US3225625A

US3225625A - Coin vending machines

Info

Publication number: US3225625A
Application number: US213946A
Authority: US
Inventors: Stewart A Maxwell
Original assignee: Fisher and Ludlow Ltd
Current assignee: Fisher and Ludlow Ltd
Priority date: 1961-08-02
Filing date: 1962-08-01
Publication date: 1965-12-28
Anticipated expiration: 1982-12-28

Description

Dec. 28, 1965 A. MAXWELL 3,225,625

COIN VENDING MACHINES Filed Aug. 1, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR STEWART ALFRED MAXWELL J r ZM ATTORNEYS Dec. 28, 1965 s. A. MAXWELL COIN VENDING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1, 1962 SN E lNVENTOR STEWART ALFRED MAXWELL -livers such change. be provided to initiate the giving of change.

United States Patent C) 3,225,625 COIN VENDING MACHINES Stewart A. Maxwell, Walsall, England, assignor to Fisher & Lutllow Limited, Birmingham, England, a British company Filed Aug. 1, 1962, Ser. No. 213,946

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 2, 1961,

27,989/61; July 19, 1962, 27,688/62 1 Claim. (Cl. 74582) This invention relates to mechanisms for use in coin vending machines for the delivery of change simultaneously with or independently of the purchase of goods from the machine, having an actuating means for the initiation of change giving and a change delivery device.

insertion of a coin or coins of larger denomination than the price of the goods to be purchased, places the mechanism in a condition to give change or automatically de- In the former case a control may ently of another, and the present invention has for its object to provide improvements in mechanisms of the .kind specified which will permit the movement of a portion of the mechanism independently of another.

According to the present invention I provide a mechanism of the kind specified having a linkage which includes a shock preventing device which during normal operation is capable of operating as a rigid connection but which is capable of yielding when the difiFerence between the loads at the ends of the device exceeds a predetermined value.

According to a further aspect of the present invention we provide a mechanism of the kind specified including a linkage which connects the actuating means with the change delivery device, the linkage including a shock preventing device which is capable of operating as a rigid connection, but which is capable of being forced to yield when the difierence between the loads at the ends of the device exceeds a predetermined value and manually controllable means for setting up these load conditions.

' The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of example, and

in the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of a machine having a mechanism of the kind specified, the parts being shown in diagrammatic form for convenience,

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of one form of shock preventing device and manually operable means,

end of the short lever 12 and designated at 14.

The actuating means is arranged to move the short lever 12 between the positions shown in full lines and the position shown in chain dot lines, and this movement causes corresponding movement in the long lever 11 be- .U-shaped connector is capable of movement in opposite 3,225,625 Patented Dec. 28, 1965 tween the full and chain dotted lines positions, about the pivot 15 which is fixed to the framework 10.

The actuating means may be a mechanical or electrical device which is placed in a condition to operate by the insertion of a coin or coins into the machine.

Operation of the change giving mechanism may either be set in motion by the insertion of a coin or alternatively it may not operate until a further control is manipulated.

Near the centre of the long lever 11 there is attached one end of the shock preventing device of which figure 2 is an enlarged view. As the lever 12 is moved by the actuating means the shock preventing device is reciprocated in the direction of its length, and under normal load conditions transmits movement of the lever 11 to the change delivery device delivery member 19.

The change delivery device 18 is mounted on a part of the structure of the machine indicated diagrammatically in FIGURE 1 and designated 17 and this has a single delivery member 19 which is reciprocable to affect the delivery of a predetermined number of coins in change to a part of the machine at which it is accessible to the user of the machine.

Referring to FIGURE 2 the shock preventing device comprises a rod 20 having attached to it a block 21 having a bifurcated end at one end which receives the end of the delivery member 19 of the change delivery device 18, the delivery member being provided with an aperture through which a pin 22 extending transversely across the bifurcated end of the block 21, passes.

The pin 22 projects from one side of the block 21 to form a projection to one side of the rod axis, the pin having a knurled head 23 and a portion of the shank between the head 23 and the adjacent face of the block 21 being surrounded by a rotatable bush 24.

