Improved Coin-freed Vending Apparatus.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Aug., 1897-Accepted, 23rd Oct., 1897
Improved Coin-freed Vending Apparatus.
I, LOUIS COEN of 88 Piccadilly, London, W. Tobacconist; 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 coin-freed apparatus for the automatic vending of
cigarettes and other small goods and the Invention has for its object to provide a
mechanism of simple yet efficient construction which is not liable to get out of
order, by which the goods for sale are effectually protected against the entry of wet
when the machine is exposed to the rain, and by which the possibility of fraud is
reduced to a minimum.
The construction and operation of the mechanisın will be described with reference
to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and wherein
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a double machine adapted to retail two different
kinds or qualities of goods, and Figure 2 a part vertical section taken through one
of the apparatus from front to back thereof. Figure 3 is a horizontal section
shewing the coin-freed mechanism by which the action of the delivery slide is
controlled. Figures 4 and 5 show details in elevation and plan, of the coin
actuated lever, drawn on an enlarged scale. The same letters of reference indicate
the same parts in all the figures.
A is an iron box or casing divided, in the present example, by a central vertical
partition A¹ into two chambers placed side by side and closed at front by a
removable metal front or cover B. Within the two chambers are pairs of channelled
guides C in which are received the goods superposed in the forin of columns and
loaded with weights, the whole being free to slide down in the guides as the deliveries
of the lowerinost articles of the columns takes place. In order to ensure a water-
tight closure the front cover B, which is common to both chambers of the casing,
is provided with side flanges b that closely embrace the sides of the casing so as to
effectually exclude rain even when driven against the casing by a strong wind.
This cover is secured in position by the engagement of lugs 61 projecting down-
wards from the bottom of the cover B at either side which take into notches in the
side cheeks of the casing A and by a lock at the upper part of the cover which
shoots into engagement with the top of the casing when the cover is in place. The
cover is provided near the lower part only with glazed window apertures B¹ at which
the lower part of the columns of goods on sale are visible to the intending purchaser,
the upper part of the cover being occupied by a tablet B2 bearing indications
descriptive of the goods on sale and the necessary instructions as to the operation of
the machine.
Beneath the columns of goods are fitted the delivery drawers or slides D. As
these are identical it will be sufficient to describe one of them. Each drawer or slide
is provided with a trough d adapted to come directly beneath the column of goods
and to receive within it the lowermost only of the articles composing the column.
Each slide D is adapted to work through a space or orifice beneath the lower end
of the cover B and in order to prevent fraudulent access to the goods in the trough d
the front flange or wall 2 of the delivery trough fits accurately the gap opening

page_text: beneath the cover B and in order to prevent wet driving in, the flange d² stands up
above the external level of the delivery drawer
and acts as a fence
So
The
that the trough d being at or above that level instead of being sunk below
it any wet falling on the drawer D will run off at the ends and will be excluded
from the trough. The drawer D is fitted to slide in guides in a removable inner
casing E fitting between the cheeks and beneath the top front portion A2 of the lower
part of the main casing A and serving to carry the whole of the coin-freed
inechanism other than that mounted at the underside of the drawer D itself.
means by which this inner casing E is secured in position consists of lugs e at
the sides of the outer casing A towards the back and lever buttons e¹ pivoted to the
sides of the outer casing A near the front and abutting against the underside of
the casing E so as to support it firmly in position whilst admitting of being turned
down out of the way to permit of the withdrawal of the inner casing E beneath the
fixed top A2 of the forwardly-projecting lower part of the main casing A. These
lever buttons e¹ are contained within the money chamber F at the lower part of the
casing to which access can only be had by a door G at front secured by lugs on the
door engaging in mortises in the bottom of the main casing and by a lock whose bolt
shoots into a notch g cut in the vertical partition A¹.
The delivery drawer D is provided with an upstanding flange at front serving as a
pull handle and bearing the necessary inscription, and the mechanism by which the
locking of the drawer and its unlocking by the coin are effected is as follows:-At
the rear part of the drawer D is an opening H having a shoulder h which when the
drawer is pulled without the previous insertion of a coin comes against a lug i
upstanding through the opening H directly in the path of the shoulder h. This lug
or stop is carried by a lever I pivoted at ¹ to the bottom plate of the inner casing E
the front end of the lever I being in the form of a hook K presenting an inclined
cam surface in the path of the coin L which has been inserted through the coin
slot 3 of the drawer. The coin L after being so inserted is held by the pressure of
the hook K in the guide d' forming a downward continuation of the slot, this guide
being bolted to the underside of the drawer D and serving to retain the coin in a
vertical position so that as the drawer D is drawn forward the coin is also moved
forward and the edge of the coin which is exposed at a notch in the side of the
guide is pressed against the inclined cam face k, the coin being prevented from
being displaced laterally in its own plane by the opposite side of the coin guide d
so that the lever I is oscillated and the lug i is moved out of the path of the
shoulder h (as shewn in Figure 4) thus allowing the drawer D to be fully drawn out.
A spring pressing against the lever I serves to return it and the lug i to position
22
for re-engagement with the shoulder h when the drawer is pushed in again. The
coin is held up in the coin guide during this motion until the coin having acted
on the inclined cam surface and escaped from the forward end thereof, it is free to
fall into the coin receiving chamber below. Drainage holes are provided in the
bottom of the money chamber to permit the escape of any water that may enter
through the coin slot.
In order to prevent the fraudulent operation of the machine by means of discs of
cardboard or base metal, the two limbs of a double spring are applied to press
inwards through notches in the edges of the coin guide into which these springs
project so that they must be forcibly displaced by the coin when inserted, the springs
being of sufficient strength to indent any softer material than a coin and by
embedding themselves in the edge of the disc prevent its entrance.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described improved coin-freed vending apparatus constructed and
operating substantially as shewn and described.
2. In the herein described coin-freed vending apparatus the construction of the
front cover with lateral flanges embracing the sides of the casing and the

page_text: delivery drawer or slide constructed with the delivery trough at or above the level of
the exposed part of the drawer or slide and separated from such exposed part by
an upstanding flange or fence so as to exclude wet from the interior substantially as
specified.
cul 3
1007
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.