US2201464A - Vending machine for refrigerated articles - Google Patents

Description

Filed May 16, 1938 3 Sheets-She t 2 Patented May 21,

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VENDING MACHINE FOR REFRIGERATED ARTICLES Charles 1-. Wood, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application May 16, 1938; Serial No. 208,207

1 Claim." (01. 312-36) that character considerable difficulty has been experienced in being able to deliver a properly refrigerated package. Vending machines heretofore devised have held a suitable supply of the refrigerated articles which -are delivered from,

the machine followingtheinsertion of a coin. When a considerable time elapses between consecutive sales by the machine it has .been generally found that the first one ormore articles I delivered from the machine are usually soft. It

is, of course, highly desirable to be able to delivera refrigerated commodity which will 'be hard or properly refrigerated at all times, and although a considerable time may elapse between consecutive sales, the first article delivered-after :nuelapseof time will be delivered in proper con- I have discovered that the reason for the is usually maintained in a-refrigerated chamber and kept in stacked position therein. Frequent- I 1y, there is a'pocket or a. depression in the bottom surface of the storage chamber in which the lowermost article of the stack, which is the next article to be delivered, is allowed to remain until the next sale. Sometimes the sides of the lowermost article or that article which is next to be delivered are enclosed by the structure of the vending machine. Either design is detrimental to the preserving of the lowermost article of the stack in proper refrigerated condition. If a pocket is formed in the bottom of the storage chamber within which the lowermost article is "disposed, I find that cold air in the storage cham- 5 her does not enter into or settle in the pocket storage chamber may be'many degrees below freezing, the temperature in the pocket is not sumcient to keep the refrigeratedarticle in .a properly refrigerated or salable condition.

.' Where the lowermost article of the stack or g supply i largely surrounded by vending mafrom the stack.

chine structure, the surrounding structure'has the tendency of protecting the article from the cold air circulating in the storage chamber and this prevents the lowermost article of the stack,- or that article which is next to be sold, from be- 5 ing maintained in proper condition.

The second feature of design of the vending machine that has the effect ofwarming up or softening up that article that is next tobe sold resides in the fact that the withdrawing mechanism is usually operated by a metal handle which serves to open a door from the storage chamber and to eject or discharge the lowermost article When the 1 handle extends through the door or is so designed that there is 15 a direct metallic connection between the inside face of the door and the external handle, I find that a remarkable amount of heat is transferred through the handle and the metallic connection by conduction. The heat thus conducted tothe 20 interior of the storage chamber from the handle is also effective to cause the lowermost article of the stack to warm up or soften up. w

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved vending machine for vend- 25 ing refrigerated articles wherein the supply of articles to be sold is kept in stack form in the storage chamber and the storage chamber is so designed as to avoid pockets at the bottom thereof and to be conducive to thedevelopment of cir- 30 culation of cold air in the storage chamber so that the cold air may circulate freely and rapelapse between consecutive sales, the first article 40 delivered will be in a good salable condition.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in a 2' f the appended claim, reference is bad to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of theinvention, wherein:

Figure 1 is aviewin front; elevation of the improved vending machine, the door being bro- 5o ken away to show thelguides for :the stacks of articlesinside the storage chamber;

Fig. 2 is a view .in side elevation of the vending machine;

Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section taken substantially upon the line 3-3 upon Fig. 1 in the direction indicated;

Fig. 4 isa horizontal section taken substanwherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, the improved vending machine comprises a suitable cabinet which proyides a lower compressor compartment, generally designated at l0, and an upper storage compartment, generally designated at H. In the lower compartment Hi there may be disposed any suitable form of motor-driven compressor or the .equivalent for compressing a refrigerating medium which expands within a cooling coil I2 disposed adjacent the back of the storage chamber ll. Any suitable form of cooling mechanism may be employed for refrigerating the storage chamber H. In the preferred form of construction, however, the expansion coil is preferably arranged at the back of the storage chamber and above the bottom thereof.

The storage chamber has its front wall normally closed by a hinged door I 4 which is locked in closed position by' means of a suitable latch l5 provided with a lock ii. In the forward wall of the cabinet there is also provided a suitable opening I! through which the articles purchased are discharged. In back of this opening, there'is' formed an inclined chute l3 which may receive articles from any of the stacks in the storage chamber. The articles, when released and removed from the storage chamber, slide downwardly and forwardly on the chute I 8 and are removed by the purchaser through the opening 11.

In the front wall of the cabinet also there is disposed a coin-receiving opening lfl'from which a coin deposited in the machine passes to a suitable coin mechanism, the cover for which is designated at 20. Theparticular form of coin mechanism forms no part of the present invention and therefore is not illustrated herein. In the preferred embodiment, however, it includes a suitable slug ejector.

