US3907160A

US3907160A - Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers and the like

Info

Publication number: US3907160A
Application number: US449385A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harry O Moore
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-03-08
Filing date: 1974-03-08
Publication date: 1975-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 1992-09-23

Abstract

Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, and comprising a housing in which an article supporting means is mounted for supporting a stack of superposed articles with the articles inclined downwardly and forwardly at an angle for facilitating dispensing the articles, one at time, from the stack. Restraining means is positioned to extend along the front of the stack in engagement with the front edges of the articles for restraining the same from moving forwardly, and means cooperates with the restraining means for effecting downward stepwise movements to the restraining means for successively positioning the restraining means out of engagement with successive uppermost articles in the stack to permit forward movement of each successive uppermost article and to thereby effect dispensing of the successive unrestrained uppermost articles.

Description

United States Patent Moore Sept. 23, 1975 APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING ARTICLES SUCH AS NEWSPAPERS AND THE LIKE Primary ExaminerStanley H. Tollberg Attorney, Agent, or FirmParrott, Bell, Seltzer, Park & Gibson [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, and comprising a housing in which an article supporting means is mounted for supporting a stack of superposed articles with the articles inclined downwardly and forwardly at an angle for facilitating dispensing the articles. one at time, from the stack. Restraining means is positioned to extend along the front of the stack in engagement with the front edges of the articles for restraining the same from moving forwardly, and means cooperates with the restraining means for effecting downward stepwise movements to the restraining means for successively positioning the restraining means out of engagement with successive uppermost articles in the stack to permit forward movement of each successive uppermost article and to thereby effect dispensing of the successive unrestrained uppermost articles.

13 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures 7. b 25 0 5l 30 g 4, 4 t 43 I I2! 122 an :25 A C 124 /l2(07) m 420. 53 Bl o y a L41 o l P 77 I20 3/ US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 2 of6 3,907,160

US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 3 Of6 3,907,160

US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 5 of6 3,907,160

US Patent Sept. 23,1975 Sheet 6 of6 3,907,160

APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING ARTICLES SUCH AS NEWSPAPERS'AND THE LIKE This invention generally relates to. dispensing or vending machines and, more'especiall y to an improved apparatus for dispensing newspapers and the like.

As is well known, most conventional coin-operated newspaper vending machines in general use today are of a type provided with a normally locked door, hingedly mounted along its lower edge and which is unlocked and released by inserting in an associated coin mechanism a coin or coins sufficient to pay for a single newspaper. When the door is thusreleased by the coin mechanism, the customer swings the door downwardly to open the same and gain access to a stack of newspapers in the machine. Usually, the customer will take a single newspaper from the stack and then permit the door to return to closed and locked position under spring pressure. It has been determined, however, that customers will oftentimes insert in the coin mechanism a coin or coins sufficient to pay for only a single newspaper, but then will remove more than one newspaper from the stack in the machine, and occasionally it happens that a customer will remove all of the remaining newspapers fromthe vending machine once the door has been opened, even though only a single newspaper may have been paid for. v i

Another drawback of such conventional type of newspaper vending machine resides in the fact that, as indicated above, the door is normally urged toward closed position by a spring means which applies considerable force to the door, which force progressively increases as the door is moved toward the fully'ope 'ned position. Accordingly, after a customer removes a newspaper from the vending machine and releases the previously opened door of the machine, the spring means causes the door to return rapidly to closed position under relatively high pressure, thus causing the door to close in a violent manner and to produce'considerable noise during such closing. Not only can the noise irritate the customer or other persons who may be nearby, but such violent closing of the door can cause injury in the event that the arm or hand ofa customer or other person is in the way of the door when it is returning to closed position.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for dispensing newspapers and the like, which apparatus is of simple and economical construction, and which has the required operating mechanisms and the newspaper supporting means thereof so arranged therein that there is no need for a customer to open a doorto obtain a newspaper from the apparatus, and also wherein, when a customer in serts a coin or coins in thecoin mechanism thereof sufficient only to pay for a single newspaper, only a single newspaper may be dispensed and available to the customer; i.e., any newspapers remaining in the apparatus are supported in such a manneras to be inaccessible to the customer. 1

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for dispensing newspapers from the top of a stack thereof, which apparatus comprises a housing containing a stack supporting means arranged for supporting the stack of newspapers with the newspapers inclined downwardly and forwardly at an angle for facilitating dispensing the newspapers, one at a time, from the stack. Restraining-means is positioned to extendalong the front of the stack of newspapers in engagement with the folded front edges thereof for restraining the same from moving forwardly, and means cooperates with the restraining means for successively positioning the restraining means-out of engagement with each successive uppermost newspaper in the stack and to thereby effect dispensing of the successive unrestrained newspapers.

According to-the'invention, in the disclosed embodiments of the apparatus, the stack supporting means defines a plurality 1" of superposed open-ended storage compartments for receiving the newspapers therein, which compartments are inclined downwardly and forwardly at an angle for readily receiving the newspapers and for facilitating dispensing the newspapers from the compartments. Carriage means is mounted for. substantially vertical movement forwardly of the storage compartments and supports article restraining means thereon which is adapted to engage the front edges of all the newspapers for restraining the same against forward movement out of the compartments. A releasable sustaining means normally holds the carriage means in such a position that the upper end portion of the restraining means prevents forward movement of the uppermost newspaper in the stack, and the carriage means is adapted to move downwardly, by gravity, upon the sustaining means therefor being released by a manually operable means. This permits the restrain-v ing means on the carriage means tomove downwardly a predetermined distance out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost newspaper in the stack and thereby permits such uppermost newspaper to gravitate forwardly over the restraining means for dispensing the same. As preferred, the manually operable means is of a type which cannot be operated by a customer unless it is first released by insertion-of a suitable coin or coins in a coin mechanism associatedwith the apparatus.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through the improved coin-operated newspaper dispensing apparatus of the present invention and showing the newspaper supporting means thereof filled with newspapers and wherein all of the mechanisms thereof occupy rest positions; 7

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, on a reduced scale, looking at the top, front and rightwhand sides thereof;

FIG. 3 is a view similar toFlG. 2, but looking at the top, rear and left-hand sides thereof, with a rear access service door thereof occupying an open position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view, partially in section, taken substantially along line 4-4 in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view, mostly in elevation, taken substantially along line 55 in Fig. 1;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional plan viewtaken substantially along line 6-6 in FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7-10 are enlarged fragmentary views of one embodiment of a locking and releasing mechanism associated with the carriage sustaining means for releasing such sustaining means to permit the carriage means to move downwardly by gravity upon operation of the manually operable actuator shown in the upper lefthand portion of FIG. 1, and wherein the FIGS. 7-10 show successive stages in the operation ol the corresponding mechanism;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through a portion of the coin-operated means for releasing the hand-operated actuator and being taken substantially along line 11-11 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the chain and pulley means shown in the central portion of FIG. 1 and being taken looking generally in the direction of the arrow indicated at 12 in FIG.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the winch means or releasable carriage sustaining means looking in the general direction of the arrow indicated at 13 in FIG. 5 and also showing in exploded relation thereto a manual removable crank means for raising the carriage means to the uppermost or starting position occupied thereby after a supply of newspapers has been depleated from the housing and prior to the insertion of a fresh supply of newspapers in the article supporting unit;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary view similar to the upper portion of FIG. 1, but showing a different embodiment of mechanism for locking and effecting the release of the carriage sustaining means incident to the dispensing of a newspaper from the storage unit;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional plan view taken substantially along line 1515 in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 1616 in FIG. 15;

and

FIG. 17 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 1717 in FIG. 15.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a cabinet or housing 20 including front and rear walls '21, 22

opposing side walls

23, 24, a top wall 25 and a bottom wall 26 mounted on a suitable frame broadly designated at 30. Only pertinent parts of the frame 30 will be mentioned hereinafter. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, bottom wall 26 may be spaced from the lower portion of frame 30 so that corner frame members of frame 30 form supporting legs for housing 20. The rear wall 22 of housing 20 is hingedly connected, as at 22:: (FIG. 2) and along one longitudinal or vertical edge thereof, to the rear edge of side wall 23 so as to serve as an access door for gaining access to the interior of housing 20 for loading articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, in an article supporting means or compartmented storage unit broadly designated at and which will be later described. Rear wall 22 may be releasably secured in closed position by a suitable lock means 221) (FIG. 3). Since the present apparatus is particularly devised for dispensing newspapers, the articles to be dispensed will be termed as newspapers hereinafter.

