Patent Grant
9640014
A variety of dispensing and delivery methods are used in vending machines. For multiple product types, shapes, or sizes, two conventional methods are either: (a) individual horizontal dispensers which drop one product at a time to a dispensing bin for customer access or (b) a carousel which rotates the selected product in a multi-partitioned tray to a vending door for customer access. Others move a product to a chute which guides the product by gravity to a delivery opening.
The drop vend method may not be practical for products that can be damaged or deformed in the drop. Nor may the gravity chute for similar reasons or that some products are not conducive to delivery by gravity. Examples are food items like sandwiches, fruit, and the like. The carousel method is limited in the number of items that can be stocked in the vending machine. If a single carousel, it limits the choices. If multiple carousels they must be stacked and then require separate access doors, instead of a single delivery place. Also, if multiple horizontal trays are stacked vertically in a carousel, it can be difficult for some persons to reach all trays. Such an arrangement may also not meet Americans with Disabilities Act regulations which define an acceptable range of heights from the ground or floor for access to a vended product.
Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art. This room for improvement pertains not only to conventional automated merchandising machines and products (including but not limited to food, snacks, personal hygiene products, phone cards, and other consumables), but also to almost any vending or dispensing application. For example, there are a number of applications where it is desired or advantageous to dispense items to relevant persons. Take for example industrial situations. Tools or tool bits can be dispensed one or one (or in packages) to those authorized. Another is medical situations. Supplies can be dispensed to those authorized. Or dispension can simply be through a machine to anyone, but the machine keeps track of inventory. As can be appreciated by those skilled in this art, there are many different vending or dispensing situations that could benefit from the invention, and it is not limited to typical food, beverage, or snack vending machines.
In one aspect of the present invention, an automated vending or merchandising machine includes an elevator sub-assembly which moves a dispensing bin or elevator tray vertically along the fronts of plural vertical levels of product dispensers in the vending machine. A controller tracks the vertical position of the elevator tray. This allows the controller to (a) send the elevator tray to the vertical level of the dispenser of the product selected by a customer, (b) at that level receive and confirm dispension of the selected product into the elevator tray, and (c) return the elevator tray holding the dispensed product down to a customer delivery or access door or opening in the vending machine that can below the vertical levels of dispensers. Features can include coordination of locking and unlocking of a customer access door and actuating an anti-cheat security baffle with the position of the elevator tray. The coordination can provide high assurance that the selected product is dispensed, there is convenient access to the product for the customer, and there is good security of the other products in the vending machine.
The present invention includes, as a general feature, the concept of a vending machine cabinet having at least one dispenser which moves a row of vendible product to a dispensing location. This includes machines having one or more dispensers on each of a plurality of horizontal shelves top to bottom. Each shelf can hold a plurality of individual back-to-front dispenser cartridges (in one example helix type dispensers) that a customer can select from. However, other dispenser types and methods are possible. In one possible aspect of the invention, a main difference from a conventional vending machine is a vertical elevator automatically moves a bin or tray (it can extend the width of all dispensers on a shelf) from a bottom “stand by” or “ready to vend” position up to just below the shelf of the selected dispenser. The dispenser slides the product into the bin instead of free-falling in a drop zone. Optionally, an optical sensing sub-system can sense if the product is actually moved from dispenser to bin. One example of the optical sensing sub-system has emitters on one side of the elevator just above the bin which direct infrared light in beams in a vertical plane across the vend space just below the front of the dispensers for that tray to detectors on the other lateral side of the bin. Thus, when the product slides out of a dispenser and drops by gravity vertically into the vend space and diagonally down into the elevator bin, it must pass through the beams in the vertical plane. This allows the machine to know a product moved generally horizontally from the dispenser and down into the bin. If the product is sensed, the elevator then automatically moves down to a “park” position which is near a customer-accessible delivery door.
In another possible aspect of the invention, a security baffle (e.g. a horizontal plate or member) can move between positions—a first position out of the elevator passage or space; and a second position into and generally across the elevator passage or space. In one example, the baffle moves basically in a horizontal plane below the lowest shelf containing product dispensers but at a distance above the delivery or access door or flap. It primary function is to block the space above the access door to prevent customers from reaching up through the access door into the product storage space to pilfer from the machine. Note that the delivery door can be locked as an added impediment to cheating. This locking and unlocking of the delivery door could be either manually or automatically controlled.
