US516675A - Vending-machine - Google Patents

Description

D.F.s,joooK. VENDI-NG MACHINE.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

Patented Mar. 20,1894.

/I/l/IIA y UNrTED STATES PATENT EErcE.

DAVID F. S. COOK, OF KOKOMO, INDIANA.

vVENDING-MA'CHIN'E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent No. 516,675, dated March 20, 1894.

Application filed J'uly 3, 1893. Serial No` 479,460. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID F. S. COOK, a citizen of `,the United States, residing at Kokomo, county of Howard, and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Postal-Card, Envelope, and Postage-Stamp Vending Machines, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention relates to new and useful im# -provementsl in an apparatus for vending envelopes, postal cards, and postage stamps, and consists in mechanism controlled by the insertion of a coin or-coins which operate the mechanism for discharging the envelope, postal card, or postage stamp, and will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

The object of my invention is to provide an apparatus that will operate to deliver a postal card, stamp, or envelope to a purchaser without the intervention of an attendant or clerk. I attain this object by means of the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which similar numbers and letters of reference designate like parts throughout the several viewsin which- Figure 1 isa side sectional elevation of the apparatus showing the mechanism thereof.

Fig.'2. is a front sectional elevation of th'e same. Fig. 3. is a sectional plan of the same. Fig. 4,.v is a perspective detail broken view of the rear racks of the operating mechanism. Fig. 5. is a perspective detail sectional view of the conducting tubes. Fig. 6 is a broken view of a portion of the front of the apparatus showing the slots wherein the coins are v inserted, and the operating lever of the apparatus. Fig. 7. is a perspective View of the rams or plungers for pushing the coins along the conducting tube and against the operating racks. Fig. ,8; is a detail sectional View of a broken oi portion of one of the 'vertical shafts showing the yielding or flexible torsional joint; and Fig. 9. is a View of the slats of the envelope rack and showing the manner of connecting their ends in plan and elevation.

The mechanism of the apparatus is inclosed in a casing 1, which is subdivided into several interior compartments. The compartment 2, inclosesthe operating mechanism, the compartment 3, the coins, the compartment 4, the postal card carrier racks, and the com partment 5, the envelope carrier racks.

Thepostage stamp mechanism is composed ot a spool or reel 6 journaled in suitable supporting bearings 7, which are firmly secured tothe supporting bar 8, rmly secured to` ous ribbon of postage stamps has its delivery end passed over the topof the periphery of the stamp wheel 9 and between the bite of said wheel and its holding or pressure drum 9, and in such a manner as to cause the holding pins 10, which are spaced at regular yintervals across the face of and around the periphery of the wheel 9, to properly engage or register with the punctures formed between the stam ps. The holding drum 9, has a series of peripheral grooves formed around its face and at such a distance apart as to permit the pins 10 of the stamp wheel 9,'to

pass or clear. The stamp wheel 9 is journaled in suitable bearings 1l, formed integral with the casing of the apparatus. One end of the journal 12 of the stamp wheel 9is extended beyond its bearing'll, and has the detent or ratchet wheel 13, the throw-out cam wheel 14, and the bevel Wheel 1.5, firmly secured thereon. The pawls 16, and 17, are adapted to alternately engage the teeth 18, at the top and bottom sides of the wheel13, and are pivoted at their opp'osite ends to the throwout lever 19. The throw-out lever 19, is pivoted on its supporting bracket 20, rmiy se-` cured on the cross stay or bar 8, and has its lower swinging end provided with a roller 2l. with which the cam 22, formed on the top of the rack bar 23, contacts to swing said lever 19, backwardly to move the throw out toe 24, against the pawl 16, to disengageit from one of the. bottom teeth 18, and to permit the stamp wheel to rota-te till the p'awl 17, engages the next consecutive toot-h 18. The pawls 16, and 17, are provided with a tension spring 25, which moves them toward each other and into contact with the teeth of the detent wheel. In order that the pawl 17, may

