US2858049A - Metering means - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 28, 1958 E. T. YOUNG ET AL 2,353,049 I METERING MEANS Filed Aug. 1, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 BLEN D R E G U LA T O R 94 92 IOO AQDDITIVE 1 1, VARI'ATOR l r i "u ADDITIIV E BASE METER VAR'IATOR L 30 INVENTORS FIG. I. V EINAR T. YOUNG & AtFRED MAI? BY a, o

' ATTORNEYS Ot. 28, 1958 'E. T. YOUNG ET AL 2,858,049

METERING MEANS Filed Aug. 1, 1956 3 Sheeps-Sheet 2 r- BASE ADDITIVE fi VALVE V VALVE BASE ADDITIVE r GEAR Box DIFFERENTIAL GEAR Box so I 84 82 T T 68 f PRICE J COUNTER 78 66 5 \A 32 I8 f pa r 2 BASE J ADDITIVE VARIATOR DIFFERENTML VARIATOR l6 a L42 64 /5s 3 L DIFFERENTIAL aAsE TOTAL GALLONS ADDITlVE COUNTER METER ADDITIVE PUMP INVENTORS F|G.2. EINAR T. YOUNG a A FRED MARSH BY Cy )z/ ATTORNEYS Get. 28, 1958 Filed Aug. 1, 1956 E. T. YOUNG ET AL IINII I'm I] I' -II IINI 'Nll

METERING MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent METERING MEANS Einar T. Young, N ewtown Square, and Alfred H. Marsh,

Swarthmore, Pa., assignors to Sun Oil Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 1, 1956, Serial No. 601,441

Claims. (Cl. 222-26) This invention relates to metering means particularly adapted for the metering of base and additive components of a motor fuel.

Until recently, automotive fuels were quite generally sold by oil companies in various grades characterized by difierent octane ratings and differing in compositions particularly in the proportions therein of materials such as tetraethyl leadimparting to them anti-knock properties. The fuels of higher octane ratings sold by a particular company carried higher prices than those sold by the same company but of lower octane rating. Usually, a single company would .sell only two grades, commonly designated regular and high test gasolines.

The presenttrend in automotive engineering is to supply engines with higher and higher compression ratios, the higher the compression ratio, the higher the octane rating of the fuel which should be used consistent with avoidance of knock when the engine is operating under conditions of high power output.

As newer cars replace older ones in general use, the gasolines which are sold have been required to have higher and higher octane ratings, the octane ratings of the regular gasolines being increased while the octane ratings of the high test gasolines have been correspondingly increased. Few cars, however, require for operation under normal conditions of.use the high octane ratings of the high test gasolines, but a substantial number of cars require, for completely knockless operation, gasolines having an octane rating somewhat exceeding that of the usually sold regular gasolines. The majority of cars, however, particularly older ones in use, do not require even the octane rating of the regular gasolines. The purchaser of gasoline has had usually, at a particular gas station, only two choices of the gasoline which he might purchase, and for what he considered satisfactory operation of his car he might be required to purchase at a premium price the available high test gasoline, even though the actual requirements for car operation satisfactory to him would dictate a gasoline of octane rating intermediate between the regular and high test grades. The oil companies, however, must, in order, not to lose business and good will, supply a high test gasoline whichwill operate satisfactorily under the most demanding driving conditions in those cars having the highest engine compression ratios. The resulting situation was unsatisfactory to both the oil companies and their customers. The ideal situation is that of having available to a particular car owner the particular grade of gasoline which his car and his driving habits demand consistent with economy. With a particular make of car, one owner may desire a gasoline which will give him completely knockless operation under all driving conditions, and he may demand such operation even though the conditions in which knocking might occur are very infrequent. Another owner of an identical car may have a quite diiferent attitude, accepting knock under the few conditions for which it occurs but desiring for what he considers best economy of operation a less expensive gasoline which in ice his own views is quite satisfactory for the general coriditions under which he drives. Some drivers keep careful check on the driving miles per gallon which they obtain; other drivers do not. In the sale of gasoline, however, the oil companies must satisfy all of these classes of car owners and drivers and must choose the ratings of their gasolines to secure the optimum customer reactions.

Mention has been made of the fact that usually, a particular gas station would sell no more than two grades of gasoline. Under those conditions, these grades were sold from separate pumps drawing their supplies from separate tanks. An attempt to retail more than two grades, in general, involved a prohibitive investment in separate tanks and pumps operating individually at low demand rates.

While the practice mentioned above is stilll widely prevalent, a diiferent vending system is now used following the disclosures of the application of the present applicants, Serial No. 493,362, filed March 10, 1955 and of the applicant, Young, Serial No. 548,907, filed November 25, 1955. Specifically, there is used the mechanism disclosed in the latter application whereby a single pump is provided for dispensing gasolines of various grades.

In accordance with the principles disclosed in said applications, the pump draws its supplies from two tanks. One of these tanks contains what will be hereafter referred to as a base gasoline which may have a minimum octane rating, and correspondingly low price, the octane rating being the economical minimum for which there may be any demand. The second tank may contain an additive which in itself may be a gasoline having an octane rating corresponding to the maximum for which there is any demand.

The purchaser of gasoline may, accordingly, specify the grade of gasoline he desires. This might be in terms of some approximate octane rating or, more practically, in terms of some arbitrary grade number which the gasoline vendor may publicize as having a certain range of octane rating or some guaranteeable minimum octane rating. The vendor can then set an adjustable device which will give to the purchaser the grade of gasoline which he demands. The mechanism then operates to supply to the tank of the car a mixture of the base and additive, or the base alone, or the additive alone, corresponding to the requested grade.

While said application of Young points out that the mechanism disclosed therein will indicate within limits of legal tolerance the proper price for what is actually delivered, particular prices being assigned to the base and the additive, it was conservatively suggested in said application that there might be some variation in the particular mixture delivered for any one setting of the mechanism., Consequently, it was originally assumed that it might not be possible to publish prices for the particular grades of gasoline delivered upon the various individual settings of the mechanism but that it might be necessary to indicate only approximate prices so that the customer would not be dissatisfied if a requested amount of gasoline might actually cost somewhat less or somewhat more than the approximate price, Experience with the mechanism of said Young application has shown that it operates consistently with a degree of precision which was not originally expected to the end that for a given setting for any particular grade the price may be accurately predicted for any normal quantity of gasoline required to fill the tank of a passenger automobile and even in general that required to fill the much larger tanks of trucks or the like. It has, accordingly, become possible to specify a definite price per gallon for each grade of gasoline .which the mechanism may be set to deliver. From the merchandising standpoint it is highly desirable to assign prices as definite as possible for each grade. .Of course, as will appear more clearly later, considering certain prices assigned to the base and additive, the various mixtures may not be priced precisely to the tenth of a cent, but prices having no more error than a tenth of a cent may be posted with the expectation on the part of the purchaser that for a .quantity of, say, ten gallons the price will not differ from what he may expect by more than a cent. It may be 'here noted that whatever the ultimate price is, the purchaser will be required to pay only for what he actually receives. In view of the fact that gasoline priceschange periodically, it would be necessary, without further addition to the mechanism of the Young application, to recalculate and post the various prices to be assigned to the grades to be delivered. This would mean either the use of printed cards or the like to be displayed or the writing of erasible figures assigned to the various grades.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism which may be associated with that shown in said Young application whereby a price change in either the base or additive, .or both, may give rise to .the semi-automatic display of the corresponding prices of the various grades which may be dispensed. In brief, in accordance with the invention, such a mechanism is associated in simple fashion with the adjustable elements which are conventionally associated with variators for the purpose of changing the unit prices therein.

in accordance with the invention the mechanism is made such that unless the individual grade prices which are displayed correspond to the respective prices set into the base and additive variators the pump cannot be operated, thus avoiding the possibility that the purchaser, unless he is alert to fractional calculations, may not be cheated by the pump operator.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention particularly relating to details of construction and operation will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing an assembly .of various elements within a gasoline dispensing pump;

Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the liquid and mechanical connections of various elements involved in .a preferred form of pump mechanism; and

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view showing, in particular, the elements constituting the present invention.

In the drawings and in the following description the basic mechanism is diagramed only sufl'iciently to indi cate the type of mechanism with which the present invention is associated, and it will be found that Figures 1 and 2 correspond in all material respects to the disclosure of said Young application. Mechanical details which are irrelevant to the present invention may be identical with those described in said Young application to which reference may be made.

For consistency of description, the term base will be used in the sense indicated above, i. e., to denote a gasoline of minimum grade or quality. The term additive will be used in the sense of a high grade additive which in itself may be a fuel called for by certain customers. However, it will be evident that the additive may be of the type particularly referred to in said Young and Marsh application, i. e., a fuel having grade far exceeding what may be called for. The description is particularly directed to the delivery of additive as a directly usable fuel, though it will be evident that the invention is not limited to this but the mechanism hereafter described may also be used for the delivery of -mixtures wherein the additive may be of a quality never called 'for alone.

There is indicated at 2 the upper portion of the usual :casing of a gasoline pump, such a casing, in general, involving a base portion in which there is located a gasojl i ne pump and its driving motor together with a gasoline meter. In the upper portion of such a casing there is provided computing mechanism comprising a so-called variator and counters. Heretofore, the variator received an input from the gasoline meter and involved adjustable mechanism for setting a price per gallon exhibited through a window or windows in the pump. The power from the meter passed through the variator to operate a counter indicating the number of gallons of gasoline delivered. A second output from the variator operated a second counter indicating the total price as computed from the meter input and the price per gallon setting. Both the total gallons and total price were exhibited through windows in the housing. Such meters also contained counters to indicate the total amount of sales through the pump and were provided with mechanisms for resetting to zero the exhibited indications of total gallons and total price of a sale. Reference is made to these conventional mechanisms since in accordance with the invention variators of conventional type are used and the counting arrangements are, in general, conventional with mechanical modifications described in said Young application.

iassing to the matters of the present invention, the pump may have substantially conventional external appearance, and has located in its base a base pump 4 driven by a motor in conventional fashion and arranged to receive through pipe 6 from supply tank the base gasoline referred to above. in the usual fashion, the base pump 4 is provided with a bypass t3 in which is located a loaded relief valve it so that if the delivery hose outlet is shut off the base pump may continue to operate, recirculating the base gasoline through the valve 10 from its outlet to its inlet. Delivery of gasoline from the base pump takes place through a pipe 12 which delivers the gasoline through the base meter 14 which meter may be of conventional type. Such meter record accurately the gasoline delivered therethrough to the precision required by the authorities. From the meter 14 the base is delivered through a pipe 13 containing a check valve 16.

A pump 22 for the additive draws its supply of additive from a tank through pipe connection 2 This pump 22 may be of the same type as the base pump 4 and has provided in association with it a bypass 24 incorporating a relief valve 26.

The additive pump 22 delivers additive through line 28 to the meter 3% which may be of the type serving to meter the base. Delivery from the meter 36} takes place through piping 32 which includes the check valve 34.

The base and additive delivered, respectively. through " lines 18 and 32, are respectively controlled by the valves 36 and 38 from which they are delivered through conduits 37 and 39 which will he described in greater detail hereafter.

The solid connecting lines provided with arrows in Figure 2 indicate mechanical connections and these connections are more fully diagramed structurally in Figure 1, some of the connections, however, being internal ones within elements as described in said Y oun" application. The base meter 14 is connected to thebase variator 44 through mechanical connections indicated at 40 and 42. These connections are conventional, the variator containing the usual settable means for introducing a price and providing an output at 48 to a totalizer indicated generally at 4-7 in Figure l but containing various elements which are separately indicated by boxes in Figure 2. The base meter provides an input at 59 to the difierential 52.

The additive meter 36 provides an output at 54 which. by way of a connection 54v, feeds an additive variator 58 in which the price per gallon of the additive is inserted to give an output at 64 corresponding to the total price of the additive. A connection at 69 provides to the difierentialSZ the output or". the meter The inputs 50 and 61 from the base meter and additive meter corresponding to the quantities of base and additive, respectively, are fed into a diiferential 52 which sums the two quantities. and provides an output to the total quantity counter 62.

The differential 66 receives the outputs from the base variator 44 and additive variator 58, these outputs representing the prices of the base and additive. which are delivered. These prices are added by the differential and fed to the price counter 68. The total gallons delivered and the price are exhibited through windows in the gasoline pump.

The base meter and additive meter, respectively, provide inputs through mechanical connections'74 and 78 to corresponding gear boxes 80 and 82 which, in turn, provide inputs to a differential 84 which through mechanical connections indicated at 86 controls the base and additive valves 36 and 38.

Indicated at 88 is the blend regulator which involves the mechanism described in detail in said Young application. Externally available for manipulation are the lever 94 for meshing and unmeshing the change gearing and the knob 90 associated with a dial 92 for adjusting the mechanism to deliver gasolines of the various grades. As pointed out in said Young application a considerable number of grades may be delivered but ordinarily the number actually delivered may be limited. For purposes of the present invention, and for simplicity in showing, it may be assumed that five different grades are to be delivered including as one grade the basealone and as another grade the additive alone. As will become obvious the number of grades may be quite arbitrarily increased and decreased as may be desired merely through changes in gear ratios.

