Article dispensing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10460548-B2
Application number	US-201715601514-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 22, 2017
Priority date	Nov 28, 2014
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

An article dispensing apparatus includes: one article discharging apparatus; and another article discharging apparatus, the one article discharging apparatus and the other article discharging apparatus being capable of being combined in a back-to-back manner. The one article discharging apparatus includes: a driving source; an output gear configured to rotate by a driving force from the driving source when a discharging instruction has been given to the one article discharging apparatus; link levers where each link lever is provided rotatably about an axis of the link lever; and a controller configured to, when the output gear is rotated from the standby position by the discharging instruction, prohibit stopping of drive of the driving source to allow the rotation of the output gear until a preset prohibited time elapses from starting of the rotation of the output gear even when supply of electric power to the driving source is interrupted.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An article dispensing apparatus comprising:
one article discharging apparatus arranged in one article storage passage configured to store therein charged articles in an up-and-down direction, the one article discharging apparatus being configured to prevent the articles stored in the one article storage passage from moving downward in a discharge standby state, and when being driven, discharge a lowermost article stored in the one article storage passage downward;
another article discharging apparatus arranged in another article storage passage that is adjacent to the one article storage passage and-configured to store therein charged articles in the up-and-down direction, the another article discharging apparatus being combined back-to-back with the one article discharging apparatus and configured to prevent the articles stored in the another article storage passage from moving downward in a discharge standby state, and when being driven, discharge a lowermost article stored in the another article storage passage downward;
one driving source for the one article discharging apparatus and the another article discharging apparatus;
one output gear arranged rotatably forward and backward about a central axis of the one output gear, the one output gear being configured to rotate in one direction by a driving force from the one driving source from a preset standby position when a discharging instruction has been given to the one article discharging apparatus, and rotate in another direction from the standby position by the driving force from the one driving source when a discharging instruction has been given to the another article discharging apparatus;
two link levers where each link lever is provided rotatably about an axis of each link lever corresponding to each article discharging apparatus, and is configured to put the corresponding article discharging apparatus into the discharge standby state, and drive the corresponding article discharging apparatus when a driving force is given to the link lever by a rotation of the one output gear and the link lever is rotated by the driving force; and
a controller configured to, when the one output gear is rotated from the standby position by the discharging instruction, prohibit stopping of drive of the one driving source to allow the rotation of the one output gear until a preset prohibited time elapses from starting of the rotation of the one output gear even when a supply of electric power to the one driving source is interrupted,
wherein when the one driving source is driven forward, the one output gear rotates in the one direction to rotate one of the two link levers causing the one article discharging apparatus to discharge the lowermost article stored in the one article storage passage, and
when the one driving source is driven backward, the one output gear rotates in the another direction to rotate the other of the two link levers causing the another article discharging apparatus to discharge the lowermost article stored in the another article storage passage.

2. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one driving source is common to the one article discharging apparatus and the another article discharging apparatus.

3. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one driving source is a direct-current motor.

4. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the one driving source is a direct-current motor.

5. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one article discharging apparatus includes a first pedal configured to advance into the one article storage passage to prevent the articles stored in the one article storage passage from moving downward in the discharge standby state, and to retract to discharge the lowermost article stored in the one article storage passage downward when being driven, and
the another article discharging apparatus includes a second pedal configured to advance into the another article storage passage to prevent the articles stored in the another article storage passage from moving downward in the discharge standby state, and to retract to discharge the lowermost article stored in the another article storage passage downward when being driven.

6. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the one article discharging apparatus further includes a first pedal link connecting the first pedal to the one of the two link levers and arranged movably so that when the one output gear rotates in the one direction to rotate the one of the two link levers, the first pedal link moves to cause the first pedal to retract and discharge the lowermost article in the one article storage passage, and
the another article discharging apparatus further includes a second pedal link connecting the second pedal to the other of the two link levers and arranged movably so that when the one output gear rotates in the another direction to rotate the other of the two link levers, the second pedal link moves to cause the second pedal to retract and discharge the lowermost article in the another article storage passage.

7. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the one output gear includes a cam part protruding from one surface of the one output gear,
the one output gear being configured so that
when the one output gear rotates in the one direction, the cam part abuts against the one of the two link levers causing the one article discharging apparatus to discharge the lowermost article stored in the one article storage passage, and
when the one output gear rotates in the another direction, the cam part abuts against the other of the two link levers causing the another article discharging apparatus to discharge the lowermost article stored in the another article storage passage.

8. The article dispensing apparatus according to claim 7 , further comprising:
a carrier switch arranged adjacent to the one output gear and configured to switch between an on-state and an off-state,
wherein the one output gear further includes a pressing piece protruding from another surface of the one output gear opposite to the one surface to press against the carrier switch, so that when the one output gear is in the standby position, the carrier switch is in the on-state in which the pressing piece presses the carrier switch, and when the one output gear rotates from the standby position, the carrier switch switches to the off-state in which the pressing piece does not press the carrier switch, and
the controller determines the discharge of the lowermost article stored in the one or another article storage passage when the one output gear rotates from the standby position and the carrier switch switches to the on-state within the preset prohibited time.

Assignees

• Fuji Electric Co Ltd

Inventors

• Takeuchi Shirou

Classifications

• G07F11/54

  about vertical axes · CPC title

• G07F11/34

  in which the magazines are of zig-zag form · CPC title

• G07F11/08

  arranged in two columns in staggered relationship · CPC title

• G07F11/24 Primary

  Rotary or oscillatory members · CPC title

• G07F11/38

  in which the magazines are horizontal · CPC title