US1170632A - Vending-machine. - Google Patents

Description

McDOWELL GRAVES.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED :um: 15, 1915.

1,170,632. Patented Feb. 8,1916.

Q Inn /7227p w 'f1fl-|B LUMBXA PLANOLIRAPI-l co.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

' arious viewsto ef ect delivery of the lower.

barren sra'rns Parana option.

MCDOWELL GRAVES, DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TC GENERAL UTILITIES COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

VENDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

Application filed June 15, 1915. Serial No. 34,242.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, MoDownLL GRAVES, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles, State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines, of

which the following is a specification. V

This invention relates to vending ma chines in general and particularly to a vending machine adapted to vend commodities contained in boxes or the like, particularly handkerchiefs or the like contained. in paper board boxes. It will be understood that the coin controlled mechanism h'erein explained may be applied to other vending machines;

but I explain it in connection with a vending machine of the class herein noted, for the reason that it is particularly adapted to such specific work.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a vending machine of extreme simplicity for the purposes set forth. Other objects, and the mechanism for accomplishing them are set forth in the following specification.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated, for thepurpose of this specification, a preferred form of my mechanism, in which 'drawings y Y Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine larged vertical section taken as indicated by l1ne 22 on Fig. 1, Flg. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken-as lndicated by line 35 on Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a section taken as Indicated by line 44 on Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a detail section taken as indicated by line 5-5 on Fig." 2, and Fig.6 is a View showing a modified detail of the machine.

In the drawings the numeral 10 may designate a case of any suitable design,

which case may contain a pair or more of the mechanisms hereinafter explained. In a preferred form of my devlce I provlde package chutes or hoppers 11 for two different commodities, say two different grades of handkerchiefs contained in boxes 12.- But the operations of the .two mechanisms for the delivery of the two commodities are the same. I

Referring now first to Fig. 8 I explain the delivery action of the mechanism. There is a delivery shaft 13 which is rotated in the;

direction indicated bythe arrows in the most box 12. The lowermost box 12 rests with one edge on the upper end of the inclined wall 14, and its other edge is supported by the foot 15 of a member 16 mounted upon the shaft 13. Also mounted upon the shaft 13 is a member 17 which presses against the box 12 directly above the lowermostbox 12. Upon rotation of the shaft 13 in the direction indicated the foot 15 is withdrawn from beneath the rear edge of the-lowermost box 12, allowing the box to drop down on the inclined wall 14; and at the same time the member 17 is pressed against the edge of the next box 12 to hold it, and the boxes above, from downward movement until the shaft and the foot 15 return to their normal position. The resiliency of the box 12 and also of the shaft 13, allow the member 17 to press resiliently against the box while the foot 15 is withdrawn. The lowermost box 12 slides down the inclined wall 14 and presses a flap 18 aside and isthen dropped onto the delivery bottom 19 and thence passes to the opening '20 where it may be grasped by the buyer.

The front wall 21 and inclined wall 14 protect the flap 18 from molestation, and the delivered package slides under the front wall to a position where it may be reached by the buyer. The flap 18 is loosely mounted upon the shaft 13, hanging normally therefrom at the position indicated, a balance weight 22 being formed on the flap by bending up edges of the material of which it is formed; said weight holding a flapnormally in the position shown so that the handkerchiefs 12 cannot be reached by a wire or any tool, from the opening 20.

It will be seen that, in order to deliver a package, it is only necessary to rotate the delivery shaft 13 in the direction indicated through approximately a sixth of a revolutionor so. Themechanism shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5 is designed to efiect this rotation when a proper coin is inserted. Upon the end of shaft 13 I mount a suitable pawl 30 extending more or less horizontally so that a 7 vertical movement of the outer end 30 of tends upwardly in the case and has on its upper end a projection 36. This pro ection 36 carrles a coin engaging finger 37 and a path of a coin which passes down the coin chute 39,.the'lower part of the'coin' chute being slotted, or, in other words, being composed of two opposite ways as shown at 39 in Figs. 2 and 5; so that the'coin-supporting member 3S may project into the path of the coin as illustrated. Thecoin engagingrfinger 37 rojects to apoint close to a coin resting upon supporting-member 38. A coin is illustratjed in this position at; C. A spring lO pulls the bar 35 to the left. in Fig. 2; and a stop pin 41 limits the movement of the bar in that direction; Normally the stop pin engages the-lower end of an inclined face {t2 on the bar; that is, when the bar is in its uppermostpositiomas shown in Fig. 2.'

