Merchandise dispensing by exchange of subsequently validated card symbols for article

A system for the sale of consumer goods, where the purchase of an article, from a board (1) containing symbols of merchandise, collects symbols of articles (2) in the form of optically, magnetically or electronically readable cards (2). The card is preprogrammed, but not capable of being reprogrammed. A control unit (3) converts the article number of the card to an article price paid by the customer of the article, and transmits at least one unique serial number of the card via a connection (9; 15) to a comparator and controller unit (10) in a merchandise dispensing machine (11) to be stored as a validation signal for the specific card in a memory (13). The stored validation signal is compared with data on the card which is input and read (16) in the dispensing machine (11), the specific article being dispensed at the correspondence of said data, simultaneously with the validation of the card being deleted.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Technical Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a system for the sale of consumer goods, 
where the purchaser of an article at the place of purchase collects one or 
more non-validated card symbols of the article, where data carried on the 
symbol of the article are read and registered, where such data are 
converted to a price for the article which is paid by the purchaser of the 
article, where the purchaser of the article receives a validated symbol of 
the article, and where the article is dispensed to the purchaser at a 
dispensing location in return for his/her depositing the validated symbol 
of the article, the symbol of the article subsequently being invalidated, 
2. Prior Art 
Such a system is known from, inter alia, the furniture company IKEA. 
The known system is based on a purchaser of an article collecting at a 
place of purchase the non-validated symbol of the article at one of the 
many service areas found at the place of purchase. When the customer 
receives this non-validated symbol of the article, the customer 
simultaneously knows that the article is reserved for him/her in the stock 
room. When the customer presents the symbol of the article at the 
check-out register, this symbol, generally in the form of a large card 
where the article is described, is read either manually followed by manual 
typing on the cash register, or by optical reading of a code on the card, 
for example a bar code. The code for the particular article is converted 
by a computer system to an article price, which is added to the bill that 
is to be paid in cash by the customer. Only when the article or articles 
have been paid, will the customer receive a validated symbol of the 
article. Simultaneously, a message is automatically transmitted to the 
stock room indicating that the customer has bought and paid for a 
particular article, so that the customer will receive the article when 
he/she visits the stock room At the same time the validated symbol of the 
article, for example a cash register receipt with a special note, is 
invalidated by the person delivering the article, by a cancellation stamp 
being placed on the receipt. 
EP-A-135,631 teaches a system for the sale of consumer goods, where there 
is used a programmable card which at a sale is provided with information 
about the article to be delivered After the article has been delivered, 
the information on the card is deleted. However, the system may easily be 
cheated by means of card copies being made. 
Other examples of prior art within the patent literature to be mentioned 
are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,669,596, 3,870,135, 4,767,917, 5,133,441, 3,939,952 
and WO 88/04433. 
However, within the grocery trade there is another problem which is of 
great concern, that is, the steadily increasing problem of theft or 
pilfering of cigarettes and tobacco goods. Particularly in the case of 
larcenies, packs of cigarettes and tobacco goods as a whole are a favorite 
object of thefts. This is due to the fact that tobacco goods are easy to 
sell, both to handlers of stolen goods and to people in general who often 
buy single packs or cartons in the streets. On a country-wide basis, the 
theft of cigarettes and tobacco goods in Norway amounts to values 
exceeding NOX 100 million per year. 
It is often found in cases of theft that the whole of the easily accessible 
stock of cigarettes and tobacco goods has been taken. 
By means of the present invention it is sought to solve this problem which 
is particularly prevalent within the grocery trade. 
Although the present system has been shown and described particularly in 
connection with the sale of tobacco goods, it will be readily understood 
that the system easily may be used for the sale of other types of goods, 
particularly where price and size represent a security risk, for example 
CD's, Russian caviar, etch 
According to the invention the system mentioned by way of introduction is 
characterized by 
a preprogrammed, not reprogrammable card which is optically, magnetically 
or electronically readable and which forms the symbol of the article and 
which contains data both in the form of a number for the article of 
merchandise and a serial number which is unique to the individual card, 
a merchandise dispensing machine where articles of merchandise 
corresponding to said article number are stored, 
a comparator and controller unit mounted in the merchandise dispensing 
machine, 
a card input having a card reader mounted in the merchandise dispensing 
machine for the input of said readable card and reading the data on the 
card, 
a control unit at the place of purchases for example a manually operated 
cash register, where said data on the symbol of the article are read 
either by the readable area of the card being scanned by insertion of the 
card into a scanner device or by data for the card being manually read and 
loaded into the control unit, 
transmitting means in the control unit for transmitting a validation signal 
to and storing it in the comparator/controller unit in the merchandise 
dispensing machine upon or subsequent to the registration of said article 
prices said validation signal being composed of at least said serial 
number, 
a comparator section of said comparator and controller unit adapted to 
receive the data read by the card reader and collate these with the data 
in said validation signal which are stored in the memory of the comparator 
section, and in the case of correspondence emit an enabling signal to an 
controller section in said comparator and controller unit, and 
actuating means for a merchandise dispensing machine adapted to receive an 
controller signal from said controller section and as a result of the 
controller signal effect the delivery to the customer of the paid number 
of articles corresponding to said article number from a merchandise supply 
in said dispensing machine. 
