The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 21, 1981
Filed:
Jan. 17, 1980
Rolf Schmidhauser, Cham, CH;
LGZ Landis & Gyr Zug AG, , CH;
Abstract
The invention relates to a combination of an apparatus for the transfer of fungible goods or services, for example, cashless payment for merchandise or services, with a transfer device having marked thereon a plurality of cancellable value units in the form of at least first and second types of optical markings different from one another, and arranged in a predetermined cyclical sequence on at least one track of the transfer device, without the occurrence of any gaps, but with a transition region formed between adjacent markings. The apparatus includes a reading device, inclusive of a light source, and at least first and second light sensors associated with the first and second types of optical markings, respectively. The reading device is arranged for reading and generating signals from the markings, and from the transition regions, and an activatable erasing device erases the markings in dependence of the number of value units to be cancelled. A transport device effects a relative movement between the transfer device, and respectively, the reading and erasing devices along the track, and a control device controls the movement of the transport and erasing devices, disables the transport device, and activates the erasing device, when the erasing device is near one of the transition regions.