Shelves and merchandise vending machines

Abstract

The present invention discloses a shelf and a commodity vending machine, which relate to the field of accounting devices and are used to reduce the volume of the shelf and increase the storage volume of the vending machine. The shelf includes a mounting seat and a roller assembly. The mounting seat includes at least one concave cavity. The roller assembly is installed in the concave cavity; wherein each concave cavity is installed with at least one roller assembly; the roller assembly includes a support frame and a roller; the roller is rotatably mounted on the support frame; the edge of the support frame clamps the edge of the concave cavity. In the shelf provided by the above technical solution, there is no connection relationship between the roller assemblies, and no connection is required to form a whole. Each roller assembly is installed separately in the concave cavity, so the space occupied by the connecting parts that fix the roller assemblies is omitted, making the volume of the shelf smaller. Then the vending machine using the shelf has a larger volume for loading goods, which increases the effective storage capacity of the vending machine.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of accounting devices, and in particular to a shelf and a commodity vending machine. Background Art

[0002] Vending machines are widely used in parks, shopping malls, zoos, supermarkets and other places. After customers actively select goods and pay for them, the vending machines will deliver the goods to the delivery port. Vending machines have the characteristics of small footprint and no need for sales staff. The types of items sold by vending machines include: food, small commodities such as masks, cosmetics, etc. These items are placed on the shelves of the vending machines. After the previous item is sold, the items behind will move forward one by one to fill the empty space left after the previous item is sold.

[0003] The shelf is the main component of the vending machine. The shelf adopts a structure with automatic replenishment function, that is, the back of the shelf is high and the front is low, and the shelf is inclined. The items use their own gravity to move from the back of the shelf to the front to achieve replenishment.

[0004] In the related art, a shelf includes a shelf panel and a slide guide bar. The shelf panel is made of sheet metal, and the slide guide bar is made of injection molded parts. A plurality of slide guide bars are assembled on the sheet metal shelf panel.

[0005] The inventors have found that there are at least the following problems in the prior art: the automatic replenishment shelves in the related art have high-cost slide guides, complex structures, and heavy volumes. The slide guides occupy a large space, which reduces the storage capacity of the vending machine. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present invention provides a shelf and a commodity vending machine, which are used to reduce the volume of the shelf and increase the storage volume of the automatic vending machine.

[0007] An embodiment of the present invention provides a shelf of a vending machine, comprising:

[0008] A mounting seat, the mounting seat comprising at least one cavity; and

[0009] A roller assembly is installed in the cavity; wherein each cavity is installed with at least one roller assembly; the roller assembly includes a support frame and a roller; the roller is rotatably installed on the support frame; the edge of the support frame clamps the edge of the cavity.

[0010] In some embodiments, the cavities are arranged in multiple rows, each row includes a plurality of the cavities, and each of the cavities is equipped with the roller assembly.

[0011] In some embodiments, one roller assembly is installed corresponding to each of the concave cavities, and the edge of the support frame of each of the roller assemblies is directly stuck on the edge of the concave cavity.

[0012] In some embodiments, the shelf further comprises:

[0013] A separator is installed on the mounting seat, and the separator is arranged between two or more adjacent rows of the concave cavities.

[0014] In some embodiments, the mounting seat is provided with a plurality of mounting portions, and the partition is selectively provided at one of the mounting portions.

[0015] In some embodiments, the support frame includes a mounting cavity, and a side wall of the mounting cavity is provided with a pair of mounting holes;

[0016] The roller comprises a rolling body and a rolling shaft; the rolling body is rotatably mounted at the middle of the rolling shaft relative to the rotating shaft, and both ends of the rolling shaft are supported by the pair of mounting holes.

[0017] In some embodiments, one of the inner wall of the cavity and the outer wall of the support frame is provided with a slot, and the other is provided with a buckle, and the buckle cooperates with the slot.

[0018] In some embodiments, at least one pair of mutually matching grooves and buckles are provided on both sides of each roller in the axial direction.

