JPH02191092A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve cooling efficiency by circulating air taken in from the outside through a condenser and an evaporator. CONSTITUTION: Accompanying a cooling mode, the air sucked by the rotation of a fan 32 is made to flow in from a take-in port 54 and takes the heat of the condenser 31 and the heated air is discharged from a discharge port 56 provided on the back of this automatic vending machine 10. While cooling the condenser 31, the evaporator 34 removes the possessed heat of the air sucked from a commodity distribution section through the take-in port 40 by the fan 37 and cooling air inside an air passage 16 is direction-changed by an air deflection member 59 and is passed through a discharge port 50 provided on the upper part of a partition 17 further. In such a manner, the air is circulated through the commodities 51 of the commodity distribution section provided inside the automatic vending machine 10 and a fixed circulation pattern is formed. Thus, the cooling air is excellently circulated through the commodity distribution section and the cooling efficiency is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a cooling system for a vending machine, and particularly to a unit that can be easily installed and removed as a portable unit 1. are doing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional vending machine refrigeration units generally include a forced air evaporator unit and a forced air condenser unit located above a compressor. The main problems with such configurations are that the evaporator unit is expensive;
Additionally, the evaporator unit occupies a significant amount of space in the product dispensing area within the vending machine. Conventional devices also circulate cooling air by blowing it against the walls to cool the contents of the vending machine. In this system, it is difficult to circulate cooling air within the product distribution area in a good manner, and the efficiency of the cooling unit is reduced due to an increase in static pressure.

Additionally, the air intake for the condenser unit in conventional equipment is located very close to the air outlet for the condenser unit, resulting in the intake air being hotter than it actually needs to be. Moreover, it is in a damp state, resulting in a decrease in efficiency.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention relates to a cooling device for a vending machine. This vending machine includes a chamber that is divided by a partition into a product distribution area and an air passage. The cooling system is made from an integrated housing, so the entire cooling unit can be installed and removed with a single touch. The refrigeration unit section comprising the compressor and condenser is located in the lower part of the product distribution area.

The cooling unit section also includes a circulating air intake, a circulating air outlet, and a circulation device for delivering air from the intake to the exhaust. An evaporator is arranged in the air passage on the side facing the partition, further increasing the effective area of the product dispensing area of the vending machine. An air intake at the bottom of the partition allows air drawn from the product distribution area to pass through the evaporator. In addition, an air outlet is provided at the top of the partition, so that the fan in the air passage can force air to the top of the product distribution area of the vending machine, allowing the cooling air to circulate through the product distribution area in a good condition. can.

It is an object of the invention to provide a cooling device for a vending machine that does not interfere with the effective use of the product distribution area.

Another object of the invention is to improve air circulation within the product dispensing area of a vending machine.

Another object of the invention is to prevent static pressure from building up within the product dispensing area of a vending machine, eliminating a source of reduced efficiency of the vending machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cooling device of the type described above which can be easily installed and removed as a single unit.

Still another object of the invention is to prevent the exhaust air from the condenser and the intake air sent to the condenser from mixing with each other (and to increase the efficiency of a vending machine cooling system of the type described above). Our goal is to provide the following.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

(Example) Refer to the drawings. The same reference numbers refer to the same or corresponding parts in the respective drawings. 1st
The figure shows a vending machine 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention. This vending machine 10 includes a cabinet 1 with a front entry/exit door 12 pivotally connected. The user can see the products inside through the front glass 13,
Further, the user can use the control panel 14 to select a desired product.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that behind the control panel 14 there are various mechanisms that communicate with the air passage 16 to one side of the partition 17, as shown in detail in FIG. It is clear that A spiral body 18 is arranged on a shelf 19 located in the product distribution area @20 of the vending machine 10. The product 51 is placed between the spiral portions of the spiral body 18, as shown in FIG. This vending machine operates in a manner similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,883,039 to Wittern et al. Of course, the present invention is not limited to spiral-type vending machines, but may be applied to other types of product dispensing devices without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the specification. Can be done.

Please refer to FIG. Portable cooling device 21 comprises a housing part 22 to which an upper flange 23 is attached and a plurality of fasteners 24 installed in this housing part. Housing parts 26 and 27 and bottom 28 contain a hermetic compressor unit 29 and a condenser 31. The fan 32 operated by an electric motor 33 is
Air is sent out through the condenser 31 in the direction of the arrow.

The conventional evaporator coil 34 is connected to the upper drain pan 3 in FIG.
It is firmly attached to the housing part seen approximately on the right side of 6. With this configuration, FIGS. 3 and 4
An evaporator coil 34 and a forced air fan unit 37 may be located within the air passageway 16 as shown in FIG.

The access door 38 is removably attached to the partition 17 by a fixture 39, and by removing the access door 38, the unit can be installed in the state shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Door 38 can be reinstalled in the operating position shown in FIG.

The water received in the drain tray 36 is collected in a portion 46 of the drain tray 36, and the water collected in the tray 48 can be allowed to flow down through the drain hole 41 and through the tube 47. Tray 48 may be integrally attached to the bottom of housing 26.

Further, the tray 48 can also be placed on the top of the bottom wall 49 of the vending machine 10.

