Coin Actuated Vending Machine:
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Apr., 1892-Accepted, 16th July, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION,
Coin Actuated Vending Machine:
I, ROBERT MORAN, of Railroad Avenue, Charles and Norman Streets, Seattle,
King County, State of Washington United States of America, Merchant, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the.
following statement :-
My invention relates to the class of coin actuated machines för vending various
articles of merchandise and particularly for disposing of newspapers, pamphlets,
cards and other similar articles.
My invention consists essentially of revoluble feed screws dependent for their
operation upon the deposit of a coin, and adapted to receive between their threads
the several articles to be vended, and to feed them forward and drop them singly
from their ends.
It also consists in the means for operating the screws, the mechanism dependent
on the drop of the coin for intermittently actuating said means, the follower plate
engaging the screws and supporting the articles to be vended, the novel manner of
mounting the screws, the peculiar discharge slot, the means for automatically
closing the coin slot when the machine is exhausted, and other details of con-
struction and arrangement.
Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my
arrangement :-
:-
A is a suitable case having in its front lower portion a discharge slot a.
In the lower portion of the case, are mounted horizontally the feed screws B B,
one on each side.
In the upper central portion of the case is mounted a screw B' corresponding in
size and pitch to those below.
In the back of the case are three shafts or hubs C, the forward ends of which
are connected with the rear ends of the three screws respectively.
Upon these shafts or hubs are the sprocket wheels D around which passes
an endless chain E, whereby the screws are connected and are revolved in
unison.
g
Upon one of the shafts is a winding drum F, and upon this is wound a
cord G, which passes upwardly over suitable pulleys 9 and suspends a weight W.
His a pivoted trip lever having a catch shoulder and controlled by a light
spring. The outer end of this lever lies under the lower end of the coin chute I
whereby the coin dropping upon it will tilt it momentarily.
Upon shaft C is secured a stop J, and in the path of rotation of this stop, the
catch shoulder h of the trip lever H lies.
K is a follower plate. This has its bottom and top fitted into the threads of the
screws B B', and lies at a slight backward angle.
LL are fixed rests located beside the feed screws B.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-
The papers P are placed with their lower edges supported on rests L L and
fitted in the threads of the lower screws B. The body of papers rests against
the follower plate K. The parts are all in a state of rest by reason of the engage-
ment of the stop J with the catch shoulder of trip lever H. Now when a coin
is dropped through chute I it falls on the end of lever H and tilts it. This relieves
the engagement of its shoulder with stop J, and the weight W will then turn all
the shafts C, and the screws B B₁ will be revolved. The papers will thus be fed
forward, the plate K following them up, and the foremost paper will be dropped off
the end of screws B into discharge slot a. Only one paper is thus dropped. for by
FD77

page_text: this time the stop J will have come to fresh engagement with the catch shoulder /
of trip lever H which has returned to position under the influence of its spring
The parts are then again in a state of rest and ready for a repetition of the
operation. The winding drum F is of advantage in this connection because as the
cord winds on it, its diameter is increased, and, therefore, the weight acts more
powerfully at first, and gradually decreases in power. This is proper for then the
last paper is discharged with no more force than the first.
The weight when run down may be wound up again by a crank M applied to the
end of the top screw. In thus reversing the screws the follower plate K will be
run back to initial position ready for the reloading of the machine.
Instead of a weight as the actuating power, I
may use a spring controlled
drum or barrel for a power device and in small or single machines this is to be
preferred.
The slot entrance to the coin chute is adapted to be automatically closed
when the machine is exhausted as follows:-
Behind this slot, and located in the chute is an
having a side projecting, controlling catch arm n.
by a spring in such a position that its slot will
slot i, and the latter will, therefore, be closed.
oscillatory slotted plug N,
The plug is normally held
be out of line with entrance
O is a pivoted lever controlled by a spring o. Its upper end is adapted to
engage the catch arm of plug N, and to hold said plug in a position with its slot
in line with the entrance slot i, and the latter is then open. The lower end of the
lever is in the path of a side arm k of the follower plate K.
Now when the follower plate reaches its forward limit, and the last paper has
been discharged, its arm comes in contact with lever O, and swings said lever, so
that it its upper end releases itself from the catch arm n of plug N, whereupon
said plug is turned by its spring to a closed position, and no more coins can be
deposited in the machine.
°
The discharge slot a of the case is guarded as follows:-Behind this slot is a
shallow receptacle a with a depression a in its front wall for permitting the
buyer to insert his fingers and reach the bottom edge of the paper after it
has been dropped into the receptacle.
To the top of the back wall of the receptacle is pivoted a guard plate or shutter a
which is held up to a closed position by a weighted armat, but can move downwardly
under the weight of a paper. The shutter closes against a flange having a
downwardly projecting lip as which protects its edge and prevents the insertion of
an instrument with a view to pulling the shutter down.
In order to readily insert and remove the follower plate K from the threads of
the screws B and B', I cut a recess or notch ' in its top edge. In this is fitted a
swinging plate having a pivoted handle 43 adapted to be engaged between two
small studs. Upon inserting the follower, the plate is lowered, and when the
follower has reached its proper position with relation to the threads of the upper
screw B, the plate is raised to engagement with said threads and held therein
by its handle fitting between studs k¹.
In order to prevent any of the papers from getting down into the same thread of
screws B in which the follower plate K is fitted, I have a spring plate fitted to
the back of the lower portion of the follower plate, and passing forwardly through
an opening therem.
The lower edge of the spring plate fits in and fills up the thread in which the
follower plate rests.
In order to provide for the ready removal of the screws and the substitution of
others of different pitch for different sizes of articles to be vended, I have the
following construction:-The shafts C of the several sprocket pulleys D in practice
constitue their hubs. These hubs on their outer ends are supported upon pointed
bearing ins er bolts y mounted in brackets Q. The inner ends of these hubs are
made conical and hollow, and fit freely in sockets in the inner sides of the brackets.
The pointed pins pass through into the hollow inner ends of the hubs. The inner

