Vending machine

A vending machine having a casing enclosing a tiltable hopper cooperating with a feeding-out device. The hopper is suspended upon shelves located at the side walls of the casing, and comprises two series of pockets arranged back to back, the hopper being tiltable in two directions. The hopper does not have any permanent attachment to the tilting mechanism or to the feeding-out device, and can thus easily be fitted into the casing and be removed therefrom, respectively.

The present invention refers to a vending machine, and more specifically to 
a machine having a tiltable hopper, which is suspended in an enclosing 
casing. 
The aim of the invention is to provide a compact unit, with an easily 
mounted and dismounted hopper, where the surrounding equipment satisfies 
high demands upon operational reliability. 
Hoppers which are tiltable or rotatable are known in various vending 
machines. Tiltable hoppers have suffered from the drawback that the space 
within the casing is unsatisfactorily used, and the capacity of the hopper 
will furthermore be limited. 
The aim of the present invention is to set aside these drawbacks, and 
propose an advantageous alternative. 
The invention thus refers to a vending machine comprising a hopper enclosed 
in a casing and cooperating with a feeding out device and is characterized 
in that the hopper includes a carrier and goods receiving pockets attached 
thereto, the carrier being supported in the casing so it can tilt about 
supports located at its vertical side faces, the hopper, in a rest 
position, lacking contact with the mechanism causing the tilting as well 
as with the feeding out device. 
The hopper is preferably tiltable in two opposite directions and comprises 
then two series of pockets arranged back to back. 
The supports for the hopper, at each vertical side face of the carrier, 
preferably provide at least two horizontally, spaced-apart points of 
suspension. These points of suspension can advantageously be provided by 
an elongate support member located transversely to the carrier at each of 
its vertical faces. Each elongate member is preferably provided with a 
downwardly directed peg adapted to fit into a mating hole in a horizontal 
shelf at the adjacent side wall of the casing. 
The feeding-out mechanism preferably includes a number of actuators 
corresponding to the number of pockets in the hopper, and is located below 
the carrier, a selected actuator being adapted to be raised into contact 
with lowermost piece of goods in the associated pocket simultaneously with 
the hopper being tilted. Each actuator in the feeding-out device 
advantageously comprises a solenoid having a vertically displaceable core 
provided with a stop adapted to be adjusted in the longitudinal direction 
of the core, corresponding to the thickness of the pieces of goods stored. 
The tilting mechanism preferably includes an electric motor having a crank 
arm mounted upon its shaft, and is mounted so as to contact the carrier at 
a distance from the adjacent support member. In a machine having a hopper 
tiltable in two directions the electric motor may be of the reversible 
type. 
Each hopper pocket is preferably provided with side walls being resilient 
transversely to the vertical extension of the pocket, and being continued 
by portions of a front wall, said portions between themselves defining a 
slot running along the front wall. The slot at its lower end is preferably 
provided with goods retaining members.

Reference 50 in FIG. 1 denotes the casing of a vending machine, in which a 
hopper 11 is suspended from shelves 12. The hopper is composed of a number 
of vertical pockets 13, 14 arranged back to back (FIG. 2), and includes a 
carrier 15 in the form of a frame of light metal tubing, which simplifies 
the handling of the hopper as will be evident from the following 
description. The hopper pockets are preferably manufactured from some 
light and resilient material, such as plastics, so at least the side walls 
16, 17 separating the pockets will be flexible transversely to the 
vertical direction of the pocket. A slot 18 in the front wall of each 
pocket may thus be expanded, which means that goods may be fed into the 
pockets directly from the front of the hopper. 
A number of feeding-out devices 20 (only a few of them are shown in FIG. 1) 
corresponding to the number of pockets are mounted upon a bar 19 extending 
through the casing 10. Each feeding-out device comprises a displaceable 
core 21 of a solenoid 21a, which is activated, for instance by a 
microcomputer, depending upon the selection of goods. The selection is 
made by means of push buttons 22 provided at the front face of the casing 
(FIG. 9). 
About midway of each vertical member 23 of the carrier frame 15 an elongate 
member 24 is fitted, transversely to the frame, for suspending the hopper 
11 upon the shelves 12 at the side walls of the casing 10. These elongate 
members will provide a horizontally extended support for the hopper, which 
means that a possible oblique loading of the hopper will not detrimentally 
affect the function. This suspension will provide two horizontally 
spaced-apart points of contact during the tilting of the hopper, and 
ensures that the hopper is always automatically brought back to its 
vertical position after a tilting movement. 
The vertical frame member 23 at one end of the hopper 11 serves as a 
contact face for the mechanism causing the tilting of the hopper in 
relation to the support formed by the shelves 12. The mechanism includes a 
reversible electric motor 26, having a crank arm 27 mounted upon its 
shaft. From a rest position shown in FIG. 3, the crank arm may be rotated 
in the direction of either of the arrows 28, 29, and will, upon contacting 
the appropriate side face of the frame member 23, cause a tilting of the 
hopper in the desired direction. The shaft of the electric motor will 
rotate one turn only on each occasion, and the activation of the motor 
advantageously occurs from the microcomputer operating the solenoids. 
A core 21 in a selected solenoid 21a, will be raised in step with the crank 
arm, preferably so it slips in below the lowermost piece of goods in the 
selected pocket and, during the tilting of the hopper, "pushes" that piece 
of goods past a stop 30 at the lower end of the slot in the front wall. 
The piece of goods will then pass on to a lided opening 31 in the front 
wall of the casing, by way of a chute (not shown). 
FIG. 2 shows the hopper 11 removed from the casing, and FIG. 3 shows a 
detail at the lower corner of the carrier frame 15, actuated by the crank 
mechanism. The hopper is completely free of the tilting and feeding-out 
mechanisms, so it can easily be lifted out of the casing for re-stocking. 
There are preferably two hoppers available, so one restocked unit can 
rapidly substitute the partly emptied unit, removed from the casing. 
The goods pockets all have the same size in the embodiment shown, for 
instance adapted to receive packets of cigarettes, but it is evident that 
the size of the pockets may vary, also within the same hopper, to 
accomodate bars of chocolate, or packets of candy or the like. The kind of 
goods in the various packets is indicated on labels 32, adjacent to the 
push buttons 22 at the front face of the casing. 
Each tilting member 24 is provided with a centrally located, downwardly 
directed peg 33, which fits into a mating hole 34 in the shelf 12 (FIG. 
5). Hereby the hopper will be secured in relation to the casing, and the 
pegs will slide up and down in their holes 34 so the tilting movement will 
not be obstructed. 
FIG. 4 shows the lower portions of a hopper, and illustrates how a core 21 
has been lifted in relation to the solenoid armature 21a in order to push 
upon a selected piece of goods. 
FIG. 5 shows a portion of the casing, when the hopper has been removed, and 
illustrates the relative position of the shelf 12, the crank arm 27 and 
the bar 19 carrying the solenoids 21a. 
FIG. 6 shows the bar 19 with solenoids, and FIGS. 7 and 8 show the solenoid 
body 21a and the core 21, respectively. The latter includes a tubular body 
35 enclosing the magnetic core proper 21, and is provided with an axially 
displaceable collar 36, which acts as a stop and prevents the body 35 
entering a pocket more than what corresponds to the thickness of a piece 
of goods. The adjustability may be obtained in some simple manner, and the 
collar may be retained by a locking washer of arbitrary known design. 
Variations and modifications are possible within the scope of the appended 
claims. The feeding-out device and the actuation thereof may be selected 
to suit various demands. A single displaceable feeding-out member may thus 
be used on certain occasions.