Special product vending system and method
First Claim
1. A remote transaction station, comprising:
- an inventory of products; and
at least one special product;
said remote transaction station operative to dispense said at least one special product at random to a customer, and to vend a product selected by the customer in the same transaction.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A remote transaction station for the automated vending of goods and services sell products, and additionally dispenses at random special products, packaged in the size and shape of vended products but containing promotional prizes. When a special product is dispensed, the selected product is additionally dispensed, without the need to engage in a separate transaction. In one embodiment, special products are interspersed with products in the remote transaction station'"'"'s inventory, and the dispensing of a special product is detected by an optical, RF, or other detector, prompting the subsequent dispensing of the selected product. In another embodiment, the products and special products are stored in separate inventories, and a special product is dispensed on command based on a pseudo-random number generator in an associated controller. In another embodiment, the remote transaction station is an information kiosk vending digital products. Dispensing of a special product is pseudo-randomly determined and the special product is selected from among available products.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A remote transaction station, comprising:
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an inventory of products; and
at least one special product;
said remote transaction station operative to dispense said at least one special product at random to a customer, and to vend a product selected by the customer in the same transaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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23. A remote transaction station for vending at least one product comprising digital data, wherein at least one special product comprising digital data is additionally dispensed at random with a selected product, in the same transaction.
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25. A system for vending products to a customer, comprising:
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an inventory of products;
at least one special product;
a payment acceptance interface; and
a product dispenser operative to dispense said at least one special product at random to the customer, and to vend a product selected by the customer in the same transaction.
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39. A method of randomly dispensing a special product from a remote transaction station to a customer, comprising:
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accepting payment from the customer;
if more than one product is vended, receiving a selection input from the customer selecting a product;
randomly dispensing to the customer said special product; and
vending to the customer said selected product; and
whereby if said special product is dispensed, both said special product and said selected product are dispensed to the customer in the same transaction.
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Specification