US1556777A - Newspaper-vending machine - Google Patents

Description

R. R. FOGELSONGER NEWS'PAPER VENDING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1923 fig 1 Oct. 13, 1925.

MW? Inventor A! %T0Vn8f.

Oct. 13,1925. I 1,556,777

R. R. FOGELSONGER NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE Filed March 2'7, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 13, 1925. 7

i R. R. FOGELSONGER NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE Filed March 2'7, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fly. 5.

T] EVENING NEWS.

7 Wa Inventor flrrorne s,

Oct. 13,1925 1. 6.777 R. R. FOGELSONGER NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1923 4 Sheets-Shoot 4 Fly 2 .72 f u [22 Van for flttorne j.

Patented Oct. 13, 1925.

ROY R, FOGELSONGER, OF CLARENCE, NEW YORK NEWSPAPER-VENDING MACHINE.

Application filed March 27, 1923. Serial No. 628,024.

To all whom'z't may concern: I

Be it known that I, ROY R. FoeELsoNonR,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Clarence, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Newspaper-Vending Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for vending or dispensing newspapers one at a time and more particularly to a machine for this purpose which is capable of being controlled by a coin operated mechanism so that a paper can only be withdrawn from the machine after one or more coins or tokens of the proper dimensions have been placed in a suitable receptacle provided for that purpose.

The present invention, however, is only concerned with the mechanism which delivers the papers one at a time from the machine and its object is to provide means for this purpose which will permit of conveniently and easily handling the newspapers resting within the machine preparatory to dispensing the same one at a time; also to provide simple and efficient means whereby the papers can be dispensed one at a time from the bottom of a stack within reach of the purchasers fingers; also to provide a safe-guard which prevents the withdrawal of a paper from the magazine when the feeding off device is not in operation; and also provide means for indicating when the supply of newspapers in the magazine has become exhausted and thereby warn the prospective purchaser against placing a coin in the machine.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a newspaper vending machine embodying my invention. Figure 2 is a vertical'transverse section taken on line 2-2, Figs. 3 and 4. Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line 33, Fig. 2. Figure 4 is a fragmentary'horizontal section taken on line 44, Fig. 2. Figure 5 is a vertical transverse section taken on lines '55, Figs. 3 and 4. Figure 6 is a' horizontal section taken on line 6-6, Fig. 3 looking downwardly. Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section, taken on line 7-7, Fig. 6.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the feed ing table forming partof the newspaper;

' feeding mechanism, the push blocks mounted thereon, and the means for indicating when the supply of papershas become exhausted. Similar characters of reference refer to like parts throughout the several views.

The newspapers 10 which are to be dispensed in this machine are folded or doubled 1 upon themselves at least once, so that the turn or folded edge is arranged transversely foremost. A stack or pile of such papers is arranged within an enclosing casing or magazine, which may be of any suitable construction but which as shown in the drawings, for example, may consist of a bottom 11, an upright front wall 12, an up right rear wall 13, two longitudinal side walls 14 and 15 and a top 16, which may be constructed of wood, sheet metal, or other suitable material. The lower, part of the front wall is provided with a horizontal transverse slot or outlet 17 through which the newspapers may be withdrawn from the casing by the purchaser, after the newspaper has been moved forwardly in the casing within reach of the fingers of the purchaser. In order to enablethecustomer to' properly grasp the front or folded edge of the newspaper, after the same has been moved adjacent to the rear side of this outlet slot or opening 17, parts of the latter are enlarged vertically, as shown at 15 which enables the person making the purchase to introduce two fingers of each hand into the upper and lower parts of the enlargement 18 and grip the adjacent front folded edge of the newspaper and withdraw the same from the magazine or casing through the slot 17. The newspapers to be dispensed may be introduced into the magazine or casing in any suitable manner, but preferably by mounting the upper section of the front wall on the lower section of the same, by means of a pair of hinges 19, this upper sec tion being normally locked in its closed position to the top 16 of thecasing by means of a lock 20, as shown in Fig. 1. r

