JPH061517B2 - Product dispensing device in vending machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a product dispensing device in an automatic vending machine.

(Prior Art) As shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, a conventional product dispensing device in a vending machine is arranged above a base plate 1 on which a large number of products A are stacked in a stacked state. Storage frame 3 forming the storage unit 2
Is provided upright, a dispensing gap 4 is formed at the lower end of the front surface of the storage frame 3 for allowing one product to pass, and a dispensing piece 5 is provided at the lower end of the rear surface of the storage frame 3 for dispensing the product A. The ejecting piece passage gap 6 through which the slab passes is formed.

There are generally two types of throw-out pieces 5, a box-shaped one that is slightly smaller than the product (see FIG. 7) and a claw-shaped one that is thin in the throw-out direction (see FIG. 8).

In the case of the box-shaped projecting piece 5 (see FIG. 7), the projecting piece 5
Slides on the base plate 1 from the retracted position at the rear of the storage section 2 and enters the storage section 2 through the throwing piece passage gap 6, and pushes out the lowest product A from the throwing gap. After that, the base plate 1 is slid in the opposite direction to return to the original position.

Further, in the case of the claw-shaped ejection piece 5 (see FIG. 8), as in the case of the box-shaped ejection piece 5, it is moved on the base plate 1 from the retracted position at the rear of the storage section 2 and is ejected. Although it is ejected, after the ejection is completed, the ejection piece 5 is returned to the original position in a state of being retracted below the base plate 1 and is projected onto the base plate 1 again.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In a conventional product dispenser for a vending machine, the dispenser 5 having a box shape has a box-like dispenser 5 slightly smaller than the product A. In order to eject the product A by reciprocating between the retracted position behind 2 and the position where it has entered the storage part 2, there is a space behind the storage part 2 in which the ejection piece 5 retracts. The base plate 1 which is necessary and on which the ejection piece 5 slides
However, there is a problem in that the length in the dispensing direction of the product dispensing device becomes long, because it has to be elongated behind the storage section 2.

On the other hand, when the ejection piece 5 is of a claw type, when the ejection piece 5 pushes out the lowest-ranked product A, a space is formed behind the ejection piece 5 and the product A stacked on top of After the lowest product A is dropped from the end in an inclined manner and the ejecting piece 5 is retracted below the base plate 1, the inclined product A is placed on the base plate 1, However, when the remaining amount of the product A is reduced, the weight applied to the inclined product A is reduced, and the product A is in the inclined state even after the ejection piece 5 is retracted below the base plate 1. However, there was a problem that the next investment was impossible.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and a product dispensing device in a vending machine that can shorten the length in the dispensing direction and can reliably dispense the product even when the amount of the remaining product is small. It is intended to provide.

[Structure of Invention]

(Means for Solving the Problem) The present invention pushes and moves the lowest product A on the bottom plate 20a of the product storage unit 11 among the stacked products A stored in the product storage unit 11 in a stacked state. , Lowest product A through exit 16
In a vending machine that only ejects to the outside of the ejection port 16, the trailing edge of the lowest product A in the ejection direction is pushed in the direction of the ejection port 16 so that part of the product A is below the laminated product A. The first ejection member 24 for moving the product A to the intermediate ejection position.
And a push-out part 25a for advancing the product A into the product storage part 11 to push out the product A, a support part 25b for supporting the next product A of the pushed product A, and a retracting part which is always retracted from the product storage part 11. With the outer peripheral shape having 25c, the push-out portion 25a advances into the product storage portion 11 by rotation and pushes the rear end edge of the product A in the middle of the ejection direction in the ejection direction to eject the product A. The second ejection member 25 (41 to 44) finally ejected to the outside of the ejection port 16 and the product A by the first and second ejection members 24, 25 (41 to 44). Are sequentially pushed to move on the bottom plate 20a and throw out.

(Operation) In the present invention, when the product is dispensed, by the first dispensing member 24,
The trailing edge of the lowest product A in the ejection direction is pushed toward the ejection port 16 to move the product A to a midway ejection position where a part of the product A is located below the laminated product A. By the rotation of the second ejection member 25 (41 to 44), the pushing-out portion 25a is moved to the product storage portion 1
It advances to 1, pushes the product A in the middle of the ejection, and finally ejects it to the outside of the ejection opening 16. Therefore, the product A is sequentially pushed by the first and second dispensing members 24, 25 (41 to 44) to move on the bottom plate 20a to dispense.

