Patent ID: 7303095

Claim:
A dispenser for items of merchandise comprising: a housing for storing a plurality of the items, said housing having an entrance opening and a discharge opening for placing and removing said items into and from the housing, said housing further including a fixed immovable receptacle adjacent the discharge opening, said receptacle having spaced sides, a support bottom and an open top; a one-way flexible member having a fixed end mounted on the housing adjacent the entrance opening and having a free end always projecting into the housing permitting insertion of the items into the housing through said entrance opening while preventing removal of said items from the housing through said entrance opening; a gate moveably mounted on the receptacle at the discharge opening permitting removal of only one of the items at a time from the housing, said gate being moveable between a first position across at least a portion of the open top of the receptacle preventing removal of an item from the receptacle, and a second position across at least a portion of the discharge opening permitting removal of one of the items through the open top of the receptacle while preventing another item from entering the receptacle through the discharge opening when in the second position until the gate has returned to the first position, said gate having a trailing edge which moves downwardly between adjacent items when moving from the first position to the second position, and when in said second position the gate is out of supporting contact with the item supported by the receptacle.