A system for dispensing consumer products includes a product bin unit; a product ejector; a product trigger; and a controller. The product bin unit includes a product bin; an ejector aperture; and a trigger aperture. The product ejector is coupled to the product bin unit through the ejector aperture
A system for dispensing consumer products includes a product bin unit; a product ejector; a product trigger; and a controller. The product bin unit includes a product bin; an ejector aperture; and a trigger aperture. The product ejector is coupled to the product bin unit through the ejector aperture and adapted to drive the product package from the product bin upon receipt of a dispensing signal. The product trigger is coupled to the product bin unit through the trigger aperture. The controller is in communication with the product ejector and the product trigger and includes at least one memory and a processor. The memory stores a dispensing module. The processor is adapted to execute the dispensing module, and the dispensing module is operable when executed to receive a dispensing instruction and transmit the dispensing signal to the product ejector based, at least in part, on the dispensing instruction.
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1. A system for dispensing consumer products, comprising: a product dispensing apparatus that comprises a housing that at least partially encloses: a product bin unit comprising: a product bin adapted to hold at least one product package;an ejector aperture; anda trigger aperture;a product ejector c
1. A system for dispensing consumer products, comprising: a product dispensing apparatus that comprises a housing that at least partially encloses: a product bin unit comprising: a product bin adapted to hold at least one product package;an ejector aperture; anda trigger aperture;a product ejector coupled to the product bin unit through the ejector aperture and adapted to drive the product package from the product bin upon receipt of a dispensing signal, wherein the product ejector comprises an electrically actuated piston-cylinder comprising: an electromagnet adapted to drive at least a portion of the piston to extend from the cylinder through the ejector aperture to be in contact with the product package upon energizing, and a spring adapted to drive the portion of the piston into the cylinder upon de-energizing of the electromagnet;a product trigger coupled to the product bin unit through the trigger aperture; anda controller in communication with the product ejector and the product trigger through one or more electrical connections, the controller comprising: at least one memory, the memory storing a dispensing module and at least a portion of confidential data describing financial or proprietary information related to the consumer products; andone or more processors adapted to execute the dispensing module, the dispensing module operable when executed to: present an authorization code request to a user that comprises a sales administrator or a sales associate of the product dispensing apparatus and is associated with management or sale of the consumer products enclosed in the product dispensing apparatus;receive an authorization code from the user, the authorization code comprising a password operable to secure the confidential data, wherein the password comprises an administrator's password facilitating administer-level access to the portion of confidential data;confirm the password as a valid code;receive a dispensing instruction from the user;transmit the dispensing signal to the product ejector based at least in part on the dispensing instruction and confirmation of the password as the valid code, such that the product ejector is electrically actuated to directly drive the product package from the product bin unit upon receipt of the dispensing signal;receive, from the product trigger, a particular confirmation signal confirming that the product package has been driven from the product bin unit;receive a request from the user for at least one sales data point associated with a value of sales of the product package in a specified time period, wherein the portion of confidential data describes financial or proprietary information related to the sales data point;generate a report comprising the sales data point; andsave the report for subsequent presentation to the user. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the product bin unit further comprises: a substantially vertical back plate comprising the ejector aperture;a substantially horizontal bottom plate coupled to the back plate, the bottom plate comprising the trigger aperture;a first vertical side plate and a second vertical side plate coupled to at least one of the back plate and the bottom plate; anda first substantially vertical divider plate coupled to at least one of the back plate and the bottom plate, the first divider plate arranged between the first and second side plates, at least a portion of the back plate, the bottom plate, the divider plate, and one of the first or second side plates defining the product bin. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the product package comprises one of: a tobacco product;a medicinal product; ora shaving product. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the product package comprises a tobacco product comprising one of a cigarette package or a smokeless tobacco package. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the product package comprises a medicinal product comprising one of a pain reliever package or a cough syrup package. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the product trigger comprises a sensor adapted to transmit a confirmation signal to the controller upon actuation of the piston-cylinder. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the product bin unit comprises a first product bin unit, the system further comprising a second product bin unit and a cabinet adapted to enclose at least a portion of the first product bin unit, the second product bin unit, and the controller, the cabinet comprising: a supply compartment comprising a door pivotally coupled to the cabinet; anda return compartment comprising a return opening. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the first product bin unit comprises a first product bin open in a first direction and the second product bin unit comprises a second product bin open in a second direction that is approximately 180 degrees from the first direction, wherein product dispensed from the first product bin and product dispensed from the second product bin is received into the supply compartment and removable from the supply compartment through the door facing the first direction. 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first product bin is adapted to hold a first size product package and the second product bin is adapted to hold a second size product package, the first size product package larger than the second size product package. 10. The system of claim 7, wherein the cabinet comprises a substantially opaque cabinet enclosing at least a portion of the first product bin unit, the second product bin unit, and the controller. 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises an electronic data reader coupled to the controller and adapted to transmit the dispensing instruction to the controller at least partially based on data stored on a product purchase ticket. 