Abstract:
A system and process for controlling one or more vending machine devices, including the provision of a communications and control system for effecting an interchange of information over a wireless bus between and among the vending machine devices, the communications and control system including a plurality of communications portions associated with respective vending machine components and operable to transmit and receive short distance communications signals, the vending machine components being positioned within range of the short distance communications signals to define a peer-to-peer network having a wireless communications bus accessible through the communications portions interconnecting the positioned vending machine components for point-to-point communications.

Description:
This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/970,623, filed Oct. 3, 2001, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,048, on Aug. 3, 2004. 

   FIELD OF INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to the vending machine art, and more particularly to a device which accepts credit including coins and currency as well as credit card and smart card entries, and uses the information it receives to control the operation of one or more vending machines, and it does so without requiring any electrical wire connections between the vending machines. The invention has several novel features as described in detail hereinafter including the fact that one or more modules of one or more vending machines can be equipped with a “short distance RF communication” device. Another novel feature resides in the fact that only one vendor need be so equipped to allow receiving of credit but all of the vendors can vend products for that credit. The present wireless system can also monitor wireless systems of vending machines from a central location as will be described. The present device accomplishes these novel things without the possibility of third parties being able to tap into and cheat the system. This makes the present system particularly adaptable to situations where two or more vending machines or the like are controlled and it enables every vending machine that is controlled by the subject device to be operated independently and the amount of credit entered can be used to vend articles from one or from a plurality of machines each of which may or may not have the same or similar type of products. It can therefore be seen that the present invention teaches the construction and operation of means for safely and accurately controlling the operations of a plurality of different things such as vending machines without requiring any physical connection between the machines. The present invention also enables the use of a telephone or telephone-like device to be used to gather information and to produce controls in a manner which has not heretofore been seen, particularly in the vending art. 
   The present device or system eliminates the need for physical connections such as wire or cable connections between the controls and the devices being controlled and can use a controller of a known construction to control one or more vending machines or the like. Such a device will typically have a base band control formed of firmware and will operate as a host controller for controlling the operations of many different vending machines or the like, and it can be constructed to do so without requiring more than one host controller. 
   In summary, the present device has two principal novel features including being a wireless communication system which may be used to control vending machines or like devices and only one device need be equipped to receive credit but any one or more of a plurality of vending or like machines can be controlled to dispense products, make change or perform other functions for an established credit entry or deposit. The present invention represents a versatile and flexible control which can be used to control a plurality of the same or similar devices. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to a new and relatively inexpensive method of intercommunicating and controlling machines without requiring the usual harnesses and other electrical connections, and the present invention provides a broadly based way of credit accumulation and a flexible way for communicating with vending machines or like devices to control the operations thereof and to keep track of the credit that remains. 
   OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
   It is a principal object of the present invention to provide means for controlling the operations of vending machines and like devices including controlling the vending and other operations including the entries of deposits or credit, the dispensing of the product or products being vended and the return of excess deposits or credit entries to the customer without the use of the internet or an external harness that connects the modules, but rather in a wireless configuration. 
   Another object is to control the operation of one or more vending machines without requiring any electrical or other physical connections between the machines. 
   Another object is to provide means for controlling vending machines and the like in a manner which makes it much more difficult for third parties to tap into or interfere with or cheat the system including the change making procedures. 
   Another object is to provide a relatively versatile easy to operate means for controlling a number of operations including a number of machines operated from the same or from a common source. 
   Another object is to provide means for making it difficult for third parties to tap into or interfere with the operation of devices such as vending machines and the controls therefor. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the various controls that can be used to control the functions of a vending machine or the like; 
       FIG. 2  is another block diagram of a control configuration for controlling the operation of a vending machine; 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the hardware control means to be added to every intelligent module of the vending machine; 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the modules in the vending machine after the machine has been adapted per this invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the changer module for use in the subject invention; 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram depicting the use of a wireless relationship between control means and a vending machine controlled thereby; 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram of the present device used for controlling a plurality of vending machines; and 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram similar to  FIG. 7  but showing the inclusion of additional controls for the subject device. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference numbers, number  20  in  FIG. 1  identifies a block diagram showing the general components of a vending machine in a parallel configuration. The components  20  include a control portion  22  which has a plurality of connections to various control devices including to a heating and/or cooling unit  24 , a coin accumulation control  26 , a bill validator control  28 , a credit card control portion  30 , a first selection control portion  32  which enables the customer to select a particular product or products desired, a display control  34 , a communication control  36  and a payout motor control including a solenoid portion  38  which controls the refunding of excess amounts deposited. All of the controls  24 – 38  are connected to the vending machine control and are used to control the various operations of the vending machine. 
