GB2457312A

GB2457312A - Automated vending system

Info

Publication number: GB2457312A
Application number: GB0802823A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steve Adelani Fadahunsi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-02-05
Filing date: 2008-02-15
Publication date: 2009-08-12
Also published as: GB0802823D0; GB0802087D0

Abstract

A vending system comprises a container 40 for storing and dispensing products to be sold, said container having at least one aperture 42 for dispensing products, a dummy product "A", ''B", "C", "D" for each product to be stored and dispensed by the container for viewing and selection by a purchaser, a payment till 1 to collect product payment and connected to control dispensing of product from the container upon receipt of payment, and conveying means 51A,51B,51C,51D for conveying information representing a dummy product to a payment till, in use a purchaser selects a dummy product representing a product to be purchased, the conveying means conveys the information representing the dummy product to a payment till, the payment till accepts payment of the product from the purchaser, and the payment till then controls the container to dispense the product to be purchased through the dispensing aperture. Information identifying the dummy product is preferably conveyed via a bar code, for which there is a bar code reader 31 located at the payment till.

Description

Title: Vending System for Products The present invention relates to vending systems for products.

One problem with selling products in a retail outlet is that a customer or retail shop assistant often has access to the products SC) that a unscrupulous customer or shop assistant can steal the products. Also thieves know that products are present in such shops and can steal products or can demand that a shop assistant hands over products, often threatening or harming the shop assistant.

Also many people choose to shop when shops are closed. It is known to shop on-line" at any time, but purchasers are unable to view, touch, feel the weight and other physical parameters and be in personal contact with a range of products and select one or more products to be purchased from the range.

The invention seeks to provide a solution to this problem.

According to the present invention there is provided a vending system for products comprising: a) a container for storing and dispensing products to be sold, said container having at least one aperture for dispensing products, b) a dummy product for each product to be stored and dispensed by the container for viewing and selection by a purchaser.

C) a payment till to collect product payment and connected to control dispensing of product from the container upon receipt of payment. and d) conveying means for conveying information representing a dummy product to a payment till.

in use a purchaser selects a dummy product representing a product to be purchased, the conveying means conveys the information representing the durniuy product to a payment till, the payment till accepts payment of the product from the purchaser.

and the payment till then controls the container to dispense the product to be purchased through the dispensing aperture.

The payment till may be operated by a vendor and purchaser and may be of the retail till type disclosed in co-pending patent application no the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein.

The payment till may be operated by the purchaser only.

The payment till may receive cash and/or credit/debit cards.

The or each dummy product may be a physical non-vendible quality product representing a product to be purchased, or may be an image of the product to be purchased. Preferably the or each dummy product is located remote from the container and preferably is a physical non-vendible quality product representing a product to be purchased.

The payment till may be separate from the container or in a common housing with the container.

The conveying means for conveying information representing a dummy product to a payment till may include a bai-code on a dummy and a scanner connected to the payment till, a bar code on a card representing a dummy and a scanner connected to the payment till, or a tactile device like a touch screen or keyboard connected to the payment till.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing showing a schematic view.

Referring to the drawing there is shown a retail environment such as in a shop which sells four different mobile telephones (in practice the range might be much larger than four). Mobile phones are illustrated as just one example. it could equally well be a shop which sells are range of the same type of products or a range of completely different products. in the shop is a vending system described below.

The vending system has a payment till in the form of cash till 1 having a housing 2 formed into a retail cabinet 3. Cash till I may be of the type disclosed in co-pending patent application no. .. K IP) pea.' dd w:r the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein.

Cash till housing 2 has a cash storage container 10 under the retail cabinet 3.

Container 10 includes a security door IOA through which cash can be removed from the container. It is envisaged that the storage container may be a secure container similar to a safe.

On one side of housing 2 is a purchaser's till interface 20 having a screen 21 to display information purchase transaction information, and a cash receiving aperture in the form of a note slot 22A and a coin slot 22B connected to the cash storage container through a delivery chute (not shown). Screen 21 and slots 22A.22B are on top of cabinet 3. Interface 20 further includes means to deliver change to a purchaser in the form of note slot 23A and coin box 23B. Interface 20 also includes a card reader 24 for payment by credit or debit card instead of cash.

On the other side of housing 2 is a vendor's interface 30 on top of cabinet 3 having means to enter purchase transaction details in the form of a scanner 31 and keyboard 32. Interface 30 also has a screen 33 to display information purchase transaction information.

Vending system 1 has a container 40 for storing and dispensing four different types of phones A". B", C"."D" to be sold. Each watch is packaged in a suitable package like a box 41. The container has at least one aperture 42 for dispensing boxes 41. Container 40 may include means such as conveyor belts and/or chutes and the like for delivering boxes 41 to aperture 42, such means being well known in the art and not described herein.

Four "dummy product" mobile phones "A". "B". "C","D" representing each product to be stored and dispensed by the container are displayed on a counter 50 remote from container 40 for viewing, touching and selection by a purchaser. Each dummy product may be a physical non-vendible quality product and could he secured to counter 50 by a wire or the like so that they cannot be removed from the shop.

