Patent ID: 7530473

Claim:
A machine for dispensing articles from a storage area to a customer pickup receptacle, the machine comprising: a housing having a space therein, at least one barrier structure positioned inside said housing which divides said space into at least two separate compartments, a first of said compartments being an article storage area for having said articles to be vended contained therein, said barrier structure comprising at least one of a vertical wall portion which encloses said article storage area, and a second of said compartments having said customer pickup receptacle contained therein, said customer pickup receptacle being accessible from outside said housing for enabling a customer of said machine to retrieve articles which have been dispensed; an opening in the vertical wall portion of said barrier structure which encloses the article storage area, said opening being dimensioned for allowing articles stored in the storage area to pass from inside the storage area to outside of the storage area via said opening; an article retrieval device nominally located in the article storage area for moving articles selected to be dispensed from inside the article storage area toward said opening; and a door having a pivot for selectively positioning said door into one of a first and a second position; wherein: when said door is pivoted so as to be in said first position, said door is aligned in a parallel manner with the opening in said barrier structure so as to cover the opening, when said door is pivoted so as to be in said second position, said door does not cover said opening and articles selected to be dispensed by said article retrieval device may pass through the opening during dispensing of articles from the article storage area, and wherein when said door is pivoted so as to be in said second position, said door is tilted into the storage area in a manner in which it blocks said article retrieving device from accessing at least some of the articles stored in the storage area, and said article retrieval device moves an article to be dispensed onto a surface of the door, which surface then facilitates movement of the said article towards the customer pickup receptacle.