US3684131A

US3684131A - Merchandising machine with size-adjustable compartments

Info

Publication number: US3684131A
Application number: US30899A
Authority: US
Inventors: Albert Kurimsky
Original assignee: Rowe International Inc
Current assignee: Rowe International Inc
Priority date: 1970-04-22
Filing date: 1970-04-22
Publication date: 1972-08-15
Anticipated expiration: 1989-08-15
Also published as: JPS542877B1; JPS465102A; CA930338A; GB1287232A

Abstract

The merchandising machine disclosed is of the type in which one or more of a plurality of doors are released for opening on receipt of proper credit to allow access to one storage compartment normally closed by its door. The doors are electrically and mechanically interlocked, so that opening of one door disables the remaining doors from opening. In such machines interchangeable modules are provided whereby storage compartments and doors of interchangeable height may be utilized. Correspondingly sized door locking and release mechanism mounting panels are provided for each module. In this way, a machine can be changed to vend a smaller number of large items, or larger number of small items by modifying the shelf compartment sizes as desired and inserting door control panels of corresponding sizes.

Description

United States Patent Kurimsky 1451 Aug. 15, 1972 1 MERCHANDISING MACHINE WITH SIZE-ADJUSTABLE COMPARTMENTS [72] Inventor: Albert Kurimsky, Dover, NJ.

[52] US. Cl. ..22l/242, 312/91, 312/138 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65h 31/20 [58] Field 01 Search .49/463, 464, 465; 221/120,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,147,838 9/1964 Mueller .j ..194/l0 3,107,815 10/1963 Wittenborg ..221/120 X 3,075,670 1/1963 Brugger ..221/120 X 2,686,612 8/1964 Curlee ..22l/120 X 3,122,401 2/1964 Johnson ..22l/120 X Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-Thomas E. Kocovsky Att0meyShenier and OConnor [5 7] ABSTRACT The merchandising machine disclosed is of the type in which one or more of a plurality of doors are released for opening on receipt of proper credit to allow access to one storage compartment normally closed by its door. The doors are electrically and mechanically interlocked, so that opening of one door disables the remaining doors from opening. In such machines interchangeable modules are provided whereby storage compartments and doors of interchangeable height may be utilized. correspondingly sized door locking and release mechanism mounting panels are provided for each module. In this way, a machine can be changed to vend a smaller number of large items, or larger number of small items by modifying the shelf compartment sizes as desired and inserting door control panels of corresponding sizes.

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MERCHANDISING MACHINE WITH SIZE- ADJUSTABLE COMPARTMENTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION receipt of proper credit, one or more doors are released to allow one of them to be opened manually. Opening of the door allows access to the compartment behind the door, the compartment being used to house an item to be acquired by the purchaser for a predetermined purchase price. The purchaser, once he has opened the door, reaches into the space, grasps the item and removes it through the open door.

Within this framework, the machines generally available have a fixed number of doors, vertically aligned, each door and the compartment accessible through it being of fixed, unchangeable dimension. The mechanisms for allowing the release of the doors have been rigidly fixed to the machine housing, allowing no changeability in the compartment and door heights; hence, such machines limit the mixture of items which are available for vending and limit the uses to which such a machine can be applied.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of my invention is to provide an improved machine for merchandising items of varied sizes and shapes and at varied purchase prices.

Another object of my invention is to provide a merchandising machine which allows ready interchangeability of storage compartments and vend doors of varying heights.

Another object of my invention is to provide in a merchandising machine, movably carriers which may be readily divided into compartments for bearing items to be vended. v

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved door release mechanism for the vend doors of a general merchandising machine.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improved individual vend door release mechanism Y readily detachable from the machine to allow simple replacement thereof.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improved door release mechanism cooperative with sliding doors to normally block such doors from movement, and to release such doors on coincidence of internal release and external opening motion, such mechanisms being of modular construction capable of mounting to doors of different height.

