Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

An apparatus for reading a series of magnetic characters on a bank check is herein disclosed. The characters are preprinted in a certain way within a predetermined area of the check. Also, the characters within the series of characters may be any character from a predetermined group of characters. The apparatus includes a housing which defines a specific path through which the check, oriented in a predetermined way, is intended to pass. The housing supports a magnetic read head for sensing the magnetic characters on the check as it passes through the apparatus and for producing an electrical signal unique to each character. The housing also supports automatically moving the check through the path defined by the housing at a speed which is intended to be constant but which may vary randomly within a certain tolerance. This moving of the check through the apparatus produces the electrical signals as the characters move past the read head. A character recognition is electrically connected with the read head and is responsive to the electrical signals for identifying the characters without monitoring the speed of the check as it moves through the apparatus even when the check moves through the path at a random varying speed so long as the variation in speed stays within a certain tolerance, for example .+-.10%.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim