PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES FOR CONTROLLING ACCESS TO VENDING MACHINE PRODUCTS
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system, comprising:
- a question device operable to;
provide one or more questions to a customer;
receive, from the customer, an indication of one or more answers to the one or more questions; and
provide, in the case that the one or more indicated answers are determined to be correct, a code to the customer; and
a vending machine operable to;
receive the access code from the customer;
validate the access code; and
provide, in the case that the access code is validated and in exchange for the code, one or more products to the customer via the vending machine.
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Abstract
An embodiment of the invention includes receiving a request to purchase a product from a vending machine. At least one question to be output is determined, and the determined question is output.
An interface is provided which that permits at least one answer to the at least one question to be entered by a customer. At least one answer to the at least one question is received via the interface.
Based on the answer, a level of access to one or more products available for sale by the vending machine is determined. A product is provided if the level of access permits providing of a product.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a question device operable to; provide one or more questions to a customer; receive, from the customer, an indication of one or more answers to the one or more questions; and provide, in the case that the one or more indicated answers are determined to be correct, a code to the customer; and a vending machine operable to; receive the access code from the customer; validate the access code; and provide, in the case that the access code is validated and in exchange for the code, one or more products to the customer via the vending machine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A vending machine operable to:
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register a plurality of customers for a multi-transactional game tournament; determine for each of the registered customers, based on a plurality of transactions conducted by each customer at the vending machine during a time period defined by the tournament, a standing of each customer in the game tournament; determine, at the end of the time period and based on the standings of the registered customers, at least one winning customer; and provide a prize to the at least one winning customer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of operating a vending machine, comprising:
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receiving, at the vending machine, an indication of a product selected by a customer; outputting, in response to the receiving of the indication of the selected product, a plurality of questions to the customer; receiving, at the vending machine and from the customer, an indication of an answer to each of the plurality of questions; scoring, by the vending machine, the customer'"'"'s answers, thereby determining a score for the customer; determining, by the vending machine and based on the customer'"'"'s score, which of a plurality of pre-determined levels of access the customer has achieved, wherein each of the plurality of pre-determined levels of access defines a different subset of products that may be purchased from the vending machine; and selling to the customer, via the vending machine and in the case that the product selected by the customer is a member of the subset of products that corresponds to the specific pre-determined level of access achieved by the customer, a unit of the product. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification