Card reader with carriage powered by movement of inserted card
First Claim
1. A transaction terminal for cooperating with transaction cards including magnetic stripe cards and cards having an integrated circuit for storing data, said transaction terminal having a card entry slot for receiving an oriented transaction card and guiding said card to a read position, a manually movable carriage biased towards said card entry slot and movable with a transaction card away from an initial position at said entry slot to a carriage release position when a card is inserted in said slot and moved by a user to said read position and said transaction card remains at said read position, said carriage including a read head positioned for reading said magnetic stripe on said transaction card when said carriage moves under said bias form said carriage release position to said initial position, said transaction terminal including electrical connectors positioned to engage and form an electrical circuit with an integrated circuit of a transaction card when the transaction card moves to said read position, said transaction terminal cooperating with transaction cards having magnetic stripes and cooperating with transaction cards having integrated circuits such that each transaction card inserted to the read position has said carriage and magnetic head moved from said release position to said initial position and said electrical connectors contact said transaction card and form an electrical circuit with an integrated circuit, if present on the transaction card;
- andwherein said transaction terminal, between said initial position and said release position, includes at least one hold position stopping said carriage from returning to said initial position before being released at said release position.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The transaction terminal receives and reads information maintained on the card in a magnetic stripe or in an integrated circuit. A carriage is moved by an inserted card and moves from an initial position to a read position. The carriage is powered by the inserted card, and when the card is in the read position, the carriage is released and a magnetic head scans a magnetic stripe provided on the card. The terminal also causes an electrical connector to engage a card in the read position and form an electrical circuit with an integrated circuit if the card is a Smart Card. If a card is partially inserted, the carriage is held and does not automatically return to the initial position. Preferrably, a series of carriage hold positions are provided between the initial position and the read position. The terminal works in the same manner regardless of what type of card is used. In this way, the user merely fully inserts the card in the appropriate manner.
138 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A transaction terminal for cooperating with transaction cards including magnetic stripe cards and cards having an integrated circuit for storing data, said transaction terminal having a card entry slot for receiving an oriented transaction card and guiding said card to a read position, a manually movable carriage biased towards said card entry slot and movable with a transaction card away from an initial position at said entry slot to a carriage release position when a card is inserted in said slot and moved by a user to said read position and said transaction card remains at said read position, said carriage including a read head positioned for reading said magnetic stripe on said transaction card when said carriage moves under said bias form said carriage release position to said initial position, said transaction terminal including electrical connectors positioned to engage and form an electrical circuit with an integrated circuit of a transaction card when the transaction card moves to said read position, said transaction terminal cooperating with transaction cards having magnetic stripes and cooperating with transaction cards having integrated circuits such that each transaction card inserted to the read position has said carriage and magnetic head moved from said release position to said initial position and said electrical connectors contact said transaction card and form an electrical circuit with an integrated circuit, if present on the transaction card;
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wherein said transaction terminal, between said initial position and said release position, includes at least one hold position stopping said carriage from returning to said initial position before being released at said release position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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- 4. A transaction terminal for cooperating with transaction cards having a magnetic stripe from which encoded data can be read, said transaction terminal having a card entry slot for receiving an orientated transaction card and guiding said card to a read position where said card is stationary, a manually movable carriage biased towards said card entry slot and movable with a transaction card away from an initial position at said entry slot to a carriage release position when a card is inserted in said slot and moved by a user to said read position and said transaction card remains at said read position, said carriage including a read head positioned for reading said magnetic stripe on said transaction card when said carriage moves under said bias from said carriage release position to said initial position, and wherein said transaction terminal, between said initial position and said release position, includes at least one hold position stopping said carriage from returning to said initial position before being released at said release position.
Specification