The present disclosure relates generally to banknote or currency bill processing, and more particularly to apparatuses and systems for accepting, storing, and dispensing banknotes and related methods.
Previous currency processing devices have various shortcomings.
According to some embodiments, a generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprises a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end. According to some embodiments, the recycling bay arrangement comprises an elevator having at least one retractable banknote support. The elevator is configured to move upward and downward within and/or adjacent the recycler bay and the retractable banknote support is configured to move into and out of the recycling bay. The banknote recycling bay arrangement may further comprise a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay. The banknote recycling bay arrangement may further comprise a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the lower end of the recycling bay.
According to some embodiments, during operation in which banknotes are to be sequentially fed into the recycling bay, the at least one retractable banknote support is extended into the recycling bay so as to provide a structure on which banknotes may be stacked within the recycling bay and wherein the elevator is raised to a level so as to facilitate the stacking of banknotes being fed into the recycling bay, one on top of the other on the at least one retractable banknote support and wherein the elevator is lowered as banknotes are fed into the recycling bay so that the top of the stack of banknotes residing within the recycling bay and onto which incoming banknotes are stacked remains at about the same level.
According to some embodiments, prior to a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator is lowered to the bottom of the recycling bay if no banknotes reside at the bottom of the recycling bay and wherein the at least one retractable banknote support is moved out of the recycling bay so that the stack of banknotes that had been supported by the at least one retractable support come to rest upon a bottom surface of the recycling bay.
According to some embodiments, prior to a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator is lowered to a location adjacent the top of a stack of banknotes resting on the bottom of the recycling bay if there are banknotes already residing at the bottom of the recycling bay and wherein the at least one retractable banknote support is moved out of the recycling bay so that the stack of banknotes that had been supported by the at least one retractable support come to rest upon the top of the stack of banknotes already residing at the bottom of the recycling bay.
According to some embodiments, the banknote dispensing assembly comprises a pair of stripping wheels supported for rotational movement about a driven stripping wheel shaft, a pair of drive rolls, and a pair of nip rollers.
The above summary is not intended to represent every embodiment or every aspect of the present disclosure. Rather, the foregoing summary merely provides an exemplification of some of the novel aspects and features set forth herein. The above features and advantages, and other features and advantages of the present disclosure, which are considered to be inventive singly or in any combination, will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of representative embodiments and modes for carrying out the present inventions when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
FIG. 17G1 is an enlarged view similar to
The present disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, and some representative embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the inventive aspects are not limited to the particular forms illustrated in the drawings. Rather, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, combinations, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the inventions as defined by the appended claims.
According to some embodiments, the recycler 100 may further comprise a secure banknote storage bin 150. In some modes of operation, the secure banknote storage bin 150 may be used to store banknotes which are determined to be counterfeit or mutilated using the one or more detectors in the banknote detector section 130. According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler has a slot or opening in its housing permitting an operator such as a bank teller to insert banknotes (also referred to as bills or currency bills) into (but not withdraw bills from) the secure banknote storage bin 150. For example, if an operator notices that a banknote to be processed is mutilated and may cause a jam if processed by the banknote recycler, the operator may directly put such notes through the slot in the housing so that such notes may be securely stored in the secure storage bin 150. According to some embodiments, the operator may use an input/output interface 208 to enter information about the mutilated banknote(s) (such as the denomination and/or the serial number of each note) into the banknote recycler 100 so that a processor or controller 202 may update information about the related transaction to reflect all bills in a transaction, e.g., so a customer may be given credit for the deposit of all banknotes deposited in a transaction, even those that are too mutilated to be automatically processed by the banknote recycler 100.
The recycler 100 further comprises one or more banknote storage or recycle bins or bays 160a-160f. According to some embodiments, the first storage bay 160a is used as an escrow storage bay to temporarily hold banknotes being deposited into the banknote recycler 100 as will be described in more detail below. According to some embodiments, the remaining storage bays 160b-160f are each dedicated to specific denominations of banknotes, e.g., storage bay 160b may be assigned to store US $1 bills, storage bay 160c may be assigned to store US $5 bills, storage bay 160d may be assigned to store US $10 bills, storage bay 160e may be assigned to store US $20 bills, storage bay 160f may be assigned to store US $100 bills. Note, according to some embodiments, the recycler 100 may comprise fewer or more than six storage bays 160a-160f.
According to some embodiments, the storage bays 160a-160f reside within a housing of the recycler 100 having one or more security doors. The housing and security door(s) serve as a safe and may be made of high strength material such as metal and/or hard plastic. The storage bays 160a-160f are distinguishable from the output receptacles 140a, 140b in that the storage bays are secured within a housing of the recycler 100 and are not externally accessible to a typical user or operator such as a bank teller of the recycler 100 during normal operation of the recycler 100 such as during a deposit/escrow or dispense operation. Rather, to gain access to the storage bays 160a-160f and the banknotes stored therein, a security door of the recycler must be opened. According to many embodiments, the security door is locked and may only be opened by authorized personnel having a key or access code enabling the security door to be unlocked such as an authorized service technician.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
For example, in some embodiments, a stack of currency bills or banknotes is stacked in hopper 110. Banknotes in hopper 110 are fed, one after the other in a one at a time, seriatim manner, into a first transport path 120a of the transport mechanism 120 and then through the banknote detector section 130. The output of one or more sensors or detectors in the banknote detector section 130 are used to image, count, denominate, and/or authenticate the banknotes and/or to determine other characteristics of the banknotes passing through the banknote detector section 130. The banknotes are then fed out of the banknote detector section 130 along transport path 120b and then are directed to output receptacle transport path 120c via diverter 143 and then into one or more of the output receptacles 140a, 140b. Information about the banknotes received in hopper 110 and/or delivered to one or more of the output receptacles 140a, 140b such as, for example, the total value of the banknotes, the number or value of each denomination of banknote may be communicated to the operator or user of the banknote recycler 100 such as via a display, touchscreen, speaker, and/or other input/output device 208. According to some embodiments, output receptacle 140a is used as a reject output receptacle and banknotes rejected (e.g., those whose denomination could not be determined, i.e., no call bills or notes) are delivered to output receptacle 140a. Banknotes that are acceptable (e.g., those that have been successfully denominated and authenticated) are delivered to output receptacle 140b. According to some embodiments, banknotes that are determined to be counterfeit may not be returned to the user or operator via output receptacles 140a, 140b but instead may be delivered to a secure storage bin 150 accessible only to authorized personnel. Bills or banknotes to be delivered to secure storage bin 150 are not delivered to transport path 120c but instead are directed by diverter 143 along storage bay transport path 120d and are diverted from storage bay transport path 120d by diverter 151 into secure storage bin 150.
If the customer and/or bank teller does not wish to continue with the deposit, then the bank teller may cancel the deposit transaction (e.g., by pressing or selecting an CANCEL key, e.g., via a touching a CANCEL selection element on a touch screen) and banknotes in the escrow bay 160a are fed out of the escrow bay 160a using dispenser 170a onto return transport path 120e of the transport mechanism 120. According to some embodiments, the banknotes are then routed along transport path 120a through the banknote detector section 130 again and then to output receptacle 140b. The user or bank teller may then retrieve the banknotes. Although not shown, the transport mechanism 120 may be provided with a banknote detector section 130 by-pass transport path connecting transport paths 120a and 120b and/or transport paths 120e and 120b without going through the banknote detector section 130.
According to some embodiments, information about each banknote (such as the denomination of each banknote) has already been determined before the banknotes were stored in the escrow storage bin 160a and this information has been stored in a memory 204 of the banknote recycler 100. In some such embodiments, the denomination of each bill as determined as a result of the second pass through the banknote detector section 130 is compared to the denomination of each bill as determined as a result of an earlier pass through the banknote detector section 130 where the results of that earlier determination were stored in the memory 204 of the banknote recycler 100. When the determined denomination of a banknote as determined in a second pass does not agree with the denomination of the banknote as determined in a first or earlier pass, a processor 202 of the banknote recycler may generate an error signal. In contrast, in some such embodiments, the banknotes are not re-scanned when passing through the banknote detector section 130 a second time, but instead, the information about each banknote stored in memory 204 is used to determine to which storage bay 160b-160f each banknote is to be sent. Alternatively, in some such embodiments, the banknotes are re-scanned when passing through the banknote detector section 130 a second time, and the information about each banknote as determined during the second pass through the banknote detector section 130 is what is used to determine to which storage bay 160b-160f each banknote is to be sent without using any information regarding the banknotes previously collected.
Although not shown, the transport mechanism 120 may be provided with a banknote detector section 130 by-pass transport path connecting transport paths 120a and 120b and/or transport paths 120e and 120b without going through the banknote detector section 130 and banknotes may by-pass the banknote detector section 130 on their way to storage bay transport path 120d and the information about each banknote previously stored in memory 204 is used to determine to which storage bay 160b-160f each banknote is to be sent.
Once the banknotes have been delivered to the storage bay transport path 120d, diverters 161b-161e, under the control of a controller 202, direct the banknotes into an appropriate one of the storage bays 160b-160f based on, for example, the denomination of each banknote. For example, US $1 bills may be delivered into storage bay 160b, US $5 bills may be delivered into storage bay 160c, US $10 bills may be delivered into storage bay 160d, US $20 bills may be delivered into storage bay 160e, and US $100 bills may be delivered into storage bay 160f.
