Electronic funds acceptor for vending machines

Abstract

The electronic funds acceptor has a memory for storing the maximum value of a vending machine product to reduce the number of coin or bill received signals to be generated and sent to the electronics in the vending machine which authorize purchase of goods from the vending machine. The acceptor also has a memory for recording incomplete transaction records so that a purchase transaction can be completed later in the case that the user removes the medium from the vending machine once the transaction is in progress. The acceptor also has a memory for storing the total amount of goods purchased using electronic funds so that the total purchase amount from all vending machines can be compared to the total amount of funds loaded onto the electronic funds recording medium to check for fraud or abuse of the system. As a further measure of security, the acceptor has a memory for storing an incrementable use marker in association with each identification number of all electronic funds data recording media which carry a copy of the use marker. If the use marker is determined by the acceptor to precede the marker recorded in memory in the acceptor, the transaction is prevented since the given medium would necessarily be a copy. The vending machine using the funds acceptor has a product price memory for determining a product price as a function of time of day and the recording medium identification number.