초록 ▼

Machine for automatic rental of video cassettes. Cassettes are stored in a drum like magazine (32) and are made available at a dispensing slot (20, 22) after a user has identified himself by introducing a personal into a slot (12) and entered a unique personal code number on a keyboard (16) which th

Machine for automatic rental of video cassettes. Cassettes are stored in a drum like magazine (32) and are made available at a dispensing slot (20, 22) after a user has identified himself by introducing a personal into a slot (12) and entered a unique personal code number on a keyboard (16) which the user also employs to enter the selection from the available video cassettes. On returning the cassette, the user again identifies himself and the machine verifies by reading a bar code that the hired film has been returned.

대표청구항 ▼

Apparatus capable of dispensing articles for rental and accepting returned articles, comprising: means for enabling a user to enter a unique identification code, means for verifying the code entered to inhibit dispensing to unauthorized users, means for enabling payment for rental to be made, means

Apparatus capable of dispensing articles for rental and accepting returned articles, comprising: means for enabling a user to enter a unique identification code, means for verifying the code entered to inhibit dispensing to unauthorized users, means for enabling payment for rental to be made, means for enabling a user to select from amongst the articles available for rental, a magazine having a plurality of compartments each for receiving a respective one of the articles for rental, the magazine being constructed as a cylindrical drum with two radially spaced rows of radially extending compartments for the individual articles, means defining two separate dispensing apertures formed in line with one another, a sector shaped plate for controlling the dispensing apertures, the sector shaped plate being formed with offset apertures and being pivotable between three positions, both apertures being closed in one position, and a respective one of the apertures being open in each of the other two positions, means for moving the magazine relative to the dispensing apertures to align with a dispensing aperture the magazine compartment containing the selected article, and means for recording data indicating the identity of the user and the selected article, the apparatus further comprising: means for reading from the recorded data the article previously hired to an identified user, means for moving the magazine to align with a dispensing aperture the empty compartment for containing the article previously hired to the identified user, means operative after insertion of the article into the compartment by the user to read a code on the article identifying the returned article, and means for recording the return of the rented article when the article code corresponds with that read from the recorded data.