IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF, AND APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC SALE AND DELIVERY OF CIGARETTES, OR OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Philip Keeson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th November 1883.
WILLIAM PHILIP KEESON of Loudoun Road Saint John's Wood London in the
County of Middlesex Printer "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF, AND APPARATUS
FOR THE AUTOMATIC SALE AND DELIVERY OF CIGARETTES, OR OTHER ARTICLES
"
This invention has for its object Improvements in the means of, and apparatus
for the automatic sale and delivery of cigarettes or other articles, and consists in a
small and compact apparatus fitted with suitable internal mechanism whereby I
am able to supply to the public, or consumer, cigarettes, cigars, boxes of matches,
packets or other articles, on the deposit in a slit, or aperture, in the box, of a coin,
of the realm, of such value only as may be required, and determined beforehand, to
obtain goods from the receptacle of the value of the said coin.
In carrying my invention into practice I arrange the cigarettes, or articles to be
delivered in separate compartments upon an endless revolving band, of metal, or
suitable material. These compartments are of a shape suited to the article to be
delivered. The article is carried along by this band and at each action of the
machine is ejected through an aperture of suitable size and form in the frame of
the box. This aperture is supplied with a flap valve, so as to prevent anything
being forced into the box from the outside.
In the frame of the box I provide a slit or aperture, for the admission of the
coin, and so arrange that if a smaller coin or any other coin than the one intended
be placed therein, such coin falls through another slit, provided for this purpose, in
the bottom of the box In order to revolve the aforesaid band, and obtain an
article from the box, it is necessary first to drop in the coin. A knob or handle
protrudes through the box, capable of moving to, and fro, and returned to its
normal position by a spring. It is by the placing of a suitable coin in the slit, and
actuating this knob, that the mechanism is brought into action. The coin forms
the key or locking piece with a ratchet wheel, fixed to the end of one of the rollers.
of the endless band and actuated by a pawl, and the knob or handle,—and remains
so until pulled forward, by the knob or handle, thus drawing the ratchet wheel
over sufficiently far to bring the article in the next compartment of the band
opposite to the outlet aperture. The coin is then drawn over the catch piece or
clutch, which, being hinged, recedes and passes beneath the coin allowing the pawl

page_text: to spring back, ready for the next operation. The coin is then forced up an
inclined plane, to the mouth of a receptacle so constructed with a false bottom held
up by a spring, that it recedes at the entrance of each coin as it passes in, and
causes it to be firmly held up on its side, next to the preceding one, thus
economising space to the utmost, until the last of the articles contained in the box
is ejected, when the last coin stops the aperture, thus preventing the further
admission of coins. The coin as it is moved forward comes in contact with a snag
or projection and moves it also forward, the snag is connected with a cranked lever
terminating at the outlet aperture, and causes the said lever to describe part of a
circle, and its end being attached to a slide above the compartment containing the
article to be delivered, passes up the compartment and ejects the article or goods
through the outlet.