The from upper portion of housing 20 has a relatively small enclosure or auxiliary housing suitably sccured thereon and which contains therein a suitable coin mechanism broadly designated at 51. Coin mechanism 51 may be conventional and is shown as being of a type substantially as disclosed in Knickerbocker's US. Pat. Nos. 3,174,608 and 3,265,177 dated Mar. 23, 1965 and Aug. 9, 1966, respectively, and to which reference is made for a more detailed disclosure thereof. Accordingly, a detailed description of coin mechanism 51 will not be given herein, it being deemed sufficient to state that the lower portion of the coin mechanism 51 is capable of receiving coins through one or more slots 52 (FIG; 2) and, upon such a coin or coins being properly positioned in the lower portion of coin mechanism 51, as represented by the coin C in FIG. 1, such coin is restrained from upward movement by a movable retainer 53. Thus, the coin C then is operable to cam a pivoted latch plate 54 (FIGS. 1, 4 and 11) into an operative position so that such latch plate may be pulled forwardly relative to auxiliary housing 50 a sufficient distance to effect a dispensing operation, as will be later described.

Otherwise, in the absence of a coin C occupying the position of FIG. 1, it will be observed in FIG. 11 that latch plate 54 is provided with an abutment 55 on the rear portion thereof which will move upwardly during forward movement thereof under the influence of a spring 56. Thus, abutment 55 will move into engagement with a stationary safety locking abutment 57 to prevent latch plate 54 from being moved sufficiently toward its dispensing position to effect a dispensing operation. The latch plate 54 constitutes an embodiment of a suitable coin-operated means for releasing an 0th erwise locked hand-operated actuator 58 on which a medial portion of latch plate 54 is pivotally mounted. Actuator 58 is shown in the form of a handle in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 11, which handle is adapted to be pulled outwardly or forwardly by an operator when latch plate 54 is held in released position by a coin such as that indicated at C in FIG. 1.

When a locking and releasing mechanism of the type shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 7-10 is utilized for controlling the dispensing operations, the hand-operated actuator 58 must be pulled outwardly a predetermined distance and then must return or be returned to substantially its original illustrated positionof rest in order to effect a complete dispensing operation, as will be later described. However. when a locking and releasing mechanism of the type shown in FIGS. 14-17 is used for controlling the dispensing operations, as will also be later described, the hand-operated actuator 58 need only be moved in one direction, i.e., outwardly or forwardly, for a predetermined distance in order to effect a complete dispensing operation. It is necessary, however, to subsequently permit actuator 58 to return to its position of rest in FIG. 14 before a succeeding dispensing operation may be effected.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be observed that the article supporting means 40 is embodied in a generally self-contained storage unit comprising a plurality of vertically arranged, forwardly and downwardly inclined article-receiving compartments. The compartments are defined by vertically spaced, substantially parallel, forwardly and downwardly inclined walls or shelves each being adapted to support thereon an article to be dispensed. The inclined wallsof storage unit 40 may be of any-desired construction; e.g., they may be formed from spaced strips of material, spaced rods, or solid or perforated sheets of rigid material, as desired. As shown, the compartments are defined by an inclined main or bottom wall 41 and a plurality of superposed inclined auxiliary walls 42 spaced above the bottom wall 41. A top forwardly and downwardly inclined plate member 43 is spaced above the uppermost auxiliary wall 42 and constitutes the top wall of the article storage unit 40. Opposite side edges of all of the

article storage walls

41, 42 and top wall 43 are suitably secured to opposing side wall members 44.

As preferred, the front edges of all the

inclined walls

41, 42, 43 preferably are substantially flush with the substantially vertical extending front edges of the op posing side wall members 44. However, the bottom inclined wall 41, top inclined wall 43 and opposing side wall members 44 preferably extend rearwardly beyond the rear edges of the auxiliary supporting walls 42 so that the rear edges of auxiliary walls 42 are spaced forwardly of the rearmost wall or door means 22 of main housing when the article storage unit 40 is properly installed in main housing 20, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 5 and 6.

It is preferred that article storage unit 40 is removably secured in housing 20 so that storage unit 40 may be readily removed and replaced with similar article storage units, not shown, in the event that it is desired to load several of such units with newspapers at a loca tion remote from the dispensing apparatus, such as at a printing establishment. It also is preferred that each of the auxiliary supporting walls is provided with a substantially centrally located recess 42a in its central rear edge portion (FIGS. 1,5 and 6) to facilitate the insertion and removal of newspapers A with respect to sup porting

walls

41, 42 when loading or unloading the article storage unit 40 through the rear opening of housing 20. As heretofore described, such rear opening normally is closed by the rear wall or door means 22 when the dispensing apparatus is conditioned for the custom ers use. To facilitate the installation and removal of the article storage unit 40 with respect to housing 20, for the purposes described above, the opposite side wall members 44 of the article storage unit 40 may be removably secured, as by screws 46 (FIG. 1) or suitable quick release fixtures, to the proximal surfaces of a pair of upright frame members 31 of housing frame (FIG. 6). Frame members 31 may be secured to rear upright corner frame member 32 of frame 30.

Mounted for substantially vertical movement within housing 20 and forwardly of the article storage unit 40 is a carriage means, broadly designated at 70 (FIGS. 1, 5 and 6), which comprises a pair of substantially horizontal

cross frame members

71, 72 whose opposite ends are welded or otherwise suitably secured to end frame members 73, 74 (FIG. 5). At least the upper frame member 71 of carriage means 70 in FIGS. 5 and 6 preferably is in the form of a shaft for rotatably supporting thereon a pulley means or sprocket wheel to be later described. The opposite end or side frame members 73, 74 (FIGS. 5 and 6) of carriage means 70 are in the form of guide members mounted for vertical sliding movement on

respective guide posts

73a, 74a. The upper ends of posts 730, 74a are suitably secured to a pair of forwardly and rearwardly extending

frame members

33, 33a (FIGS. 5 and 6) of main frame 30. The lower ends of

guide posts

73a, 74a may be secured to suitable forwardly and rearwardly extending frame members 34 (FIG. 1).

Article restraining means is carried by carriage means 70 and adapted to engage the front edges of the group or stack of superposed folded newspapers A for restraining the same against gravitational forward movement. Such article restraining means comprises a pair oflaterally spaced vertically extending guide members 80 fixedly mounted on

frame members

71, 72 of carriage means 70. Guide members 80 have substantially straight, elongate and vertically extending rear faces or edges thereon, preferably of a low-friction synthetic plastic material, such as Teflon. Such rear edges of guide members 80 are so positioned that the upper end portions thereof are adapted to be engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost newspaper A positioned in the storage unit 40. A releasable sustaining means, to be later described, normally sustains carriage means in an elevated position such that the upper ends of guide members occupy the aforementioned position to restrain against forward movement the uppermost newspaper A in the article storage unit 40.

