Patent ID: 9547950
Date: 2017-01-17
CPC Classifications: G06F,G07F

Claim:
1. A vending machine audit system comprising: a vending machine including a vending machine controller configured to generate device data representative of operations of the vending machine; at least one peripheral device operatively coupled to the vending machine and configured to generate device data representative of operations of the peripheral device; and an audit module including a data storage component and operatively coupled to the vending machine controller and the at least one peripheral device; wherein the audit module is configured to receive device data from each of the vending machine controller and the at least one peripheral device and to perform a merging operation to generate a single merged audit data record representative of the operations of the vending machine and the at least one peripheral device, wherein the audit module is configured to comprise a reference table stored in memory defining a priority between a priority of data groups, a priority of the vending machine controller, and a priority of the at least one peripheral device, wherein the audit module is configured to enter an interim period in response to generation of the single merged audit data record, and wherein the audit module is configured to invalidate the single merged audit data record in response to detecting an event that changes an accuracy of the single merged audit data record during the interim period.