VENDING MACHINE WITH TRAYS

Abstract

 A vending machine with trays comprises a frame (2) having outer walls (2a), a storage compartment (3) contained therein for products to be dispensed (2), a pair of mutually opposed side partitions (5) facing the storage compartment (3), the side partitions (5) enclosing a service space (6) facing away from the storage compartment (3), a pair of uprights (11), located at each side partition (5), for supporting horizontal guides (10) of trays (7). The uprights (11) directly face the storage compartment (3), each side partition (6) extending between two uprights (11) without overlapping them, the horizontal guides (10) being attached to the uprights (11) and holding the side partitions (6) between the uprights (11).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a vending machine with trays.

[0002] As used herein, the term vending machine with trays means a vending machine comprising a storage area, possibly refrigerated, containing products offered for sale, which are arranged in orderly rows on trays.

[0003] In terms of structure, such vending machines comprise a cabinet, which is closed by a front wall, usually having a transparent area, a plurality of trays accommodated inside the cabinet in the storage area, a drop channel situated between the trays and the front wall and a pickup station communicating with the drop channel, and through which the user can pick up the selected product.

[0004] The trays are usually supported by special horizontal guides, such that they can be partially pulled out of the storage area, to facilitate the task of the operators in charge of replenishing the vending machine. These guides are rigidly joined to uprights located at the sides of the storage area. Particularly, the storage area is delimited by two vertically-extending side partitions facing the storage area, a substantially horizontally-extending bottom wall, a top wall, also extending horizontally, and a vertically-extending rear wall. The above mentioned uprights having the horizontal tray guides connected thereto are supported by the side partitions and are connected to the latter, usually by rivets. Therefore, the uprights are placed behind the side partitions, i.e. on the side facing away from the storage area. The side partitions and the uprights are rigidly joined to the frame of the vending machine by screws or the like.

[0005] Service spaces (delimited at their sides by the uprights) are usually defined behind the respective side partitions, and may be used for various purposes, e.g. for the passage of wiring to supply power to displays on the trays, or the passage of cooled air for the storage compartment, or other purposes.

[0006] These two service spaces may be reconfigured in case of reconfiguration of the storage area. The reconfiguration of the storage area is a task that includes, for example, repositioning the trays at different heights (to accommodate a change of format of the products offered for sale) and, as a result, changing the wiring arrangement of the trays, or reconfiguring the temperature at which the space occupied by the tray has to be maintained. The reconfiguration of the service spaces necessarily requires removal of the side partitions for access to wiring (in the first example) or for replacement (in the second example). This is because the temperature at which a tray has to be maintained is given, in the vending machines in which cooled air flows in the service space, by the density (and/or shape and/or size) of holes formed in the side partitions level with the tray. Therefore, it shall be understood that a redistribution of temperatures within the storage compartment will require the side partitions to be replaced with side partitions having an adequate distribution of holes.

[0007] The reconfiguration of the service spaces, and particularly the removal of the side partitions of the frame is a task that requires a skilled operator as well as a non-negligible down time. Indeed, it requires removal of the horizontal tray guides and then of the side partitions, while taking care that the threads of the frame holes are not damaged, such that the same holes may be used during the next mounting operation. If reconfiguration does not require replacement of the side partition, the latter may be mounted back to the frame. If replacement of the side partition is required, then a new panel shall be provided, with the uprights integrated therein.

[0008] Also, the gap reconfiguration task cannot be carried out by the operators in charge of replenishing the products offered for sale, as it requires equipment (such as screw drivers, possibly self-drilling screws, riveters, drills, and the like) that do not form part of the equipment of such operators. Therefore, the work of two operators shall be coordinated for a change of format of the products offered for sale, which will entail obvious consequences in terms of operation readiness.

[0009] In light of the above, the object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine with trays that can obviate the above mentioned prior art drawbacks.

[0010] This object is fulfilled by a vending machine with trays as defined in one or more of the annexed claims.

[0011] Further features and advantages of the vending machine with trays of this invention, will be apparent from the following description of one preferred embodiment thereof, which is given by way of illustration and without limitation with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

• Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a vending machine with trays of the present invention,
• Figure 2 shows a side view of a detail of the vending machine of Figure 1,
• Figure 3 is a partially sectional perspective view of a detail of Figure 1.