In operation, if a user or operator such as bank teller wished to dispense a certain amount of money, e.g., $270, the user places the banknote recycler into the Dispense Mode (e.g., via selecting a Dispense Mode key or selection element via an input/output interface 208 of the banknote recycler 100). The input/output interface 208 may then prompt the user as to the amount to be dispensed (e.g., $270) and/or the specific breakdown by denomination desired to be dispensed [e.g., a) two $100 banknote, three $20 banknotes, and one $10 banknote or b) thirteen $20 banknotes and one $10 banknote]. A processor or controller 202 of the banknote recycler then causes the appropriate number of banknotes from the appropriate ones of the storage bays 160b-160f to be fed out of the storage bays 160b-160f onto return transport path 120e via dispensers 170b-170f.
For example, where storage bay 160b stores US $1 bills, storage bay 160c stores US $5 bills, storage bay 160d stores US $10 bills, storage bay 160e stores US $20 bills, and storage bay 160f stores US $100 bills, and a dispense request for $270 is made, two $100 banknotes from storage bay 160f may be fed onto return transport path 120e, three $20 banknotes from storage bay 160e may be fed onto return transport path 120e, and one $10 banknote from storage bay 160d may be fed onto return transport path 120e. A controller or processor 202 of the banknote recycler may control the feeding of bills from the storage bays 160b-160f onto the return transport path 120e such as by controlling dispensers 170b-170f and/or the operation of the transport path 120e so that banknotes are arranged on the transport path 120e in a non-overlapping manner. Thus, for example, if a banknote has been transported onto return transport path 120e from an upstream storage bay, e.g., bay 160d relative to bay 160e, and the banknote from the upstream bay is passing a downstream bay, the processor or controller 202 would monitor the movement and location of every banknote on the transport paths and delay, if necessary, the dispensing of a banknote from a downstream bay, e.g., bay 160e in the above example, until the banknote(s) from the upstream bay or bays has past the point along the transport path 120e at which a banknote from the downstream bay would enter the transport path 120e. To aid in this control, the transport mechanisms may have a plurality of transport detectors adjacent of various locations along the various transport paths to monitor the movement and location of banknotes being transported along the transport paths by the transport mechanisms and the output of the transport detectors is coupled to one or more controllers or processors such as controller or processor 202. According to some embodiments, the banknotes are then routed along transport path 120a through the banknote detector section 130 and then to output receptacle 140b. The user or bank teller may then retrieve the banknotes. According to some embodiments, banknotes are denominated based on information detected from the banknotes via the detectors in banknote detector section 130. According to some embodiments, information about each banknote (such as the denomination of each banknote) has already been determined before the banknotes were stored in the escrow storage bin 160a and/or storage bays 160b-160f and/or the denomination of each banknote is presumed based on the storage bay 160b-160f from which it was dispensed and this information has been stored in the memory 204 of the banknote recycler 100. In some such embodiments, the denomination of each bill as determined as a result of the pass through the banknote detector section 130 in the Dispense Mode is compared to the denomination of each bill as determined as a result of an earlier pass through the banknote detector section 130 where the results of that earlier determination where stored in the memory 204 of the banknote recycler 100 (and/or based on a presumed denomination based on the storage bay 160b-160f from which a banknote was dispensed). When the determined denomination of a banknote as determined during the Dispense Mode does not agree with the denomination of the banknote as determined in a first or earlier pass (and/or based on a presumed denomination based on the storage bay 160b-160f from which a banknote was dispensed), a processor 202 of the banknote recycler may generate a Denomination Mismatch error signal. According to some embodiments, a banknote triggering a Denomination Mismatch error signal is routed to and stored in secure bin 150 and not dispensed via output receptacle 140a or 140b. According to some embodiments, when a Denomination Mismatch error signal is generated, a banknote triggering a Denomination Mismatch error signal is routed to and stored in secure bin 150 and a replacement banknote is dispensed from the appropriate storage bay 160b-160f onto return transport path 120e and to output receptacle 140a or 140b.
Although not shown, the transport mechanism 120 may be provided with a banknote detector section 130 by-pass transport path (such as via connecting transport paths 120a and 120b) without going through the banknote detector section 130. In such embodiments, the denomination of each banknote is presumed to be the denomination associated with the particular storage bay 160b-160f from which it was dispensed and/or based on the denomination previously determined by the banknote recycler and stored in memory 204.
In operation, a user or operator such as bank teller or a bank manager places the banknote recycler into the Internal Audit Mode (e.g., via selecting an Internal Audit Mode key or selection element via an input/output interface 208 of the banknote recycler 100). A processor or controller 202 of the banknote recycler then causes all the banknotes from the desired one or more or all of the storage bays 160b-160f to be fed out of the storage bays 160b-160f onto return transport path 120e via dispensers 170b-170f. According to some embodiments, the processor or controller 202 keeps track of how many banknotes are dispensed from each of the storage bays 160b-160f and/or their denominations and updates a total value counter and/or individual denomination counters. For example, where storage bay 160b has ten (10) US $1 bills stored therein, storage bay 160c has zero (0) US $5 bills stored therein, storage bay 160d has zero (0) US $10 bills stored therein, storage bay 160e has one hundred (100) US $20 bills stored therein, and storage bay 160f has five (5) US $100 bills stored therein, these banknotes are dispensed in an orderly, non-overlapping manner onto the return transport path 120e. During the dispensing process, the processor or controller 202 counts that ten (10) US $1 bills have been dispensed from storage bay 160b, zero (0) US $5 bills have been dispensed from storage bay 160c, zero (0) US $10 bills have been dispensed from storage bay 160d, one hundred (100) US $20 bills have been dispensed from storage bay 160e, and five (5) US $100 bills have been dispensed from storage bay 160f and/or that a total of $2510 and/or a total of 115 banknotes have been dispensed from storage bays 160b-160f.
The banknotes are then routed to transport path 120a and through or past the banknote detector section 130. The banknotes are denominated based on information detected from the banknotes via the detectors in banknote detector section 130. According to some embodiments, information about each banknote (such as the denomination of each banknote) has already been determined before the banknotes were stored in the escrow storage bin 160a and/or storage bay 160b-160f and/or the denomination of each banknote is presumed based on the storage bay 160b-160f from which it was dispensed and this information has been stored in the memory 204 of the banknote recycler 100. In some such embodiments, the denomination of each bill as determined as a result of the pass through the banknote detector section 130 in the Internal Audit Mode is compared to the denomination of each bill as determined as a result of an earlier pass through the banknote detector section 130 where the results of that earlier determination where stored in the memory 204 of the banknote recycler 100 (and/or based on a presumed denomination based on the storage bay 160b-160f from which a banknote was dispensed). When the determined denomination of a banknote as determined during the Internal Audit Mode does not agree with the denomination of the banknote as determined in a first or earlier pass (and/or based on a presumed denomination based on the storage bays 160b-160f from which a banknote was dispensed), a processor 202 of the banknote recycler may generate a Denomination Mismatch error signal. According to some embodiments, a banknote triggering a Denomination Mismatch error signal is routed to and stored in secure bin 150.
The denominated banknotes are then deposited back into the appropriate storage bays 160b-160f via transport path 120b, storage bay transport path 120d and diverters 161b-161e. During the depositing process, the processor or controller 202 counts how many banknotes are delivered into each storage bay 160b-160f. In the above example, when no error occurs, the processor 202 would count that ten (10) US $1 bills have been deposited into storage bay 160b, zero (0) US $5 bills have been deposited into storage bay 160c, zero (0) US $10 bills have been deposited into storage bay 160d, one hundred (100) US $20 bills have been deposited into storage bay 160e, and five (5) US $100 bills have been deposited into storage bay 160f and/or that a total of $2510 and/or a total of 115 banknotes have been deposited into storage bays 160b-160f.
When an error condition occurs during the Internal Audit Mode, the processor or controller 202 may generate the appropriate error signal(s) and message(s) and report the details of the error condition(s) to the user or operator of the banknote recycler 100 via the input/output interface 208. For example, in the above example when ten (10) US $1 bills were expected to reside in storage bay 160b but only nine (9) US $1 bills are dispensed from storage bay 160b, counted using the sensors of the banknote detector section 130 and re-deposited back into storage bay 160b during the operation of the banknote recycler in the Internal Audit Mode, an error condition and/or message may be generated by the processor or controller 202 to communicate to the operator that ten (10) US $1 bills were expected to reside in storage bay 160b but only nine (9) US $1 bills were dispensed from and re-deposited into storage bay 160b, and one (1) $1 bill is missing from storage bay 160b. According to some embodiments, the processor or controller 202 communicates the error condition via the interface 208 which may include a display and/or printer and/or a communication interface to communicate the information to a communication network such as the internet and/or an intranet or a local communication network.
In a similar fashion, when no error occurs in the Internal Audit Mode, the processor or controller 202 may generate the appropriate confirmation signal(s) and/or message(s) and/or report the details of the number, value, and/or breakdown of banknotes stored in the banknote recycler and/or a signal and/or message to the user or operator of the banknote recycler 100 via the input/output interface 208 that number, value, and/or breakdown of banknotes expected to be stored in the banknote recycler bays 160b-160f matches the number, value, and/or breakdown of banknotes determined to be in the banknote recycler bays 160b-160f during the Internal Audit Mode. According to some embodiments, the processor or controller 202 to communicates a confirmation (match or no error) condition via the interface 208 which may include a display and/or printer and/or a communication interface to communicate the information to a communication network such as the internet and/or an intranet or a local communication network.
