Improvements in Automatic Vending and Indicating Apparatus.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic Vending and Indicating Apparatus.
We, WILLIAM NORTHORPE, of 21, Clerkenwell Close, in the County of London,
Engineer, and FRANK WILLIAM OGDEN SMITH, of 16, Killyon Road, Clapham,
in the County of London, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to automatic vending or goods delivery apparatus
adapted at the same time by an indicator to afford amusement as an oracle or
fortune teller.
It is the object of our invention to provide such an apparatus adapted to
deliver a series of packets or other goods in predetermined rotation and at the
same time to indicate by a hand or pointer the description of the article being
delivered to the operator, such pointer being apparently revolved haphazard but
in reality controlled by a train of wheels so arranged that although the pointer
makes a part revolution or one or more complete revolutions and a part, it, by
an eccentric number of stoppages stops once opposite each of a series of
descriptions displayed upon the dial before it points to the same one a second
time.
According to our invention the indicating mechanism consists of a spring-
operated train of wheels such as hereinafter described adapted to be wound up
by the operator when a coin has been inserted. Any of the well known coin
locks or similar devices may be employed for securing connection between the
operating handle and the winding spindle of the indicator mechanism, for
instance, such as is described in Patent No. 2348 of A.D. 1889; with this
mechanism the coin inserted will pass down a suitably arranged shoot and lock
the operating and winding spindle together by a slot in each part, the coin
being released on release of the handle.
The rotation of the winding spindle referred to by the external handle when
the coin is inserted serves to wind up the spring operated indicating and delivery
mechanism by rotating through suitable gearing a second and adjacently
arranged spindle which has an arm or lever connected to a chain or cord under
tension of a spring. This chain in passing from the said lever to the spring is
coiled once or twice round and fixed to a loose sleeve or drum in such manner
that when operated by the external handle to wind up the spring, the said sleeve
is rotated together with a spring-pressed pawl which rides over a ratchet wheel
having two teeth the pawl engaging each tooth alternately so that on release of
the spring, the first of a train of wheels to which the ratchet wheel is attached
makes a half revolution at each operation. This wheel drives through inter-
mediate gearing the spindle carrying the indicator or pointer. The proportion

page_text: of this gearing is so arranged that the pointer shall in successive operations
point to each description in the series depicted on the dial in predetermined
rotation but in an eccentric manner before again passing to the first of the
series, for instance, assuming there is a series of 53 goods or packets to be
delivered, the pointer dial will be provided with 53 divisions and corresponding
descriptions and the pointer will be rotated one complete revolution and say 24
of the 53 divisions at each operation passing through the whole of the series
before again passing to the first, to effect this the first wheel of the train will
have 56 teeth, a second intermediate wheel S teeth, and one on the same spindle 22
teeth, the latter gearing with a wheel on the indicator spindle having 53 teeth.
To secure a steady movement of the pointer a suitable fly brake is or may be
added to the train of wheels.
In order to secure accurate movement at each operation one of the wheels in
the train is provided with a locking and releasing device, for instance, it may
be applied to the first wheel and consist of two oppositely disposed stops thereon
and suitably disposed locking levers engaging the uppermost stop, one lever
having a notch preventing backward movement and the other having a notch
locking the forward movement. The last mentioned lever has a part extending
in the path of the arm carrying the driving pawl so that as the spring is wound
up, the lever is raised by the pawl carrying arm out of engagement with the
pin in the uppermost stop and so allows the first driven wheel of the train to
complete a half revolution on the release of the spring.
The goods delivery mechanism coacting with the above described indicating
mechanism may be of any suitable kind or of the kind hereinafter described
in which the cards or articles are stored in proper sequence in a container of
usual form and the delivery of the lowermost effected by an ejecting plate
having a hinged portion and reciprocating under the articles and above a fixed
plate, the latter extending under the container for say two thirds of its horizontal
depth. The ejector plate is moved to and fro by a bell crank lever or levers operated
from the winding spindle of the coin connection or other part of the indicator
mechanism as may be convenient. In operation the ejector plate is so arranged
that when in forward or normal position the hinged portion hangs down at an
angle suitable for releasing the article or card it has ejected. Upon the
mechanism being operated the sliding ejector plate is moved back causing its
hinged portion to be moved into alignment with the other and be drawn back
under the goods in the container. Then on release of the operating handle or
coin and the indicator mechanism, the ejector plate is travelled forward under
the container; the hinged part by means of a projection at its rear end carry-
ing with it the lowest article in the container until the hinge coincides or passes
the edge of the fixed plate referred to when the weight of the hinged part causes
it to resume its normal hanging position allowing the card or article to fall
down a suitably disposed delivery shoot preferably at the moment the hand
stops.
