Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
~ W O 93/03463 PCT/GB92/01372
1.
~endi~ ~achl~es
Technical Fi~ld
The present inYention relates to vending machines.
Bac~E u~ ~Et
Vending machines presently available generally allow only a
single vendor to purchase any item at any on~ time and if more than one
vending position is required a corresponding number of vending machines
must be pro~ided. One problem associated with this approach is that
vending machines are usually pro~ided in public locations e.g. on
railways ~tations, bus stations and on streets, where space is at a
premium and a large number of vending machines provide an obstruction.
This is particularly disadvantageous in railways stations and bus
stations where evacuation procedures in the event of an emergency
require the number of obstructions to be kept to a minimum. ;
A fur~her problem with vending machines is the limi.ted number of
items that can be dispensed from any one machine.
Disclosure of the Invention ~-
The present invention is designed to overcome the above problems
by providing a vending machine that can be used by two or more people
- si~ultaneously to purchase products.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a
vending machine comprising:
a plurality of carousels, each hav~ng a plurality of
predetermined locations for storing products for sale,
a plurality Qf vending positions, each comprising:
means for the purchaser to select one of the desired
prod~cts that are for sale,
means for the purchaser to pay for the selected product
and,
means for delivering the product to ehe purchaser
means for rotating each carousel independently of the other
carousels, and
control means comprising means which, in response to the
selection of a product from one of the vending positions, is able tO
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cause one of the carousels to rotate to bring a location carrying the
desired product to the delivery Qeans of that vending po~ition and to
cause the delivery means to deliver the desired product to the
purchaser.
~
The present inveneion will be described ~n further detail with
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
F~gure 1 is a side elevation of a vending machine in accordRnce
with the present inYention,
Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken through the ~ending
machine along the line 2-2 shown in Figure ~,
Figure 3 is a ~ertical section taken through the ves~ing machine
along the line 3-3 shown in Figure 2, and
Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken through a further
embodiment of the present invention.
Best-~k~G~-~or Carryine--ut the Invention
The vending machine shown in Figures 1 to 3 is generally circular
in plan (al~hough other shapes are, of~course, possible) and includes
four vending positions 10 at which a purchaser can select and pay for
the product that he wants to purchase, and receive the product, as will
be described in greater detail below. The diameter of the machine may
be about 2m but lar~er or smaller diameters can of course be used.
Referring to Figures 2 and 3, a cylindrical inner wall 12
su~ports ele~en (or any other appropriate number) static shelves fixed
to the central wall 12; insteat of static shelves, eleven sets of
radially-extending brackets 14 may be used, each set being at a
different level within the machine. As shown in F~gure ~, each shelf 14
- includes twelve pairs of roller bearings 16 extending between inner
wall 12 and the rim 18 of the shelf 14 (see Figure 2). A carousel 20 is
supported on each shelf 14 by means of the roller bearings 16 and can
be rotated by means of drive motors 22 having drive pinions 24 that
engaged the underside of each carousel and for that reason each
carousel extends slightly further in the radial direction than the
shelf 14. Alternatively, the shelf can be cut-away to allow engagement
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between the pinion and the carousel. If brackets are used to support
the roller bearings 16, the pinions can engage the carousels in a sp~ce
between two at~acent brackets. The rim of the carousel may be provided
with teeth tO engage the pinion of the trive motor 22 or alternatively
~he pinion 24 may be replaced by a soft-rubber roller which engages the
underside of each carousel and rotates the carousel by frictional
engagement. A separate drive motor 22 is provided for each carousel and
the drive motors can be individually aceivated so that the carousels
can be rotated independently of one another.
A central ca~ity 26 is formed within the central wall 12 so that
the vending machine can be built around a fixed object, such as a
column supporting the roof of a bus or railway station. In this way,
the obstruction caused by the vending machine of the present invention
can be minimised since the obstruction caused by the colwnn is already
in existence and the addition of the vendin~ machine will cause only
minimal additional obstruotion.
Alternatively, the vending machine of the present invention may
be free-standing in wh~ch case the internal cavity 26 can be utilised
to house the drive motors 22 and other working parts of the vending
machine. - ~
Each carousel 20 is divided up by dividers 29 into a number of
compartments 28, which may be of equal or unequal size. The carousel 20
shown in Figure 2 has forty eight equally-spaced compartments of a
- - maximum width of 50 mm, only a few of which have been indicated by the
reference number 28. The goods to be sold are stored on the carousel 20
in ~he compartments 28. Some of the carousels have ninety six
compartments of a maximum width of 25 m~. Obviously, the number of
compartments depends on the nature of the goods to be dipensed.
