MX2007015168A - Dispenser tray for a vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A tray 10 for a product vending machine including a flat base 16 upon which product to be vended may be placed. A plurality of walls 14 are attached to the base 16 which define rows 12 into which product is organized. A channel 13 within the flat base 16 houses a threaded shaft 22. The threaded shaft 22 threadingly attaches to a product drive member 24. An elevator 102 for moving to the location of a desired tray 10, extending a rotable product drive 104 to mate with a mating surface of the tray, and rotating the product drive 104 to rotate the threaded shaft 22 to force the product drive member 24 to drive product 100 within the row past resilient arms 20 into the elevator 102.

Description

DISPENSING CHAROLA FOR A EXPENDEDC MACHINE CROSS REFERENCE WITH RELATED REQUESTS The present application claims the priority of the Patent Application Provisional US with Serial Numbers 60/701, 269 filed on July 21, 2005 and 60 / 686,729 filed on June 2, 2005. The content of such applications is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the past, vending machines have been used to dispense beverages. In a common configuration, plastic or glass cans or bottles are stacked vertically or decentrally vertically and arranged from the bottom of the columns towards a retention area below the columns where the customer can recover the beverage. Generally, a predispositor will be used to divert the beverage to a place in the retention area and also to prevent the beverage container from being damaged during the fall. This configuration requires that the column be shorter than the height of the machine such that the beverage can be released into the retention area below the column. As a result, the storage space that could be used to increase capacity is wasted in the retention area. This is not desirable since in the vending industry it is preferable to have the maximum product capacity in a machine of a given size in order to maximize sales and maximize the time between product replenishment.

Additionally, the vending machines that incorporate products, typically snacks and sweets, have used trays that have horizontal columns of products placed between each revolution of a helical axis. The shaft is rotated one revolution, which causes an article near the end of the screw to be forced forward and dissociate from the helical shaft. Typically, the product will fall from the front of the tray to a retention area that can be accessed by the customer to retrieve the item. The retention area must be lower than the lowest tray so that the item can fall into the retention area. As a result, the space associated with the retention area is not used to store product, thus wasting some useful space. In addition, the helical shaft is not particularly suitable for beverage containers. Another type of vending machine, such as that shown in U.S. Patent No. 6,556,889 to Ridick et al., Utilizes an elevator to receive the product that is dropped from inclined trays. The product slides down the trays inclined by the force of gravity towards the elevator that is movable to a site adjacent to the tray. An actuator located between the lower beverage and the elevator selectively allows a beverage to pass to the elevator. The elevator then moves to a second site whereby a conveyor belt in the elevator transports the beverage on one side of the elevator where it is transported to a holding area on the side of the elevator. However, since the vending machine of the '889 patent uses inclined shelves, some of the vertical capacity of the vending machine is wasted. In addition, since the assortment of the product is based on inclined shelves, product clogging may occur if the inclination is insufficient to allow simultaneous movement of the product column (particularly if a spill of the product occurs causing the trays to be sticky). ) or that the product is heavy (such as large glass bottles) and that it applies too much force to the product assortment actuator. Therefore, there is a need for a vending machine, particularly a beverage vending machine, that does not waste space in a retention area to deliver the product or for product trays that require the tray to be tilted to deliver the product to the consumer. consumer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a tray for a vending machine of a product comprising a flat base on which the product to be expended can be placed. A plurality of walls is attached to the base which define rows in which the product is organized. A channel inside the flat base houses a threaded shaft. The threaded shaft is threadedly attached to a product driving member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a tray of a vending machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged partial view of a tray of a vending machine of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front perspective view of a tray of a partially disassembled vending machine of an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a front perspective view of a tray of a vending machine partially assembled in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 is a front perspective view of two independent vending machine trays according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 is a front perspective view of two trays of a vending machine linked in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 is a top view of two trays of a vending machine attached having a product loaded therein in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 is a rear perspective view of a tray of a vending machine partially assembled in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 is a partial view of an elevator for use with the tray of the present invention with the product dispensing unit retracted; Fig. 10 is a partial view of an elevator for use with the tray of the present invention with the extended product dispensing unit; and Figure 1 1 is a front perspective view of a tray of an assembled vending machine with a present product indicator retracted and extended.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED MODALITY While this invention is susceptible to mode in many different forms, the preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail in the drawings and in the present with the understanding that the present disclosure will be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention. invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the illustrated embodiments. Referring to Figure 1, the present invention is a dispensing tray 10 of a vending machine. The tray 10 is more suitable for the drinks items sold such as soft drinks, water, juices, etc. although nothing prevents the application of this invention from articles that are not drinks. The tray 10 has a front side 1 1 and comprises rows 12 which are defined by the standing walls 14 attached to the base 16 having a front side 17. As shown in Fig. 2, at one end 18 of the walls 14 A pair of spring arms 20 is attached. Two spring arms 20 extend from each wall 14, so that a pair of arms 20 of the adjacent walls 14 co-operate with at least partially block the end of each row 12. Located Within a channel 13 formed within each row 12 of the base 16 is a threaded shaft 22 which is threaded into an emitting product or driving member 24. Figures 3 and 4 show that each threaded shaft 22 has a gear 26 which is located near the front part 17 of the base 16. Each gear 26 is driven by a rotatable propeller shaft having a coupled gear 30. The propeller shaft 28 further defines a smooth external surface 32. It is also provided in the front part 17 of base 16 and adjacent the propeller shaft 28 is a linear helical spring 34 wrapped around a spring shaft 36. One end of a spring 34 is attached to the propeller shaft 28, and the other end of the spring 34 is attached to the spring shaft 36.

