초록 ▼

The combination of a vend control circuit with a device to accumulate an ongoing history of the operation of a vending machine capable of vending products and making change, the improvements comprising circuit elements for detecting the occurence of an interruption in the supply of power from a powe

The combination of a vend control circuit with a device to accumulate an ongoing history of the operation of a vending machine capable of vending products and making change, the improvements comprising circuit elements for detecting the occurence of an interruption in the supply of power from a power source to the circuit and operable to prevent loss of stored information on the ongoing machine operations before resetting the circuit, an internal source of energy rechargeable by the power source, a pricing matrix and associated switches the combined settings of which establish the vend price for the machine, and a sensor device responsive whether or not the door to the vending the machine is open for restocking or servicing including a control circuit associated with the door sensor device for distinguishing between vends made by the vending machine when the door is open and vends made by the machine when the door is closed.

대표청구항 ▼

In combination a vend circuit for a vending machine and means to accumulate an ongoing history of the operation of the vending machine including an ongoing history of sales, service, and machine down time, the vend circuit having switch means operable to distinguish between when the vending machine

In combination a vend circuit for a vending machine and means to accumulate an ongoing history of the operation of the vending machine including an ongoing history of sales, service, and machine down time, the vend circuit having switch means operable to distinguish between when the vending machine door is open and the vending machine is being services and when the vending machine door is closed comprising a vending control circuit including: means to respond to the deposit of credit in the vend machine including means to accumulate a total thereof taking into account vending, paying back or refunding operations, means to cause a vend to take place when the amount deposited at least equals the price of a selected vend, means including a diode matrix circuit having diodes arranged in rows and columns and having first and second portions, switch means operatively connected to the first portion of the diode matrix for establishing therewith a vend price for the vending machine; other circuit means operatively connected to the second portion of the diode matrix for addressing the second portion thereof; means to payback any excess deposited over the cost of the selected vends, means including programable memory means operatively connected to the vend control circuit to accummulate an ongoing history of the operation of the vending machine including; means responsive to the means to accumulate a total of the deposit of credit to keep a running accumulation of net sales from the vending machine, means responisve to the means operable to distinguish between when the vending machine is being serviced including means to keep a record thereof, means responsive to the condition of the door switch means on the vending machine to distinguish whether the door to the vending machine is open or closed to produce changes in the control circuit which enable the vend control circuit to distinguish between vend operations made when the door is open and when it is closed, and means to prevent the loss of accumulated information under conditions when there is an interruption in power to the vend control circuit, said means including a main source of power for operating the vending machine, an internal source of power including means operatively connecting the main source of power to the internal source to maintain a charge thereon during operation of the vending machine by the main source of power and timer means, first means responsive to an interruption in power from the main power source including means to disable the programmable memory means and to initiate the timer means to produce a timer interval of predetermined duration, and second means for resetting the vend control circuit at the conclusion of the time interval.