CA2091937A1 - Information vending apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

An information vending apparatus includes a mass storage device, a display, payment receiving device, a removable media recording device and, optionally, a printer. A customer selects desired information from a list displayed and makes a predefined payment. When payment is received, the desired information is recorded onto a customer supplied removable medium, or is displayed on the display or is printed by the printer. Transaction records are maintained within the apparatus to provide marketing information.

Description

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Information Vending Apparatus ~ - i ,:: .; ~' ,"
FIELD OF THE INVENlION

The present invention relates to an apparatus for vending information. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus for the unattended marketing and vending of information onto a customer supplied medium, a display screen or paper. ` ;

: ' Vending machines are well known. Examples of known vending machines include vending machines for soft drinks, cigarettes snacks, etc. In each of these prior art devices, money is inserted into the 15 machine and a product is selected and dispensed to a receiving bin or the like.
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Problems exist with these prior art vendin~ machines in that after a number of sales, the machine must be serviced to replenish its stock 20 of product. Further, due to the requirement for service personnel tovisit and stock the machine, it is often ~ifficult to sell products with limited lifetimes, such as daily horoscopes, in prior art vending machines. ~ -SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ~ ~ -.. ~
It is an object of the present invention ~o provide a novel method ~f vending information. It is a further object to provide a novel apparatus for vending information.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of vending information to a customer compris;ng the steps of:
(i) displaying a list of available pieces of information to the S customer;
(ii) allowing the customer to select interactively at least one desired piece of information;
(iii) informing the customer of the price of the desired piece of information;
0 ~iY) collecting payment from the customer for the information;
(v) dispensing the information to the customer; and ~vi) making a record of predefined information regarding the completed sale for repon;ng purposes.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information vending apparatus comprising:
a display which is viewable by a customer; -a mass storage device to retain information to be vended; ~-output means to provide information to the customer;
payment receiving means;
input means to allow the customer to select the information desired;
and transaction recording means to create a record of predetermined information relating to each sale of information.
The present inventors are concerned with the vending of information as a product. As used herein, the term information includes, ,''~ ., ;:

; ; ':, ~, ~'.' ' ',, .', . .,. !.' " ; ' ' , . ~ i i ~ 2091937 but is not limited to: software; databases; books; hypertext documents;
software upgrades; weather reports; lottery results; horoscopes; stock quotes; and demonstration programs. The present inventors have d~veloped a novel method and apparatus for vending information which avoids at least 5 one of the disadvantages of prior art vending machines and which is believed to particularly suited to vending information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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Preferred embodiments of the present invention will n~v be ~ ~;
described, by way of example only, with reference to the attached figures wherein:
Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an information vending ~ ~
device; and ~-Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the information vending device of Figure 1.
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DETAILED DESCRIPIION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An information vending device is indicated generally at 20 in Figure 1. The device 20 includes a display 24 and a housing 28. In the preferred embodiment, display 24 is a color computer monitor of VGA or better resolution. Housing 28, which is preferably fabricated of a suitable gauge metal to inhibit vandalism of the device, includes a front user panel 32 which includes four control switches 36a, 36b, 36c and 36d. Front user panel 32 also removable media recording means such as a 3.5 inch disk drive 40 and a 5.25 inch disk drive 44 each of which is capable of ~~\ 2~)91937 recording information onto magnetic media in one or more standard formats. Housing 28 may also include a printer (not shown) and includes a payment receiving device 48 such as coin receiving means and/or bill receiving means.
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In the preferred embodiment, payment receiving device 48 comprises: a Coinco model 5301 Noryl'~9 Coin Acceptor; a Coinco model BA-30 Dollar Bill Acceptor; and a PC-Wand~ model MT-211 Credit Card Reader. As is described in more detail below, housing 28 also contains a `
transaction controller (not shown) and an information dispensing means `
(also not shown), each of which is described below. :

Figure 2 shows a block diagram representation of an embodiment of the transaction controller and the information dispensing - ~ ;~
means. In the preferred embodiment, the transaction controller comprises a controller 100 which is a micrOprocessor-based controller such as an IBM
compatible microcomputer. Controller 100 includes valious interfaces such as a serial port and parallel port, as well as a video output interface to provide a video signal to display 24. While in the preferred embodiment ~;
~; 20 controller 100 is an MS-DOS compatible system, it will be apparent to ~;
~; those of skill in the art that various types of controllers may be employed ~ -such a~ ~ose compatible with Apple's Macintosh operating systems or custom controller systems, if desired. ~ -In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, mass storage device ~ -104 comprises a winchester type magnetic disk, CD-ROM, WORM (write onc~ read many) or otber suitaUe stolage device.