The propeller shaft 28 and the spring shaft 36 are mounted to the base 16 in a bore of the propeller shaft 38 and in a spring shaft pin 40, respectively. As the propeller shaft 28 is rotated clockwise, the spring 34 is wrapped around the smooth outer surface 32 of the propeller shaft 28 and the spring shaft 36 is rotated counterclockwise to as the spring 34 unscrews. However, since the spring 34 is wrapped around the propeller shaft 28 in the direction opposite to the spring axis 36, the natural inclination of the spring 34 causes the spring 34 to resist being wrapped in the propeller shaft 28. Therefore, the Natural inclination of the spring 34 drives the propeller shaft 28 counterclockwise. As discussed above, the drive member 24 of the product is threaded into the threaded shaft 22. Since the propeller shaft 28 is driven counterclockwise, the propeller shaft 28 drives the threaded shaft 22 in the clockwise direction of the watch through the coupled gears 26 and 30. The result of the threaded shaft 22 that was driven clockwise is that the product driving member 24 is driven to the front part 1 1 of the row 12. Referring to figure 5, the right side 42 of the base 16 defines the interlocked fingers 44 and the left side 45 of the base 16 defines the interlocked fingers 46. When the left side of the base 16 is brought to the right side of another base 16, the fingers are interlocked so that the two bases 16 can be locked together to make a larger tray 10, as shown in Figure 6. In the preferred embodiment, the tray is formed of two rows 12. Therefore, by blocking the bases 16 together, a large tray 10 formed of an equal number of rows 12 can be used within the vending machines of various sizes. However, nothing should be construed to limit the invention of any particular number of rows and more or less rows may be implemented within a tray without departing from the approach of the present invention, for example the single-row bases are blocked together for form a large tray. In order to use the device of the present invention, the bases 16 are interlocked together to form a suitable tray width 10 suitable for a particular vending machine. The multiple rows of trays are further provided within the vending machine and the rows 12 of the trays 10 are filled with product 100 to be expended, as shown in Figure 7. The product 100 may be of several sizes as long as the width of the row 12 or as small as slightly larger than half the width of the row 12. To keep the product near the front of the row, the product driving member 24 abuts the last product 100 and strength provided by the spring 34 drives the product 100 into the die 12 against the resilient arms 20 on the front side 11 of the tray 10. In this way the product 100 expects to be dispensed by the machine. When the time comes to be expended the product 100, an elevator 102, as shown in Figure 8, is moved to the row of the desired product 12 to be expended. The elevator 102 comprises a cup for holding the expended product and transporting it to the customer's collection station (not shown). The riser 102 determines the precise location of the product to be expended by a first trip to a dispensed site of the row 12 within the vending machine for the product. However, since the cabinet of the vending machine may be wrapped because it must be placed on uneven ground or simply due to manufacturing tolerances, the expected site may not be the precise location of row 12 that contains the product to be sold. In order to find the precise site, the elevator 102 starts searching in the area of the expected site until a sensor 103 carried by the elevator 102, so that the Hall Effect sensor or a magnetic switch, locates an indicator 105, so that a magnet, such as an indicator 105 be located with respect to each row location 12. Once the elevator has found the indicator associated with the row 12, an electromechanical device (not shown) within the elevator 102 extends a product dispensing unit 104 from a retraction position (figure 9) to an extended position (figure 10). The product dispenser unit 104 has a cooperating shape to that of the propeller shaft 28 and engages the propeller shaft 28 to rotate it. As the propeller shaft 28 is rotated by the riser 102, the product drive member 24 forces the product 100 towards the riser 102 and passes the resilient arms 20. Once the product 100 passes the resilient arms 20, it enters the resilient arms 20. elevator 102 and product dispatcher unit 104 of elevator 102 stops rotating. The product dispatcher unit 104 of the elevator 102 is then retracted and the elevator 102 takes the product 100 to be dispensed to the customer. Optionally, a sensor 103 may be provided in the elevator that senses the presence of an indicator 48 with respect to the product driver member 24, as shown in FIG. 1 1. While the product 100 is located within the die 12, the Indicator 48 is retracted and not detected by the sensor. In this way, the vending machine determines that the product 100 remains in a particular row. When the product 100 is no longer located within row 12, the indicator 48 is extended and detected by the sensor, and thus detects the absence of product 100 before attempting to sell the product and alerting a consumer to make an alternate choice of the product. Alternatively, rather than detecting the presence or absence of product directly, the product elevator 102 may attempt to dispense the product and if after a predetermined period of time no product 100 is dispensed, the vending machine will determine that no product is present inside. of the row. While the specific modalities have been illustrated and described, numerous modifications come to mind without departing greatly from the spirit of the Invention.

