Data transmission terminal

Claim 2

A terminal apparatus for tRansmitting data to a central processor comprising: a first identification card carrying a magnetic stripe having encoded in said stripe identification data in two modes; carriage means for mounting a magnetic transducer oriented so as to sense data on said first identification card in only one of said two modes; a second identification card carrying a magnetic stripe having identification data encoded in said second stripe in said one mode readable by said transducer; means for holding said cards with their respective stripes colinear; means for causing relative motion between said transducer and said stripes whereby the transducer serially senses the magnetic data encoded in said one mode in said stripes, means for transmitting said sensed information to said central processor.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 further including keyboard means for transmitting transaction data.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2 further including means for identifying to the computer whether the data being transferred is from the magnetic identification card or the keyboard.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said identifying means comprises encoding means for encoding magnetic card sense data in a different code from that for keyboard data whereby the terminal operator may not key in identification data.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said two modes comprise a first mode of identification data recorded in (f/2f) saturation recording at -5* from a line in the plane of the magnetic stripe perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said stripe and a second mode also recorded in (f/2f) saturation recording at 45* with respect to said line.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the identification data recorded in said magnetic stripe in said second mode is contained within a first track and wherein the identification data recorded in said first mode is recorded in a second track, said first track and said second track having colinear longitudinal axis and wherein said first track is narrower than said second track.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 1 further including the reed switch gating means for permitting transmission of data sensed by said magnetic transducer only when said transducer is scanning the data area of said magnetic tracks.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said identification cards are held stationary and wherein said means for causing said relative motion causes motion of said carriage means.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 1 further including means for encoding the information serially sensed from said magnetic stripe into a multiple tone code for transmission of multibit characters.

Claim 11

A terminal for transmitting identification and transaction data to a central location comprising: a keyboard means for entering transaction data; a first identification card carrying a magnetic stripe serially encoded with identification data; a second identification card carrying a magnetic stripe serially encoded with further identification data; carriage means for mounting a magnetic transducer oriented so as to sense the identification data in said magnetic stripes; means for causing relative motion between said transducer and said stripes whereby the transducer serially senses the magnetic data encoded in said stripes; means for transmitting said sensed information to said central location; encoding means for encoding said identification data into a first multitone code and said keyboard data into a second multitone code different from said first multitone code whereby the terminal operator may not key in identification data; reed switch gating means for permitting transmission of data sensed by said magnetic transducer only when said transducer is scanning the data containing areas of said stripe; and whereby customer and location identification data and variable transaction data may be transmitted to a central location for credit authorization.

Claim 12

A terminal for transmitting identification and transaction data to a central location comprising: a keyboard means for entering transaction data; a first identification card carrying a magnetic stripe serially encoded with identification data; a second identification card carrying a magnetic stripe serially encoded with further identification data; carriage means for mounting a magnetic transducer oriented so as to sense the identification data in said magnetic stripes; means for causing relative motion between said transducer and said stripes whereby the transducer serially senses the magnetic data encoded in said stripes; means for transmitting said sensed information to said central location; encoding means for encoding said identification data into a first multitone code and said keyboard data into a second multitone code different from said first multitone code whereby the terminal operator may not key in identification data; reed switch gating means for permitting transmission of data sensed by said magnetic transducer only when said transducer is scanning the data containing areas of said stripe; and whereby customer and location identification data and variable transaction data may be transmitted to a central location for credit authorization.

Claim 13

A terminal apparatus For transmitting data to a central processor comprising: first identification card means having data encoded in a magnetic stripe; second identification card means having data encoded in a second magnetic stripe; a magnetic transducer for sensing the data in said magnetic stripes; means for holding said cards with their respective magnetic stripes colinear; means for causing relative motion between said transducer and said cards whereby the data encoded in said stripes is serially sensed, keyboard means for entering data; encoding means for encoding data from said keyboard and data sensed from said stripes in different multitone characters; and means for transmitting said multitone characters to said central processor.

Claim 14

A terminal apparatus For transmitting data to a central processor comprising: first identification card means having data encoded in a magnetic stripe; second identification card means having data encoded in a second magnetic stripe; a magnetic transducer for sensing the data in said magnetic stripes; means for holding said cards with their respective magnetic stripes colinear; means for causing relative motion between said transducer and said cards whereby the data encoded in said stripes is serially sensed, keyboard means for entering data; encoding means for encoding data from said keyboard and data sensed from said stripes in different multitone characters; and means for transmitting said multitone characters to said central processor.