Other objects, features, and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view in elevation of the vending machine, the upper portion of the door being broken away to show the interior thereof;

FIG. 2 is a partial section taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a typical compartment channel as utilized in the invention;

FIG. 4 is a rear view in elevation of the machine service door;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken along lines 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view partially broken away of door and door locking mechanisms showing the relationships of the parts both in the open position and in the closed position;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along lines 77 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing of a circuit for operating the vending machine.

In FIG. 1, I have shown a coin-controlled general merchandiser 10 of the type shown in U. S. Pat. No. 3,147,838 of R. .I. Mueller, issued Sept. 8, 1964, and which incorporates my improvement. The merchandiser 10 has a cabinet 12 of generally rectangular configuration provided with a normally locked door 15 which may be opened to allow the serviceman access to the entire cabinet interior. Within service door 15 there is an enlarged rectangular window 16 of suitable transparent material to allow the interior of the merchandiser to be viewed. The right margin of the window 16 has a vertically elongated rectangular opening 17 which is covered by a vertically aligned set of doors 18, each door being slidable horizontally within suitable upper and lower slide guides 20. Each slide guide 20 comprises a horizontally elongated I-I-shaped bracket, mounted as will be explained more fully later. Each vend door rests on the cross bar of the adjacent'lower slide guide and is confined along its upper edge by the adjacent upper slide guide.

Alongside the window 16 adjacent its upper portion is a conventional control panel 30 including coin insert slot 32, coin returnlever 34, and machine transport control button 38, all identified by accompanying legend. A coin return chute 36 is located below the in sert chute for holding returned coins pending removal by the purchaser.

Within the merchandiser, as viewed in FIG. 2, is mounted the movable transport system which in essence comprises a multi-level conveyor driven horizontally in step-by-step fashion through an endless rectangular loop 51. The levels of the transport system 50 span the vertical extent of window 16 such that all levels are viewable through the window. The conveyor transport is tracked with endless chains 54 threaded about sprockets 56 which define an oblong loop path 51. The transport is driven by motor 58 in stepwise fashion, as described in the Mueller patent referred to previously. The conveyor transport 50 is assembled from a plurality of parallel vertical channels 70, with each channel opening facing outwardly of the loop 51. The channels may be formed of suitable sheet material and each channel is affixed along its rear wall 74 to the conveyor chains 54 by suitable means, such that the channel is moved in successive steps about the conveyor loop pattern. Each channel is subdivided into a vertical alignment of superimposed spaced compartments, the subdivision being accomplished by the mounting of successive shelves 72 within the channel.

As I show in FIG. 3, the channel rear wall or web 74 is slotted at its lateral center with rectangular slots 76 aligned vertically at one-inch intervals over the entire channel length. Aligned with the slots 76 adjacent both front edges 78 of the channel 70 are shelf finger receiving brackets 80 extending over lug receiving openings 81. These openings may preferably be stamped from the channel blank to provide brackets 80 prior to forming the curved channel or the brackets 80 may be appended to the sides of the channel by welding or the like. In either instance, the openings 81 are coplanar with the rear slots 76.

Shelves 72 as can be seen best in FIG. 3 comprise essentially flat flanged plates 90 of suitable sheet metal or the like. Each shelf has a rearward edge 92 shaped to conform to the rear wall 74 of channel 70 and each shelf has a central mounting tab 94 extending planarly from its rearward edge 92. Each shelf has straight parallel sides 96 extending from edge 92 and terminating at an outer edge surface 98. Extending from each shelf side 96 adjacent outer edge 98 are coplanar mounting fingers 100 sized to mate into shelf mounting brackets 80. i

As the fingers 100 are slipped into brackets 80 lugs 99 snap into openings 81. In a like manner mounting tab 94 mates with a slot 76 in channel rear wall 74 to provide a three-point mounting of a shelf to the channel. Fingers 100 have a downwardly extending hook tip 101 to prevent removal of the shelf with service door closed. Only with service door 15 open can the shelves be removed and changed. This form of mounting allows the shelves within a channel to be readily forming guides to a lip 1 12 formed along the edge of a horizontally extending flange 114 along the bottom edge of a respective plate 116. I attach the plates 116 by any suitable means in vertically aligned relationship to a bracket 118 secured to the inside of door 15. It will readily be appreciated that the overall height of plates 116 is substantially equal to the aggregated heights of removable and readily replaceable at the will of the found that as a practical matter, by allowing three shelf heights, as noted, sufficient machine flexibility is provided.