According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler 100 may be programmed or configured to automatically place itself into and execute the Internal Audit Mode. For example, the banknote recycler processor 202 may be programmed to run at 2:00 a.m. each morning or after each time the safe/vault is accessed (i.e., after the security door(s) of the housing of the recycler 100 have been opened and closed/locked again). Such automatic auditing can be employed to catch a loss or shortage of banknotes.
According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler 100 is configured to sit on the floor or on a counter between two operators such as between two bank tellers and to be operable by either operator from two different sides of the banknote recycler 100. According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler is configured to perform only one transaction at a time, such as a deposit transaction or a dispense (or withdrawal) transaction such as at a bank. According to some embodiments, the banknote recycle is made compact. For example, according to some embodiments, the storage bay pitch 160p of the storage bays 160a-160f (that is the horizontal distance between the same component in adjacent storage bays 160a-160f) is less than 7 inches (18 cm). For example, referring to
According to some embodiments, banknotes are scanned by the banknote detector section 130 both when banknotes are being inserted or deposited into the banknote recycler 100 and when banknotes are being dispensed from the banknote recycler 100. According to some embodiments, banknotes are scanned by the banknote detector section 130 when banknotes are being inserted or deposited into the banknote recycler 100 but not when banknotes are being dispensed from the banknote recycler 100. According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler has two banknote detector sections 130. For example,
According to some embodiments, banknotes of a plurality of denominations may be stored in a single banknote storage bay 160b-160f. For example, both $50 banknotes and $100 banknotes may be stored in storage bay 160f according to some embodiments. According to some such embodiments, the memory 204 and/or the processor 202 keeps track of the denomination of every banknote in the storage bay 160f (e.g., that the bottom ten bills are $100 banknotes, the next five bills are $50 bills, the next bill is a $100 bill, and the top three bills are $50 bills). This information may then be used by the banknote recycler when it is desired to dispense a $50 or $100 bill with the banknote recycler instructing the dispenser 170f to dispense the appropriate number of bills to reach the desired denomination of banknote (e.g., if one $50 is requested to be dispensed, the banknote recycler 100, via processor 202, instructs the dispenser to dispense eleven (11) banknotes from storage bay 160f, route the first ten notes bank into the storage bay 160f and route the eleventh bill to output receptacle 140b). Alternatively, the banknote recycler (via the processor 202 and/or memory 204) may keep track that $50 and $100 notes are to be stored in storage bay 160f but not the order of the denominations stacked therein. In such embodiments, the processor 202 may instruct the dispenser 170f to begin dispensing bills and route the bills through the banknote detector section 130 whereby the denomination of each note is determined. When a banknote of a desired denomination is detected, it is routed to output receptacle 140b, otherwise banknotes having undesired denominations are routed back to the storage bay from which they were dispensed. According to some embodiments, banknotes may not be sorted by denominations but instead banknotes of mixed denominations are stored in one or more of the storage bays 160b-160f and the memory 204 and/or the processor 202 may keep track of the denomination of every banknote in the storage bays 160b-160f and the order they are stored in each storage bay 160b-160f. For example, deposited banknotes may be stored in storage bay 160b until that storage bay 160b reaches its capacity and then deposited banknotes are stored in the next storage bay 160c until that storage bay 160c reaches its capacity, etc.
According to some embodiments, the first storage bay 160a is used as an escrow storage bay as discussed above. According to some embodiments, in place of or in addition to the first storage bay, the banknote recycler 100 has a banknote cassette receiving port or interface or container dock 180.
According to some such embodiments, the banknote cassette receiving port 180 may be used to remove banknotes in bulk from the banknote recycler 100″, such as for example, when the banknote recycler 100″ has more than a desired number of banknotes stored therein, e.g., such as more than 1900 notes of a given denomination. An empty banknote cassette may be inserted into the banknote cassette receiving port, and an operator may place the banknote recycler into an appropriate mode, e.g., a Bulk Dispense Mode, and provide instructions to the banknote recycler via the input/output interface 208 as to what notes are to be routed into the cassette, e.g., 1000 $1 bills or all bills in storage bay 160c. The appropriate banknotes would then be dispensed from the appropriate storage bays 160a-160f and then into the cassette. The banknotes may be first routed through the banknote detector section 130 and the banknote recycler 100″ may determine their denominations and/or other characteristics of the banknotes prior to being routed into the cassette. Any dispensed banknotes not to be routed into the cassette may be routed back into an appropriate one of the storage bays 160a-160f.
Additional details regarding cassettes, banknote containers, secured containers, and smart containers and banknote cassette receiving ports or interfaces or container docks 180 are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,141,876 [attorney docket 247171-000586USPT], and U.S. Pat. No. 7,600,626 [attorney docket 247171-000345USPT], each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. According to some embodiments, filling and removing banknotes in bulk via secured cassettes and a banknote cassette receiving port 180 is not only faster but also more secure as it eliminates another point in the operation of the banknote recycler 100″ where a human is handling banknotes and/or banknotes in an unsecured location such as hopper 110 and/or output receptacles 140a, 140b. The increased security can be particularly advantageous when the banknote recycler is located in a location open to the public such as in a lobby of a bank. According to some embodiments, the banknote cassettes or containers are secured containers and/or smart containers as described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,141,876.
As mentioned above,
The banknote recycler storage bay 360 has an upper end 360UP and a lower end 360LO and a right side wall 360RT and a left side wall 360LT. The storage bay 360 also has a back wall 360BK and two front walls 360FT—one on the right side of the storage bay 360 and one of the left side of the storage bay 360. The right side wall 360RT, the left side wall 360LT, the back wall 360BK, and the two front walls 360FT help to contain stacked banknotes within the storage bay 360 and serve to define a banknote space 360SP of the storage bay 360.
According to some embodiments, the back wall 360BK is separated from the two front walls 360FT by a distance less than the narrow dimension of the banknotes to be stacked therein such that the banknotes stacked therein are angled downwardly toward the back wall 360BK of the storage bay. According to some embodiments, the banknotes are stacked in the storage bay 360 at an angle of between about 10°-20°. For U.S. banknotes, the narrow dimension of the banknotes of all denominations is 2.61 inches (66 mm).
According to some embodiments, the stacking of the banknotes in the storage bay 360 at an angle relieves some of the weight of the banknotes which would otherwise by borne by a feeding plate 372. In some such embodiments, the re-allocation of the bearing of the weight of some of the banknotes in the stack from the feeding plate 372 to one or more of the walls of the storage bay 360, e.g., backwall 360BK, increases the number of banknotes that may reside in the storage bay 360 and not have to be lifted up by the elevator 510 and banknote supports 540 prior to dispensing banknotes smoothly and at high speeds (e.g., at least 1000 banknotes per minutes). Such a process will be described in more detail below.
According to some embodiments, the banknotes are stacked horizontally within the storage bay 360 such as on banknote supports 540 and/or feeding plate 372 and not an angle from horizontal as discussed above.
According to some embodiments, the back wall 360BK has one or more low friction surfaces to enhance the ability of the edges of banknotes residing in the banknote storage bay 360 and abutting the backwall 360BK to easily slide up or down within the storage bay 360 as the result of the movement of the elevator 510 and/or the feeding out of banknotes from the bottom of the storage bay 360 as will be described in more detail below. According to some embodiments, low friction surfaces take the form of narrow low friction rails 360SM extending the height of the storage bay 360. According to some embodiments, two to four low friction rails 360SM are positioned on the back wall 360BK.
According to some embodiments, the storage bay 360 is vertical. According to some embodiments, the storage bay is off-set from being vertical by about 4°, e.g., the backwall 360BK and/or the front walls 360FT are tilted at or by at least an angle of about 4° from vertical. According to some embodiments, the storage bay is off-set from being vertical by about 2°-6°. According to some embodiments, the storage bay is off-set from being vertical by about 2°-8°. According to some embodiments, the storage bay is off-set from being vertical by least about 2°. According to some embodiments, the storage bay is off-set from being vertical by least about 6°. According to some embodiments, the storage bay is off-set from being vertical by least about 8°.
Positioned near the upper end 360UP of the storage bay 360 is an upper front banknote wall 330 having a banknote abutting surface 330A (see
According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked in the storage bay 360 with the aid of a pair of stacker wheels 362 mounted on a stacker wheel shaft 362SH which is rotationally driven by a motor 365. The motor 365 is controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202.
According to some embodiments, the angled banknote abutting surface 332A of the angled wall 332 serves to increase the angle at which bills are stacked in the storage bay 360 near the lower end 360LO of the storage bay 360 and urge the bills into greater contact with low friction rails 360SM on the back wall 360BK and into engagement with the input of a dispenser 370. According to some embodiments, the angled banknote abutting surface 332A has a relatively high coefficient of friction, e.g., higher than that of the low friction rails 360SM. Note, in
The elevator 510 has a pair of driven elevation gears 513 (see e.g.,
The elevator 510 has at least one retractable banknote support 540. In the illustrated embodiment in
In an exemplary embodiment, each banknote support 540 does not project into the banknote space 360SP of the storage bay when in its retracted position but instead is wrapped about a transverse axis and is stored in a compact generally coiled configuration like a window shade. Each banknote support 540 is driven between the extended position and the retracted position via a banknote support positional gear 542. The banknote support positional gears 542 and/or the support drums (not shown, but see support drum or roller 547 in
According to some embodiments, each of the banknote supports 540 is made of a relatively narrow strip of material that is designed to achieve an optimal balance between (a) the support strength of a platform defined by one or more banknote supports 540 when in the extended first position and (b) sufficient flexibility of the banknote supports 540 when in the retracted second position.
