Display panel for vending machines

Claim 2

A vending machine including a control panel having a coin slot, an array of product selector buttons for controlling the vending of primary and secondary products from said machine and a sign panel having logo thereon representative of the primary product, comprising: first and second adjacent vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons, each having a secondary product display area thereon bearing indicia representative of a given secondary product to be vended; a primary product selector button, which is larger than the respective secondary product selector buttons, positioned above said secondary product selector buttons adjacent said coin slot, said primary product selector button being so shaped and so proportioned as to overlie and extend across both said vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons and presenting a primary product display area thereon larger than said secondary product display area to provide a dominant presence therein in said control panel; and said primary product display area bearing substantially the same primary product logo as said sign panel inducing, in conjunction therewith, the predominate selection of said primary product over said secondary products by a user of said vending machine.

Claim 3

The vending machine of claim 1, wherein said secondary product selector buttons in said vertical columns are disposed in a plurality of parallel rows with two selector buttons per row.

Claim 4

The vending machine of claim 2, wherein there are at least two of said rows.

Claim 5

The vending machine of claim 1, further comprising price display means on said control panel adjacent to said coin slot.

Claim 6

A vending machine including a control panel having a coin slot, an array of product selector buttons for controlling the vending of primary and secondary products from said machine and display panel means having logo thereon representative of the primary product, comprising: first and second adjacent vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons, each having a secondary product display area thereon bearing indicia representative of a given secondary product to be vended; a primary product selector button, which is larger than the respective secondary product selector buttons, positioned above said secondary product selector buttons adjacent said coin slot, said primary product selector button being so shaped and so proportioned as to overlie and extend across both said vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons and presenting a primary product display area thereon larger than said secondary product display area to provide a dominant presence therein in said control panel; said primary product display area bearing substantially the same primary product logo as said display panel means inducing, in conjunction therewith, the predominate selection of said primary product over said secondary products by a user of said vending machine; a plurality of said display panel means adjacent said control panel defining a like plurality of display fields within a defined display area; selected ones of said panel means being of contrasting surface characteristics to the remaining said panel means in the provision of selected display configurations in said display area; one of said selected ones of said display panel means including said logo means definitive of a primary product to be dispensed by said vending machine; and the remaining said selected ones of said display panel means being so configured, in conjunction with said one of said selected panel means, as to suggest the representation by said display panel means of an alphanumeric character representative of the said primary product in addition to said logo means, said alphanumeric character being an abbreviation for said primary product.

Claim 7

A vending machine including a control panel having a coin slot, an array of product selector buttons for controlling the vending of primary and secondary products from said machine and display panel means having logo thereon representative of the primary product, comprising: first and second adjacent vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons, each having a secondary product display area thereon bearing indicia representative of a given secondary product to be vended; a primary product selector button, which is larger than the respective secondary product selector buttons, positioned above said secondary product selector buttons adjacent said coin slot, said primary product selector button being so shaped and so proportioned as to overlie and extend across both said vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons and presenting a primary product display area thereon larger than said secondary product display area to provide a dominant presence therein in said control panel; said primary product display area bearing substantially the same primary product logo as said display panel means inducing, in conjunction therewith, the predominate selection of said primary product over said secondary products by a user of said vending machine; a plurality of said display panel means adjacent said control panel defining a like plurality of display fields within a defined display area; selected ones of said panel means being of contrasting surface characteristics to the remaining said panel means in the provision of selected display configurations in said display area; one of said selected ones of said display panel means including said logo means definitive of a primary product to be dispensed by said vending machine; and the remaining said selected ones of said display panel means being so configured, in conjunction with said one of said selected panel means, as to suggest the representation by said display panel means of an alphanumeric character representative of the said primary product in addition to said logo means, said alphanumeric character being an abbreviation for said primary product.

Claim 8

The vending machine of claim 5, wherein said contrasting surface characteristics comprise different colors.

Claim 9

The vending machine of claim 5, wherein at least said one of said selected ones of said display panel means is backlighted.

Claim 10

A vending machine including a control panel having a coin slot, an array of product selector buttons for controlling the vending of primary and secondary products from said machine and display panel means having logo thereon representative of the primary product, comprising: first and second adjacent vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons, each having a secondary product display area thereon bearing indicia representative of a given secondary product to be vended; a primary product selector button, which is larger than the respective secondary product selector buttons, positioned above said secondary product selector buttons adjacent said coin slot, said primary product selector button being so shaped and so proportioned as to overlie and extend across both said vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons and presenting a primary product display area thereon larger than said secondary product display area to provide a dominant presence therein in said control panel; said primary product display area bearing substantially the same primary product logo as said display panel means inducing, in conjunction therewith, the predominate selection of said primary product over said secondary products by an observer of said vending machine; said display panel means presenting selected display configurations on an obverse face of said vending machine, said display panel means comprising, first panel means, including discharge port means for presenting vended products, defining a first display field disposed on said display panel means, second panel means including said control panel defining a second display field extending from one end of said first display field, third panel means mutually adjacent said first and second display fields defining a third display field covering an area on said display panel means defined by the outer boundaries thereof and the said first and second display fields, and fourth panel means defining a fourth display field beneath said first display field, substantially covering an area defined by the latter and the outer boundaries of said display panel means, said third panel means including said logo means thereon representative of the primary product to be vended, and said fourth panel means being so configured in combination with the other said panel means as to suggest the representation by said display panel means of an alphanumeric character representative of said primary product in addition to said logo means, said alphanumeric character being an abbreviation for said primary product.

Claim 11

A vending machine including a control panel having a coin slot, an array of product selector buttons for controlling the vending of primary and secondary products from said machine and display panel means having logo thereon representative of the primary product, comprising: first and second adjacent vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons, each having a secondary product display area thereon bearing indicia representative of a given secondary product to be vended; a primary product selector button, which is larger than the respective secondary product selector buttons, positioned above said secondary product selector buttons adjacent said coin slot, said primary product selector button being so shaped and so proportioned as to overlie and extend across both said vertical columns of secondary product selector buttons and presenting a primary product display area thereon larger than said secondary product display area to provide a dominant presence therein in said control panel; said primary product display area bearing substantially the same primary product logo as said display panel means inducing, in conjunction therewith, the predominate selection of said primary product over said secondary products by an observer of said vending machine; said display panel means presenting selected display configurations on an obverse face of said vending machine, said display panel means comprising, first panel means, including discharge port means for presenting vended products, defining a first display field disposed on said display panel means, second panel means including said control panel defining a second display field extending from one end of said first display field, third panel means mutually adjacent said first and second display fields defining a third display field covering an area on said display panel means defined by the outer boundaries thereof and the said first and second display fields, and fourth panel means defining a fourth display field beneath said first display field, substantially covering an area defined by the latter and the outer boundaries of said display panel means, said third panel means including said logo means thereon representative of the primary product to be vended, and said fourth panel means being so configured in combination with the other said panel means as to suggest the representation by said display panel means of an alphanumeric character representative of said primary product in addition to said logo means, said alphanumeric character being an abbreviation for said primary product.

Claim 12

The vending machine of claim 8, wherein said third and fourth panel means are the same color and are different in color from said first and second panel means.

Claim 13

The vending machine of claim 6, wherein at least said third panel means is backlighted.