     FIG. 2  shows another variation of the controls for the vending machine including a serial configuration wherein the vending machine control portion  22  is controlled by a serial configuration including the coin accumulation means  26 , the bill validator  28  and the control display  34  all serially connected. 
     FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram of the controls for controlling the operation of one or more vending machines wherein the control means do not require any wire or other physical connection between the control means and the vending machines. The block diagram shown in  FIG. 3  includes a base band control firmware section  40 , a link manager firmware section  42 , a host controller interface firmware section  44  and a transport firmware section  46 . The hardware shown in  FIG. 3  is shown in schematic form which sometimes is referred to as a module  47 , one of which will be attached to every machine module or host which is to be controlled by the subject system. The schematic shown in  FIG. 3  can be controlled in a manner somewhat similar to a radio, a television or telephone and does not require any physical connections between the member or members being controlled and the control is accomplished by transmitting and receiving signals such as radio frequency signals which can be controlled in such a manner that they can not be taken advantage of or entered by outsiders. The vending machines controlled by the subject invention are equipped with wireless communicator devices such as short distance wireless communicator devices and the vending machine harnesses or wire connections employed heretofore are eliminated when using the present device. 
     FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing the interconnections between a vending machine intelligence module  48  and control module  49 . The vending machine intelligence module  48  includes a high level driver portion  50 , a host controller interface driver  52 , and a transport layer shown as block  54 . The control portion includes base band control firmware  56 , a link manager  58 , a host controller interface firmware portion  60  and a transport firmware portion  62 . 
     FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a coin validator module  64  with electrical and other connections thereto. The coin validator module  64  has associated with it modules  66  and  68 , and an associated control module  70  which has a wake-up connection with the control module  68 , and a detach connection  71  with the same control module  68 . Other circuit connections are also provided between the coin validator module  64  and the control module  70 . 
     FIG. 6  illustrates a wireless vending machine  72  with a vending machine control  74 , a control module  76  associated with the vending machine control  74 , a coin or credit accumulator circuit portion  78 , an associated control module  80 , and a bill validator module  82  also associated with its own control module  84 . The modules  76 ,  80  and  84  are also associated with a radio frequency wireless communication bus  86 . 
   An important aspect of the present invention resides in the fact that it may be used with vending machines that provide a way for a customer to use them when depositing or entering credit in one form or another and in being able to use the established credit in any one or more of a plurality of vending machines. In other words, the same deposit can be used with one or with a plurality of vending machines depending upon the desires of the customer and the products vended by the various vending machines. In this case, every vending machine in the system will be coupled to the same RF wireless communication bus  86  and all of the venders will be able to communicate with each other on the same or similar radio frequency bus. One, and only one vending machine needs to be equipped with means for accepting money either in the form of coins, bills, credit cards or the like, and this represents an important advantage because it means that a plurality of vending machines can be controlled by the same or similar control means sometimes referred to as an RF module. 
   Each of the venders included in the present system may be equipped or not equipped to vend products to customers but the system always has the ability to accumulate the customer&#39;s credit that can be received by one or a plurality of means and the credit can be used by any one or more of the vending machines that make up the system to enable the customer to choose products from any of the machines even though all of the credit is entered in the same or similar machine. It is also possible with the present system for the customer to use means to identify himself or herself to a particular vender in the system that holds the product or products to be purchased. The central payment machine will then receive the credit from the customer, release a numeric code, coupon or other means that the customer can later use to identify himself or herself to anyone of the venders in the system and to control the amount of money or credit that is deposited or entered so that the proper amount will be deducted as products are ordered and dispensed and appropriate change or credit is made. After identification of the customer, the customer can purchase the selected product or products for the credit accumulated and will be paid back any excess deposited regardless of which products are purchased and the amount of credit that has been deposited or entered. 
   The present system has several novel features about it including the importance of using a wireless communication system such as a wireless vending machine system, and only one vending machine needs to be equipped to receive credit but any one or more can dispense a product or products for the established credit, keeping in mind that the appropriate amount of change will be returned to the customer based upon the amount of credit entered and the cost of the product or products that are purchased. 
     FIG. 7  shows another embodiment  90  of the invention that relates to a method of monitoring data from a system such as a system of vending machines to a central location. In this embodiment, the central payment machine is replaced with a central data collection machine  92 . In this system, the vendor transmits all of the input data to an external device equipped with a radio frequency (RF) wireless bus  94 . The external device can be a modem, an interface to an internet device, a cellular telephone, a long distance radio frequency device, or something similar that can eventually send data to a specific central location. In  FIG. 7 , there is a central data collection machine  92  operator in association with, an associated control module  96  which is connected to the RF wireless communication bus  94 , and the RF wireless communication bus  94  can in turn be made to transfer information to one or more vending machines such as machines  98  and  100 , each of which has its own control module  102  and  104 . 