It has been found that a banknote support 540 made of metal having a thickness between 0.005″ and 0.02″ such as a thickness of approximately 0.01″ is sufficiently flexible to be wrapped about itself when driven between the extended first position and the retracted second position. According to some embodiments, the banknote support is made of spring steel, but other materials could be used such as, for example, plastic.
In addition, the cross-section of each banknote support 540 is selected to maximize its bending stiffness in the extended first position. In one embodiment, each banknote support 540 is curled about a longitudinal axis such that in the extended first position it has a concave upward cross-sectional shape and defines an elongated upward opening channel to increase bending stiffness of the banknote support 540 independently of the thickness of the material from which the banknote support 540 is constructed. In this way, the resultant weight bearing capability of the platform that is defined by one or more of the banknote supports 540 when in the extended first position is increased without decreasing the flexibility of the banknote supports 540 when in the second retracted position.
Turning to
Banknote support motor or solenoid 545 is operatively coupled to a first 542-1 one of the banknote support positional gears 542 to cause the first banknote support positional gear 542-1 to rotate about an axis 542A. The first banknote support positional gear 542-1 operatively engages a first transmission gear 543 fixedly coupled to a rotatable transmission shaft 541 to cause the first transmission gear 543 and the rotatable transmission shaft 541 to rotate. The rotatable transmission shaft 541 is rotatably mounted about elevation gear shaft 513SH and is configured to rotate independently from the rotation of the elevation gear shaft 513SH. Both the rotatable transmission shaft 541 and the elevation gear shaft 513SH are rotatable about axis 513A, albeit independently. Additional transmission gears 544 are fixedly mounted to the transmission shaft 541 proximate additional banknote support positional gears 542. The rotation of the transmission shaft 541 causes the additional transmission gears 544 to cause the additional or remaining banknote support positional gears 542 to rotate about axis 542A. As discussed above, the rotation of the banknote support positional gears 542 including the first banknote support positional gear 542-1 causes respective banknote supports 540 to move between a first, extended (wherein a respective banknote support extends into the storage bay 360 and provides a structure on which banknotes may be stacked) and a second position, retracted position (wherein the banknote support 540 does not project into the banknote space 360SP of the storage bay 360).
According to some embodiments, when the banknote supports 540 are in their retracted position, they are rolled about themselves and about the transverse axis 542A like a tape measure or window shade when in its retracted position and stored within banknote support housings 540H. Each banknote support drum (not shown, but see support drum or roller 547 in
To aid in maintaining the banknote supports in a curled manner about a longitudinal axis 540A when in the extended position, the transmission shaft 541 comprises curved portions 541C. The curved shaped of curved portion 541C is mirrored by a complimentary curved shape 590C of a bottom elevator housing 590. Each curved portion 541C and its complimentary curved shape 590C of a bottom elevator housing 590 is positioned adjacent a location at which a banknote support 540 emerges from a corresponding banknote housing 540H so that when the tip 540T of a banknote support 540 emerges from its banknote housing 540H it is pressed between the curved portion 541C and its complimentary curved shape 590C of a bottom elevator housing 590 which serve to bend the banknote support about the longitudinal axis 540A.
According to some embodiments, curved portions 541C and complimentary curved shape 590C of a bottom elevator housing 590 are omitted. Instead each bottom elevator housing or chassis 590 includes a concave shape which matches and is located below each banknote support 540 to ensure each banknote support 540 attains the correct shape and load-bearing capacity.
According to some embodiments, the banknote supports 540 may extend into the storage bays 360 in a horizontal manner. According to other embodiments, the banknote supports may extend into the storage bays 360 at an angle from the horizontal such as, for example, from 0°-5° or at an angle from the back wall 360BK such as, for example, from 0°-5°. According to some embodiments, the downward angle of the banknote supports 540 varies based on the vertical location of the elevator 510. According to some embodiments, the banknote supports 540 are perpendicular to the two front walls 360FT of the storage bay 360 which may serve as a stripping wall when the elevator 510 is positioned at the upper end 360UP of a storage bay 360 for loading of banknotes onto the banknote supports 540. When the elevator 510 and the banknote supports 540 are moved to the lower end 360LO of a storage bay 360, the banknote supports 540 are tilted down from 0-5 degrees such as by employing a cam follower. The tilting downward of the banknote supports 540 aids in stacking the banknotes in the area near the angled banknote abutting surface 332A of the lower front banknote angled wall 332 and also helps avoid the banknotes from bridging across the storage bay 360, i.e., between angled banknote abutting surface 332A and the low friction rails 360SM positioned on the back wall 360BK. See, e.g.,
According to some embodiments, the elevator 510 also comprises one or more banknote drop-off detectors 520. In operation, the banknote drop-off detector 520 senses when the elevator 510 and the banknote supports 540 are near or adjacent the top of a stack of banknotes (or the feeding plate 372) residing below the elevator 510 and/or the banknote supports in the storage bay 360. According to some embodiments, the drop-off detectors 520 employ a through light beam to detect the presence of banknotes, i.e., a light beam directed through a portion of the storage bay 360 and detected by a detector 520 wherein the presence of a banknote blocks the light beam from reaching the detector 520. According to some embodiments, one or more other types of detectors 520 may be employed instead of a through light beam detector.
In
Turning to
Turning back to
The stripping wheels 374 feed each stripped bill into engagement with a drive roll 375 mounted on a driven drive roll shaft 375SH supported across the side walls 360LT, 360RT. As described and illustrated in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,592 [Attorney Docket 247171-000131], incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, the drive roll 375 may include a central smooth friction surface 375SM formed of a material such as rubber or hard plastic. This smooth friction surface 375SM is sandwiched between a pair of grooved surfaces 375GR having high-friction portions formed from a high-friction material.
The high-friction surfaces engage each bill after it is fed into engagement with the drive roll 375 by the stripping wheels 374, to frictionally advance the bill into the narrow arcuate passageway formed by a curved guideway 378 adjacent the rear side of the drive roll 375. The rotational movement of the drive roll 375 and the stripping wheels 374 may be synchronized so that the high-friction surfaces on the drive roll 375 and the stripping wheels 374 maintain a constant relationship to each other. Moreover, according to some embodiments, the drive roll 375 is dimensioned so that the circumference of the outermost portions of the grooved surfaces is greater than the width W of a bill, such as the width of the widest bill to be stacked in a corresponding storage bay 360, so that the bills advanced by the drive roll 375 are spaced apart from each other. That is, each bill fed to the drive roll 375 is advanced by that roll only when the high-friction surfaces come into engagement with the bill, so that the circumference of the drive roll 375 determines the spacing between the leading edges of successive bills.
According to some embodiments, the drive roll 375 and the stripping wheels 374 are driven by motor 390 controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202. As shown in
According to some embodiments, to avoid the simultaneous removal of multiple bills from the stack in the storage bay 360, particularly when small stacks of bills are loaded into the storage bay 360, the stripping wheels 374 may be always stopped with the raised, high-friction portions 374SR positioned below the feeding plate 372 of the storage bay 360. This is accomplished by continuously monitoring the angular position of the high-friction portions of the stripping wheels 374 via an encoder such as encoder 206, and then controlling the stopping time of the drive motor so that the motor always stops the stripping wheels 374 in a position where the high-friction portions 374SR are located beneath the feeding plate 372 of the storage bay 360.
According to some embodiments, in order to ensure firm engagement between the drive roll 375 and the currency bill or banknote being fed, an idler roll 376 urges each incoming bill against the smooth central surface 375SM of the drive roll 375. The idler roll 376 is journalled on a pair of arms which are pivotally mounted on a support shaft 379SH. Also mounted on the shaft 379SH, on opposite sides of the idler roll 376, are a pair of grooved guide wheels or retard rollers 379. Grooves in these two wheels 379 are registered with the central ribs in the two grooved surfaces 375GR of the drive roll 375. The wheels 379 are locked to the shaft 379SH, which in turn is locked against movement in the direction of the bill movement (clockwise as view in
At the lower end of the curved guideway 378, the bill being transported by the drive roll 375 is directed into a nip formed between rolls 381 and 382 and then onto a lower portion 320e1 of the return transport path 120e of the transport mechanism 120 according to some embodiments. With reference to, for example,
Above the storage bay 360, two portions of the transport mechanism 120 are illustrated according to some embodiments. According to some embodiments, a portion of storage bay transport path 120d of
Similarly, the upper transport plate 608 of the storage bay transport path 320e2 has a plurality of transport roll apertures through which a plurality of passive transport rolls 618 project downward into the upper return transport path 320e2 so as to contact banknotes being transported along the upper return transport path 320e2. The lower transport plate 606 of the upper return transport path 320e2 has a corresponding plurality of transport roll apertures through which the plurality of driven transport rolls 614 project upward into the upper return transport path 320e2 so as to contact and drive banknotes along the upper return transport path 320e2. The transport roll apertures in transport plate 608 are positioned directly above the transport roll apertures in transport plate 606 so that a passive transport roll 618 protecting through each aperture comes in contact with a corresponding driven transport roll 614 when the transport plates 606 and 608 are in an operational position such as shown in
According to some embodiments, the driven transport rolls 614 are rotational driven about shafts 614SH by a motor 390 via belts 692 and 694 which rotate shafts 614SH and via belt 389 whose rotation is linked to the rotation of belt 694 via both belts 389 and 694 being coupled to a pulley 696PY mounted to a shaft 696SH (see
The motor 390 as discussed above is controlled a processor or controller such as controller 202.
