Patent ID: 7367471

Claim:
An apparatus for vending packaged items, comprising: a housing; at least one rotatable dispensing coil disposed within said housing, said coil having a vertically oriented longitudinal axis and rotating such that products placed within said coil move progressively downward as the coil rotates, until each product is ejected from a bottom end of said coil; two retaining walls surrounding said at least one coil on opposite sides of said coil, said walls extending an entire length of said coil, said walls being separated from each other by two longitudinally extending gaps located on opposite sides of said coil, such that a product having a length exceeding a diameter of said coil can be placed in said coil for vending with ends of said product extending beyond said coil through said gaps and abutting edges of said retaining walls when said coil rotates, and wherein said retaining walls prevent said product from rotating when said coil rotates.