| 摘要 |
<p>The present invention relates to a vending apparatus for selectively dispensing one of a plurality of packages. The vending apparatus comprises: a) an outer cabinet; b) an isolated freezer compartment within the outer cabinet for storing the plurality of packages disposed within the outer cabinet, the freezer compartment having a thermal barrier for maintaining a frozen environment within the freezer compartment in isolation of the ambient temperature air filling the remaining interior space of the outer cabinet; c) a mechanism for opening the thermal barrier; d) a picker for selectively removing the selected package from the freezer compartment, the picker being located outside the freezer compartment in between operating cycles and entering the freezer compartment for removing one of the packages only during the removal operation; and e) a controller for automatically controlling the picker and opening mechanism in response to a customer's selection.</p> |
