Abstract:
An apparatus for dispensing flat articles, which is entirely mechanical, resistant to theft and vandalism and consistently dispenses the correct volume of merchandise. A dispensing mechanism locks out a patron as the last article or item of merchandise is dispensed from the merchandise magazine by arresting rotation of the coin mechanism at a point where a coin cannot be inserted. A novel locking mechanism for the door covering the secure compartment in which collected coins are stored and a novel protective flap for the dispensing slot are also provided.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to vending machines. In particular, this invention relates to an apparatus for dispensing flat articles.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Vending machines have been designed to dispense many different kinds of merchandise. Such machines provide a dispensing mechanism which dispenses a preset amount of merchandise responsive to the insertion of one or more coins of the required denomination into a coin mechanism.  
           [0003]    These types of vending machines can be designed to dispense virtually any kind of merchandise, however there are limitations based on the location of the machine and the type of merchandise sought to be vended. The type of merchandise will often determine the type of dispensing mechanism used. For example, a dispensing mechanism suitable for dispensing hard, round gum balls is unlikely to be suitable for dispensing softer, rectangular confectionaries such as chocolate bars. Each type of merchandise presents its own parameters in terms of what dispensing mechanism will operate effectively, i.e. consistently dispensing the correct volume of merchandise so that neither the patron nor the operator loses money, without damaging the merchandise. Flat articles, such as flat packages, for example sports cards, stickers etc., present unique problems in this regard.  
           [0004]    Another important factor is the location of the vending machine. In many locations in which vending machines are likely to be placed, there is no power supply (such as a wall plug or floor monument) available to power electrically-powered devices such as motors or solenoids. Therefore, to be adaptable for use in any location, a vending machine must be able to operate entirely mechanically, without requiring any electrically-powered components.  
           [0005]    Also, such vending machines are typically designed to be used in unsupervised areas. Accordingly, they must be resistant to theft and vandalism.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention addresses these and other problems. The invention provides an apparatus for dispensing flat articles, such as merchandise made or packaged in the form of a flat pack, which is entirely mechanical, resistant to theft and vandalism and consistently dispenses the correct volume of merchandise.  
           [0007]    The invention accomplishes this by providing a dispensing mechanism actuated by a manually rotated coin mechanism, which locks out a patron as the last article or item of merchandise is dispensed from the merchandise magazine, by arresting rotation of the coin mechanism at a point where a coin cannot be inserted. This also provides an immediate visual indication to service personnel that the merchandise magazine is empty.  
           [0008]    The invention further provides a novel locking mechanism for the door covering the secure compartment in which collected coins are stored, which reduces opportunities for theft; and a novel protective flap for the dispensing slot through which merchandise is dispensed, which prevents insertion of a tool or the spraying of water into the merchandise area, which reduces opportunities for theft and vandalism and renders the vending machine more resistant to adverse weather conditions in outdoor installations. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    In drawings which illustrate by way of example only a preferred embodiment of the invention,  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus according to the invention,  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the merchandise compartment,  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional elevation taken along the centre of one merchandise magazine,  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the slide,  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the top half of the slide,  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the bottom half of the slide,  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 is a rear elevation of the door to the secure compartment, and  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the underside of the floor of the merchandise compartment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 illustrates an apparatus  10  according to the invention. A housing  12  defines a secure compartment  14  disposed beneath a merchandise compartment  16  of the housing  12 . The merchandise compartment  16  is preferably separated from the secure compartment  14  by a floor  18 , so that service personnel charged with replenishing the merchandise can open the merchandise compartment  16  but do not have access to the collected coins stored in the secure compartment  14 .  
         [0019]    The merchandise compartment  16  houses at least one merchandise magazine  20 , shown in FIG. 2. There are two merchandise magazines  20  in the embodiment shown, so that the apparatus  10  can stock two different types of merchandise at the same time. However, there is no limit to the number of merchandise magazines  20  which the apparatus  10  may contain. Each merchandise magazine  20  preferably comprises a pair of opposed wall portions  22 , for example formed from sheet metal, having side walls  24  and partial front and rear walls  26 ,  28 , with a space between the front walls  26  and the rear walls  28  that allows service personnel to more easily manipulate the merchandise into the magazine  20  when replenishing the stock, and to more easily remove the merchandise from the magazine  20  when changing the stock. The latter can also be facilitated by a lifting arm (not shown), for example a “U”-shaped member hanging transversely from the floor  18  within each magazine  20  near the front or the rear, having heads seated in recesses so as not to protrude above the level of the floor  18 , which when depressed upwardly lifts up any articles remaining in the magazine  20  so they can be more easily grasped for removal.  
