U.S. patent number 3,810,560 [Application Number 05/361,988] was granted by the patent office on 1974-05-14 for dispenser with adjustable paddle vending member.
Invention is credited to Berend Stegeman.
United States Patent |
3,810,560 |
Stegeman |
May 14, 1974 |
DISPENSER WITH ADJUSTABLE PADDLE VENDING MEMBER
Abstract
A vending machine for cans or bottles having a dispensing
mechanism comprising a pair of paddle vending members onto which
the cans or bottles are fed and from which these items are finally
dispensed. A two piece shaft with a vending member on each has its
two pieces coupled together by a two position coupling member, the
position of the coupling being easily changed to alter the
positions of the paddle vending members relative to each to thereby
allowing vending of either short cans or long bottles by such
change.
Inventors: |
Stegeman; Berend (Belleville,
Ontario, CA) |
Family
ID: |
23424234 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/361,988 |
Filed: |
May 21, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
221/116;
221/241 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F
11/24 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G07F
11/24 (20060101); G07F 11/16 (20060101); G07f
011/24 () |
Field of
Search: |
;221/116,241,266 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Reeves; Robert B.
Assistant Examiner: Scherbel; David A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Ridout & Maybee
Claims
What we claim as our invention is:
1. In a can or bottle vending machine a dispensing arrangement
comprising a stacking rack assembly for holding items to be vended,
a rotatable feed mechanism located under the rack assembly, said
feed mechanism comprising a shaft member rotatably moujted on each
end thereof, a driving motor for the shaft driving one end thereof,
a double cam carrying member connected to the other end thereof,
said shaft being separated into first and second shaft sections,
the sections being rigidly but separably coupled together by a two
position coupling member, and first and second multi-vaned paddle
vending members rigidly attached to the first and second shaft
sections respectively, said paddle members being adapted to receive
items being vended from the rack assembly, the second shaft section
having the cam carrying member rigidly mounted thereon and being
spring-mounted to allow longitudinal movement of the second shaft
section away from the first shaft section, the coupling member
having an inner coupling position and an outer coupling position,
the paddle vending members being in vane-alignment in one of the
said coupling positions and vane-misalignment in the other coupling
position whereby the line of alignment of vanes in one paddle
member substantially intersects the angles formed by adjacent pairs
of vanes in the other paddle member, and said double cam carrying
member having a first cam with a number of raised cam portions
thereon equal to the number of vanes on each paddle member and a
second cam with twice as many raised cam portions thereon, a
switching means controlling the flow of power to said driving motor
and having a switch member thereon in contact with one or the other
of the first and second cams, said switching means being controlled
by the raised cam portion on the first and second cams and the
switch member being in contact with the first cam and the second
cam with the paddle members in vane-alignment position and
vane-misalignment position respectively, and a delivery chute
located under the paddle vending members and adapted to receive
items being vended therefrom.
2. The dispensing arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein each
paddle vending member has four vanes located thereon and the first
and second cams have four raised cam portions and eight raised cam
portions respectively.
3. The dispensing arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein with
the paddle vending members in vane alignment, the vending machine
is adapted to vend one long item or two short items at a time and
with the paddle vending members in misalignment the vending machine
is adapted to vend one short item at a time.
4. The dispensing arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
coupling member has two portions, one on each shaft section and
each portion has long and short teeth and deep and shallow slots,
the two portions coupling rigidly together in the inner coupling
position with the long teeth in the deep slots and the short teeth
in the shallow slots and in the outer coupling position with the
long teeth in the shallow slots and the short teeth in the deep
slots.
5. The dispensing arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein a
product retaining rod is provided at the bottom of the rack
assembly, said rod being swingable into a position for supporting
product items in the rack assembly.
6. The dispensing arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
second shaft section has a compressed helical spring around it
between the vanes of the second paddle and the mounting for the
shaft member, said spring biasing the first and second shaft
sections together.
7. The dispensing arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein a
spacer back plate is provided in the stacking rack assembly, said
back plate being variably positioned to provide for items to be
vended of different length.
Description
A very large variety of automatic vending machines dispensing many
different kinds of products have been provided by the prior art and
amongst the most common are those vending cans and bottles and, in
particlar bottled and canned drinks. One of the problems associated
with containerized drink vending machine is allowing for the
difference in size of containers, particularly in length. In order
to change any vending machine over to cans or bottles of different
length, it has been necessary to make time-consuming and complex
mechanical adjustments to a machine.
