Abstract: A motorized vehicle having a wheel retraction apparatus, comprising: a plurality of rear wheels and at least one front wheel; a lower chassis having a foot surface mounted thereon; and a wheel retraction apparatus mechanically connected to said lower chassis and set to extract and retract said plurality of rear wheels from and towards said lower chassis and to fixate said plurality of rear wheels in a plurality of different widths from one another; wherein a distance between an axis passing through the centers of said plurality of rear wheels and said at least one front wheel is reduced when said plurality of rear wheels are retracted towards said lower chassis.

Abstract: A motorized vehicle having a wheel retraction apparatus, comprising: a plurality of rear wheels and at least one front wheel; a lower chassis having a foot surface mounted thereon; and a wheel retraction apparatus mechanically connected to said lower chassis and set to extract and retract said plurality of rear wheels from and towards said lower chassis and to fixate said plurality of rear wheels in a plurality of different widths from one another; wherein a distance between an axis passing through the centers of said plurality of rear wheels and said at least one front wheel is reduced when said plurality of rear wheels are retracted towards said lower chassis.

Abstract: An apparatus for dispensing elongated articles such as straws, including: a container for holding the elongated articles; a hopper to receive some of the elongated articles, where the hopper is reversibly movable between a closed state and an open state; and a manipulator for performing a cycle to release a single elongated article by isolating a single article and then moving the hopper from the closed state to the open state, thereby releasing only the single elongated article.

Abstract: An beverage vending apparatus for dispensing elongated articles such as straws, comprising: a container for holding the elongated articles; a hopper (130) operationally coupled to said container to receive at least a portion of the elongated articles, wherein said hopper is reversibly movable between a closed state and an open state; whereby the hopper is composed from an elastic material, whereby the hopper pivots about a first axis, a manipulator (180) for performing a cycle to release a single one of said elongated articles, whereby the manipulator pivots about a second axis, the apparatus is configured to move said manipulator cyclically through a sequence of states including: an idle state, wherein said manipulator is positioned above a single layer of elongated articles resting on an inner surface of said elastic hopper; an isolating state, wherein an isolating blade of said manipulator comes to rest on said inner surface of said elastic hopper between a first elongated article and a second elongated ar