Patent ID: 7758088
Filing Date: 2010-07-20
Classification: E05B,E05C,G07F,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A motorized vending machine lock for a vending machine providing a cabinet housing a vending apparatus and a door attached to the cabinet to open and close the cabinet, the lock comprising: a strike plate attached to one of a door and cabinet of the vending machine; a bolt attached to an other of the door and cabinet; an electric motor driving an actuator mechanism to: (i) in a first operating mode, engage the bolt and the strike at spatially separated points, and then draw the door against the cabinet, and (ii) in a second operating mode, release the door from the cabinet, and then disengage the bolt from the strike plate wherein the bolt is a pivoting hook having a hook end movable within a plane to engage and disengage with a corresponding hook engagement point on the strike plate and movable within the plane to extend and retract along a direction of separation of the door and cabinet, wherein the actuator mechanism includes: a frame supporting the motor; a swing arm pivotally attached to the frame at a first end and at a second end pivotally attached to a first pivot point on the hook at a location removed from a hook portion engaging the strike plate, to allow the swing arm and hook to pivot with respect to each other through a range of acute angles; a crank attached to the motor to provide a crank end moving with actuation of the motor; and a drive linkage pivotally attached to the crank end and pivotally attached to a second pivot point on the hook between the first pivot point and the hook portion.