As can be seen in
Also illustrated in
In operation, banknotes to be stored in one of the storage bays 160a-160f are routed along transport path 120d. If a banknote is to by-pass a storage bay 360, the diverter 361 (see
After a transaction has been completed, such as an Escrow Accept or Internal Audit transaction and there are no more banknotes to be transported into a storage bay 360 in a given transaction, the elevator 510 may be lowered until the bottom banknote being supported by banknote supports 540 is positioned adjacent either the feeding plate 372 if there are no banknotes positioned below the banknote supports 540 or the top banknote in a stack of banknotes being supported by the feeding plate 372. According to some embodiments, the banknote drop-off detector(s) 520 aid in determining the appropriate height at which to stop lowering the elevator 510. At that point, the banknote support positional gears 542 move the banknote supports 540 from their first, extended position to their second, retracted position, thereby causing the bottom banknote previously supported by banknote supports 540 to come to rest on either the feeding plate 372 or the top banknote in a stack of banknotes previously supported by the feeding plate 372. After the banknote supports 540 have been retracted to their retracted positions, a single stack of banknotes rests on the feeding plate 372. The elevator 510 is then free to be raised above the top of the combined stack of banknotes such as to a level near the top 360UP of the storage bay 360. Once the elevator 510 has reached a desired position above the top of the combined stack of banknotes, the banknote supports 540 may be extended again into the banknote storage space 360SP so as to be ready to accommodate additional banknotes to be delivered into the storage bay 360 and stacked on the banknote supports 540 such as during a subsequent transaction.
To dispense bills or banknotes from the storage bay 360, the dispenser 370 is activated as discussed above to cause banknotes to be fed from the bottom of the stack of banknotes resting on feeding plate 372, one a time, onto return transport path 320e1.
According to some embodiments, the storage bays 360 are dimensioned to accommodate a stack of as many as 2000 banknotes. According to some embodiments, prior to dispensing banknotes from a storage bay 360, if there are more than a certain number of notes stacked therein, the elevator 510 and the banknote supports 540 are used to pick up the notes in the stack greater than that certain number. In some embodiments, the certain number is 700 banknotes. According to some embodiments, the certain number is adjusted to minimize feed errors and may be different for different qualities of banknotes. For example, for new, “brick” banknotes which tend to stick together, the certain number may be less than 700 banknotes, for example, 400 banknotes. In operation, the elevator 510 is moved generally vertically to the desired position with the banknote supports 540 being in their retracted position. When the elevator 510 is at the desired elevation, then the banknote supports 540 are moved to their extended position wherein a front end or tip 540T of the banknote supports 540 are pressed between notes in the stack of banknotes resting on the feeding plate 372. The banknote supports 540 are continued to be extended until the banknote supports are in their extended position. Then the elevator 510 is raised and the banknotes above the banknote supports 540 become supported by the banknote supports 540 and are no longer being supported by the feeding plate 372. The dispenser 370 is then activated to feed out notes from the storage bay 360. According to some embodiments, the dispenser 370 is operated at high speeds and can transport banknotes at a rate of at least 5000 inches per minute and/or deliver notes from the storage bay 360 onto the return transport path 120e1 at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute. According to some embodiments, the above procedure of using the elevator 510 and banknote supports 540 to remove the weight of some of the banknotes residing in the storage bay 360 off of the feeding plate 372 is employed to facilitate the performance of the dispenser 370 at speeds of at least 1000 banknotes per minute.
According to some embodiments, a stack of up to about 700 banknotes may be stacked on the feeding plate 372 and dispensed at high-speed (e.g., at least 1000 banknotes per minute or banknotes are transported at a rate of at least 5000 inches per minute) without having to use the elevator 510 to lift off a top portion of the stack of banknotes. According to some such embodiments, when the storage bay 360 has more than a certain number of banknotes (e.g., 700 banknotes) stored therein (e.g., a 1000 or 1800 banknotes), the elevator 510 and the banknote supports 540 may be used to lift up bankotes in the storage bay 360 greater than the certain number of banknotes such as more than 700 banknotes (e.g., to lift up the top 300 or 1100 banknotes in the above examples) so that no more than the certain number of banknotes (e.g., 700 banknotes) are being supported by the feeding plate prior to starting a banknote dispensing operation.
According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler 100 is operated at high speeds and can deliver notes from the storage bay transport path 120d/320d into the storage bay 360 at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute while simultaneously the dispenser 370 is operated at high speeds and can deliver notes from the storage bay 360 onto the return transport path 120e/320e1 at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute. According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 360 and dispensed from the storage bay 360 (either at separate times or simultaneously) at a rate of at least 600 banknotes per minutes. According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 360 and dispensed from the storage bay 360 (either at separate times or simultaneously) at a rate of at least 800 banknotes per minutes. According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 360 and dispensed from the storage bay 360 (either at separate times or simultaneously) at a rate of at least 1000 banknotes per minutes. According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 360 and dispensed from the storage bay 360 (either at separate times or simultaneously) at a rate of at least 1200 banknotes per minutes. According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 360 and dispensed from the storage bay 360 (either at separate times or simultaneously) at a rate of at least 1400 banknotes per minutes. According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 360 and dispensed from the storage bay 360 (either at separate times or simultaneously) at a rate of at least about 1600 banknotes per minutes.
According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 360 and dispensed from the storage bay 360 (either at separate times or simultaneously) at different speeds.
According to some embodiments, the storage bay 360 described above is modular and interchangeable and can be used as any of storage bays 160a-160f of
The banknote storage bay 860 has an elevator 810. In
As with storage bay 360, the banknote recycler storage bay 860 has an upper end 860UP and a lower end 860LO and a right side wall 860RT and a left side wall 860LT. The storage bay 860 also has a back wall 860BK and two front walls 860FT—one on the right side of the storage bay 860 and one of the left side of the storage bay 860. The right side wall 860RT, the left side wall 860LT, the back wall 860BK, and the two front walls 860FT help to contain stacked banknotes within the storage bay 860 and serve to define a banknote space 860SP of the storage bay 860.
According to some embodiments, the back wall 860BK is separated from the two front walls 860FT by a distance less than the narrow dimension of the banknotes to be stacked therein such that the banknotes stacked therein are angled downwardly toward the back wall 860BK of the storage bay.
According to some embodiments, the back wall 860BK has one or more low friction surfaces to enhance the ability of the edges of banknotes residing in the banknote storage bay 860 and abutting the backwall 860BK to easily slide up or down within the storage bay 860 as the result of the movement of an elevator 810 and/or the feeding out of banknotes from the bottom of the storage bay 860 such as described above in connection with storage bay 360. According to some embodiments, low friction surfaces take the form of narrow low friction rails 860SM extending the height of the storage bay 860. According to some embodiments, two to four low friction rails 860SM are positioned on the back wall 860BK.
Positioned near the upper end 860UP of the storage bay 860 is an upper front banknote wall 830 having a banknote abutting surface 830A (see
According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked in the storage bay 860 with the aid of a pair of stacker wheels 862 mounted on a stacker wheel shaft 862SH which is rotationally driven by a motor 865. In
According to some embodiments, the angled banknote abutting surface 832A of the angled wall 832 serves to increase the angle at which bills are stacked in the storage bay 860 near the lower end 860LO of the storage bay 860 and urge the bills into greater contact with low friction rails 860SM of the back wall 860BK and into engagement with the input of a dispenser 870.
According to some embodiments, the elevator 810 is the same as elevator 510 and thus its components and operation will not be repeated here. The pair of driven elevation gears 513 of the elevator engage a pair of geared elevator tracks 814 positioned on the outside of the two front walls 860FT of the storage bay 860.
At the bottom of the storage bay 860 is a dispenser 870. According to some embodiments, the dispenser 870 is the same as dispenser 370 and thus its components and operation will not be repeated here except to point out feeding plate 872 corresponds to feeding plate 372, stripping wheels 874 corresponds to stripping wheels 374, drive roll 875 corresponds to drive roll 375, curved guideway 878 corresponds to curved guideway 378, and idler roll 876 corresponds to idler roll 376. According to some embodiments, the belt 873 corresponds to belt 373 but is located on the left side of the dispenser 870 instead of the right side.
Although not illustrated in
According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler 100 is operated at high speeds and can deliver notes from the storage bay transport path 120d into the storage bay 860 and out of the storage bay 860 onto and along the transport path 120e at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute.
As with storage bay 360, according to some embodiments, the storage bay 860 is dimensioned to accommodate a stack of as many as 2000 banknotes and the elevator 810 and banknote supports 840 may be operated to lift a portion of a stack of banknotes so only a lower portion of a stack of banknotes is supported by the feeding plate 872 prior to activating dispenser 870.
