A vending machine includes: a printing apparatus contained in the vending machine for printing printable data onto a substrate, wherein the substrate is a container for containing one or more products to be dispensed or is a label for the container; and a user interface for enabling customization of the printable data for each dispensing cycle. The user interface is configured to provide, at the time of use for dispensing, a user with at least one option to incorporate selected custom data into the printable data for printing onto the substrate thereby to customize the container.
A printing system provides a printer for printing indicia on a container within a vending machine. The printing system may print indicia based on information relevant to a purchase transaction. The vending machine may transmit to a remote server data relating to a purchase transaction entered into the vending machine, the remote server retrieving data relevant to the purchase transaction and/or to the purchaser and transmitting to the vending machine the data relevant to the purchase transaction, such that the printing apparatus prints indicia on the container based on the received data relevant to the purchase transaction.
A printing system provides a printer for printing indicia on a container within a vending machine. The printing system may print indicia based on information relevant to a purchase transaction. The vending machine may transmit to a remote server data relating to a purchase transaction entered into the vending machine, the remote server retrieving data relevant to the purchase transaction and/or to the purchaser and transmitting to the vending machine the data relevant to the purchase transaction, such that the printing apparatus prints indicia on the container based on the received data relevant to the purchase transaction.
B41F 17/00 - Printing apparatus or machines of special types or for particular purposes, not otherwise provided for
B65C 1/02 - Affixing labels to one flat surface of articles, e.g. of packages, of flat bands
G07F 11/72 - Auxiliary equipments, e.g. for lighting cigars, opening bottles
G07F 9/02 - Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when emptyAdvertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus
G09F 23/06 - Advertising on or in specific articles, e.g. ashtrays, letter-boxes the advertising matter being combined with articles for restaurants, shops, or offices
H04L 12/16 - Arrangements for providing special services to substations
A bagging system for a vending machine provides a bag loading device for loading the bag to a bag holder. The bag holder includes clamping arms for clamping opposed side edges of the bag to retain the bag in position for filling. The clamping arms are movable between a position wherein the top of the bag is generally stretched taut and a position wherein the top of the bag is slackened to thereby allow the top opening of the bag to open so that the product can be dispensed into the bag. The product may be associated with a data providing element for providing data relating to the product or a security code, or both, to the vending machine processor.
B65B 43/42 - Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up stateFeeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging positionLocating containers or receptacles at the filling positionSupporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation
B65B 43/46 - Feeding or positioning bags, boxes, or cartons in the distended, opened, or set-up stateFeeding preformed rigid containers, e.g. tins, capsules, glass tubes, glasses, to the packaging positionLocating containers or receptacles at the filling positionSupporting containers or receptacles during the filling operation using grippers
B65B 1/04 - Methods of, or means for, filling the material into the containers or receptacles
B65B 43/30 - Opening or distending bagsOpening, erecting, or setting-up boxes, cartons, or carton blanks by grippers engaging opposed walls, e.g. suction-operated
B65B 61/02 - Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for perforating, scoring, or applying code or date marks on material prior to packaging
G07F 13/10 - Coin-freed apparatus for controlling dispensing of fluids, semiliquids or granular material from reservoirs with associated dispensing of containers, e.g. cups or other articles
G07F 11/44 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which magazines the articles are stored in bulk
A separating and singulating system and apparatus for separating individual items from a plurality of items comprises a first conveyor for receiving and conveying the items toward an output end of the first conveyor at a first transfer rate, and a pair of auxiliary belts disposed generally in horizontal opposition above the first conveyor along at least part of the first conveyor zone, disposed in substantially the same direction and moving at substantially the same transfer rate as the first conveyor, for assisting the conveyance of the plurality of items toward the output end of the first conveyor. A second conveyor defining a second conveyor zone has an infeed end in communication with the output end of the first conveyor, and an output end for dispensing the items. The second conveyor may convey the items at a second transfer rate which is faster than the first transfer rate, so that a spacing between items in the second conveyor zone is great than a spacing between items in the first conveyor zone. A sensor may be provided to count items as they are dispensed.