In order that the vertical dimensions of the guide members 80 on carriage means 70 may be relatively short and thereby avoid the need for constructing the dispensing apparatus of undesirably excessive height, the article restraining means further comprises an elongate pliable means or member broadly designated at (FIGS. 1, 5, 6 and 12) which is in the form of an improved sprocket chain having a portion thereof which normally extends upwardly from adacent the front edge of the lower or main inclined wall 41 of article storage unit 40 and which chain extends alongside the article supporting means and is adapted to be engaged by portions of the front edges of newspapers A positioned above lower inclined wall 41 and below the upper portions of guide members 80. Accordingly, te lower end of chain 85 is suitably removably connected, as at 86, to bottom supporting wall 41 beneath the front edge thereof. It will be noted that the lower end of chain 85 is readily accessible to an attendant when the door means or rear wall 22 of main housing 20 is open. Thus, the lower end of chain 85 may be readily disconnected from the lower front portion of bottom storage wall 41 when and if it is desired to remove article storage unit 40 from housing 20.

As shown in FIG. 1 the pliable member embodied in sprocket chain 85 normally extends upwardly from its connection at 86, which is preferably a pivotal connection, and passes over a rotatable member shown in the form of a sprocket wheel or pulley means 90, mounted for rotation on a substantially horizontal axis on carriage means 70. To this end, pulley means is rotatably mounted on a medial portion of frame member or shaft 71 of carriage means 70. Thus, the portion of chain 85 looped over pulley means 90 is located adja cent and between the upper end portions of guide members 80.

As shown in FIG. 1, it is preferred that the forward edges of

storage walls

41, 42 are positioned closely adjacent the substantially vertical path of travel of the rear edges of guide members 80 to insure that the folded leading or lower edges of corresponding upper newspapers A will not bend downwardly and become wedged between guide members 80 and the front edges of the adjacent inclined walls during the course of successive stepwise downward movements of carriage 70. Also, to further aid in preventing the front edges of adjacent newspapers A from becoming bound between the guide members 80 and

inclined walls

41, 42, or between chain 85 and

walls

41, 42, it is preferred that chain 85 is offset rearwardly of guide members 80 as in FIGS. 1 and 6. Additionally, medial portions of the front edges of the

inclined storage walls

41, 42 are provided with shallow recesses or notches 47 therein (FIGS. 5 and 6) to accommodate the rearwardly offset substantially vertically positioned portion of chain 85.

It is contemplated that carriage means 70 and the artiele restraining means embodied in the guide members 80, chain 85 and sprocket wheel 90 may be of such weight that they will readily gravitate downwardly upon being released. However, it is desirable that the dispensing apparatus is of relatively light construction and, therefore, suitable force-applying means is connected to the end of chain 85 remote from its connection 86 (FIG. 1) for imparting stepwise downward movements thereto and thereby imparting rotation to pulley means 90 during successive stepwise downward movements of carriage means 70 being permitted by the successive releasing of its sustaining means, as will be later described. Accordingly, it will be observed in FIGS. 1, 5 and 12 that the end of chain 85, remote from its connection 86 to the lower portion of article supporting means 40, is connected to one end of a cord or cable 92 which extends downwardly below the lower end of chain 85 and is connected to a suitable take-up means broadly designated at 100. Take-up means 100 is stationarily mounted in main housing and may inelude a rotatable take-up member 101 to which the end of cable 92 remote from chain 85 is suitably secured,

as at 102 (FIG. 1). Rotatable take-up member 101 is rotatably mounted on a stationary shaft 103, and a torque applying means is opcratively associated with the take-up means for applying torque to rotatable take-up member 101 and causing cable 92 to be taken up in the course of each successive downward movement of carriage means 70. By way of example, the torque applying means is shown in the form ofa torsion spring 104 in FIG. 1, one end of which is connected to the take-up member 101 and the other end of which is connected to the stationary shaft 103.

The chain 85 is especially constructed so that it will not bow or be pushed forwardly excessively between its anchorage point 86 and the pulley means 90 by the weight or pressure of the newspapers A against the rear a surface thereof. To this end, it will be observed in FIG. 12 that sprocket chain 85 comprises a series of pivotally interconnected links 85a having means operatively associated therewith for limiting relative pivotal movement thercbetween in one direction only and serving to prevent that portion of the chain extending upwardly in engagement with the front edges of articles on the supporting walls or

shelves

41, 42 from being pushed forwardly excessively between the point 86 at which chain 85 is anchored and the pulley means 90. However, such limiting means permits the links of the chain to pivot in the opposite direction as required in order for the chain to pass over and in engagement with pulley means 90 during each downward movement of carriage means 70.

Accordingly. a rigid extension 85b, preferably of T shaped form. is welded or otherwise secured to each link 85a and overlies and is engageable by the respective adjacent portion of the next adjacent link 85a (FIG. 12). Thus, the rigid extensions 8517 are so positioned on the respective links 85a as to engage the outer surfaces of the next adjacent links with respect to the axis of pulley means 90 over which the successive links 8511 pass during stepwise downward movements of pulley means 90 with carriage means 70. It follows that the extensions 85b limit the extent of relative outward pivotal movement between adjacent links 85a, while permitting the links to pivot into substantially side-by- I As heretofore indicated, carriageis releasably supported by a releasable carriage sustaining means which normally sustains carriage means 70 in an elevated position such that the upper ends of the article restraining guide members are positioned to restrain against forward movement the then uppermost newspaper A in storage unit 40. As shown, suchreleasable sustainingmeans is in the formof a suspension means or a suspending winch means comprising a pair of cables or elongate pliable elements (FIGS. 1, 5 and 6) whose lower ends areconnected, by suitable brackets 111, to the

side frame members

73, 74 of carriage means 70. Cables 1l0extend upwardly and are wound respective reels 112, to which the other ends of cables 110 are suitably secured. Reels 112 are suitably secured on opposite end portions of a substantially horizontally disposed reel shaft 113. One end portion of shaft 113 is journaled in a bearing block 114 (FIG. 5) secured on frame member 33, and the other end portion'thereofisjournaled in a suitable gear box 115 serving as a braking device suitably mounted on frame member 33a. Gear box 115 may contain suitable gearing therein, not shown, for applying abraking torque to shaft'll3 when it is released, in a manner to be presently described, and. so as to prevent unduly rapid downward movement of carriage 70 each time such movement is permitted. It is apparent that any suitable brakemeans may be provided to serve the function of gear box 115, and therefore, a more detailed illustra tion and description thereof is deemed unecessary.

Two embodiments of mechanism are disclosed in the accompanying drawings for normally locking or maintaining the sustaining means and carriage 70 in a stationary position and forreleasing the same momentarily in the course ofeach newspaper dispensing operation. One embodiment of such mechanism is shown in FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 7-10, and the other embodiment thereof is shown in FIGS.- 1417. The first embodiment of the locking and releasing mechanism will now be described. In the first embodiment of the locking and releasing mechanism, the relationship of the diameter of each reel 112 (FIG. 5) with respect to the distance between the upper surfaces of the front edges of adjacent supporting walls or

shelves

41, 42 is such that reels 112 and shaft 113 rotate one-half a revolution in order for carriage means 70 to drop such a distance as to permit egress of a newspaper A forwardly and over the upper surfaces of guide members 80 during each successive dispensing operation. In this regard, it is preferred that the upper edges of guide members 80 are inclined forwardly and downwardly at an angle corresponding substantially to the angle of inclination of each article

sup porting wall

41, 42, as shown in FIG. 1. Also, the lower portion of housing 20 is provided with a suitable discharge opening 2lathrough the front wall 21 thereof and through which a discharge chute 21b extends, chute 2112 being so positioned as to receive each successive newspaper A dispensed over the upper surfaces of guide members 80. 4

Referring again to the first embodiment of the locking and releasing mechanism for the carriage sustaining means, it will be observed in FIGS. 7-10 that a medial portion of shaft 113 has a rotor means secured thereon which is provided with a substantially diametrically opposed pair of radially extending latch engaging surfaces a, b thereon, which are succesively engaged by a first latch means 121 and a second latch means 122, and which are interconnected by suitable guide surfaces or cam surfaces 0, d. I

The two latch means 121, 122 extend upwardly and are pivotally connected, as at e, f, to a stationary sup port plate 124. The front end of support'plate 124 is suitably secured to the inner surface of the front wall 21 of main housing 20 and the rear portion of plate 124 is suitably secured to a transverse frame member 125 which extends between and is suitably secured to housing side walls 23, 24'.

