Patent Application
20090057096
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vending machines and their methods of operation, and more particularly to devices and methods used in conjunction with the front panels of vending machines to help control the internal temperature of the vending machines particularly when deployed outdoors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wide variety of different products are provided to consumers through vending machines. Many of these products (such as ice cream or milk) require refrigeration to maintain freshness; other products (such as carbonated soda or beer) are preferably dispensed in a refrigerated condition for consumer convenience; still other products (such as chocolate or candy bars) should not be subjected to excessively warm temperatures to avoid degenerating or melting. Conversely, other kinds of products (such as coffee or hot chocolate) are generally dispensed at elevated temperatures. It is well known that the external environment surrounding a vending machine will have a direct effect on the internal temperature of the vending machine itself. As a result, vending machines are frequently provided with internal heating and/or cooling devices as well as insulated cabinets.
In the vending machine industry, it is important that each vending machine have an appearance that is attractive and appealing to potential consumers. Since vending machines are typically placed in confined spaces or side-by-side in rows, users ordinarily encounter only the front panels of the vending machines. As a result, the front panel of a vending machine is often the most important panel from a user standpoint. Not only does the front panel provide the user interface for payment and dispensing of products, it is also provides advertising and/or identification of the products contained inside. In many cases, it is desirable for the user to be able to see the products inside the vending machine through the front panel. As a result, it is typical for vending machine front panels to be provided in the form of transparent glass, plastic, or other similar material. Unfortunately, providing transparent front panels on vending machines makes it more difficult to maintain an appropriate temperature inside the machine itself.
For vending machines placed in outdoor environments, the front panel will be directly exposed to wide temperature variations, and may also be directly exposed to sunlight. These factors will have a significant impact on the internal temperature of the machine. Exposure to direct sunlight is particularly troublesome since the sunlight (including heat, radiation, ultraviolet rays, infrared rays, etc.) may penetrate through the transparent front panel and heat up internal surfaces of the vending machine, including the products themselves. An outdoor vending machine whose front panel is exposed to direct sunlight on a hot summer day may have great difficulty maintaining an appropriately cool internal temperature for the products it contains. Similarly, an outdoor vending machine that is deployed in the shade on a cold winter day may have difficulty maintaining a warm internal temperature for its products.
An indoor environment would ordinarily be expected to be less harsh for a vending machine than an outdoor environment, but even indoor vending machines may be subjected to stress from their environments. For example, indoor vending machines are frequently placed near windows or doors where they are exposed to direct sunlight, or the indoor climate control may be shut off at night and over weekends allowing temperatures to climb or drop dramatically, etc. If a vending machine cannot maintain an appropriate internal temperature, the products inside it may be rendered undesirable or they may spoil, neither of which is acceptable to vendors or consumers.
It is therefore desirable to provide front panels and related devices and methods for vending machines that help the vending machine to maintain a desired internal temperature while also providing advertising and/or identification of the products contained inside the machine.
Embodiments of the present invention provide front panels and related devices and methods for preventing the interior of a vending machine from being exposed to direct sunlight through the front panel. Embodiments of the present invention also provide front panels and related devices and methods for advertising and/or identification of products contained inside a vending machine.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the front panel or door of a vending machine is provided with a vandal-resistant outer panel having a viewing area in the center and a peripheral border surrounding the central viewing area. The viewing area is preferably clear, transparent or semi-transparent so that a user may see through it into the interior of the vending machine. The border is not necessarily transparent, and is designed to limit or prevent some direct sunlight from entering the internal product storage area of the vending machine. The border may have a plain appearance, or it may be provided with any suitable printed or graphic material. This material may include product branding, advertising, trademarks, instructions, or other suitable content. The border may be of any suitable width, it being appreciated that the thicker the border, the more sunlight that may be blocked. However, it is also desirable for the user to be able to see into the vending machine through the central viewing area in the front panel, for example, to be able to see the fronts of the product queues inside the vending machine. It is therefore preferred that the border have a width such that if a consumer approaches the machine, the consumer is able to see most or all of the product fronts from a reasonable distance (e.g. from within an arm's length or two of the machine). It is to be appreciated that a wider border would require a consumer to approach the machine more closely to see all of the product fronts—but this may be necessary for machines deployed in areas of very bright sunlight. In some embodiments, the border as well as the central viewing area surrounded by a border may be made of materials or may include coatings, mirrored or reflective surfaces to help prevent or reduce sunlight from passing through.
