US1997078A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Description

April 9, 1935. A. E. REIMERS El AL 1,997,078

VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 50, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY April 1935. A. E. REIMERS El AL 1,997,078

VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 30, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 47 6 ALFRED E-RE/HERS M WALTER ;TAVENDER April 9, 1935.

A. E. RElMERS ET AL VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 50, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 HLFRED v E.

ATTORNEY April 9, 1935. A. E. RElMERs El AL VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 50, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS ILFRED EJREINERS M44 JLTER K. Tfil/E/I/DER ATTORNEY I April 9, 1935. A. E. REiMERS ET AL VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 30, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR5 TAI/ Df /q ATTORNEY April 9, 1935. A. E. REIMERS ET AL 1,997,078

VENDING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 30, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INS IR 29 g 4916? WALTER k. 77; VENDER BY ATTORNEY patented Apr.9,1935 i 1,997,078

H I 1,997,07s V v VENDING MACHINE Alfred E. Reimers, Harrington Park, and Walter Y K. Tavender, Haworth, N. J., assignors, by mesne. assignments, to Automatic. Equipment, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware v Application January 30, 1932, Serial No. 589,822 1 Renewed February 16, 1934 8 Claims. (01:312-68) This invention relates to vending machines, Fig. 10 is a plan view 'of the carriage showing such as may be rendered operable by the inserthe fixed and adjustable guides for thearticles. tionof a coin, and whereby the goods are caused Fig. 11 is an enlarged plan viewof the carriage to be delivered from the top of a stack thereof. and its mechanism.

7 Our, improvements comprehend the employ-, Fig. 12 isaside elevation of the carriage operatment, of a vertically movable carriage, which, ing. mechanism and brake bar." a with its supported goods, is] overbalanced by Fig. .13 is a horizontal. section showing the car- 'gravity or equivalent means that urge it up riage with itsgovernor controlled brake mechawardly, and whose speed of travel is retarded by nism and brake bar; r governor controlling means. Fig. 14 is a perspectiveelevational view of the 10 Also our improvements include means whereby weight control,..the weights being in a suspendedan uppermost article on the stack thereof liberposition duringthe loading operation. ates a gravity actuable'brake when said article Fig. 15 is a sectional view through the weights has risen to its delivery position, thereby enabling in similarposition. to Fig. 14, with the weight.

15 said brake to perform its function of arresting release mechanism about to act. 15.

'further movement of the carriageuntil such ,Fig. l6is a sectional view similar to Fig. 15

article has been removed. after the weight release mechanism has acted.

Our invention comprises in brief a number of Fig. '17 is a sectional view through the weights dispensing units for articles of merchandise, showing the means for lifting the weights alone,

which may be enclosed in a suitable-cabinet, each and unit vin to mmodate a separate stack of Fig. 18- is a detailed view of the interlocking such articles and having means whereby a topf .t ht e v m t article ay be d sp s d as through the In saiddrawingslet l-indicate acabinet having media of a coin slot and a pull'rod or its equivaan upper exposure provided with a cover 2 of l a h f t p ratin units in lud s a a glass or other transparent material, saidcabinet va us frame m n a carriage to supp t the containing the operating units, and having coin Stack Of a s, av y means for urging the slots 3 and pull rod handles 4 respectively for carriage p y, means for releasing the gravsaid units, the cabinet also having a common y a s While ad h a ria a governor receiving trough 5 forthe dispensed articles.

I to retard the carriage travel speed, a carriage Th b 6 i hown as supporting vertical 30 brake, means controlled by the stack in rising frame members 1 3 and 9 the member 3 having for permitting the brake to function, and means amok 1 fumed on one side thereof. The operable for the delivery of the topmost article. 1 1' 8 also serves as a, guide for a, carriage ll,

other features and advantages of 0111 invenwhich slides vertically thereon, said carriage havticn W l hereinafter pp ing a frame that includes a base member I2, 35

