The object of the present invention is an automatic dispensing machine for banknotes, or material in sheets in general.
Automatic dispensers for banknotes are known and generally consist of a boxlike body that is sized in a way to offer suitable guarantees against attempts of burglary, and that accomodates devices dispersing banknotes fed from storage containers constituted by compartments provided inside the boxlike body itself. Each of the storage containers is designed to contain banknotes of a preset denomination and the user can programme the machine in a way to obtain the delivery of a sum in the desired denominations.
For example, EP-A-0109743 discloses an automatic dispensing machine for banknotes or material in sheets in general according to the preamble of Claim 1.
Generally dispensing devices are constituted by a plurality of small rollers or feeding suckers that carry out the individual drive of banknotes, appropriately arranged inside relevant storage containers, as far as a wheel provided with a plurality of radial fences inside which the banknotes pushed by the small rollers are engaged. Said wheel, turning about its own axis, deposits the banknotes in a drawer accessible from the outside of the boxlike body.
The presently commercially available automatic dispensers of banknotes, in order to function in a correct way, must be manually loaded with wads of banknotes or with suitable holders in which banknotes are accomodated and, for security reasons, their loading can take place only at preset times, like for instance at the beginning of the day.
With the presently commercially available automatic dispensers, it is not possible to introduce banknotes at different times from those preset in order to partially or totally replace the amount of banknotes.
More in particular, in many types of banknotes dispensers, there is provided a drawer, placed inside the boxlike body and therefore protected, wherein banknotes can be introduced at any time, but said banknotes remain in the drawer and do not have any function of reloading of the dispensers whose supply is related to the amount of money loaded at preset times.
This fact represents a considerable problem in that, for the correct functioning of an automatic dispenser of banknotes, it is necessary to preliminarly define how much money will be distributed between two subsequent loadings of money in a way to be able to satisfy all customers' requirements. Obviously, it is not easy to foresee with good approximation the payments to be performed in one day and, on the other side, it is counterproductive to excessively load the dispenser because the money locked up in the dispenser represents in any case a cost.
Anyway, though foreseeing in an extremely precise way the amount of money to be loaded in the dispenser to face all required deliveries, the costs deriving from the use of money from an automatic dispenser are certainly higher than the costs required by the manual management of a bank counter that performs payments and receives deposits. In fact the cashier that manages a cash desk in a manual way begins the day with an amount of money considerably lower than that required by an automatic dispenser since, during the day, he can obtain new money from the customers' deposits and then perform subsequent payments with said money.
Due to these problems, automatic dispensers installed near bank desks have had up to now scarce diffusion.
The main task of the present invention is that of solving the above described problems by providing a dispensing machine for banknotes that can be managed similarly to the manual management of a bank desk and therefore can function satisfactorily also requiring and therefore locking up a limited amount of money.
Within said task an object of the invention is that of providing a dispensing machine that can be loaded without being opened and therefore offers the best guarantees of security against thefts.
Another object of the invention is that of providing a machine that presents a high level of automation in loading and dispensing operations.
A further object of the invention is that of providing a machine that presents a high operational reliability.
Said task, as well as these and other objects that will become more evident later on, are achieved by means of an automatic dispensing machine for banknotes or material in sheets in general, comprising a boxlike body accomodating a plurality of dispensing devices each served by a storage container, wherein one or more openings are defined in said boxlike body for the introduction of wads of banknotes, or sheets in general, characterized in that it comprises means for conveying wads, introduced through one of the openings into one of said storage containers, with the sheets of each wad arranged in a way compatible with the feeding of the relevant dispensing device served by said storage container.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more evident from the description of a preferred but non exclusive embodiment of the machine according to the invention, given by way of illustration and with no limiting purposes in the accompanying drawings, where:
With reference to said figures, the machine according to the invention, globally indicated by reference 1, comprises a boxlike body 2, defined by walls having appropriate thickness and resistance to offer the best guarantees of security against burglary, inside which there is provided a plurality of dispensing devices 3 of known type. More particularly, inside the boxlike body 2, a space is defined, globally indicated by reference 5, that is subdivided into a plurality of compartments 6, arranged alongside to each other, that constitute the storage containers of the dispensing devices 3, and the bottom of each compartment 6 substantially coincides with the plan 7 of feeding of each dispensing device 3. Each dispensing device 3 is provided with a plurality of small rollers 8 that are arranged along a path that develops starting from the bottom 7 along a delivery plan 9, as better explained later on.