In another possible aspect of the invention, the elevator can move the elevator tray from a “park” position below the security baffle to a slightly lower “vend” position (below the customer delivery door). The security baffle can be closed over the space above the elevator tray, and the delivery door automatically unlocked. The customer then opens or pivots the delivery door inward and upward and reaches down into the elevator tray to retrieve the vended item on the tray floor. The baffle remains closed (blocking the vend space) and the delivery door can optionally remain unlocked for a pre-set time period (e.g. the longer of one minute or as long as the customer has pivoted the delivery door open). Once the delivery door is released, and/or if over one minute since the door was unlocked, the door can be automatically locked, the baffle retracted, and the elevator is in a stand by or ready-to-vend state to wait for the next vend cycle. The locking and unlocking of the delivery or access door can be coordinated with and/or actuated by movement of the elevator tray.
Other aspects or features of the invention can include one or more of:
The attached drawings provide information about exemplary embodiments according to aspects of the present invention. They are for illustration and not a limitation to the invention, which can take many forms and embodiments.
A. Overview
For a better understanding of the invention, exemplary embodiments will be described below. The invention can take many forms and embodiments and this embodiment is but one way.
This embodiment will be discussed in the context of a vending or automated merchandising machine that includes an insulated cabinet and condenser/evaporator to maintain refrigerated or frozen food at appropriate temperatures, such as are well known in this technological field. The vending machine can also vend non-refrigerated foods or other products. This embodiment is also described in the context of plural helix-type dispensers, such as are well known in the technological field. It also has those dispensers arranged in multiple rows (shelves) and columns within the interior of the cabinet, with all dispensers dispensing inventory one-at-a-time forwardly towards a front, which comprises a main door to the cabinet with a glass window for customers to view the inventory. Examples of such vending machines and dispensers are disclosed at the following patents, which are incorporated by reference herein: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,540,102; 6,772,906; and 7,565,222. However, at least aspects of the present invention can be applied in a variety of other contexts or types of vending machines and dispensers, as will be appreciated by those skilled in this technological field.
The embodiment is also in the context of an elevator sub-system or sub-assembly that moves an elevator tray (also sometimes referred to as a delivery bin) vertically past the dispensing ends of plural vertically-spaced levels or shelves 22 in the vending machine cabinet 12. One example of dimensions of cabinet 12 is 41.2 inches wide, 38 inches deep, and 72 inches high. However the concept can apply to a wide variety of machine sizes and configurations.
It is to be understood that aspects of the present invention can work with a variety of types of elevator trays, platforms or bins. Reference can be taken to the U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,610; US 2001/0000609; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,748 for ways in which a receptacle or bin could be moved vertically along vertically spaced dispensers in a vending machine by electric motors and associated components which could be controlled by a VMC or other programmable controller. The accompanying drawings and description give a specific example of vending machine 10 according the present invention. It utilizes a full width horizontal dispensing bin 34 of
Others have tried the concept of a vertical elevator in a vending machine. Just a few examples include the following U.S. patents or published applications, which are incorporated by reference herein: U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,610; US 2001/0000609; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,748.
It is noted that one common type of elevator can be referred to as an “XY” picking elevator. It has a bucket or receiver sized for receipt and cradling of one dispensed product. It has to be controlled to move not only in a “Y” direction (vertically) to the correct horizontal plane, but also in an “X” direction on (horizontally) to the right horizontal position in that horizontal plane. Once the item enters that XY bucket, it must be moved to a dispensing location. This can be to another elevator (a separate sub-system to move it to customer access).
Therefore, room for improvement remains in this technical field.
B. Apparatus
By reference to the Figures, the specific components and structure of the embodiment of vending machine 10 can be seen.
An access or delivery door or flap 18 blocks customer access to the interior of machine 10, when door 18 is closed. In this embodiment, door 18 is pivoted around a horizontal pivot axis along its top edge. It pivots inwardly. It can be locked against opening by a slide lock which slides upwardly from below the access to interference block inward pivoting of door 18. The slide lock can be moved down a distance outside of the swing path of door 18 to unlock door 18. The locking of door 18 prevents a customer from reaching inside machine 10 when the elevator is operating, or when no product is selected. It can be controlled to allow access only when machine 10 has confirmed a dispension of a product and moved elevator tray to a “vend” position at or below access door 18.
