The present invention relates to a machine for dispensing banknotes loaded and contained therein, as well as a method for dispensing banknotes from this kind of machine.
A machine according to the present invention can be used for example for cash desks of supermarkets, shopping centres, gasoline stations etc., as well as for counter windows of banks and post offices, where cash money is handled both in entrance (deposits or payments) that in exit (payments, rests etc.).
Such a machine has the purpose to protect inside its armoured metallic box (strongbox) the money from possible robberies, because the operator is able to access the banknotes contained therein only in the measure and in the rigorously correlated times of a single transaction.
Known machines performing such functions use different types of mechanisms, such as accepting devices of banknotes already divided in different denominations. Those banknotes are deposited in homogeneous bundles per denomination in respective storage containers from which the banknotes one by one are dispensed later by means of separating mechanisms for the withdrawal process. Some others of these devices are also able to accept bundles of mixed denomination's notes and to effect counting, authenticity checking and sorting of the banknotes. These sorted notes are delivered, one by one, to several storage containers, one for each denomination. From these containers, the banknotes are dispensed later, for withdrawal process.
For example, WO 94/14140 discloses a dispensing system having a dispensing device for each storage container, wherein each storage container houses banknotes of the same denomination, as well as systems for collecting the amounts dispensed at the exit of the machine. Banknotes are stacked, for denomination, in each storage container and then singly drawn out with different types of dispensing devices from the different stores up to reach the desired amount and the desired composition in denominations. In this type of machine, it happens as a rule that the first deposited banknote in each storage container will be the first one to be dispensed (First In First Out - FIFO).
In other known cases, each store container consists of rolled films within which presorted banknotes are wound, by denomination - one to one and one following the other. In this case the usual dispensing devices would not be necessary and banknotes previously stored one to one will be made available in the inverse order to that of introduction (Last In First Out - LIFO) by developing the rolled films, see for example EP 0 795 842. This kind of machine uses a plurality of high capacity containers with suitable dimensions in order to be filled with several notes per denomination in the beginning of working time. This means that in the opening the teller needs a lot of time for preparing the machine for work. Moreover, in some of those known machines, see for example EP 892 372 and US 4,905,841, notes are subjected to wear and tear for the several number of process. On the other hand, in the case in of rolls technology the major problem is related to the necessity to store a high quantity of banknotes in the rolls, which means that a complicated mechanism is required in order to guarantee a constant tape velocity and to keep the tape taut in spite of great changes in the rolls diameters. See EP-A1-795 842 and US-A-4871125.
Moreover, all these machines are expensive and require a lot of space.
The following example describes the anti robbery function according to the above mentioned known machines: when a customer requires to withdraw money from a deposit account at a bank desk, the cashier uses the dispensing machine (See EP-A1-795 842, EP-A1-892 732, US-A-4,828,243 and US-A-4,905,841) in order to dispense the required amount, provided that this amount does not exceed a preset maximum amount corresponding to the amount that should be held at the desk drawer in case of manual operation.
In case a further amount is immediately required by another customer, and this further amount added to the preceding one exceeds the maximum dispensable amount, the machine provides a preset delay time, in many cases proportional to the amount required, as a bar against robberies.
For these reasons, even if automatic dispensing machines have became more and more used in banks and the like over the last ten years, they are not yet commercially interesting due to the above identified drawbacks.
Other means of protection of the money are known, such as timed drawers or systems based on a rotating drum. However, these means, used mainly in bank offices, do not effect the counting of the banknotes at the loading nor at the dispensing stage. For example, a bank cashier is normally authorised to hold in the desk drawer a limited amount, e.g. 5,000 $, in different denominations. The remaining banknotes available to the cashier must be contained in an auxiliary safe box having a timed opening for avoiding robberies of larger amounts. The cashier performs deposit and delivery transactions using money in the desk drawer and banknotes obtained from deposits. Banknotes exceeding the 5,000 $, amount are deposited in the auxiliary safe box in a free-fall way and are no more readily available for further transactions.
If cashier needs more money, e.g. in case of more payments then deposits, he must require the opening of the timed safe box and therefore he must await the opening of the auxiliary safe box for a preset delay time. At the end of this delay time, the cashier can open the safe box and withdraw only the required amount. However, this delay time is very large because, once the auxiliary safe box is open, a very large amount of money could be available also in case of robbery.
Some of these known anti robbery means are designed to avoid a long wait to dispense a money supply, as for example in EP-A1-0549546 and US-A-5,722,332. In this case, the content of the auxiliary safe box is divided and housed in different radial sectors of a drum, so that a cashier can withdraw the content of a single sector only, i.e. only a small amount. As a result, the delay time can be reduced since the remaining money in the auxiliary safe box is not available for the withdrawal. However, the amounts contained in such sectors are approximated to the amount needed. Machines like the ones described in US-A-5722332 and EP-A1-549 546 need to be filled up in the morning with small bundles of notes. Each bundle can consist of a single denomination or several different. Each bundle forms a predeterminate amount and is to be inserted manually into each slot of the drum. The cashier is also obliged to digit at least the amount inserted in each slot. This means a significant waste of time.
This being stated, an object of the present invention is to provide a machine and a method for dispensing banknotes that can reduce the waiting time for dispensing banknotes and for filling up the machine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a banknote-dispensing machine with limited dimensions, simple construction, and which is safe and reliable during operation.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a banknote-dispensing machine for which production costs are reduced with respect to known machines.
These objects are achieved by the present invention, which relates to a machine for dispensing banknotes of one or more denomination contained therein, of the type comprising means for loading the banknotes in a first storage member, means for identifying at least the denomination of the banknotes, means for dispensing the banknotes at a withdrawing port of the machine, and means for transferring the banknotes at least from the first storage member to the dispensing means, characterised in that the dispensing means comprise a plurality of movable housings each of which is designed to hold one or more banknotes of at least one preset denomination. Said transferring means provide a first path for moving banknotes between said first storage member and said withdrawing port, a second path for moving banknotes between said plurality of movable housings and said withdrawing port and a third path for moving banknotes from said first storage member to said plurality of movable housings in order to fill or refill them, whereby a required amount can be selectively withdrawn either from the first storage member only, from both the first storage member and the movable housings or from the movable housings only to be transferred in the withdrawing port.
This solution allows to use the machine for withdrawing the required amount in at least three different ways, the first one involving the required amount to be drawn out from the first storage member only, the second one involving at least part of the required amount to be drawn out from the first storage member and the remaining from the movable housings, and the third one involving the whole required amount to be drawn out from the movable housings only.
According to a possible embodiment of the present invention, the movable housings consist of slots formed by adjacent walls mounted on a rotating support element and each of the walls is pivoted on the support element. This solution is useful for holding a large number of preset amounts in a small space.
The first storage member can be made as a container or a space having a shape and dimensions suitable for storing a stack of banknotes with a dispensing device at the bottom of the container. The banknotes are stacked in mixed way, i.e. without any order with respect to their denomination, within the first storage member.
A second storage member is provided for receiving banknotes that are not suitable to be held in the movable housings. According to a possible embodiment of the present invention, a drawer for loading banknotes in the first storage member can be advantageously used as second storage member.
In other embodiments of the present invention the movable housings, as well as the second storage member can consist of rolled films.
According to another possible embodiment of the present invention, the means for loading banknotes comprise an accepting device for checking and identifying banknotes before loading them into the first storage member.
An auxiliary box is provided for receiving banknotes that are not suitable to be dispensed, e.g. banknotes of large denominations or banknotes having some defects. In this case, transfer means are provided for moving banknotes along a fourth path from the accepting device to the auxiliary box.
The present invention also relates to a method according to claim 19.
Banknotes can be stored in a mixed way in the first storage member, without any order with respect to their denomination.
According to a possible aspect of the method, the required amount can be obtained by drawing out banknotes from the first storage member and identifying them until a rounded down amount with respect to the required amount is reached, the remaining banknotes for reaching the required amount being drawn out from one or more of the movable housings.
According to another aspect of the method, the whole required amount can be obtained by drawing out a preset number of banknotes from one or more of the movable housings.
It is an advantage of the method according to the present invention that the number of banknotes drawn out from each of the movable housings is restored between one dispensing operation and the next one. The waiting time for the required amount is therefore reduced or, in many cases, eliminated.
