GB2327452A - Hinged cover for vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A vending machine has a rear portion (2) and a front portion (4) hingedly connected thereto. A transparent cover (22) with a peripheral flange (24) snugly envelops the front face of the front portion (4). A paper sheet (28) bearing an advertisement is adhesively secured to the inner face of the front portion (4). The flange (24) of the cover (22) is hingedly secured to the side wall of the front portion (4) to allow access to the inner face of the cover (22) to enable the advertisement to be replaced.

Description

VENDING MACHINES The present invention relates to vending machines. Floor standing vending machines are fairly bulky and the large surfaces they have provide an ideal way of promoting products by way of advertisements. Such machines may be up to 2 metres high and 1 metre wide.

Currently machines which dispense soft drinks cans have adjacent one lateral edge of the front face, a coin accepting mechanism lying above a vertical array of drink selection buttons.

In the lower centre of the front face is a large rectangular opening through which cans dispensed as a result of putting coins to the value required in the coin accepting mechanism and operation of a selected button, can be collected.

The machine consists essentially of two parts, a body portion which provides a reservoir and chutes for different cans of drink and a door hingedly connected to the body portion. The door supports the coin accepting mechanism, the selection buttons and an array of fluorescent lights. The door includes a rigid metallic frame which supports a translucent panel of plastics material. Printed on the panel as a transparency is an advertisement which is illuminated by the fluorescent lights.

Periodically new advertisements are needed and so to replace the old panel a bulky replacement panel has to be transported to the site. At the site the door needs to be opened and the old panel removed and the new panel fixed into the frame. This is a time consuming operation and needs to be completed by personnel who have been security vetted since opening of the door provides access to the coin accepting mechanism.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved vending machine.

According to the present invention there is provided a cover for the front face of a generally rectangular vending machine, the cover comprising a relatively rigid sheet of translucent plastics having a generally planar central portion and a peripheral flange extending generally normal to the central portion and conforming to the peripheral profile of the said front face to envelop said front face, and hinge means secured to the peripheral flange along one side of the central portion to allow the cover to be pivotally secured to one side of the vending machine.

According to the present invention there is further provided a vending machine comprising a rear portion, a front portion hingedly secured to the rear portion, a transparent cover hingedly secured to the front portion and a translucent sheet carrying advertising material adhesively secured to the inner face of the cover.

Vending machines embodying the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front elevation of an existing can vending machine; Figure 2 is a transverse section through the machine of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of a can vending machine embodying the present invention; and Figure 4 is a detail to an enlarged scale of the machine of Figure 3.

The vending machine shown in Figure 1 comprises a generally rectangular rear section 2 to which a front section 4 is pivotally secured along one lateral edge. An opening 6 in the lower centre of the front panel provides access to a discharge chute from which discharged cans may be collected. A portion 12 of the front section 4 along a side thereof opposite the hinged side is recessed. The recessed portion has a coin accepting mechanism 8 and a series of push buttons 10 which allow different cans of drink to be selected.

As shown in Figure 2, the front section 4 is pivotally secured to the rear section 2 by a hinge 14.

The front section acts rather like a door to provide access to the rear section 2. The rear section defines a reservoir for cans of different drinks to be dispensed and opening the door 4 allows the reservoir to be restocked.

The door 4 defines a frame with a front peripheral flange 18. Secured to the flange 18 by screws or the like is a translucent panel 16 carrying an advertisement. The door 4 also supports an array of fluorescent lights 20 which allow the panel to be illuminated from the rear.

The vending machine of the present invention is similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2 except that the panel 16 is omitted.

Instead a moulded cover 22 is provided to cover the front face of the door 4. The moulded cover 22 has a peripheral flange 24 which conforms to the peripheral profile of the door and partially envelops the door 4.

The flange 24 extends generally normal to the main portion of the panel.

The cover 22 is of moulded plastics such as a polyester or a polycarbonate (eg known as LEXAN (Registered Trade Mark)) having a thickness of 2 to 4 mm to ensure a degree of rigidity and the flange 24 extends some 2 to 5 cm towards the rear of the door. The flange 24 extends into the recess 12 but does not cover the front face of the recess.

The portion of the flange 24 which extends along the opposite side of the cover 22 to the recess 12 carries one arm of a piano hinge 26, the other arm of the piano hinge is secured to the adjacent outer side wall of the door 4. For greater rigidity a metal stiffening strip 30 is provided between the flange 24 and the piano hinge 26 (see Figure 4).

A sheet of paper 28 carrying an advertisement is adhesively or otherwise secured to the rear face of the cover 22. Because the cover 22 is transparent and the sheet of paper 28 translucent, the advertisement can be clearly seen through the cover 22 when illuminated by the lamps 20.

The cover 22 normally fits snugly on the front face of the door and while secured on one side of the door by the hinge 26, may be secured on the opposite side by bolts or screws (not shown). The transition from the main portion of the cover 22 to the flange, provides a well rounded edge to avoid any danger to personnel.

In operation, to change the advertisement, a new sheet 28 (in rolled up form) is conveyed to the site of the vending machine and the bolts or screws securing the right hand side of the cover (as viewed in Figure 3) are unfastened and the cover is hinged outwardly away from the door (about the piano hinge 26) to provide access to the inner face of the cover 22. The old sheet 28 is peeled off the inner face and the new sheet 28 is adhesively secured in its place. The cover 22 is then hinged back in position and refastened. The whole operation can be speedily and simply carried out by relatively unskilled personnel who do not have to be security vetted since they do not need to have access to the interior of the vending machine.

It will be appreciated that the cover described can be fitted to new vending machines or retrofitted to existing machines.

Claims (12)

1. A cover for the front face of a generally rectangular vending machine, the cover comprising a relatively rigid sheet of translucent plastics having a generally planar central portion and a peripheral flange extending generally normal to the central portion and conforming to the peripheral profile of the said front face to envelop said front face, and hinge means secured to the peripheral flange along one side of the central portion to allow the cover to be pivotally secured to one side of the vending machine.

2. A cover according to Claim 1, including a sheet bearing advertising material adhesively secured to the inner face of the cover.

3. A cover according to Claim 1 or to Claim 2, wherein said rigid sheet of plastics is transparent.

4. A cover according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the transition from the central portion to the peripheral flange is rounded.

5. A vending machine comprising a rear portion, a front portion hingedly secured to the rear portion, a transparent cover hingedly secured to the front portion and a translucent sheet carrying display material adhesively secured to the inner face of the cover.

6. A machine according to Claim 5, wherein said cover has a peripheral flange which snugly fits around the front face of the front portion.

7. A machine according to Claim 6, wherein the hinged connection of the cover to the front portion is effected by a hinge extending between the flange on one side of the cover and the adjacent side wall of the front portion.

8. A machine according to Claim 7, wherein the hinge is a piano hinge.

9. A machine according to Claim 6 or to Claim 7, including a stiffening strip between the flange and the hinge.

10. A machine according to any one of Claims 5 to 9, wherein said cover has a thickness of between 2 to 4 mm.

11. A machine according to Claim 6, wherein the junction between the flange and the remainder of the cover is curved.

12. A vending machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.