In other embodiments, a separate interior panel may be provided behind the front panel of the vending machine, between the front panel and the products inside the machine, and obscuring borders may be provided on one or both panels surrounding central viewing areas thereon.
In other aspects and embodiments of the invention, a front panel or door of a vending machine (with or without a border) may be provided with a mechanism that scrolls a film inside the machine behind a viewing area of the front panel. This film may be mounted on spools inside the machine that may be located on both sides of the front panel, at the top and bottom of the front panel, or elsewhere. In some embodiments, the front panel may include a screen or border in the vicinity of the spools to hide the spools themselves from view, and/or to prevent sunlight from entering the machine as described above. The film should be mounted such that it may be scrolled from one spool to the other inside the machine, stretching across and behind the front panel during the process. In some embodiments, a guide may be provided directly behind the front panel over which the film travels in order to keep the film close to the front panel so that text, graphics and other information on the film may be easily viewed and read. In some embodiments, the guide may be contoured to correspond with or parallel any similar contours of the front panel. In some embodiments, lighting (e.g., one or more elongated fluorescent bulbs) may also be provided to illuminate the film between the spools so that it may be seen through the viewing area of the front panel. Such lighting may be provided at any suitable location including without limitation, adjacent to one or both of the spools, on one or both sides of the film, above and/or below the film.
In preferred embodiments, the film should include at least one panel having viewing area that is preferably clear, transparent or semi-transparent such that when this section is scrolled into place behind the front panel of the vending machine, a customer is able to look through viewing areas in the front panel and the film in order to view the interior of the vending machine and available products inside. One or more other panels or sections of the film may be fully or partially non-transparent, obscuring the view into the vending machine in order to prevent or reduce the amount of sunlight that may penetrate into the machine while such sections are in place. Such obscuring sections may simply be blank (e.g. opaque), or they may contain one or more graphic images, advertising, trademarks, instructions, or other suitable content. It is to be appreciated that the purpose of such obscuring film sections is to prevent or reduce the amount of sunlight that may penetrate into the machine while such sections are in place. In this regard, both the viewing sections and the obscuring sections of the film may be made of materials or may include coatings, mirrored or reflective surfaces to help prevent or reduce sunlight from passing through them.
In some embodiments, an obscuring section of film may be scrolled into place behind the vending machine front panel and left there indefinitely until a customer is detected, as described below, whereupon another panel is moved into place. This other panel may be a viewing section that is fully or partially transparent, and/or may include instructions, information or advertising. In other embodiments, different panels may be scrolled behind the front panel for time intervals, as described more fully below, and this scrolling may be interrupted when the presence of a customer is detected. In other embodiments, the scrolling of film panels is not interrupted.
In some embodiments, sensors may be provided in association with the vending machine to detect when a customer approaches or makes contact with the machine. These sensors may be in any suitable form including without limitation one or more motion sensors, sound sensors, light sensors, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, etc. By way of example and without limitation, one or more motion sensors may detect the presence of a potential customer through movement in the vicinity of the machine; one or more sound sensors may pick up sounds made by a potential customer in the vicinity of the machine; one or more light sensors may be triggered by a potential customer interrupting a light beam in the vicinity of the machine; one or more temperature sensors may detect an elevated or reduced temperature created by a potential customer in the vicinity of the machine; one or more pressure sensors may be provided in or on the floor or a mat in front of the machine that are triggered by the weight of a potential customer. Other sensors associated with the operation of the machine may also be triggered when, for example, the user touches the machine, money is deposited into the machine, a product selection is made, etc.
In some embodiments, when the presence of a potential customer is detected by one or more sensors associated with the machine, this may trigger the scrolling mechanism to cause a viewing section of film to be moved behind the front panel, allowing the customer to see into the machine in order to view the products inside. This viewing section may be kept in place behind the front panel for a set period of time, or for as long as a sensor detects the presence of the user and may then be moved away, or it may stay in place afterwards for a timeout (e.g. 1-5 min.) after the user is no longer detected. At the end of such period, an obscuring film section may then be scrolled into place, and/or a scrolling sequence resumed, etc.
