Computer controlled system for vending personalized products
First Claim
1. A machine for delivering a social occasion product which may be automatically personalized by the customer at the time of purchase, said machine comprising:
- storage means for storing base product, delivery receptacle means, product handling means for effecting a series of operations and including electrically controllable transfer means for effecting transfer of base product from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on said base product transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred base product for production of a personalized social occasion product, and electrically controllable delivery means for effecting delivery of said personalized social occasion product from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, an enclosure containing said storage, receptacle and printing means therewithin, selection means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect entry of control data to select graphics and text to be provided on the personalized greeting card to be delivered to the customer, computer means within said enclosure and coupled to said payment and selection means and to said electrically controllable transfer, printing and delivery means of said product handling means, said computer means controlling said transfer, printing, and delivery means of said product handling means following payment by a customer to perform a series of operations in accordance with said control data, said series of operations being performed within said enclosure without operator intervention and including transfer of base product from said storage means, printing of a sheet of base product transferred from said storage means and delivery of the desired final form of personalized greeting card from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, said computer means monitering status and malfunction conditions of said machine during at least a portion of said operations, and generating a status report therefrom; and
communication means coupling said computer means with a remote location, said computer means transmitting said status report to said remote location via said communication means.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A machine is disclosed which includes an enclosure with selection and payment means on the outside thereof and with storage and handling means on the inside thereof, all coupled to computer equipment which is on the inside of the enclosure. The computer equipment is programmed to facilitate a customer'"'"'s creation from among types of products to be delivered and the desired mode of personalization thereof and to deliver a completed personalized product to a receptacle from which it may be removed by the customer. The machine of the invention improves customer service and availability by periodically reporting sales and other information. In addition, the machine self detects errors of operation and provides the capability of stocking new products or software programming revisions via data transmission from a remote location.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A machine for delivering a social occasion product which may be automatically personalized by the customer at the time of purchase, said machine comprising:
- storage means for storing base product, delivery receptacle means, product handling means for effecting a series of operations and including electrically controllable transfer means for effecting transfer of base product from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on said base product transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred base product for production of a personalized social occasion product, and electrically controllable delivery means for effecting delivery of said personalized social occasion product from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, an enclosure containing said storage, receptacle and printing means therewithin, selection means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect entry of control data to select graphics and text to be provided on the personalized greeting card to be delivered to the customer, computer means within said enclosure and coupled to said payment and selection means and to said electrically controllable transfer, printing and delivery means of said product handling means, said computer means controlling said transfer, printing, and delivery means of said product handling means following payment by a customer to perform a series of operations in accordance with said control data, said series of operations being performed within said enclosure without operator intervention and including transfer of base product from said storage means, printing of a sheet of base product transferred from said storage means and delivery of the desired final form of personalized greeting card from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, said computer means monitering status and malfunction conditions of said machine during at least a portion of said operations, and generating a status report therefrom; and
communication means coupling said computer means with a remote location, said computer means transmitting said status report to said remote location via said communication means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
- storage means for storing base product, delivery receptacle means, product handling means for effecting a series of operations and including electrically controllable transfer means for effecting transfer of base product from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on said base product transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred base product for production of a personalized social occasion product, and electrically controllable delivery means for effecting delivery of said personalized social occasion product from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, an enclosure containing said storage, receptacle and printing means therewithin, selection means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect entry of control data to select graphics and text to be provided on the personalized greeting card to be delivered to the customer, computer means within said enclosure and coupled to said payment and selection means and to said electrically controllable transfer, printing and delivery means of said product handling means, said computer means controlling said transfer, printing, and delivery means of said product handling means following payment by a customer to perform a series of operations in accordance with said control data, said series of operations being performed within said enclosure without operator intervention and including transfer of base product from said storage means, printing of a sheet of base product transferred from said storage means and delivery of the desired final form of personalized greeting card from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, said computer means monitering status and malfunction conditions of said machine during at least a portion of said operations, and generating a status report therefrom; and
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19. A machine for delivering a greeting card which may be automatically personalized by the customer at the time of purchase, said machine comprising:
- storage means for greeting card stock, delivery receptacle means, product handling means for effecting a series of operations and including electrically controllable transfer means for effecting transfer of said greeting card stock from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on said greeting card stock transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred greeting card stock for production of a personalized greeting card, and electrically controllable delivery means for effecting delivery of said personalized greeting card from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, an enclosure containing said storage, receptacle and printing means therewithin, selection means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect entry of control data to select graphics and text to be provided on the personalized greeting card to be delivered to the customer, computer means within said enclosure and coupled to said payment and selection means and to said electrically controllable transfer, printing and delivery means of said product handling means, said computer means maintaining periodic sales, marketing and consumer information data and further compiling reports reflecting said periodic sales, marketing and consumer information data, said computer means controlling said transfer, printing, and delivery means of said product handling means following payment by a customer to perform a series of operations in accordance with said control data, said series of operations being performed within said enclosure without operator intervention and including transfer of base product from said storage means, printing of a sheet of said greeting card stock transferred from said storage means and delivery of the desired final form of personalized greeting card from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, said computer means monitoring status and malfunction conditions of said machine and generating a status report therefrom; and
communication means coupling said computer means with a remote location, said computer means transmitting said status report and said periodic sales reports to said remote location. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
- storage means for greeting card stock, delivery receptacle means, product handling means for effecting a series of operations and including electrically controllable transfer means for effecting transfer of said greeting card stock from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on said greeting card stock transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred greeting card stock for production of a personalized greeting card, and electrically controllable delivery means for effecting delivery of said personalized greeting card from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, an enclosure containing said storage, receptacle and printing means therewithin, selection means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect entry of control data to select graphics and text to be provided on the personalized greeting card to be delivered to the customer, computer means within said enclosure and coupled to said payment and selection means and to said electrically controllable transfer, printing and delivery means of said product handling means, said computer means maintaining periodic sales, marketing and consumer information data and further compiling reports reflecting said periodic sales, marketing and consumer information data, said computer means controlling said transfer, printing, and delivery means of said product handling means following payment by a customer to perform a series of operations in accordance with said control data, said series of operations being performed within said enclosure without operator intervention and including transfer of base product from said storage means, printing of a sheet of said greeting card stock transferred from said storage means and delivery of the desired final form of personalized greeting card from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, said computer means monitoring status and malfunction conditions of said machine and generating a status report therefrom; and
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28. A machine for delivering a social occasion product, said machine comprising:
- storage means for storing base product, delivery receptacle means, product handling means for effecting a series of operations and including electrically controllable transfer means for effecting transfer of base product from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on said base product transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred base product, and electrically controllable delivery means for effecting delivery of said social occasion product from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, an enclosure containing said storage, receptacle and printing means therewithin, selection means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect entry of control data to select graphics and text to be provided on the social occasion product to be delivered to the customer, sensing means for detecting status and malfunction conditions of the machine and providing a plurality of output signals, computer means within said enclosure and coupled to said payment and selection means and to said electrically controllable transfer, printing and delivery means of said product handling means, said computer means controlling said transfer, printing, and delivery means of said product handling means following payment by a customer to perform a series of operations in accordance with said control data, said series of operations being performed within said enclosure without operator intervention and including transfer of base product from said storage means, printing of a sheet of base product transferred from said storage means and delivery of the desired final form of social occasion product from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, and receiving said plurality of sensing signals and for generating a status report; and
communication means coupling said computer means with a remote location, said communication transmitting said status report to said remote location. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
- storage means for storing base product, delivery receptacle means, product handling means for effecting a series of operations and including electrically controllable transfer means for effecting transfer of base product from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on said base product transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred base product, and electrically controllable delivery means for effecting delivery of said social occasion product from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, an enclosure containing said storage, receptacle and printing means therewithin, selection means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect entry of control data to select graphics and text to be provided on the social occasion product to be delivered to the customer, sensing means for detecting status and malfunction conditions of the machine and providing a plurality of output signals, computer means within said enclosure and coupled to said payment and selection means and to said electrically controllable transfer, printing and delivery means of said product handling means, said computer means controlling said transfer, printing, and delivery means of said product handling means following payment by a customer to perform a series of operations in accordance with said control data, said series of operations being performed within said enclosure without operator intervention and including transfer of base product from said storage means, printing of a sheet of base product transferred from said storage means and delivery of the desired final form of social occasion product from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, and receiving said plurality of sensing signals and for generating a status report; and
Specification