DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates in general to the sector of product dispensing machines and in particular dispensing machines including, in a supporting frame, one or more shelves or support surfaces and, for each shelf, a plurality of adjacent cells which are adapted to accommodate respective rows of products. The dispensing machine also includes a member or other movement device adapted to move the row of products along the respective cell, so as to cause the product which is located first in the row to fall from the shelf. The product is made to fall onto a collection plane or surface suitable for collecting the product to be dispensed.

The present disclosure is based on a recognition by the inventor of the present patent application that the dispensing machines have a limited functionality due to the fact that the products have sizes and shapes which are different from each other. In particular, owing to the different sizes and shapes, the products are not always dispensed in an efficient manner by a dispensing machine. For example, in the case of glass bottles, these may be dispensed only in a horizontal position, otherwise there is the risk of breakage when they pass from the shelf onto the collection plane or surface. However, horizontal positioning on the shelf may take up too much space and does not allow efficient organization of the spaces in the dispensing machine.

Based on this recognition and in order to overcome the aforementioned drawback, a dispensing machine according to claim 1 and a method for collecting a product in a dispensing machine according to claim 10 are provided. Secondary features of the present disclosure are defined in the respective dependent claims.

The dispensing machine according to the present disclosure is structured and organized so as to cause inclination, as required, of the collection plane or surface with respect to the shelf on which the products lie. It is thus possible to favour positioning on the collection surface.

In particular, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the inclination of the collection surface may be, when viewed with one's back to the shelves and looking towards a front area of the dispensing machine, an "uphill" position or inclination (positive inclination). Alternatively, another inclination, different from the preceding inclination, when viewed with one's back to the shelves and looking towards the front area of the dispensing machine, a "downhill" position or inclination (negative inclination). The uphill inclination may be suitable, for example, when it is required to cause a tall product, which may be made of glass, such as a vertically erect bottle, to fall onto the collection surface so that there is the minimum risk of the product breaking. After the product has been transferred onto the collection surface, the product is re-positioned in its original position, for example a horizontal position. In practice, by positioning the collection surface in an uphill position, a product which is tall, and may also be made of delicate material, is guided during positioning into a horizontal position on the collection surface, without any - or a minimum - risk of breakage. The downhill inclination may instead be used when it is required to cause a long and low product, such as a box, to slide onto the collection surface, so as to favour the descent, by means of sliding, on the collection surface. The product, after collection, is then repositioned in its original position. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the angle of inclination may be determined beforehand on the basis of information stored in a memory unit and associated with the products present on the shelves. For example, for each product, which is positioned in a given row and on a given shelf of the dispensing machine, precise information relating to the degree of inclination most appropriate for that product is stored. In this way, when a user selects the product, a control unit sends a command for inclination of the collection surface on the basis of the information stored.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to determine the position of a product on the collection surface, one or more position detectors are provided, said detectors being associated with the collection surface and able to detect the presence of the product on the collection surface. Re-positioning in the original position of the collection surface may take place after the detectors have detected the presence of the product on the collection surface.

Further advantages, characteristic features and modes of use forming the subject of the present disclosure will become clear from the following detailed description of embodiments thereof, provided by way of a non-limiting example.

It is evident, however, that each embodiment forming the subject of the present disclosure may have one or more of the advantages listed above; in any case it is not required that each embodiment should have simultaneously all the advantages listed.

Reference will be made to the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows an axonometric view, from the front, of a dispensing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figures 2 and 3 show schematically respective front views of a dispensing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure in corresponding operating conditions;

Figures 4 to 6 show schematically respective side views of product collection phases in a dispensing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 7 shows a schematic view of a detail of a dispensing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 8 shows a schematic view of a detail of a dispensing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 9 shows a view, from above, of a detail of a dispensing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 10 shows a view, from below, of a detail of a dispensing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure during a first operating phase;

Figure 11 shows a view, from below, of a detail of a dispensing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure during a second operating phase;

Figure 12 shows a view, from above, of a movement unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 13 a shows a view of a detail XIII of Figure 12.

In the present detailed description below the reference number 10 denotes a dispensing machine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The product dispensing machine 10 includes, in a supporting frame 12, one or more shelves or support surfaces 15a, 15b, 15c and, for each shelf, a plurality of adjacent cells 16a, 16b, 16c adapted to receive respective rows of products 20a, 20b, 20c. The dispensing machine 10 includes a collection shelf or surface 17 suitable for collecting a product to be dispensed. The collection plane or surface 17 is located in a front zone of the supporting frame 12. A pusher member or other movement device, arranged behind a row of products, is designed to push/displace a product which is located first in the respective row, onto the collection plane or surface 17. The products 20a, 20b, 20c to be dispensed are arranged on the respective shelves 15a, 15b, 15c and in the respective cells 16a, 16b, 16c.

