US2077430A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Description

April 20, 1937. L H, M RW 2,077,430

VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 8, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet l L. H. MORIN April 20, 1937..

VENDING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Shet 2 Original Filed Sept. 8, 1934 L, H. MORIN A ril 20, 1937.

VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 8, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 a 14 0 c vvbo n lowl /$5410);

April 20, 1937. MORIN 2,077,430

- VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 8, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 [oak/50%);

April 20, 1937. L. H. MORIN 2,077,430

I VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 8, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Apr. 20, 1937 UNITED STATES VENDING MACHINE Louis H. Morin, New York, N. Y., assignor to The Coca-Cola Company, Wilmington, DeL, a. corporation of Delaware Original application September 8, 1934, Serial Divided and this application June 6, 1935, Serial No. 25,336

4 Claims.

The invention relates to vending machines particularly to vending machines for bottled goods, this application being a division of my application Serial Number 743,255, filed September 8,

1934, for patent on Vending machine.

It is an object of the invention to provide means effecting the delivery of a bottle under control of coin controlled mechanism.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means actuated in the absence of a bottle in position to be delivered, preventing the insertion of a coin.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings showing an illustrative embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation showing the cover or closure sections in open relation.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective of certain parts preventing deposit of a coin when the apparatus on line 3-3 2 5 iS empty.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section at right angles to Fig. 3 on line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on line 66 of Fig. 3, particularly showing a clutch or coupling 30 mechanism to operate the machine under coincontrol.

Fig. 7 is a view substantially similar to a portion of Fig. 6 but showing the clutch or coupling mechanism released as at the start ofan 5 operation.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on line 8-8 of Fig. 3 showing a driving mechanism.

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective of the drive shaft and pinion with some of the parts in separated 40 relation.

Fig. 12 is a detail vertical section on line |2l 2 10.

As shown the apparatus comprises a suitable 0 portable cabinet 32, adapted to be appropriately supported, interiorly of which is a tank 33, and between which tank and the cabinet walls, suitable insulation 34 is provided. The tank 33 is open at the top and is secured to the inturned '55 upper flange 35 ofth'e cabinet 32 at 36 as shown,

forming a properly insulated rectangular double wall structure.

The tank 33, as best shown in Fig. 3, is provided with a drain pipe 31 communicating with a fitting 38, the discharge from which drain pipe is controlled by means of a petcock 40 at an outlet 4|. Said tank is adapted to be filled with iced water and this drain construction is equipped to control the level of the cooling water within the tank.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 3, at the top of the closure or cover 42 on the edges thereof, there is an inturned bead 43 which holds a covering sheet 44 of linoleum or other suitable material in place. Said cover 42 is double walled as sheet 44 is supplemented by a wall at 45 and suitable insulation 46 is disposed between these walls. Mounted on the inturned edge 35 is a rubber breaker strip or gasket 41 adapted to receive the extended edge of the cover 42 and to form a seal therewith when the cover is in closed position. There is an additional cover 48 affording access to the interior of the tank 33 for inspection and re-icing, such cover 48 having a handle 49 and a lock 50.

The front cover 42 is mounted on four swingable links 53 connected by pivots 54 on the under side of said cover and by pivots 55 on the interior of the tank 33.

On the walls of the tank 33 (Figs. 3 and 5) near the bottom thereof are four supports I3 having horizontal portions 14 adapted to removably support, by means of bolts 15, a chassis for the bottle conveying mechanism, such chassis being designated as a whole by the numeral 16. This chassis is a skeleton metallic frame having four bolt-receiving lugs 11 provided with openings cooperating with bolts 15 to removably. secure the chassis to the supports 13.

The mechanism for holding and covering the bottles to be vended is essentially a chain conveyor and consists of a plurality of receptacles 98, each one of which comprises bottle holding cups 99 and I00, formed of a single stamping. The vertical sides of the bottle holding cups are cut away as at I04, in order to enable free circulation of the cooling water through the bottle cups and also to reduce the resistance of the cooling water against the travel of the conveyor through such cooling water.

The chain conveyor carrying the receptacles 99 and M0 is driven by a sprocket, not shown, mounted on hollow shaft I23, which is releasably or detachably keyed at its upper end bymeans of a key I to a second shaft I25 rotatably mounted in a bearing I21. The key I25 engages a slot I28 in the shaft I26 in normal operating position,

and permits relative vertical movement of the shafts I23 and I26 while still coupled for rotation, as set forth later.

As best shown in Fig. 3, the said shaft I26 has integrally formed therewith an annular plate or disc member I29 depending from which are a series of cams I30.- Mounted upon said member 0 I29 is a gear I3I having external teeth I32 which in turn mesh with a gear I33 carried by a shaft I34 mounted in a suitable bracket I35 attached by supports I36 to the interior wall of a dome or housing I31 and in an adjustable bearing I35,

supported also by said housing I31. Said shaft I34 carries a bevel gear I38 which is normally adapted to rotate freely about or loose on such shaft I34, but which can be, through the medium of a clutch mechanism I39, made to drive the shaft I34. The said gear I38 meshes with a bevel gear I39 mounted upon and rotatable with a shaft I40 which extends through to the front of the casing I31 where such shaft I40 is provided with an operating handle MI.

