Data vending machine system and method thereof

• US 6,330,490 B1
• Filed: 02/25/2000
• Issued: 12/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mediall Tech Co Ltd (Columbus Geographic Systems (GIS) Ltd.), Hansol Telecom Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hansol Telecom Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Yang, Jun Mo, Ryoo, Soon Seop, Kim, Jong Woo
• Primary Examiner(s): Ellis, Christopher P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi H.
• Application Number:
  US09/486,657
• Time in Patent Office: 655 Days
• Field of Search: 700/231, 700/234, 700/235, 700/232, 700/237, 700/241, 700/236, 700/244, 235/381, 235/382, 369/29, 369/30
• US Class Current: 700/234
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/305 for record players

Abstract

The present invention relates to a data vending machine system and a method thereof, and in particular to a data vending machine system and a method thereof which are capable of selecting a certain music file, recording the selected music file onto a recording medium and printing a selected image and character message on a surface of the recording medium. The present invention includes a host computer for storing a digital music file and a plurality of remote data vending machine connected with the host computer. The data vending machine includes at least one listing and reserving apparatus for providing a reservation function of the music files selected by the customer, a database and fabrication control apparatus for storing a part of the music files stored in the host computer and recording the selected music file onto the recording medium, and a charge paying unit. There are further provided a main apparatus which performs the entire control operation of the data vending machine so that the music files selected by the customer is fabricated as one music album, and a network apparatus for thereby effectively managing the database of the remote data vending machine and minimizing the waiting time of the customer.

Claims

1. In a data vending machine including a host computer and a plurality of remote data vending machine connected with the host computer via a communication network, said host computer, comprising:

a first database for storing a plurality of digitalized data files;

a management database for storing a management data including a list of data files stored therein by each data vending machine, a sold date of each data file, and a sold number of the same;

a management data updating means for updating the management database in accordance with a management data transferred from the data vending machine;

a deletion instruction message generation means for generating a message for instructing a deletion data file which will be deleted among the data files stored in the data vending machine with reference to the management data corresponding to the management database when a data file transfer request is received from the data vending machine; and

a transferring means for transferring a data file requested from the data vending machine to the data vending machine together with a deletion message generated by the deletion instruction message generation means, each data vending machine, comprising;

a second database for storing a part of the data files stored in the first database of the host computer;

a listing and reserving means for providing a listing and selection function and a procurement reservation function of the lists of the data files stored in the first database stored in the host computer;

a fabrication means for reading a data file selected by a customer from the second database of the data vending machine and recording the read data file onto a recording medium;

a charge processing means for processing the charge for the cost of the data file; and

a main control means for controlling the entire operations of the system, said main control means, comprising;

a reservation information processing means for requesting a transfer of the data files which are not stored in the second database among the data files reserved by the listing and reserving means to the host computer;

a database managing means for deleting the deletion instructed data file from the second database when a deletion request data file is received from the transfer means of the host computer together with the deletion instruction message and storing the received data file onto the second database;

a procurement processing means for reading a data file selected by the customer from the second database and recording the read data file onto a recording medium by instructing to a fabrication means; and

a selling information transfer means for storing a selling information related to the procurement data file of the customer and transferring to the host computer.

2. The data vending machine of claim 1, wherein said procurement processing means of the main control means displays a data file included in a reservation information having a matched reservation number in the case of a procurement based on a reservation, instructs a recording start of the reserved data files when the charge payment is made by the charge processing means, and instructs a recording start of a selected data file upon checking that a data file is sold among the list of the data files stored in the second database when a charge payment is made by the charge processing means in the case of a direct music file selection.

3. The data vending machine of claim 1, wherein said procurement processing means of the main control means displays a charge corresponding to all selected data files when a selection is made by a customer and instructs a recording start to the fabrication means so that all data files selected by the customer are recorded onto the recording medium.

4. The data vending machine of claim 1, wherein said data vending machine includes:

a photo picturing means for picturing a photo of a customer in accordance with a control of the main control means;

an input means for inputting a character message in accordance with a control of the main control means; and

a printing means for printing a photo (or an image selected among the stored images) of a customer pictured by the picturing means in accordance with a control of the main control means and a character message inputted by the customer on a surface of the recording medium.

5. The data vending machine of claim 4, wherein said data vending machine includes:

an empty recording medium means for storing a recordable empty recording medium; and

a transfer means controlled by the procurement processing means for transferring the empty recording medium stored in the empty recording medium storing means to the fabrication means and transferring the recording medium recorded by the fabrication means to the printing means.

6. The data vending machine of claim 4, wherein said fabrication means includes:

a buffering means;

a data reading means for reading a data file instructed by the procurement processing means from the second database and temporarily storing onto the buffering means;

a decoding means for decoding a data file buffered by the data reading means;

a recording control means for converting the data file decoded by the decoding means onto a format proper to the selected recording medium; and

more than one recording means for recording the converted data onto a recording medium in accordance with a control of the recording control means.

