Apparatus, system, and method for vending, charging, and two-way distribution of electrical energy storage devices

A charging module to charge portable electric energy storage devices, the charging module comprising:

• a housing having a base, a peripheral wall secured to the base and an entrance into which a portable energy storage device can be inserted along a longitudinal axis of the housing and into an interior space formed by the peripheral housing wall;
• a number of electric contacts projecting from the base at least partially into the interior space of the housing;
• a locking mechanism projecting from the base at least partially into the interior space of the housing that is controllable to selectively mechanically engage the portable energy storage device;
• a housing door positioned in the interior space of the housing, the housing door axially displaceable along the longitudinal axis of the housing from a first position perpendicular to the housing wall and proximate the entrance to at least a second position perpendicular to the housing wall and proximate the base of the housing;
• an aperture concentric with the longitudinal axis of the housing through the housing door, the aperture to accommodate the passage of at least a portion of the locking mechanism and at least a portion of the number of electric contacts when the housing door is displaced to the second position;
• at least one biasing element biasing the housing door towards the first position;
• and
• a displaceable cover disposed proximate the aperture and displaceable from a closed position in which the aperture is occluded, to an open position in which the aperture is unobstructed, the cover operably coupled to the housing door and to the housing such that as the housing door is displaced from the first position to the second position, the cover is displaced from the closed position to the open position.