AUTOMATED BUSINESS SYSTEM AND METHOD OF VENDING AND RETURNING A CONSUMER PRODUCT

• US 20090139999A1
• Filed: 12/04/2008
• Published: 06/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Voyix Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: Blust, Donald, Driscoll, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 8,078,316 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 221/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/16 for devices exhibiting advertisements, announcements, pictures or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/305 for record players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/00 Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/069 by box-like containers, e.g. videocassettes, books
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines

Abstract

System and method of dispensing disc-based media and other consumer products. A user can interact with an automated business system to select disc-based media for rental and/or purchase. The automated business system can retrieve the selection from the interior of the automated business system and dispense the selection through a port to the user. The automated business system can retrieve the selection from the port in a return process.

Claims

1. A method of dispensing disc-based media, the method comprising:

selecting a disc-based media;

determining if the selected disc-based media is available; and

generating the disc-based media if the selected disc-based media is not available.

2. A method of taking inventory of a disc-based media system, the method comprising:

accessing the disc-based media system with a remote computer terminal;

initiating an inventory process including instructing a disc-based media retrieval system to begin inventory process, moving the disc-based media retrieval system to each storage position within the disc-based media system, and

if a disc-based media is in one of the storage positions, reading a radio frequency tag on the disc-based media; and

outputting results of the inventory process to the remote computer terminal.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising removing each disc-based media from its storage position to read the radio frequency tag.