JPH0614388B2 - Vending machine product loading device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Use The present invention conveys a stored and loaded product in a substantially horizontal direction,
The present invention relates to a product loading device of an automatic vending machine, which is designed to send out from a product carrying-out end.

(B) Conventional technology Conventionally, product transport mechanisms that transport products placed and stored on a transport belt in a substantially horizontal direction are arranged in multiple rows in the vertical direction, and by driving the product transport mechanism based on a product delivery command, An automatic vending machine configured to send out a stored product from a product carrying-out end of the product carrying mechanism, receive a product sent out from the product carrying-out end into a vertically moving product cradle, and transfer the product to a product take-out port. Is known, for example, Japanese Patent Publication Sho 56
-4953.

In the conventional product transport mechanism, an endless transport belt is stretched horizontally between a pair of sprockets, and a large number of partition plates are provided at predetermined intervals on the transport belt extending in the horizontal direction. Performs product loading work to place and store products one by one on the conveyor belt between the partition plates,
The conveyor belt is rotated and moved by the interval between the partition plates based on a commodity delivery command, and the articles are sequentially delivered one by one from the article unloading end of the conveyor belt.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional technique having such a configuration, a partition plate is provided on the conveyor belt,
Since the product is loaded and stored between the partition plates and the conveyor belt is rotated and moved by the space between the partition plates, it is necessary to securely store the products between the partition plates. If this occurs, there is a problem that the product will be poorly sold, and the number of stored products will be limited to a small number.

Also, in the case of a configuration in which products are stored and sent between the partition plates,
Since the products are diagonally positioned between the partition plates and are located on the side of the partition plate on the rear side, the time from the drive to the delivery of the products is not constant and the customer may feel uneasy. In addition to the problem of giving the product, the posture of the delivered product is not constant, so that the product is likely to be jammed in the product delivery part, and a large space must be formed in the product delivery part to prevent the product from being jammed. was there.

According to the present invention, as described above, when loading a product, the loading switch is operated and the product is simply placed on the conveyor belt, and the product is put in the stand-by state for sale in an aligned state parallel to the stopper member. (EN) Provided is a product loading device for an automatic vending machine, which can realize a reliable product delivery operation by quickly and consistently delivering the product.

(D) Means for Solving the Problems The present invention is provided with a product transport mechanism that transports a product placed and stored on a transport belt in a substantially horizontal direction, and by driving the product transport mechanism based on a product delivery command, In a vending machine that delivers stored products from a product unloading end of a product carrying mechanism, a rotatable stopper member for locking the earliest product carried to the product carrying-out end side by driving the product carrying mechanism, A control switch that detects that the stopper member has locked the product, a lock mechanism that restricts the rotation of the stopper member so that the product can be locked and releases the restriction by a product delivery command, and loading of the product on the conveyor belt. A loading switch that is operated at any time to drive the product transport mechanism, and the product transport mechanism is driven based on the operation of the loading switch, and the product on the transport belt has locked the stopper member. When the control switch is detected, in which a control means for stopping controlling the commodity transfer mechanism after driving for a predetermined time.

(E) Operation In the present invention having such a configuration, when the loading switch is operated, the control unit drives the product transport mechanism, and the products placed and loaded on the transport belt are transported to the product unloading end side. When the control switch detects that the conveyed product is locked by the stopper member whose rotation to the product delivery position is restricted by the lock mechanism, the control means drives the product conveying mechanism for a predetermined time and then performs stop control. Thus, the products are sequentially arranged from the product locked by the stopper member without being separated from each other.

(F) Embodiments Each drawing shows an embodiment of the present invention, and (1) is a product transfer mechanism as a product delivery device installed substantially horizontally in the vending machine. This transport mechanism (1) has a pair of sprockets (2)
A drive motor having a reduction mechanism in which an endless conveyor belt (4) is horizontally stretched between (3) and connected to a sprocket (2).
By (5), the conveyor belt (4) is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG.

