Soda pop and snack machines A vending machine is a machine that dispenses merchandise when a customer deposits money sufficient to purchase the desired item (as opposed to a shop, where personnel is required for every purchase). It is believed to have been first invented by Hero of Alexandria, a 1st century inventor. His machine accepted a coin and then dispensed a fixed amount of "holy water".  Newspaper vending machine In the United States, vending machines generally serve the purpose of selling snacks and soda pop, but are also common in busy locations to sell newspapers. Items sold via vending machine may vary by location; for example, some countries sell alcoholic beverages such as beer through vending machines, while other countries do not allow this. Cigarettes were commonly sold in the U.S. through these machines, but this practice is increasingly rare due to concerns about underage buyers. Sometimes a pass has to be inserted in the machine to prove one's age.
Regarding newspaper vending machines, a customer could open the box and make off with all of the newspapers after paying for one. It assumes the honesty of the customer not to take more than one, which is helped by the fact that having more is often not useful.
Cigarette vending machines in Tokyo, with promotion girl In Japan, with a high population density and low rates of vandalism and petty crime, there seems to be no limits to what is sold by vending machines. One can imagine anything, and it is likely that there is a vending machine available to provide it; even bottles of wine and pairs of underwear can be purchased from vending machines.
In the U.S., most vending machines are operated by individuals who buy or rent the machines, stock the merchanise, and keep some of the profits. Other machines, such as U.S. Postal Service machines are maintained by governmental or quasi-governmental entities.
Most modern vending machines have been extensively tested and designed to inhibit theft. Many of these machines are designed essentially as large safes. Every year, a few people are killed when machines topple over on them, either while trying to steal from them, or venting frustration on them, especially when a malfunction causes the machine to fail to dispense the purchased item or the proper change (leading to the humorous saying, "change is inevitable, except from a vending machine").
The actual causes to vending machine malfunction are usually many-fold. However, certain vending machines use a spiral kind of mechanism to separate and to hold the products. When the machine vends, the spiral turns, thus pushing the product forward and falling down to be vended. If the products and the spiral are misaligned, the spiral may turn but not fully release the product, leaving the spiral snagged on the product and having it hang there. This may cause repercussions to the alignment of the products behind it if someone knocks the hanging product down, as the spiral must move a fixed distance. Beer & Wine vending machines — Tokyo
Ticket machine
Tickets are often sold through a ticket machine, e.g. train tickets at railway stations and tram tickets at some tram stops and in some trams. To encourage usage of ticket machines and reduce the need for human salespersons, machine prices may in some cases be lower than a purchase at a ticket counter.
There are also machines for just validating tickets. E.g., one buys a ticket valid on one as yet undetermined day, and some day one decides to use it. For that purpose one has the day stamped by the machine on the ticket. A common problem is forgetting to validate and then being fined as if having no ticket at all.
There are also machines that issue free tickets, e.g. those for virtual queueing.
Manufacturers - Automatic Products
- Beaver Vending
- Crane Co.
- Dixie-Narco Inc.
- North American Vending
- Royal Vendors
- Vendo
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