Vendor control circuit

Apparatus for controlling the functioning of a vendor for vending a plurality of items, each item having a price associated therewith, comprising:

• a memory having a plurality of addresses for storing values of the prices of the items in predetermined memory addresses, the price values stored in the predetermined memory addresses being electrically alterable;
• processing means responsive to a plurality of vendor status inputs, a plurality of inputs from the memory, and a plurality of control inputs, for performing arithmetic and logic operations with those inputs and with the values of the prices associated with the items in a sequence controlled by a preselected set of instructions which constitute a program and for supplying output signals based upon results obtained from said operations to control functioning of the vendor, the predetermined memory addresses being accessible by the processing means and the price values stored therein being alterable by said processing means;
• interrogation means for retrieving from memory the values of at least some of the prices stored therein;
• display means for visually displaying a price value retrieved from memory by the interrogation means independently of any other input of said processing means being equal in value to the price value retrieved from the memory;
• means for supplying at least one input representative of a deposit of money in the vendor to the processing means, said processing means being responsive to said money deposit input to determine the amount of credit accumulated as a result of said deposit;
• means for supplying an input indicating the selection of an item to the processing means, the processing means being responsive to said selection input signal to recall the value of the price associated with that particular item from memory and, if there is a non-zero price associated with that item, and if the amount of credit accumulated is sufficient for purchase of the item selected, to generate a vend signal;
• means for initiating vending of the selected item, said initiating means being responsive to the vend signal from the processing means;
• and
• a customer inaccessible free vend switch and means for connecting the free vend switch with the processing means, said free vend switch having a first and a second position, the processing means being responsive to said free vend switch being in the first position to generate a vend signal even if the amount of credit accumulated is insufficient for purchase of the item selected.

Apparatus for controlling the functioning of a vendor for vending a plurality of items, each item having a price associated therewith, comprising:

• a memory having a plurality of addresses for storing values of the prices of the items in predetermined memory addresses, the price values stored in the predetermined memory addresses being electrically alterable;
• processing means responsive to a plurality of vendor status inputs, a plurality of inputs from the memory, and a plurality of control inputs, for performing arithmetic and logic operations with those inputs and with the values of the prices associated with the items in a sequence controlled by a preselected set of instructions which constitute a program and for supplying output signals based upon results obtained from said operations to control functioning of the vendor, the predetermined memory addresses being accessible by the processing means and the price values stored therein being alterable by said processing means;
• interrogation means for retrieving from memory the values of at least some of the prices stored therein;
• display means for visually displaying a price value retrieved from memory by the interrogation means independently of any other input of said processing means being equal in value to the price value retrieved from the memory;
• means for supplying at least one input representative of a deposit of money in the vendor to the processing means, said processing means being responsive to said money deposit input to determine the amount of credit accumulated as a result of said deposit;
• means for supplying an input indicating the selection of an item to the processing means, the processing means being responsive to said selection input signal to recall the value of the price associated with that particular item from memory and, if there is a non-zero price associated with that item, and if the amount of credit accumulated is sufficient for purchase of the item selected, to generate a vend signal;
• means for initiating vending of the selected item, said initiating means being responsive to the vend signal from the processing means;
• and sensing means for supplying a vendor status input comprising a series of pulses indicating the speed of rotation of a motor in the vendor to the processing means and further including clock means for supplying interrupts to the processing means, said processing means being responsive to the number of pulses supplied by the sensing means during a predetermined number of clock interrupts not falling within a predetermined range of values to remove the vend signal.

Apparatus for controlling the functioning of a vendor for vending a plurality of items, each item having a price associated therewith, comprising:

• a memory having a plurality of addresses for storing values of the prices of the items in predetermined memory addresses, the price values stores in the predetermined memory addresses being electrically alterable;
• processing means responsive to a plurality of vendor status inputs, a plurality of inputs from the memory, and a plurality of control inputs, for performing arithmetic and logic operations with those inputs and with the values of the prices associated with the items in a sequence controlled by a preselected set of instructions which constitute a program and for supplying output signals based upon results obtained from said operations to control functioning of the vendor, the predetermined memory addresses being accessible by the processing means and the price values stored therein being alterable by said processing means;
• interrogation means for retrieving from memory the values of at least some of the prices stored therein;
• display means for visually displaying a price value retrieved from memory by the interrogation means independently of any other input of said processing means being equal in value to the value retrieved from the memory;
• means operable by authorized personnel for setting the values of at least some of the prices stored in the memory, said apparatus having at least two mutually exclusive operation modes, one of said operation modes being a vending mode and one of said operation modes being a price-setting mode, said price-setting means being customer inaccessible;
• authorized personnel access means having an open and a closed position for providing authorized personnel access to said customer inaccessible price-setting means when said access means is in its open position and for preventing access to said price-setting means when said access means is in its closed position;
• and
• mode-setting means for setting the mode of operation of the apparatus, said mode-setting means being operable to set said apparatus in the price-setting mode only when the access means is open.