The function of the coin mechanism is such that when a coin is deposited in the opening l9,

rod 2i (see Fig. 6) is released so that this rod may be moved forwardly. The rod 2| is connected to, a bellcrank or cam 22 pivoted at 23. When rod 2| is released the bellcrank or cam 22 may be rotated in a clockwise direction. a

The vending machine is equipped with one or more reciprocating handles indicated at-25. I have illustrated these handles as being four in number, there being one handle for each stack of articles of varying flavors stored within thestorage chamber ll. Associated with each handle is a door, the details of which will'hereinafter be more fully described. I

In operation, when a coin is 'deposited in the coin slot I! the purchaser then selects the proper handle associated with the flavor of the article that he desires and pulls that handle forwardly. This effects a discharge of the lowermost article of the stack with which the handle is associated from the storage chamber II and the article is 'wardly, the knife edge at 23 engages, the lefthand end of its adjacent cooperating bar or plate 23 and shifts the same from left to right. When the plate or plates 23 move toward the right as the pull rod 23a is pulled forwardly, then bellcrank 22 is moved in a clockwise direction, this being permitted by the releaseof rod 21 on the insertion of a coin. When any pull rod is pulled forwardly, it prevents all plates 23 to the left of the pull rod from sliding toward the right. Consequently, no pull rod to the left of that which has been pulled forwardly can be pulled to withdraw an article from its stack. Those plates 28 which are to the right of the pull rod are shifted thereby a distance equal to the width of the pull rod and these consequently, lock all pullrods to the right against being pulled forwardly. Consequently, when one coin is deposited only one pull rod may be pulled forwardly to .release an article from its stack.

When the rod 2| is moved forwardly it has the effect of releasing and clearing the coin-controlled mechanism so that when the pull rod 23a is returned to its initial position the machine is then in condition to receive a subsequent 'coin and to vend a subsequent article.

Upon the release of the pull rod it is returned to its initial position by means of a cable 31 and a spring 53 and the bellcrank 22 and the plates 28 are returned to their initial positions by a spring, not shown, which is operable thereon.

By the above-described constructiom'it is possible on the insertion of a single coin to procure one.article of any desired flavor but it is impossible to pull forwardly more than one handle 25 upon the insertion of a single coin.

Within the storage chamber, '1 have illustrated four stacks of packaged bars of ice cream, one stack being directly in back of each handle 23. These stacks are supported within suitable guides as shown on Fig. 4, wherein each guide has side portions 30 and 3| engageable with the ends of the articles of the stack and rear portions 32 and 33 engageable with the rear sides of the articles of the stack. The forward sides of the articles of the stack are engaged by strips or flanges 34 and 35 which are hingedly connected as at 33 and 31, respectively, to the forward'outwardly bent portions to the sides 33 and 3|. These strips or flanges can be thus swung forwardly to open the guides for .the stacks their complete width to enable refilling each guide by merely moving a stack of articles to be sold into its respective guide means through the open front afforded by the opening of the strips or flanges 33 and 33.

Locking bars 33 are pivotally connected to each flange or strip 35 and are engageable with studs on each strip or flange 34 to lock these hinged flanges in closed position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The guides terminate at their lower ends a short distance above rails 39 and 40 which are supported above the bottom of the storage chamber ll. Theserails 33 and 40 are relatively narrow as compared with the length of the articles and are spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the length of each article or package in the stack so that air may freely cirguide has a flared entrance which facilitates the insertion of a renewing stack of articles.

The rails 39 and 40 extend from adjacent the forward side of the storagechamber to adjacent the back thereof and slidingly a drawer-like ejecting mechanism which includes a pair of side bars 42 and 43 preferably constructeddrom strips of relatively thin sheet metal having a width approximately equal to the vertical height of one of the articles in the stack, the bars 42 and '43 being joined at' their rear ends by a rear member 44 adjacent which there are disposed spacers 45 and 46. The side bars 42 and 43 and the spacers 45 and 46 are of approximately the same width as the rails 39 and 48 and disposed beneath a roller 41 rotatably mounted on brackets 48 rigidly secured to the rails 39 and 48, respectively, the brackets 48 preventing lateral displacement of the drawer-like ejector from the rails while the roller 41 extending'across the side bars 42 and 43 rotatably engages these bars and the spacers 45 and 46 to prevent inadvertent lifting. of the drawer-like ejector from the rails 39 and 40. The spacers 45 and 46 are of the same height as the side bars and this height of the side bars .is substantially equal to the thickness (the ver- The 'fortical height) of a package or article. ward ends of the side bars are connected to a rubber projection 49 formed on the rear side of each door 59 which opens the storage chamber.

