The present invention relates to a dispenser for stackable products, of the type including a magazine in which the products are stacked one on top of the other, and a drawer at the bottom of the magazine having a receptacle which is upwardly open to the magazine, this drawer being movable through a slot at the bottom of the magazine between an inserted position for collecting the bottom product of the stack and an extracted position in which the product in the receptacle may be removed by a user, and also including locking/unlocking means for permitting the extraction of the drawer after an external consent has been given and for relocking the drawer once this has been returned to its inserted position.

Dispensers of the type described above are commonly used for the sale of cigarettes, chocolate, snacks and the like. The user inserts the required token or card, obtains consent and pulls out the drawer to take the product held in the receptacle. However, ill-intentioned users can take not only the product held in the receptacle but also the next item in the stack. In fact, by holding the drawer out and sliding a hand or a tool through the slot it is possible to get hold of the next item in the stack.

The object of the present invention is to provide a dispenser having structural and operational characteristics which overcome the disadvantages of prior art machines.

The present invention solves this problem by providing a dispenser of the type described above, characterised in that it includes a slide movable within the drawer in the direction of movement of the drawer in that the slide is movable between a retracted position, in which it allows an item to drop from the magazine into the receptacle, and an extended position in which it is under the magazine and forms a bottom wall thereto thus preventing the next item from dropping into the receptacle, in that resilient biasing means are provided for returning the slide to its retracted position and in that the locking/unlocking means include: means for drawing the slide together with the drawer during the extraction of the drawer to move the slide from its retracted to its extended position, and - catch/release means for allowing the slide to move from its extended to its retracted position under the action of resilient biasing means once the drawer has been returned from its extracted to its inserted position.

Throughout the present description and in the claims, by

products are meant, for example, packets of sweets, snacks, cigarettes, medicines, condoms and the like.

The preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in greater detail purely by way of non- limitative example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vending machine including several dispensers according to the invention,

Figures 2 to 5 are partially sectioned side elevations of a detail of the machine of Figure 1 in various phases of operation, and

Figure 6 is a partial perspective view of a detail illustrated in Figures 2 to 5.

Figure 1 shows a vending machine for products P which includes a body or cabinet 1. In its upper part la, the cabinet l includes a plurality of dispensers 2 side by side, each including a magazine 3 consisting of a vertical well.

In its lower part lb, the cabinet 1 includes a compartment which serves, among other things, as a store for loose products P.

The products P are placed in the magazines 3, stacked on top of each other in each magazine.

With reference also to Figures 2 to 6, each magazine 3 has an associated movable drawer 4 at the bottom of the stack, that is, near a base within the cabinet 1.

The cabinet 1 has a fixed inner framework 5 associated with each magazine 3.

A counterweight 6 is preferably placed above the stack so as to encourage the descent of the products P from the stack towards the drawer 4.-

Each drawer 4 has a handle 7 accessible from outside the cabinet 1 through a slot 8 formed in a front wall of the cabinet 1.

The drawer 4 has a receptacle 9 which is upwardly open towards the magazine 3 and is designed to receive a product P from the stack nearest to the drawer 4.

Inside the drawer 4 a slide 10 is movable in the receptacle 9 between a retracted position, shown in Figures 2 and 6, in which the slide 10 is far from the handle 7, and an extended position, shown in Figure 5, in which the slide 10 is near the handle 7.

Each drawer 4 cooperates with lateral guides indicated 11 in Figure 6, and is movable between an inserted position

in which its receptacle 9 is inaccessible from outside the cabinet 1 and an extracted position in which the receptacle 9 is accessible. Each drawer 4 is returned to its retracted position by a spring 12 which is fixed at one end to the drawer 4 and at the other, by a hooked end, to a fixed point 12a of the cabinet 1.

At the opposite end longitudinally from the handle 7, the drawer 4 has a pin 13 and a travel-limit stop 14. The pin 13 can act on a microswitch 15. A push-button 16 on the front of the cabinet is operable to control the supply to an electromagnet 17 or other linear actuator fixed to the framework 5, the purpose of which will be described below.

The pin 13 interacts with a pivoted lever 18 which is urged by gravity towards a lower, rest position. In particular, the pin 13 acts to move the lever 18 away from its rest position by means of an inclined surface 20 or, by remaining engaged in a recess 21 formed in the lever 18, is adapted to lock the drawer 4 in its inserted position.

The travel limit stop 14 acts on the microswitch 15 through a contact blade 15a.

Inside the drawer 4, the movement of the slide 10 is guided by the side walls of the drawer and by fillets 22

fixed to the inner framework 5 of the cabinet 1.

A pin 23 projects from the drawer 4 for engagement with a corresponding longitudinal slot or channel 24 formed in the rear portion of the slide 10.

The length of the slot 24 and the longitudinal position of the pin 23 on the side walls of the drawer 4 are such that, when the drawer 4 is moved from its inserted to its extracted position, the pin 23 bears against the end of the slot 24 thereby enabling the slide 10 to be drawn in the same movement. This movement of the slide 10 is opposed by a spring 25 which is fixed at one end to the slide 10 and at the other, by means of a hooked end, to a fixed point of the cabinet 1, as shown in the drawings.