Continuing the description of Figure 1, the valves 36 and 38 deliver the base and additive through a concentric hose arrangement involving an outer tube 96 and an inner tube 98 which provide for admixture of the base and additive at the location of the control valve H 2 of the nozzle 100, the control valve being actuated through the conventional nozzle lever 104.

What has been so far described is what is involved in said Young application, the mechanism providing for selection of the grade ofgasoline to be delivered and for the, exhibiting to the purchaser of the total gallons delivered and the total price. (In the present case in view of the addition of the present invention there is no separate need to exhibit the base price and the additive price as disclosed in said Young application.)

Reference may now be made to Figure 3 which discloses the matter directly involved in the present invention. While not so shown in the diagram of Figure l, the base variator 44 and additive variator 58 may be located side by side for convenience as illustrated in Figure 3. Each of these variators in conventional fashion, is provided with a set of rotary knobs which may be adjusted to set into them proper current prices. In the case of the base variator 44 these knobs are indicated at 106, 108 and 110 for the setting, respectively, of the tens, units and tenths figures of the base price. Each of these knobs contains a series of numerals ranging from zero to nine but for simplicity of showing only a single numeral is shown on each knob, the numeral being that which corresponds to the particular setting of the variator. In similar fashion, knobs 112, 114 and 116 are provided on the variator 58.

Located above the respective knobs of the base variator 44 are discs 118, 120 and 112 which are similarly provided with numerals of which, however, only one numeral is shown on each disc. Similar discs 124, 126 and 128 are associated with the knobs of the additive variator 58. The discs 118, 120 and 112 are mounted on the respective tens, units and tenths shafts of a conventional counter 130 which is not detailed since it may be of a conventional form involving carrying in conventional fashion from the tenths shaft to the units shaft and from the units shaft to the tens shaft. A second counter 132 6 has its shafts similarly mounting the discs 124, 126 and 128. The proportions of the various shafts carrying the discs are splined to the internal mechanism of the counters so that the discs may be moved upwardly and downwardly as will be hereafter described.

The counter 130 is provided with an input shaft 134 operating the tenths shaft of the counter, and this shaft 134 is geared at 136 to a shaft 138 which is provided at an accessible position within the pump casing with a crank 140. The counter 132 has a sirnliar input shaft 142 connected by gearing to a shaft 146 provided with an accessible crank 148. It may be here remarked that all of the mechanism of Figure 3 including the cranks and the variators is located within the pump housing which may be locked to prevent tampering, access being only provided through the authorized use of a key. This key may be in the possession of the supervising operator or owner of a gasoline station so that the mechanism may not be changed without his authorization.

The shafts which carry the discs 118, and 122 are mounted in hearings in a vertically movable frame 150 in such fashion that as the frame is moved upwardly or downwardly the shafts will also be moved upwardly or downwardly. A similar frame 152 provides bearings for the shafts which mount the discs 124, 126 and 128. Each of the discs is provided with a pin 154 which may enter a corresponding hole 156 in the associated knob. The arrangement is such that the pins 154 cannot enter the holes 156 unless the discs individually occupy positions corresponding to the knobs associated therewith. However, when the frames 150 and 152 are raised the pins 154 clear the knobs and the discs are then free to be rotated through the counters and 132. The frames and 152 have extensions entering cam grooves 162 and 164 of a cam 158 mounted on a shaft 160, the cam grooves being so arranged that as the cam is rotated the frames 150 and 152 and the discs are simultaneously raised and lowered. The cam 158 is arranged to be rocked by a lever 166. A cam 168 carried by shaft is arranged to close a switch 170 only when the frames 150 and 152 are in lowered position with the pins 154 engaging the holes 156. The switch 170 is in the main circuit of the pump-operating motor so that the entire pump is inoperative unless the switch 170 is closed.

Five counters are indicated in Figure 3 at 172, 176, 188, 195 and 176. For simplicity in showing only the numeral discs of these counters are illustrated and only single figures are shown thereon though it will be understood that each disc carries the numerals from zero to nine. It will also be understood that these countersare conventionalrin being provided with the usual carrying devices from the tenths to the units disc and from the units disc to the tens disc of each. They are also of reversible type and not zeroisable independently of their drive shafts.

