Could you suggest vending machines that would be appropriate for
vending folded maps?  The maps are a lot like your average folded
RandMcNally, except that their dimensions are larger.  The maps are 5
x 10.5 inches.

In my searches I found this company: www.technikmfg.com

They have something that is close to the mark, but after talking with
them, they've told me that their mechanism can't vend something that's
5x10.5.

It'd be great (though not necessary) if the vending machine could vend
other products as well - soft-bound books of varying thickness with
dimensions similar to the maps though bound on top and printed on very
flexible paper (almost newprint) and other small objects.

Along this vein, could you explain how you researched your answer? 
All the google searches I tried for anything with vending machine in
it ended up with too many links to various vending machine sales shops
- mostly selling those cheapo plastic candy dispensors!

Thank you!

---

Request for Question Clarification by crabcakes-ga on 06 Mar 2004 08:08 PST

Hi orn,

I have found several vending machines, but I'm not certain they are
exactly what you seek.

Are you willing to purchase from a vendor outside of the US? Some of
the machines I have found have dealers in the US, and some are
overseas. Some are machines that can dispense items of vaying size.
None of the machines I found are actually intended for maps, but can
accomodate your required size of 5in. x 10.5 inches. None of the sites
list prices, as you will need to contact them directly for price and
other particulars.

If you think this information might be useful, just let me know
through the Clarification process.

Regards,
crabcakes-ga

---

Clarification of Question by orn-ga on 10 Mar 2004 13:30 PST

Hi Crabcakes, (now that's a funny handle! Makes me yearn for some good Cajun food!)

Out of the country is probably fine.  Shipping is of course an issue
as is price of the machine.  I imagine buying from an overseas company
would raise that bottom line quite a bit, but it's worth looking to
see what they have.

Thanks,
orn

Hello again orn,

Thank you for your clarification! While crabcakes (Maryland style, but
Cajun style sounds yummy too!) are one of my favorite foods, I really
didn't acquire my name from the food - but that's a long story!

 Non-food vending machines that can accomodate maps are hard to come
by, unless you are ordering a large number of custom-made machines! I
hope one of these will be suitable.


Wurlitzer (Germany) makes vending machines for magazines and
newspapers that could accommodate maps and books.
http://www.wurlitzer.de/index.php/article/archive/580/
http://www.wurlitzer.de/index.php/english

Contacts in the US:
Wurlitzer Jukebox Co.
1341 Estes Street
Gurnee, Illinois 60031
Tel.: (847) 662 1700
Fax.: (847) 662 1212
www.wurlitzer-jukebox.com
bubbles@wurlitzer-jukebox.com
http://www.wurlitzer.de/index.php/article/archive/500/

Here?s a bit more information on the Wurlitzer, from Journal Vending
http://www.journalvending.co.uk/magevend.htm



VendTek
507 - 1952 Kingsway Avenue
Port Coquitlam, British Columbia
Canada  V3C 1S5
 
Tel: 604 944 9330
Fax: 604 944 0812

http://vendtek.bc.ca/Products/QP1.htm



Adimac (North of Vicenza, Italy) has a newspaper vending machine,
which could work for maps and books. Below is the original site, in
French. The second link is the French language site, run through an
online translator (which explains some of the odd-sounding English.).
You can at least get the gist of the page!
http://www.adimac.it/fra/newsvn.htm
?Translated? site:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adimac.it%2Ffra%2Fnewsvn.htm&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=active&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

Adimac has offices in California, and Florida, US, but they do not
list addresses. You can request information on this page:
http://www.adimac.it/ing/info.htm
Adimac?s home page
http://www.adimac.it/fra/home.htm

Adimac?s e-mail address is info@adimac.it  Other contact information
can be found here:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adimac.it%2Ffra%2Fnewsvn.htm&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=active&prev=%2Flanguage_tools


