Patent ID: 7584868

Claim:
A vending machine for an aircraft for dispensing a first product of a plurality of products, comprising: a magazine configured to accommodate the plurality of products, the products having at least two dimensions, the magazine having an outlet opening, a height and a width, the height and the width of the magazine corresponding to the two dimensions of the products, respectively, such that the products accommodated within the magazine have no degree of freedom of movement in a direction of the height or in a direction of the width of the magazine and having a degree of freedom of movement only in a longitudinal direction of the magazine, the magazine further having a top cover plate and at least one hinge connecting the top cover plate to the magazine, the top cover plate being closed when the magazine is inserted into the vending machine and the top cover plate being operable to be opened for loading the magazine; a dispensing area at a distance from the magazine; a movable mechanical product transport container operable to receive a first one of the products from the outlet opening of the magazine and configured to securely transport the first product inside the product transport container from the magazine to the dispensing area regardless of a first product's initial position in the magazine and notwithstanding vibrations of the machine or turbulence of the aircraft; a plurality of guide devices positioned in the vending machine configured to enable motion of the mechanical product transport container in at least one of an up-down direction, a side-to-side direction and a front-to-back direction, the mechanical product transport container being operable to be guided by the guide devices to move in at least one of the up-down direction, the side-to-side direction and the front-to-back direction, the guide devices being rails along which the product transport container is movable, the rails respectively extending in the up-down, side-to-side and front-to-back directions; and a selector for selecting the first product of the plurality of products, wherein the selector is operable such that actuation of the selector triggers exit of the first product from the outlet opening of the magazine and into the product transporting container and subsequent dispensing of the first product at the dispensing area.