US2099267A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 16, 1937. B. A. HACKYETT 2,099,267

VENQING MACHINE Filed April 12, 1955 s sheets-sheet l` Nov. 16, 1937. B A HACKETT 2,099,267

VENDING MACHINE Filed April l2, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

B. A. HACKETT VENDING MACHINE Filed April l2, 1935 Nov. 16, 1937.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS.

VISO

Patented Nov. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5 Claims.

This invention relates generally to vending machines and more especially to a coin controlledtype of machine adapted to dispense articles of merchandise such as cigarette packages andthe like.

The principal object of the invention is to improve the art of dispensing merchandise.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a vending machine of the rotary stock carrier type in which the carrier cannot be rotated during operation of a 'coin slide so that merchandise cannot be broken or otherwise damaged so as to jam the machine. Y

Another object is to provide novel means for preventing the depression of a coin slide in the event that a package chute selected, has become empty.

A further object is to provide a novel coin display device adapted to facilitate detection oi slugs, spurious coins, and the like, and to secure suiiicient illuminationv of the coins displayed so that substitution may be readily detected.

Another object is to provide a novel arrangement of counter, coin slide, and magnifying coin display units in a vending machine.

Still another object is to provide means for preventing pilferage of merchandise from a vending machine.

Yet another object of the invention is toprovide a novel rotary stock carrier construction including means for supporting advertising matter thereon.

Other objects, features and advantages will be- A come apparent from the following description and appended claims.

For the purpose of illustrating the genus of the invention, typical concrete embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure l is a front elevation, parts being broken away, of a vending machine constructed according to the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section, taken substantially on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section, taken substantially on theline 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detail section, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a detail section, taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '1 is a horizontal section, taken substantially on th'e line I-l of Fig. 4;

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are detail sections, taken substantially on the lines 8-8, 9--9 and III- I0 of Figs. '7, 7 and 9, respectively; and

Fig. l1 `is a fragmentary detail view, in side elevation, of a modified form of ejector mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, the vending machine, in general, includes a base unit I and a display unit I I.

The display unit II includes a transparent cylinder I2, preferably of glass, and upper and lower frame or header members I3 and I4 held in assembled relation by tie rods I5. As indicated in Figs. 4, 7 and 8, the display unit II is connected to base unit I0 by extending the tie rods I5 through suitable bayonets or keyhole-like openings provided at the upper margin of base I9, said openings including enlarged cylindrical portions I6 adapted to permit lock nuts I1 or other suitable head elements on rods I to be passed therethrough and slot portions I8 leading therefrom and adapted to receive the rods I5 but prevent passage of nuts or heads I1 therethrough.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be noted that rotation of the display unit II in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 7, with respect to the base I0, will cause the bolt I5 to enter the slots I8 and the display unit and base unit may be locked together by means of a spring pressed detent I9 mounted in base I0 and projectable into a suitable opening in bottom header I4 of the display unit II. A chain 2| .depends from the spring pressed detent I9 and extends to a point within the interior of base I0 and adjacent a lock door (not shown), whereby access is obtained to the chain 2I for the purpose of withdrawing the spring pressed detent I9 so that the display unit may be rotated in a clockwise direction, Fig. 7, and lifted from the base unit Ill,` the nuts I'I of tie rods I5 passing through the enlarged circular opening I6 of the keyhole openings. A change drawer 22, Fig. 9, is disposed within the base I0 adjacent the above mentioned lock door.

Withinthe display unit II, a rotatable stock carrier is arranged and comprises upper. 'andI lower spiders 26 and 21 carrying, and maintained in spaced relation by, stock chutes 28 and similar but smaller stock chutes 29. The stock chutes 28 are adapted to receive cigarette packages and the smaller stock chutes 29 for receiving boxes or other match containers, inturned flanges being provided at the bottom of each of said chutes to limit movement of the stock'in a downward direction within the chute, as indicated in Figs. 2

and 4. The stock carrier 25 is xed toa rod 3| standard 32 bolted to the bottom late 33 of base unit I3. The upper end cfg; 3l is journaled in the header or frame element I3. The intermediate portion of the rod 3| is of non-circular formationand engages correspondingly shaped openings in the spiders 25 'and' 21 so as to fix the stock carrier against rotation relative to rod 3|. A hand whee1'34 is fixed to the\ upper end of the rod 3| for rotating the stock carrier.

