Card or cash actuated vending machine assembly

• US 5,450,938 A
• Filed: 05/02/1994
• Issued: 09/19/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: XCP, Inc.
• Original Assignee: XCP, Inc.
• Inventors: Rademacher, Darrell G.
• Primary Examiner(s): BARTUSKA, FRANCIS JOHN
• Application Number:
  US08/236,032
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• Field of Search: 194/206, 194/207, 194/210, 194/217, 194/218, 235/381, 235/383, 364/479
• US Class Current: 194/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3437 the counter having non-monetary units, e.g. trips
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• 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 7/02 by keys or other credit registering devices

Abstract

A bank of vending machines has an associated debit card reader of vend card reader, with its associated card reader controller. The card reader controller interfaces between the money handling mechanism of one or more of the vending machines, and the vending machine controller circuitry. The vending machine controller does not connect directly to the money accepting or change making equipment. As an incentive to stimulate card purchases rather then cash purchases, the card reader controller can credit the card holder with bonus points when purchases are made. These can be discounts and added directly into the card purchase credit balance, or can be bonus points to be recorded in a separate field on the vend card, and separately redeemed.

Claims

1. A coin vending and card vending assembly comprising:

a vending machine which includes money handling means for accepting money in the form of coins or bills and establishing a purchase credit, said money handling means including means for dispensing money as change after a purchase, means for generating credit signals whose value indicates the level of said purchase credit established by said money handling means and means for receiving refund signals whose value after a purchase corresponds to a difference between said established purchase credit and a predetermined purchase price of a product selected by a purchaser;

product dispensing means for dispensing to the purchaser the product selected by the purchaser; and

a vend machine controller coupled to said product dispensing means to enable same in response to receiving credit signals of sufficient value to equal or exceed the purchase price of the product and for generating refund signals whose value is the difference between said credit signals value and the purchase price of said selected product;

and a card reader which includes a card reading mechanism that receives a vending card that contains readable indicia;

means to ascertain a maximum purchase credit available to a purchaser in possession of the vending card; and

a card reader controller coupled to said card reader mechanism;

first signal carrier means coupled between said money handling means and said card reader controller for bringing purchase credit signals from the money handling means to the card reader controller and bringing refund signals from said card reader controller to said money handling means;

second signal carrier means coupled between said card reader controller and said vend machine controller for bringing purchase credit signals from the card reader controller to the vend machine controller and for bringing refund signals from the vend machine controller to the card reader controller;

said card reader controller being configured such that;

when a purchaser inserts the vend card into said card reading mechanism said card reader controller establishes the available purchase credit, reduces said available purchase credit by a predetermined amount, and transmits to the vend machine controller credit signals corresponding to said predetermined amount so that the vend machine controller enables said vend mechanism to dispense a selected product, and said vend machine controller sends to said card reader controller refund signals corresponding to a difference between said predetermined amount and the purchase price of said selected product, and said card reader controller adds the value represented by said refund signal back to said available purchase credit; and

when the purchaser does not insert a vend card into the card reading mechanism, the card reader controller transmits to the vend machine controller on said second carrier means the credit signals received on said first carrier means from said money handling means; and

said card reader controller sends on said first carrier means to said money handling means refund signals received on said second carrier means from said vend machine controller.

2. Coin vending and card vending assembly according to claim 1 wherein said vending machine is a multi-selection, multi-price vending machine having a plurality of selectors for selecting products to be purchased, with respective purchase prices between a minimum price and a maximum purchase price;

and said card reader controller transmits said credit signals corresponding to said maximum purchase price to said vend machine controller.

3. Coin vending and card vending assembly according to claim 2 further comprising at least one additional vending machine, and a signal carrier connected between said multi-selection multi-price machine and said additional machine such that an actuation of a predetermined one of said selectors conditions the additional vending machine to dispense a product.

4. Coin vending and card vending assembly according to claim 1 wherein said card reader controller includes means to compute a bonus credit when the purchaser has inserted said card into the card reading mechanism and has made a purchase.

5. Coin vending and card vending assembly according to claim 4 wherein said card reading mechanism records said bonus credit in a field separate from said available purchase credit.

6. Coin vending and card vending assembly according to claim 4 wherein said card reader controller combines said bonus credit with said available purchase credit as a card-use incentive discount.