US1763352A - Coin-controlled vending machine - Google Patents

Description

June 10, 1930. Helms 1,763,352

COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE Filed July 14, 1925 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR: I

ATTORNEY H. GILES 1,763,352 COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE Filed July 14, 1925 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 I mm N 34 June 10, 1930.

INVENTOR flail 5y 5/1519.

Ahab/. 10,

ATTORNEY June 10, 1930. H. GILES 1,763,352

COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE ATTORNEY.

June 10, 1930. H. GILES COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE Filed Jul 14. 1925 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 3/ INVENTORL' flaw 5r 5 46 l ATIORNEY.

June 10, 1930. H Gus 1,763,352

coIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE Filed July 14, I925 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 AWl/Ey 6945s.

5/ ATTORNEY,

June 10, 1930. H. GILES 1,763,352

, INVEN'fOR. /70 3/ 1 flQFI EY 6 /156: BY

3 W flaw/6 m ATTORNEY.

June 10, 1930. H. GILES COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE 8 SheetS -Sheet Filed July 14. 1925' June 1 0, 1930 O H, ILES 1,763,352

COIN CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE Filed July 14 1925 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 III/IA 11111111111111,

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

' tures of r ed m. 19

HARVEY .eILEs;

or Bnooxmm, nEw roan, Assmnon 'ro mamas wean, me, or

new YORK, n. Y., A CORPORATION or new roan oom-con'rnonmn vnn'nme mnonmn Application -fl1e'd' July 14,

. I The invention relates to'an improvement in vending machines of the type which de livers an article, such asa piece'of gum, a small carton of confection; or a like article, 5 upon the insertion of a genuinecoin of the proper denomination in the machine and the manipulation of the usual handle which actuates the article delivering means. The general object of the'inventionis to reorganize and simplify the operating parts of a vending machine of the above type, in order to produce a more eflicient machine having increased holding capacity with fewer operating Bart To this end one of the feat e invention is the provision of means whereby a single reciprocable bar or plunger is employed for delivering the articles from-a plurality of vertically arranged hoppers 'or compartments." This. plunger .bar is arranged to operate in substantially thevertic-al plane occ'uplied by the series of columns [of articles and is provided with as many articles delivering fingers as there are hoppers or columns of articles, each finger corresponding to a hopper and arranged to remove and-deliver the articles from its hope i" per. The arrangement'is' such that each column of articles is completely exhausted, beginning with the rear column, before the articles are deliveredfrom the preceding columns, except that the original lowermost article in each preceding column is delivered before the lowermost article in the last column is delivered. A feature of the invention incidental to the foregoing feature is the provision of means whereby the delivery of the articles from the succeeding hoppers is not interfered with by the articles in the preceding ho per orhoppers. nother feature of the invention is to so construct and arrange the coin slot that after the coin has been effectively used by the operating parts of the article delivering mechanism of the vending machine, it is caused 43 to fall in a plane at right angles to the plane .in which it enters the machine. By changing the plane in which the coin falls, a coin box of increased capacity may be employed and means arranged for gradually and progres- F 'sively filling the coin box so that the coins.

appended claims.

1925. Serial No. 48,489. 1

therein will not interfere with the operation of the machine so long as there remain any undelivered articles in the'machine. .Another feature of the invention is the rovision of novel means for detecting was ers or slugs with a hole in their centers and preventing them fromentering the machine.

-A further feature of the invention is the provision of a stop finger located inthe last column of goods to be delivered, which stop finger comes into operation when the last article has been delivered to prevent the reciprocation-of the plunger bar and the insertion of further coins in the machine. Still another feature of the invention is the provision of novel means for securing the operating parts of the machine in the cabinet. Other featuresof the invention will appear as the description proceeds, the advantages of .7

which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The invention itself consists in the improved vending machine hereinafter 'described and particularly pointed out in the Inthe accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred 'form of the invention:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a stand adapted to rotatablysupport three of the improved vending machines, a part of the figure being shown in section taken on theline 1-1 of Fig. 2; i r v Fig. 2 is a top plan of the parts shown in Fig; 1, with a portion of the figure shown in sectlon;

Fig. 3 is a front vertical section taken along the line 33 of Fig. 12,1ooking in the direc- I tiono'f the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the operating parts of the vending machine, with the cabi net and coin box shown in section;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken along the line 55 of Fig.'12;'; v Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section taken along the line 6 6 of Fig. 8-;

