GB2080263A - Vending machine magazine - Google Patents

Abstract

In an automatic vending machine having an article-storage and discharging device which is mounted within a machine cabinet having a front door, and which has a plurality of parallel article-storage compartments extending generally vertically and a plurality of article-discharging mechanisms disposed at lower ends of respective article-storage compartments, the article-storage and discharging device is divided into two portions which are made as different units, that is, an upper unit (21) having the article-storage compartments and a lower unit (22) having the article-discharging mechanisms. Both units are mechanically connected to form an article-storage and discharging device, and are readily separated from one another. Opposite side plates of the frame of the upper unit are provided with horizontal flanges at their lower ends, and those horizontal flanges are received in horizontal grooves formed on top ends of opposite side plates of the lower unit. So that the upper and lower units are mechanically connected but are relatively slidable frontwardly and rearwardly. The upper unit has a stopper plate (27) on the front end, which is moved downwardly to be received in vertical slots formed in the lower unit so that both units may be locked from the relative sliding movement. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to automatic vending machines The present invention relates to automatic vending machines, and more particularly, to article-storage and discharging device for use in automatic vending machines.

Known automatic vending machines have a separate article-storage and discharging device removably housed in a machine cabinet. The cabinet has a front door through which articles or goods are supplied into the storage device. Servicing of the article-storage and discharging device, such as maintenance and repair is carried out by opening the cabinet door. The article-storage device can be taken out of the machine cabinet as desired. The articlestorage and discharging device generally comprises a frame or housing having a space for accommodating goods, or a storage compartment, and a mechanism for discharging articles out of the storage compartment.

There has been a recent need to store as many articles of merchanidse as possible at one time in the article storage device so that articles may be supplied into the storage device less frequently. To meet such a demand, an article-storage and discharging device has been proposed which has a plurality of storage compartments arranged rearwardly one after another in a single frame, with discharging mechanisms corresponding to the storage compartments and being supported by the frame.

An automatic vending machine incorporating such an article-storage and discharging device having a plurality of storage compartments has suffered from difficulties in servicing the article-storage device.

More specifically, it is difficult to gain access to a rearward compartment and/or a discharging mechanism associated therewith. In addition, the article-storage and discharging device is large-sized and heavy so that it cannot be readily dislodged out of the machine cabinet. It is also laborious to assemble such a large-sized article-storage device into the machine cabinet at a production plant.

According to the present invention, there is provided an automatic vending machine which includes an article-storage and discharging device having frame means, means for defining a plurality of parallel storage compartments and supported on said frame means, and a plurality of article-discharging means each of which is supported on said frame means to be disposed at the lower end of each compartment for discharging the articles within the compartment one at a time; and a machine cabinet having a front door within which said article-storage and discharging device is mounted so that the plurality of compartments are arranged rearwardly, wherein said frame means comprise an upper portion and a lower portion which are separated at a position adjacent to and above the top end of said article-discharging means, and means for connecting mechanically but removably between said upper and lower frame portions and formed at the lower end of said upper frame portion and at the top end of said lower frame portion, whereby said articlestorage and discharging device may comprise upper and lower units which are readily removed from one another.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic vending machine in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an article-storage and discharging device used in the automatic vending machine of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the article-storage and discharging device of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the device of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing a mechanical connecting arrangement; and Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the device of Fig.

2, with a lower unit drawn out.

As shown in Fig. 1, an automatic vending machine constructed in accordance with the present invention includes a machine cabinet 10 having a front door 11 hinged to machine cabinet 10 so as to be openable as desired. A plurality of article-storage and discharging devices, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 2, are mounted within machine cabinet 10 to be disposed in side-by-side relation.

Front door 11 has a coin slot 111, a lever 112 manually operable to retrieve an inserted coin or coins, a port 113 from which a retrieved coin or coins can be picked up, a series of buttons 114 for selecting a desired article of merchandise, and a delivery opening 115 for delivery of a discharged article.

Referring to Figs. 2-4, the article-storage and discharging device 20 comprises an upper unit 21 and a lower unit 22, which are mechanically coupled or connected to one another but readily removed from one another. Upper unit 21 includes a pair of parallel side plates 211 and 212 spaced from one another.

Side plates 211 and 212 are joined by joint members or bars 213 fixed at front and rear ends thereof, thereby to constitute a storage housing or frame. A plurality of dividing walls or partitions 214 are fixedly disposed in the housing to define a plurality of generally vertical extending article-storage compartments. Each partition 211 is curved with a relatively large radius of curvature and jointly defining a plurality of serpentine support ramps as storage compartments 215 within the housing (three compartments 215a, 215b and 21 5c are shown in Fig. 3).

