Microprocessor based vending apparatus

• US 4,354,613 A
• Filed: 05/15/1980
• Issued: 10/19/1982
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/1980
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Trafalgar Industries, Inc. (Ball Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Trafalgar Industries, Inc. (Ball Corporation)
• Inventors: Shuren, Thomas E., Desai, Mahendrakumar D.
• Primary Examiner(s): ROLLA, JR., JOSEPH J
• Application Number:
  US06/149,951
• Time in Patent Office: 887 Days
• Field of Search: 221/2, 221/4, 221/5, 221/123, 221/124, 221/125, 221/129, 194/2, 194/10, 194/1 N, 364/478, 364/479, 235/92 AC, 235/92 EA
• US Class Current: 377/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/24 with change-giving
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/08 Counting total of coins inserted

Abstract

Microprocessor-based vending apparatus incorporating a plurality of separately driven individual dispensing assemblies is disclosed. The dispensing assemblies are scanned to determine their state and any malfunctioning assembly disabled to prevent attempted selection by a user without shutting down the entire vending machine. The state of the malfunctioning dispensing apparatus is retained in memory so that the state of each dispensing assembly may be selectively displayed through activation of a display switch causing the microprocessor to sequentially identify and display those dispensing devices which malfunctioned. The microprocessor performs all change-making functions normally performed in vending machines to greatly reduce the complexity and expense of the coin-accepting apparatus. Additionally, data is stored representing the quantity of each coin denomination present and change-making capability is disabled when coin denominations are reduced to a predetermined count. Cash flow data is stored in memory and may be displayed upon request. All functions of the vending apparatus are continuously monitored to assure proper operation and alarm conditions to identify malfunctions are developed. The status of all such functions are stored in memory for subsequent display or data transfer. Data transfer may be to an off-line printer, an off-line memory, optically coupled data transducers or the like. The off-line memory has a transceiver which is automatically energized by the vending machine transceiver to initiate data transfer.

Claims

1. Apparatus for vending foodstuffs comprising:

a plurality of dispensing means for dispensing said foodstuffs;

a power source;

an array of selector means, each being electrically isolated from and associated with one of said dispensing means for selecting a foodstuff, each selector means having an operating state and a quiescent state;

scanning means for scanning the said array of selector means to determine which dispensing means has been selected;

means for identifying a malfunctioning condition for each of said plurality of dispensing means, said means for identifying indicating any of said plurality of dispensing means which have previously malfunctioned and including monitoring means associated with each of said plurality of dispensing means for determining whether its associated dispensing means is in an operating or reset position; and

control means responsive to said scanning means and said means for identifying for coupling said power source to the selected dispensing means if the same has not previously malfunctioned and causing the selection of said selected dispensing means to be refused if an indication that the same have previously malfunctioned is present, said indication that the same has previously malfunctioned including a determination that a selected dispensing means is in an operating position at the time dispensing is required.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising memory means having a memory location for each dispensing means;

and

means for inserting a count into the memory location assigned to a dispensing means when its associated dispensing means is energized.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said selection means includes a light emitting element which is energized upon an actuation of said selection means and means responsive to a selected test condition for repetitively energizing and deenergizing each light emitting element in said array of selector means.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 additionally comprising indicia means and means for defining a select test condition, said means for defining a select test condition being responsive to an enabling thereof and an actuation of a properly operating one of said array of selector means for causing said indicia to display a condition representative of said properly operating one of said array of selector means.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for identifying comprises:

memory means;

means for storing the status of said dispensing means; and

display means for displaying the status of information stored in said memory means.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said control means further comprises motor drive means for each dispensing means, each being comprised of a light emitting element and a light sensitive switch means responsive to illumination of its associated light emitting element for conducting current from said power source to its associated dispensing means.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

a plurality of row and column drive lines, said motor drive means being arranged in a matrix comprised of a plurality of rows and columns, each light emitting element being connected between one of said row lines and one of said column lines; and

decoder means responsive to the operative selector means for energizing the row and column drive lines coupled to the light emitting element associated with the selected dispensing means.

