Patent Description:
More specifically, the present invention refers to a product ejection device for an automatic dispenser of the type commonly referred to as vending machine.

As is known, the so-called vending machines are dispensing apparatuses used to dispense food products such as, for instance, water, drinks of different types, snacks or chips and the like, or products of different types such as, for instance, books, travel kits, or the like.

The mentioned products will be dispensed by the vending machine upon a selection made by a user who, for instance, after inserting into the vending machine a sum of money corresponding to the cost of the desired product, selects/enters the code of the product in a keypad of the vending machine's frame reserved therefor, which results in activating the ejection procedures whereby the product selected is ejected from the storage shelf to the product outlet/unload zone which can be accessed by the user to pick up the selected product.

The automatic vending machines are typically formed of a frame defining a container element, internally to which there are arranged a plurality of superimposed and parallel shelves, each provided with a plurality of transversal shoulders parallel to each other, suitable for defining, for every shelf, a number of adjacent channels or seats for storing the products loaded into the vending machine.

In the vending machines traditionally present on the market, internally to the adjacent channels or seats as mentioned above there are arranged dispensing means typically formed of a spiral, which develops according to the direction of development of the channels or seats themselves, i.e. according to a direction transversal to the direction of longitudinal development of the shelves. Said dispensing means of the spiral type perform a dual function, i.e. holding the products sequentially ordered within the channels or seats and moving the products in the direction of the ejection zone whenever a user selects a product.

The spiral dispensing means are rotationally driven with respect to their own axes by way of a dedicated motor and the rotation of the spirals, between the turns of which the products are positioned, determines the progress of the product between the turns and its ejection in the direction of the user collection pick-up zone.

However, such spiral dispensing means feature a number of major drawbacks typically bound to the correct management of the movement of the products in the direction of the ejection zone and caused, for instance, by products not being positioned between the turns of the spiral dispensing means or by products being jammed between the turns, if badly positioned upon the loading step, following the movements of the spiral dispensing means themselves.

A further drawback consists in that the dimensional characteristics of the spiral dispensing means are tailored to the type of product they have to handle; therefore, they shall be replaced whenever a change of format is required, which means waste of time and consequently increased maintenance costs.

Also, should it be necessary to change the spiral dispensing means, it will be necessary to re-position all spiral dispensing means present on the shelf, which entails rather long replacement times considering that all spiral dispensing means, and the opposing and parallel transversal shoulders which define the individual product storage channels or seats on the shelf of the vending machine shall be dismantled and re-positioned; such operation entails long replacement times, which consequently results in costs at the maintenance level, as well as costs resulting from the downtimes of the vending machine.

A further drawback of the traditional devices consists in their complex construction, which results in a greater complexity for that which concerns the installation and/or maintenance and repair operations and requires skilled operators. Patent documents <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT> disclose known article pusher plate type conveyors for a vending machine in various configurations and <CIT> discloses a spiral type article conveyor in a flexible arrangement for a vending machine.

An object of the present invention is to obviate the above described drawbacks.

More specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide an enhanced ejection device for an automatic vending machine that allows for an orderly storage and handling of the products accommodated in the channels or seats of the shelves of the vending machine and also prevents problems bound to products becoming jammed during the handling step whenever a user selects a desired product.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an ejection device that allows to perform a fast and easy change of format, should the characteristics and dimensions of the products loaded in the vending machine change.

A further object of the present invention is to put at the users' disposal an enhanced ejection device for an automatic vending machine suitable for guaranteeing a high strength and reliability over time and also such as to be implemented in an easy and cost-effective manner.

These objects and others are achieved by the invention, that presents the characteristics according to claim <NUM>.

According to the invention, an enhanced ejection device is provided for an automatic vending machine, suitable for being incorporated in said automatic vending machine and applied to a shelf subdivided into a number of seats or channels defined by opposing separator elements or shoulders internally to which there are accommodated products of different types, comprising means for handling and ejecting the products from said seats or channels, said handling and ejection means being such as to be quickly coupled with/decoupled from the shelf.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the dependent claims.

