Article vending machine employing unique robotic arm and the robotic arm

Abstract

A vending machine for articles, such as videotape cassettes, includes a rotatable turret having article-retaining compartments in which the articles to be dispensed are retained, and a vertically movable robotic arm located adjacent the turret for removing a desired article from the turret and directing the article to a discharge opening in the device. Preferably the vending machine is computer controlled to dispense the desired article from the machine, based upon an input signal provided by a user, and also to return an article to the machine, when the user desires to return it. A unique package arrangement for a videotape cassette includes a case having opposed planar walls and passageways extending through the surfaces in a central location thereof. A cassette to be retained in the case includes coded information on opposed surfaces thereof aligned with the passageways through the planar walls of the case to permit a scanner to read the coded information regardless of the orientation of the case as it is inserted into a discharge/access opening in a videotape vending machine.