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DISPENSING MEANS FOR VENDING MACHINE TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a dispensing means for use in a vending machine for

selectively dispensing containers having a circular cross sectional shape. BACKGROUND ART

Vending machines are in common usage throughout the world and generally include a

plurality of parallel upright vending channels in which are stored a plurality of soft drink

containers having a circular cross-section. The vending channels can be in fluid

communication with a refrigeration system to allow refrigerated air circulate and cool the soft drink containers. Various forms of dispensing means are located at the lower end of each channel which allow for single dispensing of the required soft drink following payment

and selection.

In the vending industry it is usual for a vending machine to be particularly constructed

for one configuration of vending channels and with particular allocated dispensing means

limited to dispense containers only from a predetermined vending channel. The dispensing means must be purpose built therefore not allowing for easy and cost effective retrofitting of

a plurality of dispensing means. Access to the dispensing means for service of various parts

of the vending machine, is generally limited and requires the vending machine to be out of

operation for a considerable time. As vending machines are usually refrigerated, the machine

is not commercially useable until expiration of a further down time in which the containers

must be sufficiently refrigerated following completion of the service or repair of the vending

machine. Another problem of known vending machines is the need for a plurality of vending

channels to be able to hold different quantities of different types of soft drinks so that a large

quantity of the most popular soft drink is available while still allowing smaller quantities of 2

the less popular soft drinks. Also vending machines generally cannot cater for a range of sizes of containers.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a vending machine that overcomes

or ameliorates one or more of the above problems by providing more flexibility and accessibility of a vending machine and its components.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a vending machine with an improved

dispensing means. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a dispensing means

which is located below a plurality of vending channels defined by spaced upright walls with

the containers to be dispensed lying within the vending channels, the dispensing means

including a plurality of releasing mechanisms located adjacent each other and able to be

separately or jointly controlled so that the vending channels can be divided into defined portions to receive different sized containers or different content containers and the required

separate or adjacent releasing mechanisms can be activated to dispense the required

container from the defined portion of the vending channel.

In one form there is a separate dispensing means which is able to be located below a

plurality of vending channels defined by spaced upright walls with the containers to be dispensed lying within the vending channels, the dispensing means including a plurality of

releasing mechanisms which allow dispensing from one vending channel or portion and able

to be controlled externally of the dispensing means. The separate dispensing means include

a bank of releasing mechanisms mounted on a carrier that is separably removable from the

dispensing means. In one form of the invention the dispensing means include a plurality of

releasing mechanisms located adjacent each other and able to be separably or coactively 3

controlled so that a vending channel can be divided into longitudinal portions to receive different sized containers and the required separate or adjacent releasing mechanisms can be

activated to dispense the required container from the allocated portion of the vending channel. The plurality of adjacent releasing mechanisms which are able to dispense from different longitudinal portions of a vending channel is mounted on a carrier which is

separably removable from the dispensing means.

In one form of the invention there is provided a dispensing means having a plurality of

releasing mechanisms able to be activated by respective solenoids which are controllable

externally of the dispensing means.

In another form of the invention, there is provided a dispensing means having a

plurality of manual releasing mechanisms which are operable by a linear drive means

mounted adjacent a plurality of releasing mechanisms and including a linear track and a

solenoid bank able to travel along the linear track and engage a selected one or more of the

releasing mechanisms to cause a container to be released from a selected vending channel or

portion .

In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a vending

machine having a dispensing means located below a plurality of vending channels defined by

spaced upright walls with the containers to be dispensed lying within the vending channels,

the dispensing means including a plurality of releasing mechanisms located adjacent each

other and able to be separately or coactively controlled so that the vending channels can be

divided into defined portions to receive different sized containers or different content containers and the required separate or adjacent releasing mechanisms can be activated to

dispense the required container from the allocated defined portion of the vending channels.

The dispensing means can include a bank of releasing mechanisms mounted on a carrier 4

which is separably removable from the dispensing means. The dispensing means includes a

plurality of releasing mechanisms located adjacent each other and able to be separably or coactively controlled so that a vending channel can be divided into defined portions to receive different sized containers or different content containers and the required separate or

adjacent releasing mechanisms can be activated to dispense the required container from the

allocated portion of the vending channel. The plurality of adjacent releasing mechanisms able to dispense from different defined portions of a vending channel is mounted on a carrier

which is separably removable from the dispensing means.

In one form of the invention there is provided a vending machine having a plurality of

releasing mechanisms which are each able to be activated by respective solenoids and

controllable externally of the dispensing means.

In another form of the invention, there is provided a vending machine having a

plurality of manually releasing mechanisms which are operable by a linear drive means

mounted adjacent a plurality of the manually releasing mechanisms and including a linear

track and a solenoid bank able to travel along the linear track and engage a selected one or more of the releasing mechanisms to cause a container to be released from a selected vending

channel or portion .

