Patents by Inventor Donald R. Raterman

Donald R. Raterman has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7672499
    Abstract: A U.S. currency evaluation device for receiving a stack of U.S. currency bills and rapidly evaluating all the bills in the stack. According to one embodiment the device comprises an input receptacle positioned to receive a stack of bills to be evaluated and at least one output receptacle positioned to receive bills after evaluation. A transport mechanism transports the bills, one at a time, from the input receptacle to the at least one output receptacle. The device also comprises a denomination discriminating unit adapted to denominate bills of a plurality of U.S. denominations. According to some embodiments, the device is adapted to deliver any bill that has been denominated to one and only one of the at least one output receptacle. According to some embodiments, the device has a single output receptacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2010
    Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corp.
    Inventors: Donald R. Raterman, Bradford T. Graves, Lars R. Stromme, Aaron M. Bauch
  • Patent number: 6636624
    Abstract: An improved method and apparatus for discriminating between currency bills of different denominations uses an optical sensing and correlation technique based on the sensing of bill reflectance characteristics obtained by illuminating and scanning a bill along its narrow dimension. A series of detected reflectance signals are obtained by sampling and digitally processing, under microprocessor control, the reflected light at a plurality of predefined sample points as a currency bill is moved across an illuminated strip with its narrow dimension parallel to the direction of transport of the bill. The sample data is subjected to digital processing, including a normalizing process, whereby the reflectance data represents a characteristic pattern that is unique for a given bill denomination and incorporates sufficient distinguishing features between characteristic patterns for discriminating between different currency denominations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2003
    Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corp.
    Inventors: Donald R. Raterman, Bradford T. Graves, Lars R. Stromme, Aaron M. Bauch
  • Patent number: 6459806
    Abstract: An improved method and apparatus for discriminating between currency bills of different denominations uses an optical sensing and correlation technique based on the sensing of bill reflectance characteristics obtained by illuminating and scanning a bill along its narrow dimension. A series of detected reflectance signals are obtained by sampling and digitally processing, under microprocessor control, the reflected light at a plurality of predefined sample points as a currency bill is moved across an illuminated strip with its narrow dimension parallel to the direction of transport of the bill. The sample data is subjected to digital processing, including a normalizing process, whereby the reflectance data represents a characteristic pattern that is unique for a given bill denomination and incorporates sufficient distinguishing features between characteristic patterns for discriminating between different currency denominations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2002
    Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corp.
    Inventors: Donald R. Raterman, Bradford T. Graves, Lars R. Stromme, Aaron M. Bauch
  • Patent number: 6073744
    Abstract: An improved method and apparatus for discriminating between currency bills of different denominations uses an optical sensing and correlation technique based on the sensing of bill reflectance characteristics obtained by illuminating and scanning a bill along its narrow dimension. A series of detected reflectance signals are obtained by sampling and digitally processing, under microprocessor control, the reflected light at a plurality of predefined sample points as a currency bill is moved across an illuminated strip with its narrow dimension parallel to the direction of transport of the bill. The sample data is subjected to digital processing, including a formalizing process, whereby the reflectance data represents a characteristic pattern that is unique for a given bill denomination and incorporates sufficient distinguishing features between characteristic patterns for discriminating between different currency denominations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2000
    Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corp.
    Inventors: Donald R. Raterman, Bradford T. Graves, Lars R. Stromme, Aaron M. Bauch
  • Patent number: 6028951
    Abstract: An improved method and apparatus for discriminating between currency bills of different denominations uses an optical sensing and correlation technique based on the sensing of bill reflectance characteristics obtained by illuminating and scanning a bill along its narrow dimension. A series of detected reflectance signals are obtained by sampling and digitally processing, under microprocessor control, the reflected light at a plurality of predefined sample points as a currency bill is moved across an illuminated strip with its narrow dimension parallel to the direction of transport of the bill. The sample data is subjected to digital processing, including a normalizing process, whereby the reflectance data represents a characteristic pattern that is unique for a given bill denomination and incorporates sufficient distinguishing features between characteristic patterns for discriminating between different currency denominations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2000
    Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation
    Inventors: Donald R. Raterman, Bradford T. Graves, Lars R. Stromme, Aaron M. Bauch