Helical coil vending machine

Claim 2

A vending machine having article selectors and an article carrying shelf slidably supporting at least one helical feeder coil between the convolutions of which articles are advanced to the edge of the shelf to drop to a delivery station when a drive mechanism connected to the coil is activated by customer selection, wherein the improvement comprises: a. an article support mounted on the shelf to one side of and in generally parallel relationship to he helical feeder coil, said support being adapted to slidably support variously sized articles placed thereon in engagement with the helical feeder coil and terminating in a downwardly extending surface, immediately adjacent, said one side of the helical feeder coil, said coil, when activated, rotating in a manner that is tangentially directed away from said article support at the point of contact of the coil with said shelf; b. a guide rail mounted on the shelf in generally parallel relationship to the helical feeder coil to he side thereof opposite said one side to restrict the articles from drifting laterally relative to the axis of the helical coil.

Claim 3

In a vending machine having article selectors and an article carrying shelf mounted within said machine from which articles are individually dropped from the shelf to a delivery station below upon customer selection, the improvement wherein the article carrying shelf comprises: a. a base plate; b. at least one helical feeder coil supported by said base plate and free to rotate thereon; c. a sloping article support mounted on said base plate to one side of and in generally parallel relationship to the helical feeder coil, said support having a support surface downwardly directed toward one side of the feeder coil and an abrupt downward step immediately adjacent the coil whereby the coil slidably engages the top edge of said step when rotated in a manner tangentially direcTed away from the article support at the point of slidable contact of the coil with the base plate; d. a guide rail mounted on said base plate to the side of the coil opposite said one side to maintain articles placed between the convolutions of the coil and slidably supported by the article support and base plate in continuous engagement with the coil until dispensed; e. drive means connected to one end of said coil for discrete rotation of said coil when activated.

Claim 4

In a vending machine having article selectors and an article carrying shelf mounted within said machine from which articles are individually dropped from the shelf to a delivery station below upon customer selection, the improvement wherein the article carrying shelf comprises: a. a base plate; b. at least one helical feeder coil supported by said base plate and free to rotate thereon; c. a sloping article support mounted on said base plate to one side of and in generally parallel relationship to the helical feeder coil, said support having a support surface downwardly directed toward one side of the feeder coil and an abrupt downward step immediately adjacent the coil whereby the coil slidably engages the top edge of said step when rotated in a manner tangentially direcTed away from the article support at the point of slidable contact of the coil with the base plate; d. a guide rail mounted on said base plate to the side of the coil opposite said one side to maintain articles placed between the convolutions of the coil and slidably supported by the article support and base plate in continuous engagement with the coil until dispensed; e. drive means connected to one end of said coil for discrete rotation of said coil when activated.

Claim 5

locking said first coil and simultaneously rotating the second coil a full revolution upon a subsequent discrete customer selection; the alternate operation of the coils to continue upon each customer activation of the associated drive motor until the articles in both coils are exhausted.

Claim 6

locking said first coil and simultaneously rotating the second coil a full revolution upon a subsequent discrete customer selection; the alternate operation of the coils to continue upon each customer activation of the associated drive motor until the articles in both coils are exhausted.

Claim 7

a sloping article support mounted on said base plate to one side of and in generally parallel relationship to said helical feeder coil, said support having a support surface downwardly directed toward one side of said feeder coil and an abrupt downward step immediately adjacent the coil whereby the coil slidably engages the top edge of said step when rotated in a manner tangentially directed away from the article support at the point of slidable contact of the coil with the base plate;

Claim 8

a sloping article support mounted on said base plate to one side of and in generally parallel relationship to said helical feeder coil, said support having a support surface downwardly directed toward one side of said feeder coil and an abrupt downward step immediately adjacent the coil whereby the coil slidably engages the top edge of said step when rotated in a manner tangentially directed away from the article support at the point of slidable contact of the coil with the base plate;

Claim 9

a guide rail mounted on said base plate to the side of the coil opposite said one side to maintain articles placed between the convolutions of the coil in a condition slidably supported by the article support and base plate and in continuous engagement with the coil until dispensed; c. drive means connected to one end of each coil in said coil units for discrete rotation of each coil upon selective actuation.