From the above description it will be seen that in operation as soon as a coin
has been inserted the operator is enabled to wind up the spring for operating
the mechanism, and on release of the handle or by falling out of the coin as
the case may be the train of wheels is operated by the spring and the pointer
rotated apparently haphazard, but in reality in a predetermined manner by the
gearing described and stops at a given description on the dial, simultaneosly
with this action, through the levers described the delivery mechanism is operated
and one of the series of articles delivered corresponding to the description on
the dial at which the pointer stops.
D
1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic Vending and Indicating Apparatus.
We, WILLIAM NORTHORPE, of 24, Clerkenwell Close, in the County of London,
Engineer, and FRANK WILLIAM OGDEN SMITH, of 16, Killyon Road, Clapham,
in the County of London, Manufacturer, 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:-
Our invention relates to automatic vending or goods delivery apparatus
adapted at the same time, by an indicator, to afford amusement as an oracle or
fortune teller.
It is the object of our invention to provide such an apparatus adapted to
deliver a series of packets or other goods in predetermined rotation and at the
same time to indicate by a hand or pointer the description of the article being
delivered to the operator, such pointer being apparently revolved hap-hazard but
in reality controlled by a train of wheels so arranged that although the pointer
makes a part revolution or one or more complete revolutions and a part, it, by
an eccentric number of stoppages, stops once opposite each of a series of
descriptions displayed upon the dial before it points to the same one a second
time.
We will describe our invention in reference to the accompanying drawings in
which Fig. 1 is a back elevation of the complete apparatus, and Figs. 2 and 3
are elevations of the indicator mechanism respectively in normal position and
when wound up by the operator. Fig. 4 is a detail.
According to our invention the indicating mechanism consists of a spring-
operated train of wheels such as hereinafter described, adapted to be wound up
by the operator when a coin has been inserted. Any of the well-known coin
locks or similar devices may be employed for securing connection between the
operating handle and the winding spindle of the indicator mechanism. In the
machine illustrated the coin inserted in slot a will pass down a suitably arranged
shoot band serves to lock by a slot in each part or otherwise suitably the spindle c
to the external operating handle (which is not shown), the coin being released
on release of the handle.
The rotation of the winding spindle c by the external handle when the coin
is inserted serves to wind up the spring-operated indicating and delivery
mechanism by rotating through suitable gearing a second and adjacently
arranged spindle e which has an arm or lever or a drum such as f to which is
connected a chain or cord g under tension of a spring h. This chain in passing
from the said drum f to the spring his coiled once or twice round or divided
and fixed to a loose sleeve or drum i in such manner that when operated by the
external handle to wind up the spring, the said sleeve i is rotated together with
a spring-pressed pawl which rides over a ratchet wheel k having two teeth 7 m,
the pawl engaging each tooth alternately so that on release of the spring, the
wheel which is the first of a train of wheels and to which the ratchet wheel is
attached makes half revolution
a
wheel
each operation. This
drives through intermediate gearing such as op and the spindle ro
carrying the indicator or pointer
proportion of this gearing
on spindle r shall in successive
is so arranged that the pointer r¹,
the
each description in
operations point to
on
series depicted
dial in predetermined rotation, but in an eccentric manner before again passing
to the first of the series, for instance, assuming there is a series of 53 goods or
packets to be delivered, the pointer dial s shown dotted in Fig. 1 will be provided
with 53 divisions and corresponding descriptions and the pointer will be
rotated one complete revolution and say 24 of the 53 divisions at each operation
pol
at
The
"
the

page_text: passing through the whole of the series before again passing to the first; to
effect this the wheel n will have 56 teeth, the second intermediate wheel o,
8 teeth, and the one p on the same spindle as o 22 teeth, the latter gearing with
the wheel on the indicator spindler having 53 teeth.
