Inventory monitor for an article dispenser
First Claim
1. A monitoring system for developing information data, for use in association with an opening that provides access within a perimeter of said opening for manual removal by a customer of articles stored in an article storage area, comprising:
- a beam forming device adapted to be arranged about the perimeter of said opening so as to form at least one radiation beam that spans said opening, said radiation beam having a position with respect to said opening sufficient to detect manual removal by said customer of one or more of said articles from inside the article storage area, by at least one of said article and said hand of said customer causing a temporary blockage of at least a portion of the radiation beam as said article and hand of said customer pass through said opening; and
a processing circuit coupled to the beam forming device for sensing the blockage of said radiation beam, and in response to said sensing developing said information data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A monitoring system for developing information data, for use in association with an opening that provides access for removal by a customer of articles stored in an article storage area. In one embodiment, the monitoring system includes a beam forming device adapted to be arranged about the perimeter of the opening so as to form at least one radiation beam that spans the opening. The radiation beam has a position with respect to the opening that is sufficient to detect manual removal by the customer of one or more of the articles from inside the article storage area, by the article and hand of the customer causing a temporary blockage of at least a portion of the radiation beam as the article and hand of the customer pass through the opening. A processing circuit coupled to the beam forming device senses the blockage of the radiation beam, and in response to the sensing, develops the information data.
8 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A monitoring system for developing information data, for use in association with an opening that provides access within a perimeter of said opening for manual removal by a customer of articles stored in an article storage area, comprising:
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a beam forming device adapted to be arranged about the perimeter of said opening so as to form at least one radiation beam that spans said opening, said radiation beam having a position with respect to said opening sufficient to detect manual removal by said customer of one or more of said articles from inside the article storage area, by at least one of said article and said hand of said customer causing a temporary blockage of at least a portion of the radiation beam as said article and hand of said customer pass through said opening; and a processing circuit coupled to the beam forming device for sensing the blockage of said radiation beam, and in response to said sensing developing said information data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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21. The monitoring system of 20, wherein said patterns of use are one or more of:
- multiple purchases of the same type article, most likely multiple purchases (such as one chocolate ice cream, and one vanilla ice cream), amount of time from when door opened to when an article is selected and removed.
Specification