Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F11/00—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles
  • G07F11/02—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines
  • G07F11/38—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which the magazines are horizontal
  • G07F11/42—Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which the magazines are horizontal the articles being delivered by motor-driven means

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a dispensing device for use in vending machines, the device having at least one support piece extending in the longitudinal direction of the device, the support piece being provided with a merchandise article pusher which is controllably driven by an electromotor via a spindle and a carrier on the pusher with which the spindle rotatably engages, wherein the pusher, in a controllable manner, is arranged to push articles of merchandise with or without packaging towards a dispensing end of a transport path, as disclosed in the preamble of attached claims 1 and 2.
• the dispensing device is characterised in that it has at least one side wall, the distance of the side wall from the adjacent longitudinal side of the support piece being adjustable for adaptation of the width of the transport path to the width of the merchandise articles that are to be moved along the transport path and successively dispensed.
• the dispensing device is characterised in that the support piece in a first position of use is designed to form the bottom of the transport path, and that the support piece in a second position of use, which is inverted 180° about the longitudinal axis of the device in relation to the first position of use, is designed to have mounted thereon an elongate support rail or loop which extends along the transport path of the support piece, the support rail or loop being designed for sliding engagement with a suspension hole in packaging or a suspension tab for the merchandise article.
• the support piece is in addition arranged to form support for the motor, spindle and drive gear between the motor and the spindle, and also forms a guide for the pusher and its carrier.
• Fig. 1 is a perspective view from above, the rear and one side of a first embodiment of the dispensing device in a first position of use according to the invention.
• Fig. 2 is a perspective view from above, the rear and the other side of a first embodiment of the dispensing device in a first position of use according to the invention.
• Fig. 3 shows the dispensing device from below and slightly tilted to the side.
• Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the dispensing device from below.
• Fig. 5 shows a second embodiment of the dispensing device having a second position of use that is inverted 180° about the longitudinal axis of the device in relation to the position of use shown in Figs. 1-4, seen in perspective from behind, from one side and seen from below with respect to its second position of use according to the invention and intended for hanging articles of merchandise.
• Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the dispensing device shown in Fig. 5, from in front, from the opposite side and seen from below with respect to its second position of use.
• Fig. 7 shows a detail of the device according to Figs. 5 and 6 for the hanging of a merchandise article, for example so-called blister packs.
• Fig. 8 shows a detail of the dispensing device according to Figs. 1-7 with a motor control unit and device for detecting the position of the pusher.
• Fig. 9 shows enlarged details of the side adjustment of a side wall in relation to the dispensing device support piece.
• Fig. 10 shows a detail of the dispensing area of a pusher channel.
• Fig. 11 shows details of the pusher and the merchandise article hanger for hanging articles of merchandise.
• Fig. 12 illustrates two cooperating support pieces with side walls for use for dispensing particularly wide articles of merchandise.
• Fig. 13 shows the principle of the mounting of a support piece on a wall in a vending machine.
• Fig. 14 shows a simplified block diagram of the electrical/electronic cooperating functional parts included in the dispensing device.
• a dispensing device 1 which is especially designed for use in a vending machine (not shown).
• the device has at least one support piece 2 which extends in the longitudinal direction of the device, and the support piece 2 is provided with a merchandise article pusher 3 which is controllably driven by an electromotor 6 via a spindle 7 and a carrier 8 on the pusher 3 with which the spindle 7 rotatably engages.
• the pusher 3 is in a controllable manner arranged to push merchandise articles 9 with or without packaging towards a dispensing end 10 of a transport path 11 which is provided with side walls 12, 13.
• the distance, for example dl; d2, that a side wall, for example 12, 13, may have from an adjacent longitudinal side 2'; 2" of the support piece 2 is adjustable for adaptation of the width d3 of the transport path 11 to the width of the merchandise articles 9 that are to be moved along the transport path and successively dispensed.
• the support piece 2 forms support for the motor 6, the spindle 7 and drive gear in the form of gearwheels 14, 15 between the motor 6 and the spindle 7, and also forms a guide for the pusher 3 and its spindle engaging carrier 8.
• the support piece 2 has sliding guides 16, 17; 18, 19; 20, 21 and 22, 23 with associated engaging hooks 16', 17'; 18', 19'; 20', 21' and 22', 23' for adjustably fixing the respective mounting brackets 12', 12" and 13', 13"of at least one side wall.
