CA1046468A - Liquid dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure Liquid dispensing apparatus (e.g., coin-controlled vending machine) for dispensing measured amounts of water or other liquid. The possibility of contamination in the dispensing region is minimized by means which protects certain parts (e.g., the dispensing spout) from human contact, but does not interfere with a dispensing cycle.

Description

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Background_of_the Invention This invention relates generally to apparatus for dispensing measured amounts of liquid, such as water or `~ liquid beverage. Particularly, it relates to features of such apparatus that are concerned with sanitationO
; Vending machines now in commercial use are cap-~ able of dispensing water and other liquids in measured .~ .
amounts. For consumer use, such apparatus is generally in the form of a coin-controlled vending machine, and the dispensin~ spout or nozzle is disposed above a platform or shelf. A receptacle is positioned on the shelf and the dispensing cycle initiated by insertion of a coinO Such `i apparatus is disclosed in United States Patent 3,395,100, -~ granted July 30, 1968, and is intended primarily for dispen-. .
sing measured quantities of potable water. When such machines ; are connected to receive tap water from city supply pipes, they are provided with water purifying means which may subject the water to filtration and removal of mineralsO
This may employ filtering means and means for removal of mineral salts, such as units of the ion exchange or reverse osmosis types. Also it is desirable to provide means to ensure that the dispensed water is sterile, which may be a sterillzation unit of the ultraviolet lamp typeO Aside from ensuring against bacterial contamination of the water before it is dispensed, the bacterial contamination may occur at the dispensing station, particularly when the li-quid is discharged from a nozzle or spout. Human contact may occur with the end portion or side surfaces of the nozzle, ~ . .. .
thus causing contamination which may find its way into the dispensed liquid. In some instances the spout has been

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surrounded by a cage-like structure in an effort to minimize the possibility of human contact. However, the possibility of such contacts cannot be allevi-ated by such expedients, and the possibility of contamination remains even though the machine is frequently serviced and the dispensing nozzle and associated parts cleaned and sanitized, Xn some instances the machines are constructed to provide a chamber normally closed by a door, within which the `~ receptacle is placed for a dispensing cycle. Here again there is ample op-portunity for human contact and contamination since the door may be opened before or after a dispensing cycle.
In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide liquid dispensing apparatus, such as a vending machine, which has effective means to avoid human contact with the dispensing spout or nozzle, without interfering with the normal dispensing cycle.
The present invention is a liquid dispensing apparatus of the type having means for delivering a predetermined amount of liquid to a receptacle that is located on a supporting platform. The platform is within a chamber which has a top wall and which is accessible from one side. A depending hollow shroud has its upper end mounted on the top wall and its lower open end disposed below the top wall. A downwardly directed nozzle disposed above the platform has its lower portion disposed within the shroud with the lower ; open end of the shroud terminating in a plane adjacent the lower end of the nozzle. A guard member is disposed within the chamber and is movable from a first position in which it underlies and extends across the lower end of the shroud and in proximit~ with the same to prevent human access to the interior of the shroud and to thereby protect the lower end of the nozzle from direct human contact, to a second out-of-the-way position. In the second position the guard does not interfere with discharge of liquid from the nozzle. Also when in its first position the guard member has a flat upper surface that is in close spaced proximity with the lower end of the shroud whereby when so posit~oned the guard ~em~er together with the shroud forms means to prevent human contact wit~ the nozzle. ~eans is disposed above the top wall for moving the guard member bet~een the first and second out of~t~e~way positions.

