US629334A - Coin-controlled machine. - Google Patents

Description

ma. 629,334. Patented my 25, m99.

c. A. BREWER.

COIN CUNTHOLLED MACHINE.

(Appliucion median. 1e, 1899.)

pillo Modal.)

WITN fasses: a

Tn: u'unms Pneus co. imo-uno, wAsmNmoN, n, c.

,Y a citizen of theUnited'Statea V resid ing inV C hi, cago, in thecounpy atomi; andismreaqfini;

Y chine. V AsV a still further precaution I pro# adapted to draw a spurious piece of metal into bythe magnetbearrested by the latter and .machine containingmy invention.

'To azz man?, a mayeoaejem.-

',form a supportover which'the geruime-coin'I the lower side of `the race aswill permit -a l lspringgmay be opened to release it, andit then falls into the receptacle below Without coin, preferablybeyond the spring and side the machine, so that should a spnrionspiece ,nea kunnnen-I, .CHARLES-:asuma1 nois, have invented a new and usef ul Inipro'vef str notion ,c zhandise,` and'more especially to lthe construcinsertedinitgf 'y f V'machine th'elchute is Ki-n-v jln; my vimproved et'er,v-to `fall throughfbefore it reachesiLhe oplongitudinally'ofV the chute andA adapted to will roll, but arranged at such a distancefronr coin thinner than thelgenuine to enter between it and the'side of the race. Y lf ac'oin should lodge between the spring andthe side of the race,` 1 provide means whereby the havingentered theioperating part of the mavide an open space vlateral to .the Vpath ofthe opening above mentioned, and' a vmagnet saidspace and'thuspreventit from operating of athickness and diameter correspondingto the genuine coin succeed i n passing the spring and openside it willif of a metalattracted drawn into saidspaceJi-oin which it fallsinoperative'into the c oin-receptacle.y These and other features of. myginvention are fully ex# plained,belowand are alsoA illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in` which; i I

Figure l is agfront view ofthe partsof thek Fig- 2 iS.

' Bewaar;@Financeemmer naar message@ @asa keine, 139er, genaue702,244;.rumena.)

4, L15, f6, Tandil? are, sectional iviews'on .the'lires 4 4. 15 6,267, Aand 77; resp@tivelxzA of Fig; '2- Insaid drawings, A represents-'the partei theframeforexterior etthe vending-.machine *towhich iny' 'improveinentis attached,lrand B is the 'chute-opening therein'.r

.Cisj a platel having a Harige/C', 4w hereby it may-befattachedto the vpart A and by which itjfis, supportedinanV inclined position, such: v "fas,y that shovvnfat Figul; Thisfplate prefer- "ablyiorrnsthe frameandsupport-ofthe chute andthe .meehanis'rnfor discharging th e ineray "Chantierinmhedelwerychute fir-passage.. j Y '.-D,{iS a Covering-'plate secured to the' upper g sideof the plate C and forniing'with th'e.]at `ter the'opposite'sides of thechute. Y In plate? C nearthe mouth of the chuteis-an opening. `E,inclined downward to correspondWithfthe `chute and ofsuftioient height tepel-mit a icf titiousy coin of Vlessthan the proper .liarneterv The coin has a tendency to fall throughfit. to dothis because aof the lateral inclination vofthe chute, as'will be understood from Figs.

ljandxl, and any coin leaving the chute at this pe'ningris ofcourse rejected, as it fails to reach the delivery mechanism.:

4The bot-tomv of the chuteis formed-by a spring l?, attached at its upper end to plate Gand arranged Withits edge uppermost and controlled at its lowerend by the'whe'el G of fthe delivery 1nechanisn1,as hereinafter stated. The spring is arranged with avertical space 'between itand plate C, such space beingtoov narrowto admit the genuinecoi'nfbut wide 'enough to take in a coin only slightly less than theproper thickness. It" the coinenters this s space at all, it'vvill fail to reach the poin twhere itA can assist in operating the delivery mechanisin,fbecause iveryfthiuit drops entirely 'through the spaceinto-the receptacle'below 'andifonly vslightly thinner thanthefgenuine j coin it will lodge in the space and bereleased and' dropped when the wheel G is turned, the

wheel lhaving a recessG, inwhich fthe end of 'spring Frno'rmally' rests, but whichl is im clined at one side, so that any movement given to thewh'eel will cause said end to ride onthe incline, and thus'move the spring away from IOO plateC, thereby widening said vvertical space.