According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler 100 is operated at high speeds and can deliver notes from the storage bay transport path 120d into the storage bay 860 at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute while simultaneously the dispenser 870 is operated at high speeds and can deliver notes from the storage bay 860 onto the return transport path 120e at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute.
According to some embodiments, the internal size (that is, the space in which banknotes are stored) of the storage bays (e.g., 160, 360, 860, 860′) may be adjusted to accommodate different sizes of banknotes, e.g., a storage bay sized to accommodate U.S. currency may be adjusted accommodate €10 banknotes or a storage bay sized to accommodate €10 banknotes may be adjusted accommodate €20 banknotes.
Turning to
According to some embodiments, the left side and right side frames 891, 892 have one or more slots 895 therein which cooperate with tabs or posts extending from the exterior sides of the left side wall 860LT and the right side wall 860RT of the storage bay 860′ through the slots 895 to control the movement of the left side wall 860LT and the right side wall 860RT relative to the left side and right side frames 891, 892, thereby limiting the direction and extent to which the left side wall 860LT and the right side wall 860RT may be moved relative to the back wall 860BK of the storage bay 860′. Additionally or alternatively, according to some embodiments, the left side and right side frames 891, 892 have one or more plurality of preset depth adjustment apertures 894 therein which cooperate with tabs or posts extending from the exterior sides of the left side wall 860LT and the right side wall 860FT of the storage bay 860′ through the apertures 894 to facilitate the distance between the front walls 860FT and the back wall 860BK being adjustably set at a plurality of predefined distances, e.g., distances associated with accommodating U.S banknotes and a plurality of denominations of Euro banknotes. In the embodiment illustrated in
Turning to
As discussed above with respect to elevator 510, the elevator 910 comprises driven elevation gears 913 driven by a motor 915 and banknote support positional gears 942 driven by an elevation motor or solenoid 945. The driven elevation gears 913 are fixedly mounted on a rotatable elevation gear shaft 913SH which is rotatable about axis 913A.
As discussed above with respect to elevator 510, banknote support motor or solenoid 945 is operatively coupled to a first 942-1 one of the banknote support positional gears 942 to cause the first banknote support positional gear 942-1 to rotate about an axis 942A. The first banknote support positional gear 942-1 operatively engages a first transmission gear 943 fixedly coupled to a rotatable transmission shaft 941 to cause the first transmission gear 943 and the rotatable transmission shaft 941 to rotate. The rotatable transmission shaft 941 is rotatably mounted about the elevation gear shaft 913SH and is configured to rotate independently from the rotation of the elevation gear shaft 913SH. Both the rotatable transmission shaft 941 and the elevation gear shaft 913SH are rotatable about axis 913A, albeit independently. Additional transmission gears 944 are fixedly mounted to the transmission shaft 941 proximate additional banknote support positional gears 942. The rotation of the transmission shaft 941 causes the additional transmission gears 944 to cause the additional or remaining banknote support positional gears 942 to rotate about axis 942A. Similar to as discussed above in connection with elevator 510, the rotation of the banknote support positional gears 942 including the first banknote support positional gear 942-1 cause respective banknote supports 940 to move between a first, extended (wherein a respective banknote support 940 extends into the storage bay 360/860 and provides a structure on which banknotes may be stacked) and a second position, retracted position (wherein the banknote support 940 does not project into the banknote storage space of an associated storage bay such as banknote space 360SP of the storage bay 360 or banknote space 860SP of the storage bay 860).
More specifically, each of the banknote support positional gears 942 including the first banknote support positional gear 942-1 are fixedly coupled to banknote support driving drums 950. Each drum 950 has a series of banknote support engaging nubs 951 configured to project through apertures 952 (see
As with elevator 510, to aid in maintaining the banknote supports 940 in a curled manner about a longitudinal axis 940A when in the extended position, the transmission shaft 941 comprises curved portions 941C. The curved shaped of curved portion 941C is mirrored by a complimentary curved shape 990C of a bottom elevator housing 990. Each curved portion 941C and its complimentary curved shape 990C of a bottom elevator housing 990 is positioned adjacent a location at which a banknote support 940 enters an associated storage bay so that when the tip 940T of a banknote support 940 enters an associated storage bay it is pressed between the curved portion 941C and its complimentary curved shape 990C of a bottom elevator housing 990 which serve to bend the banknote support about the longitudinal axis 940A.
The elevator 910 also comprises a banknote housing 940H for each banknote support 940 to guide the second end 940E2 of each banknote support 940 in a generally vertical direction on the front side of the elevator 910.
Although illustrated differently, the banknote recycler storage bay 1060 may be the same as or similar to storage bays 160 and/or 360 described above and may be employed in the banknote recyclers 100, 100′, 100″ described above. The storage bay 1060 is an example of a storage bay that may be used as the storage bays 160a-160f of banknote recyclers 100, 100′, 100″. In general, except as illustrated in
The elevator 1010 comprises an elevator chassis 1010CH to which the banknote support 1040 is coupled. The banknote chassis 1010CH is slidably coupled to sides of the banknote storage bay 1060 such as via elevator couplers 1010C1 and 1010C2 which couple portions of the elevator 1010 to portions of the storage bay 1060 such as at corner supports 1060CRA and 1060CRB. Alternatively or additionally, the banknote chassis 1010CH may be slidably coupled to the banknote storage bay 1060 via a post 1060P coupled to storage bay 1060 positioned within an aperture 1010AP in the elevator chassis 1010CH. According to some embodiments, the elevator may be raised and lowered via the post 1060P being rotatable and threaded and cooperating with threads on chassis 1010CH within aperture 1010AP. Alternatively or additionally, the elevator may be raised and lowered via a drive mechanism such as one or more driven belts 1013 coupled to the chassis 1010CH. As with elevator 510, the elevation position of the elevator 1010 may be driven by a motor (not shown) such as elevation motor 515 which in turn may be controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202.
As with the banknote supports 540, the banknote support 1040 may be used to lift up some and/or all of banknotes in the storage bay 1060. A first position of the banknote support 1040 is an extended or operative position (as shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the banknote support 1040 does not project into the banknote space 1060SP of the storage bay 1060 when in its retracted position but instead is positioned outside the banknote space 1060SP. According to some embodiments, the banknote support 1040 is moved between the extended position and the retracted position via a plunger arm 1040PL (
According to some embodiments, the banknote support 1040 is coupled to banknote a support positional gear 1042 (
According to some embodiments, such as shown in, for example,
According to some embodiments, the banknote support 1040 is made of a relatively thin strip of material such as metal or plastic.
The operation of the elevator 1010 may otherwise be same or similar to that described above in connection with elevator 510.
Although illustrated differently, the banknote recycler storage bay 1160 may be the same as or similar to storage bays 160 and/or 360 described above and may be employed in the banknote recyclers 100, 100′, 100″ described above. The storage bay 1160 is an example of a storage bay that may be used as the storage bays 160a-160f of banknote recyclers 100, 100′, 100″. In general, except as illustrated in
Each bay 1160 has an elevator 1110 therein having a top surface which serves as a banknote support 1140. According to some embodiments, the banknote support 1140 is a banknote stacker plate. The elevator 1110 is moved up and down to accommodate banknotes being fed into or dispensed from the corresponding storage bay 1160. Each storage bay 1160 has an upper end 1160UP, a lower end 1160LO, a banknote leading edge side or back side 1160BK, and a banknote trailing edge side or front side 1160FT.
Turning to
According to some embodiments, a plurality of flexible tap-down fingers 1180 are rotationally mounted to and positioned along part of the circumference of guide wheel shaft 1179SH. The rotation of the tap-down fingers 1180 is controlled so that as the leading edge of a banknote BN passes the guide wheel 1179 and enters the storage bay 1160 the fingers 1180 do not intersect the transport path and the banknote BN does not contact the fingers 1180. As a banknote BN passes the position at which the guide wheel 1179 and drive roll 1175 are biased into each other, the fingers 1180 are rotated (clockwise in
As discussed above such as in connection with elevator 510, the height of the banknote support 1140 and elevator 1110 can be adjusted to accommodate additional banknotes BN being deposited into the storage bay 1160.
According to some embodiments, the drive roll 1175, the guide wheel 1179, and the fingers 1180 comprise part of a banknote feeding assembly. According to some such embodiments, the banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay 1160 is positioned near the upper end 1160UP and banknote trailing edge side 1160BK of the recycling or storage bay 1160. The drive roll 1175 may comprise a pair of drive rolls supported for rotational movement about the driven drive roll shaft 1175SH. The guide wheel 1179 may take the form of a pair of nip rollers supported for rotational movement about a guide wheel or nip roller shaft 1179SH, each of the nip rollers being positioned below a corresponding one of the drive rolls such that banknotes may pass between each corresponding drive roll and nip roller pair.
According to some embodiments the plurality of flexible tap-down fingers 1180 comprise part of a plurality of tap-down assemblies supported for rotational movement about the nip roller shaft 1179SH, each tap-down assembly having the base 1180B and a plurality of the flexible tap-down fingers or projections 1180 extending from the base 1180B. The base 1180B has a circumference extending around the nip roller shaft 1179SH and the plurality of tap-down projections or fingers are positioned about the circumference of a corresponding base 1180B such that collectively the plurality of tap-down projections or fingers 1180 extend from a corresponding base 1180B over less than about 180° of the circumference of the base 1180B.
