Coin operated vending machine for vending individual cigarettes from a cigarette manufacturer's container

• US 5,450,980 A
• Filed: 10/18/1993
• Issued: 09/19/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ronald W. Laidlaw
• Original Assignee: Ronald W. Laidlaw
• Inventors: Laidlaw, Ronald W.
• Primary Examiner(s): BARTUSKA, FRANCIS JOHN
• Application Number:
  US08/138,685
• Time in Patent Office: 701 Days
• Field of Search: 194/255, 194/350, 221/131, 221/197, 221/198, 221/203, 221/207, 221/266, 221/281, 221/1, 312/42, 312/45, 312/73, 206/242
• US Class Current: 221/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/44 in which magazines the articles are stored in bulk

Abstract

A small, wall mounted, coin operated vending machine vends individual tubed cigarettes directly from a cigarette manufacturer'"'"'s original cigarette container. The machine has a removable hopper for loading and holding the cartons of tubed cigarettes. The cigarettes in the hopper are picked up one at a time in a slot of a dispensing member that is rotated by the coin mechanism. The dispensing member may have a plurality of slots to allow for the dispensing of a predetermined number of tubed cigarettes for each turn of the coin mechanism. Agitators may be placed on the dispenser to insure proper feeding of cigarettes into a dispenser slot. The coin mechanism may also be adapted to use tokens only. A "cheater" feature prevents dispensing of more cigarettes than have been properly purchased.

Claims

1. A coin-operated cigarette vending machine comprising:

a support plate;

at least one pair of brackets mounted to the support plate;

a hopper slidably received in the at least one pair of brackets;

a cigarette manufacturer'"'"'s original cigarette carton in which tubed cigarettes are loaded in a horizontal orientation received in the hopper and having an open side;

a rotatable dispensing member mounted in the hopper in the horizontal orientation for receiving tubed cigarettes from the open side of the carton and for dispensing the individually tubed cigarettes;

a coin mechanism coupled to the dispensing member for generally locking its rotation and for allowing it to be rotated once when a required number of coins or tokens are inserted into the mechanism; and

a collection area for holding and securing the coins or tokens inserted into the machine.

2. The vending machine according to claim 1 further comprising:

additional hoppers, dispensing members, and coin mechanisms for vending additional tubed cigarettes.

3. The vending machine according to claim 1 further comprising:

an outer casing for enclosing and securing the hopper and the dispensing member having an opening through which the coin mechanism extends and further having an opening for observing the tubed cigarettes remaining inside the vending machine.

4. The vending machine according to claim 1 further comprising:

a dispensing tray located underneath the dispensing member for receiving and holding the tubed cigarettes after they have been dispensed.

5. The vending machine according to claim 4 wherein:

the dispensing tray has an inclined wall located underneath the dispensing member for receiving the tubed cigarettes.

6. The vending machine according to claim 1 wherein the hopper comprises:

a back vertical wall having side edges which are slidably received by the at least one pair of brackets;

a front vertical wall;

a pair of side vertical walls, each wall having a slot;

a hopper floor insertable into the hopper slots for retaining any remaining tubed cigarettes in the hopper when the hopper is removed for re-loading tubed cigarettes into the hopper in the horizontal orientation;

a pair of bottom slanting walls for holding and allowing tubed cigarettes to fall towards the dispensing member; and

a pair of hopper openings, one opening being located in the front wall and the other opening being located in the back wall in which is rotatably supported the dispensing member.

7. The vending machine according to claim 6 wherein:

the dispensing member having at least one axial slot whereby the slot is rotated above one bottom slanting wall to receive a tubed cigarette and is further rotated past the other bottom slanting wall to dispense the tubed cigarette.

8. The vending machine according to claim 7 wherein the hopper further comprises:

an extension depending from the other bottom slanting wall past which the cigarette to be vended must be rotated in order to fall out of the dispensing member slot thereof preventing dispensing multiple cigarettes without inserting additional coins.

