Patent GB-647271-A (GB)
Title: Vending machines especially for bottled beverages
IPC: G07F11/54
Filed: 1947-11-27
Abstract: 647,271. Coin-freed. article-delivery apparatus. VENDORLATOR MANUFACTURING CO. Nov. 27, 1947, No. 31446. Convention date, Sept. 22, 1939. [Class 27] Articles stored in piles. Articles, such as bottles, are delivered from the lower ends of columns in a carrier, upon step-wise movement of the carrier, by means of a stationary cam which engages the lowermost articles in turn and displaces them in a direction transverse to the carrier movement to release them from supports in the carrier. The carrier K, rotatable on a central shaft 23, has vertical channel guides 31, 32 for accommodating bottles E in an annular series of columns, the lowermost bottle of each column being supported by an inner inclined flange 36 and an outer ring 35 on the carrier. The neck ends of the bottles in each column abut the channel guide 31 except for the lowermost which is retained against inward movement by a stationary cylinder 39 apertured at 38 adjacent a delivery opening 40 in a transverse partition 15 of the casing 17. Opposite the aperture 38 is a fixed cam 43 adapted to engage the butt of a bottle as it moves into position over the delivery opening 40, thrusting the neck of the bottle into the aperture 38 and releasing it from the supporting ring 35 so that it falls through a spring-closed trapdoor 49 and into a shoot 53 from which it can be taken by the operator. The carrier is rotated through the distance of one column at a time by a motor M upon insertion of a coin, the lowermost bottle being delivered from the columns in turn for successive coins. A fixed guide 46 supports the remainder of the column over the delivery opening whilst the lowermost bottle is being delivered. Coin action, weight; general operation. The circuit of motor M is controlled by normally-open contacts 76 of a relay R whose winding includes normally-closed carrier-operated contacts S, a normallyclosed mercury switch S<SP>3</SP> on the trap-door 49 and a solenoid D (see below) whose resistance prevents relay R operating. A coin inserted by way of a shoot 62 rebounds from an anvil 65 and down a shoot 63 to the cash receptacle, momentarily closing a switch S<SP>1</SP> in its passage. Switch S<SP>1</SP> shunts solenoid D and its closure consequently closes relay R which then holds at contacts 75. The motor M is thus energised and rotates the carrier sufficiently to discharge a bottle from the next column and momentarily open contacts S. This releases relay R and causes the motor to stop. Returning coin. The armature of solenoid D carries a pin 66 for obstructing the coin chute 63 and diverting an inserted coin to a return coin shoot 64. Normally it is energised so that the machine can be operated, but if a previously delivered bottle still rests in the shoot 53, it holds the trap-door 49 open and the mercury switch S<SP>3</SP> breaks the solenoid circuit so that pin 66 is projected into the shoot and diverts any coin inserted to the return shoot. The solenoid circuit is also broken to return coins when the last bottle has been delivered, this being done by a switch S<SP>2</SP> normally maintained closed by engagement of the next bottle to be delivered with an actuating lever of the switch. When no bottle is present the lever is released, the switch opens and the solenoid deenergized. Filling storage receptacles. A pressbutton switch S<SP>4</SP> within the apparatus shunts the coin contacts S<SP>1</SP> so that the carrier can be rotated step-wise to present its empty compartments in turn before a door 18 for filling.