Patent · US Expired

Real time item processing apparatus using a thermal encoder

US4731524A · kind A · utility

25Cited by
4References
8Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 11, 1985
Grant dateMar 15, 1988
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 11, 2005

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06K17/00
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An apparatus for use in endorsing documents, like checks, in a banking system. A magnetic stripe is printed or encoded on the back of each document entering the processing system. Human readable, endorsement data is also printed next to the magnetic strip at the time that the stripe is being printed. The endorsement data is also magnetically written into a portion of the magnetic stripe during a subsequent, real-time operation to provide both machine-readable and human-readable forms of data to facilitate tracing a document's processing trail through several banks. A low-cost method of providing endorsements on checks through using the MICR encoder to print the usual monetary amount, inverting the check, re-entering the check, and using the MICR encoder to print the endorsement on the back of the check is also disclosed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.