MXPA97006984A - Automated system unloaded for sale and distribution - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for an unattended automated service station is presented to sell and distribute products, essentially motor fuels from a service area. The system includes a fuel dispensing device, a card reading device, a coin and money receiving device, a card identification device, a coin and money distribution device, a receipt printing device, a device processor control, a fuel selection and drive device, a display device, an audio device, and a data transmission device. The components interact to allow a customer to select a specific purchase of fuel or product through any combination of currencies or money, activate automatic fuel distribution, allow the supply of a pre-selected amount of fuel, provide a receipt for cash or credit card, and offer additional information regarding other products or services for sale during the fuel supply process

Description

AUTOMATED SYSTEM UNATTENDED FOR SALE AND DISTRIBUTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to customer-controlled facilities for selling and distributing products and services to customers, and more particularly, said invention relates to a system for a service station or a service station. unattended automated sale to sell and supply products, particularly motor fuel, by means of cards or cash and returning the change that could possibly be due. To date, equipment has been provided at service stations that allow the activation of gasoline distributors through a terminal controlled by employees. In such equipment, the terminal is located in the sales office of the service station far from the safety zone containing the fuel pump jets. Such a terminal prevents the theft of gasoline by only allowing the employee to activate the fuel supply pumps. U.S. Patent No. 3,786,421, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference, presents a system in which the employee of a service station has been eliminated allowing the self-sale of the fuel and the autopayment for part of the customer. This device, however, can only be activated by means of a credit card and can not receive money for the transaction or return the change eventually due. Furthermore, it does not handle products that can not be distributed automatically and therefore does not create a complete receipt of the transaction for the products purchased. U.S. Patent No. 3,931,497, issued on January 6, 1976, whose contents are also incorporated herein by reference, presents an automatic fuel distributor activated either by credit card or by cash to establish a pre-established value for a particular amount of motor fuel and which supplies a quantity of fuel up to the limit of the value of the cash or of the limit value of the credit card registered by the user. This system, however, can not return the exact change or accept any amount of money or currency for fuel payment. U.S. Patent No. 3,747,732, issued July 24, 1973 and U.S. Patent No. 3,768,617, issued October 30, 1973 whose contents are incorporated herein by reference, present fuel distribution systems that employ coin return mechanisms of the calculated change so that an appropriate amount of change, in currencies, can be returned to the customer in case of supply of a pre-set amount of fuel and a payment in excess of the amount necessary for the acquisition. More recently, other systems have been developed to interact with distribution systems to allow the control and selection by the customer of the acquisition of consumer products, such as fuel, while providing during the process audio instructions and instructions. video as well as information regarding the immediate acquisition or issues related to it. See, for example, International Application No. PCT / 6B88 / 00651, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The desirability of unattended automated sales and service stations for selling and supplying items, especially fuel, has created an increasing need for such technology and the present invention focuses on that need. None of the prior art provides change in the form of money, ie, notes and coins, and therefore does not fully automate the function of a retail sales agent in relation to the supply of motor fuel. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a system for use in an automated service station., unattended, for use in the sale and supply of products and services, mainly motor fuel, which includes all the advantages of the prior art systems and none of the disadvantages, and which specifically provides a system that allows the operation of a fully automatic installation that will increase sales and reduce labor costs. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for use with unattended service stations for automated and unattended supply and sale of motor fuel including audio and visual instructions as well as information regarding current sales activities and distribution, as well as other elements available for acquisition and other useful information regarding local activities and businesses. Another object of the present invention is to offer a system of the described type that can be operated either by means of cash or credit card by a user and that can return the correct change to a user by distributing money and coins in any way. amount of cash or credit applied to the purchase. Another object of the present invention is to provide an unattended acquisition site that has high security and reliability and user-friendly components to facilitate the unattended sales transaction.

