Background of the Invention

This invention relates to an automatic vending machine of a type in which desired articles such as cans or bottles containing drinks can be dispensed one by one through the article outlet and more particularly to an improvement in the system for loading and storing of such articles in the machine.

Automatic vending machines are well known in which various types of articles such as cans and bottles containing various kinds of drinks are stored in groups within respective stock storage areas. ' Articles of the desired kind are dispensed one by one to the dispensing outlet by putting coins in the coin slot and pushing a push-button corresponding to the desired kind of articles.

Various types of stock storage arrangements for automatic vending machines are known. Examples include the vertical column type, in which the articles are accumulated in the form of vertical columns; the sloping shelf type, in which the articles are arranged in rows in inclined directions; the serpentine type, in which the articles are arranged along serpentine guiding members; the heaped-up type, in which the articles are heaped in random order; and the suspending type, in which the articles are suspended and supported by guide rails.

In the various known storage arrangements described above, however, the articles are separately stored one by one. The loading of the articles into the storage area thus comprises a first step of taking out the articles one by one from a carton containing a number of the articles, and a second step of putting the articles one by one into the storehouses located in the upper portion of the automatic vending machine. Such a loading operation comprises a repetition of the same action, which is tedious labor, particularly during hot days in summer when the demand for drinks is increased considerably over other season, resulting in more frequent loading of articles and more intensive labor.

Furthermore, since storage arrangements in known automatic vending machines, other than the heaped-up system described above, are adapted to arrange the articles in rows, the storage capacity is small in comparison with the total volume of the automatic vending machine, resulting in a disadvantageous utilization of space.

Summary of the Invention

This invention helps to eliminate the above- described disadvantages by loading and storing within the machine cartons of the articles as such for easier loading of the articles as well as for more efficient utilization of the storage space.

This objective is achieved with the invention of an automatic vending machine of a type in which articles stored in an article storage area are dispensed one by one through an outlet, characterized in that the storage area is constructed such that a carton containing articles therein can

be loaded into the machine and that the machine comprises an article takeout mechanism which takes out the articles one by one through an opening provided in the carton and supplies the articles thus taken out to the dispensing outlet.

In this invention, means for storing articles is constructed so as to mount therein a carton of such articles and so that the articles can be taken out one by one by the takeout mechanism through an opening provided in the carton for supply to the article outlet. Thus, the loading of the articles into the storing means requires only the laying of the carton as such into the storing means. Therefore, the loading of articles requires only a single operation, resulting in a very efficient loading procedure. Furthermore, since articles packed in cartons in a vertically and laterally arranged condition are stored in the storage means, the available space of the storage means can be more efficiently utilized.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the attached drawings are illustrated a realization of an automatic vending machine according to the invention:

Fig. 1 is a frontal partially diagrammatic view of the upper portion of the interior of the machine with the doors cut away,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the storage means of the machine shown in Fig. 1, and

Figs. 3A and 3B are diagrammatic side views showing respectively the carton-loading step and the article- dispensing step.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

In Fig. 1, a frontal, partially diagrammatic view of an automatic vending machine is illustrated according to the invention showing its interior construction with the outer and inner doors cut away. The automatic vending machine shown has nine storage locations 2 therein forming laterally and vertically three rows respectively. Each storage location 2 has a pair of guide rails 3A and 3B separated laterally by a certain distance as shown in greater detail in Figs. 2, 3A and 3B. Both guide rails 3A and 3B are arranged at an inclination so that their front ends are positioned at a higher level. The front-end portions are provided with guide lugs 4A and 4B for loading use, the lugs being inclines so that the top ends are somewhat lowered for loading cartons.

The guide rails 3A and 3B support thereon a tray 5 located between and adapted to move longitudinally along the guide rails 3A and 3B. The tray 5 comprises a bottom wall 5A, side walls 5B, and a front-end wall 5C with a rear-end opening 7 communicating with an upper opening 6. The bottom surface of the bottom wall 5A of the tray 5 has pivotally attached thereto one end of an L-shaped stopper 8 adapted to close the rear-end opening 7 of the tray 5 with a closing plate portion 8A. Closing plate portion 8A is normally urged to its closed position by means of a spring (not shown) . However, when the tray 5 has been moved along the guide rails 3A and 3B so that the rear-end opening 7 has reached the rearmost position of guide rails 3A and 3B, the closing plate 8A of the stopper 8

is moved to the position illustrated in Fig. 2 by means of a cam mechanism (not shown) , thereby opening the rear-end opening 7 of tray 5.

The rear ends of guide rails 3A and 3B are provided with a rectangular frame-shaped stopper 9 for preventing a carton 20 mounted on tray 5 from sliding down through the rear-end opening 7 of tray 5. This stopper 9 is shaped to correspond approximately with an opening 22 provided in the lower portion of the terminal wall 20A of carton 20 so that the articles contained therein such as cans 21, can be exhausted one by one.

A pair of wire guide rods 10A and 10B are connected at one end to the lateral ends of the lowermost member of stopper 9, and a can 21 which has rolled by its own weight out of the opening 22 of carton 20 will be supported by guide rods 10A and 10B so as to continue its rolling movement downwards. Guide rods 10A and 10B are inclined so that the ends on the side of stopper 9 are positioned at a higher level. Furthermore, closing plate 8A of stopper 8 can pass through between guide rods 10A and 10B located in the extension of rear opening 7 of tray 5.

