US782062A

US782062A - Vending-machine.

Info

Publication number: US782062A
Application number: US19844004A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frederick C Schofield
Original assignee: H C CRAGG Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: H C CRAGG Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1904-03-16
Filing date: 1904-03-16
Publication date: 1905-02-07
Anticipated expiration: 1922-02-07

Description

PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905.

P. G. SGHOFIBLD.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16, 1904.

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No. 782,062. PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905. F. G. SGHOPIELD.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB..16, 1904.

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as armaments PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905.

1?. G. SGHOPIELD.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 16, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

lUNITED STATES FREDERICK C. SCHOFIELI), OF \VASI-IINCTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, COMPANY, OF

ASSIGNOR TO THE H. C.

CRA G G Patented February 7, 1905.

ATENT Price.

MAN UFACT U RI NG \VASIIINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

VENDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,062, dated February '7, 1905,

Application filed March 16, 1904:. Serial No. 198,440.

To a]? whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Fannnmok C. Sono- FIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear. and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in coin-controlled vending-machines, and has certain advantages and features of novelty hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an ejector mechanism which is adapted, first, to be initially moved beneath the series of articles to be vended, out of the path of the same, and when so initially moved and the locking-coin disengaged will be elevated and moved in the opposite direction-in the path of the lowermost of the series of articles in the machine.

Another object of the invention is to utilize the coin-chute both in its function as a coin chute proper and as the means for ejecting the article to be delivered.

Another object is to provide a means carried by the coin-chute cooperating as a part of the locking mechanism as well as a fraudpreventive device.

Other objects will appear in the following specification, and in order to more fully describe the invention reference is had to the accompanying drawings, illustrating the same, in which like numerals designate the same parts in the several views, and in which.

Figure l is a front elevation of the casing for the machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of same. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the operating mechanism, showing the coinchute in its normal position with a coin inserted therein. Fig. 4 is a detail view in elevation looking from the rear of the coinchutes. Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the casing, showing one of the coin-chutes with an operating-coin therein and initially moved rearwardly of the machine and set in position for delivering one of the articles when released. Fig. 6 is a rear view of the casing, showing the coin-chutes in front elevation. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of a modilied form of the front portion of the coinchute.. Fig. 8 is a central longitudinal section thereof, and Fig. 9 is a detail view of a modilied form of the coin-locking lever.

1 is the casing, of any suitable construction, having an upper chamber for the reception of a series of the articles tobe vended arranged one above the other and a lower chamber for the operating mechanism and for receiving the delivered articles. The lower chamber is divided off by a suitable partition 2, forming the compartment 3 for the delivered articles and the compartment 4: for the operating mechanism.

is a shelf supported at its forward end on the top of the partition 2 a suliicient distance below the cover of the lower chamber to form a passage therebetween for the delivery of the article and extending rearwardly at a slight inclination and suitably secured. This shelf 5 is adapted to supporta series of articles and is slotted, as at 6, to receive the upper end of the ejector as it pushes out the article.

T represents uprights of suitable construction provided with the transverse cross-bars 8, forming a rest for the ejector-s when in their normal position.

9 is a rock-shaft extending transversely of the compartment 4, and to this rock-shaft are secured one or a plurality of lovers l0, preferably having the angular arm IL. on which is pivoted the lever 12, the forward end of which is provided with a lug 13, coi'iperating with a beveled lug It for forming a notched end for the reception of a coin. The rear-end of the lever is weighted, as at 15, to hold the forward end in its proper position relatively to the coin-chute hereinafter described, the rear arm of the lever being adapted to be supported in any suitable way as. for instance, by the web 16 on the rock-shaft 9.

IT is a rod disposed transversely of the compartment & in the arc of a circle described from the axis 9, the radius of which is equal to the distance from the axis 9 to the weighted end of the lever, so that the end 15 of the lever will be adapted to be engaged by the rod 17 for tripping the lever and releasing the operating-coin.

On the free end of the lever 10 is pivotally supported the ejector, which I have shown as comprising the coin-chute itself. In Figs. 3 to 6 the coin-chute is illustrated as provided with the upper channeled guideway 18 and the rear upper wall with a flaring lip 19 for guiding the coin to the chute. The lower end of the rear wall of the chute is slotted, as at 20, and is pivotally supported by the link 21 to the free end of the lever 10 on the pivotpins 22. Opposite the slotted portion 20 is formed a box-like compartment comprising the side walls 23, the top wall 24, secured to the front face of the chute 18 by the central Web 25, and the bottom strips 26, forming a space through which the inner end of the lever 12 operates. The front Wall of this boxlike compartment is in the nature of a depending plate 27, extending a sufficient distance downwardly to be opposite the operating-coin, but leaving a space between its lower edge and the strips 26 to allow the lever 12 to operate beneath same. On the inner face of this plate 27 is secured a sharp-pointed pin 28, extending almost to the rear lower wall of the chute opposite the opening 20. This pin 28 is adapted to impinge the coin and binds the lower edge of thelatter against the beveled face of the lug let on the lever 12, thus locking the coin-chute to the rocking shaft 9, which is operated by a suitable handle 9.

The construction of the modified form of the front plate of the coin-chute illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 is obvious without further material description and is designed to simplify its manufacture. In this construction the impinging-pin 28 is riveted in the cross-bar 27, and the side walls 23 of the chute are cut away at their lower ends and bent to form the ears 21, corresponding to the link 21 of the previous figures.

The modified form of locking-lever 12 in Fig. 9 does away with the lug 1 and simply provides the forward lug 13 and the inclined face 1 1, against which the operatingcoin binds upon coming in contact with the impinging-pin. In this lever, as in the one formerly described, the outer end may be of sufficient length to balance the lever without providing this end with any other weighting means.

