Patent GB-849298-A (GB)
Title: Vending machine for bottles or the like
Inventor: JOHNSON ELMER CLARENCE
IPC: G07F11/30
Filed: 1958-06-10
Abstract: 849,298. Vending apparatus. VENDO CO. June 10, 1958, No. 18437/58. Class 27 A bottle or like vending machine of the kind in which one bottle only may be selected from a variety for removal after the insertion of a coin or token comprises securing means in the form of reciprocatable devices or retaining gates which are so arranged that if the bottle is not fully withdrawn after coin acceptance the purchaser' will be able to remove the same one or to select and withdraw another without inserting a further coin. Bottles 26, Figs. 2 and 3, roll on inclined shelves 16 to abutments 28 where they are aligned vertically opposite openings 30 in a front panel 32. Gates 18 normally prevent withdrawal but on releasing the locking mechanism the selected bottle may be removed, the gate swinging upward and outward. Each gate 18 has a dog 22 rigidly attached thereto which lowers a divider bar 24, as the gate swings upward, to retain the remaining articles on the shelves 16. The securing mechanism comprises a plurality of substantially H- shaped plates 34 and a master plate 36, all normally held against vertical movement by a lock 38 below the master plate 36. When the lock 38 is released and a gate 18 is swung outward by the tapered neck of the bottle as it is withdrawn, the associated dog 22 moves from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 8, separating plates 34 and 36 and thereby locking all other plates 34 to prevent removal of other "selectable" bottles. A coin-freed mechanism (not shown) releases a crank or handle operable by the purchaser which is coupled to a cylinder 40 Fig. 3 having a helical cam-groove which is engaged by a roller mounted on a pin 56, Fig. 1, carried by a member 48 rotatable about a pivot 52 which is in turn carried by a guide frame 50, which also carries the locking means 38. The locking plate 38, biased by a spring 60, has a shoulder 62 which engages with a shoulder 64 on the plate 36 when in the position shown in Fig. 1, i.e. before a coin has been inserted. An ear 66 engages a groove 68, Fig. 1, in the member 48 which, when it is turned anti-clockwise by movement of the coinfreed cylinder 40, disengages the locking plate 38 from the plate 36 which is freed to move downwards, the plate 38 moving into a position in which it is engaged by a spring-loaded latch 70 carried by the guide frame 50 to hold the plate in the released position, Fig. 2, until the lowermost edge of the master plate 36 contacts an ear 74 on the latch to release it as an inclined face 76 on the plate 36 engages a similar face 78 on the end of the locking plate 38 to move the latter further to the right against the action of the spring 60. A spring-loaded pivoted bar 80, Fig. 10, carried by the master plate 36 has attached to the end remote from the spring a pin 92 which passes through a slot in the plate and on which is mounted a member 86, Fig. 6, rotatable against the other face of the plate 36. The member 86 has a counter-weight 90 and a finger 88 engageable in an opening 100 in one edge of the guide frame 50. When the plate 36, with the bar 80 and member 86 is in the uppermost position the finger 88 lies above the opening 100, but during removal of a bottle, as the plate 36 is moved to a lower level by the tapered neck, the finger moves to a position below the opening 100. If the bottle 26 is rapidly withdrawn, allowing the plate 36 to return quickly upward, under the action of a spring 102, Fig. 2, the finger 88 will clear the opening 100, the rapid movement of the counter-weight 90 tending by its inertia to swing the member 86 clockwise against the action of a spring 96, but if the article is pushed back into the cabinet so that the plate 36 rises slowly the spring 96 will cause the finger 88 to slide against the edge of the guide frame 50 until it enters the opening 100, thus permitting re-insertion of the bottle and subsequent removal, although the lock plate 38 has been released from its "unlocked" position. If a bottle is removed without releasing the finger 88 from the opening 100, the subsequent insertion of a coin and the operation of the member 48 causes a finger 104. on the latter to engage a finger 106 on the member 86 and thus allows the plate 36 to return upwards under the action of the spring 102. An attempt to force the divider bar 24 upward whilst the associated gate 18 is free would trip the finger 88 through the action of the bar 80; upward movement of the bar 24 also causes a corresponding action of an extension 108 of the plate 36 through the action of the dogs 22; continued upward movement of the plate 36 causes a stop 98, Fig. 10, to disengage the finger 88 from the opening 100. Figs. 13-15 (not shown) disclose a modification in which the finger 88 is replaced by a pair of protruberances on the plate 36 and an ear on the locking plate 38 to achieve the same result.