Claim 10

a guide rail mounted on said base plate to the side of the coil opposite said one side to maintain articles placed between the convolutions of the coil in a condition slidably supported by the article support and base plate and in continuous engagement with the coil until dispensed; c. drive means connected to one end of each coil in said coil units for discrete rotation of each coil upon selective actuation.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the drive means comprises an electrical drive motor mounted to said base plate and electrically activated by an article selector.

Claim 12

In a vending machine having a front viewing panel, article selectors, and a delivery opening below said viewing panel, an improved article carrying shelf received in said vending machine above said delivery opening and spaced from said front viewing panel comprising: a. a flat base plate having a front downwardly directed lip spaced from said viewing panel to permit dispensed articles to drop between the base plate and viewing panel to the delivery opening; b. at least one helical feeder coil carried by said base plate for advancing articles interposed between the coils forward to the front lip of the base plate; c. a longitudinally extending guide rail mounted on the base plate spatially disposed and the running adjacent one side of said coil; d. a sloping article support fixed to the base plate and having an edge terminating in a downward step immediately adjacent the opposite side of said coil to slidably support variously sized articles in engagement with the coils; e. drive means attached to one end of said coil to impart discrete rotation of said coil upon activation by customer selection, said rotation being tangentially directed away from the article support at the point of slidable contact of the coil with the base plate.

Claim 13

In a vending machine having a front viewing panel, article selectors, and a delivery opening below said viewing panel, an improved article carrying shelf received in said vending machine above said delivery opening and spaced from said front viewing panel comprising: a. a flat base plate having a front downwardly directed lip spaced from said viewing panel to permit dispensed articles to drop between the base plate and viewing panel to the delivery opening; b. at least one helical feeder coil carried by said base plate for advancing articles interposed between the coils forward to the front lip of the base plate; c. a longitudinally extending guide rail mounted on the base plate spatially disposed and the running adjacent one side of said coil; d. a sloping article support fixed to the base plate and having an edge terminating in a downward step immediately adjacent the opposite side of said coil to slidably support variously sized articles in engagement with the coils; e. drive means attached to one end of said coil to impart discrete rotation of said coil upon activation by customer selection, said rotation being tangentially directed away from the article support at the point of slidable contact of the coil with the base plate.

Claim 14

A vending machine having article selectors and at least one article carrying shelf slidably supporting at least two helical feeder coils between the convolutions of which articles are advanced to the edge of the shelf to drop to a delivery station upon activation of the coils by a customer selection wherein the improvement comprises a tandem operated drive mechanism having an electrical drive motor electrically activated by at least one article selector and transmission means connecting the drive motor to a first and a second helical feeder coil for alternately: a. rotating the first coil a full revolution and simultaneously locking the second coil, when said drive motor is activated by a customer selection; and b. locking said first coil and simultaneously rotating the second coil a full revolution upon activation of said drive motor by a subsequent customer selection; the alternate operation of the coils to continue upon each customer activation of the drive motor until the articles in both coils are exhausted.

Claim 15

A vending machine having article selectors and at least one article carrying shelf slidably supporting at least two helical feeder coils between the convolutions of which articles are advanced to the edge of the shelf to drop to a delivery station upon activation of the coils by a customer selection wherein the improvement comprises a tandem operated drive mechanism having an electrical drive motor electrically activated by at least one article selector and transmission means connecting the drive motor to a first and a second helical feeder coil for alternately: a. rotating the first coil a full revolution and simultaneously locking the second coil, when said drive motor is activated by a customer selection; and b. locking said first coil and simultaneously rotating the second coil a full revolution upon activation of said drive motor by a subsequent customer selection; the alternate operation of the coils to continue upon each customer activation of the drive motor until the articles in both coils are exhausted.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the transmission means comprises: a. a drive shaft extending from said drive motor; b. a center gear fixed to said drive shaft having gear teeth on one-half its circumference; c. a circular wheel fixed to said drive shaft and axially aligned with said center gear, said wheel having two diametrically opposed notches cut in the circumferential edge thereof; d. a pair of freely rotating idle gears, each gear engageable with the gear teeth of the center gear at diametrically opposite points of engagement; e. an arm having an end contoured to the circumferential edge of said circular wheel connected to each of said idle gears, each arm in cooperation with the two notches on said circular wheel being alternately engageable with the circumferential edge of said wheel to lock said arm and said idle gear, and rotatable with said idle gear when said gear is engaging the gear teeth of the center gear; f. first and second end gears, the first end gear fixed to the end of the first helical feedEr coil and engaged with one of the idle gears, and the second end gear fixed to the end of the second helical feeder coil and engaged with the other idle gear; g. switching means to deactivate the drive motor upon completion of each one-half revolution of the center gear.

