Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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UNA~TENDED AUTOMATED 8Y8TEM FOR 8ELLING AND DI8PEN8ING
Back~round of the Invention
This invention relates generally to customer
controlled facilities for selling and dispensing consumer
products and services, and more particularly to a system
for an unattended automated service or selling station for
S selling and dispensing products, particularly motor fuel,
by card or cash and returning any change that may be due.
Heretofore, equipment has been provided at
service stations which permit the remote enablement of
gasoline dispensers by an attendant-controlled terminal.
In such equipment, the terminal is located in the sales
office of the service station remote from the island which
contains the fuel pump dispensers. Such a terminal
prevents theft of gasoline by allowing only the attendant
to enable the fuel dispensing pumps.
U.S. Patent No. 3,786,421, the contents of which
are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a system
wherein the service station attendant has been eliminated
by permitting self-vending of the fuel and self-payment by
the customer. This device, however, is only capable of
being actuated by a credit card and is not capable of
receiving money for the transaction or giving change due.
It further does not handle goods which cannot be
automatically dispensed and therefore, does not create a
complete transactional receipt for the purchased goods.
U.S. Patent No. 3,931,497, which issued January
6, 1976, the contents of which are also incorporated
herein by reference, discloses an automatic fuel dispenser
which is actuated by either a credit card or currency to
establish a pre-established value for a particular amount
of motor fuel and which dispenses a quantity of fuel up to
the limit of the currency value or card limit value
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inputted by the user. This system, however, is not
capable of making exact change or of accepting any amount
of currency or coins in payment for fuel.
U.S. Patent No. 3,747,732, issued July 24, 1973
and 3,768,617, issued October 30, 1973 the contents of
each are incorporated herein by reference, disclose fuel
dispensing systems which utilize change calculating coin-
return mechanisms whereby an appropriate amount of change,
in coins, may be returned to the customer in the event a
preset amount of fuel has been dispensed and payment has
been in excess of the amount needed for the purchase.
More recently, other systems have been developed
for interaction with dispensing systems to enable customer
control and selection for the purchase of consumer
products, such as fuel, while providing during the process
audio instructions and video instructions and information
concerning the immediate purchase or issues relating
thereto. See, for example, International Application No.
PCT/GB88/00651, the contents of which are incorporated
herein by reference.
The convenience of unattended automated service
and selling stations for selling and dispensing items,
particularly fuel, has created an ever-increasing need for
such technology, and it is to that need that the present
invention is directed.
None of the prior art provides change in the
form of currency, i.e. banknotes and coins, and hence
falls short of completely automating the retail sales
agent function for the dispensing of motor fuel.
~ummarY of the Invention
It is therefore a general object of the present
invention to provide a system for use in an unattended,
automated service station for use in the selling and
dispensing of products and services, principally motor
fuel, that includes all of the advantages of prior art
systems and none of the disadvantages, and specifically to
,
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provide a system permitting the operation of a totally
unmanned facility that will increase sales and reduce
manpower costs.
Another object of the present invention is to
provide a system for use with unattended service stations
for the unattended and automated dispensing and selling of
motor fuel which include, audio and visual instructions
and information concerning the present selling and
dispensing activities, as well as other available items
for purchase and other useful information concerning local
businesses and activities.
Yet another objective of the present invention
is to provide a system of the type described that is
operable with either cash or credit card by a user and
which is capable of delivering correct change to a user by
dispensing currency and coins in any amount of cash or
credit applied toward the purchase.
Yet still another object of the present
invention is to provide an unattended purchase site having
high security and reliability and user-friendly components
to facilitate the unattended sales transaction.
The present invention encompasses a system for
an unattended automated service station for the selling of
and dispensing of products and services, primarily motor
fuel, which includes means indicating the quantity of fuel
dispensed; card reader means identifying indicia carried
by credit card and generating signals indicative of the
indicia; card verification means for verifying the credit
state of a card; coin and currency acceptor means for
receiving direct payment for a quantity of fuel to be
dispensed; receipt printing means for generating credit
card and cash purchase receipts; fuel dispensing
activating means for enabling the fuel dispensing means to
dispense fuel; data transmission means interconnecting the
various components of the system with other components to
remote verifying and information services; and a process
control means interconnected to the credit card reader
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means, the coin and currency acceptor means, the credit
card verification means, coin and currency dispensing
means, the receipt printing means, the display means, the
audio means, and the receipt generating means, the process
control means being responsive to receive data transmitted
from the card verification means and the card acceptor
means to activate the fuel dispensing means for delivering
a specific quantity, generating a receipt, activating the
coin and currency dispensing means to deliver an exact
amount of change in coins and currency, and terminating
the operation of the system.
There has been outlined rather broadly and in
summary form, the more important features of the invention
in order that the detailed description that follows may be
better understood and in order that the present
contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There
are obviously additional features of the invention that
will be described hereinafter and which will form the
subject matter of the claims appended hereto. In this
respect, before explaining several embodiments of the
invention in detail, it is to be understood that the
invention is not limited in its application to the details
of construction and to the arrangement of the components
set forth in the following description or illustrated in
the drawings. The invention is capable of other
embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in
various ways.
It is also to be understood that the phraseology
and terminology used herein are for the purpose of
description and should not be regarded as limiting in any
respect. Those skilled in the art will appreciate the
concept upon which this disclosure is based and that it
may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other
structures, methods and systems for carrying out the
several purposes of the present invention. It is also to
be understood that the abstract is neither intended to
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define the invention of the application, which is measured
by the claims, nor to limit its scope in any way.
These and other objects, features and advantages
of the present inventions will be apparent through a
reading of the following detailed description, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like
reference numerals refer to like parts.
Brief DescriPtion of the Drawinqs
Throughout the course of this detailed
description, reference will be made to the following
drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a motor fuel
service station incorporating an unattended selling and
dispensing system constructed in accordance with the
principles of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a fuel
island of the service station of FIG. 1 illustrating a
customer in place at the customer console thereof;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of an
alternate customer engaging console embodying a portion of
the present invention in place at a fuel island with a
dispensing facility which enables the unattended purchase
of other consumer products in addition to fuel;
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram
illustration of the connected components comprising the
present invention;
FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the basic
control sequence executed by the components represented in
FIG. 4, and
FIG. 6 is an enlarged and isolated view of the
customer engaging console constructed in accordance with
the principles of the present invention used in the
unattended service station of FIG. 1.
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Do~iled DQscription of the Invention
Reference will be made hereinafter to the
present invention as it relates to an unattended service
station having a plurality of gasoline dispensing islands
to which the system comprising the present invention is
applied. It is to be understood, however, that the system
may be applied to other automated vending services or
selling stations where consumer products such as food,
drinks, cigarettes, candies, nonprescription drugs and
others may be sold. In many instances, such items can be
sold in conjunction with motor fuel at an unattended
station.
Referring now to FIG. 1, an unattended service
station 10 is illustrated which includes a plurality of
gasoline dispensing islands 13, 15, 17 each of which is
shown as having a separate, two-sided gasoline dispensers
l9, 21, 23 shown generally in the Figures as fuel pump
dispensers 35. Each side of the dispensers 19, 21, 23 may
have anywhere from between one to five fuel outlets 12 for
dispensing separate types of fuels, for example, regular,
midgrade, premium, and diesel fuel.
Apparatus of the present invention includes a
customer engaging console 25 closely associated in
proximity and function with gasoline dispensers 19, 21, 23
and are shown illustrated in FIGS. 2 & 3 as in place upon
one of the islands. This console 25 is preferably soundly
constructed to be theft-and weatherproof and designed to
house most of the components of the system shown more
specifically in FIG. 4.
A facility server 27 is located in a separate
and remote closed facility 29 in order to provide a
control center for all of the consoles and fuel islands
sites of the service station lO. The facility server 27,
by way of a suitable transmission means 33, has suitable
wide area network connections to gather all off-site
information necessary for the efficient operation of the
system including, but not limited to, credit card
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verification and other information needed in day-to-day
operation of the service station 10.
The facility server 27, through an interface 31,
controls the activation and deactivation of the fuel
dispensers 35 which continually display sales indicia,
such fuel price and fuel quantity units for the customer.
Server 27, through another transmission means, preferably
in the form of a suitable local area network ("LAN") 37,
also connects with a customer interface controller 39 in
order to clear a credit sale transaction and activate fuel
dispensation after such transaction has been cleared, or
after a cash purchase has been initiated. In instances
concerning the latter type of purchase, a PC controller 39
is connected to a cash coin controller 41 which in turn
has two-way communication with a cash acceptor 4 3.
Controller 41 also receives input from coin acceptor 45,
and has two-way communication with cash dispenser 47, as
shown in FIG. 4 in order to controls coin dispensation
through coin dispenser 47.
The credit card reader 51 transmits information
to controller 39, and an optional numerical pad 53 for the
entering by a purchaser of a PIN ("personal identification
number") is similarly connected to prohibit fraudulent
access to the credit card reader and mechanism associated
therewith. A receipt printer 55 is also provided which is
activated by the controller 39 to provide a transaction
receipt of the purchase regardless of whether the purchase
is credit card or cash-based. A video display 57 may be
provided on the console 25 which is controlled by
controller 39 in order to provide additional fueling
instructions or other important information about products
for sale or locations of interest to the purchaser. There
is an optional provision for a touch-panel type display to
facilitate customer selections by touching simulated
buttons on the screen.
