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:
Nov. 20, 2007
Filed:
Jul. 28, 2005
Scott Juds, Seattle, WA (US);
James H. Halsey, El Dorado, AR (US);
Scott Juds, Seattle, WA (US);
James H. Halsey, El Dorado, AR (US);
IDX, Inc., El Dorado, AR (US);
Abstract
A vending machine having promotional features, wherein a secured token is associated with a subset of all the items that can be vended, and validation of the token limits the items offered to the patron for his selection to only that subset of items. A first vending machine promotes a new product by the manufacturer of the new product distributing secure promotional tokens good for a free vend or a discount on the price of the new product. In a second vending machine, products from multiple manufacturers are separately promoted using distinct secure promotional tokens for each brand. In a third vending machine providing a plurality of time-metered services, a secure promotional token provides only a limited economy subset of services for the patron's selection from among the plurality of services.