Patent ID: 6169975
Filing Date: 2001-01-02
Classification: G06K,G06Q,G07F

Abstract:
A system for point of sale dispensing of cards comprising: (a) a host computer system; and (b) a remote terminal device adapted to be selectively coupled to the host computer system via a communication link, the remote terminal device comprising: (i) a terminal memory that stores a plurality of informational data sets; (ii) a recording device that copies informational data sets from the terminal memory onto a substrate; (iii) an input device, and (iv) a processor programmed to execute the following steps: (1) upon receipt of a pre-selected input from the input device, selecting a personal identification number from the terminal memory; (2) causing the recording device to copy the selected personal identification number onto the substrate; (3) flagging a memory location in the terminal memory to indicate that the selected personal identification number has been used; and (4) upon a determination that a predetermined number of informational data sets in the terminal memory remain unflagged, replenishing the available informational data sets by performing the following substeps: (A) initiating a communication between the remote terminal device and the host computer system via the communication link; (B) indicating to the host computer system that the flagged informational data sets have been used; (C) downloading a plurality of informational data sets from the host computer system into the terminal memory; and (D) disconnecting the communication between the remote terminal device and the host computer system after the downloading substep.