Vend door assembly

A vend door assembly for a vending machine from which articles are selected from a supply area and then deposited into a common vending area of the vending machine and which provides a customer access opening through which articles can be removed. It includes a delivery compartment mounted for pivotal movement between a receiving position in which articles are received through an opening therein from the article supply area, and an article retrieving position in which the opening therein is pivoted and aligned with the customer access opening in the vending area so that a customer can remove the articles from the delivery compartment. It further includes an anti-pilferage door which is mounted coaxially with the delivery compartment for pivotal movement between a first position in which it allows articles to be deposited in the delivery compartment and a second position in which it blocks access to the supply of articles through the customer access opening in the vending machine and the opening in the delivery compartment, when a delivery compartment is in its retrieving position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to vending machines, and more particularly, 
to a vend door assembly for use therein. 
2. Prior Art 
Vending machines of the general type to which the present invention relates 
generally have a plurality of article storage areas from which individual 
articles can be selected and deposited in a common delivery area from 
which they can be removed by a customer. The delivery areas take many 
forms in the prior art, but are essentially compartments into which a 
customer can reach to retrieve the selected article. Although the 
compartment can be open, it is common, for example, to provide a hinged 
door or a sliding door which covers the opening and must be displaced in 
order for the customer to remove his chosen article. In addition, because 
of the increase in attempts to pilfer such machines, it has become 
necessary to provide some form of anti-pilferage device, such as a sheet 
metal flap which is moved into position between the delivery area and the 
article storage area, at least while the access door is open to permit the 
customer to retrieve his article while blocking access to the article 
storage area. Such anti-pilferage devices prevent an individual from 
reaching through the delivery compartment up into the article storage area 
with a wire or some other device to attempt to dislodge other articles and 
cause them to drop into the delivery area where they can be retrieved. 
Because of the need for such anti-pilferage devices and the need for a door 
covering the delivery area, it is necessary that the delivery compartment 
be formed deeper than would otherwise be necessary, in order to allow the 
door to be swung open above articles deposited therein without engaging 
them. Because of the current desire to vend larger products, the use of 
such prior art arrangements has become a limitation on the size of 
articles which may be dispensed from the vending machines because of the 
limited space for expanding the depth of the delivery compartment in the 
lower portion of the machine while expanding the customer access opening 
sufficiently to allow retrieval of larger articles. 
In addition, due to the complexity of the door operating mechanisms and 
anti-pilferage flap operating mechanisms, they have become an undesirably 
expensive and complicated portion of the vending machine. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention overcomes the above-described difficulties and 
disadvantages associated with prior art vending machine vend door 
assemblies, by providing a vend door assembly, including an anti-pilferage 
device, which operates simply and inexpensively and takes up less room 
while providing a larger delivery area than do the prior art devices. 
These advantages over vend door assemblies of prior art vending machines 
are accomplished through the use of a delivery compartment positioned in 
the vending area into which articles are supplied from an article storage 
area and from which a customer can remove an article, and which 
compartment is mounted for pivotal movement between an article receiving 
position in which articles are received through the opening therein from 
the supply of articles and in which it covers the customer access opening 
in the vending area of the vending machine so as to block access to the 
compartment by a customer when in this position, and an article retrieving 
position in which the opening in the delivery compartment is aligned with 
the customer access opening of the vending machine so that an article in 
the compartment may be removed by a customer. The vend door assembly also 
includes an anti-pilferage door which is mounted coaxially with the 
delivery compartment for pivotal movement between a first position in 
which it is aligned with the delivery compartment so as to allow articles 
to be deposited from the article storage area into the delivery 
compartment when the delivery compartment is in its article receiving 
position, and a second position in which it is disposed so as to block 
access to the supply of articles in the article storage area through the 
customer access opening in the vending machine and the opening in the 
delivery compartment when the delivery compartment is in its retrieving 
position. A mechanism is also provided for pivoting the delivery 
compartment between its receiving and retrieving positions and for 
pivoting the anti-pilferage door between its first and second positions. 