Referring more especially to Figs. 2 and 4, the bottom margin of a downwardly extending flange 35 provided on the spider 21 is shaped to form a corrugated cam surface 43 cooperable with a roller 4| for the purpose of aligning the cigarette package chutes 23 in the desired position with respect to a delivery chute .43 provided in the baseunit I3. The roller 4| is carried by a plunger 44 mounted for reciprocation in a suitable bore 45 provided in the standard 32. A spring 43 -is interposed between the plunger 44 and the bottom of bore 45 for maintaining the roller 4| yieldably in engagement with cam surface 43 on ange 35 of the lower spider 21. 'I'he stock carrier 25 may be rotated against the yieldable resistance afforded by the spring pressed roller 4| by means of the hand wheel 34; however, when the hand wheel is released, the spring urged roller 4l serves to position the nearest stock chute 23 in aligngrouped arrangement ofa register or counter 58,`

a coin slide 5| and a magnifying coin display 52. Thus all of the manual controls for the vending machine, are placed at readily visible points, the

handle 34 for rotating the stock carrier being at the top of the device and the register 53, coin slide 5| and magnifying coin display 52 being grouped adjacent the delivery chute 43. Also visible to a purchaser through the transparent cylinder I2 are the packages of merchandise, such as cigarettes, arranged within the stock chutes 28, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4, and advertising matter carried by the rotary stock carrer 25 in the form of advertising display cards 53 held to the stock chutes 23 by clip flanges 54.

'Ihe coin slide 5|, per se, may be oi any desired type, as, for example, a coin slide of the general type disclosed in the Hall Patent 1,908,752, issued May 16, 1933, and in the Tratsch Patent 1,908,380, issued May 9, 1933. It is noted, however, in the present instance, the coin slide 5| has a bracket 51 fixed thereto for operating the dispensing mechanism and associated parts of the vending machine. l

Referring to Figs. 2 to 7 and 9, it will be noted that a vertically reciprocable lock bolt 55 is mounted in a bearing 55 integral with or fixed to the support standard 32 and movable by means of a cam surface 41 formed on an upturned flange 48 providedon the bracket 51 which is fixed to the coin slide 5|. Movement of the coin lslide 5| inwardly of the vending machine causes the flange 43 to elevate the lock bolt 55 so that it enters one of a circular series of openings 43 provided in the lower spider 21 to lock the rotary stock carrier against rotation when the coin slide 5l is in an inwardly pressed position. O ne opening 431s provided for each of the delivery chutes 28 and is positioned directly above the lock'bolt 55 when one of the stock chutes 23 is positioned in alignment with the delivery chute -43. l'lgvhe coin slide 5| is retracted by means of a spring -33 journaled at the lower end thereof in a suitable to an extended position with respect to the vending machine, as indicated in Figs. 7 and 9, causing retraction of the cam flange 43 and allowing v the lock bolt 55 to drop and free the stock carrier for manual rotation. The projection ofthe lock bolt 55 within one of the openings 43 upon inward movement of the coin slide 5|, prevents a new selection of a different brand of packaged merchandise while the coin slide is in the inwardly pressed position so that packages will not be broken and the machine jammed.

The bracket 51 also .carries a package ejector A3| pivoted eccentrically with respect to its center connection to the lug 62 due to the overbalancing of the ejector by the heavy side thereof. The ejector 5I has lateral portions 31 and 38, bothl downwardly sloping from the raised portion 35 so that the stock carrier 25 may rotate freely in either direction over the package ejector without interference from the-latter. A hooklike element 53 is pivoted to the right hand end of the package ejector 5I, as viewed in Fig. 5, on the heavy side of the ejector, so that when a package chute 28 is positionedover the ejector 5I and has become empty, the unbalanced weight of the ejector .5| rotates the same in a clockwise direction.

