Electronic device for the sale of intangible products in vending machines

• US 8,396,589 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2008
• Issued: 03/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Pranasys SA
• Original Assignee: Pranasys SA
• Inventors: Cardozo Martinez, Alvaro Alejandro, Katzenstein Garibaldi, Martin, Oreggioni Gamou, Julian
• Primary Examiner(s): WAGGONER, TIMOTHY R
• Application Number:
  US12/264,052
• Publication Number:
  US 20090177319A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,590 Days
• Field of Search: 700/236, 700/231, 700/232, 700/241, 700/244
• US Class Current: 700/232
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0014 for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines

Abstract

An electronic device for the sale of intangible products through vending machines that includes an interface to communicate with external peripherals through the MDB protocol, an interface to communicate with external peripherals through the RS232 standard, an interface to communicate with external peripherals through the DEX protocol, an interface to communicate with users, a communications system which enables it to act as part of a network and communicate with a central system, and a controller, which articulates the communication among the above-mentioned components, so as to enable a central system to perform diverse actions on a vending machine.

Claims

1. An electronic device for the sale of intangible products through a vending machine, comprising:

an interface to communicate with external peripherals through a multi-drop bus (MDB) protocol, another interface to communicate with the external peripherals through an RS232 standard, an interface to communicate with the external peripherals through the DEX protocol, another interface to communicate with users, communications system which enables the electronic device to communicate through a network with a central system remote from the vending machine, and a controller which controls communication among the aforesaid interfaces and the communications system to allow the controller to take control of the external peripherals on behalf of the central system to enable a sale of an intangible product through the vending machine.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device permits purchase of tangible and intangible products from the vending machine, and generates a telemetry report on a plurality of system components to the central system.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the communications system is based on at least one of the following wireless communication protocols:

GPRS, WIMAX, WIFI and satellite.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the communications system is based on one or several of the following wired communication protocols:

ETHERNET and land telephone lines.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the interface to communicate with users comprises of one or several of the following devices:

a thermal printer, an LCD display, an NFC card reader, a magnetic card reader, a keyboard, a keypad, and a wireless BLUETOOTH transmitter/receiver.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:

a cable which connects the electronic device to a controller of the vending machine and to a first peripheral of an MDB bus, in such a way that the cable delivers MDB bus signals, thus allowing the electronic device to communicate with the controller of the vending machine or to take control of the MDB bus to use peripherals of the MDB bus.

12. The electronic device of claim 3, further comprising:

a cable which connects the electronic device to a controller of the vending machine and to a first peripheral of an MDB bus, in such a way that the cable delivers MDB bus signals, thus allowing the electronic device to communicate with the controller of the vending machine or to take control of the MDB bus to use peripherals of the MDB bus.

13. The electronic device of claim 4, further comprising:

a cable which connects the electronic device to a controller of the vending machine and to a first peripheral of an MDB bus, in such a way that the cable delivers MDB bus signals, thus allowing the electronic device to communicate with the controller of the vending machine or to take control of the MDB bus to use peripherals of the MDB bus.

14. The electronic device of claim 5, further comprising:

a cable which connects the electronic device to a controller of the vending machine and to a first peripheral of an MDB bus, in such a way that the cable delivers MDB bus signals, thus allowing the electronic device to communicate with the controller of the vending machine or to take control of the MDB bus to use peripherals of the MDB bus.

7. An electronic device for the sale of intangible products through a vending machine, comprising:

an interface to communicate with external peripherals through a multi-drop bus (MDB) protocol;

an interface to communicate with the external peripherals through an RS232 standard;

an interface to communicate with the external peripherals through the DEX protocol;

an interface to communicate with users;

a communications system which enables the electronic device to communicate through a network with a central system remote from the vending machine;

a controller which controls communication among the interfaces and the communications system to allow the controller to take control of the external peripherals on behalf of the central system to enable a sale of an intangible product through the vending machine;

wherein the electronic device permits purchase of tangible products and the intangible products from the vending machine, and the electronic device provides a telemetry report of a plurality of device components to the central system.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the communications system is based on at least one of the following wireless communication protocols:

GPRS, WIMAX, WIFI and satellite.

9. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the communications system is based on at least one of the following wired communication protocols:

ETHERNET and land telephone lines.

10. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the interface to communicate with users comprises at least one of the following devices:

a thermal printer, an LCD display, an NFC card reader, a magnetic card reader, a keyboard, a keypad, and a wireless BLUETOOTH transmitter/receiver.

11. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising:

a cable which connects the electronic device to a controller of the vending machine and to a first peripheral of an MDB bus, in such a way that the cable delivers MDB bus signals, thus allowing the electronic device to communicate with the controller of the vending machine or to take control of the MDB bus to use peripherals of the MDB bus.