The rod is provided with a bearing cage 25 adjacent to the block 21 which is supported on a bracket 26 on the framework 17 of the machine and an abutment means in the form of a collar 27 is provided to limit longitudinal movement of the rod through the bearing cage 25.

The opposite end of the rod is surrounded by two coiled

compression springs

28, 29 separated by a U-shaped connector 30, the parallel legs of the connector 30 being provided with apertures for movement of the rod 20 therethrough and a bush 31 being provided between the rod and each compression spring, each bush being approximately half the length of the portion of the rod surrounded by each compression spring.

Each bush has a longitudinal slot 32 and an end flange 33 abutting against one of the legs of the U-shaped connector 30.

Two pins 34 project from the rod 20, and each locating in the slot 32 in a bush, the bush movement longitudinally of the rod being limited thereby. Collars 35 are provided at the ends of the springs remote from the U-shaped connector 30 these being secured by screws 36 to the rod.

The rod 20 is approximately 16 inches long and the compression springs are each 4 inches long, and the directions to compress the springs, and relative to the rod a distance of approximately 1 /2 inches, this being the length of the slot 32 in each bush.

Movement of the rod in the bearing cage 25 is however limited to 1% inches by the collar 27 previously mentioned which is secured by screws 37 to the rod and by the adjacent face of the block 21.

The U-shaped connector 30 has in its connecting portion an aperture for reception of a bolt 38 which connects with the long lever 11 of the linkage.

The shock preventing device is provided to permit movement of either the coin delivery device delivery member 19 or of the actuating means independently of the other in the event of a difference between the loads at the ends of the device in excess of a predetermined value which may be applied from either of its ends, in either direction and this may be caused either by an obstruction or deliberately as hereinafter referred to.

The load in excess of which the shock preventing device becomes operative is determined by the rating of the compression springs, but at any load below this value, the shock preventing device operates as a rigid member.

The coin delivery device delivery member 19 may be operated independently of the remainder of the linkage by taking advantage of the mode of operation of the shock preventing device to reciprocate the delivery member 19 and the rod 20 of the shock preventing device by means of a manually controllable member. This is in the form of a lever 39 which is connected to the framework 17 by means of a bracket 40 one end of the lever abutting the projecting pin 22 before referred to, extending from the block 21 connecting the shock preventing device with the change delivery device 18.

The lever 39 is pivoted near its centre to a bracket 40 and has a curved portion 41 capable of engaging with the bush 24 on the projecting pin 22 and the opposite end portion 42 of the lever being so positioned that it is capable of being grasped.

This portion is however only capable of being grasped when the outer casing of the machine has been partly or wholly removed, and this prevents the unauthorised operation of the lever which may be used to operate the coin delivery device for the purpose of partly or wholly emptying the reservoirs, or for clearing an obstruction therein, such as may be caused by a bent or damaged coin.

Operation of the manually controllable member is capable of exerting a force on the projecting pin 22 sulficient to compress the spring 29 between the U-shaped connector 30 and the free end of the rod 20 of the shock preventing device, the linkage between the shock preventing device and the actuating means being locked. Alternatively the mechanical advantage of the linkage operated from the end adjacent to the coin delivery device is better than that of the linkage operated from the end adjacent to the actuating means.

The projecting pin 22 which extends from the block 21 connecting the shock preventing device with the change delivery device delivery member 19 is releasable so as to permit ready connection and release of the linkage to the coin delivery device so as to facilitate removal of the latter from the machine as and when required.

Various alternatives are within the scope of the present invention, and for instance one such alternative may include a manually controllable member which is situated adjacent to the actuating means so that that component may be operated independently of the change delivery device, or alternatively a manually controllable member may be used to operate any intermediate component of the linkage independently of the remainder of the mechanism and in this case there would be provided a second shock preventing device, the two devices being inserted one on either side of the component.

In a further alternative, shown in FIGURE 4 of the accompanying drawings the shock preventing device is in the form of a telescopic unit comprising an inner frame member 44, and an outer frame member 45 which is coaxial with the inner frame member.

The outer frame member 45 is of hollow cylindrical form and is closed at one end. The inner surface of the cylinder is threaded at 46 along approximately a quarter of its length from the open end. The central portion of the cylinder is unthreaded and is of approximately the same diameter as the threaded portion. Near the closed end the cylinder is of reduced internal diameter designated at 47 and the length of this end portion is approximately equal to the length of the threaded portion. The shoulder 48 formed between the centre and reduced end portions constitutes an abutment surface of the outer member. Another abutment surface is constituted by the annular end face 49 of an externally threaded sleeve 50 which screws into the open end of the cylinder. The other end of the sleeve 50 has a flange 51 which engages the axially presented end of the cylinder when the sleeve is screwed fully home.

The inner frame member 44 comprises a cylindrical rod 52 which is a close sliding fit in the sleeve 50, and a bolt 53. The length of the rod 52 is approximately twice the length of the sleeve 50. The rod is provided with an axially extending threaded bore 54 extending for approximately one third of the length of the rod from one end. The shank of the bolt is reduced and screw threaded at its end portion 55 for screw engagement in the bore 54 of the rod. The remainder of the shank is unthreaded and is equal in length to the distance between the inner end of the sleeve 50 and the shoulder 48 formed between the central and reduced end portions of the cylinder. The diameter of this part of the shank is greater than the diameter of the bore 54 in the rod, so that the. shoulder 56 formed between the two parts of the shank abuts against the end of the rod 52, but is less than the diameter of the rod. The shoulder 57 formed between the unthreaded part of the shank and the end of the rod constitutes one abutment surface of the inner member. The other abutment surface is formed by the under side 58 of the head 59 of the bolt. The head of the bolt is a close sliding fit within the reduced end portion of the outer frame member.

The device further includes a helical coil spring 60 and a pair of spring bearing plates 61, 62 of annular form, these plates have a central aperture slightly greater in diameter than the unthreaded part of the shank of the bolt 53, and the external diameter of the plates is slightly less than the internal diameter of the central portion of the outer frame member 45.

The device is assembled by mounting the spring 60 on the shank of the bolt 53 in between the two bearing plates 61, 62. The bolt is then screwed into the bore 54 in the rod 52. The length of the spring is such that when the bolt is fully screwed into the rod the spring is compressed. The prestressed length of the spring is determined by the value of the load at which the device is intended to come into operation. The rod 52 and bolt 53 are then inserted into the outer frame member 45 and finally the sleeve 50 is passed along the rod and screwed fully home into the open end of the cylinder.

The rod and the closed end of the cylinder are each provided with suitable attachment means such as the

plates

63, 64 for securing the device between the long link 11 and the delivering member 19 of the change delivery device.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to use with the form of linkage described nor is it to be limited to the form of change delivery device described, but the shock preventing device may be incorporated in any convenient part of the linkage.

What I claim then is:

Overload preventing mechanism mounted for connection between an actuated means and an actuating means therefor comprising,

support means for said mechanism,

lever means mounted on said support means for pivoted movement in response to said actuating means, said lever means having means for connection to the actuating means,

axially movable rod means for connection between the actuated means and actuating means,

pin means interconnecting one end of said axially movable rod means and the actuated means,

said pin means including a portion projecting laterally of said rod means,

means responsive to overload conditions interposed between and connecting said rod means and said lever means,

said overload responsive means comprising linkageincluding a load transmitting member slidably mounted on said rod means and pivotally attached to said lever means,

a pair of abutment members mounted coaxially on said rod means in predetermined spaced relation to each other,

spring means interposed between and engaging said spaced abutment means on said rod means providing a connection therefor with said load transmitting member,

said spring means being operative to transmit a predetermined load without yielding between said load transmitting member and said rod means in either direction of its axial movement but yielding when the said predetermined load is exceeded to thereby cause said load transmitting member to slidably move on said rod means without efiecting axial movement thereof,

a manually actuable means mounted on said support means,

said manually actuable means engaging with said laterally projecting portion of said connecting pin means on said rod means and operable to actuate the actuated means and said rod means independently of the actuating means.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 588,388 11/1933 Germany.

BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primary Examiner.