Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE: COMBINATION BILL ACCEPTING AND BILL DISPENSING DEVICE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to devices for accepting of
bills and accumulating bills in a manner to allow
dispensing of selected bills.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are known validators devices for bills or
other paper means of payment which devices store the
accepted bills in a removable cassette or process accepted
bills for temporary storage and subsequent dispensing. It
is desirable to store as many bills as possible in a
storage arrangement for subsequent dispensing. The stored
bills are all of the same value and are typically wound on
a drum in a serial manner. This serial manner accommodates
dispensing of bills, one bill at a time.
It is desirable to make these devices as adaptable
for different currencies as possible. This general
adaptation of the device is made more difficult due to
different sizes of banknotes from currency to currency and
from denomination to denomination.
The present invention enables bills of different
values and size to be accepted and appropriately processed.
The arrangement has the capability of storing for
subsequent dispensing, two different banknote
denominations. In addition, the device has a stacking
cassette for receiving and storing of bills that are not to
be subsequently dispensed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A device for validating and accepting paper
currency comprises a validator that evaluates selected
properties of the paper currency and determines whether the
paper currency should be accepted or rejected. The
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validator rejects the paper currency if it is determined
that paper currency is not acceptable.
The validator has associated therewith a bill
processing junction into which accepted paper currency is
fed one bill at a time. The processing junction includes
at least three processing paths including first and second
paths for accumulating paper currency for later dispensing
and a third path for storage of accepted paper currency.
The device includes a drive arrangement associated with the
processing junction for selectively driving an accepted
bill along any of said three paths.
According to an aspect of the invention the
processing junction longitudinally receives accepted paper
currency and the first and second paths for accumulating
paper currency cause the paper currency to move in a
direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the
accepted paper currency.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the third path moves the currency in a direction parallel
to the longitudinal direction of the accepted currency and
stores the currency in a removable stacking arrangement.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the third dispensing path is located on a side of said
processing junction opposite an inlet path to the
processing junction.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the device includes an accumulator and dispensing unit
associated with each of the first and second paths and the
accumulator and dispensing units have a common dispensing
outlet through which accumulated paper currency can be
dispensed.
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According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the common dispensing outlet accumulates bills to be
dispensed and dispenses accumulated bills as a stack of
bills.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the processing junction includes a drive arrangement which
is movable for driving a received paper currency along any
of said three paths.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the drive arrangement includes drive rollers on either side
of a longitudinal center line of the processing junction
and the drive rollers are rotatable from a first
orientation for moving a bill longitudinally in said
junction to a second orientation for moving said bill
transversely in said junction along either of said first
and second paths.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
each dispensing arrangement serially receives the paper
currency and winds said paper currency transversely onto a
cylinder drum, and each drum includes flexible separating
tapes located either side of a received paper currency with
said tape also being wound on said respective drum.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention,
the tapes are spaced along the length of said respective
drum to be non overlapping with adjacent tapes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in
the drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a partial perspective view showing the
general components of the device and the possible
processing paths for accepted paper currency;
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Figure 2 is a partial perspective view showing the
paper currency dispensing units and currency separating
tapes thereof;
Figure 3 is a partial sectional view illustrating
various components of the system;
Figures 3a, 3b and 3c are illustrative views of an
accumulating and dispensing arrangement;
Figure 4 is a partial perspective view showing the
separating tapes wound on the drum and in position to
receive an accepted banknote therebetween;
Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing a
banknote being received and about to be processed between
two tapes;
Figure 6 is a partial sectional view showing a
drive arrangement for the drive rollers of the device;
Figure 7 is a partial perspective view showing one
of the drive roll arrangements;
Figure 8 shows the drive roll arrangements of the
processing junction arranged for longitudinal movement of a
received banknote;
Figure 9 shows the drive rollers positioned for
transverse or lateral movement within the processing
junction; and
Figure 10 is a top view of a modified arrangement.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The bill processing device 1 of Figure 1 includes a
validator 2 having an inlet 4 into which a bill 6 is to be
inserted. The bill 6 is used in this application as
representative of any paper currency, banknote or other
form of payment involving the exchange of paper substrates.
