Remote vending using an integrated vehicle vending machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11580516-B2
Application number	US-201916413359-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2019
Priority date	May 15, 2019
Publication date	Feb 14, 2023
Grant date	Feb 14, 2023

Abstract

A device that includes a housing configured to couple to an interior of a vehicle. The device further includes a card reader and a user interface. The card reader is configured to receive payment card information for a payment card. The user interface is configured to receive a user input identifying a product, to determine a current location of the device, to determine a vending location where the product is available based on the current location of the device, and to modify a route to a final destination to include the vending location. The user interface is further configured to send an authorization request requests a purchase of the product, to receive an approval message, to generate an authorization token that authorizes a purchase to retrieve the products from the vending location, and output the authorization token.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vending machine, comprising:
a housing configured to couple to an interior of a vehicle;
a card reader coupled to the housing, configured to receive payment card information for a payment card; and
a user interface coupled to the housing and in signal communication with the card reader, configured to:
receive a user input identifying a product from a user inside of the vehicle;
determine the product is not available within the vending machine while the user is inside the vehicle;
determine a current location of the vending machine;
send a request for a list of stores where the product is available within a first predetermined radius along a route to a final destination for the user;
determine a vending location for a store from among the list of stores where the product is available based on the current location of the vending machine, wherein the vending location is within the first predetermined radius along the route to the final destination for the user and outside of a second predetermined radius of the current location of the vending machine;
modify the route to the final destination for the user to include a waypoint for the vending location while the user is inside of the vehicle, wherein modifying the route comprises:
rerouting the route to stop at the vending location before reaching the final destination for the user; and
providing information about the modified route to a driver of the vehicle;

receive payment card information for a payment card;
send an authorization request to a remote server, wherein the authorization request requests a purchase of the product using the payment card information;
receive an approval message that authorizes the purchase of the product in response to sending the authorization request;
generate an authorization token that authorizes a purchase to retrieve the products from the store at the vending location; and
output the authorization token.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein outputting the authorization token comprises printing a representation of the authorization token onto a ticket.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein outputting the authorization token comprises sending the authorization token to a user device.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein modifying the route comprises sending a notification to a driver of the vehicle.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein modifying the route comprises sending a notification to modify the route in a ride sharing application.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein determining the product is not available within the vending machine comprises:
comparing a product identifier for the product to an inventory list of items that are available in the vending machine; and
determining that the product is not available within the vehicle based on the comparison.

Assignees

• 7 Eleven Inc

Inventors

• Hodge Jonathan Christopher
• Singh Gurmeet
• Suri Maninder Singh
• Mohan Ranganathan

Classifications

• G01C21/362

  received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application · CPC title

• G01C21/3415

  Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents · CPC title

• G01C21/3438

  Rendezvous; Ride sharing · CPC title

• G06Q20/206 Primary

  comprising security or operator identification provisions, e.g. password entry · CPC title

• G06Q20/202 Primary

  Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR · CPC title