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not drop into engagement before the detent wheel 13 has rotated sufficiently to discharge one stamp, I provide ,the roller 26, which is `journaled in the fork holder 27, which is adapted to slide longitudinallyin the socket 28, formed on the top edge of the paw117, which sliding piece is surrounded by a coil spring 29, between its roller and the end of said socket which permits the roller to slightly recede or yield when suddenly dropped on the cam retaining teeth 30, formed on the cam wheel14. The stamp wheel is rotated by means of its bevel wheel 15 meshing with the bevel wheel 31, on the shaft 32, said shaft journaled in suitable bearings 33, and 34, and having the bevel wheel 35 meshing with the bevel wheel 36, loosely mounted on the vertical shaft 37, which shaft is journaled in its bearing 38, secured on the cross-bar 39, and journaled at its bottom end to thefloor of the compartment 2. The top end of the drivingshaft 37, is surrounded with a coil spring 40, which is secured at its top end to the top of said shaft and at its bottom end to the bevel wheel 36, thereby forming a yielding connection or coupling by which means the said shaft is permitted to rotate to some extent when either of the pawls 16, or 17, engage the detent teeth, 18, to stop the rotation of said shaft, 3,2, and the wheels positively connected thereto. On the lower end of the shaft 37, is firmly secured the ratchet -wheel 41, with which the pawl 42, pivoted on the wheel 43, engages, which latter wheel works loosely on said shaft and only operates to rotate said shaft 37, when rotated in the direction of the arrows as shown in Fig. 3.

The envelope operating shaft 44, and the postal card shaft 45, are operated by mechanism substantially similar in construction and operation to the motion of the stamp mechanism already described, and each of the operating parts of the one or right hand side correspondswith each of the similar parts of the opposite or left-hand side so that the addition of a prime added to the designating figures on the one side will suffice to designate the parts corresponding with the parts represented on the opposite side by plain numbers. The shaft 44', as is also theI similarly operated shaft 45, is rotated by means of the wheels 46, and 46' mounted loosely on said shafts and provided with the pawls 47. and 47 which engage the ratchets 48. and 48 securely fastened on the lower sections of said shafts 44.` and 45. The lower sections of these shafts 44, and 45, are formed with sockets adapted to receive the reduced lower ends of the top sections of said shafts, each of said sections being surrounded with a coil- spring 44, and 45, (similar to the spring 40,) and have their top and bottom ends secured in any suitable manner to said top and bottom sections of said shafts to form a yielding connection or coupling. On the bottom ends of the top sections ot said-shafts are firmly secured the bevel wheels 49. and 49 meshing operated to move toward each other to en gage said detent wheelor lratchet when released. Pawls las 55. and 56. are pivoted to the throw-out levers 59. and 59. which latter levers are pivoted on their supporting bearings 54. andv 54' and have their throw-out toes' 60. adapted to raise and to lower the pawls 55. and 56. out of engagement; said levers having their lower swinging ends forked to pivotally receive the cam rollers 61. and 61 with which the cams 62. and 62', formed on the top edges of the racks 63. and 63. contact to swing said levers backward-ly to move the throw-out toe 60. against the pawl 55. to dsengage it from one of the top detents of the wheel 51. and

permit a partial rotation of the shafts 44. and 45. till either the lower pawls 56. engages its nextconsecutive tooth. In order that the pawl 56. does not engage before the detent wheel 51.has rotated a distance equal to the space from the center of one tooth to the center of the next consecutive tooth I provide the roller 64 pvoted in the fork piece 65, which latter piece is adapted to slide longitudinally in its socket 66, formed on the end of said pawl 56, and is surrounded with a coil spring 67, extending between its roller and the socket of the pawl and by which the roller 64, is permitted to recedein the same manner and under the same conditions as the roller of the pawl 17. previously described.

On the top ends of the shafts 44. and 45. are firmly secured the bevel wheels 67. and 67' which 'mesh with the bevel wheels 68 and 68 firmly secured on the shafts 69. and 69 which are journaled in the side walls of the partitions 4. and 5 and in the center bearing 70.