Each serpentine support ramp 215 contains therein a number of articles 30 of merchandise such as, for example, cans or bottles of beverage, liquor or the like. Articles 30 are movable downwardly by gravity in each ramp 215. Inlet guiding members 216a, 216b, 216c and 216d are supported by side plates 211 and 212 at positions adjacent to upper inlet openings of respective serpentine support ramps 215. Upper unit 21 is housed to be drawable out of machine cabinet 10. For example, the upper unit is slidably supported by the ceiling of machine cabinet 10 by engaging suspension guides 217 and 218 formed at upper ends of side plates 211 and 212 with guide rails (not shown) formed on the ceiling.Partitions 214 and guiding members 216a, 216b, 216c and 216d are assembled in the housing or frame by inserting slender rods 23 through small holes formed in side plates 211 and 212 and through end curled loops of respective partitions and guiding members. Each rod 23 is secured against removai by retainers 231.

Each partition 214 may be fixed to side plates 211 and 212 by fitting tongues formed at its opposite ends into small holes of side plates 211 and 212. In the shown embodiment, tongues 214a and 214b are used for fixing lower ends of several partitions to side plates 211 and 212.

Lower unit 22 also includes a pair of parallel side plates 221 and 222. These side plates are joined by joint bars 223 with a space which is substantially equal to the space between upper side plates 211 and 212 of upper unit 21, thereby to constitute a lower housing or frame. Article receiving plates or receivers 224 are disposed within the lower housing at positions adjacent to and below lower outlet openings of respective serpentine support ramps 215 in upper unit 21. Article discharge guiding members 225 are disposed in the housing for guiding articles 30 coming down from receivers 224 to move in sub stantiallyvertical paths. Article discharge mechanisms 226 are positioned in confronting relation to respective article discharge guiding members 225.In the arrangement, lower unit 22 also has three storage compartments 227, each defined between article discharge guiding member 225 and article discharge mechanism 226, corresponding to each upperstor- age compartment 215 of upper unit 21. Various known article discharging mechanisms are used for mechanisms 226. Atypical one includes a gate lever which normally engages a lowermost article 30a in the compartment 227. When the vending machine is in a dispensing mode of operation, the gate lever releases lowermost article 30a but a stop lever prevents other articles 30 from being discharged downwardly. Thus, article discharging mechanism 226 allows articles 30 to be discharged one at atime.

A space between each article discharge guiding member 225 and confronting article discharge mechanism 226 should preferably be adjustable to permit to accommodate various articles of mechandise having different diameters.

Article receivers 224 are supported to side plates 221 and 222 by slender rods 25 inserted through small holes of side plates 221 and 222 and through end curled loops of receivers 224. Rods 25 are prevented from removal by retainers 251.

Referring to Fig. in addition to Figs. 14, upper unit 21 and lower unit 22 are readily separably con nected or joined by right and left similar mechanical connecting structures 26. Right connecting structure includes a horizontal flange plate 261 provided at a lower end of right side plate 212 of upper unit 21.

Flange plate 261 may be formed by bending a lower portion of the side plate 212 outwardly. An engaging member 262 is provided at a top end of right side plate 222 of lower unit for engaging with flange plate 261. Engaging member 262, for example, is formed by bending the upper portion of side plate 222 into a "U"-shaped section, and has a horizontal groove 263 receiving horizontal flange plate 261. Left connecting structure is formed similar to the right connecting structure and mechanically connect left side plate 211 of upper unit 21 and left side plate 212 of lower unit 22.Thus, upper unit 21 and lower unit 22 are mechanically connected together by right and left connecting structures 26 wherein each horizontal flange plate 261 is fitted into corresponding horizontal groove 263, but these units 21 and 22 are relatively slidable frontwardly and rearwardly along connecting structures 26. Accordingly, those units are readily removed from one another merely by drawing one of them forwardly. The drawn one is taken out of the machine cabinet with other remain ing in the cabinet.

Referring back to Figs. 2-4, side plates 211 and 212 of upper unit 21 have front flanges 21 1a and 212a directed toward one another. Astop plate 27 is mounted to front flanges 21 1a and 212a at their lower positions by screws 28 extending through a pair of oblong holes 271 of stop plate 27 and being threaded into flanges 211a and 212a. Stop plate 27 is movable up and down over the length of oblong holes 271, upon loosening of the screws 28. Side plates 221 and 222 of lower unit 22 have projections 221 a and 222a extending forwardly from their front ends at positions adjacenttotheirtop ends.Each projection of 221 a and 222a is partially cut away at its top end to form a slot 29 for receiving a lower edge of stop plate 27, as shown in Fig. 5. Thus, relative sliding movement of both units 21 and 22 is prevented. Accordingly, upper and lower units are mechanically connected to one another by lowering stop plate 27 into slots 29 and fastening screws 28.

