Cash-less automatic vending system
First Claim
1. A cash-less automatic vending system capable of settling accounts for items delivered to a customer by an automatic vending machine without using a cash, a prepaid card, and a credit card, which comprises:
- an automatic vending machine having items to be sold and delivering a requested one of the items in response to a selling allowance signal for the requested item, said automatic vending machine producing dispensing result data of the item delivered;
a communication terminal capable of inputting and transmitting a customer'"'"'s ID code and a purchase request for requesting to buy items in said automatic vending machine;
a vending management center coupled to said communication terminal and said automatic vending machine, said vending management center defining said customer'"'"'s ID code and said purchase request received from said communication terminal to transmit said selling allowance signal to said automatic vending machine, said vending management center producing user and sales data for the customer from said dispensing result data;
an account center coupled to said vending management center and preparing an account for the customer by using said user and sales data in said vending management center, to settle the account with said customer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A customer operates his portable communication terminal to call a vending management center and to transmit a purchase request for buying an item from an intended one of a plurality of automatic vending machines. The vending management center transmits a selling allowance to the intended automatic vending machine. The automatic vending machine, in accordance with the selling allowance, delivers an item indicated by the customer. Thus the customer can obtain his desired item. The automatic vending machine, after delivering the item, transmits dispensing result data to the vending management center. Then, the vending management center prepares user and sales data from the dispensing result data and transmits the user and sales data to a proprietary of the communication network accommodating the portable communication terminal. Subsequently, the proprietary, in accordance with the user and sales data, settles an account with the customer on the communication fee and the item price.
72 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A cash-less automatic vending system capable of settling accounts for items delivered to a customer by an automatic vending machine without using a cash, a prepaid card, and a credit card, which comprises:
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an automatic vending machine having items to be sold and delivering a requested one of the items in response to a selling allowance signal for the requested item, said automatic vending machine producing dispensing result data of the item delivered;
a communication terminal capable of inputting and transmitting a customer'"'"'s ID code and a purchase request for requesting to buy items in said automatic vending machine;
a vending management center coupled to said communication terminal and said automatic vending machine, said vending management center defining said customer'"'"'s ID code and said purchase request received from said communication terminal to transmit said selling allowance signal to said automatic vending machine, said vending management center producing user and sales data for the customer from said dispensing result data;
an account center coupled to said vending management center and preparing an account for the customer by using said user and sales data in said vending management center, to settle the account with said customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification