US2199196A - Display and dispensing device - Google Patents

Description

Apr-ii 30, 1940.

R. EVANS DISPLAY AND DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Feb. 12, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N g f INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

April 30, 1940. V N 2,199,196

DISPLAY AND DiSPENSING DEVICE Filed Feb 12, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Jflm's k. fvfi/vs.

BYZ g ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. so, 1940 v v 7 2,199,196

- 2,199,196 DISPLAY AND DISPENSING DEVICE J James K. Evans, Indianapolis, 'Ind. 7 Application February 12, 1938, Serial No. 190,151

9 Claims. (01. 221-146) Thisinvention relates to adisplay type vendin constitutes the main support portion. Mounted device. within the tubular boss and suitably secured One of the chief objects of this invention is thereto is a tube 18, the boss and the tubehavto display in substantially all directions merchaning registering apertures l9 and 20, respectively,

UNITED-9} TATES iPATENT ()FFlCE- dise, such as nuts, confections, and the like, for forthe admission of electric current conducting r 5 sale and when the device is vfilled and Viewed from wires 2 I. 7

any direction, all of the types of merchandise Suitably-supported on the base as at 22 is an may be seen from any direction. electric motor 23 which through a reducing mech- One chief feature of the invention whereby anism-drives a pinion 25which meshes with the the aforesaid object is accomplished, is by the gear 26, rotatable on the stationary shaft or ,1 0.

. be dispensed.

use of compartment forming spiral partitions, the tube l8. p pitch thereof relative to the height of the parti- The gear may be provided with a friction clutch tion and the cross sectional area of the display face portion 21. It may also be provided on its portion of the device being such that the aforelowermost or opposite face with an anti-friction said condition applies. v construction retainer 28. Ananti-friction struc- 5' Another chief object of the invention is to ture 29 is interposed between the gear 26 and the provide a multiple compartment display and disupper face, of. boss I6. pensing apparatus with means within the same A complementary clutch member 21a has a for illuminating and/orheating the contents to slidable but non-rotatable connection, with a r sleeve 29. This type of connection includes a pin The other chief feature of this invention 30 carried by the'sleeve and extending intoan whereby the last mentioned object is accomelongated slot 3| formed in the clutch member plished, consists in forming the merchandise 21a. Concentric with the sleeve 29 and bearing compartments by means of two coaxial trans- 0n the underface of a lower support member 32 parent or translucent tubes and positioning, for is a coil spring 33 which bears at its lower end on 25 merchandise illumination, within the inner tube, the flange portion 34 of the upper clutch mema source of illumination, or for heating the .merber. Thus, the upper clutch member is norchandise, a source of heat or when both illuminamall; constrained into cooperating engagement tion and heating are desired, a sufficient capacity with the lower clutch member 21. The tube l8 if) light bulb, or the like, which will provide both extends through the sleeve portion 29. .30 illumination and heat. a The-lower support member 32 has a recesse Other objects and features of the invention will .boss 35 withinwhich is mounted an anti-friction be pointed out, more fully hereinafter. structure 36, the latter being interposed between The full nature of the invention will be unsaid boss and thesta'tionary tube H! which 1310- derstood from the accompanying drawings and 'jects above the same and mounts :a socket. 31 .35

i the following description and claims. adapted toreceive a light bulb 38. The terminals In the drawings, ,Fig. l isa side elevation of a of the socket are suitably connected to the supdispensing display device embodyingthe invenp 11119521} before. n i Socket 37 y tion and looking at the same toward the'dispensreceive .a glow heating unit.

4.0 ing station. The lower supportmember 32 has a threaded v .Fig. 2 is a central sectional View through the ficnnect o as t W a p y, d p ef- .device. and is taken in a plane parallel to the erably thre mor rods s u der d at th ir device as shown in Fig. 1. lower ends as atd'l and shouldered at their upper Fig. 3 isatransversesectional View through the ends as at 42. A retainer 43 is aperturedas at 3 display and storageportion of the device. M toreceive the reduced h e d upp r end 45 45 In the drawings It indicates a base member ofthe spacing support member tll. A nut 56 provided with socket portions H adapted to reclampingly associates the retainer with the lower ceive cushion bearing portions of felt, rubber or support memberand the spacing elements 40. the like l2. The base I!) is recessed as at I3and The upper support or retainer member 43 is suitably secured to the base member It and provided at its outer edge, with a band portion nestingly associated with the groove portion I3, 41, the latter extending downwardly as at Ma and is the metal shell It, the screwslfi constituting upwardly as atllb. The retainer is also centhe anchorage before mentioned. trally apertured' as at 48. This permits heat Extending upwardly within the shell is a tubugenerated by the light bulb 38 to escape from P5 lar boss [6 suitably reenforced as at ll, since this the central] chamber or compartment formed within the inner glass cylinder 49, the upper edge of which is nested in the groove 50 formed in the underface of the retainer 43 and the lower edge of which is centrally positioned by means of the shouldered portion 5|.

