US1809584A - Dispensing mechanism - Google Patents

Description

June 9, 1931. A. H. DU GRENIER DISPENSING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1930 1'72 venior',

Patented June 9, 1931 UNITED STATES A'TN'D OFFICE ARTHUR H. DU enemies, or I-IAVERHILL, rvrassacnusn'rrs DISPENSING MECHANISM Application filed March 18, 1930. Serial No. 436,685.

This invention relates to dispensingmachines of the type disclosed in my pending application, Serial No. 377,946, filed July 13, 1929, in which an endless carrier is provided,

which comprises a series of article holding receptacles, having their top ends open, and their bottoms pivotally connected and forming an endless chain, which is passed about two wheels arranged one directly over the other. With this arrangement, a curved door is provided which normally supports the packages in the receptacles when they are in the partially, or wholly inverted positions in which they are held as they are carried be- 1 neath the, lower wheel, during the greater portion of which movement the packages would fall by gravity from the receptacles if they were not otherwise supported.

In the construction shown in said application the edges of the side walls of the receptacles pass closeto a curved supporting door and an adjacent bottom section, the closeness with which they must pass thereto being somewhat dependent on the character of the packages which are dispensed.

In dispensing candy bars, and other arti cles which are usually wrapped somewhat loosely in water proof paper, tin foil and similar material, from a machine of the type above referred to, which permits the endless carrier to be advanced until a package, which has been selected, is in position for delivery, many of the articles are liable to be carried down beneath the lower wheel and pushed along on the supporting means above referred to an indefinite, number of times, and are, in consequence, liable to become partly unwrapped, with the result that the loosened wrapper is liable to become caught between the edges of the receptacle in which it is held and the supporting means, with the result that the machine becomes clogged, so that either the endless carrier cannot be driven, or the wrapper becomes pulled off, or both re- I sults occur, either of which are highly objectionable.

The object of the present invention is to provide a construction which maybe incorporated in a machine organized substantially as disclosed in said prior application and which will effectively prevent the wrappers of the packages from becoming caught between the edges of the receptacles and the door, or bottom which support the packages when the receptacles are partially or wholly inverted, so that the difiiculties above referred to may be avoided.

I accomplish this object primarily, by so forming the sides of the receptacles relatively to the package supporting means that they will overlap as the sides are moved relatively to the supporting means.

For a morecomplete disclosure of the invention, reference is made to the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the dispensing means and of the operating and controlling means therefor.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the lowerportion of the dispensing means.

Fig. 8 is a detail bottom plan view of the article supporting means.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional .view at line w-aa of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view'of one of the carrier receptacles.

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the delivery door.

As shown in the drawings, the general construction and arrangement of the parts is identical with that disclosed in said application, except in the particulars hereinafter referred to, and comprises an endless carrier which consists of a series of receptacles, havin g the bottoms thereof connected by pivots 2, so that each bottom forms the link of an endless chain, said pivots being arranged to engage in the notches of a wheel'S, so that the endless chain or carrier thus formed may be driven thereby, another wheel, not shown, being provided directly over the wheel 3, so that the carrier portions extending therebetween will be carried vertically, as shown in Fig. 1. The carrier is driven in one direction by the main operating lever 4:, which ,acts through a slider 5 having a pawl 6 ar ranged to engage a wheel on the shaft on which the wheel 3 is mounted, the arrangement being such that, each time the operating lever is depressed from its initial position, the wheel 3 will be driven through 90 and a receptacle will be carried from a horizontal position in front of said wheel to a vertical depending position directly beneath it.

Each receptacle consists of a strip of sheet metal bent to form two parallel walls, which form supporting shelves when in horizontal position, and a connecting bottom, so that the receptacle is open at its outer, or opposite end from the bottom, to permit the article therein to pass freely therefrom. To prevent the articles which may be placed in the receptacles from falling or sliding therefrom, a curved door 8 is provided, which is pivotally supported by trunnions 9 at one end and is adapted to be locked in a positlon in which its top surface is concentric with the ath of movement of the edges of the sides of t e receptacles, as they are carried about the wheel 3, and a fixed bottom plate 10 is also provided, the top surface of which 1s continuous with the top surface of the door, so that the door and bottom section form a continuous support beneath the path of movement of the receptacle, as they are carried beneath the wheel 3. An arm 11 is provided on the door 8, which is engaged by a locking pawl 12, to support the door in closed position, as shown in Fig. 1, the pawl being movable to permit the door to swing downward to the dotted line position of Fig. 2, and permit the package, as P, to be discharged from a receptacle, which is held in the depending position of Fig. 2. As thus far described, the construction is the same as in my said prior application.

According to the present invention, the top or concave side of the door is provided with a series of parallel ribs 14 which extend throughout the length of the door, said ribs being equi-distantly spaced to form intermediate grooves of corresponding width. The bottom plate 10 is similarly provided I. with ribs 15, which are arranged to extend continuously with ribs 14, when the door is in closed position, the intermediate grooves also being continuous with the grooves of the door.

