US1490365A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Description

April 15 1924: 1,490,365

I v A. H. DU GRENIER vzupme MACHINE Filed April 14. 1922 2 mew-sum x EAWJEE 9 A. H DU GRENKEF? VENDING MACHINE Filed Ayril ,4

Patented Apr. 15, 1%.24...

0 FFICE.

ARTHUR H. DU GBENIER, OF HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO. MODERN VENDING MACHINE 00., 0F HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

VENDING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR H. DU GRE- NIER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Haverhill, in the county of Essex and the State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Vending Machines, of which the following is a specification. 7

. This invention relates to that class of vending machines which are adapted to deliver small articles loosely contained in a magazine and more especially shaped in ball form, such as chewing gum or candy. The type of machine most generally employed for this purpose, and which is the type to which this invention more particularly relates, is provided with a circular disk or drop plate, having a series of circular apertures of a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the balls to be vended, so that they may pass therethrough, said plate being located in the bottom of the magazine so that the apertures will be filled, and the plate being moved rotatably, step by step, so that the apertures are successively brought into register with a delivery opening in the bottom or base of the machine.

It has been attempted, with this type of machine, to enlarge some of the apertures or compartments in the drop plate, so that, at regular intervals, two or possibly three of the balls will be delivered, for example, for every fifth coin. inserted, the customer is to receive two balls instead of one. This construction has, however, been found to be unreliable in operation for the reason that the balls are liable to become wedged in the enlarged compartment, so that instead of having a plurality of balls delivered, nothing will be delivered.

The Obj ects of my invention are to provide a machine of the type above referred to, which is adapted to deliver a multiple number of balls at predetermined intervals and which is so constructed that all liability of clogging or choking is obviated. Also to provide a construction which may be readily readjusted to deliver different quantities of the article at one time than at another.

I accomplish these objects in the manner hereinafter described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a vending articles 7 machine containing an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof with the magazine removed.

Fig. 3 is a'plan view of the base with the drop plate removed.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional vie-w of the base portion on a larger scale.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the drop plate.

Figs. 6 and 7 are detail sectional views of a portion of the drop plate illustrating the manner of varying the number of articles delivered.

In general outline and construction, the machine is similar to other machines of this type and comprises a metal base 1, and a glass magazine 2 thereon, and in the bottom of which the circular drop plate 3 is mounted to be moved rotatably on a central vertifial rod 4, said plate havinga fiat upper surace.

According to my invention, the drop plate 3 is provided with a series of circular chambers or openings 5, which are arranged about and extend inwardly from the periphery of the plate and are of a diameter slightly greater than that of the balls of gum, or other spherical article to be delivered. The base is provided with an inwardly projecting circular ledge 6 which extends directly beneath the chambers 5, and provides a supporting surface for the articles therein, except at the delivery point, at which point an opening 7 is formed in the ledge which opens to the delivery passage 8. The distance between the surface of the ledge 6 and the upper side of the drop plate 3, is approximately equal to the diameter of the balls to be delivered, s0 thateach ball will be supported therein with its uppermost portion at the level of the upper surface of the plate.

The middle portion of the drop plate is of twice the thickness of its edge portion, and two circular, supplemental chambers 9 of the same diameter as the chambers 5 are formed therethrough atdiametrically opposite points, and in radial alignment with two of the chambers 5, the distance from the top surface of the plate to the fiat base portion 6' directly beneath it, being equal to twice the diameter of the balls to be vended, so that the chambers thus formed are adapted to receive two of the balls, one supported directly on theother, the uppermost being held in the same relative position to the top surface of the plate as the balls in the chambers 5.

The opening 7 in the base is extended radially inward, so that either chamber 9 will be held in register with its inner portion, when the corresponding radially disposed chamber 5 is held in register with its outer portion, and an inclined delivery chute 10 is arranged beneath the inner portion of the base opening in position to deliver the balls, which may fall from chambers 9, into the discharge passage 8. A'guard plate 11 is arranged above and close to the surface of the drop plate 3 in such a position that the chambers therein pass beneath it as they move into discharging position.

Any suitable means for driving the drop plate step by step, may be provided, the means indicated comprising a handle 12 on a shaft bearing an arm 13 arranged to en gage a driving pawl 14 for the drop plate. In practice the driving mechanism is associated with a coin-controlled mechanism, such as shown in my prior Patent #751,231,- 243, but the particular means for driving the plate constitutes no part of the present invention, it merely being essential that the plate be driven step by step into its registen ing positions.

The operation is as follows:

Each chamber 5 in the drop plate will receive a single ball from the magazine and the chambers 9 will each receive two, as indicated in Fig. 4:, so that each time the drop plate is advanced one step, one ball will fall into the discharge passage and when chamber 9 is moved over the passage, two additional balls will be delivered thereto, that is, with the arrangement shown, three balls will be delivered for every fifth coin which is inserted, and one only will be delivered at other times. 7

In case, however, it is desired to vary the number delivered at the fifth or tenth station, this may be readily done b inserting a plug, as 15, in the upper ends 0 the chambers 5 or 9. If only one ball is to be delivered at all times, both chambers 9 will be plugged. If two are to be delivered at the fifth station and three at the tenth station, the chamber 5, adjacent one of the chambers 9, will be plugged, as shown in Fig. 7. If two extra balls are to be delivered for every tenth coin only, then one only of the chambers 9 will be plugged, as in Fig. 6, or if one extra ball only is to be delivered for every fifth coin, both chambers 5 adjacent the chambers 9 will be plugged.