a This door preferably comprises soft and hard engageable with the forward edge of the top ofrubber integrally molded. The projection 49 is preferably formed of hard rubber and the balance soft rubber. The box-like structure formed by the rubber is filled with a suitable heat insulating material indicated at 5911. Each boxlike door 50 is designed to enter and seat in a door seat 5| formed of hard rubber. In the preferred form of construction the projection 49 enters and fills the opening 52 at the back of the door seat. The top of the box-like structure slides beneath the top of the seat and at its forward end is provided with a soft rubberlip 53 the door seat. The side walls of the door seat are downwardly and rearwardly inclined as indicated at 54 and a corresponding shoulder 55 which is of soft rubber and which is formed on thesides, of the door is engageable therewith. Thus, when the door is in seated or closed position, projection 49 fills the opening v52 in the door seat and double seals are formed, one being at the front and the other being at the back of the door preventing ingress ofheat andair to the storage chamber. The rear end of each pull rod 25a is attached to its respective door such as by screws 58. These screws, as will be noted from Fig. 4, do not extend entirely through the projection 49. I Thus, there is no direct metallic connection between any handle 25 and the interior of the storage chamber'nor is there any metal connection exposed on the exterior of the cabinet which is also exposed on the interior of the door. Consequently, heat may not be conducted from the exterior of the cabinet to the a spring 59 urging the slide formed bythe side members 42 and 43 into normal rearmost posiinterior to warm or soften the lowermost block.

of any stack that is about to be discharged.

A cable 51 is attached to the rear transverse through the opening H.

the initial position.

tion wherein the door is closed.

The operation and advantages of the abovedescribed construction are as follows: When a coin is deposited in the coin slot 19, rod2l is released. Any handle 25 may then bepulled forwardlybut by virtue of the construction illustrated in Figs 6 and 7, no more than one handle 'member 44 and is trained over a pulley 58 to.

may be pulled forwardly at one time. On pull- 4 ticle of the stack which is resting on the rails 39 and 40 between side members. 42 and 43', is slid forwardly through the opening in the door seat which is vacated by projection 49. It then falls onto chute l8 and is removed by the purchaser on release of the handle, spring 59 returns the slide and door into When the slide is in its forward position the spacers 45 and 46 slide beneath the stack to occupy the position previously occupied by the lowermost article. When the spacers 45 and 46 are returned to their normal position the stack is allowed to fall, thus depositing a succeeding package or article of the stack on rails 39 and 48 between the side members 42 and.43.-

As. indicated by arrow on Fig. 3, the arrangement of the cooling coils at the back of thestorage chamber causes a circulation of air to be generated within. the storage chamber in the manner indicated. The cold air descending from the cooling coils may flow downwardly betweenthe spacers 45 and 46 against the rear side of'the package or article then beneath the bottom surface of the lowermost package or article which is supported on rails 39 and 40, and then upwardly between the forward side of the lowermost package or article and projection 49. Thus three sides of the package next to be vended are subjected to the cooling eifect of the cold As the sides 42 and 43 are formed of metal, they do not insulate the ends of the package next to be vended from the cooling effect of this cold air. Consequently, with the present machine, even' though considerable timemay elapse between succeedihg sales, the lowermost artlcle'will always be delivered in a crisp, hard condition. It will be noted that the lowermost article of each stack is not disposed within any depression or cavity at .the bottom of the storage chamber which would form a space of quiescent air that would retard the free circulation of cold air around the lowermost article. Consequently, with the present construction the article'to be vended next is usually the coldest article of the entire supply.

In order to prevent operation of any handle 25 when its stack has become exhausted, I prefer to position a wooden block 60 of the same size and shape as an article of the stack with the jection 49, it prevents operation of its correspondin Dull rod.

when it is desired to refill the cabinet. this is easily accomplished by opening the door l4, lift- 4 ing the locking bars 38 and swinging outwardly strips or flanges 34 and 35. These open the forward side of each guide means entirely so'th at a replacing stack may be bodily shifted into the guide means. In this way the cabinet may be quickly refilled with a minimum loss of refrigeration in the storage cabinet.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

In a vending machine for vending refriger-' ated articles of substantially uniform shape and size, having a storage chamber and an eidt through which articles may be vended one at a time, the combination therewith of a channel forming means defining a vertically extending channel for receiving and holding a stack of the articles piled one upon the other and having a horizontal cross section substantially equal to the horizontal cross section of one of the articles, said channel means terminating at its lower end in spaced relation to the bottom of said stack, a pair of rails extending across the lower end of said channel and spaced below the lower end thereof by a distance substantially equal to the vertical height of one of the articles in the stack, said rails being adapted to engage the lower face of the lowermost article to support the stack in from a normal inner position to an outer ejecting position and having a pair of side bars so spaced from each other as to engage only the end faces of ,the lowermost article, and a pair of spacer blocks of less length than said bars and rails, one secured to each side bar, each of said spacer blocks having a vertical height equal to the height of said side bar and a width not to exceed the width of one of said rails, the front ends of said spacer blocks in the normal inner position of the drawer-like member terminating at points in vertical alignment with the rear of the channel forming means whereby to permit the lowermost article of the stack to drop onto said rails and to support the next lowermost article as the lowermost article is ejected from the stack, the construction being such that when said ejector means is in either of its positions a relatively large area of the lowest article is free from engagementwith the respective supporting'means,

andrneans to guidingly retain said drawer+like ejector member on said rails during movement. CHAS. F. WOOD.

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