[0019] In some embodiments, one side of the mounting seat is higher than the other side, a blocking member is provided on one side of the mounting seat, and the other side of the mounting seat is used as a cargo outlet.

[0020] In some embodiments, the roller assemblies are arranged in rows in a direction from one side of the mount to the other side.

[0021] In some embodiments, the shelf further comprises:

[0022] The price tag mounting piece is mounted on the other side of the mounting seat; the price tag mounting piece includes a mounting groove for mounting the price tag strip.

[0023] In some embodiments, the mounting seat is configured to be inclined, and the inclination angle of the mounting seat is 12° to 18°.

[0024] An embodiment of the present invention provides an automatic vending machine, comprising a shelf provided by any technical solution of the present invention.

[0025] In some embodiments, the vending machine further comprises:

[0026] The box body includes a plurality of shelf mounting members, each of which includes at least one supporting boss; there is at least one shelf in the height direction and the width direction of the box body; each shelf is supported by at least one supporting boss of at least two shelf mounting members.

[0027] The shelf of the vending machine provided by the above technical solution includes a mounting seat and a roller assembly. There is no connection relationship between the roller assemblies, and there is no need to connect them to form a whole. Each roller assembly is installed separately in the cavity. Since the roller assemblies are not connected to each other, the connecting components for fixing the roller assemblies are omitted, so the space occupied by these components is omitted, making the volume of the shelf smaller. Then, after the shelf is installed in the vending machine, for the vending machine of the same size, the volume of the vending machine used to load goods is larger by using the shelf provided by the embodiment of the present invention, thereby increasing the effective storage volume of the vending machine. In addition, each roller assembly and the mounting seat are detachably connected. After a single roller assembly is damaged, the damaged roller assembly can be easily replaced without affecting the normal use and installation of other roller assemblies. It is very convenient to use, and it is also convenient to clean, overhaul and maintain. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of this application. The exemplary embodiments of the present invention and their descriptions are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute an improper limitation of the present invention. In the drawings:

[0029] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the shelf usage status provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a shelf provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A is a partial enlarged schematic diagram of .

[0032] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the connection relationship between the mounting base and the roller assembly of the shelf provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 5 A schematic structural diagram of a roller assembly of a shelf provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 6 A schematic cross-sectional view of a roller assembly of a shelf provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a vending machine provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Combine the following Figure 1 to Figure 7 The technical solution provided by the present invention is described in more detail.

[0037] See also Figure 1 The embodiment of the present invention provides a shelf, which can be used in vending machines, commercial refrigerators, etc. The shelf includes a mounting seat 1 and a roller assembly 2. The mounting seat 1 includes at least one cavity 11. The roller assembly 2 is installed in the cavity 11. Each cavity 11 is installed with at least one roller assembly 2. The roller assembly 2 includes a support frame 21 and a roller 22; the roller 22 is rotatably mounted on the support frame 21; the edge of the support frame 21 clamps the edge of the cavity 11.

[0038] The mounting base 1 is the installation base of the roller assembly 2, and the mounting base 1 can specifically be made of sheet metal. Sheet metal does not require mold opening and has high bearing strength. The use of sheet metal can better meet the bearing requirements of the shelves of vending machines. There is no connection between the roller assemblies 2, and they do not need to be connected to form a whole. Each roller assembly 2 is installed separately in the cavity 11. In some embodiments, each cavity 11 is installed with a roller assembly 2, and the cavity 11 and the roller assembly 2 correspond one to one. This structure allows the structures of the cavity 11 and the roller assembly 2 to be accurately matched. In other embodiments, the size of the cavity 11 is relatively large, and a row of roller assemblies 2 are placed side by side in a cavity 11; each roller assembly 2 does not affect each other and is independent of each other.

