JPH0562066A - Merchandise rack door of automatic vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] For a product rack of a vending machine that sells frozen products such as ice cream, it can be used as a door in a cold state in the refrigerator without impairing the guide function of the products stored in the rack. (EN) Provided is a product rack door of a vending machine, in particular, its hinge structure, which can prevent freezing with a hinge pin. A commodity rack door 11 for closing an open surface of a commodity rack 5 installed in a freezer is inserted into upper and lower ends of a hinge cylinder portion 11a formed by curling at one side edge of the commodity rack door 11. The hinge pin 14 that pivotally supports the door is formed as a flat plate, and its plate surface is aligned in the front-rear direction with respect to the product rack and is fitted in the hinge tubular portion of the door with a clearance. With this configuration, the water droplets A generated on the door flow outward through the large gap between both surfaces of the flat plate and the hinge cylinder portion on the door side, so that the hinge portion is prevented from freezing. Also, the door has no rattling in the front-rear direction and can maintain a normal product guide function.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product rack door structure for an automatic vending machine that sells frozen products such as ice cream.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, FIG. 2 shows the overall structure of an ice cream vending machine to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 1 is a main body case of a vending machine, 2 is a front door, 3 is an inner door, 4 is a product outlet 4 provided in the front door 2, and a product rack 5 is provided in the freezer of the main body case 5. A carry-out shooter 6 and a refrigerating unit 7 for keeping the inside cold are housed. Here, the product rack 5 in the illustrated example is a spiral product rack, and has a box-shaped case 8 with one end open, a spiral 9 housed in the case, a bend motor 10 for rotating the spiral, and a case 8. It comprises a single-opening type product rack door 11 that closes the open surface.

With such a structure, a product (ice cream) 1
2 opens the rack door 11 and is loaded in the spiral 9,
It is kept cold by the freezing unit 7. Then, when the spiral 9 is rotated based on the sales instruction, the products loaded in the spiral are lowered by screw feeding in the rack using the door 11 as a storage guide, and are dropped and carried out one by one from the lowest position. It is well known that the product is sent to the product outlet 4.

FIG. 3 shows a conventional hinge structure of the above-mentioned product rack door. That is, a hinge tubular portion 11a is formed on one edge of the product rack door 11 by curling, and a hinge pin 13 serving as a cylindrical shaft having a diameter D smaller than the inner diameter of the hinge tubular portion 11a is formed. The door 11 is inserted into the upper and lower ends to pivotally attach the door 11 to the case 8 of the product rack 5.

[0005]

By the way, the above-mentioned hinge structure of the product rack door has the following problems.
That is, when the water droplet A generated on the product rack 5 flows down in the hinge cylinder portion 11a of the door 11 in the cold state of the inside of the refrigerator, the water droplets are all around the cylindrical hinge pin 13 and the hinge cylinder portion 1 of the door plate.
It penetrates into the gap d between the inner surface of 1a and freezes. In addition,
This freezing portion is indicated by a shaded area B in the figure. For this reason, the hinge portion of the rack door 11 freezes at the time of the next product replenishment, making it difficult to open the door.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above points, and its purpose is to impair the guide function of the products housed in the rack for a product rack of a vending machine that sells frozen products such as ice cream. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product rack door of a vending machine, in particular, a hinge structure of the vending machine, in which freezing of the door and the hinge pin is slightly suppressed and the door can be easily opened in a cold state in the refrigerator.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned object is to form the hinge pin as a flat plate and fit the plate surface in the hinge cylinder portion of the door by aligning the plate surface in the front-back direction with respect to the product rack. It is achieved by Here, the hinge pin in the above-described configuration may employ a sheet metal flat plate having a width dimension slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the door-side hinge tube portion.

[0008]

With the above structure, between the hinge cylinder portion of the product rack door and the hinge pin of the flat plate inserted therein, both end surfaces in the width direction of the flat plate (surfaces that slide with the hinge cylinder portion) are removed. A sufficient gap is secured on both sides of the flat plate. Therefore, most of the water droplets generated on the product rack door during cold storage of the vending machine do not stay on the hinge portion of the door and flow down to the outside through the gap. As a result, the door and the hinge pin are only frozen in a very small area between the inner surface of the hinge cylinder and the opposite end surfaces of the flat plate facing each other with a slight gap therebetween, and then the door is opened. In that case, the frosted portion can be destroyed and easily opened by applying a slight force to the door.

