US1873317A - Dispensing machine - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 23, 1932- A. H. DU GRENIER DTSPFINS TNG MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l In ve qt DI'SPENS ING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 23, 1932 i entre 'TSTT I tiring" rinfrniisfii. v'intr GBNER. 'or inn'v'ijiitiriiliz;@MASSAHSETTS inisriiiisIne'iiriroiii1iE Thisinvetion relatesto automatic vendmachines ot' the." type' in'which' tan rendless o .carrier isf driven'vertic'ally -and .in Whiclithe carrier is Aprovided''With afseriesoslielves .:'havethexcapactyithereof sufficient to avoid' l0 the necessity of incoiifeniently frequent visits for .the 'fpiiifposefof :replenisliing the stock,

. land; 1vas'tlieavailablespace for such machines is usiially limitecL it is itherefore desirable itliatsucliniaoliines-be oloiistriicted to hold as f many' articles tore-venderlos possible-fortlie .l "spaceoccupied l Y -Thefobjects of? niy' invention are toy provide a nacifiine ofthe typeabove referred to,-Wliicli is" so'rioiistructedthat a 'siiig'leiendless carrier 2O'WiiicliJ is'^`ada1 ted4 to `:loe: operated 'lay asingle coin :controlled,leverginay'be loaded with 'ftivoso'r more' times as many paclragesg-or -ar- 1 ticles to be vendedfas 'may be:p1ac`ed inn' adapted tofbe inserted therein'froni the'iront, -frandfcoinprisesa pairy otV vertical side plates si-ini'lar `machines -liaving :carriers `of equal gade'ngtfh. f Y

I 5 accomplisiif these ooieets by :providing l a vertically extending endless carrier having 1: .i projtiiigxslielves, each ofivliiclris provided; A Y

' rectly Qneoverif'theother, .the operating 1inech- :'anisin thereor I being v.principally snp'ported. -onaipartitionl 22,; which is fmounted on the -side']; 1a1te17` finparall'elf relationltliereto and at ashort distancetherefroni.

l. i i with a 1 plurality oi compartments arrange? a0transversely of the carrier, each compartment being ladapted to vreceiveFan article tojbe f Iifeiid-ecl.: Fand providingV operating ineens for fr* each' "shelf oorrespondingto vthe -nuinber of compartments thereoiajnd 'by liiirtlie'ri pro- 'viding means adapted to supp'o'iti the articles iifhile the" slielifes' Larex ini :declining: positions, 'and to 'permit delivery of the articleson 'each slielfsiiccessively asthe'compartinent thereof l is'li'ncr'ed Linto successive predetermined vposii.

.'Ations.

. For amore complete v[disclosure got the invention' reference isniade totliefollowjing i specication Vin connection 'Withthefaccomg .pany'iiig drawings,l iirivhicli Fig. 1 is-a front elevation ofv the machine f f' 59.*,.1emovecle from ,tneouter casing.

casing.

fiivliicli--lis employed. Y

`carrier locking mechanism.

thencarrier'solfarranged'tlian onV each oper-1 ive inoveinent thereof thefcarrier will befad- '=""e.i" e'ie1 e i ianced to a Ysuce ss on of d hi 1y positions .asrcandy'barsau of thelsame kind andthe jcarrierl 19 forfholdlingAV these packages coml prisesaseries 'oliiv fpiyotally connected carrier f sections, each .consisting of a.` pair offparallel shelvesQL and a .connecting bot-toni. 25,-.eacl1 .having-projecting ears Which oyerlap ears on adj acont sections 4and are 'connected pivot 1 Figugfris arvertioal Vsectional Viewftliereof Fig. Viig-isl af detail sectional viewonan enlarged scale, iat liieB-K-Siof Fig. 1.

