Patent ID: 6974049

Claim:
An apparatus for dispensing containers, comprising: a rotatable mounting platform with a plurality of apertures; a plurality of dispensing tubes mounted in a generally vertical disposition on the mounting platform and configured to receive a plurality of containers in vertically stacked relationship, each dispensing tube being positioned above a respective aperture and rotatable with the mounting platform; a rotary drive unit connected with the mounting platform that rotates the mounting platform; a sorting member positioned below the mounting platform and fixed relative thereto, the sorting member having an aperture positioned such that, as the mounting platform is rotated, the mounting platform apertures pass over the sorting member aperture; and a receiving member pivotally interconnected with the sorting member, the receiving member being pivotable between a receiving position, in which the receiving member is positioned below the sorting member aperture to receive a container from one of the plurality of dispensing tubes, and a donating position, in which the receiving member extends away from the sorting member to present a container to a grasping apparatus.