US2359984A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Description

Oct. w, 1944. L. o. GARNER 2,359,984

VENDING MACHINE Original Filed May 17, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 n Fm INVENT OR.

LUE O.GARNER BY W4 ATTY L. O. GARNER VENDING MACHINE INV ENT OR. LUE O. GARNER ATTY Patented Oct. 10, 1944 2,359,984 VENDING "MACHINE Lue 0. Garner, Memphis, Tenn, assignor to Kennon Mott, Columbus, Ga.; Register temporary administrator of Kennon Mott, deceased Original application May 17, 1941, Serial No. 393,866. Divided and this application January 10, 1942, Serial No. 426,269

3 Claims.

This invention relates to bottle racks for machines for vending bottled goods in single items direct to the customer, and is a division of my co-pending application'for Vending machines,

Serial No. 393,866, filed May 17, 1941, now Patent i 2,338,714, issued January 11, 1944.

It will be understood that while the device is primarily intended for bottled goods it is similarly applicable to and useful in connection with,

the dispensing of substantially any article of circular cross section, particularly articles of small size.

Vending machines for bottled goods present a quite simple storage problem where small numbers of bottles are concerned, but where larger numbers are concerned heights or widths must necessarily be increased involving in the one case undue pressures when the case is full and in the other undesired spread as well as other difiiculties. is involved other and greater problems arise if sufficient storage is to be provided.

The objects of the present invention are:

To provide means for storing in compact vertically disposed units a considerable number of articles for dispensing;

To provide means utilizing lateral pressures of individual articles of one column for equalizing and reducing pressures of an otherwise unobstructed column;

To provide means for housing a plurality of such units;

To provide means for feeding the articles of each unit successively, one at a time, to the dispensing apparatus, and generally to improve the design and construction of such devices.

In accomplishing the objects of the invention I provide an insulated casing in which are housed one Or more, here indicated as four, vertically disposed storage racks, each rack in the instant showing comprising a unit holding twenty-four bottles for dispensing, the twenty-four bottle unit being selected because of the very common custom of handling bottles in case lots each con taining twenty-four bottles.

The casing may also house suitable refrigerating apparatus and chilling coils for cooling the stored bottles, as shown in the parent application above referred to, but not here reproduced, since they form no part of the instant invention.

The bottles in each unit are released in succession by suitable releasing apparatus which permits the discharge by gravity of one bottle at each operation. The preferred type of this release apparatus is fully disclosed in my co-pend- Also where more than one kind of goods J. Willard said ing application, above referred to, to which reference is here made and forms no specific .part of the present invention.

The means by which the foregoing and other objects are accomplished and the method of their accomplishment will readily be understood from the following specification upon reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of the device with the casing broken away in part to show one of the racks and portions of the other racks.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken as on the line II--II of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in which the various parts are indicated by numerals:

II is a casing, preferably insulated, having suitable framing I3, in which casing are housed a plurality of the instant bottle racks, four of these, A, B, C, and D, being here indicated. Each rack includes parallel upright sides l5 and I6, each here shown as comprising pairs of members, the members being supported at their upper and lower ends by the framing I3 and transverse members 19 forming a part of such framing.

One side, as the side I5, is preferably straight from top to bottom, and the other, as the side 46, for a major portion of its length from the top erably integral, downwardly continuing, portions I ii-B spaced somewhat in excess of a single bottle diameter from the opposite side l5 forming below suchoffset a single channelway only.

The rack units, as the units A and B, shown, may be entirely divorced or, as shown by the units C and D, they may haveone side, as the side IS, in common. Extending from the side [6 inward toward the side l5, are shelves 2| which interrupt the channelway adjacent the side IS. The shelves 2| are downwardly pitched at an angle which will insure discharge of bottles from such shelves, the shelves terminating adjacent the vertical center line of the rack, so that they discharge the bottles into the unobstructedchannelway when occasion permits.

22 is a bottom plate which, as shown beneath racks A and B, may be individual for each rack, or, as shown beneath racks C andD, may extend continuously beneath all.

23 are back members for the racks, against which members the bottom ends of the bottles are abutted when the bottles are placed in the racks. These members extend from top to bottom of the two channelways of each rack, but terminate'at least a full bottle diameter above the plat 22 to permit discharge of the bottles beneath the members. Individual back members are shown for each channelway of the racks A and B, but obviously a single wider back may be used behind both of the channelways of the rack,

or a single back, as the plate 23-A, may serve for the lower bottles of such units successively as they feed down by gravity. Such means may comprise for each unit amechanism such as described in my said co-pending application, this including a lowering cradle 25, arcuately curved in cross section to conformingly receive and descend under the weight of each lower bottle successively, and tiltably mounted as through a pin 21 on a reciprocable rod 29 to effect discharge. The rod 29 is connected at its lower end through a link 3| to one end of a lever 33, pivoted intermediate its length as by a pin 35 to a depending post 31, the lever being. biased, as by weighting, to return the cradle to bottle receiving position after each bottle discharge. The lower bottle l'|-A of each unit and the superposed bottles,

are supported by a dog 39 held by a latch 41 untilsuch dog is unlatched and released by suitable mechanism which may include a solenoid 43, the dog being displaced by the downward movement .of the said lower bottle and reestablished and -ply of bottles in the rack.

