Improvement in Coin-operated Vending Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Oct., 1897-Accepted, 5th Mar., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Coin-operated Vending Machines.
I, HERMANN CARPER VIERKANT, Machinist, of Tarrytown, in the County of
Westchester, State of New York, United States of America, 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 has relation to improvements in coin-operated vending machines,
and more particularly to that class employed in vending newspapers, magazines
and periodicals; and the object is to simplify the construction and increase the
efficiency of the same.
To these ends the invention consists in the construction, combination and
arrangement of the same as will be hereinafter more fully described and par-
ticularly pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings the same reference numerals indicate the same
parts of the invention.
Figure 1 is an end elevation of my improved coin-operated vending machine,
with the coin lever in position to lock the feed wheel;
Figure 2 is a similar view, showing the coin lever tripped by the insertion of a
coin to release the feed shaft ;
Figure 3 is a similar view, showing the position of the hand lever in the act of
discharging a paper; and
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section on the line of the feed shaft.
Fig. 5 is a plan view of the sheet metal guard.
-
1 represents a rectangular case, which may be of any suitable size and shape to
conform to the dimensions of the periodical on sale. 2 represents a horizontal
shelf fixed in the case, and upon which the articles are placed.
3 represents the vertically movable front. This front is provided with a hori-
zontal slot 6 extending across it the entire width of the case, and 7 represents a
sheet metal guard projecting inwardly from the top wall of said slot, and its
inner edge terminates in a series of guard fingers 8-8.
9-9 represent horizontal brackets secured to the inside of the sliding front
above the slot, and in these brackets is journaled the horizontal feed shaft 10.
11-11 represent hubs fixed on said shaft, and they are provided with a series
of radiating arms 12, pointed at their outer ends, the lowermost ones of which
rest upon the upper side of the top article in the case, the pointed ends engaging
the upper sheet or cover of the magazine with sufficient tension to move it forward
through the slot when the feed shaft is rotated in the proper direction. One end
of this feed-shaft extends through a vertical slot 13 in the side of the case and
through a journal 14 in a sliding plate 15 having a vertical movement in the
parallel guides 16-16, so that said plate will rise and fall in unison with the
front 3.
17 represents a ratchet wheel fixed on said shaft outside of the plate 15, and
18 represents the horizontal coin-lever fulcrumed in the bracket 19 fixed to the

page_text: plate 15, and it is provided with a pawl 20 which projects into the path of the
teeth on the ratchet 17.
The outer end of the coin-lever 18 is formed with a bifurcated arm 21 in which
is suspended the semicircular coin-basket 22 on the trunnions 23-23, so that while
the basket normally hangs level on its trunnions, it may be tilted to discharge
its contents as occasion requires., 24 represents a limit chain connecting one edge
of the basket with the bracket to limit its tilting movement.
A second chain 25 is attached to the edge of the opposite side of the basket,
and its lower end is connected to the longer arm 26 of a bell-crank lever 27
fulcrumed on a stud 28 on the bracket 19.
A small cup-shaped receptacle 281 is fixed on the opposite end of the coin-
lever 18, and in the present instance the lever is so adjusted that a penny dropped
in the basket 22 will tilt the lever to raise the pawl 20 out of the path of the
ratchet wheel 17; but if the price of the article on sale is two cents, one penny
may be placed in the receptacle where it remains. It is therefore, evident that
two pennies must be dropped in the basket before the lever will raise the pawl,
and it will thus be seen that various combinations can be made without altering
the adjustment of the coin lever.
A second ratchet wheel 29 is fixed on the feed shaft 10, having its teeth point-
ing in a reverse direction to those on the ratchet wheel 17 first mentioned.
A hand lever 30 is also fulcrumied on said feed shaft between the two ratchet
wheels, and its longer arm is provided with a spring-actuated pawl 31 arranged
to engage the teeth on the ratchet wheel 29 and operate the feed shaft when the
ratchet wheel 17 is released by the pawl 20 on the coin-lever 18.
132 represents the coin chute fixed to a vertical plate 33 secured at a right angle
to the sliding plate 15, its front end communicating with the coin-slot 34 in said
plate 33, and the rear end of this chute inclines downward and terminates
immediately above the coin basket, its lower end being formed with a discharge
orifice 35 through which the coin falls into the basket.
The shorter arm 36 of the hand-lever is provided with a lateral pin 37 which
projects into the path of the shorter arm 38 on the bell-crank lever 27, and when
the coin lever has been tripped by a coin in the basket, the last portion of the
movement of the hand-lever causes the pin 37 to strike the arm 38 of the bell-
crank lever, and through the action of the chain 25, tilts the basket to discharge
the coin, as shown in Fig. 3.
Upon releasing the hand-lever, it is restored by gravity to its normal position,
and the basket being relieved of its weight, allows the coin-lever to fall back so
that its pawl 20 will engage the ratchet wheel 17 and lock the feed-shaft against
further manipulation until another coin is inserted in the slot to release it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a coin-operated vending machine, the feed shaft, a series of feed wheels
fixed on said shaft, a ratchet wheel fixed on said shaft, a coin-lever provided with
a locking pawl adapted to travel to and from said ratchet-wheel, a tilting coin-
receptacle mounted on said lever, a second rachet wheel fixed on said feed shaft,
and a hand lever mounted on said feed shaft and adapted to simultaneously operate
said feed shaft and tilt said coin receptacle to discharge its contents, substantially
as shown and described.
2. In a coin-operated vending machine, a fixed case, a gravitating feed shaft
adapted to deliver a newspaper or analogous article of merchandise, a ratchet
wheel fixed on said shaft, a coin-lever travelling simultaneously with said feed
shaft and provided with a locking-pawl projecting into the path of said ratchet-
wheel, and means substantially as described for operating said coin-lever, sub-
'stantially as shown and described.
3. A coin-operated vending machine, comprising a fixed case, a vertically slid-

page_text: ing front provided with a horizontal delivery slot, a feed shaft mounted on said
front and travelling with it, a ratchet-wheel fixed on said feed shaft, a coin-lever
provided at one end with a tilting coin-receptacle and at the other with a locking
pawl adapted to be projected into the path of said ratchet-wheel, and means sub-
stantially as described for operating said feed shaft and simultaneously tilting
said basket as and for the purpose set forth.
4. In a coin-actuated vending machine, the case 1 provided with the shelf 2,
the vertically sliding front 3 provided with the horizontal slot 6, the brackets 9–9
fixed to said front, the feed shaft 10 journaled in said brackets, the hubs 11 fixed
on said shaft, and the radiating arms 12 fixed in said hubs, the ratchet wheel 17
fixed on said feed shaft, the coin lever 18 fulcrumed in the bracket 19 fixed to a
movable plate 15 and provided with the locking pawl 20 adapted to be projected
into the path of the teeth of said ratchet wheel 17, a coin receptacle 22 pivoted
in the inner end of said lever and a fixed counterbalancing receptacle 28¹ at the
outer end, the bell-crank lever 27 fulcrumed in the bracket 19 and connected by
the chain 25 to the edge of said pivoted receptacle 22, in combination with the
ratchet wheel 29 fixed on said shaft 10 and the hand lever 30 fulcrumed on said
shaft and provided with a spring-actuated pawl 31 engaging the teeth on said
ratchet wheel 29, and having its shorter arm 36 provided with a lateral pin 37
projecting into the path of the arm 38 of the bell-crank lever 27, substantially
as shown and described.
Dated this 18th day of October 1897
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.