In addition, the product A next to the extruded product A is used as a second ejection member.
The product 25 is supported by the support part 25b of 25, and the product A is guided onto the bottom plate 20a of the product storage part 11 to prepare for the next ejection.

Further, the pushing portion 25a of the second ejection member 25 and the supporting portion 2
Since the retreat parts 25c other than 5b are always retreating from the product storage part 11, the product A moves on the bottom plate 20a and is ejected in a stable posture.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3, a plurality of product storage units 11 for stacking and storing box-shaped products A such as cigarettes are formed by a storage frame 12, and the storage frames 12 are adjacent to each other.
A side plate 13 for partitioning the space, and a front plate 14 and a rear plate for supporting the front surface and the rear surface of the product A provided on the front and rear edges of the side plate 13.
15 is provided with a lower portion of the front plate 14, and a dispensing outlet 16 through which only the lowest one product A in the commodity storage unit 11 can pass is provided. There is provided a notch for ejection 17 through which a first ejection cam 24, which serves as a first ejection member to be described later, can pass.

A frame body 20 that integrally houses a product ejection device 18 and a product presence / absence detection device 19 is attached to the lower part of each product storage unit 11. This frame body 20 is provided in a rectangular box shape,
The storage frame 12 is inserted through the mounting hole 21 provided in the upper side wall 20a.
The side wall 20a on the upper side thereof is configured as a bottom plate of the commodity storage unit 11.

The product dispensing device 18 includes an upper side wall 20a between the partition plates 22a, 22b provided inside the left and right side walls 20b, 20c of the frame body 20.
And a pair of rotary shafts 23 that are rotatably installed at a predetermined interval and that are parallel to each other and orthogonal to the ejection direction of the product A (left in FIGS. 1 and 3). A first ejecting cam 24 as a first ejecting member that is wide in the axial direction is provided at the central position of the rotating shaft 23 of the first rotating shaft 23, and rotational interference with the first ejecting cam 24 of the front rotating shaft 23 is performed. A second ejecting cam 25 as a pair of second ejecting members is provided at both end positions.

The outer peripheral shapes of the respective ejection cams 24 and 25 are the push-out portions 24a and 25a for advancing into the product storage portion 11 and pushing out the product A, and the next product (upper product) A of the pushed product A. It is composed of supporting portions 24b and 25b for supporting and retracting portions 24c and 25c which are always retracted from the product storage portion 11.

The side wall 20a on the upper side of the frame body 20 is provided with an opening 26 through which the push-out portion 24a and the support portion 24b of the first ejection cam 24 advance into the product storage section 11, and the upper side of the frame body 20 Side wall 20a
Also, the pushing portion 2 of the second ejection cam 25 is provided on the front side wall 20d.
The opening 27 through which the 5a and the supporting portion 25b advance is the opening 26.
It is provided in communication with.

Gears 28 having the same shape (the same number of teeth) are fixed to one ends of the rotary shafts 23 protruding from the partition plate 22b, and the gears 28 are transmission gears 29 rotatably supported by the partition plate 22b.
And the transmission gear 29 is engaged with the partition plate 22.
It meshes with the drive gear 31 of the motor 30 attached to b, and the transmission gear is transmitted through the drive gear 31 by the operation of the motor 30.
29 rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1, and the respective ejecting cams 24, 25 rotate in the counterclockwise direction via the gears 28.

Further, a disk-shaped cam plate 33 having a recess 32 at one location on the outer periphery is fixed to one end of the rear side rotary shaft 23 to which the gear 28 is attached, and on the outer periphery of this cam plate 33, the micro switch 34 is provided. The roller 36 attached to the tip of the actuator 35 abuts,
Then, the time when the roller 36 is fitted into the recess 32 of the cam plate 33 and the contact of the micro switch 34 is switched is the rotation standby position and the rotation stop position of the ejection cams 24 and 25.

The product presence / absence detection device 19 includes a detection lever 38 swingably supported by a support shaft 37 between the left side wall 20b of the frame 20 and the partition plate 22a, and one end of the detection lever 38 is The product storage unit 11 through the opening 39 in the upper side wall 20a of the frame body 20.
The inside of the product storage unit 11 is contacted with the bottom surface of the lowest product A to detect the presence or absence of the product. Then, it is detected that the product A has run out and one end of the detection lever 38 has entered the product storage unit 11 and has undergone a large swing movement, thereby detecting the absence of the product.

Next, the product selling operation will be described.

