Magazine vending machine

Claim 1

A magazine vending machine which comprises: a housing box having a front opening which is closed by a door provided with show-window means; a first plurality of shelves provided on said door for displaying respective magazines through said show-window means, each said shelf of said first plurality of shelves having a respective bottom sheet movable from a horizontal level to a downwardly inclined position; a second plurality of shelves provided within said housing box for stocking thereupon magazines in respective piles, each said shelf of said second plurality of shelves being provided with a respective pusher means which releases magazines one by one upon operation of the vending machine and also provided with respective sensing means which is operable to actuate a corresponding one of said pusher means for bringing a said bottom sheet to the inclined position upon exhaustion of magazines stocked on a corresponding shelf of said second plurality of shelves; lever means projecting outwardly of said box, said lever means comprising a plurality of levers, each of said levers being operatively connected with a respective one of said pusher means and being manually operable upon the insertion of coins from its retracted position to its withdrawal position, means for preventing operation of more than one of said levers at a time, said means for preventing including respective limit plates which extend along a direction of movement of said levers and are movable therewith, respective movable locking plates which engage with an end of respective said limit plates, said locking plates being positioned in abutment with adjacent ones of said locking plates in substantial vertical alignment with their lines of abutment coincident with points of contact with respective said limit plates, whereby upon movement of one of said limit plates between adjacent ones of said locking plates by action of one of said levers moves all of said locking plates in a vertical direction placing points of contact of remaining ones of said limit plates with said locking plates away from said lines of abutment; and means for releasing change operative solely by each said lever, said means for releasing including a respective pusher plate fixed to and movable with each said lever, a respective lug engageble with each said pusher plate when said pusher plate moves forward, each said lug being fixed to an upper portion of a respective pusher which in turn is positioned in a lower portion of a change storing tube, a trough adjustable by a polygonal dial, said dial being rotatably adjustable of its position about an axis, and said trough being biased against said dial by resilient means.