Apparatus for dispensing money orders

[54] APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING MONEY ORDERS

[75] Inventor: Lawrence G. Smith, Orlando, Fla.

[73] Assignee: Republic Money Orders, Inc., Dallas, Tex.

[21] Appl. No.: 494,562

[22] Filed: Mar. 16, 1990

Related U.S. Application Data

[60] Continuation of Ser. No. 406,979, Sep. 13, 1989, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 121,074, Nov. 16, 1987, Pat. No. 4,870,592, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 60,762, Jun. 8, 1987, Pat. No. 4,812,986, which is a division of Ser. No. 877,539, Oct. 31, 1986, Pat. No. 4,699,532, which is a division of Ser. No. 596,291, Apr. 3, 1984, Pat. No. 4,625,275.

Int. CI.' G06F 15/30

U.S. CI 364/479; 235/379;

364/405; 902/1

Field of Search 364/400, 401, 406, 408,

364/478, 479, 519, 405; 235/375, 379-382.5, 432, 433, 431; 400/121, 124, 104-106, 50, 103;

902/1, 2

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

2,071,141 2/1937 Placke 235/3

3,814,227 6/1974 Hurd, III et al 400/121

3,848,798 11/1974 Riley 235/101

3,970,992 7/1976 Boothroyd et al 364/900

3,984,660 10/1976 Oka et al 235/381

3,997,763 12/1976 Schasser 235/432

4,025,905 5/1977 Gorgens 364/900

4,035,792 7/1977 Price et al 354/76

4,053,735 10/1977 Foudos 235/419

4,082,945 4/1978 van de Goor et al 235/419

4,175,694 11/1979 Donabin 235/475

4,225,779 9/1980 Sano et al 235/379

[51] [52]

[58]

4,266,121 5/1981 Hirose 235/381

4,270,042 5/1981 Case 235/379

4,317,028 2/1982 Simjian 235/380

4,321,671 3/1982 Ohsako 364/405

4,341,951 7/1982 Benton 235/379

4,355,369 10/1982 Garvin 364/900

4.385.285 5/1983 Horst et al 382/3

4,417,137 11/1983 Lundblad 235/379

4.611.286 9/1986 Nishimura et al 364/405

4,625,275 11/1986 Smith 364/401

4,699,532 10/1987 Smith 400/104

4,812,986 3/1989 Smith 364/479

4,870,596 9/1989 Smith 364/479

4,894,784 1/1990 Smith 364/479

Primary Examiner—Joseph Ruggiero
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Michael A. O'Neil

[57] ABSTRACT

An apparatus for dispensing money orders at a plurality of retail establishments is provided, including one or more data collector devices connected to a host device. Preferably, each of the money order dispensers include a digital processor for controlling the overall operation thereof, a keyboard for entering transaction data to request the printing of a money order, a display for displaying the transaction data, and a dot matrix printer for printing the requested money order. Each dispenser further includes an electrically-eraseable programmable read only memory (E2PROM) for storing a security inhibit printing code, this code being automatically changed to prevent actuation of the printer when the security of the dispenser is compromised. The physical dimensions of the money order dispenser are reduced by providing a dot matrix printer for receiving money orders in a transverse fashion, and software routines are provided to control the dot matrix printer to "rotate" the printed characters whereby money orders are dispensed in a readable fashion.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Sheets