Importance

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Abstract

A vending machine locking arrangement operates electronically by way of an electric motor. In particular, the arrangement is a retrofit of an existing, mechanical-key operated T-bar, which is used to close and lock the machine's doors, to provide an electronic locking system not reliant on the use of a mechanical key. The arrangement substitutes for the conventional barrel lock at the handle-end of the T-bar a small electric motor (e.g. a camera re-wind motor) which acts upon the resident locking piece in the T-bar by, e.g., a cam arrangement. The inventive arrangement also makes use of an existing hole near the locking piece for making an electrical connection to the motor. An alternative embodiment places the motor outside the T-bar, the motor then having its own locking piece in the form of, e.g., a rocker arm engaging with an opening in the T-bar. Also disclosed is a smart-card system for driving the motor to trigger the unlocking process. The smart-card may also be used to download the contents of a reader mounted on the machine, these contents providing information on various access parameters related to the machine, e.g. the number of accesses over a period, the cards not allowed access, the identity of the machine, etc.

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First Claim