WO1993024907A1

WO1993024907A1 - Controlled delivery apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO1993024907A1
Application number: PCT/GB1993/001197
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thomas Gordon Lindsay
Original assignee: Napier University Ventures Limited
Priority date: 1992-06-04
Filing date: 1993-06-04
Publication date: 1993-12-09
Also published as: GB9211790D0; AU4342093A; GB2282802B; GB9424533D0; GB2282802A

Abstract

Objects such as cans (10) are dispensed from a stack of objects held in a housing (12) by a delivery apparatus including a retaining bar (16) movable about a pivot axis (20). The retaining bar (16) is carried by a pair of pivot arms, one of which (18) is engageable by a pair of latches (22) in either of two rest positions. The latch (22a) currently in use can be released by an actuating mechanism including a pull arm (32), causing the lowermost can (10) to pivot the retaining bar (16) until locked by the other latch (22b), thus releasing the lowermost can (10) and retaining the next succeeding can (10).

Description

"Controlled Delivery Apparatus"

This invention relates to the controlled delivery of objects, principally cylindrical or spherical objects, from a vertical stack of objects, for example in a vending machine. The invention is particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with the delivery of bottles or cans from a vending machine.

Existing vending machine delivery systems suffer from system complexity and from the need to achieve the required degree of reliability by duplicating certain circuit components. These factors lead to the manufacturing cost being comparatively high. They also reduce the amount of space within the vending machine available for storage of goods to be dispensed, thus increasing the frequency of machine replenishment.

The delivery system complexity also causes the choice of item type to be limited, generally to about seven types of item, which is a considerable disadvantage in vending food products.

An object of the present invention is to overcome or mitigate the foregoing problems.

Accordingly, the invention provides apparatus for controlling the delivery of objects stacked within a housing from a delivery aperture in the housing, the apparatus comprising a retaining member moveable between first and second rest positions in each of which it partially obstructs said delivery aperture to retain a first said object in the stack, latch means normally holding said retaining member in either of its rest positions, and actuating means operable to disengage the latch means temporarily from the retaining member thereby permitting the retaining member to move to its other rest position, such movement releasing said first object to exit the delivery aperture and engaging the retaining member with the next object in the stack.

Preferably, the retaining member extends across the delivery aperture and is mounted at its ends on first and second pivot arms each of which is pivotally mounted on the housing.

Preferably also, the first pivot arm has a free end remote from the retaining member and engageable by the latch means in both of said first and second rest positions.

In one form of the invention, the latch means comprises first and second latches arranged to engage said free end of the first pivot arm.

The actuating means may be arranged to move only one of the first and second latches at any given time. In a preferred arrangement, the actuating means includes a pull bar formed at one end with first and second detents for engaging cooperating formations on the first and second latches, respectively, the pull bar being pivoted at its other end for swinging movement of said one end between the first and second latches; said one end of the pull bar is preferably connected by resilient means to said first pivot arm.

In another form of the invention, the latch means comprises a latch plate pivoted about an axis, the latch plate being formed on one side of the pivot axis with first and second latch portions and being engaged by the actuating means on the other side of the pivot axis.

The latch means and the actuating means may be located above the delivery aperture. Alternatively, the latch means and actuating means may be located beneath a delivery guide provided for objects released from the delivery aperture.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the principle of operation of apparatus in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a side view showing in more detail a release mechanism used in the arrangement of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is

Referring to Fig. 1, a number of cylindrical objects such as soft drink cans 10 are stacked within a housing 12 with their axes horizontal. The housing 12 is of such width that the cans 10 stack alternately left and right in close packing formation. The bottom of the housing 12 is open to for a delivery aperture 14.

The delivery aperture 14 is partially obstructed by a retaining bar 16 which is mounted between pivot arms 18 for swinging movement about pivot points 20. One of the pivot arms 18 extends above the pivot point 20 to provide a free end 18a.

As will be explained in detail below, the retaining bar 16 is normally fixed in two rest positions, alternately. When a can 10 is to be delivered, the retaining bar 16 is temporarily released, thus allowing the weight of the lowermost can 10 to swing the retaining bar 16 about the pivot points 20 until it is fixed in its. other rest position in which it retains the next can 10.

Turning to Fig. 2, one arrangement for achieving this action is shown in more detail. The free end 18a of the pivot arm 18 is engageable by latches 22a, 22b. Each of the latches 22 is mounted for limited sliding and pivotal movement by a pin-and-slot arrangement 24 and is biased away from the centre of the housing 12 by a tension spring 26. Each latch 22 has a detent 28 engageable by a cooperating detent 30 formed on a free end of a pull bar 32. The other end of the pull bar 32 is pivoted on an axially moveable actuator bar 34. The pull bar 32 and the pivot arm free end 18a are interconnected by a tension spring 36.