Suppose now, that a coinhas been inserted (in the manner to be hereinafter described) and rests in' position as shown at- CL Upward movement of the outer end 32 of lever 3-1 will cause downward movement of the bar" 35; and as soon as the bar has moved downwardly slightly the inclined surface 42 will leave the pin 41 and the finger 37 will then press'against the coin C in the slot 39*. Further downward movement of the bar 35 will therefore beguided by thecoin'Csliding downwardly in the chute 39', the coin be still supported upon supporting mem ber 38. In this condition, theupper end of the bar 35 moves downwardly while the lower end of the bar moves as guided by the pivotal connection 34. When this movement takes place a pin or other projection 43' which is mounted in the bar will engage the outer end 30" ofthe-pawl 3'0 and will cause downward movement of the pawl to cause the-i'otation-of the shaft 13. hen the pawl 30 reaches its lowermost position its outer end is engaged by the teeth 4:5 in a pivoted member 46. This member 46 is pivoted to the case or any other suitable support at 47 and it is normally held to the left in- Fig; 2 by; the engagement of the coiiiiectingpin 34. with an inclined face 48 onthe lower end= of the member 46. Immediately the pin or projection 43 is moved downwardly the member 46 is drawn to the right in Fig. 2' by the small spring-50 and the teeth 45 are moved to such position that the end of the pawl 30 will engage the teeth when it reaches its lowermost position. The provision of a plurality of teeth 45 provides for holding the pawl 30in any lower position providing for variations in that position. due to slight variations in the amount of movement necessary to deliver; a box 12. The result of this action is that the pawl is left in its lowermost position until the bar 35 is. moved back up to its normal position, When 7 allowing the pawl 30 to be brought up to its noian'al position by a strong spring 51. The

teeth 45 are so arranged that when the end of pawl 30 clears any one of them it will pass clearly. by any teeth above. The upward movement of the pawl is limited by a suitable stop 52. Upward movement of the bar 35 is causedby astrong. spring. 53'attacliedi at to the lever 31. Whenno coin is inserted? in the chute and whenthere is no coin resting. at the position shown at (3, it will be seen that there will be nothing. to guide the bar 35 in a true verticalfmovement; with the-result that if tli'e lever 31 is moved and the bar- 35 is-moved downwardly when no coin has beeninserted, then the spring 40 will pull the bar 35to the left as it moves downwardly; the inclined face 42: onthe bar followingtlie pin 41; and this movement of the bar will-cause the pin or projection e3 to move to the left of the end 30 of pawl 30 so that the pawl is not engaged by theprojection 43. at. all; and the apparatus thus cannot be worked unless a proper coinis inserted.

The coin'is-inserted through a slot 60' at the upper part of the machine, said: slot being just the size of the. desired. coin so thatan oversize coin, or slug, or substitute cannot be inserted. Upon i nsertion thecoin rolls down a ledge 61 in the manner shown at C in Figs; 2. and hr Immediately the coin has been inserted in the slot 60, it assumes an inolinedposition. against a wall-63 and runs down the ledge 61. At some convenient point this wall is broken. and turned back as is illustrated at 64 so as to form apart of the wallI'of greater-inclination than the nor mal wall. The upper edge-6'5 of this special part is at a distance abovethe ledge61 just less than the diameter of proper ooin g. so that any coin of less size thanithe proper 110 coin will drop into the depressed portion of the wall and will assume'ani inclination as. illustrated attfi'in dotted lines in Fig; 4; and this inclination will be sufficient to slide the coin oif the ledge 61 and prevent it from passingv on down through the-chute 39.1 To prevent any coin or substitute being impelled quickly past the depressed portions 6%, I provide a pin 62 which" will bestruek by the upper edge of such coin orsubstitute,

causing thethe coin to be knocked off the ledge 61;

When a: proper coin has been inserted itpasses down through the chute 3'9 andwill rest uponthe'member 38in the manner hereinbefore described and the machine can then be: operated as herein set forth. Then the machine is. operated and the bar 35 moves downwardly an inclined surf-ace 4E2 willfen-- gage the pin a1 when the bar 35 reaches its lowermost position and the. co-action of the pin 41 with the surface 42* will throw the bar to the right sufficiently to remove the member 38 from'under the coin C and allow it to then drop down the chute. However, the coin C does not drop clear down the chutebut only drops to a position shown at (3* where it rests upon the foot 70 of a member 71 pivoted at 72 and normally held in position by a light spring 73. Each coin, after it has beenused to operate the machine is dropped down on this foot and is left in sight through the glass face 7 4 until the next coin is inserted and the machine is operated again. Thus, there is always a coin of the proper denomination showing in the machine; or, if the machine has been tried by a substitute, that substitute will show at the position indicated at C. Upon the next operation of the machine, the coin at C will be released before the coin at G is dropped. This action is caused by the mechanism now described. The member 71 carries a small inclined projection 75 against which a pin 76 moves downwardly upon the first downward movement of the bar 35, causing the member 71 to move to the right in Fig. 2 and causing the foot 70 to move from under the coin at 0 This allows the coin C to drop so as to leave the space on the foot 70 free for the next coin. The member 71 also carries another inclined projection 77 with which the pin 76 will engageunder certain circumstances. It will be noted thata coin of excessive size cannot be inserted in the machine and a coin of insufiicient size will be thrown out at 6i. Should the machine be tried with a washer or any other substitute member 38 that its center comes approximately opposite the end of finger 37. When the finger 37 passes through the central hole of such a washer, the pin 76 is carried to the left in Fig. 2, so that, upon downward movement, it will engage the inclined projection 77. And the engagement of the pin with the inclined face 77 will cause operation of a member 71 to withdraw the foot from beneath the coin at (1* allowing that coin to be discharged. The movement of the bar 35 to the left will make the pin or projection 13 avoid the end 30 of the pawl 30; and the machine will not beoperated; but when the bar 35 reaches its lowermost position the engagement of pin 41' with inclined face 42 will cause the washer to be dropped to the position C in the same manner that a good coin would be dropped. Thus, the washer will remain in sight at C and will show that the machine has been tried with a substitute for a coin.

