KR20140077688A - Management system and mobile payment method for a vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A vending machine management method performed by a management server is disclosed. The vending machine management method according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: obtaining vending machine identification information and payer identification information from a payer terminal; transmitting, to a vending machine, a first control message which activates a function for providing information on goods available for purchase in the vending machine identified by the vending machine identification information; obtaining goods selection information from the vending machine; making a determined payment, based on the goods selection information, using payment information pre-stored by being linked with the payer identification information; and transmitting, to the vending machine, a second control message for providing selected goods indicated by the goods selection information.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a vending machine management system and a vending machine,

The present invention relates to a vending machine management system and a mobile payment method that can be applied to a vending machine.

A vending machine is a machine that sells goods or provides services by coins, banknotes, cards, etc. Vending machines provide users with the convenience of purchasing goods or services, regardless of location or time. The vending machine can be installed as soon as only the space that can be installed is installed, and the users can purchase the products to be sold at the vending machine by using the 24 hour unattended sales system.

However, the conventional vending machine is able to purchase goods only by coins, bills, cards, etc., which pay the price of the goods that the users intend to purchase. In addition, it is troublesome that a user inserts new coins or bills again because the vending machine does not properly recognize the coins, bills, and cards inserted by the user for purchasing goods, and the inconvenience of collecting coins and bills from the standpoint of managing the vending machine There was.

Vending machines offer the advantage of providing goods or services unattended, but on the other hand there are restrictions on the sale of goods or services that may be restricted by the buyer or the provision of goods or services that require confirmation of the buyer .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an easy settlement method applicable to a vending machine system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vending machine management system capable of providing customized goods / service information for a goods / service purchaser provided by a vending machine.

A method for managing a vending machine performed by a management server according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of obtaining vending machine identification information and payer identifying information from a payer terminal, Transmitting a first control message for activating an information providing function of the payer to the vending machine, acquiring product selection information from the vending machine, using payment information stored in association with the payer identification information, And transmitting a second control message to the vending machine, the method comprising: paying a payment amount determined based on the goods selection information; and transmitting a second control message for providing the selected goods indicated by the goods selection information.

The first control message may include a list of the sellable products and product information of each of the sellable products.

The sellable product may be determined based on the payer identification information among the products contained in the target vending machine.

Wherein the step of acquiring the vending machine identification information and the payer identification information from the payer terminal comprises the steps of determining whether the vending machine identified from the vending machine identification information is a registered vending machine, And determining whether the payer is a self-registered payer.

The merchandise selection information may be merchandise selection information transmitted to the vending machine by the terminal that received the merchandise information transmitted by the automatic vending machine.

The automatic vending machine identification information may be obtained by tagging the electronic identification tag attached to the automatic vending machine by the payer terminal.

The first control message selectively activates a plurality of product selection buttons included in the vending machine, and the product selection information can be obtained through the activated product selection button.

A method for managing a vending machine performed by a management server according to another aspect of the present invention includes the steps of acquiring vending machine identification information and payer identification information from a biller terminal, generating provision product information, Transmitting a control message for providing a product indicated by the goods selection information to an automatic vending machine identified from the automatic vending machine identification information, The method comprising the steps of: paying a settlement amount determined based on the goods selection information using payment information stored in association with the payer identification information; A first control message for activating the information providing function Transmitting to the vending machine.

The automatic vending machine identification information may be obtained by tagging the electronic identification tag attached to the automatic vending machine by the payer terminal.

The provided product information may be generated based on the vending machine identification information and the payer identification information.

The vending machine management system according to the embodiment of the present invention is composed of an automatic vending machine, a consumer, and a payment processing server so that a consumer can easily settle the payment. Consumers can use the vending machine through the payment information specified beforehand even if there is no coin or a certain amount of paper money through the membership system, and if the user enters a certain amount of money by using the membership system, So that it is possible to improve the inconvenience that only one product can be purchased at one time by using the existing prepaid card and credit card.

The vending machine management system of the present invention can increase the sales amount and increase the royalties of the consumers through the promotion events such as the accumulation of a certain amount of points through the membership system or the free provision of one time of 10 times of use.

In the case of a seller operating a vending machine, since the settlement process is performed by interlocking between the wireless terminal and the settlement server of the consumer, the occurrence of communication costs for settlement can be minimized.

