Cubic-western Data

Orbitran Company, Inc.

Gilber B. Razran

John E Toth

Lawrence J Kamm

Wayne M Spani

Chandler R Deming

Gregory E Miller

Thomas E Toth

Anthony W Cumo

Ronald L Hempfling

A locking mechanism for a mobile safe having at least one loading door for depositing valuables such as cash within the safe and at least one unloading door for emptying the safe includes an actuating mechanism for moving the loading door between its open and closed positions. The actuating mechansim extends out of the safe for engagement with a vault door locking mechanism when the safe is placed within an outer vault for secure deposit of cash into the safe. The engagement is such that the actuating mechanism operates to open the loading door as the vault door is locked. A locking device associated with the actuating mechanism automatically locks the safe door in its closed position and can only be released by subsequent unlocking or opening of the unloading door by a person having the required key.

Safe locking mechanism

A thermal printing system in which printing speed is maximized by electronically controlling the temperature of the print elements in accordance with the varying dot pattern being printed. The system includes a thermal printer module and a printer circuit which are specially adapted to be utilized in a modularized device such as a ticket vending machine. The printer circuit includes a microprocessor which demodulates serial data commands and stores the demodulated data in an input buffer. The microprocessor decodes the information in the input buffer and sets up an output buffer containing character data to be printed on the ticket. The microprocessor causes the character data stored in the output buffer to be printed on the ticket using software timing loops to selectively control the temperature of the individual print elements. The alphanumeric information is printed in dot matrix form on the ticket, in column by column fashion, each column consisting of a plurality of dots representative of portions of characters in separate lines. Each print element has associated therewith solid state preheat and print drivers which sequentially cause a preheat current, a print current and then zero current to flow through the print element when it prints a dot to maximize the speed at which the print element temperature passes the thermal coating threshold temperature.

Thermal printing system

A ticket diverter module for placement in a ticket handling system includes a housing having a transport passage for receiving a ticket from an adjacent transport module, and a diverter blade for selectively diverting the ticket to either one of an exit passage for return to a patron or a capture passage for discarding. An alternate embodiment includes an escrow control device for retaining the ticket in a holding position within the capture passage for inspection. A further embodiment includes a thermal cancel device for cancelling a ticket.

Ticket diverter module

A stock feed and shear system which may be utilized in an automatic ticket vending machine for cutting tickets from different rolls of stock and delivering the tickets to other components such as a printer and a magnetic encoding transport. The rolls are supported on reels having releasable clamp mechanisms for allowing rapid replacement of spent reels while providing a predetermined drag between the roll cores and the reels. The reels are spring loaded so that stock can be unwound from the rolls only by positively driving the same with selectively driven pinch rollers. Guide tracks direct the stock to a rotary shear which cuts single ticket lengths from the stock without metal to metal contact, thereby achieving excellent service life. Sensors provide an indication of spent rolls, completion of a cutting operation, and presence of a ticket in the shear. In another embodiment paper or plastic tickets are pre-cut by a two-way rotary shear and are held in escrow. Thereafter either type of ticket may be selectively driven past a print head by a special drive connection to a single motor. A replacement ticket is cut and held in escrow, thereby eliminating feeding and cutting time in the ticket dispensing operation.

Ticket stock feed and shear system

The system responds to signals from a weight computer to depress selected keys on the postage metering machine keyboard. A solenoid is associated with each key. The solenoids are mounted on a carriage for movement toward and away from the keyboard. Spring bias and weight forces the carriage toward the keyboard. Energized solenoids hold an engagement tip extended so that when the carriage is released toward the keyboard, the carriage force will depress the selected key. The engagement tip on unenergized solenoids contact the key but the solenoid shaft moves upward into the solenoid without depressing the key.

System for operating a postage metering machine keyboard

An optical system utilizing a single spherical and two cylindrical lenses. The cylindrical lenses are located along the optical axis of the spherical lens and between the spherical lens aand an optical target. A first of the cylindrical lenses is fixed longitudinally but rotatable. The second cylindrical lens rotates with the first, but is relatively translatable along the optical axis. When the cylindrical lenses are nearly in contact, their net power is zero, and the patient views the target with the effect of the spherical lens' power only. The requisite spherical correction is determined by moving the target along a track that extends from a location well within the focal length of the spherical lens to a location well beyond it. Cylindrical correction is obtained by a combination of rotation and extension of the second cylindrical lens to produce variable negative cylindrical power and axis orientation.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

John E Toth