| 摘要 |
<p>A vending machine communication system and process including a vending machine (12) that vends a product. A vending machine operating software is stored in an operating software memory (18) associated with the vending machine (12). A vending machine controller (10) controls the vending machine (12) as a function of the vending machine operating software. A vending machine I/O port (46, 52) is associated with the vending machine controller (10). A handheld data transfer device (60) has a data transfer I/O port (62, 71) for communicating with the vending machine I/O port (46, 52). The handheld data transfer device (60) has a storage. The transfer device (60) and the vending machine controller (10) are adapted to transfer the vending machine operating software between the storage and the operating software memory (18) via the data transfer I/O port (62, 71), the vending machine I/O port (46, 52), and the vending machine controller (10). As a result, the vending machine operating software is transferred between the operating software memory (18) and the storage. The system also includes the ability to transfer vending machine operating software and vending machine data from one vending machine (12) to another (12'), using the handheld data transfer device (60). <IMAGE></p> |
