US2569988A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 2, 1951 c. L. GRAU VENDING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 7, 1946 'Rzrmeaunne I E INVENTOR.

Cdf/ Z. Gra a- ATTORNEYS C. L. GRAU VENDING MACHINE Oct. 2, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 7, 1946 ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 2, 1951 U N I T ED S TATE S PAT ENT OF F ICE VENDING MACHINE.

'Carl' L. .l Gran, Streator,"Ill.

Application May 7, .1946, Serial No.-'6'67,91"7

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to vending apparatus of the coin-controlled type, and particularly to such vending apparatus that is adapted to vend bottled merchandise such as soft drinks.

In vendingmachines of the character to which the present invention relates, it is essential that the apparatus have a relatively short vending cycle, because in the (places where devices of this character are employed, the sales must take place within a relatively short period of time, and to enable this to be accomplished in a simple and effective manner is an important object of the present invention. 'Another and related object is to enable such a vending machine to operate rapidly through its vending cycle while at the same time moving the bottles in a slow and gradual manner so as .to avoid damage to such bottles. A further object is to enable a machine of the aforesaid character to be conditioned at all times for delivery .of a bottle, and to accomplish this in such a way that the bottle is delivered to the user in a position where the bottle may be readily grasped and removed from the machine.

Vending machines of the aforesaid character are often subjected to attempts to obtain merchandise therefrom without deposit of a coin to pay for such merchandise, and to. enable such theft of such merchandise to be prevented in a simple and effectivemanner is a further object of the present invention.

in the use of vending machines of the character to which this invention relates, it is important that the machine operate in such a manner that it will not require the excessive or frequent service of an attendant, and one of the most frequent reasons for requiring such services arises where a user deposits a coin in the machine and it develops that the machine is empty. It is therefore a further object of the present invention to enable coins to be rejected from the coin slot mechanism of such a vending machine whenever the machine is empty, and an object related to the foregoing is to enable the coin slot mechanism of such vending machine to be disabled during a part of each vending cycle, thereby to afford an indication as to whether the machine still contains merchandise for each cycle of operation of the coin slot mechanism, or in other words, for each coin that is inserted in the coin slot mechanism.

Where a bottled merchandise .such as soft '12 drinks is being vended, as for example in a manufacturing plant, or inoffices, it is essential that-:thisibottled merchandise :be properly refrigerated, and because of such refrigeration, many problems :areiintroduced with respect to dampness-andcorrosion ofthe operating parts oi theamechanism. Flt-is therefore a'further object ofthe,presentinvention to enable such a vending mechanism 'to=be-so:constructed and arranged that. they control mechanism that is of a delicate; character may be. located outside of the i refrigerated portion; of .thaapparatus, and a relatedobjectisito enablerthe motor that drives the. vending mechanismwto-beslocated in a protected relation where *it-:Wi11;not be subjected to dampness and -corrosion that normally result from the ;;presence of therefrigerated air within the cabinet.

A further object of the present invention is to afford a ssimple .delivery and. storage mechanism for the-bottled merchandise, and to supply such merchandise to the finaldelivery mechanism of the machinealong .two different paths so as'to. thereby reduce the speed of movement that isvrequired for the articles of merchandise. A related and more specific object is to store the "merchandise on: shelves within the cabinet of the machine so that the bottles arewithdrawn in a rollingmovement fromthe shelves in succession. More specifically, .itis anobject of the present invention to \afiord two delivery paths disposedon opposite :sides ofa horizontal final delivery path; andsto ".move the bottles alternatel-y from the two initial-paths onto the final path, from which thebottles are then discharged so as-to heeavailable (to the user of the machine.

Other and further objects of the present invention will-beapparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying hdrawingsvwhich, by way of illustration show .a preferred embodiment of the present invention and .'-the principle thereof and WhatLnowconsiderto'be the'best modein which I have. contemplated applying that principle. Other embodiments of Lt'he invention embodying thesame ,or equivalent principle .may .be used and. structuralchanges .may "he made as desired by those skilled ,in theiart without departing fromnthe present invention and the purview of the appended claim.

