Patent GB-666459-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in article dispensing systems
IPC: G07F5/20
Filed: 1949-11-02
Abstract: 666,459. Article dispensing systems. COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING PTY., Ltd. Nov. 2, 1949 [Nov. 4, 1948; April 13, 1949], Nos. 28080/49, and 28081/49. Class 116. In a system for dispensing articles of varied character according to coded designations thereof in which the articles are contained in storage bins having electrically operated release mechanisms, the operator can proceed to key the code n.umber of an article before the release mechanism has operated to release the previously keyed article, and in the event of a failure in the system, or of the operator keying incorrectly an automatic order checking device indicates which item in the order should be checked. With relays A, CA, TP, X, Z, RT, and T in their normally operated state the code number of the article is keyed on keys KO-K9 in panel OP and when the first key is pressed it operates an associated relay F in a selecting unit SU, which is as described in Specification 659,601, so closing contacts f1-f4 and thus lighting the busy lamp BL over contacts f4, energizing relay OS over contacts f3, and energizing relay KD over contacts f2, relays OS and KD then lock up. Since contacts kd2 are now closed the lamp BL is not extinguished when the circuit is broken on keying the next digit. On keying the last digit one pair of relays ST and SP are energized over contacts f1 and over further circuits not shown which are established by the selection of the preliminary digits, relay ST locks up, over contacts sp1 a circuit is prepared for relay CR and over contacts sp2 relay TD is energized. Operated contacts td1 remove earth from the keys KO-K9 and over contacts td4 relay KD is unlocked. Over contacts kd3 slow release relay X is deenergized and relay Z is operated over contacts x so open circuiting a buzzer BZ. Over contacts td3 relay CR is operated together with relay CP, the relays then lock up over contacts cr1, a circuit is prepared to mark the price of the article in pricing unit PU over contacts cr2 and finally a circuit is prepared for release magnet CM of the selected article containing bin over contacts cr3. Relay CP opens contacts cp4 which de-energize relay QP and closes contacts cp1-cp3. Over contacts cp2 relay IR is energized and locks over contacts ir2; contacts ir3 interrupt the circuit of slow release relay A, over contacts ir1 relay PA is energized and over contacts ir4 a circuit is prepared for relay RS which does not operate since contacts ca3 are open. Relay PA operates and contacts pa1 de-energize the first winding of relay IR and establish a new circuit for relay PA. Over contacts pa2 a circuit is prepared for relays ER and NA, contact pa3 removes earth from relays CR, CP and energizes relay N over contacts TC, thus the operation of relay N indicates that contacts TC are working properly. Relay N closes contacts n1 and. opens contacts n2, n3. Over contacts n1 relay RS is operated and over contacts n2 relay IR is de-energized, and at ir2 puts earth on contact pa2 so opening relays ER, NA when relay N closes contacts n3. At contact ir3 earth is again applied to relay A before this relay could operate. Relay RS now locks up, the lamp BL remains alight over contacts rs5, relay SR is energized over contacts rs3 and at contacts sr1 open circuits relay RT and at contacts sr2 open circuits relay ST, SP which release relays TD and N restore the unit SU to normal with the exception of relay CR. Slow release relay RT does not release relay RS over contacts rt until all the relays of unit SU are properly released. When relays ER, NA operate, contact er completes the circuit of the magnet GSM, which releases an article. The release of relays RS and TD re-connects the keys to earth and extinguishes the lamp BL. The energizing of relay NA operates contacts na1-na8, contacts na5 open circuiting relay A and contacts na8 operate the relay CPP to mark the price of the selected article. The released article trips contacts TC and thus de-energizes relays CR, CP, the opened contacts cp2 open circuiting relay PA which, after a time delay, opens contacts pa2 and de-energizes relay NA, the time delay ensuring that NA does not release before CR. When all the articles of an order have been selected key OK is closed, this energizes relay OC which locks up over contacts OC1, lights lamp BL over contact OC2, removes earth from keys KO -K9, and, over contact OC4 and key IKT, relay CO in the totalling unit TU is operated ; this relay transfers the total cost of the order into a register as described in Specification 659,601 which resets units TU and PU and de-energizes relays OS and OC. If no article has been delivered by the magnet CM the contacts TC will not have been operated, thus relays CR, CP, PA and NA remain energized but after a time delay relay A, open circuited at na5, releases and, over contacts a1, a2, de-energizes relays TP, CA. Relay CA operates contacts ca1-ca5 and over contacts ca2 operates relay CS, which opens its contacts cs and so unlocks CR and CP so restoring relays PA and NA as before. Over contacts ca4 relay CE is operated and locks up over contacts ce1, contacts ce2 illuminating the lamp CHL to indicate that the article is not available. Over contact ca5 a relay RR is energized and resets the price unit PU. Relay CE and lamp CHL remain operated until OK is operated. If the contacts TC or any other contacts in the locking circuit for relays CR and CP is faulty these relays would release when contact pa3 changes over as above, contacts cp2 re-energize the relays CR, CP and the relays start to oscillate, but since relay IR remains locked relays N, ER and NA cannot operate and thus the magnet CM and pricing unit PU do not operate. Contacts ir3 are opened and after a time delay relay CA releases. Over contacts ir4 relay RS is energized, over contacts ca4 relay CE is energized and over contacts ce2 lamp CHL lights and indicates the article has not been released. In the event of a stock number being keyed which has no corresponding CR relay, relay TD is operated but relay CP is not energized and thus relay IR is not energized. Over contacts td6 relay T is de-energized and after a time delay releases and closes circuits at t1, t2 for relays RS, CE which then operate as above and light the lamp CHL to show that the order must be checked. To cancel the keyed number during keying a key CK operates relays RS and CE, but if the complete number has already been keyed a cancellation is only possible if the NA relay has not already released, in which case relays RS and CE are energized via contact na4 and td5. If a wrong number is keyed relay TD will not operate and thus relay KD remains locked and de-energizes relays X and Z which, after a predetermined time delay, operate buzzer BZ over contact z so indicating the necessity for restoring the circuits with key CK. If the relay storage groups in the unit PU are saturated, contact fp is closed and energizes relay PF which by opening contacts pf2 interrupts the circuit of relays CR, CP. Contact pf closes a circuit for relay T to keep it energized during the waiting period after which contacts fp release relay PF and normal operation is resumed. In order that the price indicating mechanism may be checked a key PK is provided which, when pressed, energizes relay PC which locks and de-energizes relay ER so preventing operation of the discharge mechanism. Due to the operation of contacts pc4 contact oc4 is now connected through the key IKT with relay TF which re-sets the adding arrangements in unit PU on pressing key OK. When a number is now keyed relay NA is energized as before and at na5 breaks the circuit of relay A, which, after a time delay, releases and operates relay CS so that all circuits are returned to normal. Since the relay OS, energized on keying the first digit, opens contacts OS2, the operator is unable to suppress marking of the price of an article by pressing key PK after keying the code number of the article. Provision is made for discharging a number of articles, as shewn four, for one key operation after the appropriate button such as QK has been operated. Operation of key QK energizes relay QR which locks up and energizes relay PQ over contacts qr1 and over contacts qr2, pa4 energizes relay 4Q which closes contacts 4q1, 4q2. Over contacts pq relay QP is now energized and made independent of the operation of contacts cp4 over contacts qp1 ; over contacts qp2, the energizing circuit of relays CR, CP is connected with lead 5, through contacts 2qa2, 3qa2, 4qa2, 4q2 and over contacts qp3 makes the operation of relay RS dependent on contacts ca3 and not n1, thus unit SU is not released when the first article is discharged. After operating key QK the code number of the article is keyed as above and relays CR, CP are energized via the contacts in unit QU, the consequent energizing of relay IR closes contacts ir6, so maintaining earth on contact qr2 when relay PA is energized. Over contact pa3 relays N, CR, CP are de-energized on operation of contacts TC. As relay N unlocks relay IR over contacts n2 contacts ir6 open and allow relay 4QA to operate in series with relay 4Q via switch IKQ. Contact 4qa1 changes the lead via contact qr2 over to contact 3qa1 and relay 3Q, contacts 4qa2 break the circuit of relay N and an article is released as before and as soon as relay PA falls back relay 3Q operates over contacts pa4, and a similar sequence takes place to discharge another article and finally operates contact 3qa1 to switch the circuit over to contact 2qa1 and interrupts the circuit for relay N at 3qa2 whereupon relays 2Q, 2QA are energized and a further article is discharged. At contact 2qa3 a circuit is prepared for relay QS which operates as soon as relay NA is energized and closes contacts na7. Contacts qs2 then operate and isolate the relays QA and Q, and over contacts qs1, relays PQ, QR are de-energized. Over contacts pq relay QP is also de-