- Referring now to Figure l, each vending position lO includes a
bank 30 of switches each switch being associated with one of the
products being sold; these switches may be heat or capacitance
sensitive and preferably bear a picture of the product concerned. A
data display device, e.g. a colour monitor 32, a liquid crystal display
or a cathode ray tube, can give further lnformation on the products
available and/or instructions on how t operate the vending machine.
Each vending position also includes a coin receiving mechanism and bank
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note reader 34, a card reader 3S that can read credit cards and/or pre-
pald cards; these pre-psid cards may allow a purchaser to purchase
i~ems up to a given value, for example 5, ~10 or 20 (or equivalent
- amounts in other currencies); if the full value of the card is greater
than the cost of the item purchased, the vending machine can deduct the
amount of a purchase from the card and allow the purchaser to make
further purchases up to the value Qf the balance of money at a future
date. The car~ reader 36 preferably also includes a card dispenser so
that pre-paid cards can be dispensed by the machine on payment through
the coin and note reader 34. A unit 38 may also be provited for giving
change.
Each vending position has a flap 40 that can be released to allow
~he purchasar to remove the prod~ct he has purchased from the vending
machine.
The ~ending machine may also include a headpiece 42 that can
include an information display, for example in the $orm of a moving dot
matrix display, advertising the presence of the vending machine and/or
the products available in the machine. Also incorporated in the
heatpieoe 42 above each vending position are lights 44 (see Figure 3)
for illuminating the vending positions.
~- Between the four vending positions are panelled doors 46 each of
which can be opened by releasing a lock (not shown) and swinging the
~ door outward about hinge 48 (shown in Figure 2). Advertising posters
- can be displayed on each pan~lled door 46 and preferably the doors
- include a light unit 50 that can back-lighe the posters. By opening the
panel doors 46, access to ehe carousels can be provided for restocking
-- and~or access to the motors and other internal working parts of the
machine for maintenance thereof.
I Behind each vending position, there is provided a chute or
i trunking 52 that is open to the outer periphery of the carousels so
that products may be pushed off the outer rim of the carousels into the
chute for dispens~ng the product ordered at any particular vending
position. The products may be pushet off the carousels by means of a
pivoted lever arm 54 carrying a roller 56 on its free end; only four
such lever arms 54 are shown in Figure 3 (for the sake of simplicity of
illustration) but a lever arm will be providet for each carousel at
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each of the four chutes 52. The lever arms 54 ~re ~oved by ~otors (not
shown in Figures 1 to 3). The bottom of the chute 5Z is provided with
a foam lining 58 that cushions the fall of a product from the relevant
carousel so that it is not damaged. The fall of the product can be
further checked by an upward flow of air in the chute 52 provided by
fans 60, which forces air through passages 64, up through the chute and
OUt ehrough a grille 66. To further reduce damage to fragile products
and to assist the handling of goods, e.g. socks, that are not
themselves rlgid, such products and goods should sultably be packaged
in a rigid or semi-rigid container; for ease of stock-handling, all
products are preferably packaged in a container of standard size to be
accommodatet within the compartments 28.
Four bar code readers 68 are provided for each carousel, each
reader being associated with one of the ~ending positions 10. The edge
70 (see Figure 3) of each carousel bears bar codes; these bar codes can
be indicative of the products in the compartment opposite the chute 52
of the associated vending position 10 but more preferably ~hey indicate
which compartment is opposite the chute 52 of the various vending
units; in the latter case, only one bar code reader need be provided
for each carousel since it is possible for the central processing unit
of the vending machine (discusset in further details below) to work out
which compartments are opposite which chutes 52 by knowing the exact
orientation of the carousel. Alternatively, the bar code reader can be
dispensed with and the exact position of the carousel can be derived by
- the central processing unit monitoring how far forward or backwards the
motors 22, which are formed as stepping motors have been moved; from
this information and the memory, the central processing unit will know
the exact position of all the carousels at any given time and the exaet
location of all the various products in the vending machine.