According to the invention, in the boxlike body 2 one or more openings 10 are defined that allows the introduction, into the boxlike body 2, of wads of banknotes 11, or sheets in general, and there are provided means for conveying said wads, introduced through one of the openings 10, to one of the storage containers that feed the dispensing devices 3 with the banknotes of each wad 11 arranged in a way compatible with the relevant dispensing device 3 served by the relevant storage container.
More particularly, as already said, the storage containers are constituted by compartments 6 that are defined by at least two side walls 12 and 13 respectively, of which one first wall 12 is substantially vertical and can coincide with one of the side walls of the boxlike body 2, whereas the second wall 13 develops according to a plane sloping in respect to a theoretical vertical plane and is perpendicularly connected with the first wall 12. Each compartment 6 is upperly defined by a wall 14, that can coincide with the upper wall of the boxlike body 2, wherein the opening 10 for each compartment 6 is defined. Inside each compartment 6, there are arranged means for conveying wads according to the invention that lead to the bottom 7 of the relevant compartment the banknotes introduced into the compartment through the appropriate opening 10.
Advantageously the wads conveying means according to the invention comprise, in the embodiment shown in figures 1 to 5, a retaining member 15 for wads inserted through the opening 10 and, below this, a mobile member 16 that is placed between the retaining member 15 and the bottom 7 that feeds the dispensing device 3.
More particularly, the retaining member 15 consists of two blades 17a and 17b that are placed side by side on the same plane and are pivoted, in correspondence to one of their side ends, around two parallel axes 18a and 18b to the first wall 12 and to a small block 19 that is rigidly fixed to the boxlike body 2.
The two blades 17a, 17b lie on a plane that is sloping, in respect to a theoretical horizontal plane, towards the wall 12 and the wall 13 in a way that the banknotes inserted through the opening 10 settle on the two blades 17a and 17b resting with two contiguous sides against the first wall 12 and the second wall 13 respectively, thus remaining correctly aligned. The two axes 18a and 18b are placed in the vicinity of two contiguous walls 13 and substantially coincide with a side of the blades 17a and 17b in a way that the blades 17a and 17b themselves, while turning around said axes, pass from a substantially coplanar position to positions parallel to the lying of the walls 13 to allow banknotes to fall onto the underlying mobile member 16.
On the pivots defining axes 18a and 18b of blades 17a and 17b, two pulleys are keyed, 29a and 29b respectively, that are connected, through belts 30a and 30b, with a pulley 31 actuated by an electric motor 32 mounted on the small block 19. The actuation of the electric motor 32 causes the simultaneous partial rotation of the blades 17a and 17b around their relevant axes 18a and 18b to pass from the coplanar position, in which they support the banknotes introduced through the opening 10, to the position in which they are substantially parallel to the wall 13 in a way to allow banknotes to fall onto the underlying mobile member 16.
The mobile member 16 is also preferably constituted by two blades, 20a and 20b respectively, that are projectingly hinged, around relevant axes 21a and 21b parallel to a supporting small block 22 that is controllably mobile along a couple of guides 23a and 23b that are fixed, through a small block 24, to a supporting structure 25 solidly connected inside the boxlike body 2. The displacement of the small block 22 along the guides 23a and 23b, that are substantially parallel to the wall 13, is obtained by means of an electric motor 26 that is connected through its outlet shaft to a screw 27 that is engaged within a nut screw 28 that passes through the small block 22. The two blades 20a and 20b lie on the same plane that is sloping, in respect to a theoretical horizontal plane, towards the wall 12 and the wall 13 in a way to keep two contiguous sides of the banknotes resting against these walls.
On the pivots defining the axes 21a and 21b two pulleys, 33a and 33b respectively, are keyed in a similar way as described with reference to the retaining means 15, said pulleys being connected through belts to a pulley 34 that is actuated by an electric motor 35 supported by the small block 22. The actuation of the motor 35 causes the partial rotation of the blades 20a and 20b in a way to allow the banknotes to fall onto the underlying bottom 7 that feeds the relevant dispensing device.
To the small block 22, that is opposite and spaced from the wall 12, there is connected a sensor member 36, consisting for instance of a small rod that develops towards the wall 12 and towards the bottom 7 of the relevant compartment. Said sensor controls a microswitch or photoelectric cell, for simplicity not shown in figures, that causes the electric motor 26 to stop when, during the lowering of the small block 22 along the guides 23a and 23b, the sensor 36 comes in contact with a pile of banknotes arranged on the bottom 7 of the relevant compartment. The sensor 36 is connected with an electronic control unit that controls the operation of the machine and also provides to actuate the electric motors 32 and 35, as it will be better clarified later on.
The delivery plan 9 develops below the compartments 6 and the dispensing devices 3 starting from an end of the compartments row as far as the opposite end in the vicinity of which there is provided a tunnel deviator 37 that conveys banknotes, coming along the delivery plan 9, radially towards a wheel 38 of known type that is provided with a plurality of radial fences capable of receiving the banknotes and send them, thanks to its rotation, to a tray 39 positioned sideways to the wheel 38 on the opposite side in respect to the plurality of compartments 6. The tray 39 is supported, in a turnable way around a horizontal axis 40, by a small block 41 that is movable along a couple of guides 42a and 42b that are substantially parallel to the guides 23a and 23b of the movable members 16 positioned in the different compartments 6.
The displacement of the small block 41 along the guides 42a and 42b is obtained by means of an electric motor 43 that is fixed to the supporting structure 25 and is connected through its outlet shaft to a screw 44 that is engaged within a nut screw 45 defined inside the small block 41. Moreover, the tray 39 is controllably turnable around the axis 40, for instance by means of an electric motor 46 associated with the small block 41. The pivot that defines the axis 40 is inserted, with its opposite end in respect to the small block 41, into a saddle sliding within a slot 47 defined in the wall 12.
In the upper wall 14 of the boxlike body, upperly to the tray 39, there is defined an opening 48 through which banknotes 11, contained in the tray 39, are accessible from the outside of the boxlike body 2 when the tray 39 is brought to the position of maximum lifting by means of the electric motor 43. Moreover, sideways to the tray 39 there is a space 49 in which banknotes 11 can be thrown thanks to the rotation of the tray 39 around the axis 40 when the tray 39 is brought to an intermediate position of lifting, as better described later on.
In a symmetrical position to the wheel 38, in respect to the delivery plan 9, there is also provided a second wheel 50, designed and actuated in a similar way as described with reference to the wheel 38, that is capable of receiving the banknotes handled along the delivery plan 9 when the tunnel deviator 37 is rotated around a horizontal axis 51 in a way to deliver banknotes, instead of on the tray 39, into a receiving container 52 provided below the delivery plan 9 and in any case contained inside the boxlike body 2.
When required, it is conveniently possible to envisage also a banknote-counting machine 60 movable along a horizontal guide 61 positioned between the retaining members 15 and the underlying mobile members 16. In this case it will be necessary to foresee an interruption, in correspondence with the banknote-counting machine 60, in the walls 13 that define the different compartments 6 sideways, in a way to allow a controlled translation along the guide 61 of the banknote-counting machine 60.
When the presence of the banknote-counting machine is required, the retaining member 15 may be absent and, as shown in particular in figures 6 to 8, a mobile member 62 can be envisaged with a couple of blades 63a and 63b that define a side supporting plan and a bottom supporting plan respectively for the wad introduced through the opening 10. The blades 63a and 63b are hinged, around axes 64a and 64b parallel and spaced from each other, to a support 65 that is movable along the relevant compartment 6 in a similar way as already described with reference to the small block 22 of the mobile member 16 shown in figures 1 to 5.