Inthe drawings:

Fig. 1 isaperspectiveview of a vending machine embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the vending machine;

Fi 3 is a vertical sectional view of the bottle magazine and delivery mechanism of the machine taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; v H

Fig. 3A is a perspective view of the gate mechanism that controls delivery of the bottles from the storage shelves;

Fig. 4 is a plan section taken substantially along the line 44 ofFig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical viewwith certain parts omitted, the view being taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken sub-' 'stantially along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a rear elevational view taken from the line 'l--'! in Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a front elevational viewof the driving and control unit of the machine; V,

Fig. 9 is an end elevational view of the driving and control unit as viewed from the right in Fig. 8;'

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a control cam that is includedin the driving and control unit;

and r Fig. 11 is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating the manner in which the vending apparatus of the present invention is controlled.

For purposes of disclosure, the invention has been illustrated herein as embodied in a vendin machine that comprises a sectional insulated cabinet 2| having upper and lower doors 22 and 23 disposedon the forward side of the cabinet, and adapted to be secured in closed positions by locks 24 and 25 respectively as will be evident in Figs. 1 and 2. The doors 22 and 23 are relatively thick, and are in the nature of false walls within which space is afforded forwardly of the front insulated wall of the cabinet for mounting of various elements of the machine. Thus, the upper door 22 has coin slot mechanism 21 of a conventional type mounted therein so that coins may be inserted into the slot or slots thereof, and a return slot 28 is afforded in a conventional manner so that when a coin is rejected, either as being spurious or because the machine is empty, the coin will be discharged into the return slot 28 so as to be within the reach of the person who has inserted the coin.

The cabinet 2| has relatively thick insulated walls, as will be evident in Figs. 2, 3, and-4, and these walls define an internal chamber 30 into which a bottle storage and delivery mechanism 3| may be inserted. This delivery and storage mechanism 3! is-formed primarily from sheet metal so as to afford aback wall 32, a front wall 33, and side walls'34, and the rear wall 32 serves as a support for a plurality of shelves that are also made from sheet metal so as to extend forwardly from the rear wall 32. The internal chamber 3!! base forward door 33A, Fig. 2, whereby access may be had to the chamber 30 when the outer doors 22 and 23 are open. The shelves35 are arranged to slope laterally from a high central point 35A, as will be evident in Fig. 3, and theshelves terminate in ends 35B that are spaced from the side walls 34 in such an amount as to afford vertical delivery'channels 38L, .and 38B along which the bottles B may move .downwardly after they have been discharged from. the ends of the shelves 35. Such bottles move downwardly along the vertical deliverychannels 35L and 353 until they reach slopingbottom walls ML and 40B, and these walls serve to direct and allow rolling movement of the bottles toward a delivery mechanism that is mounted in the unit 3| near the bottom portion thereof.

Within the vertical delivery channels 38L and 38R, the bottles rest one upon the other so that when the machine is full, the vertical channels 38L and 38B will be completely filled to the top thereof, and all of the shelves 35 will have bottles loaded thereon, four bottles being disposed on each shelf 35 on each side of the high point 35A as herein shown in Fig. 3. The movement of the bottles off of the shelves 35 and into the vertical delivery channels 38L and 38R, is in the present .mechanism controlled in a simple and effective manner which causes the shelves to be progressively emptied from the top down to the bottom of themachine. Thus as will be evident in Figs. 3 and 3A, each of the shelves 35 has a gate 42 pivotally associated therewith so as to extend downwardly therefrom. Thus the gate 42 from the top shelf 35 will normally extend downwardly so as to close the outer end of the channel that is formed above the second shelf. The gates 42 are simple in construction, and are formed from wire so as to be U-shaped in form. The cross member of the U-shaped member is encircled by a lip 43 formed on the end of the shelf 35, thereby to afford the desired horizontal pivot, and