In order that the shafts 44. and 45. be permitted to rotate in one direction only, I provide the ratchet wheels 7l. and 7l firmly secured on said shafts and having their teeth adapted to engage the pawls 72. and 72only when rotated in a direction opposite to that which they should move.

In each of the ccnpartlnents 4. and 5. are inclosed endless chainracks between the leaves or vanes 73. and 73 of which are inserted postal cards or envelopes one to each rack or division. The leaves or vanes 73. and 73 are secured in any suitable manner to their beveled slats 74. (see Fig. 1.) the ends of 4 which are rounded or trunnion formed and pivotally connected to the chain links 75. to form an endless chain, said beveled bottom edges of said slats adapted to work in the toothed wheels 76. by which they are traversed and in the carrier wheels 77. at the front end of the interior of the machine. It

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will be readily seen that when the vane or slata, is moved to the position occupied by the slat'b, the postal 'card or envelope contained therein will fall `by gravity into-the delivery slot-78.` onto the table 79. The racks 23. 63. and 63'. are formed alike and are provided with'fthe tongue-pieces'SO, all of which are adapted to accurately tit and to slide 1ongitudinally in their guidetubes 8l. Each of the tongues 80; are slotted midway between their top and bottom edges for a portion of their lengths for the purpose of permitting the plunger 82, to move the full extent of its stroke without contacting the plunger 8Oto move and to -operate the mechanism con? nectedtheretoas in such cases where a person attempts to operate the mechanism without insertingthe proper coin or coins. The tubes 81. are also provided with horizontal slots 81a see Fig. 5, which in tersect the por-v tion of their vertical slots, and in which the plungers 82, slide, each of which plungers is connected by a crosshead 83, which has the toothed rack 84. formed thereon and the teeth of which mesh with segmental end 85, of the operating lever 86. The lever 86, is pivoted at or. near its center on the bracket 87, se-

cured to the casing of the machine.l Between the handle and the pivotal point ofthe lever 86, is the rack or segment 88, vsecured to a suitable supporting bracket on the casing of the machine; said segment having its front end 89,y raised higher than the top of its ratchet teeth and is provided for the purpose of raising the pawl 90, out of gear when the said lever 86, has reached 'thelimitof-YitsY stroke. The segment is also provided with the cam 9l,form ed on its opposite end and' is for the purpose of throwing said pawl into engaging position in which position it is held by its retaining spring 92, when the said operating lever hasreceded into its normal position. In order that the operating lever 86, may, whenv having completed its stroke, automatically return to its' normal position,I provide the tension spring 93, secured to said lever and to a suitable retaining hook secured to the casing of the machine. The coin conducting tubes 94, connect with the vertical slots formed in the conducting tubes 81, and are of the width and depthsuflicient to permit the c oins as pennies, to freely pass through.

In the under sides of the tubesBl, between the plun gers or rams 82, and the racks tongues coins to contact theA end of the operating tongues'80, ofthe operating racks by which the mechanism is pnt in motion. The operation of the machine is as fol- .lowsr- Toohtain a. postage stamp, valued at 7o two' cents, `two pennies or cents are inserted into the central or postage stamp tube, from the outside of the machine (as shown in Figs., 1 3. and 6.-) and said pennies fall by gravity into the tube 81,jnst in advance of the plunger 82, and in front of the bridge 95. The operating lever 86, is now pulled toward the operator till it is moved to the end of its stroke till the plungers 82 vhave moved forward su l`1i` ciently to cansethe coins to contact and to 8o press against the tongues of plunger 23, which' causes its rack to gear or mesh with the driving wheel 43, to turn the shaft 37 against the resisting tension of the spriug40. Simultaneous with this movement of the shaft 37, or nearly 85 so the cam 22, contacts with the roller 21, to swing the lever 19, backwardly to cause the toe 24, to contact with the pawl 16, to'disengage it from its detent tooth 18 and to permit the stamp wheel to rotate y'the distance 9o from the center of one tooth to the center of the next consecutive tooth,thatis, the length of a single postage'stamp. Immediately the lever 86, is releasedand permitted to recede into its normal position the plunger'82,re- 95 cedes and the rack springs s, force the racks 22, backward-to cause theplunger's 80, to recede and to push" the coins back against the bridge 95, which immediately `opens when the' end of the ram or plunger 82, passes itsedge' rco therebyintercepting the further movement to drop into the chamber 3, through the recess under the tube 8l. It will be seen .that the rack 23, receded into its normal position,vits [o5 cam 22, permits the lever 19, to' swing backward to its original position thereby disen gaging the pawl 17, and causing the pawl 16, to engage with its tooth 18,*before the pawl 17 is fully disengaged therebyv locking the no ratchet or detent wheel and preventing any further rotation of the stamp wheel 9, till ysuch times as the necessary coins have been inserted inthe slot to repeat the operation. The mechanisms for vending postal cards and x15 envelopes are similar in their operation to the mechanism just explained, with the exception of the discharging and carrying racks,

