Patent Publication Number: US-2017372553-A1

Title: Single Cigarrette Vending Machine

Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The present disclosure generally relates to vending machines. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to vending machines for dispensing tobacco products. More particularly still, the present disclosure relates to vending machines for dispensing cigarettes, and even more particularly still, the present disclosure relates to age verified vending machines with a touchscreen interface that dispense single cigarettes within specialized vendor packaging. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Vending machines for dispensing various products are well known in the art. For example, vending machines for beverages and snacks are ubiquitous in public locations such as rest stations, museums, and theme parks (to name a few locations). Prior art vending machines for snacks often use a series of visible “cells,” with each cell using a coil to hold food (or something else) in place. A user can view the food through a transparent window (usually covering the entire front of the vending machine). A product is dispensed when the coil of the selected product rotates one full revolution, and causes the object (food or the like) to drop into a receptacle where it can be retrieved by the user. 
     Vending machines have also been used—mostly in the past—to dispense tobacco products. For example, it was previously common to purchase packs of cigarettes from vending machines. Generally, prior art cigarette vending machines worked by using a series of trays within which cigarette packages are packed. A user would select her favored brand, deposit sufficient funds, and depress a button or plunger which would cause one pack of the selected brand of cigarettes to be released into a receptacle for the user. Vending machines have also been used commercially to dispense cigars—generally as single units—chewing tobacco, and tobacco for making self-rolled cigarettes. 
     More recently, modern vending machines have used LCD displays with external controls, as well as LCD displays with touch screens to select various products. For example, for modern soda vending machines, different syrup dispensers can be used for different brands of soda; in some cases, different syrup/water mixing instructions (ratio) is utilized as well. Based on a user&#39;s selection on a touch screen, a particular soda mix can be dispensed into a waiting cup. 
     Touch screen based interfaces have also been used for vending machines that dispense other types of products. For example, coil based dispensers have been used with LCD interfaces to dispense food and tray based dispensers have been used to dispense bottles and cans of soft drinks and even cell phones. 
     One problem with prior art cigarette vending machines is that they generally dispensed one pack at a time, rather than a single cigarette. For a person attempting to stop smoking, an entire pack of cigarettes is an invitation to rekindle an addiction, rather than an opportunity to squelch an irresistible urge prior to resuming an effort to stop smoking. In addition, prior art cigarette vending machines did not utilize LCD based interfaces. Another issue with prior art cigarette vending machines is that they allowed under aged persons to purchase entire packs of cigarettes. 
     OBJECTS OF THE DISCLOSED SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS 
     Accordingly, it is an object of this disclosure to provide a vending machine to dispense single cigarettes. 
     Another object of the disclosure is to provide a vending machine with a modern interface for dispensing single cigarettes. 
     Another object of the disclosure is to provide a vending machine with a method of verifying the person&#39;s age. 
     Other advantages of this disclosure will be clear to a person of ordinary skill in the art. It should be understood, however, that a system or method could practice the disclosure while not achieving all of the enumerated advantages, and that the protected disclosure is defined by the claims. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     A cigarette vending machine for dispensing a single cigarette at a time is disclosed. The vending machine comprises a housing and a touchscreen disposed on the housing so that the user can select a particular brand of cigarette. In addition, the vending machine includes a payment processor that can accept, for example, bills, coins, credit cards and cell phone payments. Disposed within the housing is a plurality of trays, each of which holds a plurality of a single brand of cigarettes. Each dispensing tray also includes a spring disposed on a back wall of the dispensing tray that applies force on a plate that extends laterally across the dispensing tray to force the cigarettes forward. The dispensing trays also include a cigarette dispensing mechanism, which can be, for example, a microcontroller controlled hydraulic piston. 
     A microcontroller monitors the touchscreen and payment processor to determine if payment has been provided for a particular cigarette. If so, the microcontroller activates the cigarette dispensing mechanism for the correct dispensing tray, and dispenses a single cigarette. 
     In certain embodiments, the cigarette vending machine includes an identification reader and a camera. The identification holder&#39;s age can be verified from the user&#39;s identification, and the camera can be used to verify that the user is the same person as the identification holder. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Although the characteristic features of this disclosure will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself, and the manner in which it may be made and used, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a vending machine constructed in accordance with this disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of a cigarette dispensing tray constructed in accordance with this disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a cigarette dispensing tray constructed in accordance with this disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of internal mechanisms of a cigarette vending machine constructed in accordance with this disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is a depiction of a possible first user interface screen constructed in accordance with this disclosure; and 
         FIG. 6  is a depiction of a possible second user interface screen constructed in accordance with this disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Turning to the Figures and to  FIG. 1  in particular, a perspective view of a vending machine constructed in accordance with this disclosure is depicted. As illustrated, the vending machine can dispense single cigarettes wherein each cigarette can be wrapped in manufacturer approved packaging, although the latter is not a limitation of the disclosure. As depicted, the vending machine  100  includes a housing  101 , a touchscreen  102  through which a user can input a selected cigarette. The vending machine also comprises a payment panel  104 , which includes a bill acceptor  106 , a coin slot  108 , and a credit card/driver&#39;s license reader  110 . The payment panel  104  can also incorporate a NFC link or other wireless link to enable cell phone payment. The vending machine also includes a dispenser  112 , and, in the depicted embodiment, a camera  114  and an identification reader  118 . 
     As the vending machine  100  dispenses a single cigarette, the packaging—likely a thin paper or plastic wrapper—may not have sufficient room to include the warnings required by most countries to be posted on tobacco products in general, and cigarettes in particular. Accordingly, the depicted embodiment of the vending machine includes a panel  116  where the required warning can be displayed. 
