Determining the availability of purchasable items in a network environment

• US 20050080510A1
• Filed: 12/03/2004
• Published: 04/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cary Lee Bates, John M. Santosuosso, Mahdad Majd
• Original Assignee: Cary Lee Bates, John M. Santosuosso, Mahdad Majd
• Inventors: Majd, Mahdad, Bates, Cary Lee, Santosuosso, John Matthew
• Application Number:
  US11/003,876
• Publication Number:
  US 20050080510A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/241
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0639 Item locations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/18 specially adapted for controlling several coin-freed apparatus from one place
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide for a method, system and article of manufacture for operating vending machines. In general, a plurality of vending machines are nodes of a network. Each node is configured to send, receive and process signals carrying inventory, pricing, reservation and/or refund information. In particular, a first signal is sent to one or more nodes requesting inventory/price information from other nodes. Those nodes carrying the product may reply with a second signal. In this manner, the location of vending machines carrying one or more items specified by a customer may be determined. In another embodiment, vending machine items may be reserved from a remote location. In still another embodiment, vending machines may be configured to provide refunds under controlled conditions. A consumer may request a refund in cases where the consumer was improperly charged for goods are services that were not provided.

Claims

1. A method of requesting a refund for a purchase order of a vending machine item, comprising:

receiving, at a vending machine, a payment amount for the vending machine item;

receiving an electronic refund request for at least a portion of the payment amount; and

determining whether to refund the portion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether to refund the portion comprises:

transmitting by the vending machine via a network connection with a network of vending machines, a request for the item at another vending machine in the network of vending machines; and

receiving, at the vending machine, a response indicative of whether the item is available at at least one other vending machine;

if the item is available at at least one other vending machine, providing an option to a refund requestor to retrieve the item at the at least one other vending machine.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic refund request is received at the vending machine.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic refund request is received at a refund processing computer networked to the vending machine.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising refunding the portion of the payment amount.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether to refund the portion comprises determining whether a requestor of the refund is a repeat customer.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether to refund the portion comprises determining whether a requestor of the refund has previously requested a vending machine refund within a predetermined time period.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the vending machine, the purchase order for the vending machine item.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising refunding the portion if customer information stored in a database satisfies refund conditions.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the refund conditions comprise a threshold number of purchases made by a requester of the refund.

11. A method for deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer readable code into a computing system, wherein the code in combination with the computing system is capable of performing a method of requesting a refund for a purchase order of a vending machine item, comprising:

receiving, at a vending machine, a payment amount for the vending machine item;

receiving an electronic refund request for at least a portion of the payment amount; and

determining whether to refund the portion.