In the sale standby state, in the product dispensing device 18, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 (a), the support portion 24b of the first dispensing cam 24 is provided.
While supporting the product A by slightly projecting into the product storage unit 11, the supporting unit 25b of the second dispensing cam 25 projects into the product storage unit 11 more than the first dispensing cam 24. Product A
When the vending machine is tilted or vibrated in this standby state, the front end of the product A is lifted above the outlet 16 and engaged with the lower end of the front plate 14. However, the fall of product A from the outlet 16 is prevented.

When the product dispensing device 18 carries out the dispensing and selling operation of the product A, the motor 30 is actuated and the drive gear 31,
Each ejection cam 24, 25 via the transmission gear 29 and each gear 28, 28
Starts synchronous rotation.

First, the support portions 24b and 25b of the two ejection cams 24 and 25 are the product storage portion 11
The lowest product A retracted from inside is the upper side wall 20 of the frame 20.
Place it on a (Fig. 4 (b)).

Next, the push-out portion 24a of the first ejection cam 24 is connected to the product storage portion 11
And pushes the trailing edge of the lowest product A in the ejection direction toward the forward ejection port 16, and the rear end of the ejection direction of the product A is located below the laminated product. The product A is moved to (Fig. 4 (c) (d)).

Substantially at the same time that the pushing-out portion 24a of the first ejection cam 24 has finished pushing the product A and is disengaged downward from the rear edge of the ejection direction of the product A, the pushing-out portion 25a of the second ejection cam 25 is The product A is advanced to the product storage unit 11 and the trailing edge of the product A in the middle of the dispensing direction is pushed in the dispensing direction (Figs. 4 (d) and (e)), and the product A is finally It is thrown out of the outlet 16 (Fig. 4 (f)).

When the lowest product A is pushed out by the second ejection cam 25, the rear end side of the product A above the lowest product A moves downward as shown in FIGS. 4 (e) and (f). Although it goes down, the rear end side of the product A above it is supported by the support portion 24b of the first ejecting cam 24 being advanced into the product storage portion 11, so that the product A is prevented from inclining more than a certain amount. A product jam is prevented from occurring in the product storage unit 11.

In addition, the push-out portions 24a, 2 of the first and second ejection members 24, 25
Since the withdrawal parts 24c and 25c other than the 5a and the support parts 24b and 25b are always withdrawn from the product storage part 11, the product A has the upper side plate 20.
a Moves on top and is thrown out in a stable posture.

In addition, the roller of the actuator 35 of the microswitch 34
The motor 30 is stopped when the contact point of the micro switch 34 is switched by fitting the 36 into the recess 32 of the cam plate 33, and the positions of the ejecting cams 24 and 25 in FIGS. 1 and 4 (a) are changed. Return to the sales standby state.

At least the second ejecting member 25 passes through and extrudes the lowest product A, and supports the upper product A of the lowest product A. The extruding portion 25a, the supporting portion 25b, and the retracting portion 25c. The outer peripheral shape of the second ejection cam 25 having With respect to the first ejection member 24, the rear end edge of the commodity A in the ejection direction is pushed toward the ejection port 16 so that a part of the commodity A is positioned below the laminated commodity A to the middle of ejection. Product A
However, the structure is not limited to the rotary cam structure.

In addition, the first and second ejection cams 24, 25 are both pushed out by the pushing portion 24.
With the same outer peripheral shape having a, 25a, support portions 24b, 25b and retreat portions 24c, 25c, the delivery of the product A between the respective delivery cams 24, 25 can be smoothly carried out and one delivery member can be used. The product can be promptly ejected as quickly as the conventional example of ejecting.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, when the product A is long in the dispensing direction, it has the same shape as the first and second dispensing cams 24 and 25. The dispensing cams 41 and 42 configured as the second dispensing member are used to perform product dispensing and sales.

Then, in the sale standby state, the push-out portion 24a of the first dispensing cam 24 faces the rear surface of the product A, and the other dispensing cams 25, 41, 42 are retracted from the inside of the product storage unit 11. The product A is placed on the upper side wall 20a of the frame body 20 (FIG. 5 (a)).

When the investment sale operation is started from this standby state, first,
The respective ejection cams 24 and 25 are synchronously rotated, and the first ejection cam 24 pushes the product A to the midpoint of the ejection (FIG. 5 (b)), and is pushed to the midpoint of the ejection. Product A is the second ejection cam 25
It is pushed by (Fig. 5 (c)). Further, the dispensing cams 41, 42 are synchronously rotated, and the product A pushed by the second dispensing cam 25 to the mid-dispensing position is sequentially pushed by the dispensing cams 41, 42 (Fig. 5).
(d)), and finally throws the product A out of the exit 16 (Fig. 5 (d)).

