Optical vend-sensing system for control of vending machine

• US 7,446,302 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2005
• Issued: 11/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Automated Merchandising Systems Incorporated (Seaga Manufacturing Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Automated Merchandising Systems Incorporated (Seaga Manufacturing Incorporated)
• Inventors: Sprankle, David A., Mason, Paul L.
• Primary Examiner(s): MONBLEAU, DAVIENNE N
• Application Number:
  US11/176,232
• Publication Number:
  US 20060011642A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,215 Days
• Field of Search: 250/221, 250/222.1, 250/223.R, 250/223.B, 340/555, 340/556, 340/679, 700/231, 700/232, 700/236, 700/243, 700/244, 221/2, 221/7, 221/9
• US Class Current: 250/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/02 Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus alarms or warning devices indicating the interruption of flow to be metered G07F15/10

Abstract

A transparent-front vending machine includes an optical vend-sensing system with an article sensing subsystem arranged athwart a vend space. The article sensing subsystem has two emitter/detector arrays, each having at least one emitter and a plurality of detectors. The emitter/detector arrays are arranged so that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by an emitter of the first array can be detected by at least two active detectors of the second array, and at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by an emitter of the second array can be detected by at least two active detectors of the first array so that articles falling through the vend space will interrupt electromagnetic radiation between an emitter and at least one detector. At least two emitters are active at one time.

Claims

1. In a transparent-front vending machine which has at least one mechanism arranged for initiating operation upon selection by a customer for vending an article into a vend space through which the article falls freely into a customer-accessible hopper, an optical vend-sensing system comprising:

(A) an article sensing subsystem arranged athwart said vend space, said article sensing subsystem comprising;

(a1) a first emitter/detector array comprising at least one emitter and a plurality of detectors, and

(a2) a second emitter/detector array comprising at least one emitter and a plurality of detectors,

said first and second emitter/detector arrays positioned and arranged so that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by each said at least one emitter of said first array can be detected by at least two active but not all of said detectors at one time of said second array, and so that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by each said at least one emitter of said second array can be detected by at least two active but not all of the detectors at one time of said first array, and so that articles freely falling through the vend space will interrupt electromagnetic radiation between at least one emitter and at least one detector, wherein said first and said second emitter/detector arrays are positioned on opposite sides of said vend space to create a generally planar and fixed detection zone that substantially spans a cross-section of said vend space and wherein at least one emitter in each of said first and second arrays is active at one time;

(B) a machine control unit arranged to control operation of the respective at least one mechanism; and

(C) control circuitry operatively connecting said article sensing subsystem with said machine control unit, and arranged to cause the machine control unit to complete a vend operation procedure of said at least one mechanism upon said article sensing subsystem sensing a transition of an article through said article sensing subsystem.

2. An optical vend-sensing system as in claim 1, wherein said emitter/detector arrays are arranged so that the at least one emitter of said first array is diagonally opposite the at least one emitter of said second array.

3. An optical vend-sensing system as in claim 1, wherein the article sensing subsystem senses the transition of an article through said article sensing subsystem by determining that electromagnetic radiation reaching at least one active detector as a result of electromagnetic radiation emission by said at least one emitter, has temporarily diminished by predetermined amount.

4. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein the emitters in the first array are pulsed at different frequencies from the emitters in the second array.

5. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein

each of said first and said second emitter/detector arrays has an emitter on an end thereof.

6. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein each of said first and said second emitter/detector arrays has two emitters on an end thereof.

7. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein the emitters are approximately equally spaced.

8. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein first and second emitter/detector arrays are identical.

9. A method as in claim 1 wherein

each of said first and said second emitter/detector arrays has an emitter on an end thereof.

10. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein each of said first and second emitter/detector arrays has an emitter to detector ratio of 1:

14.

11. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein at least an emitter or a detector is moveable.

12. A vending machine as in claim 11 wherein the movement is rotational.

13. A vending machine as in claim 11 wherein the movement is oscillatory.

14. A vending machine as in claim 11 wherein at least one of said first and second emitter/detector arrays is positioned along an arc.

15. A vending machine as in claim 11 wherein one of said first and second emitter/detector arrays is positioned on a rotating disc.

16. A vending machine as in claim 11 wherein at least one emitter is located on a movable arm.

17. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein said first and second emitter/detector arrays are movable and move in unison.

18. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein said first and second emitter/detector arrays are movable and move independently.

19. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein said first and second emitter/detector arrays are movable and move in opposite directions.

20. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein each of the emitters produces a constant source of electromagnetic radiation.

21. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein each of the emitters produces a pulsed source of electromagnetic radiation.