The delivery compartment of the vend door assembly is preferably generally 
cylindrical and mounted for pivotal movement about its horizontally 
disposed central access, and the anti-pilferage door is preferably arcuate 
and mounted inside and coaxially with the delivery compartment for pivotal 
movement. The delivery compartment and anti-pilferage door are preferably 
interconnected so as to be moved simultaneously. Movement of the delivery 
compartment between its receiving and retrieving positions is preferably 
accomplished through the use of a handle mounted to the delivery 
compartment which permits a customer to manually operate the vend door 
assembly to retrieve the selected article.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
An example of a vending machine 10 of the general type to which the present 
invention pertains and in which it can be utilized, is shown in FIG. 1. 
Such a machine is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,750. The 
vending machine 10 is shown having an article supply area containing 
spiral vendors 12 each of which can dispense a separate article, and a 
plurality of can or bottle dispensers 14 which can, likewise, dispense 
individual articles. It is to be understood, however, that the vending 
machine 10 can be of any type which dispenses to a common receiving or 
delivery area and that the present invention is not intended to be limited 
to the specific vending machine illustrated herein. Such vending machines 
10 have a coin or monetary operating control mechanisms, illustrated 
generally at 16, and a selection means 18, such as a keypad which, through 
a central processing unit (not shown) operates the individual article 
supply mechanism, such as the spiral vendors 12 or can or bottle 
dispensers 14, in a well known manner. 
A first embodiment of the vend door assembly of the present invention, 
shown generally as 20, is shown in FIG. 1 positioned in the lower front 
portion of the vending machine 10, in what is referred to herein as the 
vending area, where it can be easily accessed by a customer. 
As illustrated in FIG. 2, inside the vending machine 10 there is a space 22 
extending the height of the article supply area between the ends of the 
spiral vendors 12 and the inside back surface of the front service door 24 
of the vending machine 10, which permits articles to fall from the ends of 
each of the spiral vendors 12 or the can or bottle dispensers 14 into a 
trough 26 where it is directed to the vend door assembly 20 of the present 
invention, in the common delivery area. The trough 26, in the vending 
machine 10 illustrated is merely a plurality of deflector plates, 
described below, which prevent articles being dispensed from the spiral 
vendors 12 or can or bottle dispensers 14 from becoming lodged in internal 
portions of the vending machine. Thus, the trough 26 directs the selected 
articles into the common vending area and thus into the vendor assembly 20 
of the present invention. 
Referring now to the construction of the first preferred embodiment of the 
vend door assembly 20, as best seen in FIGS. 3-6, a delivery compartment 
30 is provided of generally cylindrical shape with an axially extending 
opening therein defined by the edges 32 and 34, as seen in FIG. 4, and 
extending the entire length of the compartment 30. Delivery compartment 30 
is preferably made of sheet metal and a sheet metal handle 36 is formed 
and welded to delivery compartment 30 along the edge 32 which provides 
strength to that edge of the compartment 30. Edge 34 is rolled backwards 
along its length to lend strength to that edge of the compartment 30. 
Attached at each end of the delivery compartment 30 are generally disc 
shaped caps 38 and 40 which are mounted for rotation about their central 
axis by pins 42 and 44 to the frame members 46 and 48, respectively, of 
the vend door assembly 20. The sheet metal delivery compartment 30 is 
fastened at its ends to caps 38 and 40 by a series of tabs 50, such as by 
screws. Thus, the delivery compartment 30 is mounted for rotation about 
its central axis within the frame members 46 and 48. 
Disposed within the delivery compartment 30 and mounted for rotation about 
the same axis as the delivery compartment 30, is an anti-pilferage door 
52. Anti-pilferage door 52 is also preferably made of sheet metal and has 
its edges 54 and 56 rolled to strengthen the door. Like delivery 
compartment 30, anti-pilferage door 52 is mounted at its ends by a series 
of tabs 58 to a pair of disc-shaped end caps 60 and 62 which are mounted 
inboard of disc-shaped caps 38 and 40 on their central axes for pivotal 
movement independent of caps 38 and 40. Thus, the anti-pilferage door 52 
rotates about the same axis as the delivery compartment 30 and is disposed 
within the compartment 30. Formed in the end caps 60 and 62 are a pair of 
driven gears 64 and 66, respectively, which are formed coaxial with the 
axis of rotation of the anti-pilferage door 52. A sector gear, such as 68 
in FIG. 5, is formed in each of the end caps 38 and 40 of delivery 
compartment 30. Pinion gears, such as gear 70, are mounted by pins 72 for 
rotation to respective side frames 46 and 48 extending between the 
respective sector gears 68 and driven gears 64 and 66 of the end caps 60 
and 62. Thus, as handle 36 is moved clockwise, as viewed in FIGS. 4 and 5, 
the gear train, made of sector gear 68, pinion gear 70 and driven gear 66, 
causes counterclockwise rotation of the anti-pilferage door 52, as does 
the similar gear train on the opposite end of vend door assembly 20. In 
the first preferred embodiment, the gear ratio between the three gears is 
such that 60.degree. of delivery compartment 30 rotation creates 
144.degree. of anti-pilferage door 52 rotation. These movements correspond 
to the full range of movement of the handle 36 from its fully up position, 
as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, to its fully down position, as shown in FIG. 6. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, both the delivery compartment 30 and 
anti-pilferage door 52 are in their normal rest positions. In this 
position, the opening in compartment 30 formed by the edges 32 and 34 is 
disposed upwardly to receive articles vended from either the vendors 12 or 
the can and bottle dispensers 14. The upper end 56 of the anti-pilferage 
door 52, extends upwardly beyond the handle 36, covering that portion of 
the customer access opening in the front of the machine not covered by the 
delivery compartment 30, and is out of the area of the trough 26 so that 
articles will fall from the article supply and storage area into the 
delivery compartment 30. The end 56 of anti-pilferage door 52 preferably 
extends immediately adjacent the trough 26, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, so 
as to be disposed against the bracket 74 that extends along the length of 
the opening in the delivery compartment 30, so as to reduce the 
possibility of pilfering by minimizing the space between the bracket 74 
and the end 56 of anti-pilferage door 52. The upper edge 76 of bracket 74 
acts as part of the trough 26 to direct product into the delivery 
compartment 30. Bracket 74 extends between the main side frames 46 and 48 
of the vend door assembly 20. A similar bracket 78 extends between the 
frame members 46 and 48 at the rear portion thereof adjacent the upper 
edge 34 of delivery compartment 30 and, likewise, acts as a portion of the 
trough 26 to deflect articles into the delivery compartment 30. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the vend door assembly 20 is mounted as a unit 
to the inside of the hinged front service door 80 to a sheet metal 
interior mounting plate 82 secured to the door for movement therewith so 
that the vend door assembly 20 is pivoted outwardly with the service door 
80 when the interior of the machine 10 is being serviced, such as when new 
articles are being placed in the spiral vendors 12 or can and bottle 
dispensers 14. A pair of plastic end caps, such as 84, are mounted to 
respective frame members 46 and 48 and cover the end caps 38, 40 and 60 
and 62 to assist in preventing pilferaging by eliminating possible 
openings through which a wire might be fed up into the article storage and 
supply area. A further bracket 79 extends between the frame members 46 and 
48 in the lower rear portion thereof to provide a stiffening support for 
the vend door assembly 20 frame structure. Attached at one end to the 
bracket 79 is an extension spring 81 which is attached at its other end to 
a bracket 83 fastened to compartment 30, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, 
which helps urge the compartment closed from its open position shown in 
FIG. 6. 
Referring now to the manner of operation of the first preferred embodiment 
of vend door assembly 20, as the customer deposits his coins in the coin 
mechanism 16 and makes his article selection through the keypad 18, the 
desired article is vended, either from the spiral dispensers 12 or can and 
bottle dispensers 14, and is dropped by gravity through the trough area 26 
and through the opening defined by edge 34 of delivery compartment 30 and 
edge 56 of anti-pilferage door 52 into the delivery compartment 30. The 
customer then pushes downward on handle 36 causing pivotal movement of 
delivery compartment 30, clockwise as viewed in FIGS. 4-6. As delivery 
compartment 30 pivots, sector gear 68 causes clockwise rotation of the 
intermediate gear 70 which, in turn, causes counterclockwise rotation of 
the driven gear 66. Since driven gear 66 is secured to end cap 62, it 
causes counterclockwise rotation of anti-pilferage door 52. As previously 
described, the same gear train exists on the opposite end of the delivery 
door assembly 20. When the door handle 36 is moved from the position 
illustrated in FIG. 4 to its lower most position, as illustrated in FIG. 
6, the delivery compartment opening defined by edges 32 and 34 is moved 
from its vertical receiving position to its substantially horizontal 
article retrieving position. Through the same motion of handle 36, the 
anti-pilferage door 52 is moved by the two gear trains from its first 
retracted position, where it lies inside the front opening of the machine, 
to its second position, as shown in FIG. 6, where it closes off the 
opening through trough 26 while permitting the customer to retrieve the 
article from the front customer access opening of the machine 10. 
Referring now to the alternative embodiment of the vend door assembly 20, 
as shown in FIGS. 7-9, the construction is essentially the same as 
previously described for the first embodiment with the exception of the 
mechanism which causes relative rotation between the delivery compartment 
30 and anti-pilferage door 52. Therefore, only those components which 
differ significantly from the previously described embodiment will be 
explained below. Furthermore, a section of only one end of the vend door 
assembly 90 is shown with the opposite end being a mirror image thereof. 
The vend door assembly 90 essentially uses camming mechanisms in place of 
the gear train of vend door assembly 20 in order to cause the 
counter-rotation between the delivery compartment 30 and the 
anti-pilferage door 52. As shown in FIG. 7, the end plate 92 is mounted 
for pivotal movement on a central axis through pin 94 which is secured, 
such as by bolting, to side frame 46. A radiused slot 96 forming a camming 
surface is defined in end plate 92. An end plate 98 is secured at the end 
of anti-pilferage door 52 and is disposed inboard of the delivery 
compartment end plate 92, as shown in FIG. 7-9. Disposed between the frame 
member 46 and end plate 92 is a crank arm 100 which is pivotally supported 
by a pin 102 secured to frame member 46. A first slot 104 is formed in the 
crank arm 100 and is engaged by a roller 106 mounted for rotation by pin 
108 to the delivery compartment end plate 92. A second slot 110 is formed 
in crank arm 100 and receives a roller 112 which is mounted for rotation 
by pin 114 to the anti-pilferage door end plate 98. As can best be seen in 
FIG. 9, roller 112 extends through the radial slot 96 in the delivery 
compartment end plate 92 and through a further radial slot 116 defined in 
the frame member 46 and which has its lower most end co-incident with the 
slot 96, but is shorter than the slot 96, with its opposite upper end 
portion 118 being shown in FIG. 7. 
Referring now to the manner of operation of the second vend door assembly 
90, and referring to FIGS. 7-9, as the handle 36 is pushed downwardly by a 
customer, as shown in FIG. 7, this causes counterclockwise rotation of the 
delivery compartment 30 to which handle 36 is attached, and roller 106, 
which is secured to the end plate 92, is moved radially counterclockwise 
causing pivotal movement of crank arm 100 in the clockwise direction, as 
illustrated in FIG. 7. As the crank arm 100 moves clockwise, it is guided 
by pin 94 which rides in slot 96. A clockwise pivoting of crank arm 100 
causes roller 112 to move upperwardly through the arcuate slots 96 and 116 
and thus causes the anti-pilferage door 52 to move clockwise since roller 
112 is secured to its end plate 98. The distance from the pivot point 102 
of crank arm 100 to rollers 106 and 112 and the position of their 
respective receiving slots, produces essentially the same relative pivotal 
movement between the delivery compartment 30 and anti-pilferage door 52 as 
in the previously described embodiment so that as the handle 36 is moved 
to its lower most position, as shown in FIG. 8, the anti-pilferage door 52 
is moved upwardly to a position beneath the trough 26, thus allowing 
access to the delivery compartment 90 while preventing a customer from 
accessing the article storage area through the trough 26. 
In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the 
invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained. 
As various changes could be made in the above constructions without 
departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter 
contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings 
shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.