When a can 10 is to be delivered, the actuator bar 34 is pulled upwardly, for example by a solenoid (not shown) , thus moving the latch 22a out of engagement with the free end 18a of the pivot arm 18. The weight of the lowermost can 10 acting on the the retaining bar 16 causes the assembly of the retaining bar 16 and pivot arms 18 to swing, counterclockwise as seen in Fig. 2, thus releasing the lowermost can to exit the dispensing aperture 14. By suitably selecting the lengths of the pivot arms 18 about the pivot points 20 and the strength of the spring 36 in relation to the weight of the can 10, it can be ensured that the assembly continues to swing until the free end 18a of the pivot arm 18 is engaged by the other latch 22b to secure the retaining bar 16 in its other rest position, in which it engages the next can 10.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate an arrangement which operates in a similar manner to Fig. 2. In this embodiment, however, th latches 22 are positioned below the housing 10, beneath a dispensing guide 40, and the latch arrangement is turned through 90° to operate in a horizontal rather than a vertical plane. In these Figures, the actuating solenoid and solenoid armature are shown at 42 and 44. The pull bar 32 is pivoted directly on the armature 44 at 46 and passes through a fixed guide 48.

The arrangement of Figs. 3 and 4 ensures that the actuating mechanism does not block access to the housing 12 for adding or restocking of cans. It also gives a compact arrangment to further conserve space.

Fig. 5 shows a further embodiment similar to that of Figs. 3 and 4 in that the actuating mechanism is beneath the delivery guide 40. In this embodiment, however, a split winding solenoid 50 is used, the armature 52 being thrown from one side to the other alternately by energising the appropriate coil, to cause the armature to release the latches 22 directly by a hammer action.

Fig. 6 shows a further modification of Figs. 3 and 4. The pivot arm end 18a is engaged alternately by lugs 60a, 60b formed at one edge of a plate 62. The plate 62 is mounted on a pivot bar 64 journalled at 66, and the solenoid armature 44 acts to rock the plate 62 about the pivot bar 64 to release the pivot arm 18. The plate 62 is returned by a spring (not shown) .

The arrangements of Figs. 2-4 allow freedom in timing the rise and fall of the pull bar 32; that is, irrespective of how long one latch 22 is held up by the solenoid, the other latch performs its normal operation of "catching" the pivot arm end 18a. The other embodiments described sacrifice this advantage for simplicity.

The Fig. 2 embodiment could be simplified in a similar manner by using the pull arm alone as the latching means.

In another modification (not illustrated) a further cross bar is positioned parallel to the retaining bar 16 but on the opposite side of the pivot axis 20. This provides a more rigid mechanism, and can be configured to cope automatically with items stcked out of sequence, and still release one item per solenoid operation with no "double" or "missed" dispenses.

The invention makes possible a number of advantages in comparison with the prior art: 1. The number of items which can be accommodated in a given "standard" dispensing machine can be increased by about 100%. 2. The release achanism is simpler, quicker, and uses fewer components, and is therefore cheaper to manufacture and likely to have higher reliability and lower repair and maintenance costs. 3. The number of choices of items can be increased from typically seven at present to typically twenty-one in the same overall size of machine. 4. The mechanism is self-resetting for delivery of the nuext item and does not require circuitry with memory functions to remember position. 5. As the actuating mechanisms preferably use spring elements rather than relying on gravity, they can be placed at any convenient angle other than the vertical and horizontal arrangements illustrated. 6. The use of motors and limit switches is obviated.

Claims

CLAIMS l. Apparatus for controlling the delivery of objects stacked within a housing from a delivery aperture in the housing, the apparatus comprising a retaining member moveable between first and second rest positions in each of which it partially obstructs said delivery aperture to retain a first said object in the stack, latch means normally holding said retaining member in either of its rest positions, and actuating means operable to disengage the latch means temporarily from the retaining member thereby permitting the retaining member to move to its other rest position, such movement releasing said first object to exit the delivery aperture and engaging the retaining member with the next object in the stack.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the retaining member extends across the delivery aperture and is mounted at its ends on first and second pivot arms each of which is pivotally mounted on the housing.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, in which the first pivot arm has a free end remote from the retaining member and engageable by the latch means in both of said first and second rest positions.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, in which the latch means comprises first and second latches arranged to engage said free end of the first pivot arm.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, in which the actuating means is arranged to move only one of the first and second latches at any given time.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, in which the actuating means includes a pull bar formed at one end with first and second detents for engaging cooperating formations on the first and second latches, respectively, the pull bar being pivoted at its other end for swinging movement of said one end between the first and second latches.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, in which said one end of the pull bar is connected by resilient means to said first pivot arm.

8. Apparatus according to claim 3, in which the latch means comprises a latch plate pivoted about an axis, the latch plate being formed on one side of the pivot axis with first and second latch portions and being engaged by the actuating means on the other side of the pivot axis.

9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, in which the latch means and the actuating means are located above the delivery aperture.

10. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 8, in which a delivery guide is provided f30 or objects released from the delivery aperture, and the latch means and actuating means are located below the delivery guide.