WO1993007596A1

WO1993007596A1 - Electronic wallet

Info

Publication number: WO1993007596A1
Application number: PCT/EP1992/002281
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dino Condolf
Original assignee: Dino Condolf
Priority date: 1991-10-04
Filing date: 1992-10-02
Publication date: 1993-04-15
Also published as: CH686912A5; AU2645892A

Abstract

The electronic wallet is a calculating device with a display equipped with memory and comprises means capable of emitting and receiving impulses, and circuits capable of causing the emission or reception of the same impulse to induce variations of equal absolute value but having opposite signs in the number recorded in the memory respectively. The access to the operations is protected by an electronic code known only to the owner, and the frequency and other characteristics of said impulses varies automatically over time according to a secret preset logical sequence. The wallet is equipped with a printing unit (2) that transcribes and stores all the operations carried out, and with a second unit (7) for issuing mini-checks.

Description

Electronic Wallet

Presently the accounting units that make up the liquidities available to an individual consist physically of coins, banknotes or checks, so that they can be used by their owner in all his activities that involve the use of money. This is one of the fundamental reasons for the necessity of the existence of the "monetary mass" in all economically organized countries.

The existence of this mass, whether it be paper or metal, necessarily always involves problems that have never been solved, such as the risk of theft, loss, "money laundering" etc.

With the present invention, the inventor has attempted to provide a new, modern and advantageous solution to the problem of the circulation of the above mentioned "liquid," by creating an electronic device which essentially makes it possible to be able to eliminate the above mentioned monetary mass, if desired.

This device, in whose memory the situation of the liquidities is recorded, or else the number of accounting units that are available to its owner, is designed so as to be able to execute and record all cash operations of any amount (contained in the above named number) , both debit and credit, by acting in tune with another identical device carried by the counterpart who is participating in the above mentioned operations.

In other words, the device, which is thus called "electronic wallet," is designed so that, for example if person A needs to make a payment to person B who also has the same kind of wallet, the payment takes place electronically, subtracting the desired amount from the balance in the memory of A's wallet and adding the same amount to the balance in the memory of B's wallet.

The wallets of both persons, if they are presented in the financial institution, for example a bank, that issued them, attest at any given time, through the balance stored in the memory, to the situation of the real credit balance of A and B.

The advantages that such an invention present are obvious, both from the vantage point of convenience and of resistance to theft and fraud. From an electronic wallet according to the invention, in fact, only a number of accounting units less than or equal to the number of accounting units really stored in the memory, i.e. credit, can be subtracted.

The invention is comprised of a calculating electronic device and a display equipped with memory, characterized in that it is provided with first means capable of emitting and receiving impulses, and second means capable of causing both the emission and the reception of these impulses having certain physical characteristics to induce analogous numerical signals in the device itself that would modify to a pre-determined extent a number entered into the memory; this device would be called an electronic wallet.

Referring to the attached drawing we will proceed to describe in detail the functioning of a preferred embodiment that is neither limiting nor binding with respect to the concepts expressed in the attached claims.

The drawing represents a front view of the device that is the object of the invention. The wallet is activated in its memory 3, by card 6, with the preset number of accounting units of credit available in the financial institution that issues the wallet itself.

This activation is analogous to that made by a magnetic card and does not require more detailed explanation, since this procedure is well known by experts in the field.

Mention is made only of the fact that this can take place through sound waves, infrared rays etc. that act on card 6.

Owner A of the wallet then, for example, in order to make a payment to another person B, presses entry button

10, and as a result display 5 lights up, and the luminous radiation for this lighting is capable of being radiated in at least two colors, red and green, to be used according to the logic and the preferences of the individual. Then, by means of numeric keypad 4 an access number or electronic code is entered, which is known only to the owner for obvious reasons of security against theft.

At this point payment can then be made, by entering on the same keypad 4 the number equal to the amount of the operation. Once this number has been entered, operation key 11 is pressed and the device emits impulses corresponding to said amount, either electromagnetic or sound waves or infrared radiation.

From the number in the memory, an amount of units equal to the amount of the operation is subtracted.

The above mentioned impulses are received and translated into a analogous numerical signal by B's wallet, which operates by assigning a credit, and the above mentioned entry key 10 will have also have to have been pressed previously, twice for example, to predispose the device to receive a credit, and the owner will have also entered on his keypad 4 the number equal to the amount of the operation in question, and then push the operation key. The number in the memory of this latter wallet will then be increased by the amount entered.

Both wallets will remain activated for possible additional operations for a limited time, for example 3 to 5 minutes, and then they will turn off automatically. The device, obviously, may execute other functions, such as correction key (13) to change the number before emitting or receiving impulses from the other wallet, or the like.

A further function is, for example, exchange key 18; by pressing this key and then by pressing another key 14 a certain number of times, it will be possible to multiply or divide an amount by the exchange rate of other currencies in relation to the base currency with which the wallet operates.

