Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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This invention relates to coin or token freed
vending machines of the kind which require a returnable
empty containe~ to be put into the machine before it may
be operated to deliver a replacement full container.
The invention was devised for the vending of
cylinders of compressed gas. Such cylinders are usually
more valuable than the gas they contain and so it is very
important commercially that a sale is effected only when
a genuine cylinder is presented to the machine by a
prospective purchaser.
A further and more important reason for care in
monitoring the genuineness of thè empty cylinder ar i s es
because gases of differnt kinds are sold in cylinders
which differ only to a slight extent, often only in the
details of the cylinder valve. Thus, there is a risk
that a purchaser acting in good faith and wishing to
purchase, say, carbon dioxide may present an empty
cylinder for that gas, to a machine, or machine section
selling, say, butane. Unless the butane machine rejects
the carbon dioxide cylinder with certainty and refuses to
dispense a cylinder of butane in exchange for it, the
purchaser may mistakenly accept the butane for carbon
dioxide with possibly disastrous consequences when later
attempting to use the gas.
Therefore it is an object of the invention to
provide a coin or token freed vending machine for
cylinders of compressed gas which before dispensing a
full cylinder of gas must receive an identical cylinder
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with an identical valve.
The only prior proposal for a gas cylinder
vending machine of which we are aware is that of French
patent application No. 83 17051. In that case there is
virtually no check on the nature of the empty cylinder
and none whatsoever on the nature of its valve. Indeed
it would seem that any object of approximately the same
size and weight as the relevant empty cylinder would
free the machine for a dispensing operation.
Another item of relevant prior art is French
patent application No. 83 20757. This discloses an
empty bottle accepting apparatus including a sensing
arrangement which is responsive to the profile shape of
a bottle's neck and shoulders. The apparatus includes a
data processor which compares the sensing arrangement's
output with a memorized standard and controls the
operation of the apparatus in a way depending on the
closeness of the comparison.
An aspect of this invention is as follows:
A vending machine for valved cylinders of
compressed gas comprising a supporting structure having
a front panel with a door opening therein, a storage
conveyor adapted to hold a gas cylinder in each of a
plurality of locations in an equally spaced sequence of
locations, conveyor drive means which each time they are
actuated drive said conveyor an incremental distance
equal to the spacing between two locations, a transfer
cradle shaped to snugly receive and locate a valved gas
cylinder of predetermined shape and dimensions and
disposed intermediate said door opening and off and on
loading stations for said conveyor, cradle drive means
which each time they are actuated shift said cradle from
a rest position in which it may accept an empty cylinder
through said door opening to a first operative position
in which it discharges the empty cylinder onto said
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conveyor then to a second operative position in which
it accepts a full cylinder discharged from said conveyor
and then back to its rest position, a plurality of
sensor means each adapted to issue an electric signal
when a predetermined condition is sensed, at least some
plurality of said sensor means being associated with
said cradle and being respectively responsive to
characteristics of a cylinder and its valve if present
in said cradle, and a data processor receiving the
signals from the sensor means and issuing a control
signal or signals if the received signals comply with a
signal profile held in the memory of the processor,
which control signal or signals causes an actuation of
the machine.
In preferred embodiments the processor
controls a visual display panel on the front of the
machine, which informs the user of the machine's status
and prompts him in respect of any actions he must take
to effect the transaction required.
Other aspects of this invention are as
follows:
A vending machine for containers, comprising:
an essentially enclosed supporting structure
having a front panel with a door opening formed therein;
conveying means for transferring a plurality
of the containers, said conveying means located within
the interior of said supporting structure and including
a pair of endless chains, first driving means for
driving said pair of endless chains and a plurality of
carriers each adapted to support one of the containers,
each of said carriers having a first end pivotably
attached to one of said pair of endless chains and a
second end pivotably attached to the other of said pair
of endless chains, said conveying means also including
an upper and a lower pair of idler wheels in contact
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with said pair of endless chains and positioned so as
to have a portion of said pair of endless chains
extending essentially parallel and in close proximity to
said front panel;
an inclined arm member fixedly supported by
said supporting structure and positioned between said
upper and lower pair of idler wheels and further from
the front panel than is that portion of said pair of
endless chains extending essentially parallel to said
front panel;
an inclined support ramp fixedly secured to
said supporting structure and positioned below said arm
and closer to the front panel than is that portion of
said pair of endless chains extending essentially
parallel to said front panel;
a transfer cradle pivotably supported by said
supporting structure and positioned so as to have its
axis of rotation extending essentially parallel to said
front panel and closer to said front panel than is said
inclined support ramp, said transfer cradle adapted to
releasably support one of the containers;
second driving means for rotating said
transfer cradle to a first position in which a container
is accessible from the door opening, to a second
position in which said cradle is adapted to release a
container onto said support ramp and to a third position
in which said cradle is adapted to receive a container
supported on said inclined arm member.
