GB791049A - Improvements in and relating to devices for purchasing returned containers, in particular bottles - Google Patents

Abstract

791,049. Vending apparatus. WIEGANDT, K., and WIEGANDT, W. June 7, 1956 '[July 23, 1955], No. 17589/56. Class 27 A device for accepting empty containers, such as bottles F, and refunding the charge made for them is fitted at the top of the insulated cabinet 6 of a vending machine and is provided with means for testing the shape of the body and mouth of the container to ensure that only sound, correctlyshaped containers are accepted. The bottle to be returned is inserted past a hinged flap 10 into a member 4 which has one or more chambers 5 and is mounted on a rotatable shaft 3 connected by gearing 6 to a shaft 7 which can be driven through a clutch 8 from a knob 9 on the outside of the machine. The chambers 5 are sloped so that any contents remaining in the bottle rest at the bottom and thus tilt the other way as the member 4 rotates and so drain the bottle into a container; alternatively, a separate tilting device may act on the bottles. Three feelers 12 engage the body of the bottle in the chamber 5 and set the position of locking plates 14 co-operating with a lock disc 16 on the shaft 3. If any of the feelers engage an oversize portion of the bottle, a surface 15 is moved to block a stop 17 on the disc 16 or, if an undersize portion is detected; a surface 15<SP>1</SP> is moved to block an adjacent stop 17. The mouth of the bottle enters between a number of spring-loaded jaws 22 pivoted on a support 21 and, if the bead on the mouth is not chipped, all the jaws are opened to clear the head 20 of a support bolt 19 and allow the support to be pushed back by springs 29 out of the way of the member 4. With the locking disc 16 free and the support 21 retracted, the member 4 may be rotated through 120 degrees by the knob 9 to deliver the bottle to a shoot 2 and thence to. a conveyer K by means of which the bottles are conveyed to a lower compartment of the machine; bottles of non-circular section are constrained in their movement down the shoot by paddles 45 or guide rails. A drive pin on the shaft 7 engages a driver on a disc 32 rotatable on the shaft and the disc, after it disengages from a pawl 35, topples over so that an arm 34 closes a switch 51 in the circuit of an electromagnet 53 for returning the support 21 to locking position. There is, however, no current supply to the switch 51 until the bottle, in moving to the shoot 2, closes a switch 52 that also connects the current supply to the electromagnet of a money-refunding device. To prevent operation of the device by the insertion of the hand or a template or wire, the flap 10, if open, moves a lever 41 so that the feelers 12 are held in a position in which the locking plates 14 block the disc 16. The rotatable member 4 may be replaced by an endless conveyer band.