A vending machine cooling system incorporating R290 or other flammable refrigerant where there is no risk of the flammable refrigerant leaking inside the vending machine and possibly being ignited, through use of an unjointed dual walled refrigerant transport structure within the evaporator assembly positioned within the interior of the vending machine.
F28F 1/12 - Tubular elements or assemblies thereof with means for increasing heat-transfer area, e.g. with fins, with projections, with recesses the means being only outside the tubular element
An ADA compliant vending machine that raises vended product to a desired height, and specifically to a new and improved vended product delivery mechanism that moves between lowered and raised positions within a delivery bin within a vending machine, in a coordinated manner with the opening and closing of a delivery door, that raises the vended product for delivery to a customer at the desired height, and where front and rear delivery bin walls can be shaped to interlock with conforming shaped front and rear edges of the delivery mechanism to prevent vended product from becoming wedged or stuck there between.
A vending machine is provided with an internal product holding assembly where product to be vended is held or stacked within each of a plurality of product holding compartments formed by a plurality of spaced apart stacking walls. Compartment depth is variable, so as to dispense varying length products, by a movable rear wall movably mounted to one side of a stacking wall so as to be incrementally adjustable within the compartment between a plurality of selected fore and aft positions. The stacking walls have a hollow interior housing an adjusting mechanism for incrementally moving the depth controlling rear wall, with the adjusting mechanism being operable from the front of the product holding assembly and retainable at a selected position.
A product retrieval system for vending machines that permits collection of varying size products at a first level yet presents such products for collection at a raised height to make retrieval more convenient. The retrieval system utilizes a rotary hopper that includes an actual bottom as well as a technical or false bottom that does not lower the depth of the rotary hopper in its ability to receive dispensed product on the actual bottom, with the technical bottom presenting the product to a higher retrieval point relative to the floor upon rotation of the rotary hopper to an open condition.
G07F 11/00 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles
G07F 11/48 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from movable storage containers or supports the storage containers or supports, e.g. magazine, being pivotally mounted
A multi-drawer and doored vending system in which each drawer has one or a plurality of compartments each holding an items to be vended, and each doored compartment contains at least one item for vending. Drawer control is provided by a drawer opening and position control system comprising an array of spaced apart control tabs on each drawer, a drawer lock and release assembly, and a progressively movable drawer position control bar to control drawer opening in conjunction with the control tabs. Each doored compartment also employs a lock and release assembly. A control system is provided to control user interface, to maintain product inventory counts and to control the vending process. This involves verifying the identity of a user seeking to obtain a vended item, verifying any other system or pre-vend requirements, and permits limited access to a drawer and compartment corresponding to an approved vend selection. An item return compartment is also included.
A transparent-front vending machine includes an optical vend-sensing system with an article sensing subsystem arranged athwart a vend space. The article sensing subsystem has two emitter/detector arrays, each having at least one emitter and a plurality of detectors. The emitter/detector arrays are arranged so that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by an emitter of the first array can be detected by at least two active detectors of the second array, and at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by an emitter of the second array can be detected by at least two active detectors of the first array so that articles falling through the vend space will interrupt electromagnetic radiation between an emitter and at least one detector. At least two emitters are active at one time.
An ADA compliant vending machine that raises vended product to a desired height, and specifically to a new and improved vended product delivery mechanism that moves between lowered and raised positions within a delivery bin within a vending machine, in a coordinated manner with the opening and closing of a delivery door, that raises the vended product for delivery to a customer at the desired height, and where front and rear delivery bin walls can be shaped to interlock with conforming shaped front and rear edges of the delivery mechanism to prevent vended product from becoming wedged or stuck there between.
