Claims
- 1. An apparatus for dispensing items from one of a plurality of packs of items, wherein each of the plurality of the packs of items has parameters associated therewith such as a number of items in the pack and item price, the apparatus comprising:
an item dispenser adapted to dispense the items from the one of the plurality of packs of items; a payment acceptor adapted to receive a payment from a customer to pay for an item; an input device; an output device; and a controller in electrical communications with the item dispenser, the payment acceptor, the input device and the output device, the controller having memory for storing an item load table containing data corresponding to at least one of the parameters associated with the plurality of the packs of items.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one of the plurality of packs of items has a pack identification code and the input device comprises a reader for providing input data representing the pack identification code.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the reader comprises a bar code scanner.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a remote computer located geographically remotely from the item dispenser, the remote computer being in electrical communications with the controller.
- 5. A lottery ticket vending machine for dispensing lottery tickets from one of a plurality of packs of lottery tickets, wherein each of the plurality of packs of lottery tickets has parameters associated therewith such as a number of tickets in the pack, ticket size and ticket price, the ticket vending machine comprising:
a ticket dispenser adapted to dispense the lottery tickets from the one of the plurality of packs of lottery tickets; a payment acceptor adapted to receive a payment from a customer to pay for a lottery ticket; a user operable input device; a display device; and a controller in electrical communications with the item dispenser, the payment acceptor, the input device and the display device, the controller having a lottery ticket load table for storing data corresponding to the parameters associated with the plurality of packs of lottery tickets.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the one of the plurality of packs of lottery tickets has a ticket pack identification code and the input device comprises a reader for providing input data representing the ticket pack identification code.
- 7. A method of loading a pack of new items in an item vending machine having a bins and a controller with a user I/O interface permitting a user to enter data and view output data displayed by the controller, the method comprising:
providing one type of a pack of new items to be loaded in one of the bins of the item vending machine; initiating an item load process comprising
operating the user I/O interface to identify the one of the bins, automatically displaying an identity of a type of items previously stored in the one of the bins, operating the user I/O interface to provide one of the following:
an acceptance indicating that the one type of the pack of new items is identical to the type of items previously stored in the one of the bins, and an identity of the one type of the pack of new items indicating that one type of the pack of new items is different from the type of items previously stored in the one of the bins; and loading the one type of the pack of new items into the one of the bins of the ticket vending machine in response to receiving the acceptance.
- 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising automatically storing the identity of the one type of the pack of new items in an item type data table.
- 9. The method of claim 7 wherein the new items have a common dimensions and the method further comprises:
automatically displaying a value relating to a dimension of an item; operating the user I/O interface to provide one of the following:
an acceptance of the value indicating that the value is equal to an item dimension associated with the new items, and a value representing the item dimension associated with the new items.
- 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising automatically storing the value representing the item dimension associated with the new items in the item type data table in association with the identity of the one type of the pack of new items.
- 11. The method of claim 7 wherein the new items have a common price and the method further comprises:
automatically displaying a value relating to the price of an item; operating the user I/O interface to provide one of the following:
an acceptance of the value indicating that the value is equal to a price of each of the new items, and a value representing the price of each of the new items.
- 12. The method of claim 9 further comprising automatically storing the value representing the price of each of the new items in the item type data table in association with the identity of the one type of the pack of new items.
- 13. The method of claim 7 wherein a number of previously stored items remain in the bin and the item load process further comprises:
automatically displaying a first value relating to a number of items remaining in the one of the bins; operating the user I/O interface to provide one of the following
a first acceptance of the first value, and a rejection of the first value; automatically displaying a second value relating to a size of the pack of new items; operating the user I/O interface to provide one of the following
a second acceptance of the second value indicating that the second value is equal to the size of the pack of new items, and a third value representing the size of the pack of new items; automatically adding the first and the second values in response to receiving the first and second acceptances to provide sum data representing a total number of items in the one of the bins.