According to the invention, it will also be advantageous to let the 
comparator section be adapted to delete the used validation signal from 
the memory of the comparator section, simultaneously with or subsequent to 
the output of the enabling signal. 
In the merchandise dispensing machine a container for the collection of 
cards will be disposed inwardly of said card input and reader. These 
collected cards where the validation has been cancelled by deletion of 
said stored validation signals are intended to be brought back to the 
place of purchase for repeated use. 
According to a further embodiment of the system said card input is adapted 
to return to the customer cards which have not been validated in advance. 
This means that no article will be dispensed to the customer from the 
merchandise dispensing machine unless the card has been registered in the 
control unit and the validation signal has been transmitted from there to 
the memory of the comparator section. 
Said cards may advantageously be designed to carry a complete or partial 
representation of the article concerned so as thereby to promote the sale 
of the article. Such articles may be consumer goods, as, for example, one 
or more of the following items: packs of cigarettes, cigars, snuff, pipe 
tobaccos and tobacco for rolling cigarettes, etc. 
It will be advantageous to let the merchandise dispensing machine have a 
modular design, with a specific type of merchandise intended for each 
module. Further, it will be very advantageous to let the dispensing 
machine be encompassed by a burglarproof cabinet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION 
In FIG. 1 there is shown a self-service shelf 1 with symbols 2 of 
merchandise, where each symbol of merchandise represents a specific 
article of merchandise. This symbol of an article may be an optically, 
magnetically or electronically readable card containing data both in the 
form of a number of an article of merchandise and a serial number which is 
unique to the particular card. The card is preprogrammed and cannot be 
reprogrammed. This makes the card inexpensive with respect to its 
production. Such cards on a self-service shelf may, for example, represent 
packs of cigarettes of various brands. Thus, when the customer buys 
merchandise and in the present example also wishes to have one or more 
packs of cigarettes of a particular brand, he picks up the desired number 
of cards, The unique serial number of each separate card and the number of 
the article of merchandise may be disclosed on the card, for example in 
the form of a bar code, a numerical code, or a magnetic region or in the 
form of an electronically readable area on the card. 
The customer brings the card or possibly a plurality of cards to a control 
unit 3 at the place of purchase, for example a manually operated cash 
register. The control unit 3 may consist of a card scanner 4 which scans 
the reading area of the card. This card scanner 4 may optionally be 
replaced or supplemented by the usual bar code reader 31 of the cash 
register. Alternatively, data on the card may be manually read and entered 
on a keyboard 5 by the person operating the cash register The article 
number which thus is scanned and manually entered will be transmitted via 
a connection 6 to a converting means 7 in the control unit 3 in order to 
convert the merchandise article number which is transferred to the value 
of the article and register the amount to be paid by the customer for the 
article, for example NOX 35.50. 
However, it will be necessary to ensure that the card 2 for which the 
customer has paid has been validated. There are therefore, in substance, 
alternative ways to accomplish this, two of which are being shown in the 
present description. In the first case the card 2 is moved from the 
scanner 4 after having been read there, optionally after manual typing via 
the keyboard 5, to a transmitting means 8 included in the control unit. 
This transmitting means 8 is capable of transmitting, via a connection 9, 
a validation signal for the card to a comparator and controller unit 10 
included in a merchandise dispensing machine 11, said transmission 
occurring upon or subsequent to the registration of said amount in the 
control unit 3 and the converting means 7. The validation signal is 
composed of at least said unique serial number. The comparator and 
controller unit 10 comprises a comparator section 12 having a memory 13 
where data in said validation signal can be stored. 
In an alternative embodiment, indicated by dashed lines, there will, by the 
scanning of the card 2 in the scanner 4 or by manual registration via the 
keyboard 5, or by means of the bar code reader 31, occur a transfer to the 
converting means 7 of both the merchandise article number and the unique 
serial number of the card. A validation signal is thereafter transmitted 
from the converting means 7 via another transmitting means 14, this 
transmitting means 14 being capable of transmitting a validation signal to 
the comparator section 12 via a connection 15 for the storage of the 
validation signal in the memory 13 of the comparator section 12. In this 
case as wells the validation signal will be composed of at least the 
unique serial number of the card. 
