Patent GB-348587-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in coin-freed vending machines and the like
IPC: G07F11/16
Filed: 1929-11-06
Abstract: 348,587. Coinfreed article delivery apparatus. WESTON, B., 4, Upper Marlborough Road, St. Albans, Hertfordshire. Nov. 6, 1929, No. 33786. [Class 27.] Articles stored in piles; coin action, weight and with delivery proportionate to value of coin.-A single coin-operated mechanism controls the delivery of articles from a number of magazines arranged in two series of different values, the denomination of the coin determining which series is made available to the operator who can then select any magazine of that series bv means of one of a series of interlocked pushbuttons or similar devices for actuating the delivery mechanism. The inserted coin, after passing through sorting and testing devices, drops down one of two vertical shoots, according to its denomination, and rocks in one direction or the other a two-armed counterbalanced lever 19, Fig. 1. The lever 19, by a pin engaging a slot 23, raises or lowers a rod 26 having depending U-shaped links 27 which pass through T-shaped slots in plates 28, Fig. 3, attached to pushbuttons 29. Normally a button can be pressed in without affecting the loop 27, but when this is raised or lowered its end engages a projection 36 on a slide 34 or 35 to move the slide and cause the delivery of an article, the slides 34 actuating the delivery mechanisms of one series of magazines and the slides 35 the delivery mechanisms of the other. The inner ends of the plates 28 are perforated and are normally in alignment with a tube containing balls or rods with hemi spherical ends which make contact through the holes and are so spaced that only one button can be pushed in at a time. The packets of different sizes or values are contained in two series of magazines 37, 38 and rest on ledges 39, Fig. 4, at the bottom of two adjoining sides of each magazine. The other two sides are cut away so that one packet at a time may be displaced diagonally by an ejector 40 having claws 42' which surround the packet and prevent improper release by shaking or tilting the machine. The ejector is held in position by guides 41 and a swinging strap 43, to the lower end of which are pivoted a retaining flap 44 and a connecting piece 45 held down against the action of a spring by a counterweight 47, which is carried by extensions of the flap. When a slide 34 or 35 is pushed in, it first engages a lip 48 on the piece 45 of the corresponding ejector to prevent this from rising, and then, through the piece 45, operates the ejector to push a packet on to the flap 44, which, in conjunction with a stop 49, retains the packet until the button 29 and the slide are returned by a spring. This disengages the lip 48 and allows the piece 45 and flap 44 to tilt and deliver the packet down a slope to an outside tray. Coin-discharging mechanism.-The counterweight 47 of the flap 44 strikes a trip 50 on a bar 51 and releases a catch 25 holding the coin-lever 19. This lever can now move further to discharge the coin, and is then returned to its initial position by its balance weight. Testing coins; returning coin.-The coins roll down on a ledge 3 against a sorting plate provided with apertures 4 for rejecting under-diameter coins and sorting apertures 5, 6, 7. The coins passing through the apertures 5, 6 are guided by deflectors 8, 11 to counterbalanced shoots 9, 12 which reject overweight coins. They then pass to balanced shoots 10, 13 which reject light coins and pass proper coins to vertical shoots according to their denomination. Each of these shoots has an opening below which it is normally closed by a deflector plate the pivot of which is cranked at 16 and connected to a feeler 15. The feeler has a chisel edge which is engaged by the milling on the coin and is jerked to open the deflector plate and allow the coin to pass. Smooth coins are guided by the deflector through the opening in the shoot. Copper coins pass through the sorting aperture 7 to a shoot' 14 to actuate a lever which ejects small or light articles from a magazine similar to 37 or 38. Openings 20, 21 return coins if the lever 19 is not in its normal position. " Empty " notices, displaying.-When a magazine 38 or 37 is empty, a plate 58 or 59 can enter it and allow a tab 55 or 56 to drop in front of a plate 54 which is visible through a window at the top of a fitting 53. When both magazines are empty the tabs 55, 56 allow a third tab with the legend " Sold out " to drop. A fitting 53 is placed above each button 29 and carries a label denoting the kind of goods sold.