Patent Application
20140350721
The present disclosure relates generally to vending devices, and more specifically, to vending devices (e.g. electricity vending devices) having ad-watching as consideration.
Due to the ubiquitous nature of portable electrical devices, electricity vending devices are becoming widely available that enable users to recharge their portable devices while they are away from their home or office. Typically, such vending devices enable a user to recharge a portable electrical device (e.g. cell phone, portable computer, personal data assistant, music player, hearing aid, automobile, scooter, etc.) for a fee that may be paid in cash, credit card, debit card, payment tokens, or other payment method. Examples of such known vending devices for dispensing electricity include those devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,812,643 and 6,314,169 issued to Schelberg et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,066 issued to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,664 issued to Tseng et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,580 Although desirable results have been achieved using conventional vending devices, there is room for improvement.
The present disclosure teaches systems and methods for vending devices having ad-watching as consideration. For example, in at least some implementations, a vending apparatus includes a dispensing portion operable to dispense a product (e.g. electricity) to a user; a communication portion operable to provide a communicable content (e.g. an advertisement) to the user; and a control system operatively coupled to the dispensing portion and the communication portion. The control system is operable to: receive a signal indicative of a consent by the user to at least one of receive or review the communicable content at least partially in exchange for the product; and after receipt of the signal, to cause the communication portion to provide the communicable content to the user and to cause the dispensing portion to dispense the product to the user.
In further implementations, the apparatus includes a monitoring system operatively coupled to the control system and operable to sense the user. For example, in some implementations, the monitoring system may be operable to determine whether the user is at least one of facing or watching a display screen of the communication system. In further implementations, the monitoring system may be operable to determine whether the user is at least one of receiving or reviewing the communicable content from the communication system.
In other implementations, a method includes receiving a consent signal indicative of a consent by a user to at least one of receive or review a communicable content (e.g. an advertisement) at least partially in exchange for a product (e.g. electricity); after receiving the consent signal, providing the communicable content to the user; and at least one of after or simultaneously with the providing of the communicable content to the user, dispensing the product to the user.
This summary is intended to provide an introduction of a few exemplary aspects of implementations in accordance with the present disclosure. It is not intended to provide an exhaustive explanation of all possible implementations, and should thus be construed as merely introductory, rather than limiting, of the following disclosure.
Techniques for vending devices, and more specifically, to vending devices (e.g. electricity vending devices) having ad-watching as consideration will now be disclosed. In the following detailed description, many specific details of certain implementations are described and shown in
In the following discussion, exemplary vending devices for implementing one or more of the teachings of the present disclosure are described. Next, exemplary flow charts showing methods of operating such vending devices in accordance with one or more of the teachings of the present disclosure are described.
Exemplary Environment
The user input system 110 may include one or more input devices that enable a user of the vending device 100 to provide any desired inputs to the vending device 100. For example, in some implementations, the user input system 110 may include one or more of a keypad 112, a mouse 114, a microphone 116, or any other suitable devices for inputting information or data to the electricity vending device 100. Information provided by a user to the electricity vending device 100 via the user input system 110 may include, for example, one or more of an indication that the user desires to charge a rechargeable device 115, an indication of the type of device that is to be recharged (e.g. cellular telephone, portable computer, personal data assistant, music player, hearing aid, automobile, scooter, etc.), any other identifying information about the rechargeable device (e.g. manufacturer, model number, year, battery type, etc.), any other identifying information about the user (e.g. name, demographic information, etc.), or any other suitable information as described more fully below.
Similarly, in some implementations, the user input system 110 may also include a consideration input device 118. The consideration input device 118 may enable a user to pay a fee that may be paid in cash, credit card, debit card, payment tokens, or other suitable payment method. The components and operational aspects of the consideration input device 118 are generally known and, for the sake of brevity, will not be described in detail herein.
The dispensing system 120 is configured to dispense a product (e.g. electricity) to a user. More specifically, the dispensing system 120 may provide suitable recharging power from a power source (e.g. an electrical outlet, a generator, a battery, etc.) (not shown) to the rechargeable device 118 that the user desires to recharge. The dispensing system 120 may be configured in numerous suitable ways. Examples of known vending devices for dispensing electricity include those devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,812,643 and 6,314,169 issued to Schelberg et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,066 issued to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,664 issued to Tseng et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,580, which patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The dispensing system 120 may include a wide variety of interface devices that are configured to engage with and provide recharging power to a wide variety of rechargeable devices. For example, as shown in
The communication system 130 is configured to provide visual and/or audio content (referred to herein as “audio-visual” or “AV” content) to a user, and may generally includes a display screen 132, an audio speaker 134, and an antenna 136. The communication system 130 may receive audio-visual content to provide to a user from a variety of sources, including, for example, from a storage component 138, from an external source (e.g. cable, Internet, wireless signals, intranet, etc.) (not shown), from the control system 150 (or other portion of the electricity vending device 100), or from any other suitable source. Additional functions and operational aspects of the communication system 130 are described below.
