GB2227737A - Article discharge device for a vending machine - Google Patents

Description

1 1 1 VENDING MACHINE This invention relates to a vending machine

comprising a housing having a platform for supporting an article and a conveyor belt of which a part of the path is adjacent to but below the level of the platform, the conveyor belt having at least one projection which, in the said part of the path of the conveyor belt, extends above the platform for engaging an article on the platform in order to move it along the platform.

In certain circumstances, as the projection of the conveyor belt comes round to engage an article on the platform, instead of catching the back face of the article it comes up underneath and engages the lower surface of the article, simply lifting the article up and not moving it to the second position. This can occur when the length of the article, such as a box or package, is close to that of the platform and the article extends over the back edge of the platform. A way of overcoming this would be to increase the length of the platform but this would necessitate increasing the dimensions of the machine.

According to the invention means is provided for moving the article along the platform before it is engaged by the projection:

The means moves the article far enough along the platform to ensure that the projection reliably engages the article.

Preferably, the means comprises a lever pivotally mounted adjacent to the platform for successive engagement by the or each projection when 1 1 4 the conveyor belt is moving for movement between a rest position and a pivotted position.

When the belt is running, the projection engages the lever and moves it from the rest position through a pre-determined angle to the pivotted position during which it moves an article on the platform a predetermined distance along the platform, after which the projection releases the lever and moves the article further along to the second position and the lever returns to the rest position ready to be engaged by the or next projection again. A spring can be used to return the lever to the rest position.

Preferably, the lever has a straight section which, in the rest position of the lever, extends vertically and projects above the level of the platform and, in the pivotted position, lies above and extends parallel to the platform, in which position the projection of the conveyor belt can pass freely underneath.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a series of vertical compartments in a vending machine, including the mechanism for supplying the boxes or packets; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the packet-supplying mechanism situated below each compartment; Figure 3 is a partial side view of the housing for the supplying mechanism, including the zone in which the auxiliary pusher is mounted; and 1 1 1 1 i Figure 4 is a diagrammatical view of the supplying mechanism.

The vending machine comprises a casing in which are accommodated compartments 1, limited by vertical partitions 2 equipped with longitudinal flanges 3. Under each of these compartments is situated a supplying mechanism, generally bearing the reference number 4. On each mechanism there rests a column of boxes or packets situated in each compartment. The supplying mechanism 4 has the function, whenever the machine is activated or operated, by the selection of an individual column, of extracting the bottom packet from the pile and displacing it until it causes it to fall into a collecting tray with which the machine is provided.

The exit trajectory of the packets or boxes is intercepted by a flap 5 provided, at least at one of its ends, with a lever 6 serving to actuate a microswitch 7. The flap 5 is suspended from a hinge-pin 8 which is at right angles to the partitions 2 of the compartments 1.

When a coin is inserted in order to activate the machine, selection of the corresponding compartment puts into operation the supplying mechanism 4, initiating the extraction of a packet or box, which pushes against and lifts the flap 5, so that the lever 6 tips downwards. Under these conditions, this lever does not actuate the microswitch 7. As soon as the packet completely leaves the compartment, the flap 5 falls back under the pull of a spring 9, occupying its initial position in which it acts on a wheel or lug 10 of the microswitch 7 and causes the supplying mechanism 4 to stop.

The supplying mechanism 4 comprises, as can be seen from Figure 2, two vertical and parallel boxes 11 and 12, of the same shape and interconnected, which are separated in order to define an intermediate space. In this space is situated a conveyor belt comprising a toothed belt 13 which is mounted on an entrainment pinion 14 and two change-ofdirection pinions 15 and 16. The entrainment pinion 14 is driven through a reducing set of gear wheels (not shown) by an electric motor 17. The toothed belt 13 describes a trajectory which is inset in relation to the outline of the boxes 11 and 12, defining a feed section which runs parallel to and below the level of the upper surfaces 18 and 19 of the boxes 11 and 12 which form the platform on which will rest the pile of boxes or packets situated in each compartment 1 of the machine. The surfaces 18 and 19 have longitudinal ribs 20 for reducing the friction between them and the boxes or packets during the displacement of the latter.

From the external surface of the toothed belt 13 there project lugs 21, moulded in the belt itself. These lugs are dimensioned so as to project above the upper surfaces 18 and 19 of the boxes when they are running in this section in order to serve as elements for engaging and moving the packets or boxes to be supplied.

In the housing 22 in which the toothed belt 13 is located and which is delimited by the spacing of the boxes 11 and 12, there is arranged an auxiliary pusher or lever 23 situated in the rear part of the housing, in relation to the direction of advance of the toothed belt 13, shown by the arrows in Figures 2 t 1 1 i J A and 3. The lever 23 has an angled shape defined by two straight sections, a front section 24 and a rear section 25, which together form an angle of between 90 and 1800. From the longitudinal edges of the rear section 25 there project lugs 26. A pivot-pin 27 extends through the lugs 26 and into the side walls of the boxes 11 and 12, as can be seen from Figure 3. The pivot-pin 27 of the lever 23 is situated above and slightly to the rear of the axis of the pinion 15.

A tension spring 29 is connected to the lugs 26 and to a fixed point 28 on one of the boxes which is situated below and to the front of the pivot pin 27. The spring 29 constantly pulls the lever 25 towards a rest position as shown in Figure 3, in which the rear transverse edge of the section 25 rests against lugs 30 defined by the boxes. In this position the rear edge of the section 25 of the lever 23 is close to the toothed belt 13.

As can be seen from Figure 3, when the lever 23 is in its rest position, the front section 24 thereof extends vertically and projects above the upper surfaces 18 and 19 which serve as the support platform for the pile of boxes or packets.

When thus constituted, as can be seen from Figure 4, the extracting mechanism may be situated close to the rear wall 31 of the body of the machine. The boxes or packets 32 rest on the upper platform of the extracting mechanism, projecting slightly from the rear part of the supporting surface. The vertical section 24 of the lever 23 is situated immediately behind the packets 32.

a 4 When the extracting mechanism is put into operation and the toothed belt 13 is displaced in the direction indicated by the arrows, the lugs 21 push, as shown in Figure 4, the lever 23 causing it to rotate until it is in the pivotted position shown by dotted lines and referenced 23a in Figure 4. During the rotation of the lever 23 to the pivotted position 23a, the lug 21 continues to advance and moves below the lever, following the path shown by the broken line and referenced 21a. In the pivotted position of the lever 23a, the lug 21 can pass freely underneath the lever, the latter being then released and returning to its rest position under the pull of the spring 29.

In this displacement of the lever 23 from its rest position to its pivotted position 23a, the front section 24 of the lever moves the packet 32 a predetermined distance along the support surface 18, 19 into position 32a, in which the lug reliably engages the packet and moves it towards the exterior of the supplying mechanism.

i i 1 4

Claims (4)

CLAIMS.

1. A vending machine comprising a housing having a platform for supporting an article and a conveyor belt of which a part of the path is adjacent to but below the level of the platform, the conveyor belt having at least one projection which, in the said part of the path of the conveyor belt, extends above the platform for engaging an article on the platform in order to move it along the platform, wherein means is provided for moving the article along the platform before it is engaged by the projection.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means comprises a lever pivotally mounted adjacent to the platform for successive engagement by the or each projection when the conveyor belt is moving for movement between a rest position and a pivotted position.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the lever has a straight section which, in the rest position of the lever, extends vertically and projects above the level of the platform and, in the pivotted position of the lever, lies above and extends parallel to the platform, in which position the projection of the conveyor belt can pass freely underneath.

4. A vending machine substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

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