Said comparator section of the comparator and controller unit 10 is 
designed to receives from a card reader 16, data which the card reader 
reads from a card 2 which is fed through a card input 17 in the 
merchandise dispensing machine 11 when the card is inserted in the 
merchandise dispensing machine in the direction of the arrow 18. The 
comparator section 12 of the comparator and controller unit 10 which 
receives from the card reader 16 the data read from the card 2 will 
collate these data with the data stored in the memory 13 for said 
validation signal. When the data corresponds the comparator section 12 
will feed an enabling signal to an controller section 19 which also is 
included in said comparator and controller unit. The controller unit 19 
will as a result of this enabling signal feed a control signal via a 
connection 20 to an actuating means 21 also included in the merchandise 
dispensing machine 11. As a result of this controller signal the actuating 
mens 21 will effect the delivery, from a merchandise supply, 22, 23, 24, 
25, 26 or 27 in the chosen examples to the customer of the article or 
articles corresponding to the article numbers to which the respective 
cards relate. In the present example the customer has taken a card of the 
type E and, accordingly, this wills at the input of the card 2 in the 
merchandise dispensing machine 11, and when this card has been 
prevalidated either via connection 9 or connection 15, entail that an 
article will be dispensed to the customer from the supply compartment for 
the article E, viz., the supply compartment 26. The actuating means 21 may 
be a circuit operating the respective dispensing gates (not shown) of the 
respective supply compartments 22-27 via respective actuating connections 
22', 23', 24', 25', 26' and 27'. 
Simultaneously with or subsequent to the output of the enabling signal from 
the comparator section 12 to the controller section 19, the used 
validation signal for the respective card will be deleted in the memory 13 
of the comparator section 12. This means that when the card 2 is fed past 
the card reader 16, it will end up in a collection container 28, the card 
then having lost its validation. The collection container may be disposed 
directly in the path of movement downstream in relation to the card reader 
16, as shown in FIG. 1. By the very fact that the collected cards have had 
their validation cancelled by the deletion of the stored validation signal 
for the particular card with its unique serial numbers the collected cards 
can be brought back to the place of purchase, i.e., the self-service shelf 
1 for repeated use, validations and invalidation after the dispensing of 
the article. 
By means of the letters A, B, C, D, E and F it is indicated that the card 2 
may carry a complete or partial representation of the articles for example 
the appearance of a side of a pack of cigarettes. 
Although FIG. 1 shows a merchandise dispensing machine 11 having six 
article type modules, it will be readily understood that the actuating 
means 21 may equally well operate a greater or smaller number of such 
modules, depending upon the particular requirements at the place of 
purchase. The merchandise dispensing machine 11 may expediently be 
encompassed by a burglarproof cabinets individual articles optionally 
being described on the exterior of the cabinet. The cabinet ought to be of 
such strength and structure that it might withstand at least a fifteen 
minutes' burglary attack without permitting access. This means that the 
cigarette and tobacco articles located in the store are safely secured in 
comparison with the known solutions where tobacco articles are placed in a 
wire cabinet which can easily be broken apart by simple tools. 
Although the present invention has been described particularly in 
connection with consumer goods, as, for example, packs of cigarettes, 
cigars, snuffs pipe tobaccos tobacco for rolling cigarettes, or similar 
articles, it is readily understood that the present system also can be 
used for other consumer goods representing a risk for theft because of 
their prices size and demand on the market as, for examples compact discs 
(CD's), Russian caviar, perfume, and so forth. 
A further advantage of the present system is that it will not be possible 
for a customer to input a card which has not been validated in advances 
the card in that case being returned to the customer. However, this means 
that a card which might have been copied will not have an article 
dispensed if the article already has been dispensed for the original card. 
Such a copied card will be recognized as "false" and retained by the 
machine. 
The greatest advantage of the present invention is that the symbol or 
symbols of the article cannot be validated before they have been 
registered in a control unit/cash register. The present system will also 
be difficult to cheat since the card can be provided with an EAN 13 code 
permitting a total of 10.sup.12 numerical combinations. The system thus 
becomes completely theft proof in addition to it being completely 
impossible to manipulate the card codes in practices these being fixed to 
the respective card and incapable of being changed. When the merchandise 
is dispensed, the serial number of the card will, as mentioned, be 
excluded from the memory 13 and the card will remain within the machine 
until this is emptied by the staff at the place of purchase. The cards 
which thus are collected in the collection container 28 are in fact 
without value and can thereby be used again, provided they are of such a 
physical quality that this is possible. 
