Vertical article dispenser

Claim 1

A vending machine having in combination: (a) a hopper for holding a plurality of articles such as newspapers in a vertical position, (b) spring means acting against a pressure plate for pressing said articles to the front of the machine, (c) a discharge slot at the front of said machine, said discharge slot having sides substantially equal to the thickness of an article and a width equal to the width of an article, (d) means for releasing the foremost article at the front of said machine, (e) said machine including a plurality of pinwheels mounted for rotation on a shaft near the bottom edge of said plurality of articles wherein said pinwheels engage the foremost article and having means to permit said pinwheels to rotate in one direction to discharge papers and having means to prevent reverse rotation, (f) rotating means for said pinwheels to propell the foremost article into said slot, (g) said rotating means including a hand actuated lever and a rack actuated by said lever, and a pinion mounted on said shaft to rotate said pinwheels, said lever being movable from a first position to a second position, said movement engaging said rack and pinion thereby rotating said pinwheels and means for disengaging said rack from said pinion at the completion of a discharge operation allowing said lever and said rack to move back to said first position for a repetition of said operation, said means to prevent reverse rotation and said rack and pinion preventing return of said lever to the first position until fully moved to the second position.