According to some embodiments, the banknote feeding assembly further comprises a pair of ceiling guides 1114 positioned so as to guide the leading edge of banknotes BN emerging from between each drive roll 1175 and nip roller 1179 pair downward into the recycling bay 1160 and toward the banknote leading edge side 1160FT of the recycling bay and on top of any preceding banknotes resting on the banknote support 1140.
According to some embodiments, during operation in which banknotes are to be sequentially fed into the storage or recycling bay 1160, the plurality of tap-down assemblies are rotated such that the plurality of tap-down projections or fingers 1180 push the trailing edges of banknotes BN that have been fed into the recycling bay 1160 downward so as to facilitate a subsequent banknote entering the recycling bay to be positioned on the upper side of a prior fed banknote.
Turning to
The top banknote BN is moved in direction D11C into engagement with drive roll 1175 and guide wheel 1179. According to some embodiments, high-friction surfaces 1175SR of drive roll 1175 engage each banknote after it is fed into the drive roll 1175 by the stripping wheels 1174, to frictionally advance the banknote into the narrow arcuate passageway 1120 formed by a curved guideway 1183 adjacent the rear side of the drive roll 1175. The rotational movement of the drive roll 1175 and the stripping wheels 1174 may be synchronized so that the high-friction surfaces on the drive roll 1175 and the stripping wheels 1174 maintain a constant relationship to each other. Moreover, according to some embodiments, the drive roll 1175 is dimensioned so that the circumference of the outermost portions of grooved surfaces of the drive roll 1175 is greater than the width W of a banknote to be dispensed from a given storage bay 1160, so that the banknotes advanced by the drive roll 1175 are spaced apart from each other. That is, each banknote fed to the drive roll 1175 is advanced by that roll only when the high-friction surfaces come into engagement with the banknote, so that the circumference of the drive roll 1175 determines the spacing between the leading edges of successive banknotes. The drive roll 1175 is mounted to drive wheel shaft 1175SH which is driven in a clockwise direction 1175B in
According to some embodiments, the drive roll 1175 and the stripping wheels 1174 are driven by a motor (such as motor 390) controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202.
A banknote BN to be dispensed from a given storage bay 1160 is then routed in direction D11D along the transport path 1120 between the pair of space transport plates 1183, 1184. The banknote engages and is driven along the transport path 1120 by a driven transport roll 1186 and a passive transport roll 1185 positioned on the opposite side of the transport path 1120 and biased into engagement with the driven transport roll 1186. According to some embodiments, the driven transport roll 1186 is driven by a motor (such as motor 390) controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202.
During a dispensing operation, according to some embodiments, the top banknote or the banknote support 1140 engages the ceiling guides 1114 and pivots them upward. During a dispensing operation, the position of the tap-down fingers 1180 is controlled (such as via controller 202) so that the fingers 1180 do not intersect the transport path 1120 and exiting banknotes BN do not contact the fingers 1180.
According to some embodiments, banknote support 1140 comprises a spring biased plate mounted to the top of elevator 1110. According to some embodiments, a pressure sensor monitors pressure on the stripping wheel driven shaft 1174SH. The pressure sensor and a motor controlling the movement of elevator 1110 may be coupled to a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202. The controller monitors the pressure sensor signals and controls the elevation and/or movement of the elevator 1110 based on the information derived from the pressure sensor such as by instructing the motor controlling the elevator 1110 movement to slow down or stop.
According to some embodiments, a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling or storage bay 1160 comprises stripping wheels 1174, drive roll 1175, and guide wheel or nip roller 1179. The dispensing assembly is positioned near the upper end 1160UP of the recycling or storage bay 1160. According to some embodiments, the stripping wheel 1174 comprise a pair of stripping wheels supported for rotational movement about the driven stripping wheel shaft 1174SH, the drive roll 1175 comprises a pair of drive rolls, and the guide wheel 1179 comprises a pair of nip rollers.
According to some embodiments, during a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator banknote support 1140 is elevated such that the stripping wheels 1174 sequentially engage the topmost banknote stacked in the recycling or storage bay 1160 and urge the topmost banknote into contact with the pair of drive rolls 1175 which act to feed banknotes out of the recycling bay 1160, one bill at a time; and wherein during a dispensing operation the tap-down assemblies are rotationally positioned such that the plurality of tap-down projections or fingers 1180 do not extend into the recycling bay nor above the top of the nip rollers 1179.
According to some embodiments, banknotes BN may be deposited into and dispensed from storage bay 1160 at a rate of at least 1000 banknotes per minute. According to some embodiments, the distance between a front wall 1160FT and a back wall 1160BK is between about 2.5 and 5.0 inches for storage bays 1160 configured to accept and dispense U.S. banknotes.
According to some embodiments, a generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement 1200 comprises a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling or storage bay 1260 for receiving banknotes therein. As with storage bay 1160, the recycling bay 1260 has an upper end and a lower end. The arrangement 1200 further comprises a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay and comprising a pair of stacker wheels 1262 supported for rotational movement about a driven stripper wheel shaft 1274SH. Each stacker wheel 1262 is laterally moveable along the driven stripper wheel shaft 1274SH. The feeding assembly further comprises a stacker wheel positioning mechanism such as driven positioning screw 1202 and a pair of stacker wheel carriages 1262CR, each carriage 1262CR having a screw end 1262CR-1 and a stacker wheel end 1262CR-2, the screw end 1262CR-1 of each carriage 1262CR having a threaded aperture therein through which a portion of the positioning screw 1202 is threaded, each carriage 1262CR having a pair of arms 1262A1, 1262A2, each arm 1262A1, 1262A2 extending from the screw end 1262CR-1 toward the stacker wheel end 1262CR-2 and at least partially conforming about the stripper wheel shaft 1274SH. The pair of arms 1262A1, 1262A2 of each carriage 1262CR extend toward the stripper wheel shaft 1274SH such that a corresponding stacker wheel 1262 is positioned about the stripper wheel shaft 1274SH between the arms 1262A1, 1262A2 of a corresponding carriage 1262CR.
The arrangement 1200 further comprises a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay 1260, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay and comprising a pair of stripping wheels 1274 supported for rotational movement about the driven stripper wheel shaft 1274SH. The pair of stripping wheels 1274 are laterally positioned about the stripper wheel shaft 1274SH between the pair of stacker wheels 1262. The dispensing assembly further comprises a pair of drive rolls 1275 supported for rotational movement about a drive roll shaft 1275SH.
As shown in
According to some embodiments, the lateral positions of the stacker wheels 1262 are adjusted by rotational movement of the stacker wheel positioning screw 1202 which serves to laterally move the pair of stacker wheel carriages 1262CR laterally toward each other when driven in a first rotational direction and to laterally move the pair of stacker wheel carriages 1262CR laterally away each other when driven in a second rotational direction, the lateral movement of the stacker wheel carriages 1262CR imparting a corresponding lateral movement on the stacker wheels 1262.
According to some embodiments, the stacker wheel positioning screw 1202 comprises threads oriented in a first direction on a first portion 1202A and threads oriented in a second opposite direction on a second portion 1202B, and wherein a first one of the stacker wheel carriages 1262CR threadingly engages the first portion 1202A of the positioning screw and a second one of the stacker wheel carriages 1262CR threadingly engages the second portion 1202B of the positioning screw 1202.
As described and illustrated in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,592 [Attorney Docket 247171-000131], incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, the drive roll 1275 may include a central smooth friction surface 1275SM formed of a material such as rubber or hard plastic. This smooth friction surface 1275SM is sandwiched between a pair of grooved surfaces having high-friction portions 1275SR formed from a high-friction material. According to some embodiments, part of the periphery of each stripping wheel 1274 is provided with a raised high-friction surface 1274SR which engages the top bill of the stack as the stripping wheels 1274 rotate, to initiate feeding movement of the top bill from the stack toward the drive roll 1275. The drive roll 1275 and stripping wheels 1274 may be the same or similar to the drive rolls 375, 1175 and stripping wheels 374, 1174 described above.
Although not illustrated, each bay 1260 has an elevator with a banknote support similar or identical to those discussed above such as elevators 510, 1110 and banknote supports 540, 1140. The elevator is moved up and down to accommodate banknotes being fed into or dispensed from the corresponding storage bay 1260 as discussed above such as with respect to elevator 510 and/or 1110.
According to some embodiments, the drive roll 1275, the stripping wheels 1274, the stacker wheels 1262, and the positional screw 1202 are driven by one or more motors (such as motor 390) controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202.