[0012] Referring to the accompanying figures, numeral 1 generally designates a vending machine of the present invention.

[0013] The vending machine 1 comprises a frame 2 that defines a storage compartment 3 for products to be dispensed.

[0014] The frame 2 comprises outer walls 2 a, namely a top wall, a bottom wall, a rear wall and two side walls, which define the footprint of the vending machine.

[0015] The vending machine 1 further comprises a front panel 4 that closes the frame 2. Particularly, the front panel 4 is hinged to the frame 2 to allow the front panel 4 to be opened and closed for product loading and maintenance purposes.

[0016] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the storage compartment 3 is refrigerated by refrigeration means located in a lower area of the frame. In this respect, the storage area 3 is thermally insulated from the rest of the vending machine by insulating material placed between the outer walls 2a of the frame, namely the walls encircling the storage compartment 3, and counter walls 2b (see Figure 3). The counter walls 2b are placed at least at a back wall, a top wall and two side walls of the storage compartment 3. It shall be noted that the counter walls placed at the top and back walls of the storage compartment 3 are themselves the top and back walls of the storage compartment 3. The side walls of the storage compartment 3 are defined by side partitions 5, located at such a distance from the corresponding counter walls 2 as to define two respective service spaces 6 (as shown in the partially sectional view of Figure 3).

[0017] In the preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, the service spaces have the purpose of controllably conveying cooled air from the lower section of the vending machine into the storage compartment 3. For this purpose, the side partitions 5 are formed with a plurality of holes 5a, whose size, arrangement and density define the operating temperature of the corresponding area of the storage compartment 3. The service spaces 6 may be configured to serve functions other than that described above, such as containing electrical wiring and connectors to supply power to power-consuming units located in the storage compartment 3.

[0018] The products to be dispensed by the vending machine are placed on trays 7 (as diagrammatically shown in Figure 1). Particularly, the vending machine 1 comprises a plurality of trays 7 which are placed in the storage compartment 3 one above the other. Each tray 7 has a plurality of seats (not shown) for holding the products to be dispensed. The front panel 4 of the vending machine may comprise a selection portion 8, for selection of the product to be dispensed, and an exposure portion made of a transparent material, for direct display of the products contained in the trays 7. A drop channel is defined between the trays 7 and the front panel 4, where the products dispensed by the trays 7 are intended to be dropped in. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the trays 7 are equipped with product dispensing members, which are adapted to displace the products from their seats on the tray 7 to the drop channel. For enabling the user to pick up the selected product, the vending machine 1 comprises a pick-up area 9 (see Figure 1), having an opening closed by a door to allow and prevent access to the pick-up area 9.

[0019] The trays 7 are mounted to guides 10, as diagrammatically shown in Figures 2 and 3. The guides 10 may be, for instance, of fixed type and act as rails, or of telescopic type. Irrespective of the specific type of guide 10 in use, at least one pair of guides 10 is provided for each pull-out tray 7, and each guide operates on one of two opposed sides of the tray. The guides 10 are oriented horizontally, i.e. extend along a horizontal direction X. Each guide 10 is rigidly joined to a pair of uprights 11 which extend in a vertical direction Y. The uprights 11 are placed inside the storage compartment 3 and directly faces therein. The uprights 11 are attached in pairs to opposed counter walls and particularly the counter walls 2b which face the side partitions 5 and form the service spaces 6. Particularly, a first upright 11 is located proximate to the front panel 4 and a second upright is located proximate to the back wall of the storage compartment 3.

[0020] Each side wall 5 extends between two uprights 11 without overlapping them, i.e. is interposed between two uprights without extending over them. The horizontal guides 10 are rigidly joined to the uprights 11 and hold the side partitions 5 in position between the uprights. Thus, the panels 5 need no further connection to be held in position. In other words, the side partitions 5 of the present invention have no load-bearing function, unlike prior art arrangements, in which the side walls have the function of supporting the uprights and the guides fastened thereto by screws. When the guides 10 are removed (as required to reconfigure the storage compartment 3), the side partitions 5 become readily accessible and removable without requiring any complex and delicate action to remove screws, rivets or the like. Spacers are provided between the side partitions 5 and the counter walls 2b to provide the required service space. These spacers may be replaced or assisted by parts of the side partition itself (appropriately bent or shaped).