As further shown in
It will be appreciated that the components of the electricity vending device 100 shown in
In some implementations, one or more of the components (e.g. the user input system 110, the dispensing system 120, the communication system 130, the monitoring system 140, or the control system 150,) of the exemplary electricity vending device 100 shown in
As shown in
The exemplary computing device 200 further includes a hard disk drive 214 for reading from and writing to a hard disk (not shown), and is connected to the bus 206 via a hard disk driver interface 216 (e.g., a SCSI, ATA, or other type of interface). A magnetic disk drive 218 for reading from and writing to a removable magnetic disk 220, is connected to the system bus 206 via a magnetic disk drive interface 222. Similarly, an optical disk drive 224 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 226 such as a CD ROM, DVD, or other optical media, connected to the bus 206 via an optical drive interface 228. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computing device 200. Although the exemplary computing device 200 described herein employs a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk 220 and a removable optical disk 226, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, random access memories (RAMs) read only memories (ROM), and the like, may also be used.
As further shown in
A user may enter commands and information into the computing device 200 through input devices such as a keyboard 238 and a pointing device 240. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are connected to the processing unit 202 and special purpose circuitry 282 through an interface 242 that is coupled to the system bus 206. A monitor 244 or other type of display device is also connected to the bus 206 via an interface, such as a video adapter 246. In addition to the monitor, the computing device 200 may also include other peripheral output devices (not shown) such as speakers and printers.
The computing device 200 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers (or servers) 258. Such remote computers (or servers) 258 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and may include many or all of the elements described above relative to computing device 200. The logical connections depicted in
When used in a LAN networking environment, the computing device 200 may be connected to the local network 248 through a network interface (or adapter) 252. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computing device 200 typically includes a modem 254 or other means for establishing communications over the wide area network 250, such as the Internet. The modem 254, which may be internal or external, may be connected to the bus 206 via the serial port interface 242. Similarly, the computing device 200 may exchange (send or receive) wireless signals 253 with one or more remote computers (or servers) 258, such as those operated by one or more of the data providers 110 and data consumers 170, using a wireless interface 255 coupled to a wireless communicator 257 (e.g., an antenna, a satellite dish, a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a photoreceptor, a photodiode, an emitter, a receptor, etc.).
In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computing device 200, or portions thereof, may be stored in the memory 204, or in a remote memory storage device. More specifically, as further shown in
For example,
It will be appreciated that the above-noted portions 410, 430, 450 of the vending process 400 may be accomplished in a variety of ways. For example,
Similarly, in at least some implementations, the providing an electrical charge to a user-provided chargeable device at 502 may include providing an electrical charge to at least one of a battery, a cellular telephone, a personal data assistant, an handheld communication device, a music player, a camera, a recording device, a hearing aid, a portable computing device, an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or a wearable electronic device at 506.
As further shown in
As further shown in
In addition, in at least some implementations, the after receiving the consent signal, providing the communicable content to the user (at 1130) may include downloading the communicable content onto the user's chargeable device for later viewing at 1132. For example, a vending device 100 may download ads (or other communicable content) to a user's cell phone (or other suitable chargeable device) so the ad will play later when the user uses cell phone.
With continued reference to
Similarly, the at least one of after or simultaneously with the providing of the communicable content to the user, dispensing an electrical charge to the user-provided chargeable device (at 1150) may include adjusting a rate of dispensing the electrical charge based on an appearance of a second user at 1154. For example, in some embodiments, the electricity vending device 100 can “release” user A quicker if user B is waiting. Alternately, the at least one of after or simultaneously with the providing of the communicable content to the user, dispensing an electrical charge to the user-provided chargeable device (at 1150) may include adjusting a rate of dispensing the electrical charge based on the user providing a monetary payment at 1156. For example, in some embodiments, the user can pay for electricity/downloads if he wants to be released faster.
As further shown in
Alternately, in at least some implementations, the after receiving the consent signal, providing the communicable content to the user (at 1130) may include providing the communicable content based on information received from the user-provided chargeable device at 1134. For example, a vending device 100 may closed-loop tailor the ads to the specific user. More specifically, the vending device 100 can read info from user's device to help it tailor ads to him. This can be direct from user's device, or via off-board database (e.g. just given user's ID). This may be done even if user only plugs in his power connection (e.g., by wirelessly detecting the device's IP, phone ESN, etc). In at least some implementations, the user may opt-out of this easily enough (e.g., turn off his phone). This whole tailoring/data-retrieval can be implicit, or by explicit permission (e.g. as part of price of free energy, because the user may want better-tailored ads, in exchange for additional services, etc.).
It should be appreciated that the particular embodiments of processes described herein are merely possible implementations of the present disclosure, and that the present disclosure is not limited to the particular implementations described herein and shown in the accompanying figures. For example, although implementations of systems and methods for vending devices having ad-watching as consideration have been discussed in this disclosure in terms of dispensing electricity (i.e. electricity vending devices), in alternate implementations, such systems and methods may be readily configured for vending of other types of products (e.g. water, light, heat, music, streaming content, news, information, fuel, gases, food, beverages, smokable products, etc.).