Unit 22 can be readily separated or removed from upper unit 21 by loosening screws 28, raising stop plate 27 out of slots 29, and then drawing lower unit 22 forwardly. Fig. 6 shows the article-storage and discharging device at a state where lower unit 22 is drawn out halfway in relation to upper unit 21.

In order to prevent articles 30 from falling off from ramps 215 at a time when lower unit 22 is drawn out forwardly, a shutter plate 31 may be used to be inserted beneath upper unit 21, as shown in Fig. to provide a barrier at lower ends of serpentine support ramps. Instead of shutter plate 31, any engagement means 32 may be provided at each of the lower ends of ramps 215, which is manually operable or actuated by a solenoid to protect the articles 30 against falling off.

According to this invention, since article-storage and discharging device is separated into an upper unit and a lower unit and since these upper and lower unit are slidably removed from one another or readily connected in an assembled unit, servicing to, for example, article discharging mechanisms is readily carried without removing the entire body of the article-storage and discharging device. Furthermore, since the device can be handled as two piece of small-sized units, it is readily and safely performed to mount the article-storage and discharging device into the machine cabinet.

Although this invention has been described in connection with an article-storage and discharging device using the serpentine ramps, it is clearly understood that this invention will be applied to article-storage and discharging devices of various types.

Claims (9)

1. An automatic vending machine which includes an article-storage and discharging device having frame means, means for defining a plurality of parallel storage compartments and supported on said frame means, and a plurality of article-discharging means each of which is supported on said frame means to be disposed at the lower end of each compartment for discharging the articles within the compartment one at a time; and a machine cabinet having a front door within which said article-storage and discharging device is mounted so that the plurality of compartments are arranged rearwardly; wherein said frame means comprise an upper portion and lower portion which are separated at a position adjacentto and above the top end of said article-discharging means, and means for connecting mechanically but removably between said upper and lower frame portions and formed atthe lower end of said upper frame portion and at the top end of said lower frame portion, whereby said articlestorage and discharging device may comprise upper and lower units which are readily removed from one another.

2. An automatic vending machine as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said upper frame portion comprises first confronting right and left side plate members joined by first joint means with a predetermined first space therebetween, said lower portion comprising second confronting right and left side plate members joined by second joint means with a second space therebetween equal to said first space, said mechanical connecting means comprising right-side connecting structure formed at the lower end of said first right side plate member and at the top end of said second right side plate member to connect therebetween and left-side connecting structure formed at the lower end of said first left side plate member and at the top end of said second left side plate member connecting therebetween.

3. An automatic vending machine as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said right-side connecting structure comprises first horizontal flange means formed at either one of the lower end of said first right side plate member and the top end of said second right side plate member, and first horizontal engaging means for engaging with, and guiding, said first horizontal flange means and formed at the other one, and wherein said left-side connecting structure comprises second horizontal flange means formed at either one of the lower end of said first left side plate member and the top end of said second left side plate member, and second horizontal engaging means for engaging with, and guiding said second horizontal flange means and formed atthe other one, whereby said upper unit and said lower unit may be relatively slidable frontwardly or rearwardly.

4. An automatic vending machine as claimed in Claim 2 or 3, wherein said mechanical connecting means further comprise means for locking said upper and lower frame portions from their relative sliding movement.

5. An automatic vending machine as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said locking means comprise stopper plate mounted on said upper frame portion to be disposed movable in the vicinity of the lower front end of said upper frame portion, and means mounted on said lower frame portion for receiving the lower edge of said stopper plate moved downwardly, thereby to prevent said upper and lower frame portions from moving relatively, frontwardly and rearwardly.

6. An automatic vending machine as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said stopper plate has vertical oblong holes at its opposite end portions and is secured to front ends of said first right and left side plate members by screw means extending through said oblong holes, said stopper plate being vertically movable along said oblong holes after said screw means loosened.

7. An automatic vending machine as claimed in Claim 5 or 6, wherein said stopper plate receiving means comprise two horizontal projections projecting frontwardly from front ends of said second right and left side plate members, said projections having cut-away vertical slots formed at upper ends thereof in which the lower edge of said stopper plate is received.

8. An automatic vending machine as claimed in Claims 1-7, wherein said a plurality of compartments are serpentine ramps which are formed in said upper frame portion.

9. An automatic vending machine constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.