In relation to the collection surface 17, in an embodiment such as that shown in the drawings, the collection surface 17 forms parts of a collection device 50 which will be described below. The collection device 50 is mounted on a frame 60 including vertical uprights 61 located on the sides of the supporting frame 12, and two horizontal connecting crosspieces, comprising a bottom bracket 62 and a top rigid rod 63. It can be noted that, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as that shown in the drawings, the frame 60 is mounted vertically movable within the supporting frame 12 so as to be displaced vertically to the height of the single shelves 15a, 15b, 15c, so as to displace the collection device 50 heightwise. Such a frame may be that described in Italian patent No. 13621 18 in the name of the same proprietor Daint which is cited herein in its entirety by way of a reference. According to a first characteristic feature of the present disclosure, the dispensing machine 10 includes a tilting device, or movement unit 25 for inclining or pivoting, with a tilting movement, the collection surface 17 with respect to the respective shelf 15a, 15b, 15c. A tilting movement is schematically shown in Figures 4 to 6. In practice, the collection surface 17 may be inclined or pivoted, in the manner of a pivot, between a first inclined position which, in the example, when viewed with one's back to the shelves 15a, 15b, 15c and looking towards the front area of the dispensing machine 10, may be an uphill position (positive inclination), and a second inclined position, different from the first position, which, in the example, when viewed with one's back to the shelves 15a, 15b, 15c and looking towards the front area of the dispensing machine 10, is a downhill position (negative inclination). A third position, different from the first position and from the second position, has a zero inclination and lies in a horizontal plane, substantially coplanar, on the same level as the respective shelf 15a, 15b, 15c.

An axis of rotation of the collection surface 17 for obtaining the aforementioned two or more inclined positions is an axis substantially parallel to the shelf 15a, 15b, 15, so as to obtain a surface 17 inclined downhill or uphill for the products 20a, 20b, 20c.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as that shown in the figures, in order to obtain a variation in inclination, the dispensing machine 10 includes the tilting unit 25 or pivoting device described below.

The tilting unit 25 includes a motor-driven worm screw jack including a motor unit 30 connected to a threaded screw 36, or worm. A support casing 32 inside which the worm 36 is housed supports a central support bracket 37 which rests freely on the bracket 62 of the frame 60. The central support bracket 37 is also connected to the rigid rod 63 of the frame 60. The connection to the rigid rod 63 is obtained via the collection device 50. In particular, the collection device 50 includes a bar 51 in the form of an inverted "U" which is in turn suspended on the rigid rod 63, as can be seen in Figure 9. In other words, the rigid rod 63 is housed with play inside the bar 51 in form of an inverted "U", so as to allow a "loose" connection with play, or with limited movement, between the tilting unit 25 and the frame 60.

The threaded screw 36 is moreover connected by means of a connection block 39 to the bar 62 of the frame 60. More particularly, the connection block 39 is mounted pivotably between two flanges 38 fixed in turn to the bar 62 of the frame 60. One of the two flanges 38 forms parts of a support body 40 fixed by means of screws to the bar 62 of the frame 60. Therefore the worm 36 may rotate with respect to the bar 62.

The connection block 39 is in turn connected to a pin 41 for rotation together with the connection block 39. The pin 41 supports a first disc 42 suitable for indicating an inclination position and a second encoder disk 43 for detecting the inclination position. Photocells (not visible in the drawings) are associated with the support body 40 for detecting the rotation of the second encoder disk 43 and transmitting this information to a rotation control board 44 associated with the support body 40.

The tilting unit 25 also includes a lever structure 45 for allowing a coordinated and synchronized tilting movement of entire collection surface 17. In particular, this structure includes crosspieces 46a, 47b which connect the central support bracket 37 to two lateral support brackets 47a, 47b which are in turn freely resting, like the central support bar 37, on the bar 62 of the frame 60. The two lateral support brackets 47a, 47b are arranged on the sides of the central support bracket 37.

It can also be seen that the two lateral support brackets 47a, 47b and the central support bracket 37 are fixed to the frame of the collection device 50, and more particularly to the bar 51 and to an opposite bar 52 of the collection device 50.

The two lateral support brackets 47a, 47b are also connected to the bar 62 of the frame in an articulated manner. In particular, each of the two lateral support brackets 47a, 47b is connected in an articulated manner to a vertical rod 48a, 48b, The vertical rod 48a, 48b is connected in an articulated manner to a respective lever 49a, 49b which is in turn connected in an articulated manner to the bar 62 of the frame. The two levers 49a, 49b and the vertical rods 48a, 48b are in turn connected by means of a rigid bar 49c.

The triple connection of the lever 49a, the vertical bar 48a and the rigid bar 49c and, on the other hand, the lever 49b, the vertical rod 48b and the rigid bar 49c is of the type articulated around an axis of rotation which extends along the rigid bar 49c. From the structure described above it can be seen that each of the levers 49a, 49b and each of the vertical rods 48a, 48b forms together with the central support bracket 37 (and together with the lateral support brackets 47a, 47b) and the bar 62 of the frame 60 an articulated quadrilateral. In practice, each of the levers 49a, 49b, each of the vertical rods 48a, 48b, the central support bracket 37 (together with the lateral support brackets 47a, 47b and worm 36) and the bar 62 of the frame 60 are arms of an articulated quadrilateral.