The operation of the vending machine is controlled by a central
processing unit (not shown) which includes a memory that holds the
nature of the product held in each compartment of each carousel or
whether the compartment is empty. Thus, when a product is requested by
a purchaser at any vending position, the central processing unit
rotates one of the carousels that bears that product to a position in
which the compartment holding that product is opposite the chute 52 of
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~he vending positlon, it then actlvates the motor of the pivot arm 54
opposite the chute of the respective carousel to push the product ln
that compart~ent off the carousel into the chute 52; slmultaneously, it
activates fan 60 tO cause an upward flow of air in the chute 52. The
central processing unit then releases a latch on the flap 40 allowing
the product to be removed by the vendor; the unit also updates its
memory that the product has been sold from thae particularly
compartment and so that compartment $s now empty.
As stated above, the positioning of the caxousel opposite the
chute 52 Gf any of the vending positions lO can be controlled by
feedback from the bar code reader 68 and/or by the centra:L processing
unit monitoring the advance of each carousel so that it knows exactly
which compartments are opposi~e which vending positlons and accordingly
can rotate the carousel in one direction or another to bring a
compartment bearing the desired product opposite to the chute 52. ;~
It is possible to use all four vending positions of the vending
machine simultaneously since the central processing unit will rotate a
different carousel to service each vending position. It will be
appreciated that any given product will be provided on more than one
lScarousel so that, in the event of each vending position requesting the
same product, this product can be delivered from separate carousels.
The stocking pattern of the carousels can be worked out so that any
product can be supplied to any vending position from at least one of
the carousels.
` The central processing unit can also keep stock of the a~ount of
20each product that has been sold and this information can be sent by the
central processing unit, for example via a land line, to a central ;
- monitoring office so that it is possible to do an immediate stock-take
of the vending machine and re-stock it if necesssry. In addition, the
central processing unit can be arranged to alert the remote central
monitoring office if the stock of any one product falls to a
predetermined level.
25The sequence of operations performed by tha central processing
unit ~CPU) to vend a product are as fo}lows: `
l. Detect she selection of a product by a vendor pressing one
of the buttons of the bank 30 at a particularly vending
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position (which we w~ll call position ~An),
2. Supply instructions to the ~onitor 32 lnstructing the
insertion of money and/or a card into ~nits 34 to 36,
3. Read frD~ the me~o~y of the CPU the price of the product
selected and either (a) co~pare that price with the amount
of money that has be~n inserted into ~nit 34 snd, if
necessary, give change to unit 38 or (b) deduct the pay~ent
for the product from the eard in unit 36,
4. Identify a co~part~ent on a carousel bearing the desired
produc~,
S. Rotate the selected carouse~ to bring the co~par~ment
bearing that product to a position opposite the chute 52 of
vending position HAn,
6. Activate the fan 60 to provide a flow of air up the
delivery chu~e of position "A~,
7. Activate the pivot arm 54 at position "A" associated with
~he chosen carousel, -~
8. Release the flap 40 of position ~A~,
9. Detect when the flap 40 has been opened by the vendor and
the product re~oved and then lock the flap 40 again,
10. Update the memory of the CPU to record the sale of ~he
product from the compartment.
The vending machine can be used to sell foods, in which case it
could be chilled by a chilling unit (not shown)~
One advantage of the present in~ention is that it can remain in
operation while it is being re-stocked or during maintenance since the
operation of each carousel is independent of the other carousels. Thus
each carousel can be fitted with isolation and resetting switches and
the operation of one carousel inactivated by means of its associated
isolation switch for restocking or maintenance; when so isolsted, the
CPU can be arranged to divert all sales to other carousels.
The embodiment shown in Figure 4 is substantially the same as
that described in connection with Figures l to 3 {and accordingly
further description will not be giv~n, the same reference num~ers being
used throughout Figures l to 4 to indicate the ~ame features); however,
in Figure 4, the product chute 52 is provided on the inside of the
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carousels ant extends under the lowe~t carousel to deliver any product
to a position behlnd the flap 40 of the desired vending posltion; also
the dispensing arms 54 and rollers 56 are pro~ided on the outside of
the carousels ~in Flgure 4, the motors 55 powering the dispensing arms
and rollers 54, 56 are shown). The arrangement of Fig 4 has the
advantage that, for a given diameter of the vending machine, the
diameter of the carousels may be larger than Ln the embodiment of
Figure 1 to 3, thereby allowing more stock to be carried; also access
to the internal workings of the vend~ng mach~ne i5 easier, thereby
facilitat~ng malntenance.
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