The validator 2 performs various tests on a
received bill and assuming the bill is accepted, it passes
the accepted bill 6a to the processing junction 10. The
processing junction 10 has a first bill accumulator 20
located to one side of the processing junction and a second
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bill accumulator 22 located to the opposite side of the
processing junction. If the accepted banknote 6b, situated
in the processing junction 10, is to be accumulated for
later dispensing, it will be moved laterally to either the
first accumulator 20 or the second accumulator 22. Each
accumulator typically accumulates bills of the same
denomination. For example, accumulator 20 could be
dedicated to accumulating $5 bills and accumulator 22 could
be dedicated to accumulating $1 bills. Thus, all the bills
wound on one of t?ie accumulators will be of the same
denomination. The validator has previously determined the
denomination of the bill. Depending upon the particular
application, the denomination of the bills wound onto each
accumulator will be different, although there may be
applications where both accumulators store the same
denomination. This would provide additional capacity.
The processing junction 10 also provides a path for
moving of a banknote in the direction of arrow 11 for
receipt of the bill 6c in the bill storage cassette 30.
These bills are stacked within the banknote cassette and
are not available for subsequent dispensing. The
processing junction 10, and in particular the accumulators
20 and 22, store bills for later dispensing. Accumulated
bills are dispensed by driving the accumulators in the
opposite direction and allowing dispensing of bills along
the path indicated by arrow 14. Bills to be dispensed are
accumulated in a stack and dispensed as a group 41 through
a common outlet for stacked bills indicated as 40. This
stack 41 of banknotes can be bills from one accumulator or
a mixture of bills from the accumulators 20 and 22.
It should be noted with reference to Figure 1, that
the banknotes are accumulated with their longitudinal axis
aligned with the longitudinal axis of the cylinder on which
they are rolled. This orientation of the banknotes allows
more banknotes to be rolled onto the cylinder as each
accumulated bill is not rolled in the longitudinal
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direction. This also has the additional benefit of
reducing the extent of the curl which is imparted to the
banknote during its storage on the cylinder. The diameter
of the accumulator continues to increase as more bills are
stored, and there is a size limitation based on the
physical size of the device. The lateral winding increases
the number of bills that can be stored. The tapes include
markings such as a metal band that is detected and used to
generate a signal to stop any additional storage of bills
on that accumulator. Any further bills are transported to
the storage cassette. The lateral storage of a bill on the
accumulator reduces the space required to store bills on a
given diameter cylinder and is more efficient relative to
longitudinal winding of the bills on the same size
cylinder.
Figure 2 and Figure 3 show details of the thin
pliable film tapes that are used to separate accumulated
bills on the accumulating cylinders 24. Magnetic recording
type tape can be used. These tapes 26 are positioned to
contact the back face of the banknote and tapes 28 are
positioned to contact the front face of the banknote
located between the banknote and the accumulating cylinder
24. Thus, each banknote is located between tapes 26 and
28. Figure 2 also illustrates how the tapes are
longitudinally spaced in the length of the received
banknote and in the length of the longitudinal axis of the
accumulating cylinder. The tapes are offset and non-
overlapping and increase the thickness required to store a
banknote on the cylinder approximately a single thickness
of the tape. With this arrangement, the two tapes ensure
that banknotes are separated one from the other and are
serially wound and serially dispensed from the accumulator
24.
In the drawing of Figure 2, tapes 26 are wound onto
the spools 27 located on shaft 31. Tapes 28 are wound onto
spools 29 attached to shaft 33. The tapes of spools 27 and
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29 are drawn by the accumulated cylinder as a banknote is
wound onto the accumulator cylinder 24. The power for
drawing the tape is provided by the cylinder 24 and the
spools provide some rotational resistance such that only
sufficient tape is unwound as is necessary. In contrast,
during dispensing of a banknote, these spools 27 and 29 are
over driven by the drive arrangement generally shown as 35
and include a friction type clutch arrangement to allow for
slippage. The overdriving of these spools assures that the
tapes are wound onto the spools 27 and 29 and any excess
tape is accumulated. Each of the tapes 26 and 28 is
physically attached to the accumulator cylinder 24 and
guides 37 are spring loaded at the back of the accumulating
cylinder 24 to maintain the general alignment of the tapes
26 and 28. The drive arrangement 35 also causes rotation
of the drive wheels generally shown as 39 on shaft 31 and
drive wheels 41 on shaft 33. These are attached to the
drive arrangement 35 and rotate with the rotation of the
shafts 31 and 33.
