As the beam tilts from the weight of the coin, the string lifts the plug and dispenses the desired drink until the coin drops off the beam. Hero himself described the process in the book The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria , noting the price for one allocation of holy water: a five-drachms coin. The book also includes a diagrammed illustration of his invention. One of the most fascinating aspects of this invention, aside from its mechanism, is the reason behind creating it.
A snuff and tobacco vending machine introduced around opened automatically after money was inserted, but displayed its entire contents, leaving the customer to choose their tobacco product manually and close the machines themselves.
Nowadays, we have a wide range of vending machines which are able to dispense all manner of things, including; snacks, fresh food, hot and cold beverages, electrical items and more. Vending machines are found all across the world in various commercial and non-commercial environments.
Back in the day, vending machines would only accept coins, as it was easier to identify counterfeit coins than notes. Older vending machines would often take counterfeit notes because they could be easily imitated to look like the real deal. Today, vending machines are advanced enough to be able to recognise real coins, notes and give the right amount of change when the user makes the payment.
The technology can compare physical characteristics, such as the diameter, thickness and the number of ridges on the edge, to detect and verify coins. Newer, advanced vending machines can determine the chemical composition of coins and use optical scanning to identify notes. Some vending machines have miniature digital cameras which scan images of the notes and verify whether the real currency was inserted, by looking for specific patterns.
As genuine notes contain fluorescent ink, it will glow when ultraviolet light shines on it. Also, many vending machines use a magnetic reader to authenticate the notes because real bills are printed using magnetic ink. As we now live in a digitalised environment, vending machines are continuously getting smarter and smarter. Companies have successfully implemented credit card readers, as it is rare to find people carrying a lot of cash on them these days.
The rise of Apple Pay, Android Pay, and other mobile payment options make customers more inclined to make a purchase, as well as helping vending companies boost their sales. This site uses cookies. Vending machines have always been a recurring symbol of popular culture, whose advent began during the s, when children in schools on television series or movies used to drop coins in slots to buy snacks or to get sodas.
Though vending machines today are used to dispense food items and sodas, the first vending machine however was invented for neither of the two purposes. Here is the story of how vending machines have become what we know of them today. The first vending machine came about during 1st century AD from Roman Egypt and was invented by the Roman mathematician and engineer, Hero of Alexandria.
Hero of Alexandria actually created a device in which people could drop tokens to release a certain amount of water. In , the England created a small machine that dispensed tobacco which were placed in taverns. In , Richard Carlile, an English bookseller and publisher, created a machine that dispensed banned works, thus, allowing readers to purchase them.
During the s and 60s, the first, fully-automatic vending machine was introduced which sold stamps and writing paper.
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