Manual free-access vending machine
AssigneeStaar Development Company S.A.
InventorMarcel J. H. Staar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The status corresponding to the presence or absence of articles at their reserved locations is detected by means of an optical switch comprising an emitter which sends infra-red rays toward a receiver. The article obstructs these rays and hence its presence is detected. The information obtained from the optical switches is processed and used for servicing or billing.
Claims21
A manual free-access vending machine allowing unconstrained direct access to a plurality of different outer shaped articles, said vending machine comprising:
- a housing;
- support means provided in said housing and defining fixed reserved locations from which corresponding individual articles can be removed and replaced;
- detection means disposed at each of said reserved locations to detect statuses corresponding to the presence or absence of each of said individual articles in said reserved locations and to generate signals representative thereof;
- and
- processing means receiving the signals from said detection means to identify the status at each of said reserve locations and to register the presence or absence of an article at each of said reserved locations.
A manual free-access vending machine allowing unconstrained direct access to a plurality of different outer-shaped articles, said vending machine comprising:
- a housing;
- support means provided in said housing and defining fixed reserved locations from which corresponding individual articles can be removed and replaced, said support means including at each location a member providing a receptacle having a recess roughly corresponding to the outer shape of an individual article;
- detection means disposed at each of said reserved locations to detect statuses corresponding to the presence or absence of each of the individual articles in said reserved locations and to generate signals representative thereof;
- and
- processing means receiving the signals from said detection means to identify the status at each of the locations and to register the presence or absence of an article at each of said locations.
A manual free-access vending machine allowing unconstrained direct access to a plurality of different outer-shaped articles, said vending machine comprising:
- a housing;
- support means provided in said housing and defining fixed reserved locations from which corresponding individual articles can be removed and replaced, said support means including at each location a member providing a receptacle having a recess roughly corresponding to the outer shape of a specific article;
- detection means disposed at each of said reserved locations to detect statuses corresponding to the presence or absence of each of the individual articles in reserved locations and to generate signals representative thereof;
- and
- processing means receiving the signals from said detection means to identify the status at each of the locations and to register the presence or absence of an article at each of said locations, said processing means including energizing means, sequential analyzing means, controlled by clock means, for analyzing detection means of the plurality of reserved locations for individual articles in sequence, information coding means receiving an output from said sequential analyzing means for coding information corresponding to the statuses of the locations, and a command mean which initiates the sequential analysis of the statuses of each of the locations by said sequential analyzing means.
A manual free-access vending machine allowing unconstrained direct access to a plurality of different outer-shaped articles, said vending machine comprising:
- a housing;
- support means provided in said housing and defining fixed reserved locations from which corresponding individual articles can be removed and replaced, said support means including at each location a member providing a receptacle having a recess roughly corresponding to the outer shape of a specific article;
- detection means disposed at each of said reserved locations to detect statuses corresponding to the presence or absence of each of the individual articles in reserved locations and to generate signals representative thereof, said detection including two sets of ray emitting means and ray receiving means disposed at certain positions on opposing side walls of the recess so that the range of sizes of articles that can be placed in their corresponding locations can be extended;
- and
- processing means receiving the signals from said detection means to identify the status at each of the locations and to register the presence or absence of an article at each of said locations.
A manual free-access vending machine allowing unconstrained direct access to a plurality of different outer-shaped articles, said vending machine comprising:
- a housing having a refrigerated interior space;
- temperature detecting means disposed in said refrigerated space and comprising a bimetallic element, a set of ray emitting and ray receiving means for detecting the state of the bimetallic element and thereby the temperature within the refrigerated space;
- support means provided in said housing and defining fixed reserved locations from which corresponding individual articles can be removed and replaced, said support means including at each location a member providing a receptacle having a recess roughly corresponding to the outer shape of a specific article;
- detection means disposed at each of said reserved locations to detect statuses corresponding to the presence or absence of each of the individual articles in reserved locations and to generate signals representative thereof, said detection including two sets of ray emitting means and ray receiving means disposed at certain positions on opposing side walls of the recess so that the range of sizes of articles that can be placed in their corresponding locations can be extended;
- and
- processing means receiving the signals from said detection means to identify the status at each of the locations and to register the presence or absence of an article at each of said locations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.