Typical of automatic vending machines which dispense products
singly from a row containing more than one product are those
disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,873,317 and 2,272,750. However, with
both of these systems, it is necessary to use complicated and
lengthy procedures to convert to the dispensing of containers of
different size. In copending U.S. Pat. application No. 342,311
filed Mar. 16, 1973, a vending machine for vending product items of
different size is disclosed which has an easily and quickly
operated converting mechanism. However, there are a number of
moving parts associated with this vending mechanism, including
lengthy endless drive and support chains. Elimination of such
moving parts would be an advantageous improvement.
An automatic vending machine has now been discovered which has a
simply arranged dispensing mechanism which is easily converted in a
very short time to vend bottles or cans of different length.
The apparatus of the invention is a dispensing arrangement in a can
or bottle vending machine comprising a stacking rack assembly
holding items to be vended and a special rotatable feed mechanism
accepting items from the rack assembly. The feed mechanism
comprises a rotatably mounted shaft member driven by a motor, the
shaft being separated into first and second sections. A double cam
carrying member having a first cam and a second cam is connected to
the end of the shaft opposite the motor and the two shaft sections
are rigidly but separably connected together by a two position
coupling member. First and second multi-vaned paddle vending
members are rigidly attached to the first and second shaft sections
respectively, the paddle members being adapted to receive items
being vended from the rack assembly. The first shaft section is in
driven engagement with the motor and the second shaft section has
the double cam carrying member rigidly connected thereto and is
spring mounted to allow longitudinal movement of the second section
away from the first shaft section. The two position coupling member
has an inner coupling position and an outer coupling position, the
paddle vending members being in vane-alignment in one of the
coupling positions and in vane-misalignment in the other coupling
position such that the line of alignment of vanes in one paddle
member substantially intersects the angles formed by adjacent pairs
of vanes in the other paddle member. The first cam has a number of
raised cam portions thereon equal to the number of vanes on each
paddle member and the second cam has twice as many raised cam
portions thereon. A switching means controls the flow of power to
the driving motor and a switch member thereon is in switching
contact with one of the two cams. The switching means is controlled
by the raised cam portions of the cams and the switch member is in
contact with the first cam and the second cam with the paddle
members in vane-alignment position and vane-misalignment position
respectively. A delivery chute is located under the paddle vending
members and is adapted to receive items being vended therefrom.
It is an object of the invention to provide a can and bottle
vending machine having a simple dispensing mechanism and which can
be quickly and easily converted to vending items of different
length.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from
the description following taken in conjunction witn the
accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the inner portion of a
vending machine, four separate rack assemblies being shown but only
one dispensing arrangement embodying the invention being shown;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view through line 2--2 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the essential dispensing
portion of the arrangement embodying the invention but converted
from that shown in FIG. 2 to dispense items of shorter length;
FIG. 4 is a front elevational view through line 4--4 of FIG. 3;
and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the two section shaft and double
paddle wheel dispensing arrangement of the invention, with shaft
sections shown separated and portions broken away.
Referring specifically to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a front view in
elevation of the inner storage and dispensing portion of a vending
machine embodying the invention and FIG. 2 is an elevational view
through line 2--2 of FIG. 1. Although four separate dispensing
lines or units are shown in FIG. 1, only the right hand unit is
shown with dispensing arrangement therein for the sake of
simplicity. A stacking rack assembly 10 is loaded with items 11 to
be vended, in this case as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, with soft drink
bottles, such as 10 ounce bottles. Located under the rack assembly
10 is a rotatable feed mechanism 12 and inclined ramp member 13
directs the bottles 11 onto the feed mechanism 12. A switch
mechanism 14 is advantageously located on the ramp 13 and
spring-loaded switch 15 swings upwardly when the rack assembly 10
is empty, thereby closing a circuit and operating an empty
indicating light (not shown).
The feed mechanism 12 comprises a shaft member 16 rotatably mounted
at each end thereof, such as in bearing 17 at one end and onto
motor shaft 18 at the other end. Driving motor 19 drives the shaft
18 and the shaft member 16 to which it is pinned. A double cam
carrying member 20 is attached to the other end of the shaft 16
such as by pin 21 and the member 20 has a first cam 22 and a second
cam 23 thereon. The shaft member 16 is separated into first and
second shaft sections 24,25 and the sections 24,25 are rigidly but
separably coupled together by a two position coupling member 26.
