Vending and The World
It is believed that the first vending machine was designed and built by Hero of Alexandria, in the first-century AD, an inventive Greek mathematician and engineer from Roman Egypt, which dispensed holy water once the appropriate coin had been deposited.
It used a simple pan attached to a lever which opened a valve to let the holy water out. The coin eventually fell off the pan with its own weight and the lever turned the valve off.
The first fully automatic vending machine was the 1867 British patent No. 706 - a stamp vending machine designed by Simeon Denham.
The definition of a vending machine is a piece of equipment which dispenses items of value in exchange for money or credit and which items are kept safe in secure housing. Most machines have a clear glass or plastic display area so products are easily visible. Others, like postage stamp vending machines, are sealed completely. Vending machines are usually placed in busy high traffic public areas such as offices, hospitals, leisure and health centres, schools, in transportation environments and self-service eateries. In modern times vending machines provide a valuable solution to people on the go and they can buy all sorts of products.
More unusual vending items have included machines that sold life insurance policies covering death in American airports, which were popular from the 1950s until the late 1970s. More modern vending machines are those such as the Chargebox which are useful for charging mobile phones and ipods when people are on the move. They are often found at airports and international railway stations. One of the most prolific users of vending equipment is perhaps the Japanese where you can purchase anything from hot meals and toilet paper to even pornography. There is one vending machine for every 23 Japanese resident! The very first car vending machine in the US was introduced in November 2014 and sited in Atlanta. It is owned by the online auto retailer Carvana.
Vending machines have developed considerably as consumers demand for more varied products increased. Credit cards and even mobile phones can now be used to pay for goods on some modern vending machines. Consumer surveys have indicated that if a vending machine requires exact change then only about half of users will make use of the machine. There are also new innovations on coin and bill validation whereby the vending machine is able to verify that the actual vend was completed satisfactorily.
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Learn about vending machines and coffee systems visit http://www.pelicanrouge.co.uk/hot-drinks-vending/vending-machines/
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