Patent ID: 7083036

Claim:
An apparatus for securely monitoring the sales transactions in bulk vending machines, said apparatus comprising at least one hulk vending machine having a coin mechanism; said coin mechanism comprising a coin plate, a selectively rotatable shaft extending radially therefrom, a coin shuttle, a cam-bearing lobe and a coin mechanism adapter plate co-axially and collectively located around said selectively rotatable shaft; a first switch and a second switch, said first and second switches being fixedly mounted and oriented on said coin mechanism adapter plate so that the maximum amount of backlash in said coin mechanism is less than the angular spread of said switches; a microprocessor having a sales counter; and means for communicatingly connecting said first and second switches to said microprocessor, whereby said microprocessor will advance said sales counter one numeric count and record a single vend only after said cam-borne lobe contacts and completely closes both first and second switches, when said lobe-bearing cam is rotated as a result of a coin deposited in said coin mechanism.