Vending apparatus for newspapers and analogous articles

The apparatus comprises a platform for supporting a substantially vertical stack of articles, such as newspapers, magazines and the like, with the articles inclined downwardly and forwardly. Article hold-back apparatus, positioned alongside the platform, extends upwardly therefrom and is adapted to engage and extend across forward edges of the articles in the stack to restrain the same from forward sliding movement from the stack, and a carriage mounted for substantially vertical movement alongside the forward edges of the articles in the stack, is operatively connected to the article hold-back apparatus to successively effect disengagement of the article hold-back apparatus with the uppermost article in the stack. Stack height sensing apparatus is carried by the carriage and includes a presser member adapted to engage and rest upon successive uppermost articles in the stack while serving for in turn restraining the carriage against downward movement, and article discharge apparatus is carried by the carriage for engaging the uppermost article in the stack and for slidingly moving the uppermost article rearwardly out of engagement with the presser member so as to permit the presser member to drop downwardly onto the next article to be dispensed and thereby effect a corresponding lowering of the carriage to gravitationally dispense the uppermost article from the stack.

Among recent developments in apparatus for dispensing articles, such as 
newspapers and the like, is the apparatus disclosed in my own U.S. Pat. 
No. 3,907,160, dated Sept. 23, 1975, and wherein an article supporting 
means supports a stack of superposed articles inclined downwardly and 
forwardly at an angle for facilitating dispensing the articles, one at a 
time, from the stack. In order to dispense successive uppermost articles 
from the stack, an article hold-back means positioned in front of the 
stack moves downwardly in a predetermined stepwise manner for successively 
positioning the restraining means out of engagement with successive 
uppermost articles in the stack to permit forward movement of each 
successive uppermost article and to thereby effect dispensing of the 
successive unrestrained uppermost articles. 
It is an important object of this invention to improve upon apparatus of 
the type disclosed in my said U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,160 by providing an 
arrangement permitting the gravitational dispensing of successive articles 
of any thickness from a substantially vertical stack of contacting 
articles by sensing the height of the stack of articles and effecting a 
lowering of the article hold-back means in accordance with the thickness 
of the successive articles dispensed. 
According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the vending 
apparatus comprises means for supporting a substantially vertical stack of 
the articles with the articles inclined downwardly and forwardly, with 
article hold-back means positioned alongside the supporting means and 
extending upwardly therefrom and adapted to engage and extend across 
corresponding forward edges of the articles in the stack to restrain the 
same from forward sliding movement from the stack. Carriage means, mounted 
for substantially vertical movement alongside the forward edges of the 
stack of articles, is operatively connected to the article hold-back means 
to successively effect disengagement of the article hold-back means with 
the uppermost article in the stack, and stack height sensing means is 
carried by the carriage means and includes a presser member adapted to 
engage and rest upon successive uppermost articles in the stack while 
serving for in turn restraining the carriage means against downward 
movement. Article discharge means carried by the carriage means engages 
the uppermost article in the stack for slidingly moving such uppermost 
article rearwardly out of engagement with the aforementioned presser 
member so as to permit the presser member to drop downwardly onto the next 
article to be dispensed and thereby effect a corresponding lowering of the 
carriage means to gravitationally dispense the uppermost article from the 
stack.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a 
cabinet or a housing 10 carried by a suitable frame 11 which supports, 
within housing 10, a supporting means 12 for a substantially vertical 
stack of articles A, such as newspapers, magazines or the like. Supporting 
means 12 may take the form of a downwardly and forwardly inclined shelf or 
platform so positioned that the articles in the stack A are inclined 
downwardly and forwardly, and as preferred, the articles are stacked in 
juxtaposed or contacting relationship. The rear wall of housing 10 is in 
the form of a hinged door 13 permitting ready access to the interior of 
housing 10 for loading the articles therein. 
