Method and apparatus for controllably and sequentially dispensing articles, one at a time

Claim 2

Apparatus for dispensing articles in sequential fashion, one at a time, said apparatus including an article storage compartment, a movable platform mounted in said compartment for receiving articles to be dispensed and storing them in a stacked fashion, means coupled to the platform to be responsive to the placement of the articles to be dispensed for automatically moving the platform in one direction an amount in accordance with the number of articles stored thereon to a location where the outer article is in a position to be dispensed and for automatically moving the platform in the opposite direction in response to the manual withdrawal of said outer article from the platform for positioning another article at said position to be dispensed, gate control means mounted in said compartment adjacent said platform and constructed and defined to permit manual access to the outer article on the platform to allow a single article to be manually withdrawn through the gate control means, said control means including releasable stop means for normally preventing the withdrawal of the outer article through said control means, and means for controllably releasing said stop means to permit the manual withdrawal of an article through the gate control means and for automatically resetting the stop means to its normal position in response to the withdrawal of an article.

Claim 3

Apparatus for dispensing articles as defined in claim 1 including register means mounted in the compartment for engaging the outer article stored on the platform to maintain the stored articles in a pressurized relationship to position the outer article to a standard dispensing position, and means responsive to the operation of the releasing means for de-pressurizing the articles to facilitate the withdrawal of the articles at the standard position.

Claim 4

Apparatus for dispensing articles comprising an article storage compartment, an article storage platform movably mounted in the storage compartment and adapted to receive and hold the article in a stacked relationship, means for movably suspending the storage platform for bidirectional movement in the compartment, means constructed and defined for coaction with the storage platform to restrict manual access to the articles on the storage platform to the outer article to allow manual withdrawal from the stack only through said thus defined means, the platform responding to the withdrawal of an article therefrom by moving in a direction to position the successive outer article of the stack to be accessible to be similarly withdrawn from the platform, means constructed and defined within the compartment and overlying the stack of articles on the platform for engaging and registering with the outer article of the stack, said suspension means normally maintaining the stack of articles in a preselected pressurized condition against said latter mentioned means and adapted to move the platform into said condition with the sequential withdrawal of the articles, stop means constructed and defined to be positioned into and out of the withdrawal path of the articles through said withdrawal control means, means for controlling the access To the storage compartment to allow the authorized withdrawal of a stored article, means for actuating said control means to cause the suspension means to be responsive to the operation of the control means to move the platform in a direction to de-pressurize the stack of articles and to cause the operation of the stop means to allow only a single article to be manually withdrawn from the compartment with each actuation of the control means.

Claim 5

Apparatus for dispensing articles comprising an article storage compartment, an article storage platform movably mounted in the storage compartment and adapted to receive and hold the article in a stacked relationship, means for movably suspending the storage platform for bidirectional movement in the compartment, means constructed and defined for coaction with the storage platform to restrict manual access to the articles on the storage platform to the outer article to allow manual withdrawal from the stack only through said thus defined means, the platform responding to the withdrawal of an article therefrom by moving in a direction to position the successive outer article of the stack to be accessible to be similarly withdrawn from the platform, means constructed and defined within the compartment and overlying the stack of articles on the platform for engaging and registering with the outer article of the stack, said suspension means normally maintaining the stack of articles in a preselected pressurized condition against said latter mentioned means and adapted to move the platform into said condition with the sequential withdrawal of the articles, stop means constructed and defined to be positioned into and out of the withdrawal path of the articles through said withdrawal control means, means for controlling the access To the storage compartment to allow the authorized withdrawal of a stored article, means for actuating said control means to cause the suspension means to be responsive to the operation of the control means to move the platform in a direction to de-pressurize the stack of articles and to cause the operation of the stop means to allow only a single article to be manually withdrawn from the compartment with each actuation of the control means.

Claim 6

Apparatus for dispensing articles as defined in claim 3 wherein the storage compartment includes a swingable door for opening and closing the compartment and constructed and arranged to allow the bulk storage of a stack of articles onto the storage platform when opened.

Claim 7

Apparatus for dispensing articles as defined in claim 4 wherein said door includes transparent means for viewing the articles stored in the compartment when the door is in a closed condition.

Claim 8

Apparatus for dispensing articles as defined in claim 5 wherein said door includes means for viewing the position of an operator''s hand when placed into the compartment for withdrawing an article.

Claim 9

Apparatus for dispensing articles as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for actuating said control means comprises a coin operated mechanism for actuating said control means only when a predetermined value of legally issued coins are received by said mechanism, said mechanism including means for resetting the mechanism coupled to the control means upon actuation thereof.

Claim 10

An apparatus for dispensing articles as defined in claim 4 wherein the means for controlling access to the compartment comprises a lockable access door for the compartment arranged opposite the article access control means to allow an operator to position his hand therein for withdrawing an article, and the actuating means for the aforementioned control means is a coin operated mechanism for the compartment adapted to maintain the access door in a locked condition and unlocked in response to the receipt by the coin mechanism of a predetermined value of coins, said mechanism including means for resetting same coupled to the access door to be responsive to the opening of the door.

Claim 11

An apparatus for dispensing articles as defined in claim 3 wherein said suspension means includes counter balancing means for the storage platform.

Claim 12

Apparatus for dispensing articles as defined in claim 3 including means for adjusting the size of the withdrawal means for accommodating articles of different sizes stored in the compartment.

Claim 13

Apparatus for dispensing articles as defined in claim 3 including latch means adapted for coaction with the stop means and normally arranged to allow the stop means to be moved out of the path of an article being withdrawn and moved in a position to latch the stop means during the interval one article has been withdrawn and prior to the reoperation of the actuating means thereby preventing the successive manual withdrawal of articles for one operation of the actuating means.

Claim 16

A method of dispensing newspapers or similar items as defined in claim 12 including the step of positioning the outer item in the stack in said preselected dispensing position to be withdrawn from the compartment including after the successive withdrawal of the items from the stack.

Claim 19

A method of dispensing newspapers or similar compressible items as defined in claim 14 including the steps of bulk loading a stack of items into the compartment for storage therein, and adjusting the restricted access to said one end of the stack in accordance with the size of the items to be dispensed.

Claim 20

A method of dispensing newspapers or similar compressible items as defined in claim 15 including the step of automatically moving the stack to position the item at said one end of the stack at said restricted access following each successive withdrawal of an item from the compartment.