To secure a steady movement of the pointer a suitable fly brake such as t is or
may be added to the train of wheels.
In order to secure accurate movement at each operation one of the wheels in
the train is provided with a locking and releasing device, for instance, it may be
applied to the wheel n and consist of two oppositely disposed locking levers a y
centred at and engaging the uppermost stop u, the lever has a notch 1
preventing backward movement and the other y has a notch 2 locking the for-
ward movement. The lever has a part 3 extending in the path of the arm 4
which carries the driving pawl j so that as the spring is wound up the lever
is raised by the pawl-carrying arm 4 out of engagement with the uppermost
stop and allows the spring hon release to turn the wheel na half revolution.
The goods delivery mechanism coacting with the above described indicating
mechanism may be of any suitable kind or of the kind hereinafter described
which is especially adapted for the purpose.
The delivery mechanism shown in Figs. 1-4 is one in which the cards or
articles are stored in proper sequence in a container 5 of usual form, and the
delivery of the lowermost card is effected by an ejecting plate 6 having a part 7
hinged at 8 and reciprocating under the articles 9 and above a fixed plate 10,
the latter extending under the container for say two thirds of its horizontal
length. The ejector plate 6 is moved to and fro by a bell crank lever or levers
operated from the winding spindle of the coin connection or other part of the
indicator mechanism as may be convenient. In the drawing it is shown as
being reciprocated by a connecting rod or lever 11 centred on the plate 6 at 12
and at 13 upon the gear wheel d so as to receive a reciprocating motion therefrom.
The ejector plate is so arranged that when in forward or normal position the
hinged portion hangs down at an angle suitable for releasing the article or card
it has ejected.
From the above description it will be seen that in operation as soon as a coin
has been inserted the operator is enabled to wind up the spring for operating
the mechanism, and on release of the handle or by the falling out of the coin
as the case may be the train of wheels is operated by the spring and the pointer r¹
thereby rotated apparently haphazard, but in reality in a predetermined manner
by the gearing described so as to stop at a given description on the dials;
simultaneously with this action the sliding ejector plate 6 is reciprocated by the
rod 11 and moved back, which movement causes its hinged portion 7
to be moved into alignment with the other 6 and be drawn back
under the goods 9 in the container as shown in Fig. 2. Then on release of the
operating handle or coin and the indicator mechanism, the ejector plate 6 is
travelled forward under the container; the hinged part 7 by means of a pro-
jection 14 at its rear end carrying with it the lowest article in the container 5
until the hinge 8 coincides or passes the edge 15 of the fixed plate 10 when the
weight of the hinged part 7 causes it to resume its normal position shown in
Fig. 2, allowing the card or article to fall down a suitably disposed delivery
shoot 16 preferably at the moment the indicator hand r stops.
The articles are as described arranged in series to correspond with the indica-
tions of the pointer and consequently the operator receives an article corre-
sponding to the apparently hap-hazard although predetermined indication of
the pointer on the dial.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that
what we claim is:-
1. The improved coin-freed apparatus comprising the combination with a goods

page_text: delivery mechanism of a co-acting indicating mechanism consisting of a spring-
operated train of wheels adapted to be wound by the operator through the
medium of an inserted coin and on release to eccentrically rotate a pointer a
predetermined distance to indicate the next article to be delivered out of a
series and simultaneously therewith to operate the said delivery mechanism to
deliver an article corresponding to that indicated by the pointer, substantially as
described.
2. In indicating mechanism of the kind described the combination of a wind-
ing spindle, a spring-pressed pawl and ratchet operated from said winding
spindle and adapted to impart a half revolution to the first wheel of a train, the
stops on said wheel and locking levers such as x and y, all arranged and adapted
to operate substantially as described.
3. For use with coin-freed goods delivery apparatus a co-acting indicating
mechanism, constructed, arranged, and adapted to operate substantially in the
manner and for the purpose set forth in reference to and as shown in the accom-
Dated this 4th day of August 1899.
For the Applicants,
J. C. CHAPMAN & Co.,
Chartered Patent Agents, 70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.