Patent GB-1478675-A (GB)
Title: Vending machine credit accumulator
IPC: G07F5/22
Filed: 1974-07-03
Abstract: 1478675 Credit accumulators for vending machines ROWE INTERNATIONAL Inc 3 July 1974 [3 July 1973] 29495/74 Heading G4V A credit accumulator for a machine, e.g. a "juke box", arranged to sell goods or services at a standard unit price and at a premium price in response to the deposit of money therein includes, a pulse train generator 18 arranged to respond to the deposit of money in the machine for producing a train of credit pulses proportional in number to the number of basic monetary units deposited, a credit register 42 for storing the pulses, means responsive to output signals of the register for enabling the machine to sell at the standard price and at the premium prices and means responsive to a sale by the machine for subtracting from the register a number of pulses corresponding to the price of the sale. Generator 18 has input terminals 24a to 24k which correspond to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and twenty pulse output from NAND circuit 16. Credit input circuitry includes five input switches CS1 to CS5 corresponding to inputs of 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c and $1À00. Input circuits 26a to 26c are adapted to apply signals respectively to terminals 28a to 28e upon the concurrence of the closure of one of switches CS1 to CS5 and a signal on a sample line 30. Terminals 28a to 28e are connected to terminals 24a to 24k to provide a correspondence between the money deposited and the number of pulses produced by generator 18. As shown one pulse corresponds to 5c in credit. Alternatively, the money deposited may be converted into standard plays with there being one pulse per standard play worth. When the generator produces an output signal to enable NAND circuit 16, clock pulses pass to line 38 which is connected by an inverting amplifier 40 to the input terminal of up/down credit counter 42. When credit is being registered, control circuit 32 applies signals through lines 44 and 46 to a counter control circuit 48 which then produces an output on line 50 to "count-up" input control 52 of counter 42. When the counter is to count down, circuit 48 provides a signal on line 54. Counter 42 carries signals on output lines 58a to 58l in binary form to denote credit stored. Converter 62 gives the credit in decimal form to output lines 64a to 64h. Album selection circuit terminal 66 is connected to one of terminals 64a to 64b representing the minimum credit required to play an album. Similarly terminal 68 represents the minimum credit required to play a standard selection. As shown terminal 66 is connected to a line representing 30c of credit whilst terninal 68 is connected to a line representing 10c of credit. NOR circuit 70 is enabled by clock pulses and a signal on line 72 from counter control circuit 48. This allows a bonus counter 74 to produce a binary output on output terminal 76a to 76k indicating the total count of the bonus counter. Certain output lines of the counter are connected to a bonus generator 78 to which pulses are also applied from converter 14. When the end of a train of pulses is reached an inverter 82 activates generator 78. Output lines 84, 86, and 88 are adopted to apply signals to terminals 28h to 28j to actuate generator 18 to generate additional or bonus counts. The reset pulse on line 36 is applied to generator 78 by a line 90 and by an inverter 100 to the bonus counter 74 to reset the counter and generator. Switch 102 is closed on selection of a standard play. Switch 104 is also closed when a premium selection has been made. On closure of switch 102 a circuit 106 provides an output on line 108 to one terminal of circuit 26g. With both switches closed circuit 106 provides an output on line 110 to circuit 26f. A third output from circuit 106 on line 112 actuates control circuit 32 to provide a sample pulse input to both circuits 26f and 26g and to actuate the circuit 48 to cause counter 42 to count down. In the arrangement shown terminals 28f and 28g are connected to terminals 24f and 24b, so that a signal on line 110 results in subtraction of six units of 30c worth of credit while a signal on line 108 results in a subtraction of two units of 10c worth of credit.