With reference now to FIG. 5 which illustrates
the operational sequence of the system of the present
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invention, controller 39 controls the processing and
management of the customer control console 25. The
operational activities may be summarized as follows:
(1) data is received from card reader 51 which
includes information read from the customer's
credit card, by way of its magnetic stripe, and
is manipulated to provide output commands to the
server 27 for off-site verification;
(2) an accepted card enables the interface 31
of the system to activate the appropriate
dispenser 35;
(3) fueling commences and audio instructions or
information may be provided during the fueling
period; and
(4) fueling is completed and an optional
receipt is available from receipt printer 55
through controller 39.
In the event a cash purchase of motor fuel is
desired by the purchaser, cash, such as either currency or
coins are inserted into either the currency acceptor 43
and/or the coin acceptor 45. The dispenser 35 is then
activated through interface 31 by the facility server 27
via controllers 39 and 41 once the amount deposited by the
purchaser into the acceptors 43, 45 is determined. Upon
the completion of fueling, cash and/or coins that are due
from the transaction are returned by way of activation of
four currency dispensers 49 and/or four coin dispensers 47
upon initiation by controller 41.
In order to effectuate providing the purchaser
with change for his or her purchase of fuel, the currency
and coin dispensers 47, 49 preferably contain distinct
supplies of different denominations of currencies and
coins. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the currency dispenser
47 contains a supply of the following different
denominations of currency: l-dollar bills, 5-dollar bills,
10-dollar bills and 20-dollar bills, while the coin
dispenser 49 contains a supply of the following different
-
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denomination coins: pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.
Upon command from a signal from the controller 41, the
dispensers 47, 49 will make appropriate change to the
purchaser, which may be dispensed to the purchaser by way
of a slot 18 on the customer console 25. Any convenient
amount of cash may be utilized for the purchase such as a
$20.00 bill even though the sales transaction totals only
$18.50. Likewise, the cash and coin acceptors 43, 45 will
have the ability, as is known in the art of such
acceptors, to distinguish between and identify different
denominations of currency and coins as illustrated in FIG.
4.
An optional receipt is again available, and
after a suitable time elapses, the system recycles to the
start position.
The console 25 preferably is partially embedded
in a concrete base of the service station island and is
also preferably physically constructed to resist vandalism
and weather. The customer engaging screen 14 of the
console 25 is preferably recessed within front wall 59
thereof to protect it from wind and rain and to facilitate
its visibility to a purchaser. Moreover, the console 25
and fuel island will be suitably covered with a protective
roof 16 to further insure minimum weather damage to the
unit. All interconnecting transmission lines such as
copper wires, fiber optic cables or the like 18 which may
make up part of the LAN 37 may be sealed in a protective
conduit and buried in concrete extending from the console
25 to the separate closed facility 29 and to all
dispensers 35. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the customer
console 25 may also be incorporated into an additional
product vending station 26 disposed on the service station
islands in proximity to the fuel dispensers 35 at which
the purchaser may purchase drinks, snacks, personal items,
etc.
The various components of the present system are
of a conventional nature, but have been combined to
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provide the unique combination set forth herein. For
example, an appropriate facility server 27 may be a Dell
PT90 personal computer with 500 megabyte hard drive and 32
megabytes of RAM (random access memory). Larger memory
applications may be required dependent upon the member of
islands and dispensers served.
A suitable interface 31 operable with this type
of PC server may include a conventional GPCC manufactured
by Progressive International, Inc. A compatible customer
interface controller 39 may be a PSI Pieces and Parts PC.
A Hess GmbH MCMC Controller Board (TIPS 280) may be used
as suitable cash coin controller 41. A suitable coin
dispenser 47 suitable for use and the present invention is
the Universal Hopper MK11 made by Coin Controller, Ltd.,
and a suitable cash dispenser 49 may be the Model 13234
banknote dispenser made by DeLaRu Ltd.
Additional acceptable components for the present
invention include a credit card reader 51 may include a
Model No. MT 215232 made by Magtee Corporation, while
suitable receipt printer 55 for use with the present
invention may be the Model FTP 421 (WMCR 512) Printer by
Fugitsu. Any number of suitable units for video display
57, for example Potronix, model 2400, are available and
the PIN pad 53 may be of the type utilized by banks in
automatic teller machines such as by Atalla. Numerous
alternative components for each of the operational
functions are currently available and can be utilized in
the present inventive concept.
In the drawings and specification there has been
set forth the best mode presently contemplated for the
practice of the present invention, and although specific
terms are employed, they are used in the generic and
descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation,
the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention
have been shown and described, it will be understood by
those skilled in the art that changes or modifications may
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be made thereto without departing from the true spirit and
scope of the invention.
