GB2334027A

GB2334027A - Fill level indication device

Info

Publication number: GB2334027A
Application number: GB9902295A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gary Paul Atkin; David Gary Alsop
Original assignee: Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd
Current assignee: Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd
Priority date: 1998-02-06
Filing date: 1999-02-03
Publication date: 1999-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 2019-02-03
Also published as: GB9902295D0; GB9802520D0; GB2334027B

Abstract

A visual indication device for use in a vending machine which dispenses a given product from a storage area via a dispensing area, the visual indication device comprises a strip of material 7a having at predetermined spaces labels (9a fig 3A) comprising at least one figure (10), said figure (10) being the number of the given product required to refill the vending machine to a predetermined level. The indication device label optionally comprises a second figure (11), the second figure (11) being the number of the given product left in the machine. Horizontal or arcuate markings (8a or 8c) are provided with each label (9a) the first and second figures (10,11) on the strip are visually distinguishable by the use of different colours.

Description

FILL LEVEL INDICATION DEVICE The present invention relates to vending machines and in particular a means of visually indicating the amount of a given product remaining in the machine and the amount of that product required to fill the machine.

It is especially, but not exclusively, applicable to machines that contain cans or bottles.

It is usual for vending machine companies to maintain their machines, to collect the money taken by the machines and to refill the machines as required. This is a time consuming exercise requiring a number of trained personnel to visit the machines wherever they are placed and carry out the above-mentioned services.

The invention will be described with reference to vending machines for canned beverages but is not to be construed as being limited thereto.

Vending machines for canned beverages are usually designed to hold the cans horizontally with their longitudinal axes extending from front to back of the machine. The machines may only hold single vertical row of cans or may hold two adjacent vertical rows where the cans are positioned in a diagonal pair configuration. The machines may be filled one can deep or two cans deep from the back of the machine.

Accordingly there are a variety of machines each capable of holding a different number of cans at different orientations.

There are two known ways in which the personnel servicing the machines can refill them; the first way is to "case fill" the vending machine which means that regardless of the number of cans dispensed from the machine only an integral number of cases of cans are put into the machine. Accordingly it is rare for the number of cans dispensed from the machine and the number of cans put in the machine when it is refilled to balance. It is therefore difficult to balance the money taken from the machine with the number of cans dispensed from the machine and the numbers of refunds given to consumers owing to problems. The number of cans left in the machine are not counted and the fill level of the last service is often not known. This makes it difficult to calculate the number of cans dispensed, easier for the personnel servicing the machine to defraud the vending machine owners, and harder for clerical personnel at "head office" to analyse the vend history of a machine or person servicing it.

The second method of refilling the vending machines is "par-filling" in which the personnel servicing the machine fills it up on each visit to a predetermined level, regardless of the number of cans that have been dispensed. Accordingly the number of cans put in the machine when it is refilled should be the same as the number of cans dispensed making it easier to balance the money put into the machine with the cans dispensed and the refunds given. However the personnel servicing the machine must count the number of cans needed and convert this figure to the number of cases of cans to fetch from the van which is time consuming and can still result in error and additional journeys being required to fetch extra cans.

Accordingly there is a need for a means to indicate to the personnel servicing the vending machine how many cans have been dispensed and accordingly how much money should be collected from the machine and also how many cans are required to completely refill the machine.

The present invention aims to provide an easy to read visual indication device meeting the above requirements and overcoming the problems associated with the prior art filling methods.

According to a first aspect the present invention provides a visual indication device for use in a vending machine which dispenses a given product from a storage area via a dispensing area, the visual indication device comprising a strip of material having, at predetermined spacings, labels comprising at least one figure, said figure being the number of the given product required to refill the vending machine to a predetermined level, the label preferably having a second figure, said second figure being the number of the given product left in the machine.

Marks may be provided with each label, the marks are preferably lines and maybe horizontal or arcuate. Preferably the markings are made using an ink.

Preferably the product is a canned beverage most preferably a "non-alcoholic" beverage.

