초록 ▼

A vending machine for serving a plurality of customers, each having a payment card, which includes a vending unit for storing and displaying an accessible inventory and for selectively enabling and barring free access of a customer to a plurality of items therefrom, a card payment unit which upon re

A vending machine for serving a plurality of customers, each having a payment card, which includes a vending unit for storing and displaying an accessible inventory and for selectively enabling and barring free access of a customer to a plurality of items therefrom, a card payment unit which upon receipt of a payment card from a customer, validates, prior to said enabling, that the payment card can be charged for the value of the accessible inventory, and which charges, after the barring, the payment card with a sum in accordance with the items removed from the accessible inventory by the customer and a control unit for coordinating the operations of said vending unit and said card payment unit.

대표청구항 ▼

[ I claim:] [1.] A vending machine offering for sale at least two different items, at least one item being a low cost item, to a plurality of customers each having a payment card, said payment card being operative to pay from both a local account and a remote account, said remote account being unsui

[ I claim:] [1.] A vending machine offering for sale at least two different items, at least one item being a low cost item, to a plurality of customers each having a payment card, said payment card being operative to pay from both a local account and a remote account, said remote account being unsuited for payment of said low cost item, said vending machine comprising:a vending unit for storing an accessible inventory of said at least two items and for selectively enabling and barring free access of a customer to said accessible inventory; anda card payment unit cooperating with said vending unit, which upon receipt of said payment card, validates, prior to said enabling, that said payment card can charge said remote account for the value of said accessible inventory, and which, after said barring, receives from said payment card a payment sum in accordance with the price of the items removed from said accessible inventory, by automatically selecting, according to said payment sum and the status of said local account, whether:to receive said payment sum from said local account; orto receive said payment sum from said remote account; orto both replenish said local account from said remote account and receive said payment sum from said local account.