Vending apparatus with intelligent dispensation control
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United States of America Patent
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May 12, 1992
Grant Date -
N/A
app pub date -
Aug 21, 1989
filing date -
Aug 21, 1989
priority date (Note) -
Expired
status (Latency Note)
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Abstract
A vending apparatus ensures that the delay between a customer's selection of an article, and the dispensation of the selected article, is minimized, preferably to less than a predetermined delay, regardless of the point in a multi-article vending cycle. The reduced selection-dispensation delay is achieved through use of a 'memory and learning' feature. The 'memory and learning' feature is predicated on a recall and/or analysis of the relative times of occurrence of one or more previous dispensations, so that the apparatus' present position in the multi-article vending cycle is determined. The 'memory and learning' feature allows the vending apparatus to anticipate how long the article dispensation mechanism should run after the present dispensation, to strategically poise the mechanism for a subsequent dispensation having an optimum selection-dispensation delay. Also disclosed are systems and methods for ensuring that articles are dispensed at a proper temperature, even after a 'sold-out' condition is corrected; and for sounding an alarm if a person jars the vending apparatus in an attempt to improperly jar an article from the vending apparatus.
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