Patent GB-982137-A (GB)
Title: Vending machine
IPC: G07F11/32
Filed: 1962-07-04
Abstract: 982,137. Coin-freed apparatus. DIXIENARCO Inc. July 4, 1962 [Feb. 7, 1962], No. 25654/62. Heading G4V. A machine for vending articles, such as bottled or otherwise packaged soft drinks, comprises a plurality of adjacent delivery stations 10, Figs. 1 and 2, each provided with movable gate means 32 normally extending across the path of movement of an article 6 being withdrawn from its associated station and being moved by such withdrawal, an element 61, Fig. 6, connected to each gate means for movement therewith, a row of abutting locking members 64 extending across the path of movement of the elements and movable so that the movement of one of the elements upon withdrawal of an article separates adjacent locking members to prevent further separation of the locking members and withdrawal of any other article, a releasable locking element 80, Fig. 2, for locking all the gate means to prevent withdrawal of any article, and means 104 for releasing the locking element to permit movement of the gate means and withdrawal of an article from any one of the stations. The delivery stations consist of inclined shelves 4 terminating in right-angled brackets 10 aligned in an opening in the front of a cabinet 2 which is also provided with a coin slot 8 leading to a coin-freeing mechanism for the machine. The brackets are formed with end plates 12, 14, Fig. 5, at one end having tongues 16 and at the other holes for a pin 28 engageable with any one of a plurality of holes in frame members 20, 22 to adjust the brackets so as to accommodate different sizes of bottles. Each gate comprises an arm 34 pivoted on brackets 30 and having at its lower end a rod 50 which carries a roller for engagement with the neck of a bottle and extends through an arcuate slot 52, Fig. 6, in the frame member 20 for connection to one end of a link 54. The gates are also connected by arms 36, Fig. 5, to bars 38 which are lowered during movement of the associated gate upon withdrawal of a bottle and prevent a further bottle on the shelf rolling on to the bracket 10. Each link, at its other end, has a pin 56 carrying a roller 61 which is guided along a horizontal slot 58 during the movement of the gate upon withdrawal of a bottle. During its movement, the roller acts on an inclined surface 72 of an associated locking member 64 which moves downwardly, between guides 62, in turn moving all the locking members beneath it to positions wherein surfaces 74 on its members prevent movement of the rollers and gates associated therewith to prevent withdrawal of the bottles associated therewith. The roller also prevents movement of the locking members above it so that only one bottle can be withdrawn, the locking members preventing movement of the other rollers 61 and gates 32. The rollers are initially prevented from moving by shoulders 88, Fig. 2, of slots 86 in the releasable locking element 80 which is in the form of a channelled member guided by screws 82 engaging slots 84. The member is normally urged to an upper, locking position, in which the rollers engage the shoulders by a spring 102 acting on a toggle mechanism 90, 92. When the proper coinage has been accepted by a coin tester and changer mechanism, a switch is closed to energize a solenoid 104 which collapses the toggle mechanism to move the member 80 downwardly and align the rollers 61 with the slots 86 to permit the roller 61 and gate 32 of the selected bottle to move as the bottle is withdrawn. During the withdrawal of the selected bottle, the rod 50 of the associated gate moves along its arcuate slot 52 and along one arm 122 of a substantially V-shaped slot 116 in a channelshaped member 110. The member is thereby raised, the rods 50 of the other gates being engated by the other arms 136 of the slots 116 to further prevent movement of the gates associated therewith. After the bottle has been withdrawn, the gate returns to its initial position permitting the member 110 to drop to its initial position. As the member drops, an abutment thereon actuates a switch 130 to break a holding circuit for the relay 104 and permit the toggle mechanism 90, 92 to be extended by the spring thereby raising the member 80 to position the shoulders 88 in the path of the rollers 61 and prevent withdrawal of any further bottle. In an alternative embodiment, the member 80 is fixed in a position permitting movement of the rollers 61 and the member 110 is retained in a lower, locking, position by a latch mechanism which is released by operation of a solenoid when the proper coinage has been accepted by the machine.