         [0020]    The wall portions  22  may be anchored to the floor  18  in any convenient fashion, for example by tabs  23  which may be screwed or bolted to bosses (not shown) that preferably are spaced slightly lower from tabs  23 , so that bolting the tabs  23  to the bosses draws the wall portions  22  tightly against the floor  18  to maintain a proper, stable alignment without rocking.  
         [0021]    Each merchandise magazine  20  is associated with a dispensing mechanism  40  actuated responsive to the rotation of a coin mechanism  30 , shown in FIG. 3 (the dispensing mechanism  40  has been omitted from FIG. 2 for clarity). The coin mechanism  30  has a handle  32  operatively engaged to a drive gear  34  such that rotation of the handle  32  rotates the drive gear  34 . Various mechanisms and devices may be provided within the coin mechanism  30  to ensure that the handle  32  can only be rotated when the correct denomination of coinage has been inserted into the mechanism  30 . Suitable coin mechanisms  30  are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,181 to Schwarzli issued Sep. 21, 1999, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,793 to Schwarzli issued Sep. 14, 1999, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. The construction and operation of these coin mechanisms is fully detailed in the aforesaid patents; however, these coin mechanisms are referred to solely as examples of suitable coin mechanisms, and the invention is in no way limited to any particular coin mechanism  30 .  
         [0022]    The coin mechanisms  30  are mounted in a door  80 , illustrated in FIG. 7, which is described in greater detail below. Each coin mechanism  30  is mounted so that its drive gear  34  is positioned to mesh with a crankshaft gear  36 , as shown in FIG. 3, which operates the dispensing mechanism  40 .  
         [0023]    The dispensing mechanism  40  is illustrated in FIG. 3. The crankshaft gear  36  is rotatably mounted to the floor  18  in any convenient fashion, for example on a shaft  36   a  projecting from the floor  18  and held in position by a bushing  36   b . In the embodiment shown, the crankshaft gear  36  is oriented substantially orthogonally to and meshing with the drive gear  34 , and thus the drive and crankshaft gears  34 ,  36  may conveniently be bevel gears. Pivotably mounted to crankshaft gear  36  is a connecting rod  38 , mounted to the crankshaft  37  and thus eccentrically relative to the axis of the crankshaft gear  36 , so that the end  38   a  follows an orbital rotation about the axis of the crankshaft gear  36 . The other end  38   b  of the connecting rod  38  is affixed in any suitable fashion to a slide  42 . Thus, as the crankshaft gear  36  rotates, the orbital motion of the crankshaft  36   a  drives the connecting rod  38  which in turn causes the slide  42  to reciprocate.  
         [0024]    The slide  42  is trapped in a track so that its movement is generally restricted to a front-to-back motion. For example, the slide  42  may comprise top and bottom halves  44 ,  46 , shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, which when bolted together form a projection  44   a ,  46   a  which extends through a slot  43  in the floor  18  to constrain movement of the slide  42 . The top half  44  of the slide  42  has an opening  44   b  which leads to a hollow  42   a  (seen in FIG. 3) for locking the slide  42  in a forward position when the magazine  20  is emptied, as is described in detail below. The top half  44  of the slide  42  also has a forward edge  45 , which contacts the flat article of merchandise at the bottom of the stack of articles (not shown) in the magazine  20  and pushes the article out of the magazine  20  as the slide  42  moves forward during a rotational cycle of the coin mechanism  30 .  
         [0025]    The front walls  26  of the magazine  20  are thus raised above the floor  18 , to allow an article of maximum thickness to be pushed out of the magazine  20  through space  49 . Affixed to the front walls  26  is a stripper plate  50 , which is preferably bolted through a vertical slot so that the height of the stripper plate  50  can be adjusted as required to size the space  49  exactly to the thickness of the article being dispensed from the magazine  20 . Thus, only the bottom article is pushed through space  49  and out of the housing  12  through slot  13 , while the stripper plate  50  prevents articles above the bottom article from being pushed out of the magazine  20 .  