Since the payment information is inputted once after installing the payment application in the consumer's wireless terminal and the payment information is stored in the server, the payment procedure such as checking the payment information every time the payment is made is improved and the payment information is not provided to the vending machine Security can be enhanced.

The settlement processing server collectively manages the sales histories, thereby providing data necessary for each seller while managing various data in a centralized manner.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a vending machine management system and a vending machine payment method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view showing a method of payment of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention with time.
3 and 4 show an example of a method of acquiring goods / service selection information of a vending machine.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of payment for a vending machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of payment for a vending machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
FIG. 7 illustrates a membership registration procedure that can be performed when a payment method according to an embodiment of the present invention is first executed in a vending machine.
8 shows an example of the configuration of the payment application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is capable of various modifications and various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like are used to specify that there is a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a component or a combination thereof described in the specification, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a vending machine management system and a vending machine payment method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The vending machine management system includes a vending machine, a wireless terminal, and a management server. A vending machine is an entity that provides goods or services to a payer when payment is made. The vending machine can be connected to the management server through a wired / wireless communication network to acquire or provide information, and can acquire or provide information using various wireless communication protocols including a wireless terminal and short-range communication.

The wireless terminal is a terminal of a payer who wants to purchase goods or services, and can exchange information with a vending machine and a payment processing server through wireless communication. The wireless terminal may be a terminal carried by the payer, for example, a PDA, a mobile communication terminal, or the like. An application capable of mobile settlement may be installed in the wireless terminal, and the operation of the wireless terminal may be implemented by a wireless application.

The management server is an entity that can exchange information with the vending machine and the wireless terminal through the wired / wireless communication network, and transmits a control message to the vending machine. The management server may include a payment server for performing a payment procedure or may provide information necessary for a payment server in a payment procedure in cooperation with an external payment server or may acquire information from a payment server to perform a payment procedure.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a method of payment of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention with time.

The payer terminal obtains the identification information of the vending machine from the vending machine. The vending machine identification information is a unique identification factor assigned to the vending machine to identify a plurality of vending machines managed by the management server to each other. According to the embodiment, the vending machine identification information may be stored in the RFID tag of the vending machine and read by the RFID reader provided in the payer terminal.

The app installed in the payer terminal acquires the vending machine identification information from the vending machine, and transmits the obtained vending machine identification information together with the payer identification information to the management server. The payer identification information is information that enables a plurality of payer persons managed by the management server to be distinguished from each other, and is an identification factor assigned to each payer. For example, the payer may be an ID consisting of symbols, letters, numbers, or a combination thereof applied or granted in the membership registration process of registering with the management server. According to the embodiment, the identification number (the serial number or the telephone number of the payer terminal) assigned to the payer terminal can be used as the payer identification information.

According to an embodiment, payer identification information may include authentication information. The payer identification information is stored in the payer terminal and transmitted by the app together with the vending machine identification information, and the authentication information can be transmitted to the management server by the payer's input. Although not shown in FIG. 1, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the management server can perform biller authentication based on authentication information that is input by the payer and transmitted through the payer terminal. In addition, the authentication result may be transmitted to the payer terminal, and in case of authentication failure, the payer may be requested to retransmit the authentication information. The authentication information used at this time may be the password registered in association with the payer identification information in the procedure of registering the payer identification information in the management server. If the authentication process is in progress, the following procedure can be set to proceed only if the authentication is successful.

The management server that has obtained the vending machine identification information and the payer identification information transmits the first control message to the vending machine. The first control message may be a command to activate the vending machine. The first control message may be a control message for activating the goods / service selection information of the vending machine which is inactivated or for activating the selection function of the goods / service. The vending machine can be activated by the first control message to activate the available goods / service selection information or activate the inactivated goods / service selection function to obtain the goods / service selection information.

According to an embodiment, the first control message may be selectively activated for some of the goods / services provided by the vending machine. The first control message can provide the information on only the selected goods / services by selecting the goods / services to be provided, or can activate the selection function. The activation target goods / service included in the first control message can be selected by the management server, and the payer identification information can be utilized for selection of the activation target goods / service. For example, if the payer recognizes that the payer is a minor by means of the payer identification information, the goods / services that are legally and customarily prohibited to be sold / provided to minors may be excluded from the provision of information or selection. As another example, it is possible to provide the goods / service information recommended to the payer by referring to the past purchased goods / service list of the payer identified through the payer identification information through a specific display area of the vending machine, To be activated.