I have only described one of the operatingcoin chutes; but it will be understood that there may be one or a plurality of them, their disposition with reference to each other being obvious from an inspection of the drawings, and each ejector or coin-chute is connected by a spring 29 or equivalent means to a suitable support for returning the coin-chute to its normal position when operated rearwardly and released.

The operation is as follows: When the operating-coin is placed within one of the slots 30 and the operating mechanism in the position shown in Fig. 3, the coin drops through the aperture 6 of the shelf 5 and is guided by the flaring lip 19 into the channel 18 and down the coin-chute, resting in the notch formed between the lugs 13 and 14 of the lever 12 immediately behind the impingingpin 28. While in this position, upon operating the handle'9 the rock-shaft 9 is rotated rearwardly, carrying with it the lever 12, and the pin 28 impinging against the coin looks that particular coin-chute and swings it rearwardly in an are (indicated by the dotted line a) with the rod 9 as its axis. The other coin-chutesduring this movement will be elevated to the position shown in Fig. 5, on the right-hand side of said figure. When the operating-coin'chute is swung rearwardly to the position indicated on the lefthand side of Fig. 5, the weighted end 15 of the lever 12 strikesthe rod 17, forcing the forward end of the lever 12 downwardly out of engagement with the coin,

whereuponthe spring 29 retracts "and-swings the coin-chute on the pivot 22 as an axis, thecoin being discharged through the opening 20 and the upper end of the coin-chute describing an are (indicated by the dotted line b, Fig. 5) in the path of the lowermost of :the articles to be delivered, and the operating-handle being released the rock-shaft 9 is rotated forwardly by the action of the springs and the weight of the coin-chutes, the parts being thus brought to their normal positions.

It will be obvious that if a washer having a central hole therein be placed in the machine the mechanism will not operate, as the pin 28 will pass through the hole. Similarly, if a soft-metal slug should be placed in the machine the impinging-pin 28 will buckle it sufficiently-to force the lower edge over the projecting lug 13 and discharge the slug.

It will be understood that I do not wish to limit myself to the exact details of constructions as illustrated, as many modifications might be made without departing from the spirit of the invention; but

WVhat I claim is 1. The combination with a suitable support for the articles to be vended, of a pivoted support. an ejector pivoted to said pivoted support, means for rigidly locking said ejector to said pivoted support upon the insertion of the operating-coin, means-for swinging said ejector, when so locked, past the articles, on the axis of said pivoted support, means for releasing said ejector when so swung a predetermined distance, and means for swinging said ejector on its own axis in the reverse direction, when released, in the path of one of said articles.

2. The combination with a suitable support for the articles to be vended, of a pivoted support, an ejector pivoted to said support, a locking-lever pivoted to said pivoted support and cooperating with said ejector for rigidly locking the latter to said pivoted support upon the insertion of an operating-coin, means for swinging said ejector, when so locked, past the articles, on the axis of said pivoted support, means for tripping said locking-lever for releasing said ejector and means for swinging said ejector in the reverse direction, when released, in the path of one of said articles.

3. The combination with a suitable support for the articles to be vended, of a pivotal support, a coin-chute pivoted to said pivotal support, means for interlocking said pivotal support and coin-chute upon the insertion of an operating-coin, means for swinging said coinchute, when so locked, in one direction on the axis of said pivotal support, means for swinging said coinchute on its own independent pivot in the reverse direction when released, and means for automatically unlocking said coin-chute and pivotal support.

&. The combination with a suitable support for the articles to be vended, of a movable support, a coin-chute having an apertured rear lower portion, pivoted to said movable support, a locking-lug carried by said movable support and extending adjacent said apertu red portion, an impingingpin carried by said coin-chute and extending in proximity to said apertured end thereof, whereby the operatingcoin is adapted to lock said coin-chute to said movable support upon the insertion of the coin, means for operating said movable support and swinging said coin-chute past said articles, means for releasingsaid coin, and means for returning-said coin-chute in the path of the lowermost of said articles when released.

5. The combination with a suitable support for the articles to be vended, of a pivotal support, a coin-chute pivoted to said pivotal support, a lever pivoted to said pivotal support, means carried by said pivoted lever and coinchute operatively associated to lock said coinchute to said lever upon the insertion of the operating-coin, means for operating said coinchute on the axis of said pivotal support when so locked, means for tripping said lever for releasing said coin, and means for swinging said coin-chute on its own pivot in the reverse direction when released.

6. In a vending-machine, the combination with a suitable casing and a suitable support for the articles to be vended, a rock-shaft mounted in the lower part of said casing, a plurality of lugs carried by said rock-shaft, a plurality of coin-chutes pivotally mounted on said lugs, means for interlocking one or more of said coin-chutes to said rock-shaft upon the insertion of the operating-coin, means for operating said locked coin-chute past said articles in one direction, means for unlocking said coin-chutes, and means for returning same to their normal positions in the path of one of said articles when unlocked.

T. In a vending-machine, the combination with a suitable casing and a suitable support for the articles to be vended, of a rock-shaft mounted in the lower part of said casing, a plurality of angularly-disposed lugs carried by said rock-shaft, a plurality of coin-chutes pivotally mounted on one arm of said angular lugs, a plurality of levers pivotally mounted on the other arm of said angular lugs, means carried by said levers and said coin-chutes for interlocking same upon the insertion of the operating-coin, means for moving said rockshaft and interlocking coin-chute rearwardly, means for tripping said lever at a predetermined point in said coin-chutes rearward movement, for releasing the operating-coin, and means for returning said coin-chute in the path of the lowermost of said articles when operated and released.

In testimony whereof I a tiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK SCHOFIELD.

Vitnesses:

C. P. PUSHAW, "V. J. FORD.