Vending machine

• US 5,415,319 A
• Filed: 03/07/1994
• Issued: 05/16/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intune Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Joe Risolia
• Inventors: Risolia, Joe
• Primary Examiner(s): Noland, Kenneth W.
• Application Number:
  US08/206,433
• Time in Patent Office: 435 Days
• Field of Search: 221/2, 221/3, 221/7, 221/9, 221/13
• US Class Current: 221/3
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/42 the articles being delivered by motor-driven means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0042 for hiring of objects
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/16 for devices exhibiting advertisements, announcements, pictures or the like

Abstract

A machine for vending articles of merchandise such as compact discs, cassette tapes, video tapes, books and the like, the machine including an enclosed cabinet with a front door having a window to permit viewing of an interior thereof. The interior of the cabinet is provided with racks for supporting and organizing the articles of merchandise in rows with a front article in each row arranged in a preferred viewing orientation relative to the window. A compact disc player and disc exchanger is further supported within the interior of the cabinet and interconnected with controls and headphones on the front door, the compact disc player being adapted to play various selected recordings on at least one disc contained therein, the selected recordings corresponding with the articles of merchandise supported on the racks. Controls on the front door being further structured to release a selected one of the articles of merchandise, upon depositing a predetermined amount of money in the machine, whereupon the article is dropped into a catch bin for retrieval by the consumer.

Claims

1. An assembly for vending individual articles of merchandise comprising;

a cabinet including a base, a plurality of vertical walls, a door and a top disposed in surrounding relation to an enclosed cabinet interior,

said door including a window and an access opening therethrough,

rack means for supporting the articles of merchandise in an ordered arrangement within said cabinet interior in a preferred viewing orientation relative to said window,

a catch bin on an inner side door below said rack means and communicating with said access opening,

release means for releasing a select one of said articles of merchandise from said rack means so as to cause said article to fall into said catch bin, facilitating retrieval of said article through said access opening from an exterior of said cabinet,

a compact disc player and disc exchanger structured and disposed to contain and selectively play a plurality of compact discs,

audible means for facilitating listening of a sound recording on said compact discs played by said compact disc player, said sound recording corresponding with at least one of said articles of merchandise supported on said rack means,

control means exteriorly accessible on said door and interconnected to and structured for controlling said compact disc player and disc exchanger and said release means, said control means including means for selecting one of said compact discs to be played and further including means for selecting one of said articles of merchandise to be released from said rack means by said release means, and

interface means interconnected between said control means and said release means, said interface means being further interconnected with a money deposit mechanism and being specifically structured to prevent actuation of said release means until a deposit of a predetermined amount of money is received through said money mechanism.

2. An assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein said rack means further includes means for arranging said individual articles of merchandise in rows extending from a rear of the cabinet interior to a forward portion of the cabinet interior.

3. An assembly as recited in claim 2 wherein said rows are disposed on a plurality of levels within the cabinet interior so that a forward-most one of said articles of merchandise in each of said rows is positioned and arranged in a preferred viewing orientation relative to said window of said door.

4. An assembly for vending individual articles of merchandise comprising:

a cabinet including at least a front panel,

rack means disposed behind said front panel and specifically structured for supporting the articles of merchandise in an ordered arrangement within said cabinet interior in accordance with a predetermined order,

release means for releasing a select one of said articles of merchandise from said rack means,

retrieval means on said front panel to facilitate retrieval of said select one of said articles of merchandise released from said release means,

audio means for playing selected ones of a plurality of sound recordings, each of said sound recordings corresponding with at least one of said individual articles of merchandise,

control means exteriorly accessible on said front panel and interconnected to and structured for controlling said audio means and said release means, said control means including selection means for selecting one of said sound recordings to be played and for further selecting one of said articles of merchandise to be released from said rack means by said release means,

a money deposit mechanism and control interface interconnecting between said control means and said release means for preventing actuation of said release means by said control means until a predetermined amount of money has been deposited through said money deposit mechanism,

said control means further including at least one control panel on said front panel, said control panel including a plurality of input buttons for selectively controlling said audio means and said release means, and

said audio means including a compact disc player and disc exchanger structured and disposed to contain and selectively play at least one compact disc.

5. An assembly as recited in claim 4 wherein said audio means includes a compact disc player and disc exchanger structured and disposed to contain and selectively play at least one compact disc.

6. An assembly as recited in claim 5 further including audible means for facilitating listening of said sound recording on said compact disc being played by said compact disc player.

7. An assembly as recited in claim 6 wherein said audible means includes at least one headphone set interconnected to an audio output of said compact disc player and disc exchanger facilitating listening to the sound recording.

8. An assembly for vending products comprising:

a cabinet including at least a front panel,

first product storage means for storing a first set of products to be purchased, said first set of products being stored in a predetermined ordered arrangement,

second product storage means for storing a second set of products in a predetermined ordered arrangement, said second set of products being identical to at least some products of said first set of products,

release means for releasing a select one of the products from said first product storage means,

retrieval means on said front panel to facilitate retrieval of said select one of said products released by said release means,

sampling means for selectively providing a sample of the products of said second set of products stored in said second product storage means, and

control means exteriorly accessible on said front panel and interconnected to and structured for controlling said sampling means and said release means, said control means including selection means for selecting one of said products of said second set to be sampled and for further selecting one of said products of said first set to be released from said first product storage means by said release means.

9. An assembly as recited in claim 8 wherein said products include sound recordings.

10. An assembly as recited in claim 9 wherein said sampling means includes audio means for playing selected ones of said sound recordings stored in said second product storage means.

11. An assembly as recited in claim 10 wherein said sound recordings include compact discs.

12. An assembly as recited in claim 11 wherein said audio means includes a compact disc player and disc exchanger structured and disposed to contain and selectively play at least one compact disc.