in front of the germicidal lamp 21 one to several times, but it can be changed arbitrarily depending on the situation. Further, the rotation distance of the tray 2 can be measured by, for example, counting the number of rotations of the drive shaft 6 by the control means 17 using a pulse encoder or the like, so that the rotation distance of the tray 2 can be measured at an arbitrarily set constant value. The motor 10 may be controlled to stop when the motor 10 has rotated by a certain distance. The sterilization lamp 21 can be kept on while the main power switch is turned on, but in some cases, when the tray 2 is being driven to rotate at a low speed in the sterilization mode, or It is also possible to turn on the light only when the motor 10 is operating to rotate the tray 2, including when the sterilization mode is being executed as described above.

According to the above control method, if the tray 2 calling command 18 is input before the set time t1 has elapsed, the control means 17 activates the motor 10 via the motor controller 16 for normal tray calling control. However, when this tray call control is completed, the stop time is measured again from that point, and when the set time t1 is reached, the above control is performed.

Of course, the above-mentioned sterilization mode may be selected by an active switching operation only when it is expected that the tray 2 will not be called up for a long period of time, such as at night or on holidays. In this case, each time the set time t1 elapses, the tray 2 is driven to circulate at a low speed for a set time t2. Furthermore, it is also possible to configure the tray 2 to rotate at a preset low speed for a set time t2 only when the sterilization mode is artificially selected.

(Operations and Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the sterilizable rotary storage of the present invention, a sterilization lamp is arranged beside the tray circulation path, and the tray group is set at a speed lower than the speed during tray recall control. A sterilization mode is set in which the sterilization lamps are rotated by the driving means for a certain period of time, and the sterilization lamps are turned on at least while this sterilization mode is being executed, so even if the number of sterilization lamps is reduced, all The tray can be passed through a position adjacent to the sterilizing lamp, and can be passed at a low speed that provides sufficient sterilizing effect, so it can be carried out at low cost, and it is easy to place on a tray or on a tray. It is possible to reliably obtain the desired sterilizing effect on the articles being treated.

In particular, as shown in the example, when the configuration is such that the sterilization mode is automatically executed every time the set time t1 elapses, tray recall control is not performed for a long period of time, such as at night or on holidays. Even in such a situation, the desired sterilizing effect can be obtained economically.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional side view showing an example of a rotary storage, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the control procedure. 2...Tray, 4...Goods loading/unloading port, 6...
Drive shaft, 8... Endless chain, 9... Drive means, 1
0... Motor, 11... Speed reducer, 16... Motor controller, 17... Control means, 21...
Germicidal lamp.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotary type that supports endlessly connected trays in a warehouse so as to be able to circulate and move along a circulation path, and is equipped with a drive means that circulates and rotates the group of trays in order to call any tray to the article loading/unloading port. In the storage, a sterilization lamp is disposed beside the circulation path, and a sterilization mode is set in which the group of trays is circulated and rotated by the drive means for a set time at a speed lower than the speed during tray recall control, and at least The sterilizable rotary storage is configured to turn on the sterilization light while the sterilization mode is being executed.