Patents by Inventor J. Randall MacDonald

J. Randall MacDonald 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: 4667093
    Abstract: This invention distinguishes coins by electronically checking their various masses, diameters and thicknesses. The coins are subjected to a constant acceleration force, i.e., gravity, and slide along a side of a ramp, which results in different velocities for different kinds of coins. The speeds of the coin are measured at two different times at one location on the ramp, or alternatively at two different adjacent locations along the ramp. The width and thickness of the coin are also measured. It has been found that an accurate determination can be made of the designation of the coin based on correspondence between the acceleration (which is related to the mass), the width (which is specifically the diameter of a round coin), and the thickness, or a proportional section of the width and thickness with predetermined ranges of acceleration, width and thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1984
    Date of Patent: May 19, 1987
    Inventor: J. Randall MacDonald