A outdoor large item vending system for large items such as propane tanks, liquid petroleum gas cylinders of various sizes and other items that must be stored in and dispensed from a hazardous location compliant system (i.e. a Class I, Division 2 compliant system). The vending system can be placed on a store front, parking lot, campsite, or park, and comprises a main housing having compartments to hold large items such as propane container, which are dispensed from the compartments when a payment is made through a credit card reader interface located in the main housing. The large item vending system of the invention is powered by AC current which is turned to DC power by a power supply, or DC batteries charged by AC power and/or solar power, or by other power means.

Methods and systems are disclosed including a semi-automated canister distribution system comprising one or more cabinet systems, comprising: a cabinet having at least one compartment having at least one door having an open position and a closed position with a locked state and an unlocked state; a human-machine interface in communication with a cabinet controller configured to: receive first signals from the human-machine interface indicative of entry of a data element indicative of details of a transaction; and transmit second signals to the one or more cabinet indicative of instructions to change at least one of the at least one door between the locked state and the unlocked state; and a unit detection device configured for transmitting third signals indicative of removal of one or more substantially full propane canisters from the cabinet and placement of one or more substantially empty propane canisters in the cabinet.

The invention provides for a security mark (1) on a recyclable container (2), where the security mark (1) comprises an illustration (3) including a first part (4) printed in a first ink and second part (5) printed in a second ink. The reflectance of the first part (4) is between 0 and 20 percent in the visible spectrum having a wavelength up to 660 nm, making the first part (4) substantially fully visible in most of the visible spectrum and the reflectance of the first part (4) is above 80 percent in infrared light having a wavelength above 800 nm making the first part (4) substantially invisible in most of the infrared spectrum. The reflectance of the second part (5) is between 0 and 20 percent in light having a wavelength up to 800 nm making the second part (5) substantially fully visible in the visible spectrum and a first part (4) of the infrared spectrum up to 800 nm and the reflectance of the second part (5) is above 25 percent in infrared light having a wavelength above 960 nm making the second part (5) at least not fully visible in most of the infrared spectrum. A method for validating the authenticity of a security mark (1) on a recyclable container (2) is also disclosed.

A return device for empties includes an optical capturing apparatus for optically capturing features of an empty container. The capturing apparatus includes light sources and cameras. The light sources and the cameras are arranged around a capturing region in a horseshoe-shaped manner. One of the light sources and one of the cameras are arranged such that the camera is arranged in the beam path of the light source such that, when an empty container has been brought into a capturing region, the camera captures a modified luminous energy from the light source compared to the case where there are no empty containers in the capturing region. The return device further includes a circuit connected to the plurality of cameras and configured to activate an additional camera or an additional light source of the light sources on the basis of the luminous energy captured by the camera.

Methods and apparatus for managing information relating to recycling activities are described. One embodiment described herein is directed to a method for accessing aggregated recycling information for use and/or display in connection with an account-based recycling program. The method comprises receiving first and second container information, the first container information concerning a plurality of first containers for a first recycling transaction and the second container information concerning a plurality of second containers for a second recycling transaction. The first and second container information is stored and associated account information concerning at least one consumer account. The method further comprises accessing, in response to receiving a query relating to a plurality of recycling transactions, information relating to at least the first and second containers so as to enable the use and/or display of aggregated recycling information.

A device configured to receive and safely store a plurality of used needle-containing medical apparatus such as syringes, IV catheter introducers, bodily fluid collection devices and blood collection tube holders and to dispense a sterile medical apparatus having the same or a similar shape, size and configuration as that deposited into the device.

A reverse vending machine has an insertion area for inserting an object into the inside of the reverse vending machine, a transport unit for transporting the object in a transport area along a transport axis and an arrangement of cameras for capturing images of the object from several capturing directions. The image capturing direction of each camera is directed toward the transport area. Further, the cameras are arranged outside the transport area and not below the transport area.

A device for singulation of used beverage or food containers received in bulk into individual objects, including: a first receiving area arranged for simultaneously receiving and keeping a plurality of containers; a second receiving area positioned at a higher vertical level than the first receiving area, wherein the device further includes a transporting device including a container elevating member for transporting a container from the first receiving area to the second receiving area, wherein the elevating member is attached to the transporting device, moves along and is locked to a circumferential path around a first axis upon activation of the transporting device, and the first axis is inclined at an angle of 1 to 45 relative the horizontal plane.

A reception system for receiving objects comprises at least one reception device for receiving objects, a conveyor device, which has at least one conveyor belt section for conveying objects in a conveyance direction in the at least one reception device, and a sensor device, which is arranged on the at least one reception device, for detecting objects in the at least one reception device. It is provided in this case that the sensor device is designed to emit sensor signals along different signal paths over the reception device, to conclude a fill level of the reception device on the basis of an interaction of at least one of the sensor signals with objects conveyed into the reception device. In this manner, a reception system for receiving objects is provided, which enables further automation, in particular in the conveyance of objects into a reception device.

A refill bottle, such as a laundry refill bottle, is disclosed that can be used with a consumer refill station to reuse the bottle over and over. The refill bottle includes automatic flow control valves, that allow the bottle to be filled, handled, dispensed from, and refilled innumerable times without a cap. The elimination of a cap alleviates the manufacturer and consumer of the tasks of installing, loosening, tightening, removing, and reinstalling or replacing the cap. The refillable bottle uses flow control valves, specifically an automatic filling valve, an automatic pressure vent valve, a manual/automatic dispensing valve, and an automatic vacuum vent valve. The refill bottle enables liquid and air to be exchanged during filling, handling, dispensing, and refilling.