• the mounting brackets, the mounting brackets 12', 13' shown here have toothed bars 24, 25 and 28, 29 for engagement with the engaging hooks 16', 17' and 18', 19'. Similar toothed bars 26, 27 and 30, 31 will of course be present on the two other mounting brackets 12" and 13", as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4.
• the side walls 12; 13 at or close to the dispensing end 10 of the transport path have a split 32; 33 so that a portion 12'"; 13'" moulded in one piece with the wall 12; 13 will bear resiliently against a side portion of at least the merchandise article 9' which is closest to the dispensing end 10.
• the dispensing end 10 at the free end of the respective portion 12'"; 13'", there are respective inwardly directed hooks 12"; 13"".
• the hooks and the spring portions will together retain the outermost article of merchandise until with the aid of the pusher 3 it is pushed with force past the elasticaUy yielding hooks 12""; 13"".
• the support piece 2 has at the dispensing end 10 of the transport path a bevelled portion 2"' projecting transverse to the path, which serves to give the merchandise article 9' that is to be discharged a gentle lift up from the bottom of the transport path 11, so that the merchandise article 9' has a more marked departure from the dispensing device and with minimum friction against said bottom.
• the portion 2"' also serves to form a retainer for the front bottom edge of the merchandise article 9', so that it remains standing stably at the dispensing end 10 prior to dispensing.
• the bevelled portion 2"' together with the yielding hooks 12"", 13""
• the functions of the motor control unit 55 are otherwise explained in more detail later in the description.
• the dispensing device 1 is given a slight upward inclination of the transport path in the forward direction or the dispensing direction, which is favourable for the operational performance of the device for dispensing merchandise articles, as not only in the case of lighter merchandise articles, but also in the case of heavier articles, it prevents them from sliding uncontrollably towards the dispensing end.
• mounting holes 43, 44 for fixing screws are provided in the end area, such as shown, for example, in Fig. 13, a screw can pass through the hole 44 and be fastened in a hole 45 (not visible).
• a screw fastening hole 46 in cooperation with the suspension hook holes 41, 42 in the mounting 38 there is a screw fastening hole 46.
• the dispensing device 1 If the dispensing device 1 is turned about its longitudinal axis 180° so that it can be used for hanging merchandise articles, as shown in Figs. 5-7 and 11, it will in this case be the hooks 37, 36 that are hooked into the respective holes 39, 40, whilst the hooks 34, 35 then come to rest against the portion of the mounting 38 that does not have holes, and that a screw is passed through the hole 43 and is fastened in the hole 45.
• one of the objects of the invention is to provide a dispensing device that is capable of dispensing articles of merchandise which it is necessary to allow to hang.
• Certain types of merchandise articles are packed in such manner that they are unsuitable for pushing along a channel with a bottom and side walls, as just illustrated and described.
• This relates in particular to articles of merchandise with packaging that does not have right angles, articles with an irregular outer surface, and articles that are packed in so-called blister packs, and a feature that is common to all of these is that they cannot rest in a stable manner on a surface.
• the present invention solves the dispensing of such merchandise articles and their packaging or hanging means, if any, in a simple and very neat manner.
• the support piece 2 in this first position will be adapted to form the bottom of the transport path 11 with side walls 12, 13.
• the unique solution according to the invention is that the support piece 2 in a second position of use, as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 11, and with respect to other details, also in Figs.
• a merchandise article hanger 47 for example, an elongate support rail or loop, which extends along the transport path on the support piece 2 from a securing aperture or apertures 48, 49 in the rear, forward facing part 2"" of the support piece, the merchandise article hanger 47 being designed for sliding engagement with suspension hole 50 in the packaging 51 or a suspension tab (not shown) for the merchandise article.
• the hanger 47 may, apart from being secured in the said apertures 48, 49, also be fastened to the support piece 2 slightly closer to the dispensing end 10 by fastening clips 47', 47".
• the hanger 47 will extend essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the dispensing device and the transport path 11, even when heavy articles are hung on it
• the length of the pusher 3 perpendicular to the length of the support piece 2 may be optionally extendible by means of a snap-on extension piece 3'. This may be useful if a merchandise article has a height that is substantially larger than the normal height of the pusher 3.
• the gearwheel 15 which also serves as a detection wheel in gear connection 14 with the drive shaft 52 of the motor and an optical position sensor 53, 53' adapted to detect angularly separated markers 57 (a total of 11 shown on the detection wheel 15).
