The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 01, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 20, 1995
Paul T Rudewicz, Mission Viejo, CA (US);
Thom Thomas, Ventura, CA (US);
Mark A Hopkins, Laguna Niguel, CA (US);
Robert K Chan, Irvine, CA (US);
KRh Thermal Systems, S. San Francisco, CA (US);
Abstract
In accordance with the present invention, a vending machine includes a number of failure control devices that monitor and control the functioning of the various components in the vending machine to ensure uniform quality of food products to be sold to a customer. One specific embodiment includes plurality of oven failure control devices, a freezer failure control device and a power failure control device. When a microcontroller in the vending machine determines the occurrence of a failure, the microcontroller displays a failure message on a customer display and discontinues vending food until the failure is corrected, for example, by an operator. In another aspect of this invention, the vending machine includes a mechanism for operating a door of a refrigeration compartment of the vending machine. The mechanism includes a motor driven rotary link coupled to a roller that moves in a slot of the door.