In some embodiments, a two-part process may be initiated when the presence of a user is detected. In the first step, when a user triggers a sensor, this causes a particular obscuring section of the film to be moved behind the front panel. Such a section may display specific advertising or information relating to the products inside the machine, instructions, or other appropriate content. In a second step, the user may then cause a viewing section of film to be scrolled into place by following displayed instructions, touching the machine, inserting coins or currency into the machine, or other subsequent triggering actions.
In other aspects of the scrolling film embodiments, multiple obscuring sections may be provided on the film containing such things as advertising, trademarks, information, etc. In some default modes, these sections may be scrolled into place behind the front panel in a pre-determined sequence for pre-determined time periods, which may or may not be of the same length, thereby preventing sunlight from penetrating into the machine, while also providing changing advertising or other content across the front of the vending machine. The time periods of display may be the same or different lengths, and advertisers may be charged differently according to the length of time their advertising is displayed. In some embodiments, these sections may be displayed in a pre-determined order; in other embodiments, these sections may be displayed in a random or semi-random order.
By way of example and without limitation, a given scroll of film may include twelve (12) sections, eleven (11) of which are obscuring, and one (1) of which is for viewing. The one exemplary viewing section may be designed to be scrolled into place when, for example, a user is detected by a sensor of the machine. The other eleven exemplary sections are scrolled behind the front panel in a pre-determined, random or other manner until interrupted by a user. In this example, each such obscuring section may be scrolled into place for a time interval such as, for example, one minute, in which case the unit would cycle through the entire sequence of obscuring sections in eleven minutes, and then start over. The viewing section may or may not also be scrolled into place for a time interval, depending on whether it is more desirable for a customer to catch a glimpse of the content of the machine, or for sunlight to be blocked. It is to be appreciated that, as described previously, different sections may be scrolled into place for the same or different time intervals.
In the scrolling film embodiments, the film sections need not necessarily be displayed in the order that they are provided on the film, although this may be preferred in order to avoid excessive wear on the film through additional scrolling. In some embodiments, the film sections may be displayed sequentially as they appear on the film, and the viewing sections may or may not be skipped. In some embodiments, when the end of the scroll is reached, it may be rewound after which the film sections may again be displayed in the same sequence. In other embodiments, when the end of the scroll is reached, the film may simply reverse direction and display the film sections in a reversed sequence. In alternative embodiments, different display times may be attributed to different sections. It is preferred that the viewing section(s) not be included in the display sequence (or that they be skipped), in order to avoid unnecessary direct exposure of the interior of the machine to sunlight. However, in some embodiments it may be desirable to include the viewing section(s) in the sequence to reveal the contents of the vending machine in order to attract potential customers. In embodiments where large numbers of obscuring sections are used, more than one viewing section may be included to make it easier to quickly spool to such a section, if desired, upon the detection of a user.
It is to be appreciated that an obscuring border as described previously may also be provided on the viewing section(s) of the film. An obscuring border may also be provided on the front panel or door that is associated with a scrolling film embodiment, thereby maintaining some level of protection from sunlight even when a viewing section of film is scrolled into place.
It is to be appreciated that the devices of the present invention may be used with a wide variety of different front door and front panel configurations, and that one or more of the different embodiments disclosed herein may be used together with one or more of the other embodiments to provide additional environmental protection for the vending machine.
It is therefore an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide front panels and related devices and methods for vending machines for minimizing the exposure of the interior of vending machines to direct sunlight through the front panel.
It is also an object of embodiments of the present invention to provide front panels and related devices and methods for vending machines for providing advertising, information and/or identification of products contained inside such vending machines.
Referring to the drawings wherein the same reference numeral may be used to designate different parts throughout the several views, and referring particularly to the illustrated exemplary embodiment of
For example and without limitation, a wide peripheral border of between 8 and 12 inches will prevent a significant amount of sunlight from entering the machine through the front panel; however, such a border will require a user to come very close to the machine in order to see the fronts of all product queues in the machine. In another example, a border of between 4 and 6 inches will prevent a lesser amount of sunlight from entering the machine through the front panel; but, such a border will not require a user to come as close to the machine in order to see the fronts of all product queues in the machine. The viewing area is preferably centered on the products in the machine such that a wide border may be provided at the bottom (or top), as illustrated in
In some embodiments, a second and separate panel may be provided behind the front panel. In these embodiments, a border may be placed on either the front panel or the second panel, or both. It is to be appreciated that the bordered embodiments may be combined with one or more other embodiments disclosed herein to provide additional protection from sunlight.