9. The vending machine according to claim 1 wherein:

the dispensing member having a cylindrical surface in which is disposed at least one axial slot for dispensing at least one tubed cigarette for each rotation of the coin mechanism.

10. The vending machine according to claim 9 wherein:

each slot has two walls extending from an outer surface to an inner surface of the dispensing member wherein the walls are offset by an acute angle from a radial direction that is in the direction of rotation of the dispensing member.

11. The vending machine according to claim 9 wherein:

the dispensing member having a plurality of axial slots within its surface for receiving and dispensing a plurality of tubed cigarettes for each rotation of the coin mechanism.

12. The vending machine according to claim 11 wherein the dispensing member further comprises:

slugs insertable into a number of axial slots for plugging those slots and adapting the dispensing member so that a desired number of axial slots still remain open to receive and dispense a corresponding desired number of tubed cigarettes for each rotation of the coin mechanism.

13. The vending machine according to claim 12 wherein:

the plurality of axial slots is three slots;

the number of slots plugged with a slug is two slots; and

the number of slots still remaining open to receive and dispense tubed cigarettes is one slot.

14. The vending machine according to claim 9 wherein the dispensing member further comprises:

agitators located near the axial slots for agitating the tubed cigarettes in the hopper so that they are directed towards the slots and away from any other undesired areas.

15. The vending machine according to claim 14 wherein:

the agitators are bumps located on the surface of the dispensing member for providing a raised surface at these areas on which the tubed cigarettes contact so that they are agitated.

16. The vending machine according to claim 1 further comprising:

the coin mechanism adapted for receiving a token of unique design before the mechanism will be unlocked and vend a tubed cigarette.

17. The vending machine according to claim 1 further comprising:

a hopper floor which is engaged in a slot in each sidewall of the hopper and is removed by sliding it in a direction perpendicular to a lengthwise axis of the tubed cigarettes so that during reloading the tubed cigarettes fall in the proper horizontal orientation and do not tumble in any other direction.

18. A method for vending cigarettes from a coin-operated vending machine comprising the steps of:

supporting in the vending machine a hopper adapted for holding tubed cigarettes in a horizontal orientation;

removing the hopper from the machine;

inserting into the hopper an open end of an original container in which the cigarettes were purchased containing a plurality of tubed cigarettes;

reinserting the hopper, container and tubed cigarettes into the machine; and

dispensing directly from the container a predetermined number of tubed cigarettes via a dispensing member for each rotation of a coin mechanism which is rotatable only when a required number of coins or tokens is inserted into the coin mechanism.

19. The method for vending tubed cigarettes according to claim 18 wherein the step of dispensing a predetermined number of tubed cigarettes further comprises the steps of:

providing a dispensing member having a plurality of slots for receiving and dispensing a desired number of tubed cigarettes; and

adapting the dispensing member so that a desired number of slots remain open for receiving and dispensing the desired number of cigarettes for each rotation of the coin mechanism.

20. The method for vending tubed cigarettes according to claim 19 wherein the step of adapting the dispensing member further comprises the step of:

inserting slugs into some of the slots so that the desired number of slots in the dispensing member remains unobstructed.

21. The method for vending tubed cigarettes according to claim 18 further comprising the step of:

agitating the tubed cigarettes in the hopper so that the cigarettes are directed toward the slots and away from any other undesired areas.

22. The method for vending tubed cigarettes according to claim 18 wherein the step of dispensing a predetermined number of tubed cigarettes further comprises the step of:

inserting at least one required token into the coin mechanism so that the dispensing member can be rotated to dispense at least one tubed cigarette.

23. The method of claim 18 wherein:

the supporting step includes supporting the hopper right side up in the machine

the container inserting step includes first inverting the removed hopper, and

the reinserting step includes first turning the hopper right side up.

24. The method for vending cigarettes from a coin operated vending machine according to claim 23 further comprising the steps of:

prior to inverting the hopper, inserting a hopper floor into the hopper above any remaining tubed cigarettes in the hopper; and

removing the floor prior to the reinsertion step.