ITRM20110608A1 - AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTOR WITH ADVANCED INTERACTIVE FUNCTIONALITY AND POSSIBILITY OF REMOTE MANAGEMENT - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

accompanying a patent application for industrial invention entitled: "Automatic vending machine with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management".

The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine, for products directed to consumers and located in public areas with high traffic of people, such as stations and airports, as well as places of social gathering, which has a series of advanced functions compared to traditional vending machines.

In the current state of the art, the use of automatic machines, located in public transit places, for the distribution of products to consumers is well known. The machines for the sale of food products, such as snacks and drinks, but also the machines for the sale of travel tickets, cigarettes, souvenirs and many other consumer products are typical.

The location in public areas, and their visibility to people passing by, has led to the use of the external surface of the structures of these machines to place advertising signs.

Advertising spaces, possibly sold and / or transferred to third-party companies, can represent a source of additional income for the distributors' management companies, and these advertisements can be used: o to attract more public attention to the products sold by the machines, thus increasing sales, or to give advertising information of other completely independent products and / or services, which instead concern other companies or companies.

Generally, all data relating to sales and warehouse management are managed at a later time, when an operator goes to refill the machine with new products, usually on a regular basis, and to detect how many products have been sold. All the strategies for optimal stock management and transmission of orders to suppliers, especially in the case of a large number of machines located throughout the territory, are implemented downstream of the survey with consequent downtime, because the machines have run out of products, and with the impossibility of immediately verifying the effectiveness of other simultaneous initiatives aimed at increasing sales (eg advertising, promotions, discount coupons, etc.).

All currently available back office and business intelligence systems can therefore only be implemented in off-line mode. Furthermore, a lot of strategic information, relating to the satisfaction <'> by consumers, their frequency of purchase, their suggestions for improving the service, can only be acquired with communication campaigns or with sample surveys, according to communication methods. such as mailing forms or telephone interviews.

All known systems therefore have the drawback of not allowing immediate feedback from users / consumers, and of not allowing the acquisition of contact information to later send information and / or descriptive material of the products. The same systems, not being connected to a remote control unit, do not allow the immediate updating of information material (e.g. commercials and advertising films) or the updating of the control software for participation in prize games, promotions and distribution. discount coupons.

Therefore, the main objective of this invention is to propose a machine that includes advertising media, created via a video screen, capable of continuously transmitting advertising messages and films, aimed at the attention of the general public of ride.

Another goal is that the advertising media are interactive and allow you to communicate with the same people passing by, in order to acquire information, such as name, telephone number and e-mail address, to allow participation in competitions, prize games, or to be able to send further information and / or advertising material to the interested user at a later time.

Yet another objective is that the machine is constantly connected, together with other similar machines, to a remote operations center, from which it can acquire the advertising information to be transmitted (for example by downloading videos), from which it can acquire a control software. interaction (for example for the realization of prize games) and towards which it can transmit the data entered by passing people in real time (for example to generate real mailing lists of advertising information via the internet).

A further objective is that the connection to a remote control unit allows the implementation of back office and business intelligence software, with a consequent automatic management of warehouses and supplies, as the products are sold, and with a possible implementation of strategies. of sales and verification of their effectiveness in correspondence with the advertising messages transmitted.

Yet another objective is that the vending machine, being connected to the internet, can constitute an access point and provide WI-FI, bluetooth, 3G, UMTS, etc. connection services, or transmit advertising messages and interact with users, communicating directly. with locally positioned mobile communication devices, such as: mobile phones, smartphones, tablet PCs, and personal computers.

Therefore, the specific object of the present invention is an automatic vending machine with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management, this vending machine being constituted by a computer system characterized by the fact that it comprises:

- data processing means, local storage means, communication and data transmission means, video screen display means, input devices via icons and / or touch screen keyboard, peripherals for cash payment, devices for reading and payment by electronic cards,

this distributor, located in a place accessible to the public, is able to transmit advertising messages on said video screen, interact with a user via icons and / or touch screen keyboard, send and / or receive data to / from remote servers through said means of communication and transmission, manage back office functions, business intelligence, inventory and warehouse management and maintenance, through software running on the same remote servers, in addition to managing all the usual product sales functions, typical of a vending machine, in correspondence with a payment of an economic consideration, by means of payment and / or electronic card readers.

