Famous Patents
3M employee and church chorister Art Fry needed something to temporarily mark pages in his hymnal. He was in luck because his colleague, Spencer Silver, accidentally developed a glue that was too weak for other purposes. After initially discouraging consumer response, Post-it Notes became a hit in 1979.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7513353 | Coin mechanism A combination pawl and coin wheel for use in a vending machine is disclosed. The pawl has a beveled disk-engaging tooth adapted to engage a disk or coin at a coin corner so as to urge that coin against wheel surfaces and thereby inhibit coin rotation while the coin ... | 04/07/2009 |
| 7494000 | Snack dispenser A snack dispenser comprises tiers stacked to resemble a wedding cake. Each tier includes a trough divided into transparent slots into which a snack may be placed. The troughs are mounted on a rotatable carousel having a transparent front shell with transparent locke... | 02/24/2009 |
| 7472780 | Coin sorting apparatus, control system for controlling coin sorting apparatus, and method for sorting coins Disclosed is a coin sorting apparatus whose operation is controlled by sensing means to count the received coins. The coin sorting apparatus includes a coin sorting device for sorting coins according to size of the coins, a guide for transferring the coins sorted by... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7347310 | Apparatus for validating and paying out coins The object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for validating and paying out coins, which can guide metal fragments to the surface of the driving motor such that the guided metal fragments are attracted to the surface of the driving motor so as to preve... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7207881 | Device for dispensing disc-shaped objects, such as coins A device for transferring a flow of disc-shaped objects, such as coins, from a reservoir to a delivery location at a higher level. This device is provided with a coin guiding passage that has its bottom positioned in an inclined plane, said passage being connected t... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7104384 | Method and apparatus for measuring the diameter of coins A method for measuring the diameter of coins in coin validators, comprising the steps below: The coins traverse an electromagnetic field which is formed such as to partially hide the field, at least also by their upper area. The field is ge... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7073654 | Coin selector for bimetal coins A coin selector assembly includes a coin passageway having at least a pair of thickness sensor unit operatively positioned along the coin passageway to provide respective measurements of the thickness of the coin. A comparing unit compares the respective thickness s... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7048623 | Coin separator and sorter assembly A coin sorting apparatus includes a coin hopper and a coin ramp positioned below the coin hopper. A coin separator mechanism is located between the coin hopper and the coin ramp. The coin separator mechanism includes a separating wheel having a plurality of coin rec... | 05/23/2006 |
| 6988606 | Coin processing machine and method for discriminating coins of varied composition, thickness, and diameter A coin discrimination sensor having an excitation coil and two detector coils arranged to detect eddy currents in a passing coin. The excitation coil is provided a composite waveform formed by adding a low frequency signal (30 KHz) with a high frequency signal (480 ... | 01/24/2006 |
| 6976589 | Apparatus for sorting articles A device for sorting discs or disk-like members of different identities (e.g. roulette chips) ejects the disks from a receptacle by means of a rotating wheel with numerous wells—(multi-chip storage compartments). Ejection of an article from the wells is achieved b... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6929110 | Coin chute with optical coin discrimination Systems and techniques for providing an improved coin acceptor are described. In one aspect, an electronic coin acceptor exaggerates relatively small differences in coin diameters. A coin deposited into the coin acceptor passes along a coin path through two sensing ... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6729461 | Methods and apparatus for detection of coin denomination and other parameters A coin sorting apparatus and method uses a light source (50) disposed on one side of the coin path (23); a coin moving member (21) of light transmissive material; a coin path insert (41) having at least a portion the is light transmissive... | 05/04/2004 |
| 6721442 | Color scanhead and currency handling system employing the same A document handling system is configured for processing a variety of different documents. The system includes an input receptacle for receiving a stack of documents, a standard sensor for scanning at least one non-color characteristic of the bills in the stack, a co... | 04/13/2004 |
| 6705448 | Method and apparatus for validating currency Coins may be validated and denominated by comparing varying signals from coin sensors and checking whether a predetermined relationship between them is maintained, for example, as the coin moves past die sensors. In some implementations, each varying signal may repr... | 03/16/2004 |
| 6685000 | Coin discrimination method and device A coin discrimination method and device reliably acquires stable two-dimensional images of the surfaces of coins, and using the acquired two-dimensional images is able to perform discrimination, reliably and at high speed, between genuine and counterfeit ... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6640956 | Method of coin detection and bag stopping for a coin sorter A coin handling machine (10) has a coin sorting member (12) with a plurality of sorting openings (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20) by which respective denominations of coins (14) are sorted, having a coin driving member (21) with webs (22) for moving the coins to ... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6640955 | Coin inspection method and device A coin inspection method and device of inexpensive composition are provided, whereby the shape of the edge portions of a coin and the indentations patterns on the surface of a coin can be inspected with a high level of accuracy by means of a simple, singl... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6599181 | Coin dispensing apparatus with an adjustable dispenser unit for accommodating different size coins A coin dispensing apparatus includes a storage interior for storing bulk coins, a coin passageway extending along a vertical longitudinal axis upward from the storage container to an exit aperture, and a coin selector for selectively sending coins upward ... | 07/29/2003 |
