Patent GB-582422-A (GB)
Title: Vending machine for bottled goods
IPC: G07F11/58
Filed: 1943-09-15
Abstract: 582,422. Coin-freed apparatus; dispensing liquids. HOVEY, C. E. Sept. 15, 1943, No. 15132. [Classes 27 and 116] A vending machine, which may be coin-freed, for dispensing the liquid from capped or stoppered bottles comprises a chamber in which the bottles are arranged horizontally, and means for (1) removing one of the bottles from the bottom of the chamber, (2) tilting the bottle upwardly and automatically de-capping it, (3) tilting the bottle downwardly to empty it into a glass or the like, and (4) returning the empty bottle to the horizontal position and depositing it at the top of the chamber. In the construction shown a cooling chamber 26 has shelves 34 for empty bottles 30 and filled, capped bottles 28 spaced between pushers 46, Fig. 2, on endless chains 42 coupled together in pairs by vertical chains 48, so that when the lowest chain 48 is driven, with a step-by-step movement, all the chains are similarly driven and the bottles are moved along the shelves intermittently. The bottles move in a zig-zag path as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. The drive is by means of a shaft 172, which may be driven either by a coin-controlled electric motor 168 or by hand gear (not shown), a clutch 192 being provided to connect the shaft 172 to either driving means as desired. When the shaft 172 is rotated, as by the motor 168, a pinion 174, Fig. 6, thereon starts to lift a rack 66 carrying a cradle 84 upon which a bottle is lying as shown in Fig. 8. The neck of the bottle is supported by a bracket 90 and the cap 92 rests on and closes a switch 94 in the motor circuit, so that if the bottle is uncapped the motor circuit is broken and the machine cannot operate. The first upward movement of the rack rotates a spring-loaded clamp 102 counter-clockwise to cause it to clamp the bottle to the cradle. As the cradle rises a pin 120 thereon engages a fixed cam track 78 and a pin 64 on the rack 66 engages a cam track 80, so that the bottle is tilted upwards and the bottle cap engages a de-capper 122 by which the cap is removed. Guides 124 centre the bottle and a roller 98 on the cradle bears against a block 140 to ensure rigidity during this operation. As the bottle rises still further it is gradually tilted downwards to an emptying position and empties itself into a container 134 placed in readiness on a shelf 136. The container is fed by any suitable known mechanism 128 from a stock on to the shelf, a guide 138 being provided if desired. As the bottle approaches the emptying position a boss on the rack 66 operates a switch 224, Fig. 3, in the motor circuit and the motor stops before the bottle tilts downwards unless there is a container on the shelf in readiness to receive the contents of the bottle, in which case a switch closed by the weight of the empty container completes the motor circuit. As the rack continues to rise, the boss passes the switch 224 and allows it to return to the normal position. By the time the bottle reaches its emptying position, the rack operates another switch 226 which opens the motor circuit so that the bottle stops in the pouring position. When the container 134 is full its weight closes a switch which energises a time-delay unit ; after a predetermined delay, sufficient to drain the bottle, say three seconds, the motor circuit is again completed, so that the rack is again moved upwardly until at the end of its stroke a finger 252, Fig. 3, at the bottom of the rack strikes the arm 248, Fig. 8, of a reversing switch 246 so that the motor circuit is broken and the rack and carrier stop. At this upper position the empty bottle has been returned to the horizontal position and has been released from the clamp 102, the latter being actuated.by a cam 144; at the same time the bottle, while rising, forces back spring-loaded dogs 146 which return behind the bottle and support it in a conduit 156 leading to the top shelf 34 on which the empty bottles are stored. The motor is restarted in the opposite direction, in order to return the cradle to its lowest position in readiness to receive another filled bottle, by means of a switch closed automatically when the container 134 is removed from shelf 136, the reversing switch 246 having already been operated by the finger 252. When the rack 66 reaches its lowest position an arm 250 thereon engages the switch arm 248 and returns the reversing switch to its forward position, thus breaking the motor circuit and stopping the motor and rack. During the last part of the downward movement of the rack the pin 64 thereon strikes a spring-mounted lug 68, Fig. 9, on a bar 58 to move this bar downwards so that an arm 54 thereon engages one of a number of pins 52 on one of the chains 48 ; all the bottles on the shelves are thus moved one step, and the one nearest the cradle 84 is fed on to the latter. The machine continues to operate on the insertion of coins until all the bottles are empty, when the presence of a de-capped bottle on the cradle fails to close the switch 94. The attendant then opens the housing and replaces the empty bottles with full ones. Coin action.-In one construction, Figs. 11 and 12, not shown, the weight of an inserted coin closes the switch 202 and starts the motor. In a modification, Figs. 20 and 21 (not shown) the coin serves to connect a pair of concentric discs, of which one is rotated by the retraction of a knob, while the other is operatively connected to the motor switch.