The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 11, 1986
Filed:
Jun. 11, 1984
Akihito Kurosawa, Maebashi, JP;
Osamu Anazawa, Maebashi, JP;
Sanden Corporation, Isesaki, JP;
Abstract
An article dispenser for dispensing articles from a vending machine includes an article storage area which has a bottom opening through which articles are dispensed and a front opening through which articles are loaded in a manner to form two vertically adjacent stacks. An article dispensing mechanism successively dispenses the lowermost articles stacked in the storage area through such bottom opening by the mechanism including a rotatable shaft which vertically extends within the storage area to divide the storage area into the two vertical stacks or columns. A control plate is fixed to the lower end of the rotatable shaft to control the operation of a pair of pivotally mounted doors positioned below the two vertical stacks of articles, respectively. As these doors open and close upon rotation of the rotatable shaft, the lowermost articles in the storage area are successively dispensed. The article dispensing mechanism further includes an article holder mechanism located at the lower end of the storage area to hold the articles in one stack, except for the lowermost article, in a stacked position during the opening of the door. The holder mechanism includes a holding surface portion which extends from one side of the rotatable shaft to frictionally engage the adjacent article in one stack to hold this article between the holding surface portion and the inner surface of the storage area, and a projection extending from the rotatable shaft at a level disposed below the holding surface portion. The holder mechanism further includes a pushing member extending from the rotatable shaft in a direction opposite to the direction of such projection, the pushing member acting to guide the lowermost article in a stack toward the outside of storage area bottom opening.