The edge portions of the sides of each receptacle are notched to provide projection fingers, or lugs 16, which correspond in width and location. to the grooves between the ribs 14 and 15, and are so arranged that, as each receptacle is moved about the wheel 3, the

lugs 16 thereof will pass between the ribs 14, 15, with their ends and sides in close prox imity to, but out of contact with the bottoms and sides of the grooves between said ribs, while the bottoms of the notches between said lugs will pass within similar proximity to the top surfaces of said ribs. The door 8 is also provided with a series of fingers 18 at the end edge thereof which is normally held in proximity to the bottom plate 1O one of said fingers being arranged to project from the middle of the end of each rib 14 thereof, and the top surface of each finger being continuous with the top surface of the corresponding rib. The width of each finger is somewhat less than the width of the rib 14 from which it extends, and the adjacent edge portion of the plate 10 is provided with corresponding notches 20 in the middle of the ribs 15, into which said fingers extend when the door is in closed position, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, so that, when in this position, a portion of the top surface of each finger 18 will be opposite a portion of the top surface of the corresponding rib 15. Also, in the closed position of the door, the end portions of the fingers 18 preferably extend slightly above the level of the portions of the plate 10 with which they are lapped, so that the top surface of the end portions of the fingers 18 wiil be held slightly above the level of the adjacent top surfaces of the ribs 15.

lVith the above described construction, when a receptacle containing a package, as P, is carried down beneath the wheel 3, the package will slide downward therein until it rests on the ribs 14, while the lugs 16 will extend beneath the package, or beyond it, so that if the wrapper becomes loosened, or the package becomes partly unwrapped, so that one edge portion of the wrapper would tend to pass between the edges of the sides of the receptacle and the top surface of the door, or of the fixed bottom, it will be held up by the ribs 14, 15 and will be engaged by the lugs 16 on the rear sides of the receptacle and pushed along thereby, thus preventing it from becoming caught or j ambed between the edges of the sides and the top surface of the door or bottom. Also, if it were not for the provision of the fingers 18, which project into the corresponding notches in plate 10, the lower side edge of the package, which is frequently quite thin, would be likely to be caught in the open space, or crack, which is i'iecessarily formed between the adjacent edges of the door and bottom plate, but, with the above described arrangement, the fingers 18 support the package until it has been carried over the adjacent portions of the ribs 15, so that, when the package is pushed from the fingers 18, it will be received by the ribs 15, thereby preventing undue wear on, or cutting or tearing of the wrapper, and also preventing the edge portion of the pack age from passing into the space between the door and plate.

All possibility of clogging of the carrier is thus prevented, any tendency for the wrapper to become caught between the tops of the ribs and the bottoms of the notches in the sides being prevented by the intermediate lugs 16 which push the wrapper along with the contents thereof, and transfer of the package from the door to the bottom plate Lid being effected without liability of damage to the Wrapper or of the package being caught in the space therebetween.

It may be noted that while it is considered preferable to provide both front and rear sides of each receptacle with lugs or fingers which project into the grooves of the article supporting means located beneath the lower wheel the construction will operate satisfactorily if the rear side Wall only of each receptacle is provided therewith. The particular form of supporting ribs shown, while not essential, is the most desirable of which I am aware.

I claim:

1. In a dispensing machine, an endless carrier arranged to be moved circularly in a vertical plane and having a series of article receiving receptacles each comprising a bottom and front and rear sides, and opening at its outer end to permit the discharge of the article therefrom, and a support located beneath the carrier having its upper surface disposed in proximity to the path of movement of the outer end edges of said sides, said support and said sides having oppositely projecting portions arranged to extend in overlapping relation, the projections on the support being adapted and arranged to support the article above the ends of the projections on the sides during the portion of the movement of each receptacle in which the article tends to be discharged therefrom.

2. In a dispensing machine, an endless carrier arranged to be moved circularly in a vertical plane and having a series of article receiving receptacles, each comprising a bottom and front and rear sides, and opening at its outer end to permit the discharge of the article therefrom, and a support located beneath the carrier and having its upper side disposed in proximity to, and concentrically with the path of movement of the outer end edges of said sides, said support having a series of ribs projecting from its upper side and extending in the direction of said path and having grooves intermediate said ribs and the rear side of each receptacle having corresponding projections and notches respectively adapted to extend into said grooves and to receive said ribs as the receptacle passes to and from discharging position.

3. In a dispensing machine, an endless carrier arranged to be moved circularly in a vertical plane and having a series of article receiving receptacles each comprising a bottom and front and rear sides, and opening at its I outer end to permit the discharge of the arti cle therefrom, and a support located beneath the carrier having its upper surface disposed in proximity to the path of movement of the outer end edges of said sides and comprising a movable section and a fixed section, said movable section being arranged for movement to permit delivery of an article discharged from a receptacle, and fingers projecting from one of said sections and having their upper sides continuous with the upper surface of the section, the other section having corresponding recesses arranged to receive said fingers and having its upper surface at the sides of said recesses at the level of the top sides of said fingers, when the movable section is in normal position, to support the articles continuously as they are propelled by the sides of the receptacles from one section to the other.

4;. In a dispensing machine, an endless carrier arranged to be moved circularly in a vertical plane and having a series of article receiving receptacles each comprising a bottom and front and rear sides, and opening at its outer end to permit the discharge of the article therefrom, and a support located beneath the carrier having its upper surface disposed in proximity to the path of movement of the outer end edges of said sides and comprising a movable section and a fixed section, said movable section being arranged for movement to permit delivery of an article discharged from a receptacle and having a plurality of fingers projecting therefrom and normally held in lapped relation with the adjacent portion of said fixed section in position to support the articles until they are delivered to the fixed section.

5. In a dispensing machine, an endless carrier arranged to be moved circularly in a vertical plane and having a series of article receiving receptacles, each comprising a bottom and front and rear sides, and opening at its outer end to permit the discharge of the article therefrom, and a support located beneath the carrier and having its upper side disposed in proximity to, and concentrically with the path of movement of the outer end edges of said sides, said support comprising a fixed and a. movable section each having. a series of ribs on the upper sides thereof arranged continuously one with the other when said movable section is in normal position and extending in parallelism with the path of movement of said sides, said movable section having a plurality of fingers and said fixed ARTHUR H. DU GRENIER.

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