MAGNETIC CARD HANDLING SYSTEM

• US 3,752,962 A
• Filed: 03/14/1972
• Issued: 08/14/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Paul Greskovics
• Original Assignee: Paul Greskovics
• Inventors: Greskovics, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Cook, Daryl W.
• Application Number:
  US05/234,516
• Time in Patent Office: 518 Days
• Field of Search: 235/61.11R,61.11D,61.11E 340/174.1H 250/219R,219Q,219D,219DC
• US Class Current: 360/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 13/073 with continuous movement
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/08 by means detecting the change of an electrostatic or magnetic field, e.g. by detecting change of capacitance between electrodes

Abstract

This invention describes a high speed card handling system for writing and reading magnetically encoded information into and from a card. Registration of the card with respect to the heads and moving the card at a constant velocity is achieved by using an endlessly rotating belt that is skewed at an angle with respect to a fixed linear card guide. The endless rotating belt frictionally engages the card and moves the card from the read head to the write head. The endless belt being skewed with respect to the fixed guide continuously urges the moving card against the guide thereby maintaining registration of the card at all times.

Claims

1. In combination:

a plurality of magnetic stations for reading and writing magnetically encoded information from a card;

a fixed linear guide means for guiding said card through each of said stations; and

endless belt driving means skewed at an angle with respect to said linear guide means for continuously urging said card against said guide means for frictionally engaging and driving said card through each of said stations thereby insuring registration of said card with each of said magnetic stations.

2. A combination according to claim 1 in which said magnetic stations included a read head and a write head aligned perpendicularly with respect to said linear guide means for reading and writing magnetically encoded information from and to said card.

3. A combination according to claim 1 which includes a plurality of resilient rollers, one for each magnetic station, frictionally engaged and rotated by said endless belt driving means and aligned with each of said magnetic stations respectively for maintaining said card in a preferred relationship when reading and writing the magnetically encoded information from and to said card.

4. The combination of:

a plurality of magnetic stations for reading and writing magnetically encoded information from a card;

a fixed linear guide means for guiding said card through each of said stations; and

endless belt driving means for frictionally engaging and driving said card through each of said stations, including a continuous belt, said continuous belt riding on a first roller and a second roller for moving said belt at an angle with respect to said fixed linear guide means.

5. A combination according to claim 4 in which said first roller and said second roller are crowned in the center for improving the self centering capabilities of said endless belt and to allow said belt to maintain a frictional contact with said card and prevent relative movement between the card and said belt while the card is being moved from station to station.

6. A combination according to claim 4 which includes a single drive motor connected to said first roller for driving said endless belt.

7. A combination according to claim 6 which includes enabling means responsive to the presence of a card for energizing said driving motor.

8. A magnetic card handling mechanism comprising;

a pair of aligned magnetic heads for reading and writing magnetically encoded information from and to a card respectively, a fixed linear guide means for guiding said card past each of said heads, a first roller and a second roller located above said Magnetic heads for rotating an endless belt at an angle with respect to said fixed linear guide means, said endless belt being adapted to frictionally engage and move said card from head to head, a pair of resilient rollers each aligned with said reading head and said writing head respectively frictionally engaged and rotated by said endless belt and located within the endless loop of said endless belt for maintaining said said card in a preferred relationship when reading and writing magnetically encoded information from said heads, a single driving motor connected to said first roller for driving said endless belt, and a card switch responsive to the presence of a card for energizing said driving means.