Abstract: A quick release hopper 60 and an improved cylindrical dispensing member 70 for an individual cigarette vending machine 10. The quick release hopper 60 has a rotatable dispensing member 70, a hopper slot 61 at its bottom that aligns with a dispensing member slot 71 in the rotatable dispensing member 70, and an inboard end 54 of a handle 53 of a coin mechanism 50 that slides through the hopper slot 61 and engages with the dispensing member slot 71. The hopper 60 has flanged edges 62 that extend from a side of the hopper 60, and the flanged edges 62 engage with grooves 40 located in the compartment 30 of the vending machine 10. The slots and flanged edges allow the hopper 60 to be easily inserted and removed from the vending machine 10. The improved dispensing member 70 has axial slots 72 that are rectangularly-shaped.

Abstract: A small, wall mounted, coin operated vending machine vends individual tubed cigarettes directly from a cigarette manufacturer's original cigarette container. The machine has a removable hopper for loading and holding the cartons of tubed cigarettes. The cigarettes in the hopper are picked up one at a time in a slot of a dispensing member that is rotated by the coin mechanism. The dispensing member may have a plurality of slots to allow for the dispensing of a predetermined number of tubed cigarettes for each turn of the coin mechanism. Agitators may be placed on the dispenser to insure proper feeding of cigarettes into a dispenser slot. The coin mechanism may also be adapted to use tokens only. A "cheater" feature prevents dispensing of more cigarettes than have been properly purchased.

Abstract: A vending machine (10) includes three individual vendors (28), each of which dispenses cigarettes (20) one at a time. Cigarettes (20) are loaded into a holding bin (50) via a loading box (30) having a removable, horizontal floor (62). The cigarettes (20) reside in the holding bin (50) in a horizontal orientation. The holding bin (50) feeds the cigarettes to a slot (102) in a cylindrical, horizontally disposed dispensing member (52). The dispensing member (52) rotates in a single direction under the control of a coin mechanism (22). As the coin mechanism rotates, an agitator (124) cooperates with dimensioning in the holding bin (50) to prevent arches or bridges from forming and to insure that a cigarette (20) is fed into the slot (102). Continued rotation of the dispensing member (52) causes the cigarette (20) contained within the slot (102) to pass out of the holding bin (50) and fall into a dispensing tray ( 54).