Claims (20)

1. A tray for a product vending machine characterized in that it comprises: a flat base on which the product to be expended can be placed; a plurality of walls joined to the base which defines rows in which the product is organized; and a channel within the flat base for housing a threaded shaft, the threaded shaft is threadedly attached to a product driving member.

The tray according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises at least one resilient arm attached to the tray and predisposed towards a position that substantially blocks the product from leaving a row, the resilient arm being adapted to deflect Resilient manner when the product driving member forces a product to pass the resilient arm so that the product can be expended and return to its initial position to block the next product in the row.

The tray according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises a pair of resilient arms located at one end of each row and predisposed in a position that substantially blocks the product from jumping out of the row, the resilient arms being adapted to deflect in a resilient manner when the product driving member forces a product through the resilient arms such that the product can be expended and return to its initial position to block the next product in the row.

The tray according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises a coupling surface associated with the threaded shaft in such a way that when the coupling surface is rotated, the product driving member is moved within the spinneret.

The tray according to claim 4, further characterized in that the coupling surface is defined by a propeller shaft comprising a gear that meshes with a gear of the threaded shaft to rotate the threaded shaft.

6. The tray according to claim 1, further characterized in that the product driving member is adapted to be predisposed toward one end of the row.

The tray according to claim 5, further characterized in that the product driving member is adapted to be predisposed towards one end of the spinneret by a linear helical spring that winds around the propeller shaft and about a spring axis in an opposite direction to the propeller shaft.

The tray according to claim 1, further characterized in that the base of the tray comprises sections defining the rows, the sections fit together with each other in such a way that the additional rows can be added or removed as required.

9. The tray according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises an indicator to indicate the site of the row.

10. The tray according to claim 9, further characterized in that the indicator is a magnet.

The tray according to claim 4 associated with a lift to move it towards the desired row location, by extending a rotating product driver to engage the coupling surface, and rotating the product driver to rotate the threaded shaft to force the product driving member to propel the product into the row so that it passes from the resilient arms to the elevator.

12. A tray for a product vending machine characterized in that it comprises: a flat base on which the product to be expended can be placed; a plurality of walls joined to the base which defines the rows in which the product is organized; and a channel within the flat base for housing a threaded shaft, the threaded shaft is threadedly attached to a product driving member; a pair of resilient arms located at one end of each row and predisposed in a position that substantially blocks the product from leaving the row, the resilient arms are predisposed in a resilient manner to allow the product to pass between the arms when the product is forced to pass to the arms.

The tray according to claim 12, characterized in that it further comprises a coupling surface associated with the threaded shaft so that when the coupling surface is rotated, the product driving member is moved within the die.

14. The tray according to claim 13, further characterized in that the coupling surface is defined by a propeller shaft comprising a gear that meshes with a gear of the threaded shaft to rotate the threaded shaft.

15. The tray according to claim 12, further characterized in that the product driving member is adapted to be predisposed towards one end of the row.

16. The tray according to claim 14, further characterized in that the product driving member is adapted to be predisposed towards one end of the spinneret via a linear helical spring that winds around the propeller shaft and around the spring shaft in a opposite direction to the propeller shaft.

17. The tray according to claim 12, further characterized in that the base of the tray comprises sections defining the rows, the sections fit together with each other in such a way that the additional rows can be added or removed as required.

18. The tray according to claim 12, characterized in that it also comprises an indicator to indicate the site of the row.

19. The tray according to claim 18, further characterized in that the indicator is a magnet.

20. The tray according to claim 13 associated with a lifter for moving it to the site of a desired row, extending a rotatable product impeller to engage with the mating surface, and rotating the product impeller to rotate the threaded shaft for force the product drive member to propel the product into the row so that it passes from the resilient arms to the elevator.