Field of the invention

The present invention relates to the technical field of payment systems, in particular to the technical field of payment systems associated to self-service vending apparatuses.

Prior art

Various vending systems by means of which a buyer may purchase a product or service and pay with their appropriately enabled mobile telephone configured for the purpose are known in the prior art.

The vending and payment systems which exploit mobile telephones and smartphones are very promising by virtue of the huge dissemination of such devices everywhere, and thus the possibility that said payment systems are rapidly used by a very high number of potential customers worldwide.

In the scope of the existing payment systems by means of mobile telephone, the system described in patent US7574377, in particular for automatic vending machines of products and services, describes an architecture comprising at least one automatic vending machine appropriately provided with Internet connection; a remote operator or server provided with Internet connection; at least one portable communication apparatus (mobile telephone, smartphone etc.) adapted to allow a user to communicate the identity of said automatic vending machine where the user is located; means with which said remote operator, by means of an Internet connection, can authorize the identified automatic vending machine to sell to the buyer, and later notify the buyer of the completed purchase.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention according to patent US7574377, the automatic vending machine is provided with an identification code which the buyer may read when in the vicinity of the vending machine itself.

Said remote server is associated to a first database containing the identification data of the automatic vending machines belonging to the system and a second database 142 containing identification data of the customers authorized to make purchases using the system. A buyer provided with a mobile telephone or smartphone when in the vicinity of an automatic vending machine can read the identification code corresponding to said vending machine and connect to the Internet via a particular network access point so as to communicate with said remote server.

During this step, the mobile telephone of the buyer sends a customer's ID, so that the remote server can check whether the customer is a buyer already identified in said second database 142. After having verified the buyer's identity, said remote server asks the buyer to transmit the code corresponding to the vending machine and then associates it to the corresponding IP address of the automatic vending machine, both contained in the database 141 , so as to verify, for example, the operating state of the automatic vending machine 10 and authorize the vending machine to sell.

After having dispensed the service or the goods, the corresponding amount is billed to the buyer and a message confirming that the transaction was successfully completed will be shown on the buyer's mobile telephone or smartphone.

The system described in patent US8032414 perfects the system described in US7574377 by introducing the possibility to start and conduct the commercial transaction in convenient, user-friendly manner for the buyer within the same system HW/SW architecture. Indeed, instead of the ID code of the vending machine according to US7574377, patent US8032414 introduces that the customer must communicate barcodes, QR codes, graphic icons or even packages containing digital or analogue data strings to the remote server, these being automatically transmitted to the automatic vending machine via Bluetooth, Zigbee or other, in order to proceed with the transaction. According to this system, the buyer may start buying by taking a photograph of the graphic symbol placed on the chosen vending machine with their smartphone or by receiving, again by means of their smartphone, the package transmitted by the chosen vending machine. The machine identification code is automatically extracted by the SW application running on the buyer's smartphone, and the transaction thus starts automatically without asking the buyer to enter the numeric code identifying the vending machine. The methods and systems of this type always assume that the buyer chooses the vending machine beforehand, because each vending machine is univocally associated to a numeric code or a barcode or a data package sent by means of radio transmission (RFID, NFC).

It is a purpose of the present invention to overcome said limitation and to make the vending system of goods and services via mobile telephone or smartphone, of the type described in patents US7574377 and US8032414, fully compatible with the user interface SW currently in use, e.g. in the field of automatic vending machines used in the motor vehicle fuel retail field.

Brief description of the figures

Fig. 1 shows a functional block chart of the vending system by means of portable communication devices according to the present invention.

Summary of the invention

The present invention relates to a vending system by means of which a user, provided with a portable communication device such as a mobile telephone provided with connection means to the Internet, a smartphone, a tablet PC etc., may automatically interact with a self-service payment terminal connected to at least one automatic vending machine, purchase and pay in simple, user-friendly manner without needing to use cash or payment cards.

Detailed description of the invention

With reference to appended figure 1 , a preferred embodiment of the vending system by means of portable communication devices according to the present invention comprises:

At least an automatic vending machine 10. An example of automatic vending machine is a petrol pump installed in a service station.

A centralized access apparatus 1 for accessing said at least one automatic vending machine 10. An example of apparatus of this type is an OPT (Outdoor Payment Terminal) installed at a service station and adapted to allow the buyer to purchase fuel in self-service mode.

An Internet access point associated to said centralized access apparatus 11 to which said centralized access apparatus 11 is connected in wired or wireless manner. A remote server 12 adapted to establish a connection via the Internet to said centralized access apparatus 11 and to said portable digital communication apparatus 13.

