METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING CUPS IN BEVERAGE-VENDING MACHINES

摘要

Dispensing the bottom cup from a selected stack of cups in a vending machine comprises supporting a plurality of stacks of cups arranged in succession, selecting one of the stacks from which a cup is to be dispensed, causing the bottom cup of the selected stack to drop to a position beneath the remainder of the stack, and conveying the cup being dispensed from its dropped position to a pick up position accessible to the user. The stacks of cups (10) are arranged along a path conforming substantially to a spiral, and the cup (12) being dispensed is conveyed from its dropped position along the path of the spiral and subsequently to the pick up position (29).