In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a dispensing means which is separate and insertable into a vending machine or integral with a vending

machine, for individually dispensing circular cross sectional containers from a staggered

stack of containers held in a vending channel in a vending machine, the vending channel having an escape opening at one end, the dispensing means having releasing mechanism

locatable adjacent the escape opening of the vending channel in the vending machine and

including a rocking body located in the path of the staggered stack escaping the vending 5

channel and which in one state in combination with a drop chute below or extending from at or near the bottom of the vending channel engages the lowest container and prevents

dispensing of the lowest container and in a second state allows movement of the rocking body to dispense the lowest container and return to the first state to prevent the next lowest container from being dispensed.

The rocking body can be latchable, and have an abutting arm and a cradling arm, the

rocking body pivotally mounted such that in the first state the rocking body is latched so that

the abutting arm is positioned at a distance from the end of the drop chute smaller than the

circular cross section of the containers being dispensed so that the lowest container is

prevented from being dispensed while in a second state the rocking body is unlatched and

pivotally rotates the abutting arm away from the end of the drop chute so as to allow the

lowest container to fall to the cradling arm and be dispensed and such that the action of

dispensing forces the rocking body to rotate pivotally and return the abutting arm to the first

state having a distance from the end of the drop chute less than the cross sectional size of the

containers to prevent the next lowest container being dispensed.

The dispensing means include a plurality of drop chutes and rocking bodies linearly

mounted adjacent each other and separately or in combination able to be controlled so as to

allow dispensing of various sizes and lengths of containers or to allow separate dispensing of containers from various portions of vending channels located adjacent each other. The

separate or combined operation of the rocking bodies is by electronic means, electrical

means, mechanical means, or a combination .

In one form of the invention the rocking body includes a solenoid providing the required latch mechanism. 6

The dispensing means include a plurality of drop chutes and rocking bodies able to be located below vending channels of a vending machine and allowing dispensing from a

selected one or portion of laterally arranged adjacent vending channels. A linear drive system can be included which extends across a plurality of laterally arranged rocking bodies

and includes a bank of one or more solenoids that can be transported along a linear track to a

position to activate selected rocking bodies so as to dispense the required container from a

vending channel or portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention is more readily understood, embodiments of the invention

will be described with reference to the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a vending machine with a dispensing means in accordance

with one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of a vending machine having a dispensing means in

accordance with the embodiment of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front diagrammatic view of the dispensing means of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the dispensing means of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged front view of a portion of the dispensing means of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a perspective diagrammatic view of a linear drive system in accordance with a

second aspect of the invention.

Fig. 7 is an illustrative view of containers in a vending machine that can be used in accordance with the dispensing means of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a plan diagrammatic view of the linear drive system of Fig. 6.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 7

According to one aspect of the invention as shown in Figures 1 to 5, there is provided a vending machine 1 1 including a plurality of vending channels 13 defined by parallel upright

walls 15 spaced across an upper part of the vending machine 1 1. Each wall 15 of the vending machine defining the vending channels 13 ends at a common lower height with escape openings 16 at the lower ends of each vending channel 13. A plurality of circular

cross sectional containers, being cans or bottles, can be stacked in a lying position within the

vending channels 13 and can escape through respective lower escape openings 16. The

vending channels 13 include vertical dividers 19 which divide the depth of each vending

channel 13 into a plurality of separate defined portions of vending channels located

respectively behind each other. Therefore a vending machine having seven laterally adjacent

vending channels 13 can be multiplied to twenty-one vending channels by vertical dividers 19

separating each vending channel 13 into 3 channels located respectively behind each other.

Different combinations of portions of vending channels can also be configured to allow

various depths that accommodate various sized containers.

A dispensing means 21 is located below the vending channels 13 and adjacent the

escape openings 16 but is separate therefrom to allow for retrofitting or removal for repair or

servicing. The dispensing means 21 includes a plurality of releasing mechanisms 22

associated with each vending channel 13 or portion of vending channel to allow separate

dispensing of containers from each channel or part . The releasing mechanisms 22 are

located in the path of containers escaping through the escape openings 16 of the vending

channels 13. A plurality of drop chutes 23 intermediate the releasing mechanisms 22 and the escape openings 16 of the vending channels 13 deflect the containers towards the releasing

mechanisms 22. The releasing mechanism 22 includes a rocking body 26 located in the path

of containers escaping through the escape opening 16 of each respective vending channel 13 8

and which in combination with the drop chute 23 prevents the lowest container being released. The subsequently higher containers are thereby retained above the lowest

container.

The rocking body 26 includes a planar top abutting arm 28 extending from one side of

5 an intermediate body portion and laterally offset to a lower straight arm extending from an

opposite side and which in combination with the intermediate body forms a cradling arm 29

in the shape of a reversed reclined L-shape. The abutting arm 28 and lower straight arm of the cradling arm being at an obtuse angle to the intermediate body portion.