Medial portions of latch means 121, 122 have respective outwardly projecting pins or followers g, h thereon which loosely penetrate respective longitudinally extending slots 1', j in a control arm 126. As shown in FIG. 1, the front portion of control arm 126 is pivotally connected to the upper portion of a lever 127 pivotally mounted on a lower depending portion of support plate 124. Lever 127 has the rear end of a link or cable 130 connected thereto whose front end is suitably connected to a yoke 131 (FIG.'.4). Yoke 131 is connected to the hand-operated actuator 58 by means' of a pair of forwardly and rearwardly extending and laterally spaced rods 132 guided for forward and rearward movement in suitable slides or bearings carried by the front wall of auxiliary housing 50. The inner or rear portions of guide rods 132 are surrounded by compression springs 134 arranged to normally urge yoke 131, and thus the hand-operated actuator 58,.rearwardly to the normally inactive position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. It should be noted that, when actuator 58 occupies the normally inactive or rest position, the reel restraining means, embodied in first latch means 121, is in a normally active state; i.e., latch means 121 is engaging one of the surfaces a or b of rotor 120.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7-10, it will be observed that control arm 126 normally is biased rearwardly or to the right by a tensionlspring m. The lower portion of first latch means l21is urged rearwardly or from left to right in FIGS. 1 and 7-10 by a compression spring 11 which bears against a stationary abutment p carried by support plate 124. The lower portion of second latch means 122, however, is urged forwardly or from right to left in FIGS. 1 and 710 by a compression spring g which bears-against a movable abutment r carried by the rear portion of and movable with control arm 126.

The slots i, j are of different lengths with respect to each other and are so located that, while the locking and releasing mechanism of FIGS. 1 and 7-10 is active and at rest as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, pin g of first latch means 121 occupies an intermediate position with respect to the opposing ends of the slot 1', but pin 11 of second latch means 122 occupies a position in engagement with the left-hand end of slot j with the result that latch means 121 is in latching engagement with the latch engaging surface a, but latch means 122 is disposed rearwardly of the latch engaging surface b. Thus, the locking and releasing mechanism thus described serves as a normally operative reel restraining means or carriage restraining means.

In operation, therefore, assuming that a coin C is properly positioned in coin mechanism 51 as indicated in FIG. 1, it follows that a customer may move the hand-operated actuator 58 forwardly or from right to left in FIG. 1. With movement of actuator 58 from right to left in FIG. 1, it follows that control arm 126 is moved from right to left from the position of FIGS. 1 and 7 to the position of FIG. 8. Thus,-pin his permitted to move forwardly in engagement with the front surface of the slot j in control arm 126 so that the spring g may move second latch means 122 into the circular plane or path of second latch engaging surface b.

As shown in FIG. 9, with further forward movement of control arm 126, the pin g of first latch means 121 is engaged by. the rear surface of slot i to move first latch means 121 out of engagement with the corresponding latch engaging surface a. Thereupon, the weight of carriage means 70, aided by the downward force applied to the pulley means 90 (FIG. 1) by the cable 92 and take-up means 100, imparts a preliminary counterclockwise movement to rotor'120 from the position of FIG. 8 to that of FIG. 9. Such movement of the rotor 120 is relatively short, to the extent that it is only a small fraction of a half revolution of the rotor 120 and shaft 113. Such arrangement ensures that the operator must permit thehand-operated actuator 58 to return to substantially the rest position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 before carriage means has moved downwardly sufficiently so that the upper ends of the guide members will have passed below and released a corresponding newspaper A from one of the

walls

41, 42 of the article storage unit 40.

However, in the course of rearward movement of the actuator 58, following a predetermined forward movement thereof to the extent required in order to with draw first latch means 121 out of engagement with the corresponding latch engaging surface a of rotor 120, spring m then will pull the control arm 126 rearwardly to such extent that the front surface of the rear slotj in control arm 126 will engage and impart rearward movement to second latch means 122, as shown in FIG. 10. This moves the latter latch means out of engagement with the latch engaging surface 12 and permits rotor to resume rotation until the latch engaging surface b thereon subsequently moves into engagement with the first latch means 121 so that the parts again oecupy the active or rest position shown in FIGS. 1 and 7. Of course, as the surface b approaches latch means 121, the upper ends of the article restraining guide members 80 move out of engagement with the then uppermost newspaper A in the rack or article storage unit 40 so as to release the thus unrestrained newspaper A and permit the same to egress forwardly over the guide members 80 and drop onto the chute 21b and through the opening 21:! in the front wall 21 of main housing 20, thus completing a dispensing operation.

It is apparent that the locking and releasing mechanism is then in condition for a repeat operation with the parts occupying substantially the same rest position as described earlier herein with the exception that the latch engaging surface b of the rotor 120 then will be in engagement with the first latch means 121. It will be noted that, whenthe last newspaper A is dispensed from the apparatus; that is, when the lowermost newspaper A has slid forwardly off of the bottom shelf or wall 41 and over the guide members 80, they will occupy substantially the broken-line position shown in the lower portion of FIG. 1. An attendant then may return carriage means 70 to the fully raised position shown in FIG. 1 by inserting a polygonally-shaped end portion of a hand crank 141 into a correspondingly shaped cavity 142 provided in the outer end of one of the reels 112, as shown in FIG. 13. The side wall 23 may be provided with a suitable normally closed access opening 143 (FIG. 2) therethrough to facilitate inserting the polygonal end portion 140 of the hand crank 141 in the cavity 142 in the corresponding reel 112. It is apparent that the hand crank 141 then need only be manipulated in the proper direction by the attendant in order to wind up the cables 110 on the reels 112 to thus return the carriage means 70 to the upper operative position shown in FIG. 1. During such winding up of the cables, shaft 113 and rotor 120 are rotated in a clockwise direction in FIGS. 7-10. Thercupon, the article storage unit 40 may again be loaded with newspapers A to be dispensed from the apparatus, in the manner heretofore described.

In the second embodiment of the locking and releasing mechanism for the carriage means, as shown in FIGS. 14-17, the housing, the article supporting means, the article restraining means, the carriage means and the coin-operated mechanism for releasing the hand-operated actuator 58 may be substantially the same as that described with respect to FIGS. l-l3. Therefore, only those parts in FIGS. 14-17 which differ from parts shown in FIGS. 1-13 will be described and other parts of the dispensing apparatus shown in FIGS. l417 will bear the same reference characters as is the case in FIGS. 1-13, where applicable, so as to avoid a repetitive description thereof.

As is the case with respect to the first embodiment of the carriage locking and releasing mechanism of FIGS. 1, 4 and 1-10, cable or link 130 is connected to a lever 127 in FIGS. 14 and 15 for imparting forward movement thereto upon the hand-operated actuator 58 being moved forwardly by an operator. Additionally, shaft 113 in FIGS. 14 and 15 may be journaled on the forwardly and rcarwardly extending

frame members

33, 33a in substantially the same manner as shown in FIG. 5, with the gear box 115 of FIG. preferably simply being in the form of a suitable bearing means.

Referring more in detail in FIGS. 14 and 15, it will be noted that a gear box 150, which may be of generally the same type as that indicated at 115 in FIG. 5, is fixed on a forwardly and rcarwardly extending girt or frame member 12411 which serves a function similar to that of the supporting plate 124 of FIGS. 1 and 5 and whose front end is suitably secured to the front wall 21 of main housing 20 in FIG. by a suitable angle bracket 151. The rear portion of frame member 124:! is suitably secured to a cross frame member 1254 whose opposite ends may be suitably secured to the opposing side walls of main housing 20.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, shaft 113 extends through gear box 150 which thus serves to provide an inertial opposing force to rotation of shaft 113. Additionally, through the medium of gearing, now shown. in gear box 150, shaft 113 is geared to a rotor means or brake drum 153 suitably mounted on the housing of gear box 150 and whose peripheral surface is normally engaged by a suitable normally active braking member or friction brake element 154 suitably secured to a brake arm 155. The front end portion of brake arm 155 is pivotally connected to the housing of gear box 150 and the brake element 155 normally is urged into braking engagement with brake drum 153 by a suitable tension spring means 156.

