Patents Examined by Jeffrey A. Shapiro
  • Patent number: 8985299
    Abstract: A paper-type detection device comprises a sensor unit, a storage unit and a control unit. The sensor unit is used for detecting a transmission state of a paper according to a fixed clock period, and carrying out binaryzation on detected signals to indicate the presence-absence state of the paper. The storage unit is used for acquiring the signals detected by the sensor unit, acquiring paper information in the signals, and storing the paper information in sequence. The control unit comprises a first state counter and a second state counter. The control unit controls the two state counters for carrying out zero clearing and starting operations for counting in conjunction with the sensor unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: GRG Banking Equipment Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Junqing Liao
  • Patent number: 8985297
    Abstract: A voucher machine, particularly an automated teller machine, for the input and output of vouchers such as cash or checks, having a processing section (1) for transporting and processing vouchers to be input and output, is characterized in that the processing section (1) has two processing circuits (5, 6) for processing input vouchers which allows rapid output of vouchers identified as unsuitable for acceptance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
    Inventors: Paul Freitag, Udo Petermann
  • Patent number: 8978864
    Abstract: According to one embodiment of the present invention, a currency processing device for receiving and processing a stack of currency bills is described. The currency processing device comprises an input receptacle for receiving a stack of bills to be processed, a plurality of output receptacles for receiving bills after the bills have been processed, a transport mechanism for transporting the bills from the input receptacle to the output receptacles, and a discriminating unit for examining the bills. The output receptacles are arranged such that a center of at least one output receptacle is laterally offset from a center of the input receptacle. The discriminating unit includes a detector positioned between the input receptacle and the output receptacles and is adapted to determine the denomination of bills.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corp.
    Inventors: William J. Jones, Douglas U. Mennie, Ken W. Maier, Marek Baranowski, Yanmei Chen
  • Patent number: 8973730
    Abstract: A paper sheet processing apparatus includes: an insertion slot through which a paper sheet is inserted; a sensor which detects insertion of the paper sheet; a traveling route through which the paper sheet is conveyed; a light emitting part which irradiates the traveling route with light; a light receiving part which receives light from the traveling route; a black calibration part which sets a reference value for the lowest brightness in a state that the emission of the light emitting part is ineffective; and an authenticity judgment processing part which judges an authenticity. The black calibration part can set the reference value before the authenticity judgment processing part judges the authenticity after the sensor detects the insertion of the paper sheet at every time when the paper sheet is inserted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Universal Entertainment Corporation
    Inventor: Takao Nireki
  • Patent number: 8961276
    Abstract: The present invention provides a coin feeding device in which coin jam can be easily eliminated and coins causing a coin jam can be easily removed. When a coin jam occurs between a transporting belt 57 and a separating roller 65, the separating roller 65 is moved by a moving unit 66 in a direction to expand a clearance 64 between the separating roller 65 and the transporting belt 57. By moving the separating roller 65, coin jam can be easily eliminated, and coins causing the coin jam can be easily removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Glory Ltd.
    Inventor: Eisei Nishida
  • Patent number: 8961275
    Abstract: A coin depositing and dispensing machine that enables reduction of the space required to be provided above the coin passage in order to transport coins, thereby enabling the machine body to be made more compact, or increasing the coin accommodating capacity of the accommodating and ejecting units by the amount equivalent to the volume of the reduction of the space. An endless transporting belt is provided above an identifying passage and a sorting passage. The transporting belt is stretched across a plurality of pulleys rotatably supported in a horizontal position by vertically extending shafts. As the space required to be provided above the coin passage to install the transporting belt can be reduced, it is possible to make the machine body more compact, or increase the coin accommodating capacity of the accommodating and ejecting units by the amount equivalent to the volume of the reduction of the space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Glory Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Tanaka, Shinichi Chiba, Keita Toyama, Masao Hayashi, Atsushi Nagase
  • Patent number: 8960402
    Abstract: Provided is a financial device, which comprises a medium entrance, a medium processing apparatus, and a control unit. A medium is deposited or withdrawn through the medium entrance. The medium processing apparatus processes the medium. The control unit controls the medium processing apparatus. The medium processing apparatus comprises a front guider, a rear guider behind the front guider, a pushing member pushing a medium disposed in a medium processing space, and a supporting guider supporting the medium in the medium processing space. The control unit controls an operation of the medium processing apparatus such that states of the front guider, the rear guider, the pushing member, and the supporting guider when moving of a medium is completed in the medium processing space to deposit the medium are the same as states of the front guider, the rear guider, the pushing member, and the supporting guider when moving of a medium is completed in the medium processing space to withdraw or return the medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: LG CNS Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Sumin Lee
  • Patent number: 8955663
    Abstract: A compact media processing device enables recording on a process medium and then processing the process medium based on the result of recording. The media processing device conveys a process medium and processes the conveyed process medium by a first process unit disposed to the conveyance path, and an operation selection unit then determines the content of the next operation based on the result of the first process. After the next operation is determined, the conveyance control unit conveys the process medium upstream to or upstream of the process position of a second process unit. A process control unit then applies the selected operation to the process medium by the second process unit that is disposed downstream from the first process unit on the conveyance path of the process medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuya Toshima
  • Patent number: 8950566
    Abstract: A method for exchanging coins, the method including the acts of receiving in a self-service coin exchange machine a plurality of coins, processing the plurality of coins to determine a total value of the plurality of coins, and dispensing currency to the patron from a currency dispenser, the currency having a value related to the total value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Cummins Allison Corp.
