US859853A - Newspaper-vending machine. - Google Patents

Description

910.959,959. 'PATBNTED JULY 9, 1997. D. H. STEWART.

NEWSPAPER VENDING MAGHINE. `APPLIdAfrIoN FILED mlm 22. 199e.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IN1/Enron l PATENTED JULY 9, 1907.

D. H. STEWART.

NEWSPAPER VBNDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22. 1906.

LSH ETS-SEBBT Z.

PATENTED JULY 9, 1907.

D. H. STEWART, NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE.

AEPLIOATION FILED JUNE 22. 1908.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

" of the` outermost one of the papers in the pack, a coin"l UNITED STATES `.DAVID ll. STEWART, OF FITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

NEWSPAPER-veniamo MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1907.

Applicant nea me 22,1906. serial No. 322,850.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAvm Il. STEWART, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Newspaper-Vending Machine, of which the following is a specilcation.

This invention, which relates generally to improvements in that type of coin released vending machines for selling newspapers, magazines and the like, more particularly seeks to provide a machine of this type especially adapted for outdoor use, such for example, as depots, suburban railway stations, hotels and other public places, of a simple and inexpensive character in which the coperative parts are-especially designed for positively ejecting a single paper or article to be vended at a time and having such adjustment whereby they can be quickly set for discharging the ordinary weekly form or the heavy Sunday or extra forms of newspapers.

My invention also comprehends an improved construction of vending machine having ejecting mechanism and actuating means therefor, so arranged that only a single paper can be fed out at each operation, in which is included a follower or presser means that engages the bulk or package of papers contained in the machine in full contact with each other and in such manner whereby the frictional Contact of the several papers in the pack is reduced to the minimum and the position of all the remaining papers -in the pack is not disturbed by the foremost one of the papers as it` is being fedfrom the machine to the purchaser.

This invention also comprehends a means for sustaining the papers in a'package or bulk, ends up, a carriage for positively feeding the bulk toward the discharging slot, a means for gripping the lower end released mechanism permitting an operation of the paper gripping means., in which is included devices for controlling the movement ofthe paper gripping means, whereby to provide for a predetermined thrust or action of the lever operated by the buyer and'for controlling the coin slet to prevent insertionof a` coin until after a paper has been fed out and the deliveryfully described, pointed out in the appended claims' and illustrated in the drawings in whichz- Figure l, is'a perspective view illustrating my in'- `vention as set up for use. Fig. 2, is a longitudinal section thereof, the pressing carriage or follower being held back to its inoperative position, fand the top thrown back to admit the placing of a stack vof papers into the receiving compartment. Fig. 3, is a similar view, the carriage or follower being in its operative lposition and the delivery mechanism shown in the 9, which shows the normal position of the detent for locking the delivery mechanism from action. Fig. 8, is a similar view showing the pusher device actuated to engage the coin for releasing the pawl from the delivery roll. Fig. 9, is a horizontal section of the coin actuating mechanism. Fig. 10, is a transverse section thereof o`n the line 10-`-1O on Fig. 7. Fig. 11, is a detail plan view of the presser member 20 and the ,combined pull and lock member 2fr-27, and Fig. 12,

is a transverse section thereof. l In the practical arrangement of my invention, l provide an external housing of suitable ornamental shape, which may be made up of heavy sheet metal or light castings, and if desired, the front wall shaped for containing advertisements or other descriptive matter, and when used for suburbanplaces, may form a convenient space for train time tables, etc. f

At the lower edge the front has a delivery slot that extends nearly the full width thereof and is sufficiently wide to permit of the discharge of daily and 'weekly papers when folded, it being understood that when utilized for selling magazines and like bulky matter,

the shape of the'casing and the delivery slot are prol kportioned accordingly.

The casing is provided with a vertically disposed compartment 2, adapted to receive the papers in bulk which is'normally closed by a hinged and locked cover 3. The bottom 4 of the saidv compartment is mounted on suitable guides for a' limited longitudinal adjustment, which is effected by the adjusting screws 5 5 mounted on the rear end of'thecasing, see Fig. 2, in

such manner-that byfeeding them inwardly or outwardly, the front end of the said bottom 4 can be set relatively to the front vertically disposed wall 6-of the compartment 'and the feed roller presently referred to, wlerebyftoiwiden or restrict the outlet throat 7 from they compartment to suit the differences in thickness of theusual folded daily papers and the heavy Sunday or extra issues. r

