US3749218A

US3749218A - Bag vending machine

Info

Publication number: US3749218A
Application number: US00196968A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Verbeke
Original assignee: Apl Corp
Priority date: 1971-11-09
Filing date: 1971-11-09
Publication date: 1973-07-31
Anticipated expiration: 1990-07-31

Abstract

A vending machine adapted to dispense bags having bail handles. The bags are stored by placing the bails over a vertically extending shaft, and by providing a metering plate at the top of the shaft whereby only one bag can be dispensed at a time. The metering plate is coin controlled, and a bag can be dispensed only after a predetermined amount of money has been inserted in the device. The improvement of this invention resides in the provision of a mechanism to insure that a bag will be dispensed each time the predetermined amount of money has been inserted in the machine. In the prior devices, it is possible to insert the predetermined amount of money, have the machine collect the money and be automatically reset, while at the same time the bag will not be dispensed.

Description

tent [191 States Verbeke BAG VENDING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Henry Verbeke, Chester, NJ.

[73] Assignee: APL Corporation, Great Neck, NY.

[22] Filed: Nov. 9, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 196,968

[51] Int. Cl. G071 11/00 [58] Field of Search 221/240, 245; 194/2, 194/63 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,119,484 1/1964 Davis et al. 194/63 X 3,163,275 12/1964 Andrews et a] 194/2 Primary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman Assistant Examiner-Joseph J. Rolla Attorney Stanley Cohen et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A vending machine adapted to dispense bags having bail handles. The bags are stored by placing the bails over a vertically extending shaft, and by providing a metering plate at the top of the shaft whereby only one bag can be dispensed at a time. The metering plate is coin controlled, and a bag can be dispensed only after a predetermined amount of money has been inserted in the device. The improvement of this invention resides in the provision of a mechanism to insure that a bag will be dispensed each time the predetermined amount of money has been inserted in the machine. In the prior devices, it is possible to insert the predetermined amount of money, have the machine collect the money and be automatically reset, while at the same time the bag will not be dispensed.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENFEU m3 1 ma SHEEIIBFZ FIG. 2

INVEN TOR HENRY VERBEKE ATTORNEYS.

PAIENIEU JIM-3 I 3. 749.2 1 8 sum 2 0r 2 INVEN TOR HENRY VERBEKE BY A TTORNEYS.

BAG VENDING MACHINE This invention relates to a bag vending machine, and more particularly, to a bag vending machine having a mechanism to insure the vending of a single bag each time a predetermined amount of money has been inserted in and retained by the machine.

1t is now a common practice for large stores, such as department stores, to vend shopping bags having the name of the store thereon through the use of coin operated vending machines. Each of the machines currently in use will permit the removal of a single bag from a stack of the bags after a coin of predetermined denomination has ben inserted into the vending machine. Examples of devices that are currently in use can be found in US. Pat. Nos. 3,119,484 and 3,379,296.

The device of US. Pat. No. 3,119,484 comprises a frame having a vertically extending shaft and a locking mechanism which permits the removal of a single bag after a coin has been inserted in a coin slot. The device is mechanically controlled by the coin, and the coin physically controls an escapement mechanism whereby the bag can only be removed after the escapement mechanism has been triggered by the coin.

In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,296, there is also a supporting frame and a vertically extending shaft which supports the bail handles of the bags. Here again, the device is operational through the insertion of a single coin. In this device, however, the unlocking of the locking plate is electro-mechanically controlled. Thus, after the coin of a predetermined denomination has been inserted into the coin slot, the plunger of a solenoid is removed from a cam gate, thereby permitting the pivoting of the gate to release one bag from the stack of the bags. After the bag has been removed, the plunger is automatically returned to a position wherein the cam gate cannot be repivoted to permit vending until another coin has been inserted.

An improvement over the aforementioned bag vending machines resides in the device disclosed and claimed in my co-pending United States application Ser. No. 130,117, filed Apr. 1, 1971 and entitled Bag Vending Machine. The most significant of the improvements in the device of my copending application Ser. No. 130,117 is that bags can be vended at any price. Thus, the device can be used for vending a bag which can have a value in the range of $.05 to $1.50, and the value can be changed in $.05 increments. However, the device is similar in other respects to the aforementioned devices in that it includes a frame, a vertically extending shaft which passes through the bails of shopping bags, and a metering disc or plate which permits the removal of only a single bag each time a predetermined amount of money has been deposited in the bag vending machine.