    Inventors: Curtis W. Hallowell, John R. Blake, William J. Jones
  • Patent number: 8944823
    Abstract: A method of facilitating the identification of portable consumer articles at a point of purchase display, the method including the steps of: providing a plurality of portable consumer articles each with tactilely sensible information thereon that identifies at least one of: a) a general nature of the article and/or its contents; and b) a provider of the article; and displaying the plurality of articles at the point of purchase display in a manner that allows potential consumers to lift and handle each of the plurality of articles so as to thereby readily determine through tactile sensing of the information at least one of: a) the general nature of the handled article and/or its contents; and b) the provider of the handled article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Inventor: George Kasboske
  • Patent number: 8944234
    Abstract: An input receptacle receives currency bills and checks. A transport mechanism transports the bills and checks along a transport path to an output receptacle. An image scanner, adjacent the transport path, is configured to generate one or more electrical signals from which image data can be derived. The image data is reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the plurality of documents. A controller is configured to determine a denomination of each of the currency bills. In response to the controller not determining a denomination of one of the currency bills, the controller flags the currency bill as a no-call document by causing at least a portion of the image data to be displayed as a visually readable image of the flagged currency bill on the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corp.
    Inventors: Frank M. Csulits, William J. Jones, Douglas U. Mennie, Matthew L. Anderson, Robert J. Klein, Ralf H. Jaeger, David R. Badalamenti
  • Patent number: 8932118
    Abstract: Replenishing coins in a coin store associated with a coin handling device includes feeding a batch of coins from a bulk coin store to a receptacle near the coin handling device, delivering coins from the receptacle to the coin handling device and routing at least some of those coins from the coin handling device to the coin store associated with the coin handling device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: MEI, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas E. Shuren, Neil M. Young, Andrew M. Yellop, David Michael Furneaux, Karen Aurelius
  • Patent number: 8910771
    Abstract: The invention relates to apparatus for the provision of receipt, validation and collection of banknotes or tickets which are input by a user, typically as payment for a service which has or is to be provided. The apparatus allow for the accurate location of the banknote or ticket as it passes through the apparatus and the accurate validation of the same. In one embodiment a printer assembly is provided which allows the apparatus to print tickets and to pass the same in the reverse direction to input banknotes or tickets, to be provided to the user as, for example a credit which can be cashed subsequently by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Innovative Technology Limited
    Inventors: Chris Robinson, Peter Dunlop
  • Patent number: 8905218
    Abstract: A control assembly for controlling rotation of a turnstile, includes a torque-restoring mechanism (13) with springs (20), a motion converting transmission with a multiplying gearing (56, 57) converting a rotation of the turnstile over 120° into a rotation of the rotary shaft entering the hydraulic damper (26) over 180°. The hydraulic damper (26) has two pistons mounted onto a single piston rod. A cam or crank mechanism converts rotation of the rotary shaft into reciprocating motion of the two pistons. The first piston damps the rotary movement of the turnstile when moving in one direction while the other piston damps this movement when the pistons move in the other direction, therefore damping the turnstile in both directions. A motion converting transmission in combination with a double-piston mechanism avoids any loss of hydraulic fluid, while achieving a gradually increasing damping force to effectively stop the rotation of the turnstile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Locinox
    Inventor: Joseph Talpe
  • Patent number: 8899401
    Abstract: Systems and associated methods for coin discrimination are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method for discriminating coins includes obtaining an electromagnetic sensor signal of a coin, generating a contour signal by digitizing the sensor signal, identifying an active interval in the contour signal by eliminating the segments of the contour signal which are close to zero, and detecting the coin approach, pivot and departure points (coin features) from the contour signal in the active interval. The coin features can be compared to known values for different coins to discriminate the coin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Outerwall Inc.
