US2699980A - Newspaper vending machine - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 18, 1955 L. B. UHAS ET AL 2,699,980

NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 18, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l v IN V EN TOR- A. yfi'ds, Z W46 v/fa 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 18, 1950 United States Patent C) NEWSPAPER VENDING MACHINE Louis B. Uhas and Joseph L. Uhas, Detroit, Mich.

Application October 18, 1950, Serial No. 190,788

6 Claims. (Cl. 312-62) The present invention relates to an improved newspaper vending machine.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved newspaper vending machine which is simple in design, economical of manufacture and reliable and eflicient in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a vending machine which may be readily serviced with a minimum of difficulty which insures that a prospective purchaser will not inadvertently overlook paying for his paper.

Other and more detailed objects of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings, throughout the several views of which like reference characters designate like parts and wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a greatly enlarged view in transverse vertical section showing the structure illustrated in Figure 1, taken substantially along the line 22 thereof;

Figure 3 is a broken view in transverse vertical section showing the latching mechanism for the vending door section in the unlatched position and illustrating in broken lines a substantially opened position of the vending door section;

Figure 4 is a broken view in transverse horizontal section of the structure illustrated in Figure 2, taken substantially along the line 44 thereof;

Figure 5 is a broken view in transverse horizontal section of the structure illustrated in Figure 2, taken substantially along the line 55 thereof;

Figure 6 is a view in transverse vertical section of the structure illustrated in Figure 4, taken substantially along the line 6-6 thereof;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view in transverse vertical section of the structure illustrated in Figure 5, taken substantially along the line 77 thereof;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view in transverse vertical section of the structure illustrated in Figure 4, taken substantially along the line 88 thereof; and

Figure 9 is a broken view of a portion of the coin control mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, the improved newspaper vending machine comprises a generally rectangular cabinet 10 having a rear wall 12 extending substantially higher than the front wall 14 and is closed at its top by a door assembly generally indicated at 16 and arcuately shaped, which will be presently described in greater detail. The interior of the cabinet is divided, by a vertically disposed transversely extending wall 18, into a coin compartment 20 at one end of the cabinet occupying a rather small part of the interior of the cabinet and a newspaper storage space 22 in which the papers to be vended are stored and from which they are vended. Adjacent the front wall 14 of the cabinet 10, is a longitudinally extending wall 23 extending throughout the length of the newspaper storage compartment 22, which cooperates with the front wall 14 to define a newspaper display compartment 24. The front wall 14 of the cabinet is provided with a window 26 through which the name, headlines, etc. of the display paper indicated at 28 in the display compartment 24 may be readily seen by a prospective newspaper purchaser. The display space 24 is covered at its top by a cover 30 hinged along one edge to the front Wall 14 of the cabinet 10 and sloping upwardly and rear- "ice wardly with its rear edge resting upon the upper edge of the wall 23. The cover 30 may be readily raised by a purchaser who finds all of the newspapers, represented at 32 in Figure 6, have been removed from the storage space, thereby permitting him to remove the last paper by taking the paper 28 from the display space 24.

It will be appreciated that in the broader aspects of the invention any suitable means may be employed for maintaining the newspapers 32 in the position illustrated in Figure 6. In the preferred embodiment illustrated these newspapers 32 are held in the position illustrated in Figure 6 with their folded edges uppermost and the papers parallel to the front plate 14, by a follower plate 34 which is generally rectangular in shape. The follower plate 34 is carried on a pair of arms 36, the upper ends of which are pivotally connected to the opposite ends of the follower plate 34 approximately midway between the upper and lower edges thereof, by means of U-shaped brackets 38 secured to the rear side of the plate 34, and pivot pins 40 extending through the brackets 38 and the upper ends of the arms 36. The other ends of the arms 36 are pivotally secured to the bottom of the cabinet 10 adjacent its rear wall 12 and at opposite ends of the newspaper storage space 22, by hinges generally indicated at 42, having one leaf 44 fastened to the end of the arm 36 as by screws 46, and the other leaf 48 of which is secured to the bottom of the cabinet 10 as by screws 50. The hinge pins 52 of the hinges 42 are encircled by springs 54 which act to urge the arms 36 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 6, and accordingly urge the follower plate 34 forwardly.