         [0026]    In the preferred embodiment the front panel  16   a  of the merchandise compartment  16  is slidably disposed in frame members  16   b , so it can be removed by removing the lid  15  to allow easy access to the magazines  20  for restocking purposes. The panel  16   a  seats in a threshold bar  19  containing slots  13 , the slots  13  being aligned with the spaces  49  at the bottom-front of each respective magazine. This has the advantage that the slots  13  can be formed only to the height required for the thickness of the particular article being dispensed, to reduce opportunities for tampering with the inside of the apparatus  10 , and if the article is changed to a thicker article so that higher slots  13  are required, only the threshold bar  19  needs to be changed. This also provides very structurally secure walls for the slots  13 , so that the slots  13  are less prone to deformation by a prying tool.  
         [0027]    The invention further provides a security flap  60  pivotally mounted, for example on brackets  62 , so as to move between a closed position in which the flap  60  rests against the floor  18 , and an open position in which the space  49  is exposed to the slot  13  so that an article can be dispensed from the apparatus  10 . The free end of the flap  60  preferably rests in a groove  64  formed in the floor  18 , to resist prying of the flap  60  to the open position by a flat tool such as a knife, and deflect the tool upward along the flap  60 . The flap  60  also preferably has a longitudinal ridge  60   a  which serves both to block the tool from striking the stripper plate  50  (which is preferably formed from spring steel and is subject to deformation), and to redirect any water spraying into the slot  13  (for example from rain splatter or a water gun) into the groove, to be drained away from the merchandise.  
         [0028]    The invention provides a locking mechanism for locking the slide  42  in a forward position when the magazine  20  is emptied. A weight  70 , shown in FIG. 3, is placed over the stack of articles when the magazine  20  is loaded, to keep the bottom article flat and facilitate proper dispensing as the stock depletes. The weight  70  comprises a body  72  having a floor  74 . A finger  76  is pivotally mounted on the floor  74  such that in its lowermost position the finger  76  extends through an opening  78  in the floor  74  of the weight  70 . The finger  76  has a hook  76   a  adapted to extend into the opening  44   b  in the top half  4  of the slide  42  and rest in the hollow  42   a , to lock the slide  42  in a forward position, as described below.  
         [0029]    The interior or rear face of the door  80  to the secure compartment  14  is illustrated in FIG. 7. The coin mechanisms  30  are mounted in the upper portion of the door  80 , as described above. The door  80  is mounted to the secure compartment  14  by a plurality of tabs  82  which mate with corresponding grooves (not shown) in the underside of the floor  18  adjacent to the front edge of the floor  18 , and is locked in position by a door locking mechanism  90  provided in a lower portion of the door  80 . The door locking mechanism  90  comprises a lock  92 , for example a conventional rotary lock, and rockers  94 ,  96 . The rockers  94 ,  96  are pivotally mounted to the door  80  and respectively comprise a cam arm  94   a ,  96   a  and a latch  94   b ,  96   b . The cam arms  94   a ,  96   a  are biased to the open position shown in FIG. 7, for example by compression springs  93  or in any other suitable fashion. The lock  92  has a latch  92   a  adapted to engage a complimentary groove (not shown) formed in the base of the housing  12 , and a cam  92   b  which, when the lock  82  is rotated to the locked position, forces the cam arms  94   a ,  96   a  toward the locked position in which latches  94   b ,  96   b  respectively engage complimentary grooves (not shown) formed in the base of the housing  12 . The locking mechanism  90  thus provides a very secure three-point latching engagement with a single rotation of the lock  92 .  
         [0030]    In operation, a cash box (not shown) is placed in the secure compartment  14  beneath each coin mechanism  30 . The dispensing mechanisms  40  are rotated to the starting position, with the slides  42  at the forward-most position in their path of travel, to ensure that the drive gear  34  properly lines up with the crankshaft gear  36  with both the coin mechanisms  30  and the slides in the starting position. This can be achieved, for example, by a pair of levers  100  (shown in FIG. 8) that are spring-biased toward the drive gears  34  and actuated by a cam  108  affixed to the door  80 , which blocks the space between the tail ends  102  of the levers  100  so that when the door  80  is opened, the tail ends  102  move together and the tips  104  at the opposite ends of the levers  100  thus engage into the teeth of the drive gears  34 . The mechanism cannot move while the levers  100  are in this position. When the door  80  is closed, the cam  108  spreads the tail ends  102  of the levers  100  and retracts the tips  104  from the drive gears  34 .  