An outer glass cylinder 52 is nested within the groove 53 formed in the underface of the retainer 43 and is centralized in position by the upstanding peripheral flange portion 54 carried by the lower support member 32. This portion 54 is extended downwardly in skirt formation so as to peripherally envelope, as at 55, the upper edge ofthe casing portion I4 associated with the base element II). It thus will be apparent that when the motor is energized, the lower support member 32, the two glass cylinders and the upper retainer, all rotate as a unit. The nesting relation at the top of the glass cylinders provides for their expansion and. also for ready assembly without extremely accurate dimensioning of the lengths of the glass cylinders.

A cover member 56 has a downturned flange 51 which is telescopically received by the por tion 47b. It supports a handle member 58 by the means indicated at 59. It is provided with a suitable number of apertures 60 and the same are protected by a screen member 6i retained in position by a retainer plate 62 similarly apertured as at 63. The plate 62 is retained by the same means 59 before mentioned. The plate 43 is in effect a spider arrangement, and is provided with six openings 64, one for each compartment formed within the two cylinders, so that heat from the central chamber within the inner cylinder escapes to the cover chamber and is directed downwardly by the cover into the several compartments through openings 64.

The base is provided with hopper like portions 65 similarly spaced and of like number. The hopper like portions are extended to form chute portions 68 and each mouth or opening 67 thereof is closed by a swinging gate type closure or valve 68 having the stop portions 69 and the sid portions 10, the latter being pivoted as at H to the parallel faces 66a of the portion 66. Each of the closures is provided with the finger piece 12 secured to one of the side plates 10, as indicated at I3.

As shown clearly in Fig. 1,the casing portion I4 terminates at Ma and M1). These side edges Ma. and MD are in spaced relation and extending radially inwardly and below the common level of the closure 68 is a supplementary casing portion I4 which forms a dispensing recess or pocket. The portion I4 is apertured to receive an insulating sleeve I5 through which extends an electrical supply cord I6 terminating in a plug TI for receptacle connection.

The electrical supply cord within the lower or base chamber formed within the casing I4, is divided and one portion goes to a switch indicated by I8 and mounted on the portion I4. This switch controls the current supply through line 2| to the lamp 38.

Oppositely positioned on the member 14 is another switch I9 which controls the current from line 16 to the motor supply lines 88. When the switch I9 is in closed circuit position, it will be obvious that the entire display mechanism above the casing I4 rotates and also carried therewith are the discharge hoppers which are concealed within the casing I4, except when they register with the dispensing pocket or recess.

It will be recalled that the retainer member is of spider formation, provided with, for example, six openings 64 and that the lower support member 32 is provided with six hopper like discharge portions 65.

A suitable number of partitions extending from the lower support member to the upper retainer form a like number of compartments adapted to receive articles of merchandise through the openings 64 and adapted to be dispensed through the opening or mouth 61 of the hopper when the appropriate discharge hopper is registering with the dispensing recess or pocket and naturally when there is no rotation of the display device. While the openings in the retainer member and the hopper like discharge openings in the lower support member are in registration, the two do not have communication through the same compartment, because the partitions are of scroll or spiral type and preferably any horizontal section through the same, shows radial elements.

Herein there are six compartments formed by six spiral partition members 8|. The lower end of each of the spiral partitions is suitably secured as at 83 in the grooved anchoring portion 82 having the upturned end portion 84. These portions 84 may centralize or locate the inner glass cylinder 49.

Similarly, the upper ends of the spiral partitions are receivable by the grooved members 86 suitably secured thereto as at 81, said grooved members also being provided with downwardly extending portions 88 which may also locate the upper end of the inner glass cylinder.