the ends of the wires extend downwardly so as to normally bear against the end of the next lower shelf. Now, so long as there is a bottle in the adjacent vertical channel, the Weight of the bottles upon a particular shelf 35 will be inefiective to pivot the gate 42 in an outward direction, but

as soon as the downward movement in the vertical channel has caused the bottle opposite a particular gate 52 and in the vertical channel to be moved downwardly out of the path of the gate 32, the weight of the bottles within the space above the shelf 35 will be applied to the gate 42 so as to pivot the same outwardly and upwardly as is shown with'respect to one of the gates in Fig. 3. Thus the bottles on aparticular shelf will move at once into the adjacent vertical channel as soon as space is available within such vertical channel, and the relationship is such that the bottles move with a smooth action that is controlled at all times and hence there is no pos sibility of breaking or other injury to the bottles in this operation.

When the bottles have moved downwardly through the vertical channels and onto the sloping bottom walls 40, the leading bottle in each instance moves into contact with a delivery cam mechanism t5, one of which is afforded on each side of' the vertical center line of the storage cabinet. Such delivery mechanism is effective to deliver bottles alternately from the opposite sides of the machine and onto a final delivery mechanism all that serves to advance the bottlesendwise and neck-end first so as to project the neck of the bottle forwardly through a delivery opening 48 that extends through the forward face of the cabinet 2! of the machine. In the present instance, this delivery opening 48 extends through the upper portion of the lower door 23 as will be evident in Figs. 1, 2 and 5.

The final delivery mechanism 41 is in the form of a conveyor upon which the bottles may rest and in a final delivery position and may be moved endwiseand in a forward direction through the discharge or delivery passage 48. Thus as will be evident in Figs. 3,4 and 5, the final delivery mechanism includes a pair of sprockets 5i and 52 mounted on the cabinet-3l -Anendless conveyor chain 55 extends around the two sprockets 5| and 52 so that the upper run-of-thechain is-disposed within the delivery chamber 4%! and-directly under the oenterdine of the shelves 35. When a bottle B is-positionedon the-upper run of the chain55; it.ismaintaineddnposition on the delivery chain by-a pair of guide-bars-51-that are preferably madefrom a resilient or non-metallic material such,f0r-example,-as -wood. The-guide bars 51 arestationarily 'mounted on oppositesides of the upper run'of the--chain-55,--and when the chain 55 is operated by-the spocket 'iL-thebottle B that is in -position on the chain 55 may be moved forwardly-and projected from-the delivery opening 48. For this purpose, -a driving abutment 59 is mountedon the chain 55 so as to .be disposed rearwardly of the-bottlelButhati is in :pOSition on the delivery chain. ':In the present instance, two such abutmentsz59areraficrded on the chain so as to minimize the amount of movement of the chainthat is-requiredin the delivery operation.

When the bottle is thus in deliveryiposition on the upper run of thechaini55, it is impossible for anyone to remove the bottle withoutfirst insertinga coin so as to cause proper and authorized operation of the deliverymechanisrn. .Thusas will be evidentinFig. 5 of thedrawing, the delivery opening L58 is normallyclosed bya gatetl that is pivoted at 62-atits upper .edge, this. gate being afforded primarily topreventlentrance of warm air into the refrigerated compartment of the apparatus, and when this gate is lifted, the neck end of thelbottle B is vwithinuview andis readily accessible so that it can be reached .by a person who seeks to improperly remove such. a bottle from the machine. However, .just forwardly of the neck endof the bottle, the .bottle must move through an opening Eithat is formed in the forward wall 3310f the cabinet iil, and when a person endeavorsto withdraw a bottle through the opening 55, this bottleis caused to wedge in the opening 64. Thus aswill be. evident in Fig. 5 of the drawings, an abutment JiBi-is provided on the chain 55 in :forwardlyspaced relation with respect to each abutments59 sowthat whenever a bottle isdeliveredto the :chain 55,

there will be an abutment .:65.,disposed-just forwardly of the sloping neck surface S ofttheboti'file, asshown in Fig. 5. Thus where .thGLHGCklOf the bottle is grasped so as to withdrawathebottlc in a forward direction, the neck surface zSzwill ride upwardly on the abutmentitii :and'willucause the upper portion of the bottlefiBito..1engage the upper edge 641 of the opening B l. 9.I-Ience,.it will. be impossible for an unauthorizedperson torwiththe .walls 54.0, andon :each iofttheishafts filth-and.