(6) A stopper member provided at the product unloading end (7) of the transfer mechanism (1), which extends over substantially the entire width of the transfer belt (4) so that the product placed on the transfer belt (4) can be locked. Shafts extending at both ends (8)
Is rotatably supported. And the stopper member
(6) is biased by the elasticity of the spring (9) in the direction opposite to the rotating direction of the conveyor belt (4). Also a stopper member
A control cam (10) is provided on the shaft (8) of (6), and the stopper member
The control switch (11) is operated by the rotation of (6).

(12) is a lock mechanism that restricts rotation of the stopper member (6), and is fixed to the shaft (8) and the fixing member (13) that rotatably inserts the shaft (8) of the stopper member (6). Fixing members so that they are orthogonal to each other
It is composed of a regulating member (14) slidably inserted in (13) and an electromagnetic solenoid (15) in which one end of the regulating member (14) is connected to a plunger (15A).

The plunger (15A) of this electromagnetic solenoid (15) is
It is urged by the elasticity of (B) so as to project, and advances the regulating member (14) to a position where it engages with the shaft (8), and when the solenoid (15) operates, the regulating member (14) 8)
It is designed to be retracted from. And the regulation member
When the (14) is in a position where it engages with the shaft (8), the rotation of the shaft (8) is stopped by the stopper member (6) at the product standby position where the product can be locked, and the stopper member (6). Regulates within the interval with the product locking position that prevents the product from being delivered, and when the regulating member (14) is retracted from the shaft (8), the rotation regulation of the shaft (8) is released. There is.

That is, the shaft (8) of the stopper member (6) inserted through the fixing member (13) has a restricting surface (8A) that engages and disengages with the restricting member (14).
(8B) is provided, and the restricting member (14) is in a position to engage with the shaft (8), the shaft (8) is restricted by the elasticity of the spring (9).
(8B) is abutted and locked to the regulating member (14) to hold the stopper member (6) at the product standby position where the product can be locked as shown in FIG. 3, and the stopper member (6) When the product (B) is rotated in the product delivery direction, the shaft (8) is rotated until the regulating surface (8A) is abutted and locked by the regulating member (14). As shown in FIG. 1, the stopper member (6) is regulated so as not to rotate in the product delivery direction from the product locking position.

On the other hand, in the control cam (10) fixed to the shaft (8), the restricting surface (8B) of the shaft (8) is brought into contact with and locked to the restricting member (14), and as shown in FIG. When 6) is in the product standby position, the control switch (11) is turned off, and when the stopper member (6) reaches the product locking position, the control switch (11) is pressed as shown in FIG. Then, the stopper member (6) is released from the rotation restriction by the lock mechanism (12), and the first product (B) reaches the drop delivery position of the product as shown in FIG. When rotated, the control switch (11) is in an OFF state where it is not pressed.

That is, the control switch (11) outputs an OFF signal as a condition that there is no product in the product standby position of the stopper member (6) in which the restriction surface (8B) of the shaft (8) is abutted and locked to the restriction member (14). Then
At the product locking position of the stopper member (6) in which the restriction surface (8A) of the shaft (8) is in contact with the restriction member (14), an ON signal is output as the product locked state, and The product (B) can be dropped from the product unloading end (7) of the transport mechanism (1) by rotating the stopper member (6) by its own weight at the product drop delivery position of the stopper member (6). An OFF signal is output as the transmission end state.

FIG. 10 shows an electric control configuration of the present invention. (20) A control unit as a control means by a microcomputer, provided with a timer circuit (21). The control unit (20) includes a product selection switch (22) for generating a product delivery command,
A loading switch (23) that is operated when loading products into the transport mechanism (1), and a drive motor that drives the transport mechanism (1)
(5), electromagnetic solenoid (15) that operates the lock mechanism (12),
Also, a control switch (11) that operates by the rotation of the stopper member (6) and a sold-out lamp (24) that indicates the sold-out of the product are connected.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the loading operation for placing and storing the product (B) on the conveyor belt (4) will be described.