    Inventor: Daniel D. Everhart
  • Patent number: 8899400
    Abstract: The check deposit apparatus of the present invention comprises an insertion part that is used to insert a check from outside for deposit, a feed part furnished with a feed roller that feeds the placed check along a feed path, an alignment part furnished with an alignment roller that feeds the check fed from the feed part to one side of the feed path and also aligns it, a check reading part that reads information of the check that has been aligned by the alignment part, first and second sensor groups that judge whether the check inserted into the insertion part has a specification that enables it to be fed and processed toward the alignment part normally, a third sensor group that judges whether the check aligned in the alignment part has a specification that enables it to be read and processed normally in the check reading part, and a control part that judges whether to deposit or return the check in question based on the information sensed by the first and second group or third sensor group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Nautilus Hyosung Inc.
    Inventors: Jae Hoon Kwak, Woo Ho Lee
  • Patent number: 8899398
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for receiving a recyclable product is disclosed herein. In one embodiment the apparatus includes: a structure defining an interior cavity, the structure having a plurality of walls; a bottle return mechanism for determining when a bottle has been received within the interior cavity, comprising: an elongated cylinder providing a passage into the interior cavity, the elongated cylinder having an inlet opening proximate to an exterior of the enclosed structure and an outlet opening proximate to the interior cavity; a bottle return mechanism configured to provide an output when a bottle has been inserted into the elongated cylinder; and a dispensing rack secured to one of the walls of the enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Zephyr Fluid Solutions, LLC
    Inventor: Patrick E. Wind
  • Patent number: 8863934
    Abstract: A data generating device for use with a coin mechanism of a bulk vending machine, is provided. In all of the embodiments, the invention uses a standard coin mechanism of a bulk vending machine, which in its normal operation is received into an opening in the bulk vending machine, and a data generating device in working relation with the coin mechanism. The data generating device, will be able to receive, store and generate various types of information relevant to owners/operators of bulk vending machines, including but not limited to, day and/or time of particular vends, particular machine from which the vend took place, particular location/owner/operator of machine from which each vend originated, and the identity of the person collecting the money from the machine, while also allowing for the multiple hook-up of numerous data generating devices positioned on numerous machines found in one location so as to achieve a report on all vends from all machines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Nova Resolution Industries, Inc.
    Inventor: Nikolay Nikolayev
  • Patent number: 8849448
    Abstract: An electronic storage device is coupled with a container capable of holding liquid for electronically storing information relating to the liquid stored in the container. The system can be configured with an antenna, for storing information to and reading information from the electronic storage device. A microprocessor-based controller, coupled with the antenna, may be employed for controlling processing of the liquid based on information read from the electronic storage device by the antenna. A connector of a secure reader system having a reader is provided to physically couple to a container having an information storing mechanism, for periodically reading information from an information storing mechanism. The connector may draw material from the container simultaneous with the reading.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin T. O'Dougherty, Robert E. Andrews, Tripunithura V. Jayaraman, Joe Menning, Christopher A. Baye-Wallace
  • Patent number: 8844705
    Abstract: A cash box system with a cash container for receiving cash is described. The cash container has an inlet opening which can be closed by a cover and a locking mechanism having a locked state in which the cover is locked in a position closing the inlet opening, and a release state in which the cover is unlocked and can be brought in a position to release the inlet opening. The locking mechanism is configured such that it is forcibly transferred from the locked state to the release state when the cash container is emptied. The cash box system is preferably for a vending machine in which the cash container is inserted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: RTB GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Èrwin Braukmann, Sime Jovic