Patent ID: 6439425
Filing Date: 2002-08-27
Classification: G07F

Abstract:
A single vend newspaper vending machine comprising;a machine housing having outer walls; a newspaper elevator system mounted in said machine housing, said a newspaper elevator system including; track means mounted in said machine housing; a generally vertical fixed toothed rack mounted in said machine housing; an upright vertically movable toothed rack movably mounted in said machine housing; a newspaper support trolley movably mounted on said track means; first and second clutch-equipped gear wheels, said first clutch-equipped gear wheel operative to engage said fixed toothed rack, said second clutch-equipped gear wheel operative to engage said vertically movable toothed rack; said track means, said fixed toothed rack, said vertically movable toothed rack and said newspaper support trolley mounted within said machine housing such that when said newspaper support trolley is movably mounted on said track means, said first clutch-equipped gear wheel engages said fixed toothed rack and said second clutch-equipped gear wheel engages said vertically movable toothed rack; said first clutch-equipped gear wheel operative to restrict downward movement of said newspaper support trolley when engaging said fixed toothed rack, said second clutch-equipped gear wheel operative to permit downward movement of said vertically movable toothed rack, upwards movement of said vertically movable toothed rack causing said newspaper support trolley to be moved upwardly therewith; newspaper thickness sensing means movably mounted in said machine housing and operative to determine the thickness of the topmost paper; newspaper pusher means mounted in said machine housing operative to engage a topmost paper on a newspaper stack supported on said newspaper support trolley and slide the topmost newspaper off of the newspaper stack; an access opening extending through said machine housing, said access opening operative to permit access to the topmost paper after the topmost paper has been slid off of the newspaper stack; access opening control means mounted adjacent said access opening, said access opening control means including a door operative to cover said access opening and door opening control means for releasably latching said door in a closed, access opening covering position; and newspaper pusher and movable toothed rack actuation means operatively connected to said newspaper pusher means and said movable toothed rack such that engagement of said actuation means first actuates said newspaper pusher means to remove the topmost paper from the newspaper stack, said actuation means operative to secondly raise said movable toothed rack a distance determined by the thickness of the topmost paper as determined by said newspaper thickness sensing means, thereby raising said newspaper support trolley such that the penultimate newspaper replaces the vended topmost newspaper in substantially the same position that the topmost newspaper was in prior to being vended.