It is to be understood that a person skilled in the art may modify the tilting unit 25 as required and in accordance with his/her own knowledge in the mechanical sector, in keeping with the type of collection device 50 used and with the degree of inclination which is to be obtained.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, in order to obtain a tilting or pivoting movement of the collection surface 17, the tilting unit 25 is actuated in the following manner:

Initially, the motor unit 30 is actuated so as to displace heightwise the central support bracket 37 by means of the worm screw jack. Owing to the layout and configuration of the constraints described above, operation of the worm screw jack produces, in either direction, an uphill or downhill inclination of the central support bracket 37 and the two lateral support brackets 41 , 42, and therefore of the collection device 50 connected thereto, with respect to the frame 60 and the shelf 15a, 15b, 15c of the dispensing machine 10.

An inclination of the central support bracket 37 is synchronized with an inclination of the two lateral support brackets 47a, 47b by means of the lever connection described above. The inclination may be controlled by means of disks 42, 43 which are rotatably mounted on the pin 41.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a central management and control unit not visible in the drawings is operationally connected to the motor unit 30 and is able to issue a movement command to the motor unit 30 according to a desired inclination. Once the required inclination (controlled by means of the board 44) has been reached, the motor 30 received a command to stop in the inclined position.

Depending on the inclination command, the dispensing machine 10 may operated in different ways.

For example, a movement command is controlled and managed by the control unit depending on the type of product which is present inside the dispensing machine. More particularly, for each position inside the dispensing machine, information as to the type of product to be dispensed and the required angle of inclination is stored. Information regarding the type of product associated with each position inside the dispensing machine and the degree of inclination required for collection of the respective product from the shelf may be stored in a memory.

For example, the products 20a, 20b, 20c to be dispensed are arranged on the respective shelves 15a, 15b, 15c and in the respective rows 16a, 16b, 16c in such a way that, when viewed from a front area of the frame 12, it is possible to define a matrix arrangement with rows X1 , X2, X3 and columns Y1 , Y2, Y3 such that, for each product to be dispensed, a row position X1 , X2, X3 and a column position Y1 , Y2, Y3 is associated therewith. When a product is selected by a user, the control unit may process the position of the required product and send an inclination command on the basis of the stored information associated with that product.

A return movement of the collection surface 17, from the inclined position, may be programmed by means of a timer, for example in a manner defined after a predetermined period of time, sufficient to ensure that the product 20a, 20b, 20c has been pushed onto the collection surface 17.

Alternatively, the collection surface 17 may be provided with one or more position detectors 65 which are able to detect the presence of a product on the collection surface 17. The position detection devices 65 are associated with the collection surface 17. In the detection system shown the position detectors 65 may be photocells or similar optical detectors of the known type which are arranged in sequence along the collection surface.

More particularly, the position detectors 65 are transmission position detectors designed to transmit an optical signal and are arranged at intervals in sequence along the bar 51 of the collection device 50. Reception position detectors (not visible in the drawings) are arranged at intervals in sequence along the bar 52 which is located opposite the bar 51.

In particular, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as the embodiment shown, the collection surface 17 forms part, as mentioned, of the collection device 50. The collection device 50 includes a conveying member 55 which moves a belt 54. The collection surface 17 is defined by the belt 54. The collection device 50 is in practice a conveyor belt which is able to move a product laterally along a row direction as soon as it is dispensed.

The entire conveyor belt is located on the tilting unit 25 described above.

Consequently, for example, should a user select a glass bottle as shown in the figures, the control unit issues an inclination command depending on the row and column position of the product to be dispensed, so as to move/incline the collection surface 17 in the "uphill" position. In this way, the glass bottle is collected in a gentle and delicate manner, preventing sudden falling movements.

Thereafter, when the position detectors 65 have detected the presence of the bottle on the belt 54, the control unit sends another signal for re-positioning the collection surface 17 in a horizontal plane or in an initial position. Then, the bottle may be conveyed downwards by means of vertical displacement of the frame 60 and moved laterally by the belt 54 towards a dispensing opening.

When, instead, a user selects a box which is long and low in height, the control unit calculates the row and column position of the product to be dispensed and, on the basis of the information stored, sends an inclination command in order to incline the collection surface in a "downhill" or "slide" position. In this way the box is helped to fall from the shelf 15a, 15b, 15c by means of sliding.

Then, when the position detectors 65 have detected the presence of the box on the belt 54, the control unit sends another signal for re-positioning the collection surface 17 in a horizontal plane or in an initial position. Then, the collection surface 17 may be lowered by means of the frame 60 and the box may be moved laterally by the belt 54 towards a dispensing opening.

The subject-matter of the present disclosure has been described hitherto with reference to preferred embodiments thereof. It is to be understood that other embodiments relating to the same inventive idea may exist, all of these falling within the scope of protection of the claims which are illustrated hereinbelow.