A stack of newspapers within the casing is supported on its underside by means of a horizontal feeding table or plate '21 which is reciprocable horizontally forward and backward in the casing for the purpose of feeding the lowermost newspaper of the V stack so that the front edge of the same is within reach of the fingers of the purchaser, as the same are projected through the enlargements 18 of the outlet slot. The feeding table may be supported for this purpose by any suitable means, those shown in the drawings for this purpose being suitable and comprising a pair of rollers 22 mounted on the bottom of the casing and supporting the feeding table on its underside, and a pair of hangers or supporting rods 23 pivotally mounted at their upper ends on the rear wall 13 of the casing while their lower ends are pivotally mounted on the rear part of the feeding table, so that these links or hangers can swing forwardly and backwardly while the table supported thereby is moved horizontally.

The two rods 23 are preferably connected by an upright plate 23 which in effect forms a rear transverse wall on the table 21 and compels the latter to move forwardly and backwardly in a straight line.

This horizontal movement may be imparted to the feeding table by any approved means, for instance, by means which are shown in the drawings and which comprise a horizontally swinging main lever 2% arranged transversely below the feeding table and pivoted at one end by means of a vertical chain 25 to one of the longitudinal walls of the casing, longitudinal links 26 arranged below the table and connecting the central part of the operating lever 2 with the rear part of the feeding table, and a handle 27 projecting from the free end of the lever 24 forwardly through a part of the outlet slot in the front wall of the casing so that a part of this handle is accessible from the outer side of the casing upon manipulation by the purchaser. In the actual machine the for- Ward and backward movement of the handle 27 is controlled by coin operated mechanism, which, however, is omitted in the present description and drawings, inasmuch as the same would form the subject of a separate patent application, because the same is applicable to any means for feeding or dis pensing commodities of various kinds. It is to be assumed, however, in the present case that when the coin operated lever 24 is moved into its rearmost position, the feeding table will also be moved into its fully retracted or rearmost position and that a forward movement of this table for the purpose of feeding off a newspaper from the bottom of the pile is only possible after a coin or coins of proper dimensions is introduced into the machine, as previous-fly described.

For the purpose of enabling the feeding table to move one newspaper at a time, from the bottom of the stack, as this table moves forwardly, means are provided which preferably comprise a plurality of horizontal feeding rods which are arranged transversely in a tier over the front part of the feeding table and each rod having enlarged end portions 28 and a reduced intermediate part 29. The enlargements at opposite ends of the tier of the feeding rods are arranged in two vertical guideways 30, each of which is formed between two guide ribs 31 and is opened at its upper end so as to permit the rods to be introduced therein while the lower ends are also open and terminate a short distance above the top of the feeding table, so as to permit one rod at a time to escape from the lower ends of the guideways 30 and rest upon the feeding off table immediately below the same. The folded front edge of each newspaper is wrapped around the reduced intermediate part of one of the feeding rods and this construction of each rod is preferably so determined that the folded end of the newspaper together with the diameter of the contracted part of a feeding rod within the same, is equal to or substantially equal to the diameter of the enlargements 28 and the opposite ends of the feed rod. Although each of these rods is preferably of round form in cross section for cheapness of construction and to facilitate movement of the same, it is to be understood that these rods maybe of other forms in cross section, if desired.

When the feeding plate is in its rearmost or retracted position, its front edge is spaced apart from the front wall of the casing but still is arranged below the guideway 80 so that the lowermost feeding rod together with the newspaper mounted thereon can drop from the guideways 30 upon the feed ing table immediately adjacent to its front edge. As the feeding table while in this position is now moved forwardly two feeding off or push blocks 82 arranged on the upper side of the feeding table and on opposite sides of the stack of papers, will engage their vertical front ends with the rear side of the enlarged ends of the lowermost feeding rod and move the same forwardly together with the newspaper until the front end of the feeding table is engaged with or is arranged close to the front wall of the casing, thereby bringing the folded part of the newspaper within reach of the fingers of the purchaser, which may be projected through the enlargements 18 and enable the paper as a whole, to be withdrawn through the outlet slot 17. The length of the outlet slot is,

