US3802601A

US3802601A - Article dispensing apparatus with sequentially operable shelves

Info

Publication number: US3802601A
Application number: US00342961A
Authority: US
Inventors: K Ohno
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1973-03-20
Filing date: 1973-03-20
Publication date: 1974-04-09
Anticipated expiration: 1991-04-09

Abstract

An article-dispensing apparatus having a plurality of vertically aligned shelves, each of which is held in a horizontal position by a latch mechanism and then released to a vertical position to dispense the article supported on the shelf. A compact shelf release unit is provided for each shelf and includes a solenoid for operating the latch mechanism to release the shelf in response to insertion of a coin. Under the control of a simple electric circuit, the shelf release units operate sequentially to release the shelves, starting from the lowermost one, to thereby dispense the articles one at a time. The control circuit includes a plurality of conventional double-throw switches instead of a rotary switch requiring a complicated wiring operation.

Description

[ Apr. 9, 1974 United States Patent 1 Ohno ABSTRACT ARTICLE DISPENSING APPARATUS WITH SEQUENTIALLY OPERABLE SHELVES An article-dispensing apparatus having a plurality of [76] Inventor: Kiyomitsu Ohno, 9-9 Naka,

2-chome, Tokyo, Japan Mar. 20, 1973 Appl. No.: 342,961

vertically aligned shelves, each of which is held in ahorizontal position by a latch mechanism and then re- [22] Filed:

leased to a vertical position to dispense the article supported on the shelf. A compact shelf release unit is provided for each shelf and includes a solenoid for operating the latch mechanism to release the shelf in re- [52] US. Cl. 221/90 G07f 11/06 sponse to insertion of a coin. Under the control of a simple electric circuit, the shelf release units operate [51] Int.

[58] Field of 221/89, 90

sequentially to release the shelves, starting from the lowermost one, to thereby dispense the articles one at References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 a time. The control circuit includes a plurality of conventional double-throw switches instead of a rotary switch requiring a complicated wiring operation.

3,325,049 6/1967 Graven et al. 3,312,321 4/1967 Gretzky 3,163,325 12/1964 Mihalek....................,...........

9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Primary Examiner-Stanley l-l. Tollberg Assistant Examiner-Joseph J. Rolla Attorney, Agent, or FirmFidelman, Wolffe, Leitner & Hiney PATENTEU APR 9 I574 coin- Operated actuator ARTICLE DISPENSING APPARATUS WITH SEQUENTIALLY OPERABLE SHELVES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to dispensing apparatus and, more particularly, to an improved article-dispensing apparatus of the type having a plurality of sequentially operated shelves.

Article dispensing apparatus have heretofore been developed which are coin operated, and which have 'a plurality of vertically aligned article-supporting shelves, operable in sequence starting from the bottom shelf, to release the supported articles one at a time. While these previous machines have proved quite successful, the shelf release mechanisms in these machines have had certain disadvantages. First, they have generally been quite complex, thereby increasing the cost of the apparatus. In addition, they have been of such construction as to make impractical the assembly of a shelf release mechanism for each shelf as a unit. In other words, with previous apparatus, if one of the shelf release mechanisms malfunctions, the entire apparatus would be of no service. To eliminate these disadvantages, it has been proposed to provide a solenoidactuated shelf release mechanism for each shelf, the solenoids being activated in sequence starting from the bottom shelf by an electric control circuit. However, these control circuits would necessarily include a rotary switch which requires a trobulesome and complicated wiring operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an article-dispensing apparatus comprising a plurality of vertically aligned shelves, each shelf being mounted for movement between a horizontal supporting position and a vertical non-supporting position, each shelf including a latch means for holding that shelf in the horizontal position; a control means including a solenoid for operating the latch means of that shelf to permit that shelf to move from the horizontal position to the vertical position; and a switch means having a first operative position to connect the other end of the solenoid of that shelf to the switch means of the next lower shelf except the switch means associated with the lowermost shelf and a second operative position to connect the switch means of the next lower shelf to that of the next higher shelf, each switch means being movable from the first operative position to the second operative position in response to movement of that shelf from its horizontal position to its vertical position, and an actuator means including a switch and responsive to closure of the switch for producing one voltage pulse of a magnitude sufficient to energize the solenoid, one end of each solenoid being connected in common with the actuator means, the switch means of the lowermost shelf in its first position connecting the other end of the solenoid of that shelf to the actuator means, whereby the shelves are moved to the vertical position one at a time in sequence starting from the lowermost shelf each time the switch of the actuator means is closed.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved article-dispensing apparatus.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved article-dispensing apparatus wherein'each shelf is held in a horizontal position by a solenoid-actuated latch means and then released to a vertical position to dispense the articles. It is a further object of this invention to provide, in an article-dispensing apparatus of the type described, a simple control circuit for operating the latch means to cause the shelves to fall to the vertical position, starting from the lowermost shelf, one at a time.