A vending machine which requires the return of
an empty container before the issuance of a full
container, comprising:
a supporting structure having an interior and
a front panel with a door opening formed therein;
carrier means for supporting a plurality of
containers within said supporting structure;
first driving means for inducing motion to
said carrler means;
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a transfer cradle pivotably supported by said
supporting structure and having a container holding area
formed therein;
an inclined arm member fixedly supported to
said supporting structure;
a ramp member fixedly supported to said
supporting structure;
a second driving means for rotating said
transfer cradle to a first position in which a container
is accessible from the door opening, to a second
position in which said cradle is positioned to release a
container onto sald support member and to a third
position in which said cradle i8 positioned to receive a
container supported by said inclined arm member.
By way of example an embodiment of the above
described invention is described in more detail below
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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Figure 1 is a dia~rammatic side elevation of a
vending machine or machine section according to the
invention.
Figure 2 is longitudinal sectional view of a
transfer cradle being a component of the machine of Fig.
1 drawn to a larger scale shown holding a gas cylinder.
Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line III-III
of Fig. 2.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of a convèyor carrier
being a component of the machine of Fig. 1 drawn to a
larger scale shown holding a gas cylinder.
Figures 5A to 5E are diagrams showing successive
stages in the operation of the machine of Fig. 1.
Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line VI-VI of
Fig. 4,
The illustrated embodiment comprises a cabinet 7
with an internal framework (not shown) housing and
supporting the remaining components of the machine. The
cabinet 7 has a front panel 8 with an access doorway
therethrough, which is normally closed provided with a
door 9.
The subject matter of Fig. 1 may be the whole of a
machine dedicated to the supply of a single product.
More usually it is a section of a multi-product machine
in which each section may hold and dispense differing
products.
Thus a number of transactions are possible depending
on what product is sought and whether or not the
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prospective purchaser has an empty container to return.
Therefore a prospective purchaser firstly indicates
the nature of the transaction he wishes to make by, for
example, operating a push-button key-pad or the like. The
signals so generated by the purchaser are fed to a data
processor which thereafter ensures that subsequent
operations are in accord with that requirement.
The cabinet 7 houses coin monitoring devices (not
shown) of conventional kind having coin inlet slots in the
front panel 8. Upon the coin monitoring device receiving
the amount appropriate to the type of transaction involved
it signals the data processor (not shown) controlling the
operation of the machine as a whole.
If the transaction is one involving the return of an
empty cylinder the processor energises a solenoid (not
shown), which unlocks door 9 and initiates a motor (not
shown) to open it and awaits further input signals before
proceeding further. If the transaction is one not
involving the return of an empty cylinder the processor
proceeds directly with a dispensing operation as described
below with reference to the first ~entioned type of
transaction.
When the door 9 opens the customer is presented with
an empty cylinder transfer cradle 10 ready to receive an
empty cylinder E.
The transfer cradle 10 has a recess to accomodate the
cylinder E which, as may best be seen in Fig. 2, is shaped
as a snug fit about the cylinder including such a
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fit about the neck and valve 11 of the cylinder. Thus
any cylinaer or other article which is substantially
different from the correct cylinder and which may be
presented by the customer would either not enter the
recess or would incompletely fill it.
The cradle 10 is preferably a hollow moulding of a
durable and tough plastics material and is mounted for
rotation about axles 12 under the influence of geared
motor 13. The arrangement is such that when the motor 13
is actuated the cradle lO is rotated one half revolution,
reversing the motor then returns the cradle to its
starting position.
The cradle 10 effectively blocks access to the
interior of the cabinet 7 and in particular to a chain
conveyor 14 therein.
The conveyor 14 comprises a pair of endless chains
15 trained around paired drive wheels 16 and idler wheels
17 so as to follow a pair of spaced apart, mutually
parallel, tortuous paths and a plurality of cylinder
carriers 18 bridging from chain to chain and suspended
therefrom. The carriers 18 are equally spaced apart
along the chains 15.