The front end of brake arm 155 is pivotally connected to a medial portion of a substantially vertically disposed latch member 157 whose upper portion is disposed forwardly of the center of gravity of latch member 157 with respect to the point at which the same is pivotally connected to brake arm 155. Thus, the upper portion of latch member 157 normally rests against the periphery of the body of a suitable primary flanged rotary member or disc 160 having a suitable projection or abutment 161, in the form of a pin, extending through the flanges thereof. Abutment 161 has one end ofa tension spring 162 connected thereto, whose other end is connected to a depending portion of frame member 124a so that spring 162 normally biases disc 160 about its axis to a predetermined position of rest with the abutment 161 thereon then occupying a predetermined inactive position such as that illustrated in FIG. 14.

Rotary member or disc 160 is secured on a shaft 165 rotatably mounted in a bearing block 166 (FIG. 15) carried by frame member 124a. A reel 167 also is mounted on shaft 165 through the medium of a oneway clutch means 170 (FIG. 16) which is of a wellknown type which will transmit rotation to shaft 165 and disc 160 in a clockwise direction in FIGS. 14 and 16 and which, upon being stopped, will permit shaft 165 and disc 160 to continue clockwise rotation in FIGS. 14 and 16. Clutch means 170 also will permit reel 167 to move in a counterclockwise direction relative to shaft 165 and disc 160. This is desirable since it will be observed that lever 127 is connected to reel 167 by a cord or cable 172 which is partially wrapped around the hub of reel 167. One end of cord or cable 172 is attached to the upper portion of lever 127 (FIGS. 14 and 15), and the other end of cable 172 is attached to the peripheral surface of the hub of reel 167 as in FIG. 16. As will be later described, reel 167 is rotated in the reverse or counterclockwise direction to take-up cable 172 after hand-operated actuator 58 has been pulled outwardly and then released by a customer or other operator.

It will be observed in FIG. 17 that a one-way clutch 175 also is mounted on shaft 113 and serves to connect a surrounding sprocket wheel 176 with respect to shaft 113 during the course of any clockwise rotation of shaft 113, while permitting shaft 113 to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction in FIGS. 14 and 17 without imparting rotation to sprocket wheel 176. As shown in FIG. 15, sprocket wheel 176 is engaged by a sprocket chain 177 which connects sprocket wheel 176 to a sprocket wheel 180. Sprocket wheel 180 is fixed on a shaft 181 rotatably supported by the frame member 124a as in FIG. 14. Shaft 181 has a secondary rotary member 183 fixed thereon which is provided with a plurality of radially extending projections or abutments l thereon. there being three such projections illustrated in Fig. 14, thus indicating that shaft 181 is rotated 120 during each downward movement of carriage means 70 in effecting a complete article dispensing cycle.

In operation of the embodiment of the locking and releasing mechanism of FIGS. 14-17, upon the handoperated actuator 58 being moved forwardly in the manner heretofore described with respect to FIG. 1, the consequent forward movement of lever 127 in FIG. 14 imparts slightly more than one-half revolution to reel 167 and one-way clutch 170 in FIG. 16, thus imparting slightly more than one-half revolution to primary rotary member or disc 160 in FIG. 14. In so doing. abutment 161 is moved beyond dead-center positioned with respect to spring 162 whereby spring 162 will tend to continue the movement of disc 160 in a clockwise direction in FIG. 14. Thus, abutment 161 is moved into engagement with the hooked upper portion of latch member 157, thus moving the same downwardly against secondary rotary member 183 and thereby moving brake element 154 out of engagement with brake drum 153. It is apparent that this releases shaft 113, permitting the same to rotate in a counterclockwise direction in FIGS. 14 and 17, to in turn, permit the carriage means 70 to move downwardly in substantially the manner heretofore described with respect to FIG. 1.

In the course of such counterclockwise movement of shaft 113 in FIGS. 14 and 17, it is apparent that shaft 181 and secondary rotary member 183 are also rotated in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 14. Consequently, the next succeeding abutment t on rotary member 183 then moves into engagement with the rear surface of the lower portion of latch member 157 and moves the same forwardly. Since brake arm 155 cannot move forwardly, it follows that latch member 157 will simply pivot in a clockwise direction relative to the front end of brake arm 155, thus moving its hooked upper portion out of engagement with the abutment 161 on primary rotary member 160. In so doing, latch member 157 is released so that spring 156 then may move latch member 157, brake arm 155 and brake element 154 upwardly to normally active position and thereby stop further rotation of shaft 113 in the counterclockwise direction in FIGS. 14 and 17.

Of course, upon the hooked upper portion of latch member 157 being moved out of engagement with abutment 161 of rotary member 160 in the manner last described, it is apparent that spring 162 then will rotate primary rotary member 160 to return abutment 161 to the normal predetermined rest position shown in FIG. 14. This conditions the apparatus for a repeat cycle, but it is apparent that a repeat cycle of the apparatus of FIGS. 14 and 15 cannot be repeated until the operator releases or moves the hand-operated actuator 58 inwardly to its normal position of rest as shown in FIG. 14. In so doing, reel 167 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction in FIGS. 14 and 16, as by means ofa torsion spring 1670 (FIG. 15), to thus return reel 167 and its one-way clutch 170 to the normal rest position.

It is thus seen that I have provided an improved apparatus for dispensing newspapers and the like, which apparatus can normally be operated, by operation of the hand-operated actuator 58 in either of the embodiments of the locking and releasing mechanism heretofore described, only upon a coin having been properly positioned in the coin mechanism 51. It is seen further that the apparatus comprises a housing in which article supporting means is positioned for supporting a stack or group of the newspapers to be dispensed therein with each such newspaper being inclined downwardly and forwardly at an angle, and wherein, upon each successive newspaper being dispensed, it is readily available to the customer without any need for the customer to open any doors or the like to gain access to the dispensed newspaper. On the other hand, the customer will not have access to the newspapers still in the storage unit compartments when a newspaper is dispensed into the chute 21b (FIG. 1). It can also be seen that article restraining means is lowered in response to each cycle-effecting operation of the hand-operated actuator so as to move downwardly a predetermined distance out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost newspaper then in the article supporting means 40 and to permit such newspaper to gravitate forwardly over the restraining guide members 80 on the carriage means to thereby dispense such newspaper from the apparatus through the discharge opening 21:! thereof (FIGS. 1 and 2).

In the drawings and specification there have been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for dispensing articles, such as newspapers, magazines and the like, comprising means for supporting a stack of articles for gravitational sliding movement therefrom, pliable means having one end anchored adjacent said supporting means and the last articles of the stack to be dispensed and having a portion extending alongside said supporting means adapted to engage and extend across corresponding forward edges of the articles in the stack to restrain the same from forward sliding movement from the stack, rotatable means engaging said pliable means and normally being positioned adjacent the next article to be dispensed from the stack and mounted for substantially linear movement toward said one anchored end of said pliable means and alonside said supporting means and adjacent the forward edges of the articles in the stack, and means for effecting said linear movement to said rotatable means in an incremental manner while rotating said rotatable means to cause the pliable means engaged thereby to have its portion extending alonside said supporting means to be foreshortened and to effect dispensing of the thus unrestrained article in the stack without disturbing the remaining portion of the pliable means engaging the remaining articles to be dispensed 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pliable means comprises a chain including a series of pivotally interconnected links and means carried by the chain for limiting the extent of relative pivotal movement between adjacent links so as to prevent said portion of the chain extending alonside said supporting means from being bowed outwardly away from the supporting means by the weight of the articles in the stack.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pliable means comprises a chain having means for limiting flexing thereof in one direction while permitting flexing thereof in the opposite direction, said chain having the portion thereof extending from the anchored end thereof and alongside said supporting means so arranged that said means for limiting the flexing of the chain limits the outward flexing of the chain away from the supporting means by the weight of the articles in the stack being thereagainst.