It has now been found that all of the bag vending machines currently available which utilize a frame, a shaft passing through bail handles of bags and a bag metering plate have one major disadvantage in common. None of these devices, including the device of my aforementioned co-pending application Ser. No. 130,117, has any mechanism for insuring the vending of a bag each time the proper amount of money has been inserted and the vending lock has been reset. Thus, in operation, each of the bag vending machines of this type requires the use of the bail handle of the bag to effectuate vending. The bag is lifted vertically upward and the bail handle enters a notch in the metering plate. If an improper amount of money has been deposited in the machine, the plate cannot be pivoted beyond a certain point, and will be locked shut. 1f the proper amount of money has been deposited, the plate will pivot to a point whereby the bail handle can be freed from the shaft on which it has been placed, thereby permitting the vending of the bag.

in all of the aforementioned bag vending machines of the type described, somewhere between the position at which the lock is open permitting the pivoting of the metering plate andthe position at which the bag is removed from the shaft, the locking mechanism is automatically reset. Thus, the mechanism must be reset before the bag is withdrawn from the shaft, or else the bag vending machine could be operated continuously by the insertion of a single coin or by the insertion of the predetermined amount of money, as is the case with the machine covered by my aforementioned co-pending application Ser. No. 130,1 17. At the time that the lock is reset, the bag still remains on the shaft. If the customer should accidentally remove his grasp from the bag, the bag metering plate is pivoted back to its at-rest position, at which time the bag will be returned to the stack of bags on the shaft. If the customer again attempts to pull the bag from the stack and off the shaft, he will be unable to do so, since the bag metering plate is again locked. It is thus seen that the customer can deposit the correct amount of money and still not have a bag vended because he has accidentally removed the pressure from the bag as he was pulling it from the shaft and pivoting the bag metering plate.

The device of this invention insures that the bag will be vended each time the machine collects the predetermined amount of money. The improvement of this invention is adapted for use with any bag vending machine that includes a shaft supporting the bail handles and a metering plate acting in conjunction with the shaft to permit vending only after a predetermined amount of money has been inserted in the machine. Thus, the improvement of this invention can be used with the bag metering machines disclosed in U. S. Pat. Nos. 3,119,484 and 3,379,296, with the device disclosed in my aforementioned application Ser. No. 130,1 17 or with any other bag vending machine utilizing the combination of the shaft and the metering plate.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved bag vending machine.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a bag vending machine that insures that a single bag will be vended each time a predetermined amount of money has been inserted in the machine.

These and other objects of this invention are accomplished by providing a bag vending machine comprising a frame, means on said frame for supporting a plurality of bags, metering means for permitting the dispensing of individual bags, coin controlled lock means for controlling said metering means and means to insure the dispensing of a bag whenever said coin controlled lock means is opened.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bag vending machine of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of the metering mechanism of the bag vending machine of this invention, and taken in the direction of line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, similar to FIG. 2, and showing the position of the handle of the bag when it is attempted to withdraw the bag and the machine remains locked for failure to insert sufficient money into the machine;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, similar to FIG. 3, but showing the position of the bail handle after sufficient money has been inserted to unlock the metering plate and permit vending of the bag;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view, similar to FIG. 4, and showing the position of the bail handle of the bag at the time dispensing is completed;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the mechanism for insuring bag dispensing of this invention.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like parts, a bag vending machine embodying the present invention is generally shown at in FIG. 1. Device 20 basically comprises a frame 22, a bag metering housing 24 and a shaft 26 which projects vertically upward on the frame 22.

Frame 22 comprises a base 28 having levelling discs 30 at each of the corners thereof. A U-shaped beam 32 projects vertically upward from the base 28, and includes a pair of outwardly extending flanges 34. A pair of L-shaped braces 36 is connected to flanges 34 and base 28 by suitable fasteners, such as nuts and bolts.

Shaft 26 is secured in the top surface of base 28 by a suitable collar, and projects vertically upward from the base. The shaft includes an angled portion 40 adjacent its top, and terminates in a horizontal portion 42 at the top. A longitudinally extending slot 44 (FIG. 2) is formed in the top surface of portion 42 and in the upper portion of portion 40 of shaft 26.