6 10B. a pair of delivery cams 'l lis secured. The delivery cams H are in the presentinstance-each formed with a hub HZ-adapted -to-be slipped into position on the i supporting shaft 10 and secured in position bylpins T3. The cams ll extend upwardly through slots Sin-thewalls--40 so that the exposed upper portions of the cams may operate upon-the bottles B. The-delivery cams H are so epaced on their mounting shaft NJ as toengagethe-body portion of the..bottl.es, and in the course of a full revolution of one of the shafts "H'Lthe associated cams H are effective to lift the leading vbottle from the related wall 40L or 40R and place such bottle in deliveryrposition.

onthe upper run of -the'deliverychain 55. Thus, as will be evident in Figs. 3 and 6, the-leading one of the-bottles -fr0m.the delivery channel 38L is i-ineffect rolled downwardlyalong the-sloping walllflL by the weight of all of thebottlesuin the channel-38L, and this .causes the leading .bottle to-be held againsta leading. cam surface llL of the earn. As thiscarnmoves ina clock-wisedirection, the cam surface ll will recedeogradually so:that when theshaft 10 hasoperated through degrees,. the.bottle.will have advanced with a slow and gradualmovement into a pockett'i IP of the cam. .Withrespect tothe righthand delivery channel.38R,.leading bottle..B is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6 as beingdisposed.withinthe pocket HP of the. deliveryncam and.it..will..be.evident that in thenext halfrevolution of the right hand cam ll, this bottle will beliftedandthen rolled onto and advanced along...an.upwar.dly sloping portion ABU of. the .wallrillR. until it. islprojected into delivery Lpositionon the upper .runof the chain 55. As such movement of aparticular b0ttle progresses, the next bottle .will come into contact with a portion 'mHof the cam surface, .this constituting the highpoint of the cam,.;.and this next bottle will therefore .move alongfrointhis high point .lfiHandalong the receding surface 'HL so as to.gradually lower all .of the bottles in the related vertical .delivery channel. The extreme point NIP of the. cam 'il serves of course to impart .a finalpushing movement to. a bottle .on the wall ilUisoasitocausathis bottle ,toroll into delivery position on the upper run of the delivery chain 55. It will beunderstoodof course that prior to the timetwhen this finalmovement is applied to a bottle, the bottle that was in delivery position on the delivery chain at the start of the cycle will have been projectedforwardly into the delivery passage tiiso to be out of the path. of the newly advanced bottle.

The desired timed relation between the operations of-the feedchain- 55 and the delivery earns 11- is attained in the present instance in=a simple and effective manner. Thus, as will be evident in'Figs. 3 to 5, the sprocket shaft54 has bevel gears 16L and 16B. fixed on the opposite ends thereof, and the desired drive for thevarious ele ments of the delivery mechanism is applied thereto by connection with the lefthand cam shaft 10L. The shaft 10L therefore has a relatively large bevel gear .1! at its rear end that is meshed with the .lefthand gear 16L, and the righthand gear 15R is meshed with a relative- 1y largegear 'IlRthatis fixed .on the rear end of the righthand shaft 10R. The gears 15 and 11 are so related that thecams ll are displaced 180 degrees frommeach other and-rotatein. op-

ternately. from opposite sides ofv the machine to i the delivery position on the upper run of the delivery chain 55.

