US1816341A - Fruit vending machine - Google Patents

Description

y 23, 1931-v N. P. PETERSEN FRUIT VENDING MACHINE Filed Aug. 31. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 28, 1931. N. P. PETERSEN 1,316,341

FRUIT VENDING MACHINE Filed'Aug. 51, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 28, 1931. N. P. PETERSEN FRUIT VENDING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed'Aug. 31, 1927 Patented July 28, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE NELS P. PETERSEN, 0] LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA,- ASSIGNOR TO ANTONETTIE M. E.

PETERSEN, 0]? LOS ANGELES, QALIFORNIA FRUIT VENDING MACHINE Application filed August 31, 1927. Serial No. 216,567. I

ported, and before this is released, inserting a the barrier, the barrier being provided with a resilient lost motion connection which, in the insertion, prevents damage to the fruit.

Another detailed object/of my invention is in connection with the closing of the trap door by the return motion of the arm operating the vending mechanism and withdrawing the barrier, which also may have a delayed motion, assuring the door being closed before the barrier is withdrawn, and dropping the stack of fruit onto the trap door.

\ A further detailed object of my invention is in mounting apinion on a fixed axis and having upper and lower racks engaging therewith, the lower rack being directly connected to a hand operated rod for "working the vending machine'.- The lower rack,

moreover, has a trigger for releasing a catch which holds the trap door of the magazine closed,and also this lower rack has an arm with a roller thereon which closes the trap door after the vending operation. The upper rack has a barrier operatively connected therewith and movable to be insertable inthe magazine,-this barrier being constructed with a partly slidable or delayed motion connection with the upper rack.

Another object of my invention in connection with the coin control feature of my vending mechanism is in the employment of a pivotally mounted latch which has a device for engaging a coin on edge and on the forward movement of the lower rack,- when the coin is inserted, the latch is depressed, allowing the working'of the vending machine. However, if there is no coin lnserted, a stop devlce 1s brought into action and prevents movement of the lower rack.

Other detailed objects and features of my invention such as the particular arrangement and mounting of the pinion, the rack bars, the arms for controlling the magazine and the particular construction of the barrier, its lost motion connection, etc., will be detailed in the following description:

My invention as applied to a fruit vending machine having a single stack of fruit is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through my machine taken on the line 11 of Fig. 3, this view showing the position of the mechanism before the vending operation.

Figure 2 is a section similar to Fig. 1 showing the position of the mechanism after vending an article such as an orange.

Figure 3 is an irregular vertical trans- I verse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a partial horizontal section on the line 44 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows. Figure 5 is a partial elevationv of the lower rack bar taken in the direction of the arrow 1 with a side or cover plate removed showing the non-return control for the rack bar.

Figure 6 is avertical longitudinal section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows showing part of the barrier and the lost motion connection with the upper rack bar.

. Figure 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 with the barrier inserted in the magazine.

The general vending mechanism is mounted in a suitable base housing 11 having an upper casing 12 and in this latter is mounted a magazine 13 for holding the fruit or articles to be vended. This magazine is shown as tubular and is open at the bottom 14:, which bottom is closed by a trap door 15 pivotally connected to one side of the magazine, as indicated at 16. The trap door has a cam section 17 on the bottom and is provided with a block 18 at its free end.

This block is engaged by a catch 19 having a tooth 20 engaging in a notch 21 of a trap door. This catch is pivotally mounted as indicated at 220m the side of the magazine, the upper end 23 of the catch bein normally pressed outwardly by a sprm 24 which1s secured to the lower part 0 the magazine. On one side of the magazine there is a horizontal slot 25 for insertlon of the barrier, as hereunder set forth (note Figs. 1 and 2).

The coin control features connected to my vending machine comprise a coin chute 30 indicated in phantom in Fig. 1, this leading the coin to a position indicated at 31, in which position the coin engages a projecting nub 32 which has an inclined upper edge 33, this nub being mounted on a latch 34 which is pivoted on a pivot pin 35 secured to a block 36 extending upwardly from the base 37 of the vending machine. This latch is normally pressed upwardly by a spring 38 fitting in a socket 39 and coiled around a stem 40. A stop post 41 is also secured .to the latch slightly to one side of the hub 32 which is in alignment with the edge of the coin and the stop post 41,

being on one side of the coin. The upward movement of the latch is limited by pins 42 secured to the upper part of the block 36 (note Figs. 1 and 2).