| 6595343 | Coin rolling-type selector A coin selector is provided with a decreased size as compared with prior art devices, which is also lighter. The selector, uses synthetic resin molded product componenets. The selector has a base element which has a shape such as a roughly square thick pl... | 07/22/2003 |
| 6467604 | Apparatus and method for determining the validity of a coin A coin validator is provided with at least two reference positions (U, D) for determining a diameter related characteristic of a coin being validated. In order to reduce the running to the testing station, the timing of a trailing point of the coin passin... | 10/22/2002 |
| 6379239 | Device for counting coins or the like Unassorted tokens of different types are supplied into a coin inlet portion 16 of an upper casing 3, so that the numbers of respective types or total amount of discharged tokens are calculated and displayed. A rotary disk 5 and a disk follower 6 are arranged a... | 04/30/2002 |
| 6328150 | Coin discriminating apparatus A coin discriminating apparatus includes a first light source for projecting light onto one surface of a coin being transported, a second light source for projecting light onto the other surface of a coin being transported, a first light detector for phot... | 12/11/2001 |
| 6283267 | Coin selector assembly A coin selector assembly includes a frame member having an upper entrance opening for receiving a coin and a plurality of coin ejection openings. A passageway extends through the frame member from the upper entrance opening to a plurality of ejection open... | 09/04/2001 |
| 6230870 | Coin detection device A coin detection device for determining a size of a coin traveling along a coin track comprises a first inductive sensor positioned along the coin track, a second inductive sensor positioned above the first inductive sensor, a processing circuit connected... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6223877 | Coin validation apparatus A coin validation mechanism for evaluating coins and the like inserted therein and for validating acceptable coins includes a coin chute defining a coin path and a sensor for evaluating the type of material of which the object in the coin chute is made of... | 05/01/2001 |
| 6142285 | Coin testing apparatus and method A method of coin testing is provided in which a laser beam (13) is directed onto a face of a coin (4) and a laser detector (3) is used to detect where the laser beam is intercepted by the coin and where the laser beam is not intercepted by the coin, so as... | 11/07/2000 |
| 6026946 | Enhanced coin discrimination systems and methods A parking meter contains both optical detection elements, to detect the presence and the diameter of inserted coins, and conventional coils which are inductively coupled to a passing coin and which load a RF oscillator. The optical detection information i... | 02/22/2000 |
| 5984074 | Method and apparatus for validating money An apparatus and method of validating coins involves taking two independent measurements of the tested item, and determining whether both measurements lie within respective ranges for a particular coin type, the range for at least one of the measurements ... | 11/16/1999 |
| 5975276 | Comparative type detecting means for a coin-collecting mechanism Disclosed is a comparative type detector for a coin-collecting mechanism. The comparative type detector includes a movable slot way portion having parallelly arranged and downward open first and second slot ways, as well as a main slide way and a secondar... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5937991 | Lock actuated by an insertion object such as a coin or token A lock actuated by an insertion object. The actuated lock has a housing. The housing has an insertion slot for the insertion object. The lock has a passageway adjuster to exclude an undesirable insertion object. The lock has a first retainer which is vert... | 08/17/1999 |
| 5887697 | Coin discriminating apparatus A coin discriminating apparatus includes a plurality of light emitting elements for projecting light onto a coin, a light receiver for optically detecting light reflected by the coin, and a scattering member, disposed on an opposite side of the coin from ... | 03/30/1999 |
| 5823315 | Coin detector and identifier apparatus and method An apparatus for detecting fraud in a coin detector is disclosed. The apparatus is provided with a coin validating device. A coin sensing apparatus, located downstream of the coin validating device and preferably including a plurality of optic emitter-det... | 10/20/1998 |
| 5788046 | Method for recognizing coins and apparatus therefor A method for recognizing permitted and prohibited coins permits precise and trouble-free assignment of coins by a procedure in which, during a learning step, characteristic values of reference coins are determined without contact and the measured values o... | 08/04/1998 |
| 5706927 | Token discriminating device A token discriminating device includes: a rolling member having two guide walls and a bottom for defining a rolling passage in which a token is rolled; and a smaller unacceptable token discriminating portion having: a cut-away portion formed in one of the... | 01/13/1998 |
| 5684597 | Method and device for coin diameter discrimination A coin diameter discriminating device wherein a coin is received in a coin transport mechanism which is rotated by a motor at an accurately controlled angular velocity. By such arrangement, the coin is carried along a predetermined path at an accurately c... | 11/04/1997 |
| 5673781 | Coin detection device and associated method A coin detection device includes one or more optical sensors positioned along a coin path and capable of detecting movement of a coin thereby, a coil energizable to generate an electromagnetic field in the region of the coin path, a processor connected to... | 10/07/1997 |
| 5551542 | Process and apparatus for identifying coins In order to identify coins, the coins are separated by a separating device which is designed as a rotatable perforated disc. Subsequently, an identification measurement is carried out as long as the coins are still located in the perforations of the perfo... | 09/03/1996 |
| 5538123 | Coin discriminating apparatus A coin discriminating apparatus includes a light emitter for illuminating the surface of a coin, a light receiver for receiving reflected light from the surface of the coin and producing pattern data of the coin, a pattern data memory for storing the patt... | 07/23/1996 |
| 5518101 | Unacceptable coin removing apparatus for coin handling machine An unacceptable coin removing apparatus for a coin handling machine includes a rotatable disk for receiving coins deposited into the coin handling machine and feeding coins one by one into a coin passage provided with a reference guide rail and a facing g... | 05/21/1996 |
| 5460256 | Coin sensor device A coin sensor device for determining the authenticity of a coin traveling along a predefined path including a first sensor device such as an optical sensor device located along the path, a second sensor device such as a second optical sensor device spaced... | 10/24/1995 |
