Off-line credit card transaction system and method for vending machines
First Claim
1. A method for controlling an off-line credit vend transaction in a credit vending system having a vend selection and delivery portion, an associated credit card reader for receiving credit cards inserted therein and reading card information data therefrom, including information identifying the expiration date and account number of the inserted card, and a transaction controller operatively connected to the credit card reader to receive card information data therefrom and operatively connected to the vend selection and delivery portion of the credit vending system for enabling the operation thereof, the transaction controller including memory storage, including memory for storing credit transaction information, said method comprising the steps of:
- a. reading information from a credit card inserted into the card reader and verifying that the card is an acceptable card for use in the credit vending system and has not expired;
b. verifying, while off-line, the current availability at such credit vending system of off-line credit for the account number of the inserted card;
c. enabling selection of a vend by a customer at the vend selection and delivery portion of the credit vending system; and
d. storing credit transaction information for such credit vending operation in memory storage of the transaction controller, upon completion of the vend selected by the customer, for subsequent retrieval and credit billing.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for controlling off-line credit vend transactions are provided, including a vending system having a vend selection and delivery portion operable off-line, an associated credit card reader, and a transaction controller operatively connected to the card reader to receive information read from an inserted credit card and operatively connected to the vend selection and delivery portion to enable operation thereof. The system is operable, while off-line, to determine acceptability of an inserted card and the current availability at such system of off-line credit for an acceptable credit card, to enable operation of the vend selection and delivery portion if credit is authorized, and to be responsive to vend completion by the vend selection and delivery portion to store transaction information for the credit vend. The credit vend transaction information can later be downloaded and utilized for credit billing purposes. Information for use in determining credit transaction limitation counts and account numbers for preferred cards, and for determining higher credit transaction limitation counts for preferred cards, can be uploaded and stored in the system for use in determining card acceptability and the availability of off-line credit.
129 Citations
70 Claims
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1. A method for controlling an off-line credit vend transaction in a credit vending system having a vend selection and delivery portion, an associated credit card reader for receiving credit cards inserted therein and reading card information data therefrom, including information identifying the expiration date and account number of the inserted card, and a transaction controller operatively connected to the credit card reader to receive card information data therefrom and operatively connected to the vend selection and delivery portion of the credit vending system for enabling the operation thereof, the transaction controller including memory storage, including memory for storing credit transaction information, said method comprising the steps of:
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a. reading information from a credit card inserted into the card reader and verifying that the card is an acceptable card for use in the credit vending system and has not expired;
b. verifying, while off-line, the current availability at such credit vending system of off-line credit for the account number of the inserted card;
c. enabling selection of a vend by a customer at the vend selection and delivery portion of the credit vending system; and
d. storing credit transaction information for such credit vending operation in memory storage of the transaction controller, upon completion of the vend selected by the customer, for subsequent retrieval and credit billing. - 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, 25)
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- 26. A credit vending system for controlling an off-line credit vend transaction comprising a vending system including a vend selection and delivery portion, an associated credit card reader for receiving credit cards inserted therein and for reading card information data from the inserted card, including information identifying the expiration date and account number of the inserted card, and a transaction controller operatively connected to the credit card reader to receive card information data therefrom and operatively connected to the vend selection and delivery portion for enabling the operation thereof, said transaction controller including memory storage, including memory for storing credit transaction information, said transaction controller responsive to information read from the inserted card by said credit card reader upon insertion of a credit card therein to verify that the inserted card is an acceptable card for use in the credit vending system and has not expired, said transaction controller thereafter operable to verify, while off-line, the current availability at said credit vending system of off-line credit for the account number of the inserted card and, upon such verification of currently available credit, to enable vend selection by a customer at the vend selection and delivery portion of the vending system, said vend selection and delivery portion responsive to selection of a vend by a customer to effect vend delivery and, upon vend completion, to communicate notice thereof to said transaction controller, said transaction controller responsive to said vend completion notice to store credit transaction information for such off-line credit vending operation in memory storage of the transaction controller for subsequent retrieval and credit billing.
- 54. In a vending system having a vend selection and delivery portion which includes a vend selection portion operable by a user to select a desired vend selection from among a plurality of possible vend selections and a plurality of vend delivery devices for effecting delivery of respective associated vend selections, said vend selection and delivery portion configured for single price vending of a plurality of possible vending selections and being operatively connectable to a vend enabling controller to receive a signal provided to said vend selection and delivery portion to enable said vend selection and delivery portion to recognize and respond to a desired vend selection by a user to effect vend delivery of such desired vend selection at such single price and to provide a signal to the vend enabling controller upon vending of the desired vend selection indicative of vend delivery, and wherein said vend selection and delivery portion as operatively connectable in a vending system to a vend enabling controller is operatively connectable to a credit transaction controller of a credit vending system, which credit transaction controller is associated with a credit information entry portion at which a user may enter information to establish a credit situation, is operable to provide an enabling signal to the vend selection and delivery portion upon determining that the information entered by the user is sufficient to establish the existence of a credit situation for the user, and is operable in response to a vend delivery signal to store credit transaction information, the improvement comprising a multi-pricing modification to the single-price configured vend selection and delivery portion, said multi-pricing modification including a price information sensor apparatus associated with the vend delivery devices, wherein a first set of vend selections has a first vend price associated therewith and a second set of vend selections has a second vend price associated therewith, each of which sets includes at least one vend selection, said price information sensor apparatus operatively connectable to the credit transaction controller to provide thereto, upon operation of a vend delivery device associated with the second set of vend selections, price information that is different from the price information that is provided upon operation of a vend delivery device associated with a vend delivery associated with the first set of vend selections.
Specification