Patent GB-928044-A (GB)
Title: Console merchandising machine
Inventor: KRAKAUER MERRILL
IPC: G07F11/12
Filed: 1959-07-25
Abstract: 928,044. Coin-freed vending apparatus. ROWE MANUFACTURING CO. Inc. July 25, 1959, No. 26603/69. Class 27. A cigarette-vending machine comprises a series of front and rear storage columns 46, 66 and a series of pairs of ejector numbers 80, 134 connected in tandem by a link 136, each ejector member carrying a pivoted pusher 96 which normally lies in a retracted position but is raised into operative position for delivery of cigarettes from a desired column by a solenoid 104 on operation of a selected push-button and is held in raised position by a latch 114. A reserve store of cigarettes is contained in a column 48 in front of each column 46 and is moved into the latter column when the level of cigarettes falls below the level of the base 54 of the column 48. Packets of matches are stacked in columns 204 in front of the columns 46 and are delivered with each packet of cigarettes but the match delivery means for a particular column is disabled if a corresponding cigarette column becomes empty. The ejector members 80 for each of the front columns are carried by arms 76 on a shaft 74 and are moved through a forward and return stroke by a cam track 200 on a motor-driven shaft 196; the link 136 moves a carrier 128 for the corresponding rear ejector 134 along an arcuate track 126 through the same stroke. Each pusher 96 is pivoted at 94 and when raised by the solenoid 104 is held in this position by either a spring latch 114 or, in a modification, by a spring-loaded latch hook having a pin-andslot connection with the pusher; the head, of the pusher is formed with lugs extending beyond the slot in the bottom of the column to prevent it dropping out of the column before dispensing is completed. When the pusher has completed the dispensing operation, it engages an abutment at the forward end of the column and is disengaged from the latch so that a spring 100 returns it to the retracted position. For dispensing matches, the shaft 74 carries an arm 210 having a pin 212 which passes through a long slot 386 in a sliding bar 214 to engage in a shorter slot 384 in a link 382 but, when cigarettes in a column are exhausted, a solenoid 372, Fig. 11, is energized to pivot the link 382 out of the path of the pin 212 so that the pin operates idly in the long slot 386. The sliding bar 214 operates a pin wheel 222 on a shaft 220 connected to the match-dispensing mechanism. The front walls 52, Fig. 9, of the reserve column 48 are hinged and spring-loaded but are held by latches 232 pivoted on a shaft 230 and each having a pivoted feeler 240 biased by a weight 242 to enter the column 46 when the cigarettes fall below its level. A crank 250 operated by the match-dispensing wheel 222 then engages the weight 242 and forces the latch 232 down to release the wall 52 and move the reserve cigarettes into the column 46. Operation.-Deposit of coins is added up in a totalizer and an arm 322, Fig. 11, is stepped to contact a corresponding price line 316, 318 or 320. A push-button corresponding to the desired brand of cigarettes is then depressed and a contactor 342 bridges contacts 348, 350 to energize the winding 180 of the solenoid 104 for the corresponding ejector 80 and to raise a pusher 96. Only one solenoid can be energized at a time since, if more than one bush-button is depressed, only the one contactor to the left will energize its solenoid. A solenoid 330 is also energized and moves a switch arm 334 to complete a circuit for the motor 194 through contact 352 and to disable a coin return switch arm 336. As the motor drives the ejector arm 78, the arm moves a contactor 340 to engage a contact 360 and connect the motor directly to the supply line 310. On the forward stroke of the arm 78, the pusher 96 dispenses the cigarettes and the wheel 222 dispenses matches and causes the coins to be accepted, the credit cancelled and the solenoid 330 and switch arm 334 to be re-set. Before the return stroke, the pusher is disengaged from its latch and returned to the inoperative position. Each time cigarettes are dispensed, a flap 258, Fig. 9, is operated to open either a switch 262 for the front columns or a switch 364 for the rear columns at the same time as a cam 374 rotated by the motor closes switches 366 and 368. If one of the switches 262 or 364 fails to open because the cigarettes in a column are exhausted, the circuit for a solenoid 372 and a lamp 370 will be closed and the -solenoid will disable the match-dispensing mechanism and coins will not be accepted nor will the totalizer credit be wiped out.