Within each separate channel 70, the shelves should be set at like heights so that compartments 104 in one channel 70A are positioned at the same height as like compartments of all other channels 70B, 70C, 70D, etc. In this way, on movement of the conveyor, a compartment of a suitable height is presented at each level on each step movement of the transport system.

As mentioned previously, service door 15 includes a central enlarged window 16 at one side of which are positioned individually slidable vend doors 18. Each door 18 is associated with a level of the conveyor and allows access to the single compartment of a single channel on slide opening of the door. The doors 18 are mounted in I-I-shaped slide guides 20, the guides being mounted by suitable screws or the like to the bottom lip 112 of a latch mounting plate 116. Vend doors 18 are provided in as many heights as the heights of the compartments 104, such that a door is slightly smaller than the corresponding compartment.

Respective releasable door locking mechanisms, indicated generally by reference characters 110 normally lock the doors to prevent access to the compartments. Each latch mechanism 110 comprises a mounting plate 116 of height corresponding to the height of a door 18 with which it is associated. I secure each of the track the doors with which the plates are associated.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 to 7 respective negative springs 120 carried by supports 122 on flange 114 are attached to suitable fittings 124 on the doors 18' normally to urge the doors to closed positions. Each of the locking mechanisms 110 comprises a vertical shaft 126 which supports a cam 128 for rotary movement on one of the flanges 114. I provide each of the cams 128 with a vertically extending lug 130 which normally is received in a recess 132 in the lower edge of the associated door 18.

From the structure just described it will be apparent that when a customer attempts to open a door 18 by moving it to the right as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2 or to the left as viewed in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, the wall of recess 132 engages lug 130 to rotate cam 128 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 7. On the return movement of the door after it has been fully opened in a manner to be described an inwardly directed projection 131 on the door at the leading edge of opening. 132 picks up cam lug 130 to restore the cam 128 to its initial position. Each assembly 110 includes a compound stop indicated generally by the reference character 134 made up of a bell crank 136 and a stop pawl 138 both of which are supported for pivotal movement on a stud 140 carried by plate 112. One arm of bell crank 136 has an offset 142. The lower portion 144 of pawl 138 is U-shaped in cross-section. In the normal or unoperated position of the parts, when cam 128 is rotated in the manner just described, portion 144 of stop pawl 138 is in the path of a stop 133 on cam 128 to limit movement of the cam and thus to limit movement of the door toward its open position.

I connect the armature 146 of a solenoid 148 supported on a bracket 150 to one end of a stepped latching lever 152 pivotally supported on a pin 154 on plate 1 12. In the normal or reset position of the parts as illustrated by the upper mechanism 110 in FIG. 6 a spring 156 extending between offset flange 142 on crank 136 and bracket 150 normally urges the crank to a position at which the portion of the flange 142 above a slot 158 in the flange engages a first shoulder 160 on latch 152. At the same time a spring 161 extending between latch 152 and the U-shaped lower portion 144 of pawl 138 urges portion 144 into engagement with the edge of crank 136. In this position of the parts stop 134 is in the path of movement of the radially extending stop surface 133 of cam 126 to limit the movement of the cam 128 and thus limit the opening movement of door 18 to an amount which prevents access to merchandise in the machine.

Cam 128 receives a pin 162 carried by a link 164 slidably supported on flange 114 and formed with a pawl 138. Further as will be apparent from the description hereinbelow actuation of switch 170 energizes solenoid 148 to rotate latch 152 in a counterclockwise direction only if coins aggregating the purchase price of the selected article have been deposited in the machine.

When solenoid 148 is energized it rotates latch 152 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 6 to move shoulder 160 out of engagement with flange 142 and to permit spring 156 to move the stop 134 to a position at which the flange engages a second shoulder 172 on latch 152 and the parts remain in this position until they are reset in a manner to be described. In the course of this movement pawl portion 144 moves out of the path of cam surface 131 to permit the associated door to be fully opened.