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The invention has particular application to a coin vending machine, and means is preferably provided whereby in ~ response to insertion of a proper coin and operation of a selector ` switch the guard member is automatically caused to move to its second position and a dispensing cycle carried out to deliver a measured quantity of water to the underlying receptacle. In -one embodiment, the nozzle is mounted in a fixed position and ;j extends through an upper wall. In another embodiment the , i .nozzle is retractable to a position where it cannot be subjected to human contact. In another embodiment the dispensing cycle is carried out within a chamber which ~normally is closed by a door, and means is provided for automatically locking the door except during the cycle.
Additional objects and features of the invention :' , , ' ,.
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will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiments have been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
Brief Description of the Drawing Figure 1 is a front view of a vending machine cabinet illustrating a portion of the cabinet which is provided with a recess to form a dispensing chamber.
Figure 2 is a plan view illustrating one embodiment :
of the invention in which the dispensing spout remains in a fixed position.
i Figure 3 is a side elevation of the embodiment illus-trated in Figure 2.
Figure 4 illustrates another embodiment in which the dispensing spout is retractable.
Figure 5 is a detail illustrating the cam slot for ~ positioning the guard member.
- Figure 6 is a front elevational view illustrating a door for closing the dispensing cabinet, together with locking means for retaining the door in a locked position.
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7 - 7 of Figure 6 on an enlarged scale.
Figure 8 is a schematic view illustrating photo-` elec~ric means for controlling the locking and unlocking of the door shown in Figure 6.
Description of the Preferred Embodiments Figure 1 illustrates a portion of a liquid vending machine, .: , and particularly a machine which is coin controlled. The cabinet 10 serves to house all of the operating parts~ including a coin box, together with the other necessary apparatus for delivering . --5--:
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a measured amount of water to a receptacle during a dispensing cycle. The water is dispensed in the chamber or recess 11 which is accessible at the front of the cabinet, and which may be pro-vided with a lower supporting platform or shelf 12 and an upper supporting member 13 which is shown hinged to one side wall of the chamber. Assuming that the machine may selectively deliver either one of two measured quantities of liquid, a smaller container may be placed upon the support member 13 for the smaller quantity, or this member may be swung upwardly to an out of-the-way position so that the chamber may accommodate a larger container resting upon the platform 12.
The nozzle and guard means illustrated at 14 corres-ponds to means illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. It consists of a discharge or dispensing nozzle 1$ which extends through an opening in the top wall 17 of the chamber~ The upper end of this nozzle is shown coupled by fitting 18 cornected with the liquid supply ` hose 20.Fitting 18 contains a valve ~not shown) that is operated by the solenoid 18a. The coupling 19 may be interposed in the connection between fitting 18 and hose 20.
Guard means is provided within the chamber to protect the side surfaces and lower end of the noz~le 16 from human con-taminating contact. This means consists of a shell or shroud 21, preferably cylindrical in form, which is secured at its u~er end to the mounting flange 22. The lower end of the shroud 21 termi-nates in a horizontal plane which preferably is at a level below the lower end of nozzle 16~ The shroud 21 may be made of suitable , -6_ ' ' ' ' '' . " ' .' ' ~` -~L0~i46~
transparent material. Below the lower end of the nozzle 16 there is a guard member 23 which is mounted in such a manner that it can be moved from a first position in which it guards against human contact with the lower end of the nozzle 16~ and an out-of-the-way position in which it does not interfere with downward discharge of liquid from the nozzle. The configuration of the member 23 in plan, as.shown in Figure 2, may be paddle-shaped whereby the wider free end is dimensioned to completely ., extend across the lower end of shroud 21. When in the nozzle-10 guarding position shown in Figure 3, there is a space 24 between the upper surface of the member 23, and the lower end of the shroud 21.
The mounting means for the guard member 23, which permits it to move between nozzle guarding and out-of-the-way positions, consists of a plate 26 fixed above the upper chamber wall 17. A sleeve 27 extends through the wall 17 and has its upper end fixed to the mounting plate 26. This sleeve forms a bearing for the vertical shaft 28, the lower end of-which is fixed to the corresponding end of the guard member 230 -` 20 The actuating means for the guard mem~er 23 consists in this instance of a member 31 which is secured to the upper end of the shaft 28 above the mounting plate 26, together with ! the links 32 and 33 and the solenoid 34. One end of link 32 has a pivotal connection with member 31, and one end of link 33 has pivotal connection 37 with the stud 38 carried by plate 26. The . other ends of the links are pivotally connected together at 39, and to the operating member 41 of the solenoid 3~ Stops 42 and ' -7-' :