however, preferably less than the length of the feeding rods and also preferably somewhat narrower than the diameter of the enlargements on these rods, so that only the newspaper can be withdrawn through the outlet slot, but each feeding rod is left behind by reason of the newspaper being peeled off therefrom, thereby leaving the empty rod behind and resting upon the feed ing table. Upon, however, subsequently moving the feeding table backwardly preparatory to feeding off the next newspaper, the empty rod is pushed off from the front end of the feeding table and into a compartment 45 which is formed in the adjacent lower part of the magazine or casing from which the same can be subsequently removed to be used over andover again when loading the machine with a new batch of papers.

The push or feeding off blocks 32 are preferably of such length that when the feeding table 21 is moved into its foremost position, the upper sides of these lOlOClIs will engagewith the underside of the ends of the next following feeding rod in the tier and thus prevent the same from falling down upon the table until such a time as the feeding table is again moved into its rearmost position.

For the purpose of preventing tampering with the machine and fishing a paper out from the exterior of the casing, through the outlet thereof, a shutter 33 is provided which is movable vertically into the position in which it obstructs or clears the path of the lowermost newspaper between the front wall of the casing and the front end of the feeding table. When, however, the feeding table is released by a coin controlled mechanism and permitted to move forwardly under the action of the handle 27 and associated parts, the-first effect of the. forward movement of this table is to raise the shutter 33 so as to clear the path forthe lowermostnewspaper.

The preferred means for accomplishing this purpose comprise two hangers 34 arranged in the front part of the casing and connected at their lower ends with opposite ends of the shutter 33, two longitudinal lifting levers or bars 35, each of which is pivoted at its rear end on the rear wall of the casing, so as to swing vertically and also pivotally connected at its front end with the upper end of one of the hangers 34 and two thrust links 36 which are arranged in forwardly inclined positions on opposite sides of the casing and each pivotally connected at its lower end with the rear part of they feeding table while its upper end is pivotally conne:ted with one of the longitudinal lifting levers 35 between thefront and rear end of the same.

Due to this organization, the shutter 33 will be moved downwardly into its operative position when the feeding table ismoved bacl-twardly inasmuch as a rearward movement of this table pulls the links 36 backwardly and the longitudinal bars 35 downwardly, while a forward movement of the table causes the links 36 to elevate the bars and thereby lift the shutter 33 so that the same does not obstruct the outlet opening 17 and thus permit a paper to be withdrawn tlierethrough.

in the absence of any provision, purchasers would be liable to introduce coins into a machine for the purpose 1 of purchasing cat-or which is preferably constructed in the form of a plate and provided on its front side with an inscription,'such as the words Soldout, or others of like import. When one or more newspapers are resting upon the upper surface of the feeding table, this indicating plate is turned downwardly against the upper side of the feeding table into a horizontal position by the weight of the newspaper resting thereon, but when the last paper has been sold or withdrawn from the machine, this indicating plate is automatically raised into an upright position, so that the notice on the front side of the same is visible through a transparent pane or window 44 in the front wall of the easing, thereby notifying the trade that no more newspapers are to be had.

The means whereby this indicating plate may be thusoperated comprise a horizont-al rod or shaft 38 which is connected wit-h the lower end of the indicating plate'37 and is pivotally mounted on the feeding plate in any, suitable manner, for instance, by passing the same through bearing openings formed in the push blocks 32, a lifting arm 39 secured to one end of this shaft, lifting weights 40 arranged within the casing on one side thereof, a lifting cord 41 connecting the lifting arm 39 with the weight 40 and a guide pulley 42 which is mounted within the upper part of the casing and around which the lifting cord 41 passes. This construction permits the indicator plate 47 to be depressed from its vertical position into a horizontal position and retained in the last mentioned position by the weight of one or more papers, but the instant the last paper is withdrawn the weight 40 will lift the indicator plate 47 so that it is visible from the outside of the machine and thus indicates that the machine is empty.

