JPH06101059B2 - Product heating device for canned product vending machines - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention is intended for an automatic vending machine for canned products such as coffee, and stores can products stored at room temperature or in a preheated state in the product storage section. The present invention relates to a product heating device of a can product vending machine, which is heated to a temperature suitable for a selling temperature and sold on the way of a carry-out route from a product to a product outlet.

[Conventional technology]

As the above-mentioned product heating device, a high-frequency induction heating device is provided inside the product outlet, and a can product carried out from the product storage unit at the time of sale is guided to the induction heating device to be heated, for example, It is known as JP-A-54-699.

On the other hand, in an ordinary can product vending machine, in consideration of the fact that the can product carried out from the product storage section rolls on the shooter and is taken out to the product outlet, the material handling property of the can product in the machine and heating For the purpose of improving efficiency, a product heating device that is a saddle-shaped coil of an induction heating coil and receives and holds can products in an inverted posture and heats them is the same applicant as Japanese Patent Application No. 63-170149. More suggested.

Here, FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a can product vending machine equipped with the above-mentioned proposed product heating device. In the figure, 1 is a cabinet of an automatic vending machine, 2 is a front door thereof, 3 is a product outlet provided in the door, 4 is a product storage section in the warehouse, 5 is a carry-out shooter, and 6 is an inside of the product outlet 3. It is an induction heating type product heating device installed in the door. The commodity heating device 6 includes an induction heating coil 7 as a saddle-shaped coil having an open upper surface and a high frequency power source 8.

With this configuration, the can product 9 can be stored in the product storage unit 4
Preheated to about 40 ℃ and stored. On the other hand, when the can product 9 is carried out from the product storage unit 4 by the selling operation, the can product 9 rolls over the shooter 5 in the inverted position toward the product outlet 3, and falls from the front edge of the shooter 5. Then, it is received and held on the induction heating coil 7 described above. At the same time, the induction heating coil 7 receives electric power from the high frequency power source 8 for a predetermined time (about 10 seconds) to inductively heat the can product 9 and raise the temperature of the can product 9 to about 60 ° C. suitable for the selling temperature. When the predetermined induction heating time has elapsed, the coil 7 is de-energized, and in this state, the customer can open the door 3a of the product outlet 3 to freely take out the product.

On the other hand, in the product heating device equipped with the saddle-shaped induction heating coil, the heating surface area of the can product facing the induction heating coil is provided with a rotating means for rotating the can product while the can product is loaded in the induction heating coil. The same applicant has proposed a Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 63-170150 in which induction heating is carried out from the entire circumferential surface by sequentially moving it along the circumferential surface of the can.

In addition, there is a stirring device that shakes the canned product in the left-right direction while the canned product is loaded in the induction heating coil to stir the beverage in the canned product during induction heating to enhance the heat transfer effect. It has been proposed by the same applicant as Japanese Patent Application No. 63-170148.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

By the way, the induction heating type commercialization heat device is equipped with either the rotating means or the stirring means for the can product proposed above, but some results can be obtained, but in order to obtain a higher heating effect, During induction heating, it is desirable to simultaneously rotate the canned product and stir the content drink.

However, if the rotating means and the agitating means disclosed in the above-mentioned proposal are incorporated into the product heating device as they are, the rotating means for supporting the can product on the roller and rotating it, and the reciprocating motion by sandwiching both ends of the can product. Such stirring means interfere with each other, and if they are left as they are, the rotating operation and the stirring operation cannot be performed at the same time. That is, in the state in which the can product is sandwiched and restrained by the stirring means, the can product does not rotate even if the roller is rotated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is intended for a product heating device that loads and heats a can product on a saddle-shaped induction heating coil in an inverted posture, and simultaneously rotates the can product in an induction heating process. , It is an object of the present invention to provide a product heating device capable of stirring operation.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a product heating device that heats a can product carried out from a product heating storage unit of the present invention to a product take-out port on the way of the carrying-out route, and a can product that is received and held in an inverted posture is a bottom surface. A saddle-shaped induction heating coil with an open upper surface that is induction-heated from the side of the induction heating coil is mounted on the supporting table in parallel with the supporting table that also serves as a supporting frame for the can product that has the induction heating coil. Rotating means for rotating the can product carried by the rotating roller set while rotating the can product carried by the rotating roller set, and rotation means for imparting rotation in the rotation direction while carrying the can product in the inverted position; and stirring means for shaking the can product carried by the rotating roller set. Shall be configured.

[Action]

With the above configuration, by operating the rotating / stirring means with the can product loaded in the induction heating coil, the can product rotates in the induction heating area facing the induction heating coil along the circumferential direction of the can, at the same time. The can moves back and forth in the left-right direction to stir the content beverage, and the heat generated on the induction heating surface of the can at the same time is efficiently generated by the convection of the content beverage while the can product is subjected to induction heating on the entire circumferential surface. The heat will be transferred.

〔Example〕

1 to 4 show the structure of an embodiment of the present invention, and the same members corresponding to FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals.

