Cipher Data Products, Inc.

American District Enterprises, Inc.

John F Murphy

William M Barton, Jr

Jeffrey S McGee

Karl B Offerman

Lynn C Jacobs

Roger S Johnson

Richard G Fisher

William F Netzeband

Joseph E Fesi

Thomas J Dinas

A vending machine has an outer housing with a hollow interior and a manual retrieval opening. At least one tray is removably supported by the housing inside the interior thereof. The tray has a plurality of storage bins, each bin being dimensioned for receiving a plurality of items to be dispensed. Each bin has a movably actuable mechanism for ejecting a single unit of the item therefrom. A manually operable coin mechanism is mounted to an exterior of the housing for receiving a predetermined number and size of coins. Insertion of the proper coins into the coin mechanism permits a single actuation thereof through a predefined range of motion. A manually operable selector mechanism is mounted to the exterior of the housing for designating the item to be dispensed when moved into engagement with the ejecting mechanism of a preselected one of the plurality of storage bins. A drive mechanism is coupled between the coin mechanism and the selector mechanism for enabling the predefined range of motion imparted by a single actuation of the coin mechanism to actuate the ejecting means of the preselected one of the storage bins. This causes a single unit of the item stored therein to be dispensed to the manual retrieval opening of the housing.

Counter-top vending machine

A transport for a rectangular tape cartridge enclosing a supply reel having a web of magnetic tape wound thereabout terminating in a free end attached to a leader block. The illustrated embodiment of the transport is designed to fit within the computer industry standard 51/4-inch form factor and utilizes the 1/2-inch tape cartridge defined in Proposed American National Standard X3B5/85-075. An elongate rectangular housing has internal mechanisms for supporting the tape cartridge therein and referencing the cartridge off its side surfaces. The cartridge is manually inserted into the housing through a slot in a face panel extending across a transverse end of the housing. Electro-mechanical assemblies lock the cartridge in place and complete the loading sequence by engaging a drive chuck with the hub of the supply reel, extracting the leader block from the cartridge, and pulling the leader block to the take-up hub to thread the tape along a tape path. A gear driven articulated arm has an outer end which is guided along a hook-shaped track and carries the leader block into engagement with a receptacle in the take-up hub. Precision transverse movement of a magnetic head in the tape path is accomplished by a stepper motor coupled to a band drive through a worm gear reduction.

Transport for tape cartridge with leader block

A drive which permits endwise loading of the ANSI standard one-quarter inch tape cartridge in an enclosure having a width of approximately five and three-quarter inches. The drive has a mechanism for partially opening the tape access door of the cartridge upon insertion thereof so that the door pivots clear of a read/write head. Another mechanism is provided for thereafter operatively engaging and disengaging the read/write head with a length of tape in the cartridge.

Endwise loaded cartridge tape drive

A drive for a tape cartridge having an access door along one side edge thereof. The drive includes a housing having a front panel and an elongate tray dimensioned to have the cartridge inserted endwise thereon. The tray is supported within the housing for longitudinal movement from a retracted position in which the tray is substantially contained within the housing to an extended position in which a portion of the tray extends through a slot in the front panel of the housing. A mechanism is provided for opening the access door of the cartridge while the cartridge is supported on the tray and the tray is being moved from its extended position to its retracted position. Another mechanism is provided for moving a read/write head and a capstan drive within the housing between operative engagement and disengagement with the cartridge after the cartridge has been inserted onto the tray and the tray has been moved to its retracted position.

Cartridge tape drive

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

John F Murphy