It is stillfurther object of this invention to provide an improved article-dispensing apparatus that is capable of giving an indication of the number of articles re maining in-or having been dispensed from the apparatus. 1

These and other objects will be apparent from the following description of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional side elevation of an articledispensing apparatus having a plurality of vertically alinged shelves, to which the present invention is applicable;

FIG. 2 is a detailed disassembled perspective of one shelf release unit to be mounted on the apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a control circuit for the article-dispensing apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, the article-dispensing apparatus as depicted comprises a housing or cabinet 10 including a plurality of vertically aligned shelves 1 1, each of which is adapted to receive thereon an article such as a pair of bowling shoes (not shown). The rear of each shelf 11 is secured to a pivotal shaft 12 extending horizontally along the rear wall of the housing 10. The pivotal shaft 12 is rotatably supported in a casing 13 (see FIG. 2) so that each shelf 11 is mounted for rotational movement from a horizontal position to a vertical position. Each shelf 11 is normally held in the horizontal position by a latch mechanism (shown in FIG. 2) and then is released in sequence to the vertical position, starting from the lowermost shelf, to dispense the articles, one at a time. The articles on the shelves 11 drop into a chute 16 provided at the bottom of the housing 10, the delivery zone of which is available to a purchaser or borrower through an aperture 18 in the front wall of the housing 10.

In FIG. 2, there is shown a typical arrangement of a shelf release unit for determining the position of the shelf 11. The casing 13 of the unit is secured to the housing 10 by such means as screws 15 and has two openings 20 (only one of which is shown for simplicity of illustration) formed in. the respective side walls thereof. Each opening 20 is adapted to rotatably support one end of the pivotal shaft 12, as indicated by the dash-and-dot line 16. The latch mechanism includes an engagement plate 22 pivotally mounted at one end to the'interior of the casing 13 and having a concave portion 23 for receiving and holding the edged portion 25a of a first cam 25 which is secured to the pivotal shaft 12. An armature 27 is secured to the other end of the engagement plate 22 substantially perpendicularly thereof and extends through a solenoid 28 which is fixed to the side wall of the casing 13. Thus, energization of the solenoid 28 causes the armature 27 to move upward, thereby rotating the engagement plate 22 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2.

- Provided on the casing 13 adjacent the opening 20 are two switches SA and SB which are so positioned that their

operating levers

30 and 31 are actuated by a second cam 33 secured to the pivotal shaft 12. Each switch SA, SB is of single-pole, double-throw type having a movable contact a selectively engageable with two fixed contacts b and (see FIG. 3). These switch means SA and SB, together with the solenoid 28, are connected to a plug 35 and a receptacle 36 by means of lines or

cords

37 and 38. The receptacle 36 is provided on the casing 13 for receiving the plug leading from the shelf release unit associated with the next lower shelf.

It should be noted that the switch SB is disposed below the opening 20 so that it is not actuated until the shelf has been moved to the vertical position. This will serve to prevent many shelves from falling to their vertical position substantially at a time, for example, due to many coins undesirably accumulated in the coin slot.

In the operation of the arrangement shown in FIG. 2, the solenoid 28 is activated upon insertion of a coin, causing the armature 27 to move upward against the action of gravities of the armature and the engagement plate. This will rotate the engagement plate 22 in a counter-clockwise direction to disengage the edged portion 250 of the first cam 25 from the concave portion 23 of the engagement plate 22, thus permitting the shelf 11 to move from the horizontal position to the vertical position.

It will be appreciated that while the solenoid 28 remains deactivated, the engagement plate 22 is subjected to a force tending to rotate it in a clockwise direction due to the weight of the engagement plate itself and the armature, and hence the shelf 11 is firmly held in the horizontal position by the latch mechanism including the engagement plate.

Further, it should be noted that the cord 38 leading from the casing 13 to the plug 35 is conveniently made long enough to be connected to the receptacle for the shelf which is located immediately above the particular shelf except one or two, since, even if the next higher shelf release unit becomes faulty, the article-dispensing apparatus may be serviceable by removing the faulty shelf release unit or manually moving the shelf of the faulty unit to the vertical position, simultaneously with the insertion of the plug for the particular shelf into the receptacle for the shelf immediately above the faulty shelf.

In FIG. 3, there is shown a typical example of the control circuit for operating the article-dispensing apparatus of the invention.