Article hold-back means is positioned alongside the supporting means 12 and 
extends upwardly therefrom and is adapted to engage and extend across 
corresponding forward edges of the articles in the stack A to restrain the 
same from forward sliding movement from the stack. The article hold-back 
means may take the form of chain means 15 and cooperating slide members 16 
to which a carriage means 20 is operatively connected to successively 
effect disengagement of the article hold-back means with the uppermost 
article in the stack A. Chain means 15 comprises a pair of laterally 
spaced chains 15a whose links are preferably formed of relatively thin, 
rigid, flat material so that each successive link in each chain 15a may be 
offset with respect to the next adjacent link and so that the chains 15a 
may extend upwardly in converging relationship as best shown in FIG. 3 and 
may be wound about respective drums or rollers 22, or other suitable 
rotatable means, in a spiral or helical manner. The drums 22 are fixed on 
a shaft 23 rotatably supported by opposing side frame members 24 of 
carriage means 20. 
Carriage means 20 is mounted within housing 10 for substantially vertical 
movement alongside the forward edges of the articles in the stack A. 
Accordingly, the side frame members 24 of carriage means 20 are guided for 
substantially vertical sliding movement on a pair of laterally spaced 
upright guide posts 25 (FIGS. 3 and 4) suitably secured to the frame 11. 
The lower ends of the hold-back chains 15a are suitably connected to the 
frame 11 below the forward portion of the stack suporting means 12, as at 
26, so that the hold-back chains 15a extend past the forward portion of 
supporting means 12 and upwardly therefrom for engaging and extending 
across corresponding forward edges of the articles in the stack A to 
restrain the same from forward sliding movement from the stack. The upper 
end portions of the hold-back chains 15a are suitably attached to the 
respective drums 22, and each of the chains 15a is especially constructed 
so that it will not bow or be pushed forwardly excessively between its 
anchorage point 26 at the lower end thereof and the respective drum 22 by 
the weight or pressure of the articles A against the rear surface thereof. 
Accordingly, it will be observed in FIG. 2 that the upper end of each link 
of the chain 15a there shown is provided with a relatively small extension 
15b which is adpated to engage a lateral projection or pin 15c on the side 
of the next adjacent link thereabove. Thus, the projections 15b limit the 
extent of relative outward or forward pivotal movement between adjacent 
links of each chain 15a, while permitting the links to pivot into 
substantially side-by-side relation when pivoted in the opposite direction 
inwardly toward each other. 
Referring now to the article hold-back guide members 16, it will be 
observed in FIGS. 3 and 4 that they are suitably supported by carriage 
means 20 and are positioned between the upper portions of the two article 
hold-back chains 15a in laterally spaced relation to each other. Guide 
members 16 have substantially straight, elongate and vertically extending 
rear faces or edges thereon, preferably of a low-friction synthetic 
plastic material, such as Teflon. Such rear edges of guide members 16 are 
so positioned that the upper end portions thereof are adapted to be 
engaged by a forward edge portion of at least the uppermost article in the 
stack A. 
A stack height sensing means 30 carried by the carriage means 20 normally 
sustains carriage means 20 in an elevated position such that the upper 
ends of guide members 16 occupy the aforementioned position to restrain 
against forward movement the uppermost article in the stack. The stack 
height sensing means 30 includes one or more presser members 30a, two of 
which are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Presser members 30a are disposed 
in tranversely spaced relationship between the article hold-back guide 
members 16, and the presser members 30a are adapted to engage and rest 
upon successive uppermost articles in the stack and serve, for in turn 
restraining carriage means 20 against downward movement. To this end, 
presser members 30a are suitably secured to the rear upper portions of 
respective brake members or arms 30b having brake bands 30c on their lower 
ends which normally engage respective brake drums 30d fixed on a shaft 
30e. Thus, brake bands 30c and brake drums 30d constitute brake means 
which is rendered effective to restrain carriage means 20 against downward 
movement whenever the pressure of the presser members 30a engaging and 
resting upon the respective uppermost article in the stack applies an 
effective force to the brake bands 30c against the respective brake drums 
30d. In this instance, shaft 30e is connected to a gear box or gear 
reduction unit 34 having a lower or output portion connected to shaft 23 
by means of a suitable chain and sprocket arrangement 35. 