`and allowing thecoiny to fallthrough.v

Inaddtion to the means above described for rejecting inferior and spurious coin and metal pieces I also employ a magnet H; but its operation Will be better understood as describedlater on.

supposing the coin inserted in the machine to be genuine, it rolls down the chute, past the opening E, and over the spring F and into a space formed between the plates G G2, attached to the side of the wheel G, and is arrested thereby in a position-wherein its crown projects beyond the periphery of the wheel. This will be understood from Fig. 3. The rim of the Wheel is cut away for part of its circumference, leaving a shoulder-at G3 with an abrupt face towardthe coin. rlhe wheel is pivoted at G4 and is operated by the handplfunger G5, having rack-teeth G6, meshing with the pinion G7, fast with the wheel. The plunger is intended to be operated by the person patronizing the machine and to act as the medium through which he secures the delivery of the article bought, the discharging device being attached to or operated from this plunger. Ihave shown a device GS attached tothe inner end of the plunger and adapted to'en'gage and push the bottom package from under a pile of packages-such, for instance, as the packages in which chewing-gum is customarily sold. I do not illustrate either the packages or their holder or the chute into which they fall when discharged by the device GB; but those features are Well understood by makers of vending-machines and may be greatly varied in construction, as may also the-discharging device. W'ith the coin thus lying between the plates G and G2 it will be seen that if the plunger is pushed in a-nd the Wheel turned the rounded top or crown of the coin will soon encounter the pawl G9, attached to plate C and depressedby a spring G10, and lift said pawl, so that they latter, instead of arresting the Wheel, as it would do it' not thus lifted, will pass over the shoulder G3 without veng-agement, and thus allow the wheel to confrom thewheel by gravity, and at its concluf sion the plunger is returned by lthe spring G11, and in so doing the wheel is moved back to its starting position, which is that shown at K If a spurious instead of a genuine 'coin is inserted and successfully passes the opening E and spring F, I cause its rejection through the medium of the magnet H, if the coin is of a metal susceptible to the magnet. The magnet is preferably supported from the plunger in some suitable Way, with its points normally over the openings D in plate D-, such openings being nearly opposite the point at which the coin enters between the plates G' and G2. A vacant space M exists between the plate D and the wheel large enough to receive the coin, andthe coin is moved laterally into this space by the magnet, and thereby it is freed from the plates G and G2 and prevented from acting on the pawl. It is now allowed to fall into the receptacle below without having caused any movement of the delivery mechanism, being released from the magnet by the shoulder G12, formed in plate D andlocated in the plane through which any coin held under the attraction of the magnett will be carried by thelatter, or being released by reason of the fact that the magnet soon moves beyond the openings D', so that its power over the coin is destroyed.

The plunger is under my construction permitted a partial but idle stroke Whenever the coin inserted is spurious and is rejected in any ofthe ways described, and', indeed', it may be thus operated at any time without the insertion of any coin whatever or substitute therefor; but the full stroke of ther plunger is necessary to secure the delivery of the article sold, and that can only be obtained by the use of a genuine coin ora substitute which is not intercepted by any of the' detecting means employed in the machine.

While I have shown the invention as applied to a vending-machine, it will be understood that some of its featuresare Well adapted to' use in other descriptions of coin-coutrolled machines.

The space on the side of thewheel into which the coin falls from the chute may -of 1 course be formed in different ways from that shown, it being only necessary that some sort of a pocket or recess beformed in or attached to the wheelv which will affordlodginent tothe coin and allowit to be displaced by the magnet.

It will be noticed that the plungeris adapted todischarge the article sold at about the same instantthe coin falls by its gravity from the wheel This result is insured by the'circular guard O, which surrounds the wheel and confines the coin until the latter has moved to the point, indicated by the dotted line, Fig. 3, and isv of great value in preventing the operating of the plunger more than once with a single coin.

lAs a preventive of fraud I have applied a projection P to the plate D' just above the pawl, which stands across the slot andccmpels any wire inserted inv the slot for the purpose of raising the pawl to pass under the projection. Owing to the presence of this projection, therefore, the shoulder on the-wheel will necessarily encounter the wire when the plunger is pushed in and either cutit off or stop the wheel. If an attempt is made to rob the machine by attaching a thread or twine to the coin, as soon as the coin has passed the guard O it will drop from the wheel' and hang vertically down by the thread, and as the wheelis incl-ined it wi-ll be impossible to draw it back again into the wheel. It will be no- ICO lIO

f of the raily F," so Vthat such coins as are small enough to ytipont at the opening E are'free track'throughfthe opening. f l1 'I IS chute' whereof is providediwithV af longitudinal opening'inits bottomadapted -torintercept coin yofjless than theKA propenvthickness, one- "side of said o"peiling.being;movable'.Sofasllojl enlarge thexopeningand discharge a'ny coin .lodging thereimand said movable sidebeing` opened bythe patronwhen he'foperates the "delivery apparatus o f themachine, subst-an?` l jfromthe magnet as the jlatterieaves its no1-` to de so withoutresistance.v It the coin. were confinedy at its4 bottoml upon 'botl`1"s'ides,v there ...might be some @resistance to its'1eavn g the Iclaim- Al. The coin-controlled' machine, the; cointially 'as'speciedLi vending-:machine cfa coinfchute'havi'ng a lon'- fis'discharged causing the delivery of thearticle sold, .one

whereby anycoinlodging in said opening specified. 3. The

'f chute whereof is provided with a'vertical opening in its bottom adapted to intercept coin of less than proper thickness, one Yside of-v said opening being formed by a spring-rail' arranged longitudinally of ythe chute and adaptedV to open at its'lower end to release any coin 4lodging in theopening, substantially as specified. f

4, The coin-chute provided with a springv rail forming the bottom of the chute and withv an yopening at'the side ofthe rail" for intercepting thin coins,-in combination with means' other than the ooinitself for bending said rail to effect'the discharge of any coin lodging in Saidopening, substantially as specified. f

5.V 'lhe coin-chute provided with a Vspring set edgewise in 'the bottom vof the chuteand forminga Support for the coin, and means for deflecting the lower .end of said spring to permit the discharge of any coin which may'lodgev sub-V between it landthe wall of the chute, stantiailyas specified..