The conveyor 14 is driven by a second motor l9
connected to the drive wheels 16. The arrangement is
such that each time the motor 19 is actuated the conveyor
chains are advanced by a distance equal to the spacing
between adjacent carriers 18.
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A plurality of proximity sensors 20 are disposed
within the cradle 10. Those sensors may be conventional
commercially available items. They are essentially
switches which close whenever an object comes into close
proximity with the end of the sensor. Thus all of the
sensors respond if a body of the same shape and size as
the relevant cylinder is placed in the cradle 10, but at
least one of the sensors 20 would be unaffected if an
over- or under-sized body were to be presented.
A further plurality of proximity sensors 21 are
clustered at one end of the cradle 10, being the end
adapted neatly to accommodate the valve 11 of a cylinder
E. The ser,sitive faces of sensors 21 are positioned so
that all of the sensors 21 respond when and only when a
cylinder with a correctly shaped valve is ensconced in
the cradle 10.
For preference there are magnetically operated
sensors in the cradle 10 which determine whether the
cylinder E and valve is a steel or a non-ferrous material
and signals accordingly.
Also there may be an optical sensor responsive to the
fluorescence of a plastics cap, when illuminated by ultra-
violet light, trained on the cylinder immediately upstream
of the cradle 10 on the conveyor 14 to check that that
cylinder has such a cap and therefore is indeed a full
cylinder. The caps in question are applied to cylinders
as they are factory filled and are necessarily destroyed
by the consumer when first taking gas from a cylinder.
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Signals from all the sensors are fed to the data
processor and if everything is consistent with a genuine
cylinder having been placed in the cradle after coins
appropriate to a full for empty type transaction have
been received or with an empty cradle if coins
appropriate to an initial purchase of a full cylinder
have been received the processor issues control signals
to actuate the motors 13 and 19. There may be a slight
time delay between the actuation of the motors, or their
effective driving speeds may vary so that effective
synchronisation of their operations occurs or the
progress of motor 19 may be made contingent on that of
motor 13. In any event the issuance of the go signal
causes the sequence of events illustrated by Figs. 5A to
5E to occur.
In Fig. 5A an empty cylinder E has been placed in
the cradle 10. A full cylinder F is held by a carrier 18
in an off loading station adjacent and slightly above the
cradle. An empty carrier 18 is disposed in an on loading
station also adjacent the cradle but slightly below it.
It will be noted that the carriers in Fig. 5A have been
turned somewhat from their freely hanging position as
shown for example in Fig. 6. That turning is due to
engagement of the carriers 18 descending past the cradle
10 with appropriate guides 22 and is to facilitate the
movement of cylinders into and out of the carriers in the
on and off loading stations.
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In Fig. SB the cradle has been turned clockwise by a
half revolution and the empty cylinder E rolls from the
cradle 10 across a support 23 into the formerly empty
carrier 18.
In Fig. 5C the conveyor 14 has been actuated and the
flight adjacent the cradle 10 moved downwardly to cause
full cylinder F to be forced by a fixed arm 24 from its
carrier 18 to rest upon the arm 24 and the outer surface
of the cradle.
In Fig. 5D the cradle 10 has returned part way back
to its starting position ànd the full cylinder has
thereby rolled from the arm 24 into the cradle recess.
In Fig. 5E the cradle 10 has returned and the full
cylinder in it may be removed by the customer when the
door opens. At the same time the conveyor 14 has
finished its incremental movement so that another carrier
18 holding another full cylinder is in the off loading
station and previously filled but now empty càrrier has
moved into the on loading station. Once the full
cylinder has been removed by the customer the door 9
closes as instructed by the processor and the machine is
reset for another vending operation.
The data processor may also be conditioned to
respond to a magnetically encoded credit card or the like
in lieu of coins. It may also be responsive to a similar
input to adopt a loading mode in which it permits
repeated operation or operation of the conveyor 14 only
to enable the machine to be emptied of empty cylinders
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:IZ6~1S7
and recharged with full cylinders by an operator.
In other embodiments of the invention the sensors 20
and 21 may be supple~ented or even replaced by other
conventional sensor means, for example optical sensors
responsive to identifying indicia such as a bar code
applied to the cylinders or to the cylinder colour.
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