My locking mechanism is so constructed as to prevent a customer from being cheated in the event he moves the door too quickly after he has deposited the price of a desired article in the machine. That is, if the stop pawl 138 were an integral part of the bell crank 136 and the customer, after having deposited coins sufficient to energize the solenoid 148 corresponding to the desired article pulled the door rapidly open can surface 131 might engage the stop and hold it before solenoid 148 acted to release latch 152. Then the solenoid might be deenergized again and the latch reset before the customer acted to release the stop. Thus he could lose his money and yet not receive merchandise therefor. In my arrangement, upon the occurrence of the circumstances outlined above, even though the stop pawl 138 might be jammed by a customer in acting too fast, bell crank 136 would be operated and would be latched in its operated position when the latch 152 releases. Then as soon as the customer relieves pressure on the door pawl 138 moves to its operated condition and the door may be fully opened.

A recess 174 in bracket 118 extends for the entire length thereof to accommodate a ladder-like reset bar 176. This bar is mounted for limited vertical reciprocating sliding movement on bracket 114 by a pin-and-slot connection 178 and a bracket 179. The bar 176 has rectangular windows 180 about fiveeighths inch high and spaced from-one another by about three-eighths for virtually its entire length. A spring 182 urges an offset 184 at the top of the bar into engagement with a cam 186 driven by reset motor 188 on bracket 179. Each of the bellcranks 136 carries a reset pin 190 which extends through an opening 191 in the associated plate 116 and into a window 180 in bar 176. When reset bar 176 is depressed on actuation of motor 188, the bar resets each compound stop 134 to relock the door.

Mechanisms 110 include respective interlock bars 192 supported in vertically aligned relationship in respective brackets 194 on the plates 116. Lugs 196 on the bars 192 limit downward movement of the bars by engagement with brackets 194. The abutting ends of adjacent bars 192 are beveled at 198 to permit a tapered cam surface 200 on cam 128 to enter between the bar ends upon rotation of the cam to force all bars above the cam upwardly to cause an offset 202 on the uppermost bar to actuate an interlock switch 204. As will be explained hereinbelow switch 204, when actuated, opens the circuit of the transport motor to prevent operation thereof.

Referring now to FIG. 8, l have shown a simplified control circuit for my merchandising machine including respective supply conductors 208 and 210 connected to the

terminals

214 and 216 of a suitable source of power. I connect the respective solenoids 148 between normally open contacts of the respective switches and a price board 218 of any suitable type known to the art adapted to connect the respective solenoids selectively to price lines 220 of a coin mechanism 222 of any type known to the art comprising a contact arm 224 adapted to engage contacts associated with the price lines 220 in response to the deposit of respective sums in the mechanism 222. A relay winding 2R and a normally closed set of contacts 2R1 associated with winding 2R connect arm 224 to line 210. I connect a normally closed set of contacts 1R1 associated with a winding 1R between line 208 and the contact arm of the first switch 170. I connect the other switch arms of the switches 170 to the normally engaged contacts of the preceding switches.

The circuit includes a transport motor 58 adapted to be energized by the closing of contacts 1R2 upon energization of winding 1R in response to operation of a push button 226 in series with the switches 170. Motor 58 is adapted to complete its own holding circuit through a switch 228 for a sufficient length of time to cause the. machine to step through the distance of one compartment. Unlatching relay winding 2R includes a second set of normally open contacts 2R2 adapted to close to energize reset motor 188 which holds its own circuit for one revolution through a switch 230. A third set of nonrrally open contacts 2R3 associated with winding 2R is adapted to close to initiate resetting of the coin mechanism 222 in a manner known to the art. The normally closed interlocking switch 204 is connected between motor 58 and line 208.