the bar is moved In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified form of coin release. The coin supporting foot 70 projects from a member 71 resiliently mounted on a suitable spring wire 81. A

coin reaching the position C drops against an inclined surface 80 and presses the member 71 to the rightin Fig. 6, allowing the coin at C to drop, as shown at C. In this formit will be noted that the previous coin is dropped by the direct action of the coin at (1; whereas in the form first described the previous coinis dropped by positive mechanical action of the mechanism when manually operated.

Having described a preferred form of my invention, I claim:

- 1. In a vending machine, a shaft adapted for rotary movement, a pawl on said shaft projecting substantially horizontally therefrom so that vertical movement of the outer end of the pawl will rotate the'shaft, a vertical slotted coin chute, a vertically movable bar having a finger at its upper end projecting into the slot in the coin chute and adapted to press against a coin therein, and having a coin supporting projection immediately below the finger so that the finger will engage substantially the center of the coin resting on said support, so that the upper end of the bar is guided substantially in a vertical movement by the coin moving in the coin chute, and a member on said bar adapted to engage the end of the pawl when guided by the coin in said chute.

2. In a vending machine, a shaft adapted for rotary movement, a pawl on said shaft projecting substantially horizontally therefrom so that vertical movement of the outer end of the pawl will rotate the shaft, a vertical slotted coin chute, a vertically movable bar having a finger at its upper end projecting into the slot in the coin chute and adapted to press against a coin therein, so that the upper end of the bar is guided substantially in a vertical movement by the coin moving in said coin chute, a member on said bar adapted to engage the end of the pawl when the bar is moved guided by a coin in said chute, and means releasable by upward movement of said member to hold the pawl in its lowermost position to which it is moved by said member.

3. In a vending machine, a shaft adapted for rotary movement, a pawl on said shaft projecting substantially horizontally therefrom so that vertical movement of the outer end of the pawl will rotate the shaft, a vertical slotted coin chute, a verticallymovable bar having a finger at its upper end projecting into the slot in the coin chute and adapted to press against the coin therein, and having a coin supporting projection immediately below the finger so that the finger will engage substantially the center of the coin resting on said support, so that the upper end of the bar is guided substantially in a vertical movement by the coin moving in the coin chute, a member on said bar adapted to engage the end of the pawl when the bar is moved guided by the coin in said chute, and means releasable by upward movement of said member to hold the pawl in its lowermost position to which it is moved by said member.

a. Coin controlled apparatus, embodying a vertical slotted chute down which a coin may drop, a coin engaging member having a coin supporting foot normally extending into' the chute and having a coin engaging finger above the foot normally without the chute, means to cause downward movement of the coin engaging member and means to cause movement of said member toward the chute when first moved downwardly, and means tocause movement of said coin engaging member away from the chute during the last part-of its downward movement so as to withdraw the supporting foot from under the coin.

5. Coin controlled apparatus, embodying a vertical slotted chute down which a coin may drop, a coin engaging member pivoted at one end and having at its other end a coinsupporting ioot normally extending into the chute and having a coin engaging finger above the foot normally without the chute, means to move the pivoted end of the coin engaging member downwardly, and means to cause fi-rsta movement of the coinliengaging end of the member toward the chute and afterward away from the chute-by virtue of said downward movement.

6. Coin controlled apparatus, embodying a vertical slottedchute down which a coin may drop, a coin engaging member pivoted at one end and having at its other end a coin supporting foot normally extending into the chute and havinga coin engaging finger above the foot normally without the chute, means to move the pivoted end of the coin engaging member downwardly, and means to cause first a movement ofthe coin engaging end of the member toward the chute and afterward away from the chute by virtue of said down-ward movement, said means embodying a spring tending to force said end of the member'toward the chute, a stationary pin, and two'guide surfaces on said member inclined oppositely to each other and adapted to be pressed into engagemei'it' with the pin by the spring.

In. witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 8th day of June, 1915.

MGDOWVELL GRAVES.

Witnesses:

JAMES BARKELEW, ELwoon H. B ARKELEW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing, the"Go1nmissione1 of Patents;

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