Fig. 7 is afront vertical section of the-right hand side "of the vending machine, taken along the line-7%? of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 7, showing the positions of the parts of the. operating mechanism after a coin has been deposited in I the machine and the handledeprcs sed a part of the way; y

. Fig. 9 is a section taken along the line 99 of Fig. 10, the viewbeing substantially the same as that shown in Fig. 8, with the parts in the positions they have at the, completion of the downward stroke of the handle; Fig. 10 is a section taken along the line 1010 of Fig. 9; I

Fig. 11 is a section taken along the line 11-11 of Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows; o j

Fig. 12 is a section taken alongthe lines 12-12 of Figs. 4 and 7 Fig. 13 is a section taken alongthe line 13'13 of Fig. 4; p Fig. 14 is a section taken along the line 14'14 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 15 is a section 15-15 of Fig. 7; v

F g. 16 is a side elevation of thedevice for detecting and holding awasher;

Fig. 17 is an end elevation of shown in Fig. 16; Fig. 18 is a front elevation, partly in section,. of the bottom part of the machine,

taken along the line the parts showing particularly the positions of the parts in delivering the last article from the machine;

Fig. 19 is a section taken along the line 19-19 of Fig. 20, the figure being the left hand end of the parts shown in Fig. 18, and

.Fig. 20 is a section taken along the. line 20-20 of Fig. 19. I

The improved vending machine-as illussecured to'the inner side of the above the platform 36 is protected 30 fromtheoutside of the ca inet. The up.-

per end of the cabinet is closed by the top(34,

to whichthe door is fastened by the loc upper partof the door 29. In the lower part 0 charge orifice 35 through which the articles cured to the wall 26. The opening) or orifice y a guard 37 also secured'to the wall 26. A pivotally gre'ss into the machine beyond the opening 35. The rear end wall 27 isprovided with a slot 17 through which, projects the handle 38 of the-mechanism by which an' article is delivered. v Each hopper consists. of a front end wall 40, a rear'end wall 41, aside wall'42 and a side wall 43. The upright hopper or compartment thus constituted is open at its upthe front 7 end wall 26 is located an opening or dis- $0 mounted spring-pressed flap 25 prevents inas h per end and also atits lower end, and in addition the side wall 43 is provided throughout its middle section wlth an opening 44;

which afiords ready access to the interior of the hopper and permits the articles to be easily placed in or removed from the hopper. The upper ends of the side walls 42 of the hoppersare secured to a plate 45 by which they. are held together. The left hand 46 of the plate 45 pro ects laterally beyondthe uptrated in the accompanying. drawings com- P end pp 21 to engage with 1 prises a plurality of upright hoppers ara stud 47 P j i g inwardly into the ranged in seri'eso'ne behind another for connet from the frent end Wall h taining the articles to'be ve'nded'and a coin rengemeht Permlts the attendant to ml? the controlled mechanism by the manipulation may be. either packets or cartonsof gum or randy,

or they may be articles of adifierent nature, but substantially of the same shape. The articles 24 asshown are of rectangular shape, and the operating mechanismof-the vending machine is arranged to deliver the articles endwise from the machine. For this purpose the articles are arranged in the upright hoppers or compartments with their longitudinal axes coincident with the. direction in which they are delivered from the machine.

The series of hoppers or compartments and the operating mechanism-for delivering the articles are enclosed in a rectangular cabinet having a front end wall 26, a rear end wall 27, a side wall 28 and .a door 29 pivoted by means of the rod 30 to the bottom 31 of the cabinet. The right hand end of the rod with its upwardly projecting sides 51 and 52 Located under thelower open ends of the hoppers and extending parallelly with the series of hoppers is a plate 49 adapted to support the colunms of articles in the hoppers and along which the articles are adapted to be advanced when they are delivered from the machine. The plate 49' is spaced from the open lower ends 50 of the hoppersa distance egual-to substantially the thickness of one an one-half articles and occupies the same plane as the delivering'platform 36, so that when a coin has been deposited in the machine and the handle 38 has been manipu-v lated the article nearest the opening 35 is pushed into position on the platform 36 to be removed'by the purchaser. The plate 49 is provided with upright side walls 51 and. 52. which embracethe. lower v.ends ofwthe side walls 42 and 43 of the hoppers. The plate 49 if thus constitutes a trough intowhich the hop-' of operation of delivering the articles from pers discharge the articles they contain.

a Projecting laterally from the side wall 51 of'the plate 49 are two hooks 53 adapted to engage a p1ate54 which supports both the hoppers and the operating mechanism ofthe vending machine. This plate. 54 is clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5, in which it is seen that it consists of a lower part 55 extending.

entirely across the cabinet, an upright middle arm'56 having an offset lateral arm 57, and-an upright end arm 58. These various parts of the plate 54 are provided with headed I studs 59 adapted to project through the holes 60 in the side wall 28 of the cabinet. The

holes 60 are provided with neck portions 61 adapted to receive and hold the studs 59..