With the above described arrangement, all possibility of clogging, or wedging together of the balls, so as to prevent delivery, is avoided, as only one ball at atime can pass into'any of the chambers in the drop plate. The readiness with which the machine may nae sea be readjusted to vary the amount of extra articles to be delivered, according to conditions of competition and cost of the articles, is also especially advantageous.

I claim- 1. In a vending machine, a magazine having a base forming the bottom thereof, a delivery plate mounted to rotate on said base about a vertical axis and having chambers therein opening at top and bottom thereof, each of a size to cause the articles to be vended to pass therethrough, said chambers comprising a series thereof arranged circularly about said axis and a single supplemental chamber at one side of said series, and separated therefrom, said base having faces thereon arranged to support the articles in said chambers and a discharge passage opening to each of said faces, each chamber or said series being arranged to be successively held in register with the entrance to said passage, and the supplemental chamber to be held in register therewith when one of the chambers of the series is in registering position.

2. In a vending machine, a base having two circular, concentrically arranged article supporting surfaces and a delivery passage opening to each of said surfaces, a delivery plate mounted to-rotate about a vertical axis on the base over said surfaces and having amagazine opening to the upper side thereof, said plate having a series of circularly arranged article receiving chambers therethrough opening at their lower ends to one of said surfaces and a supplemental article receiving chamber likewise opening to the other surface, to support the articles therein, all of said chambers being circular and of a size to cause the articles to pass singly therethrough, and each chamber of said series being arranged to be successively held in register with said delivery passage and said supplemental chamber to be held in register therewith when the adjacent chamber of the series is moved into registering position and means for closing the entrance to either said supplemental chamber or its adjacent chamber.

3. In a machine for vending spherical articles of approximately uniform size, a maga zine having a base forming the bottom thereof and having two circular, horizontally disposed supporting faces arranged concentrically with relation to a vertical axis and a discharge passage opening to each of said faces, a circular delivery plate mounted to rotate about said axis with portions of its under side adjacent said faces and havin circular chambers extending therethroug from top to bottom, corresponding in diameter to that of the articles to be vended, to cause said articles to pass singly therethrough, said chambers comprising a circular series opening to one of said supporting faces and a supplemental chamber opening to the other face, and means whereby the chambers of said series may be successively held in register with the entrance to said discharge passage and said supplemental chamber may be held in register therewith when one of the chambers of said series is in registering position.

4:. In a vending machine, a base having two supporting surfaces concentrically arranged with relation to a vertical axis and a delivery passage opening to each of said surfaces, a delivery plate mounted on the base to rotate about said axis over said surfaces, said plate having a series of circular article holding chambers therethro-ugh circularly arranged with reference to said axis adjacent the edge of the plate and opening at their lower ends to the outermost of said supporting surfaces and a circular supplemental chamber separated from the other chambers and opening to the innermost of said surfaces, all of said chambers being of a diameter to cause the articles to be vended to pass singly therethrough, the vertical distance from the outermost supporting surface to the upper side of the plate corresponding to the vertical dimension of said articles, and that from the innermost surface to a multiple thereof, each chamber of the series being arranged to be successively moved into register with said delivery passage and the supplemental chamber to be moved into register therewith when the adjacent chamber of the series is moved into registering position. 7

5. In a machine for vending spherical articles of approximately uniform size, a magazine having a base forming the bottom thereof and having two circular, horizontally disposed supporting faces arranged concentrically with relation to a vertical axis and a discharge passage opening to each of said faces, a circular delivery plate mounted to rotate about said axis with portions of its under side adjacent said faces and having circular chambers extending therethrough from top to bot-tom, corresponding in diame ter to that of the articles to be vended, to cause said articles to pass singly therethrough, said chambers comprising a circular series opening to one of said supporting faces and a supplemental chamber opening to the other face, the vertical distance from the upper surface of the disk to one of said faces corresponding approximately to the length of said diameter and the corresponding distance to the other of said faces to a multiple thereof, to cause a single article to be supported in one chamber and a plurality thereof in another, and means wherebythe chambers of said series will be successively held in register with the entrance to said discharge passage and said supplemental chamber will be held in register therewith when one of the chambers of the series is in registering position.

6. In a machine for vending articles of uniform size, a base having two circular, horizontally disposed faces thereon, one ar ranged about the other in concentric relation with the outermost face and at a distance above the level of the other face corresponding to the vertical dimension of the articles, and a discharge passage opening to each face, a circular delivery plate mounted on said base to rotate about an axis at the center of said faces, said plate having a horizontally disposed top surface and concentric bottom surfaces disposeu respectively adjacent said faces and circular chambers extending through said plate from said top to said bottom surfaces and adapted to cause the articles to pass singly therethrough, said chambers comprising a regularly spaced series opening to the outer-most of said faces and a supplemental chamber opening to the inner-most face, the thickness of the portions of said plate over said faces being such that said faces will support a single article within each chamber of said series and a plurality thereof within the supplemental chamber, and means for holding the chambers of said series in register with the opening to said discharge passage successively and for holding said supplemental chamber in register therewith at the time one of the other chambers is in registering position. i

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ARTHUR H. DU GRENIER.

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