According to a further aspect of the method, banknotes for restoring the preset number of banknotes in each of the movable housings are drawn out one by one from the first storage member and identified in their denomination, the banknotes identified as suitable for restoring the preset number in at least one of the emptied movable housings being placed in the respective movable housing, while banknotes drawn out from the first storage member but not suitable for restoring the preset number of banknotes in the movable housings are placed in a second storage member.
Banknotes in the second storage member can be subsequently transferred to the first storage member upon request of the operator or, alternatively, periodically in automatic manner.
The second storage member could also be used for collecting rejected banknotes, i.e. banknotes which are not recognised to be suitable to be dispensed in any case, as for example false, unrecognised or worn banknotes. In this case, the second storage member should not be used to restore the content of the first storage member, but its content should be unloaded periodically or at end of a working day for checking rejected banknotes.
In the following, a possible function of the invention is described:
This invention saves dispensing time compared to known machines and dispenses exactly the required amount. It also saves time in filling up compared to the other dispensing machines. Into the slots it is possible to store one or more notes per slot. In the embodiments comprising rolls, a maximum of 100 notes can be stored compared to a minimum of 500 in the standard known rolls.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, made with reference to the attached schematic drawings in which:
Even if not shown in the drawings for sake of simplicity, it should be understood that a machine according to all the embodiments of the present invention comprises an armoured metallic strongbox, which encloses all the mechanisms disclosed hereinafter.
With reference to Figures 1-3, a machine 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention comprises a frame assembly 2 which supports all the mechanisms and define a first storage member 10 as a space designed to receive and store banknotes of different denominations in mixed way, i.e. without any particular order with respect to their denomination. Alternatively, the first storage member 10 can be made as a container separated from the frame assembly 2.
In this embodiment, banknotes are loaded by means of a loading member or drawer 5 provided with a mobile bottom wall. The loading member can be extracted (position 5') following a command of deposit made by an operator.
As known in the art, machine 1 can be operated in stand alone through keyboard and display means, with electronics (microprocessor etc.) that manages the machine. Interface means can also be provided for commanding the machine by means of computerised systems (personal computers or computer networks) without making use of the local keyboard.
In case of a deposit operation, a special key is pressed by cashier and the drawer is extracted from position 5 to 5'. He or she inserts a wad of banknotes, even if they have different denomination, and the drawer can be closed in manual or automatic way (from 5' to 5).
Once the loading member has been closed, i.e. moved in correspondence of the internal position 5, the mobile bottom wall of the loading member 5 can be opened, thus leaving that the introduced wad falls on a pair of supporting "forks" 15 (see Figs. 5 and 10) connected to a descending device 20 with a worm screw 21.
At this stage, the forks 15 are moved downwardly by the descending device 20 up to reach the base of the storage member 10 or the top of a possible stack of banknotes in the storage member 10 (for example: position 15' of the forks). The descending device 20 is then stopped under the control of a suitable sensor and the forks 15 are moved away to each other for a distance sufficient to cause the wad to be released on the top of a pre-existing stack or on the bottom of the storage member 10.
As loaded with the first deposit, the machine automatically begins to leaf through and singularise the banknotes by means of a dispensing device 30 in order to convey them along a starting path 50 in which the denomination of each banknote can be firstly detected by means of electronic controls positioned along this portion of path.
At the top of the machine 1, there is positioned an assembly 40 of movable housings or slots 41 formed by adj acent dividing plates or walls 42 and arranged in a book-shape configuration in order to keep divided the banknotes (see also Figs. 6-9).
The basic principle for loading the slots 41 can be the following:
For another denomination (e.g. denomination B), it is applied the same principle, that is:
Some of the slots 41 can also remain empty for performing additional functions, e.g. for using the same as a rejecting store or as a temporary store during unloading of banknotes from the machine at the end of a working day.
It should be appreciated that by means of this technique it is possible to form any possible amount with the guarantee to use in any case the whole content of at least one slot 41.
The loading of all the banknotes in slots 41 is performed at the beginning of each working day, presumably in dead times.