The number of units of merchandise for each article of merchandise that can 
be stored in the merchandise dispensing machine is to a great extent 
dependent upon the physical design and dimensions of the machine. In a 
preferred, but for the invention non-limiting, embodiment the dispensing 
machine may for example have a storage capacity for articles to be 
dispensed which will be sufficient for two days or more. Further, it is 
possible to let the merchandise dispensing machine have such a large 
cabinet that there are opportunities for storage outside the supply 
compartments, whereby replenishment of the supply compartments might be 
carried out in a simpler manner. 
Although FIG. 1 has been described in particular in connection with a pack 
of cigarettes, it will be readily understood that somewhat more irregular 
shapes also may be suitable for delivery from the dispensing machine 11, 
for example tobacco for rolling cigarettes, canisters for cigars, paper 
tubes for cigarettes, etc. Although only six variants of articles of 
merchandise are shown in connection with the self-service shelf 1, this is 
to be understood simply as an example, the self-service shelf having the 
symbols of articles or the cards 2 being capable of providing space for 
far more articles, for example at least 25 variants. 
Standard price tickets 29 for shelf use may be placed above each variant of 
the articles. 
Instead of the customer optionally picking up two or more cards in order to 
receive two or more articles of the same type, some cards on the shelf 1 
may for example state the number of articles represented by the card at 
the same time as the appearance of the article is illustrated on the card. 
By means of the present invention there is achieved, not only a safer and 
simpler sale of consumer goods, such as typically tobacco articles, but 
also the elimination of a substantial possibility for shrinkage and theft 
of the articles in question. Not only will the smell of typical tobacco 
articles be eliminated at the cash register, a smell which is unpleasant 
both to the customers and the staff, but the customer service at the cash 
registers will also be better. This, in turn, means a significantly 
improved work situation for the staff. By the very fact that particularly 
tobacco goods is a favorite object of theft, the present system will 
remove a principal catalyst for larcenous motives. 
Another essential feature of the present invention is the fact that the 
tobacco articles will be removed from the cash register area and instead 
be located in the merchandise dispensing machines, for example at the exit 
from the store. This will to a much greater extent reduce the so-called 
"impulse purchase" which often takes place at the cash register. The 
person operating the cash register will also be spared from having to get 
up from his/her work place or possibly stretch uncomfortably in order to 
get hold of the article of merchandise required. 
The system also implies, for the reason that the card is preprogrammed with 
respect to article number and serial number, that the article does not 
need to be recorded at the cash register and that the card does not have 
to be programmed or reprogrammed at the cash register. This ensures quick 
processing at the cash register. 
The presence of a self-service shelf also provides the opportunity for 
marking it with consumer information Similarly, the front of the 
dispensing machine and the cards 2 might carry consumer information about 
the particular product. Actually, such information is at the present time 
only limited to what might be placed on the article in question. As a 
result of the present system, it will thus be greater opportunities for 
exposure and campaigns, particularly attitude campaigns in connection with 
tobacco goods. A more circumstantial buying process will also make the 
customer more attentive at the moment of purchase. 
The present system will not only reduce typical losses due to pilfering, 
where this constitute nearly 0.5% of the sale of the articles in question, 
but also possibly lead to less payment in self-insurance in connection 
with burglary. It is also conceivable that the insurance premium might be 
reduced as a result of better security arrangements for goods specially 
exposed to theft. 
Moreover, the present system will also result in typical labor saving and 
better work environment at the individual cash register, in addition to 
making the maintenance of stock rooms and the replenishing of supplies 
simpler and more efficient in terms of time. 
A modification of the system shown in FIG. 1 can easily be carried out by a 
person skilled in the art without thereby departing from the spirit of the 
invention as expressed in the appended patent claims. 
Finally, the invention will briefly be described in connection also with 
what is shown in FIG. 2. Data from the card 2 can either be read by a 
scanner 4, as mentioned in connection with FIG. 1, or be entered by means 
of a keyboard 5. If a keyboard 5 is used, it will in this connection be 
expedient to provide a transmitting means 8, for example a card scanner, 
which can transmit the validation signal to the dispensing machine 11. As 
soon as the validation signal is sent to the dispensing machine 11, a 
control lamp, for example a LED 31, might be operated on the scanner. In 
the case where only the scanner is used for sending a validation signal to 
the dispensing machine via the transmitting means 14, it is only necessary 
to pass the card 2 through the scanner 4. Normally, the present system 
will therefore only need one card scanner in addition to the card reader 
in the dispensing machine itself 11. 
The control unit 3 may, for example, have the physical appearance of a cash 
register with a display window 3' for indicating the value of the article 
corresponding to the converted merchandise article number. The push-button 
area 3" may optionally be used for other cash register functions. The 
reference numeral 30 represents the box of coins and notes/bills in the 
register 3, and 31 represents the bar code reader.