The Coca-cola Company

Tom P Howell

Arthur G Rudick

Paul Albert Carlson

The present invention is directed to a vending machine comprising a cabinet with at least one support bracket fixed within the cabinet and a shelf slidingly interacting with at least one support bracket so as to move along a first direction between a first position and a second position. The cabinet may also include an auxiliary support arranged to pivot about an axis extending substantially parallel to the first direction so as to support the shelf in a tilted position, when the shelf is in the second position.

Vending machine and a shelf support assembly

A vending machine is provided with a cabinet having a plurality of inclined, vertically spaced shelves. The shelves are able to selectively feed a beverage container to an elevator which is located adjacent an interior, right side wall of the cabinet of vending machine. A beverage container is dispensed by an escapement block of a shelf onto the elevator. The elevator vertically moves the beverage container, and then dispenses the beverage container to a delivery mechanism which gently lowers the beverage container to a delivery port which communicates with the exterior of the vending machine. The shelves in the cabinet are readily reconfigurable such that their vertical spacing within the cabinet can be easily altered. The escapement blocks of the shelves are mechanically activated to dispense a beverage container by an activation device on the elevator. Thus, electrical power and control signals for the individual shelves are not necessary.

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Suwanee, GA, United States of America

Tom P Howell