As seen in FIG. 1, bag metering housing 24 includes a front wall 46, a top wall 48, a pair of side walls and a bottom wall 52 (FIG. 2). A flange 54 projects inwardly from the rear end of each side wall 50. A coin return rod 56 projects through top wall 48 adjacent a coin slot 58. A lock 60 is secured on top wall 48, which lock is used for securing the bag metering housing 24 in place.

As seen in FIG. 1, a coin return slot 62 is formed in the front wall 46 of housing 24. A coin box door 64 is pivotally mounted on side wall 50. This door can be locked in the closed position shown in FIG. 1 by lock 66.

The housing 24 is mounted on flanges 34, which have upper portions of reduced width to accommodate the housing. The mounting is accomplished by sliding the flanges 54 of side walls 50 behind the upper portions of flanges 34 (FIG. 1). The housing rests on an L-shaped brace 68 which extends across the front faces of flanges 34 and is secured thereto. The housing 24 is secured in place by rotating 8 finger mounted on lock 60 into a slot formed in one of the flanges 34.

A bag matering plate 70 is pivotally mounted in bag metering housing 24. The plate projects through a slot in bottom housing wall 52. The bag metering plate includes a notch 72 at the bottom thereof, which notch is equal in width to the diameter of the bail handle of the bag adapted to be dispensed by the vending machine. Plate projects into slot 44 formed in upper portion 42 of shaft 26 (FIG. 2).

The foregoing description briefly summarizes the bag vending machine of this invention, without describing the specific improvement embodied in the machine. Before describing the improvement, the function of the machine should be understood. Greater detail of the entire bag vending machine and its function can be found in my aforementioned United States application Ser. No. 130,] 17. The bag vending machine shown herein is shown for the purpose of illustration to show one type of vending machine in which the improvement of this invention can be used. It should be understood, however, that the improvement of this invention can be utilized on any bag vending machine that includes a means for supporting a plurality of bags and a metering means acting in conjunction with the supporting means.

The vending machine of this invention is used for dispensing bags 106 having bail handles 108 (FIG. 1). The device is used by first inserting the required amount of money in coin slot 58. Thereafter, the uppermost bag 106 is lifted from the stack of bags shown in FIG. 1, and pulled upwardly until the bail handle 108 is engaged in notch 72 of bag metering plate 70. This causes the bag metering plate to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, as indicated by arrow 74 in FIG. 2. Since the proper amount of money has been inserted in the machine, the lock which prevents the counterclockwise rotation of plate 70 is opened, and the plate can be rotated to the position shown in FIG. 5. At that point, the bag can be removed from the device, and the plate 70 is automatically spring urged back to the position shown in FIG. 2, wherein it is ready for the dispensing of another bag uponthe insertion of the proper amount of money.

If insufficient money has been deposited in the vending machine, and the uppermost bag is pulled, plate 70 can be rotated only to the position shown in FIG. 3. As seen in FIG. 3, it is impossible to remove the bail handle 108 from shaft 26, and vending can accordingly not be accomplished until more money is deposited in the machine.

There is a fourth position for the plate 70 during the vending operation, which position is shown in FIG. 4. When the plate is in this position, the proper amount of money has been deposited in the machine, the lock has been opened, and at the instant the bail handle 108 is in the position shown in FIG. 4, the money which has been deposited has been collected and the lock has been reset for the plate 70. If continued pressure is placed on bail handle 108 bypulling bag 106, the plate 70 will rotate to the position shown in FIG. 5, thereby freeing the bail handle 108 and its associated bag. However, if the customer should temporarily remove the pulling pressure from the bag, the plate 70 will automatically be spring urged back to the position shown in FIG. 2 and the bail 108 will be returned to the angled portion 40 of shaft 26. When this occurs, the money will have been collected and the lock reset, without the customer's having obtained a bag. As pointed out above, the sequence of steps is such that the lock must be reset before the bag 106 is dispensed, or else a customer could continually remove bags from the machine after depositing his money only once. Therefore, since the resetting must take place before vending, the possibility continually exists for the customer to lose his money, and in addition, not receive the bag. It has been found that this has occurred on numerous occasions, which results in dissatisfied customers and in abuse to the bag vending machines.