A security baffle 60 inside machine 10 can move between a retracted position out of the elevator passageway 16, and an actuated or extended position blocking the passageway. Security baffle can be actuated when access door 18 is unlocked as an “anti-cheat” feature, such as is known in the art. It blocks access to undispensed products still ready for sale in the machine 10.
One exemplary embodiment of the invention, vending machine 10 (see
1. Customer Access Door
The customer-access door 18 (also sometimes called delivery or access door or flap 18) allows customers to reach inside machine 10 and retrieve a vended product. As can be seen in the Figures, delivery door 18 pivots around a horizontal axis at the top of door 18, and pivots inwardly to provide access through and down into delivery bin 34.
One main aspect of the exemplary embodiment is to use an elevator system 30 to move an elevator tray 34 (see also enlarged view at
2. Elevator
A welded rectangular frame (see
The sheet metal delivery elevator tray 34 (alternatively called the delivery bin) can be raised and lowered in the frame by an electrical motor and drive components. See
Elevator motor 32 (
A drive axle (
A pair of notched belts (
A set of vertical rails (
A top limit detector switch can be positioned on the frame. Each time the main door of the vending machine is closed, the elevator sub-system can go through an initializing routine. An elevator controller can operate the motor to raise the elevator tray towards the top of the elevator frame until it actuates the top limit switch at the top if its travel. When the switch is actuated the motor immediate stops and reverses into a downward direction.
In this example, the notched belts (
Referring now to other figures, an encoder 80, such as is known in the art and commercially available, can communicate with a complimentary motor controller (EC) 90 the speed and direction of elevator tray 34 based on the encoder output (after proper calibration). EC 90 can communicate with the overall vending machine controller (VMC) 92 so that VMC 92 is always informed of the vertical location of bin 34 relative to a home or reference position.
A second position sensing technique can also be used. Elevator tray 34 can carry a sensor that detects an indicator, marker or other item along the vertical rise of vending machine 10. One example is magnets at each shelf 22 level. Another would be some type of contact with structure at each shelf level (e.g. a contact switch that would run into and close an electrical switch when it hits each shelf 22). Other methods are possible. This would allow an alternative or additional way to electrically inform VMC 92 that a shelf 22 has been reached. These different proximity sensing methods are commercially available and well known to those skilled in the art. EC 90 or VMC 92 can be programmed to distinguish or know which shelf 22 corresponds to what sensing. For example, it could be programmed to know that a first switching or sensing by of a magnet after movement of bin 34 away from the stand-by position indicates the lowest most shelf 22; the second switching or sensing of a magnet indicates presence or proximity to the next to lowest shelf 22, and so on up to the top shelf 22 (or until a top-most limit switch is tripped). Having two ways to sense bin vertical position can assist in beneficial operation of the system.
3. Security Baffle
As mentioned, security baffle 60 is located in cabinet 12 under the lowermost tray 22 and above the refrigeration module. In principle security baffle 60 replaces the traditional “anti-theft” flap found in most delivery boxes. Vended items are retrieved directly from the bin 34, but to prevent additional items being knocked of trays 22 using wires/sticks, etc. without paying for them, baffle 60 closes off access to the cabinet 12 space prior to delivery door 18 being unlocked. Note that in refrigerated machines 10, to provide free airflow to facilitate good refrigeration performance, security baffle 60 remains open while machine 10 is in standby sales mode.
Several features are possible with the baffle 60. For example, baffle 60 can always be in the “closed” or blocking position with delivery door 18 is unlocked. Baffle 60 can remain closed until delivery door 18 has been locked, which can occur by virtue of the elevator tray or bin being moved to the “standby” position.
4. Delivery Door Lock Slide
As mentioned, a sliding lock can be used to lock access or delivery door 18 from being pivoted open until the elevator tray 34 is in a certain position. Lock slide 52 performs these functions:
(a) Locks/unlocks the delivery door or flap 18.
