GB2132592A

GB2132592A - Article-dispensing apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2132592A
Application number: GB08334511A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Ivor Richards
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-12-30
Filing date: 1983-12-29
Publication date: 1984-07-11
Also published as: GB8334511D0

Abstract

Dispensing apparatus for lottery tickets or similar card-like articles comprises a receptacle 10 for receiving a stack of tickets 12 and for urging them successively downwards towards a dispensing location, a guideway 13 leading from the dispensing location to a dispensing outlet 16, a slider blade 17 reciprocable along the guideway between a retracted position 19, where it is disposed on the side of the dispensing location remote from the outlet, and a forward position where the slider has pushed the bottom ticket 15 from the stack along the guideway 13 and at least partly through the outlet 16, a solenoid actuated mechanism 24, 27 for moving the slider from the forward position to the retracted position, preparatory to dispensing a ticket from the stack, and a manually operable rod 35 for moving the slider from the retracted position in order to dispense the ticket. The solenoid is preferably actuated as part of a coin-freed vending operation. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to dispensing apparatus The invention relates to dispensing apparatus and is particularly, but not exclusively, directed to coin-freed vending apparatus for lottery tickets or other similar card or wafer-like articles.

Know forms of coin-freed vending apparatus for this kind of article normally comprise fairly complex mechanical devices, incorporating ratchets, pawls and similar components for ejecting the article from the apparatus. The present invention sets out to provide an improved form of dispensing apparatus which is simpler in construction and more reliable in operation than the types of apparatus known hitherto.

According to the invention there is provided dispensing apparatus for articles, comprising a receptacle for receiving a stack of articles to be dispensed and feeding them successively into a dispensing location, a guide-way leading from the dispensing location to a dispensing outlet, a slider reciprocable along the guideway between a retracted position, where it is disposed on the side of the dispensing location remote from the outlet, and a forward position where the slider has pushed the end article from the stack along the guideway and at least partly through the outlet, a solenoid actuated mechanism for moving the slider from the forward position to the retracted position, preparatory to dispensing an article from the stack, and manually operable means for moving the slider from the retracted position to the forward position in order to dispense the article.

Preferably the slider, when in the forward position, engages the next article in the stack to prevent it entering the dispensing location until the slider has returned to the retracted position, whereby the slider may return to the retracted position- by passing between said next article and the guideway.

In the case where the articles to be dispensed are cards or similar wafer-like articles, the slider may be in the form of a flat blade. The blade may have a thickness greater than the thickness of the article to be dispensed and may be chamfered along the part of the edge thereof which provides the excess thickness so that only one article at a time is removed from the stack by the blade.

Preferably the stack is vertically disposed and the articles are fed successively to the dispensing location by gravity.

The solenoid mechanism may comprise an operating element coupled to the slider, the manually operable means comprising a manually movable member also connected to the operating element. The manually movable member is preferably connected to the operating element by a lost-motion connection so that movement of the slider to the retracted position does not effect movement of the manually movable member.

Preferably spring means are provided biasing the manually movable member to an inoperative position in which the operating element may move to the retracted position without effecting movement of the manually moveable member, said spring bias being overcome by manual operation of the movable member to dispense an article.

The operating element may comprise a lever pivotally mounted at one end and connected to the slider at the opposite end, the reciprocating member of the solenoid being connected to the lever, for example by a pin-and-slot connection, intermediate the ends thereof for effecting swinging movement of the lever and hence reciprocating movement of the slider.

The manually movable member may comprise an axially slideable rod which is also engageable with the lever intermediate its ends. In the case where a lost-motion connection is provided, the rod may be slideable longitudinally through an aperture in the lever, spaced abutments being provided on the rod on opposite sides of the lever to limit said lost motion.

As previously mentioned, the solenoid actuated mechanism may be controlled by a coin-operated device, whereby the solenoid actuated mechanism moves the slider to the retracted position upon coin operation of the device, ready for subsequent dispensing of the next article in the stack by operation of the manually operable means.

The following is a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic vertical section through a dispensing apparatus for cards, and Figure 2 is an enlarged section through a dispensing slider incorporated in the apparatus.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the apparatus is contained within a casing only the front panel of which is shown at 10. Mounted on the front panel 10 is a vertical channel-shaped receptacle 11 for receiving a stack of cards 12, such as lottery tickets. A horizontal guideway 13 is spaced a short distance below the bottom of the receptacle 11. The front edge of the receptacle 11 is spaced above the guideway 13 to leave a gap 14 just wide enough to permit the passage through the gap of the lower-most card 1 5 on the stack, the gap 14 registering with a horizontal slot 16 in the front panel 10 of the apparatus.

A flat rectangular blade 1 7 is slideable along the guideway 1 3 and the vertical gap 1 8 between the rear edge of the receptacle 11 and the guideway 13 is sufficiently wide to permit the blade 1 7 to pass beneath the edge of the receptacle to a rectracted position indicated in dotted lines at 19.

Opposite ends of the blade 1 7 are formed with circular flanges 20 each having an outwardly projecting pin 21 which engages within a slot 22 in an upwardly projecting arm 23 of a generally Y shaped lever 24. The lower end of the lever 24 is pivotally mounted at 25 on a fixed part 26 of the apparatus.

Also mounted on the fixed part 26 of the apparatus is a solenoid actuated mechanism indicated generally at 27. The mechanism comprises a solenoid 28 having a reciprocating element 29 which is connected to the lever 24 by means of a pin-and-slot connection 30.

