Gimme Vending Is Awarded First Invention Patent

ATLANTA -- Gimme Vending said it has been issued its first patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent for invention No. 9,153,089 B1 is for a method of wirelessly communicating data from vending machines, whether on not they're networked, to computing devices. The utility patent addresses a primary data challenge supposedly faced by the vending industry and covers a communication device for vending machines and the method of using it for bidirectional transmission of data between vending machine and computing device.

The 20 allowed claims in the patent cover the technology in the Gimme Vending system in which DEX is automatically and wirelessly pulled when a route driver is in close proximity to a Gimme Key-equipped vending machine, without the need for Internet connectivity, and transmitted live to the operator's existing vending management system. The patent also covers the Gimme Key's plug-and-play installation and battery life optimization technology.

"Vending management systems require consistent and accurate DEX data from the field to perform crucial back-office functions for vending operators," said Gimme chief executive Cory Hewett. "Existing tools that pull and transmit data to these systems are costly and unreliable. Some are limited by network connectivity. In all cases, data integrity is negatively impacted, affecting sales, commissions and other VMS calculations. The Gimme Vending system solves this problem."

Hewett said Gimme has invested in and continues to invest in research and development to ensure that operators achieve the fastest path to data integrity and by extension, higher margins.

"Connecting one Gimme Key to one machine is foundational to these goals as it ensures that drivers, even temporary drivers, can easily locate machines in a building and that data is always being pulled from the right machines," he said.