Automated Merchandising Systems, Inc.

Paul L Mason

David A Sprankle

A vending machine includes at least one width-adjustable storage rack, the storage rack having a fixed wall and a movable wall connected to the fixed wall by at least one connecting link; and an adjustment mechanism constructed and adapted to position the movable wall relative to the fixed wall and to thereby vary an interior width between the fixed and movable walls. Two movable walls can be connected to a single fixed wall.

Adjustable storage rack for a vending machine

An optical vend-sensing system for reliably detecting the dispensing of an article, is presented. The system includes two parallel reflecting surfaces, each mounted at opposite sides of a vend space through which the article falls upon selection by a consumer. An emitter generates an optical beam which is reflected off each of the reflecting surfaces such that the reflected beam traverses across the vend space. A detector senses the reflected beam and communicates with a machine control unit. In response to the detector sensing that the reflected beam has been interrupted, the machine control unit terminates the vending operations of a mechanism controlling the dispensing of the article.

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Inwood, WV, United States of America

Paul L Mason