Patent ID: 7980418
Filing Date: 2011-07-19
Classification: G07F

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for facilitating delivery of a product from a vending machine, the vending machine having a delivery mechanism and a delivery path, the delivery mechanism configured to move from and return to a home position, the apparatus comprising: a monitoring system configured to determine if the product passes along the delivery path; and circuitry communicatively coupled to the monitoring system, the circuitry configured to determine a failure if the product does not pass along the delivery path in response to a customer order, the circuitry configured to instruct the delivery mechanism to move from the home position in response to the failure and to subsequently stop in response to the product passing along the delivery path, wherein the monitoring system comprises a set of signal emitters and a set of signal detectors, and wherein at least one signal detector of the set of signal detectors and at least one adjacent signal detector receive a signal from a corresponding signal emitter of the set of signal emitters, the corresponding signal emitter being aligned with the at least one signal detector.