The arrangement is such that when the heads 62 of the studs 59 are inserted through the holes 60 the plate descends until the studs 59 rest in the bottoms of the neckportions 61. The plate 54 is then held against accidental displacement by means of a spring pressedv latch 64 pivotally mounted in the wall 28 of the cabinet. The latch 64 is adapted to engage with the stud in the end of the offset arm 57 ofthe plate 54. The plate 54 is held spaced from the wall 28 of the cabinet by means of the washers 65, in order that the three armbell crank lever 66- of the operating 'mechanism pivoted on the upper end of the arm 56 may be located and function between the plate 54 and the wall 28 of the cabinet.

"When the articles are placedas columns in the upright hoppers, the lowermost aryticle in each column restson {the plate 49.

' The article delivery mechanismfof the pres-- ent invention is so constructedand arranged that only the lowermost articles of the columns of articles in hoppers 21 and 22 are deliveredfrom the machine before the articles; are entirely. delivered from; hopper 23. If, in Fig. 3, it is assumedthat the article 67 was the lowermost article in the hopper 21, that the article 68 was the lowermost article in the. hopper 22 and that the article 69 was the lowermost article in the hopper 23, it is clear that articles 67 and 68 will be delivered before article 69; Thereafter, however, all the articles in hopper 23' will be delivered from the machine before any of thejremaining articles in hoppers 21 and 22 are delivered, the articles from hopper 23 passing under the lowermost articles in hoppers 21 and 22. Means are provided to prevent the lowermost articles in hoppers 21 and 22 from interfering with the travel of the articles along the plate 29. a

After all'the articles originally contained in hopper 23 have been delivered, then the articles'contained in hopper 22 are delivered in the same manner, namely, under the arti'cles contained in hopper 21; and lastly,the

articles contained in hopper 21 are delivered.

; It will be understood that this is the mode articles are inserted in the hoppers, it will be understood of course that these articles must Qbe delivered before, the articles in the last hopper are delivered. After the articles originally resting on the plate 49 have been delivered, the hoppers are exhausted in turn, beginning with the rearmost hopper, so that the top article in thefirst hopper, for example, article 70 in hopper 21, is the last article to be delivered from the machine.

The mechanism by'which this mode of operation is accomplished comprises a series of pusher fingers 72, 7 3 and 74, there being as many pusher fingers as there are hoppers. Each pusherfinger corresponds to a hopper and is adapted to deliver the articles in that hopper from the machine, except that the articles originally resting on the plate 49 are delivered by the rearmost finger, namely, the finger 74. The pusher. fingers are pivotally mounted on a plunger bar 77, which is in the form of an inverted U and comprises the side 1 walls 76 and 81 and cross pieces 83. vThe plungerbar 77 is provided with two screws 7 8 (Fig. 5) which project through a slot 79 cut longitudinally in the lower portion 55 of the plate 54. The screws 78 are loosely received in the slot 79 sothat the plunger bar may reciprocate freely, and the screws 78 are provided with enlarged heads so that the plunger bar may besupportediin position and operate without cramping. The side wall 81 of the plunger bar is turned inwardly at its lower end to rest on the inturned flange 82 of the plate 54. This arrangement aids in supporting the plunger bar and facilitating its operation. a

- lhe upper article-engaging end 84 of each pusher finger is arranged to project through and to reciprocatein a longitudinal slot 85 in the plate 49. The lower ends of the plunger fingers are weighted so that the fingers tend to turn in a clockwise direction. I The stops 86 projecting laterally from the bottom of the side 76 of the plunger bar 77 determine the operative positions of the article-engaging ends ofthe fingers. The arrangement is such that when the plunger bar 77 is in retracted position at the right hand side of the cabinet only theplunger-finger corresponding to the last column of articles is in effective article delivering position, the preced ing fingers being held depressed and inoperative by the articles on the plate 49, as shown 74 will assume an effective delivering position behind the lowermost article 89in the hopper 23'. It will thus be understood that bar 77 to cause the pusher fingers todeliver c as each column ofarticles becomes exhausted the pusher finger corresponding to that column becomes inoperative, whereas thenext preceding finger comes into play. This is the i of columns t articles to be delivered.