[0021] In order to avoid that the removal of all the guides 10 may cause accidental displacements or failures of the side partitions (which are no longer supported by the guides), attachment members 12 (as diagrammatically shown in Figure 2) are provided to be operative between the side partitions 5 and their respective counter walls 2b of the frame 2, These attachment members 12 are configured to require no use of tools (screw drivers, wrenches, or else) or further connection members (screws, rivets, nuts or the like), such that they may be actuated by the operator in charge of replenishing the vending machine. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the attachment members 12 comprise a magnet and a ferromagnetic element, one of them being rigidly joined to the counter wall 2b and the other being rigidly joined to the side partition 5 on the side that faces the counter wall 2b. It shall be noted that the magnet and the ferromagnetic element may also form the above mentioned spacer between the side partition and the counter wall. Preferably, the attachment members 12 are located in a top end portion of the side partitions.

[0022] In the embodiment as shown in the accompanying figures, the side partitions 5 comprise a substantially horizontal panel 5b which at least partially defines the base wall of said storage compartment 3, as diagrammatically shown in Figure 3.

[0023] For an even easier removal of the side partition 5, the horizontal guides 10 are adapted to be attached to the uprights 11 by means of appendages of the guides which fit into through openings 11a of the uprights. For this purpose, each guide 10 comprises appendages 12 that are adapted to be freely introduced into respective through openings 11a in the uprights 11 (Figure 2). As used herein, the term "freely introduced" is intended as a direct introduction, which is obtained without using auxiliary tools or devices and is completely reversible. Therefore, these appendages fit into the openings of the uprights and allow the guides to be mounted and removed without using tools such as screw drivers or the like and without using screws, rivets and the like.

[0024] It shall be appreciated from the foregoing description that the vending machine of the present invention can obviate the above mentioned prior art drawbacks, as the side partition can be readily removed even by operators that have no special equipment (such as the operators in charge of replenishing products in the trays of the vending machine).

[0025] Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number of changes and variants may be made to the invention as described hereinbefore to meet specific needs, without departure from the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A vending machine with trays, comprising:

- a frame (2) with outer walls (2a),

- a storage compartment (3) for products to be dispensed, which is contained in said frame (2),

- a pair of mutually opposed side partitions (5), which directly face said storage compartment (3), said side partitions (5) enclosing a service space (6) facing away from said storage compartment (3),

- a pair of uprights (11), located at each side partition (5), for supporting horizontal guides (10) of trays (7),

characterized in that
said uprights (11) directly face said storage compartment (3), each side partition (5) extending between two uprights (11) without overlapping them, said horizontal guides (10) being attached to said uprights (11) and holding said side partitions (5) between said uprights (11).

2. A vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said service spaces (6) are delimited, on the side that faces away from said side partitions (5), by counter walls (2b) of the frame (2) which are designed to contain insulating material, in combination with respective outer walls of the frame; attachment members (12) being operative between said side partitions (5) and respective counter walls (2b) of the frame (2).

3. A vending machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein said attachment members (12) comprise a magnet and a ferromagnetic element, one of them being rigidly joined to the counter wall (2b) and the other being rigidly joined to the side partition (5).

4. A vending machine as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein said attachment members (12) are located in a top end portion of said side partitions (5) and act as spacers between the side partitions (5) and their respective counter walls (2b).

5. A vending machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said horizontal guides (10) are adapted to be attached to said uprights (11) by means of appendages of the guides, which fit into through openings (11a) of the uprights (11).

6. A vending machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one side partition (5) further comprises a substantially horizontal panel (5b) which at least partially defines a base wall of said storage compartment (3).

7. A vending machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said side partitions (5) are made of metal and have a plurality of through holes (5a) for providing fluid communication between the service space (6) and said storage compartment (3).

8. A vending machine as claimed in any of claims 2 to 7, wherein said uprights (11) are attached in pairs to said opposed counter walls (2b) which face the side partitions (5) to form said service spaces (6).

9. A vending machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein a first upright (11) is located proximate to a front panel (4) of the vending machine and a second upright (11) is located proximate to a back wall of the storage compartment (3).

Drawing