IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0156875
(2011-06-09)
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등록번호 |
US-8210759
(2012-07-03)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
- Meyerhofer, Eric
- Hedrick, Joseph R.
- Wells, William R.
- Crivelli, Franco
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출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
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인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
0 인용 특허 :
199 |
초록
A machine having a card processing assembly. The card processing assembly has a card drive and a heating device. The heating device is operable to cause a human-readable symbol to be viewable on a data card.
대표청구항
▼
1. A card processing assembly including: a data card acceptor configured to accept a plurality of data cards;a card drive configured to transport the data cards;a plurality of card magazines, a first one of the card magazines being configured to store a first plurality of the data cards and a second
1. A card processing assembly including: a data card acceptor configured to accept a plurality of data cards;a card drive configured to transport the data cards;a plurality of card magazines, a first one of the card magazines being configured to store a first plurality of the data cards and a second one of the card magazines being configured to store a second plurality of the data cards, the data cards of the first plurality and the data cards of the second plurality being different;at least one processor; anda memory device storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the data card acceptor, the card drive, and the card magazines: (a) receive one of the data cards through the data card acceptor;(b) determine whether to escrow the received data card;(c) when the determination is to escrow the received data card, transport the received data card to a data card escrow location; and(d) after receiving a card exchange input: (i) when the received data card is one of the first plurality of the data cards, determine to escrow the received data card and transport one of the second plurality of the data cards stored in the second one of the card magazines from the second one of the card magazines to the data card acceptor for distribution; and(ii) when the received data card is one of the second plurality of the data cards, determine to escrow the received data card and transport one of the first plurality of the data cards stored in the first one of the card magazines from the first one of the card magazines to the data card acceptor for distribution. 2. The card processing assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: (a) determine whether the received data card is damaged such that the received data card is no longer operable with the card processing assembly, and(b) when the received data card is damaged such that the received data card is no longer operable with the card processing assembly, determine to escrow the received data card. 3. The card processing assembly of claim 1, which includes a security feature reader configured to read a security feature included in the data cards, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: (a) cause the security feature reader to read the security feature of the received data card, and(b) when the security feature of the received data card is unreadable, determine to escrow the received data card. 4. The card processing assembly of claim 1, which includes a security feature reader configured to read a security feature included in the received data card, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: (a) cause the security feature reader to read the security feature of the received data card, and(b) when the read security feature of the received data card is associated with a card escrow identifier, determine to escrow the received data card. 5. The card processing assembly of claim 1, wherein the data cards are rewritable data cards that are rewritable a predetermined quantity of times, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: (a) determine a quantity of times the received data card has been rewritten, and(b) when the received data card has been rewritten at least the predetermined quantity of times, determine to escrow the received data card. 6. The card processing assembly of claim 1, which includes a print head configured to print indicia onto the data cards and an optical scanner configured to read any indicia printed on the data cards, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: (a) cause the print head to print designated indicia onto the received data card,(b) cause the optical scanner to read the indicia printed on the received data card by the print head, and(c) when the printed indicia does not match the designated indicia, determine to escrow the received data card. 7. The card processing assembly of claim 1, wherein after receiving the card exchange input: (a) when the received data card is one of the first plurality of the data cards, the data card escrow location is the first one of the card magazines, and(b) when the received data card is one of the second plurality of the data cards, the data card escrow location is the second one of the card magazines. 8. The card processing assembly of claim 1, wherein the data card escrow location is at least one of the card magazines. 9. The card processing assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the card magazines includes a magazine card drive, and the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to, after the at least one processor has determined to escrow the received data card, operate with at least one of: (a) the card drive, and (b) one of the magazine card drives to transport the received data card to the data card escrow location. 10. The card processing assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the data card acceptor, the card drive, and the card magazines to, when the at least one processor determines to escrow the received data card, transport one of the data cards stored in one of the card magazines to the data card acceptor for distribution after transporting the received data card to the data card escrow location. 11. The card processing assembly of claim 1, which is included in a gaming device configured to operate a game upon a wager. 12. The card processing assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the first plurality of the data cards includes a first type of graphic and each of the second plurality of the data cards includes a second different type of graphic. 13. The card processing assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the first plurality of the data cards is of a first style and each of the second plurality of the data cards is of a second different style. 