(b) Operates detector switch 1 (bottom or lower switch in
(c) Operates detector switch 2 (top or upper switch in
In this embodiment, lock slide 52 is operated by bin 34. It is basically an L-shaped rigid metal bolt member held in a bracket attached to the inner side of vending machine front door 16 and under the opening for access door 18. A first arm of the L-shape is parallel with door 16. The other arm extends outwardly from the plane of door 16 a distance such that it is in the path of travel of the bottom of elevator tray 34. Its lower or retracted position is such that the first arm is below the swing path of access door 18. Its extended or raised position has the first arm up into that swing path. Thus, like a bolt on a door, when in extended position it mechanically blocks the inward opening of door 18.
An extension spring ensures lock slide 52 is normally urged to the extended or raised position (pulled up to locked position). In this embodiment, lock slide is positioned relative to the travel of elevator tray 34 such that when tray 34 moves downward far enough, its bottom engages the outward extending other arm of the L-shaped bolt of lock slide 52 and has sufficient force to overcome the extension spring and move slide lock from an extended or locked position to a retracted or unlocked position. This allows door 18 to swing open. The extension spring returns the slide lock to the upper position, locking door 18, if it is not being pressed down by the underside of bin 34.
Specifically, by referring to
With reference to
The Vend Sequence
Note: There are 3 logical states to support the vend sequence:
5. Delivery Door Optical Sensor
This safety sensor 54 is located above the hinge of delivery door 18 nearest to the payment system/s. An actuator plate is attached to door 18 itself and blocks an optical light path when door 18 is opened approximately ¼ inch. At any time delivery door 18 is open none of the elevator moving parts will operate.
The delivery door 18 is monitored during the vend cycle to determine whether it has been opened/closed. If it is left open for any reason a message will appear on the user display prompting the door to be closed. If an attempt is made to cheat the door, the security baffle 60 will immediately be closed and the elevator tray or bin 34 will be sent to the “vend” (delivery door unlocked position.
Should the delivery door 18 be cheated/opened while a vend is in progress, the system will be rendered out of service and error code will be reported when entering service mode.
Reference can be taken to the drawings for additional details about the exemplary embodiment 10.
C. Operation
Operation of the apparatus of vending machine 10 can be seen by reference to the Figures.
In this example, an indicator or marker is mounted at each tray 22 in correspondence with the vertical travel of reed switch-shelf detect sensor 72, which is mounted on elevator tray 34. In one example, a permanent magnet would be mounted on each shelf 22. Sensor 72 is basically a proximity detector of such a magnet and triggers an electrical signal upon sensing a magnet within its pre-set range of sensitivity. This allows a way to positively sense the location of a shelf 22. Such proximity sensors are commercially available. A reed switch is an electrical switch operated by an applied magnetic field. It consists of a pair of contacts on ferrous metal reeds in a hermetically sealed glass envelope. The contacts may be normally open, closing when a magnetic field is present, or normally closed and opening when a magnetic field is applied. The switch may be actuated by bringing a magnet near to the switch. Once the magnet is pulled away from the switch, the reed switch will go back to its original position. Sensitivity, the amount of magnetic field necessary to actuate it, is measured in units of Ampere-turns, corresponding to the current in a coil multiplied by the number of turns. Typical pull-in sensitivities for commercial devices are in the 10 to 60 AT range. The lower the AT, the more sensitive the reed switch. Also, smaller reed switches, which have smaller parts, are more sensitive to magnetic fields, so the smaller the reed switch's glass envelope is, the more sensitive it is. In this example, the sensitivity can be empirically developed for the particular machine. A discussion of the principles of reed switches as proximity sensors for magnets can be found at U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,273, which is incorporated by reference herein.
As a general rule, the magnets on trays 22 are aligned with the center of the tray base or shelf 22 base. But the magnets can be offset a bit. One example is in the case of vending cans or bottles, as opposed to food or snacks. In the latter case the magnet is at the center of the shelf 22 base because the snacks slid directly in the plane of the shelf and out to tray 34. In the former, the magnet might be approximately ½ inch above the centerline of the shelf base in cases where the dispenser raises the can or bottle about ½ before it drops to tray 34. Optionally, the magnet could be on a telescopic slide that could be adjusted easily depending on the product. Adjustability of magnet position provides for flexibility and versatility. It is to be appreciated that other forms of sensing shelf location are possible. A few examples would be mechanical contact switches or optical switches. One example of an optical switch would be to place reflective tape at each shelf level. An optical sensor could sense reflected light from the reflective tape.
