Claims
- 1. A vending machine comprising:
a cabinet frame including top, bottom, rear and side walls that collectively define a central cavity; a plurality of column walls defining a plurality of stack areas for storing product containers; a door pivotally mounted to the cabinet frame, said door being adapted to selectively close the central cavity; an adjustable channel assembly attached to one of the plurality column walls, said adjustable channel assembly including a guide arm movable between forward and backward positions within one of the plurality of stack areas and a guide latch for selectively releasing the guide arm from within the central cavity; and a spacer wall extending across said one of the plurality of stack areas and being attached for movement with the guide arm, wherein forward movement of the guide arm decreases a depth of said one of the plurality of stack areas and backward movement of the guide arm increases the depth of said one of the plurality of stack areas.
- 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein said adjustable channel assembly further includes a guide channel defining member attached to said one of the plurality of column walls, said guide arm being slidably supported by the guide channel defining member.
- 3. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the adjustable channel assembly further includes a rear spacer bracket mounted to the guide arm and extending across said one of the plurality of stack areas, said rear spacer wall being attached to the rear spacer bracket.
- 4. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the guide latch is pivotable between unlocked and locked positions.
- 5. The vending machine according to claim 4, wherein the guide latch is adapted to function, in the unlocked position, as a handle to facilitate sliding of the guide arm between the forward and backward positions and, in the locked position, the guide latch prevents movement of the guide arm.
- 6. The vending machine according to claim 5, wherein the guide channel defining member is provided with indents and said guide latch includes protuberances for engaging the indents, wherein the protuberances prevent the guide latch from inadvertently moving from the locked position.
- 7. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein said one of the plurality of column walls is formed with various openings, said guide channel defining member including tabs extending within the various openings for mounting the guide channel defining member to said one of the plurality of column walls.
- 8. The vending machine according to claim 7, wherein the guide channel defining member is formed of plastic.
- 9. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the spacer wall is formed of sheet metal.
- 10. The vending machine according to claim 1, wherein two vertically spaced adjustable channel assemblies are provided on said one of the plurality of column walls, said spacer wall being attached to both of the vertically spaced adjustable channel assemblies.
- 11. The vending machine according to claim 2, wherein the guide arm is provided with a pair of extensions having flanges which engage the guide channel defining member.
- 12. The vending machine according to claim 2, further comprising: a rear spacer bracket attached to the guide arm, said spacer wall being fixed to the rear spacer bracket.
- 13. The vending machine according to claim 12, wherein the rear spacer bracket includes at least one band for interconnecting the rear spacer bracket to the guide arm.
- 14. The vending machine according to claim 13, wherein the rear spacer bracket further includes a movable piece for connecting the spacer wall to the guide arm.
- 15. A method of selectively altering a depth of a stack area defined, at least in part, by a column wall positioned in a central cavity of a vending machine comprising:
shifting a guide latch from a locked position to an unlocked position from within the central cavity to release a guide arm; sliding the guide arm, which supports a rear wall of the stack area, relative to a guide channel defining member attached to the column wall; and repositioning the guide latch in the locked position to fix each of the guide arm and the column wall in a desired fore-to-aft position.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the guide arm is slid relative to the guide channel defining member utilizing the guide latch as a handle.
- 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the guide latch is placed in the locking position by interengaging protuberances and indents of the guide latch and the guide channel defining member.
- 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the guide latch is pivoted between the unlocked and locked positions.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/415,763 entitled “ADJUSTABLE REAR SPACER WALL ASSEMBLY FOR A VENDING MACHINE” filed on Oct. 4, 2002.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60415763 |
Oct 2002 |
US |