8. Apparatus for vending foodstuffs comprising;

a plurality of dispensing means for dispensing said foodstuffs;

a power source;

an array of selector means, each being electrically isolated from and associated with one of said dispensing means for selecting a foodstuff, each selector means having an operating state and a quiescent state;

scanning means for scanning the said array of selector means to determine which dispensing means has been selected;

means for identifying a malfunctioning condition for each of said plurality of dispensing means, said means for identifying indicating any of said plurality of dispensing means which have previously malfunctioned and including monitoring means associated with each of said plurality of dispensing means for ascertaining whether its associated dispensing means is in an operating position or a reset position,

second scanning means for scanning said monitoring means to ascertain the position of said associated dispensing means prior to selective energization thereof, and

selection control means responsive to said scanning means for preventing operation of a dispensing means selected for operation by its selector means when the associated dispensing means is in an operating position; and

control means responsive to said scanning means and said means for identifying for coupling said power source to the selected dispensing means if the same has not previously malfunctioned and causing the selection of said selected dispensing means to be refused if an indication that the same have previously malfunctioned is present.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

memory means for storing status information for each dispensing means; and

said selection control including means for inserting status information representing the state of each dispensing means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

display means; and

means responsive to a display request for sequentially displaying the status of each dispensing means.

11. Vending apparatus comprising:

a plurality of dispensing means;

selector means for selecting which of said dispensing means is to be operated;

scanning means for scanning said selector means and being responsive to the selector means which has been operated for energizing the dispensing means associated with the selector means which has been operated;

means responsive to operation of said dispensing means for storing data representing the number of times each dispensing means has been operated;

said means for storing data representing the number of times each dispensing means has been operated including means for storing in first and second register means the number of times each dispensing means has been operated and means for clearing one of said first and second register means for each dispensing means each time a collection is made from said vending apparatus whereupon one of said first and second register means maintains a value corresponding to a total number of operations of said dispensing means and another of said first and second register means maintains a value corresponding to dispensing operations of a dispensing means from collection-to-collection;

manually operable display activator means; and

means for displaying said data responsive to operation of said activator means.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 additionally comprising transmitter means in said vending apparatus, portable receiver means mountable in said vending apparatus and means responsive to a mounting of said portable receiver means in said vending apparatus for enabling said transmitter means for supplying data corresponding to the values stored in said first and second register means to said portable receiver means.

13. A method for operating microprocessor and memory means for a vending apparatus having:

coin receiving means;

a power source;

a plurality of dispensing means;

an array of selector switches for selecting the dispensing means;

an array of drive means, each capable of selectively operating an associated dispensing means;

monitoring means coupled to each dispensing means for representing the operating state of its associated dispensing means;

said method comprising the steps of operating said microprocessor for;

(a) periodically examining the coin receiving means to detect the insertion of coins;

(b) scanning said array of selector switches when coins of a sufficient cash value have been deposited to determine which switch has been operated;

(c) coupling the power source to every drive means;

(d) energizing the drive means associated with the operated selector switch to complete an electrical path between said power source and the dispensing means associated with the energizing drive means;

(e) incrementing a memory location associated with an energized dispensing means to maintain an accumulated count of the number of times the dispensing means has operated; and

(f) transferring the status information to an off-line device comprised of a microprocessor operated receiver and a transmitter communicating with a transmitter and receiver operated by the vending apparatus microprocessor, said step of transferring further comprising the steps of;

energizing the vending apparatus transmitter to transmit radiation,

aligning the off-line transmitter and receiver with the vending apparatus receiver and transmitter, respectively,

energizing the off-line transmitter when said off-line receiver detects said radiation,

modulating said vending apparatus transmitter in binary fashion to transmit the status information in a serial fashion,

converting the modulated radiation into parallel data words, and

storing the parallel data words in said memory.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of modulating said vending apparatus transmitter to transmit an initial data word representing the number of status words to be transmitted to said off-line device;

means for storing the initial data word in the off-line memory;

means for counting the number of status codes received by said off-line device and comparing the count with the initial data word and for generating an end of transmission signal when the said count compares with said initial data word.

15. A method for operating microprocessor and memory means for a vending apparatus having;

coin receiving means;

a power source;

a plurality of dispensing means;

an array of selector switches for selecting the dispensing means;

an array of drive means, each capable of selectively operating an associated dispensing means;

monitoring means coupled to each dispensing means for representing the operating state of its associated dispensing means;

said method comprising the steps of operating said microprocessor for;

(a) periodically examining the coin receiving means to detect the insertion of coins;

(b) scanning said array of selector switches when coins of a sufficient cash value have been deposited to determine which switch has been operated;

(c) coupling the power source to every drive means;

(d) determining if at least one of said plurality of dispensing means associated with an operated selector switch is in a properly operable condition by scanning all of said monitoring means to ascertain if any dispensing means has erroneously operated prior to energization of one of said drive means; and

(e) energizing the drive means associated with the operated selector switch to complete an electrical path between said power source and the dispensing means associated with the energizing drive means if said dispensing means associated with an operated selector switch has been determined to be in a properly operable condition.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of storing a status code in said memory for the malfunctioning dispensing means.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of examining the status code of the selected dispensing means for preventing operation of the selected dispensing means in the event that its status code indicates that the dispensing means has malfunctioned.