7. The data vending machine of claim 1, wherein said main control means includes an inventory information transferring means for storing an inventory of a consumption article consumed by each data vending machine, updating an inventory of the stored consumption article whenever the consumption article is consumed and periodically or non-periodically transferring to the host computer.

8. The data vending machine of claim 1, wherein said host computer includes a reservation information transferring means, and said listing and reserving means is connected with the host computer via a communication network and is installed at a portion different from that of the data vending machine wherein the list of the data files stored in the host computer is listed by the listing and receiving means, and when the data vending machine installed at a certain region is designated, the reservation information transfer means of the host computer transfers the reserved information to the designated data vending machine.

9. The data vending machine of claim 8, wherein said listing and reserving means includes one of a terminal installed at a customer side connected with the host computer via an internet network, a terminal installed at a customer side connected with the host computer via a packet communication network, and a telephone connected with a telephone switching network.

10. In a data vending method adapted to a system including a host computer for storing a plurality of data files and a plurality of remote vending machines connected with the host computer via a communication network, a data vending method, comprising:

a first step for selecting a list of data files among the lists of a plurality of data files stored in the host computer and reserving the selected data files;

a second step for receiving the data files which are not stored in the data vending machine among the reserved data files from the host computer and updating a database of the data vending machine using the received data files;

a third step for checking whether a reservation is made when a procurement is requested by a customer;

a fourth step for displaying the data files included in a reservation information having a reservation number identical to the stored reservation information on a screen and checking whether a charge payment is made when a reservation is made;

a fifth step for instructing the reserved data files to be recorded onto a recording medium when the charge payment is made and storing a sold information of the data files which will be recorded;

a sixth step for checking whether the charge payment is made in the case that a customer directly selects and buys a certain music file without making a reservation in the third step;

a seventh step for displaying the list of the data files stored in the database of the vending machine when the charge payment is made;

an eighth step for instructing the selected data files to be recorded onto a recordable recording medium when a certain data file is selected among the list of the displayed data files and storing an information of the selected and sold data files; and

a ninth step for reading the record-instructed data files from the database and recording onto a selected recording medium.

11. The data vending method of claim 10, further comprising:

a tenth step for temporarily storing an image selected by a customer while the instructed data files are being stored onto the recording medium; and

an eleventh step for printing the temporarily stored image on a surface of the recording medium when the recording operation is completed.

12. The data vending method of claim 11, further comprising a twelfth step for temporarily storing a character message inputted by the customer and printing the temporarily stored character message on a surface of the recording medium when the recording operation is completed.

13. The data vending method of claim 10, wherein said second step includes:

a thirteenth step for requesting a transfer of the data file which is not stored in the data vending machine among the reserved data files to the host computer;

a fourteenth step for transferring the deletion requested data file to the data vending machine together with the message which instructs a deletion of the data files among the data files stored in the data vending machine in the host computer; and

a fifteenth step for deleting the deletion data file instructed by the host computer in the data vending machine from the database of the data vending machine and storing the requested data file onto the database.

14. The data vending method of claim 13, wherein said deletion instruction message includes a data file information which has the smallest sold number among the oldest sold date data files.

15. The data vending machine of claim 10, wherein said ninth step includes:

a sixteenth step for reading the record-instructed data file from the database and buffering the data;

a seventeenth step for decoding and buffering the buffered data file and initializing a recordable recording medium;

an eighteenth step for recording the buffered decoding data onto the recordable recording medium, reading the selected data file from the database and decoding and buffering the same; and

a nineteenth step for reporting a recording completion when the recording operation of all selected data files is finished.

16. The data vending machine of claim 11, wherein said tenth step includes:

a twentieth step for checking whether a customer pictures his photo or selects one of the stored images while the selected data file is being recorded onto the recording medium;

a twenty fist step for picturing a photo of a customer when the customer wishes to take a picture and displaying the pictured photo on a screen;

a twenty second step for temporarily storing the photo selected by the customer among the displayed photos; and

a twenty third step for displaying a plurality of images by the menu when the customer requests a selection of an image among the stored images in the twentieth step; and

a twenty fourth step for temporarily storing an image file selected by the customer among the displayed images.

17. The data vending method of claim 12, wherein said character message input step includes:

a twenty fifth step for checking whether a character message is inputted using a keyboard or a character message is inputted using a touch screen;

a twenty sixth step for temporarily storing an inputted character message when the character message is inputted using the keyboard in the twenty fifth step; and

a twenty seventh step for temporarily storing an inputted character message when the character message is inputted using the touch screen in the twenty fifth step.