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the electronic data reader comprises a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) reader, the product purchase ticket comprising a MICR code, the MICR code comprising at least one of: a representation of a product package quantity; anda representation of a product package type. 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the product bin is adapted to receive the product package from a front of the product bin. 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the dispensing module is further operable to: present a graphical user interface (GUI) to a user;receive the dispensing instruction from the user through the GUI, the dispensing instruction comprising a product type and a product quantity;compare the product type to a product library stored in the memory;compare the product quantity to a product inventory of the product type stored in the memory;determine a product selection based on the product type and the product quantity;generate the dispensing signal based on the product selection; andtransmit the dispensing signal to the product ejector. 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the sales data point comprises one of: a value of sales in the specified time period based on the product type;a value of sales in the specified time period based on the product bin, the product bin comprising at least one product package of the same product type; anda value of sales in the specified time period based on a time shift period, the time shift period comprising at least a portion of a 24 hour period. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the dispensing module is further operable to: present a sales data request to the user; andreceive the sales data request from the user, the request comprising the specified time period and one of: the product type;the product bin; orthe time shift period. 17. The system of claim 14, wherein the dispensing module is further operable to: receive an update to the product library stored in the memory;receive a remote request from a remote user for the sales data point; andtransmit the sales data point to the remote user. 18. The system of claim 14, wherein the dispensing module further operable to: receive a second quantity of product packages of the product type input from the user;calculate a new product inventory of the product type, the new product inventory equal to a sum of the product inventory and the second quantity; andpresent the new product inventory of the product type to the user. 19. A method for dispensing consumer product, comprising: presenting an authorization code request to a user that comprises a sales administrator or a sales associate of a product dispensing apparatus and is associated with management or sale of consumer products enclosed in the product dispensing apparatus;receiving an authorization code from the user, the authorization code comprising a password operable to secure at least a portion of confidential data describing financial or proprietary information related to the consumer products, wherein the password comprises an administrator's password facilitating administer-level access to the portion of confidential data, and the portion of confidential data describing financial or proprietary information related to at least one sales data point associated with a value of sales of a product package in a specific time period;confirming the password as a valid code;based at least in part on the confirmation of the password, presenting a graphical interface to the user;receiving a product type and a product quantity from the user through the graphical interface;comparing the product type to a product library stored in a memory;comparing the product quantity to a product inventory of the product type stored in the memory;determining a product selection based on the product type and the product quantity;generating a dispensing signal based on the product selection;transmitting the dispensing signal to a product ejector;electrically actuating the product ejector to directly drive a first quantity of a product package from a product bin, the first quantity equal to the product quantity, wherein the product bin and the product ejector are enclosed in the product dispensing apparatus, and electrically actuating the product ejector comprises electrically actuating a piston-cylinder by an electromagnet to drive at least a portion of the piston to extend from the cylinder through an ejector aperture to be in contact with the product package upon energizing and by a spring to drive the portion of the piston into the cylinder upon de-energizing of the electromagnet;receiving, from a product trigger enclosed in the product dispensing apparatus, a particular confirmation signal confirming that the first quantity of the product package has been driven from the product bin;receiving a request from the user for the sales data point;generating a report comprising the sales data point; andsaving the report for subsequent presentation to the user. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the sales data point comprises one of: a value of sales in the specified time period based on the product type;a value of sales in the specified time period based on a product bin, the product bin comprising at least one product package of the same product type; anda value of sales in the specified time period based on a time shift period, the time shift period comprising at least a portion of a 24 hour period. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein receiving a request from the user for the sales data point comprises: based at least in part on the confirmation of the password, presenting a sales data request to the user; andreceiving the sales data request from the user, the request comprising the specified time period and one of: the product type;the product bin; orthe time shift period. 22. The method of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises: receiving an update to the product library stored in the memory;receiving a remote request from a remote user for the sales data point; andtransmitting the sales data point to the remote user. 23. The method of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a second quantity of product packages of the product type;calculating a new product inventory of the product type, the new product inventory approximately equal to a sum of the product inventory and the second quantity; anddecreasing the new product inventory by the product quantity upon driving the first quantity of the product package from the product bin by the product ejector. 24. The method of claim 19, wherein receiving a product type and a product quantity from the user through a graphical user interface comprises receiving a product type and a product quantity from the user via a MICR code on a product purchase ticket. 25. The method of claim 19, wherein the product bin comprises a first product bin, the method further comprising: dispensing the first quantity of the product package from the first product bin open in a first direction into a supply compartment;dispensing a second quantity of the product package from a second product bin open in a second direction into the supply compartment, the second direction approximately 180 degrees opposed to the first direction,wherein the supply compartment comprises a door open in the first direction configured to allow removal of the first and second quantities of the product package. 26. The method of claim 19, wherein receiving a particular confirmation signal comprises receiving the particular confirmation signal transmitted from a sensor in the product trigger upon electrically actuating the piston-cylinder.
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