         [0031]    Once the dispensing mechanisms  40  are in the starting position, the tabs  82  of the door  80  are inserted into their complimentary slots (not shown) in the floor  18  and the bottom of the door  80  is swung into a closed position. The lock  92  is rotated to engage the latches  92   a ,  94   b ,  96   b  in their complimentary slots (not shown) in the base of the apparatus  10 , to secure the secure compartment  14 .  
         [0032]    The magazines  20  are loaded with stacks of articles to be vended, and a weight  70  is placed on top of each stack of articles. The hooked end  76   a  of the finger  76  rests on top of the uppermost article in the stack of merchandise. The front panel  16  is slid into position and the lid  15  is locked to the housing in conventional fashion to close the merchandise compartment  16 . The apparatus  10  is now ready for vending. All coin mechanisms  30  and dispensing mechanisms  40  are in the starting position, with the coin slots  31  fully accessible and the slides  42  at the forward-most position in each magazine  20 .  
         [0033]    A patron deposits the required denomination of one or more coins (or tokens, checks or otherwise) into the coin slot  31 , to operate the coin mechanism  30  that corresponds to the magazine containing the articles sought to be purchased, for example as indicated by signage on the front panel  16   a  of the merchandise compartment  16 . The patron rotates the handle  32 , which rotates the drive gear  34 , which in turn rotates the crankshaft gear  36 . The crankshaft  37  revolves to the rear, driving the connecting rod  38  with it, and thus driving the slide  42  to the engaging position, at or near the rear of its path of travel within the slot  43 .  
         [0034]    As the edge  45  moves beyond the edge of the article, the article falls onto ledge  45   a . As the crankshaft  37  revolves past the engaging position and starts moving toward the front, the connecting rod  38  draws the slide  42  toward the front, pushing the article out of the magazine  20  through space  49 . The leading edge of the article contacts the security flap  60  and raises it to the open position, and the article continues to be pushed by the edge  45  of the slide  42  until it protrudes from the slot  13  sufficiently for the patron to grasp and remover the article. At this point the slide  42  has returned to the starting position at the forward-most point in its path of travel, the coin mechanism  30  has returned to the starting position with the coin slot  31  accessible to a coin, and the apparatus is ready for another dispensing cycle.  
         [0035]    As the last article in a magazine  20  is dispensed, the hooked end  76   a  of the finger  76  drops into the opening  44   b  in the top half  44  of the slide  42 , and rests partially in the hollow  42   a , as shown in FIG. 3. The slide  42  is thus blocked from moving along its path of travel, which locks the connecting rod  38  and thus the crankshaft gear  36 , which in turn locks the drive gear  34 . The coin mechanism  30  can therefore no longer be rotated. This occurs just before the slide  42  reaches the forward-most point in its path of travel, as the coin slot  31  is becoming exposed but before the coin slot  31  has become fully accessible. Therefore, a patron cannot insert another coin into the coin mechanism. Further, service personnel arriving to service the apparatus have an immediate visual indication that the corresponding merchandise magazine  20  is empty, because the coin slot  31  is out of the starting position.  
         [0036]    To restock the magazine, service personnel removes the lid  15 , removes the front panel  16   a  and removes the weight  70  from the magazine  20 . The service person inserts a new stack of articles into the magazine  20 , adjusting the height of the stripper plate  50  if necessary to accommodate any change in thickness of the articles, and places the weight  70  on top of the new stack of articles. The front panel  16   a  is replaced and the lid  15  is closed and locked. If the service personnel also has access to the secure compartment  14 , it can be opened by rotating the lock  92  to the unlocked position, which retracts the latches  92   a ,  94   b  and  96   b  from the base of the housing  12 , and the door  80  can be swung out and removed. The coins in the cash box(es) are collected, and the door  80  is replaced in the manner described above.  
         [0037]    Various embodiments of the present invention having been thus described in detail by way of example, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the invention. The invention includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.