The improvement of this invention insures that the customer will receive a bag whenever the proper amount of money has been deposited in the machine. The device for accomplishing this result is generally shown at 76 in FIG. 8. Device 76 basically comprises a mounting bracket 78 and an arm 80. Mounting bracket 78 basically comprises a plate 82 having an upwardly projecting flange 84 and a pair of dependent tabs 86. Each tab 86 has a hole 88 passing therethrough.

Arm 80 comprises a plate 90 having a slot 92 formed therein. Slot 92 forms the plate 90 into a pair of spaced rods 94. Each rod 94 has an upwardly projecting lip 96 at the outer end thereof. Plate 90 futher includes an upwardly projecting flange 98 having tabs 100 formed thereon. Each tab 100 includes a hole 102 formed therein.

- In use, bracket 78 is mounted on bracket 68 (FIG. 7) at the center thereof. As seen in FIG. 8, flange 84 of bracket 78 has a pair of spaced holes 104 formed therein. The bracket 78 is mounted on'bracket 68 by rivets 105 or other suitable fasteners passing through holes 104.

After the bracket 78 has been secured in place, tabs 100 are inserted within tabs 86, and holes 88 and 102 are aligned. Rivets 109 (FIG. 8) are then passed through the aligned

holes

88 and 102, whereby the arm 80 is pivotally mounted on bracket 78. As seen in FIG. 6, when arm 80 is mounted on bracket 78, the rods 94 rest on horizontal portion 42 of shaft 26, and the metering plate 70 is received in slot 92. Thus, a rod 94 is positioned on each side of metering plate 70.

The operation of the bag vending machine will again be described in connection with the function of mechanism 76. Referring again to FIG. 2, the position of a bail 108 of a bag 106 is shown as the bag is being pulled up the shaft 26. The bail handle 108 has just reached the top of angled portion 40 and is about to contact arm 80 of mechanism 76. Continued pressure on the bag will raise arm 80 by pivoting the same around rivets I09. Thereafter, the bail 108 will enter notch 72 in metering plate 70. Continued pressure against the plate will cause the plate to rotate in the direction of arrow 74, as seen in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 3, the position of the metering plate 70 shown therein is the locked position of the metering plate in the event that an insufficient amount of money has been deposited in the bag vending machine. Thus, when the plate has ben pivoted to the position shown in FIG. 3, and insufficient money has been deposited in the vending machine, the plate will be locked in place, and can pivot no farther. When in this position, the rods 94 of arm 80 rest on the top of bail handle 108. If the pressure pulling bag 106 from the stack is released at this point, plate 70 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, thereby returning the bag to the stack shown in FIG. 1.

If sufficient money has been placed in the vending machine to permit vending, the continued pulling on the bag 106 will bring the bag handle 108 to the position shown in FIG. 4. When the plate is in this position, the coin mechanism is reset to its original position, with no money totalled thereon, and the lock for plate 70 is reset. Thus, when the plate is rotated in a clockwise direction to its at-rest position, as shown in FIG. 2, it will again be locked in place. However, even though the lock has been reset, the plate can still rotate in the direction of arrow 74 until the bag has been vended.

Referring still to FIG. 4, it is seen that the credit established by the insertion of coins has been eliminated when the bail handle 108 is in the position shown in FIG. 4. If the customer should inadvertently release his hold on the bag at this point, the plate 70, which is spring urged in a clockwise direction, would return the bag to the position shown in FIG. 2. However, because of the provision of arm 80, this cannot occur. Thus, as seen in FIG. 4, once the bail handle 108 is in the position shown in FIG. 4, the rods 94 rest on shaft portion 42, and the bail handle 108 abuts lips 96. Accordingly, even if the pressure on the bag were released, the engagement of the bail handle 108 against the lips 96 prevents the return of the bag to the top of the stack.

The continued pulling of the uppermost bag willmove the plate 70 to the position shown in FIG. 5, at which time the bag handle 108 is released. The metering plate 70 is then spring urged until it returns to the position shown in FIG. 2. There is no interference with the pivoting of the plate 70 by the arm 80, since the plate pivots freely within the slot 92 of arm 80, as seen in FIG. 6.

