Abstract:
A goods delivery assembly for a vending machine includes a rotatable shaft, a shell movably mounted on the shaft, and a transmitting member mounted in the shell. A hard coil is mounted on the shell. The transmitting member is engaged with the rotatable shaft. The shaft rotates in a first direction to rotate the shell for the delivery of goods and, to allow for wear and the accumulation of errors in the starting position, configured to rotate in a second direction with respect to the shell to cancel the effects of wear and any accumulated positioning errors.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present disclosure relates to goods delivery mechanisms, and particularly to a goods delivery mechanism in an automatic vending machine. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    In an automatic vending machine, a delivery assembly is used for pushing goods out of a goods channel. The delivery assembly includes a large helical rigid coil and a motor. The goods are placed on the rigid coil. The motor rotates the rigid coil, to move the goods out of the goods channel. After long usage, mis-alignments of the rigid coil may become too large for the rigid coil to move goods with precision. 
         [0005]    Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is an exploded, isometric view of an embodiment of a goods delivery assembly. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged view of encircled portion II of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is an isometric view of a shell and a cover of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is similar to  FIG. 3 , but viewed from another aspect. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a partly assembled view of the goods delivery assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is an assembled view of the goods delivery assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean “at least one.” 
         [0014]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , an embodiment of a goods delivery assembly for a vending machine includes a plate  10 , a casing  20 , a motor  30 , a shaft  40 , a shell  50 , a cover  60 , two transmitting members  70 , and a hard coil  80  for receiving goods thereon. 
         [0015]    The plate  10  defines a through hole  11 . 
         [0016]    The motor  30  is mounted in the casing  20 . The shaft  40  is mounted on the motor  30 . The shaft  40  is rotated by the motor  30 . 
         [0017]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a plurality of saw-tooth or freewheel teeth  41  is located on a periphery of the shaft  40 . A receiving recess  45  is defined between two adjacent teeth  41 . Each tooth  41  includes a pushing surface  411  and a guiding surface  413 . The pushing surface  411  extends in a radial direction of the shaft  40 . The guiding surface  413  is an arc surface. One end of the guiding surface  413  is connected to a free end of the pushing surface  411 , and another end of the guiding surface  413  is aslant connected to the shaft  40 . A pair of outwardly-stepped protruding clasps  43  protrudes from a front end of the shaft  40 . The pair of clasps  43  can be elastically deformed. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a receiving room  51  is defined on a side of the shell  50  which faces the shaft  40 . The receiving room  51  is surrounded by a bottom wall  511  and a side wall  512 . A center portion of the bottom wall  511  defines an engaging hole  513 . A pair of cutouts  514  is symmetrically defined on the bottom wall  511 . A pair of inserting pins  53  protrudes from the bottom wall  511  away from the shaft  40 . Each of the pair of inserting pins  53  is located adjacent to one of the pair of cutouts  514 . A pair of securing posts  54  is formed in the shell  50 . Each of the pair of the securing posts  54  defines a securing hole  541 . A pair of radial mounting holes  56  is symmetrically defined on a periphery of the shell  50 . 
         [0019]    The cover  60  defines a pair of through holes  61  corresponding to the pair of securing posts  54  of the shell  50 . A side of the cover  60  which faces the shell  50  includes two pairs of restricting pieces  63 . A groove  65  is defined between the two pairs of restricting pieces  63 . 
         [0020]    The transmitting member  70  includes a transmitting block  71  and an abutting piece  72 . The abutting piece  72  includes an arc engaging surface  711 . The abutting piece  72  can be elastically deformed. The transmitting member  70  defines a fixing hole  73  corresponding to the inserting pin  53  of the shell  50 . 
         [0021]    The hard coil  80  includes an inserting portion  81 . 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 6 , in assembly, the inserting pin  53  of the shell  50  is inserted in the fixing hole  73 . The transmitting block  71  extends through the cutout  514  to be located in the receiving room  51 . The abutting piece  72  abuts an inner side of the shell  50  to secure the transmitting member  70  in the shell  50 . 
         [0023]    The casing  20  is secured on the plate  10  with the shaft  40  inserted in the through hole  11 . The pair of clasps  43  is elastically deformed to be inserted to the engaging hole  513 . Then, the pair of clasps  43  rebound to have the clasps  43  latch on edges of the engaging hole  513 . Simultaneously, the teeth  41  of the shaft  40  are received in the receiving room  51  of the shell  50 . The transmitting block  71  of the transmitting member  70  is received in a receiving recess  45  of the shaft  40 . The pushing surface  411  of a tooth  41  abuts the transmitting block  71 . The engaging surface  711  of the transmitting block  71  is placed on the guiding surface  412  of another tooth  41 . When the motor  30  drives the shaft  40  to rotate in a first direction (in one embodiment, the first direction is clockwise), the pushing surface of the tooth  41  pushes the transmitting block  71  to rotate the shell  50  together with the shaft  40 . When the motor  30  drives the shaft  40  to rotate in a second direction (in one embodiment, the second direction is anti-clockwise), the pushing surface  411  of the tooth  41  does not push the transmitting block  71 , the guiding surface  413  of the tooth  41  instead slides over the engaging surface  711 , and the shell  50  is not rotated together with the shaft  40 . 
         [0024]    The inserting portion  81  of the hard coil  80  is inserted in the mounting holes  56  of the shell  50  to mount the hard coil  80  on the shell  50 . The through holes  61  of the cover  60  are aligned to the securing holes  541  of the shell  50 . Two fasteners  90  are inserted in the through holes  61  and the securing holes  541  to mount the cover  60  on the shell  50 . At this position, the inserting portion  81  of the hard coil  70  is located in the groove  65  of the cover  60 . Thereby, the goods delivery assembly is assembled. 
         [0025]    When the motor  30  rotates in the first direction, the hard coil  80  is rotated by the shaft  40  to deliver goods. After the goods delivery assembly has been used for a long time and a cumulative error angle of the rigid coil develops and becomes large, the motor  30  rotates in the second direction to reposition the shell  50  and the hard coil  80  with respect to the shaft  40 . 
         [0026]    It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in the matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.