Microwave heating apparatus for use in automatic vending machine

Claim 1

In an automatic vending machine, a microwave heating apparatus comprising: (a) a heating room defined by top, bottom, front, rear, and side walls and provided therein with a magnetron for generating high-frequency waves, said top wall having an opening formed therein and said front walls having a window for viewing the interior of said heating room; (b) a support shaft penetrating said bottom wall of said heating room and being rotatable and movable up and down; (c) a receptacle mounted on the upper end of said support shaft for receiving a commodity package thereon, said receptacle being raised out of said heating room through said opening by the upward movement of said support shaft and being located at a heating position within said heating room by the downward movement of said support shaft; (d) a raising/lowering and rotating mechanism connected to the lower end of said support shaft for rotating and moving up and down said support shaft; (e) position detecting means mounted on said support shaft for detecting raised and lowered positions of said receptacle; (f) means mounted on said support shaft for stopping the rotation of said support shaft by said raising/lowering and rotating mechanism so that said receptacle is directed in a predetermined direction when the rotation of said support shaft has been stopped; (g) a cover provided on said top wall for opening and closing said opening; and (h) means for actuating said cover to open and close said opening so that said cover opens to permit said receptacle to be raised out of said heating room and closes when said receptacle is moved to the heating position within said heating room.