Patent GB-906999-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to coin freed mechanism
Inventor: MAXWELL STEWART ALFRED
IPC: G07F11/24
Filed: 1958-02-13
Abstract: 906,999. Coin-freed vending apparatus. FISHER & LUDLOW Ltd. Feb. 13, 1959 [Feb. 13, 1958], No. 4683/58. Class 27. Coin-freed mechanism for effecting the delivery of an article comprises a spindle 34 which is rotatable to free an article for delivery from a magazine in response to rotation of an operating handle 21 arranged so that, upon insertion of the correct coinage, it is freed from its normally locked condition whereby the spindle 34 can be moved through its operating cycle, the connection between the spindle and handle consisting of a ratchet wheel 37 on the spindle coacting with a pawl 37 mounted for rotation with the handle to permit a part-revolution of the handle to effect delivery of an article, and a spring 23 being provided for returning the handle to its normal position after this operation. As shown applied to an article-vending machine wherein the articles are carried in a pair of magazines 32 mounted in a casing 10, a pair of diametrically-opposed actuating fingers 35, 36 are mounted on the spindle 34 under each magazine, each pair being angularly offset 90 degrees relatively to the other pair so that, when the spindle is rotated, articles are delivered alternately from the two magazines; by varying the number and angular position of the fingers, articles may be delivered after different angular movements of the handle. The handle 21 is connected to a coin-holding disc 20 which is drivingly coupled to the spindle 34, by the pawl- and-ratchet 37, 38, the disc being prevented from rotation until a coin is inserted by an abutment 28 engaging with a spring-loaded pawl 26. In operation, a coin is inserted in a slot 13 and passes through a selection mechanism 15 into a shoot 17 to fall into a pocket formed in the disc 20. Upon rotation of the handle 21, the edge of the coin engages with a sloping surface formed on the pawl 26 so as to lift the latter out of the path of the abutment 28, thereby permitting rotation of the disc and, through the pawl-andratchet 37, 38, the spindle 34; the handle and disc, which are returned to the normal inoperative position by the spring 23, are prevented from doing so until the delivery operation is complete, by teeth 24 on the disc engaging with a pawl 25 and the spindle is locked during this return movement of the handle by a spring- loaded lever engaging with a recessed disc (Fig. 6, not shown). When the operation of the machine requires two coins, a slot having the width of one coin only is provided in the pawl 26 so that, if only one coin is inserted, it passes into the slot and thereby prevents the pawl from being lifted until the second coin is inserted which then engages with the sloping surface of the pawl. As shown, the ratchet 37 is provided with four teeth to correspond with the four actuating fingers 35, 36 so that, after one complete revolution of the latter, two articles from each magazine will have been delivered. The fingers may be replaced by cams and, by arranging suitable mechanism, two articles may be delivered at every fourth operation of the handle. The Provisional Specification describes also the spindle 34 as being used to operate the pointer of a weighing machine.