Banknotes are firstly pre-loaded in the first storing member 10 by means of the loading element or drawer 5, wherein wads of banknotes can be accommodated. After the drawer 5 has been moved within the machine 1, the bottom wall of the drawer 5 is opened and banknotes are thus delivered on the forks 15 that bring the same down to the bottom of the first storage member. Subsequent wads or banknotes loaded in the drawer 5 are deposited on the top of the underlying stack.
The banknotes are therefore drawn out from first storage member 10 by means of the dispensing device 30, which singularises them and brings each banknote along the starting path 50. During passage along the path 50, the denomination of each banknote can be detected and counting is kept in order to know the number of banknotes passed along the path 50 for each denomination. If the denomination matches the same one of a slot 41 in which the preset composition is not yet completed, the banknote is subsequently directed along a path comprising portions 51 and 52 up to reaching guide means 61 oriented towards the slot assembly 40. Figures 1 and 2 show the slot assembly 40 in the two opposite ending positions of its movement, where some slots 41 are collapsed due to the contact of a last wall 42 against stop members 45, while Figure 3 shows the slot assembly 40 in an intermediate position.
Banknotes which are not suitable for loading the slots 41 are diverted along path 54 and returned in a second storage member - in this case the drawer 5 - which is used at the same time as "reject cassette" for banknotes not identified during the passage along path 50. Examples of "rejected" banknotes are double or unknown banknotes and so on.
Supposing at this stage that all the designated slots 41 have been filled up as required, the machine can be set to operate in a first mode as follows.
During a transaction that needs some change, the machine will start immediately to dispense the banknotes available at the bottom of the stack in the first storage member 10 by means of the dispensing device 30. In this case, transfer means known per se in the art, such as belts 70, rollers 71 and guide elements 72, move banknotes along path portions 50, 51 and 53 up to a withdrawing port (not shown) oriented according arrow 56.
As soon as the machine reach an amount near to the one is needed, but less than what is needed, the machine stops to draw out banknotes from the first storage member 10 and the remaining banknotes will be drawn out from one or more of the slots 41 in order to reach the required total amount of the change. Banknotes drawn out by on or more slots 41 are moved along path 55 up to the withdrawing port indicated by arrow 56.
At this time, before the next transaction will happen, the machine starts again in dispensing banknotes from the first storage member 10 but only for searching the right notes to refill up the slots emptied during the previous dispensing operation. This deferred operation does not affect the time necessary to serve each customer.
The restoring operation of emptied slots 41 proceeds as already explained above. Also in this case, banknotes that are not suitable for loading the slots 41 are diverted along path 54 and returned in the drawer 5.
The operator has the possibility of opening the drawer 5 to get the notes contained and check them. In case he/she does not do that, after a certain preset time and/or in the moment of a next deposit request is made, in order not to risk the amount contained plus the amount to be deposited, for security reasons the machine will provide to re-deposit the contents of drawer 5 in the first storage member 10 before to be opened for the new deposit transaction.
A second operation mode of a dispensing machine according to the invention could be as follows.
With the pre-loading of the slots 41, banknotes are promptly available for the cashier. For example, as soon as a customer asks an amount or, in case of supermarket, he attends a rest, the banknotes are made immediately available in the slots 41. After that, between a customer and the following one, the machine restores all banknotes withdrawn by each slot 41. Also according to the second operation mode, this deferred stage does not affect the time necessary to serve each customer. This is a very important feature because the flexibility of the system according to the invention allows the cashier to immediately dispense a required amount through slots 41 and refill them in the "died times " between a customer and the following one.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, the machine can be designed to operate at a slow speed, with particular reference to the dispensing speed from the first storage member 10, without affecting the time required to serve a customer. This allow to obtain a less stressed and a more reliable operation of the machine.
An alternative embodiment of a machine 100 according to the present invention is shown in Figure 4, where some parts common to the previous embodiment (e.g. slot assembly 40, dispensing device 30, descending device 20, first storage member 10, etc.) have been omitted, as well as in the view of Figure 5. The same reference numbers identifies some common parts with respect to the previous embodiment.
With reference to Figure 4, the machine 100 is provided with a checking device 160, which is able to accept banknotes one by one and to count and verify (denomination and false or genuine) the banknotes that are introduced (complete accounting).