The constructional and functional characteristics of the enhanced ejection device for an automatic vending machine according to the present invention can be better understood from the following detailed description, where reference is made to the attached drawings, which illustrate a preferred, non-limitative embodiment thereof, and wherein:.

With reference to the mentioned figures, the enhanced ejection device for an automatic vending machine, identified by the reference numeral <NUM> as a whole in the figures, is suitable for being applied to a traditional automatic vending machine <NUM> defined, as schematically shown in <FIG>, by a container element internally to which there are arranged a plurality of shelves <NUM> superimposed and tendentially parallel to each other and suitable for accommodating the products dispensed by the automatic vending machine, a first interface element <NUM> used by a user to select a desired product, a second interface element <NUM> used to pay a sum of money as necessary to buy the desired product, a third interface <NUM> used to return a change, coins, or the like refused by the device and, finally, a collection mouth or enclosure <NUM> for collecting the product ejected from one of the shelves <NUM> following a user's selection.

As schematically shown in more details in <FIG> and <FIG>, the shelf <NUM> comprises a platform <NUM> developing longitudinally and made from a metal sheet or a plastic material or another material suitable for this purpose, a number of separator elements or shoulders <NUM> secured to the platform <NUM> transversally to the direction of longitudinal development of the platform itself, and handling and ejection means <NUM> for handling and ejecting the products accommodated in the automatic vending machine.

The separator elements or shoulders <NUM> are arranged on the platform <NUM>, as described above, according to a direction transversal to the direction of longitudinal development of the platform <NUM>, parallel to each other and equally or differently spaced from each other, such as to define a number of seats or channels <NUM> for storing the products (such as, for instance, water bottles, cookies, and the like) the automatic vending machine is enabled to dispense. Said separator elements or shoulders <NUM> are removable, so that they can be positioned and re-positioned as a function of the dimensions of the seat or channel <NUM> necessary for accommodating the products to be dispensed.

The platform <NUM> comprises an upper front <NUM>, opposite to a lower front <NUM>, characterized in having a grating-like structure defined by a plurality of equally-spaced transversal bands <NUM> parallel to each other, every two transversal bands adjacent to each other being spaced away by an empty transversal portion <NUM>, whose function will be better described below.

In correspondence with one of the opposing longitudinal edges, the platform comprises a patterned appendage <NUM> defined by a plate-like element <NUM>' projecting outside from a longitudinal edge of the platform <NUM> and developing longitudinally (it preferably develops according to the same plane as the lower front <NUM> of the platform <NUM>) and a further plate-like element <NUM>'', which develops starting from a longitudinal edge of the plate-like element <NUM>' according to a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the plate-like element <NUM>' and in the direction of the upper front <NUM> of the platform <NUM>, said further plate-like element <NUM>'' being patterned like a "comb" and comprising a plurality of teeth <NUM> spaced away from each other by slots <NUM>, said teeth <NUM> and slots <NUM> developing over the length of the longitudinal development of the further plate-like element <NUM>''.

Product handling and ejection means <NUM> are associated with the shelf <NUM> and their number equals that of the seats or channels <NUM> and comprise each a plate-like pusher element <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM>, whose dimensions depend on the width of the seat or channel in which they are inserted and associated with a driving/moving means <NUM> used to move said pusher element into the seat or channel <NUM>; the function of the pusher element is to push the products contained in the seat or channel <NUM> in the direction of the unload zone whenever a user makes a selection.

The driving/moving means <NUM> comprise a drive of the recirculating screw type defined by a threaded shaft <NUM> along which a guide <NUM> is sliding, to which a pusher element <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> is secured to, a motor <NUM> secured to one end of the threaded shaft <NUM>, and an engagement/disengagement element <NUM> used to engage/disengage the clutch of the threaded shaft <NUM>.

The pusher element <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> is secured to the guide <NUM> either rigidly or removably and, in the latter case, it allows for a quick, easy, and cost-effective change of format of said pusher element as a function of the characteristics of the products loaded in the seats or channels of the vending machine.