page_text: ends of the screws are provided with key pins & which engage key slots in the
inner ends of hubs C, and said inner ends of the screws enter the hollow inner ends
of the hubs, and are supported upon the pointed ends of pins 9. The effect of
this construction is to connect the screws with the sprocket pulley hubs and both
are journaled and supported upon the pins q and not directly upon the brackets Q.
This reduces the friction and at the same time furnishes a support for the sprocket
pulleys when the screws are removed. The outer ends of the screws are supported
and journaled upon conical pointed bearings formed on brackets R, having
slotted feet which fit over set screws. By tightening these screws the brackets
are held in place by loosening them the brackets may be readily withdrawn,
thus freeing the outer ends of the feed screws which may then be removed from
their inner end bearings.
The tops of brackets R are downwardly inclined as shown at to facilitate the
drop of the foremost paper and the front ends of the rests L L are likewise inclined
for the same purpose.
S is a side guard rail for the ends of the papers, to hold them well in position.
It consists of a removable bail, providing for the substitution of another of different
width for different papers. It is merely dropped into perforated bearings & from
which it can easily be removed.
T is the lower plate upon which the lower screws and connected parts are
mounted, and T is the upper plate for the upper screw and connections.
In order to prevent the jar of the contact of stop J with catch shoulder h, I
make the stop of a springy character and back it up by a buffer or cushion j which
receives and modifies the shock.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is-
1st. In a coin actuated vending machine, revoluble screws supporting between
them in their threads the articles to be vended and operated to advance said
articles to their discharge by a power device which is itself dependent for its
operation on the deposit of a coin, substantially as described.
2nd. In a coin actuated vending machine, separated screws revolving in unison
for receiving and advancing between them the articles to be vended, said screws
being operated by a power device applied to one of them and dependent for its
operation upon the deposit of a coin, substantially as herein described.
3rd. In a coin actuated vending machine having a revoluble screw for receiving
and advancing the articles to be vended and operated by a power device dependent
for its operation on the deposit of a coin, a follower plate fitted to said screw for
supporting said articles and accompanying them in their advance, substantially as
herein described.
4th. In a coin actuated vending machine having the revoluble screws for
advancing the articles to be vended parallel rests L L beside the screws to support
the lower edges of the articles, substantially as herein described.
5th. In a coin actuated vending machine, the two lower screws and the
single upper screw for receiving and advancing the articles to be vended, said
screws being connected and operating in unison by means of a power device
operated by the deposit of a coin and the follower plate supported between said
screws, substantially as herein described.
6th. In a coin actuated vending machine having revoluble screws for advancing
the articles to be vended, a power device for operating said screws consisting of a
winding drum, a cord and suspended weight and a controlling mechanism dependent
on the deposit of a coin for stopping and starting said power device, consisting of
a revolving stop, a pivoted trip lever engaging it and a chute to direct the coin
upon the trip lever, substantially as described.
7th. In a coin actuated vending machine the means for automatically closing
the coin slot when the machine is exhausted, consisting of the oscillatory slotted

page_text: plug in said chute having a catch arm and controlling spring, the pivoted lever
engaging and tripping said catch arm and the moving follower plate within
the machine having a side arm to operate the lever, substantially as herein
described.
8th. The means for protecting the discharge slot of a coin actuated vending
machine consisting of the receptacle behind said slot, the automatically swinging
shutter or plate above the receptacle and the flange with its guard lip for
protecting the shutter or plate, substantially as herein described.
9th. The follower plate having spring plates at opposite ends fitted in the
threads of the revoluble feed screws of a coin actuated vending machine, sub-
stantially as herein described.
10th. The feed screws having their inner ends removably fitted in hubs C of
sprocket pulleys, said hubs being seated in brackets carrying pointed bearing
pins passing through the sprocket pulley hubs into the ends of the screws, sub-
stantially as herein described.
11th. The feed screws having a removable connection at their inner ends and
removable brackets R at their outer ends; said brackets having the pointed
bearings and slotted feet with set screws through them, substantially as herein
described.
12th. The buffer or cushion behind the revolving spring stop of the power
controlling mechanism, substantially as herein described.
Dated this fun day of April 1892.
For the Applicant,
W. E. GEDGE,
Agent.