the life of a single guy living alone, has it advantages, but one sad fact I found I share with other guys in my situation : our fridges are empty. So it is time to put that empty space to work. (for full instructions follow the link)
and when you think about it, what is a cola vending machine if not just a fridge and a hole to collect your money?
the great thing about this hack is that no changes to the original fridge are needed.
plywood is covering the front of the fridge, leaving only a small window for grabbing your drink. in germany, this will be the most common cooling closet you’ll find in any rented apartment.
one used cap serves as the handle head. after you insert a one euro coin, a strong pull on the handle will reward you with a cool Afri Cola. (a highly caffeinated cola soft drink made in Germany)
a look at the inside, as you can see, most parts of this baby are 100% combustible.
this will be the bottle magazine, the ammunition storage and feeding device. once the coin acceptor is pulled all the way, this device will come into action, releasing only one bottle per pull.
The brain behind this is the ‘coin acceptor’, Only if you put – One Euro Coin – you can get your drink.
it works on the principle that if no coin is placed a hinge is preventing from achieving a full pull on the handle. but once you insert a coin through a crack that is made according to the exact size of a specific coin. the coin rolls down and fills a slot, then by pulling the handle the safety hinge slides over the coin, making it possible to pull the handle all the way back and trigger the bottle magazine, once you release the handle the mechanism returns to it’s original position.
the simplicity of this design is also it’s biggest weakness, any washer or coin in the exact same size as one euro will work, but in the conditions in which i installed this machine this will never happen.
once a full pull is made, the sequence continues as explained below.
the diagram above is for the bottle magazine. as you can see a shelf is holding the next bottle till the handle is locked. so one pull one bottle.
now get ready to be rich.
[...] Ariel’s new VVANK project! A DIY fridge vending machine for your shared studio! The beauty of simplicity! [...]
Posted by “How to make money out of an empty fridge” at Aram Bartholl – Blog on November 10th, 2009.
o dear, again a great work. would like to built it by myself
like the bulb, but nevertheless far to genious and woddy for me.
keep on inventing and sculpuring.!!
well done
in great admire, d
Posted by david on January 1st, 2010.