Arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document

Claim 2

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document comprising: a document issuing means which includes means for encoding a document, a buffer storage means adapted to store codes, and control means for causing a document in operative engagement with said encoding means to be encoded with code indicia withdrawn from said buffer storage means; a code bank means which includes means for providing code indicia, and central code storage means; means for coupling said document issuing means to said code bank means for causing said code indicia supply responsive to a predetermined condition of said buffer storage means to transmit and enter into said buffer storage means a plurality of code indicia for encoding a predetermined quantity of respective documents with individually differing code indicia, and for causing the code indicia transmitted to said buffer storage means to be entered and stored by said central code storage means; a document validation means which includes input means for providing a signal responsive to code indicia disposed on a document; means coupling said document validation means to said code bank means for providing, responsive to the operation of said input means, to said code bank means an interrogation signal, and responsive to the presence of said code indicia in said central code storage means providing a document validation signal to said document validation means, and means for controlling said central code storage means for erasing responsive to the initiation of said validation signal the respective code indicia from said central code storage means.

Claim 3

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document comprising: a document issuing means which includes means for encoding a document, a buffer storage means adapted to store codes, and control means for causing a document in operative engagement with said encoding means to be encoded with code indicia withdrawn from said buffer storage means; a code bank means which includes means for providing code indicia, and central code storage means; means for coupling said document issuing means to said code bank means for causing said code indicia supply responsive to a predetermined condition of said buffer storage means to transmit and enter into said buffer storage means a plurality of code indicia for encoding a predetermined quantity of respective documents with individually differing code indicia, and for causing the code indicia transmitted to said buffer storage means to be entered and stored by said central code storage means; a document validation means which includes a document receiving means, and code indicia sensing means for sensing the encoding applied to a document when such document is in operative engagement with said receiving means; means coupling said document validation means to said code bank means for providing, responsive to a document being in operative engagement with said receiving means, to said code bank means an interrogation signal responsive to the sensed code indicia, and responsive to the presence of said code indicia in said central code storage means providing a document validation signal to said document validation means, and means for controlling said central code storage means for erasing, responsive to the initiation of said validation signal, the respective code indicia sensed by said sensing means from said central code storage means.

Claim 4

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document comprising: a document issuing means which includes means for encoding a document, a buffer storage means adapted to store codes, and control means for causing a document in operative engagement with said encoding means to be encoded with code indicia withdrawn from said buffer storage means; a code bank means which includes means for providing code indicia, and central code storage means; means for coupling said document issuing means to said code bank means for causing said code indicia supply responsive to a predetermined condition of said buffer storage means to transmit and enter into said buffer storage means a plurality of code indicia for encoding a predetermined quantity of respective documents with individually differing code indicia, and for causing the code indicia transmitted to said buffer storage means to be entered and stored by said central code storage means; a document validation means which includes a document receiving means, and code indicia sensing means for sensing the encoding applied to a document when such document is in operative engagement with said receiving means; means coupling said document validation means to said code bank means for providing, responsive to a document being in operative engagement with said receiving means, to said code bank means an interrogation signal responsive to the sensed code indicia, and responsive to the presence of said code indicia in said central code storage means providing a document validation signal to said document validation means, and means for controlling said central code storage means for erasing, responsive to the initiation of said validation signal, the respective code indicia sensed by said sensing means from said central code storage means.

Claim 5

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document as set forth in claim 2, said code indicia comprising a first portion denoting the issuing agent and a second serializing portion peculiar to the respective document.

Claim 6

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document as set forth in claim 2, said central code storage means comprising magnetic storage means.

Claim 7

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document as set forth in claim 2, said validation signal causing actuation of means for affixing markings to the document indicating its authenticated status.

Claim 8

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document as set forth in claim 2, said buffer storage means adapted to receive and store code indicia for encoding a predetermined quantity of documents.

Claim 9

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document as set forth in claim 2, said means for providing code indicia including a random numbers generator.

Claim 10

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document as set forth in claim 2, said code indicia comprising characters.

Claim 11

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document comprising: a document issuing means which includes means for encoding a document, a buffer storage means adapted to store codes, and control means for causing a document in operative engagement with said encoding means to be encoded with code indicia withdrawn from said buffer storage means; a code bank means which includes means for providing code indicia, and central code storage means; means for coupling said document issuing means to said code bank means for causing said code indicia supply upon a predetermined condition of said buffer storage means to transmit and enter into said buffer storage means a plurality of code indicia for encoding a predetermined quantity of respective documents with individually differing code indicia, and for causing the code indicia transmitted to said buffer storage means to be entered and stored by said central code storage means; a document validation means which includes a document receiving means, and code indicia sensing means for sensing the encoding applied to a document when such document is in operative engagement with said receiving means; means coupling said document validation means to said code bank means for providing, responsive to a document being in operative engagement with said receiving means, to said code bank means an interrogation signal responsive to the sensed code indicia, and responsive to the presence of said code indicia in said central code storage means providing a document validation signal to said document validation means, and responsive to the absence of said code indicia in said central code storage means providing a document reject signal to said document validation means, and means for controlling said central code storage means for erasing, responsive to the initiation of said validation signal, the respective code indicia sensed by said sensing means from said central code storage means.

Claim 12

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document comprising: a document issuing means which includes means for encoding a document, a buffer storage means adapted to store codes, and control means for causing a document in operative engagement with said encoding means to be encoded with code indicia withdrawn from said buffer storage means; a code bank means which includes means for providing code indicia, and central code storage means; means for coupling said document issuing means to said code bank means for causing said code indicia supply upon a predetermined condition of said buffer storage means to transmit and enter into said buffer storage means a plurality of code indicia for encoding a predetermined quantity of respective documents with individually differing code indicia, and for causing the code indicia transmitted to said buffer storage means to be entered and stored by said central code storage means; a document validation means which includes a document receiving means, and code indicia sensing means for sensing the encoding applied to a document when such document is in operative engagement with said receiving means; means coupling said document validation means to said code bank means for providing, responsive to a document being in operative engagement with said receiving means, to said code bank means an interrogation signal responsive to the sensed code indicia, and responsive to the presence of said code indicia in said central code storage means providing a document validation signal to said document validation means, and responsive to the absence of said code indicia in said central code storage means providing a document reject signal to said document validation means, and means for controlling said central code storage means for erasing, responsive to the initiation of said validation signal, the respective code indicia sensed by said sensing means from said central code storage means.

Claim 13

An arrangement for protecting and authenticating a document as set forth in claim 1 and including a register operatively associated with said buffer storage means and adapted to be set to a predetermined incremental value representing a sum of money; said control means for causing said encoding means to be encoded with code indicia including adjustable means for causing said code indicia withdrawn from said buffer storage means be associated also with a monetary value assigned to said document and means coupled for effecting such monetary value to be reflected in said register to cause said register to exhibit responsive to the encoding of a respective document a reduced sum of money, and means coupled to said document issuing means for inhibiting operation of said encoding means responsive to said control means being set for providing encoding in an amount which exceeds the balance of Money remaining in said register.