It is important that in the device a small printing device 2 is contained that is capable of transcribing, then storing everything it prints, every variation in the number is recorded in the memory as well as the characteristic parameters - operation number, date, type of operation, result in the memory and the like - of all the operations that have induced the above mentioned variations. The function of this unit carries out, in a certain sense, the task of the "black box" in aircraft.

Also there is provision for the existence of additional unit 7 capable of printing and issuing sheets of paper and cards containing desired data and/or numbers.

With this last unit, that can be activated by additional button 19, for example, the owner can issue true mini-checks of his own that are securely covered in that they cannot be issued unless a corresponding credit exists in the memory, and these mini-checks can serve as cash for making payments to persons or companies that do not have an electronic wallet.

It should be pointed out that it is provided that the device be equipped with an electronic unit capable of distinguishing among a large number of impulses with identical characteristics, and to allow for the reception only of the closest signal. This makes it possible to avoid illicit intrusions into the operations by third parties. For practical purposes, it is also provided that two wallets cannot exchange impulses when they are placed at a distance greater than a certain reference distance. This distance can be set to about 1 m, for example.

The inventor has also provided that the frequencies and the other physical characteristics of the emitted signal vary automatically over time according to a secret preset logical sequence.

This mechanism also serves to avoid intrusions and unauthorized uses by third parties. A final mechanism to achieve maximum security is the fact that all the circuits with which the device is equipped are connected to an internal part (for example a covering or a frame) of shell 1 of the device itself so that any event that causes it to break also cause the circuits themselves to be interrupted or short-circuited.

It is understandable that both the functions of the device and their interconnections can vary in large measure to meet all possible requirements, thus they may differ from the example described to this point but they remain within the scope of what is expressed in the attached claims.

To communicate data "by wire" two outlets 12 are provided which serve either for long-distance operations or for other connections, for example for the transmission of data to the institution that issued the wallet.

Given that the device is portable, it is obvious that it is powered by batteries (8) .

Claims

1. Electronic calculating device and display equipped with memory, characterized in that it is equipped with first means capable of emitting and receiving impulses and of second means capable of causing both the emission and reception of said impulses having certain physical characteristic to induce signals of an analog numerical type in the device itself that modify to a preset extent a number recorded in the memory, and this device is called an electronic wallet.

2. Device according to claim 1, in which the above mentioned second means with which it is equipped are such that they cause the emission and reception of the same sign to induce variations with the same absolute value but having opposite signs in the number recorded in the memory respectively.

3. Device according to any of the preceding claims, in which the above mentioned second means are circuits capable of transforming the above mentioned impulses into the above mentioned variations in the number recorded in the memory.

4. Device according to any of the preceding claims, in which the above mentioned impulses generated by the first means are electromagnetic waves, or infrared rays or sound waves, without any type of fixed connection for their transmission.

5. Device according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a numerical keypad (4) , and when it is activated, impulses of a determined kind and magnitude can be emitted or received, which can vary depending on the keys pressed.

6. Device according to claim 5, comprising a printing unit (2) that transcribes, storing everything it prints, every variation in the number recorded in the memory as well as the characteristic parameters — number of the operation, date, type of operation, result in the memory and the like — of all the operations that have induced each of the above mentioned variations.

7. Device according to claim 6, which also contains a unit (7) capable of printing sheets or cards carrying desired numbers and/or data.

8. Device according to claim 7, in which there exists at least one key (18) , connected to circuits capable of carrying out mathematical operations, that when it is activated, the numbers entered by the above mentioned keypad are modified by being multiplied or divided by preset numerical coefficients.

9. Device according to claim 8, in which the above mentioned numerical coefficients are the exchange rates of other currencies with respect to a reference currency on the basis of which the device carries out its operations.

10. Device according to any of the preceding claims, comprising an electronic access code, without the activation of which it is not possible to carry out any operations.

11. Device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein all the circuits with which it is equipped are connected to an internal part of the shell (1) of the device, so that any event that causes its breakage causes the circuits themselves to be interrupted or short-circuited.

12. Device according to any of the preceding claims, that also comprises an electronic unit capable of distinguishing among a plurality of impulses with identical characteristics and of making possible the reception of only the signal originating from the emitter located at a lesser distance.

13. Device according to claim 12, wherein the frequencies or other physical characteristics of the signal emitted vary automatically over time according to a preset logical sequence known only to the manufacturer of the device.

14. Device according to any of the preceding claims, equipped with means capable of illuminating the display device (5) with luminous radiations that can have at least two different colors.

15. Device according to claim 14, comprising a shell (1) , a printing unit (2) , a memory unit (3) , a keypad (4) , a visual display (5) , a card (6) , a mechanism for issuing mini-checks (7) , two batteries (8) , a reserve battery (9) , an enter button (10) , an operation button (11) , two connection outlets (12) .

16. Electronic wallet comprising two outlets (12) , one for the unloading and preservation of data, the other for long-distance transmissions of operations with other electronic wallets over a particular telephone band, Modem, Swift or other.