6. The coin-chute provided with a longitm dinal opening for the discharge of coin of inferior thickness, one side of' said opening being formedr by a longitudinally-arranged spring adapted Ato openat its lower end to dis. charge the intercepted'coin, substantially as specified.

- 7; The cpiniehute previded with a mgm;-

dinal openingl for thedscharge of coin of inbeing formed by a longitu'dinallynrranged y"being.'formed byfa longitudinally-arranged `spring5.in combination with-'a'wheel'Gadaptyetl-tofbend said spring and thus-.to widen said opening?'atfeachoperationof the delivery@ l v Y y {mechanism} Vwhereby the lodging of inferiory 'tiallyfasispecifiedrg1 2.4Th'e combination -in a coin controlled bythepatrom substantially asl as specified.V

coin-controlled machine, Vthe coin-y -fe'r'ior thickness, one y'sideof said opening spring,and said spring being set edgewise thickness-will pass said open-ing in combinaingsaid `spring,` so 'asl to Vdischarge any coin ferior, thickness',uonev side ofsaid yopening coin .inv the .opening .is prevented, substan-F anda stationary plate acting tofstripthe coin mallposition, substantially as Specie,

operated by the patron'and located at the bot- :torn ofy the chute andalso having a coin-recess onits side faceadapted to arrestthecoin 1v1.. The coin- @strolled fui chine rwherein are combineda coinfchu te, an articl'e-discharging mechanismoperated by the purchaser and v n embodying an inclined'wheel having an open y7o and serving as a. rail over which coinof proper.y

1 tion'witli lmeans otherthanfthecoinffor open'f 1 75.* Y I coin-chutefprovided Withialongitu# y y f dinal .opening for the'discharge of coin of in- 9gi'lfhecombinationwith the lwheel having 1 an open-.sided coin-recess, of a movable mag;y

het normally arranged opposite said recess,

-f-10.` ''lhe coin -controlled'machinewherein` f A afrecom'bined a coin-chute, an inclined wheel'v `.and a magnet positioned to acton the coin,v while in "the' recess andtogdraw itsidewisetherefrom, -if of .'inferiormetal; substantially f coin-recess on its sideiz'ace,y and av magnet po-v sitioned to' act on. the coin while inthe recess andto draw it'sidewise therefrom if of infef rior metal, substantiallyl as specified.

' l2. The coin-controlled machine wherein are combined a coin-chute, a wheel having a coin-recess connecting with the chute. and a shoulder or projection, a pawl4 positioned nor-r mally to engage said shoulder and adapted to be lifted by the coin inv said recess',V a plungerv geared tothe wheel and operated by the purchaser, and a magnet drawing Ainferior-coin.Y

are combineda coin-chute', a'wheel having a 'from thev recess; and preventing them from lifting .the paWL-substantially as specified.

13..'The coin-controlled `machine wherein V:zo

coin-recess connecting with the'chnte, and a? f shoulder or projection, 'a pawl positionednor-Iv mally to Vengage said shoulderl and adapted to be lifted by the coin insaid recess, a plunger 'geared to. the wheel and operatedv by the purchaser, and a'magnet mounted upon the plungerfand kserving vto'draw inferior coin from therecessfand prevent themfrom lifting the L pawl; substantially as specied.

14j. The coincontrolled ymachine whereinA are combined a coin-chute, a wheel having a coin recess connecting with thechute and open upon one sidejand" also. having a proroo V @i @assai jection engaged by a pawl and serving to lock the Wheel' againstv operative rotation, said pawl being lifted above the projection by the coin-When' in the recess, a sliding` rack geared tothe Wheel, anda magnet drawing inferior coin from therecess, and preventing them from lifting the pawl, substantially as specied.

15. The combination in a coin-controlled machine, of the chute, controlling thedelivery'inechanism, and the wheel having a coinholding recess open at one side and receiving the coin from the chute, and a magnet draw` ing the coin out 'of the recess through the openl side, substantially as specified.

16. The combination with the article-discharging device and a Wheel receiving the coin from the coin-chute, of a plunger operating both said device and said wheel, and a guard O around the wheel acting to retain the coin so that both coin and article maybe discharged simultaneously, substantially as specified.l

' 17. The combination of a coin-chute having,r a movable bottom rail between which and the side of the chute is' an opening for the discharge of coin of an inferior thickness, an article-discharging device operable by the purchaser, and means whereby said discharging device each time it is actuated operates said movable portion of the chute and thus opens the latter for the discharge of any coin or substitutes for coin which may lodge therein, substantially as specified.

' CHARLES A. BREWER.

Vitnesses:

EDW. S. EvARTs, H. M. MUNDAY.

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