Automatic carousel vendor for stacked articles

An automatic article vendor for storing a plurality of articles and for individually dispensing the articles comprising:

• a base;
• a carousel for storing the plurality of articles mounted on said base;
• motor means for rotating said carousel;
• a plurality of elongate, vertically disposed chambers mounted on said carousel for stacking articles one on top of another;
• an elongate partition adjustably mounted inside said chambers, wherein said partition includes a back wall disposed adjacent a side wall of said chamber and at least one side wall adjustably mounted on said back wall, the positioning of said back wall relative to said chamber also causing said attached side wall to move resulting in both said back wall and side wall to more closely conform to the size of the articles stacked therein;
• an elongate finger pivotably mounted on each chamber, a portion of said finger extending into each chamber when said finger is in a support position for supporting the articles stacked thereabove;
• and
• a means for moving said finger to a release position for releasing one of the articles from the chamber as said motor rotates said carousel past said means.

Ab automatic article vendor for storing a plurality of articles and for individually dispensing the articles, comprising:

• a base;
• a carousel rotatably mounted on said base for storing the articles;
• motor means for rotating said carousel;
• a plurality of elongate, vertically disposed chambers mounted on said carousel, said chambers storing a stack of the first articles;
• an elongate finger pivotably mounted on each chamber, a portion of said finger extending into each chamber when said finger is in a support position for supporting the articles stacked thereabove;
• means for selecting one of said chambers for dispensing one of the articles stacked therein, said means including a selection arm pivotably mounted to said base and a means for pivoting said arm between a dispensing mode and a non-dispensing mode, said arm in a dispensing mode urging said finger of said selected chamber, when rotated past said arm, to pivot from under the stack of articles, releasing one of the articles, said arm in a non-dispensing mode allowing said support fingers to remain in the support position while rotating past said arm;
• and
• a means for sensing the presence of articles in said chambers, said means including a switch secured to said base, so as to be directly below the path of rotation of said chambers, said sensing means further including a sensing arm, one end of said arm pivotably secured to said base, the other end of said arm spring urged upwardly toward the lowermost portion of said chambers, said arm urged upwardly so as to strike said switch when said chamber thereabove is empty, said arm prevented by an article present in said chamber from reaching the most upward orientation and striking said switch.

An automatic article vendor for storing a plurality of articles and for individually dispensing the articles, comprising:

• a base;
• a carousel for storing the articles and including a shaft, said shaft being rotatably mounted on said base;
• motor means for rotating said carousel;
• a plurality of elongate, vertically disposed chambers mounted on said carousel, said chambers storing a stack of the articles;
• an elongate finger pivotably mounted on each chamber, a portion of said finger extending into each chamber when said finger is in a support position for supporting the articles stacked thereabove;
• means for selecting one of said chambers for dispensing one of the articles stacked therein, said means including a selection arm pivotably mounted to said base and a means for pivoting said arm between a dispensing mode and a non-dispensing mode, said arm in a dispensing mode urging said finger of said selected chamber, when rotated past said arm, to pivot from under the stack of articles, releasing one of the articles, said arm in a non-dispensing mode allowing said support fingers to remain in the support position while rotating past said arm;
• and
• a means for indicating the location of said chamber of said carousel, said means comprising a plurality of switches secured to said base and spaced about said shaft, each of said switches corresponding to one of said chambers and wherein said shaft has a protruding boss, said boss striking each of said switches as said shaft revolves.