22. A vending machine as in claim 1 wherein each of the emitters in the first and second emitter/detector arrays are located at an end thereof and are located in a controlled position relative to the detectors on the same array.

23. A vending machine as in claim 22 wherein the emitter on an array is positioned greater than 0.45 inches from the nearest detector.

24. In a transparent-front vending machine which has at least one mechanism arranged for initiating operation upon selection by a customer for vending an article into a vend space through which the article falls freely into a customer-accessible hopper, an optical vend-sensing system comprising:

(A) an article sensing subsystem arranged athwart said vend space, said article sensing subsystem comprising;

(a1) a first emitter/detector array comprising a plurality of detectors and an emitter, said emitter on said first array being on an end of said first array, and

(a2) a second emitter/detector array comprising a plurality of detectors and an emitter, said emitter on said second array being on an end of said second array,

said first and second emitter/detector arrays positioned and arranged opposite each other so that the emitter of the first array is diagonally opposite the emitter of the second array and so that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by said emitter of said first array can be detected by at least two active but not all of the detectors at one time of said second array, and so that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by said emitter of said second array can be detected by at least two active but not all of the detectors at one time of said first array, and so that articles freely falling through the vend space will interrupt electromagnetic radiation between at least one emitter and at least one detector,

wherein said first and said second emitter/detector arrays are positioned on opposite sides of said vend space to create a fixed detection zone that substantially spans a cross-section of said vend space and wherein at least one emitter in each of said first and second arrays is active at one time;

(B) a machine control unit arranged to control operation of the respective at least one mechanism; and

(C) control circuitry operatively connecting said article sensing subsystem with said machine control unit, and arranged to cause the machine control unit to complete a vend operation procedure of said at least one mechanism upon said article sensing subsystem sensing a transition of an article through said article sensing subsystem, wherein the article sensing subsystem senses the transition of an article through said article sensing subsystem by determining that electromagnetic radiation reaching at least one detector as a result of electromagnetic radiation emission by said at least one emitter, has temporarily diminished by predetermined amount.

25. An optical vend-sensing system as in claim 24, wherein the each of the first and second arrays comprises 6 to 14 detectors.

26. In a transparent-front vending machine which has at least one mechanism arranged for initiating operation upon selection by a customer for vending an article into a vend space through which the article falls freely into a customer-accessible hopper, an optical vend-sensing system comprising:

(A) an article sensing subsystem arranged athwart said vend space, said article sensing subsystem comprising;

(a1) a first emitter/detector array comprising at least one emitter and a plurality of detectors, and

(a2) a second emitter/detector array comprising at least one emitter and a plurality of detectors, said first and second emitter/detector arrays positioned and arranged so that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by each said at least one emitter of said first array can be detected by a group of detectors including at least two active but not all of said detectors at one time of said second array, and so that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by each said at least one emitter of said second array can be detected by a group of detectors including at least two active but not all of the detectors at one time of said first array, and so that articles freely falling through the vend space will interrupt electromagnetic radiation between at least one emitter and at least one detector, wherein said first and said second emitter/detector arrays are positioned on opposite sides of said vend space to create a generally planar and fixed detection zone that substantially spans a cross-section of said vend space and wherein at least one emitter in each of said first and second arrays is active at one time;

(B) a machine control unit arranged to control operation of the respective at least one mechanism; and

(C) control circuitry operatively connecting said article sensing subsystem with said machine control unit, and arranged to cause the machine control unit to complete a vend operation procedure of said at least one mechanism upon said article sensing subsystem sensing a transition of an article through said article sensing subsystem.

27. In a transparent-front vending machine which has at least one mechanism arranged for initiating operation upon selection by a customer for vending an article into a vend space through which the article freely falls into a customer-accessible hopper, a method comprising:

providing an article sensing subsystem arranged athwart said vend space, said article sensing subsystem comprising;

(a1) a first emitter/detector array comprising at least one emitter and a plurality of detectors, and

(a2) a second emitter/detector array comprising at least one emitter and a plurality of detectors,

positioning and arranging said first and second emitter/detector arrays to create a fixed detection zone that substantially spans a cross-section of said vend space and so that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by said at least one emitter of said first array may be detected by a group of detectors including at least two active but not all of the detectors at one time of said second array, and that at least some electromagnetic radiation emitted by said at least one emitter of said second array may be detected by a group of detectors including at least two active but not all of the detectors at one time of said first array,

wherein at least one emitter in each of said first and second arrays is active at one time, and wherein articles freely falling through the vend space will interrupt electromagnetic radiation between at least one emitter and at least one detector.