Article dispensing – Cellular magazine type – With article movement from cell to cell
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-08
2001-12-18
Noland, Kenneth W. (Department: 3651)
Article dispensing
Cellular magazine type
With article movement from cell to cell
C221S197000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330958
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to vending machines, and more specifically to the type of vending machines found on jobsites capable of distributing pastries, small snack items, and beverages.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional vending machines for pastries, candy bars, soda cans and other snack products must be able to hold a substantial inventory of goods so that they do not need to be serviced too often. Accordingly, they tend to be bulky and heavy and occupy about a square meter (10 square feet) of floor space, with a height of almost 2 meters (72 inches).
The reloading of such a machine is time consuming since items must be inserted one by one, and inventory of unsold items must be checked for expiration date, and, occasionally, replaced. Cash must then be collected and counted by the servicing employee. The good-holding stations must be cleaned of all oil and grease that may have oozed out of the packaged goods. These cumbersome procedures are time-consuming, labor intensive, and sometimes give occasion for pilferage and theft.
Conventional machines are not well-adapted to small job sites having 150 employees or less, because the profit generated at such a small site can not justify the labor cost of servicing the machines.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,649 Fellner et al. offers a partial solution to the above-mentioned problems by the use of a removable and replaceable magazine for the goods which can be loaded in the factory then used to replace an empty magazine or partially empty one. However, this type of magazine is relatively inefficient since it can hold only one item of goods in each location. Moreover, the coins need still be collected and counted on site. The same type of shortcomings characterize the vending machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. RE. 32,115 Lockwood et al. which uses a drum carousel to hold the goods to be sold. Although an empty carousel could be removed and replaced by a fully loaded one, each carousel station can only hold one item, and the cash must be handled separately. The inefficient designs of the above-devices inevitably leads to bulky vending machines which are not suitable for small locations.
The instant invention results from an attempt to palliate these various shortcomings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The principal and secondary objects of this invention are to provide a simple, compact, efficient and economical vending machine that can be installed on a table top or counter top, requires a minimal on-site service and maintenance costs, and can eliminate pilferage of merchandise or money by service personnel.
These and other valuable objects are achieved by means of a compact vending machine that can be conveniently installed on a table top or counter top surface such as the counter of a cafeteria, wherein a replaceable magazine holds all the goods to be distributed, and collect all the currency that is used to pay for it. Accordingly, the servicing consists only in removing the empty or near empty magazine which also holds the cash in a tamper-proof receptacle, and replacing it with a new magazine that has been thoroughly cleaned and fully loaded in the factory without any need for on-site inventory or handling of any kind of goods or cash.
Each magazine comprises several layers of sets of merchandise-holding stations arranged so that their access ports are on the front of the magazine. Each station includes a spiral good-holding rack driven by a motor mounted on the back plane of the enclosure. During transportation and handling a door seals the access ports. Once the magazine is in the machine, the door separates slightly from the open front of the magazine to form a chute opening into a distributing pocket. The merchandise selected by the user is pushed forward by a spiral rack and falls into the chute leading to a distribution pocket. Currency from a coin box is automatically directed into a sealed receptacle at the bottom of the magazine. A keypad is used to make a selection of items seen through the transparent door of the machine. Payment for the goods can also be made by means of a magnetic card. Alternate embodiments of the good-dispensing mechanism are gravity-driven, greatly reducing the number of motors and other structures used to dispense the goods. A tamper-proof reloading cartridge that securely mates with a beverage-holing magazine can be used to top dispensing slots from which only a few items have been extracted. This type of vending machine is particularly indicated for small businesses or for small departments in a large organization. They can be serviced by low-skill persons whose tasks are limited to the removal of the magazine whether it is completely or only partially emptied, and its replacement by one that has been filled at a service center.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5303844 (1994-04-01), Muehlberger
patent: 5460294 (1995-10-01), Williams
patent: 5509573 (1996-04-01), Campoli
patent: 6019249 (2000-02-01), Michael et al.
Brusso Peter C.
Buchaca John D.
Charmasson Henri J. A.
Ruskin Frank
Simson Anton K.
Buchaca John D.
Charmasson Henri J. A.
Noland Kenneth W.
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