Article dispensing – With recorder – register – indicator – signal or exhibitor – Dispenser part position or adjustment indicator
Patent
1992-09-23
1994-01-11
Dayoan, D. Glenn
Article dispensing
With recorder, register, indicator, signal or exhibitor
Dispenser part position or adjustment indicator
221 18, 221115, 221122, 221133, 221 92, G07F 1154
Patent
active
052773302
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns an automatic distributor for articles in generally parallelepiped packages, comprising:
a rotary magazine with a vertical axis, supported by a body, containing a plurality of generally vertical channels on its periphery, said channels designed to each hold a stack of articles and to in turn assume a dispensing position,
means for gauging the magazine position,
a distributing mechanism attached to the body designed to extract the lowest article from the stack in the channel which is in dispensing position and place that article near an opening for dispensing;
and control means comprising a motorized system for rotating the magazine, motorized control means for the distribution mechanism, a cash mechanism and a manual selector.
More particularly, the invention concerns a distribution apparatus for selling various items arranged in respective stacks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Publication No. WO 89/12873 describes a coin operated distribution device wherein the base of each channel of the magazine is formed by a vertically movable support usually in a raised position. Once the desired channel has been positioned for distribution by manually rotating the magazine, a coin is deposited in the apparatus to disengage the distribution device, which is activated manually so as to lower the support and eject the item on it. The mechanisms required for such a system of movable supports are relatively complicated, require considerable maintenance and are not readily adaptable to motorized control. Furthermore, the distributor is designed for items all selling at same price and cannot be easily adapted for items selling at different prices.
Publication No. FR-A-1-539 507A describes a device such as that described in the preamble, capable of automatically delivering an article which the customer has chosen by using a manual selector to indicate the corresponding channel. The distributed article is laterally ejected from the stack by a rotary lever traversing a slot in the base of each channel. The control system is electromechanical and, in order to gauge the position of the stacks, comprises a rotary finger connected to the magazine for successively activating electrical contacts distributed along the axis of rotation. One disadvantage to this system is that the distributor functions even if an empty channel has been selected. Furthermore, all the items must be the same price, since the cash mechanism functions independently of the selector. Finally, the electrical contact device is prone to frequent breakdowns.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic distributor designed to overcome the disadvantages described above, capable of selling different articles at different prices, with a simple structure and easily operated by the customer.
To achieve this, the invention concerns a distributor of the type described above, characterized in that the control means consists of an electronic control unit electrically connected to the selector, to the cash mechanism, the gauging means and to the motorized drive means in order to control said drive means, in that the gauging means comprises at least one channel detector connected to the electronic control unit indicating whether the channel contains at least one item, and in that said channel detector comprises movable sensors disposed at the base of each channel, respectively, and which can assume two different positions depending upon the presence or absence of articles in said channel; and at least one position detector installed in the unit, disposed to relay an electronic signal to the electronic control unit indicating the presence of one such sensor opposite it and the position of that sensor.
Thus, the electronic control unit can ensure that an article of the type selected is present in the channel or channels concerned, that the required amount of money has been deposited, and then that the magazine either is already in the correct position or has been positioned b
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Dayoan D. Glenn
Planex S.A.
Reichard Dean A.
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