Inclined shelf vending machine

Claim 2

In an article dispensing machine: article support means having a plurality of elongated, side-byside, longitudinally inclined sections each adapted to receive a plurality of articles arranged in a line extending longitudinally of said section and to shiftably support said articles for movement toward and successive dispensing from the lower end of said section; shiftable gate means adjacent the lower end of each of said sections movable between a blocking position for engaging and preventing further movement of the lowermost of said articles off the lower end of said section and an article-releasing position for dispensing said lowermost article from the lower end of said section; shiftable operating means adjacent each of said gate means and movable between a normal standby position and an operated position; locking and actuating means operably coupling each of said operating means with a corresponding one of said gate means for locking said gate means in its blocking position when the corresponding one of said operating means is in its standby position and for moving said gate means to its articlereleasing position when the corresponding one of said operating means is moved to its operated position; control means operably coupled with each of said operating means for moving each of said operating means to its operated position in a predetermined order of succession to normally dispense a lowermost article from the lower end of each of said sections in said successive order; and article-sensing means adjacent the lower end of each of said sections respectively for sensing the presence or absence of a lowermost article in position to be dispensed, said control means including means for selectively enabling operation of only that one of said sensing means associated with the particular section whose operating means is next in said order to be operated and for disabling the remaining of said sensing means.

Claim 3

The invention of claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of said support means one above the other and each provided with a plurality of said side-by-side sections, one each of said gate means, said operating means and said locking and actuating means for each of said sections, and one of said control means for each of said support means; there are means for selectively operating any of said support means to dispense an article therefrom, including a shiftable assembly common to said support means, means for shifting said assembly, and a plurality of coupling means for selectively coupling said control means of a selected support means with said assembly; there are means for sensing a fault condition involving the absence of a lowermost article in position to be dispensed in that section from which an article is next to be vended from each of said support means; and there are means responsive to each of said sensing means for disabling said coupling means for the corresponding support means whenever a fault condition is sensed.

Claim 4

The invention of claim 2, wherein each of said support means is provided witH individual visual display means coupled with said fault detecting means for that support means for warning users against selecting an article for dispensing from that particular support means only when no lowermost article is in position to be dispensed from the next to be operated section of that support means despite possible absence of a lowermost article in position to be dispensed from other sections of that support means.

Claim 5

In an article dispensing machine; article support mans having a plurality of elongated, side-by-side, longitudinally inclined sections each adapted to receive a plurality of articles arranged in a line extending longitudinally of said section and to shiftably support said articles for movement toward and successive dispensing from the lower end of said section; shiftable gate means adjacent the lower end of each of said sections movable between a blocking position for engaging and preventing further movement of the lowermost of said articles off the lower end of said section and an article-releasing position for dispensing said lowermost article from the lower end of said section; shiftable operating means adjacent each of said gate means and movable between a normal standby position and an operated position; locking and actuating means operably coupling each of said operating means with a corresponding one of said gate means for locking said gate means in its blocking position when the corresponding one of said operating means is in its standby position and for moving said gate means to its article-releasing position when the corresponding one of said operating means is moved to its operated position; control means operably coupled with each of said operating means for moving each of said operating means to its operated position in a predetermined order of succession to normally dispense a lowermost article from the lower end of each of said sections in said successive order; and article-sensing means adjacent the lower end of each of said sections respectively for sensing the presence or absence of a lowermost article in position to be dispensed, said control means including means for selectively enabling operation of only that one of said sensing means associated with the particular section whose operating means is next in said order to be operated and for disabling the remaining of said sensing means, said article-sensing means each including a shiftable feeler adapted to engage and be held in a normal position by the presence of a lowermost article in position to be dispensed but to shift to a fault condition indicating position in the absence of a lowermost article thereat, said control means including a rotatable shaft common to said sections and having a separate fault indication control cam for each section respectively engageable with said feeler for that section, each of said control cams having a first contour portion for enabling the corresponding feeler for shifting into its fault indicating position and a second contour portion for holding said feeler against said shifting and in its normal position whether or not a lowermost article is present in position to be dispensed, said first contour portions of said control cams being angularly offset from each other for successive enabling of each of said sensing means only when its associated operating means is next in said order to be operated.

Claim 6

In an article dispensing machine; article support mans having a plurality of elongated, side-by-side, longitudinally inclined sections each adapted to receive a plurality of articles arranged in a line extending longitudinally of said section and to shiftably support said articles for movement toward and successive dispensing from the lower end of said section; shiftable gate means adjacent the lower end of each of said sections movable between a blocking position for engaging and preventing further movement of the lowermost of said articles off the lower end of said section and an article-releasing position for dispensing said lowermost article from the lower end of said section; shiftable operating means adjacent each of said gate means and movable between a normal standby position and an operated position; locking and actuating means operably coupling each of said operating means with a corresponding one of said gate means for locking said gate means in its blocking position when the corresponding one of said operating means is in its standby position and for moving said gate means to its article-releasing position when the corresponding one of said operating means is moved to its operated position; control means operably coupled with each of said operating means for moving each of said operating means to its operated position in a predetermined order of succession to normally dispense a lowermost article from the lower end of each of said sections in said successive order; and article-sensing means adjacent the lower end of each of said sections respectively for sensing the presence or absence of a lowermost article in position to be dispensed, said control means including means for selectively enabling operation of only that one of said sensing means associated with the particular section whose operating means is next in said order to be operated and for disabling the remaining of said sensing means, said article-sensing means each including a shiftable feeler adapted to engage and be held in a normal position by the presence of a lowermost article in position to be dispensed but to shift to a fault condition indicating position in the absence of a lowermost article thereat, said control means including a rotatable shaft common to said sections and having a separate fault indication control cam for each section respectively engageable with said feeler for that section, each of said control cams having a first contour portion for enabling the corresponding feeler for shifting into its fault indicating position and a second contour portion for holding said feeler against said shifting and in its normal position whether or not a lowermost article is present in position to be dispensed, said first contour portions of said control cams being angularly offset from each other for successive enabling of each of said sensing means only when its associated operating means is next in said order to be operated.

Claim 7

The invention of claim 4, wherein is provided fault detecting means common to said feelers and operably coupled therewith for detecting shifting movement of any of said feelers from its normal to its fault indicating position.