Patent Application
20070138262
The present invention relates to an electronic commerce system, and more particularly to an electronic commerce system that permits information exchange between a vending machine and a communication device through a network.
As traditional vending machines have the features of saving manpower, providing a 24-hour automatic operation, occupying small space, and selling several merchandises simultaneously, vendor machines are extensively installed at public places for consumers to make purchases.
In general, a traditional vending machine at its top surface comprises: a sample display area for displaying at least one sample and the sample display area includes a light emitting button disposed at the surface of the vending machine and under each corresponding sample; a slot for receiving coins or a note inlet for receiving dollar bills disposed at the surface of the vending machine and below the sample display area; a control system installed in the vending machine for determining the dollar amount of the coins or dollar bills received by the slot or note inlet; and a display device of the vending machine for displaying a received amount according to the coins or dollar notes received. A sellable merchandise is determined according to the received amount, and corresponding to a light emitting button disposed under the sellable sample is lit to remind consumers about the merchandises that could be bought by the received amount. The vending machine includes a plurality of storage areas for storing a plurality of merchandises corresponding to each sample, such that after the light emitting button is lit, the control system allows the merchandise in a storage area that corresponds to the light emitting button to drop from a conveying passage of the vending machine to a merchandise outlet disposed at the bottom of the vending machine. If the received amount exceeds the selling price of the merchandise, the control system will return the change automatically.
However, the traditional vending machine has the foregoing advantages and also brings many problems. For example, no one attends the traditional vending machine, and thus a vending machine may become a tempting target of a thief or damaged easily or dumped at the roadside. After the merchandises in a traditional vending machine are sold out, the merchandises cannot be refilled immediately. All of the above may cause a problem to social security or a deficiency to the business operation and management. Therefore, some vending machine manufacturers focused on the foregoing problems to develop various monitoring and management systems for the vending machines, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,292.
As to consumers, although traditional vending machines provide many types of merchandises, a consumer cannot purchase the merchandises from the vendor machine, if the consumer does not have enough coins, or the traditional vending machine does not provide a note inlet. Therefore, some vending machine manufacturers focused on the foregoing problem to develop various vending machine electronic commerce systems that do not require consumers to put in coins or dollar bills as disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. Publication Nos. 535387 and 554298 (which has a foreign counterpart of U.S. Pat. Publication No. US2002128932 A1), wherein Pages 3 to 6 of the patent specification of R.O.C. Pat. No. 554298 list many electronic commerce systems for vending machines, but those electronic commerce systems for vending machines has a common characteristic that a transaction can be completed by dialing a number and obtaining a series of exchange messages, regardless of before or after the transaction of the vending machine electronic commerce system. Such arrangement is very inconvenient to consumers, and thus providing a simple and easy operating procedure to allow consumers to complete a transaction with the vending machine will be appreciated by the general public.
In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally invented an electronic commerce system between a communication device and a vending machine in accordance with the present invention.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide an electronic commerce system between a communication device and a vending machine, and the system is built between at least one vending machine and at least one communication device that permits information exchange with the vending machine through a network, and the vending machine includes a first wireless information transceiver, and a first information exchange unit is coupled to a control system of the vending machine, and the communication device includes a second wireless information transceiver corresponding to the first wireless information transceiver, and the communication device includes an electronic commerce software, such that after the electronic commerce software is executed, the vending machine and the communication device process as follows: The communication device receives at least one externally inputted transaction request information for a desired merchandise; the communication device sends the transaction request information to the network through the second wireless information transceiver; the network sends the transaction request information to the first wireless information transceiver, and the first wireless information transceiver analyzes the transaction request information to produce a purchase message; and the first wireless information transceiver sends the purchase message to the control system, and the control system releases a merchandise stored in the vending machine according to the purchase message.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a vending machine for carrying out an electronic commerce transaction, and the vending machine at its surface has a first wireless information transceiver, and the first wireless information transceiver can receive a transaction request information from a communication device through a network, and the first wireless information transceiver analyzes the transaction request information to produce a purchase message, and the first wireless information transceiver sends the purchase message to a control system of the vending machine, and the control system releases a merchandise stored in the vending machine according to the purchase message.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a communication device for carrying out an electronic commerce transaction, and the communication device includes a second wireless information transceiver corresponding to a first wireless information transceiver of the vending machine, and the communication device includes an electronic commerce software, and the communication device executes the electronic commerce software and receives at least one externally inputted transaction request information of a desired merchandise, and the communication device sends the transaction request information to a network through the second wireless information transceiver.
Referring to
In the system, the electronic commerce software 32 sends out a desired transaction message to the vending machine 2 before the communication device 3 receives the transaction request information, and the vending machine 2 sends the merchandise information to the communication device 3 through the first wireless information transceiver 20 according to the merchandise message, and the electronic commerce software 32 will display various merchandise information (such as food content, calorie, and weight, etc) of each merchandise sold by the vending machine 2 according to the merchandise information.
In the system, the transaction request information inputs a number assigning signal and a confirmation message of the vending machine 2 through an input unit 34 (such as a keyboard or touch panel) of the communication device 3, and thus the electronic commerce software 32 is produced by the number assigning signal and the confirmation message, or the vending machine 2 includes a third wireless information transceiver 24 installed at a corresponding position of each sample in the display area. Each third wireless information transceiver 24 can send out a selling message. After the communication device 3 uses the second wireless information transceiver 30 to receive a selling message and a confirmation message sent from the input unit 34 of the communication device 3, the electronic commerce software 32 produces the transaction request information according to the selling message and confirmation message.
In the system, the transaction request information will be sent to a telecommunication service system 4, after the communication device 3 uses the second wireless information transceiver 30 to send the transaction request information to the network 1. The telecommunication service system 4 will record the transaction and deduct the amount, and then send the transaction request information to the first wireless information transceiver 20 through the network 1 for analyzing and producing the purchase message and further releasing a merchandise.
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With the foregoing system, consumers simply input a number assigning signal and a confirmation message from the communication device to complete the transaction or the communication device receives a selling message and a confirmation message to complete the transaction. Such system needs not to go through a complicated operating process of sending messages through the electronic commerce system of a traditional vending machine, and thus making the electronic commerce system of the vending machine simpler and more convenient.