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43 are shown mounted upon the plate 26 to limit annular rotation of the shaft 28. A tension spring 44 is shown having one end anchored to the plate 26, and the other end attached to the link 33 near the pivotal connection 39.
With the linkage connections described above~ spring 44 normally urges the links in a position illustrated in dash-dot lines in Figure 2, and when in this position the guard member 23 is in an out-of-the way position with i.ts free end clearing the nozzle 16 at the lower end of the shroud 21. When the solenoid 34 is energized, the linkage is moved to the position shown in solid lines in Figure 2. This arrangement is s~lf-locking when . the guard member is in the nozzle guarding position shown in dotted ~ -lines in Figure 2. It is locked in this position until the solenoid 34 is deenergizedO
`: Figure 2 also illustrates circuit connection for energiz- .
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; ing the solenoid 34. Block 47 represents a coin mechanism and includes a switch 48 having contacts 1 and 2, with the blade of the switch connected to the power supply line Ll. The switch is . normally closed on contact 1, but closes on contact 2 in response ; to insertion of a proper coinO Block 49 represents the credit relay of the vending machine, and includes a magnetic relay having its winding connected to contact 2 or switch 48, and its other terminal connected to the power supply line L2. Contact 1 of the relay switch is also connected to line L2, and the blade of this i switch is cornected to one side of the solenoid 34. In response to the insertion of a proper coin, the switch 48 closes on contact :.
2, thus energizing the winding of the credit relay 49, whereby the ~' ~0~6~
blade of switch 51 moves to open position with respect to contact 1 and the solenoid 34 is deenergized. The other side of solenoid 34 connects to the digital vending timer 52, the switch 53 of which has its blade connected to power supply line Ll. ~he switah 53 is normally closed on contact 2, but is opened after a predeter-mined period of time.
The cycle of operation, starting with the insert~on of a coin, is as follows: Before the coin is inserted, switch 48 is open, switch 51 is closed on contact 1 and switch 53 is closed on contact 2~ thereby energizing solenoid 34 to retain the member 23 in its nozzle guarding position. When a coin is received switch 48 closes on contact 2 to energize the credit relay 49, whereby switch 51 is opened to deenergize solenoid 34 and to cause the member 23 to be moved to its out-of-the-way position. The customer then places a receptacle within the dispensing chamber and presses the selection switch to select the type of liquid to be delivered.
This starts the timer 52 in operation, and simultaneously it starts ~ the liquid pump and energizes the solenoid 18a to open the valve `~ in fitting 18. At the end of the dispensing cycle, i.e., at the end of the period determined by the setting of the timer, the motor of the p = p is deenergized, solenoid 18a is deenergized to close j the valve in fitting 18, and solenoid 34 is again energized to - move member 23 to its nozzle guarding position. The customer then removes the receptacle from the dispensing chamber.
In the embodiment shown in Figures 4 and 5, the dispens-ing nozzle is retractable to a position outside of the dispens~ng _9_ : , .'~ ,.
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1~46~6151 chamber, except during a dispensing cycle. Thus the nozzle 61 is carried by the mounting 62, and above the opening 63 in the top wall 17 of the dispensing chamber 11. Another mounting member 64 is secured to the top wall 17 and carries a vertical guide pin 66 which slidably extends through an opening 67 in the mounting 62.
The guard member 68, corresponding to the guard member 23 of Figures 2 and 3, is disposed immediately above the top wall 17 and is se-cured to the lower end of the shaft 69, which in turn is journalled in the mounting 6~. The movable mounting 62 is provided with a verticle bore 71 which slidably accommodates the shaft 69. A pin 72, fixed to the upper end of shaft 69, is slidably disposed within the cam slot 73 shown in Figure 5. This slot has an upper straight portion 73a merging with a lower angled portion 73b. When the mem-ber 68 is in a position directly overlying the opening 63 and under-lying the lower end of the nozzle 61, and the nozzle is retracted, the pin 72 is in the angled portion 73 of the cam slot. Therefore, when the mounting 62 is moved downwardly to position the nozzle 61 as shown in dotted lines in Figure 4, the cam slot portion 73a causes the guard member 68 to be moved to an out-of-the-way position in which it does not interfere with such downward movement. How-:~.
~, 20 ever, when the mounting 62 together with the nozzle 61 is again retracted at the end of a dispensing cycle, the guard member remains ' in its out-of-the-way position until the last portion of the travel ' of the nozzle, and for that last portion the guard member 63 is again swung over the opening 63 and beneath the nozzle.
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The assembly shown in Figures 4 and 5 also preferably in-cludes a shroud 74 corresponding to the shroud 71 of Figure 3 and having its lower end in a plane which is below the lower end of the nozzle when the nozzle is in its projected position during a dispensing cycle.
Various means can be used for moving the nozzle between its retracted and projected positions. Figure 4 schematically illustrates hydraulic means for this purpose. It consists of a double acting cylinder-piston assembly 76 having the ends of the cylinder hydraulically connected with the four-way control valve 77, which is actuated by the solenoid 78. As is well known to those familiar with the operation of such hydraulic devices, for - one position of the four-way valve, liquid under pressure, as for example from a city water supply, is supplied to one end of the cylinder, and liquid from the other end of the cylinder exhausts through the four-way valve to drain. When the four--way control - valve is moved to its other operating position, liquid under pres-sure is supplied to the other end of the hydralic cylinder, and the first end is connected to exhaust liquid to drain. With such an arrangement, the two-way solenoid 78 is electrically connected with other parts of the vending machine whereby it automatically moves the nozzle from retracted to its projected position upon insertion of a coin and before operating the selector switch.
t remains in projected position during a dispensing cycle, and at the end of the dispensing cycle the nozzle is elevated out of the dispensing chamber, where it is not subject to human contact, and the guard 6~ is positioned ove~ the opening 63 and ~elow the nozzle, :
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thus making it impossible for any one to contact the nozzle through the opening 63.
- Figures 6 - 8 show a door :Eor the dispensing chamber 11, ; together with locking means to prevent opening of the door except for introducing a receptacle for a dispensing cycle. The door 81 in .~ this instance may be mounted immediately behind the front wall of..:.
the cabinet, and is carried by the upper and lower guide rails 82 and 83. Figures 6 and 7 show the door as it appears from the inside of the cabinet~ and there is a space between the door and the walls - 10 of the adjacent dispensing chamber. The engagement with the upper ,', :
, rail 82 may include the hangers 84 secured to its upper corner, and carrying rollers 86 that are tracked within the guide rail 82.
; The lower rail 83 may be a simple channel in which the lower ;~` margin of the door is tracked. The door is urged toward closed :,. . .
. position shown in Figure 6 by the weight 87, which is suspended by ` a cord or cable 88 that is tracked over pulley 89 and attached to '.~ the door at 91. A retractable lock pin 92 is carried by a mounting 93 that is secured to the guide rail 82. In its locking position ~` the pin 92 is within an opening 94 in the rail 96, the latter being :.~
t 20 secured to the upper edge of the door. The assembly includes a solenoid 97 which when energized retracts the pin 92, thus permitting tl the door to move. The solenoid 97 is connected with the electrical ; system of the vending machine whereby upon insertion of a coin and ~ before operating the selection switch, the solenoid is energized to ;: unlock the door, whereby the customer may open the door and intro-~ , , i duce a receptacle before making a selection.

