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| Summary / Description | One of the multitude of US patents concerning various combinations of card readers used with gaming systems. |
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | United States of America |
| Patent/Application # | 5265874 |
| Kind Code | United States (US) - United STATES Patent - A |
| Patentee Name | Dickinson, et al / International Game Technology |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | |
| URL | http://www.google.com/patents/a... |
| Filing Date | January 31, 1992 |
| Additional Information | |
| Notes | In my view, the dependent claims linking the card reader mechanism to a gaming system convey no additional novelty, because such combinations are well known and practiced in many varieties. |
Excerpt What is claimed is: 1. Game playing apparatus comprising: a validation terminal having a card reader and a memory; a plurality of game terminals spaced from the validation terminal; communication means coupling the validation terminal to each game terminal, respectively; a player ID card having identification information thereon, said card adapted to be read by the card reader of the validation terminal and to be coupled to the memory for placing said ID information into memory; means coupled with the validation terminal for providing cash amount data to the memory corresponding to the ID information of the card, said validation terminal through said communication means being operable for enabling each of the game terminals when a positive cash amount is in the validation terminal as cash data associated with a particular ID card of a player, each game terminal having a card reader for reading the ID information from a player card, said card being operable to allow a player to play any of the game terminals so long as a positive cash amount is in the validation terminal, each game terminal having a display showing the current cash amount available to the player, each said game terminal further including a cashout device for allowing the player of a first game terminal to cash out from the first game terminal and to use an ID card to enable a second game terminal for play of a game of the second game terminal, said cashout device further permitting the player to receive the cash amount from the validation terminal upon a decision to withdraw from further play of the game of any of the game terminals. |
A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the further processing includes transferring credit from the user record to a gaming machine.
| Relevance | This use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
A method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising transferring credit to the user record from a gaming machine.
| Relevance | This use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
An interface module for a gaming system, the interface module arranged to be placed in data communication with a card reader and a user database storing user records, the interface module arranged to: determine that a user data card comprising a non-compatible smart card has been entered into a card reader; obtain a user identifier from a magnetic stripe of the user data card; and process the user identifier to obtain data from a user record associated with the identifier to enable further processing in respect of the user data card.
| Relevance | The use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
An interface module as claimed in claim 5, arranged to process the user identifier to send a request to a user server storing said user record.
| Relevance | This use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
An interface module as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the further processing includes participating in the transfer of credit from the user record to a gaming machine.
| Relevance | This use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
An interface module as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the further processing includes participating in the transfer of credit to the user record from a gaming machine.
| Relevance | This use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
A gaming system as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a gaming machine, and wherein the further processing comprises transferring credit from the user record to a gaming machine.
| Relevance | This use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
A gaming system as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a gaming machine, and wherein the further processing comprises transferring credit to the user record to a gaming machine.
| Relevance | This use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
An interface module for a gaming system, the interface module arranged to: conduct transactions for a user by retrieving data from a user record using a user identifier obtained from a magnetic stripe of a hybrid data card while the user has a hybrid data card comprising a non-compatible smart card; and switch to processing from a compatible smart card once it is detected that a user has a user data card comprising a valid smart card.
| Relevance | The use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
A gaming system comprising: a card reader; a user database storing user records; and an interface module arranged to: conduct transactions for a user by retrieving data from a user record using a user identifier obtained from a magnetic stripe of a hybrid data card while the user has a hybrid data card comprising a non-compatible smart card; and switch to processing from a compatible smart card once it is detected that a user has a user data card comprising a valid smart card.
| Relevance | The use in a gaming system is anticipated by claim 1 of the prior art. |
United States