MXPA97008334A - Vending or vending machines to distribute bebi recipients - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vending machine for dispensing beverage containers having a cylindrical side wall forming a body and a neck extending from the cylindrical body, the body having a notch formed therein and extending around the body. circumference thereof, the vending machine is characterized in that it comprises at least one conduit for storing and distributing the containers, the conduit having a loading end located at an upper end thereof for receiving the containers and a supply end at a lower end of the container. same for supplying the containers to a supply area of the vending machine, the conduit having at least two sequential paths, a first path extending generally to an angled position, sloping downwardly from the loading end of the conduit, and a second trajectory that extends generally down into an angled position of the pr The trajectory is such that the containers roll along the conduit towards the supply end of the conduit, the conduit having a guide member along at least a portion of one of the trajectories for coupling the notch formed in the body. of the container for aligning the containers along at least a portion of the length of the trajectory

Description

BEVERAGE CONTAINERS - FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to vending machines and more specifically to vending machines designed to supply beverage containers such as bottled beverages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Vending machines typically include serpentine shaped slideways for storing and dispensing beverages contained in aluminum cans. These sliding guides are generally not suitable for receiving bottled beverages such as bottled water. Bottles generally have a non-uniform cylindrical body with a neck that extends from one end of the body and are not suitable for rolling smoothly along the flat surface such as aluminum cans. The bottles tend to rotate as they travel under the slide and enter the slide, which prevents the additional bottles REF: 25968 from being loaded into the machine and prevents bottles from being loaded. distributed. In addition, if the bottles are allowed to freely accelerate down the slideways as they are loaded into the machine, the bottles will tend to rotate and not remain aligned with the slide. This results in an increase in the time required to load the vending machine because the maintenance staff has to throw out the jammed bottles and an increase in the repair time of the vending machine due to the bottles being blocked from being administered. Accordingly, among the various objects of this invention can be seen the provision of a vending machine for dispensing beverage containers such as bottles that effectively align the bottles along the length of a duct to prevent duct obstruction as the bottles are received in the conduit or distributed from the conduit; the provision of a vending machine that decreases the speed of the bottles as they are fed into the machine to keep the bottles properly aligned within the duct; and the provision of a vending machine in which the above alignment features are cheap to manufacture and require minimal additional space within the vending machine. In general, a vending machine of this invention is for dispensing beverage containers having a cylindrical side wall forming a body and a neck extending from the cylindrical body. The body of the container includes a notch formed therein and extending around the circumference of the body. The vending machine includes at least one conduit for storing and distributing the containers. The conduit includes a loading end located at an upper end thereof for receiving the containers and a supply end at a lower end thereof for supplying the containers to a supply area of the vending machine. _ The conduit has at least two sequential trajectories. A first path generally extends to an angled position, inclined downwardly of the loading end of the conduit. A second path generally extends downward in an angled position of the first path so that the vessels roll along the passage to the supply end of the passage. The conduit includes a guide member along at least a portion of one of the paths for engaging the notches formed in the container body to align the bottles along at least a portion of the length of the conduit. In another aspect of the present invention, the vending machine generally includes a serpentine-shaped conduit for storing the bottles and transferring the bottles along a path of a charge end of the conduit located at an upper end thereof in a supply end of the conduit located at a lower end thereof. The conduit includes at least one damping member that extends into the conduit to slow down and align the bottles as the bottles roll down the conduit. Other objectives and characteristics will be partly apparent and partly indicated later in the present.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vending machine of this invention shown with an open vending machine door and a beverage container loading the door open; Figure 2 is a side view of the vending machine and a partial, cross-sectional view of a beverage container module with the parts separated to show in detail; Figure 3 is a side, elongated view of the module of the beverage containers with the parts separated to show in detail; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a sliding guide of a first path of a first conduit of the beverage container module showing a bottle in the conduit; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a sliding guide of a first path of a second conduit of the beverage container module with the parts separated to show the damping members; Figure 6 is an end view of the sliding guide of Figure 5 with the parts separated to show in detail; Y Figure 7 is a perspective view of a sliding guide of a second path of the second conduit with the separated parts showing the damping members. The corresponding parts are designated by corresponding reference numbers in the various views of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES Referring now to the drawings, and first to Figure 1, a vending machine of the present invention is generally indicated at 10. The vending machine distributes the containers of food and drink. The vending machine is similar to that described in U.S. Patent No. 4,730,750 which is incorporated herein by reference. As shown in Figure 1, the vending machine distributes bottles, cans and packages of sweets and food. The food and sweets are stored in an upper portion 12 of the vending machine that has three shelves or shelves 14. Each of the shelves 14 has a separator 16 located between the spiral arms 18 in which the food packs are placed. or candy. The spiral arms 18 are rotated by motors (not shown) in response to a controller. It should be understood that the vending machine 10 may only distribute beverage containers such as bottles or bottles or cans, or may distribute both bottles and food or any combination thereof without departing from the scope of this invention. In addition, the number of shelves and rows of the shelves and beverage storage areas together with the arrangement of the storage areas may vary without departing from the scope of this invention. An example of stored and dispensed bottles 20 of the vending machine are shown in Figure 4. The bottle 20 generally includes a side wall, generally cylindrical forming a body 22 and a neck 24 extending therefrom and having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the body. The bottle 20 includes a notch 26 formed in the body and extending around the circumference thereof. The bottle 20 may be formed of plastic, glass or any other suitable