[0039] After the mounting base 1 is installed in place, the top surface of the cavity 11 is inclined. The specific implementation methods are: first, the mounting base 1 itself is constructed to be inclined. Second, the mounting base 1 itself is not inclined, but after the mounting base 1 is installed in the vending machine, it is inclined, that is, the mounting base 1 is installed in the vending machine at an angle. The following is a detailed description of these two implementation methods.

[0040] The first method is that the mounting base 1 is configured to be inclined, and there are many specific implementation methods. Figure 1One implementation is that the mounting seat 1 is a sheet metal part, which includes a bottom plate 12, a side plate 14 and a top plate 13. The side plate 14 includes four pieces, namely: a first side plate 14a, a second side plate 14b, a third side plate 14c and a fourth side plate 14d. The first side plate 14a and the second side plate 14b are opposite. The first side plate 14a is a front side plate, that is, the side plate 14 close to the customer when the shelf is in use. The second side plate 14b is a rear side plate, that is, the side plate 14 farthest from the customer when the shelf is in use. The height of the first side plate 14a is lower than the height of the second side plate 14b. Both the first side plate 14a and the second side plate 14b can be flat plates. The third side plate 14c and the fourth side plate 14d are arranged between the first side plate 14a and the second side plate 14b, and are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the first side plate 14a and the second side plate 14b. Both the third side plate 14c and the fourth side plate 14d can be flat plates, and their shapes are trapezoidal.

[0041] The bottoms of the first side panel 14a, the second side panel 14b, the third side panel 14c and the fourth side panel 14d are all fixedly connected to the bottom panel 12, and the bottom panel 12 is basically horizontal. The tops of the first side panel 14a, the second side panel 14b, the third side panel 14c and the fourth side panel 14d are all fixedly connected to the top panel 13. Since the third side panel 14c and the fourth side panel 14d are trapezoidal panels, the top panel 13 is inclined relative to the bottom panel 12, and the angle between the two is the inclination angle α of the mounting seat 1. Specifically, the inclination angle of the mounting seat 1 is 12° to 18°. For example, it is 12°, 13°, 14°, 15°, 16°, and 18°. Due to the inclination angle of the mounting seat 1 itself, the goods 8 can be placed directly on the shelf, and the self-gravity of the goods 8 can be used as power to automatically complete the transportation of the goods 8, which is energy-saving and environmentally friendly, and there is no need to additionally equip a tally clerk, saving labor costs.

[0042] If the inclination angle of the mounting base 1 is lower than 12°, the goods 8 may not be able to slide down automatically by gravity. If the inclination angle of the mounting base 1 is greater than 18°, the goods 8 will slide down too fast and the impact force will be too strong, which may cause damage to the vending machine and collision and accumulation of the goods 8. Since vending machines are generally not equipped with sales staff, if the goods 8 accumulate, the vending machine will not work properly. The above-mentioned range of inclination angle can well balance the above two aspects, so that the goods 8 can slide down smoothly by their own gravity, and the speed of the goods 8 will not slide down too fast, thereby ensuring the reliability of the automatic replenishment operation, improving the stability of the vending machine, and reducing the probability of failure of the vending machine.

[0043] In some embodiments of the present invention, taking the first implementation as an example, by adopting the above structure, the shelf itself has an inclined angle, which makes it possible to achieve automatic replenishment without making too many structural improvements to the existing vending machine.

[0044] The second implementation method is that the mounting seat 1 also adopts the above-mentioned sheet metal structure, and the parts included are the same as the above-mentioned embodiments, including a top plate 13, a bottom plate 12, a first side plate 14a, a second side plate 14b, a third side plate 14c, and a fourth side plate 14d. The difference is that the third side plate 14c, the third side plate 14c, and the fourth side plate 14d are all rectangular plates instead of trapezoidal plates. The mounting seat 1 of this structure is subsequently tilted and installed to the vending machine. This method also makes the mounting seat 1 have a certain tilt angle, so that the goods 8 located on the shelf can automatically slide from a high place along the roller assembly 2 to a low place by the weight of the goods 8 themselves, and the transportation of the goods 8 is automatically completed, which is energy-saving and environmentally friendly, and does not require additional sorters, saving labor costs.