Further, FIG. 6 shows still another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, for example, another product storage section is provided adjacent to the front side of the product storage section 11 and the product A is sold to the sales outlet. When the discharge position is in front of the outlet 16 of the product storage unit 11,
Each set formed continuously as a second projecting member in front of the first and second projecting cams 24, 25 and having a shape similar to that of the first and second projecting cams 24, 25. Out of the cam 41,4
Items 2 and 43, 44 are used for transportation to carry out product sales.

Then, in the sale standby state, the push-out portion 24a of the first dispensing cam 24 faces the rear surface of the product A, and the other dispensing cams 25, 41 to 44 are retracted from the inside of the product storage unit 11. The product A is placed on the upper side wall 20a of the frame 20 (FIG. 6 (a)).

When the investment sale operation is started from this standby state, first,
The first and second ejection cams 24 and 25 are synchronously rotated,
The ejection cam 24a of FIG. 6 pushes the product A to the middle position of the ejection (FIG. 6 (b)), and the product A pushed to the middle position of the ejection is ejected by the second ejection cam 25. Pushes outward (Fig. 6
(c)). Further, the ejection cams 41 and 42 are synchronously rotated, and thereafter the ejection cams 43 and 44 are synchronously rotated, and are sequentially pushed by the respective ejection cams 41 to 44 for conveyance to eject the product A. Put out. (Fig. 6 (d)).

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, the first ejection member pushes the trailing edge of the lowest product in the ejection direction in the ejection direction, and a part of the merchandise is placed under the laminated merchandise. The product is moved to, and by the rotation of the second ejection member, the push-out section advances into the commodity storage section, pushes the commodity in the middle of ejection, and finally ejects it to the outside of the ejection port. , Therefore the first
Further, the product can be sequentially pushed by the second dispensing member and moved on the bottom plate to dispense. for that reason,
The length of the product dispensing device in the dispensing direction can be made substantially the same as the length of the product storage portion in the dispensing direction, and the products next to the extruded product are supported by the support parts of the respective dispensing cams. Since the product can be guided to the bottom plate of the product storage unit and prepared for the next dispensing, the product can be reliably dispensed even when the remaining amount of the product in the product storage unit becomes small.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a product dispensing device in a vending machine of the present invention, FIG. 2 is its front view, FIG. 3 is its plan view, and FIG. 4 is its dispensing operation. Explanatory views, FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory views showing a dispensing operation of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are sectional views showing a conventional product dispensing device. 11 ... Merchandise storage, 16 ... Discharge port, 20a ... Side wall as bottom plate, 24 ... First ejection cam as first ejection member, 25 ... As second ejection member Second throw-out cam, 24
a: push-out section, 24b: support section, 24c: retract section, 25a ...
… Extruding part, 25b …… Supporting part, 25c …… Retracting part, 41-44…
… A dispensing cam as the second dispensing member, A… a product.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. The lowest product on the bottom plate of the product storage unit is pushed and moved among the stacked products stored in the product storage unit in a stacked state, and only the lowest product is thrown out of the outlet through the outlet. In a vending machine that dispenses, pushes the trailing edge of the lowest product in the dispensing direction toward the outlet, and moves the product to the mid-dispatch position where a part of the product is located below the stacked product. A first ejecting member, an extruding section that advances into the product storing section to extrude the product, a supporting section that supports the next product of the extruded product, and a retracting section that is always retracted from the product storing section. With the outer peripheral shape of the product, the push-out portion advances into the product storage portion by rotation and pushes the trailing edge of the product in the product-discharging direction in the product-discharging direction in the product-discharging direction to finally dismount the product. A second ejection member for ejecting to the outside of the outlet, Beauty second sequentially pushes the product through dispensing member, product dispensing apparatus in the automatic vending machine and performing dispensing by moving the bottom plate above. 2. A first ejecting member is always retracted from an extruding section for advancing into a product storing section to extrude a product, a supporting section for supporting a product next to the extruded product, and a product storing section. Has a retreat portion that pushes the product by rotation, and the first ejection member and the second ejection member are arranged in a positional relationship such that they do not interfere with each other. The first and second dispensing members are synchronously rotated so that the pushing-out portion of the discharging member finishes pushing the product at substantially the same time as the pushing-out portion of the second discharging member starts pushing the product. The product dispensing device in the vending machine according to claim 1.