Dispensing Maquette

 

The dispensing mechanism will no doubt be the most difficult part of this project to master and develop to function correctly. Looking at existing dispensers such as the card gambling one shown above it is clear that there must be minimal room at the dispensing point for multiple cards to come out at once. This and the need for minor pressure from behind the deck will mean the need for precision parts. Also, these dispensers use gravity to their advantage. The nature of the PEZ dispenser means an upward force will be needed. The problem here will be getting the balance right between upward pressure and the strength of the pushing mechanism to dispense the cards. If the upward force is too great the mechanism may well not function at all. If it is too small then the cards will not 're-load' as they are dispensed.

In order to get off the ground with this development I have begun to think about dispensing ideas. Unlike the PEZ dispenser, my project will require a unique mechanism to work with cards as opposed to the standard PEZ bricks.

I began by making a styrene mock up to the correct size for the cards (below). This also determined the overall size of the dispenser.

Although I have yet to put a dispensing mechanism in this maquette it gives me a good idea of how well the 'slot' method functions. Upward force was simple provided by pushing the carriage from below. Although primitive, this method clearly demonstrated the pro's and con's of varied force on the dispensing reliability. 

 

 

One of my ideas for the dispensing mechanism was to use 'rollers' to feed the cards out by transferring the movement from the opening of the 'head' on the dispenser. The concept, drawn below, means 2 moving elements alongside the main hinge of the head itself. By making the central pivot point extend further out, the same radial motion is achieved and may allow increased forced if channeled through varied gears. I will make a mock up to try this in action.