In addition, in alternate implementations, certain acts need not be performed in the order described, and may be modified, and/or may be omitted entirely, depending on the circumstances. Moreover, in various implementations, the acts described may be implemented by a computer, controller, processor, programmable device, or any other suitable device, and may be based on instructions stored on one or more computer-readable media or otherwise stored or programmed into such devices. In the event that computer-readable media are used, the computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a device to implement the instructions stored thereon.
Various methods, systems, and techniques have been described herein in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more processors or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various alternate embodiments. In addition, embodiments of these methods, systems, and techniques may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computer readable media.
It may also be appreciated that there may be little distinction between hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems and methods disclosed herein. The use of hardware or software may generally be a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs, however, in certain contexts the choice between hardware and software can become significant. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are various vehicles by which processes, systems, and technologies described herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof), and that a preferred vehicle may vary depending upon the context in which the processes, systems, and technologies are deployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle. Alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly software implementation. In still other implementations, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles by which the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies described herein may be effected, and which may be desired over another may be a choice dependent upon the context in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that optical aspects of implementations will typically employ optically-oriented hardware, software, and or firmware.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein, and thereafter use standard engineering practices to integrate such described devices and/or processes into workable systems having the described functionality. That is, at least a portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can be developed into a workable system via a reasonable amount of experimentation.
The herein described aspects and drawings illustrate different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected” or “operably coupled” (or “operatively connected,” or “operatively coupled”) to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable” (or “operatively couplable”) to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in standard integrated circuits, and also as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers, and also as one or more software programs running on one or more processors, and also as firmware, as well as virtually any combination thereof. It will be further understood that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and/or firmware could be accomplished by a person skilled in the art in light of the teachings and explanations of this disclosure.
The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. For example, in some embodiments, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or other integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in standard integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure.
In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described herein applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing media include, but are not limited to, the following: recordable type media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digital tape, and computer memory; and transmission type media such as digital and analog communication links using TDM or IP based communication links (e.g., packet links).
While particular aspects of the present subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from the subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this subject matter described herein. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.).
As a further example of “open” terms in the present specification and claims, it will be understood that usage of a language construction “A or B” is generally interpreted as a non-exclusive “open term” meaning. A alone, B alone, and/or A and B together.
Although various features have been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit or scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
The present application is related to and/or claims the benefit of the earliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listed application(s) (the “Priority Applications”), if any, listed below (e.g., claims earliest available priority dates for other than provisional patent applications or claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e) for provisional patent applications, for any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the Priority Application(s)). In addition, the present application is related to the “Related Applications,” if any, listed below. For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the present application constitutes a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/136,504, entitled “VENDING DEVICES HAVING AD-WATCHING AS CONSIDERATION”, naming Roderick A. Hyde, Muriel Y. Ishikawa, Edward K. Y. Jung, Jordin T. Kare, Royce A. Levien, Richard T. Lord, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo, Jr., Clarence T. Tegreene, Charles Whitmer, Lowell L. Wood, Jr., and Victoria Y. H. Wood as inventors, filed Aug. 1, 2011, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date. None The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to the effect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicants reference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is a continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional of a parent application. Stephen G. Kunin, Benefit of Prior-Filed Application, USPTO Official Gazette Mar. 18, 2003. The USPTO further has provided forms for the Application Data Sheet which allow automatic loading of bibliographic data but which require identification of each application as a continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional of a parent application. The present Applicant Entity (hereinafter “Applicant”) has provided above a specific reference to the application(s) from which priority is being claimed as recited by statute. Applicant understands that the statute is unambiguous in its specific reference language and does not require either a serial number or any characterization, such as “continuation” or “continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to U.S. patent applications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Applicant understands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entry requirements, and hence Applicant has provided designation(s) of a relationship between the present application and its parent application(s) as set forth above and in any ADS filed in this application, but expressly points out that such designation(s) are not to be construed in any way as any type of commentary and/or admission as to whether or not the present application contains any new matter in addition to the matter of its parent application(s). If the listings of applications provided above are inconsistent with the listings provided via an ADS, it is the intent of the Applicant to claim priority to each application that appears in the Priority Applications section of the ADS and to each application that appears in the Priority Applications section of this application. All subject matter of the Priority Applications and the Related Applications and of any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the Priority Applications and the Related Applications, including any priority claims, is incorporated herein by reference to the extent such subject matter is not inconsistent herewith. If an Application Data Sheet (ADS) has been filed on the filing date of this application, it is incorporated by reference herein. Any applications claimed on the ADS for priority under 35 U.S.C. §§119, 120, 121, or 365(c), and any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of such applications, are also incorporated by reference, including any priority claims made in those applications and any material incorporated by reference, to the extent such subject matter is not inconsistent herewith.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13136504 | Aug 2011 | US |
| Child | 14292590 | US |