At least one database 14, associated to said remote server 12, containing the identification data of said centralized access apparatus 11 of said at least one automatic vending machine 10 associated to said centralized access apparatus 11 and of the users authorized to make purchases.

Said portable digital communication apparatus 13 will be typically a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a tablet etc provided with appropriate means for connecting to and communicating information via the Internet.

Said at least one automatic vending machine 10 preferably belonging to a plurality of automatic vending machines accessible by means of a same centralized access apparatus 11 via a common access point, such as, for example, fuel vending machines in service stations of the common kind.

The identification data of the automatic vending machines 10 and of said centralized access apparatus 11 , contained in said at least one database 14, preferably comprise at least the serial numbers identifying said automatic vending machines 10 and said centralized access apparatus 11.

The identification data of the users authorized to make purchases, also contained in said at least one database 14, preferably comprise the identification codes of the registered customers and may contain other data adapted to be used to authorize a purchase by that customer.

Said database 14 may be further split into two different databases containing the identification data of said centralized access apparatus 11 of said at least one automatic vending machine 10 associated to said centralized access apparatus 11 and identification data of the users authorized to make purchases, respectively. Said centralized access apparatus 1 is equipped with a user interface adapted to offer the purchase of goods and/or services from each of said automatic vending machines 10 associated to said centralized access apparatus 11 to the user, choosing to pay in the various available manners, by cash, by means of payment card or by means of their portable digital communication apparatus 13, mobile telephone / smartphone / tablet etc. If the user chooses the transaction mode by means of a portable digital communication apparatus 13, according to the methods of the present invention, said centralized access apparatus 11 generates a univocal identification code of the transaction, associates the code, in said database 14, by means of an internet connection established via an Internet access point and by means of said remote server 12, to the identification data of said centralized access apparatus 1 and makes the code available to the user on the user interface of said centralized access apparatus 11 in form of barcode, QR code or radio or RFID or NFC data package transmission which may be acquired by the user's portable digital communication apparatus 13 by communicating via Bluetooth, Zigbee or by means of RFID NFC scan or by means of other methods known in the prior art. The user at this point acquires said univocal transaction code (for instance, a QR code) with their portable device 13 (for instance, a smartphone) and said univocal code is then transmitted together with the user's identification code to said remote server 12 which verifies the user's identity and the location of the vending site where the transaction was requested in real time, by accessing said database 14. After the verification, said remote server 12 sends confirmation of said availability to carry out the transaction to said centralized access apparatus 11 and said user's portable device 13 and establishes a private virtual connection between said user's portable device 13 and said centralized access apparatus 11 by virtue of the user's identification code that the system has collected in said database 14. At this point, the user may be requested - as additional safety measure - to confirm their intention to purchase by entering the code just received on the user interface of said centralized access apparatus 11 or on their portable device 13. This further operation may be requested to the user as soon as said remote server 12 verifies the user's identity and the location of the sales site where the transaction was requested, or at a later time, when the user chooses the vending machine 10 to be used.

In all cases, whether further confirmation by the user is required or not, when the transaction is enabled, said centralized access apparatus 11 asks which of the available automatic vending machines 10 the user intends to use by means of the user interface in manner precisely similar to that of purchase transactions made by means of cash or credit card or debit card. The user may express their choice directly on their portable device 13 or on the user interface of said centralized access apparatus 11.

After choosing, said univocal transaction code is released by said centralized access apparatus 11 and associated to the automatic vending machine 10 chosen by the user by means of said remote server 12 by means of a menu shown on the user interface of said centralized access apparatus 11.

The new association between said univocal transaction code and the automatic vending machine 10 chosen by the user remains active until dispensing of the purchased goods or services is completed, e.g. until the required amount of fuel is dispensed.

Advantageously, said remote server 2 may further read information related to the current state of dispensing (e.g. the dispensed amount of fuel and the corresponding price) and possible further information associated to contents viewed on the user interface of said centralized access apparatus 11 , e.g. advertisements or promotional contents on the vending machine 10, by means of said centralized access apparatus 11. Afterwards, said remote server 12 may send said information, possibly processed in appropriate manner, to the user's portable device 13. In this manner, the user may conveniently follow the progress of the dispensing of the purchased product or receive promotional offers, e.g. related to the promotional contents shown on the user interface of said centralized access apparatus 1 on their smartphone.

At the end of the transaction, after dispensing, the data related to the dispensed amount and the prices of the dispensing operation, still associated to said univocal transaction code, are sent by said centralized access apparatus 11 to said remote server 12, which replies by sending the transaction receipt to said centralized access apparatus 11 and to the user's portable device. The transaction ends at this point.