material and the location and size of the notch and size and shape of the bottle may vary without departing from the scope of this invention. The vending machine 10 includes a module of the beverage containers 28 for storing and distributing the beverage containers. As shown in Figure 1, module 28 has six distribution areas, two for bottles and four for cans. Each of the distribution area includes two side walls 34 for separating the storage areas of individual containers. A loading door 36 is located at the upper end of each storage area for loading the bottles 20 or cans in the storage area and a supply door 38 is located at the lower end of the storage area for supplying the bottles or cans to a supply area 60 of the vending machine 10. The supply door 38 may include clear windows 40 for displaying the next container to be administered from one of the six areas of supply and labels 42 can be mounted below the corresponding window to display such things as price and item number for a corresponding switch in a selection panel. The loading door 36 may also have labels 44 attached thereto to identify the beverages to be loaded in each storage area. The beverage container module 28 includes at least one generally serpentine-shaped conduit 46 (Figures 2 and 3) for storing and dispensing the bottles. The conduit 46 has a loading end 55 located at an upper end thereof for receiving the bottles 20 and a supply end 58 at a lower end thereof for supplying the bottles to a supply area 60 of the vending machine 10. The conduit 46 has at least two trajectories sequences 48, 50. The first path 48 extends generally in an angled position, inclined downwardly of the loading end 55 of the conduit 46. The second path 50 extends generally downward in an angular position of the first path 48 so that the bottles 20 roll along the conduit 46 towards the supply end 58 of the conduit 46. The number of conduits may vary depending on the storage requirements and the capacity of the vending machine 10. As shown in Figures 2 and 3 , the vending machine 10 includes two bottle conduits 46, 52 located adjacent to each other such that the first path 54 of the second conduit 52 was located downstream of the first path 48 of the first conduit 46 and the second path 56 of the second conduit 52 is located above the second path 56 of the first conduit 46. The conduits can also be located side by side as are the conduits for cans and cans. products for bottles. Can ducts can be replaced with bottle ducts to increase bottle storage capacity. Each path of the bottle ducts generally includes a flat, sliding guide 62 for supporting the bottles 20 and at least one path includes a guide member 64 located along at least a portion of one of the slide guides for coupling the notch 26 formed in the body 22 of the bottle 20 to align the bottles along at least a portion of the length of the trajectory (Figure 4). The guide member 64 includes a v-shaped rim 66 integrally formed with the sliding guide 62 and extending longitudinally along the entire length of the slide. The rim 66 can also be formed in other shapes or formed separately from the slide and attached to the slide or placed adjacent to the slide by a suitable fastening means. The rim 66 is dimensioned to fit within the notch 26 formed in the body 22 of the bottle 20 while allowing the side walls of the body to roll freely along the surface of the slide 62. The guide member 64 further includes a flange 68 mounted on the slide 62 and extends generally parallel to the ridge 66 to support the neck 24 of the bottle 20. The slide 62 is made of metal, plastic or any other suitable material and is it can be extruded with the flange 66 formed in the sliding guide or the flange can be bent into a flat piece of metal for example. The width and length of the slide 62 can vary as well as the location of the flange 66 and the flange 68 for the bottles of different sizes and the beverage container modules. The sliding guides 62 may also include a plurality of holes (not shown) to provide air flow for cooling within the container module 28. The strips 72 are formed along each side of the sliding guides 62 to engage with the openings located in the brackets 73 mounted on the side walls of each conduit to hold the rails in place. The conduits 46, 52 further include at least one damping member to decrease the speed of the bottles 20 as they roll down the conduits and properly align the bottles in the slideways 62 as they are fed into the module. of drink containers. The damping member contacts the bottle with at least two locations along the side wall of the bottle 20 to arrange the bottle within the duct so that the bottle rolls along the duct generally perpendicular to the length of the bottle. the trajectory. The damping member extends into the conduit and is pivotally mounted so that it can be rotated between an extended position in which the member is located in the path of the bottles and a retracted position in which the member is rotated away from the body. the path such that the bottles are free to travel past the member. As shown in Figures 3 and 5, a first type 72 of damping member comprises an arm 74 extending down the lane 62 of the first path 54 of the second passage 52 to decrease the speed of and align the bottles 20 traveling along the second path 56 of the second conduit 52. The arm 74 is bent slightly to receive the bottles 20 as they roll down the path 56. The arms 74 are mounted on a pivot rod 82 attached to the support brackets 90 which are mounted on a bottom surface of the slide 62. As the bottles 20 rotate down the rail 62, the arms 74 are forced upward to the challenged position to allow the bottle to roll past the arm. The arms 74 are made of metal, plastic or other suitable materials and may also include holes to reduce the total weight of the beverage container module 28. A second type of cushion member 76 is shown in Figure 7. Each of the damping members 76 is in the form of a vane wheel 78. The vane wheels 78 each include four eventually spaced vanes 80 extending on the second path 50 of the first conduit 46 (Figure 3). The vanes 80 are mounted on a center pivot rod 82 which is attached to two support brackets 92 extending from a lower surface of the slide 62 of the second path 56 of the second conduit 52. A third type of the member damping 84 is also shown in Figure 7 and includes a plurality of vane wheels 86 attached to a single pivot rod 82. The slide guide 62 includes a plurality of slots 96 sized to receive the vanes 88 of the vane wheels 86. The damping member 84 is also mounted on the support brackets 92 that extend down the lane 62 of the second path 56 of the second conduit 52. The grooves 96 in the slide 62 allow the paddle wheels 86 to decrease the speed of and align the bottles traveling along the slide 62 in the second path 56 of the second conduit 52. The cushion members 76, 84 can be formed of metal, plastic or any other suitable material. The blades 80, 88 may also include heavy members (not shown) such as a piece of metal attached to the blade to increase the weight of the blades to ensure that the blades are in the extended position when the duct is empty. It should be understood that the number, location and arrangement of the first, second or third type of damping members may vary without departing from the scope of this invention. In view of the above, it will be noted that the various objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results are achieved. As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is proposed that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings, should be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention is the conventional one for the manufacture of the objects to which it relates.

Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following:

Claims (10)

1. A vending machine for dispensing beverage containers having a cylindrical side wall forming a body and a neck extending from the cylindrical body, the body having a notch formed therein and extending around the circumference thereof, the machine The dispenser is characterized in that it comprises at least one conduit for storing and distributing the containers, the conduit having a charge end located at an upper end thereof for receiving the containers and a supply end at a lower end thereof for supplying the containers. to a supply area of the vending machine, the duct having at least two sequential paths, a first path extending generally to an angled position, inclined downwardly from the loading end of the duct, and a second path that is generally extends downward in an angled position of the first path so that the cipients roll along the conduit towards the supply end of the conduit, the conduit having a guide member along at least a portion of one of the paths for coupling the notch formed in the container body to align the containers along at least a portion of the path length.

2. A vending machine according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a second conduit located adjacent to the first conduit for storing and distributing the containers, the second conduit having a first trajectory located below the first conduit of the first conduit, and a second conduit trajectory located above the second path of the first conduit, the second conduit having a guide member along at least a portion of one of the paths of the second conduit for coupling a notch formed in the body of each container to align the containers along at least a portion of the path length.

3. A vending machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the guide member extends along the length of the first paths of the first conduit and of the second conduit.

4. A vending machine according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the paths generally comprises a sliding guide, flat to support the containers and wherein the guide member comprises a flange extending upwards of at least one of the sliding guides.

5. A vending machine according to claim 4, characterized in that the flange is generally V-shaped and is formed integrally with the slide and extends generally longitudinally along substantially the entire length of the slide.

6. A vending machine according to claim 4, characterized in that the guide member further comprises a flange which extends generally parallel to the rim to support the body of the container and to further align the container along the length of the guide. glide.

7. A vending machine according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a plurality of damping means that extend in the duct to decrease the speed of the containers as the containers roll down the duct.

8. A vending machine according to claim 7, characterized in that the damping means comprises at least one damping member extending in the duct, the pivotally mounted member so that it can rotate between an extended position in which the member is located on the path and a retracted position in which the member is swiveled away from the path such that the vessels are free to travel past the limb.

9. A vending machine according to claim 8, characterized in that the damping member comprises a vane wheel having four vanes extending from a central pivot rod.

10. A vending machine according to claim 8, characterized in that the damping member comprises an arm that extends generally transverse to the path and extends down the path so that the arm slows down and aligns the vessels. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A vending machine for dispensing beverage containers having a cylindrical side wall forming a body and a neck extending from the cylindrical body. The body has a notch formed therein and extends around the circumference of the body. The vending machine includes at least one conduit for storing and administering the containers. The conduit has a loading end located at an upper end thereof for receiving the containers and a supply end at a lower end thereof for supplying the containers to a supply area of the vending machine. The conduit has at least two sequential trajectories. A first path generally extends in an angled position, inclined downwardly of the loading end of the conduit. A second path generally extends downward in an angled position of the first path so that the vessels roll along the passage to the supply end of the passage. The conduit includes a guide member along at least a portion of one of the paths for coupling the notch formed in the container body to align the containers along at least a portion of the path length.