Patent ID: 7182219
Filing Date: 2007-02-27
Classification: G07F

Abstract:
1. A vending machine, comprising: (a) an upstanding base housing defining a hollow interior chamber; (b) a top platform mounted on said base housing and having a central opening defined therein and a radial opening also defined therein extending radially outward of and spaced from said central opening; (c) a storage magazine mounted above said top platform and said base housing and having an outer annular row of vertical cavities for receiving and holding in stacked fashion small packages of items to be dispensed from said machine one at a time from a lower opening of a selected one of said vertical cavities; (d) an outer enclosure mounted on said top platform and surrounding said storage magazine and adapted to be manually rotated by a user; (e) a top cover removably mounted on an upper end of said outer enclosure so as to overlie and close upper openings of said vertical cavities of said magazine and interfit with said outer enclosure such that said top cover will rotate with said outer enclosure when said outer enclosure is manually rotated by a user; (f) a coupling subassembly disposed centrally through said magazine and through said central opening of said top platform and supported by said top platform from below said top platform and coupling said storage magazine with said top cover and rotatably mounting said storage magazine and said top cover and outer enclosure therewith as a unit for undergoing rotation relative to said top platform and said base housing for disposing the selected one of said cavities over said radial opening of said top platform; (g) a coin-operated dispensing mechanism mounted on said base housing and disposed in the interior chamber thereof and being operable in response to a coin being deposited therein to enable dispensing of one lowermost package of items at a time from the selected one of said cavities overlying said radial opening in said top platform, said coin-operated dispensing mechanism including a rotatable drum disposed in said interior chamber of said base housing below said top platform and having an outer cylindrical surface and a recess defined in said outer surface adapted to receive the one lowermost package through said radial opening of said top platform during rotation of said drum in a predetermined direction through a single dispensing cycle in which said recess, initially empty, is moved from an initial three o'clock position to an intermediate twelve o'clock position where said recess receives the one package, and finally back to said initial three o'clock position, where the package will then drop away from said recess of said drum to a discharge station of said machine; (h) a coin collection station mounted on said base housing and extending into said hollow interior chamber thereof below said coin-operated dispensing mechanism for receiving therefrom the coin deposited therein to cause operation of saud dispensing mechanism to dispense the one lowermost package of items; and (i) a reciprocal locking mechanism disposed in said interior chamber of said base housing and mounted to a bottom surface of said top platform, said locking mechanism coacting with said rotatable drum of said dispensing mechanism to lock said storage magazine in a stationary position when a lowermost package is received in said dispensing mechanism from the selected one of said cavities.