14. The card processing assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the first plurality of the data cards is associated with a first user affiliation and each of the second plurality of the data cards is associated with a second different user affiliation. 15. The card processing assembly of claim 14, wherein the first user affiliation is a first loyalty reward program and the second user affiliation is a second different loyalty reward program. 16. The card processing assembly of claim 15, wherein the second different loyalty reward program is of a different reward program level than the first loyalty reward program. 17. A method of operating a card processing assembly, said method including: causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in at least one memory device to operate with a data card acceptor to receive one of a plurality of data cards through the data card acceptor;causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine whether to escrow the received data card;causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to, when the determination is to escrow the received data card, operate with a card drive to transport the received data card to a data card escrow location; andafter receiving a card exchange input, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to: (a) when the received data card is one of a first plurality of the data cards, determine to escrow the received data card and operate with the card drive to transport one of a second plurality of the data cards stored in a second card magazine from the second card magazine to the data card acceptor for distribution, the data cards of the first plurality and the second plurality being different; and(b) when the received data card is one of the second plurality of the data cards, determine to escrow the received data card and operate with the card drive to transport one of the first plurality of the data cards stored in a first card magazine from the first card magazine to the data card acceptor for distribution. 18. The method of claim 17, which includes: (a) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine whether the received data card is damaged such that the received data card is no longer operable with the card processing assembly, and(b) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to, when the received data card is damaged such that the received data card is no longer operable with the card processing assembly, determine to escrow the received data card. 19. The method of claim 17, which includes: (a) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with a security feature reader to read a security feature of the received data card, and(b) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to, when the security feature of the received data card is unreadable, determine to escrow the received data card. 20. The method of claim 17, which includes: (a) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with a security feature reader to read a security feature of the received data card, and(b) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to, when the read security feature of the received data card is associated with a card escrow identifier, determine to escrow the received data card. 21. The method of claim 17, wherein the data cards are rewritable data cards that are rewritable a predetermined quantity of times, and which includes: (a) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a quantity of times the received data card has been rewritten, and(b) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to, when the received data card has been rewritten at least the predetermined quantity of times, determine to escrow the received data card. 22. The method of claim 17, which includes: (a) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with a print head to print designated indicia onto the received data card,(b) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with an optical scanner to read the indicia printed on the received data card by the print head, and(c) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to, when the printed indicia does not match the designated indicia, determine to escrow the received data card. 23. The method of claim 17, wherein after receiving the card exchange input: (a) when the received data card is one of the first plurality of the data cards the data card escrow location is the first card magazine, and(b) when the received data card is one of the second plurality of the data cards, to the data card escrow location is the second card magazine. 24. The method of claim 17, wherein the data card escrow location is one of the card magazine. 25. The method of claim 17, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with at least one of: (a) the card drive and (b) a magazine card drive of at least one of the card magazines to, when the at least one processor has determined to escrow the received data card, transport the received data card to the data card escrow location. 26. The method of claim 17, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with the data card acceptor, the card drive, and the card magazines to, when the at least one processor determines to escrow the received data card, transport one of the data cards stored in one of the card magazines to the data card acceptor for distribution after transporting the received data card to the data card escrow location. 27. The method of claim 17, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with an external device to receive additional instructions and store the received additional instructions in the at least one memory device. 28. The method of claim 17, wherein the card processing assembly is included in a gaming device. 29. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the first plurality of the data cards includes a first type of graphic and each of the second plurality of the data cards includes a second different type of graphic. 30. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the first plurality of the data cards is of a first style and each of the second plurality of the data cards is of a second different style. 31. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the first plurality of the data cards is associated with a first user affiliation and each of the second plurality of the data cards is associated with a second different user affiliation. 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the first user affiliation is a first loyalty reward program and the second user affiliation is a second different loyalty reward program. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the second different loyalty reward program is of a different reward program level than the first loyalty reward program.
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