In accordance with the present invention, the delivery mechanism is driven by means that are located outside of the refrigerated portion of the machine, and for this purpose, the drive is applied to the forward end of the left hand cam shaft 70L. The drive is applied by means in- Cllldlllg a drive and control unit 69 that is shown in detail in Figs. 8 to 11, and which is related to the delivery mechanism in the manner illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings. The unit 80 is shown and claimed in my divisional application, Serial No. 789,882, filed December 5, 1947, and now issued as Patent No. 2,464,389, patented March 15, 1949. Thus as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the delivery and control unit embodies a mounting base 8| on the forward face of which a driving motor 82 is mounted with its drive shaft 83 disposed in a horizontal position. A reduction gear box 85 is also secured on the forward face of the mounting plate 8|,

as will be vident in Figs. 8 and 9, and the power input shaft 86 of the reduction gearing is aligned with the motor shaft 83 and is coupled thereto by a coupling 8'1. Within the reduction gear box 85, any suitable gearing arrangement may be employed and in the present instance, this gearing includes a plurality of gears 90, the

final one of which is fixed within the gear box upon a horizontal and rearwardly projecting output shaft 9|. When the mounting and control unit 89 is to be put in place in the vending apparatus, it is disposed outside of the forward insulated wall of the cabinet 2| and rearwardly of the inner face of the door 23 so as to be housed in a convenient position within the clearance space afforded in the hollow lower door 29, as shown in Fig. 4, and such mounting may be accomplished through the use of a vibration absorbing means 92 that is illustrated generally in Fig. 9 of the drawings. As the unit 89 is put in place, th rearwardly projecting end ofthe shaft 9| is moved endwise toward the forward end of the cam shaft 10L, and a driving coupling 94 on the rear end of the shaft 9| is moved into driving engagement with a complemental element 95 on the forward end of the cam shaft l'IlL. Thus, when the motor 82 is energized, the cam shafts and the delivery chain 55 will be operated.

The desired control for the operation of the motor 82 and the delivery mechanism that is operated thereby is under the present invention accomplished in a simple and expeditious manner that avoids the use of relays and other mechanism that may tend to get out of order in the use of the machine. Thus, under the present invention, the energizing circuit for the motor 8 2 is closed through the operation of the solenoid I90, and is opened under control of the rotative movement of the "final drive shaft 9| of the unit. Thus, as will be evident in Figs. 8 and 11, the motor circuit is afforded from a conventional power source I| that includes line wires LI and L2. A wire I93 as extended from; the line wire LI, to one terminal of the motor 82 while a wire I04 is extended from the other terminal of the motor 82 to the movable contact ||M 'of a normally closed switch I95 The stationary contact I055 of this switch is connected by a wire I06 to the other line wire L2 so that upon closure of the switch |I]5, the motor 82 is energized. The switch I95 is a'r-' rangedto be openedand closed undercontrolof terminal of the solenoid I09 is connected by wires a cam 0 that is mounted-on the forwardly projected end of the final drive shaft 9| and to enable this to be accomplished the cam H9 has a limited lost-motion connection with the shaft 9| so as to enable limited rocking move- .ment of the cam ||0 with respect to the shaft 9|. Thus the cam H0 is in the form of a lever that is loosely mounted on the shaft 9| so that the ends thereof project radially in opposite direction from the shaft 9|, and teeth I are extended forwardly from the opposite ends of the cam Illl so that these teeth may be engaged by driving teeth 2 formed on a collar I|3 that is fixed by a pin or set screw 4 on the forward end of the shaft 9|. The relation of the teeth III and H2 is such that the cam ||9 may rock through a limited angular stroke with respect to the shaft 9|. The switch I05 is so mounted and. disposed with relation to the forward end of the shaft 9| that when the cam I I9 is rotated by the shaft 9|, one of the ends of the cam IIIl will eventually engage and move the switch element IDSM to its open position of Fig. 11. Such rotative movement of the cam H0 is of course imparted thereto in the course of movement of the shaft 9| because the tooth I|2 will engage with the tooth l I of the cam to effect such drive. Thus, the switch I05 will be opened when the cam reaches a position such as that shown in Fig. 11, and the operation of the mechanism will be stopped. When the mechanism is to be operated through another vending cycle, it is only necessary to rock the cam I II] in an advancing direction with respect to the shaft 9|, and this may be of course accomplished because of the aforesaid lost-motion connection. In the course of such rocking movement of the cam IIO, the switch I05 is allowed to close and the cycle of operation will therefore be properly initiated. As such cycle progresses, the lost-motion between the cam and the shaft 9| will of course be taken up, and the cam H9 will again be driven by the shaft 9| so as to properly engage and move the switch element IBM to its open position when the cam shafts 79L, and MR. have been moved through 180 degrees.

