Article dispensing – Plural sources – stacks or compartments – With non-dispensing compartment
Patent
1995-06-01
2000-02-29
Noland, Kenneth
Article dispensing
Plural sources, stacks or compartments
With non-dispensing compartment
36447901, A47F 100
Patent
active
060298510
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention is particularly relevant to articles which are recyclable. Typically, recycling is restricted to articles of limited complexity and value which require minimum care in handling. For example, aluminium cans and bottles can be separated from other articles in a domestic situation and can then be either delivered to a recycling location or can be collected by a recycling organisation.
In instances where more fragile and sophisticated articles are to be recycled, such as toner cartridges and printer cartridges, for example, at present there is no real alternative to storing the used articles in boxes and delivering the used articles to a recycling centre.
The present invention provides an apparatus for storing used articles and dispensing new articles, comprising storage space for storing used and new articles, detection means for detecting the storage of a used article, dispensing means for dispensing a new article, and control means for monitoring the storage of used articles and for controlling the dispensing of new articles.
Preferably, the apparatus is adapted to store and dispense "complex" articles. This includes more sophisticated articles than the type which are commonly recycled (cans, bottles, paper, etc). In particular, these articles include toner cartridges, copier toner cartridges, bubblejet cartridges, inkjet cartridges, printer ribbons and other recyclable office materials of a complex nature. The apparatus may be regularly serviced to remove used articles for recycling and to restock the apparatus with recycled articles ("new articles") for dispensing.
The apparatus is preferably established in a convenient location, such as a retail shop, a foyer of an office building, or, in a large office, in the office itself. Apparatus with different configurations may be provided depending on the type and volume of recyclable materials they are intended to handle.
Preferably, in order to encourage recycling of used articles, the dispensing of a new article is tied to the deposit of a used article, such that the apparatus will not dispense a new article if that will result in a pre-determined ratio between new articles dispensed and used articles deposited being exceeded. The ratio may be 1:1, for example, so that in order to obtain a new article a user must first deposit a used article in the apparatus. The ratio is not limited to 1:1, however, and may be of any other ratio. For example, the ratio may be three dispensed articles to one deposited article, ie a fourth new article will not be dispensed until a further used article is deposited, if only one used article has been deposited previously.
The apparatus may be arranged to serve the needs of a number of different users and identification means, such as a magnetic stripe card and associated reader may be provided to identify a user requiring a transaction. A pin number entered on a keypad may also be used for identification. In such a case, the ratio between articles dispensed and articles used may be user specific and will relate to the number of articles dispensed and the number of articles deposited by that user (or user's company).
The control means preferably includes a memory for recording each transaction by each user. This memory can be used for audit purposes, for example. The user may obtain a "credit" for every used article he deposits and a "debit" for every new article he withdraws.
The detection means preferably comprises means for determining whether an article proposed to be stored by a user of the apparatus is of an approved type to be stored. This means comprises a means for assessing pre-determined features of the article in order to identify it. The pre-determined features may be features of the shape of the article. For complex items, such as printer cartridges and the like, the shape is often distinctive. Preferably, the means for assessing the shape may comprise a physical receptacle which accurately reflects the shape of at least a portion of the article. In the case of printer cartridges and the like,
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patent: 4803348 (1989-02-01), Lohrey et al.
patent: 4866661 (1989-09-01), de Prins
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Supplementary European Search Report, dated Jun. 2, 1997, Appl. No. EP 93 91 7453.
Grondman Siegmund
Jenkins Alan Ernest
Smith Gower
Imaging Technologies Pty Limited
Noland Kenneth
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