Patent ID: 7866506

Claim:
An apparatus for dispensing containers, comprising: a plurality of dispensing tubes mounted in a generally vertical disposition and configured to receive a plurality of containers in vertically stacked relationship; a rotary drive unit associated with the dispensing tubes that rotates the dispensing tubes about a substantially vertical axis of rotation; a lower plate member positioned below the dispensing tubes, the lower plate member having a cutaway region positioned such that, as the dispensing tubes rotate about the axis of rotation, each dispensing tube passes over the cutaway region; a receptacle positioned below the cutaway region; and a dislodging structure mounted to the lower plate member away from the cutaway region that is positioned and configured such that, when a lowermost container in a dispensing tube is lodged with a second lowermost container in that dispensing tube, the dislodging structure dislodges the lowermost container from the second lowermost container.