GB2241493A

GB2241493A - Resiliently mounted wiper for dispensing sheet-like articles

Info

Publication number: GB2241493A
Application number: GB9004604A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Taylor
Original assignee: APS COMMUNICATIONS PLC
Current assignee: APS COMMUNICATIONS PLC
Priority date: 1990-03-01
Filing date: 1990-03-01
Publication date: 1991-09-04
Also published as: IE910107A1; GB9004604D0

Abstract

A dispensing mechanism for articles such as stamps or cards, comprises a casing enclosing a magazine 26 carrying a pile of articles 24, and a coin freed, resiliently mounted rotatable wiper mechanism 34 which engages with the lowest article to slide it out of the base of the magazine through an exit aperture 28. A smoothly curved exit track 54 then guides the article around the axis of the wiper mechanism and out of the casing. <IMAGE>

Description

Dispensing Mechanism" This invention relates to dispensing mechanisms, and particularly, although not exclusively, to dispensing mechanisms which are adapted for use with thin laminar articles such as stamps and cards.

According to the present invention there is provided a dispensing mechanism for laminar articles, comprising a magazine adapted to receive a stack of articles to be dispensed, resiliently mounted wiper means cooperating with an aperture in the base of the magazine, and adapted to engage with the lowermost article so as to urge it towards an exit aperture; and a smoothly curved exit track, extending downwardly from the exit aperture, whereby articles can be removed from the bottom of the stack one by one, and dispensed along the path of the exit track.

Preferably the magazine is of parallelogram shaped cross-section so the stack of articles is tilted towards the exit. Preferably, the exit path extends around and beneath the wiper mechanism.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the dispensing mechanism is combined with a coin freed mechanism which may be of a known type.

Preferably, the wiper mechanism comprises a rotatable support means, having a resiliently biassed lever mechanism pivotally mounted thereon at a point which is spaced from the centre of rotation, the lever including a wiping finger which extends generally tangentially, relative to the rotatable support, and is so positioned that it is brought into wiping contact with the lowermost article of the stack, as the support means is rotated. The resilient biassing then ensures that the wiper will remain in frictional contact with the underneath surface of the article, as the support means rotates, and will thus push the article out of the exit of the magazine, and down the curved exit path to the dispensing exit of the apparatus.

Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a partially broken away front view of dispensing apparatus in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a partially broken away side elevation of the apparatus of Figure 1, as seen from the left-hand side; Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section along the line Ill-Ill of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side elevation taken from the right-hand side of Figure 1; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of an alternative form of dispensing mechanism.

Referring to Figure 1, the apparatus comprises a casing 2 having a coin slot 4 near the upper edge of its front surface. A chute 6 carries a coin which is inserted by the user into a coin testing section 8 which may, for example, be adapted to reject a coin of incorrect weight.

If the coin is accepted, a ratchet and pawl mechanism 10 is released, so as to allow the dispensing mechanism to rotate (it will be understood that the general arrangement of such "coin feed" mechanisms is well known, and will therefore not be described in detail here).

After the user has inserted a coin, he operates the actuating arm 12 (Figure 4) on the outside of the casing, in a downward direction and (assuming that the coin has been accepted) the movement of the arm is transmitted via gear train 14, 18 to a ratchet mechanism 20 which is so arranged as to form a "dog-clutch'f, which only allows the rotational movement to be transmitted in one direction. The "dogs" of the clutch mechanism are held in engagement by means of a main spring 22.

As best shown in Figures 1 and 3, the stack of cards or stamps 24 to be dispensed is held in a magazine 26 having a "parallelogram" vertical cross-section, so that the stack is inclined at an acute angle to the horizontal, so that the lowermost end of the bottom article in the stack, is adjacent an exit aperture 28 at the bottom right-hand edge of the magazine, as seen in Figure 3. The base 30 of the magazine is also formed with a central slot 32 extending from a point near the front edge of the stack of articles, and opening into the exit aperture 28. A rotatable wiper mechanism 34, actuated by the rotation of the drive through the dog clutch 20, is arranged to engage with the lowermost article in the stack, via the slot 32, so as to move it downwardly out of the exit 28 towards an exit slot 36 (Figure 1) at the front of the apparatus.Continued movement of the actuating arm 12 then rotates the wiper mechanism through the remainder of its cycle, back to the initial position.