Preferably the strip is made of a substantially resilient material such as a plastics material or a plastics coated material e.g. polypropylene, polyethylene or the like. This allows the strip to be stiff enough to be inserted into the storage area of the vending machine behind the cans already present in the machine whilst the cans are still stored in the machine thus saving time and money required to empty the machine of cans to insert the strip.

Preferably the strip is laminated, most preferably the strip is laminated after applying the markings and the labelling to the strips to prevent the cans from rubbing off the markings on the strip.

Preferably the spacing of the labels and any markings is calculated to depend upon the size of the can dispensed from the vending machine.

The spacing preferably takes into account the way in which the cans are stacked in the machine for example in two vertical rows forming diagonal pairs or in a single vertical row. The spacing also accounts for two horizontal rows of cans being fed into a single row of cans near the dispensing area of the vending machine and for one deep and two deep stacking of the cans.

Where a single row of cans is being dispensed the strip may be of a first width and may have one set of labels and none or one set of markings.

Where two rows of cans forming diagonal pairs of cans are being dispensed the strip may be of a second width which is twice the first width and may have none, one or two sets of markings, and one or two sets of labels, most preferably one for each can in the diagonal pair of cans. The two sets of markings may be separated by a longitudinal centre line mark.

Preferably the first figure and the second figure on the strip are visually distinguishable, for example the first and second figures may be different colours, or one of the first or second figure may be surrounded by a circle.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention the first figure is red and the second figure is black.

In the case of two horizontal rows of cans forming diagonal pairs being stacked in the machine and therefore the strips having none, one or two sets of markings and two sets of labels the first figure is preferably the figure closest to the edge of the strip and is preferably coloured red.

Therefore providing two ways of remembering which figure indicates the number of can required to fill the machine either the red figure or the figure nearest the edge of the strip.

Preferably the strip is provided with adhesive means on its rear face e.g. adhesive tape. Preferably the adhesive allows the strip to be released and re-adhered to an object.

According to a second aspect the present invention provides a vending machine having at least one storage area containing a number of a given product, a dispensing area and a visual indication device of the first aspect of the present invention located such that the products remaining in the storage area cover up a number of the labels on a lower portion of the indication device leaving a number of labels on an upper portion of the indication device uncovered and wherein the first figure of the lowest uncovered label indicates the number of the given product required to refill the vending machine and in a preferred embodiment a second figure of the label indicates the number of the given product remaining in the storage area of the vending machine.

The labels are preferably associated with a marking.

The spacings of the labels particularly on the double width indication devices is such that the lowest labels visible above the two vertical lines of products remaining in the storage device show the same figures.

Where there is more than one storage area each containing a given product each storage area is preferably fitted with a visual indication device.

Preferably the product is a variety of canned beverages, most preferably a non-alcoholic canned beverage.

The visual indication device is preferably secured to the storage area by a suitable adhesive, for example an adhesive tape. The adhesive may allow the indication device to be released and re-adhered to the storage area, and is preferably strong enough to hold the strip in place in use for at least a year, and preferably at least three years.

Preferably the indication means is adhered to a back portion of the storage area. The indication device is preferably positioned to abut the top of the back portion making it easy to install in a repeatable manner.

The back portion of the storage area may be movable between two portions to allow the machine to be filled one deep or two deep with cans.

The back portion of the storage area may be provided with an aperture to allow easy grip during movement. The indication device can preferably be released from the back portion of the storage area to allow access to the aperture therein and can be re-adhered to the back portion once it is in its new position. Alternatively a part of the strip can be folded or flexed down with the strip still attached to the back portion (without removing the strip) to allow access to the aperture to move the back portion with the strip still attached.

According to a third aspect the present invention provides a method of indicating the presence or absence of a number of a given product in a vending machine having at least one storage area containing a number of the product and having a dispensing means comprising providing a visual indication device according to a first aspect of the present invention, locating the device such that the products remaining in the storage area cover up the labels on a lower portion of the indication device leaving a number of labels on an upper portion of the device uncovered, looking at the indication device and reading off the first figure of the first label visible above the remaining cans to determine the number of the product required to fill the storage area and optionally reading off the second figure of the first visible label above the remaining cans to determine the number of the product remaining in the storage area.

Preferably each label is associated with a marking.

The present invention will now be described by means of example only with reference to the drawings in which: Figures la-lc show possible arrangements of beverage cans in the storage area of a vending machine; Figures 2a-2c show example visual indication devices to go with various arrangements of beverage cans; Figures 3a and 3b show the indication device of Figures 2a and 2c in use; Figure 3c shows a problem encountered, and overcome, when designing the present indication device; Figure 4 shows the indication device of Figure 2a in use in a vending machine; and Figure 5a-5c show real versions of the indication devices shown in Figures 2a-2c.

As discussed in the preceding paragraphs there are a variety of ways to arrange beverage cans in a vending machine. Figure la shows a single vertical row of cans 1 held in a single width storage means 2, the cans may be stacked two deep in the storage means 2 (not shown). This method of stacking cans is simple but the number of cans that can be held by the machine is not very large.

In Figure 1b the cans 1 are held in a substantially double width storage means 3 and two vertical rows can be stacked side by side, the cans form a diagonal pairs configuration e.g. cans 4a and 4b providing the most "space using" arrangement.

Figure lc shows a dispensing hopper 5 of a vending machine which is formed from the sides of a substantially double width storage means 3 tapering towards the centre of the storage means 3. The position of the cans with relation to one another alters near the hopper 5 as the storage means 3 goes from substantially double width to single width. The cans in the storage means 3 can also be stacked two deep to accommodate more cans.

Figures 2a-2c show a variety of visual indication devices 6a-6c each comprising a strip of resilient material 7a-7c the resilient material being a paper backing, with ink markings printed on it and covered by a protective, and stiffening layer of transparent plastics material. The strip 7a-7c is marked at predetermined places with markings 8a-8c and labels 9a-9c.

The spacing of the markings 8a-c is determined by the arrangement of the cans 1 in the storage area of the vending machine. It will be noted that the markings on the double width strips 7b and 7c are not uniformly spaced. The funnel effect of the dispense hopper causes repeatable but unusual spacing variations between the heights of the cans in the columns of cans.

The strip 7a of Figure 2a is designed for use with the arrangement of cans shown in Figure la, i.e. a single vertical row of cans, one can or two cans deep.

The strip 7b of Figure 2b is designed for use with a vending machine that has two side-by-side columns of cans with the cans offset, as illustrated in Figure lb.

The strip 7c of Figure 2c is another strip designed for use with the arrangement of cans shown in Figures 1b and ic and takes into account the diagonal pairing configuration of the cans and the disturbance of the arrangement when the cans near the hopper 5.

The markings 8a-c and labels 9a-c are printed on the strip 7a-c before lamination so that the printing ink will not fade or be rubbed off by the movement of the cans against it.

The labels 9a-c comprise two figures; one Figure 10 a red number showing the number of cans needed to refill the machine and the other Figure 11 a black number showing the number of cans remaining in the machine. (Instead of red and black any two different colours, or distinct visual representations, could be used).

On all of the strips 7a-c the two Figures 10, 11 are visually distinguished, the Figure 10 indicating the number of cans required to refill the machine being printed in red, and Figure 11 being black.

Furthermore in the strips 7b and 7c shown in Figures 2b and 2c there are two groups of labels 9b and c and in each case the Figure 10 is nearest the edge of the strip 7b, 7c and indicates the number of cans needed to refill the machine.

Figures 3a and 3b show the strips 7a and 7c in use with the arrangements of can shown in Figures la and lb. Figure 3a shows the strip 7a of Figure 2a with markings 8a and one set of labels 9a. The strip 7a is positioned in a single width storage means 2 as shown in Figure la and the cans 1 are stacked in a single vertical line with their circular bottom faces against the rear of the storage means 3 and accordingly against strip 7a. The cans are stacked two deep.

The six cans 1 remaining in the storage means 2 cover up some of the markings 8a and labels 9a on the lower portion of the strip 7a leaving the upper labels and markings exposed.