Claim 17

In a vending machine having article selectors and at least one article carrying shelf mounted within said machine from which articles are individually dropped to a delivery station below upon customer selection, the improvement wherein the article carrying shelf comprises: a. a base plate; b. at least two coil units each unit having;

Claim 18

In a vending machine having article selectors and at least one article carrying shelf mounted within said machine from which articles are individually dropped to a delivery station below upon customer selection, the improvement wherein the article carrying shelf comprises: a. a base plate; b. at least two coil units each unit having;

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the drive means comprises; a. at least one electrical drive motor having a shaft connected to the end of one of said helical feeder coils and electrically connected for activation by an article selector; b. a cam fixed to the drive shaft and rotatable therewith; c. a cam operated switch engageable with said cam and electrically connected to said drive motor to deactivate said drive motor after completing a single revolution. d. at least one electrical drive motor electrically activated by at least one article selector, said drive motor having transmission means connecting the drive motor to a first and a second helical feeder coil for alternately:

Claim 20

The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the transmission means comprises: a. a drive shaft extending from the associated drive motor; b. a center gear fixed to said drive shaft having gear teeth on one-half its circumference; c. a circular wheel fixed to said drive shaft and axially aligned with said venter gear, said wheel having two diametrically opposed notches cut in the circumferential edge thereof; d. a pair of freely rotating idle gears, each gear engageable with the gear teeth of the center gear at diametrically opposite points of engagement; e. an arm having an end contoured to the circumferential edge of said circular wheel connected to each of said idle gears, each arm in cooperation with the two notches on said circular wheel being alternately engageable with the circumferential edge of said wheel to lock said arm and said idle gear, and rotatable with said idle gear when said gear is engaging the gear teeth of the center gear; f. first and second gears, the first end gear fixed to the end of the first helical feeder coil and engaged with one of the idle gears, and the second end gear fixed to the end of the second helical feeder coil aNd engaged with the other idle gear; g. switching means to deactivate the drive motor upon completion of each one-half revolution of the center gear.

Claim 21

A vending machine shelf for use in combination with a helical feeder coil, said shelf comprising; a. a generally flat surface slidably supporting the coil thereon; b. a longitudinally extending support mounted on end extending upwardly from the surface to one side of the coil in generally parallel relationship thereto, said support being disposed to provide a barrier against which the coil may ride to maintain a predetermined orientation on the surface and adapted to support an article received between the convolutions of the coil in an inclined relationship relative to the surface with one end of the article supported on the support and the other supported on the surface; and c. a guide rail mounted on the surface in a spaced generally parallel relationship to the coil to the side thereof opposite said one side, said rail being adapted to slidably engage the shelf supported end of an article received between the convolutions of the coil to restrict the article from drifting relative to the axis of the coil in a direction toward the rail.

Claim 22

A vending machine shelf for use in combination with a helical feeder coil, said shelf comprising; a. a generally flat surface slidably supporting the coil thereon; b. a longitudinally extending support mounted on end extending upwardly from the surface to one side of the coil in generally parallel relationship thereto, said support being disposed to provide a barrier against which the coil may ride to maintain a predetermined orientation on the surface and adapted to support an article received between the convolutions of the coil in an inclined relationship relative to the surface with one end of the article supported on the support and the other supported on the surface; and c. a guide rail mounted on the surface in a spaced generally parallel relationship to the coil to the side thereof opposite said one side, said rail being adapted to slidably engage the shelf supported end of an article received between the convolutions of the coil to restrict the article from drifting relative to the axis of the coil in a direction toward the rail.