| 摘要 |
Arbitrarily and individually priced articles can be automatically vended from a machine in which the articles are stored without restriction, limitation, or categorization to their individualized prices. The vended articles are compactly stored in a plurality of vertical stacks. Each stack includes a retrieval mechanism which picks the top article from the stack and inserts it into an inclined ladder. The inserted package then moves to the display station where the user determines whether or not the displayed article is to be vended. If the article is to be vended, an appropriate amount of consideration is inserted, counted, and the article is moved to a delivery station within the ladder. If the appropriate amount of consideration has, in fact, been received, the article is dispensed from the delivery station. Otherwise, the article will then be moved to a return station included within the ladder. A return mechanism is positioned at the return station and lays the nonselected package, or empty package carrier in the case a package was selected, in the horizontal position. The return mechanism then places the nonselected package or empty carrier package on the bottom of the storage stack.
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