Vending machine with tiered turn table construction

For use in a vending or like machine, a tiered turntable type structure providing receptacles for articles to be vended or dispensed comprising upper and lower plates spaced by channel shaped elements orienting to define vertical channels and circularly arranged to at least in part define spaces therebetween, means bridging the sides of said channel shaped elements in said channels and in the spaces therebetween forming vertically spaced horizontal partitions cooperating with said channel shaped elements mutually to define at least three tiers of circularly arranged receptacles opening outwardly of said tiered turntable structure, said tiered structure being releasably connected for rotation with a vertically positioned motor driven shaft having in association therewith means to step said shaft and said structure an increment of rotation to successively present at least one of said receptacles in a position to align with a dispensing station, a housing provided for said tiered structure incorporating means defining a plurality of said dispensing stations arranged to align with a vertical stack of said tiered receptacles and incorporating means provided to maintain all but one of said stations in a sealed condition, said dispensing stations being provided by openings in said housing and all but the lower of said openings being normally sealed in commencing with the use of said apparatus, by door elements included in said means provided to maintain all but one of said stations in a sealed condition, and means being provided to function subsequent to an emptying of the receptacles in the lower tier to induce a shifting of the door element sealing the next higher tier dispensing station to move to close the dispensing station of the lower tier and open that of the next higher tier.

Vending machine apparatus comprising a tiered turntable embodying tiers of receptacles, in each tier of which the receptacles are arranged in a circular pattern to open outwardly therefrom, and a housing for said structure embodying means defining a plurality of dispensing stations vertically stacked to align with respective tiers of receptacles, means being included to seal all but one dispensing station having means operatively related thereto controlled by a rotary movement of said structure including said tiers of receptacles following the emptying of the receptacles of a tier to cause a shifting of a portion of said sealing means to open the dispensing station at a tier the receptacles of which are next required to have their contents dispensed, said turntable being mounted for rotation about a vertical axis and having means connected thereto for inducing successive increments of rotation thereof to successively present the receptacles therein to a dispensing station, said shifting means including a rotatable shaft arranged to be indexed by said tiered turntable structure upon a substantially 360.degree. rotation thereof and said shaft having in connection therewith means to support the respective sealing means which are in the form of doors capping openings in said housing which provide said dispensing stations, said supporting means being arranged to successively release said doors following each substantially 360.degree. revolution of said tiered turntable structure to provide for a seal of the dispensing station at a tier including receptacles the contents of which have just been dispensed and an opening of the dispensing station at a tier the contents of the receptacles of which are next required to be dispensed.

Vending machine apparatus comprising a cylindrical structure providing multiple tiers of dispensing pockets including a plurality of elongated members each of which defines a vertically orienting channel, said members being circularly arranged, with at least some of the adjacent thereof in a circularly spaced apart relation, and oriented to have their open sides facing outwardly of said cylindrical structure, plate means uniting said members at opposite ends thereof, plate-like inserts positioned within said channels and between the adjacent of said members which are circularly spaced so as to be horizontally diposed and to form thereby a plurality of tiers of dispensing pockets in each of which tiers there is a plurality of said pockets, means defining a base for said cylindrical structure which is mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, a housing enclosing said cylindrical structure and providing therefor a series of dispensing stations including one for each tier of said pockets, means in operative connection with said base and said cylindrical structure for the rotation thereof in step by step fashion to successively present the dispensing pockets in each tier of said cylindrical structure to the related dispensing station and means including independently operable doors for controlling access to respective tiers of said dispensing pockets by way of said dispensing stations in correspondence with and in response to a predetermined degree of rotation of said cylindrical structure, the respective positions of said doors being determined by means indexed under the influence of means in connection with said cylindrical structure and in correspondence with a predetermined degree of rotation of said cylindrical structure.