Needless to say, an insulating material 52 is placed inside the cabinet 11 and the door 12 to keep the inside of the vending machine IO, which is cooled using the cooling unit 21, cool. An air receiver 53 is attached to the bottom wall 49 of the vending machine.
An opening 54 in the front of the vending machine 1o is connected to a passage 55 in the bottom wall 49. For reasons explained below, an exhaust port 56 is provided at the rear of the vending machine cabinet 11.

With the operation, first the door 12 is opened, and then the partition 17 is opened.
By removing the panel 38 of the cooling unit 21
can be attached to the vending machine 1o. Then,
Cooling unit 21 is inserted into an opening formed around wall 58 as shown in FIG. In this way, the portion of the cooling unit 21 to which the compressor 29 and condenser 3I are attached will not come into contact with the circulating air passing through the chamber 20 or the air passage 16. Further panel 3
8 is attached, and the evaporator 34 and circulation fan 37 are effectively placed inside the air passage 16.

Plug in the power cord 15 for the cooling unit 21,
By operating the control knob 30 and switching on the unit, the temperature inside the vending machine 10 and the cooling unit 21 will be adjusted.
The operating status of the vehicle can be controlled.

In the cooling mode, air sucked in by the rotation of the fan 32 flows in from the intake port 54 as shown in FIG. The inflowing air takes away the heat from the condenser 31, and the heated air is discharged from the exhaust port 56 behind the vending machine IO.

By providing the intake port 54 and the discharge port 56 at separate positions, low temperature air can be used and the efficiency of the cooling unit 21 can be increased.

While cooling the condenser 31, the evaporator 34 is connected to the product distribution area 2 through an intake 40 by a fan unit 37.
Removes the retained heat of the air sucked in from air passage 1.
The direction of the cooling air in 6 is changed by an air deflection member 59,
Further, a discharge port 50 provided at the top of the partition 17 is allowed to pass through.

Air is thus allowed to circulate past the products 51 in the product dispensing area 20 inside the vending machine 10.

Moisture collected on the underside of evaporator 34 is drained into tray 48 through opening 41 and pipe 47. Condenser 3
The heat from the vending machine 10 and the circulation of air by the fan 32 cause this moisture to evaporate and exit along with the air through the exhaust port 56 at the back of the vending machine 10.

The air circulation fan 37 does not directly blow air against the inner wall of the chamber 20, but instead uses the passage 16 that guides such air to supply air. This prevents static pressure from building up and creates a constant circulation pattern through the interior of the vending machine 10.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that the preferred embodiments described herein achieve the aforementioned objectives. It will be obvious that the invention may be susceptible to various modifications and variations in light of the foregoing points.

Accordingly, the present invention can be practiced in any manner other than as described above within the scope of the claims.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vending machine constructed in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of the cooling unit of the present invention. 10... Vending machine, 11... Cabinet, 12
・・・Front entrance/exit door, 14・-・Control panel, 16・
...Air passage, 17...Partition, 18...Spiral body,
19... Shelf, 20... Distribution area, 21... Portable cooling device, 22... Housing portion, 23...
”-Example flange, 26.27...housing part, 2
9... Sealed compressor unit, 30... Control knob, 31... Condenser, 32... Fan, 33...
・Motor, 34...Evaporator, 36...Upper drain pan,
38... Access door, 41... Drain hole, 46...
Part of drain pan, 50...Discharge port, 53...Air receiver, 54.55...Opening, 56...Exhaust port.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A vending machine comprising: cabinet means forming a sealed chamber; a substantially vertical partition disposed within the sealed chamber and attached to the cabinet means; and one of the partitions. a product distribution area on the side of the partition, and an air passage arranged on the opposite side of the partition; means for selectively distributing the product arranged in the product distribution area; and arranged in the bottom part of the partition. an air intake located at an upper end portion of the partition for discharging air from the air passageway to the product distribution area; an air outlet capable of being injected, and forced air cooling means for cooling the product dispensing area, the forced air cooling means comprising a first air outlet disposed in a bottom portion of the product dispensing area of the chamber; a compressor unit and a condenser unit attached to the first part of the housing; and air taken from outside of the cabinet means. means for circulating air through the condenser unit and discharging this air adjacent to the outside of the cabinet means; attached to the second part of the housing and located within the air passage; A vending machine comprising an evaporator unit and means for circulating air through the evaporator unit. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the second portion of the housing and the condenser unit are installed in the passageway, and the housing and the cooling means can be removed from the passageway when not in use. and a vending machine comprising an access door movably attached to the partition. 3. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the air circulation means for the evaporator unit comprises a fan located within the passageway. 4. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said air circulation means for the condenser unit comprises an electric fan. 5. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising air intake means attached to the cabinet means and configured to feed only air from the front of the cabinet means into the air circulation means of the condenser unit. vending machine. 6. A vending machine according to claim 5, wherein the vending machine is attached to the cabinet means and discharges air behind the cabinet means so that the discharged air does not mix easily with the incoming air. Machine. 7. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the first and second housings are integrated, and the entire cooling means is integrated into one body.
A vending machine that can be selectively removed and reinstalled as one unit.