Abstract: A mechanism for handling a ticket, as for a public transportation system or the like, in which the ticket has a known original value that is updated after each use by a printed visual readout and a magnetically recorded coded record. The mechanism receives a ticket and advances it through an initial stage in which the magnetic record is read and updated. The ticket then advances to a printer, where a single high speed stepper motor drives the ticket and the multiple character print drum, the stepped advance being in increments of character line spacing. At the appropriate line position, the advance drive is disengaged and the new value is printed while the ticket is stationary, after which the drive is engaged to eject the ticket. The action is very rapid and a ticket can be processed in considerably less than one second.

Abstract: Apparatus for handling paper money in a vending or money changing machine, in which a validator unit either accepts or rejects an inserted bill. Each accepted bill is moved a short distance by a conveyor to a handling station, where a ram pushes the bill into an escrow box in which the bill is held until the associated transaction is completed. When the transaction is complete, the ram pushes the bill through the escrow box into a stacker or storage vault. If the transaction is not completed, the escrow box swings down and the bill is ejected for return to the donor. The operation is automatic, the mechanism being simple and adaptable to a variety of vending machines.