Stamp vending machine

Abstract

A vending machine comprises a housing, a sheet for supporting stamps, a first roller means on which a portion of the sheet is stored, a second roller means cooperating with said first roller means to receive another portion of the sheet, drive means operable for moving the sheet between said roller means passed a viewing point, and removing means operable for removing a part of the sheet.

Parent Case Text

This is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 367,234 filed June 5, 1973, and abandoned.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a stamp vending machine.

Generally, in the philatetic field the sale of stamps is usually accomplished through the display of stamps in a book or small packets of stamps or as a loose selection of stamps.

Known stamp vending machines have been used for the sale of stamps for use in commerce. These prior art stamp vending machines have required the use of preformed rolls of stamps and have had a very limited selection of stamp types. In addition, the prior art stamp vending machines have relied on the perforation between adjacent stamps for the removal of stamps from the stamp vending machine. Furthermore, these machines have required the use of an operator to physically tear stamps along the perforations for the removal of a stamp.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One of the principal objects of the invention is a stamp vending machine suitable for vending a large variety of different stamps.

Another object of the invention is a stamp vending machine comprising a housing, a sheet for supporting stamps, first roller means on which a portion of the sheet is stored, second roller means cooperating with said first roller means to receive another portion of the sheet, drive means operable for moving said sheet between said roller means passed a viewing point, and removing means operable for removing part of said sheet.

Another object of the invention is a stamp vending machine featuring an operation wherein a coin forms a coupling between parts thereof for the selection and delivery of a stamp.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following specification and in part will be obvious therefrom without being specifically referred to, the same being realized and attained as pointed out in the claims hereof.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in a construction herein after set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature and the objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sheet on which stamps are mounted;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side cross-section view of the sheet under a viewing portion of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the sheet of stamps mounted within the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the viewing windows;

FIg. 6 is a side view of the viewing window of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the present invention with a portion of the housing removed;

FIG. 8 is a perspective of the coin engaging portion of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a section of FIG. 8 along the lines of 9--9;

FIG. 10 is a section view of FIG. 8 along the line 9--9; and

FIG. 11 is a section view of FIG. 8 along the line 9--9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In carrying the invention into effect, reference is had to FIGS. 1 to 11.

The vending machine 10 as shown in perspective in FIG. 1 is intended to be coin operated for dispensing stamps or similar objects. Display windows 13 are defined in housing 23 for providing a viewing point for the stamps 21. Coin slots 12 are provided for the selection of a stamp beneath one of the respective viewing points defined by one of the display windows 13 and along the line of stamps 21 below the particular coin slot 12. Of course, it is contemplated that a single coin slot could be used for the operation of the invention by the use of known internal machanical systems.

In operation, an operator by drive means rotates external parts 14 and/or 15 so that first roller means 16 and second roller means 17 cooperate together to move sheet 20 there between over rollers 18 and 19. Sheet 24 is provided for carrying the stamps and can be formed from ordinary plastic type food wrapping material or the like. The stamps 21 can be attached to sheet 20 by the use of a cooperating sheet 24 in a sandwich relationship.

A marking 22 on sheet 24 identifys the price of the stamp in the respective display windows 13. After a coin has been deposited into chute 12, handle 11 is rotated. The relationship between the deposited coin 28 and coaxial cylinders 11 and 27 is shown in FIGS. 8 to 11. The coin 28 enters cylinder 11 its position therein results in the rotaion of handle 11 being communicated to cylinder 27 so that rod 25 is also rotated. The rotation of rod 25 results in removing means to move upward to remove a portion of the sheet 20 on which the selected stamp 21 is located. Removing means 26 can be formed by enclosing an ordinary light bulb in a cylindrical part. It is advantageous to cover the top of the light bulb in the cylinder with an insulating part so that the heat generated by the light bulb is diverted from the axial direction of the cylinder and perferably along the inside walls of the cylinder. The object is to have the removing means, when moved in the vicinity of sheet 20, to produce a ring a heat about the selected stamp 21 so that a circular portion of the sheet 20 is removed. It is contemplated that removing means 26 can employ heat or punching means. It is also understood that the sheet 20 should be of a material suitable for the selected removing means. Of course, a sheet 20 of a paper type material could be used with a removing means for punching out a portion of the paper.

The portion of the sheet 20 removed carries with it the selected stamp 21 and is thereafter delivered to the operator to complete the vending machine operation.

I wish it to be understood that I desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur a person skilled in the arts.

Claims

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A stamp vending machine comprises a housing, a sheet for supporting stamps, a first roller means on which a portion of the sheet is stored, a second roller means cooperating with said first roller means to receive another portion of the sheet, drive means operable for moving the sheet between said roller means passed a viewing point, and removing means operable for removing a part of the sheet, said sheet comprising a plastic and said removing means comprising a heat source operable for producing a circular ring of heat whereby the removing means melts said sheet to cause the removal of a portion of said sheet.

2. The stamp vending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sheet comprises a sandwich of two layers whereby said layers are adapted to retain stamps.

3. The stamp vending machine as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a coin delivery means connected to said removing means whereby said removing means is operable after a coin has been deposited in said coin delivery means.

4. The stamp vending machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein apertures are defined in said housing to define a viewing window.