The present invention will now be described for illustrative but not limitative purposes, with particular reference to the figures of the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of a block diagram comprising the main elements of the automatic vending machine of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a vending machine, according to the present invention, in the single column version, with an integrated 32-inch LCD screen;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a vending machine, according to the present invention, in the three-column version, with an integrated 40-inch LCD screen.

It should be emphasized that in the following, only some of the possible embodiments of the present invention will be illustrated, by way of non-limiting example, it being possible to describe many others on the basis of the particular technical solutions identified.

With reference to Figure 1, the vending machine 100 is constituted by a computer system which in turn comprises: data processing means 101, local storage means 102, 1037 104, communication and data transmission means 105, 112, 113, means video screen display 106, input devices via icons and / or touch screen keyboard 107, peripherals for cash payment 108, devices for reading and payment using electronic cards 109. In particular, the vending machine 100 is located in a place accessible to the public, and is capable of transmitting advertising messages on said video screen 106, interacting with a user through icons and / or a touch screen keyboard 107, sending and / or receiving data to / from remote servers through said means of communication and transmission 105, 112, 113, manage back office functions, business intelligence, inventory and warehouse management and maintenance, through software works on the same remote servers, in addition to managing all the usual product sales functions, typical of a vending machine, in correspondence with a payment of an economic consideration, by means of payment 108 and / or electronic card readers 109.

The same advertising media are interactive and allow you to communicate with the same passing user, in order to acquire information, such as name, telephone number and e-mail address, to allow participation in competitions, prize games, or to be able to send further information and / or advertising material to the interested user at a later time.

The distributor 100 is constantly connected, together with other similar machines, to a remote operations center, from which it can acquire the advertising information to be transmitted - for example by downloading videos - from which it can acquire an interaction control software - for example for the realization of prize games - and to which it can transmit the data entered by the passing user in real time - for example to generate real mailing lysis of advertising information via the Internet.

The connection to a remote control unit allows the implementation of back office and business intelligence software, with a consequent automatic management of warehouses and supplies, as the products are sold, and with a possible implementation of sales and verification of their effectiveness in correspondence with the advertising messages transmitted.

According to an alternative embodiment, the vending machine 100 further comprises internet connection means, in such a way as to constitute an access point capable of providing WI-FI, Bluetooth, 3G, UMTS, etc., connection services. transmit advertising messages and interact with users, communicating directly with mobile communication devices located locally, such as: mobile phones, smartphones, tablet PCs; and personal computers.

Figure 2 shows an implementation of the vending machine 100 in the single column version, with integrated 32-inch LCD screen, with dimensions: height 1.93 m, width 0.97 m and depth 0.79 m, while in figure 3 the vending machine 200 is in the three-column version, with integrated 40-inch LCD screen, with dimensions: height 1.93 m, width 2.43 m and depth 0.79 m.

In particular, it is possible to create a modular composition of the machines, in which: the external container is built in painted steel with a thickness of 1.5 mm; the door with safety hinge is in 1.5 mm steel, arranged along the entire length, with three-point safety locks (European cylinder); the product recovery system has an anti-theft and anti-recoil system, and the 32-inch or 40-inch LCD screen is protected by a shatterproof glass (4 + 4 mm).

All the examples described therefore demonstrate that the present invention achieves all the proposed purposes: In particular, it makes it possible to produce a machine comprising advertising information means, implemented by means of a video screen, capable of continuously transmitting messages and advertising films, aimed at the attention of the general public passing by.

Furthermore, the same means of advertising information are interactive and allow you to communicate with the same people passing by, in order to acquire information, such as name, telephone number and e-mail address, to allow participation in competitions, games at prizes, or to be able to send further information and / or advertising material to the interested user at a later time.

