Patent ID: 8205877

Claim:
A method for controlling storage and dispensing of items, wherein said items are stored in a module, which includes: at least one pair of main rollers; at least one supporting element having at least two faces comprising one or more flat or convex portions, the at least one supporting element being rotatable; and ribbon means which are wound on said at least one supporting element to retain said items on at least one of the faces of said at least one supporting element during storage phases, and which are unwound from said at least one supporting element to release said items from said at least one supporting element during dispensing phases, said ribbon means passing around said main rollers, a variation of a length of said ribbon means being obtained for a portion of said ribbon means that extends between points of contact with said main rollers and points of contact with said supporting element and/or with the items, a position and/or angular velocity of said at least one supporting element being determined by detection of one or more encoder discs provided with signalling devices and integral in rotation with said at least one supporting element.