When the loading switch (23) is operated in step S ₁ after a large number of products (B) are placed and stored on the conveyor belt (4) in a posture in which the products (B) are laid down sideways so as to be substantially parallel to the stopper member (6). , turns off the operation of the sold-out lamp (24) in step S _2, to drive the drive motor (5) in step S _3. Therefore, the conveyor belt (4) rotates in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 1 and conveys the product (B) toward the product unloading end (7).

The control switches at step S ₄ (11) was confirmed either in the ON state, the process proceeds to step S ₅ If ON state and the process proceeds to step S ₁₆ if the OFF state.

Usually, the product (B) placed on the conveyor belt (4) by loading often does not press the stopper member (6) in the product delivery direction. In this case, the stopper member (6) is a spring ( Due to the elasticity of 9), it is in the product standby position, and the control switch (11) is in the OFF state as shown in FIG.

In this case, therefore checks if the timer (21) is set in step S _16, if not set to subtract in step S ₁₇ by excisional a predetermined constant in step S _21. Constants set in step S _21, the conveyor belt (4) is set to a sufficient predetermined constant going around by a driving motor (5).

The timer in step S ₁₈ (21) is checked or not count out, if the count returns to step S _4, the count-out is confirmed the process proceeds to step S _19. Therefore, if it is within the count, the drive motor (5) continues to drive and rotates the conveyor belt (4) to convey the product (B) toward the product unloading end (7).

Since here the trade on the conveyor belt (4) by the loading operation (B) is placed a number, before the count-out is confirmed in step S _18, the uppermost is conveyed by the conveyor belt (4) The preceding product (B) presses the stopper member (6) in the product delivery direction, and the control switch (11) is pressed by the control cam (10) to turn it on as shown in FIG.

When the ON state of the control switch (11) is confirmed at step S _4, by subtracting the count with the timer (21) is set to a new predetermined constant in step S _5, the step S ₆ when it counts out Proceed to stop drive motor (5). Constant of the timer to be set in step S ₅ (21) corresponds to a predetermined time which is sufficient to many products placed on the conveyor belt (4) (B) are aligned in contact with each other It is set to a predetermined constant.

That is, even after the earliest product (B) is locked at the product locking position of the stopper member (6) and the control switch (11) is turned on, the drive motor (5) is continued for a predetermined time. Driving the conveyor belt as shown by the solid line in FIG.
(4) Use the chain double-dashed line to indicate that the product (B) above is diagonally positioned with respect to the stopper member (6) or that there is a gap between product (B) and product (B). As shown, the products (B) can be positioned parallel to the stopper member (6), and the products (B) can be aligned so that they are in contact with each other.

The drive motor loading operation in step S ₆
(5) terminated by is stopped, the vending machine waits the pressing of the product selection switch (22) by a predetermined貨弊turned at step S _7. Here predetermined貨弊is turned on and product selection switch (22) is operated, willing drive motor (5) is driven in Step S ₈ from step S _7, a solenoid (15) in step S ₉ Be excited.

By energizing this solenoid (15), the regulating member (14)
Since it is retracted from (8), the stopper member (6) is released from the rotation restriction by the restriction member (14). Therefore, the first product (B) on the conveyor belt (4) rotated by the drive of the drive motor (5) rotates the switch member (6) in the product delivery direction.

On the other hand, when the solenoid (15) in step S ₉ is energized, the control switch (11) in step S ₁₀ is checked whether it is ON, the process proceeds to step S _11.

When the first product (B) reaches the position where it can be dropped from the product unloading end (7) by the conveyor belt (4), the control switch (11) is turned off as shown in FIG. When the OFF state of the control switch (11) is confirmed in step S ₁₁ , the drive motor (5) is stopped in step S ₁₂ . Therefore, the earliest product (B) is further stopper member (6) due to its own weight.
Is rotated and dropped and sent out. Next product at this time
In (B), since the conveyor belt (4) is stopped by stopping the drive motor (5), the conveyance toward the product discharge end (7) is stopped,
This prevents the first product (B) from falling continuously.