In operation the racks are filled either with bottles all of onekind, or if preferred with bottles of different brands of drinks to be dispensed. The bottles are withdrawn at the option of the purchaserrfrom any one of the racks. In this operation the latch 4|, by energization of the solenoid 43, releases the dog 39 and permits the weight of the column of bottles to force the cradle 25 downward until the engagement and action of the dogs 45 and 39 moves the latter dog in supporting position beneath the next succeeding bottle llB, allowing further descent of the cradle and ultimate discharge to be accomplished by the weight of a single bottle. After discharge the shelf 2lA, the bottle, as the bottle l1-D,

supported by such shelf rolls laterally into the unobstructed channelway, becoming on further descent of the bottle I1C the top bottle in the unobstructed channelway and subsequently, on descent past the next lower shelf, is itself supplanted as the top bottle, this action continuing until both channelways are entirely empty, the last bottle discharged being the lowest bottle of the obstructed channelway.

It will be noted that each of the shelf-supported bottles, alternately crows forward toward the unobstructed channelway as space between the descending bottles in the unobstructed channelway permits, this action to a large extent relieving the pressure which an entirely filled unobstructed channelway would have on the cradle when the release of the dog 39 permits direct thrust, and it will of course be understood that if the discharge angle of the shelves 2| be too steep that such action would entirely block the descent of the column. It will be noted, however, that the unequal spacing of the bottles in the two columns, caused by the interposition of shelves, prevents concurrent locking action by all the bottles.

I claim:

1. In a bottle vending machine, the combination with a casing having a rear door, and a front opening for delivery of said bottles, a rearwardly open bottle rack, disposed in said casing with its rearwardly open side accessible for filling through said door When open, said rack being supported at its upper and lower ends by said casing, and including side'members spaced apart in substantially parallel vertical planes to loosely hold two columns of superposed horizontally disposed bottles therebetween, and a front member extending from the upper end of said sides downward therealong, one of said side members above the lower end of the other thereof, converging abruptly toward the said other end, thence extending downwardly parallel therewith to establish below said convergence a single column, and above said convergence carrying shelves spaced apart to receive and support single bottles of one said column, said shelves extending substantially to the center of the space between said side members and defining obstructed and unobstructed columns for said bottles, and being inclined to discharge by gravity into said unobstructed column, said unobstructed column extending below 'said shelves, and said front member terminating above the lower end of said unobstructed column to allow forward discharge of bottles beneath said front, and means for removing bottles singly and successively from the bottom of said unobstructed column forwardly beneath said front member and through said delivery opening.

2.-In a bottle vending machine, the combination with a casing having a rear door, and a front opening for delivery of said bottles, a rearwardly open bottle rack, disposed in said casing with its rearwardly open side accessible for filling through said door when open, and'b-eing forwardly inclined from bottom to top, said rack being supported at its upper and lower ends by said casing, and including side members spaced apart in substantially parallel vertical planes to loosely hold two columns of superposed horizontally disposed bottles therebetween, and a front member extending from the upper end of said sides downward therealong, on of said side members terminating at its lower end above the lower end of the other thereof, and carrying shelves spaced apart to receive and support single bottles of one said column, said shelves extending substantially to the center of the space between said side members and defining obstructed and unobstructed columns for said bottles, and being inclined to discharge -by gravity into said unobstructed column, means below said shelves cooperating with the continuing said side member to extend said unobstructed column below said shelves, and said front member terminating above the lower end of said unobstructed column to allow forward discharge of bottles beneath said front, and means for removing bottles singly and successively from the bottom of said unobstructed column forwardly beneath said front and through said delivery opening.

3. In a bottle vending machine, the combination with a casing having a rear door, and a front opening for delivery of said bottles, a rearwardly open bottle rack disposed in said casing with its rearward open side accessible for filling through said door when open, and being forwardly inclined from bottom to top, said rack being supported at its upper and lower ends by said casing, and including side members spaced apart in substantially parallel vertical planes to loosely hold two columns of superposed horizontally disposed bottles therebetween, and a front member extending from the upper end of said sides downward therealong, one of said side members above the lower end of the other thereof converging abruptly toward the said other and thence downward parallel therewith to establish below said convergence a single column and above said convergence carrying shelves spaced apart to receive and support single bottles of one said column, said shelves extending substantially to the center of the space between said side members and defining obstructed and unobstructed columns for said bottles, and being inclined to discharge by gravity into said unobstructed column, said unobstructed column extending below said shelves, and said front member terminating above the lower end of said unobstructed column to allow forward discharge of bottles beneath said front, and means for removing bottles singly and successively from the bottom of said unobstructed column forwardly beneath said front member and through said delivery opening.

LUE O. GARNER.

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