so that the element 53 can hook over a stationary element 54 fixed to the base unit i0. Thus, when an empty chute 28 is positioned above the ejector l 3|, the hook element 53 drops to a position such that it will engage the stationary element 54 and linut movement of the coin slide 5I to a very slight reciprocation inwardly of the vending machine. The weight of the packages in chutes 23 normally maintains element 53 elevated and prevents engagement oi' the latter with stationary element 54. 'I'his prevents loss of coins in the y nected t0 the ange 48 of bracket 51 so as to be reciprocated by the coin slide 5I. The match packet ejector 55 is alsopivoted eccentricaily with respect to its center of gravity so that the heavier portion thereof will overbalance the same and4 both ride along the bottoms of the articles to be ejected until the cam slide has been pushed back nearly to its rearmost position so that both ejector elements may then move back of the article to be ejected, the lighter end portions of each ejector element being elevated so as to engage the article to be ejected upon retraction of the coin slide 5| to prbjected position by means of the spring 53.

"Reference may now be had to Figs. 7 and 9 in which it will be noted that a lug 10 is also turned up from the rear margin of the bracket 51 carried by the coin slide 5| and is provided with an opening 31 which slidably receives a rod 1l connected to the operating arm 12 of counter 58. The free end of the rod 1| is provided with a pair of lock nuts 13 and a spring 14 is disposed about the rod 1| between the'lug 10 and lock nuts 13 to provide a yieldable connection between lug 10 and rod 1| for actuating the counter or register 50 once upon each reciprocation of the coin slide L5|. The spring 14 is provided to prevent breakage of the counter 50 in the event that the coin slide 5| is slammed to its inner position.

Referring to Figs. 9 and 10, the construction and operation of a coin handlingchute 15 and the magnifying coin display 52 will be described. The coin chute 15 is restricted at two points, indicated at 16 and 11. A coin stop 80 is pivoted at 8| adjacent the rear or bottom wall of the chute 15 which is arranged in an inclined position. The coin stop 88 is generally sector shaped.l As viewed in Fig. 9, the major portion of the weight of the coin stop lies to the right of the pivot 8| so as to maintain a stop bar 82 arranged tangentially of the periphery of the coin stop, against the underzface of the forward or upper wall of the coin chute 15. The stop bar 82 normally lies below and closes-the lower end of the coin chute 15 so as to maintain previously deposited coins positioned immediately in rear of a window 83 in the forward or upper wall of the coin chute 15. The coin display unit 52 includes a magnifying lens 85 spaced from the forward or upper wall of the coin chute 15 by a chamber 68 which includes angularly disposed and preferably curved walls 69, each having a light reflecting or mirror finish, so that any light entering the chamber through the lens 85 will serve to illuminate coins positioned in rear of the window 83 at the restricted portion 11 of the coin chute 15. At the upper edge of the coin stop 8|), two smaller sector shaped stop fingers 86 are provided and arranged to project through suitable openings in the rear or under wall of the coin chute 15 when the coin stop 80 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 9, so as to close the chute 15 against the passage of coins past the restriction 16.

Prior to the inward reciprocation of the coin slide 5|, the unbalanced weight of the coin stop .80 maintains the stop bar 82 in position to close the chute 15 at the restriction 11 and maintain previously deposited coins immediately in rear of the window 83 so that these coins may be viewed in the display unit 52 as magnied by the lens 85. When the coin slide 5I is reciprocated, a chain 81 connected to the coin stop 80 and to coin slide 5|, causes rotation of the coin stop 80 in a counter-clockwise direction about the pivot 8|, as viewed in Fig. 9, so as to withdraw the stop bar 82 from its traversing position across the chute at the restriction 11 and releases the coins held at this point, allowing the latter to be conveyed by the delivery end 88 of chute 15 to the coin drawer 22. Rotation of the coin stop 80 in such counter-clockwise direction rotates the stop fingers 86 to positions such that they traverse the chute 15 at the restricted portion 16, so that as coins are dropped from the coin slide 5|, they will be held at the restriction 16. Retraction of the coin slide 5| by means of the spring 68 allows the coin stop 80 to swing back in a clockwise direction so that the stop bar 82 closes the chute 15 at restriction 11 at the same time that the stop fingers 86 retract from the chute 15 to open the same at the restriction 16. This allows the coins just dropped by the coin slide 5| to drop from the restriction 16 to the restriction 11 so that these coins will be displayed by the unit 62 as before.