In operation of my merchandising machine upon the deposit in the coin mechanism 222 of a sum in coins arm 224 energizes one of the price lines 220 to condition one, or more of the solenoids 148 for operation. If now the corresponding door 18 is moved toward its open position the associated switch 170 is actuated to engage its upper contact. When that occurs the motor start relay circuit is disabled through the open switch 170. In addition, the solenoid 148 of the mechanism associated with the selected item is energized to lift latch 152 to permit the lock 134 to pivot until the pawl portion 144 is out of the path of the surface 133 of cam 128. The door may then be fully opened and the customer may receive his merchandise. If, after having deposited a sum aggregating the purchase price of an article, the customer attempts to open the door too quickly so that surface 133 catches and holds pawl portion 144, nevertheless latch 152 will be released and the bellcrank 136 will move into its operated position in which it will be latched. Then the customer need merely release pressure on the door and the pawl will spring into its operated position to free the door for movement to its fully open position. 7

Completion of the circuit of any one of the solenoids 148 in the manner described also completes the circuit of winding 2R to open contacts 2R1 and to close contacts 2R3. Closing of contacts 2R2 energizes reset motor 188 to drive bar 176 downwardly to reset the I operated locking mechanism 110. The motor operates At any time before he actually makes a purchase the customer may energize motor 58 to step the machines through one compartment by operating push button 226 to energize winding 1R to close switch 1R2. This energization opens switch contacts 1R1 to prevent a door from being fully opened during the transport operation. Similarly, the transport motor cannot be energized in this manner at any time when one of the switches 170 is operated. Moreover, interlock switch 204 prevents energization of motor 58 at any time when a door is open.

As is pointed out hereinabove, the salient feature of my invention is the provision of interchangeable modules forthe various compartment of the machine. At any time when it is desired to change the compartment size for any level of the machine the operating mechanisms can be changed by changing the height of the mounting panels 16. All that need be ensured is that the aggregate height of the compartments of the various sizes in a column be equal to the overall height of the conveyor 50. Of course, all of the compartments of a row associated with any door must be of the same size. In addition to the foregoing, the operating mechanism of my machine ensures that the customer will not lose his money and yet not receive an article in return if he operates the door too fast.

It will be seen that I have accomplished the objects of my invention. I have provided a versatile merchandising machine for dispensing a large variety of articles the sizes of the compartments of the various rows of which can easily be changed in the field. I have provided interchangeable modules which are readily assembled onto and disassembled from the machine. In addition, I have provided an operating mechanism which prevents a customer from unnecessarily losing money if he operates a door of the machine too fast.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of my claims. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details within the scope of my claims without departing from the spirit of myinvention. It is, therefore, to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A merchandising machine including in combination, a generally channel-shaped member, a plurality of partitions, manually operable means for selectively assembling said partitions in said members at various locations to divide said channel shaped member into a plurality of merchandise compartments, at least two of said compartments being of different size, a cabinet, a plurality of doors on said cabinet, said doors having sizes corresponding to the sizes of the respective compartments, means mounting said member in said cabinet for movement to a position at which said compartments respectively register with said doors, a plurality of releasable locking units associated with the respective doors and means mounting said locking units on said cabinet in association with said doors and for detachment without damage to the parts of said machine to permit the sizes of compartments along said member and the sizes of the associated doors to be changed without damage to the parts of said machine.

2. A machine as in claim 1 in which said doors are mounted for sliding movement in a generally vertical plane from a closed position to an open position, each of said locking units comprising a locking member mounted for movement around a generally vertical axis, first interengageable means on said door and on said locking member for rotating said member, a locking element, means mounting said locking element for movement between a locking position and a released position, second interengageable means on said locking element and on said locking member for limiting the rotary movement of said locking member in response to movement of said door in the locking position of said element and reset means common to all of said locking units for restoring elements from said second positions to said first positions.

3. A machine as in claim 1 including a series of interlock bars associated with the respective locking units, and means mounting said doors for sliding movement between closed positions and open positions, each of said locking units comprising a locking member mounted for movement on said cabinet, interengageable means on said door and on said locking member for moving the member in response to movement of said door from closed to open position, means on said locking member moving between adjacent interlock bars in response to movement of the locking member, and means for limiting the overall movement of the interlock bars to that resulting from movement of one of said locking members between a pair of adjacent bars.