In ,order to prevent articles in the hoppers preceding the hopper from which the arti-v mode of operation regardless of thenumber cles are bcingdelivered from interfering with the travel of articles along the plate-49, each hopper precedin the last one is provided with a hinged deflector plate which may con veniently be attached to the lower edge of the front end wall of the succeeding hop per. Thus the deflector plate 91 for the hopper 42 is attached to the lower "edge of the.

front end wall 40 of the hopper 23' and the deflector plate 92 for the hopper 21 is attached to the lower edge of the .front end wall 40 of the hopper 22. The deflector plate 92- of the hopper 21, as shown in Fig. 3, clearly illustrates the mode of operation of these plates. and how they prevent the articles in the preceding hoppers from interfering with the travel of the articlesalong the plate 49.

Each deflector plate is recessed in its'bottom edge to accommodate and permit the free passage of the article-engaging ends 84 of the pusher fingers The mechanism for-actuating the plunger an article from the machine upon the insertion of a coin therein and the manipulation of the handle 38, comprises the three arm lever 66 and the means for operating it. The

,lower endof\the'arm 94 of the lever 66 is slotted to loosely receive a screw 95 which passes through the'slot 79 and is fixed in the wall 8-1 of the plunger bar 77. The lateral arm 97 of the lever 66 is provided at its free end with the pin 98. which projects through and is'loosely engaged by a slot 99 in a vertiy cally reciprocatable plate 100 from which the handle part38 projects through the vertical slot 17 in the rear end wall 27 of the cabinet. The plate 100 is arranged to reciprocate vertically on the u right part 58 of the plate 54. 2

V The outline o the plate 100 is clearly indicated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. It is held in. operative position on the part 58 by the flat headed screws 101 and 102 which project loosely through the vertically arranged slots 103 and 104 respectively. The plate 100 is normally retracted'upwardly to its inoperative position by means of a contraction limit of its downward movement and there-' by cause the arm 94 of the lever 66 to move fireaasa the plunger bar 77'and the pusher fi'nfirs'w from their right hand retracted position to the left hand (as shown inFig. 3), thereb deliverin an article. As the lever 66 osci lates dunng the manipulation ofthe handle 38 the pin 98 travels in the arcuate slot.-'110 in the upright part 58 of the plate 54.

The coin'slot by which a coinis so positioned that the operating mechanism may be'eflective in delivering an article from the machine comprises an upper section generally indicated at 111 (Fig. 4) and a lower section generally indicated at 112. The upper part or section 111 of the coin slot! is arranged'transve'rsely of the cabinet and the lower part or section 112 of the coin slotis arranged substantially atrightangles with the upper part. The upper part 111 ofthe coin slot is formed by a plate 114 secured to a plate 115 which in turn is secured to a flange 116 offset inwardl from the upright part 58 of the plate 54.

slot, the inner edges of the sides 117 bein spaced apart to permit the dog 118 to trave between them to-en with a'coinr' The dog 118 is pivotally mounted'on a bracket 113' secured, to the p1ate'100 and its lower hook-like end 119 isyieldingly pressed towards the coin slot by a spring 120. A guard 123 (Fig. 4) fixed to the plate 100 covers the dog 118 and spring 120; When the plate 100 is in retracted position, as shown in Fig. 7, the upper part 121 of the 'coin slot holds the dog 118 outwardly to permit the coin 122 to.

enter fully into the slot and encounter the inturned end 125 ofa coin gage 124 by which a genuine coin of requisite thickness'is 7 he side edges 117 of the plate 114 are bent inwardly to form a.

stopped and held so that the dog may engage therewith and make it efiective in delivering an article. is too thin itwill pass the gage 124 and so, ineffectively through the coin slot. This coin gage 124 is of usual construction and mode of operation. t a

If the handle 38 is depressed when there is no coin in the coin slot held in position by the inturned end 125 of the coin gage 124,

the hook'pa'rt119 of the dog 118 will encounter the stop 126 and thereupon the descent of the plate and the actuation of the plunger bar 7 7-will be arrested.

