Patents by Inventor Donald A. Shapley

Donald A. Shapley has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5372416
    Abstract: A vandal-proof door and a vending machine equipped with the unique door. The door strengthens and reinforces coin operated vending machines, while providing the customer with a clear, unobstructed view of the product selection inside the machine. The door comprises a rigid, generally rectangular frame having a pair of spaced-apart sides that border a product viewing aperture. An outer, arcuate impact panel having a convex vertical cross section overlies the viewing area. The impact panel is flexibly mounted to the door by elongated, resilient extrusions secured to the frame edges. Similar resilient extrusions receive the top and the bottom of the impact panel. A separate, spaced apart translucent window is internally mounted on the door frame adjacent the viewing area. Gasket sealing material is secured about the panel and window edges to complete a seal. An isolated air pocket is thus defined between the outer impact panel and the inner window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 13, 1994
    Assignee: Polyvend, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald A. Shapley, Max M. Johnston
  • Patent number: 5330384
    Abstract: A coin payout mechanism for vending machines dispenses coins stored in vertical columns. The mechanism comprises an upper frame plate, a plastic retaining plate, a rigid coin receptor plate, a rotatable disk confined within a spacer plate, a bottom escape plate, and a motor-gear assembly to drive the rotatable disk and switches to monitor rotation and coin levels. The plates are fixed together in a stacked relationship; preferably all are square and of similar dimensions. The switches and motor assembly are mounted on the frame plate, which mounts the mechanism within a vending machine. A drive shaft of the motorgear assembly passes through a central orifice defined in the frame and the retaining and receptor plates. The retaining plate receives two coin tubes. The rigid coin receptor plate defines coin receptor orifices coaxial to the tubes. The rotatable disk is generally circular and defines a single oblong stripper orifice near its edge. The stripper orifice alternately indexes with the tubes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: July 19, 1994
    Assignee: Polyveno Ark.
    Inventors: Donald A. Shapley, Roger L. Wilson