It will be noted that in the preferred construction illustrated the newspapers are supported on a false bottom 55 which slopes downwardly from the back to the front of the newspaper space. This false bottom 55 is in the form of a piece of sheet metal of a width to fit between the arms 36 and having downwardly turned supporting portions 57 and 59 at the front and rear thereof. A convenient handle 61 is provided at the top of the plate 34 for returning it to the position illustrated in broken lines in Figure 6, when loading the machine. Also, the follower plate 34 preferably bears the legend Empty (not shown), so disposed that it may be seen through the window 26 and an aperture 63 in the rear wall 23 of the display space 24.

The door assembly 16 comprises an arcuately shaped main door 56, which is pivotally connected along its rear edge by a piano type hinge 58 to a forwardly turned flange portion 60 at the upper end of the rear wall 12. The main door 56 extends arcuately forwardly and downwardly from the hinge 58 over the newspaper storage space 22 and has a frame including angle irons 62 at opposite sides thereof, interconnected at their forward ends by an angle iron 64 which extends along the upper edge of the front wall 14 when the door 56 is closed. A sheet metal door panel 66 is supported on the angle irons 62 and extends from the hinge 58 toward but terminates short of the front wall 14. A vending door 68 is mounted on the main door 56 and is pivotally supported at the lower edge of the main door panel 66 by another piano type hinge 70. The vending door 68 extends arcuately forwardly and downwardly from the hinge 70 to the angle iron 64.

The main door'56 also includes a plate 78 which extends substantially the full length of the storage space 22 and underlies the vending door section 68 to permit only limited access to the storage space 22 upon opening of the vending door section 68, as is hereinafter more fully described. The plate 78 has a rearwardly turned flange 72 at its upper edge which is suitably secured, as by welding, to the main door panel 66 adjacent the hinge 78.

The plate 78 includes a generally vertically disposed portion extending downwardly from the flange 72, and a generally horizontally extending portion extending forwardly over the forward portion of the newspaper storage space 22 from the lower end of the vertical portion. The plate 78 is also connected to the angle irons 62 of the main door 56 by parallel end plates 76 which are vertically disposed and welded or otherwise suitably secured to the plate 78 and the angle irons 62. As best illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, the central portion of the forwardly extending portion of plate 78 is formed to provide an opening indicated at 80, and a downwardly turned flange 82 at the rear of the opening 80. Intermediate the opening 80 and the left and right hand edges of the plate 78, as viewed in Fig. 5, the front marginal portion of the plate 78 is turned downwardly and rearwardly to provide a bafile 84 adapted to engage the top of the papers disposed in the storage space 22. It will be noted that there is a space provided between the bafiie 84 and the front longitudinally extending angle iron 64 of the main door 56, through which space the vended newspapers are removed, as hereinafter described. It will also be noted that the baffle 84 is shaped so that its low point engages the upper edge of the front paper 32 in the storage space 22. Because of this fact, as the purchaser reaches through the opening 80 and pulls the front paper 32 forwardly and upwardly, the bafiie 84 engages the next paper and prevents it from being pulled along by the paper being removed.

The main door 56 is normally held in the closed position by a latch 86 mounted in the front wall 14 of the cabinet 10, adjacent the upper edge thereof, as a part of a key controlled lock indicated at 88. The latch 86 moves into and out of a co-operating opening 90 provided in the angle iron 64.

The vending door 68 carries a longitudinally extending rod 92 supported at the underside of the door 68 and dis posed in spaced relation thereto. This rod 92 serves as a keeper co-operating with a pair of hooks or latches 94 integrally connected by a longitudinally extending rod 96 rotatably mounted in brackets 98 affixed to the end plates 76 by screws 100. The hooks 94 are adapted to engage the rod 92, as illustrated in Fig. 2, to hold the vending door in its closed position. The rod 96, upon which the hooks 94 are afiixed, also carries an arm 102 secured thereto and disposed within the coin mechanism compartment and adapted to be pivoted in a clockwise direction from the position illustrated in Fig. 2, to the position illustrated in Fig. 3, to move the hooks 94 out of engagement with the rod 92 and release the vending door 68. This clockwise, or unlatching movement of the arm 102 is limited by a bumper 101 carried by a bracket 103 mounted on the underside of the horizontal portion of the plate 78. The arm 102, and accordingly, the rod 96 and the hooks 94 are urged in a counterclockwise direction to the position illustrated in Fig. 2 by a spring 104, one end of which is secured to the arm 102 and the other end of which is connected to a bracket 105 anchored to plate 78. The vending door 68 is provided with a suitable handle at 106 for moving it to the open position illustrated in broken lines and is urged toward the closed position by a spring 108 anchored to a suitable bracket 110 secured to the panel 66 of the main door 56 generally centrally thereof. The other end of the spring 188 is connected to one end of an arcuately shaped arm 112, which extends through a slot 114 provided in the vertically extending portion of the plate 78 and is fixed to the vending door 68. The arm 112 is provided with a laterally extending projection 116 adapted to engage the rear side of the plate 78 to limit movement of the door 68 is an opening direction.

