Importance

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Abstract

A process for co-dispensing beverages and snack food products from a single vending machine, and a vending machine including filled beverage and snack food containers. Filled beverage containers and filled snack food containers are stored in the vending machine and a buyer, upon payment, product selection, etc., can obtain both a beverage, e.g., a soft drink, and a snack food, e.g., corn chips, from a single machine. The beverage and snack food containers preferably are of substantially the same size so that a vending machine of the type which dispenses containers having a uniform size may be used to carry out the present invention. An automatic door-opening mechanism opens the dispensing door of a vending machine when a snack food container is selected to avoid problems due to the snack food container being too light to open the door under the force of gravity.

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First Claim