US007826923B2 (12) Ulllted States Patent (10) Patent N0.: US 7,826,923 B2 Walker et al. (45) Date of Patent: *Nov. 2, 2010 (54) PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES FOR VENDING (58) Field of Classi?cation Search ............... .. 700/236, A PLURALITY OF PRODUCTS 700/237, 238, 240, 242; 705/16 See application ?le for complete search history. (75) Inventors: Jay S. Walker, Ridge?eld, CT (US); _ Paul T. Breitenbach, Wilton, CT (US); (56) References Clted DSaihn iYe.l L Ee.e ,T eNdoerstchova,l Seh,e NltJo n(,U S); Paul D. Signorelli, Ridge?eld, CT (US); 2,607,463 A 8/1952 saifgl} Geoffrey M. Gelman, Brooklyn, NY i 123mg t l ' James A. Jorasch, NeW York, NY 3,a 609,a 250 A 9/1971 Morarni'lsS e a . 3,688,276 A 8/1972 Quinn (73) Assignee: FIVJZBker Digital, LLC, Stamford, CT (Continued) FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS ( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 CA 2 070 736 6/1992 U.S.C. 154(b) by 635 days. (Continued) Tlhi's patent is subject to a terminal dis- OTHER PUBLICATIONS c a1mer. Brochure, “Introducing the Digital MenuBoard”, Siren Technolo (21) Appp NO; 11/530,279 gies, Inc., (WWW sirentech com), 4 pp. C t' d (22) Filed: Sep. 8, 2006 ( on “we ) Primary ExamineriGene Crawford (65) Prior PllblicatiOIl Data Assistant ExamineriTimothy R Waggoner Us 2007/0100649 A1 May 3 2007 (74) Attorney, Agent, or FirmiFincham DoWns, LLC; ’ Carson C. K. Fincham Related U.S. Application Data (57) ABSTRACT (63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 10/902,397, ?led on Ju1~ 29> 2004- Package deals comprising component products from inven (60) Provisional application No. 60/715,088, ?led on Sep. wry groups are Offered and Sold to Customers of Vending 8, 2005 machines. In some embodiments, an association of the com ponent products With the inventory groups is indicated by at (51) In‘; C]_ least one of a placement of the component products and/or G061?‘ 1 7/00 (200601) physical indicia associated With the component products. (52) U.S. Cl. ..................... .. 700/238; 700/236; 700/237; 700/240; 700/242; 705/16 49 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets OUTPUT PACKAGE OFFER RECEIVE CUSTOMER SELECTION OF FIRST PRODUCT FROM FIRST INVENTORY GROUP m DETERMINE SECOND INVENTORY GROUP BASED ON SELECTION OF FIRST PRODUCT 300 OUTPUT INDICATION OF SECOND INVENTORY GROUP TO CUSTOMER VIA OUTPUT DEVICE(S) m DETERMINE WHETHER CUSTOMER SELECTED PRODUCT FROM SECOND INVENTORY GROUP AND PROCESS TRANSACTION ACCORDINGLY m US 7,826,923 B2 Page 2 US. 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