The pitch of the spiral partitions with relation to the diameter of the device and the height, is such that the display device, when viewed from any direction in the present embodiment of the invention, shows portions of all six compartments and when the device is filled with merchandise, the six different kinds of merchandise, if there be that many on display, will be all visible to the observer and potential purchaser from any direction, whether or not the display portion of the device is rotating or stationary.

By the arrangement shown more particularly in Fig. 2, it will also be apparent that if the merchandise to be dispensed is various kinds of nuts and a rather large wattage lamp bulb 38 is employed, the heat generated by said light bulb will not only heat the inner glass cylinder 49 and thus be transmitted to the contents in the compartments, but will also pass upwardly into the cover chamber above the display compartments and downwardly about the contents in the various compartments. This heat is sufficient to prevent congealing of the oil on the nuts, which usually is in the form of a film retained thereon as an incident to the preparation of the nuts for sale, to-wit, in the blanching operation. Except for peanuts, practically all other kinds of nuts do not pack, that is most nuts except peanuts when in the compartments have considerable voids therebetween so that the illumination from the light source passes through these voids and illuminates the adjacent nuts in the compartments.

It will also be apparent that incident to rotation, there will be some vibration so that there will be a tendency of the merchandise, more especially nuts and candies, to pack, as it were, in the display compartments. If the partitions were vertical, said packing might result in the clogging and failure to dispense. However, with the present invention, the weight of the merchandise to be dispensed is partially supported v ing normally open upper ends. 1

by the spiral partitions and these in addition serve as a slide-way for ease of discharge and downward movement of the merchandise as the supply thereof is exhausted by reason of dispensing of the same through the hoppers. To refill the compartments, all that is necessary is to remove the cover mechanism. v

While the invention has been described in great detail and similarly illustrated in the drawings, the said description and drawings are to be considered illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The several modifications illustrated and/or described herein, as well as others which will readily suggest themselves to-persons skilled in this art, are all considered to be within the broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A rotatable display and vending device,

that the device when viewed from any side simul' taneously exposes a portion of each compart merit for various material display.

A device as defined, by claim 1, characterized by the additionof means within the base structure having connection with said tubular rotatable structure for rotation of same, and manually operable means for stopping the rotation whenthe selected compartment discharge control registers with the recess.

3. A device of the character defined by claim 1, characterized by the addition of an inner tubular wall, and heating means therein for heat-- ing the compartment contents, each compartment communicating with the chamber within the inner tubular wall through the cover mechanism, each compartment and the chamber hav- 4. A device as defined by claim 1, characterized by the addition of'aninner coaxial light transmitting tubular arrangement forming the inner walls of all compartments, and illuminating means within the inner tubular arrangement for the purpose described, the illuminating means I I supplying heat to the compartment contents, each compartment and the inner tubular arrangement having normally open upper ends and communicating with each through the cover mechanism;

5. A device of the character defined by claim '1, characterized by the addition of an inner tubular wall, heating means therein for heating the compartment contents, means within the base structure having connection withsaid tubular rotatable structure for rotation of the same, and manually operable means for stopping the rotation when the selected compartment discharge control registers with the recess.

6. Adevice of the character defined by claim 1, characterized by the addition of an inner tubuler wall, heating means therein for heating the compartment contents, each compartment communicating with the chamber within the inner tubular wall through thecover mechanism,

each compartment and the chamber having nor mally open upper ends, means within the base structure having connection withsaid tubular rotatable structure for rotation of the same, and manually operable means for stopping the rotation when the selected compartment discharge control registers with the recess.

7. A device as defined by claim 1, characterized by the addition of an inner coaxial light transmitting tubular arrangement forming the inner walls of all compartments and illuminating means within the inner tubular arrangement for the purpose described, the illuminating means supplying heat to the compartment contents, "each compartment and the inner tubular ar-" rangement having normally open upper ends and communicating with each through the cover mechanism, means within the base structure having connection with said tubular rotatable structure for rotation of the same, and manually operable means for stopping the rotation when the selected compartment discharge control "registers with the recess.

8. A device as defined by claim 1, characterized by the addition of an inner tubular arrangement, an electric current operable device therein, a socket also therein detachably receiving the device, said cover mechanism having a detachable connection withthe compartments and chamber Within the inner tubular arrangement, the chamber and compartments having open upper ends for device replacement and com- I partment refilling, respectively.

9. A device as defined by claim 1, characterized by the cover mechanism having a restricted ventilating portion.

r I JAMES R. EVANS.

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