By referring now'more particularly to Figs.' 2 and 3 it will benoticed the lower end of the front wall 6 does not extend down to the plane of the bottom 4 whereby to provide transverse space between the said bottom end of the wall and 1e adjustable bottom 4to receive the feed roller 8,which, in the practical construct-ion',

may consist of a core of wood or may he cast metal, and

this roller 8 has end spindles suitably mounted in bearings` in the casing sides and one of which extends outside ol' the casing to receive an actuating crank handle f l() as clearly shown.

holding compartment, has a flexible covering 80, such, for example, as thiek rubber belting which is fixedly mounted on the core und -theI said covering carries picker spurs or brads .l1 that are driven through tbe belting from the undersideto project suliiciently beyond the perimeter of the roller to prick the papers sul licien tly to pull them down wi thout danger of tearing or apprcciably mutilating them. l

As shown, the roller is projected with its upper rear edge into the lower front end of the paper compart mont to engage with the outermost one of the pack of papers, to pull it down through the discharge throat, the width of which as before stated, is governed to suit the thickness of the papers to be sold by adjusting the bottom plate 4, and the said throat at the lower edge has a transverse friction roller bearing member 12 that opposes the delivery roller 8 and discharges onto a smooth downwardly inclined slide board 13 that leads the paper down to the discharge slot 1 and to provide fora proper feeding of the paper after it has been started down by the delivery roller, the front wall of the paper compartment is faced with a smooth metal plate that extends down over the paper impingingface of the roller at which point it is formed with a series of slots 15 for the passage of the pins on the roller, as best shown in Fig. 5, by reference to which it will be also seen the slotted end of the plate extends diagonally downward parallel with the guide or slide board 13 to the discharge slot 1. By arranging the several parts just described, in the manner stated, frictional resistance on the paper after it has been started down by the delivery roller is rc`- duced to the minimum and danger of tearing or mu- 40 tilating the paper is positively overcome since each longitudinal row of teeth or prongs o'n the roller engage the paper for a short period only, since the paper is continually drawn off the spurs by reason of its deflection by the slotted face plate.

Heretofore in the practical experiment with vending machines in which the papers are fed forward to a delivery means, adapted to grip the forward paper and in which the papers are being fed to the delivery mechanism and held in a vertical plane ends up and o0 in which a follower orpresser means held to engage with practically the entire rear or back face of the paper bulk and in which the pull on the papers has been at the lower or upper edge only, it has been demonstrated that it is impossible by reason of the frietional contact with each other of -the large number of papers usually held in bulk, to feed the papers single from off the package or bulk, or without danger of tearing and mutilating the same and also choking up the feed devices, rondering the machines unreliable and frequent loss of the price of the paper to those desiring to obtain them. In my invention I have especially provided for overcoming this serious objection in the use of newspaper vending machine in that I feed the papers and hold them in such position relatively to the delivery mechanism that a miss in delivery is almost .lhe roller 8, which is of the full Width of the paper impossible and the delivery of more than one paper at a time or the choking up of the machine is absolutely avoided. For such purpose I provide a follower means operating under spring pressure arranged to effect a positive. compression on the paper bulk only at that point where the delivery roll engages the same and a light and flexible. pressure of the remaining portion of the paper bulk sullicient to only sustain the said bulk of papers in a proper vertical position.

The follower mechanism is in the nature of a cross bar 20 of the full width of the paper compartment which is held to slide over the bottom plate 4 and whose pressure opposes, or in other words, is directly against that part of the delivery roll that projects into the lower front end of the paper compartment, and a flexible metal plate 2l that is fixedly connected to the front end of the bar 20 and projects vertically therefrom so as to lightly rcst,under a fiexible spring pressure, against the upper part of the pack of papers whereby to sustain the said upper parts of the papers in loose contact with each other and in such manner that so far as the upper portion of the papers are concerned there is practically no frictional resistance thereby exerted against the front paper as it is being pulled down by the delivery roll.

The cross bar is held pressed forward against the lower 9 0 end of the paper pack by a pair of stout'coil springs 22-22 disposed one at each side of the casing, which are made fast at their lower. ends to cords connected to the cross bar or follower and which take around guide pulleys 25-25 on the iront end of the machine as clearly 95 shown in Fig. 2.

For conveniently pulling back the follower and holdin'g it back during the operation of filling the paper compartment, the same has a handle 26 and dogs 27-27 which engage holding lugs 28-28 that are secured to the bottom 4 of the casing, as shown.