The nub, the stop post and the latch co operate with the slidable rack structure of the vending mechanism constructed as follows: An operating arm or rod 45 has a handle 46 and is slidable through an aperture 47 in the front of the housing 11. This is connected to a rack bar 48 which is slidable in a suitably mounted guide-way 49 in the vending machine. On one side of this rack bar there is secured a plate 50. This plate has a rounded forward edge 51 to engage the edge of the coin and also has a stop pin projected from one side. When the handle 46 is pulled outwardly, if there is no coin in the position indicated at 31, the stop pin 52 engages the upper part of the stop post 41, and is thereby prevented from outward movement, thus blocking the operation of the vending machine.

However, when there is a coin in a position of 31, this is shoved in a forward direction by engaging the curved surface 51. of

i the plate 50. The action presses on the nub 32 thereby pivoting the latch lever 34 downwardly to such an extent that the stop pin 52 passes over the top of the sto post 41.

The latch lever then returns to 1ts normal position under the action of the spring 38. The relative position of the above elements are illustrated in Figs 1 and 2.

On return movement, on thrusting in on the handle 46, the stop pin engages the upper curved surface 53 of the stop post 41, thereby depressing the latch lever 34 and allowing return of the parts to their original posi tions. In order to prevent a return motion of the rack bar when once started, I provide a series of notches 55 on the bottom of this bar, with a pair of recesses 56 at the end of the notches. A dog 57 is mounted on a pivot pin 58 in a pocket 59 of the block 36. The lower end 60 of this dog is attached by a spring 61 to the block, this allowing the toothed end 62 to engage in the notches 55 and prevent a return movement of the rack bar when it isv once started in its movement, until the movement in either direction is completed (note Fig. 5).

The closing and opening mechanism for ,the'magazinc is constructed as follows: An arm 65 is connected by means of a stud 66 to the rack bar 48 and at its upper end it carries a roller 67. At the end of the rack bar there is a trigger arm 68 which has a forwardly turned flange 69, the action being as follows: Then the handle 46 is drawn outwardly, thus pulling the rack, the flange 69 of the trigger 68 engages the upper end of the catch 23, this action compressing the spring 24 and pulling the tooth 20 out of engagement with the notch 21 of the trap door 15, so that this door is free to drop, due to the action of gravity and also the weight of the fruit or other articles to be vended resting on this trap door. This action is represented in Fig. 2.

On the return movement of the rack bar 48, the roller 67 engages the cam section 17 of the trap door 15 and forces this into its closed position. After it is closed, the trigger moving away from the catch 19 allows the spring 24 to return the catch to its normal position with the tooth 20 in engagement with the notch 21 of the trap door, thus holding it in locked position as shown in Fig. 1.

The transfer of motion is effected by the rack bar having teeth on its upper edge which mesh with a pinion 76 which is mounted on a stud 77 on a frame 78 contained in the housing 11 (Fig. 3). The rotation of the pinion actuates anupper rack bar 79 having teeth 80, this rack bar sliding in an upper guideway 81 contained in the housing 11. A tension spring 82 caught between a screw 83 on the upper rack bar and a hook 84 on the front of the housing 11 normally hold the two rack bars and the pinions and other associated parts in the position shown in Fig. 1. After pulling out on the handle 46 the spring is tensioned, as shown in Fig. 2, and returns these parts to their normal inactive position.

A barrier 90 is formed of a plate 91 having a forked inner end 92, the forked end diverging as shown in Fig. 4. This barrier. plate is slidable in a guideway 93 in the upper part 94 of the general frame 78 (Fig. 3). A block 95 is firmly secured to the under surface of the barrier plate and has a horizontal opening 96 therethrough, in which slides a rod 97 having a cotter pin 98 at its outward end.- This rod is rigidly connected to a second block 99 and there is a coiled spring 100 on the rod between the two blocks. The block 99 is rigidly connected to an arm 101 which is rigidly attached to the upper rack bar 79, as indicated at 102.

The action of the barrier is substantially as follows: When the lower 'rack bar is pulled out, due to a purchaser pulling on the handle 46, the upper rack bar 79 is moved in the reverse direction, due to their toothed interconnection with the pinion 76. The inward movement of this upper rack bar through the medium of the arm 101 carries the forward block 99 and through the medium of the spring 100, the inner'block 95 is then shifted. This latter block carries the barrier plate, which passes through the slot 25 in the magazine 13 being shifted from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 2.

Should the forked end 92 of the barrier plate engage an article to be vended such as an orange or apple whose lowermost point is not .quite in line with the barrier, the spring 100 may become compressed to a sufiicient extent to prevent injury to the fruit, but not sufficient to prevent insertion of the barrier between the lowermost fruit and the one next above thus the barrier provides a device for supportin the column or stack of fruit in the magazine after the lowermost one has been vended by dropping through the trap door 17. The fruit, when vended, rolls down and isjdispensed through the chute 104 (Fig.

