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:
Jun. 03, 1997
Filed:
Oct. 25, 1995
James R Del Signore, II, Trumansburg, NY (US);
Andrew B Nye, III, Lansing, NY (US);
NCR Corporation, Dayton, OH (US);
Abstract
This invention features a sensing system and a method for dispensing financial and retail receipts from a receipt-printing machine. The sensing system of this invention can use any one of a myriad of typical supply rolls having a media strip (usually paper) that has black marks periodically located at given intervals along its edge. The sensing system usually has a light-emitting diode (LED) and a photo-transistor. The light from the LED is directed on the supply roll, where, as the paper is advanced, it is reflected to the photo-transistor. When a black mark comes into the range of the LED, the light from the LED is absorbed and not reflected to the photo-transistor. The printing machine then stops advancing the paper, and cuts it to form a receipt of adequate length. The invention utilizes a microprocessor that has a pulse width modulator (PWM) for providing a square wave output to a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter. A program of the microprocessor controls the frequency and the duty cycle of the PWM. The D/A converter changes the square wave to a direct current (DC) voltage, and an exact relationship between the PWM duty cycle and the current level flowing in the LED is thus established. The system is a self-adjusting one, due to an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter in the microprocessor. This allows for the automatic calibration of the system.