Bulk vending machines occupy a special and important position not just because of the sales generated therefrom but because of the unique niche that these machines possess in the minds of the public. The bulk vending machine has endured and thrived as a fixture of the retail environment. At least one bulk vending machine and more likely several, can be found in the entrance way or lobby of nearly every supermarket, department store, hardware store, gas station and restaurant in the United States. The proceeds of the bulk vending machine may augment the income of the proprietor of the premises where it is located or may be collected by an independent operator, which may be a charitable organization.
Coin operated bulk vending machines of the type used to vend candy, nuts, capsules containing articles, stickers, gum, and the like are commonplace. Conventional bulk vending machines comprise two primary operational segments, a product storage area, or hopper, and a base. The product storage area is typically disposed atop the base. The base contains a coin mechanism and at least one coin slot for receiving selected coinage. The base also includes a chute door through which the vended goods are dispensed to the consumer. While gravity provides the predominant force utilized in dispensing the product from bulk vending machines, mechanical force must be generated to move the product from the product storage area to the chute door. Typically, such actuating force is provided by a crank handle linked through selected gearing to a rotatable, segmented merchandise wheel located adjacent to, or within, the product storage area.
In operation, after the appropriate, authorized coinage is placed in the coin slot(s) of the coin mechanism, the manual crank handle is rotated one complete rotation by the consumer. As the crank handle is turned, it imparts an amount of incremental rotation, which is determined by the gearing, to the merchandise wheel disposed within the product storage area to cause the dispensation of at least one piece of the product to the chute door. Bulk vending machines require no electrical assistance in order to dispense a product to the consumer.
A special aspect of the bulk vending machine is that it relies almost exclusively on point-of-sale appeal. As such, it should be attractive and alluring to potential customers. Attractive machines tend to catch the attention of the consumer such that the consumer approaches a rack of machines, or a plurality of machines aligned next to each other, and may purchase a product from the machine which attracted the consumer or a machine adjacent to the machine that attracted the consumer to the rack of machines. On the other hand, if the bulk vending machine is too garish or noticeable, it might offend the aesthetics or sensibilities of some members of the public, including the proprietor of the premises upon which it is located, and become unwelcome. Designers and marketers of bulk vending machines must balance these conflicting criteria. Several methods of making bulk vending machines more appealing to the consumer are used. However, in todays hands-on, need for visually stimulation advertising environment, there is a need to provide the consumer with an interactive manner of dispensing product from a bulk vending machine.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an interactive, entertaining way of utilizing a bulk vending machine to dispense a product to the consumer.