First and second multi-vaned paddle vending members 27,28 are
rigidly attached to the shaft sections 24,25 respectively such as
by welds 29, the paddle members 27,28 being adapted to receive
items being vended from the rack assembly 10. Thus, the paddle
members 27,28 are located under the portion of the rack assembly 10
to which the items being vended are directed by the ramp 13 and
members 27,28 receive the bottle 11 (as shown in FIG. 1) and the
bottle rests between adjacent vanes of the paddle members (as shown
in FIG. 2).
The second shaft section 25 has the cam carrying member 20 attached
thereto and the section 25 is spring-mounted such as by helical
spring 30 located around the shaft. The spring 30 is located
between the paddle member 28 and the bushing 17 and is in a
compressed state thereby urging the two shaft sections together but
allowing longitudinal movement of the shaft section 25 away from
the shaft section 24 by pulling outwardly on the cam carrying
member 20.
The coupling member 26 has an inner coupling position, that shown
in FIG. 2, and an outer coupling position, described hereinafter
with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In the inner coupling position
shown in FIG. 2 the vanes 31 of the first paddle member 27 are in
alignment with the vanes 32 of the second paddle member 28, thereby
providng a continuous even resting place for the bottle 11 being
dispensed as shown in FIG. 2. As the motor 19 turns the shaft 16 a
one quarter turn one of the bottles 11 is allowed to fall away from
the paddle members 27,28, as shown in FIG. 1, and the falling
bottle drops into a delivery chute 33 located under the paddle
vending members 27,28, the chute 33 being adapted to safely receive
items being vended by way of sloped surfaces 34,35.
Proper timing and operation of the motor 19 is accomplished by way
of the cams 22,23 on the cam carrying member 20 in cooperation with
a switching means 36 which controls power supplied to the motor.
With the coupling member 26 in the inner coupling position and
vanes of paddle members 27,28 in aligned position, a switch member
37 is in contact with outer first cam 22 which has a number of
raised cam portions 38 equal to the number of vanes on each of the
paddle members 27,28 and in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
there are four of the raised cam portions 38 on the first cam 22
and four of the vanes 31,32 on each of the paddle members 27,28.
Upon activation of the motor 19 by feeding of a coin through a
standard coin feeding mechanism the shaft 16 and the paddle wheels
27,28 are rotated, thereby discharging an item being vended, in
this case a soft drink bottle, off the vanes and down into the
discharge chute 33. At the same time, the switch 37 is activated by
riding onto one of the raised cam portions 38 on the cam 22. The
switching means 36 is operated and it acts to stop the motor 19
after a one quarter turn of the shaft 16. The dispensing mechanism
is then set up for the next vending operation, with one item 11
having been vended and another item 11 having been fed onto the
paddle members 27,28 from the rack assembly 10.
Although the dispensing arrangement of the invention as set up in
FIGS. 1 and 2, with vanes of the paddle members 27,28 in
vane-alignment, has been described with reference to the vending of
one long product at a time, it can be appreciated that two short
products at a time could be vended instead of one long one merely
by having two rows of short products stacked in the rack assembly
10 rather than the one row of long products. Thus, for example, one
row of 10 ounce soft drink bottles, or two rows of 10 ounce soft
drink cans, can be vended. Vending of no return 10 ounce shorter
bottles can be handled merely by moving spacer back plate 50 of the
rack assembly forward (see FIG. 2). In the embodiment shown in FIG.
2, the spacer back plate 50 is shown supported by angle support
members 51 in its most forward position. The support members 51
slide back and forth through rear plate 52 of the rack assembly and
have notches 53 therein which engage in the rear plate 52 to hold
the spacer plate 50 in position. The spacer plate 50 is shown
adjusted to two other positions by broken lines 54,55 with the
support members 51 in corresponding positions 56,57. Retaining
spring 58 holds the support members 51 downwardly in engaged
position in the rear plate 52.