B65G 47/31 - Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles during transit by a series of conveyors by varying the relative speeds of the conveyors forming the series
G07F 11/58 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from movable storage containers or supports the articles being supported on or by endless belts or like conveyors
09 - Scientific and electric apparatus and instruments
20 - Furniture and decorative products
35 - Advertising and business services
37 - Construction and mining; installation and repair services
40 - Treatment of materials; recycling, air and water treatment,
42 - Scientific, technological and industrial services, research and design
Goods & Services
(1) Vending equipment and electronic vending equipment, namely, vending machines for dispensing packaged and bulk merchandise, with and without multimedia boards; accessories for vending machines, namely, touch screens, TV monitors, printers, outer shells/skins, wifi and cellular modems, coin changers, bill acceptors, back-lit advertising panels, identification card processors, cameras and stands; vending machine software, namely operating software, graphic interface control software, and vending machine programming software; coin mechanisms, namely coin accepting mechanisms for coin-operated vending machines; spare parts and replacement parts for vending machines; industrial packaging automation machines. (1) Leasing of vending machines; leasing of advertising space on multimedia boards; interactive collection, hosting and analysis of electronic vending machines for third parties, namely data management services for market analysis and research services; repair and maintenance of vending equipment and electronic vending equipment, namely vending machine repair and maintenance services; distributing advertising in electronic form for display on media display kiosks and vending machines, namely advertising the goods and services of others via electronic media on media display kiosks and vending machines; design and manufacture of industrial packaging automation equipment for third parties.
Leasing of vending machines; leasing of advertising space on multimedia boards; collection and analysis of electronic vending machine data, including customer demographics, for third parties for business purposes; media distribution in the nature of distribution of advertising material for multimedia components of media display kiosks and vending machines
A bagging system for a vending machine provides a bag loading device for loading the bag to a bag holder. The bag holder comprises clamping arms for clamping opposed side edges of the bag to retain the bag in position for filling. The clamping arms are movable between a position wherein the top of the bag is generally stretched taut and a position wherein the top of the bag is slackened to thereby allow the top opening of the bag to open so that the product can be dispensed into the bag. The product may be associated with a data providing element for providing data relating to the product or a security code, or both, to the vending machine processor.
G07F 11/00 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles
G07F 11/44 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which magazines the articles are stored in bulk
09 - Scientific and electric apparatus and instruments
20 - Furniture and decorative products
Goods & Services
(1) Electronic Vending equipment, namely, vending machines for dispensing packaged and bulk merchandise, with and without multimedia boards; accessories for vending machines, namely, touch screens, video monitors, printers, outer shells/skins, wifi and cellular modems, coin changers, bill acceptors, back-lit advertising panels, identification card processors, cameras, software; spare parts and replacement parts for vending machines; portable media display kiosks including interactive collection of customer information.
09 - Scientific and electric apparatus and instruments
Goods & Services
Vending equipment, namely, vending machines for dispensing packaged and bulk merchandise, with and without multimedia boards; structural accessories for vending machines, namely, stands; parts and fittings for vending machines, including coin mechanisms Software for vending machines, namely, operating software, data collection and analysis software, client software for remote operation and servicing of vending machines, payment authentication software, Internet communications software, middleware allowing communications between software and hardware, consumer interface software, video scheduling software, and diagnostic software
14.
A VENDING MACHINE COMPRISING CONTAINERS, TO BE LOADED WITH SELECTED PRODUCTS AND THEN SEALED BEFORE DELIVERY
An apparatus for vending product comprises a vending machine having a secure housing containing a plurality of vender modules for dispensing a predetermined amount of merchandise into a container. A control panel receives a user selection of product from at least one selected vender module, loads a container onto a shuttle, drives the shuttle into dispensing communication with each selected vender module, and drives each selected vender module through at least one dispensing cycle to dispense the user selection of product. A sealing mechanism seals the container, and a dispensing mechanism dispenses the container to a user-accessible portion of the vending machine. A printer may be provided to print information or indicia, or both, onto the container.
G07F 11/44 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which magazines the articles are stored in bulk
B65B 43/00 - Forming, feeding, opening, or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
B65B 59/00 - Arrangements to enable machines to handle articles of different sizes, to produce packages of different sizes, to vary the contents of packages or to give access for cleaning or maintenance purposes
B65B 61/26 - Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for marking or coding completed packages
G07F 9/02 - Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when emptyAdvertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus
09 - Scientific and electric apparatus and instruments
Goods & Services
(1) Vending equipment, namely, vending machines for dispensing packaged and bulk merchandise, with and without multimedia boards; accessories for vending machines, namely stands, software and firmware; parts and fittings for vending machines, including coin mechanisms.