In order to permit the purchaser to ob- ,tain a good grasp upon the turned front edge of the newspaper which surrounds one of the feeding off rods, the front edge of the feeding plate is provided with a pair of notches 43 which coincide with the enlargements 18 of the outlet slotand thus enable the fingers to be passed underneath the front edge of the lowermost paper and obtain a sufficiently firm hold thereon toensure its withdrawal from the machine and leave the respective feeding rod behind the front wall of the casing.

As a whole, this machine is comparatively simple in construction, it is not liable to get out of order because it has no delicate or sensitive parts, it can be readily loaded with a stack of newspapers and it will operate positively to deliver a newspaper from the bottom of the stack to a point within reach of the purrhaser whenever it is possible to manually pull the handle 2'? forwardly.

I claim as my invention:

l. A newspaper vend'i machine comprising an enclosing casi adapted to contain a stack of newspapers ant provided r-cith an outlet for the same, a plurality of movable feeding rods arranged in :1. tier within the casing and each adapted to enage the inner side of the turn in o e of newspapers. and means for. succes U engaging: the several and moving): the same with the respective newspapers to the outlet of the casing comprisin" a fee nn'" table which supports said stack and is movie toward and from said outlet, and push locks arranged on said table on opp site ices of the stack and adapted to en a with the end portions of said rods.

2. A newspaper vending machine comprising an enclosing casing adapted to con tain a stack of new papers and provided with an outlet opening upright guid IVS arranged within the casing on opposite Slof the same, a plurality of horizontal f. ing rods arranged in a tier and 1 their opposite ends with guideways while their intermediate pains adapted to engage the turns at the front ends of the newspapers, respectively. and a longitudinally reciprocating teed table adapted to support the stack of newspapers and provided with push blocks adapted to engage with the end portions of said rod and carry the same toward said outlet.

8. A newspaper vending machine comprising an enclosing casing adapted to con.- tain a stack of newspapers and provided with an outlet opening, upright gnideways arranged within the casing on opposite sides of the same, a plurality of horizontal feeding rods arranged in a tier and engaging their opposite ends with said guideways while their intermediate parts are adapted to engage the turns at the front ends of the newspapers, respectively, and a longitudinally reciprocating feed table adapted to support the rel; of newspapers and provided with push blocks adapted to engage with the end portion of said rod and carry the same toward said outlet, said casing being provided in front of said guide ways with a receptacle for the rods after the newspapers have been detached therefrom.

4t. 1%. newspaper vending machine conr prising an enclosing casing adapted to contain a stack newspapers and provided with an outlet opening, upright guideways arranged within the casing on opposite sides of the same, a plurality of horizontal feeding rods arranged in a tier and engaging their opposite ends with said guideways while their intermediate parts are adapted to engage the turns at the front ends of the newspapers respectively, and a longitudinally reciprocating feed table adapted to support the stack of newspapers and provided with push-blocks adapted to engage with the end portions of said rod and carry the same toward said outlet, the ends of said rod which engage with said guideways being enlarged and the intermediate parts of the same which are engaged by the newspapers being reduced.

i newspaper vending machine comprising a casing adapted to contain a stack of newspapers and provided with an outlet, means for feeding said papers one at a time toward said outlet comprising a reciprocating teed tahle adapted to support said papers, a guide for the front part of said table. an upright forwardly and backwardly swinging support for the rear part of said able, and means for closing said outlet in the rearward position of said table and opening the same in the forward position thereof comprising a shutter movable into and out of a position across said outlet on the inner side of the casing, and an upper substantially horizontal support swinging vertically and carrying said shutter and an upright inclined linkage connecting the rear part of said table with the central part of said shutter support.

ROY R. FOGELSONGER.

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