GB2297969A - Vending conveyor - Google Patents

Vending conveyor Download PDF

Info

Publication number
GB2297969A
GB2297969A GB9602993A GB9602993A GB2297969A GB 2297969 A GB2297969 A GB 2297969A GB 9602993 A GB9602993 A GB 9602993A GB 9602993 A GB9602993 A GB 9602993A GB 2297969 A GB2297969 A GB 2297969A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
vending machine
conveyor belts
conveyor belt
conveyor
drive unit
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB9602993A
Other versions
GB9602993D0 (en
Inventor
Barry Allen Marchini
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Starpoint Electrics Ltd
Original Assignee
Starpoint Electrics Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Starpoint Electrics Ltd filed Critical Starpoint Electrics Ltd
Publication of GB9602993D0 publication Critical patent/GB9602993D0/en
Publication of GB2297969A publication Critical patent/GB2297969A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
    • B65G23/00—Driving gear for endless conveyors; Belt- or chain-tensioning arrangements
    • B65G23/32—Driving gear for endless conveyors; Belt- or chain-tensioning arrangements for effecting drive at two or more points spaced along the length of the conveyors
    • B65G23/34—Driving gear for endless conveyors; Belt- or chain-tensioning arrangements for effecting drive at two or more points spaced along the length of the conveyors comprising a single motor coupled to spaced driving elements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F11/00—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles
    • G07F11/02—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines
    • G07F11/04—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which magazines the articles are stored one vertically above the other
    • G07F11/16—Delivery means
    • G07F11/26—Endless bands
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F11/00—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles
    • G07F11/02—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines
    • G07F11/38—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which the magazines are horizontal
    • G07F11/42—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which the magazines are horizontal the articles being delivered by motor-driven means
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F11/00—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles
    • G07F11/46—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from movable storage containers or supports
    • G07F11/58—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from movable storage containers or supports the articles being supported on or by endless belts or like conveyors

Abstract

An article supporting platform 18 has pushers 16 which are mounted on commonly driven conveyors 14. The pushers can move a wide article 12 on the platform for vending purposes. Preferably three conveyors are used, the middle one having a motor drive (22 fig 2) and driving the outer two.

Description

Vending Machine The present invention relates to an improvement in a vending machine of the type comprising a conveyor belt provided with at least one projection for pushing an article along a platform.
An example of such a vending machine is disclosed in GB-A-2227737.
An aim of the present invention is to facilitate the vending of an article which is considerably wider than the conveyor belt.
According to the present invention, a vending machine comprises: a platform for use in supporting an article, a conveyor belt provided with at least one projection, and a drive unit for use in driving the conveyor belt, whereupon the or one of the projections provided by the conveyor belt is caused to push the article along the platform, characterised in that a plurality of said conveyor belts are all driven by the same drive unit such that the or one of the projections of each of said conveyor belts all push the same article.
The conveyor belts can be driven by the same drive unit by the provision of simple linking shaft(s) and gear train(s).
For example, three of the conveyor belts may be arranged side-by-side, but spaced apart from one another, with each of the conveyor belts being wrapped around a plurality of parallel rollers such that one of the rollers associated with the middle conveyor belt is driven by said drive unit through a gear train whereas another of the rollers associated with the middle conveyor belt drives the two side conveyor belts through a common shaft.
Clearly, the provision of just a single drive unit not only leads to a considerable saving in cost, but also leads to precise movement of all of the conveyor belts in unison.
Movement of all of the conveyor belts in unison is particularly desirable in the vending of a comparatively wide article which spreads across all of the conveyor belts - provided the at least projection presented by each of the conveyor belts are properly arranged, usually in a line perpendicular to the proposed direction of pushing, the article will not tend to skew as it is pushed along a platform during vending.
A vending machine, in accordance with the present invention, will now be described in greater detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a vending machine according to the present invention; and Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view showing just the central part of the vending machine shown in Figure 1.
The accompanying drawings show a vending machine 10 which is particularly useful when dispensing a comparatively wide article 12 such as a video box from the bottom of a stack of similar video boxes.
As shown in Figure 1, the vending machine 10 is provided with three parallel conveyor belts 14, each of which is itself provided with a pair of projections 16 which project above a platform 18, at least when the vending machine 10 is operated, and can act in unison to push the article 12 along the platform 18.
As shown in Figure 2, the middle conveyor belt 14 is wrapped around three parallel rollers 20a, 20b and 20c.
The roller 20a is driven by a single drive unit 22 through a gear train 24. A common shaft 26 links one of the other rollers 20b and 20c with the equivalent rollers associated with the two side conveyor belts 14.
It will be appreciated that, in contrast to the vending machine disclosed in GB-A-2227737, the vending machine of the present invention facilitates the vending of a comparatively wide article 12 by providing a plurality of conveyor belts 14, all driven by the same drive unit 22.

