Apparatus and method for vending products having various dimensions
AssigneeGross-Given Manufacturing Company
InventorJames E. Skavnak
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An improved method and apparatus for vending products, and particularly beverage containers, of varied sizes, shapes and configurations are disclosed. The products to be vended are aligned in selectable ordered queues within a vending machine that can include a transparent front panel. A container release assembly is positioned at the end of the vend queue to vend a container upon activation. The container release assembly acts on the first-in-line container to be vended and on the second-in-line container, by retaining the second-in-line container while the first is being released. The container release assembly acts on the containers from two opposite sides of the containers.
Claims19
A container release assembly for use with a vending machine for vending items from a queue, the assembly comprising:
- (a) a first release apparatus having a first front engaging member and a first rear engaging member, each of the first front engaging member and the first rear engaging member pivotally positioned in relation to a first gate, the first release apparatus positioned on a first side of the item to be vended;
- (b) a second release apparatus having a second front engaging member and a second rear engaging member, each of the second front engaging member and the second rear engaging member pivotally positioned in relation to a second gate, the second release apparatus positioned on a second side, opposite the first side, of the item to be vended;
- (c) the first release apparatus and the second release apparatus being operably and pivotally connected together;
- and
- (d) the first and second front engaging members being operative to engage a first item in the queue, and the first and second rear engaging members being operative to engage a second item in the queue.
A method of vending a first item from a queue of a vending machine, the method comprising:
- (a) retaining the first item in the queue with a pair of front engaging members of a release assembly;
- and
- (b) releasing the first item from the release assembly and retaining a second item in the queue with a pair of rear engaging members of the release assembly.
A vend item release apparatus configured for operative mounting adjacent a dispensing end of a vending machine tray configured to retainably hold a plurality of vend items in an ordered queue of such items, the release apparatus comprising:
- (a) a front pair of item retainers configured to engage a first vend item of the queue;
- (b) a rear pair of item retainers configured to engage a second vend item of the queue, the second vend item positioned in the queue adjacent to the first vend item;
- (c) a plurality of actuators cooperatively interconnecting the front and rear pairs of item retainers, the actuators configured to alternately cause the front pair of item retainers to release the first vend item while the rear item retainers block dispensing movement of the second vend item, and to then cause the rear pair if item retainers to allow passage of the second vend item in a dispensing direction toward the front pair of item retainers which simultaneously move to t engage and block dispensing movement of the second vend item.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.