Vendrobo (Australia)  has an unusual vending machine that can vend
items of different weights and sizes. This is not a typical vending
machine! Seems you could vend maps and books, simultaneously. To see a
short video, displaying the properties of this vending machine, click
one of the video choices, near the bottom of the screen to see a demo.
http://www.vendrobo.com/mpvid.html

Vendrobo?s contact information can be found on this page:
http://www.vendrobo.com/index.html



This laundry soap vending machine had compartments large enough (a bit
larger) for your needs, and may work for you.
http://www.vendweb.com/Laundry_Products_Vending_Machines.htm

Vendweb?s home page and phone number are on this page:
http://www.vendweb.com/Vending_Machine_Showroom.htm


Amusing Tidbit:
Someone has thought of book vending machines, in a little different light!
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Book_20vending_20machine

Hope this helps you locate a vending machine that works for you.If any
aprt of my answer is not clear, please request an Answer Clarification
before rating. This will allow me to assist you further, if possible.

Sincerely,
crabcakes

Search Stategy:
Vending machines
Vending machines dispensers maps books
Vending machines books
vending machines newspapers magazines

---

Clarification of Answer by crabcakes-ga on 10 Mar 2004 16:37 PST

Hi orn, 
I forgot to include this innovative idea, at the University of Iowa!
The machines are from Aramark, and adapted by students to vend books,
book binding kits, and even small tools. Aramark supplies teechincal
assistance.

http://www.futureofthebook.com/products/
and
http://www.futureofthebook.com/stories/storyReader$334
and
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2001/december/1207bookdrop.html

You could try contacting the UofI folks here:
Contact:Tim Barrett, director, UI Center for the Book at (319)
331-5013 or Gary Frost, University Conservator at (319) 335-5908.

Aramark
Aramark Vending 3500 East Donald Street
Waterloo, IA 50703 

Web Site
http://www.aramark.com/default.asp

---

Request for Answer Clarification by orn-ga on 10 Mar 2004 19:21 PST

Hi crabcakes,

Thanks for the great response.

Can you clarify a little more about how you came up with your answer? 
I did all the searches you did but got discouraged with the thousands
(and thousands) of responses.  Did you use anything to narrow in on
companies that produced these vending machines rather than all the
sites that are trying to sell cheap multi-head gumball machines?

Thanks,
orn

---

Clarification of Answer by crabcakes-ga on 10 Mar 2004 19:54 PST

Hi orn, 
I'm sorry, I did forget to explain, and you asked for that in your
question! Thank you for asking for the clarification!

Here's what I did, as I got increasingly frustrated with the terms I
used. I imagine you did too!

This helped eliminate SOME of the machines for candy, soda, etc.
Adding a minus sign before the word you DON'T want in your results.

vending machines -soda -candy -coke -bulk
(Yes, I know -soda should have eliminated "Coke", but it didn't in all cases)
Then:
vending machines large items

vending machines books
The vending machines books try was where I got that University of Iowa site!

I even tried: 
vending machines tee shirts
vending machines 5x10.5 inches
vending machine tools

I used several search engines that I find work for me. If one or two
of my "regulars" don't produce, I try others.

www.google.com  (Of course)
www.profusion.com
www.altavista.com
www.dogpile.com
www.vivisimo.com

I just kept trying and trying. Sometimes, odd as it seems, rearranging
the search terms can return different reuslts.

For example, I just now typed into Google:

large items vending machines       and got back 80,300 pages served

Then:

vending machines large items       and got back 80,500 pages served. I
got back 200 additional sites by rearranging the word order!

Sometimes, it seems, it's all in the way you hold your tongue!  :-)

Perhaps reading this Google site can help with your future searches:
://www.google.com/help/index.html

Look for "Search Help" in the left hand column, and skim the tips
there. Sometimes, it's just a hit or miss process too!

Good luck with your future searches!

Sincerely,
crabcakes

Thanks for the excellent results and the tips on searching!  And I
liked the humor thrown into the mix too.  Great work.

Thank you orn, for the stars and the tip! Both are much appreciated!
Sincerely,
crabcakes