Method and apparatus for defining and utilizing product location in a vending machine

Abstract

In accordance with one embodiment, a vending machine comprises a plurality of receptacles for holding units of products, each receptacle operable to hold a respective plurality of units in a series. The vending machine further comprises a dispensing mechanism operable to dispense, from each receptacle, a first unit in the respective plurality of units, the dispensing mechanism thereby being operable to dispense only a first unit from the respective series at a time. The vending machine further comprises a means for determining, for a unit, information allowing a relationship among the unit and a location of the unit in the receptacle to be determined.

1 . A vending machine, comprising:
 a cabinet;   a plurality of receptacles arranged within the cabinet, each receptacle of the plurality of receptacles storing a plurality of units of at least one product, said plurality of units of the at least one product being stored in a series;   a dispensing mechanism disposed within the cabinet, the dispensing mechanism configured to dispense, from each receptacle, a first unit of the respective plurality of units, the dispensing mechanism thereby being operable to dispense only the first unit from the respective series at a time; and   means for determining, for each unit in each of the respective plurality of receptacles, information that defines a relationship between the unit and one of a plurality of series locations within the receptacle.   
     
     
         2 . The vending machine of  claim 1 , wherein the means for determining information comprises a memory of the vending machine. 
     
     
         3 . The vending machine of  claim 1 , wherein the means for determining information comprises a remote memory accessible by the vending machine via a network. 
     
     
         4 . The vending machine of  claim 1 , wherein the means for determining information comprises a memory associated with a unit of a product. 
     
     
         5 . The vending machine of  claim 1 , wherein the memory comprises a radio frequency identification tag. 
     
     
         6 . The vending machine of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 means for performing an action based on the information.   
     
     
         7 . The vending machine of  claim 1 , wherein the information defines, for each of the plurality of series locations within the receptacle, an identity of the unit stored in the location. 
     
     
         8 . The vending machine of  claim 1 , wherein the information defines, for each unit, a position of the unit in the one of the plurality of series locations within the receptacle. 
     
     
         9 . A vending machine, comprising:
 a plurality of receptacles for holding units of products, each receptacle operable to hold a respective plurality of units in a series;   a dispensing mechanism configured to dispense, from each receptacle, a first unit in the respective plurality of units, the dispensing mechanism thereby being operable to dispense only the first unit from the respective series at a time; and   a means for determining, for each unit of product stored in the vending machine, a position defined by an x, y and z coordinate.   
     
     
         10 . A vending machine, comprising:
 a serial product storage device configured to store units of products in series such that only a subset of all units of products stored in the vending machine are available as next-to-vend;   a processor; and   a memory in communication with the processor, the memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the vending machine to:
 determine, for the serial product storage device, a first product that is a product next available for vending from the serial product storage device; 
 determine, for the serial product storage device, a second product stored in the serial product storage device, the second product being stored behind the first product and thus not being next available for vending from the serial product storage device; 
 determine that a predetermined rule has been satisfied, thereby determining that a process is to be executed to facilitate making the second product next available for vending from the serial product storage device; and 
 execute the process, wherein an execution of the process comprises:
 outputting a promotion for the first product in an effort to make the second product available for vending from the serial product storage device.