Each rocking body 26 is pivotally mounted below the surface of the abutting arm 28

10 and cradling arm 29 and is able to be latched or unlatched by a solenoid 31 such that in a first

state the solenoid 31 latches the rocking body 26 in a position such that the abutting arm 28

is located a distance from the end 24 of the drop chute 23 which is smaller than the cross

sectional size of the container falling from the escape opening 16 of the vending channel 13.

The lowest container A is thereby held in position between the abutting arm 28 and the end

15 24 of the drop chute 23. By control of the solenoid 31 the rocking body 26 is in its second

state and unlatched results in the weight of the lowest container A to force the rocking body

26 to pivot around the pivot 27 away from the end 24 of the drop chute 23 to enlarge the

opening such that the lowest container A falls into the cradling arm 29. The weight of the

lowest container and a return spring rotates the rocking body 26 back to the first position 0 releasing container A through outlet 36 of the dispensing means 21 and causes the abutting

arm 28 to engage the second lowest container B and retain it in the lowest position with the

solenoid 31 latching the rocking body 26 into the retaining position in its first state.

By having separate controls of a plurality of releasing mechanisms 22 located behind

each other in a particular vending channel 13, it is possible to divide the vending channel 13 9

into a plurality of separate portions which can accommodate various lengths of containers. As shown in Fig. 4, it is possible to dispense three separate cans with each releasing

mechanism controlling the release of each row of cans, when three releasing mechanisms 22 including solenoids 31 and rocking bodies 26 are located behind each other. In another

configuration it is possible to dispense two rows of bottles lying behind each other which are

longer than cans but can be dispensed by activation of the respective front and rear releasing

mechanisms while the intermediate releasing mechanism is not active. In a still further

configuration two coacting adjacent releasing mechanisms release a bottle which is the size

of two releasing mechanisms with cans being dispensed by the third mechanism. In another

configuration a bottle the length of all three mechanisms can be released by coacting three

adjacent releasing mechanisms.

In order to accommodate the various circumferential sized containers in the dispensing

means an adjusting rod 41 as shown in Fig. 2 can be inserted through the front of the

dispensing means to engage with respective drop chutes 23 so as to ensure by positioning of

the adjusting rod 41 in position one or position two the relative position of the drop chute 23

as shown in Fig. 5 can be adjusted so that the distance between the end 24 of the drop chute and the abutting arm 28 in its first position is sized smaller than the diameter of the

respective containers and thereby is able to hold the containers in a retaining position.

As well as being able to separately dispense containers of various lengths, the

arrangement of the releasing mechanisms 22 behind each other below a single vending

channel 13 allows the releasing mechanisms 22 to be mounted on a single carrier 39 that is

separably removable from the dispensing means 21 by being slidable out through a front

opening 40. This allows for any servicing or replacement of any one releasing mechanism 22

on the entire carrier 39 of releasing mechanism 22. 10

Referring to Fig. 6, 7 & 8 there is shown an alternative control means of releasing mechanisms whether they be the releasing mechanisms 22 of the first embodiment including

the rocking body 26 and drop chute 23 or releasing mechanisms 41 including a pair of opposing drop rocking bodies 42 which on an upper outer side has a container holding face 43 able to engage the lowermost container in a vending channel 13 and pivotally rotatable so

as to dispense the required container from the vending channel or other releasing

mechanism. In Figure 6 there is shown three release mechanisms 41 located behind each other to dispense containers from one or more defined portions of a vending channel 13

located behind each other. The control and movement of the plurality of drop rocking

bodies 42 around their respective pivots by elongated latching levers 46 including rods 47

extending parallel from each release mechanism 41 through a central lower part of the front

release mechanisms 41 to the front of the dispensing means 21 and ending with cams 48. A

solenoid bank 51 which is drivable along a linear drive 52 extending across the front of the

dispensing means 21 allows the solenoid bank 51 to be located and engage the cams 48 of

the latching levers 46 associated with any one of the seven laterally adjacent vending

channels 13. By the structure of the linear drive means this can be separably removable from

the dispensing means 21.

As shown in Fig. 7 when three releasing mechanisms including drop rocking bodies 42

are located behind each other, it is possible to dispense three separate cans with each releasing mechanism controlling the release of each row of cans. In another configuration it

is possible to dispense two rows of bottles lying behind each other which are longer than cans but can be dispensed by activation of the respective front and rear releasing mechanisms

by the respective latching levers 46 while the intermediate releasing mechanism is not active.

In a still further configuration two adjacent releasing mechanisms is jointly coactivated to 1 1

release a bottle which is the size of two releasing mechanisms with cans being dispensed by the third mechanism. In another configuration a bottle the length of all three mechanisms can

be released by coactivating three adjacent releasing mechanisms.