Operation of control system for ensuring availability of purchasable items in networked machines
First Claim
1. A method of operating a reservation control system for reserving items dispensed by vending machines networked to the reservation control system, comprising:
- receiving, from a requesting computer, a reservation request for an item;
determining whether the item is available at a vending machine;
upon determining the item is available, reserving the item to ensure availability of the item at the vending machine in satisfaction of the reservation request, wherein reserving the item comprises placing a hold on the item at the vending machine to prevent the item from being purchased by any person other than a person for whom the reservation request is made; and
receiving an authorized request at the vending machine to dispense the item reserved for the person for whom the reservation request was made; and
in response to receiving the request to dispense the item, calculating a service charge for the item according to a length of time for which the item was reserved.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide for a method, system and article of manufacture for operating vending machines. In general, a plurality of vending machines are nodes of a network. Each node is configured to send, receive and process signals carrying inventory, pricing, reservation and/or refund information. In such embodiments, a vending machine is configured to receive a reservation request for a specified item. The request may be issued from one of a plurality of client devices (e.g., wireless telephones, desktop computers and the like) or from a reservation control system. In still another embodiment, vending machines may be configured to provide refunds under controlled conditions. A consumer may request a refund in cases where the consumer was improperly charged for goods are services that were not provided.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A method of operating a reservation control system for reserving items dispensed by vending machines networked to the reservation control system, comprising:
-
receiving, from a requesting computer, a reservation request for an item; determining whether the item is available at a vending machine; upon determining the item is available, reserving the item to ensure availability of the item at the vending machine in satisfaction of the reservation request, wherein reserving the item comprises placing a hold on the item at the vending machine to prevent the item from being purchased by any person other than a person for whom the reservation request is made; and receiving an authorized request at the vending machine to dispense the item reserved for the person for whom the reservation request was made; and in response to receiving the request to dispense the item, calculating a service charge for the item according to a length of time for which the item was reserved. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 23)
-
-
17. A reservation system for reserving items dispensed by vending machines, comprising:
-
a memory containing a reservation program; a first network interface to support a first network connection with a client computer issuing a reservation request for a vending machine item; a second network interface to support a second network connection with at least one vending machine; and a processor which, when configured by the reservation program; determines an availability of the vending machine item at the at least one vending machine; upon determining the vending machine item is available, reserves the item to ensure availability of the item in satisfaction of the reservation request, wherein reserving the item comprises placing a hold on the item to prevent the item from being purchased by any person other than a person for whom the reservation request is made; and upon receiving an authorized request at the vending machine to dispense the item reserved for the person for whom the reservation request was made, calculates a service charge for the item according to a length of time for which the item was reserved. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A method of operating a reservation control system for reserving items dispensed by vending machines networked to the reservation control system, comprising:
-
receiving, from a requesting computer, a reservation request for an item; determining whether the item is available at a vending machine; upon determining the item is available at the first vending machine, reserving the item to ensure availability of the item in satisfaction of the reservation request, wherein reserving the item comprises placing a hold on the item to prevent the item from being purchased by any person other than a person for whom the reservation request is made; receiving a request input to a second vending machine to dispense the item, wherein the second vending machine is different from the first vending machine; and upon determining the item is available at the second vending machine; calculating a service charge for the item according to a length of time for which the item was reserved; charging the calculated service charge to a purchaser of the item; and issuing an instruction to dispense the item from the second vending machine and updating a data structure to indicate that the item has been dispensed. - View Dependent Claims (24)
-
-
25. A reservation system for reserving items dispensed by vending machines, comprising:
-
a memory containing a reservation program; a first network interface to support a first network connection with a client computer issuing a reservation request for a vending machine item; a second network interface to support a second network connection with at least one vending machine; and a processor which, when configured by the reservation program performs processing, comprising; upon receiving the reservation request, determining an availability of the vending machine item at the at least one vending machine; upon determining the vending machine item is available, reserving the item to ensure availability of the item in satisfaction of the reservation request, wherein reserving the item comprises placing a hold on the item to prevent the item from being purchased by any person other than a person for whom the reservation request is made; calculating a maximum hold duration for which the item, will be reserved, and after which the reservation of the item expires; and upon detecting expiration of the maximum hold duration, charging a penalty fee to the person for whom the reservation request was made if the item had not yet been retrieved when the maximum hold duration expires. - View Dependent Claims (26)
-
Specification