Each phone "A". "B", "C","D" has an associated cards 51A,51B,5lC,51D respectively, each card with a bar code on it representing its phone "A". "B".

The cards 51A.51B,51C,51D provide conveying means for conveying information representing a dummy product to the payment till I by scanning the bar code on scanner 31.

Cash till I is connected to control dispensing of product from the container 40, upon receipt of payment for a phone, either by wire or wirelessly.

In use a purchaser can handle and view the dummy phones "A", "B", "C","D" and then selects one (or more) be purchased. One of the cards 51A.S1B,51C,SlD relating to the selected phone is taken to a vendor at cash till 1. The vendor scans the bar code into scanner 31 and the purchaser pays for the phone using cash or a credit card. Upon payment being made. the cash till I then instructs the container 40 to dispense an appropriate box 41 containing the selected phone through the dispensing aperture 42.

It will be appreciated that the product being dispensed never need be handled by the vendor and never need be handled by the purchaser until it has been paid for. The container may be made very secure to avoid thieves taking products and it is not possible for a vendor to open the container for a thief.

The invention may take a form different to that specifically described above.

For example the payment till could be other than described in the co-pending patent application above referred to. For example it could he operated by a purchaser only in which case the shop need not include a vendor, i.e. it could be an unmanned shop which could be permanently open. The payment till could be separate from the container as shown or in a common housing with the container.

Each dummy product could be an image (e.g. a photograph) of a product to be purchased, rather than a physical non-vendible quality product. Each dummy product could also be on the container.

Instead of cards with bar codes, the dummy products could have bar codes on them and a dummy product could be taken to a payment till to be scanned. It could then be returned to counter 50 or be dropped into a basket part of the machine that may take note or account of its presence before even allowing customer to proceed to payment. Alternatively, a tactile device like a touch screen or keyboard connected to the payment till could allow a purchaser to select a dummy product. For example a touch screen or a separate screen or different stands of screens preferably but not necessarily connected to the vending till could show in words or pictures including detailed information on each of a range of the dummy products, and the purchaser could make a selection by touching the screen. Instead of a screen a keyboard could be used.

In another embodiment the machine simply serves as an ordering' machine. In such case, a customer checks and selects a product from a range as previously described and simply uses the machine to order the item. This embodiment may stock no item whatsoever and may be used to order items only.

Yet another embodiment preferably uses both methods i.e. it is able to dispense the goods but if not available or the particular chosen product has been exhausted, then the customer could instantly place an order using the machine. Ordered items are preferably given a number or code (or similar means) and the machine issues such code to the customer who could either come back to pick it up at the machine (as the machine may give the likely date of availability) or otherwise request that the item be shipped/mailed directly to him/her.

It is also envisaged that a retail environment might have multiple numbers of containers. dummy products, payment tills, and/or conveying means some or all of which may be interlinked. in this respect when a purchase has been made, a purchaser may be directed to a particular container to collect a product.

Also the vending system may advise a purchaser if a particular product is out of stock or is not normally or cannot be held in the machine, and may automatically place an order to the product for later collection or delivery to a purchaser.

Further modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. 0\

Claims

CLAIMS1. A vending system for products comprising: a) a container for storing and dispensing products to be sold, said container having at least one aperture for dispensing products, b) a dummy for each product to be stored and dispensed by the container for viewing and selection by a purchaser.c a payment till to collect product payment and connected to control dispensing of product from the container upon receipt of payment. and d) conveying means for conveying information representing a dummy product to a payment till, in use a purchaser selects a dummy product representing a product to be purchased, the conveying means conveys the information representing the dummy product to a payment till, the payment till accepts payment of the product from the purchaser, and the payment till then controls the container to dispense the product to be purchased through the dispensing aperture.
2. A vending system according to claim 1. wherein the payment till is operated by a vendor and purchaser.
3. A vending system according to claim 1. wherein payment till is operated by the purchaser only.
4. A vending system according to any preceding claim, wherein the payment till receives cash and/or credit/debit cards.
5. A vending system according to any preceding claim, wherein the or each dummy product is a physical non-vendible quality product representing a product to be purchased.
6. A vending system according to any of claims I to 4. wherein the or each dummy product is an image of the product to be purchased.
7. A vending system according to any preceding claim, wherein the or each dummy product is located remote from the container.
8. A vending system according to any preceding claim, wherein the payment till is separate from the container.
9. A vending system according to any of claims 1 to 7. wherein the payment till is in a common housing with the container.
10. A vending system according to any preceding claim, wherein the conveying means for conveying information representing a dummy product to a payment till includes a bar code on a dummy and a scanner connected to the payment till.
ii. A vending system according to any of claims ito 9. wherein the conveying means for conveying information representing a dummy product to a payment till includes a bar code on a card representing a dummy and a scanner connected to the payment till.
12. A vending system according to any of claims ito 9. wherein the conveying means for conveying information representing a dummy product to a payment till includes a tactile device, like a touch screen or keyboard, connected to the paynient till.
13. A vending system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.