Moreover, since the hinge pin of the flat plate is fitted in the hinge cylinder portion on the door side by aligning the direction of the plate surface with the front-back direction with respect to the product rack, the door is rattled in the front-back direction. There is almost no, and thus the product guide function of the door plate for the products stored in the product rack is normally maintained.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the structure of an embodiment of the present invention, in which the same members corresponding to those in FIG. The difference between the embodiment of FIG. 1 and the conventional structure shown in FIG. 3 lies in the shape of the hinge pin that pivotally supports the product rack door 11. That is, in the door hinge structure of FIG.
4 is a flat metal plate made as a flat metal plate, and the hinge pin 14 is attached to the side edge of the door 11 after the flat plate is mounted such that the plate surface of the flat plate faces forward and backward with respect to the product rack 5. The door 11 is pivotally supported by being inserted into the upper and lower ends of the hinge cylinder portion 11a formed by curling. Here, the plate width dimension W of the hinge pin 14 is the hinge cylinder portion 1 on the door side.
It is set to a size smaller than the inner diameter of 1a,
A gap d (similar to the gap d in FIG. 3) is left between the both end faces and the inner peripheral surface of the hinge cylinder portion 11a, and is fitted in the hinge cylinder portion 11a.

With this structure, the product rack door 11 opens and closes in the direction of arrow P with the hinge pin 14 of the flat plate as the pivot. Further, in this case, since the plate surface of the hinge pin 14 is aligned with the front and rear direction with respect to the product rack 5, only a slight gap d remains between both end surfaces of the flat plate and the hinge tube portion 11a. The door 11 hardly causes rattling in the front-back direction. As a result, when the product rack door 11 is closed, the products stored in the product rack 5 are stored and held in the correct position by using the door as a storage guide.

On the other hand, the door 11 is kept cold inside the vending machine.
Most of the water droplets A generated inside the hinge tubular portion 11a flow down below the door through a large residual gap having an arc-shaped cross section formed between both sides of the hinge pin 14 and the hinge tubular portion 11a. A large amount of water drops do not stay on this hinge part. Therefore, between the hinge pin 14 and the hinge cylinder portion 11a on the door side, the water droplets that have penetrated into the minute gap d between the both end surfaces corresponding to the plate thickness of the flat plate stop freezing, and then the product rack door 11 is opened. In doing so, the frosted portion is destroyed by applying a slight force to the door, so that the door can be opened easily.

[0013]

Since the product rack door of the present invention is constructed as described above, it is possible to suppress the freezing of the hinge portion due to the water droplets generated on the product rack door while the vending machine is kept cold, Next, when opening the door, it is possible to easily open the door by breaking the icing portion by applying a slight force to the door. Moreover, since the hinge pin of the flat plate is fitted in the hinge cylinder portion on the door side by aligning the direction of the plate surface with the front-back direction with respect to the product rack, the door has almost no rattling in the front-back direction. As a result, the product guide function of the door plate for the products stored in the product rack can be normally maintained.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show a hinge structure of a product rack door according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a partially cutaway front view.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a vending machine to which the present invention is applied.

3A and 3B show a hinge structure of a conventional product rack door, in which FIG. 3A is a plan view and FIG. 3B is a partially cutaway front view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Product Rack 11 Product Rack Door 11a Hinge Cylindrical Part 14 Flat Plate Hinge Pin

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A door for closing an open surface of a product rack installed in a vending machine, wherein a hinge cylinder formed by curling at one side edge of a door plate is provided at upper and lower ends thereof. Automatic sales, characterized in that the hinge pin is inserted and pivotally attached, and the hinge pin is a flat plate, and its plate surface is aligned with the front and rear direction with respect to the product rack and a gap is fitted in the hinge tubular part of the door. Machine rack door. 2. The product rack door for a vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the hinge pin is a sheet metal flat plate having a width dimension slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the door-side hinge tubular portion. 3. The product rack door according to claim 1, wherein the product rack is installed in a freezer, and the product rack door also serves as a storage guide for frozen products such as ice cream stored in the rack. The product rack door of the vending machine.