• One end of the spindle 7, i.e., the rear end 7' forms, as shown in Fig. 8, a fixed connection with the rotatable gearwheel 15 which has the said markers 57.
• the optical sensor 53, 53' which is connected to the motor control unit 55 is adapted to detect the successive passing of the markers 57 and thus calculate the position of the pusher 3 as a function of the rotation of the spindle 7.
• an override lever 54 is arranged on the support piece 2 which upon activation (depression) is adapted to actuate the motor control unit 55 containing the motor control electronics (not shown in Fig. 8) to move the pusher back to a rear nominal position on the support piece.
• a light path between the sensor's light emitter 53 and light receiver 53' is interrupted and when this happens the light receiver 53' will trigger the motor control unit 55 to operate the motor 6 as desired.
• the sensor 53, 53' may be mounted on a circuit board 56.
• the motor control unit 55 may optionally be mounted on such a circuit board 56 or be separate, and the circuit board 56 is fastened, for instance, by being snapped onto mounting brackets 58, 58'.
• the motor control unit 55 also permits adaptive control of the driving torque of the motor 6 in relation to the power that is needed to maintain essentially the same pushing rate of the pusher 3; 3, 3' during dispensing, irrespective of how many articles of merchandise are in the transport path 11. This control is obtained by allowing the motor control unit 55 to register the rotational speed of the gearwheel 15 using the markers 57 which are detected by the sensor 53, 53' and adjusting the driving torque with extra help from a signal from a current meter 59 which measures the motor's driving current, so that the rate at which the markers pass the sensor 53, 53' is kept as constant as possible.
• Fig. 12 where two pushers 3 are to effect the advance of relatively wide merchandise articles, it will be important that the pushers 3, which are in this case driven by lateral drive motors 6 (not visible in Fig. 11), are both driven at the same drive speed and driving force each time an article of merchandise is to be dispensed, to prevent the articles from being dispensed askew.
• the motor control unit 55 will in this case sense the speed of motion of the respective pushers as a function of the rotational speed of associated driving wheel 15 and adjust the speeds of the pushers so they are the same. This happens in cooperation with the said motor current meter 59, so that adapted driving torque as a function of current to the motors maintains identical speeds of motion for all pushers.
• the present invention allows, for example, at least two support pieces 2 with respective motor-driven spindle-actuatable pusher 3, to be arranged side by side.
• a solution of this kind will of course be possible whether the merchandise articles are of the standing type or hanging type. In such a case it will be only the longitudinal support piece sides 2', 2" which lie laterally outermost in the assembly that are provided with distance-adjustable side walls 12, 13 for the substantially wider transport path.
• a production and assembly economising solution for the dispensing device is that the support piece 2 and its transport path portion 11, the supports 7', 7 , of the spindle 7, the drive motor mount 6', support for the driving gear connection 14, 15 between the motor 6 and the spindle 7, the sliding guides 16-22 and engagement hooks 16' - 22' for the side wall mounting brackets 12', 12", 13', 13", mounting brackets 58, 58' for the circuit board 56, fasteners 48, 49 for the suspension rail or loop 47, the lever 54, 54' and the suspension hooks 34-37 are moulded in one piece of a plastic material.
• each of the side walls 12; 13 and their respective mounting brackets 12', 12"; 13', 13" with respective toothed bars 24, 25, 26, 27; 28, 29, 30, 31 may be moulded in one piece of a suitable plastic material.
• the motor control unit 55 connected to the electromotor 6 is adapted to measure the driving current of the electromotor using a current meter 59,
• the torque of the spindle 7 and thus the thrust on the merchandise articles may therefore easily be computed as a function of the current intensity. This is a very important extra function for the monitoring and control of the whole dispensing device.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Vending Machines For Individual Products (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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Cited By (4)

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• 2007
  • 2007-02-05 EP EP07709220.3A patent/EP2115708B1/en active Active
  • 2007-02-05 DK DK07709220.3T patent/DK2115708T3/da active
  • 2007-02-05 ES ES07709220.3T patent/ES2485500T3/es active Active
  • 2007-02-05 PL PL07709220T patent/PL2115708T3/pl unknown
  • 2007-02-05 WO PCT/NO2007/000037 patent/WO2008097094A1/en active Application Filing

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