First, in FIG. 1, a coil support 13 is provided on a box-shaped base 10 which also functions as a wind tunnel via parallel swing links 11 and 12, and a saddle-shaped induction heating coil 7 and Also, a rotary roller group 14 composed of a total of four rollers arranged on both sides of the induction heating coil 7 is mounted. Also the mounting base
A window 15 is provided on the upper surface of 13 for loosely supporting the can product.

On the other hand, the base 10 is provided with a drive motor 16 and the drive motor 16
There are three spur gears 17, 18, 1 between the rotary roller 14 and
9, the helical gear 20, and the spur gear 21 shown in FIG. The spur gear 17 is coupled to the output shaft of the drive motor 16, the spur gear 18 is coaxially aligned with the swing link 12 and is axially supported by the base 10, and the spur gear 19 is connected to the tip of the swing link 12. They are coaxially arranged and axially supported by a mounting base 13. With this configuration, when the drive motor 16 is rotated,
Each roller of the roller set 14 rotates synchronously in the same direction via the gear mechanism described above. Then, as shown in FIG.
When the can product 9 is carried on the peripheral surface of the can 14, the can product 9 rotates in the rotation direction as indicated by an arrow P.

Also, returning to FIG. 1, a bifurcated fork 22 is formed at the lower end of the swing link 12 described above.
Engages with a crank pin 23 attached to the spur gear 19.
As a result, when the spur gear 19 is rotated by the drive motor 16,
As shown in the figure, the swing link is driven by the rotation of the crank pin 23.
12 oscillates left and right alternately with a support shaft 24 to the base 10 as a fulcrum as shown by a chain line, whereby the support base 13 coupled to the oscillating links 11 and 12 maintains a horizontal posture and the left and right directions of the arrow Q are shown. Reciprocates in the direction. Therefore, if the canned goods 9 are loaded on the support base 13 as shown in the figure, the canned goods 9 are shaken alternately with the support base 13 right and left.

Here, the drive motor 16, that is, the change in the amplitude of the support base 13 with respect to the rotation angle of the crank pin 23 is approximated by a sine curve,
During the reciprocating motion, the amplitude acceleration changes abruptly. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the content drink 9a loaded on the support 13 is shaken and stirred in the can due to the change of direction and the change in amplitude acceleration caused by the reciprocating movement of the support 13 described above. Become so.

In FIG. 1, a cooling air intake 25 is opened at one end of the base 10 that also serves as a wind tunnel, and a blower fan 26 is provided at the other end. This is for cooling the induction heating coil 7 to prevent overheating of the coil itself due to energization.

As is clear from the above description, when the drive motor 16 is started in the above-described structure that constitutes the rotating / stirring means, the rotating roller group 14 is moved through the gear mechanism and the swing link mechanism.
At the same time, while rotating, the support base 13 alternately reciprocates in the left-right direction. Therefore, by the sales operation described in FIG. 5, the induction heating is performed while the can product 9 carried out from the product storage unit 4 is received and held on the saddle type induction heating coil 7 of the product heating device 6 in the inverted posture. By supplying power to the coil 7 and operating the drive motor 16, the can product 9
While being subjected to induction heating, the stirring of the content drink by the rotational movement and the rocking in the left-right direction simultaneously proceeds. Since the can product 9 is fitted into the opening window 15 of the support base 13 to be loosely fitted and supported, and the support base 13 is integrally assembled with the induction heating coil 7 and the rotary roller set 14, In the above operation process, the rotation operation of the can product 9 by the roller set 14 is not hindered. As a result, the canned product 9 is subjected to induction heating over the entire circumferential surface area thereof, and the swinging of the canned product agitates the content beverage to enhance the heat transfer property, and the temperature of the content beverage can be effectively increased by the induction heating in a short time. it can.

According to the results of an experiment conducted by the inventor to confirm the evaluation on this point, the heating effect by the rotation operation of the can product is 20% as compared with the case where the can product is induction-heated in a stationary state, It has been confirmed that the stirring operation increases the efficiency by 30%, and the heating efficiency is increased by about 50% as a whole.

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the commodity heating apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

(1) Since the product heating device is configured by incorporating the rotating / stirring means, it is possible to simultaneously perform the rotating operation and the stirring operation of the canned product in the induction heating process of the canned product so as to improve the heating efficiency thereof. The heating time required to raise the temperature of the canned product to a predetermined temperature can be significantly shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing the overall structure of a product heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of gears of a rotating roller set inside the support base of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a rotating motion of a can product. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the stirring operation of the can product, and FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a can product vending machine equipped with a product heating device. In the figure, 3: product outlet, 4: product storage unit, 6: product heating device, 7: induction heating coil, 12: swing link, 13: support base, 14: rotating roller set, 16: drive motor, 19 ~ 21: Gear, 23: Crank pin, P: Can product rotation direction, Q: Can product swing direction.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A product heating device for heating a can product carried out from a product storage section to a product take-out port on the way of the carrying-out route, wherein the can product received and held in an inverted posture is induction-heated from the lower surface side and opened up. A saddle-shaped induction heating coil equipped with the above-mentioned induction heating coil, and a supporting stand that also serves as a supporting frame for the can product, and a rotating roller set mounted on the supporting stand side by side with the induction heating coil. And a stirring means for imparting left-right reciprocating motion to the support base to shake the can product carried by the rotating roller set. Product heating device for canned product vending machines.