The present invention encompasses a system for an automated, unattended service station for the sale and supply of products and services, primarily motor fuel, which includes a device that indicates the amount of fuel supplied; a card reader device that identifies marks that are found on a credit card and that generate signals indicating the marks; a card verification device to verify the credit status of a card; a device that accepts coins and money to receive the direct payment in relation to a quantity of fuel to be discharged; a receipt printing device to generate acquisition receipts by credit card and cash; a fuel supply activation device for allowing the fuel supplying device to supply said fuel; a data transmission device that interconnects the various components of the system with other components for remote verification and information services; and a process control device interconnected with the credit card reader device, the coin and money acceptor device, the credit card verification device, the coin and money supply device, the receipt printing device, the display device, the audio device, and the receipt generation device, the process control device responding to receive data transmitted from the card verification device and the card acceptor device to activate the card delivery device; fuel to deliver a specific amount, generate a receipt, activate the coin and money supply device to deliver an exact amount of change in currencies and money, and complete the operation of the system. The most important features of the present invention have been outlined relatively generally and in summary form so that the detailed description that follows can be better understood and for the present contribution to the art to be better appreciated. There are obviously additional features of the present invention which will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the appended claims. Regarding this point, before explaining various embodiments of the invention, with details, it is understood that the invention is not limited to its application to the details of construction or to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following. drawings. The invention may have other modalities and may be practiced and carried out in various ways. It will also be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be considered limiting in any way. Those skilled in the art will observe the concept upon which the presentation is based and which can be readily employed as a basis for designing other structures, methods and systems to carry out the various purposes of the present invention. It is also noted that the summary is not intended to define the invention of the application, which is defined in the claims, nor to limit its scope in any way. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent through a reading of the following detailed description, in combination with the accompanying drawings, where like reference numbers refer to like parts. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the course of this detailed description, reference will be made to the following drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a service station for motor fuel incorporating an unattended sale and supply system constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a fuel safety zone of the service station of Figure 1 illustrating a customer located in the customer console; Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a customer who is directed to the console representing a part of the present invention in a security zone with a delivery device that allows the unattended acquisition of other consumer products in addition to the fuel; Figure 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating the connected components that make up the present invention; Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the basic control sequence executed by the components depicted in Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged and isolated view of the customer in front of the console constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention employed in the unattended service station of Figure 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Reference will now be made to the present invention applied to an unattended service station having several safety zones supplying gasoline to which applies the system that forms the present invention. It will be understood, however, that the system can be applied to other sales services or automated sales stations where consumer products such as food, beverages, cigars, sweets, drugs and others can be sold. In many cases, such items may be sold in combination with motor fuel in an unattended station. Referring now to Figure 1, there is illustrated an unattended service station 10 which includes a plurality of security zones 13, 15, 17 wherein gasoline is supplied, each of which is shown having two-sided gas pumps. , separated, 19, 21, 23 generally shown in the figures as petrol pump nozzles 35. Each side of the jets 19, 21, 23 can have from one to five fuel outlets 12 to supply different types of fuel, for example, regular fuel, medium grade, pre iu, and diesel. The apparatus of the present invention includes a customer console 25 near the petrol pumps and operating with said petrol pumps 19, 21, 23 and are illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 and are located in one of the security zones . This console 25 is preferably constructed in a robust manner to be weather and burglary resistant and is designed to house most of the components of the system shown more specifically in Figure 4. An installation server 27 is located in a facility 29 closed, remote, to provide a control center for all consoles and fuel security zones of the service station 10. The installation server 27, by means of a suitable transmission device 33, has area network connections Sufficiently large to gather all the necessary site information for the efficient operation of the system, including, without limitation, credit card verification and other information required in a daily operation of the service station 10. The installation server 27, a through an interface 31, controls the activation and deactivation of the fuel suppliers that move stran continuously sales brands, such as fuel price and fuel quantity units for the customer. The server 27, through another transmission device, preferably in the form of a suitable local area network ("LAN") 37, also connects to a client interface controller 39 to approve a credit sale transaction and activate the supply of the fuel after the approval of said transaction, or