The pivots that define the axes 64a and 64b are provided with arms 66a and 66b against which a cam control 67 acts and controllably causes the partial rotation of the blades 63a and 63b around the axes 64a and 64b in a way to cause banknotes to fall onto the underlying bottom 7 that feeds the relevant dispensing device. In this embodiment, banknotes introduced through the opening 10 rest with two of their contiguous sides against the blade 63a and the wall 68 respectively, that is parallel and near to the wall 12 and that is fixed by means of a bar 69 to another wall 70 parallel to the wall 68 and on its turn fastened to the support 65. In order to stabilize the translation of the support 65, that is obtained thanks to screw 71-nut screw 72 controlled by a motor 73, in the vicinity of the upper wall 14 a fixed block 74 is provided that is connected to the upper wall 14 and is turnably supporting the screw 71.
The operation of the automatic machine according to the invention is as follows.
At the beginning of the day, namely at preset times, the machine loading is performed and can take place in a traditional way by directly positioning the wads into the storage containers or compartments 6 on the feeding plan 7, or by introducing the wads of banknotes 11 through the openings 10. When the cashier must perform a payment, he starts the machine as a traditional automatic dispenser of banknotes and banknotes will be conveyed by small rollers 8, through the wheel 38, to the tray 39 that will take them in correspondence to the delivery opening 48. If a delivery failure occurs, the electronic device that controls the operation of the machine will stop the tray 39 in the intermediate position of lifting and, making the tray turn around the axis 40, will throw the banknotes into the space 49 to subsequently repeat the phases of counting and dispensing other banknotes.
When a deposit has to take place, the cashier, after performing the required manual control of banknotes, introduces the banknotes, subdivided into wads of same denomination, into the openings 10. The banknotes introduced go and rest on the retaining member 15, the blades of which 17a and 17b remain in shut position until the banknote-counting machine 60, if foreseen, positions itself below said preset retaining member 15. It has to be noted that the banknotes resting on the blades 17a and 17b, thanks to the peculiar sloping of said blades, lie with a side against the wall 13 and with the contiguous side against the wall 12. In this way, the banknotes of a wad remain correctly arranged.
When the banknote-counting machine 60 is positioned below a preset retaining member 15, the motor 32 is actuated and makes the blades 17a and 17b rotate bringing them parallely to the wall 13 and therefore causing the banknotes to fall into the underlying banknote-counting machine 60 that, while counting the banknotes, delivers them onto the underlying blades 20a and 20b of the movable member 16 that has been previously lifted towards the banknote-counting machine. The movable member 16 then lowers until the sensor 36 touches the bottom 7 or the banknotes previously put down on the bottom 7. If the quantity of banknotes already present on the bottom 7 is not too much, the motor 35 is actuated and causes the rotation of the blades 20a and 20b and therefore the fall of the banknotes towards the bottom 7. After the banknotes unloading, the movable member 16 is lifted again thanks to the motor 26 and, during its upward run, the sensor 36 has the function of pusher of the just discharged banknotes by pressing them gently towards the wall 12 and then correcting possible displacements from the optimal position that could occur during the fall.
At this point the movable member 16 is ready to receive another wad of banknotes from the retaining member 15 above.
Should an overloading of banknotes on the bottom 7 occur which would prevent the correct introduction of banknotes, the machine automatically discharges the excess of banknotes by oscillation of the tunnel deviator 37 around the axis 51 and actuating the dispensing device corresponding to the compartment 6 that results to be too full. In this way the excess of banknotes is discharged by means of the wheel 50 into the space 52.
In case the machine is provided, as shown in figures 6 to 8, simply with a movable member 62, its operation is similar as described, with the difference that banknotes instead of being retained on the blades 17a and 17b are directly put down on the blades 63a and 63b from which they are then released in a similar way as described with reference to blades 20a and 20b on the underlying bottom 7.
Figure 9 to 14 shows another embodiment of a machine 101 according to the invention.
With reference to figure 9, the frontal wall of the boxlike body 102 is provided with an opening 110 through which is movable a loading device 103 for the introduction of wads 111. In particular, the loading device 103 is controllably movable crosswise to the direction along which the compartments 106 are placed side by side.
The loading device 103 comprises a plurality seats 104 for receiving the wads 111 to be loaded in one of the compartments 106 by the relevant conveying means 107.
Each seat 104 is provided with movable bottom means 105 for supporting the wad 111 up to the releasing position and discharging the same on the relevant conveying means 107.