The front of the casing I31 is provided with a coin slot I42 adapted for the insertion of a coin of the proper denomination for the price of the article to be vended. Insertion of a coin in such slot I 42 followed by manual turning of the handle MI in a clockwise direction, operates conventional coin-controlled mechanism which forms no portion of the present invention except as described hereinafter. A coin controlled mechanism which may be employed, is disclosed in Letters Patent No. 2,015,351, issued to me on September 24, 1935.

The operation just described causes the coincontrolled mechanism to function and a continuous movement of the handle IlI moves or causes a detent member I43 to swing against the tens sion of a spring I44 to release contact with and move out of the path of an extension I45 of a pawl I46 to trip the pawl against the tension of a spring I41.

Said pawl I46 serves as a coupling or clutch means to control operation of the machine by the handle I4I. Such pawl I46 is pivotally mounted by a shaft I to the free end of a bracket member I59 which is fixed to shaft I34. 50 Secured to the lower end of said shaft I50 is an abutment I49 which in operative position is engaged by one of a series of studs I49 carried on the upper face of the bevel gear I 38, when detent I43 has disengaged pawl I46.

An extension I48 is provided on pawl I46 and engages a stop I48" on bracket member I50 to ensure engagement of abutment I49 and one of the studs I49 through arcuate alinement.

When the various parts are in their operative 0 positions as shown in Fig. 6, shaft I40 and gear I39 are rotated by means of handle MI and in turn rotate gear I38. One of the studs I49 engages the abutment I49, and rotates the entire clutch mechanism, through the medium of 5 bracket I 50", thereby rotating shaft I34 and shaft I26 through gears I3I andI33.

When the coin mechanism is at rest or in inoperative position, the member I43 contacts extension I 45 of pawl I46 and holds abutment I48 7 out of the circle of the studs I49 against the action of spring I41, so that if handle MI is turned, gear I38 will rotateidly on shaft I43. Upon completion of the complete revolution of gear I38, cam I45 again engages member I43 75 which has returned by operation of the coincontrolled mechanism to its original position and holds the clutch mechanism in idling position.

The aforesaid cams I 30 are timed to engage an anti-friction roller I5I carried by a shaft I52 slidably mounted within a bearing I53 and having a vertical slot I54 at its lower end detachably engaging a transverse pin I55 mounted on a stub shaft I56 normally held in extreme vertical position in a bearing I51 by means of a coil spring I58 compressed between the bearing I51 and an annular member I58 carried by the shaft I56.

'Said'shaft I56 is pivotally connected at I59 Figure 5, to a bottle-ejecting yoke I60 pivotally mounted at I6I and I62, such yoke carrying a pair of fingers I63 located so that during the latter. part of their upward travel they are directly in line with the slots I05 in the bottom of either cup 99 or I00 as the case may be.

Directly above the bottle to be vended by the apparatus, the cover 42 has a discharge opening I64 protected by an annular metal casing or ring I65 which carries a disc I66 of sheet rubber or other suitable material, having a small centralopening I61 around which the disc I66 is slit radially to form V-shaped segments which taper toward the opening I61.

Below the ring I65 is a guard member designated as a whole by the numeral I69 and comprising a depending annular skirt I10 provided with a pair of slots or openings I1I in line with the transverse path of travel of the bottles I12 on the front stretch of the conveyor as they travel toward the discharge opening.

The purpose of this member I69 is to prevent the unauthorized removal of a bottle through the discharge opening by insertion of the fingers through such discharge opening prior to the discharging operation of the bottle as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10.

To prevent deposit of a coin when there are no bottles contained within the machine, means are provided as follows: A bar I13 extends parallel with the front line of bottles nearest the point of discharge and is pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis to guard I10 as at I14, extending between said guard and a guide I15 carried by said guard and is provided adjacent the discharge opening I64, with a horizontally disposed leaf I15 of a length to engage the tops of at least two of the oncoming bottles which maintains the bar I13 normally horizontal. In the absence of a bottle beneath leaf I15, the righthand end of bar I13 lowers, Fig. 5, and the lefthand end of such bar I13 raises, also raising a bar I16, due to the contraction of a spring I11, attached to bar I16 and casing I 31, member I16 carrying a link I18, see Fig. 4.

Bar I16 is pivotally connected at I16 to a link I18, journaled at I18 in a bracket I18" on casing I31 as shown in Fig. 6, thus enabling a terminal I19 of said link, when the machine is empty, to enter an opening I80 in the coin-controlled mechanism and intercept movement of a horizontally movable slide I19 of that mechanism to the left in Fig. 6, which movement is essential to enable slide I19 to uncover the coin deposit slot I42, the specific construction of such coin-controlled mechanism otherwise formingno part of the present invention. Thus the raising and lowering of bar I16 respectively rocks link I18 into and out of opening I80 and the path of return movement of slide I19. Broadly expressed, bar I 13 lowers at its right-hand end, Fig. ,5, when the machine is empty as there are no bottles beneath leaf I15 to keep it raised and terminal I19 enters opening I80 and intercepts return of the slide I19, and hence prevents uncovering of coin slot I42 by that slide.