4. Apparatus for dispensing articles, such as newspapers, magazines and the like, comprising means for supporting a substantially vertical stack of the articles with the articles inclined downwardly and forwardly, pliable means having one end anchored adjacent the bottom of said supporting means and having a portion extending alongside said supporting means and adapted to engage and extend across corresponding forward edges of the articles in the stack to restrain the same from forward sliding movement from the stack, rotatable means engaging said pliable means and normally positioned adjacent the uppermost articles to be dispensed from the stack and mounted for substantially vertical movement relative to and alonside said supporting means and adjacent the forward edges of the articles in the stack, said pliable means being connected to said rotatable means for being wound at least partially around said rotatable means, and means for effecting incremental downward movement to said rotatable means while rotating said rotatable means for winding thereover said pliable means to cause said pliable means to have its portion extending alongside said supporting means to be foreshortened and to effect dispensing of the thus unrestrained uppermost article in the stack without disturbing the remaining portion of said pliable means engaging the remaining articles to be dispensed.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said pliablemeans comprises an elongate chain including a series of pivotally interconnected links adapted to engage the forward edges of articles in the stack, and means on said chain for limiting the extent of relative pivotal movement between adjacent links in one direction such as to permit wrapping the chain over said rotatable means while preventing any substantial forward bowing of the chain by those articles in the stack bearing against the chain.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said means associated with said links of said chain for limiting the extent of relative pivotal movement between adjacent links in one direction comprises a rigid extension secured to each link of said chain and overlying and being engagable by the next adjacent link of said chain, with said extensions being so positioned on said links as to engage the outer surfaces of the adjacent links with respect to the axis of said rotatable means over which successive links pass during downward movements of said rotatable means.

7. Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means comprising a plurality of superposed, vertically spaced supporting walls inclined downwardly and forwardly in said housing for supporting respective articles thereon, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement in front of said supporting walls, at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost article on said article supporting means, a rotatable member supported by said carriage means for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis and positioned adjacent but below the uppermost portion of said guide member, a sprocket chain looped over said rotatable member and having a portion extending downwardly therefrom in front of said supporting walls and being adapted to be engaged by articles on said supporting walls for restraining such articles against forward sliding movement off of said supporting walls, sustaining means supporting said carriage means in said housing, normally active releasable means normally maintaining said sustaining means in an elevated condition, manually operable means accessible outside said housing and connected to said releasable means for releasing said sustaining means to permit downward movement of said carriage means and said guide member thereon so as to move said guide member out of engagement'with the front edge of the uppermost article then on a respective supporting wall and to permit such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member away from said supporting walls, and said manually operable means restoring the active condition of said releasable means to maintain said sustaining means in a corresponding elevated condition preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually opera ble means, and means applying a torsional force to said rotatable member such as to cause the same to rotate in a direction tending to take up the chain each time said carriage means is permitted to move downwardly by a releasing of said sustaining means. i

8. Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means comprising a plurality of superposed, vertically spaced supporting walls inclined downwardly and forwardly in said housing for supporting respective articles thereon, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement in front of said supporting walls, at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a foward edge portion of at leastthe uppermost article on said article supporting means, sustaining means supporting said carriage means in said housing and comprising at least one reel mounted for rotation in said housing on a substantially horizontal axis spaced above said carriage means, and a cable having'one end attached to said reel and having its other end attached to said carriage means, normally active releasable means normally maintaining said sustaining means in an elevated condition and comprising rotor means mounted for rotation in fixed relation with said reel, with latch means normally latchingly engaging said rotor means and preventing rotation thereof underthe weight of said carriage means, manually operable means accessible outside said housing and being operatively connected to said latch means for withdrawing the same from engagement with said rotor means and thereby'permitting rotation of said reel for releasing said sustaining means to permit downward movement of said carriage means and said guide member thereon by gravity so'as to move said guide member out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost article then on a respective supporting wall and to permit such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member away from said supporting walls, and said manually operable means restoring the active condition of said releasable means to maintain said sustaining means in a corresponding elevated condition preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually operable means.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said manually operable means comprises an actuator normally occupying a position of rest and adapted to be moved in one direction to withdraw said latch means from engagement with said rotor means, and means responsive to return of said actuator to said position of rest for effccting latching engagement of said latch means with said rotor means.

10. Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means comprising a plurality of superposed, vertically spaced supporting walls inclined downwardly and forwardly in said housing for supporting respective articles thereon, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement in front of said supporting walls, at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost article on said article supporting means, sustaining means supporting said carriage means in said housing, normally active'releasable means normally maintaining said sustaining means in an elevated condition, manually operable means acces siblc outside saidhousing and connected to said releasable means for releasing said sustaining means to permit downward movement of said carriage means and said guide member thereon so as to move said guide member out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost article then on a respective supporting wall and to permit such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member away from said supporting walls,;said manually operable means restoring the active condition of said releasable means to maintain said sustaining means in a corresponding elevated condition preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually operablemeans, said sustaining means comprising reel means mounted for rotation in said housing on a substantially horizontal axis spaced above said carriage means, and cable means attached to and extending between said reel m'eansand said carriage means,

said normally active releasabIe means comprising rotor means mounted for'rotation in fixed relation with said reel means, means normally engaging said rotor means and preventing rotation thereof by the weight of said carriage means, and said manually operable means normally occupying a position of rest and being arranged to effect disengagement of said engaging means relative to said rotor means upon manipulation of said manually operable means to permit rotation of said reel means whereby said carriage means may move downwardly by gravity, i g

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said rotor means is provided with first and second substantantially diametrically opposed latch engaging surfaces thereon, said means normally engaging said rotor means comprising a first latch means normally positioned in latching engagement with one of said surfaces of said rotor means, said manually operable means being connected to said first latch means and being movable from said position of rest to withdraw said first latch means out of latching engagement with said one surface of said rotor means, a second latch means, means operatively interconnecting said first and second latch means for moving said second latch means into latching relation with the other of said surfaces and arranged to be engaged by said other surface of said rotor means following each withdrawal of said first latch means out of engagement with said first latch engaging surface and before said carriage means has moved downwardly suffieiently to permit the then uppermost article to gravitate and egress forwardly over said guide member, and means responsive to returning movement of said manually operable means toward its position of rest for releasing said second latch means from said second latch engaging surface of said rotor means while moving said first-named latch means into the path of rotation of said second latch engaging surface of said rotor means to subsequently stop rotation of said rotor means and said reel means upon said second latch engaging surface moving into engagement with said first latch means and preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually operable means.