The means for directing a genuine coin into the upper part 111 of'the coin slot consists of an obliquely'arranged plate 128 pivotally mounted-M129 on the upper end of If the'coin or other disk of metal the upright part 58 of the plate 54. Cooper.- f

ating with the plate- 128 is a dog 130 pivot- .ally mounted at 131 on a plate'132 ofl'set at right angles from the upper end of the plate 100. The dog 130 isso shaped that it tends to turn in a counter-clockwise direction and bring the nose portion 134 thereof against the surface of the plate 128. The entrance 136 of the coin slot is located in. the cover ing downwardly below. it.

art 29 of the machine and is arranged to eliver the coin against the upper surface of the plate 128 and just above the nose 134 of the dog 130 so that it will descend between the dog and the plate 128 into the upper part 1110f the coin slot. If a disk of fibreboard or other relatively light material is inserted through. the entrance 136 it will be caught and held by the dog 130. Then as the plate 128 is swung outwardly, when the handle 38 is depressed, by the travel of the pin 138 fixed in the upper end of the plate 100 in the slot 139 formed in the member 140 connected with the plate 128, the disk of fibreboard or the like will be deflected from the entrance 142 of the upper part of the coin slot. If a disk of iron is inserted through the entrance 136 it will be caught and held on the plate 128 by means of the usual magnet143 secured to the underside of the plate 128 and project- Then when the handle 38 is depressed and the plate 128 is swung outwardly the slug will drop to the bottom of the machine inefiectively.

To prevent the insertion of a washer into the coin slot the entrance 136 thereto is provided with means'for detecting and holding the washer. @n the inner side of the door 29 is located a" plate 145 having a vertical slot 146 in alignment with the entrance 136. A latch 147 pivoted at 148 in the plate 145 is arranged across the upper end of the slot 146.

A spring 14% tends to press the latch 147 against the stoppin 150. A stop finger 152 pivoted at 153 in the plate 145 is arranged to be moved across the middle of the slot 146 when a washer is pushed into the entrance 136 and the slot 146 far enough to move the latch 147. The connection between the stop finger. 152 and. the latch 147 consists of a flexible member 154 fixed in the stopfinger and loosely connected with the latch. This construction is provided to permit the latch 147 to be pushed aside When the stop finger 152 encounters the solid center of a genuine coin.

When a washer has beeninserted into the entrance 136 and encounters the latch 147 the stop finger 152 is moved through the center of a washer and across the middle of the slot 146. The front side 156 of the stop finger is flat, asshown in Fig. 17, so as to prevent the user of the washer from pushing it through the entrance and into the machine. The rear side 157 of the finger, however, is beveled to permit the retraction ofthe washer without unfastening the door 29 or otherwise dismantling the machine.

Inasmuch as the arrangement of the hoppers one behind another in series, as set forth above, gives'an increased article holding ca pacity in a relatively small cabinet, it is necessary toprovide a coin boxof such construction and arrangement that it will contain the increased number of coins without interferslot.

ing with the working of the operating mechamsm of the machine. For this purpose the coin box 160, which issubstantially square in' cross-section, extends throughout almost the full width of the cabinet and is supported on the bottom 31 thereof below the plunger bar" 77. The right hand end of the coin box 160, viewing Fig. 4, is located under the I lower part 112 of the coin slot. In the right hand end of the coin box is an inclined surface 161 located immediately under the discharge opening 162 of the coin slot so that when the coins fall from the coin slot they will strike the inclined surface 161 and roll of an inclined plate'165 (Fig. 10) supported from the right hand end of the part 55 of the plate 54. The right hand edge 166 of the plate 165 is folded over parallelly therewith so as to constitute an inclined slot by which the coins are directed intothe coin box. The other edge 167 of the plate 165 projects forwardly and constitutes a lower extension of the upper part 111 of the coin slot. In order to deflect the coins from the upper part 111 of the coin slot which is arranged transversely of the longitudinal axis of the coin F box 166, into the lower part;112 of the coin slot which is arranged parallelly with the longitudinal axis of the coin box, the lower end of the upper part 111 of the coin slot is provided with a deflector plate 168 which projects-inwardly and downwardly into the upper end of the lower side of the hinge 30 thereby leaving a space 170 between the wall 171 of the coin box and the door 29. To p revent the coins sliding part 112 of the coin down the inclined plate 165 of the lower end of the coin 'slot from entering the space 17 0, an inclined guard'plate 172 secured to the inner side of the door 29 and located under.

trance 136 of the coin slot'is a plate mounted on the vertical edge of the plate 132 carried by the slotted member 140. The means for holding the plunger bar 77 at the left hand side of the machine and the seal 174 behind .the rearward movement of the plunger 77 the'entrance 136 of the coin slot when the I last article has been delivered from the mabrings the cross piece 177 into engagement with the hook 175, thereby holding the lunger bar 77 stationary and the seal 174 behind the entrance 136 to the coin slot.

