US Patent 7850074 Multi-head point of sale terminal

The invention allows for multiple card orientations and multiple card directions of travel through use of multiple opposed magnetic stripe reader heads within a POS terminal card reader track. In one embodiment, the various opposed heads are offset along the card reader track. The POS terminal also accommodates smart card and contactless instrument readers and includes features for electronic signature capture, user display interaction, multi-tasking capabilities, check reading and age and identity verification.