The processing junction 10 shown in Figure 2 also
includes repositional drive rollers 50 which are positioned
for advancing of a banknote along the longitudinal axis of
the processing junction 10. The drive wheels 50 are
opposite the spring loaded contact balls 52 on the opposite
side of the processing junction 10. The repositional drive
rollers 50 are rotatable 90 degrees to allow driving of a
banknote laterally into the accumulator 20 or the
accumulator 22. The one way finger levers 61 allow feeding
of a banknote from the processing junction into the
respective accumulator and when the accumulator is rotated
in the direction to dispense a stored banknote it causes
the banknote to follow a dispensing path 65. This aspect
is more clearly understood from a review of Figure 3.
Figure 3 shows a slightly different arrangement for
accumulating of the tapes 26 and tapes 28. In this case,
the spools 26 and 27 have been relocated and the tapes
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trained around rollers for the appropriate positioning,
either side of a banknote. The tape 28 of the left hand
accumulator 20 is associated with the processing junction
to receive a banknote and move the banknote past the
5 finger lever 61. The banknote is driven by the drive
wheels 50 and the banknote will have sufficient width to
meet the additional drive wheel arrangement represented by
rollers 57 and 59. As can be seen, the tape 28 is between
the accumulating cylinder 24 and a banknote and tape 26 is
10 applied to the outside of the banknote. Finger levers 61
are spring loaded and are moved by the banknote to allow
the banknote to pass by these levers as it is driven from
the processing junction 10 to the accumulating cylinder 24.
When the direction of the accumulating cylinder 24
is reversed, a received and stored banknote on the
accumulating cylinder 24 will be unwound from the cylinder
and fed between driven wheels 57 and 59. The tapes on the
far side of wheels 57 and 59 separate from the banknote.
The banknote is redirected by the curved section 63 of
lever 61 to move through the slot 65 to the drive wheel 83
and the idler wheel 85. Guide 81 directs the driven
banknote to the accumulating arrangement 67.
The banknote is fed through the revolving guide 162
which is located between the drive wheel 83 and the
separate drive arrangement 69 of the accumulating
arrangement 67. The drive arrangement 69 has two wheels
169 with an endless belt 164 being trained about the
wheels. A gap is defined between the plate 163 and the
opposed surface of the belt 164. This slot accumulates
banknotes to be dispensed. Plate 163 is forced by spring
166 towards the drive arrangement 69. Idler wheels 165 and
167 are placed opposite the drive wheels 169 of the drive
arrangement 69.
The first banknote 180 shown in Figure 3a has
passed the drive wheel 83 and is now being driven by drive
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wheel 169 and belt 164 into the accumulating arrangement
67. The trailing part of the banknote is still partially
received in the revolving guide 162. When the back edge of
the banknote appears in the middle of the revolving guide
162, the drive wheel 83 and the drive arrangement 69 stop.
The trailing portion of the banknote will still be
partially received in the revolving guide 162. The
platform 163 is forced by spring 166 towards the drive
arrangement 67. Idler wheels 165 and 167 are located
opposite the drive wheels 169 of the drive arrangement 69.
The advance of the banknote 180 is stopped with the
trailing edge of the banknote still partially in the
revolving guide 162 as shown in Figure 3a.
The revolving guide 162 is then rotated 180
degrees. Figure 3b shows the revolving guide 162 partially
rotated and the trailing edge of the banknote 180 has been
stripped from the guide and is positioned to one side. The
guide then assumes the position shown in Figure 3c with the
first banknote located in the gap between roller 167 and
the revolving guide 162. The next bill 182 can then be fed
into the accumulating arrangement 67 as shown in Figure 3c.
The back edge of bill 180 has been pulled out of the way
and therefore, bill 182 can slide over the face of bill
180. Once this second banknote has been received,
revolving guide 162 is then rotated to force both of the
trailing edges of banknotes 180 and 182 to the one side of
the guide.
In this way, a series of banknotes can be
accumulated between the plate 163 and the belt 164. It can
also be seen that there is a moveable shutter 161 closing
the outlet slot 40. A solenoid 160 allows the shutter to
move to a clear position whereby the banknotes can be fed
out through the slot 40. The shutter effectively acts as a
stop for all of the banknotes and allows the drive
arrangement 69 to bring the next banknote into the
accumulating arrangement 67. Once the required number of
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banknotes are collected in the accumulated arrangement 67,
solenoid 160 moves the shutter 161 and opens the outlet 40.