In order to rotate drums 22 in the desired direction and at the desired 
rate for taking up the hold-back chains 15a whenever carriage means 20 is 
permitted to gravitate downwardly, corresponding ends of a pair of cables 
or elongage pliable elements 40 are attached to the outer portions of the 
respective drums 22. The cables 40 are wound about the drums 22 several 
times and then extend upwardly and are connected, by means of respective 
tension springs 41 and strap members 42, to a substantially horizontally 
disposed shaft 43 journaled in frame 11 within the upper portion of 
housing 10. 
Shaft 43 is utilized for resetting the apparatus when a fresh stack of 
articles A is placed in the apparatus. Accordingly, a drum 45 secured on 
shaft 43 has one end of a cable 46 secured thereto. Cable 46 is wrapped 
around drum 45 several times and the other end of cable 46 is attached to 
an upper or rear transverse frame member 47 of carriage means 20. One end 
of shaft 43 may be of polygonal cross-section for the reception of a 
suitable hand-crank, not shown, for winding up the cable 46 on the drum 45 
to manually raise the carriage means 20 to the desired elevation during 
the resetting of the apparatus. The aforementioned hand-crank may be 
inserted in housing 10 through a suitable opening in one of the side walls 
thereof, which opening is closed by a suitable cover 50 (FIGS. 1 and 3) 
following the resetting of the apparatus. 
The apparatus includes a new and novel article discharge means, broadly 
designated at 55, which is carried by carriage means 20 for engaging the 
uppermost article in the stack and for slidingly moving the uppermost 
article rearwardly out of engagement with presser members 30a so as to 
permit the presser members 30a to drop downwardly onto the next article to 
be dispensed and thereby effect a lowering of carriage means 20 to 
gravitationally dispense the uppermost article from the stack. As shown, 
the article discharge means 55 may take the form of a pusher means 56 
overlying the uppermost article in the stack A, and having a resilient or 
otherwise suitably formed lower surface such that the pusher means 56 may 
frictionally or piercingly engage and apply a rearward force to the 
uppermost article in the stack of sufficient magnitude to slidingly move 
the respective article rearwardly out of engagement with presser members 
30a. 
As observed in FIG. 2, pusher means 56 normally occupies inactive position 
spaced above the uppermost article in the stack, and a linkage means is 
connected to the pusher means 56. As will be later described, a normally 
inactive drive means is drivingly connected to the aforementioned linkage 
means, and a manually operable control means for the drive means is 
effective to momentarily activate the drive means for driving the linkage 
means and to thereby cause the pusher means 56 to move into engagement 
with the uppermost article in the stack and to slidingly move such 
uppermost article rearwardly out of engagement with the presser members 
30a. To this end, it will be observed in FIGS. 2 and 4 that the linkage 
means comprises an elongate bar or plunger means 61 which may extend 
forwardly and rearwardly in substantially parallel relation to the 
inclined plane of the individual articles in the stack A and is suitably 
guided for longitudinal movement in the upper frame member 47 of carriage 
means 20 as well as in additional, lower or forward transverse frame 
member 47a of carriage 20. 
An oscillatable carrier means 62, shown in the form of a bell crank in FIG. 
2, is supported on the rear portion of plunger means 61 for movement about 
a pivotal axis 63 extending substantially transversely of plunger means 
61. Pusher means 56 is attached to carrier means 62, as by being pivotally 
connected thereto, in such a manner that the pusher means 56 extends 
rearwardly of the pivotal axis 63 of carrier means 62. 
Thrust means, in the form of a link 64, is pivotally connected to carrier 
means 62 at a point above pivotal axis 63 of carrier means 62. Link 64 
extends downwardly and forwardly from carrier means 62 and its rear 
portion is pivotally connected to a crank means 65. Crank means 65 extends 
forwardly from link 64 and is fixedly mounted on a rocker shaft 66 
journaled in one of the side frame members 24 of carriage means 20. 
Biasing means, in the form of a compression spring 67, is provided on the 
lower or forward portion of plunger means 61 for normally urging the same 
downwardly and forwardly so that carrier means 62 is normally positioned 
against the transverse frame member 47 of carriage means 20, and pusher 
means 56 then occupies the inactive position shown in FIG. 2. 