- 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the item load process further comprises:
automatically displaying a zero in response receiving the rejection of the first value; in response to receiving the second acceptance, automatically storing the second value relating to a size of the pack of new items in the item type data table in association with the identity of the one type of the pack of new items; and
- 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising automatically storing the third value representing the size of the pack of new items in the item type data table in association with the identity of the one type of the pack of new items.
- 16. A method of setting up an item dispensing machine having a bin for storing items and a controller with a user I/O permitting a user to enter data and view output data displayed by the controller, the method comprising:
providing a pack of items to be loaded in the bin in the item dispensing machine, the pack of items having a pack identification code associated therewith; initiating an item load process with the controller; reading the pack identification code with a code reader; automatically displaying to the user first data represented by the pack identification code; receiving from the user an entry representing an acceptance of the first data; storing in a data table in response to the entry, the first data as data to be associated with the new items, thereby relieving the user of having to manually enter data representative of the first data.
- 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the first data represents data selected from a group of data consisting of an identity of the new items, a quantity of the new items, a size of the new items and a price of the new items.
- 18. A method of setting up an item dispensing system having a bin for storing items and a controller with a user I/O permitting a user to enter data and view output data displayed by the controller, the controller being in electrical communications with a remote computer located geographically remotely from the controller, the method comprising:
providing a pack of items to be loaded in the bin of the item dispensing machine, the pack of items having a pack identification code; initiating an item load process with the controller; reading the pack identification code with a code reader; transferring from the controller to the remote computer first data represented by the pack identification code; receiving with the controller from the remote computer an activation command; automatically activating in response to the activation command, a record in a data table having data associated with the new items, thereby allowing a supplier of the items to control dispensing of the items.
- 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the data represents data selected from a group of data consisting of an identity of the new items, a quantity of the new items, a size of the new items and a price of the new items.
- 20. A method of setting up an item dispensing machine having bins for storing packs of items and a controller with a user I/O permitting a user to enter data and view output data displayed by the controller, the controller being in electrical communications a remote computer located geographically remotely from the controller, the method comprising:
providing a pack of items to be loaded in one of the bins of the item dispensing machine, the pack of items having a pack identification code; initiating an item load process with the controller; selecting the one of the bins; reading the pack identification code with a code reader; transferring from the controller to the remote computer first data represented by the pack identification code; receiving with the controller a command from the remote computer; automatically loading data in a data table associated with the new items in response to the command.
- 21. The method of claim 20 further comprising receiving from the remote computer the data associated with the new items.
- 22. The method of claim 21 wherein the data represents data selected from a group of data consisting of a type of the new items, a size of the pack of new items, an item dimension and a price of the new items.
- 23. The method of claim 21 wherein the data represents an identity of the bin into which the pack of items can be loaded.
- 24. The method of claim 20 wherein the command includes the data.
- 25. The method of claim 20 wherein the command identifies a location of the data.
- 26. An apparatus for dispensing items from a pack of items, wherein the pack of items has a pack identification code, the apparatus comprising:
an item dispenser adapted to dispense the items from the pack of items; a payment acceptor adapted to receive a payment from a customer to pay for an item; an input device providing data representing the pack identification code; a controller in electrical communications with the item dispenser, the payment acceptor, the input device, the controller having a memory for storing the data representing the pack identification code; and a remote computer located geographically remotely from the item dispenser, the remote computer being in electrical communications with, and receiving the data representing the pack identification code from the controller, and the remote computer then authorizing the items in the pack of items to be redeemable.
- 27. A ticket vending system for dispensing tickets from a pack of tickets, wherein the pack of tickets has a pack identification code, the ticket vending system comprising:
a ticket dispenser adapted to dispense the tickets from the pack of tickets; a payment acceptor adapted to receive a payment from a customer to pay for a ticket; a user operable input device providing data representing the pack identification code; a display device; a controller in electrical communications with the ticket dispenser, the payment acceptor, the input device and the display device, the controller having a memory for storing the data representing the pack identification code; and a remote computer located geographically remotely from the ticket vending machine, the remote computer being in electrical communications with, and receiving the data representing the pack identification code from the controller, and the remote computer authorizing the tickets in the pack of tickets to be redeemable.