The lowest of the markings 8a visible above the remaining cans 1 and its corresponding label 9a indicates the number of cans remaining in the storage means 2 by means of figure 11 and the number of cans needed to fill the storage means 4 by means of figure 10. Figure 10 is printed in red ink to be visually distinguishable from figure 11.

Figure 3b show the strip 7c of Figure lc having a centre line 12 splitting two sets of markings 8c and labels 9c. The strip 7c is positioned at the rear of a double width storage means 3 and the cans are arranged as described with relation to Figure ib. The strip 7c is marked as described with relation to Figure 3a the main difference being the provision of two sets of markings 8c and labels 9c each giving the same reading on the lowest visible mark above the cans while allowing the cans being in a diagonal pair configuration.

The two sets of figures 10, 11 are written such that Figure 10, the number of cans needed to fill the storage means 3, is always nearest the outer edge of strip 7c. This allows a service person to remember that either the red figure or the outer figure indicates the number of cans needed to refill the storage means. Not relying solely on colour enables the colour blind people to read the device.

Figure 3c shows an unexpected problem that arose during the development of the indication device of the present invention. When we tried horizontal evenly spaced marks 8d and labels 9d and it can be seen that problems occur reading the device when the can 1 are in a diagonal pair conformation as each vertical stack of cans has a different marking and label visible, the left hand stack says that 6 cans are in the machine and 56 are needed to fill it but according to the right hand stack 8 cans are in the machine and 54 are needed to fill it. The careful (and non-uniform) spacing of the markings and labels in the final version of the indication device of the present invention overcomes this problem. Only one numbers of cans needed is displayed, in use, visible above the first marking visible, with the cans covering up other possible numbers. This is shown in Figure 3b. (At some places on the indication devices of some machines equi-spaced lines work, but at other places they do not. With our invention we take care to ensure that there is no confusion regarding how many cans are needed at all places).

Figure 4 shows a vending machine 13 having a storage cabinet 14 and a dispensing area 15. The storage cabinet 14 is provided with two single width storage means 2 as shown in Figure la each fitted with a visual indication device 7a as shown in Figure 2a which is secured to the back face of the storage means 2 by adhesive tape. When a service person arrives to empty the money from the vending machine 13 and refill the storage means 2 he can simply look for the first visible mark 8a above the cans remaining in the storage means 2 and read figure 10 off the label 9a to determine how many cans are required to refill the machine which avoids the need to guess or count the number of spaces which can result in error.

The back face of the storage means 2 is movable between a first portion allowing the can to be stacked two deep and a second position allowing the cans to be stacked one deep. The upper portion of the adhesive strip 7a can be folded away from the back face to allow access to a hand hole to aid movement of the back face between positions. The strip 7a can then be returned to lie adjacent the back face.