As best shown in FIG. 4, shaft 66 has an additional crank means 65a thereon 
to which one end of a pliable element or cable 71 is attached. As will be 
presently described, cable 71 serves, along with crank means 65, 65a, as 
means for imparting a rearward motion to the thrust means or link 64, 
causing the carrier means 62 and pusher means 56 to pivot on the axis 63 
until pusher means 56 engages the uppermost article therebeneath, and so 
that the plunger means 56 then slidingly moves the respective article 
rearwardly out of engagement with the presser members 30a of the height 
sensing means 30. Accordingly, cable 71 extends upwardly from crank means 
65a and over and in engagement with a plurality of pulleys 72, 73, and 74 
collectively constituting an upper guide means. Pulleys 73, 74 are spaced 
rearwardly of pulley 72, and the cable 71 extends rearwardly of pulleys 
73, 74 and downwardly therefrom and then partially around a pulley 75 
constituting a lower guide means. From the pulley 75, cable 71 then 
extends upwardly and is suitably secured to the adjacent side frame member 
24 of carriage means 20. 
Drive means for imparting a rearward motion to thrust means or link 64 is 
broadly designated at 80 (FIG. 3) and may include any suitable motive 
means for rotating a crank shaft 81 a predetermined amount in response to 
operation of a manually operable control means 82 to be later described. 
It is preferred that the motive means does not rely upon any external 
power source or combustible material for the operation thereof. 
Accordingly, the motive means is shown in the form of a winch, in the 
upper right-hand portion of FIG. 4, comprising a reel or drum 84 about 
which a cable 85 is wound, with one end of the cable being connected to 
the drum 84 and the other end being attached to a weight means 86 
suspended from the cable 85 within housing 10. 
Drum 84 is fixed on a shaft 87 adjacent and below shaft 43 and having its 
outer end shaped for receiving a suitable hand-crank for winding up the 
cable 85 on the drum 84 during a resetting operation. Shaft 87 is 
rotatably mounted in frame 11 within housing 10 adjacent the access 
opening heretofore described as being covered by cover 50, and shaft 87 
has a gear 90 in fixed axial relation thereto which meshes with a smaller 
gear or pinion 91 mounted on crank shaft 81 by means of an intervening 
one-way clutch means 92. Clutch means 92 may be of any well-known 
construction and may, for example, be of the type indicated at 175 in FIG. 
17 of my said U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,160. 
One-way clutch means 92 is so arranged that, when shaft 81 is free to 
rotate, the torque being applied to drum 84 by cable 85 and weight means 
86 will cause gears 90, 91 to transmit rotation through clutch means 92 to 
shaft 81 in a forward direction (counterclockwise in FIGS. 2 and 4-7). One 
end of shaft 81 has a crank or eccentric portion 94 thereon on which one 
end portion of a link or connecting rod 95 is pivotally supported. As 
shown in the upper portions of FIGS. 2 and 4, link 95 extends forwardly 
from crank shaft 81 and is suitably guided at its forward portion for 
substantially linear forward and rearward motion in a guide member 97 
suitably secured to the adjacent wall of housing 10. 
A loop-forming member, in the form of a pulley 100, is carried by the 
forward portion of connecting rod or link 95 and is arranged to engage a 
portion of cable 71 extending across the opening defined between the 
pulleys 73, 74. Thus, with shaft 81 normally at rest in the position shown 
in FIGS. 2 and 4, upon activation of the drive means 80 by releasing the 
shaft 81 for rotation in a manner to be later described, pulley 100 moves 
forwardly through the opening defined between pulleys 73, 74, thus forming 
a loop or off-set portion in cable 71 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. It is 
apparent that this foreshortens cable 71, thereby moving the crank means 
65, 65a upwardly and rearwardly in a clockwise direction in FIGS. 2, 5 and 
6. 
In so doing, the consequent rearward movement of line 64 initially imparts 
pivotal movement to carrier means 62 in a clockwise direction about pivot 
63. Thus, the pusher means 56 of the article discharge means 55 is moved 
downwardly against the uppermost article in the stack A. When the pressure 
of pusher means 56 against the uppermost article subsequently becomes 
sufficient to overcome the static resistance of spring means 67, then 
plunger means 61, carrier means 62 and pusher means 56 are moved 
rearwardly by link 64 so that plunger means 56 then slidingly moves the 
respective article rearwardly of and out of engagement with presser 
members 30a, permitting the presser members to move downwardly to rest 
upon the next succeeding uppermost article in the stack A as shown in FIG. 