A customer selects a product from the keypad of a user interface 14. Elevator system 30 (via EC 90 and motor 32) automatically raises elevator tray 34 so that floor 35 of tray 34 is at the appropriate shelf 22 of the dispenser 24 for the selected product 25 (see
It should be noted that tray 34 of elevator 30 has several features. It is designed to accommodate the largest possible or practicable vendable item utilizing the least possible or practicable amount of horizontal depth. As illustrated in the Figures, tray 34 extends substantially across the width of the interior 20 of machine 10 (at least substantially the width of all possible dispensers 24 on shelves 22) so that products from any such dispenser 24 can be received. Note how its horizontal depth allows freedom of movement between main door 16 and the front edges of shelves/dispensers 22/24 at all vertical levels. But bin 34 and elevator 30 components do not unduly occupy or detract from other needed space in machine 10. Also, note how the floor of bin 34 is angled forwardly (see angle in
Note also that movement of bin 34 can be intentionally controlled to address ADA requirements on retrieval heights. For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations define a certain range of acceptable vending machine retrieval heights from the ground or floor. The newest regulations at this time propose a range of at least 15 inches from the floor to a maximum of 48 inches from the floor. Machine 10 can control elevator 30 to move bin 34 so that the floor of bin 34 is within that range. Vending operators serving “public entities”, meaning government locations and locations accessible to the public, must meet new reach requirements of the law beginning Mar. 15, 2012, under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). The regulations establish side reach regulations requiring that all operable parts of the vending machine be no higher than 48 inches and no lower than 15 inches. This differs from the 1991 standards which have controls at 54 inches high and nine inches low. Machine 10 in the Figures is confirmed to comply with the new requirements.
Also note that there is physical vertical space between the underside of the elevator tray and the floor of the machine. This space is designed to accommodate items which may fall from the shelves as a result of poor loading or the incorrect configuration of the spiral. A common complaint of X/Y picking vending machines is that a fallen item will cause the elevator mechanism to stall/fail to operate.
A vending machine controller (VMC 92) or analogous component instructs the appropriate dispenser to dispense a product 25 forward. Vend confirmation sensor system 40 monitors whether product 25 actually moves into bin 34. If not, a remedial step can be taken by VMC 92. If sensor 40 confirms a dispensing into bin 34, bin 34 receives product 25 which only needs to move or slid forward from dispenser 24 and does not have to drop a substantial distance or slide down a chute or tube.
Since machine 10 has confirmed a dispensed product 25 into bin 34, EC 90 then instructs elevator 30 to move bin 34 back down towards delivery door 18. In this embodiment, it moves bin 34 back down to a “park” position, which is a similar position to “stand by-ready to vend” (see
In this embodiment, security baffle 60, which to this point has remained retracted interiorly and out of space 26 between the fronts of dispensers 24 and the glass front door 16, is automatically extended forwardly by instruction from EC 90 (see
Once security baffle 60 is extended (as monitored by sensors such as limit switches), EC 90 moves elevator tray 34 down to a “Vend” position, somewhat lower than “park” (see
EC 90 monitors door 18 by a sensor (e.g. optical sensor or otherwise). If door 18 is opened during the 4 second period, EC 90 will not move bin 34 up. If door 18 is opened and then closed and remains closed for 4 seconds, EC 90 will start moving tray 34 up to “stand by” position (slightly raised from “vend” position) and re-lock delivery door 18 (see
Once tray 34 is sensed to be in “stand by” position, EC 90 will re-set in “stand by-ready to vend” status, and wait for the next customer selection signal from VMC 92 (
The foregoing describes the apparatus and method for moving a machine-wide elevator tray 34 up to the level of a dispenser selected to dispense a product, confirm receipt of the product, return towards the bottom of machine 10, and then provide access to the product by presenting tray 34 at access door 18 while (a) unlocking access door 18 and (b) extending security baffle 60 to block customer access up into machine 10.