In he dr channel walls l3, l3',;and an upper plate or Fi r 1 s a p p v view f an apparatus table 14, the latter'serving to support a stack of which contains several operating units. dibl ti les, fl'wo pairs of angle brackets ig- 2 is a front elevation o a di p unit. I5 pivotallycarry two sets of rollers l6 that are 3 IS a Side elevation of a t which is in respectively incontact with opposite faces of the 40 process of being loaded with a stack of articles frame member a, and i b t l pivotally to be Vendedcarry two sets of rollers l1 that are respectively Fi 4 is a pp si sid evation shcwingthe in contact with: opposite sides of said member a, un t oaded d in readiness for Operation. these rollers I6 and I1 constituting between them Fig-5 is a similar elevation to at of F ut anti-friction means to facilitate the travel of 45 omitting the Stack 9 articles the carriage. The respective sets of rollers I6, 6 is a View Similar to 4 Showing the H, are spaced apart vertically, and the axle l8 parts inv p n m r to F 5 bu with h for the upper. set carries a pinion [9 which is in unit partly loaded. mesh engagement with the rack l0. Fig. 7 is. a perspective elevation showing the Since it is desirable to retard the travel spee 50 carriage, the brake bar and brake actuating finof the carriage we employ a fly-ball governor ers. having the pivotal expanding members 20, car- Fig 8 is a perspective detailed view of a part of ried by a horizontal wheel 2|, mounted on a the l t ea pivot 22 that extends upwardly from the base l2,

55. 5 Fig. 9 is a detail of the front guide bar.' in which it is journalled, said wheel 2| having a central, upwardly extending shaft 22', that carries a horizontally disposed bevel gear 23, which is in mesh engagement with a vertically disposed gear 24, mounted on a shaft 25, said shaft 25 also carrying a pinion 25, that meshes with a larger gear 26, which: is fast-upon theshaftlll,

to rotate with the pinion l9. Withthi's train of gears the rotative speed of pinion I9 induced by the travel of the carriage imparts a greatly accelerated rotative speed to the wheel Zlgwhosee fly-balls 20, in their radial expansion press their friction contacts 21 against the opposed channel base surface 28 to therebyretard or control l the speed of rotation and-hence.rthe vertical travel of the carriage.

As means for urging upwardly the carriage bearing a stack of articles weemp oy one or more weights 29, seated upon a platform 30," and a cab1e'3 l which passes over a pulley 32, :journalled in an upper frame member 33, isengaged at one end with the carriage, as at-34, and at its other end is provided witha post that'rides through a hole 36 inplatfo'rmioand through a cavity 31 formed in theweights, saidpost35 'being connected at its lower end with'a plate "that is adapted to provide a seat for thexweight carry weights are supported on theplate"38,*and"are' held thereby ina horizontal plane. But, seeing that' the weights and their platform 30'' are disposed at one side of the member 9, "and thatthe orifice 4| in platform 3| is the onlylmeans of association between said platform; and member, therefore, whenthe plate 33 becomes disassocbated from platform 3|,thereby said weights" will f cant the platform and cause the -edges of *the orifice therein to frictionally bind'the-platform' in a fixed position, upon member 9,"as* shown in Figs. 3 and 15-.

' The-carriage ca'nthen' be :freely lowered; for' reloading. In order-that the weights may not slide off the platform, when cantedysaid'platform may have a stud "to engage a recess 43 in*the* bottom weight, and succeeding weights may have equivalent means of interconnection? The cable is provided at one end "with 'a block M that has two oriflceslifor-slidable engagement with a pairof parallel-"guide rodslfi, that are extended betweenbra'okets"(secured respectively to thelower and upper ends" of frame member 9. Said cable 40,- whichhas ahandle 40' at'its other end,is passed over a-pulley- 48, journalled in the frame 'member 33; and is adapted to be operated manually for the purpose of drawing the weights upwardly when lowering the carriage forreloading: l

The block 44," which-is capable -of'-"passing through aperture 39 inlplate 38;when drawn upwardlyby cable 40,-will engage platform 30, "and by continued effort will raise; said platform from plate 38, whereby the weights, 'when' released, will becomecanted in their'interl'ocked position with respectto guide bar 9 for loading purposes. But when the plate 38'is drawn up to and against platform 30 'by'cablel3 l thenthe carriage will resume. its travel under the influence .of they weights; p

The article dispensing or.-kick-.oif .means em.

unit, where it is provided with the handle 4.

Slide member 49 carries a. curved foot 56 that projects forwardly, and, in the'normal position 0 of the slide, which is in a vertical plane atthe rear ofthe stack ofarticles A, the free, upwardly curved end of foot 56 lies behind and pro: jecting above the topmost article when the stack is raised to its height. limit and said topmost 15 article is in readiness for delivery. Also the foot .56 carries an adjustable stud 51, projecting below *said foot, to lie behind the topmost article so that when rod 54 is pulled forwardly it' will engage the rear end of said article and draw it out- 20 wardly for delivery. r a

It is necessary-to provide automatic means for halting the rise of the stack when the topmostarticle thereon has reached its deliv'eryposition,

wherefore we have devised braking means that 2 co-act' with the wheel 2| to stop the rotation thereof,- and in consequence causing-a cessation of movement through thegear-train, thus arrest-" ing the carriage.-'

