VENDING MACHINE HAVING HEATING AND COOLING CHAMBERS

• US 3,866,795 A
• Filed: 11/10/1972
• Issued: 02/18/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitomi Urano
• Original Assignee: Hitomi Urano
• Inventors: Urano, Hitomi
• Primary Examiner(s): Tollberg, Stanley H.
• Application Number:
  US05/305,477
• Time in Patent Office: 830 Days
• Field of Search: 221/15HC,15A,15B 99/357,443
• US Class Current: 221/150.0HC
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0078 Food articles which need to be processed for dispensing in a hot or cooked condition, e.g. popcorn, nuts
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/105 Heating or cooling means, for temperature and humidity control, for the conditioning of articles and their storage dispensers for food articles requiring a processing by temperature treatment or conditioning before they are ready for dispensing G07F17/0064

Abstract

A vending machine for selling hot foods which includes a cold storage and a heating chamber. The cold storage comprises a number of vertical containers having two or more channels for storing food products of the same or differ kinds, a feed arrangement being provided for supplying food products from the respective channels to the heating chamber under control of a coin operated device. After heating in the heating chamber the food product is discharged in consumable form.

Claims

1. A vending machine comprising a cold storage chamber, a heating chamber contiguous to said cold storage chamber and being heat insulatingly separated therefrom, said cold storage chamber being provided with food compartment means for accommodating food products therein, feed cam means in said cold storage chamber and mounted in operative relation to said compartment means for permitting discharge of at least one food product under control of a customer applied coin, and conduit means extending between said feed cam means in the cold storage chamber and said heating chamber for supply to the latter of the food product discharged from said compartment means, said heating chamber including an electronic heating means including a fixed casing and a movable container disposed in relation to said conduit means to receive the food product discharged from said compartment means for movement with the container into the fixed casing for heating therein, said container being adapted for removal from said casing after said heating of said product and for automatic discharge of the product from the container as a function of container removal from said casing.

2. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the container is reciprocatingly movable under action of a shaft, a crank and a rod operatively connected to a fixed rear wall of the container forming a closure wall for said casing with said container positioned therein.

3. A vending machine according to claim 1, wherein the feed cam system comprises a substantially cylindrical cam which is provided with a recess for selectively feeding the food product upon rotation of the cam, a shaft passing through the center of the cylindrical cam and a leaf spring disposed in front of the recess for preventing the food product from being released from said compartment means.