UNIVERSAL BILL RECYCLER

1 . A method, comprising:

receiving in a bill handler of a vending machine a first Coin Tubes message from a coin handler of the vending machine, the first Coin Tubes message comprising information associated with a denomination of a coin type available for dispensing in the coin handler;

producing a second Coin Tubes message by adding information associated with a denomination of a bill type available for dispensing in the bill handler to the first Coin Tubes message;

sending the second Coin Tubes message from the bill handler;

receiving a first Change Issue message in the bill handler, the Change Issue message comprising information identifying a first amount of money to be dispensed from the vending machine; and

dispensing from the bill handler at least one bill in response to the Change Issue message.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving in a bill handler a first Coin Inventory message from the coin handler, the first Coin Inventory message comprising information associated with a quantity of coins of the coin type, where the coins are available for dispensing in the coin handler;

producing a second Coin Inventory message by adding information associated with a quantity of bills of the bill type to the first Coin Inventory message, where the bills are available for dispensing in the bill handler; and

sending the second Coin Inventory message from the bill handler.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving in the bill handler a bill of the bill type;

storing the bill in a bill recycler of the bill handler; and

sending a Coin Inventory message comprising updated information associated with the quantity of bills of the bill type available for dispensing in the bill handler.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving in the bill handler a bill of the bill type;

storing the bill in a bill recycler of the bill handler; and

sending a Coin Credit message comprising a denomination of the received bill and an indication that the bill was stored in a coin tube.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the step of receiving a first Change Issue message further comprises receiving a plurality of Change Issue messages; and

the step of dispensing at least one bill further comprises dispensing a bill having a value equal to a total of the first amounts of money identified in the plurality of Change Issue messages.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending a second Change Issue message from the bill handler to the coin handler, the second Change Issue message comprising information identifying a second amount of money to be dispensed from the coin handler,

wherein the second amount of money equals a difference between the first amount of money and a value of the bill dispensed from the bill handler in response to the first Change Issue message.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending a Poll message from the bill handler to the coin handler, the Poll message requesting status information from the coin handler; and

receiving in the bill handler a first Status message from the coin handler, sent in response to the Poll message, the first Status message comprising information associated with a current status of the coin handler.

8 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

receiving in the bill handler a Poll message, the Poll message requesting status information from the coin handler; and

sending a second Status message, the second Status message comprising the information associated with the current status of the coin handler and information associated with a current status of the bill handler.

9 . A bill handler for use in a vending machine, the bill handler comprising:

a bill recycler; and

a controller adapted to:

receive a first Coin Tubes message from a coin handler of the vending machine, the first Coin Tubes message comprising information associated with a denomination of a coin type available for dispensing in the coin handler;

produce a second Coin Tubes message by adding information associated with a denomination of a bill type available for dispensing in the bill handler to the first Coin Tubes message;

send the second Coin Tubes message from the bill handler;

receive a first Change Issue message, the Change Issue message comprising information identifying a first amount of money to be dispensed from the vending machine; and

cause the bill recycler to dispense at least one bill in response to the Change Issue message.

10 . The bill handler of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:

receive a first Coin Inventory message from the coin handler, the first Coin Inventory message comprising information associated with a quantity of coins of the coin type, where the coins are available for dispensing in the coin handler;

produce a second Coin Inventory message by adding information associated with a quantity of bills of the bill type to the first Coin Inventory message, where the bills are available for dispensing in the bill recycler; and

sending the second Coin Inventory message from the bill handler.

11 . The Bill handler of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:

upon receiving in the bill handler a bill of the bill type, store the bill in the bill recycler; and

send a Coin Inventory message comprising updated information associated with the quantity of bills of the bill type available for dispensing in the bill recycler.

12 . The bill handler of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:

receive a plurality of Change Issue messages; and

dispense a bill having a value equal to a total of the first amounts of money identified in the plurality of Change Issue messages.

13 . The bill handler of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:

send a second Change Issue message to the coin handler, the second Change Issue message comprising information identifying a second amount of money to be dispensed from the coin handler,

wherein the second amount of money equals a difference between the first amount of money and a value of the bill dispensed from the bill recycler in response to the first Change Issue message.

14 . The bill handler of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further adapted to:

send a Poll message to the coin handler, the Poll message requesting status information from the coin handler;

receive a first Status message from the coin handler, sent in response to the Poll message, the first Status message comprising information associated with a current status of the coin handler;

receive a Poll message, the Poll message requesting status information from the coin handler; and

send a second Status message, the second Status message comprising the information associated with the current status of the coin handler and information associated with a current status of the bill handler.

15 . A vending machine, comprising:

a coin handler;

a bill handler communicatively coupled to the coin handler; and

a vending machine controller (VMC) communicatively coupled to the bill handler,

wherein the bill handler comprises a bill recycler and a controller, the bill handler controller adapted to:

receive a first Coin Tubes message from the coin handler, the first Coin Tubes message comprising information associated With a denomination of a coin type available for dispensing in the coin handler;

produce a second Coin Tubes message by adding information associated with a denomination of a bill type available for dispensing from the bill recycler to the first Coin Tubes message;

send the second Coin Tubes message to the VMC;

receive a first Coin Inventory message from the coin handler, the first Coin Inventory message comprising information associated with a quantity of coins of the coin type, where the coins are available for dispensing in the coin handler;

produce a second Coin Inventory message by adding information associated with a quantity of bills of the bill type to the first Coin Inventory message, where the bills are available for dispensing in the bill recycler;

send the second Coin Inventory message to the VMC receive a first Change Issue message from the VMC, the Change Issue message comprising information identifying a first amount of money to be dispensed from the vending machine; and

cause the bill recycler to dispense at least one bill in response to the Change Issue message.

16 . The vending machine of claim 15 , wherein the controller of the bill handler is further adapted to:

upon receiving in the bill handler a bill of the bill type, store the bill in the bill recycler; and

send a Coin Inventory message to the VMC, the Coin Inventory message comprising updated information associated with the quantity of bills of the bill type available for dispensing in the bill recycler.

17 . The vending machine of claim 15 , wherein the controller of the bill handler is further adapted to:

receive a plurality of Change Issue messages from the VMC; and

dispense a bill having a value equal to a total of the first amounts of money identified in the plurality of Change Issue messages.

18 . The vending machine of claim 15 , wherein the controller of the bill handler is further adapted to:

send a second Change Issue message to the coin handler, the second Change Issue message comprising information identifying a second amount of money to be dispensed from the coin handler,

wherein the second amount of money equals a difference between the first amount of money and a value of the bill dispensed from the bill recycler in response to the first Change Issue message.

19 . The vending machine of claim 15 , wherein the controller of the bill handler is further adapted to:

send a Poll message to the coin handler, the Poll message requesting status information from the coin handler;

receive a first Status message from the coin handler, sent in response to the Poll message, the first Status message comprising information associated with a current status of the coin handler.

20 . The vending machine of claim 19 , wherein the controller of the bill handler is further adapted to:

receive a Poll message from the VMC, the Poll message requesting status information from the coin handler; and

send a second Status message, the second Status message comprising the information associated with the current status of the coin handler and information associated with a current status of the bill handler.