6. 
As the uppermost article in the stack A is moved rearwardly of presser 
member 30a, it is apparent that brake arms 30b are momentarily moved in a 
clockwise direction in FIG. 5 to the position of FIG. 6, thus momentarily 
releasing the brake means 30c, 30d and permitting rotation of shaft 23 and 
drums 22, to in turn, permit carriage means 20 to drop downwardly until 
the brake means 30c, 30d is again effective to arrest and restrain further 
downward movement of carriage means 20 by virtue of the presser members 
30a pressing against the next succeeding uppermost article in the stack A. 
It is apparent that the arrangement of the cable 71 is such as to permit 
crank means 65a to move downwardly with carriage means 20 without 
disturbing the operation of the loop forming pulley 100 in its formation 
of and subsequent releasing of the loop in cable 71. Following the 
formation of the loop in cable 71 in the manner heretofore described, and 
the consequent movement of pusher means 56 to its rearmost position 
substantially as shown in FIG. 6, it is apparent that pulley 100 moves 
rearwardly in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6 to return to its position of rest as shown 
in FIG. 7, thus permitting spring means 67 to return the associated 
linkage means and pusher means 56 to their normally inactive positions. In 
so doing, it can be appreciated that pusher means 56 exerts a downward and 
forward pressure on the uppermost article in the stack then being engaged 
thereby, thus aiding in the gravitational movement of such uppermost 
article forwardly over the then lowered presser members 30a. 
Of course, upon the forward portion of carrier means 62 moving into 
engagement with the transverse frame member 47 of carriage means 20, 
rearward movement of plunger means 61 ceases so that link 64 then moves 
carriage means 62 in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 63 to raise 
pusher means 56 and return the same to the inactive position shown in 
FIGS. 2 and 7. The thus unrestrained article is then gravitationally 
dispensed by sliding over the brake arms 30b and the downwardly and 
forwardly inclined upper edges of guide members 16 to drop onto a suitable 
chute 105 partially positioned within the lower portion of housing 10 and 
extending outwardly therefrom through an opening 106 in the front wall of 
housing 10 to be picked up by the customer. 
The manual control for the drive means may be of the type substantially as 
disclosed in my said U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,160 suitably modified to 
accommodate the arrangement of the drive means peculiar to the present 
apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, the manual control includes a normally 
locked hand-operated actuator 110 of the usual type which is released upon 
a suitable coin or coins C being properly positioned in the lower portion 
of a coin mechanism 111 which need not be described in detail, as it may 
be of the type described in my said U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,160. 
The locking and releasing mechanism of the coin mechanism 111 is of a 
well-known type requiring that the hand-operated actuator 110 must be 
pulled outwardly a predetermined distance and then must be returned to 
substantially its original position of rest in order to effect a complete 
dispensing operation. When the hand-operated actuator 110 is pulled 
forwardly, a cable or link 113 connected thereto is moved forwardly 
therewith for operating the manually operable control means 82 shown in 
the upper central portion of FIG. 4. 
To this end, the rear end of cable 113 is attached to a composite latch 
means 115 guided for forward and rearward movement on means M carried by 
the top wall of housing 10 (FIGS. 3-7) and penetrated by crank shaft 81 
for limiting the forward and rearward movement of latch means 115. Latch 
means 115 is biased toward a predetermined rearward position by a suitable 
spring means 116. Suitably secured on shaft 81 adjacent latch means 115 is 
a rotor 117 having a radially offset abutment or projection 117a thereon 
adapted to alternatively engage a pair of restraining abutments or latch 
members 115a, 115b on composite latch means 115. 
Latch members 115a, 115b straddle shaft 81 and are spaced radially 
outwardly from shaft 81 sufficiently so that the distance between latch 
members 115a, 115b is greater than the diameter of the circular path 
traced by abutment 117a during a revolution of shaft 81 and rotor 117. 
