Patent ID: 8100292

Claim:
A vending machine comprising: a cabinet frame including top, bottom, side and rear walls that collectively define a central cavity; a door pivotally mounted to the cabinet frame, said door being selectively movable between an open condition, wherein access to the central cavity is permitted for loading of product containers into the vending machine, and closed condition, wherein dispensing of product containers is permitted; and a plurality of column walls arranged within the cabinet frame and separating the central cavity into a plurality of product stack areas, each of said plurality of column walls being formed from a material sheet having top, bottom and side edges that define a substantially planar wall surface, said wall surface including a plurality of integrally formed stiffening elements extending between the side edges, and an integrally formed alignment member, wherein the stiffening members minimize bowing of the plurality of column walls under a weight of product containers, the integrally formed alignment member provides for proper positioning of product containers within the product stack areas for dispensing from the vending machine, and at least one of the plurality of stiffening elements comprises a decoupling member isolating a first area of the column wall from a second area of the column wall to minimize forces in the first area from being transferred to the second area.