From the checking device 160 the banknotes are deposited in an underlying loading device 105 that is used to deposit the banknotes in the first storage member through the already disclosed descending device. Banknotes introduced through the checking device 160 and suitable to be dispensed are moved along a path 150 and 151 and deposited in a plane 106 of the loading device 105 from that they will be pushed on the underlying forks to be subsequently deposited over the stack of banknotes into the first storage member.
As shown in Figure 5, a pushing device 110 can be used to transfer a wad of banknotes W along the plane 106 up to the correct position over the forks 15 of the descending device 20.
The mechanisms shown in Figure 4, comprising the checking device 160, correspond substantially to the right portion of mechanisms of Figure 5, while the mechanisms of the left portion of Figure 5 are substantially the same of those already disclosed with reference to the embodiment of Figures 1-3. The machine 100 according to this second embodiment is thus composed of two different modules even though each one of those is useful per se without needing the other one. However, the two combined modules represent a very performing machine in a small embodiment and at a low cost.
It should be noted that machine 100 could also have additional features depending on installation of the same in a bank or in a supermarket. When a banknote of the maximum denomination (e.g. 500 Euro) is introduced into the machine through the checking device 160, it is clear that this denomination should be made available for subsequent dispensing of large amounts in a bank, while in a supermarket a similar denomination is unlikely to be reused for providing rests.
In the case of machine 100 installed in a supermarket, a banknote of maximum denomination introduced through checking device 160 should not be deposited in the first storage member 10 but in an auxiliary box 120 provided for collecting the exceeding deposits. In this case, a banknote introduced through the checking device 160 should be directed along path portions 150 and 152 into the auxiliary box 120 by transfer means substantially similar to those explained above.
When necessary, the auxiliary box 120 could be extracted from the strongbox of the machine, following suitable safety procedures, by qualified personnel only without stopping the machine and without opening the first storage member 10 containing the other banknotes.
A similar feature could also be useful however in a bank or in any other case in which a possible excess of banknotes of any denomination needs to be collected and removed by the stack of banknotes contained in the first storage member 10.
Again with reference to Figure 4, it should be noted that a checking device 160' could also be located between the slot area 140 and the loading device 105 as shown in dotted lines. In this case, banknotes introduced into the checking device 160' are immediately deposited onto the plane 106 of the loading device 105 before being loaded into the first storage member.
Figures 6A, 6B and 7 show some details of the slot assembly 40 according to the above-mentioned embodiments.
Figure 6A shows a dividing plate or wall 42 mounted on a support element 43 which can be rotated about an axis 44. The wall 42 is pivotally mounted about an axis 46 and kept in a radially extending position by means of two counteracting springs 47 which exert their forces F1 and F2 in opposite directions of the wall faces, as shown schematically in Figure 6B.
As will be better explained below, each wall 42 is provided with a window 48 that allows withdrawing means to be introduced in a slot for performing removal of the banknotes from that slot.
Some walls 42 and slots 41 of the slot assembly 40 are shown in Figure 7, where there are also evident two opposite stop members 49 for avoiding an exceeding rotation of the opposite end walls 42 during rotation of the whole assembly 40.
An example of means suitable for drawing out banknotes from slots 42 is shown in Figures 8 and 9. Unit 80 of Figure 8, which can also be seen in the view of Figure 5, comprises a driving group 81 acting on a screw 82 provided with a pair arms 83 (only one of which can be seen in Figure 8) which radially project from screw 82. A gripping member 84, e.g. a friction or vacuum member, is placed at the free end of each arm 83.
During the rotation movement of the slot assembly 40, the unit 80 is kept in a position such that arms 83 do not interfere with walls 42. This position of the unit 80 is shown in dotted lines in Figure 8.
With reference also to Figure 9, when one or more banknotes B must be removed from a certain slot 41', the rotation of slot assembly 40 is stopped in the correct required position, i.e. in a position in which the open end of the slot 41' is aligned with the guiding elements 62 annexed to transfer means 70, 71 providing the path 55.