In the example of FIG. 2, the vending machine receives the first control message, activates the function of the vending machine according to the first control message, and obtains the goods / service selection information from the payer side. The acquisition of goods / service selection information can be performed by various methods. FIGS. 3 and 4 show examples of a method of acquiring goods / service selection information of a vending machine.

In the example of FIG. 3, when the vending machine exposes the goods / service providing information according to the first control message, the goods / service selection information is inputted by the payer. The product / service information may be presented visually or audibly through a specific area of the vending machine, or both methods may be presented in parallel. For example, it is possible to provide selection information of goods / services that can be provided through the display unit of the vending machine, or to provide information on providing goods / services that can be provided through the voice output unit of the vending machine. The information of the goods / service may further include information that helps the purchaser decide whether to purchase the goods / services, such as price, quality, origin, raw materials, effects, usage, quantity,

According to the embodiment, the vending machine exposes the goods / service provision information in a form that exposes all the goods / service provision information that can be provided and informs that the activated goods / service is activated (selectable) by the first control message Can be exposed. At this time, when the first control message is selectively activated for a specific product / service, the product / service provision information may be displayed in a form informing that the automatic vending machine can only be provided for the goods / service.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing product / service information that can be provided to a payer terminal when a vending machine receives a first control message and receiving goods / service selection information from a payer terminal The example of acquiring is shown in Fig. Upon receiving the first control message, the automatic vending machine provides product / service information that can be provided to the payer terminal. At this time, if the first control message includes some goods / service details to be provided to the payer, as described above, only the goods / service information can be transmitted to the payer terminal. The transmission of the goods / service information can be performed by the wireless communication method and can be provided to the payer terminal by tagging the payer terminal as in the example of transmitting the vending machine identification information. The app installed in the payer terminal guides the goods / service information to the payer through the display unit or the audio output unit of the payer terminal and transmits the goods / service selection information inputted through the input unit of the payer terminal to the vending machine.

In the example of FIG. 2, the vending machine that has acquired the goods / service selection information transmits the information to the management server, and the management server transmits to the vending machine a second control message for allowing the vending machine to provide the selected goods / service .

In the example of FIG. 2, the management server may store the goods / service selection information of the payer in association with the payer identification information, and may store the payment for the purchase of the goods / As shown in FIG. 2, if the goods / service selection information is transmitted from the vending machine to the management server, the payment procedure may be performed before the management server transmits the second control message. The payment procedure may be performed using the payment information stored in association with the payer identification information in the management server.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of payment for a vending machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

The settlement method of FIG. 5 is the same as the settlement method of FIG. 2, but adds some detailed procedures. The procedures added in Fig. 5 may optionally be added to the payment method of Fig. 2, and it should not be understood that all procedures are always added to the procedure of Fig.

With reference to a procedure that can be added, the payment server can perform the authentication when receiving the vending machine identification information and the payer identification information from the payer terminal, and transmit the authentication result to the authentication message. At this time, the authentication can be performed through the payer identification information transmitted by the payer terminal or the authentication information transmitted together with payer identification information as described above.

When the management server receives the goods / service selection information from the vending machine, the management server transmits the confirmation to the payer terminal to request confirmation, and receives the confirmation response from the payer terminal in response to the confirmation request. The procedure of receiving the confirmation request and the confirmation response of the management server may be given an opportunity to correct the malfunction of the system or the error of the payer's choice of goods / service through the process of confirming by the payer.

As described above, the management server can calculate the settlement amount for the goods / services for which the payer has decided to purchase based on the goods / service selection information, and proceed with settlement. The settlement procedure can be applied to a method of settlement in the deposited reserve, a settlement method based on the settlement information stored in association with the payer identification information, and the like.