Immediately below the junction between the two upper arms of the Y-shaped lever 24 is pivotally mounted a cylindrical block 34 formed with a centrai passage transverse to its pivot axis through which passage passes a manually movable rod 35. The forward end of the rod passes through an aperture in the front panel 10 and has mounted thereon a manipulating knob 36.

Spaced abutment collars 37a and 37b are secured to the rod 35 on opposite sides of the lever 24 and a helical compression spring 38 encircles the rod 35 between the front panel 10 and the nearer collar 37a. Operation of the apparatus is as follows: Initially the apparatus is in the position shown in the drawing in which the manually operable rod 35 is biased into its right-most position by the spring 38. In this position the blade 1 7 underlies the forward end of the lowermost card in the stack. There is a small gap between the cylindrical block 34 and the abutment 37a on the rod 35.

When the appropriate coin is inserted in a coinoperated switching device (not shown) associated with the apparatus, the solenoid 28 is energised and the element 29 is retracted, moving to the right as viewed in Figure 1. This swings the lever 24 clockwise and moves the blade 1 7 to the right also. The blade 1 7 slides beneath the lowermost card and along the guideway 13 until it reaches the retracted position indicated in dotted lines at 19, whereupon the lowermost card 1 5 is free to fall into the dispensing location on the guideway 13. The clockwise swinging movement of the lever 24 is permitted by the lost-motion connection between the lever and the rod 35.

The person who has inserted the coin may then puil the knob 36 to eject a card. Pulling the knob 36 swings the lever 24 anticlockwise and moves the blade 1 7 to the left, the blade thus pushing the lowermost card 1 5 in the stack along the guideway 13 and partly out of the slot 16 in the front panel 10, from where it may be removed by the user. When the user releases the knob 36 the rod 35 moves to the right, returning to the position shown in the drawing, under the action of the spring 38. The apparatus is then in the position shown in the drawing and is ready for further operation to dispense another card.

In an alternative arrangement, not shown, helical tension springs may be connected to the element 29, which springs pass on opposite sides of the lever 24 and are secured to fixed upstanding projections. Such springs would bias the lever 24 to the left and prevent it being swung to the right by frictional engagement with the rod 35, as the rod is retracted under the action of the spring 38.

The blade 1 7 may be suitably shaped to ensure that only one card at a time is dispensed from the apparatus and a suitable shape of blade is shown on an enlarged scale in Figure 2.

Each card 1 5 may be approximately ten thousandths of an inch in thickness and the blade 1 7 may be approximately twenty thousandths of an inch in thickness. However, to ensure that only a single card is dispensed, the upper half of the leading edge of the blade 17 is chamfered at approximately 450 as indicated at 39 in Figure 2.

This ensures that the blade 1 7 will slide beneath all the cards in the stack except the lowermost card. To ensure that the blade 1 7 does not also attempt to slide beneath the lowermost card 1 5 in the stack, the lower half of the leading edge of the blade 1 7 may also be chamfered, for example at an angle of about 100, as indicated at 40 in Figure 2.

Claims

1. Dispensing apparatus for articles, comprising a receptacle for receiving a stack of articles to be dispensed and feeding them successively into a dispensing location, a guideway leading from the dispensing location to a dispensing outlet, a slider reciprocable along the guideway between a retracted position, where it is disposed on the side of the dispensing location remote from the outlet, and a forward position where the slider has pushed the end article from the stack along the guideway and at least partly through the outlet, a solenoid actuated mechanism for moving the slider from the forward position to the retracted position, preparatory to dispensing an article from the stack, and manually operable means for moving the slider from the retracted position to the forward position in order to dispense the article.

2. Dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slider, when in the forward position, engages the next article in the stack to prevent it entering the dispensing location until the slider has returned to the retracted position, whereby the slider may return to the retracted position by passing between said next article and the guideway.

3. Dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the articles to be dispensed are cards or similar wafer-like articles and the slider is in the form of a flat blade.

4. Dispensing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the blade has a thickness greater than the thickness of the article to be dispensed and is chamfered along the part of the edge thereof which provides the excess thickness so that only one article at a time is removed from the stack by the blade.

5. Dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the stack is vertically disposed and the articles are fed successively to the dispensing location by gravity.

6. Dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the solenoid mechanism comprises an operating element coupled to the slider, the manually operable means comprising a manually movable member also connected to the operating element.

7. Dispensing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the manually movable member is connected to the operating element by a lostmotion connection so that movement of the slider to the retracted position does not effect movement of the manually movable member.

8. Dispensing apparatus according to claim 6 or claim 7, wherein spring means are provided biasing the manually movable member to an inoperative position in which the operating element may move to the retracted position without effecting movement of the manually movable member, said spring bias being overcome by manual operation of the movable member to dispense an article.

9. Dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the operating element comprises a lever pivotally mounted at one end and connected to the slider at the opposite end, the reciprocating member of the solenoid being connected to the lever, intermediate the ends thereof for effecting swinging movement of the lever and hence reciprocating movement of the slider.

10. Dispensing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the manually movable member comprises an axially slideable rod which is engageable with the lever intermediate its ends.

11. Dispensing apparatus according to claim 7 and claim 10, wherein the rod is slideable longitudinally through an aperture in the lever, spaced abutments being provided on the rod on opposite sides of the lever to limit said lost motion.

12. Dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the solenoid actuated mechanism is controlled by a coin-operated device, whereby the solenoid actuated mechanism moves the slider to the retracted position upon coin operation of the device, ready for subsequent dispensing of the next article in the stack by operation of the manually operable means.

13. Dispensing apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.