SE433678B - Theft-proof goods-removal flap in a vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

With the object of reducing the risk of theft from a vending machine 10, its goods-removal flap 22 is designed to close with a tight fit an opening in the wall of the vending machine, and is hung so that it swings inwards into the cabinet. Selected goods are deposited in an enclosure 20, the bottom of which consists of a hinged element 25 which normally holds the flap 22 in the closed position. The flap 22 is provided with an inward-facing edge flange 24 and the element has an edge reinforcement suitable for receiving this. When a purchase has been made, the element 25 can be swung away, for example by means of an electromagnet, so that the flap 22 is released. <IMAGE>

Description

Fig. 1 very diagrammatically shows a vertical section through a vending machine provided with an outlet door according to the invention, and Fig. 2 on a larger scale shows the receiving cassette seen from inside the machine.

The machine 10 itself can be of any known type, and consists of a strong cabinet 11 suitable for mounting in a frame 12 in such a way that it cannot be pryed loose from the wall or pillar where it is mounted without significant work effort.

To avoid inconvenience with money directly in the machine, its (not shown) trigger mechanism is connected to a banknote machine or credit card reader l3, which can be given a reassuring location, and may be connected to several machines or, for example, fuel pumps.

The vending machine can be of any known type, and can contain goods of various kinds, which has some influence on the design of the internal mechanism for selection and feeding.

However, this belongs to known technology and does not need to be described in more detail.

Inside the cabinet there is a storage 14, suitably comprising several parallel bars, each of which is indicated by a suitable label 15 on the front wall 16 of the cabinet. Adjacent to each label is a lamp 17 indicating to be available and a push button 18 with which one initiates feed-in, after first making payment in the reader 13, or inserting a credit card into it.

When the buyer presses the selected button 18, the item falls, e.g. a cigarette package 19, down in a receiver cassette 20 arranged adjacent to an opening 21 in the lower part of the front wall of the cabinet 16. This opening is normally closed by a door 22, which is arranged to pivot inwards the cabinet around a hinge 23 at its upper side edge .

In the embodiment shown, the base part 22a of the door is larger than the opening 21, and on it a fitting piece 22b is welded so that the opening 21 is closed with a good fit. The same effect can of course be achieved by compression molding a sufficiently large piece of sheet metal. 8205836-3 The door 22 is provided at its lower side edge with an inwardly directed flange 24.

The bottom of the cassette 20 consists of a substantially flat element 25, which is pivotable about a hinge 26 at its side edge facing away from the door 22. The side edge of the element 25 facing the door is provided with a recessed edge reinforcement 27, suitable for receiving the flange 24 on the door in the locked position. The edge reinforcement 27 can, as shown, be provided by bending the edge portion of the element, or by a strip appropriately attached thereto.

The element 25 slopes in locking position upwards from the hinge 26, and the flange 24 is bent so that in locking position it essentially forms an imaginary extension of the element 25. It is obvious that the door 22 cannot be moved inwards as long as the element 25 is in locked position.

The hinge shaft 28 of the door 22 is, like the hinge shaft 29 of the element 25, pulled outside the cassette 20, and both shafts are loaded by springs 30 and 30, respectively. 31, so that the hatch and elements are normally kept in the engaged position with each other.

In connection with a purchase, and that an item 19 has fallen on the element 25, it must be possible to open the door 22. In the case of a machine of the type indicated here with electronically controlled load and selection control, it is suitably possible to arrange electrical tripping of the element.

By pressing a button 32, an electromagnet 33 can be actuated so that the action of the spring 31 is canceled and the element 25 is pivoted downwards, whereby the door 22 can be moved inwards and the product 19 is gripped through the opening 21.

In the circuit between the pushbutton 32 and the electromagnet 33, a time relay 34 can suitably be connected, which only allows manipulation of the element and the door for a limited time.

Alternatively, or in combination with the push button 32, one can have a sensor 35 in the fall path between the supply 14 and the cassette 20, which gives a signal to the time relay when an item 19 passes by.

Sensor means (not shown) can be arranged in connection with the components around the cassette 20 to block the vending machine from further purchases until the door 22 is closed or for 8205836-3 to signal a malfunction.

The spring 30, which strives to keep the door 22 closed and / or the lever ratio at the shaft 28, prevails over them at the spring 31 and the shaft 29. The relay 34 only keeps the electromagnet 33 activated for a certain period of time. Then the bottom 25 is swung up by the spring 31.

Should the buyer not have had time to take out the purchased product, but still keep door 22 swung up by hand, the upward movement of the bottom will not prevent the product from being taken out. When the hand is pulled out of the opening, door 22 swings downwards, and the stronger load on its hinge shaft 28 presses down the bottom, so that the flange 24 can snap into the recess at the edge reinforcement 27, after which the door is: Read to the next purchase.

If payment is made via credit card in reader 13, you have a good opportunity to check any sabotage. If the last buyer, instead of letting the door 22 fall back, inserts a foreign object into the opening and tries to access unpaid goods that way, the reader has a note about who last had the opportunity to open the door.

It is of course possible to supplement the time relay 34 with a sensor at the door 22, so that a signal is emitted, or the whole machine is blocked, unless the door has reached the final position a predetermined time after the activation of the electromagnet has ceased.

Claims (6)

8205836-3 PA TENT REQUIREMENTS Burglar-proof outlet door at a vending machine, characterized in that the door (22) is shaped to close an opening (21) in the outer wall (16) of the machine with a good fit and is pivotable inwards to expose the opening around a hinge arranged at one side edge of the door (23), and the opposite side edge (24) of the door is arranged to co-operate with an element (25) arranged as a removable bottom in a receiving cassette (20), which in closing position blocks said opposite side edge (24) of the door. 2. An outlet door according to claim 1, characterized in that the door (22) is pivotable about its upper side edge, and the element (25) is pivotable about a hinge (26) at a side edge facing away from the door and in a locking position assumes a slope upwards from this. Socket door according to claim 2, characterized in that the lower side edge of the door (22) is provided with an inwardly directed flange (24), and that this opposite side edge of the element (25) is formed with a receptacle for receiving flange suitable edge reinforcement (27). Outlet door according to one of Claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the flange (24) is shaped so that in the locking position it substantially forms an imaginary extension of the element (25). Socket door according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the door (22) and elements (25) are loaded by springs (30, 31) against the locking position. Socket door according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the element (25) is pivotable towards the open position by means of the electromagnet (33).