VENDING MACHINE ASSEMBLIES FOR BEVERAGE DISPENSERS

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide vending machine assemblies for beverage dispensers, in particular, a beverage dispenser with a manually operated vending machine assembly that consumes little or no additional electrical power to dispense a beverage container using the vending machine assembly.SOLUTION: Embodiments of a vending machine assembly can be used with a heated or chilled compartment associated with a beverage dispenser. Furthermore, the embodiments of the vending machine assembly can operate in conjunction with a relatively small dispenser opening to limit heat transfer loss via the dispenser opening. One embodiment can provide a dispenser for dispensing a number of products. The dispenser can include at least one storage column adapted to dispense a number of products, and a product selection device operable to permit one of the number of products to advance from the storage column, where the advanced product can be dispensed from the dispenser.