The action of the wiper mechanism will now be described in more detail. A rotating cylindrical casing 38 carries a pivotally mounted bell crank 40, whose pivot 42 is radially spaced from the centre of rotation 44 of the mechanism. The outer end 46 of the bell crank is formed with a resilient insert to ensure good frictional contact with the bottom of the stack of articles in the magazine, whilst the other end 48 is connected by means of a biassing spring 50 to a circumferentially spaced point 52 of the cylinder 38.

As can be seen from a comparison of the solid line and dashed line positions of the bell crank 40 in Figure 3, rotation of the wiper mechanism in a clockwise direction as seen in the figure causes the wiper to engage with the underneath surface of the lowermost article in the stack, so that it is urged to the right and downwardly out of the exit aperture 28 of the magazine. Its leading edge then engages with a smoothly curved exit track 54, extending beneath the wiper mechanism, and continued rotation of the mechanism thus causes the article to be dispensed from the apparatus through the slot 36.

An alternative and preferred form of wiper mechanism (which operates in the same way) is shown in Figure 5, in which the bell crank wiper arm 40 is of the same basic form as that of the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4, but, instead of being mounted inside a cylindrical casing, the arm is mounted on rotatable support member 60 having a generally cruciform cross-section. One of the limbs 62 of the cross-section carries a mounting 64 at its outer edge for the central pivot 42 of the bell crank, whilst the opposite limb 66 of the cross-section carries a projecting lug 68 to which the end of the biassing spring 50 of the wiper is anchored. This construction considerably simplifies the manufacture and assembly of the mechanism.

Claims

1. A dispensing mechanism for laminar articles, comprising a magazine adapted to receive a stack of articles, and resiliently mounted wiper means co-operating with an aperture in the base of the magazine, and adapted to engage with the lowermost article to urge it along an exit track which extends from the said base of the magazine, whereby articles can be removed from the bottom of the magazine one by one and dispensed along the path of the exit track.

2. A dispensing mechanism according to claim 1 in which the magazine is of a parallelogram cross-section so that the stack of articles is tilted towards the exit track.

3. A dispensing mechanism according to claim 1 in which the wiper mechanism is rotatably mounted and the exit track is curved and tends in a generally downward direction from the bottom of the magazine, around the axis of the wiper mechanism.

4. A dispensing mechanism according to claim 3 in which the exit track extends around and beneath the wiper mechanism.

5. A dispensing mechanism according to any preceding claim in which the wiper mechanism comprises rotatable support member, having a resiliently biassed wiper pivotally mounted thereon and extending generally tangentially, relative to the rotatable support, said wiper being so positioned that it is brought into wiping contact with the lowermost article of the stack, as the support member is rotated.

6. A dispensing mechanism according to claim 5 in which the rotatable member carries a pivotal mounting on which a lever arm is mounted, said mounting being positioned parallel to and offset from the axis of rotation of said rotatable member; and said lever arm having one end which forms said wiper, the other end being resiliently connected to a connection point on the rotatable member which is circumferentially displaced from said mounting, so as to urge the wiper outwardly from the said axis.

7. A dispensing mechanism according to claim 6 in which the rotatable member is of generally cruciform crosssection, the said pivotal mounting being formed on one of the cruciform arms and the said circumferentially displaced connection point being on the diametrically opposite arm.

8. A dispensing mechanism according to claim 6 or claim 7 in which the lever is cranked, the pivotal mounting being arranged at the elbow of the crank.