[0045] See also Figures 1 to 4 In some embodiments, the size of the mounting seat 1 is relatively large, and a mounting seat 1 is provided with multiple rows of concave cavities 11, each row includes multiple concave cavities 11, and each concave cavity 11 is installed with a roller assembly 2. The roller assembly 2 is a whole and is directly installed in the concave cavity 11. No other intermediate components are required between the concave cavity 11 and the roller assembly 2. After the roller assembly 2 is installed in the concave cavity 11, basically only the top of the roller 22 of the roller assembly 2 and the top of the support frame 21 used to clamp the edge of the concave cavity 11 are located above the concave cavity 11, and the other parts of the roller assembly 2 are hidden inside the mounting seat 1. Therefore, the volume of the entire shelf is very small. After the shelf is installed in the vending machine, the shelf occupies a small space, so the volume used to hold the goods 8 is large, which improves the space utilization of the vending machine, so that the same size of the vending machine, after using the shelf improved by the above technical solution, has a larger storage capacity, the vending machine can hold more goods 8, and the economy is better.

[0046] Continue to see Figures 1 to 6 In some embodiments, each cavity 11 is correspondingly installed with a roller assembly 2, and the edge of the support frame 21 of each roller assembly 2 is directly stuck on the edge of the cavity 11. In some embodiments, each support frame 21 is installed with a roller 22. There are no other components between the roller assembly 2 and the mounting seat 1, and the roller assembly 2 is directly installed in the cavity 11 of the mounting seat 1. See Figure 5 and Figure 6 The top edge of the support frame 21 of the roller assembly 2 has a folded edge or flange as an edge, and the edge is directly stuck at the edge of the cavity 11, and no other structure is required for the edge of the cavity 11. The above structure is very compact, so that in the height direction of the shelf, the roller assembly 2 is almost entirely located in the cavity 11, and only the edge of the support frame 21 and the top surface of the roller 22 protrude from the cavity 11. This further reduces the size of the shelf and increases the storage capacity of the vending machine.

[0047] Continue to see Figure 5 and Figure 6 , the specific implementation of the roller assembly 2 is introduced below. In some embodiments, the support frame 21 includes a mounting cavity 211, and the side wall of the mounting cavity 211 is provided with a pair of mounting holes 211a. The roller 22 includes a rolling body 221 and a roller 222. The rolling body 221 can be rotatably mounted at the middle of the roller 222 relative to the rotating shaft, and the two ends of the roller 222 are supported by a pair of mounting holes 211a. The support frame 21 is roughly box-shaped. The support frame 21 has a mounting cavity 211. The roller 22 is installed in the mounting cavity 211. The length dimension of the support frame 21 is slightly larger than the axial length dimension of the roller 22. In this way, the size of the roller assembly 2 is as small as possible to occupy as little internal space of the vending machine as possible.

[0048] In some embodiments, the mounting hole 211 a may be open at the top, so as to facilitate the installation of the roller shaft 222 of the roller 22 .

[0049] Continue to see Figure 5 and Figure 6 In some embodiments, one of the inner wall of the cavity 11 and the outer wall of the support frame 21 is provided with a slot, and the other is provided with a buckle 4, and the buckle 4 cooperates with the slot.

[0050] In some embodiments, for example, a buckle 4 is provided on the outer wall of the support frame 21 and a slot is provided on the inner wall of the cavity 11. Such a structure makes it easier to install the roller assembly 2. In addition, the roller assembly 2 and the mounting seat 1 adopt the above-mentioned fastening structure, which is achieved through the mutual cooperation structure inside the shelf, and does not need to increase the size of the entire shelf, which further optimizes the structure of the shelf and makes the shelf smaller.