It is thus seen that the combination of the arm 80, the bail handle 108 and the notch 72 in metering plates 70 serve as a safety mechanism to insure that the customer will always receive a bag when the proper amount of money has been inserted in the bag vending machine. At the instant the coin mechanism is reset to lock the bag metering plate, the bail handle will be in the position shown in FIG. 4, thereby preventing the return of the bail handle, even if the customer should release his pressure on the bag. Although the invention has been described particularly with reference to the bag vending machine disclosed in my aforementioned copending United States application Ser. No. 130,1l7, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, it is to be understood that the mechanism 76 can be used with any of the bag vending machines known to the art that utilized a support for the bags and a metering plate used in combination with the support.

The exact positioning of the lips 96 of the arm is somewhat flexible in that the lips can be positioned at any location between the position of plate 70 at the time it is locked and cannot rotate further, and the position of plate 70 at the time the credit is erased or reset. Thus, the credit need not be reset at the exact position of the bail handles in FIG. 4. All that is necessary is that the credit be reset prior to the position for the plate 70 shown in FIG. 5, that is, prior to the time that the bail handle can be removed from notch 72 and shaft 26. Accordingly, the lips 96 can be at any position beyond the locked position of plate 70. Once the plate has passed the locked position, the money has been collected, and vending should take place.

It should also be noted that once the plate 70 has rotated beyond the position shown in FIG. 3, the rods 94 will drop to the position shown in FIG. 4 by the force of gravity, since the arm 80 is freely pivotable around rivets 109. Likewise, since the arm 80 is relatively light in weight, it can easily be lifted when the bail handle 108 is in the position shown in FIG. 3.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate my invention that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. A bag vending machine comprising a frame, means on said frame for supporting a plurality of bags, each of said bags having bail handles, a shaft supported by said frame, said bags being secured on said shaft by passing said shaft through said bail handles, metering means for permitting the dispensing of individual bags, a coin slot associated with said metering means, coin controlled lock means for controlling said metering means, said metering means comprising a plate, said shaft having a slot formed therein, with said plate being received in said slot, said plate being rotated in one direction in said slot during the vending of a bag, said plate having a notch in which the bail handle of the bag is carried when vending takes place, and means to prevent retrograde motion of said bail handle upon the unlocking of said coin-controlled lock means by at least one coin, said preventing means comprising an arm pivotally mounted on said frame, said arm resting on said shaft adjacent said slot, said arm being lifted by said bail handle during the vending of a bag, and means on said arm engagable by said bail handle to prevent the return of the handle past the arm after said lock means has been opened.

2. The vending machine of claim 1 wherein said engageable means comprises at least one lip formed on said arm.

3. The vending machine of claim 1 wherein said arm comprises a pair of rods separated by a slot, said rods bridging said slot in said shaft, whereby said plate is rotatable in said slot in said shaft and in said slot bridging said rods.

4. The vending machine of claim 3 wherein each of said rods has a lip formed at the end thereof, said lips being engageable by said bail handle to prevent the return of the arm after said lock means has been opened.

5. A bag vending machine comprising a frame, a shaft on said frame, a plurality of bags having bail handles supported by said frame, with said shaft passing through said bail handles, a plate rotatably mounted on said frame, said plate being received in a slot in said shaft, said plate having a notch therein, with one of said bail handles adapted to be received in said notch, coin controlled lock means for controlling said plate, said plate being rotatable in a first direction to effectvate dispensing of said bags, with said plate being rotatable by pulling one of said bags along said shaft to engage the bail handle of said bag in said notch, and an arm pivotally mounted on said frame, said arm being adapted to act in conjunction with said plate and said notch to prevent the loss of a bag once said coincontrolled lock means is opened.

k IF l 1* W

Claims

5. A bag vending machine comprising a frame, a shaft on said frame, a plurality of bags having bail handles supported by said frame, with said shaft passing through said bail handles, a plate rotatably mounted on said frame, said plate being received in a slot in said shaft, said plate having a notch therein, with one of said bail handles adapted to be received in said notch, coin controlled lock means for controlling said plate, said plate being rotatable in a first direction to effectvate dispensing of said bags, with said plate being rotatable by pulling one of said bags along said shaft to engage the bail handle of said bag in said notch, and an arm pivotally mounted on said frame, said arm being adapted to act in conjunction with said plate and said notch to prevent the loss of a bag once said coin-controlled lock means is opened.