The desired shifting the cam I I0 so as to effect the closing of the switch I05 is caused by operation of the solenoid I00, the armature |I9A of which is urged downwardly by its spring I I6, and at the end of a vending cycle, the tooth H5 is disposed beneath the left hand of the cam III] in the relationship shown in Fig. 11 of the drawings. When the solenoid I09 is energized, the

, armature |||0A thereof is moved upwardly so as.

to shift or rock the cam I|0 through its lostmotion movement to the position shown in Fig. 8, and this allows the switch I to close. The solenoid |0|l may then be deenerglzed so as to allow the same to return to the relationship shown in Fig. 8, and the cycle of operation of the mechanism will progress and Will be terminated by the switch opening action of the cam III] with the parts in the position as shown in Fig. 11.

The solenoid I00 is under control of the coin. slot mechanism 21, Figs. 1 and 11, and this coin slot mechanism includes a normally open switch I20 that is momentarily closed each time a coin passes through the normal or proper coin receiving channel of the coin slot mechanism. The

switch I29 has one contact thereof connected by a Wire |2| to the line wire L2, While a wire I22 extends from the other contact of the switch I29 to one terminal of the solenoid I00. The other I23 and I24 to the line wire'LI so that when the switch I20 is--closed; by-passage of a coin, the solenoid I 'will bemomentarily energizedin the manner hereinbefore described;

It has been mentioned hereinbefore that safety means are provided-to-prevent insertion and retention of a coin-when the machine is empty, and for this purpose sensing means are provided to sense-the presence or absence of a bottle B at the delivery position on the conveyor 55. Thus as will beevident in Figs. 3, 5, 6 and 11, a normally closed micro-switch I25 is mounted directly over the delivery position by means including a bracket I26 and a horizontal supporting wall I21, and means are provided for operating this switch I25 in response to the presence or absence of a bottle in the delivery position. Thus the bracket I26 has a switch operating member I30 in the form of a lever pivoted at I3I on the bracket I26. The switch operating arm I30 tends normally to assume the depending vertical position indicated at I30E in Fig. 6, and when a bottle is moved laterally from one side or the other into the discharge or delivery position, the arm I30 is moved either to the full line position shown in Fig. 6, or to the dotted line in position indicated at I 30D in this figure. The switch operating arm I30 has a pair of spaced cam lugs or projections I32 formed at its upper end so that when the lever I30 is in either of its laterally projecting positions due to the presence of a bottle in the delivery position, one or the other of the projects I32 will engage and operate the plunger I25P of the switch I25. The

switch I25 is of a normally open type, and is :1.