Referring back to' Fig. 4, lightleaf or feather springs 90 and 9| are shown within the upper end of the delivery chute 43 and adjacent .the end of the package to be delivered. yA spring 9| is provided foreach of the chutes 28 and each spring serves to prevent jarring or rattling of packages out of the stock chutes 28 by tipping the vending machine forwardly and tapping the base portion thereof against a supporting surface. A single spring 90 is mounted at the upper end of the delivery chute 43 and serves to tip the packages downwardly as they are delivered from the stock chute 28 to prevent jamming of packv upwardly through the delivery chute 43. In addition, a pivoted guard or shutter 93 is hinged at 94 to the forward margin of bracket 51 and provided with a cam flange 95 adapted to ride over the upper marginal edge of the under or back wall 96 of chute 43 so as to swing the guard or shutter 93 across the delivery chute 43 to prevent removal of packages from the vending machine while the coin slide 5| is inwardly pressed.

Reference may now be had to Fig. 11, which discloses a modified form of match package ejector 65e which may be made integral with the angegl of bracket 51. In this embodiment the ejector 65 is rigidly fixed with respect to the braclet 51 rather than being pivoted so as to overbalance, as in the previously described embodiment. The rear margin 91 of the article engaging end of ejector 65 is beveled off to permit the coin slide 5I to be easily reciprocated to its inward position while the match packets contained within the stock chute 29 ride on the upper end of the ejector 65'.

As many changes could be made in the .above described construction, and many apparently widely diierent embodiments of this invention could be had without departing from the spirit thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. In a vending machine, a stock carrier mounted therein for rotation about a vertical axis and including a plurality of vertically arranged stock chutes, a, reciprocable coin slide, and means including an ejector element pivoted to said slide about an axis extending longitudinally of said slide for dispensing articles of merchandise from a chute of said stock carrier, said ejector element being provided with downwardly inclined lateral margins for preventing interference with the rotation of said stock carrier.

2. In a vending machine, a stock carrier mounted therein for rotation about a vertical axis and including a plurality of vertically arranged stock chutes, a reciprocable coin slide, means including an ejector element pivoted relative to said slide about an axis extending longitudinally of said slide for dispensing articles of merchandise from the chutes of said stock carrier, said ejector element being provided with downwardly inclined lateral margins for preventing interference with the rotation of said stock carrier, said ejector element being pivoted eccentrically with respect to its center of gravity whereby the ejector'element rotates about its pivotal connection to the coin slide so that a portion of the ejector is elevated to a position in back of an article of lmerchandise to be dispensed upon reciprocation of the coin slide a predetermined distance in one direction and removes one of said articles from Aa stock chute upon reciprocation oi' the coin slide .an ejector element pivoted eccentrically with respect to its center oi gravity to said slide whereby said elector element at the limit ofreciprocation of said slide in one direction, rotates about its' pivotal connection to the slide s o that a portion of4 the `ejector element is elevated to aA position in back of an article of merchandise to be dispensed and removes the said article from its stock chute upon reciprocation of the slide in the vopposite direction, and means carried by said ejector element and engageable with a stationary part oi'4 said machine in the event that astock chute hasv become empty to prevent reciprocation of said slide'in said one direction.

4. In a vending machine, a stock carrier mount.. ed therein for rotation about a vertical axis and including a plurality oi' vertically arranged stock chutes, a reciprocable coin slide, means including an ejector element pivoted -eccentrically with A respect toits center 0i gravity to said slide, whereby said ejector element at the limit oi reciprocation of said-slide in one direction,rotates aposition in back of an article oi 'merchandise to be dispensed and removes said article from its stock chute upon reciprocation of the slide in the opposite direction, and means including a hooklike member pivoted to the ejector element on the heavier-side of the latter and. adapted to engage a .stationary part of said machinewhen a stock chute becomes empty for preventing reciprocation of said slide in said one direction.

\` 5. In a vending machine, a delivery chute, a reciprocable coin slide and means operable thereby for dispensing articles ofmerchandise from saidmachine, a guard pivotally connected to said coin slide, c am means on said guard and engageable with a wall of said chute for swinging the guard to a position traversing said delivery chute upon reciprocationl of said coin slide to prevent vpilferage of merchandise from the vending machine during operation of the coin slide.

BERNARD A. HACKETI.

about its pivotal; connection to the slide so that a portion of the ejector element is elevated to

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