Apparatus for renting articles
US5007518A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 13, 1989 |
| Grant date | Apr 16, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 13, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S194/906
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An apparatus for rental of articles such as videocassettes comprises an outer housing, and a storage assembly within the housing having storage locations for storing a plurality of videocassettes. The housing has a front panel including an array of separate display areas each containing pictorial indicia representing a particular videocassette and a predetermined selection code corresponding to that videocassette, a selection device adjacent the array for allowing a user to enter the selection code of a selected videocassette, and a delivery chute for delivering selected videocassettes to users. A transport mechanism is provided for retrieving selected videocassettes from the storage assembly for delivery to users, and for returning videocassettes to the storage assembly. A control device associates each stored videocassette with its storage location and controls the transport mechanism to deliver selected videocassettes to customers.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.