after the beginning of a cash acquisition. In cases related to this last type of acquisition, a PC controller 39 is connected to a coin money controller 41 which in turn has a double communication with a cash acceptor 43. The canneller 41 also receives input from an acceptor of cash 45, and has a double communication with the cash supplier 47, as shown in Figure 4, to control the supply of coins through the coin supplier 47. The credit card reader 51 transmits information to the controller 39, and a optional numeric keypad 53 for a buyer to register a PIN ("personal identification number") is connected in a similar manner to prohibit fraudulent access to the credit card reader and mechanisms associated therewith. A receipt printer 55 is also provided which is activated by means of the controller 39 to provide a receipt of the acquisition transaction regardless of whether the acquisition is made through a credit card or in cash. A video display device 57 can be provided in the console 25, which is controlled by the controller 39 to provide additional filling instructions or other important information regarding products for sale or places of interest for the buyer. Optionally, a touch panel type display system can be provided to facilitate selections by the customer by touching simulated buttons on the screen. Referring now to Figure 5 illustrating the sequence operations of the system of the present invention, the controller 39 controls the processing and operation of the client control console. The operational activities can be summarized as follows: (1) the data is received from a card reader 51 that includes information read from the customer's credit card, through its magnetic stripe, and manipulated to provide exit commands to server 27 for off-site verification; (2) an accepted card allows the system interface 31 to activate the appropriate provider 35; (3) the fuel distribution begins and instructions or audio information may be provided during the period of filling; and (4) the filling is completed and an optional receipt is available from the receipt printer 55 through the cantractor 39. If the buyer wishes to make a cash purchase of motor fuel, cash, such as money or either coin is inserted into either the bill acceptor 43 and / or the coin acceptor 45. The dispenser 35 is then activated through the interface 31 by the installation server 27 through the controllers 39 and 41 once determined the amount deposited by the buyer in the acceptors 43, 45. Upon completion of the filling, the cash and / or coins due resulting from the transaction are returned by means of the activation of four banknote dispensers 49 and / or four coin dispensers 47 after initiation by the contractor 41. To provide the customer with the change for their fuel purchase, the coin and coin dispensers 47, 49 preferably contain different supplies and different denominations of bills and coins. As illustrated in Figure 4, the banknote dispenser 47 contains a reservation of the following different denominations of banknotes: 1 dollar bills, 5 dollar bills, 10 dollar bills and 20 dollar bills, while the coin dispenser 49 contains a reserve of the following different currencies: cents, 5 cents, 10 cents, and 25 cents. Upon receipt of a command from a signal from the controller 41, the pumps 47, 49 will give the appropriate change to the buyer, said change can be given to the buyer through a slot 18 on the customer console 25. Any convenient amount of cash can be used for the acquisition such as a $ 20 bill, even if the total amount of the transaction reaches only $ 18.50. In the same way, the acceptors 43, 45 of cash and coins have the ability, as is known in the art of such acceptors, to distinguish between different denominations of bills and coins as illustrated in Figure 4.

An optional receipt is available again and after the passage of a suitable time, the system returns to the starting position. The console 25 is preferably embedded in a concrete base of the security area of the service station and is also preferably physically constructed so that it can withstand the weathering and weathering. The customer who appears before the screen 14 of the console 25 is preferably in a recess inside the front wall 59 protecting it against wind or rain and facilitating the visibility of the customer. In addition, the console 25 and the safety zone are adequately covered with a protective roof 16 to ensure minimal damage to the unit due to the weather. All interconnection transmission lines such as copper cables, fiber optic cables or the like 18 that make up parts of the LAN 37 can be sealed in a protective conduit and buried in the concrete extending from the console 25 to a closed installation 29 separate and towards other dispensers 35. As illustrated in Figure 3, the customer console 25 can also be incorporated into an additional product sales station 26 placed in the security zones of the service station in the vicinity of the suppliers of combtistible 35 where the buyer can buy drinks, sna personal items, etc. The various components of the present system are conventional in nature, but have been combined to provide the unique combination presented herein. For example, an appropriate installation server 27 may be a personal computer of the PT90 with a hard disk of 500 egabytes and 32 egabytes of RAM (random access memory). Larger memory applications may be required depending on the number of security zones and dispensers served. A suitable interface 31 operable with this type of PC server may include a GPCC manufactured by Progressive International Inc. A compatible client interface controller 39 may be a PSI Pieces and Parts PC. A control board MCMC from Hess GmbH (TSPS 280) can be used as an appropriate coin controller 41. A suitable coin dispenser 47 that can be employed in the present invention is the Universal Hopper MK11 manufactured by Coin Controller, Ltd., and a suitable cash dispenser 49 can be the Model 13234 bill dispenser manufactured by DeLaRu Ltd. Additional components acceptable for the present invention includes a credit card reader 51 which may include a Model No. MT 215232 manufactured by Magtee Corporation, while a suitable receipt printer 55 for use in the present invention may be an FTP Model 421 printer (WMCR 512 ) manufactured by Fugitsu. Any number of suitable units for video presentation 57, such as Potronix, model 2400, are available and the number keypad for PIN 53 can be of the type used in banks in automatic recording machines such as Atala . Numerous alternative components for each of the operational functions are currently available and can be employed in the concept