The main door 56 also carries a pair of pins 118 projecting upwardly through co-operating openings in the angle iron 62 and bearing against the underside of the vending door 68. These pins 118 are pressed against the underside of the vending door 68 by spring wires 120 with a force sufficient to effect an initial opening of the vending door 68 upon release of the rod 92 by the hooks 94. The pins 118 have collars 121 for limiting their movement through the angle irons 62. the door 68 is completed by the purchaser by grasping the handle 106.

It will be appreciated that in the broader aspects of the invention, the arm 102 may be pivoted to disengage the hooks 94 from the rod 92 by any suitable coin actuated mechanism. The particular coin mechanism illustrated in the drawings forms no part of the present invention and accordingly, will be only briefly described.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the coin mechanism is disposed within the compartment 20 and is mounted on a plate 122, carrying a coin box 124 at the bottom thereof and fixed to a plate 126 adapted to fit in a co-operating opening in the front wall 14 of the cabinet 10. The par ticular mechanism illustrated is adapted to receive nickels The opening of H or pennies and includes a horizontally disposed shaft 128 carrying a vertically upwardly extending arm 130 disposed to engage the arm 102 and pivot it from the position illustrated in Fig. 2 to the position illustrated in Fig. 3, upon movement of the shaft 128 outwardly in response to a pullling on the knob 132 by the newspaper purchaser. A suitable latch 133 is pivotally mounted on the plate 122 for holding the rod 128 against such outward movement and is adapted to be tripped by a nickel dropped down the chute 134, or by a fifth penny dropped down the chute 136 and supported upon the first four pennies which accumulate in the rack 138. The spring 140 returns the shaft 128 to the position illustrated upon the release of the knob 132 by the purchaser. A handle 139 is provided at the top of the plate 122 for removing it and the attached coin box 124.

The applicants improved newspaper vending machine is prepared for the vending of newspapers by opening the main door after removing the latch 36 from the aperture 90. The door 56 may be supported in the open position by a pair of conventional links 142 pivotally connected at one end to brackets 144 fixed on the main door 56, and having J slots 146 co-operating with pins 148 fixed on the end walls of the cabinet 18. The follower 34 is then grasped by the handle 61 and raised to the position illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 6. The newspapers to be vended are then placed in the storage space 22 with their folded edges uppermost and the follower plate 34 is lowered against the rear paper. The cover 30 of the display space 24 is then raised and a paper 28 is dropped into position with its folded edge down and the front side outwardly so that the name of the paper and the headlines may be viewed through the glass 26. The main door 56 is then returned to the closed position and the lock 88 turned to engage the latch 86 in the opening 90. The machine is now ready for operation and a purchaser may insert either a nickel or five pennies and upon pulling the handle 132, the vending door 68 will be partially opened by the action of the springs 120, forcing the pins 118 against the underside of the door 68. The purchaser then grasps the handle 106 of the door section 68 and holds the latter in the open position while he reaches through the opening 80 and removes the front paper 32. Upon removal of the newspaper 32 by the purchaser, and release of the vending door 68, it will be returned to its latched position by the combined action of the springs 104 and 108.

While only one specific embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail, it will be ap preciated by those skilled in the art that numerous modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A newspaper vending machine comprising a cabinet adapted to contain a quantity of newspapers to be vended, a door on said cabinet at the top thereof adapted upon opening thereof to provide access to said cabinet for supplying newspapers to and removing them from said cabinet, said door including a main portion mounted on said cabinet for pivotal movement about one edge of said main portion and a vending door section pivotally mounted on said main portion, a baifle plate supported on said main portion of said door at the inner side thereof and extending below and substantially across said vending door section at the inner side thereof to limit access to said storage space upon opening of said vending door section, said plate being formed to provide an opening at the forward central portion of the plate adapted to receive a purchasers hand therethrough to permit the grasping of a paper to be removed from the machine, a door lock mounted on said cabinet and co-opcrable with said main portion of said door for locking the latter in closed position, and co-operating coin controlled latch means on said plate and said vending door section for securing said vending door section in closed position.