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Figure 8 illustrates another way to control the locking and unlocking of the door. In this instance a lamp 101 and a photoelectric cell 102 are positioned adjacent windows on opposite sides of the chamber 11. When a container illustrated in dotted lines at 103 is placed within the chamber for a dispensing opera-tion, the light beam between the Llmp and the photoelectric cell 102 is interupted, and the cell becomes non-conductive. The cell 102 is cornected in series with the winding of relay 104, which corresponds with the relay 49 of Figure 2, and to one terminal of the unlocking solenoid 97. The other terminal of solenoid 97 is shown connected to contact 2 of relay 104, and to contact 2 of the ; relay 106, which corresponds with relay 47 of Figure 2. With this arrangement, the door is unlocked when a coin is inserted into the coin mechanism, the same as previously described, whereby the op-erator may open the door and place a receptacle within the dispens-ing chamber 11. When that is done the light beam between the lamp 101 and the photoelectric cell 102 is interrupted, whereby ~
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the solenoid 97 remains energized and the door remains unlocked until the receptacle is removed. At the end of the dispensing cycle, the operator may open the door and remove the filled re-; ceptacle, after which the door moves back to closed position ~ and is locked by pin 92, which drops into opening 94.
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Claims (7)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. In liquid dispensing apparatus of the type having means for delivering a predetermined amount of liquid to a receptacle located on a supporting platform, the plat-form being within a chamber having a top wall and which is accessible from one side of the same, a downwardly directed nozzle disposed above the platform, a depending hollow shroud having its upper end mounted on the top wall, the lower end of the shroud being open and disposed below the top wall, the nozzle having its lower portion disposed within the shroud with the lower open end of the shroud terminating in a plane adjacent the lower end of the nozzle, a guard member within the chamber movable from a first position in which it underlies and extends across the lower end of the shroud and in proximity with the same to prevent human access to the interior of the shroud and to thereby protect the lower end of the nozzle from direct human contact, to a second out-of-the-way position in which it does not interfere with discharge of liquid from the nozzle, when in said first position, the guard member having a flat upper surface that is in close spaced proximity with the lower end of the shroud and together with the shroud forming means to prevent human contact with the nozzle, and means disposed above the top wall for moving said guard member between said first and second positions.

2. Apparatus as in Claim 1 in which said guard member is pivotally carried on a vertical shaft for swing-ing movement in a horizontal direction about a vertical axis between said first and second positions.

3. Apparatus as in Claim 2 in which the means for moving the guard member includes a solenoid, and a linkage connecting the solenoid to the guard member, said linkage being self-locking to prevent movement of the guard member from its first to its second position by manual force supplied to the same.

4. Apparatus as in Claim 3 in which said linkage is of the toggle type.

5. Apparatus as in Claim 1 in which the nozzle extends through a wall disposed above the platform for delivering liquid and is retractable from such projected position to a retracted position above the wall when liquid is not being delivered, the guard member when the nozzle is retracted being disposed between the lower end of the nozzle and the upper end of the shroud member.

6. Apparatus as in Claim 5 in which the guard member is moved between the first and second positions by means actuated by movement of the nozzle between said projected and retracted positions.

7. Apparatus as in Claim 1 in which the platform is in a dispensing chamber, and in which a door is pro-vided which is movable between open and closed chamber positions, together with means for locking the door, said means being unlocked during the dispensing of liquid.