Figures 5a-c show alternative versions of the indication device 6a-c shown in Figures 2a-c, but the devices shown in Figures 5a-c are acurate representations of the relative distances between line markings, and the positioning of numbers relative to the line markings. The drawings are 3/4 life size.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A visual indication device for use in a vending machine which dispenses a given product from a storage area via a dispensing area, the visual indication device comprising a strip of material having, at predetermined spacings, labels comprising at least one figure, said figure being the number of the given product required to refill the vending machine to a predetermined level.
2. The indication device according to claim 1 wherein the label comprises a second figure, said second figure being the number of the given product left in the machine.
3. The indication device according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein horizontal or arcuate marks are provided with each label.
4. The indication device according to any preceding claim wherein the strip is made of a substantially resilient material such as a plastics material or a plastics coated material.
5. The indication device according to any preceding claim wherein the strip is laminated after applying the markings and the labels to the strip to prevent the products from rubbing off the markings on the strip.
6. The indication device according to any preceding claim wherein the spacing of the labels is calculated to depend upon the size of the product dispensed from the vending machine.
7. The indication device according to claim 6 wherein the spacing takes into account the way in which the products are stacked in the machine.
8. The indication device according to claim 7 wherein the products are stacked in two vertical rows forming diagonal pairs or in a single vertical row.
9. The indication device according to claim 7 wherein the spacing also accounts for two vertical rows of products being fed into a single row of products near the dispensing area of the vending machine.
10. The indication device according to claims 7 to 9 wherein the spacing accounts for one deep and two deep stacking of the products.
11. The indication device according to claim 8 wherein a single vertical row of products is being dispensed and the strip is of a first width and has one set of labels and none or one set of markings provided with each label.
12. The indication device according to claim 8 wherein two vertical rows of products forming diagonal pairs of products are being dispensed and the strip is of a second width and has one or two sets of labels and none, one or two sets of markings provided with the labels.
13. The indication device according to claim 13 wherein one set of labels is provided for each product in the diagonal pair.
14. The indication device of any preceding claim wherein the first figure and the second figure on the strip are visually distinguishable.
15. The indication device according to claim 14 wherein the first and second figures are different colours, or one of the first or second figure is surrounded by a circle.
16. The indication device according to claim 14 or 15 wherein the first figure is red and the second figure is black.
17. The indication device according to claim 12 wherein two vertical rows of products are stacked forming diagonal pairs, and the strip has none, one or two sets of markings and two sets of labels, the first figure is the figure closest to the edge of the strip and is coloured red.
18. The indication device according to any preceding claim wherein the strip is provided with adhesive means on its rear.
19. The indication device according to claim 18 wherein the adhesive allows the strip to be released and re-adhered to an object.
20. The indication device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the product is a canned beverage.
21. A vending machine having at least one storage area containing a number of a given product, a dispensing area and a visual indication device according to any one of claims 1 to 20 located such that the products remaining in the storage area cover up a number of the labels on a lower portion of the indication device leaving a number of labels on an upper portion of the indication device uncovered and wherein the first figure of the lowest uncovered label indicates the number of the given product required to refill the vending machine.
22. The vending machine according to claim 21 wherein a second figure of the lowest uncovered label indicates the number of the given product remaining in the storage area of the vending machine.
23. The vending machine according to claim 21 or 22 wherein the products are stacked in the machine in two vertical rows and the spacings of the labels on the indication device is such that the lowest labels visible above the two vertical lines of products remaining in the storage device show the same figures.
24. The vending machine according to any one of claims 21 to 23 wherein there is more than one storage area each containing a given product and each storage area is fitted with a visual indication device.
25. The vending machine according to any one of claims 21 to 24 wherein the indication means is adhered to a back portion of the storage area.
26. The vending machine according to claim 25 wherein the indication device is positioned to abut the top of the back portion making it easy to install in a repeatable manner.
27. The vending machine according to claim 25 or 26 wherein the back portion of the storage area is movable between two positions to allow the machine to be filled one deep or two deep with products.
28. The vending machine according to claim 27 wherein the back portion of the storage area is provided with an aperture to allow easy grip during movement.
29. The vending machine according to claim 28 wherein the indication device can be released from the back portion of the storage area to allow access to the aperture therein and can be re-adhered to the back portion once it is in its new position.
30. The vending machine according to claim 28 wherein a part of the strip is folded or flexed down with the strip still attached to the back portion to allow access to the aperture to move the back portion with the strip still attached.
31. A method of indicating the presence of absence of a number of a given product in a vending machine having at least one storage area containing a number of the product and having a dispensing means comprising providing a visual indication device according to any one of claims 1 to 20 locating the device such that the products remaining in the storage area cover up the labels on a lower portion of the indication device leaving a number of labels on an upper portion of the device uncovered, looking at the indication device and reading off the first figure of the first label visible above the remaining cans to determine the number of the product required to fill the storage area.
32. The method according to claim 31 further comprising reading off a second figure of the first visible label above the remaining cans to determine the number of products remaining in the storage area.
33. The method according to claim 31 or 32 wherein there is more than one storage area each containing a given product each storage area is fitted with a visual indication device.
34. A visual indication device for use in a vending machine substantially as described herein and with reference to Figures 1 to 3 and 5.
35. A vending machine having at least one storage area, a dispensing area and a visual indication device substantially as described herein and with reference to Figure 4.
36. A method of indicating the presence or absence of a number of a given product in a vending machine substantially as described herein.