VENDINGMACHINECONTROLLERANDSYSTEMFIELDOFTHEINVENTIONThepresentinventionisdirectedtowardacontrollerforavendingmachine,andavendingmachineincludingsuchacontroller.BACKGROUNDOFTHEINVENTIONProcessor-basedpriorartvendingmachinecontrollers(VMCs)typicallyhavebeenimplementedusingalowcost,embeddedcontroller,e.g.,theIntelbrandmodel8051.Suchacontrollerseparatelyperformsmanyvendingmachinecontroloperations,includingmonitoring,storing,andperiodicallyreportingdatapertinenttotheoperationofthevendingmachine,e.g.,salesandinventoryinformation.TheCedronepatent(US.Pat.No.4,776,548)disclosesasystemformonitoringavendingmachineandperiodicallytransmittinginformationrelatingtomachineconditions,salesandproductinventorytoacentralcomputer.TheGirouardpatent(US.Pat.No.4,982,346)disclosesanautomatedsystemforpoint-of-sale-typeadvertisingandpromotionalcampaigns,havingacomputerWhichcandisplayadvertisementsonamonitor,managepromotionalsweepstakes,displayproductorstorelocatormaps,dispensecoupons,acceptorders,managecustomersurveys,andcommunicateWitharemotehostcomputer.TheGorogpatent(US.Pat.No.4,947,028)disclosesavendingmachinethatcanacceptvoicecommandsviaavoicerecognitionsystem(andcommunicateWiththecustomerviaavoicesynthesiZer)toaccommodatethosepersonsWhoareunabletoperformmanualdataentrytasks.Inaddition,theGorogpatentdisclosesavendingmachinethatcanremotelyverifyacustomer’screditWorthinesspriortopermittingasaleoncredittothecustomer.TheHomepatent(US.Pat.No.5,091,713)disclosesavendingmachinethatincorporatesamodem11,acreditcardreader40,adisplaypanel50,aprinter70andaspeaker80.Thedisplaypaneland/orthespeakercanbeusedtopresentmessagesandadvertising,andtheprintercanbeusedtopreparecoupons,promotionalinformation,rebateslipsandthelike.TheWilderpatent(US.Pat.No.5,408,417)disclosesavendingmachineincorporatingatouchscreendisplaypanel11,auralpromptsinapluralityoflanguages,andtheabilitytoaccommodateapluralityofpaymentmethods.TheOstendorfpatent(US.Pat.No.5,442,568)disclosesanaudit/monitoringsystemforusewithapluralityofautomatedvendingmachines.TheBroWnpatent(US.Pat.5,445,295)disclosesanautomatedvendingmachinethatisremotelycontrolledbyahostcomputer,thatcanpermitacustomertosampletheaudio/videomerchandise,butWhichhasonlyasingleexternalserialportforexternalcommunication.TheRademacherpatent(US.Pat.No.5,450,938)disclosesagroupofvendingmachinesthatinterfaceWithacommoncontrollerincorporatingamoney-handling/accreditingdevice.Themoney-handling/accreditingdevicehasareaderforencodedcardsasWellasacoinacceptor,andissuesabonus,orpremium,topatronsusingencodedcards.TheCragunpatent(US.Pat.No.5,504,675)disclosesaneural-network-basedvendingkioskthatadaptivelyselectspresentation-programsbaseduponfeedbackfromcustomers.Thefeedbackrepresentstherelativesuccessofthecurrentlyrunningpresentation-programsandisusedtoselectsubsequentpresentation-programsthataremostlikelytopleasethecustomerspresentatthekioskatthatmoment.SUMMARYOFTHEINVENTIONItisanobjectofthepresentinventiontoprovideanewvendingmachine,ortorevitalizeapriorartvendingmachinebyretrofitting,withsuchacontrollerthatsatisfiestheneedsofthepriorartasdiscussedabove.Itisanobjectofthepresentinventiontoprovideavendingmachinecontrollerthatprovidessubstantiallyequivalentperformancetoacontrolleremployingacustomprocessorhavingtwoormoreserialportsformedonthesamesiliconchipastheprocessorwithoutincurringthecosto...