Gearing 174 serves for the drive of the counter 172, through its tenths order, from the shaft 138. The arrangement of gearing is such that the counter 172 and the counter 130 are driven in unison so as always to have the same indications, both being of reversible type. Similarly, the counter 176 is driven through gearing 178 from shaft 146 in unison with the counter 132.

The input of the counter 180 is from the differential 182 which has conventional internal construction and need, therefor, not be described in detail. This differential has two inputs, one of them being through gearing 184 from shaft 138 and the other being through gearing 186 from the shaft 146.

The counter 188 similarly receives its input from a differential 190 which in turn has two inputs, one of them through gearing 192 from shaft 138 and the other through gearing 194 from the shaft 146. The counter 186 likewise has its input from a differential 196 the inputs to which from the shafts 138 and 146 are re- 7 spectively through the gear arrangements indicated at 1-98 and 200.

As will be evident, the various gear ratios are chosen so that each of the counters 180, 188 and 195 will have proper partial inputs from the shafts 138 and 146 which are totalled in the corresponding differentials to give proper price indications as will be most readily made evident from consideration of a specific example for which the showings in Figure 3 are consistent.

Let it be assumed, for example, that the five grades of gasoline which are to be delivered involve the ratios of additive to base which are indicated above the respective counters, i. e., :4, 1:3, 2:2, 3:1 and 4:0. Assume also that the base price is 26.9 cents per gallon and the additive price is 30.9 cents per gallon. These prices are exhibited respectively on the counters 172 and 176 which correspond to the grades consisting of the base alone and of the additive alone. If the counter 180 corresponds, as illustrated, to a grade of delivered gasoline involving one volume of additive to three volumes of base, it will be evident that for every unit change of price of the additive a quarter unit change should be imparted to the counter 18 0 while for every unit change of price of the base three-quarters of a unit change should be imparted to the counter 180. The gear ratios at 184 and 186 are so chosen as to efiect this result, taking into account the particular gearing existing in the differential 182 (which may provide different ratios of input to output for the two inputs). Similar considerations apply to the drives of the counters 188 and 195,

and it will be evident that as the shaft 138 is rotated to change the base price indicated on counter 172 and the shaft 146 is turned to change the additive price as indicated on counter 176, the intermediate counters 180, 188 and 195 will be correspondingly changed to indicate the proper prices for the grades having the ratios of the two constituents indicated thereabove.

In Figure 3 a quite simple situation is indicated in which the difference in price between the additive and base is four cents and the grade ratios are so chosen as to give the respective prices indicated in the figure. It will, of course, be evident that with diiferent grade ratios and in particular with different base and additive prices the price figures for the mixtures may not involve even tenths of cents. However, the figures shown on the various counters, which will be exhibited through windows in the pump housing which are marked to indicate grades in terms of arbitrary numbers or of octane ratings, will be approximate within a tenth of a cent per gallon.

Thus the purchaser will be advised within a cent per ten gallons of what the total price will be. As mentioned above, the proportioning mechanism is sufficiently accurate in its delivery for a given setting to make such accuracy of predetermination possible.

There may now be described the operations involved in resetting of the mechanism just described.

In order to effect resetting the pump housing is opened to gain access to the mechanism illustrated in Figure 3. The shaft 160 is rocked through the lever 166 to effect upward movements of the frames 150 and 152 with simultaneous opening of the switch 170. The knobs on the variators are then released from the discs by the consequent withdrawal of the pins 154 from the holes 156 so that the knobs may be turned to change the price settings of the variators. Following such resettings the knobs will be out of alignment with the discs. Consequently, it will be impossible to lower the discs by operation of lever 166 and impossible to close switch 170 thereby to render the pumping mechanism operative.

The operator must then operate the cranks 140 and/ or 148 until the positions of the discs correspond to the positions of the corresponding variator knobs. As indicated in Figure 3 the discs carry numbers to show this correspondence, though, if desired, these numbers may be omitted and the operator may refer to counters 172 and 176 for information concerning correspondence. When the corresponding positions have been attained, the lever 166 may be manipulated to rock the shaft whereupon the frames 150 and 152 may be lowered causing the pins 154 to engage within holes 156. As this condition is attained the switch is closed so that the pumping mechanism may be operated.

It may be noted that the arrangement is not made so that the variator knobs may be directly driven for adjustment by the disc shafts. The reason. for this is merely because conventional variators do not involve the possibility of continuous and concurrent rotation of the adjusting knobs (gear change adjustments being involved in the usual variators). However, if that were provided by internal changes, then the shafts of the counters 130 and 132 could be continuously connected to the knobs with the result that the variators could be set through operations of cranks 140 and 148 with consistent settings of the price-indicating counters.

