Patent ID: 8096444

Claim:
A vending machine comprising: a product transport and delivery system mounted within a cabinet and configured to receive a product from one of a plurality of product queues and to transport the received product toward a dispensing chamber within the cabinet, the product transport and delivery system including a product catcher selectively movable between a product receiving position and a product delivery position, the product catcher configured to receive the product from the product queue while in the product receiving position and shift to the product delivery position prior to or while releasing the received product into the dispensing chamber; a portal between a product storage zone within which the product queues are disposed within the cabinet and the dispensing chamber; a product holder mounted in the dispensing chamber; and a shield member rotatable between a product dispensing position, wherein the product holder is open to the portal for transfer of a product from the product catcher while access to the dispensing chamber from outside the cabinet is blocked by the shield member, and a product delivery position, wherein the shield member blocks access through the portal to the product holder while the product holder is accessible to a customer from outside the cabinet, allowing the consumer to retrieve a product from the dispensing chamber.