12. Apparatus for dispensing articles, such as newspaper s magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means adapted to support in said housing a group of superposed articles with each article being inclined downwardly and forwardly at an angle, said article supporting means including wall means extending downwardly and forwardly at an angle in said housing and above which is positioned the articles to be dispensed, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement forwardly of said article supporting means, article restraining means carried by said carriage means and adapted to engage the front edges of the articles for restraining the same against gravitational forward movement, said article restraining means including at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost article in said group, and an elongated pliable member having one end thereof anchored beneath the front edge of said wall means and having a portion thereof normally extending upwardly from adjacent the front edge of said wall means and adapted to be engaged by portions of the front edges of articles positioned above said wall means, pulley means carried by and rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis on said carriage means and over which said' pliable member extends, said pully means and the portion of the pliable member thereover being located adjacent said upper end portion of said guide member, releasable sustaining means normally sustaining said carriage means in such a position that said upper end portion of said guide member thereon is positioned to restrain released, manually operable means for momentarily re leasing said sustaining means' to permit said carriage means to move downwardly a predetermined distance to position said upper end portion of said guide member out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost article in said group and thereby permitting such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member, said pliable member comprising a sprocket chain having a series of pivotally interconnected links throughout at least that portion thereof adapted to be engaged by articles positioned above said wall means means operatively assocated with said links for limiting the relative pivotal movement thercbetween in one direction only and serving to prevent that portion of the chain extending upwardly in engagement with the front edges of articles on said supporting means from being pushed forwardly excessively between the point at which said chain is anchored and said pulley means while permitting the links of the chain to pivot in the opposite direction as required in order for the chain to pass over and in engagement with said pulley means during each downward movement of said carriage means, a cable having one of its ends attached to the end of said chain remote from said anchored one end thereof, take-up means stationarily mounted in said housing and including a rotary take-up member to which the other end of said cable is secured, and torque applying means operatively associated with said takeup means for applying torque to said rotary take-up member in direction causing said cable to be taken up in the course of each successive downward movement of said carriage means.

13. Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means comprising a plurality of superposed, vertically spaced supporting walls inclined downwardly and forwardly in said housing for supporting respective articles thereon, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement in front of said supporting walls, at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost article on said article supporting means, sustaining means supporting said carriage in said housing, normally active releasable means normally maintaining said sustaining means in an elevated condition, manually operable means accessible outside said housing and connected to said releasable means for releasing said sustaining means to permit downward movement of said carriage means and said guide member thereon so as to move said guide member out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost article then on a respective supporting wall and to permit such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member away from said supporting walls, said manu ally operable means restoring the active condition of said releasable means to maintain said sustaining means in a corresponding elevated condition preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually operable means, said manually operable means comprising a handoperated actuator normally occupying a rest position and adapted to be pulled outwardly in a direction away from said housing for effecting the release of said sustaining means, said hand-operated actuator being normally locked against outward movement thereof, coinoperated means for releasing said actuator so that it may be moved outwardly by an operator, a shaft within said housing and having a rotary one-way clutch mounted thereon, a rotary member also mounted on said shaft in operative relation to said clutch and having a radial abutment thereon, spring means normally biasing said rotary member about its axis to a predetermined position of rest with said abutment thereon then occupying a predetermined inactive position, means responsive to outward pulling movement of said actuator by an operator for imparting slightly more than onehalf revolution to said one-way clutch to move said rotary member beyond a dead-center position with respect to and opposite from said spring means whereby said spring means will tend to continue the movement of said rotary member in said one direction, a latch member engageable and movable by said abutment on said rotary member upon predetermined movement thereof beyond said dead-center position whereby said spring means associated with said rotary member will impart movement to said latch member, said sustaining means including rotary reel means suspendingly supporting said carriage means, a normally active brake means operatively associated with said reel means and normally restraining the same against rotation by said carriage means, means responsive to movement of said latch member by said spring means associated with said rotary member for releasing said brake means to permit said reel means to rotate, to in turn, permit said predetermined downward movement of said carriage means, and means responsive to predetermined rotation of said reel means for engaging and imparting movement to said latch means to move the same out of engagement with said abutment on said rotary member to thereby activate said brake means and prevent further rotation of said reel means and so that said rotary member will return to its said predetermined position of rest under the influence of its associated spring means.

l l l= UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. I 3, 907,160

DATED September 23, 1975 INVENTOR( 1 Harry 0. Moore It is certified that error appears in the ab0ve-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 5, Line 37, "member" should be -members-.

Column 6, Line 21 "adacent" should be --adja.cent--; Line 27,

"te" should be the. Column 8, Line 16, before "respective" insert about--; Line 66, fter "FIGS." insert -1 and Column 9, Line 46, change "g" to --q. Column 10, Line 5, "g" should be -q-. Column 11, Line 31, "1-10" should be -7-10--. Column 18, Line 63, CLAIM 12, after "in" insert --a-.

Signed and Scaled this twenty-third Day Of December 1975 [SEAL] Arrest:

RUTH C. MASON Commissioner uflatents and Trademark UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. I 3, 907, 160

DATED September 23, 1975 lNVENTOR( 1 Harry 0. Moore It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 5, Line 37, "member" should be -members.

Column 6, Line 21 "adacent" should be adjacent; Line 27,

"te" should be the. Column 8, Line 16, before "respective" insert about--; Line 66, ter- "FIGS." insert --1 and Column 9, Line 46, change "g" to --q. Column 10, Line 5, "g" should be -q. Column 11, Line 31, "110" should be --7-10. Column 18, Line 63, CLAIM 12, after "in" insert Signcd and Scaled this twenty-third Day Of December 1975 [SEAL] A ttest:

RUTH C. MASON Commissioner ufParenls and Trademarks

Claims

1. Apparatus for dispensing articles, such as newspapers, magazines and the like, comprising means for supporting a stack of articles for gravitational sliding movement therefrom, pliable means having one end anchored adjacent said supporting means and the last articles of the stack to be dispensed and having a portion extending alongside said supporting means adapted to engage and extend across corresponding forward edges of the articles in the stack to restrain the same from forward sliding movement from the stack, rotatable means engaging said pliable means and normally being positioned adjacent the next article to be dispensed from the stack and mounted for substantially linear movement toward said one anchored end of said pliable means and alonside said supporting means and adjacent the forward edges of the articles in the stack, and means for effecting said linear movement to said rotatable means in an incremental manner while rotating said rotatable means to cause the pliable means engaged thereby to have its portion extending alonside said supporting means to be foreshortened and to effect dispensing of the thus unrestrained article in the stack without disturbing the remaining portion of the pliable means engaging the remaining articles to be dispensed

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said pliable means comprises a chain including a series of pivotally interconnected links and means carried by the chain for limiting the extent of relative pivotal movement between adjacent links so as to prevent said portion of the chain extending alonside said supporting means from being bowed outwardly away from the supporting means by the weight of the articles in the stack.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said pliable means comprises an elongate chain including a series of pivotally interconnected links adapted to engage the forward edges of articles in the stack, and means on said chain for limiting the extent of relative pivotal movement between adjacent links in one direction such as to permit wrapping the chain over said rotatable means while preventing any substantial forward bowing of the chain by those articles in the stack bearing against the chain.

7. Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means comprising a plurality of superposed, vertically spaced supporting walls inclined downwardly and forwardly in said housing for supporting respective articles thereon, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement in front of said supporting walls, at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost article on said article supporting means, a rotatable member supported by said carriage means for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis and positioned adjacent but below the uppermost portion of said guide member, a sprocket chain looped over said rotatable member and having a portion extending downwardly therefrom in front of said supporting walls and being adapted to be engaged by articles on said supporting walls for restraining such articles against forward sliding movement off of said supporting walls, sustaining means supporting said carriage means in said housing, normally active releasable means normally maintaining said sustaining means in an elevated condition, manually operable means accessible outside said housing and connected to said releasable means for releasing said sustaining means to permit downward movement of said carriage means and said guide member thereon so as to move said guide member out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost article then on a respective supporting wall and to permit such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member away from said supporting walls, and said manually operable means restoring the active condition of said releasable means to maintain said sustaining means in a corresponding elevated condition preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually operable means, and means applying a torsional force to said rotatable member such as to cause the same to rotate in a direction tending to take up the chain each time said carriage means is permitted to move downwardly by a releasing of said sustaining means.

8. Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means comprising a plurality of superposed, vertically spaced supporting walls inclined downwardly and forwardly in said housing for supporting respective articles thereon, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement in front of said supporting walls, at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a foward edge portion of at least the uppermost article on said article supporting means, sustaining means supporting said carriage means in said housing and comprising at least one reel mounted for rotation in said housing on a substantially horizontal axis spaced above said carriage means, and a cable having one end attached to said reel and having its other end attached to said carriage means, normally active releasable means normally maintaining said sustaining means in an elevated condition and comprising rotor means mounted for rotation in fixed relation with said reel, with latch means normally latchingly engaging said rotor means and preventing rotation thereof under the weight of said carriage means, manually operable means accessible outside said housing and being operatively connected to said latch means for withdrawing the same from engagement with said rotor means and thereby permitting rotation of said reel for releasing said sustaining means to permit downward movement of said carriage means and said guide member thereon by gravity so as to move said guide member out of engagement with the front edge oF the uppermost article then on a respective supporting wall and to permit such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member away from said supporting walls, and said manually operable means restoring the active condition of said releasable means to maintain said sustaining means in a corresponding elevated condition preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually operable means.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said manually operable means comprises an actuator normally occupying a position of rest and adapted to be moved in one direction to withdraw said latch means from engagement with said rotor means, and means responsive to return of said actuator to said position of rest for effecting latching engagement of said latch means with said rotor means.

10. Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means comprising a plurality of superposed, vertically spaced supporting walls inclined downwardly and forwardly in said housing for supporting respective articles thereon, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement in front of said supporting walls, at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost article on said article supporting means, sustaining means supporting said carriage means in said housing, normally active releasable means normally maintaining said sustaining means in an elevated condition, manually operable means accessible outside said housing and connected to said releasable means for releasing said sustaining means to permit downward movement of said carriage means and said guide member thereon so as to move said guide member out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost article then on a respective supporting wall and to permit such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member away from said supporting walls, said manually operable means restoring the active condition of said releasable means to maintain said sustaining means in a corresponding elevated condition preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually operable means, said sustaining means comprising reel means mounted for rotation in said housing on a substantially horizontal axis spaced above said carriage means, and cable means attached to and extending between said reel means and said carriage means, said normally active releasable means comprising rotor means mounted for rotation in fixed relation with said reel means, means normally engaging said rotor means and preventing rotation thereof by the weight of said carriage means, and said manually operable means normally occupying a position of rest and being arranged to effect disengagement of said engaging means relative to said rotor means upon manipulation of said manually operable means to permit rotation of said reel means whereby said carriage means may move downwardly by gravity.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said rotor means is provided with first and second substantantially diametrically opposed latch engaging surfaces thereon, said means normally engaging said rotor means comprising a first latch means normally positioned in latching engagement with one of said surfaces of said rotor means, said manually operable means being connected to said first latch means and being movable from said position of rest to withdraw said first latch means out of latching engagement with said one surface of said rotor means, a second latch means, means operatively interconnecting said first and second latch means for moving said second latch means into latching relation with the other of said surfaces and arranged to be engaged by said other surface of said rotor means following each withdrawal of said first latch means out of engagement with said first latch engaging surface and before said carriage means has moved downwardly sufficiently to permit the thEn uppermost article to gravitate and egress forwardly over said guide member, and means responsive to returning movement of said manually operable means toward its position of rest for releasing said second latch means from said second latch engaging surface of said rotor means while moving said first-named latch means into the path of rotation of said second latch engaging surface of said rotor means to subsequently stop rotation of said rotor means and said reel means upon said second latch engaging surface moving into engagement with said first latch means and preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually operable means.

12. Apparatus for dispensing articles, such as newspapers magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means adapted to support in said housing a group of superposed articles with each article being inclined downwardly and forwardly at an angle, said article supporting means including wall means extending downwardly and forwardly at an angle in said housing and above which is positioned the articles to be dispensed, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement forwardly of said article supporting means, article restraining means carried by said carriage means and adapted to engage the front edges of the articles for restraining the same against gravitational forward movement, said article restraining means including at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost article in said group, and an elongated pliable member having one end thereof anchored beneath the front edge of said wall means and having a portion thereof normally extending upwardly from adjacent the front edge of said wall means and adapted to be engaged by portions of the front edges of articles positioned above said wall means, pulley means carried by and rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis on said carriage means and over which said pliable member extends, said pully means and the portion of the pliable member thereover being located adjacent said upper end portion of said guide member, releasable sustaining means normally sustaining said carriage means in such a position that said upper end portion of said guide member thereon is positioned to restrain against forward movement the uppermost article in said group, said carriage means being adapted to move downwardly, by gravity, upon sustaining means being released, manually operable means for momentarily releasing said sustaining means to permit said carriage means to move downwardly a predetermined distance to position said upper end portion of said guide member out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost article in said group and thereby permitting such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member, said pliable member comprising a sprocket chain having a series of pivotally interconnected links throughout at least that portion thereof adapted to be engaged by articles positioned above said wall means means operatively assocated with said links for limiting the relative pivotal movement therebetween in one direction only and serving to prevent that portion of the chain extending upwardly in engagement with the front edges of articles on said supporting means from being pushed forwardly excessively between the point at which said chain is anchored and said pulley means while permitting the links of the chain to pivot in the opposite direction as required in order for the chain to pass over and in engagement with said pulley means during each downward movement of said carriage means, a cable having one of its ends attached to the end of said chain remote from said anchored one end thereof, take-up means stationarily mounted in said housing and including a rotary take-up member to which the other end of said cable is secured, and torque applying means operatively associated with said take-up means for applying torque to said rotary take-up Member in direction causing said cable to be taken up in the course of each successive downward movement of said carriage means.

13. Apparatus for dispensing articles such as newspapers, magazines and the like, said apparatus comprising a housing, article supporting means comprising a plurality of superposed, vertically spaced supporting walls inclined downwardly and forwardly in said housing for supporting respective articles thereon, carriage means mounted for substantially vertical movement in front of said supporting walls, at least one guide member on said carriage means and having an upper end portion adapted to be engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost article on said article supporting means, sustaining means supporting said carriage in said housing, normally active releasable means normally maintaining said sustaining means in an elevated condition, manually operable means accessible outside said housing and connected to said releasable means for releasing said sustaining means to permit downward movement of said carriage means and said guide member thereon so as to move said guide member out of engagement with the front edge of the uppermost article then on a respective supporting wall and to permit such uppermost article to gravitate forwardly over said guide member away from said supporting walls, said manually operable means restoring the active condition of said releasable means to maintain said sustaining means in a corresponding elevated condition preparatory to a succeeding operation of said manually operable means, said manually operable means comprising a hand-operated actuator normally occupying a rest position and adapted to be pulled outwardly in a direction away from said housing for effecting the release of said sustaining means, said hand-operated actuator being normally locked against outward movement thereof, coin-operated means for releasing said actuator so that it may be moved outwardly by an operator, a shaft within said housing and having a rotary one-way clutch mounted thereon, a rotary member also mounted on said shaft in operative relation to said clutch and having a radial abutment thereon, spring means normally biasing said rotary member about its axis to a predetermined position of rest with said abutment thereon then occupying a predetermined inactive position, means responsive to outward pulling movement of said actuator by an operator for imparting slightly more than one-half revolution to said one-way clutch to move said rotary member beyond a dead-center position with respect to and opposite from said spring means whereby said spring means will tend to continue the movement of said rotary member in said one direction, a latch member engageable and movable by said abutment on said rotary member upon predetermined movement thereof beyond said dead-center position whereby said spring means associated with said rotary member will impart movement to said latch member, said sustaining means including rotary reel means suspendingly supporting said carriage means, a normally active brake means operatively associated with said reel means and normally restraining the same against rotation by said carriage means, means responsive to movement of said latch member by said spring means associated with said rotary member for releasing said brake means to permit said reel means to rotate, to in turn, permit said predetermined downward movement of said carriage means, and means responsive to predetermined rotation of said reel means for engaging and imparting movement to said latch means to move the same out of engagement with said abutment on said rotary member to thereby activate said brake means and prevent further rotation of said reel means and so that said rotary member will return to its said predetermined position of rest under the influence of its associated spring means.