On this day in 1916 Harvey Giles was granted the patent for COIN-CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE. U.S. Patent No. 1.198.210.
The invention as presented in this application in what is commonly known as a ball gum machine comprising a base and a transparent reservoir mounted thereon to hold and expose the pieces or balls of gum to be sold.
The machine comprises novel mechanism whereby on the introduction of a coin to the coin slot and an outward pull on an operating rod or handle, a ball of gum may be delivered and the coin pass to a coin receptacle within the base portion of the machine.
The invention also includes means whereby should an improper coin be introduced to the machine, such as a silver ten cent piece, when a one cent coin should have been inserted, such improper coin will be returned to the purchaser.
The invention comprises novel mechanisms and details of construction adapting the machine for its intended purpose and to withstand the usual rough usage to which machines of this class are subjected, among the objects of this invention being to secure efficiency in operation, convenience in construction and assembly of parts and durability in the machine as a whole.