It will be evident from what has been described that any number of price-indicating counters might be provided, and by changes of gear ratios provisions may be made for the proper indications of prices of various gasoline mixtures. It will also be obvious that various other changes may be made in details of construction without departing from the invention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the simultaneous vending of mixtures of two liquids comprising individual means metering the deliveries of said liquids, adjustable means operated by said metering means to effect the delivery of said liquids in substantially a predetermined ratio, variator means driven by said metering means and arranged to calculate and exhibit the total value of both liquids delivered, means for setting said variator means in accordance with prices assigned to unit quantities of said liquids, and means interconnected with the last mentioned means for exhibiting the corresponding price per unit quantity of the mixture delivered.

2. Apparatus for the simultaneous vending of mixtures of two liquids comprising individual means metering the deliveries of said liquids, adjustable means operated by said metering means to eifect the delivery of said liquids in substantially a predetermined ratio, variator means driven by said metering means and arranged to calculate and exhibit the total value of both liquids delivered, means for setting said variator means in accordance with prices assigned to unit quantities of said liquids, means interconnected with the last mentioned means for exhibiting the corresponding price per unit quantity of the mixture delivered, and means preventing the deliveries of said liquids unless the last mentioned means exhibits a price corresponding to the setting of said variator means.

3. Apparatus for the simultaneous vending of mixtures of two liquids comprising individual means metering the deliveries of said liquids, adjustable means operated by said metering means to efiect the delivery of said liquids in substantially a predetermined ratio, a pair of variators driven by said metering means and arranged to calculate and exhibit the total value of both liquids delivered, means for setting said variators in accordance with prices assigned to unit quantities of said liquids, and means interconnected with the lastmentioned means for exhibiting the corresponding price per unit quantity of the mixture delivered.

4. Apparatus for the simultaneous vending of mixtures of two liquids comprising individual means metering the deliveries of said liquids, adjustable means operated by said metering means to efiect the delivery of said liquids in substantially a predetermined ratio, a pair of variators driven by said metering means and arranged to calculate and exhibit the total value of both liquids delivered, means for setting said variators in accordance with prices assigned to unit quantities of said liquids, means interconnected with the last mentioned means for exhibiting the corresponding price per unit quantity of the mixture delivered, and means preventing the deliveries of said liquids unless the last mentioned means exhibits a price corresponding to the setting of said variator means.

5. Apparatus for the simultaneous vending of mixtures of two liquids comprising individual means metering the deliveries of said liquids, adjustable means operated by said metering means to effect the delivery of said liquids in substantially a predetermined ratio, a pair of variators individually driven by said metering means and arranged to calculate and exhibit the total value of both liquids delivered, means for setting said variators in accordance with prices assigned to unit quantities of said liquids, and means interconnected With the last mentioned means for exhibiting the corresponding price per unit quantity of the mixture delivered.

6. Apparatus for the simultaneous vending of mixtures of two liquids comprising individual means metering the deliveries of said liquids, adjustable means operated by said metering means to effect the delivery of said liquids in substantially a predetermined ratio, a pair of variators individually driven by said metering means and arranged to calculate and exhibit the total value of both liquids delivered, means for setting said variators in accordance with prices assigned to unit quantities of said liquids, means interconnected with the last mentioned means for exhibiting the corresponding price per unit quantity of the mixture delivered, and means preventing the deliveries of said liquids unless the last mentioned means exhibits a price corresponding to the setting of said variator means.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which said exhibiting means comprises a pair of settable counters and means interconnected with said counters to exhibit at least one quantity corresponding to a linear function of the settings of said counters.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which said exhibiting means comprises a pair of settable counters and means interconnected With said counters to exhibit at least one quantity corresponding to a linear function of the settings of said counters.

Apparatus according to claim 5 in which said exhibiting means comprises a pair of settable counters and means interconnected with said counters to exhibit a plurality of quantities each corresponding to a linear function of the settings of said counters.

10. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which said exhibiting means comprises a pair of settable counters and means interconnected With said counters to exhibit a plurality of quantities each corresponding to a linear function of the settings of said counters.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,961,350 Grunsky June 5, 1934 1,964,028 Boynton et a1. June 26, 1934 1,985,918 DeLancey Jan. 1, 1935 2,024,478 Short Dec. 17, 1935 2,743,843 Bliss May 1, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 463,025 Italy Apr. 12, 1951

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