In carrying out this'phase of my:inv ention, "we 6:;

place a brake band 58 aboutthe peripheryiof wheel 2I anchoring said band as at SSQand con necting its. other end with one-arm=ofa bell crank fill, that is pivoted at H, thefree arm of said bell-crank having contacting'relation with a 5? vertically: disposed brake bar 62-.- I r Said brake bar, at its lower end, is pivotally? engaged :with a link '63 thatispivoted-toa base memberikpand at itsupper end-is piv'oted to alink:65,iwhosezfree end carries a weight ifii the" function of said weight being to rotate-to partly compensate the weight of brake bar 62 andassociated elements;.thereby facilitating the" raisingot-bar 62; while said bar is at' the same time shifted into another,- parallel, verticalplane, said band.- isfree from wheel 2| and thereforethe travel. of the carriage isunimpeded, but when said::brake. bar: 62 has been shifted to the full line-position thereof in said Fig. 13', 'then it has allowed a weight 68 to fall, said weight beingcarried by an arm 69, pivotedwat 10',:-and said"arm having a rearward hook portion 11- that lies in the path ;of' movement of the free arm'of belFcrank 60. Thus, with brake bar 62 "shifted as stated, whereby it is removed frompontact with bellcrank ,'thereby weight 68 ls-free to fall,and in 69 soifalling it co-acts by its hook I [with bell-crank '60 and causes the brake band to fricti6nally:en'-" gage wheel 2 l.

As thearti'cles borne-by 'the carriage near the upper limit: oftheirxtravel'thez topmost article said bar 11- extending-from: a. sleeve )1 8,;mounted on-a stud 19 which projects froin'a boss 80, and is tensionally heldthereto byaspring 8l whlch lies between sleeve 18 and the manipulating head 82' of stud T9, sleeve I8 and -boss'805having notch and toothint'e'rengaging means 83, to prevent relative rotation. The boss 8ll e'xtendsforwardly from a bracket-which is in theform of a channel 84, whose upper flange 84:isinclined forwardly downward, fora purposeto be referred to hereinafter, and saidzchannel, at its rearward'portion, is connected to the brake bar 62, by which. bar the channeland its associated parts are carried: 'From the foregoing description of'parts' and their. interrelation it will appear that as the topmost article of a risingzstacki'comes in contact with fingers 12 thereby said fingers and. conseduently channel 84 wil1 be elevated through carriage, intthe' manner previously described.

Withthe 'carriage'and'its supported stack .thus at rest,-then. the r-pullrod 54 -may be pulled forwardlyby'its handle 4, thus enabling stud51, on finger 56,:carried .by-slide-block 49', to'engage the rear of thetopmo'st article and topull it off the stack, fondelivery; I.

A weight 85, having v.a strand =86 that'passes over a pulley 81 and engages the block 49, serves to automatically return said. block preliminary to ai'isucceeding delivery ::of another topmost article.

The lever 88, shown as pivoted at 89 to frame 5|, carries a pin 90 which is adapted to engage under the flange84 when said lever is drawn forwardly, to thereby in a manual operation, lock the brake bar 62 in its elevated, shifted position with the carriage halted.

At 9| appears a front guard for the stack, which guard is to lie below the delivery position of the topmost article, to thereby prevent the dragging forward of the next adjacent article when the topmost one is being delivered. Guard 9| is mounted on a screw 92 that is threaded through a boss 93 at one end of said guard, and said screw is revoluble in spaced lugs 94, 95 that project from the frame at one side of the unit.

The articles A, which may be in the form of packages, or otherwise, are not limited as to their height or thickness, but accordingly thereto the front guard 9| may be adjusted by turning the screw 92, to shift said guard either up or down.

In the instance of a number of units, placed side by side in a cabinet, the frames of adjacent units may provide supporting means for the opposite ends of the guards, as indicated in Fig. 9.

Vertical guide members for the stack of articles on carriage table M are indicated at 96, 91, and may be adjusted to co-act with stacked articles of varying widths and lengths. For this purpose the table 14 has the arcuate edge 98 clearance for adjustment of the rear guide 96, and the arcuate slot clearance 99 for adjustment of the lateral guide 91.

The lug I00, projecting from sleeve 18 serves as a finger pull for releasing said sleeve from its engagement at 83, whereupon said sleeve can be rotated to throw the fingers 12 out of the vertical path above the carriage, for loading and reloading purposes.

At IOI we have indicated a pivotal pawl, which may be weighted and serve, until released, as a lock to prevent the operation of pull rod 54.