- 28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the input device comprises a code reader.
- 29. A method of dispensing items from an item dispensing system comprising:
providing a pack of items to be loaded in the item dispensing system, the pack of items having a pack identification code relating to the pack of items; entering the pack identification code into a controller of the item dispensing system; transmitting the pack identification code to a remote computer; thereafter, receiving and storing a payment with the item dispensing system; dispensing items from the item dispensing system in response to receiving the payment; and redeeming the items in response to the remote computer authorizing a redemption of the items.
- 30. A method of redeeming a ticket for a prize comprising:
providing a ticket vending machine having a bin for storing tickets and a controller; providing a pack of tickets to be loaded in the ticket vending machine, the pack of tickets having a pack identification code relating to the pack of tickets; entering the pack identification code into the controller to provide input data; transmitting the input to a remote computer; receiving from the remote computer activation data releasing the tickets in the pack of tickets for redemption, if appropriate, after their sale; thereafter, receiving and storing a payment with the ticket vending machine; dispensing a ticket having a ticket identification code from the ticket vending machine in response to receiving the payment; entering the ticket identification code into the controller; and redeeming the ticket for the prize in response to the ticket identification code being released for redemption by the activation data.
- 31. A lottery ticket dispensing system comprising:
first lottery ticket machines capable of dispensing lottery tickets at a first retail location, each of the first lottery ticket machines having
a plurality of lottery ticket dispensers adapted to dispense lottery tickets from a pack of lottery tickets, a plurality of bins, each of the bins being associated with one of the plurality of lottery ticket dispensers and adapted to store a pack of lottery tickets prior to being dispensed, a payment acceptor adapted to receive a payment from a customer to pay for an item, an input device, an output device, and a controller in electrical communications with the item dispenser, the payment acceptor, the input device and the output device, the controller having memory for storing a load table containing data corresponding to at least identifying at least a game represented by a pack of lottery tickets.
- 32. A lottery ticket dispensing system comprising:
first lottery ticket machines capable of dispensing lottery tickets at a first retail location, each of the first lottery ticket machines having
a plurality of lottery ticket dispensers adapted to dispense lottery tickets from a pack of lottery tickets, a plurality of bins, each of the bins being associated with one of the plurality of lottery ticket dispensers and adapted to store a pack of lottery tickets prior to being dispensed, a payment acceptor adapted to receive a payment from a customer to pay for an item, an input device, an output device, and a controller in electrical communications with the item dispenser, the payment acceptor, the input device and the output device, the controller having memory for storing a load table containing data corresponding to at least identifying at least a game represented by a pack of lottery tickets; second lottery ticket machines capable of dispensing lottery tickets at a second retail location geographically remote from the first location, each of the second lottery ticket machines having
a plurality of lottery ticket dispensers adapted to dispense lottery tickets from a pack of lottery tickets, a plurality of bins, each of the bins being associated with one of the plurality of lottery ticket dispensers and adapted to store a pack of lottery tickets prior to being dispensed, a payment acceptor adapted to receive a payment from a customer to pay for an item; an input device; an output device; and a controller in electrical communications with the item dispenser, the payment acceptor, the input device and the output device, the controller having memory for storing a load table containing data identifying at least a game represented by a pack of lottery tickets; and a remote computer in electrical communications with, but located geographically remote from, the first and second lottery ticket machines, the remote computer receiving and storing data relating to the lottery tickets loaded in the lottery ticket dispensers.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/413,423 filed Sep. 25, 2002 and 60/331,463 filed Nov. 16, 2001, each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60331463 |
Nov 2001 |
US |
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60413423 |
Sep 2002 |
US |