In the absence of a coin in the slot I42, the handle I4I may be revolved freely without operating the vending mechanism, as turning of the handle I4I will rotate shaft I40 and the gear I39 carried thereby and consequently the bevel gear I38 only. Said bevel gear I38 moves freely about the shaft I34 because the abutment I49 is out of the path of movement of the studs I49 and consequently no clutching action takes place.

Upon the insertion of a coin in slot I42 and a subsequent rotation of handle I4I, the coin-controlled mechanism operates and releases or retracts detent member I43 from contact with pawl element I45, whereupon spring I41 moves the clutch pawl I46 toward shaft I34 thereby placing abutment I49 in the same circle with the studs I49 on gear I39. Continued rotation of the handle I 4| causes the adjacent stud I49 to engage said abutment I49 which couples gear I38 to shaft I34 through bracket I50. As shaft I34 revolves, it drives through the medium of gear I33, the gear I3I enmeshed therewith which carries with it the disc I29 imparting rotation also to shafts I26 and I23 which imparts motion to the entire conveyor.

Upon the start of an operation there is no bottle in line with discharge opening I64 and the adjacent bottle cannot be reached by the fingers because of guard I10.

As the conveyor brings a cup containing a bottle to be vended close to the discharge opening I 64, one of the cams I30 engages the roller I5! on shaft I52 toimpart a downward motion against the tension of spring I52 to the latter shaft which in turn is transmitted to shaft I36, which by means of its pivoted connection I59 with the yoke I60, causes such yoke to rock on its axis I6I and impart vertical movement to the discharge fingers I63, which by this time are aligned with the slots I05 in the bottom of the bottle-containing cup now directly beneath the discharge opening I64.

Continued rotation of the handle I M causes the fingers I63 to rise through slots I05 into the cup, lifting and supporting the bottle in such cup partly ejected in the discharge opening I64 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10. During such upward movement of the bottle I12, it passes through disc I66 and pushes apart the segments I68 so that the bottle may then be removed by hand, the bottle being wiped by the said segments.

The parts just referred to for the discharge operation remain in this position until the next vending operation is started when the engaging cam I30 disengages the shaft I58 for operating the discharge mechanism and the parts return to normal position to repeat the operation just described.

The bottles I12 maintain bar I13 level and upon the exhaustion of the bottles from the apparatus, the right-hand end of bar I13 will lower due to the contraction of spring I11, resulting in the raising of bar I16 and rocking of link I18 so that its terminal I19 enters opening I80 and intercepts the return of slide I19, thus preventing such slide from uncovering the coin slot I42, until the machine has been refilled with bottles.

Various changes may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A machine of the class described havin coin-controlled means operable to release a bottle or the like, and mechanism under control of the bottle being vended operable automatically to prevent insertion of a coin in the absence of an article to be vended comprising a tubular guard having a bottle-entrance opening, a pivoted element on said guard having a portion in the line of discharge movement of bottles or the like to engage and rest on the upper ends of advancing bottles, and a means urging lowering of the element at the bottle engaging end thereof, a bar actuated by said element, a rocker link actuated by the bar, and a slide governing the deposit of coin, into and out of the path of movement of which said link is rocked.

2. A device of the class described having a discharge opening, a generally tubular guard, said guard having an entrance opening for bottles or the like, said guard being in the line of movement of the bottles or the like to said discharge opening, conveyor means to advance bottles through said openingfa pivoted element having a portion exteriorly of said guard and in the said line to rest on the upper ends of the advancing bottles, coin-controlled means to operate said conveyor means having a coin-deposit slot, and means effective to move said element to close said slot in the absence of bottles.

3. A device of the class described having a discharge opening, a generally tubular guard, said guard having an entrance opening for bottles or the like, said guard being in the line of movement of the bottles or the like to said discharge opening, conveyor means to advance bottles through said opening, a pivoted element having a portion exteriorly of said guard and in the said line to rest on the upper ends of the advancing bottles, coin-controlled means to operate said conveyor means having a coin-deposit slot, and means effective to move said element to close said slot in the absence of bottles, said portion having a laterally extending guide leaf at the top thereof directly engageable at its under surface with the upper ends of the bottles.

4. A machine of the class described having coin-controlled means operable to release a bottle or the like, and mechanism under control of the bottle being vended operable automatically to prevent insertion of a coin in the absence of an article to be vended comprising a guard having a bottle entrance opening, an element on said guard having a portion substantially in line with said opening to engage bottles and rest on portions thereof, and means urging movement of the element at the bottle engaging portion thereof under coin-control.

LOUIS H. MORIN.

Images