2. A newspaper vending machine as defined in claim I wherein the front marginal portion of said plate at opposite sides of said opening is turned downwardly and rearwardly and is adapted, upon the removal of the front newspaper in the storage space, to engage the adjacent newspaper and prevent it from being drawn out of place by the removal of the front newspaper.

3. A newspaper vending machine comprising a generally rectangularly shaped cabinet adapted to contain a quantity of newspapers to be vended, a door on said cabinet adapted, upon opening thereof, to provide access to said cabinet for supplying newspapers to and removing them from said cabinet and including a main portion and a vending door section pivotally mounted on said main portion and adapted upon opening thereof to provide access to said cabinet for removing a vended newspaper, a door lock cooperable with said main portion of said door for locking the latter in closed position, and a coin controlled latch mechanism for securing said vending door section against pivotal movement relative to said main portion of said door, said main portion of said door including means extending across said vending door section to the side opposite said pivotal connection of said vending door section to said main portion of said door for limiting access to said cabinet upon the opening of said vending door section, and said latch mechanism including co-operating means on said vending door section and said means extending across said vending door section.

4. A newspaper vending machine comprising a generally rectangularly shaped cabinet adapted to contain a quantity of newspapers to be vended, a door on said cabinet adapted, upon opening thereof, to provide access to said cabinet for supplying newspapers to and removing them from said cabinet and including a main portion and a vending door section pivotally mounted on said main portion and adapted upon opening thereof to provide access to said cabinet for removing a vended newspaper, a door lock co-operable with said main portion of said door for locking the latter in closed position, a coin controlled latch mechanism for securing said vending door section against pivotal movement relative to said main portion of said door, said main portion of said door including means extending across said vending door section to the side opposite said pivotal connection of said vending door section to said main portion of said door for limiting access to said cabinet upon the opening of said vending door section, said latch mechanism including co-operating means on said vending door section and said means extending across said vending door section, and bafiie means on said means extending across said vending door section adapted to engage the newspaper adjacent a vended newspaper to prevent it from being pulled out with the vended newspaper upon removal of the latter.

5. A newspaper vending machine comprising a generally rectangularly shaped cabinet adapted to contain a quantity of newspapers to be vended and having an opening at one side thereof, a door pivotally mounted on said cabinet adapted, upon opening thereof to completely expose said opening to provide access to said cabinet for supplying newspapers to and removing them from said cabinet and including a main portion covering a part of said opening and a vending door section covering the remainder of said opening and pivotally mounted on said main portion and adapted upon opening thereof to provide access to said cabinet for removing a vended newspaper, a door lock mounted on the cabinet and co-operable with said main portion of said door for locking said door in closed position, a coin controlled latch mechanism for securing said vending door section against pivotal movement relative to said main portion of said door, said main portion of said door including means extending across said vending door section to the side opposite said pivotal connection of said vending door section to said main portion of said door and said door lock including co-operating means mounted on said cabinet and said means extending across said vending door section.

6. A newspaper vending machine comprising a generally rectangularly shaped cabinet adapted to contain a quantity of newspapers to be vended and having an opening at one side thereof, a door pivotally mounted on said cabinet adapted, upon opening thereof to completely expose said opening to provide access to said cabinet for supplying newspapers to and removing them from said cabinet and including a main portion covering a part of said opening and a vending door section covering the remainder of said opening and pivotally mounted on said main portion and adapted upon opening thereof to provide access to said cabinet for removing a vended newspaper, a door lock mounted on the cabinet and co-operable with said main portion of said door for locking said door in closed position, a coin controlled latch mechanism for securing said vending door section against pivotal movement relative to said main portion of said door, said main portion of said door including means extending across said vending door section to the side opposite said pivotal connection of said vending door section to said main portion of said door for limiting access to said cabinet upon the opening of said vending door section, and said latch mechanism including co-operating means on said vending door section and said means extending across said vending door section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,516,121 Rupert Nov. 18, 1924 1,659,167 Schultz Feb. 14, 1928 2,119,548 Laugherty June 7, 1938 2,245,487 Machin June 10, 1941 2,285,055 Rozin et a1. June 2, 1942 2,285,899 Cannon June 9, 1942 2,302,166 Anthony Nov. 17, 1942 2,307,087 White Jan. 5, 1943 2,371,343 Melchert Mar. 13, 1945

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