     FIG. 8  shows another embodiment which also teaches a way of interconnecting vending machines and modules. In this case, the vending machine  100  has a control module  104  and includes a central data collection portion  106  which is able to communicate through control module  108  with RF wireless communication bus  110 . This embodiment has another vending machine  112  and its control module  114  which likewise can communicate with the central data collection portion  106  through the RF wireless communication bus  110 . In the case of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 8 , there is also provided an external device  116  with an associated module  118 . The external device  116  communicates with the vending machines  102  and  112  disclosed above as well as with a central location device  120  which in this case may be the location where the customer deposits his money or enters his credit and gets his change. In this case the customer is able to select articles from one or more vending machines and have any excess deposit returned. 
   As indicated above, one of the important aspects of the present invention resides in the fact that the present system, regardless of which embodiment is chosen, is a wireless system which can be made to operate within a desired range or distance and provides the customer as well as the owner of the system with many options and with an absence of wire connections between the various system elements. Thus there has been shown and described, several embodiments of a system such as a vending machine system which does not require wire connections between the vending machines and the control means therefor and yet is able to vend one or more products from one or more vending machines and it can do so while also enabling the customer to be paid back any excess deposit or credit entry. Thus the present system is highly flexible and versatile, is relatively inexpensive to make and can be used to control one or more machines. 
   The fact that the present system does not require any hardwire connections between the control unit or units and the machines being controlled thereby adds to the flexibility and versatility of the system and enables the present system to be used with systems such as Bluetooth systems which are systems that do not require physical connections between the various units that are controlling and controlled. The present system does however use radio frequency (RF) networking technology and provides an energy-saving, safe, and low cost RF technology without cable connections being required. It is also important to note that with this type of wireless RF connection the devices being controlled and doing the controlling can communicate amongst each other without having a line of sight or physical connection. The present system can also use frequency hopping which provides a high level of security against eavesdropping and fraudulent access. These are important advantages especially in a system such as one that controls one or more vending machines which usually are located in relatively close proximity to one another or may be separated by greater distances depending on the strength of the RF signals that are used. In this regard, the present system can also support “point-to-point” and “point-to-multipoint” connections and the same or similar control can be used to control vending machines in more than one location so long as the distance that the RF signals can be transmitted is known and made available. The present invention also provides a new method that a customer can use to deposit money or enter credit and still be able by doing so to establish credit that can be used in any of a plurality of venders. In such a system every one of the vending machines is equipped with an RF virtual communication bus as described above and all of the venders in the system can communicate with each other over the RF bus. In a typical system, one and only one vending machine may be equipped with means for accepting money or credit and this machine can be referred to as the central payment machine. This vender may be equipped or not to vend products to the customer but it always has the function of accumulating the customer&#39;s credit and enables this credit to be used by any one or more of the vending machines that make up the system. The customer may also be able to establish his identity to a particular vender that holds a product or products that he wants to purchase. In this case the central payment machine will receive the credit from the customer and may release a “numeric code”, a “coupon” or other means that the customer can later use to identify himself to any one or more of the venders in the system. Thereafter the customer can purchase products from any one of the venders in the system to use up the balance of the credit. Thus the present system has several novel features including being a wireless communication system in which one or several machines are equipped to receive credit but any one or more of the machines in the system can vend a product or products for the credit that has been established in the system. 
   Yet another aspect of the present invention is that it produces a novel method of monitoring data from one part of a system to another such as to a central location. The data that is monitored can then be used to produce later vending operations or return of excess cash or credit. In the system as is shown in  FIG. 8 , the central payment machine is replaced with a central data collection machine and this vender will communicate all of the data to an external device equipped with a similar radio frequency wireless bus that can be used to transmit the information stored between the machines that are parts of the system. The external device in such a system could be a modem, an interface, a cellular telephone, a long distance radio frequency device, or a similar device such as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
   Thus there has been shown and described, several embodiments of a wireless system, particularly adaptable to control the operations of one or more vending machines or the like to accumulate cash or credit, to produce change when necessary, and to vend a product or products to a customer as required. Such a system is easy to operate by the customer and by the owner of the system and makes it possible to produce many operations including keeping track of more things than is presently available including in the vending industry. For example, with the present system, if one vending machine runs out of a product that is being vended in more than one machine, the customer can obtain the product from a different vending machine based on the amount of credit that he has established. Also the present device enables the owner of the vending machine to have a better means of keeping track of the amount of money received and paid out as well as the amount of product or products vended by each machine. The present invention therefore has major advantages both from the owner&#39;s and from the user&#39;s standpoint.