The management server can further provide payment related information to the payer terminal. Payment-related information can be the amount paid, the method of payment, the amount to be billed, and the mobile receipt.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of payment for a vending machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

2, when the management server receives the vending machine identification information and the payer identification information, it generates the providing goods / service information for the payer identified from the payer identification information, To the terminal. At this time, the offered goods / service information provided to the payer terminal may be a list of goods / services that can be offered to the payer selected by the management server among all goods / services that can be provided by the vending machine identified through the vending machine identification information have. As described in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the offered goods / service information for the payer may be excluded from the goods / services that are legally / customarily prohibited or undesirable to be provided to the payer, It may contain more information on recommended products.

Upon receiving the offered goods / service information from the management server, the payer terminal displays the selected goods / service information through the display unit of the payer terminal so that the payer can select the goods / services to be purchased, And transmits the service information to the management server.

When the management server receives the goods / service selection information from the payer terminal, the management server transmits the control message to the vending machine to provide the goods / service to the payer.

Depending on the embodiment, the following procedure may optionally be added to the embodiment of Fig. When the payment server receives the vending machine identification information and the payer identification information from the payer terminal, the payment server performs authentication and transmits the authentication result to the authentication message. At this time, the authentication can be performed through the payer identification information transmitted by the payer terminal or the authentication information transmitted together with payer identification information as described above.

When the management server receives the goods / service selection information from the payer terminal, the management server may request confirmation from the payer terminal and receive an acknowledgment from the payer terminal in response to the confirmation request. The procedure of receiving the confirmation request and the confirmation response of the management server may be given an opportunity to correct the malfunction of the system or the error of the payer's choice of goods / service through the process of confirming by the payer.

As described above, the management server can calculate the settlement amount for the goods / services for which the payer has decided to purchase based on the goods / service selection information, and proceed with settlement. The settlement procedure can be applied to a method of settlement in the deposited reserve, a settlement method based on the settlement information stored in association with the payer identification information, and the like.

The management server can further provide payment related information to the payer terminal. Payment-related information can be the amount paid, the method of payment, the amount to be billed, and the mobile receipt.

In the above-described embodiment, the management server is assumed to store and manage the payer identification information and the vending machine identification information. Further, according to some specific embodiments, it is presupposed that payment information of the payer (such as settlement account information, credit card information, etc.) and past purchasing information of the payer are stored in association with payer identification information.

The management server may provide the payer identification information and the payment information of the payer to the server through a certain procedure (such as a membership registration procedure) before the above-mentioned payment method is performed. The payer may access his / her member DB which can be interlocked with the management server or the management server and provide his / her information directly or may provide it in the process of purchasing the goods / services from the vending machine.

FIG. 7 illustrates a membership registration procedure that can be performed when a payment method according to an embodiment of the present invention is first executed in a vending machine.

In a situation where the payer terminal obtains the vending machine identification information from the vending machine and transmits the vending machine identification information and the payer identification information to the management server as in the above-described embodiment, the payer is identified by the payer identification information If the payment server recognizes that the user is not registered or is not registered, the membership request message is transmitted to the payer terminal, unlike in the embodiment of Figs. 2, 5, and 6, Information and payer identification information can be obtained. The management server stores the payer identification information and payment information in association with each other, and then the same procedures as those of the embodiments of Figs. 2, 5, and 6 can be performed.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the payer terminal can proceed the procedure according to the vending machine payment method for the installed application. The installation of the application can be downloaded and installed in the payer's terminal in the above-mentioned member registration process. In another embodiment, when a payer terminal not having an application installed tags the RFID tag attached to the vending machine, the application can be installed by proceeding to the application installation screen.

In the above-described embodiments, transmission and reception of information between the management server, the vending machine, and the payment terminal can be secured. Various algorithms such as 3DES and RSA algorithms can be used for this purpose. The communication server of the management server and the vending machine, and the payment terminal have a built-in module for decrypting them, and can be implemented in software in the application.

In the transmission / reception of information, it is necessary to prevent illegal object communication device from using service, to prevent the use of lost and stolen device, authentication procedure for preventing illegal wireless repeater access to wireless network, encryption for wireless communication data, Encryption can be used to provide communication channels, to protect lost and stolen device information. In addition, a rights management technique can be applied to protect against physical attacks such as malicious replacement, integrity verification for blocking access to internal data and programs, access control for shared resources, and access control of user information according to trust level. Privacy protection technology may be applied to prevent user location and personal information from being exposed and to ensure anonymity of the payer terminal.

