The present invention relates to a coin acceptance means and method, and, more particularly, to a coin acceptance means for use in a vending system wherein a vend price is established prior to coin deposit or the submission of other credit means by a customer, for determining, based upon the ability of the system to provide a correct amount of change to the customer if a particular deposited coin or other credit submission is accepted, whether a given deposited coin or credit submission, even if valid, will be accepted.
It will be appreciated that, throughout this application, the term "coin" may be employed to mean any coin (whether valid or counterfeit), token, slug, washer, or other item, including currency and scrip, which might be used by an individual in an attempt to operate a coin-operated device or system. A "valid coin" is considered to be an authentic coin, token, or the like of the monetary system or systems in which or with which the coin-operated device or system is intended to operate and of a denomination which the device or system is intended selectively to receive and to treat as an item of value. A coin is considered to be "accepted" when it is determined to be a valid coin and a credit therefor is entered in the vending system.
Generally, single price vending systems have a pre-established vend price against which an accumulated credit is compared to determine whether a vend operation will be effected. Many multi-price vending systems, on the other hand, are so designed to permit the customer to deposit coins to build up an accumulated credit entry, which credit entry is compared against a vend price subsequently established when the customer actuates a vend selection means to select a particular product having a particular vend price. However, even some multi-price vending systems may be so designed that a vend price is established prior to any coin deposit or any recognition thereof. For example, a multi-price system may be so designed to require selection of the desired product prior to the recognition of any coin deposit. With such a system the vend price would be established by the product selection made, and the vending system would thereafter function in similar fashion to a single price vending system. The coin acceptance means of the present invention is primarily directed to single price vending systems and to multi-price vending systems wherein a vend price for a given vend operation is established prior to the deposit of coins or submission of credit with regard to such particular vend operation. For the sake of convenience, such systems will hereinafter be referred to as predefined price vending systems.
In the past, most predefined price vending systems have functioned in one of two different ways to try to ensure that a customer would receive the proper amount of change in the event that he had made an overdeposit. A number have been designed such that an exact change light is caused to be illuminated whenever the change making tube for the lowest denomination coin is found to be empty. With some of such vending systems, especially systems wherein the vend price is equal to the value of a particular denomination of coin, if the customer chooses to ignore the exact change light and to deposit a coin which does not constitute "exact change", the system will refuse to accept such coin and will simply return such deposited coin to the customer. In such a way, such systems can ensure that no overdeposit will be accepted and that no payback will be required. With other "exact change" systems, if the customer chooses to ignore the exact change light and deposits a coin sufficient to result in an overdeposit situation, the system will function to accept the coin and to effect a vend of the product selected, and will also attempt to provide a refund in the proper amount, but with no guarantee that the correct amount, or, perhaps, any amount, will actually be refunded to the customer. Consequently, in such a situation, it is quite likely that the customer may receive less than the full refund amount to which he is really entitled.
Other vending systems have been so designed that they receive the deposited coin and total the credit entries, subtract the vend price from such credit total to obtain a refund amount due, and then determine if sufficient change remains available in the change making tubes to actually pay back to the customer the refund amount due. Such types of vending systems have generally allowed the customer to deposit coins prior to the making of any vend selection in order to accumulate a credit entry, and have permitted such customer to thereafter make a vend selection to establish a vend price. Such systems typically determine both whether the accumulated credit entry is sufficient in view of the vend price established and whether any refund amount will be due to the customer as a result of an overdeposit. If it is determined that the credit entry is at least equal to the vend price and that sufficient change remains to pay back any refund amount due, such systems have then collected the deposited coins, effected a vending of the selected product, and paid back the particular refund amount, if any, due. However, if they have determined that insufficient change remains to pay back the particular refund amount that would be due, all the deposited coins, or coins of like total value, have been returned to the customer and no product vend has been effected.
Representative of some of the various types of vending systems noted hereinabove and of controls therefor or coin changing features that could be employed therewith are those constructions disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,188,961; 4,191,999; 4,462,512; 4,499,982; and 4,499,985.
With many of the known predefined price vending systems that include changemakers, a vend is not permitted if proper coins are not available for use in refunding the amount of an overdeposit. In such cases, the customer, who has typically deposited a plurality of coins to accumulate a credit entry, which coins are retained by the system upon deposit and the validation thereof, is refunded the total amount of his deposit, either automatically, as a function of the vending system, or upon actuation by him of an escrow switch. In any event, the entire deposited amount of credit is returned to the customer. If, by chance, such customer has available to him additional or other change in such an amount that he can deposit an exact change amount or some other amount for which the vend system includes appropriate change to allow a refund to be made, such customer may seek to obtain a vend by again commencing coin deposit, often re-depositing many of the same coins just returned to him. The noted return of all of such coins to the customer and the subsequent re-deposit of a portion thereof by him in further efforts to obtain a vend may take a significant amount of time in terms of the ability of the vend system to vend products to customers. Such time factor may become problemsome if there are a number of people waiting to use the vend system and several of the people near the beginning of the line all initially make deposits for which the system cannot provide a correct refund. If even some of such customers, after a first refund of all deposited coins, seek to re-deposit coins to obtain a vend, the delay to customers farther back in line will be increased. If the delay becomes too long, the individuals farther back in line may grow irritated, and, in some instances, decide not to wait for their turn, as a consequence of which sales will be lost. Even those who are willing to wait for their turn may develop less positive attitudes toward the vend system and the products vended thereby, the long term effect of which may be a reduction in sales. It is therefore desirable that such delay time in vending, which delay time results from the return of all deposited coins when non-refundable overdeposits are detected and the re-deposit of a portion of such returned coins in a subsequent vend operation, be minimized or eliminated, and the present invention is directed to such end.