Claims (5)

1. A vending machine comprising: a platform for use in supporting an article, a conveyor belt provided with at least one projection, and a drive unit for use in driving the conveyor belt, whereupon the or one of the projections provided by the conveyor belt is caused to push the article along the platform, characterised in that a plurality of said conveyor belts are all driven by the same drive unit such that the or one of the projections of each of said conveyor belts all push the same article.
2. A vending machine according to claim 1, characterised in that there are three of said conveyor belts arranged side-by-side.
3. A vending machine according to claim 2, characterised in that said drive unit drives the middle conveyor belt through a gear train and drives the two side conveyor belts through a common shaft.
4. A vending machine according to any preceding claim, characterised in that each of said conveyor belts is wrapped around a plurality of parallel rollers.
5. A vending machine according to claim 3 and claim 4, characterised in that one of the rollers associated with the middle conveyor belt is driven by said drive unit through said gear train whereas another of the rollers associated with the middle conveyor belt drives the two side conveyor belts through said common shaft.
GB9602993A 1995-02-15 1996-02-14 Vending conveyor Withdrawn GB2297969A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB9502930.2A GB9502930D0 (en) 1995-02-15 1995-02-15 Vending machine

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB9602993D0 GB9602993D0 (en) 1996-04-10
GB2297969A true GB2297969A (en) 1996-08-21

Family

ID=10769622

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GBGB9502930.2A Pending GB9502930D0 (en) 1995-02-15 1995-02-15 Vending machine
GB9602993A Withdrawn GB2297969A (en) 1995-02-15 1996-02-14 Vending conveyor

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GBGB9502930.2A Pending GB9502930D0 (en) 1995-02-15 1995-02-15 Vending machine

Country Status (2)

Country Link
ES (1) ES1033760U (en)
GB (2) GB9502930D0 (en)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ITVI20110020A1 (en) * 2011-02-08 2012-08-09 Ohg F Lli Manea S R L DISPENSER DEVICE FOR PRODUCTS WITHIN AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTORS
EP3164346A4 (en) * 2014-07-02 2018-09-12 Doben Limited System and method with drag conveyor for high rate production welding

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ES2190699B1 (en) * 2000-06-13 2004-08-16 Gm Vending, S.A. PACK EXTRACTOR FOR AUTOMATIC RETAILING MACHINES.

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB321418A (en) * 1928-05-08 1929-11-08 Doehler Die Casting Co Improvements in or relating to coin-freed vending machines
US4023672A (en) * 1975-10-03 1977-05-17 Haley Ernest K Transfer table
US4650061A (en) * 1982-07-14 1987-03-17 Weyerhaeuser Company Crowding lug transfer conveyor system
GB2235674A (en) * 1989-08-24 1991-03-13 Mannesmann Ag Conveyor system
US5350055A (en) * 1993-03-16 1994-09-27 Lematic, Inc. Conveyor mechanism having selectively positionable pushing fingers and having finger positioning cam arrangement

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB321418A (en) * 1928-05-08 1929-11-08 Doehler Die Casting Co Improvements in or relating to coin-freed vending machines
US4023672A (en) * 1975-10-03 1977-05-17 Haley Ernest K Transfer table
US4650061A (en) * 1982-07-14 1987-03-17 Weyerhaeuser Company Crowding lug transfer conveyor system
GB2235674A (en) * 1989-08-24 1991-03-13 Mannesmann Ag Conveyor system
US5350055A (en) * 1993-03-16 1994-09-27 Lematic, Inc. Conveyor mechanism having selectively positionable pushing fingers and having finger positioning cam arrangement

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ITVI20110020A1 (en) * 2011-02-08 2012-08-09 Ohg F Lli Manea S R L DISPENSER DEVICE FOR PRODUCTS WITHIN AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTORS
WO2012107943A1 (en) * 2011-02-08 2012-08-16 Officine Meccaniche F.Lli Manea S.R.L. Supply device for products inside vending machines
EP3164346A4 (en) * 2014-07-02 2018-09-12 Doben Limited System and method with drag conveyor for high rate production welding
US10471549B2 (en) 2014-07-02 2019-11-12 Doben Limited System and method with floating welder for high rate production welding
US11883908B2 (en) 2014-07-02 2024-01-30 Doben Limited System and method with floating welder for high rate production welding

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9502930D0 (en) 1995-04-05
GB9602993D0 (en) 1996-04-10
ES1033760U (en) 1996-10-16

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)