The slide 10 has an upper surface 10a, facing the magazine 3, in which detents 26 are formed so as to constitute a rack which forms an element of a first ratchet mechanism operable selectively to block the movementof thssLife 10 between its retracted and extended positions.

The detents 26 are notches which extend transverse the slide 10 and are intended to be engaged by a lever 32 which is part of the first ratchet mechanism.

The lever 32 is provided at one end with a tooth 33 which can engage the detents 26 and is pivoted on the framework 5 of the cabinet 1 by means of a pin 34.

The first ratchet mechanism also includes a pin 36 which extends through the framework 5 and is operable to act on a ramp surface 37 on a cam 38. The cam 38 is fixed to the drawer 4 in such a way that, when the drawer 4 is in inserted position, the lever 32 is urged upwardly, away from the upper surface of the drawer, allowing the tooth 33 to disengage from the detents 26.

The electromagnet 17 is operable to draw towards itself the lever 18 which, together with the pin 13, forms part of a second ratchet mechanism provided to lock the drawer 4 in its inserted position.

A sensing system, generally indicated 40 in Figure 6, is fixed above the drawer 4, at the lower edge of a containing wall of the magazine 3, and is operable to detect the presence of products P in the magazine 3 and, when the magazine is empty, to prevent the dispenser 2 from working.

At rest, the drawers 4 and the associated dispensers 2 of the cabinet 1 are all locked in their closed positions.

With reference to only one dispenser 2, in Figure 2 the electromagnet 17 is de-energized and the lever 18 is lowered and at rest so that the pin 13 is within the recess 21 thus ensuring that the drawer 4 is locked in its inserted position.

The tooth 33 at the end of the lever 32 is lifted and disengaged from the detents 26 in the upper surface 10a of the slide 10 since the pin 36 is at the top of the ramp 37 on the cam 38, thereby permitting the end of the slot 24 in the slide 10 to remain in contact with the pin 23 of the drawer 4 under the action of the spring 25.

By inserting the correct amount in coins, tokens or the like into a slot 42 in the front wall of the cabinet 1, the user obtains consent to open any one of the drawers 4 by enabling all the push-buttons 16.

To make a selection, the user presses the button 16 immediately above a chosen drawer 4, thus disabling the electrical circuits of all the other dispensers 2 and thereby preventing the extraction of their drawers 4.

The electromagnet 17 is energized thereby urging the lever 18 upwardly so as to free the pin 13 from the recess 21 and thereby permit the extraction of the drawer

4 which draws the slide 10 with it in its outward

movement .

During the movement of the drawer 4, after the pin has moved down the ramp 37 on the cam 38, gravity returns the lever 32 to its lower position (see Figure 3) thereby permitting the tooth 33 to engage one of the detents 26 and prevent the return movement of the slide 10, whose upper face 10ahascore to obstruct the bottom opening of the magazine 3 firmly and progressively. The configuration of the tooth 33 and the position of the fulcrum constituted by the pin 34 enable the lever 32 to offer no resistance to the advance of the slide when pulled by the drawer 4 which latter, in moving from its inserted to its extracted position, permits the release of the blade 15a of the microswitch 15 from the travel limit stop 14.

Upon release of the blade 15a, the electrical circuit is disabled with the result that the electromagnet 17 is de- energized and the lever 18 returns to its lower, rest position.

When the drawer4 is in itsextractedposition (Fijjre 4), the user is able to take only the product P which is in the receptacle 9 and is unable to take possession of further products P in the stack. The bottom of the magazine 3 is in fact blocked by the slide 10 which has been drawn into this position by the drawer 4.

It should be noted that, if the drawer 4 is released without the product P being removed, this product P remains compressed between the slide 10 and the wall of the receptacle 9 nearest to the handle 7, thus preventing the drawer 4 from being returned to its inserted position by the spring 12.

If, on the other hand, the product P is removed from the receptacle 9 and the drawer 4 is released, the spring 12 returns the latter to its inserted position while the slide 10, blocked by the tooth 33 on the lever 32, is moved to its extended position within the drawer 4. in this way, the slide 10 keeps the bottom of the magazine 3 closed, preventing the next product P in the stack from dropping into the receptacle 9 of the drawer 4.

In its movement from the extracted to the inserted position, the drawer 4 causes the pin 13 to engage the inclined surface 20 of the lever 18. The lever 18 is thus lifted and then returns under gravity to its rest position. The pin 13 then engages the recess 21 in the lever 18, thereby preventing the drawer 4 from being pulled out again.

In this situation (Figure 5). the slide 10 is still held under the magazine 3 by the first ratchet mechanism preventing a product P from dropping and only when the

drawer 4 has been completely inserted does the ramp 37 on the cam 38 act on the pin 36 to lift the lever 32, thereby disengaging the tooth 33 from the detents 26. The slide 10, urged by the spring 25, may effect its return movement which is completed when the end of the slot 24 strikes the pin 23 of the drawer 4. It is consequently possible for a product P to drop from the magazine 3 into the receptacle 9 so the dispenser 2 is returned to its initial condition, illustrated in Figure 2.