Variations within the spirit and scope of our invention are equally comprehended by theforemost article in rising to its-delivery position,- for,

shifting; said brake bar to 'thereby cause the brake to be applied. 9

governor means including a pinion in engagement with, said rack, alsoa gear train and av wheel rotatable thereby,1a brakei band ,for said wheel, a bell-crank to operate said brake band, a brake bargthatis shiftable both vertically and laterally, stack engagingmeans carried by said brake-bar in spaced opposition to the, topmost article on a risingstack, and aweighted arm urging said bellcranksto apply said brakeband, said brake bar in one position engaging said bell-crank to hold said brake band released from said wheel, said stack engaging means when met by said topmost article in the rise of the carriage, and rising therewith, thereby shifting the brake bar out of engagement with said bell-crank, and permitting the weighted arm to apply the brake band, thus arresting the carriage.

3. The combination, in a vending machine, of a vertically movable carriage, a table thereon adapted to support a stack of articles, said table provided with arcuate clearances, and vertical guides adjustable with respect to said clearances to co-act with supported articles of varying widths and lengths.

4. The combination, in a vending machine, having a frame, of a carriage adapted to support av stack of articles, means for urging said carriage upwardly, guide means for said carriage, means for retarding its travel speed, a pulley mounted in an upper position on said frame, weights to overbalance said carriage, a cable connecting said weights and carriage over said pulley, and means for suspending said weights released from said cable whilst loading said carriage.

5. The combination, in a vending machine, having a frame, of a carriage adapted to support a stack of articles, means for urging said carriage upwardly, guide means for said carriage, means for retarding its travel speed, a pulley mounted in an upper position on said frame, weights to overbalance said carriage, a cable connecting said weights and carriage over said pulley, a second pulley mounted on said frame, and a handled cable thereon provided with means for engaging said weights, whereby said weights may be lifted to a suspended position, released from the carriage engaging cable.

6. The combination, in a vending machine, having a frame, of a carriage adapted to support a stack of articles, means for urging said'carriage upwardly, guide means for said carriage, means for retarding its travel speed, stacked weights to overbalance said carriage, said weights havingan 4- i aperture thereflimuah; .aplatform :1 ion: weights, said platform havingzorifldoszcthere through, a fixed vertical guide memheitextended through" onemtrsaid; oriflcesiaa pulley mounted in an uppers'positionaon saidtrame; a --;cable. ens

passing -'ovemsa.id: pulie'm a .plate-xha'vmzloriflces thenethrough; whereof one corifice. :receives: said guide member,:said plately nz beneath plat-x:

formand having meansotz-connectiomwithxsaid cablethrou'gh an orifice in aidplattorm; a second cable, provided with. a :handle at onenend and v passing over a second pulley; alsomounted-in said frame, both said cableslpassingithrough the-cavity in said weights; and alignedoflflces 'in said: plat-'1 i'ormtand plate; a block zengagingnthe othen end "of said second cable, means tor -said,

in said plate tol engage said platform for raising said weightsto a desired elevation when loading block whereby it'may be drawnthrough an-orinoe the carriage, said weights; being disposed at one side of theirguid'e member, -t hereby calmsii'ig tho edges" of the guide member I containin'g oriflce in the platform to frictionally' suspendsaid plat form andweights as they beomne canted over by their'own gravity.

7. "The combination, in a vendin'g machine} having a frame, of a vertically movable carriage adapted to carry a stack oi! articles; means to urgesaid carriage upwardlypgoyenior means to retard the travel speed of' said cai rialgwa shittable brake bommbm said'trame', :a brake toaeoeaot with maid governoncmeanaaowabieqthrmmmthe medimnot saidibrakezbantoactuate. said brain,- and -stack=ensasim=meana carried by said :brake bar,.-actuable3by.:;the V-topmost article in rising; to

its; delivery "mtion'gi 02': shining: 531d brake; bar toAhex-eby cammthembrahe tube applied.

- .oombinationnin a Nendina machine, of a arerticaliymoyablelcarriaa1adapted to carry-a stacks-oi articles; means tosurzeyrsaid' carriage upwardly,;a tvertiealmaekigovemormeanszcamed by said; carriagesto retardwits. travel speed, said- :overncnmeana beina connected ;to rashsa brakerbandim oo-aot with; said now :means, a to operate: said .-;brake:

band,.:a;braker-ban that isi'sidttable :bothfwertte caily and latmally, stacknngalinmmeans canied ALFRED 'E.RE1ME .1;v WAIlTER KL; TAVENDER. -f

byisaidbralcebanin spaced 7

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