Coin operated dispensing machine

Claim 1

A coin operated dispensing apparatus for dispensing individual units of a select product, said apparatus comprising: a housing including a front wall, a rear wall, opposite side walls, a top lid and a base, said housing further including a vertical interior dividing wall extending transversely between said opposite side walls and defining a main display compartment in a forward portion of said housing and a coin receiving compartment in a rear portion of said housing, a floor in said main display compartment horizontally disposed in parallel relation to said base, and including a longitudinal, recessed channel therein, an elongate slide plate movably fitted to said housing and including a first free end zone extending outwardly from said front wall defining a pull handle, and an opposite second end zone disposed within said housing, said slide plate attached to said housing with a biasing element and extending horizontally through said housing within said recessed channel and including a mid portion disposed within said recessed channel and coplanar with said floor, said mid portion including a drop hole formed therethrough, said slide plate being movable between a relaxed position and an extended position causing said drop hole to move relative to said floor, said extended position defined by said drop hole being disposed exteriorly of said main display compartment, a carousel rotatably supported within said main display compartment and including a plurality of vertically oriented chambers structured and disposed to hold the individual product units in a vertically stacked array, said chambers being selectively rotatable about a common central axis, each of said chambers being structured and disposed for individual alignment over said drop hole upon rotation of said carousel causing a lower most one of the individual product units in the respective, vertically aligned chamber to fall into a dispensing position within said drop hole of said slide plate, coin receipt means including a cradle on said slide plate and a coin track extending within said coin receiving compartment between a coin slot in said top lid of said housing and said cradle, said coin track being structured and disposed to guide a coin deposited through said coin slot downwardly into said cradle, slide plate lock means structured to lockingly engage said slide plate in said relaxed position preventing outward sliding movement thereof to said extended position, said slide plate lock means cooperating with said cradle to capture a predetermined size coin within said cradle and permitting other size coins to pass therethrough, said slide plate lock means being further structured to release said slide plate upon outward movement of said slide plate causing forced engagement of said slide plate lock means with said predetermined size coin captured in said cradle and subsequent movement of said slide plate lock means out of locked engagement with said slide plate upon continued outward movement of said slide plate, said slide plate lock means being structured to release said coin from said cradle upon disengagement with said slide plate and continued outward movement thereof to said extended position, said slide plate lock means being further structured to reengage said slide plate in locked engagement upon return of said slide plate to said relaxed position, a dispensing chute extending from said front wall, exteriorly of said display chamber and below said slide plate and structured to deliver the individual product units dropped thereon, and whereby movement of said slide plate to said extended position causes said product unit in said drop hole to be dropped onto said dispensing chute for delivery to the user.