The application installed in the payer terminal includes a communication processor which is mounted on the OS of the payer terminal (smart phone, for example) and enables connection with 3G, LTE communication and the like in order to make connection with the management server with the wireless network, 0, an encryption / decryption unit for decrypting the data received from the payment processing server, a payment module for processing the decrypted payment process, a UI processing unit for processing a user interface for user convenience, And an application processing unit for interfacing the upper application unit while connecting and controlling the processing unit of the lower structure. 8 shows an example of the configuration of the payment application.

Payers can often use certain vending machines in certain areas, either periodically or non-periodically. The present invention provides billing information to a server for managing a vending machine through membership registration and installs a dedicated application in its own portable terminal to set billing information and then tags the vending machine RFID tag to use the vending machine . Accordingly, the payer can conveniently use the vending machine by using the payment information stored in the server without a coin or a bill of a specific amount. In addition, according to the example in which a plurality of goods / services are designated and the goods / service selection information is transmitted, the convenience of purchasing various goods can be added through one tagging.

The management server can identify the sales status of each vending machine (RFID Tag) and product, so it can help the vending machine operation by understanding the sales and inventory of the vending machine. In addition to the credit card payment network such as VAN, Debit card, and mobile card. Therefore, the payment terminal of the payer can perform the payment only by interlocking with the management server.

The vending machine implementing the above embodiment may include a display unit, an input unit, an RFID tag communication unit, a tag control unit, a vending machine control unit, an interface unit (I / F with a vending machine), a keypad, May include a display unit, an input unit, an RFID tag reader, a wireless communication unit, a control unit, and a power supply unit. The management server may include a wireless communication unit, a control unit, a settlement company connection unit, and a payment data storage unit.

The payment method according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented in the form of a program command that can be executed through various electronic means for processing information, and may be recorded in a storage medium. The storage medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination.

Program instructions to be recorded on the storage medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the present invention or may be available to those skilled in the art of software. Examples of storage media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, magneto-optical media and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. The above-mentioned medium may also be a transmission medium such as a light or metal wire, wave guide, etc., including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal designating a program command, a data structure and the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those produced by a compiler, as well as devices for processing information electronically using an interpreter or the like, for example, a high-level language code that can be executed by a computer.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It will be understood that the invention may be varied and varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

A vending machine management method performed by a management server,
Acquiring vending machine identification information and payer identification information from a payer terminal;
Transmitting a first control message to the vending machine activating an information providing function of the vending machine identified by the vending machine identification information;
Obtaining product selection information from the vending machine;
A payment amount determined based on the goods selection information using payment information stored in association with the payer identification information; And
And sending a second control message to the vending machine to allow the merchandise selection information to provide the selected merchandise. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first control message includes a list of the sellable products and product information of each of the sellable products. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the sellable goods is determined based on the payer identification information among the products contained in the target vending machine. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of acquiring vending machine identification information and payer identification information from the payer terminal
Determining whether the vending machine identified from the vending machine identification information is a registered vending machine; And
And determining whether the payer identified from the payer identification information is a registered payer. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the product selection information is product selection information transmitted from the terminal, which has received the product information transmitted by the automatic vending machine, to the automatic vending machine. The method according to claim 1,
And the payer terminal acquires the electronic identification tag attached to the vending machine by tagging the vending machine identification information. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first control message selectively activates a plurality of product selection buttons included in the vending machine,
And the product selection information is obtained through the activated product selection button. A vending machine management method performed by a management server,
Acquiring vending machine identification information and payer identification information from a payer terminal;
Providing product information;
Transmitting the provided product information to the payer terminal;
Receiving merchandise selection information from the payer terminal;
Transmitting a control message instructing an automatic vending machine identified from the automatic vending machine identification information to provide a product indicated by the goods selection information;
A payment amount determined based on the goods selection information using payment information stored in association with the payer identification information; And
And transmitting a first control message to the vending machine activating an information providing function of the vending machine identified by the vending machine identification information. 9. The method of claim 8,
And the payer terminal acquires the electronic identification tag attached to the vending machine by tagging the vending machine identification information. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the provided product information is generated based on the vending machine identification information and the payer identification information.

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