The device also comprises a locking element <NUM> for stabilizing said driving/moving means to the shelf <NUM>.

The locking element <NUM> is secured to the motor <NUM> in correspondence with the constraint position with respect to the threaded shaft <NUM> and is substantially U-shaped to make it possible to put it in the further plate-like element <NUM>'' of the patterned appendage <NUM>.

The handling and ejection means <NUM>, described above with reference to their constructional characteristics, are described below with reference to their coupling mode with respect to the shelf <NUM>.

Upon assembling, the locking element <NUM> is put in the further plate-like element <NUM>'' and, specifically, it is put in two adjacent teeth <NUM> of the further plate-like element <NUM>'', the threaded shaft <NUM> positioning in and entering the slot <NUM> interposed between said two teeth <NUM> and the empty transversal portion <NUM> in the upper front <NUM> of the platform <NUM> and, likewise, the guide <NUM> entering said empty transversal portion <NUM>.

In such coupling configuration, the pusher element <NUM>/<NUM>/<NUM> is arranged perpendicularly to the upper front <NUM> of the platform <NUM> and is slidable with respect thereto and internally to the seat or channel <NUM>.

The advantages achievable by using the enhanced ejection device for an automatic vending machine according to the present invention are apparent from the foregoing.

The enhanced ejection device for an automatic vending machine according to the present invention has the big advantage of being easily and quickly positionable and repositionable with respect to the shelf <NUM>; as a matter of fact, thanks to the presence of the "comb"-shaped portion of the patterned appendage <NUM> and of the locking element <NUM>, an operator, by a simple movement, can release the handling and ejection means <NUM> with respect to the platform <NUM> and, in the case of a change in the dimensions of the seat or channel or of the characteristics of the product to be loaded in the seat or channel, he can re-position them.

This advantage results in a further advantage related to the time saved by the operator in charge of maintaining or refilling the automatic vending machine, which entails cost savings.

Further advantageous is the fact that the pusher element of the device according to the invention prevents products sticking or jamming problems, with the consequent advantages in terms of cost, by virtue of the fact that maintenance/repair interventions and rejects of products damaged because of jamming are reduced.

Claim 1:
An enhanced ejection device (<NUM>) for an automatic dispenser (<NUM>) of the automatic vending machine type, suitable for being incorporated in said automatic vending machine and being applied to a shelf (<NUM>) subdivided into a number of seats or channels (<NUM>) defined by opposing separator elements or shoulders (<NUM>) internally to which there are accommodated products of different types, comprising handling and ejection means (<NUM>) for handling and ejecting products from said seats or channels, quickly couplable with/decoupable from the shelf (<NUM>) by means of quick-coupling means formed on said shelf (<NUM>) and comprising a platform (<NUM>) longitudinally developed and a patterned appendage (<NUM>), said platform (<NUM>) comprising an upper front (<NUM>) featuring a grating-type structure defined by a plurality of transversal bands (<NUM>) being parallel to and equally spaced from each other having two adjacent transversal bands (<NUM>) spaced away from each other by an empty transversal portion (<NUM>) for positioning said handling and ejection means (<NUM>), said patterned appendage (<NUM>) formed in correspondence with one of the opposing longitudinal edges of the platform (<NUM>) and "comb"-shaped, with a plurality of teeth (<NUM>) spaced away from each other by slots (<NUM>), said teeth (<NUM>) and slots (<NUM>) developing all over the length of the longitudinal development of said patterned appendage (<NUM>), characterised in that a locking element (<NUM>) is put in a further plate-like element (<NUM>") on two adjacent teeth (<NUM>) of the further plate-like element (<NUM>"), a threaded shaft (<NUM>) being positioned and inserted in the slot (<NUM>) interposed between said two teeth (<NUM>) and in the empty transversal portion (<NUM>) of the upper front (<NUM>) of the platform (<NUM>), a guide (<NUM>) being inserted in said empty transversal portion (<NUM>), a pusher element (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) being arranged perpendicularly to the upper front (<NUM>) of the platform (<NUM>) and being slidable with respect thereto and internally to the seat or channel (<NUM>).