' Fig. l Tis 'aA `detail sectional view Satalino 1 -1 lf'g 5 is a` perspective View "of 'the l-oiiter lEig'x-is a side eleaatiorrofV the oarrierfactuating'me'oli-anism, 4

Fig. *7 is a detail yseo tional View' on an en-V y. 8' is aq detail perspective YView of Aan article f supporting and delivering4 jdevi ce lFig. 9 is a detail View Vofaportioii ofthe ing 10, --is provided; with a reinovableffront side 11 having-inspection WindowslZ'and 13,

about -a' pair-fof `sprockets #20,21XV arranged- 4idisigneduffor dispensing snialljpackagessuch rods Q'Gfthe endsof .ivholrprojc'ct int-o vertical giiide Waysf'f? l on the iside. `plates "17 18.

l :Ing tiiepresent instance." the carrier sections 4are elongated axially or transverselyoffthe carrier, and afp'artitioii Q8 isproVided-between :eachpairl of shelves transversely thereoffand niidjwayjbetween"theirnds, dividing j, each carrier-isection intotnyo l.conipartnfientsl carrier A19 is mounted toY bei'driven vertically 'Y V'io' andthelower spro'cket'20 ha's its" shaft 30 vexgftendect. thru the sideplates and the partition 22,. and actuating Ywheel 32 isl mountedY yond the frontof-the casing and the opposite arranged longitudinally of its shelves, each of which open outwardly from the carrier, so that, when a shelf is held in a position in which rit is inclined downwardly from its bottom, anarticle supported thereon ineither compartment may slide therefrom byV gravity. Y l y The sprockets 20, 21 each have four arms arranged 90 apart and have notches in ,their endsfto receive theconnecting pivot rods 26 thereon. In the present instancesaid wheel 32isfprovided with eight regularly spaced :and circularly arranged lugs 33 and a corresponding series of peripheral notches 34.

The operating means forthe'carrier comprises an operating lever 35, of'jbell crank type, which is mounted on partition 22 by a pivot 36, one end of said lever projecting beend being engaged with a lug 37 on a slide i 38, which is mounted for -reciprocation horizontally on the partition 22, said slide having a pawl 39 thereon arranged to engage one of the lugs 33 on the wheel 32, so that, on eachV y Vmovement of the slide by lever vfrom its est extent and isV released, sothat a spring 40 attached to the slide 38, returns the parts to *their initial positions, the lower sprocket wheel 20'will be rotated thru .450, from the Y position of Fig. 3, in which the arms of wheel 2O will be disposed at 45 from the'horizontal or perpendicular, to the position of Fig. 2, in which one pair of arms will be disposed horizontally and the other vertically. Each section of the carrier will thus be held successively,.iirst inv a position in whichV its shelves will be held horizontally and its contents will be vin position for inspection thru the window iny opening 14, second, inV apposition in which'the lshelves will extend downward at an angleof approximately k'O vfrom the horizontal, and third in a position which the 4shelves will depend vertically.

When held in either of the last two positions, a package supported in the section may be delivered therefrom by gravity. In this connection a support 42 is provided which con"- sists of a curved metal plate which extends across the lspace between and'is secured to the front edges of the sides 17 and 18, and extends downward between said sides from a point at, or slightlyabove the level of the shaft of the lower sprocket 20, the portion 43 of said support whichis in Afronty of the right hand half of the carrier, or the right hand compartment of each section, being extended down to the level of the top shelf of a compartment when in the second position above referred to, and the portion 44 of said support, which is in front of the left hand compartments of the,

carrier, being extended down to the ,position of the outer end of the top shelf when 1n the third position above referred to.

delivery has been placed in both ycomparttion above referred to.

thru 450, Vthe section is moved to the second position, andthe package in the right hand compartmentwill then no longer be .supported by the supporting portionf43,vsothat it will slide from the shelf and be delivered to the purchaser. For; the purpose of facilitating delivery, theinachine is provided with delivery plate 45, which is inclined downwardly to the delivery opening 14 and a deflector plate 46 is mounted on the front side ofthe casing'in position to deiieot the package rearward, as it slides from the shelf when in said secondposition, onto-the plat-e 45.VV

In the meantime' the package in the left hand compartment of the .section will be retained therein by the supporting portion 44, butl when the section ismoved to the ythird position, shown in Fig. 3, the package will no longer be supported by the portion 44, so that it will fall therefroml and be delivered at opening 14. A. fixed partition 47 is provided between the sides 17, 18, which exthus arranged, assuming a package for tends rearward and upward in a curved direction in proximity to the path of the edges of the shelves, as they are moved upward beneath 'the lower sprocketfrom the-third position above referred to, or in a position to prevent access to the compartment, thru the opening 14.