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings, the dispensing
arrangement of the invention is shown converted to the vending of
short items, one at a time. FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of
this arrangement, with two rows of short items 39,40, in this case
10 ounce soft drink cans, in the rack assembly 10 feeding down onto
the paddle members 27,28. FIG. 4 is a front elevational view
through line 4--4 of FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3 the coupling member
26 is pulled apart, by pulling outwardly on the cam carrying member
20, into an outer coupling position whereby the shaft sections
24,25 are pulled apart, but still remain rigidly coupled together,
and the paddle member 28 is rotated, in the arrangement shown in
FIGS. 3 and 4, by 45.degree. in relation to the paddle member 27.
At the same time the cam carrying member 20 moves outwardly so that
the second inner cam 23 is in contact with the switch member 37.
The cam 23 is seen to have eight raised cam portions 41 thereon or
twice as many as the number of vanes on each of the paddle members
27,28. With the paddle members 27,28 in vane misalignment as in
this arrangement, the line of alignment of vanes in one paddle
member substantially intersects the angles formed by adjacent pairs
of vanes in the other paddle member.
In the operation of the dispensing arrangement of the invention
with the paddle members 27,28 in misalignment by in the order of
45.degree., the motor 19 operates, as before, upon feeding of a
coin to the vending machine and the shaft 16 turns along with the
paddle members 27,28 and the cam carrying member 20. As the cam 23
rotates on the member 20 the switch member 37 on the switching
means 36 rides onto one of the raised cam portions 41, the
switching means 36 is operated and the motor 19 is stopped, having
acted to turn the shaft 16 only one eighth of a turn or 45.degree..
The dispensing arrangement after one dispensing action would move
from the position shown in FIG. 3 to that shown in FIG. 4 with the
paddle members 27,28 having rotated 45.degree., the item 40 falling
away from the paddle member 28 down into the chute 33 and the item
39 being carried around on the paddle member 27 to be dispensed on
the next dispensing action.
In vending machine the dispensing arrangement is advantageously
provided with a product support or retaining rod 42 which can be
swung into supportinng position under product items in the rack
assembly 10 by way of handle 43 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) and the items
remaining in the system can be held in position in the event that
the dispensing mechanism is being worked on or needs to be
withdrawn for cleaning. The retaining rod 42 is held in supporting
position by way of retaining member 59 over which the handle 42 is
clipped.
The two position coupling member 26 of the dispensing arrangement
is shown in an enlarged perspective view in FIG. 5, the two halves
44,45 of the member 26 connected to the ends of the shaft sections
24,25 being shown pulled apart. A portion of one of the vanes 32 on
the paddle member 28 rigidly located on the shaft section 25 is
shown broken-away and the paddle member 27 is shown rigidly located
on the shaft section 24. Each of the portions or halves 44,45 of
the coupling member 26 has long teeth 46 and short teeth 47 and
also deep slots 48 and shallow slots 49. In the inner coupling
position with the paddle members 27,28 in vane alignment, the
position shown in FIG. 5 but with the coupling member 26 closed,
the two portions 44,45 couple rigidly together with the long teeth
46 in the deep slots 48 and the short teeth 47 in the shallow slots
49. In the outer coupling position the shaft section, and along
with it the paddle member 28 and the coupling portion 45, are
rotated by 45.degree. and the coupling halves 45,46 are brought
rigidly together with the long teeth 46 in the shallow slots 49 and
the short teeth 47 in the deep slots 48. With this re-arrangement
the shaft section and with it the cam carrying member 20 (see FIGS.
2 and 3) are adjusted outwardly and inwardly as desired.
It can be appreciated that the paddle member 28 could be arranged
differently on the shaft section 25 so that the paddle members
27,28 were in vane misalignment with the coupling member 26 in the
inner coupling position and in vane alignment with the coupling
member 26 in the outer coupling position. In such case the cams
22,23 would be reversed on the cam carrying member 20 with the cam
22 having four raised cam portions on the inside and the cam 23
with eight raised cam portions on the outside.
It can also be appreciated that three or more vanes could be used
on the paddle members 27,28 up to any practical number which would
provide for supporting items to be vended between adjoining vanes.
In cases where other than four vanes were used the number of raised
cam portions on the cams 22,23 and the number and positioning of
teeth in the coupling member 26 would have to be changed
accordingly.
The dispensing arrangement of the invention has been described with
reference to the vending of cans or bottles of soft drinks but it
can be appreciated that items other than containers for soft drinks
can be vended through the dispensing arrangement described
herein.
* * * * *