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-s- 20g~9~7 Removable media recorder 108 comprises disk drives 40 and 44 and an appropriate controller circuit. In some circumstances it is contemplated that a printer 110 (shown in ghosted line) will also be desired.
Input switches 112 comprise switches 36a, 36b, 36c and 36d which may be 5interfaced to a parallel port in controller 100, or to any other suitable inputport. Similarly, payment receiving means 116 comprises payment receiving device 48 which is also interfaced to a parallel port in controller 100 or to any other suitable input port. A sound output device 120 is provided and can also be interfaced to a parallel or other suitable output port.

A telecommunications device 124 is interfaced to a seria~ port in controller 100 and allows the device 20 to be receive and/or originate communications links to remote computer sites as will be further described below. In the preferred embodiment, telecommunications device 124 is a 15commonly available data communications modem and is connected to a normal, dial-up, telephone line. In some circumstances, as described belo~v, it may be desired to connect telecommunication device 124 to a dedicated data communications Dne. It should be understood that, while :
preferred, telecommunications device 124 and may be omitted from device 2020 in some circumstances.

In use, mass storage device 104 is loaded with an appropriate selection of infonnation ~which is~ for sale and vending device 20 is , ~
activated. For each piece~of information loaded onto mass storage device ~;~ 25104, additional information is also loaded onto mass storage device 104.
This additional infmation ~is preferably in the form of a database which places each piece of information available for sale into one or more : ~ :

~ 2091~37 categories, stores a price for the information and indicates what type of output should be used for the information (i.e. - screen display, print out, record to floppy disk, etc.). In addition, a short text description or demonstration of the information is also included.
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Upon activation, controller 100 begins executing an operating program which includes control, marketing, reporting and vending functions. The operating program may be provided in mass storage device 104, in a ROM executed when device 20 is activated or in any other suitable form as would be apparent to those of skill in the art. ;

The operating program can place controller 100 into several different modes of operation, the first being a marketing mode. In this mode, which is the rnode that device 20 is normally in while not conducting a sales transaction, an attention attracting graphic or animation is shown on display 24. Further, interesting and attention-attracting sounds or music is :
produced by sound device 120. The purpose of this marketing mode is to attract potential customers to device 20. ~ ~
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Once a customer has been attracted to device 20, they press one of switches 36 ;in lesponse to instructions either displayed on display ~ -24j or spoken by sound device 120 or printed on housing 28. When `controller 100 receives the switch-pressed infonnation from any one of switches 36, device 20 switches from marketing mode to vending mode.
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In vending mode, the controller displays an appropriate ~;
greetiag and instruction graphic on display 24. In response to the displayed ~' ' '-'' ', 20~937 instructions, the customer operates switches 36 to proceed through a menu tree which interfaces with the above-mentioned database and allows for the location and selection of the information on mass storage device 104. The customer may select the information available based upon the categories, S descriptive text and/or demonskation which is displayed on display 24 by controller 100. If the information is digitized musis or a music score, a sample of the music or score may also be played through sound device 120.

Once the customer has made a selection, by activating the 10 appropriate one(s) of switches 36, the price for the information selected is retrieved from the database and displayed on display 24 by controller 100.
If the customer is interested in purchasing the information and the information is intended to be recorded onto a removable medium, the customer is prompted on display 24 to place a suitable removab}e medium 15 into removable media recorder 108. In the specific embodiment shown, a floppy disk would be inserted into either drive 40 or drive 44.

At this polnt, in order to minimize the possibility of the transmission of a cornputer virus program, controller 100 formats the 20 customer's floppy disk. As Is kno~,vn to those of skill in the art, this formatting removes any existing information on the floppy disk and tests the floppy disk to ensure that it has not been otherwise damaged. As will be apparent to those of skill in the art, if a different type of removable medium :
is employed, formatting may not be required or desired. ~:

If the floppy disk cannot be format~ed, due for example to a surface defiect, display 24 prompts the customer to insert another floppy ,~ 2091937 disk and again attempts to format the new disk. Once the floppy disk has been successfully formatted, display 24 prompts the customer to make the required payment through payment receiving means 116.

S If the information selected by the customer is intended to be printed out (such as a daily horoscope) or displayed on display 24 (such as stock quotes), display 24 prompts the customer to make the required payment through payment receiving means 116. As mentioned above, payment may be accomplished by coin, bills or credit card at the option of the customer.

If payment by credit card is elected, depending upon the amount of the transaction and the credit card being used, authorization may be required. In this event controller 100 controls telecommunications device 124 to establish a communications link with a credit card authorization center. When the link is established, controller 100 seeks an ¦ authorization number from the c~edit card company. Provided that authorization is received, the authorization number will comprise part of a transaction record for the sale as will be described in more detail below.
If cash payment is elected, payment receiving means 116 communicates the amount of payment received to controller 100.
~' When the required amount of payment has been received, controller 100 proceeds to: transfer the desired information from mass . , ~ .
; storage device 104 to removable media recorder lQ8 which records the in~ormation onto the above-mentioned formatted floppy disk; displays the -~ 2091937 ~ ~
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selected information on display 24; or prints out the selected information on printer 110 (if present). Immediately prior to the conclusion of this sa1e of information, controller 100 creates a transaction record which identifies the information that was sold to the client, the time and date of the sale, and S the amount of payment collected for it and the credit card authorization number (if obtained). This transaction record forms part of an additional database in the device 20 and is employed for reporting purposes, as will be described below.
i 10Finally, the customer is asked if they wish to select and purchase any other inforrnation. If the customer indicates a 'yes' with switches 36, the controller 100 returns to the initial branches of the menu `
tree. If the customer indicates a 'no' with switches 36, display 24 briefly shows a thank-you notice and a reminder to remove the customer's floppy 15 disk or print out from device 20. Device 20 then returns to marketing :
mode.

At appropriate intervals, device 20 may be placed into reporting mode by service personnel. Reporting mode may be entered in 20 one of two methods, the first being by a physical visit to device 20 by the service personnel. In this case, housing 28 is opened by the service personnel who activate the reporting mode from within housing 28. Once reporting mode is act~ated in this manner, the service personnel insert a floppy disk into removable media recorder 108 and controller 100 transfers 25 the database transaction records of all of its sales made since the last servicing onto the floppy disk. If desired, a print out of the transaction records may also be provided by printer 110.

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The service personnel then take the floppy disk and/or print out for later analysis, by conventional means, to determine which information is being frequently accessed, which information is being infrequently accessed, the amount of revenue collected by device 20, S authorization numbers for credit card transactions and any other information which may be of interest to the owners and/or operators of device 20.

The second method involves contacting dev;ce 20 through a telecommunications link to telecommunucations device 124 (ifpresent). If 10 telecommunications device 124 is connected to a normal, dial-up, telephone line, a telephone connection to device 20 is initiated from a central site by dialling the telephone number of the line. Once controller 100 is connected through telecommunications device 124 and the telephone line to the central site, a password or code is transmitted from the central site. Controller 100 15 verifies the password and, if correct, checks its present mode. If controller100 is in marketing mode, it immediately enters reporting mode and displays an appropriate 'please wait' or 'temporarily out of service' message ~ on display 24. However, if controller 100 is in vending mode, it informs `~ the remote site to await the completion of its present transaction. Once the 20 present transaction is completed, controller 100 then enters reporting mode.

When controller~ l00 is in reporting mode, the transaction records in the dàbbase are transmitted to the ~central site. Once the transmission of transaction records is complete, the central site terminates 25 ; the commuoications link, controller 100 deletes the transaction records from its database and returns to marketing mode.

' ` 2091937 , `-11-A second embodiment of the present invention is also contemplated by the present inventors. In this second embodiment, controller 100 further includes an update mode and must be equipped with telecommunications device 124. Update mode is established from a central 5 site, in a manner similar to the above-described second method of entering reporting mode. A central site establishes a communications link with telecommunications device 124 and a password or code is transmitted to controller 100. Provided that controller 100 verifies the password, the central site may then transmit new information for vending to device 20, 10 a1Ong with its associated price, text description and/or demonstration information. Additionally, the central site may transmit instructions to contro!ler 20 to remove information which is no longer desired from mass storage device 104. Such information may be removed due to its being out of date, poor sales, etc.
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It will be apparent to those of skill in the art that, depending upon the amount of information to be transmitted to device 20 from the central site, a significant amount of time may be required for an update.
ordingly, it iJ contemplsted that update mode would only be initiated in 20 non-peak h~urs or, pr~rably, In a~ time when public access to device 20 is denied. For example,~ if ~device 20 is installed in a store or mall, updates could be performed at night after~ the store or mal} has closed. One example~ of the desirability of an update mode is the ability it provides to supply daily horoscopes, sporting results, weather reports and other time-~; ~ 25 sensitive information.

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2~91937 A third embodiment of the present invention is also contemplated by the present inventors. In this embodiment, mass storage device 104 is replaced, or augmented, by telecommunications device 124. -~
It is contemplated that, provided telecommunication device 124 has an 5 acceptably high data transmission rate, it is possible to store information tobe vended and the associated database of categories, text and demonstration information, at a central site which is permanently linked to controller 100 ~ ;
through telecommunications device 124. When used to augment mass -storage device 104, this will allow less frequently selected information (or time-sensitive information such as weather reportsj to be stored at a central ~ ~`
site and only transmitted to device 20 when required. When used to replace ~ ~ -mass storage device 104, this will allow all information to be stored at a ; .
; single central site which ~can be continuously monitored and updated as desired.
:: 15 . ~, It is contemplated that, when either augmenting or replacing ~ ~;
mass storage device 104, it will be desired that telecommunications device 124 have a relatively high data transmission rate. Modems with data ;~
- transmissbn rates of 19200 baud arè now commonly available for use with ~ -regular, dial-up,telephone lines~ and rates up to 1.5 Mbits per second are available with dedicated data transmission lines. Those of skill in the art ~; will ;be able to make ;; an appropnate selection of the particular telecommunications device~to be employed. ~ -The information wnding device described aboYe provides a navel method of wnding mformation with several advantages. Service calls to the device are minimized as the device does not need to be 'restocked' : :' ~.:

2~9I937 after the sale of information. Comprehensive marketing information can be obtained from the device's reporting capabilities allowing the customer's preferences and habits to be accurately determined. The cost of disseminating inforrnation, such as software upgrades from major publishers S or shareware software is reduced as no media need be provided by the , publisher. Also, time-sensitive (changeable) inforrnation, such as weather forecasts, lottery results, stock quotes and daily horoscopes can be easily maintained and vended.

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Claims (13)

1. A method of vending information to a customer comprising the steps of:
(i) displaying a list of available pieces of information to the customer;
(ii) allowing the customer to select interactively at least one desired piece of information;
(iii) informing the customer of the price of the desired piece of information;
(iv) collecting payment from the customer for the information;
(v) dispensing the information to the customer; and (vi) making a record of predefined information regarding the completed sale for reporting purposes.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein step (ii) further includes demonstrating a portion of the at least one desired piece of information.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein step (v) comprises recording the information onto a removable medium supplied by the customer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein step (v) comprises creating a print out of the desired information for the customer.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein step (v) comprises displaying the desired information to the customer.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of supplying information to be vended through a telecommunications link.

7. The method of claim 1 further including step (vii) wherein the record created in step (vi) is transmitted to a central site via a telecommunication link.

8. An information vending apparatus comprising:
a display which is viewable by a customer;
a mass storage device to retain information to be vended;
output means to provide information to the customer;
payment receiving means;
input means to allow the customer to select the information desired;
and transaction recording means to create a record of predetermined information relating to each sale of information.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said output means comprises a removable media recording device.

10. An apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said output means comprises a printer.

11. An apparatus according to claim 8 further including a telecommunications device.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said telecommunications device transfers said record to a central site.

13. An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said telecommunications device provides additional information to be vended which is not stored on said mass storage device.