Method and apparatus for display sequencing personalized social occasion products

• US 5,559,714 A
• Filed: 05/10/1993
• Issued: 09/24/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hallmark Cards Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Hallmark Cards Incorporated
• Inventors: Laughlin, Daniel B., Banks, Thomas B.
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAMMELL, JAMES P
• Application Number:
  US08/060,094
• Time in Patent Office: 1,233 Days
• Field of Search: 364/468, 364/478, 364/479, 364/188-193, 364/400-412, 395/144-148, 395/155-161, 235/383, 235/385, 235/375
• US Class Current: 700/233
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/26 for printing, stamping, franking, typing or teleprinting apparatus ticket printing or the like apparatus G07F17/42

Abstract

A vending machine for displaying and dispensing personalized products includes apparatus for sequentially displaying personalized products of a given type in accordance with prior viewing and sales of each personalized product. The machine includes an enclosure with selection means on the outside thereof and with storage and handling means on the inside thereof, all coupled to computer equipment which is on the inside of the enclosure. The computer equipment is programmed to facilitate a customer'"'"'s creation from among designs of products of a given type by ranking each of the designs and thereafter sequentially displaying the designs in accordance with its ranking.

Claims

1. A method for sequentially displaying personalized social occasion products in response to a request to view available products of a given type in a machine comprising the steps of

assigning a value to each of a plurality of personalized products of a given type related to prior sales of each of said plurality of personalized products;

ranking each of the plurality of personalized products in accordance with said value;

displaying each of the plurality of products in accordance with the ranking; and

periodically updating the ranking of each of the personalized social occasion products of a given type.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the value corresponds to the ratio of the number of purchases of the personalized product in comparison to the number of viewings of the personalized product.