However, abutments 115a, 115b are so positioned that, whenever either of 
the abutments 115a, 115b is positioned radially outwardly of the path of 
the abutment 117a, the other of the abutments 115a, or 115b is positioned 
in the path of the abutment 117a. When the apparatus is at rest, abutment 
115a is in the path of and is being engaged by the abutment 117a on rotor 
117, thus restraining rotor 117 and shaft 81 from forward rotation in the 
counterclockwise direction in FIGS. 4-7 and in opposition to the torque 
being applied to shaft 81 by the weight means 86. 
When the composite latch means 115 is moved forwardly in opposition to 
spring 116 by an operator imparting forward movement to the actuator 110 
of FIG. 2, abutment 115a is moved out of engagement with abutment 117a, 
thus releasing rotor 117 and crank shaft 81 and permitting rotation 
thereof by weight means 86. The rotor 117 and crank shaft 81 then rotate a 
predetermined angular distance; e.g., about one-half a revolution, 
whereupon the abutment 117a moves into engagement with and is restrained 
from further movement by the abutment 115b (see FIG. 6). This prevents the 
uppermost article in the stack A from being released and dispensed from 
the stack until the operator releases the actuator 110 (FIG. 2) and the 
actuator returned to its normal position of rest, as in FIG. 7. 
As the actuator returns to the latter position, it is apparent that spring 
means 116 returns composite latch means 115 to its normal rest position, 
thereby moving abutment 115b out of the path of abutment 117a and moving 
abutment 115a into the path of abutment 117a, and permitting the rotor 117 
and crank shaft 81 to complete the corresponding revolution thereof to 
return the connecting rod 95 and its loop forming pulley 100 to the rest 
position shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 7. As heretofore described, as pulley 100 
and connecting rod 95 return to their positions of rest, pusher means 56 
also returns to its position of rest to release the corresponding 
uppermost article from the stack A to be gravitationally dispensed 
therefrom onto chute 105 (FIG. 2). 
Since the cable 85 of FIG. 4 is paid out from the drum 84, it follows that 
weight means 86 may be positioned quite close to the bottom of housing 10 
by the time that the last article in the stack A is discharged therefrom. 
Accordingly, in the resetting operation, not only is carriage means 20 
returned to the raised position in the manner heretofore described through 
the manual rotation of shaft 43, but the weight means 86 also is returned 
to a raised position by manual rotation of crank shaft 81 in the 
counterclockwise direction in FIG. 4. The drum 84 is rotated in such 
counterclockwise direction without rotating crank shaft 81, due to the 
presence of the one-way clutch means 92 between pinion 91 and shaft 81. 
It is thus seen that I have provided an improved apparatus for dispensing 
articles, such as newspapers, magazines and the like, wherein means 12 is 
provided for supporting a substantially vertical stack of the articles A 
with the articles inclined downwardly and forwardly, and wherein article 
hold-back means 15, 16 positioned alongside the supporting means 12 and 
extending upwardly therefrom is adapted to engage and extend across 
corresponding forward edges of the articles in the stack to restrain the 
same from forward sliding movement from the stack. Carriage means 20, 
being mounted for substantially vertical movement alongside the forward 
edges of the articles in the stack, is operatively connected to the 
article hold-back means 15, 16 to successively effect disengagement of the 
article hold-back means with the uppermost article in the stack, and the 
stack height sensing means 30, carried by the carriage means 20, includes 
at least one presser member 30a which is adapted to engage and rest upon 
successive uppermost articles in the stack and serves for in turn 
restraining carriage means 20 against downward movement. Additionally, it 
can be seen that I have provided article discharge means 55 carried by 
carriage means 20 for engaging the uppermost article in the stack A and 
for slidably moving such uppermost article rearwardly out of engagement 
with the presser member or members 30a so as to permit the presser member 
or members to drop downwardly onto the next article to be dispensed and 
thereby effect a corresponding lowering of the carriage means 20 to 
gravitationally dispense the uppermost article from the stack. 
In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred 
embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, 
they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes 
of limitation.