Apparatus for controlling the functioning of a vendor for vending a plurality of items, each item having a price associated therewith, comprising:

• a memory having a plurality of addresses for storing values of the prices in predetermined memory addresses, the price values stored in the predetermined memory addresses being electrically alterable;
• processing means responsive to a plurality of vendor status inputs, a plurality of inputs from the memory, and a plurality of control inputs, for performing arithmetic and logic operations with those inputs and with the values of the prices associated with the items in a sequence controlled by a preselected set of instructions which constitute a program and for supplying output signals based upon results obtained from said operations to control functioning of the vendor, the predetermined memory addresses being accessible by the processing means and the price values stored therein being alterable by said processing means;
• interrogation means for retrieving from memory the values of the prices stored therein, said interrogation means including a plurality of selection switches corresponding to the items in the vendor;
• display means for visually displaying a price value retrieved from memory by the interrogation means independently of any other input of said processing means being equal in value to the price value retrieved from the memory;
• means operable by authorized personnel for setting the values of the prices stored in the memory, said apparatus having at least two mutually exclusive modes of operation, one of said operation modes being a vending mode and one of said operation modes being a price-setting mode;
• and
• means for setting the mode of operation of the apparatus, the processing means being responsive to the actuation of a selection switch and to the apparatus being in the price-setting mode to retrieve from the memory the price of the item corresponding to that selection switch and to supply a coded signal corresponding to said price to the display means, the display means being responsive to the coded price signal from the processing means to display the price of the item corresponding to the actuated selection switch;
• said price-setting means including means for supplying to the processing means a control input signal representing a potential new price, said processing means being responsive to the apparatus being in the price-setting mode and to said potential new price input signal to supply a coded signal corresponding to said potential new price to the display means, the display means being responsive to the coded potential new price signal to display the potential new price;
• said price-setting means including means for putting the apparatus in a price-loading mode, the processing means being responsive to the apparatus being in the price-loading mode and to the actuation of a selection switch to erase the price in the memory address corresponding to the actuated selection switch and to write the potential new price into said corresponding memory address thereby to change the price of the item corresponding to the actuated selection switch from the value stored in the corresponding memory address before the apparatus was put into the price-loading mode to the potential new price value, whereby authorized personnel can use the price-setting means to cause the display of a potential new price, activate the price-loading mode means and actuate a selection switch and thereby change the price of the item selected to the potential new price;
• said potential new price supplying means including authorized personnel-operable dial means for selecting the potential new price, said dial means including a dial having a plurality of prices indicated thereon and a control knob having a pointer for indicating a given one of the prices on the dial, whereby authorized personnel may select a potential new price by turning the control knob to point to that price on the dial.

Apparatus for controlling the functioning of a vendor for vending a plurality of items, each item having a price associated therewith, comprising:

• a memory having a plurality of addresses for storing values of the prices in predetermined memory addresses, the price values stored in the predetermined memory addresses being electrically alterable;
• processing means responsive to a plurality of vendor status inputs, a plurality of inputs from the memory, and a plurality of control inputs, for performing arithmetic and logic operations with those inputs and with the values of the prices associated with the items in a sequence controlled by a preselected set of instructions which constitute a program and for supplying output signal based upon results obtained from said operations to control functioning of the vendor, the predetermined memory addresses being accessible by the processing means and the price values stored therein being alterable by said processing means;
• interrogation means for retrieving from memory the values of at least some of the prices stored therein, said interrogation means including a plurality of selection switches corresponding to the items in the vendor;
• display means for visually displaying a price value retrieved from memory by the interrogation means independently of any other input of said processing means being equal in value to the price value retrieved from the memory;
• means operable by authorized personnel for setting the values of the prices stored in the memory, said apparatus having at least two mutually exclusive modes of operation, one of said operation modes being a vending mode and one of said operation modes being a price-setting mode;
• means for setting the mode of operation of the apparatus, the processing means being responsive to the actuation of a selection switch and to the apparatus being in the price-setting mode to retrieve from the memory the price of the item corresponding to that selection switch and to supply a coded signal corresponding to said price to the display means, the display means being responsive to the coded price signal from the processing means to display the price of the item corresponding to the actuated selection switch;
• and
• incrementing means for supplying a price incrementing control input to the processing means, the processing means being responsive to the price incrementing control input to increment the price shown on the display means;

Apparatus for controlling the functioning of a vendor for vending a plurality of items, each item having at least one parameter associated therewith, comprising:

• a memory having a plurality of addresses for storing values of at least some of the parameters in predetermined memory addresses, the parameter values stored in the predetermined memory addresses being electrically alterable;
• processing means responsive to a plurality of vendor status inputs, a plurality of inputs from the memory, and a plurality of control inputs, for performing arithmetic and logic operations with those inputs and with the values of the parameters associated with the items in a sequence controlled by a preselected set of instructions which constitute a program and for supplying output signals based upon results obtained from said operations to control functioning of the vendor, the predetermined memory addresses being accessible by the processing means and the parameter values stored therein being alterable by said processing means;
• interrogation means operable by authorized personnel for retrieving from memory the values of at least some of the parameters stored therein;
• display means for visually displaying to authorized personnel a parameter value retrieved from memory by the interrogation means independently of any other input of said processing means being equal in value to the value of the parameter retrieved from the memory, whereby authorized personnel may utilize the interrogation means to retrieve the value of a desired parameter from the memory;
• customer inacessible means operable by authorized personnel for setting the values of at least some of the parameters stored in the memory, said apparatus having a least two mutually exclusive operation modes, one of said operation modes being a vending mode and one of said operation modes being a parameter-setting mode;
• authorized personnel-operable access means having an open and a closed position for providing authorized personnel access to said customer inaccessible parameter-setting means when said access means is in its open position and for preventing access to said price-setting means when said access means is in its closed position;
• and
• mode-setting means for setting the mode of operation of the apparatus, said mode-setting means being operable to set said apparatus in the price-setting mode only when the access means is open.