Always according to the invention, the machine is constantly connected, together with other similar machines, to a remote operating center, from which it can acquire the advertising information to be transmitted (for example by downloading videos), from which it can acquire a control software interaction (for example for the realization of prize games) and towards which it can transmit the data entered by passing people in real time (for example to generate real mailing lysis of advertising information via the internet).

Furthermore, the connection to a remote control unit allows the implementation of back office and business intelligence software, with a consequent automatic management of warehouses and supplies, as the products are sold, and with a possible implementation of sales strategies. and to verify their effectiveness in correspondence with the advertising messages transmitted.

Finally, since the vending machine itself is connected to the internet, it can constitute an access point and provide WI-FI, bluetooth, 3G, UMTS, etc. connection services, or transmit advertising messages and interact with users, communicating directly with locally located mobile communication, such as: cell phones, smartphones, tablet PCs, and personal computers.

The present invention has been described by way of an illustrative, but not limiting, title according to some preferred embodiments, but it is to be understood that any variations and / or modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without thereby departing from the relative scope of protection, as defined by the attached claims.

Claims (8)

CLAIMS 1. Automatic vending machine (100) with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management, this vending machine (100) being constituted by a computer system characterized by the fact that it comprises: - data processing means (101), local storage means (102, 103, 104), communication and data transmission means (105, 112, 113), video screen display means (106), input devices via touch screen icons and / or keyboard (107), cash payment peripherals (108), electronic card reading and payment devices (109); this distributor (100), located in <~> a place accessible to the public, is capable of transmitting advertising messages on said video screen (106), interacting with a user through icons and / or a touch screen keyboard (107), send and / or receive data to / from remote servers through said means of communication and transmission (105, 112, 113), manage back office functions, business intelligence, inventory and warehouse management and maintenance, through software running on the same remote servers, in addition to managing all the usual product sales functions, typical of a vending machine, in correspondence with a payment of an economic consideration, by means of payment (108) and / or electronic card readers (109). 2. Automatic vending machine (100) with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management, according to the preceding claim, characterized in that: the same means of advertising information are interactive and allow you to communicate with the same passing user, in order to acquire information, such as name, telephone number and e-mail address, to allow participation in competitions, prize games, or to be able to send further information and / or advertising material to the interested user at a later time. Automatic vending machine (100) with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that: the same distributor (100) is constantly connected, together with other similar machines, to a remote operations center, from which it can acquire the advertising information to be transmitted - for example by downloading videos - from which it can acquire an interaction control software - for example for the realization of prize games - and to which it can transmit the data entered by the passing user in real time - for example to create real mailing lists of advertising information via the Internet. 4. Automatic vending machine (100) with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that: - the connection to a remote control unit allows the implementation of back office and business intelligence software, with a consequent automatic management of warehouses and supplies, as the products are sold, and with a possible implementation of sales and verifies their effectiveness in correspondence with the advertising messages transmitted. 5. Automatic vending machine (100) with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that it further comprises: - means of internet connection, in such a way as to constitute an access point capable of providing WI-FI connection services, bluetooth, 3G, UMTS, etc., or to transmit advertising messages and interact with users, communicating directly with locally located mobile communication devices, such as: cell phones, smartphones, tablet PCs, and personal computers. 6. Automatic vending machine (100) with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that: - the same vending machine (100) in the single column version, with integrated 32-inch LCD screen, has dimensions: height 1.93 m, width 0.97 m and depth 0.79 m. Automatic vending machine (200) with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that: - the same vending machine (200) in the three column version, with integrated 40-inch LCD screen, has dimensions: height 1.93 m, width 2.43 m and depth 0.79 m. 8. Automatic vending machine (100) or (200), with advanced interactive functions and the possibility of remote management, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that: - it is possible to create a modular composition of the machines, in which: the external container is made of painted steel with a thickness of 1.5 mm; the door with safety hinge is in 1.5 mm steel, arranged along the entire length, with three-point safety locks (European cylinder); the product recovery system has an anti-theft and anti-recoil system, and the 32-inch or 40-inch LCD screen is protected by a shatterproof glass (4 + 4 mm).