The operation of the improved vending machine may be briefly recapitulated as follows When the parts are in normal inoperative position, the plunger bar 77 is at the right hand side of the cabinet,-as shown in Fig. 4, and the handle 38 is at the upper end of the slot 17 in the rear end 27 of the cabinet. If now someone attempts to depress the handle 38 without inserting a coin into the machine,thedog 118 will engage with the 'stop 126 and prevent the effective actuation of the plunger bar 77. When a genuinecoin has been pushed into the entrance 136 and slides'down the inclined plate 128 into the upper part 111 of the coin slot it encounters the offset end 125 of the coin gage 124, and

is held in the osition shown in Fig. 7. It will be observed that the coin acts as a guard to prevent the hook portion 119 of the dog 118 from encountering the stop 126. Upon the depression of the handle 38 after the insertion. of a genuine coin into the coin slot, the spring 120 forces the hook 119 of the dog 118 into engagement with the coin, as shown.

in Fig. 8, thereby permitting the'full downward movement of the plate 100 and the actuation of the plunger bar. 77 to cause an article to be delivered in the manner described above. If the purchaser. should depressthe handle 38 only part way after inserting a coin in the machine the 'dog 178 will engage with one or the other of the teeth 179 of the arm 180 of the three armed lever 66 and prevent the return of the handle 38 to its normal position. The dog 178 is pivotally mounted at 181 on the oflset arm 57 ofthe plate 54 and is held in its normal position by means of'a spring 183. The arrangement of the dog 17 8 with relation to the teeth 179 and the end of the arm 180 is such pressed so that the lower corner 184 of the arm 180 will pass beyond the dog 17 8 before the handle 38 will return to its normal position in the upper end of the slot 117. As

each column of articles'is delivered the pusher finger correspondingthereto becomes inoperative and the next preceding finger becomes effective to' delivdr the articles from the machine. When the last/article in thefirst column has been delivered the hook 175 drops down behind the cross piece 177 on the forward end of the plunger. bar 77 and trated in Figs. '1 and 2. This stand may support any desired number of the vending maplaced on a-revolving, portable stand, as illus chines. In the stand illustrated there are,

three machines, designated 190, 191 and 19:2.

The stand comprises an upright shaft 193 supported by ball-bearings 194 in the upper part of a base 195. To the upper end of the shaft 193 a handle 196 is fixed by which the stand and its machines may be moved from place to place. The cabinets of the vending machines are supported from the three-armed plates 197 and 198 fixed to the upper and lower ends of the shaft 193. The ends of the arms of the plates 197 and 198 are down turned as flanges 199 and'to these flanges the walls 28 of the cabinets are secured by the bolts 200.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. A Vending machine having, in combination, a plurality of upright hoppers having open lower ends arranged one behind another in series, each hopper being adapted to contain a column of articles to be vended, a

trough into which the hoppers discharge, said trough being provided with a longitudinal slot in its bottom, a bar located beneath the trough and arranged to reciprocate parallelly with the slot, a series of 'fin ers pivoted on the fingers as hoppers, the upper article-engaging ends of-the fingers bar, there belng as many being arranged to project through the slot in the bottomof the trough, each finger being positioned to the rear of its corresponding hopper when the bar is in retracted position, and mechanism including a' lever and vertically movable handle for actuatingthe bar, said mechanism being disposed behind the hoppers, and the lever and handle being movable in a plane substantially parallel with that of the common plane of the hoppers. 2. A vending machine having, in combination, a series of upright hoppers arranged in opper being ada ted to contain a column of articles to be ven ed, a bar located under the hoppers and arranged to reciprocate longitudinally of the series of hoppers, a series of movable fingers corresponding tothe columns mounted on the bar, each finger occupying a position behind its column when the bar is in retracted position, and means including a sbt t'll th t' l that the handle 38 must be completely deh S an m y 8 Same Ver lcal P each handle, the preceding fingers riding inoperatively undertheir columns until the succeed-- ing columns of articles are exhausted.