During operation, the interior of machine 10 is locked from the public by locking machine front door 16. The interior of machine 10 is enclosed. Door 16 can have (but not required) a glass or transparent window. Customer selection controls 14 are on the exterior of cabinet 12. Controls or interface 14 can include any of a variety of input means (keypad, buttons, touch screen, etc.). A display can also display graphic information including messages or prompts to the customer. A speaker can also be incorporated into the interface or machine 10 to give audible warnings or information to the customer.
D. Additional Details
The description above gives some information regarding the apparatus components of the exemplary embodiment and their functions. Additional details can be found below.
It is to be appreciated that the 2-channel encoder 80 can be used to inform EC 90 of any of speed, direction of travel, and distance of travel of elevator tray 34. Thus, it allows a “mapping” of position of shelves 22 which can be stored in EC 90 and used to estimate how long and in what direction to operate elevator motor 32 to move it to the various positions to accomplish the functions needed.
EC 90 is contained on a separate circuit board near the VMC 92 circuit board. EC 90 controls both the elevator motor 32 and baffle motor 64 outputs and monitor inputs associated with the entire elevator control system as follows:
VMC 92 and EC 90 communicate with each other using a customized protocol (see “Examples of Operation” charts in Section F) which is shared with the DEX (well-known communications protocol) serial bus. VMC 92 is the “master” that issues various command instructions for EC 90 to execute and report back with a status.
In this example there are three states of locking slide 52/56 and its switch logic:
Additionally, magnets 70 can be embedded or mounted at or near each shelf 22 and a sensor (e.g. limit detector 72) can sense when elevator tray 18 is adjacent a magnet 70. The sensor can inform the encoder and/or EC 90. Thus, shelf position can be estimated by either or both methods. In this embodiment, it can be by a combination of both. The magnetic sensing can inform encoder 80 when bin 18 is actually at a shelf 22. This can be used to “map” shelf positions, so that encoder 80 could “find” any shelf 22 again by knowing speed/direction/distance simply by motor 32 operation relative to a reference position. But the magnetic sensing can also be a double check, confirmation, or re-calibration every time elevator 30 moves bin 34 to any shelf 22. The type and strength of magnets 70 can be selected according to need or desire. It may be beneficial to mount each magnet 70 in a non-magnetic or non-ferrous casing to deter magnetic leakage from the magnetic to the cabinet or other components (e.g. a plastic case or layer between magnet 70 and cabinet 12 but leaving exposed a magnet surface to the magnetic sensor limit detector 72).
The type of sensors of switches used to monitor magnet 70 location, baffle 60 position, delivery door 18 position, elevator position (e.g. top limit switch 78 to inform EC 90 bin 34 is at the top-most allowed position), delivery door lock slider 52 position, main door 16 open/closed, or other, can vary according to designer need or desire. Certain details about the same are contained in
Note that in this embodiment, user interface 14 keypad is first communicated to EC 90, which would obtain column/row customer selection information, which would then be passed to VMC 92, which could be conventionally programmed to control dispensing of products. Vend confirmation sensor 40 could be any of a number of types, but one example is I-VEND® available from Fawn Engineering of Des Moines, Iowa.
E. Flow Chart of One Example of Operation
A general discussion of operation of the exemplary embodiment is described above. A detailed flow chart 100 of one mode of operation of machine 10 with elevator system 30 and attendant components is set forth in
Flow chart 100 also presents other features, which can be readily appreciated from flow chart 100.
The methodology of flow chart 100 can be programmed into EC 90 and VMC 92 according to methods well known to those skilled in this technological field. Variations obvious to those skilled in the art are included.
Additional details of operation of the exemplary embodiment can be found in the sequence chart and elevator protocol charts of Section F, below. Again, these are exemplary. Variations obvious to those skilled in the art are included in the invention.
F. Alternatives and Options
As stated, the foregoing description of exemplary embodiment is to illustrate one, and not all, form the invention can take. Alternatives and options can be included. A few examples are as follows:
Other features or options are, of course, possible. Variations obvious to those skilled in the art are included.
Examples of Operation
The following charts describe one way of system sequence and operation of the elevator sub-system of
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to provisional applications Ser. No. 61/460,538 filed Jan. 4, 2011, and Ser. No. 61/460,594, filed Jan. 5, 2011, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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