     The disclosed vending machine  100  offers the advantage of dispensing a single cigarette; so that, for example, an addict can satisfy a passing urge with a single cigarette rather than buying an entire pack; given the way that addiction works, an addict would find it extremely difficult to not smoke the entire pack. In addition, using the camera  114  and license reader  118 , a person&#39;s identification and eligibility to purchase cigarettes can be verified. 
     Turning to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a mechanical dispensing tray  200  is depicted. Each dispensing tray  200  incorporates a single brand of cigarette  204 . The vending machine  100  will have many trays mounted vertically, one above the other. Each dispensing tray  200  houses a plurality of cigarettes  204 , which are pushed toward the front of the tray by plate  208 , which is subjected to constant force by spring  206 . Each dispensing tray  200  also includes an aperture  210  on one side of the tray positioned so that the front most cigarette  204   a  is disposed adjacent to the aperture  210 . 
     Each dispensing tray  200  also includes a hydraulic piston  212 . The hydraulic piston  212  is activated by an external controller (discussed below) to dispense the front most cigarette  204   a . In particular, when activated, the hydraulic piston  212  extends, knocks the front most cigarette  204   a  through the aperture. The front most cigarette  204   a  then falls down an internal slide (not pictured) to the dispenser  112  of the vending machine. 
     It should be noted that the dispensing tray  200  of  FIGS. 2 and 3  can be sized to accept standard sized cigarettes, such as 100s and 120s, as well as abnormally sized cigarettes. As each tray only holds one brand of cigarettes, different sizes can be accommodated simply by using different size trays. 
       FIG. 4  depicts a block diagram illustrating how the different components of a vending machine  100  constructed in accordance with this disclosure. In particular, a microcontroller  402  is coupled to the LCD/touchscreen  102 . The microcontroller  402  causes the LCD  102   a  to display menus for the user to select from, and accepts input from the touchscreen  102   b . The microcontroller  402  is notified of the amount of payment made by the payment processor  404 , and, in response, will dispense cigarettes with the piston controller array  406  and dispenser sensor  408 . In particular, a program operating on the microcontroller  402  will cause a particular piston controller within the piston controller array  406  to operate until the dispenser sensor  408  detects that a cigarette that has been dropped. 
     The microcontroller  402  is also coupled to an identification reader  410  and a camera  412 . In one embodiment of the disclosed vending machine  100 , the user must verify her age before being allowed to purchase cigarettes. The user would be required to input her identification into the identification reader  410 . The user&#39;s identification would then be scanned by the identification reader. Based on an indicia in the user&#39;s identification, a high resolution picture of the user&#39;s face may be retrieved from an external database (not shown) using network interface  413 . Alternatively, a picture of the user&#39;s face can be extracted from the user&#39;s identification. For example, all state driver licenses contain a picture of the driver&#39;s face, which could be captured from the license. The user would then be required to present her face to the camera  114 . The microcontroller  402  then uses a facial analysis algorithm on both the user&#39;s face and the face captured from the user&#39;s identification. If the user&#39;s face is a close enough match for that extracted from the user&#39;s identification, and the user&#39;s identification indicates that the user is of sufficient age to purchase cigarettes, the user will be allowed to purchase cigarettes. 
       FIG. 5  depicts a first user interface screen  500  and menu for use with a vending machine constructed in accordance with the disclosure. The first user interface screen  500  comprises a sequence of selections. Using this screen, the user can select one of the brands that the vending machine stocks. As depicted, six brands  501 , 502 , 503 , 504 , 505 , 506  are depicted, although it should be understood that any number of brands could be stocked; if the stocked brands would not fit on one screen, additional screens could easily be displayed using methods well known in the art, such as a “More Brands” selection button. 
     Once a user makes a selection from the first user interface screen  500 , the user is taken to a second user interface screen  600 , an embodiment of which is depicted in  FIG. 6 . The second user interface screen  600  allows a user to refine her selection by specifying the type of cigarette (within the selected brand) that the user desires. In particular, the second screen allows a user to select a Menthol  601  cigarette, a Regular  602  cigarette, or a Clove  603  cigarette. Similarly, a user can select a Full Flavor  604  cigarette, a Medium  605  cigarette, a Light  606  cigarette, or an Ultra Light  607  cigarette. In addition, a user can select a cigarette with a Filter  608 , or a cigarette with No Filter  609 . When a user has finished specifying her desired cigarette, the user can select the Dispense  610  button, which will cause the selected cigarette to actually be dispensed. 
     In certain circumstances, a particular brand may not offer cigarettes with all of the listed options, or a particular option might be sold out. In such a circumstance, the characteristic that is not offered could be grayed out or not presented to the user at all. For example, if a user selected “Brand 1,” and “Brand 1” does not offer Clove cigarettes, the “Clove” button  603  would be grayed out or not presented to the user at all. Similarly, if “Brand 1” does offer Clove cigarettes, but all of the Clove cigarettes offered by the vending machine have already been dispensed, the “Clove” button  603  would be grayed out or not presented to the user at all. 
     The foregoing description of the disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. The description was selected to best explain the principles of the present teachings and practical application of these principles to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the disclosure not be limited by the specification, but be defined by the claims set forth below. In addition, although narrow claims may be presented below, it should be recognized that the scope of this invention is much broader than presented by the claim(s). It is intended that broader claims will be submitted in one or more applications that claim the benefit of priority from this application. Insofar as the description above and the accompanying drawings disclose additional subject matter that is not within the scope of the claim or claims below, the additional inventions are not dedicated to the public and the right to file one or more applications to claim such additional inventions is reserved.