Automatic vending machine with discount function

• US 4,679,150 A
• Filed: 03/07/1985
• Issued: 07/07/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/1984
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nippon Conlux Co., Ltd. (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Nipponcoinco
• Inventors: Yasuhara, Masahiro, Itako, Eiji, Hayashi, Yukichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Jerry
• Assistant Examiner(s): NOT, DEFINED
• Application Number:
  US06/709,040
• Time in Patent Office: 852 Days
• Field of Search: 194/217, 194/218, 221/1, 221/17, 221/18, 133/1 R, 133/2, 340/825.35, 364/464, 364/479, 364/200, 364/900
• US Class Current: 700/238
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/02 Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus alarms or warning devices indicating the interruption of flow to be metered G07F15/10

Abstract

An automatic vending machine is provided which has a continuous sale controller for continuously selling a plurality of products within a total amount of coins inserted therein for a single purchase. Until the outstanding balance becomes zero single sale operations are stored in a single sale operation memory. When a count of a counter reaches a reference number while the single sale operations are being stored, a reference number detector generates an output. The regular sales price supplied from a product sales price generator to the continuous sale controller is updated to a discount price when an output is generated from the reference number detector.

Claims

1. An automatic vending machine with a discount function, said automatic vending machine being provided with continuous sale control means for subtracting a regular sales price from a total amount of money deposited in the automatic vending machine every time a product is sold and for continuously dispensing a selected product so long as an outstanding balance is larger than the regular sales price, comprising:

a first determining means for determining whether or not money is depositied in the vending machine;

a second determining means for determining whether or not the outstanding balance is decreased to zero;

single sale operation memory means responsive to results of determinations effected by said first and second determining means for storing single sale operations until the outstanding balance is decreased to zero;

a third determining means for determining whether or not said single sale operation memory means stores the single sale operations;

means for counting the number of products sold while it is determined by said third determining means that said single sale operation memory means stores single sale operations;

reference number detecting means for determining whether or not a count of said counting means reaches a predetermined reference number and for generating an output when the predetermined reference number has been reached; and

product sales price output means for supplying a price output to said continuous sale control means, said price output being changed from a first output indicative of the regular sales price of a product to a second output indicative of a discount price which is obtained by subtracting a predetermined amount from the regular sales price while the output is being generated from said reference number detecting means.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said counting means is reset to zero when a product is sold just after the count thereof reaches the reference number, whereby a product is sold at the discount price every time the count of said counting means reaches the reference number.

3. A machine accourding to claim 2, further comprising:

means for storing discount products and nondiscount products; and

means for determining which of the discount and non-discount products is selected;

wherein said counting means counts the number of discount products alone, and said product sales price output means generates the discount price for only the discount products.

4. A machine according to claim 1, further comprising:

means for storing discount products and nondiscount products; and

means for determining which of the discount and non-discount products is selected;

wherein said counting means counts the number of discount products alone, and said product sales price output means generates the discount price for only the discount products.

5. A machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said second output generated by said product sales prices output means represents the common discount price for the respective types of discount products.

6. A machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said second output generated by said product sales price output means represents different discount prices for the respective types of discount products.