[0051] See also Figure 5 In some embodiments, at least one pair of mutually matching grooves and buckles 4 are provided on both sides of the axial direction of each roller 22. Specifically, multiple groups of mutually matching grooves and buckles 4 can be provided on each side of the axial direction of the roller 22, and the multiple groups of mutually matching grooves and buckles 4 are arranged at intervals. In this way, the installation of the roller assembly 2 is more secure.

[0052] See also Figure 2 and Figure 3 In some embodiments, the shelf further includes a partition 3, which is mounted on the mounting base 1 and is arranged between two or more adjacent rows of concave cavities 11. The partition 3 is made of, for example, a steel pipe, a bent rod, etc. Figure 2 and Figure 3In the illustrated embodiment, a separator 3 is provided between two adjacent rows of concave cavities 11. In other embodiments, if the size of the goods 8 is relatively large and roller assemblies 2 corresponding to multiple rows of concave cavities 11 are required at the same time, a separator 3 can be provided between two rows of goods 8.

[0053] There is a certain gap between two adjacent rows of concave cavities 11. For goods 8 that can be carried by one row of concave cavities 11, the partition 3 is installed at different positions between two adjacent rows of concave cavities 11 according to the actual size of the goods 8. Specifically, in some embodiments, the mounting base 1 is provided with a plurality of mounting portions 15, and the partition 3 is selectively arranged in one of the mounting portions 15. The mounting portion 15 is, for example, a hole. A row of holes is respectively arranged at both ends of the mounting base 1. For each end of the mounting base 1, there are also a plurality of holes in the gap between two adjacent rows of concave cavities 11. The mounting portion 15 is selectively installed in one of the holes. In some embodiments, the plurality of holes are evenly distributed at the front and rear ends of the mounting base 1. The diameter of each hole is 3 mm to 5 mm. The spacing between two adjacent holes is 6 mm to 10 mm. The partition 3 is inserted into different positioning holes according to the width of the goods 8 to ensure the diversity of placing the goods 8.

[0054] Continue to see Figure 1 and Figure 2 In some embodiments, one side of the mounting seat 1 is higher than the other side, a blocking member 5 is provided on one side of the mounting seat 1, and the other side of the mounting seat 1 is used as a cargo outlet. The blocking member 5 prevents the cargo 8 from sliding off one side of the mounting seat 1. Blocking members 5 may also be installed on both sides of the mounting seat 1 in the width direction to prevent the cargo 8 from falling off the mounting seat 1 in the width direction. The blocking member 5 may be a baffle, a baffle bar, a baffle rod, etc.

[0055] In some embodiments, the roller assemblies 2 are arranged in a row from one side to the other side of the mounting seat 1. As described above, the mounting seat 1 is inclined. The structures of the roller assemblies 2 are the same, so after being installed in place, the heights of the roller assemblies 2 at different heights of the mounting seat 1 are also different. The bearing surfaces formed by all the roller assemblies 2 are parallel to the top surface of the mounting seat 1, and the goods 8 slide down by their own gravity.

[0056] See also Figure 4 In some embodiments, the shelf further includes a price tag mounting member 6, which is mounted on the other side of the mounting seat 1; the price tag mounting member 6 includes a mounting groove for mounting a price tag strip. The price tag mounting member 6 is used to identify the attributes and prices of the goods 8, so that customers can easily identify the goods 8 and make the right choice.

[0057] See also Figure 7 The embodiment of the present invention further provides a commodity vending machine, in particular an automatic vending machine. The commodity vending machine includes a shelf provided by any technical solution of the present invention.

[0058] The vending machine may include multiple layers of loading areas, each of which is provided with one or more shelves. The size of each shelf may be the same or different. Along the direction from the back to the front of the vending machine, that is, the depth direction of the shelf, only one shelf may be arranged. The side of the shelf located at the back of the vending machine is relatively high, and the side of the shelf located at the front of the vending machine is relatively low.

[0059] In some embodiments, the vending machine also includes a box body 7, which includes a plurality of shelf mounting members 71, each shelf mounting member 71 includes at least one supporting boss 711; there is at least one shelf in the height direction and the width direction of the box body 7; each shelf is supported by at least one supporting boss 711 of at least two shelf mounting members 71.

[0060] exist Figure 7 In the embodiment shown, multiple shelf mounting members 71 are installed on the back and front of the inner cavity of the vending machine along the height direction of the vending machine. The shelf mounting member 71 is generally strip-shaped, and multiple supporting bosses 711 are arranged at different positions of the shelf mounting member 71 to meet the installation requirements of shelves of different heights.

[0061] In the description of the present invention, it is necessary to understand that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the protection content of the present invention.

[0062] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein, but these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A shelf for a commodity vending machine, characterized in that: include: A mounting seat (1), the mounting seat (1) comprising at least one concave cavity (11); as well as A roller assembly (2) is mounted on the concave cavity (11); wherein each concave cavity (11) is mounted with at least one roller assembly (2); the roller assembly (2) comprises a support frame (21) and a roller (22); the roller (22) is rotatably mounted on the support frame (21); an edge of the support frame (21) is clamped on an edge of the concave cavity (11); The support frame (21) comprises a mounting cavity (211), and a side wall of the mounting cavity (211) is provided with a pair of mounting holes (211a); The roller (22) comprises a rolling body (221) and a rolling shaft (222); the rolling body (221) is rotatably mounted at the middle of the rolling shaft (222) relative to the rolling shaft (222), and both ends of the rolling shaft (222) are supported by the pair of mounting holes (211a).

2. The shelf according to claim 1, characterized in that: The concave cavities (11) are arranged in a plurality of rows, each row comprising a plurality of the concave cavities (11), and each of the concave cavities (11) is equipped with the roller assembly (2).

3. The shelf according to claim 2, characterized in that: One of the roller assemblies (2) is correspondingly mounted in each of the concave cavities (11), and the edge of the support frame (21) of each of the roller assemblies (2) is directly clamped on the edge of the concave cavity (11).

4. The shelf according to claim 2, characterized in that: Also includes: A separator (3) is mounted on the mounting seat (1), and the separator (3) is arranged between two or more adjacent rows of the concave cavities (11).

5. The shelf according to claim 4, characterized in that: The mounting seat (1) is provided with a plurality of mounting portions (15), and the partition (3) is selectively arranged on one of the mounting portions (15).

6. The shelf according to claim 1, characterized in that: One of the inner side wall of the cavity (11) and the outer side wall of the support frame (21) is provided with a slot, and the other is provided with a buckle (4), and the buckle (4) cooperates with the slot.

7. The shelf according to claim 6, characterized in that: At least one pair of mutually matching clamping grooves and clamping buckles (4) is provided on both sides of each roller (22) in the axial direction.

8. The shelf according to claim 1, characterized in that: One side of the mounting seat (1) is higher than the other side, a blocking member (5) is provided on one side of the mounting seat (1), and the other side of the mounting seat (1) is used as a cargo outlet.

9. The shelf according to claim 8, characterized in that: The roller assemblies (2) are arranged in a row from one side to the other side of the mounting seat (1).

10. The shelf according to claim 8, characterized in that: Also includes: The price tag mounting member (6) is mounted on the other side of the mounting seat (1); the price tag mounting member (6) comprises a mounting groove for mounting a price tag strip.

11. The shelf according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mounting seat (1) is configured to be inclined, and the inclination angle of the mounting seat (1) is 12° to 18°.

12. A commodity vending machine, characterized in that: Including the shelf described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. The commodity vending machine according to claim 12, characterized in that: Also includes: A box body (7) comprises a plurality of shelf mounting members (71), each of the shelf mounting members (71) comprising at least one supporting boss (711); there is at least one shelf in both the height direction and the width direction of the box body (7); and each shelf is supported by at least one supporting boss (711) of at least two of the shelf mounting members (71).

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