Unit 80 is rotated up to a position in which gripping members 84 become aligned with the windows 48 of the pair of adjacent walls 42' defining the slot 41'. When alignment is reached, gripping members 84 are moved toward to each other (arrows C in figure 9) and then moved in the direction of arrow D in order to bring banknote(s) B up to transfer means 62, 70 and 71. The translation of gripping members 84 along windows 48 is performed by the driving group 81 acting on the screw 80.
In Figures 10 and 11 there is shown an example of a descending device 20 of the type used in the above disclosed embodiments of the present invention. Device 20 comprises an electric driving group acting on a screw 21 for moving a pair of forks (only one of which can be seen in Figures 10 and 11) along guides 22 from an upper (or waiting) position identified by reference number 15, and a lower (or delivering) position identified by reference number 15'.
Banknotes deposited on the forks in position 15 are thus lowered until the top of the stack (or the bottom of the first storage member) has been reached. In correspondence of the lowest position 15', forks are moved away from each other in order to allow banknotes to fall into the underlying first storage member 10.
This is caused by a mechanism comprising a pair of slotted plates 23, integral with respective forks, and a pinion 24 engaged in both the slots of the plates 23. When position 15' is reached, pinion 24 is further lowered by a second screw, driven by an its own motor (not shown for simplicity), and plates integral with forks are then pushed away until a limit switch or a sensing device detects a condition in which the distance of the forks is sufficient to cause banknotes to fall down.
Figures 12 and 13 show another possible embodiment of a machine 200 according to the present invention. Also in this case, some parts already disclosed in the previous embodiments are identified by the same reference numbers.
According to this embodiment, dispensing machine 200 comprises a plurality of movable housings each made as one or more rolled films. This kind of storage system is already known in the art and can advantageously be used in a machine of the present invention. Each rolled film unit can be used in this case for receiving a preset number of banknotes of a certain denomination provided that at least a rolled film unit could be used as second storage member.
In Figure 12 there are shown rolled film units 240-244 each formed by a pair of rolls around which films are wound and unwound for enclosing banknotes between the surfaces of the wound film(s). It should be understood that this embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the number of rolled film units shown therein.
For example, unit 241 is shown with film(s) 210 partially wound on both rolls 211 and 212. Each roll is driven preferably by an independent electric motor in order to ensure that, when one of the motors is rolling, the other is braking at a reduced power. This is useful, for example, for duly tensioning the film or films during operation.
For the roll film unit 244 there are shown two positions 221a and 221b that roll 221 can assume with respect to roll 222 during loading or dispensing operations. For example, roll 221 is kept in position 221a during loading of banknotes into the roll unit 244, while it is moved to position 221b during a dispensing step. All the roll units 240, 241 and 242 of Figure 13 are all shown in dispensing position.
Roll film unit 240 is preferably designated to be used as second storage member or as "reject store" in order to allow the operation of machine 200 according to the modes already described above. In this case, the roll film unit 240 could also have a capacity larger than that of the other roll film units.
In particular, the preloading of machine 200 can be performed, as already disclosed, by means of drawer 5, descending device 20 and first storage member 10.
All the roll units are therefore filled up by drawing out banknotes from the first storage member 10 by a dispensing device 30, then detecting the denomination of each drawn banknote and counting the same in 201 and/or 202. Counting should preferably be kept for each denomination in order to know the number of banknotes loaded in each roll unit.
If the denomination matches the same one required for completing the composition of a certain roll unit, the banknote is moved up to the corresponding unit in order to be loaded in the same.
With reference to Figure 13, banknotes rejected or which are not suitable for loading the roll units are diverted toward roll unit 240 and subsequently returned in the drawer 5 as already explained fore the previously disclosed embodiments.
Also the dispensing operation of the machine is substantially the same of the previous embodiments. However, it is important in this case to count the number of banknotes drawn out from each roll unit in order to allow the correct restoration of the same.
With respect to the first two embodiments, it should be noted from Figures 12 and 13 that the withdrawing port can be oriented according to the arrow 56 at the front of the machine. In this case, it should also be noted that this latter embodiment can be used as an independent module, or used in combination with a module having a checking device 160, as already disclosed with reference to the embodiment of Figures 4 and 5, thus providing a dispensing machine with extended features in a very limited space.