More particularly, figure 10 shows an enlarged view of the loading device 103 without the bottom means that are separately represented in figure 11 and 12.
Figure 11 shows a first embodiment of movable bottom means 105 comprising a comblike element 108 slideably movable in a direction parallel to the movement direction of the loading device 103. The displacement of the comblike element 108 is obtained by means of an electric motor 113 that is connected to a nut screw 114 in which is engaged a worm screw 112 fixed to the comblike element 108. The pins 109 support the wads to be loaded until the loading device 103 reaches the release positions, one after the other, over the relevant conveying means 107 and allow to free the bottom openings 115 of the seats 104 in the right order.
The pins 109 are preferably made with a special steel, as for example a tungsten steel, to avoid or limit the transfer of electrostatic charge to the banknotes of the wads.
Figure 12 show another embodiment of the movable bottom means 105 comprising a belt 116 rotably mounted on a pair of rolls 117. A slit 118 on the belt 116 allows to free, one after the other, the bottom openings 115 of the loading device 103 to release the wads through a void portion 119 of the belt 116. The displacement of the belt 116 is obtained by an electric motor 120 connected to one of the rolls 117 by means of a reduction gear mechanism 121.
With reference again to figure 9, the loading device 103 is integral with a support 122 comprising a nut screw engaged by a worm screw 125. The displacement of the support 122 along a pair of guides 124 is obtained by means of an electric motor 123.
In the frontal wall of the boxlike body 102 it is also provided a drawing opening 126 in correspondance of which a wheel 127 feeds a fixed tray 128 positioned at the end of the plurality of compartments 106.
Figure 13 shows the embodiment of one of the conveying means 107 which comprises a support 130 controllably movable along guides 131 fixed to a bracket 132. The latter comprises a sloped base portion 133 to assure the assembly of the conveying means 107 in the correct sloped position (see figure 9).
The support 130 is movable between the bottom of the compartment and an upper receiving position by means of an electric motor 134 operating a worm screw 135 engaged in a nut screw in the support 130.
A pair of comblike elements 136, 137 are pivoted to the support 130 around two axes parallel to each other, each to define respectively a bottom plan and a supporting side plan substantially perpendicular to said bottom plan.
The comblike elements 136, 137 are controllably turnable around their relevant axes to cause the wad to fall onto the underlying bottom of the relevant compartment 106.
An electric motor 140 allows to operate the comblike elements 136, 137 through mechanical driving means, as for example a pair of cams 141, 142 each acting on a comblike element.
In this case also, the pins 138 of the comblike elements 136, 137 are preferably made with a special steel, as for example a tungsten steel, to avoid or limit the transfer of electrostatic charge to the banknotes of the wads.
A sensor 139 is fixed to the support 130 for detecting the level of the banknotes placed on the underlying feeding plan of the relevant dispensing device 106. The sensor 139 is constituted by a small rod connected with the support 130 and acts on a microswitch (not shown) controlling the lowering of said movable member.
In figure 14 the machine 101 is represented in front view to show the assembly of the conveying means 107 and loading device 103 in respect of the other elements contained in the boxlike body 102.
It has to be noted that the machine according to the invention can also be served by control devices of electronic type, known per se, in order to keep the machine accounts by constantly recording the banknotes introduced and the banknotes delivered. Furthermore, the machine according to the invention can also be connected to a main frame that will be able to record accounts of several machines according to the invention installed even in different places.
In practice it has been noticed that the automatic dispensing machine for banknotes according to the invention fully meets the preset requirements since, being in position to use the banknotes that are introduced into it, it can work correctly though being loaded with a considerably reduced amount of money in respect to the quantity of money required by current automatic dispensers of banknotes.
A further advantage is that it has not to be opened to be loaded and therefore it presents a high degree of security.
Though the machine according to the invention has been designed in particular to dispense banknotes, it may also be used to dispense in an automatic manner other materials in sheets as well.
The machine so designed can undergo a number of modifications and changements, all coming within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims; furthermore, all details can possibly be replaced by other technically corresponding elements.
In practice, the materials used as well as dimensions can be changed according to the requirements and the state of the technique.