Automatic ticket vending system

Claim 1

An automatic ticket vending apparatus, responsive to cards having a monetary value, for dispensing tickets useful in automatic ticket gate commutation systems, said apparatus comprising: means for receiving a card presented to said apparatus by a customer, said card having a first monetary value recorded thereon in the form of machine readable symbols and visible symbols; means for reading said first monetary value on said presented card; means for entering into the apparatus a second monetary value corresponding to the value of the trip desired by the customer; means for subtracting said second monetary value from said first monetary value to obtain a third monetary value; means for recording said third monetary value on said card in the form of machine readable symbols and visible symbols and for recording machine-readable positional data on said card, said positional data including the location of the current recordation of said visible symbols; means for aligning said presented card in the apparatus such that said machine readable symbols and said visible symbols may be recorded on said card in predetermined positions, said aligning means being operative to position said card for successive uses thereof relative to said recording means so that said visible symbols are recorded in successive locations on said card each time the card is used, for ease of inspection by the customer, said aligning means being responsive to said positional data during the next successive use of said card to position said card such that said visible symbols are recorded in the next successive location therefor.