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:
Apr. 20, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 16, 1996
Ivor Donald Beale, Mission Viejo, CA (US);
Dau Ngoc Hoang, Aliso Viejo, CA (US);
John Hill Wetzel, Glendora, CA (US);
Thomas Marks Lee, Studio City, CA (US);
Inflight ATI, Inc., Portola Hills, CA (US);
Abstract
A system, and corresponding method for its use, for performing various monetary transactions in a vehicle such as an aircraft, including exchanging one currency for another, obtaining currency using traveler's checks or a credit or debit card, and dispensing value cards purchased with cash or credit/debit cards. The value cards may be, for example, long-distance telephone usage cards or gaming cards, and the value cards may be increased in value or exchanged for cash using the system of the invention. A key feature of the system is that cash is always distributed in the currency of the next destination of the aircraft, as determined from flight management system data available on the aircraft. At each intermediate destination, a note dispenser is conditioned to dispense only the currency of the next destination.