Patent ID: 8459434

Claim:
An apparatus for receiving and detecting a bottle, comprising: a chute configured for receiving the bottle therein, said chute having an inlet for receiving the bottle and an outlet through which the bottle exits said chute; a bottle stop having a first stop member disposed within said chute and biased towards said bottle to allow said first stop member to slidingly engage said bottle moving through said chute, said first stop member configured to be urged by said bottle in a direction away from said bottle as said bottle moves from said inlet to said outlet thereby allowing said bottle to pass by said first stop member, and said first stop member being moveable by said bottle in accordance with said bias in a direction towards said bottle as said bottle moves in a direction from said outlet to said inlet to more forcibly engage and thereby inhibit movement of said bottle towards said inlet; a receipt dispenser mounted on said apparatus for issuing a physical receipt indicating that a bottle has been received by the apparatus, said receipt dispenser having an actuator disposed for engagement with said bottle passing through said chute so as to be moved thereby and also having a receipt unit from which said receipt issues, said dispenser unit operatively connected to said actuator to be driven thereby such that movement of said actuator by said bottle causes the dispensing of a receipt; a lock mechanism mounted on said apparatus and positioned to be operable by movement of the bottle in said chute so as to physically detect the presence of a bottle therein, said lock mechanism being operatively connected to said receipt dispenser and movable by said bottle from a locked position preventing dispensing of a receipt when the bottle is not detected in said chute to an unlocked position allowing the dispensing of a receipt when the bottle is detected within said chute; and a second stop member disposed within said chute, said first and second stop members being positioned to engage substantially opposite sides of said bottle within said chute thereby cooperating with one another to inhibit movement of said bottle in the direction from said outlet towards said inlet.