In the return action. the weight of the fruit tends to hold the barrier plate'91 until the cotter pin 98 engages the inner block 95, thus holding the stack of fruit in themagazine until the trap door 15 is completely closed and caught by the catch 19 as above explained. v

From the above descri tion, together with the'illustrations, it will e seen that I have developed a simple type of vending machine .whichis suitable for fruit or other irregularshaped articles. These, as indicated, may be arranged in a suitable stack, one above the other. It is, however, to be understood that I may have a magazine with a plurality of stacks of fruit of different means, the

magazine being shiftable as is common ;:in vending machines so that 'any particular article may be vended.

Various changes may be made in the principles of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof, as set forth in the description, drawingsand claims.

I vclaim:

1. A vending machine havinga magazine, 1

means to support a stack of articles, one

above the other, therein, a movable barrier slidable through said block, an outer block connected to the rod, a spring between said rods, and means to reciprocate the outer block, said reciprocating motion thrusting a barrier between a lowermost article in the magazine and the article next above.

2. A vending machine having a magazine for a stack of articles one above the other, a trap door forming a support for the lowermost article, a catch securlng said trap door in closed position, a movable structure having a trigger to release the catch to allow opening of the door in one direction of movement of the said structure, and a roller to directly engage and lift the door and close the door on another movement of the structure.

3; A fruit vending machine having a magazine for a stack of articles, one above the other, a trap door pivotally connected to the magazine and forming a bottom closure to support the said articles, a pivotally mounted catch engaging the door and-holdingsame closed, a spring retaining said catch in engagement with the door, a movable structure having a trigger to engage the catch and compress-the spring, thereby releasing the door on the movement of the said structure in one direction, an arm having a roller connected to the said structure, said roller engaging the door and closing the door on the reverse movement of the said structure.

4. A vending machine comprising in combination a magazine for a stackrof articles, a supporting device to retain the lowermost article in the magazine, a-lowerrack bar having means to open and close the supporting device for the stack of articles, a pinion meshing with the rack bar, a second rack bar, a barrier plate connected thereto, said barrier plate being insertable into the magazinc and between the lowermost article and mounted rack bar meshing with the pinion,

a slidable barrier plate connected to the second rack bar and shiftable to be interposed between the lowermost article and the one next above, andmeans to operate one of said rack bars.

6. A vending machine comprising in combination a slidably mounted lower rack bar having an operating rod with a handle, a magazine having a pivotally mounted trap door at its lower end to support the lowermost of'a stack of articles, a catch pivotally mounted on the magazine and having a tooth engaging with the trap door, a spring normally pressing said catch into engagement with the door, a trigger connected to the rack bar to releasethe catch by compressing the spring in the outward movement of the rack bar, an arm connected to the rack bar having a roller to engage the trap door and close same on return motion of the rack bar, a pinion mounted on'a fixed axis meshing with the rack bar, a second rack bar meshing with the pinion, a barrier plate off-set to one side from the second rack bar and shiftable partly across the magazine to, support the stack of articles above the lowermost article after opening of the trap door.

. 7. A vending machine, as claimed in claim 6, the barrier plate having a pair of prongs at its outer end and having a'mounting with a spring, said spring allowing a stopping movement of the barrier plate on engaging an article and allowing further movement of the second rack bar.

8. In a vending machine having a magazine, means to support a stack of articles one above the other therein, a movable barrier positioned below the magazine in the form of a plate having a pair of prongs to engage a spherical article, and means to in- 'sert said barrier between a lowermost article of the stack and the article next above.

9. In a vending machine having a magazine, means to support a stack of articles one above the other therein, a movable barrier in the form of aplate having a pair of prongs to engage a spherical article, means forming a resilient mounting for the barrier adapted to allow displacement thereof on the plate striking one of the articles, and means to shift the plate forming the barrier between the lowermost and the article next above in the stack.

10. In a vending machine having a magazine, meansto retain a stack of articles one above the other in the said magazine, the said retaining means releasing the lowermost article, a barrier plate positioned to enter the magazine, means to shift the plate betweent-he lowermost article and the article next above in the stack on the release of the lowermost article, means having a lost slip 11. In a vending machine having a magazine, means to retain a stack of articles one above the other in the said magazine, the

the weight of thefriction between the plate and the guideway whereby the plate is held temporarily underneath the stack of articles on the partial withdrawal of the lost slip motion means.

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

N ELS P. PETERSEN.

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