Computer controlled system for vending personalized products
First Claim
1. 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 storing 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 greeting card stock from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on greeting card stock transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred 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, payment means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect payment for a greeting card, 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, and 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 greeting card stock from said storage means, printing of a sheet of 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.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A machine for delivering a product which may be automatically personalized by a customer at the time of purchase is disclosed. The product may be selected from a plurality of different types of products which may communicate in a plurality of media such as print, braille, or audio or video tape. The machine stores base products which may be modified to communicate in a plurality of media. Product handling means effects a series of operations including transfer of a base product from storage. Electrically controllable modification means effects modification of the base product to produce a modified base product and electrically controllable delivery means effects delivery of the modified base product. An enclosure contains the storage and product handling means therewithin. The apparatus further comprises payment means operable by a customer on the outside of the enclosure to effect payment for a product and selection means operable by a customer on the outside of the enclosure to effect entry of control data which defines the customer'"'"'s selection of the media form of the base product and modifications to be performed of the selected media form to define the desired final form of the personalized product to be delivered to the customer.
460 Citations
45 Claims
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1. 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 storing 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 greeting card stock from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on greeting card stock transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred 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, payment means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect payment for a greeting card, 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, and 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 greeting card stock from said storage means, printing of a sheet of 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.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A machine for delivering a product which may be automatically personalized by the customer at the time of purchase and which is selected from a plurality of different types of products including products of forms which communicate in a plurality of media, said machine comprising:
- storage means for storing base products of a plurality of forms adapted to be modified to communicate in said plurality of media, delivery receptacle means, product handling means for effecting a series of operations and including electrically controllable transfer means for effecting transfer of a base product from said storage means, electrically controllable modification means for effecting modification of said base product to produce a modified base product and electrically controllable delivery means for effecting delivery of said modified base product to said delivery receptacle means, an enclosure containing said storage, receptacle and product handling means therewithin, payment means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect payment for a product, selection means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect entry of control data which defines the customer'"'"'s selection of the media form of the base product and modifications to be performed of the selected media form to thereby define the desired final form of the personalized product to be delivered to the customer, and computer means within said enclosure and coupled to said payment and selection means and to said electrically controllable transfer, modification and delivery means of said product handling means, said computer means controlling said transfer, modification 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 a base product of the selected media form from said storage means, modification of a base product transferred from said storage means in accordance with the customer'"'"'s selection and delivery of the desired final form of product from said modification means to said delivery receptacle means.
- View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. 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 storing 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 greeting card stock from said storage means, electrically controllable printing means for printing graphics and text on greeting card stock transferred by said transfer means and for effecting printing of both high quality graphics and text on said transferred stock for production of a personalized greeting card, electrically controllable modification means for modification of greeting card stock after transfer from said storage means and before transfer as a printed card to said delivery means, and electrically controllable delivery means for effecting delivery of said modified and personalized greeting card from said printing means to said delivery receptacle means, an enclosure containing said storage, receptacle and printing means therewithin, payment means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect payment for a greeting card, selection means operable by a customer on the outside of said enclosure to effect entry of control data to select modifications of and graphics and text to be printed on the personalized greeting card to be delivered to the customer, and 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, modification 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.
- View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. A method of automated supply of products created according to preferences of a customer to be thereby of personalized form, said method comprising the steps of storing base products of a plurality of forms adapted to be modified in accordance with said preferences of a customer, communicating data to the customer defining forms of products and product modifications which are available for selection and authorizations required from the customer for producing modified products, detecting a customer'"'"'s selection of a form of product and modifications thereof and the customer'"'"'s authorization of production thereof, automatically responding to said selection and authorization by effecting a series of operations including automatically effecting transfer from storage of a base product of the form selected by the customer, automatically effecting modification of the transferred base product of the selected form to produce a base product modified in accordance with the customer'"'"'s selection, and automatically effecting delivery of the modified base product to the customer wherein said available forms of products are such as to communicate in a plurality of media and wherein a customer'"'"'s selection of a form of product includes a selection of a particular medium of communication.
Specification