Transaction terminal with unlimited range of functions
First Claim
1. A transaction execution terminal comprising:
- a card handling subsystem which receives cards and reads information stored on received cards under control of a control subsystem;
a selectively variable display operating under control of a control subsystem and displaying information commanded by a control subsystem;
a user keyboard having keys arranged in a plurality of keyboard fields with each keyboard field being related to a predetermined category of user transaction request information and including a plurality of keys each defining different mutually exclusive information states for the cetegory of user transaction request information to which the field relates, one key within at least one field being a variable information state key, the activation of which indicates that the information state indicated thereby is to be determined by a combination of at least one subsequent keyboard key activation in conjunction with a predeteremined schecule correlating key activation combinations with information states; and
a control subsystem which controls the operation of the card handling subsystem and receives account card information therefrom, which commands the display of information on the variable display to aid a terminal user in the use of the terminal, and which receives keyboard key activtion information in a predetermined sequence requiring one information state indication from each of a plurality of successive keyboard fields.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A user transaction terminal which may be connected for communication with a large scale data processing system includes a card handling subsystem which receives and transports user information cards; a user communication subsystem which includes a keyboard and an optical display; a hardware control subsystem which operates terminal hardware, a transaction statement subsystem which prints and dispenses written records of user transactions; a terminal communication subsystem which provides communication with a data processing system; a processor support subsystem which assists a control subsystem by performing control functions which are more easily implemented with hardware than software; and a control subsystem which includes a programmed microprocessor which is connected to the other subsystems via an information bus to coordinate and control the operations of the other subsystems. The keyboard includes a plurality of mutually exclusive keyboard fields, each relating to a different type of information. These fields include a function selection field, a from account field, a to account field, and a numeric field. The transaction selection, from account, and to account fields each include an optional selection key, the activation of which permits a user to enter key modifier data corresponding to the field of an activated optional selection key by activating a selected, predetermined combination of keys within the numeric field in accordance with a prearranged schedule. This convenient, simple keyboard thus contains separate keys for the most commonly used information states for each field as well as optional selection keys which greatly expand the information which may be entered without a substantial increase in keyboard complexity.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A transaction execution terminal comprising:
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a card handling subsystem which receives cards and reads information stored on received cards under control of a control subsystem; a selectively variable display operating under control of a control subsystem and displaying information commanded by a control subsystem; a user keyboard having keys arranged in a plurality of keyboard fields with each keyboard field being related to a predetermined category of user transaction request information and including a plurality of keys each defining different mutually exclusive information states for the cetegory of user transaction request information to which the field relates, one key within at least one field being a variable information state key, the activation of which indicates that the information state indicated thereby is to be determined by a combination of at least one subsequent keyboard key activation in conjunction with a predeteremined schecule correlating key activation combinations with information states; and a control subsystem which controls the operation of the card handling subsystem and receives account card information therefrom, which commands the display of information on the variable display to aid a terminal user in the use of the terminal, and which receives keyboard key activtion information in a predetermined sequence requiring one information state indication from each of a plurality of successive keyboard fields. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A transaction execution terminal comprising:
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a card handling subsystem which operates in response to control system commands to receive a card having information recorded thereon and read said recorded information; a document handling system which operates in response to control system commands to selectively issue documents to a terminal user; a keyboard having a plurality of keyboard fields including a function selection keyboard field having a plurality of nonencoded keys, each of which indicates a selected function by the activation thereof, and at least one optional selection key, the activation of which permits a selected function to be indicated by the subsequent activation of a seleccted combination of keyboard keys in accordance with a predetermined code; and a control system connected to receive card information from the card handling subsystem and keyboard information from the keyboard and generate control system commands which are coupled to control the operation of the card handling subsystem and document handling system in response thereto.
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18. A terminal for performing a plurality of different banking functions under control of a bank customer, comprising:
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card reading means for reading customer account identification information from an encoded card; first customer operable keyboard means for selectively designating one of a plurality of transaction types, at least one of said types being definable by an application program resident in an remote host computer in response to the activation of a first keyboard means key and a combination of second keyboard means keys; second customer operable keyboard means for selectively modifying at least one key of the first keyboard means to define a selected transaction in accordance with a predetermined code; and means responsive to data key activation on said first and second keyboard means and information read by said card reading means for transmitting a message to a remote host which message indicates the information read by the card reading means and the keys which a user activates on the first and seond keyboard means.
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19. A transaction execution system comprising:
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a host data processing system storing information for a plurality of customer accounts; and a transaction execution terminal in communication with the host data processing system, the terminal including; a card handler which receives an account card and reads customer identification information encoded thereon; an optical display which displays selected messages to aid a user in the operation of the terminal; a keyboard connected to input information to the terminal in response to the activation of keys by a user, the keyboard being divided into a plurality of mutually exclusive fields with each field being utilized for the entry of a different category of information relating to a user transaction request, and at least one of the fields including a plurality of keys wherein one key with the field is activated to the exclusion of other keys in the field to specify information corresponding to a requested transaction, at least one key within the field being an optical selection key, the activation of which indicates that the category of information to which the field pertains is to be specified by the subsequent activation of a predetermined combination of one or more keys on the keyboard; and control circuitry coupled to the host data processing system, card handler, optical display and keyboard, the control circuitry controlling the operation of the card holder, display and keyboard, communicating user transaction related information between the host data processing system and the terminal, and controlling terminal operation to cause the terminal to execute user requested transactions on command from the host data processing system.
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20. A transaction execution system which receives transaction request information and user identification information and executes requested transactions, the system having a card reader which reads information from a user card and being characterized by a keyboard through which user information is input to the system and which has at least two different keyboard fields with at least one of the fields including a plurality of keys of which one key within the field is activated to the exclusion of the other keys in the field to specify information corresponding to a requested transaction, at least one key within the field being an optional selection key, the activation of which indicates that the category of information to which the field pertains is to be specified by the subsequent activation of a predetermined combination of one or more keys on the keyboard.
Specification