closed by the action of either of the cam projections I32. When, however, the lever I30 is in its vertical position indicated at I3E3E, the plunger I 25P is released and the switch I25 is allowed to open. Such operation of the switch I25 is arranged to afford an indication as to whether or not the machine is empty, and in the present instance, this is accomplished through the use of a reject solenoid I34 of the coin slot mechanism 21. This solenoid I34 forms a conventional part of the coin slot mechanism, and when the solenoid I34 is energized, the coin slot mechanism 2'! is conditioned for reception of a coin, and is conditioned for proper operation and closure of the switch I by the coin. The solenoid I 34 is thus utilized by connecting one contact of the switch I to the wire IZt by a wire I35, a wire I56 being extended from the other contact of the switch I25 to one terminal of the solenoid I 34. The other terminal of the solenoid I 34 is connected by a wire I 31 to the line wire L2 so that when the switch I25 is closed due to the presence of the bottle B of the delivery position, the coin slot mechanism 2? will be conditioned for proper or normal operation. In accordance with the present invention it will be observed that the switch operating or sensing lever I not only returns to its vertical position to indicate that the machine is empty, but also, this sensing lever I 30 moves to this vertical posi tion each time the machine moves through a delivery cycle, and thus the machine, by rejection of any coins by the coin slot mechanism 21, affords an indication in each cycle of machine operation as to whether or not it is empty.

From the foregoing descriptions it will be evident that the present invention enables bottle vending machines to operate extremely rapidly and this is accomplished in such a manner that the bottles advance with a slow and gradual 10 movement so" as to avoid damage to such bottles. Itwill also beaevident that under the present invention the bottles are delivered to the user in a convenient way-so that the bottle may be readily grasped and removed from the machine by the user. The arrangement that is afforded in the invention herein disclosed also prevents theft of merchandise from the machine, and this is accomplished i'n-a simple and economical manner.

Under the present invention the machine, by rejection of "thenext coin, affords an indication as" to -wlietl-ier" ornot-the--machi'ne is empty in each cycle of machine operation, and there is little possibility that the user will insert a coin into the machine without receiving a return of the coin in the event that the machine is empty.

The bottle vending machine in the present invention is also of particular utility in that the driving and control mechanism are located outside of the refrigerated portion of the cabinet and this is accomplished in a simple manner that enables the mechanism to be easily inspected or removed. The mechanism whereby the present machine is controlled is simple since it avoids the use of relays and accomplishes the control function through the use of a simple and inexpensive solenoid. .The bottle storage mechanism of the vending machine of the present invention is extremely simple in character, and the mechanism is such that the bottles are withdrawn from the storage shelves in a predetermined order, and without possibility of damage to the bottles. It will be evident that the present invention enables bottle vending machines to be made more reliable in operation and this may be done in a simple and economical manner.

Thus, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification and I therefore do not-wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claim:

I claim:

In a vending machine, means affording a cabinet, means for storing a plurality of bottles in said cabinet, means including a downwardly extended feed channel for directing bottles from said storage means in a downward direction, means affording a terminal chamber into which bottles are moved in succession from said downwardly extended feed channel, means defining a horizontal delivery station adjacent said terminal chamber and into which a bottle may be moved from said terminal chamber into a horizontal position at said delivery station, a feed chain disposed at said delivery station for moving such a bottle endwise out of said delivery station, means defining a delivery passage into which such a bottle is moved endwise by said chain, into an accessible vended position, means affording an abutment arranged to engage such a bottle and prevent movement thereof into said delivery passage when said bottle is in an improper lateral position, means on said delivery chain for shifting such a bottle laterally when such bottle is moved endwise while the chain remains stationary, and means operated in timed relation to said chain for advancing the leading bottle from said terminal chamber into said delivery station after the preceding bottle has been discharged endwise from said station.

CARL L. GRAU.

(References 011 following page) 3 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: V 5

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Hickie Jan. 20, 1885 Beretta Oct. 23, 1894 Hillyer Sept. 26, 1911 Landsiedel Dec. 8, 1914 Zsoldos Aug. 23, 1927 Bauer June 18, 1929 Number Name Date Blossom et a1 Mar. 21, 1933 Parks et a1. May 28, 1935 Stark Jan. 18, 1938 Bergman Feb. 15, 1938 Mills Feb. 6, 1940 Ford Nov. 28, 1944 Bureau Apr. 9, 1946 Larimore Aug. 13, 1946 Dennis Oct. 1, 1946 Albrecht Mar, 4,1947

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