ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,469,095, issued on Nov. 11, was assigned to TECH FRIENDS INC. (Jonesboro, Ark.).
"Tracking and alerting of dispensing of items" was invented by Bobby L. Shipman Jr. (Jonesboro, Ark.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The vending machine system employs at least one biometric capture device or configured to capture biometrics of a person accessing the vending machine. The system monitors the vending machine to track usage and attempted usage of the vending machine. The system creates records and logs of usage and attempted usage of the vending machine. The system also generates alerts concerning usage and attempted usage of the vending machine...