HELICAL FEED MERCHANDISING MACHINE

摘要

A versatile merchandising machine for dispensing a variety of goods including bagged snacks and the like in which each of a plurality of delivery units of one of a number of vertically spaced shelves includes a pair of horizontally aligned oppositely wound helices which receive articles between aligned pairs of turns of the helices and in which selectively energisable individual detent motors respectively drive the helices of the pairs in opposite directions to advance the leading article of the unit into engagement with an article control element hanging down in front of the unit to guide the article to control its movement over the edge of the shelf and downwardly to a delivery area. The shelves can be slid outwardly and swung downwardly through a limited arc to facilitate loading.