`which have been already described and will not reqnireany further explanation.v

12o Having thus fnllydescrbed the construc- `tion |`and operation "bf my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to cover by Letters Patent of the United States' therefor, is-

v 1. In a stamp vending machine, a stamp wheel having a series of barbs or pins projecting 'from its peripheral surface', said pins ar-v ranged in single rows across the face of and divided or spaced with equal spaces between 13o said rows round said peripheral surface, and acompressing drum havin gperipheralgrooves Y-off thecoinsvin the 'tibe '81,"and eansingthein wv #Jil dpted t register with the lpins of the said y, erated` to canse the said pawls to alternately stamp wheel, of a ratchet wheel adapted to rotate with said barbed wheel, pawls on opposite sides 0f Said ratchet wheel., a cam wheel between said pawls andsuitable means wherebythe Baird pawls and the said cam are opengage and disengage their ratchet wheel to permit a partial rotation of said stamp wheel, substantially as and for the-purpose set forth.

2. In` a stamp vending machine, the combination with a stamp wheel and its retaining roll, of a ratchet wheel, a cam wheel having a `series of cams equal in number to theteeth of said ratchet wheel said cam wheel adapted to turn withv said ratchet wheel, pawls on oppositesids 'of said ratchet wheel a yielding cam roller on one ofsaid pawls apd a swinging lever' adapted to disengage said pawls, and suitable means for rotating said ratchet ywheel and operating said swinginglever, substantiallyas set forth.;

' 3. In a stamp or oth'r vending machine, the

combination with a rotative stamp wheel, andin number to the teeth of said ratchet wheel,

pawls on opposite sides of said' ratchet wheel, a yielding cam roller on the end of one of said pawls and a swing-lever adapted to disengage said pawls,a reciprocating rack havinga cam adapted to contact the swinging end of said lever, a wheel engaging said rack, a shaft .adaptesatclirrn in 011edirectiQaP'ly. with said wheel, a wheel loosely mounted on said shaft and driving (directly or through intermediate. gearing) said ratchet and its cam wheel, a spring secured on said driving. shaft and having one secured to thelatter driving wheel, a coin conducting tube wherein the operating tongue and rack plunger slide longitudinallyaud suitable means whereby the coins are introd uced between the said tongue and plunger, substantially as set forth.

4. In a vending machine, thecombination with a coin conducting tube having longitudinal coin conducting slots formed therein,

having their ends pivoted at their ends to 6o endless carrying chains, wings` or vanes secured on the upper or` outer edges'of` said slats, pulleys having triangular; grooves e'xtending across their bearingfaces and equally pitched or divided round their peripheries and adapted to receive and to accurately iit the wedge formed edges of said slats, and suitable means for rotating, said pulleys to traverse said rack, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a vending machine, a pivotal operating lever having a segmental toothed end and a handle end, a pawl pivoted on said lever, a pawl spring contacting said pawl, a toothed segment with which said vpawl engages, cams formed on the ends of said segment, adapted ,to throw said pawls into or out of engagement Vwithtlie teethmof, said segment, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAVID F. S. COOK. Witnesses:

LEX J. KIRKPATRICK, r M. P. ELLIo'rr.

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