Article dispensing – Automatic control – Of article releasing outlet closure
Patent
1983-11-09
1986-07-29
Tollberg, Stanley H.
Article dispensing
Automatic control
Of article releasing outlet closure
49 28, E05G 700
Patent
active
046027246
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a shutter mechanism for raising and lowering a shutter, and in particular to a sheet dispensing machine incorporating such a shutter.
British patent specification No. 2073711A disclosed a banknote dispensing machine in which each of two outlet apertures is closeable by a shutter which is arranged to nip a stack of banknotes in the outlet.
The banknote dispensing machine disclosed in this prior patent specification, as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, has the disadvantage that the outlet shutter closes under gravity and is not locked securely in its closed position. It is possible that the shutter could be raised by external means, giving access to the inside of the dispensing machine.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a shutter locking mechanism for a banknote dispensing machine with one or more outlets, which operates simply and reliably and which involves minimum adaptation of existing banknote dispensing machines.
A sheet dispensing machine in accordance with the present invention comprises a sheet delivery station with an outlet aperture closable by a shutter arranged to hold a stack of sheets in the outlet, shutter control apparatus, and control means for controlling the delivery of sheets to the station and the operation of the shutter control apparatus, the shutter control apparatus comprising: means cooperating with the shutter in time with the delivery of the sheets to the outlet aperture to raise the shutter before presentation of the sheets at the outlet aperture and, when the sheets have been presented, to allow the shutter to fall by gravity on to the sheets in their presentation position; and characterized by a locking member cooperating with the shutter and movable between a first position, in which it prevents the shutter from rising from its closed position, and a second position in which the shutter may be raised; and actuating means cooperating with the locking member in time with the delivery of the sheets to the outlet aperture to move the locking member from its first locking position to its second position before the sheets have been presented and thereafter allowing the return of the locking member to its first position whereby the removal of the sheets allows the shutter to fall to its closed and locked position.
Preferably, the means for raising the shutter comprise a shutter arm, attached at one end to the shutter and mounted for pivotal movement in a vertical plane; and a cam arranged for rotation in the said vertical plane and having a cam surface cooperating with the shutter arm for raising the shutter and subsequently allowing it to fall to a closed position. In the preferred embodiment, the shutter arm is attached to the shutter at one end and is pivoted at a point intermediate its ends, the shutter control apparatus further comprising a drive tooth mounted adjacent to the shutter arm for pivotal movement between actuated and neutral positions in the vertical plane, the drive tooth having at one side of its pivot point a drive pin which, with the drive tooth in the actuated position, engages the opposite end of the shutter arm, and having at the other side of its pivot point a driven edge; whereby the cam surface drives the driven edge of the drive tooth causing the drive pin to force down the end of the shutter arm thus raising the shutter.
The locking member makes the shutter secure whenever sheets, for example a stack of banknotes, are not in the region of the delivery station, i.e. they are not being delivered to the station nor waiting to be removed from the grip of the shutter. Moreover, in the preferred embodiment, the locking member is linked mechanically with the means for raising the shutter so that the locking member frees the shutter arm before the shutter is raised, but returns to lock the shutter after the shutter has been raised. A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, in order to clarify the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1, f
REFERENCES:
patent: 3901366 (1975-08-01), Schuller
patent: 4251009 (1981-02-01), McLaughlin
Bond Kevin J.
Robinson Anthony L.
De La Rue Systems Limited
Tollberg Stanley H.
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