3. A vending machine having, in combination, a serles of upnght hoppers arranged in o substantially the same vertical plane, each hopper being ada ted to contain a column-of articles to be ven ed, a bar located under the hoppers and arranged to reciprocate longi-.

' tudinally in the common plane of the series of hoppers, a series of movable fingers mounted on the bar and arranged, unless depressed,

to project upwardly behind the lowermost article in the corresponding hopper when the bar is in retracted position, the columns of articles preceding the last unexhausted col-.

umn acting to depress and render inoperative their respective fingers, the finger corresponding to the last or rearmost unexhausted column acting to deliver the articles from that column beneath the preceding columns,- and means including a lever and a handle behind the common plane of the hoppers for actuating the bar. j

4. A vending machine having, in combination, a hopper for containing the articles to be vendod, coin controlled mechanism for delivering an article from the hopper, a plate on which the. coin controlled mechanism is su ported, headed studs fixed in the plate, a ca met for enclosing the-hopper and the mechanism and having holes in the rear side thereof, each hole being provided with a neck to receive and support the studs, and a latch for holding the plate in position.

5. A vendin 7 machine having, in combination,-a hopper or containing the articles to be vended, coin controlled mechanism for delivering an article from the hopper, a plate on which the coin controlled mechanism is supported, headed studs fixed in the plate, a cabinet for enclosing the hopper and the mechanism and having holes in the rear side thereof, each holebeing provided with a neck to receive and support the studs, and a spring.

actuated latch cooperating with one of the headed studs for holding the. plate in position.

6. A vending machine having in combina-.

tion a hopper for containing articles to be vended, coin controlled means for removing an article. from the hopper, a cabinet for enclosing the hopper and-the coin controlled mechanism, a plate for supporting the mechanism, headed studs secured to the plate, the rear wall of the cabinet being provided with holes through which the heads of the studs are adapted topass, the holes having neck portions for receiving and supporting the studs, and yieldable means for anchoring the plate in position.

' 7. In a vending machine of the class described, a casing having a delivery opening in one of its sides, an upright hdpper within the casing for containing articles to be vended, the lower end of said hopper being ad jacent to said delivery opening, reciprocable means below the hopper for ejectingthe lowermost article from the hopper laterally articles, and a coin controlled device for deliverin said articles comprising means for advancing an artlcle from the rear stack to the front stack at the same time that an article from the front stack is being delivered and means active only after the rear stack is empty for delivering articles from the front stack.

9. In a vending machine, a coin controlled mechanism for multiple stacks of articles to be dispensedv comprising a carrier ada ted to become operative upon the insertion o a coin, a pusher for advancing an article from one stack to another and for delivering an article from one stack, and a supplemental pusher for delivering an article after one stack has become exhausted.

10. In a vending machine containing front and rear stacks of articles to be dispensed, a

coin controlled delivering mechanism comprislng a sliding carrler, an ejector mounted upon the rear of said carrier and adapted to be tripped into active position upon the in sertion of a coin to eject articles from the machine, and a supplemental ejector on the forward portion of the carrier operable to eject articles from the machine when one of the stacks is empty.

11. In a vending machine having a com modity chamber, a coin controlled mechanism having anejector actuated by the insertion of a coin, means for locking said ejector against movement when no articles are present in the commodity chamber, said means comprising an element of which one end projects into the commodity chamber and the other end of which projects into the path of the ejector.

12. In a vending machine, a casing having a bottom upon which front and rear stacks of articles are adapted to rest, a coin controlled discharge carrier, means on the carrier for discharging the lowermost article in the front stack and for advancing. the lowerstacks of articles, means operable uponthe introduction 'of a coin for distpensing said articlescomprising a plurality o ej ectors, one of vsaid ejectors being adapted to advance an article from the rear stack to the front; stack and at the same time deliver an article from 4 J the front stack, and the other of said ejectors 'ada ted to deliver articles from the front stacfi when thereare no articles in the rear 10 stack" I 1 14. Acoin controlled machine com risinga casing having a plurality of stacks 0 articles, means adapted to dispense the bottommost article of one. stack by abutting against it the bottommost article of the next stack, and addition'almeans adapted to dispense the remaining articles in-the machine after one of the stacks has been depleted, and means to prevent operation of the machine by spurious coins of insufiicient size or weight;

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifixmy signature. i

HARVEY GILES;

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