Patent ID: 9685025
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: G01J,G01P,G01V,G07F

Claim:
1. A vending machine, comprising: a transparent front; a dispensing mechanism configured to perform vending operations in order to dispense a product selected by a consumer; a volume of interest comprising a portion of the space in said vending machine through which said selected product will automatically fall into a bin portion for retrieval by the consumer; and an optical vend-sensing system configured to sense when said selected product passes through said vend space, said optical vend-sensing system including an emitter mechanism configured to generate electromagnetic radiation that substantially spans said volume of interest and has an intensity and a diameter, a lens assembly for expanding the diameter of and collimating the electromagnetic radiation, a mosaic detector mechanism having a plurality of detection elements along a length and width, each detection element independently able to detect a change in the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation caused by said selected product passing through said volume of interest.