Similarly, a second pair of wire guide rods 11A and

11B are connected at one end to the lateral ends of the lowermost member of stopper 9 for the purpose of guiding by both ends a can rolling on the first pair of guide rods 10A and 10B. The second pair of guide rods 11A and 11B are fixed at the same inclination as the first pair of guide rods 10A and 10B and in parallel thereto.

Similarly, a third pair of wire guide rods 12A and 12B are connected at one ^' end to the lateral ends of the uppermost member of stopper 9 for the purpose of guiding by the circumference a can rolling on the first pair of guide rods 10A and 10B. The third pair of guide rods 12A and 12B are fixed at the same inclination as the first pair of guide rods 10A and 10B and in parallel thereto. Column chutes 13 are fixed respectively to the extension of corresponding guide rods 10A and 10B and are adapted so as to communicate with the machine dispensing outlet (not shown) .

Referring to Figs. 3A and 3B, conventional article takeout mechanisms, such as rotational star wheels 14, are located at the downstream end of column 13. Star wheels 14 have circumference claws 15 for engaging cans 21 falling through column 13. Star wheels 14 are rotated at a pre¬ determined angle by a conventional driving means (not. shown) governed by a control unit (not shown) so as to allow the first can 21 stopped by the corresponding claw 15 of the star wheel 14 to drop by its own weight and be fed to the dispensing outlet while stopping the next falling can 21 with the next claw.15.

Since other parts of an automatic vending machine in accordance with the invention are similar to those of usual, known automatic vending machines, detailed drawings and descriptions of such parts are omitted herein.

Prior to loading cartons 20 into the automatic vending machine 1, openings 22 as shown in Fig. 2 are formed in the respective terminal walls 20A of cartons 20 containing respectively a number of cans in rows. For ease of this

opening operation, cut-lines and the like may be imprinted upon the cartons 20.

When openings 22 are made in cartons 20 as described above, the outer and inner doors of the automatic vending machine are opened. Trays 5 of the respective storage locations 2 are then drawn out along their guide rails 3A and 3B until the rear-end portion of the respective trays 5 is located on top of the lug portions 4A and 4B on the respective guide rails 5 for use in loading. The respective trays 5 are somewhat inclined at this time, so as to lower their front ends for the convenience of the carton loading operation. Each carton 20 is mounted on top of the corresponding tray 5 with the opening 22 of the carton against the rear-end opening 7 of the tray 5. Trays 5 are then pushed forward along the guide rails 3A and 3B. Since these guide rails 3A and 3B are inclined so that the rear ends thereof are somewhat lower, the can 21 at the opening 22 of the carton 20 tends to be expelled through the opening 22 due to its own weight. Since the closing plate 8A of said stopper 8 attached pivotally to the bottom wall 5A of the tray 5 opposes the opening 22 of the carton 20, can 21 is held inside the carton 20.

When the rear end of the tray 5 reaches the corresponding rear end of the guide rails 3 and 3B and frame- shaped stopper 9 is applied to the end wall 20A of the carton 20, the movable stopper 8 is rotated by a cam mechanism (not shown) so that the closing portion 8A of the stopper 8 is drawn back from its position opposing the opening 22 of the carton 20. A number of cans 21 consequently roll out of the opening 22 of the carton 20 supported at their respective ends by the inclined guide rods 10A and 10B. These cans 21 are introduced therefrom into the column chute 13 to drop therein.

The first can 21 is received and stopped by a claw 15 of the star wheel 14. As a result, a row of cans 21 is formed from the bottom end of the column chute through the guide rods 10A and 10B up to the carton 20.

When all of the. trays ^' 5 of the respective storage locations 2 have been pushed forward according to the procedure described above, as shown in Fig. 3B, the carton- loading operation is completed.

Thereafter, when an eject command for a specific kind of can 21 is generated from the control unit of the automatic vending machine 1, the star wheel 14 corresponding to the storage location 2 containing the specific can 21 is rotated by a pre-determined angle in anti-clockwise direction so that the first can 21 drops by its own weight and is fed to the dispensing outlet (not shown) . Such a dropping of the first can 21 frees the following can 21 to drop successively into the column chute 13 or to be introduced from the carton 20 onto the guide rods 10A and 10B so that the second can is caught by the next claw 15 of the star wheel 14 and stopped.

According to the invention described above, the loading operation of articles, such as cans 21, into the storage locations 2 is completed simply by making the specified opening 22 in a carton 20, mounting the carton 20 on a tray 5 of the storage location 2, and pushing the tray 5 forwards. The loading operation of cans 21 into the storage location 2 thus can be carried out easily, winter or summer. Furthermore, since the carton 20 itself is mounted in the storage location 2, more cans 21 can be mounted on the tray 5 resulting in a more efficient utilization of the given space.

The present invention is not limited to the above description, and various modifications are possible as required. In the embodiment described above, for example, each storage location 2 is provided in the upper portion of the automatic vending machine 1 in such a way that the cartons 20 must be lifted a comparatively long distance to load the cartons 20 with their contents onto trays 5 positioned at high levels; however, the cartons 20 could be otherwise located in a lower portion of the automatic vending machine 1 and the articles supplied one by one to the column chute by means of a takeout mechanism utilizing well-known robots. The articles are not limited to cans 21 but may include other types of container such as glass bottles or plastic containers which can be handled in an automatic vending machine according to the invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, the cartons containing the articles to be dispensed are stored as such within the machine, and the articles can be supplied from the carton to the dispensing outlet with practical advantages such as easy loading of articles into the storage location and efficient utilization of storage space.