4. A machine as in claim 1 in which said channelmember is generally vertically disposed and inwhich each of said locking units and its associated door is a module comprising a mounting plate having a height approximating that of the compartment with which it is associated, respective upper and lower track forming elements carried by said plate for mounting said door for movement between an open position generally in registry with said plate and a closed position out of registry with said plate, releasable locking mechanism on said plate for normally holding said doorin said closed position, means forming a generally vertically extending opening in the front of said cabinet and means mounting said plate in said cabinet adjacent said opening at a location at which said door extends across said opening the closed position thereof for detachment from said cabinet without damage to the parts of the machine.

5. A machine as in claim 1 in which each of said locking units comprises a movable element adapted to move between a first position in the locking condition of said unit and a second position in the released condition of said unit, said machine including a reset bar common to all of said units, and means on said bar at positions therealong corresponding to all possible locations of said partitions adapted to engage said movable. members to move said members from said second positions to said first positions in response to actuation of said bar.

6. A machine as in claim 5 in which said locking element is a lever, and in which said reset means comprises pins on said levers and a reset bar formed with a plurality of windows along the length thereof for receiving said pins, said windows being spaced correspondingly to said locations.

7. A machine as in claim 1 in which said manually operable means comprise first elements on said partitions and second elements on said member at closely spaced locations therealong for selectively receiving said first elements.

8. A machine as in claim 7 in which said first elements comprise tabs at the rear edges of said partitions and in which said second elements comprise means forming slots at spaced locations along the portion of said member between the channel sides.

9. A machine as in claim 7 in which said manually operable means comprises interengageable means comprising first elements including first lugs at the rear edge of each partition and second lugs at the side edges of each partition adjacent to the front edge thereof and rearwardly extending fingers at the sides of the front edge of each partition and second elements including means forming closely spaced first slots in the portion of said member between said sides for receiving said first lugs and means forming closely spaced slots in the sides of said member adjacent the front edges thereof for receiving said second lugs and means forming closely spaced brackets in said sides adjacent the front edges for receiving said fingers.

10. A machine as in claim 7 in which said first elements comprise rearwardly extending fingers at the sides of the front edges of said partitions and in which said second elements comprise means forming brackets in the sides of said member adjacent to the front edges thereof for receiving said fingers.

11. A machine as in claim 10 in which said first elements further comprise means forming lugs on the side edges of the partitions adjacent to the front edge and in which said second elements further comprise means forming openings in the sides of said member adjacent the front edges thereof for receiving said lugs.

Claims

1. A merchandising machine including in combination, a generally channel-shaped member, a plurality of partitions, manually operable means for selectively assembling said partitions in said members at various locations to divide said channel shaped member into a plurality of merchandise compartments, at least two of said compartments being of different size, a cabinet, a plurality of doors on said cabinet, said doors having sizes corresponding to the sizes of the respective compartments, means mounting said member in said cabinet for movement to a position at which said compartments respectively register with said doors, a plurality of releasable locking units associated with the respective doors and means mounting said locking units on said cabinet in association with said doors and for detachment without damage to the parts of said machine to permit the sizes of compartments along said member and the sizes of the associated doors to be changed without damage to the parts of said machine.

4. A machine as in claim 1 in which said channel member is generally vertically disposed and in which each of said locking units and its associated door is a module comprising a mounting plate having a height approximating that of the compartment with which it is associated, respective upper and lower track forming elements carried by said plate for mounting said door for movement between an open position generally in registry with said plate and a closed position out of registry with said plate, releasable locking mechanism on said plate for normally holding said door in said closed position, means forming a generally vertically extending opening in the front of said cabinet and means mounting said plate in said cabinet adjacent said opening at a location at which said door extends across said opening the closed position thereof for detachment from said cabinet without damage to the parts of the machine.

5. A machine as in claim 1 in which each of said locking units comprises a movable element adapted to move between a first position in the locking condition of said unit and a second position in the released condition of said unit, said machine including a reset bar common to all of said units, and means on said bar at positions therealong corresponding to all possible locations of said partitions adapted to engage said movable members to move said members from said second positions to said first positions in response to actuation of said bar.