In alternative embodiments, such as those illustrated in
In some embodiments, such as those illustrated in
In the scrolling embodiments, each scroll 22 is rotatable, and each scroll is operated directly or indirectly by a motor 31 that is capable of rotating the scroll in either direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise). In some embodiments, a single motor 31 may be employed to move both scrolls as shown in the exemplary embodiment of
Programming or other electronics may be provided to rotate the scrolls so that selected sections of the film 21 are moved into place behind front panel 11 where they may be seen through the viewing portion of front panel 11. In some embodiments, encoding or tracking devices (not shown) may be associated with the motor(s) 31, with belts 35, or with the film itself 21 in order to assist a processor in keeping track of the locations of various sections of the film. These encoders may track such things as rotations of the motor, links or distances on a chain or belt, notches/openings on the film, etc. This makes it possible to determine where a desired section of film is located if it is to be rotated into place behind the front panel in response to a triggering event. Such an event may be a signal from one or more sensors (e.g. motion, light, sound, temperature, pressure, etc.).
In the scrolling film embodiments, film 21 is preferably provided with at least one viewing section that may be completely or partially (e.g. bordered) transparent, allowing the user to see into the vending machine when this section is scrolled behind the front panel. Other sections of film 21 may be partially or completely obscuring. It is to be appreciated that the amount of sunlight blocked by the obscuring sections may vary depending on whether these sections are truly opaque, what colors and/or graphics are used in these sections, whether there are breaks or openings in the graphics, and other similar factors. The viewing sections of film 21, as well as any transparent portions of non-transparent sections, and/or any obscuring sections of film 21 may be treated or surfaced with materials or coatings to block or diminish the amount of sunlight that may penetrate through them.
In some of these embodiments, a single obscuring section of the film 21 may be scrolled into place behind front panel 11 to block sunlight in a default condition. Alternatively, a number of obscuring (and/or viewing) sections of the film may be temporarily scrolled into place behind the front panel for time intervals (which may be the same or of different lengths) in a pre-determined, random or other order as part of a default sequence. The default condition or sequence may be interrupted by a triggering event caused by activation of a sensor by a user as described elsewhere herein. Such an event may cause a viewing or other identified section of film to be scrolled into place behind the front panel. In some embodiments, a second or further triggering event may be required in order to cause a viewing section of film to be scrolled into place.
By way of example, and without limitation, a user may cause a triggering event if one or more motion sensors 41 detect the presence of a potential customer through movement in the vicinity of the machine (see, e.g.,
In some embodiments, film 21 may be provided with a thin border along one or both edges (upper or lower), and a light sensitive device 43 may be used to monitor this border, as shown in an exemplary embodiment in
In use, an exemplary embodiment may operate as follows: a user may approach or touch the vending machine which is detected by one of the sensors. This causes a signal to be sent to a processor, which interrupts a sequence of film sections being scrolled behind front panel 11. The processor may stop the scrolling of film 21, or it may cause motor(s) 31 to start scrolling film 21 toward a particular section. The processor tracks signals received from an encoder or from a light sensitive device 43 to determine what sections of film 21 are passing by during the scrolling process. Once a desired section of film is known to be in place behind front panel 11, the processor may stop the motor 31. In most embodiments, this will be a viewing section of film. However, in some embodiments, a non-viewing film section has been moved into place, and the processor may await another signal from a sensor before activating motor(s) 31 a second time to move a viewing panel into place. The user may or may not then cause a vending operation to take place. If the presence of a user is no longer detected by any sensor, the processor may then cause the scrolling of film to continue or resume as prior to the user interrupt.
It is to be appreciated that the scrolling film embodiments may be combined with one or more other embodiments disclosed herein to provide additional protection from sunlight.
It is to be understood that variations and modifications of the present invention may be made without departing from the scope hereof, and that one or more of the different embodiments disclosed herein may be used together with one or more of the other embodiments to provide additional environmental protection for the vending machine. It is also to be understood that the present invention is not to be limited by the specific embodiments or combinations of embodiments, components or parts disclosed herein, nor by any of the exemplary embodiments or combinations set forth in the attached illustrations.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/967,015 filed on Aug. 30, 2007 which is incorporated herein by this reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60967015 | Aug 2007 | US |