On the other hand, is demagnetized solenoid (15) in step S _13, the regulating member (14) is engageable in advance biasing the shaft (8) by the elasticity of the spring (15B). When the first product (B) dropped from the product discharge end (7) leaves the stopper member (6), the stopper member (6) is moved to the product standby position shown in FIG. 6 by the elasticity of the spring (9). Turn back. The rotation returning operation is first confirmed by the control switch in the step S ₁₄ (11) is turned ON, followed by the control in step S ₁₅ switches
Confirmed by turning off (11).

Further, when the stopper member (6) is pivotally returned to the product standby position, the regulation member (14) is engaged with the regulation surface (8B) of the shaft (8) to be in the state in which the rotation is regulated. And OF of control switch (11)
When the F state is confirmed in step S _15, again drives the drive motor (5) proceeds to step S _3, the conveyor belt by the drive (4) is rotated in the arrow A direction shown in FIG. 1 Product Transport (B).

And by this conveyance, the first product (B) is the stopper member (6).
When the stopper member (6) is rotated to the product locking position shown in FIG. 7, the control switch (1)
Since 1) is pressed has been turned ON to the control cam (10), is confirmed ON state of the control switch (11) in step S _4, sales standby state proceeds to step S ₅ and step S ₆ and the Becomes

On the other hand, step time if the ON state of the control switch in step S ₄ (11) is not confirmed, the Check Timer (21) is set the routine proceeds to step S ₁₆ as described above, not set After setting at S _21, step S
Proceed to step ₁₇ , and if set again, go directly to step S
Proceed to ₁₇ and count down.

When the count-out of the timer (21) is confirmed at step S _18, as a sold-out state product (B) is not located on the conveyor belt (4), a drive motor in step S ₁₉ (5) stop, the flow returns to step S ₁ lit a sold-out lamp (24) in step S _20.

(G) Effect of the Invention Since the present invention is configured as described above, when the loaded products on the transport belt are spaced from each other by simply loading and placing the products on the transport belt. But
Alternatively, even when the product is not aligned parallel to the stopper member, the loaded product can be locked to the stopper member in a posture in which it is in a good posture for delivery. Therefore, the product loading operation can be easily performed, the product loading can be surely performed, the product delivery time can be made fast and constant, and a reliable product delivery operation can be obtained. .

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the device of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a side view, FIG. 2 is a plan view, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are sectional views of a lock mechanism section showing different states, and FIG. 8 to FIG. 8 are explanatory views of the relationship between the control switch and the control cam showing different states,
FIG. 9 is an explanatory schematic diagram, FIG. 10 is an electrical control configuration diagram, first
FIG. 1 is a flowchart. (1) …… Product transport mechanism, (4) …… Transport belt, (6) …… Stopper member, (7) …… Product delivery end, (12) …… Lock mechanism, (20) …… Control part, (23) …… Loading switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A product transporting mechanism for transporting a product placed and stored on a transport belt in a substantially horizontal direction, wherein the product transporting mechanism is driven based on a product sending command to store the stored product from the product unloading end of the product transporting mechanism. In a vending machine that sends out a product, a rotatable stopper member that locks the earliest product conveyed to the product discharge end side by driving the product transfer mechanism, and that the stopper member locks the product A control switch for detecting, a lock mechanism for restricting the rotation of a stopper member capable of locking a product and releasing the restriction by a product sending command, and an operation for loading the product on the conveyor belt to drive the product conveying mechanism. When the loading switch and the product transfer mechanism are driven based on the operation of the loading switch and the control switch detects that the product on the transfer belt has locked the stopper member, Product loading device for the automatic vending machine and a control means for stopping controlling the goods conveying mechanism after driving for a predetermined time.