Can dispenser and merchandiser

A dispenser for storing and individually dispensing cylindrical containers in a vertical orientation, the dispenser comprising:

• an upper chamber having a ramp sloping downward toward a back of the dispenser, the upper chamber being configured to receive the containers loaded in a vertical orientation at a front of the dispenser and which move down the upper chamber ramp by gravity, the upper chamber ramp having an opening at a back end of the dispenser through which the containers pass;
• a lower chamber having a ramp sloping downward toward the front of the dispenser and configured to receive the containers passing through the opening in the upper chamber ramp, the containers moving down the lower chamber ramp by gravity to a dispensing position at the front of the dispenser;
• a latch positioned at a back portion of the upper chamber which is configured to restrict passage of the containers through the opening in the upper chamber ramp so that the containers pass through the opening one at a time as containers are removed from the dispensing position;
• wherein the latch comprises a lever having a fulcrum fixed on an axle rod at the back portion of the upper chamber;
• an elastic element having a first end connected to an upper end of the lever a second end inserted in a slot formed on the back portion of the upper chamber above the fulcrum;
• wherein as a first container is removed from the dispenser,
• the elastic element creates tension which pulls the upper end of the lever upward allowing a second container on the upper ramp to move beyond the upper end of the lever and slide down through the opening of the upper ramp, and the lower end of the lever pivots about the fulcrum backward toward the back of the lower chamber, which in turn, causes the upper end of the lever to move downward into the path of the containers on the upper ramp of the upper chamber to prevent containers from falling into the opening.