So far as described, the manner in which'my apparatus is used is best explained as follows: To put it in condition for vending, the operator unlocks and swings back the cover which opens the top and'back of the casing sufcient to enable him to pull back the pressure follower and lock it to its back position. The bulk of papers which have lbeen previously properly folded are dropped with their folded edges down, into the holding compartment and shoved-up against the front wall of said compartment to bring the foremost paper in position to be engaged by the delivery roller, after which the follower is released so it moves up against the rear end of the paper bulk and the cover is then swung down locked. By giving the roller a rotation or quick forward rotary action, which is done by manipulation of the crank handle, the roller engages the front paper and pulls it down through the discharge throat and slot, see Fig, 5, it being understood that in the adjustment of my machine, the circumference of the roller is substantially equal the length of the folded paper to be discharged, thus providing for a substantially continuous grip on the paper its entire length during the act of discharging, although that is not necessary since a quick rotary motion of the roller will pull the paper 12' down so it projects beyond the discharging slot from whence, if desired, it may be`pulled out by hand.

Since my machine is morel particularly intended for use in public and exposed places, means must be prof vided for bringing the delivery mechanism into a 130 Joe,

proper normal position to vinsure a proper subsequent 1 operation, to provide against. the same readily getting `out of order or from being disorganized b y tampering, from turning `the roller backward and alsofor permitting the movement thereof only after theproper token has been deposited to pay for the paper.

A backward movement ofthe' [eed roller is prevented by means of' a vratchetdisk 30 mounted on the rim ofthe said roller with which engages the stoplpawl 3l, as

clearly shown in Figs. S andl0, by reference to which' it will be secu that the said ratchet has Aa locking collar 32 provided with a single lockingfnolch 33 in its peripheral edge which is so disposed relatively to the crank handle so that when the crank handle is turned to zero or its normal position, the said notch will registerwith a spring actuated detent 34 pivot ally mounted on a bracket 35 and provided with a heel portion 36 that projccls over the discharge. end of the coin chute 37 which extends up to and is adapted to receive the coin when it is inserted through the coin slot 37 formed at the top side of the casing above the crank handle.

39 indicates a pull bar, spring held to its inner or normal position, which slides in suitable. guides and is provided with a slot that forms a pocket 40 and which is freely movable in the space between'the heel of the locking detent and the discharge end of the coin chute and is so arranged that when a coin is dropped into the slot the coin will enter the pocket in the puller and rest upon the heel of the detent.

Adjacent to the discharge end of the coin slot is an inclined abutment 4l which is so arranged relatively to the coin slot, the pull bar and the locking detent, that when the said pull bar is drawn outwardly, the coin will engage the said abutment and be deflected r downwardly sufficient `to depress the heel end of the detent 'lo lift its other end out of a locked engagement with theloeking collar 32 held to turn with the delivery roller and the said collar, as will be noticed by reference to Figs. 7 and 8, is provided with a cam lug 32 which, the instant that the delivery roller vbegins to rotate, engages a pawl on the pull bar, forces said bar further outward whereby to discharge the coin from the pocket in the pull bar, thereby releasing the said pull bar and permitting it to be returned to its normal and inwardly set position which is done through the medium of the spring 44, and the pull bar has its finger member slidably connected withy the other or coin holding end of said bar, and said finger member has a' collar to limit the outward pull of the pull bar under finger action so that the coin is not dropped until after the delivery roller has been started, when the cam lug thereon finishes the outward thrust of the pull bar and causes the coin to be dropped from the heel end of the detent,

The pull bar projects through the side of the casing 'and has a thumb piece 46 for heilig gripped by the operator when he grasps the crank handle, whereby to draw the said pull bar outward.

The proper adjustment of the mechanism, so the same will deliver a paper, is designated by a suitable indicator plate on the outside of the casing which has a zero mark. When the Crank handle is down in line with the said zero mark, to obtain a paper, it is only necessary to drop the coinA in the slot, then with the thumb,

to. draw out the pull or coinconti-,oilingbar` whereby to trip the detent 34, and then to. turn ythe crank handle in the direction indicated by tliefarrow on Fig. 1.4

47 designates a plate which acts asa gate to close the lcoinl slot and the said platelismoyable inside the coin casing and is pivot-ally mounted onV the bracket 35 and is normally forced outwardly, through the medium of' the spring 49, which car-ries a pendent heel 50 that engages with an lannular cam flange 5l, mounted on the core of the delivery roller and which extends nearly l lt will be manifest, by reference to the drawings,l

particularly Figs. 7 and 8, that by reason of the coin mechanism just described, that should the operator, by giving a quick, partial rotation to the delivery roller and not vbring the crank handle to the normal or zero point, that the slot will remain closed and therefore the machine cannot be operated again until the crank handle has been turned to complete its rotation and brought j to the zero point, at which time the locking detcnt has again engaged the locking notch and the delivery roller is thereby held from being further actuated until thel proper coin has been inserted in the coin slot.