18. A method for operating microprocessor and memory means for a vending apparatus having;

coin receiving means;

a power source;

a plurality of dispensing means;

an array of selector switches for selecting the dispensing means;

an array of drive means, each capable of selectively operating an associated dispensing means;

monitoring means coupled to each dispensing means for representing the operating state of its associated dispensing means;

said method comprising the steps of operating said microprocessor for;

(a) periodically examining the coin receiving means to detect the insertion of coins;

(b) scanning said array of selector switches when coins of a sufficient cash value have been deposited to determine which switch has been operated;

(c) coupling the power source to every drive means;

(d) determining if at least a one of said plurality of dispensing means associated with an operated selector switch is in a properly operable condition;

(e) energizing the drive means associated with the operated selector switch to complete an electrical path between said power source and the dispensing means associated with the energizing drive means if said dispensing means associated with an operated selector switch has been determined to be in a properly operable condition; and

(f) scanning said monitoring means a predetermined time after energization of said drive means to determine if the energized dispensing means is operating properly.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of storing a status code in said memory for the malfunctioning dispensing means.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the step of examining the status code of the selected dispensing means for preventing operation of the selected dispensing means in the event that its status code indicates that the dispensing means has malfunctioned.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of scanning the monitoring means a predetermined time after the last dispensing means to be energized has been deenergized to determined if the last mentioned dispensing means has stopped at the proper position.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of storing a status code in said memory for the malfunctioning dispensing means.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of examining the status code of the dispensing means selected by its associated selector switch for preventing operation of the selected dispensing means in the event that its status code indicates that the dispensing means previously malfunctioned.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of incrementing a memory location associated with an energized dispensing means to maintain an accumulated count of the number of times each of the dispensing means has operated.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of displaying the status information stored in said memory means.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of printing a record of the status information stored in said memory means.

27. Apparatus for vending foodstuffs comprising:

a plurality of dispensing means for dispensing said foodstuffs;

a power source;

an array of selector means, each being electrically isolated from and associated with one of said dispensing means for selecting a foodstuff, each selector means having an operating state and a quiescent state;

scanning means for repetitively scanning said array of selector means;

identifying means responsive to any of said selector means being in the operative state for generating a selection request signal;

control means responsive to a selection request signal for ascertaining from said identifying means which selector means is in the operative state;

condition indicating means for scanning the operative condition of at least said dispensing means associated with said selector means in an operative state and indicating an operating condition thereof; and

drive means responsive to said control means and said condition indicating means for coupling said power source to the dispensing means whose selector means has been operated if said dispensing means whose selector means has been operated is not already indicated as in an operating condition by said condition indicating means.

28. Apparatus for vending foodstuffs comprising;

a plurality of dispensing means for dispensing foodstuffs;

a power source;

an array of selector means, each being electrically isolated from and associated with one of said dispensing means for selecting a foodstuff, each selector means having an operating state and a quiescent state;

scanning means for scanning the said array of selector means to determine which dispensing means has been selected;

means for identifying a malfunctioning condition for each of said plurality of dispensing means, said means for identifying indicating any of said plurality of dispensing means which have previously malfunctioned and including memory means for storing status information for each dispensing means,

monitoring means for determining the position of each dispensing means which may be either a reset or an operating position,

second scanning means for scanning said monitoring means, and

means responsive to said second scanning means for inserting a status word in said memory means representing the status of its associated dispensing means; and

additionally comprising;

means responsive to each dispensing operation for inserting a count into said memory means at the memory location associated with a dispensing means when said dispensing means is operated; and

control means responsive to said scanning means and said means for identifying for coupling said power source to the selected dispensing means if the same has not previously malfunctioned and causing the selection of said selected dispensing means to be refused if an indication that the same have previously malfunctioned is present.

29. Vending apparatus comprising:

a plurality of dispensing means;

selector means for selecting which of said dispensing means is to be operated;

scanning means for scanning said selector means and being responsive to the selector means which has been operated for identifying a dispensing means to be operated;

means for determining operational status of an identified dispensing means;

means for energizing the dispensing means associated with the selector means which has been operated if said means for determining has indicated a satisfactory operating status therefor;

means responsive to operation of said dispensing means for storing data representing the number of times each dispensing means has been operated;

manually operable display activator means; and

means for displaying said data responsive to operation of said activator means.