The drive arrangement 69 is then activated and feeds the
accumulated banknotes out of the accumulating arrangement
67 as a group.
Each drive roller 50 of Figure 3 includes a drive
arrangement 100 which have a crank arm 102 connected to a
drive link 104 which is driven by crank arm 106 of the
drive motor 108. With this arrangement, the drive rollers
50 are synchronized as they are commonly driven by the
drive arrangement. Each of the drive arrangements 100 are
also rotatable 90 degrees as generally shown in Figures 7,
8 and 9. A separate link 110 connects the drive
arrangements 100 and is attached to the drive arrangements
100 by crank arms 112. Movement of the link 110 through
an appropriate rotation causes the drive wheels 50 to
rotate 90 degrees as shown in Figures 8 and 9. With this
arrangement, the drive wheels 50 pivot on the contact balls
52 and a received banknote trapped between these
components. Once the drive wheels 50 are rotated 90
degrees, the drive wheels 50 can be rotated in a first
direction for accumulation in accumulator 20 and in a
second direction for accumulation in accumulator 22. If
the drive wheels are orientated in the direction as
indicated in Figure 3, the received banknote is driven into
a stacker 30 located below the processing channel 10.
The link 104 shown in Figure 7, is attached to the
crank arm, 102 which rotates shaft 120. A gear train 150
causes shaft 122 to rotate with rotation of shaft 120.
Shaft 122 rotates the bevel gear 124 in contact with the
bevel gear 126 on shaft 128 of the drive roller 50. Each
drive arrangement 100 can be rotated 90 degrees as
indicated by arrow 60 controlled by appropriate movement of
the link 110. This movement causes the drive arrangement
100 to move due to the interaction of the crank 112 with
the link 110.
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The motor 108, as shown in Figure 6 via its crank
arm 106 and link 104 additionally rotates drive wheel 115
via the pin connection 117. Roller 121 moves as indication
by arrow 123 from the drive position shown to a non drive
position. In the drive position, roller 121 is driven by
drive wheel 115 and in turn, drives wheel 125. Drive wheel
125 is connected by pin 127 to link 110 and causes movement
thereof. Wheel 125 basically freely rotates on the shaft
118. With member 121 in a non drive position, (not in
contact with drive wheel 115), then link 110 is essentially
fixed in position. When wheel 121 is in the drive
position, link 110 can be driven to rotate the drive
arrangements 100 about their drive shaft 120 and about the
bearing generally indicated as 131 in the processing
junction 10.
With this arrangement, each of the drive
arrangements 100 drive a drive wheel 50 at a common rate
and with a common position controlled by drive linkages.
These linkages are preferrably a parallelogram type
linkage, such that the four drive wheels 50 are driven by
the common motor 108. Synchronization of the drive wheels
is maintained due to the common motor and repositioning is
easily accomplished for driving of the banknote laterally
into the accumulators and subsequently reversed for
receiving a banknote in the processing junction or moving a
banknote through the junction to a stacking arrangement as
described.
Figure 10 shows a modification of a banknote
stacker. In this case, three banknote accumulating devices
have been mounted on a rotary carousel for selective
registration with an inlet 200. Banknotes to be
accumulated are passed through the inlet 200 to the
individual accumulators. In this case, there are three
accumulators shown and as such, three separate
denominations can be accumulated. The accumulating
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arrangement 67a is off to one side and has its own inlet
210. With this arrangement, the rotary carousel can be
rotated for proper association with the inlet 200 or the
inlet 210. With this arrangement, three different
denominations can be separately accumulated in the three
different accumulators and the dispensing of bills can be
the combination of any of the three stored denominations.
The validator of Figure 1 also shows a slot 200 for
receiving a bankcard. In this case, the device can obtain
bankcard authorization for payment of goods associated with
the device, or to receive cash from the device. It can
also be appreciated that the validator could accept
banknotes and credit the accepted banknotes to the
bankcard.
Although various preferred embodiments of the
present invention have been described herein in detail, it
will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that
variations may be made thereto without departing from the
spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended
claims.
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