In the drawings, I have shown a locking detent, a pull bar and the discharge end of the coin slot, relatively so arranged, that themachine can be operated by a single coin which may be a penny or a nickel but it is manifest that if the machine is intended to sell a paper of the value of two cents or a magazine of the value of ten cents, that the said parts can be readily modified so that it will require the insertion of two pennies or two nickels, one after the other, -sothat the two will rest and forma link between the heel of the locking detent and the abutment adjacent the lowerend of the coin slot, it being also understood that when thus arranged, the pocket in the pull bar is made of sufficient depth to properly hold the two coins, edge to edge, in a vertical plane.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is believed the complete construction and manner of operation of my invention will be readily understood.

It will be observed that under normal conditions the f delivery roller cannot be actuated but should at a previous operation, the crank handle not having been turned sufficiently to reach the normal or zero point, it can be turned finally only sufficient to reach the zero point and which would not be ample to feed down the paper so that the same could be withdrawn from the discharge slot, since the discharge slot l is a considerable distance away from the throat from which the papers yare fed by the delivery roller. Again, the roller is positively held from being turned backward, thereby preventing, by reason of tampering with the machine, the clogging of the discharge throat and since the coin slot remains closed -nntil the crank handle has been turned to the normal or zero point, the purchaser cannot lose his coin by reason of the slot being open and delivering mechanism not being in proper position to receive the same to deliver the paper in return therefor.

While the specific means shown, the spring detent 34, illustrates a simple and inexpensive device for locking the roller 8 from rotation, I desire it understood that 1 do not limit myself to such detent devices, since the same may be readily modified or varied without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a vending machine, a receptacle for holding the'v papers in bpik,'havlng a discharge throat that extends down below the lower front end ot the said receptacle, the receptacle including an adjustable bottom having a roller bearing at the front end below the axial line of the feed roller, the face plate on the front walls of the receptacle having a bottom extension that forms the top wail of the discharge throat', said plate having vertical slots in line with the bottom of the receptacle, the feed roller axially journaied in the horizontal plane above the bottom of the receptacle and in front of the face plate, said roller having fingers that project through the slots in the face plate and a presser device for forcing the lower face of thev papers against the roller fingers, all being arranged substantially as shown and described.

2. ln a vending machine of thecharacter described, in combination with a delivery mechanism arranged to grip the outermost one of a series or pack of papers at the lower end thereof; of a presser follower comprising a solid lower portion that exerts pressure against the paper pack in line with the delivery mechanisms and a iiexible upper portion that flexibly sustains the upper end of the paper pack in a vertical position.

3. In combination with the casing having a compartment to receive the papers in series and to sustain them in a vertical position on their folded ends, a discharging throat at the lower front end of .the compartment, a delivery roll mounted in front ot the discharge throat and having its peripheral face movable through said throat to engage with the outermost one ot the papers; of a presser follower comprising a transverse bar movable over the bottom ot the paper compartment against the lower part ot the back of the paper buik, spring and cable connections joined with thev said cross bar for normally forcing the bar forward and a means for holding`the bar locked to its rearmost position, for the purposes speciiied.

4. In a vending machine of the character described, the combination with the paper holding compartment, adapted to receive the bulk of papers, end up, said compartment having a discharge at itsfront end, the casing having a.

delivery slot, a chute that extends from the throat to the slot, a delivery roller having transverse rows of peripheral spurs, that project through thev throat, al face plate that extends down over the front of the discharge throat und extends parallel with the chute to the delivery slot, said plate having slots through which the roller spurs project, and a means for rotatingl the roller, as set forth.

l A newspaper vending machine having a compartment for receiving a series of papers in bulk and in a vertical position, said compartment having a discharge at the lower front end, a spur roller mounted in front of the throat, having a series of projecting lingers, a slotted guard plate located between the rolle'r and tbe papers and having slots for the finger of the rollers-to project through, whereby to engage the outermost one of the series of papers held in the receptacle, and a presser follower that engages the lower end of a series of papers, said follower having movement in the horizontal plane and in axial alinement with the feed roller.

DAVID H. STEWART.

Witnesses:

Jox-IN H. Corp, WILLIAM HAYwAnD.

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