Designated by MCI, MC2 MCn are solenoids which correspond to that as indicated at 28 in FIG. 2, and which are connected at one end to a common line 50 leading to a coin operated actuator 51. The actuator 51 includes a coin switch (not shown) and is adapted to produce at its output one-shot pulse having a width of about 0.1 second in response to insertion of a coin. Another output line 52 connects the actuator 51 to the movable contact 0 of a switch SBl associated with the lowermost shelf. The normally closed contact a of the switch 881 is connected to the other end of the solenoid MCI, and the normally open contact b thereof is connected to the movable contact 0 of a switch SB2 for the second lowest shelf through a line 53. Similarly, the normally closed contact a of a switch SBrn is connected to the other end of the solenoid MCm, and the normally open contact b thereof is connected to the movable contact c of a switch SBm+l. However, the normally open contact b of the switch SBn associated with the highest shelf is connected to an alarm device 54 to give a warning if all the articles received in the apparatus are dispensed. In this embodiment, the alarm device 54 comprises an electric lamp or a buzzer and a selfsustaining relay.

The left half of the circuit shown in FIG. 3 is an indicator circuit which is capable of providing information on the number of articles remaining in the dispensing apparatus. The indicator circuit includes a plurality of resistors R1, R2, R3 Rn of identical resistance, the number of the resistors being equal to that of the shelf release units. These resistors R are connected in series across a source of AC. voltage.

An indicator IND is provided which is of the type including a conventional voltmeter. The indicator is connected between the voltage source and the movable contact 0 of a switches SAl, the switch SAl corresponding to that shown in FIG. 2. The normally closed contact a, that is, the contact normally engaged by the movable contact 0 when theshelf is held in its horizontal position, of the switch SAl is connected to a point between the voltage source and the resistor R1, and the normally open contact b of the switch SAl is connected through a line 62 to the movable contact 0 of a switch SA2 associated with the second lowest shelf. The normally closed contact a of the switch SA2 is connected to a point between the resistors R1 and R2 and, similarly, the normally open contact b of the switch SA2 is connected to the movable contact c of a switches SA3. The normally open contact b of a switch SAn associated with the highest shelf is connected directly to a point between the resistor Rn and the voltage source.

The operation of the control circuit shown in FIG. 3 is as follows:

Each time a coin is thrown into a coin slot (not shown), the actuator 51 generates one pulse which is supplied through one or more switches SB to one of the solenoids MC. If, now, all the shelves 11 are held in their horizontal position to receive articles thereon, the pulse signal passes through the normally closed contact a of the switch 881 to the solenoid MCI, causing energization of the solenoid. When this occurs, the engagement plate 22 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2 to disengage from the edged portion 25a of the first cam 25, so that the lowermost shelf 11 moves to the vertical position. As a result, the second cam 33 rotates to the position where it operates the switch SBl so that the movable contact 0 moves away from the fixed contact a and into contact with another fixed contact b. Simultaneously, the switch SAl is operated by the cam 33 to cause the movable contact 0 to engage the fixed contact b. In this case, the indicator 60 is connected across the source voltage and the resistor R1 through the switches SAl and SA2.

When another coin is inserted, the pulse signal passes through the switch SBl, line 52 and switch SB2 to energize the solenoid MC2. Actuation of the solenoid MC2 moves the second lowest shelf to the vertical position,

causing the switches SA2 and 8B2 to be operated so that their associated movable contacts c engage the respective fixed contacts b. Thus, the line 52 is connected through the switches SB! and SB2 to the movable contact 0 of the switch SE3 to ready the solenoid MC3 for actuation and, on the other hand, the resistor R2 is added across the indicator 60 through the switches SA2 and 8A3. In this manner, the shelves 11 of the dispensing apparatus are moved sequentially to the vertical position to drop articles one at a time in response to insertion of a coin. Further, since the voltage appearing across the indicator 60 decreases with the number of energized solenoids MC, it is possible, by proper graduation of the indicator, to give an indication of the number of articles remaining in or having been dispensed from the dispensing apparatus.

Although the control circuit of the invention has been described with its application to an articledispensing apparatus, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that this circuit could equally be applied to various automatic control systems without de parting from the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An article-dispensing apparatus comprising a plurality of vertically aligned shelves, each shelf being mounted for movement between a horizontal supporting position and a vertical non-supporting position, each shelf including a latch means for holding that shelf in the horizontal position; a control means including a solenoid for operating the latch means of that shelf to permit that shelf to move from the horizontal position to the vertical positionj and a first switch means having a first operative position to connect the other end of the solenoid of that shelf to the first switch means of the next lower shelf except the first switch means associated with the lowermost shelf and a second operative position to connect thefirst switch means of the next lower shelf to that of the next higher shelf, each first switch means being movable from the first operative position to the second operative position in response to movement of that shelf from its horizontal position to its vertical position, and an actuator means including a switch and responsive to closure of the switch for producing one voltage pulse of a magnitude sufficient to energize the solenoid, one end of each solenoid being commonly connected with the actuator means, the switch means of the lowermost shelf in its first position connecting the other end of the solenoid of that shelf to the actuator means, whereby the shelves are moved to the vertical position one at a time in sequence starting from the lowermost shelf each time the switch of the actuator means is closed.

2. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim l, wherein each shelf includes a casing and a pivotal shaft secured to the rear of that shelf, the pivotal shaft being rotatably supported in the casing; the latch means comprising a cam having an edge portion and secured to the pivotal shaft, and an engagement plate pivotally mounted at one end thereof to the casing and having a concave portion for receiving and holding the edge portion of the cam; the control means including an armature for coacting with the solenoid, the armature being secured to the other end of the engagement plate so that energization of the solenoid moves the engagement plate to a position to release the cam thereby permitting that shelf to fall to the vertical position.

3. An'article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each first switch means is operated by a cam secured to the pivotal shaft of that shelf so that the first switch means is moved from itsfirst operative position to its second operative position in response to movement of that shelf from its horizontal position to its vertical position.

4. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each first switch means is disposed so that it is not moved to its second operative position until the shelf has been moved to its vertical position.

5. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, including an alarm device that gives a warning if the uppermost shelf is moved to the vertical position.

6. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the alarm device comprises a buzzer.

. 7. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the alarm device comprises an electric lamp.

8. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, including a power source of fixed voltage, an indicator having one end connected to the power source, a resistor for each shelf, the resistors having an identical resistance and being connected in series across the power source, and second switch means for each shelf, each second switch means having a first operative position to connect one end of the resistor of that shelf to the second switch means of the next lower shelf except the second switch means associated with the lowermost shelf and a second operative position to connect the second switch means of the next lower shelf to that of the next higher shelf except the second switch means associated with the uppermost shelf, each second switch means being movable from the first operative position to the second operative position in response to movement of that shelf from its horizontal position to its vertical position, the second switch means of the lowermost shelf in its first operative position connecting one end of the resistor of that shelf to the indicator, the second switch means of the uppermost shelf in its second operative position connecting the second switch means of the second highest shelf to the other end of the resistor associated with the uppermost shelf, whereby the number of the resistors being connected across the indicator decreases one at a time in response to closure of the switch of the actuator means.

9. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein each second switch means is operated by a cam secured to the pivotal shaft of that shelf so that the second switch means is moved from its first operative position to its second operative position in response to movement of that shelf from its horizontal position to its vertical position.

Claims

1. An article-dispensing apparatus comprising a plurality of vertically aligned shelves, each shelf being mounted for movement between a horizontal supporting position and a vertical nonsupporting position, each shelf including a latch means for holding that shelf in the horizontal position; a control means including a solenoid for operating the latch means of that shelf to permit that shelf to move from the horizontal position to the vertical position; and a first switch means having a first operative position to connect the other end of the solenoid of that shelf to the first switch means of the next lower shelf except the first switch means associated with the lowermost shelf and a second operative position to connect the first switch means of the next lower shelf to that of the next higher shelf, each first switch means being movable from the first operative position to the second operative position in response to movement of that shelf from its horizontal position to its vertical position, and an actuator means including a switch and responsive to closure of the switch for producing one voltage pulse of a magnitude sufficient to energize the solenoid, one end of each solenoid being commonly connected with the actuator means, the switch means of the lowermost shelf in its first position connecting the other end of the solenoid of that shelf to the actuator means, whereby the shelves are moved to the vertical position one at a time in sequence starting from the lowermost shelf each time the switch of the actuator means is closed.

2. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each shelf includes a casing and a pivotal shaft secured to the rear of that shelf, the pivotal shaft being rotatably supported in the casing; the latch means comprising a cam having an edge portion and secured to the pivotal shaft, and an engagement plate pivotally mounted at one end thereof to the casing and having a concave portion for receiving and holding the edge portion of the cam; the control means including an armature for coacting with the solenoid, the armature being secured to the other end of the engagement plate so that energization of the solenoid moves the engagement plate to a position to release the cam thereby permitting that shelf to fall to the vertical position.

3. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each first switch means is operated by a cam secured to the pivotal shaft of that shelf so that the first switch means is moved from its first operative position to its second operative position in response to movement of that shelf from its horizontal position to its vertical position.

7. An article-dispensing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the alarm device comprises an electric lamp.