of the present invention. In the drawings and specification the best modality contemplated for the practice of the present invention has been presented and even when specific terms are used, they are used in their generic and descriptive sense only and not to limit the scope of the invention that is defined in the vindications. While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described and shown, those skilled in the art will understand that changes or modifications can be made without departing from the true spirit or scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1. CLAIMS 1. A system for an unattended automated sales or service station for selling and supplying products and services, particularly fuel, comprising: a supply device for supplying a pre-selected amount of motor fuel and for indicating the amount of fuel supplied; a first device and a second device for accepting the payment corresponding to the preselected amount of said motor fuel, said first payment acceptance device accepts the indirect payment made by a customer by means of bills and coins and includes a device credit card reader to read the identification and verify the data of a customer's credit card; said second payment acceptance device accepts the direct payment of said buyer by means of bills and coins and includes acceptors of bills and coins to receive an amount corresponding to the payment directly from said buyer; a first verification device for verifying the integrity of said credit card accepted by said first payment acceptance device; a second verification device for verifying the amount of payment accepted by said second payment acceptance device; a supply activation device for activating said fuel supply device for supplying said pre-selected amount of engine fuel and deactivating said fuel supply device when said pre-selected amount of engine fuel has been supplied; a printing device for generating a printed receipt indicating a direct or indirect payment for said pre-selected amount of fuel for engine and, a control device interconnecting said first payment acceptance device and said second payment acceptance device, said first verification device and said second verification device, said printing device, said supply device and supply activation device together in such a way that the data can be finished between said control device coming from said mentioned device or going towards said device previously mentioned, said control device includes a processor device for responding to transmitted data from either the first verification device or the second verification device and activating said fuel supply device to allow the supply of said preset amount. of fuel for engine, generating a receipt that reflects such acquisition and deactivating said fuel supply device.
2. 2. The unattended automated service station in accordance with claim 1, further including an exchange supply device for supplying change to said purchaser after the purchase of motor fuel when an amount paid by said purchaser exceeds an amount that corresponds to said preselected amount of motor fuel.
3. 3. The automated service station, unattended in accordance with claim 2, wherein said change supply device includes a first change supply device and a second change supply device, said first delivery device includes bill dispensers and said second delivery device includes coin dispensers.
4. 4. The unattended automated service station according to claim 2, wherein said first delivery device includes at least three different bill dispensers, each of said three bill dispensers includes a stock of bills stored there and said second billing device. The supply includes a plurality of coin dispensers corresponding in number to the number of different coins that constitute a lower denomination of the coin.
5. 5. The automated service station, unattended in accordance with claim 4, wherein said plurality of coin dispensers includes four coin dispensers, said four coin dispensers containing respective reserves of pennies, 5 cents, 10 cents and 25 cents.
6. 6. The unattended automated service station in accordance with claim 1, further including an aided information device for providing information and audio instructions to said purchaser to operate said system.
7. 7. The automated service station, unattended in accordance with claim 1, further including an audiovisual information means for providing a visual presentation to offer information and visual instructions to said buyer for the operation of said systems.
8. 8. The automated service station, unattended in accordance with claim 1, further including a device for displaying audio and visual information to provide both visual and audio information and instructions to said purchaser to operate said system.
9. 9. The automated, unattended service station according to claim 1, wherein said separate service station includes at least one service security zone associated therewith, the service security zone includes at least one fuel pump, said Fuel supply device is connected to said fuel pump.
10. 10. The automated, unattended service station according to claim 1, wherein said unattended service station includes several service safety zones, each of the service safety zones includes at least one fuel jet associated therewith, each of said service security zones includes a console accessible by the buyer, said console contains said fuel supply means, said first payment acceptance means and said second payment acceptance means and said printing means.
11. 11. The automated service station, unattended in accordance with claim 2, wherein said unattended service station includes several service safety zones, each of the service safety zones includes at least one fuel jet associated therewith, each of said service security zones includes a console accessible by the buyer, said console contains said fuel supply device, said first payment acceptance device and said second payment acceptance device and said printing device.
12. 12. The automated unattended service station according to claim 11, wherein said exchange supply device includes a first delivery device for supplying a predetermined amount of notes from a ticket reservation as a change in relation to a payment. direct purchase of motor fuel and a second supply device for supplying a predetermined amount of coins from a coin reserve as a change in relation to a direct payment for the purchase of motor fuel, said first delivery device and said second The supply device is interconnected by means of said control device to supply a preselected amount of change to said purchaser in connection with a purchase of motor fuel.