A vending machine for vending articles comprises a rotatable dispensing drum with a wall comprising at least one recess sized to receive an article, and a mechanism for rotating the dispensing drum about a rotational cycle. A plurality of magazines are provided for containing the articles in a stack, each magazine being in communication with the dispensing drum such that a proximate article in the magazine contacts the dispensing drum. The wall of the dispensing drum blocking the delivery of an article until an empty recess comes into alignment with the article during rotation of the dispensing drum. The article in the recess is dispensed from the recess as the dispensing drum is rotated further along its rotational cycle.
G07F 11/10 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which magazines the articles are stored one vertically above the other two or more magazines having a common delivery chute
17.
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VENDING MERCHANDISE SUSPENDED FROM A COIL
A vendor for dispensing suspended product composed of a housing for containing the suspended product to be vended from an opening in the housing, a mechanical coin mechanism mounted on the housing for receiving at least one coil, the mechanical coin mechanism releasing an actuator after receiving the at least one coin, the actuator connected to, and driving, a fixed end of a coil for suspending the product, the coil rotatably mounted in the housing above the opening to rotate about an approximately central axis of the coil, and a free end of the coil for releasing the suspended product.
G07F 11/64 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles in which the articles are individually suspended from stationary supports
An apparatus for dispensing a merchandise ribbon composed of a plurality of product units joined in series comprises a ribbon advancing mechanism for engaging a product unit and forcing the ribbon along a dispensing path, a cutting mechanism positioned to cut through a web after the ribbon advancing member has advanced the ribbon to a dispensing position, and an actuating mechanism for moving the ribbon advancing member and actuating the cutting mechanism.
A printing system for a vending machine includes a printing apparatus contained in the vending machine for printing printable data onto a substrate, wherein the substrate is a container for containing one or more products to be vended or is a label to be affixed to the container; and means for enabling customization of the printable data for each vending cycle, comprising a user interface configured to provide a user with at least one option to incorporate selected custom data into the printable data at time of purchase for printing onto the substrate thereby to customize the container.
An apparatus for vending product comprises a vending machine having a secure housing containing a plurality of vender modules for dispensing a predetermined amount of merchandise into a container. A control panel receives a user selection of product from at least one selected vender module, loads a container onto a shuttle, drives the shuttle into dispensing communication with each selected vender module, and drives each selected vender module through at least one dispensing cycle to dispense the user selection of product. A sealing mechanism seals the container, and a dispensing mechanism dispenses the container to a user-accessible portion of the vending machine. A printer may be provided to print information or indicia, or both, onto the container.
B65B 43/00 - Forming, feeding, opening, or setting-up containers or receptacles in association with packaging
B65B 59/00 - Arrangements to enable machines to handle articles of different sizes, to produce packages of different sizes, to vary the contents of packages or to give access for cleaning or maintenance purposes
B65B 61/26 - Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages for marking or coding completed packages
G07F 9/02 - Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when emptyAdvertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus
G07F 11/44 - Coin-freed apparatus for dispensing, or the like, discrete articles from non-movable magazines in which magazines the articles are stored in bulk
A bagging system for a vending machine provides a bag loading device for loading the bag to a bag holder. The bag holder comprises clamping arms for clamping opposed side edges of the bag to retain the bag in position for filling. The clamping arms are movable between a position wherein the top of the bag is generally stretched taut and a position wherein the top of the bag is slackened to thereby allow the top opening of the bag to open so that the product can be dispensed into the bag. The product may be associated with a data providing element for providing data relating to the product or a security code, or both, to the vending machine processor.
G07F 13/10 - Coin-freed apparatus for controlling dispensing of fluids, semiliquids or granular material from reservoirs with associated dispensing of containers, e.g. cups or other articles
A printing system provides a printer tor printing indicia on a container within a vending machine. The printing system may print indicia based on information relevant to a purchase transaction. The vending machine may transmit to a remote server data relating to a purchase transaction entered into the vending machine, the remote server retrieving data relevant to the purchase transaction and/or to the purchaser and transmitting to the vending machine the data relevant to the purchase transaction, such that the printing apparatus prints indicia on the container based on the received data relevant to the purchase transaction.
