Article dispensing – Article delivery dependent upon insertion of replacement...
Patent
1996-02-21
1998-11-03
Skaggs, H. Grant
Article dispensing
Article delivery dependent upon insertion of replacement...
221312R, 221 29B, 221281, 221 2, 221289, 193358, 312 72, G07F 1100, A47F 104
Patent
active
058296301
ABSTRACT:
A vending machine for valved cylinders of propane gas is provided which includes a cabinet, a U-shaped roller conveyor and a support rail. The cabinet has return and dispensing openings sized to allow empty cylinders to be returned to the cabinet in an upright orientation and to allow full cylinders to be dispensed from the cabinet in an upright orientation. The return and dispensing openings are vertically offset and horizontally spaced apart. The roller conveyor is within the cabinet and extends from the return opening to the dispensing opening. The roller conveyor is downwardly inclined so that the valved cylinders move along the conveyor by gravity. The support rail extends along both sides of the roller conveyor and maintains the valved cylinders in an upright position while moving from the return opening to the dispensing opening. The vending machine also includes an anti-theft system to prevent unauthorized withdrawals of the valved cylinders from the cabinet. The anti-theft system includes outer and inner doors for the openings and linkages connecting the outer and inner doors so that the inner doors are automatically closed when the outer doors are opened and the inner doors are automatically opened when the outer doors are closed. The vending machine additionally includes an empty-cylinder verification system to ensure that a genuine valved cylinder has been inserted into the return opening before a full cylinder is dispensed from the dispensing opening. The verification system includes a template located adjacent the conveyor near the return opening which has an opening shaped for closely passing genuine valved cylinders and a pair of trip switches which indicate passage of a valved cylinder through the template.
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Plant Systems Incorporated
Skaggs H. Grant
LandOfFree
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