` The mechanism shown for controllingthe main operating lever constitutes no part of the present invention, but will be briefly referred to. TheV forward movement ofj the slide 38 'by the lever 35 is normally prevented by a pivoted latch or hook 50, which engages a lug 51 on the slide before the latter has beenv advanced sufficiently to engage the wheel 32, but if a coin placed in the entrance slot 15 passes the coin tester 54 and falls onto the slide 33, the latter, as it is ad vanced, will forcethe coin against Ya finger 55 on the'latch, lifting the same, so that the llO slide may be moved to its extreme forward position, thereby causing the45rotation of the wheel. locked against rotation by a locking pawl 56, which is lifted by the engagement of a head' 57y on the slide 38 with a dog'58 on the pawl, as the slide is advanced beyond the Vposition in which it will be'intercepted by the latch 50. A bracket 60 on the slide 33 is arranged to extend between the lugs33 on wheelv 32,

The wheel is also normally Y to prevent rotation of the wheel during the rearward movement ofthe slide before the pawl 56 Vfalls into locking engagement with the wheel, so that removal of packages without inserting `a coin will be prevented.

With the above described construction the operating lever may be depressed and a package delivered first from one compartment of the carrier section, and thenfrom the other, each time a coin of suitable denomination is inserted. Y

It will be apparent thatif the shelves ing arranged to support a predetermined plurality of articles on different longitudinal portions thereof and to deliver the same by gravity when the shelf is in a depending position below the level of said axis, an operating device arranged, by successive operations thereof, to advance said carrier to a succession of delivery positions for each shelf corresponding to the number of articles to be delivered therefrom, and a support disposed below the level of said axisy and eX- tending in proximity to the path of movement of the outer edges of said shelves in position to support the articles on the shelves as they are advanced to said delivery positions and permitting successive delivery of the articles on each shelf in the several delivery positions thereof. V

2. In a dispensing machine, an endless carrier arranged to be driven vertically about a horizontal axis and having a series of axially elongated shelves projectingradially therefrom in spaced'relation, said shelves having transverse partitions dividing each shelf into a plurality of article holding compartments occupying different longitudinal portions thereof from which articles sup-l ported therein may be delivered by vgravity 'when the shelf is in a depending position below the level of said axis, an operating device arranged by successive operations thereof to advance said carrier to a succession of delivery positions for each shelf corresponding to the number of said compartments thereof, and a support disposed below the level of said axis and extending downwardly in proximity to the path of movement of the outer edges of said shelves in position to support the articles on the shelves as they are advanced to said delivery positions and ter-` minating to permit successive deliverythereof from each shelf the several delivery positions thereof.

3. Ina dispensing machine, an endless car- A' v7o Y rier arranged to be driven vertically about a horizontal axis and having a seriesY of axially elongated shelves, projecting radially there-v from in spaced relation, each shelf being arranged to support afpredetermined plurality of articles on different longitudinal portions thereof and to deliver the saine by gravity when the shelf is in a depending position below the level of said axis, an operating device 'arranged by successive operations thereof to advance said carrier to aA succession of delivery positions for each shelf corresponding to the number of articles to be delivered therefrom, and asupport mountedV in front of said carrier and extending downwardly and rearwardly in proximity to the path of movement of the outer edges of said shelves'fromapproximately the level of said axis, the different portions thereof being ex- 71sTY tended' respectively to the several delivery positions of each shelf, whereby as the shelf is moved into ,its successive delivery positions the articles thereon will be moved beyond` the corresponding portions of thev support and be successively delivered.

4. In a dispensing machine, an endless chain carrier arranged to be driven vertically and having a sprocket about which it is driven at the lower portion of its travel, saidcarrier having a series of suitably spaced shelves projecting radially and elongated axially with relation to said sprocket, each shelf being arranged to support a pair of articles to be vended on the opposite longitudinal portions thereof, an operating device arranged by successive operations thereof to advance said carrier to move each shelf successively fromV a positionin front of said sprocket to two successive delivery positions beneath the same, in which the articles therein position to support one of the articles until the shelf is moved into the first of said delivery positions and to support4 the other article until the shelf is moved into the sec-A ond of said positions. Y Y

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ARTHUR H. DU Gina-runs.v

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