Although illustrated differently, the banknote recycler storage bay 1360 may be the same as or similar to storage bays 160 and/or 360 described above and may be employed in the banknote recyclers 100, 100′, 100″ described above. The storage bay 1360 is an example of a storage bay that may be used as the storage bays 160a-160f of banknote recyclers 100, 100′, 100″. In general, except as illustrated in
The storage bay 1360 comprises a front wall 1360FT and a back wall 1360BK spaced apart by a distance less than the narrow dimension of banknotes BN to be received therein so that banknotes stacked therein are positioned at an angle as shown in
As with storage bay 360, according to some embodiments, the stacking of the banknotes in the storage bay 1360 at an angle relieves some of the weight of the banknotes which would otherwise by borne by a feeding plate 1372 which is positioned at the bottom of storage bay 1360. In some such embodiments, the re-allocation of the bearing of the weight of some of the banknotes in the stack from the feeding plate 1372 to one or more of the walls of the storage bay 1360, e.g., backwall 1360BK, increases the number of banknotes that may reside in the storage bay 1360 and not have to be lifted up by the elevator 1310 and banknote supports 1340 prior to dispensing banknotes smoothly and at high speeds (e.g., at least 1000 banknotes per minutes). As with storage bay 360, stripping wheels 1374 and drive roll 1375 form part of a dispensing mechanism at the bottom of storage bay 1360 which may be similar or identical in construction and operation as stripping wheels 374 and drive roll 375 of storage bay 360.
During a depositing or feed-in operation, banknote supports 1340 are positioned in an operational position and are raised near the top of storage bay 1360 so that banknotes from stacker wheels 1362 may be deposited onto and supported by the banknote supports 1340. As with storage bay 360, the banknote supports 1340 may be lowered as more banknotes are stacked thereon so as to maintain the top of the stack of banknotes supported by the banknote supports 1340 at generally the same elevation.
During a dispensing or feed-out operation, the banknote supports 1340 may be lowered so that any banknotes being supported thereon may be lowered so as that they may come to rest upon feeding plate 1372 or the top of a stack banknotes already being supported by feeding plate 1372. The banknote supports may be moved (rotated) to a non-operational position thereby transferring the banknotes previously supported thereon to the feeding plate 1372 or the top of a stack banknotes already being supported by feeding plate 1372. Banknotes on the feeding plate 1372 may be dispensed as discussed above in connection with storage bay 360.
While maintaining the banknote supports 1340 in a non-operational position, the banknote supports may be raised above the stack of banknotes supported by feeding plate 1372. Once above the stack of banknotes, the banknote supports 1340 may be moved (rotated) back to an operational position and raised to be in position to receive additional banknotes from stacker wheels 1362.
According to some embodiments, to move or rotate the banknote supports 1340 between the operational and non-operational positions, the banknote supports 1340 are coupled to one or more banknote support positional motors communicatively coupled to and controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202. According to some embodiments, the banknote supports 1340 are maintained or locked in operational positions while being raised or lowered in the middle of the storage bay 1360 and can only be moved out of the operational positions when the banknotes supports 1340 are near the bottom of the storage bay 1360 and can only be move into operational positions when near the top of the storage bay 1360.
According to some embodiments, while in the operational positions and being lowered within the storage bay 1360, the banknote supports 1340 are laterally constrained by a slot in the back wall 1360BK so as to prevent the banknote supports 1340 from rotating about the axes of the elevator positioning posts 1310P. The lateral constraint ends prior to the banknote supports 1340 reaching the bottom of their travel along elevator positioning posts 1310P so that when the banknote supports 1340 reach the bottom of their travel, the rotation of elevator positioning posts 1310P causes the banknote supports 1340 to pivot about the axes of the elevator positioning posts 1310P repositioning the banknote supports 1340 into their non-operational positions wherein the supports 1340 do not project into the storage bay 1360 as shown in
The banknote recycler 1400 comprises an input hopper 1410 for receiving a banknote or a stack of banknotes and a transport mechanism 1420 for receiving banknotes from the input hopper 110 and delivering the banknotes to and from a number of locations in the banknote recycler 1400. The banknote recycler 1400 further comprises a banknote detector section 1430 which may be the same or similar to banknote detector section 130 discussed above. The recycler 1400 also comprises one or more externally accessible output receptacles 1440A and 1440B. Banknotes delivered to the output receptacles 1440A, 1440B may be removed by a user reaching into the output receptacles 1440A, 1440B and grasping the banknotes with his or her hand. According to some embodiments, the output receptacles 1440A, 1440B comprise stacker wheels 1442a, 1442b to assist in stacking the banknotes into the output receptacles 1440A, 1440B. In some modes of operation, the output receptacle 1440A may be used as a reject output receptacle to which rejected banknotes are delivered such as, for example, a banknote or document whose denomination was not determined by the banknote detector section 1430.
According to some embodiments, the recycler 1400 further comprises a secure banknote storage bin 1440C. In some modes of operation, the secure banknote storage bin 1440C may be used store banknotes which are determined to be counterfeit or mutilated using the one or more detectors in the banknote detector section 1430. According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler has a slot or opening in its housing permitting an operator to insert banknotes into (but not withdraw bills from) the secure banknote storage bin 1440C. For example, if an operator notices that a banknote to be processed is mutilated and may cause a jam if processed by the banknote recycler 1400, the operator may directly put such notes through the slot in the housing so that such notes may be securely stored in the secure storage bin 1440C. According to some embodiments, the operator may use an input/output interface (such as interface 208) to enter information about the mutilated banknote(s) (such as the denomination and/or the serial number of each note) into the banknote recycler 1400 so that a processor or controller 202 may update information about the related transaction to reflect all bills in a transaction, e.g., so a customer may be given credit for the deposit of all banknotes deposited in a transaction, even those that are too mutilated to be automatically processed by the banknote recycler 1400.
The recycler 1400 further comprises one or more generally horizontal banknote storage bins or bays 1460A-1460D. According to some embodiments, the first storage bay 1460A is used as an escrow storage bay to temporarily hold banknotes being deposited into the banknote recycler 1400 as described above in connection with storage bay 160a. According to some embodiments, the remaining storage bays 1460B-1460D are each dedicated to specific denominations of banknotes, e.g., storage bay 1460B may be assigned to store US $1 bills, storage bay 1460C may be assigned to store US $5 bills, storage bay 1460D may be assigned to store US $10 bills. Although not illustrated, the recycler may comprise additional storage bays such as a storage bay assigned to store US $20 bills and a storage bay to store US $100 bills. According to some embodiments, the recycler may also comprise one or more overflow storage bays such as storage bay 1460E. Note, according to some embodiments, the recycler 1400 may comprise fewer or more than four to seven storage bays 1460A-1460E. The storage bays 1460A-1460E are distinguishable from the output receptacles 1440A, 1440B in that the storage bays 1460 are secured within a housing of the recycler 1400 and are not externally accessible to a typical user or operator of the recycler 1400. Rather, to gain access to the storage bays 1460A-1460E and the banknotes stored therein, a security door of the recycler must be opened. According to many embodiments, the security door is locked and may only be opened by authorized personnel having a key or access code enabling the security door to be unlocked.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
According to some embodiments, the storage bays 1460A-1460E comprises one or more moveable partitions or banknote supports 1405a, 1405b. The moveable partitions or banknote supports 1405a, 1405b may be horizontally moveable (such as in a manner similar to the one or more vertical elevators and banknote supports described above are moveable. For example, a first moveable partition 1405a may be positioned near a receiving end 1460A-1 of a storage bay 1460A. During a depositing or feed-in operation, the banknote support may be positioned near stacker wheel 1462a and move horizontally away from the stacker wheel (to the right in
According to some embodiments, the generally horizontal storage bays 1460A-1460D may also comprises a means for moving stacks of banknotes from the receiving ends (e.g., 1460A-1) of the storage bays toward the dispensing ends (e.g., 1460A-2). For example, as will be described in more detail with respect to
Alternatively, banknotes may be continued to be deposited into a storage bay until a first banknote support (e.g., 1405a) is sufficiently close to a second banknote support (e.g., 1405b) that the first (and/or second) banknote support may be moved to a non-operational position (such as by moving or folding down into or through a floor of the storage bay) and the banknotes may be merged into a single stack of banknotes resting on their edges.
According to some embodiments, the banknote supports 1403A-1403D are pivotally mounted to respective guide posts 1404A, 1404B positioned near and generally parallel the top of storage bay 1460. The posts 1404A, 1404B may extend from a receiving end 14601 to a dispensing end 14602 of the storage bay 1460 and be positioned on opposite sides of the storage bay 1460. The banknote supports 1403A-1403D may be pivoted into and out of the storage bay 1460. One or more motors communicatively coupled to and controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202 may move the banknote supports 1403A-1403D into and out of the storage bays (into and out of operational positions) and along the guide posts 1404A, 1404B.
The banknote recycler 1700 comprises a multiple storage bay chassis 1704 and a housing 1702. According to some embodiments, the housing has an exterior width W17 less than or equal to about 18 inches (46 cm), an exterior height H17 less than or equal to about 38 inches (97 cm), and an exterior length L17 less than or equal to about 39 inches (99 cm). In
The banknote recycler 1700 comprises a banknote transport mechanism comprising a main transport mechanism 1820 and an upper transport mechanism 1820U. Although not illustrated in
According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler 1700 operates similar as described above in connection with banknote recyclers 100, 100′, and/or 100″ described in connection with
The banknote recycler 1700 comprises a main transport mechanism 1820, a plurality of storage bays 1760, with each storage bay 1760 having associated therewith a feeding module 1900, a stacker module 2000, and an elevator 2110.
In general, except as illustrated in
According to some embodiments, the first storage bay 1760a is used as an escrow storage bay to temporarily hold banknotes being deposited into the banknote recycler 1700 as will be described in more detail below. According to some embodiments, the remaining storage bays 1760b-1760f are each dedicated to specific denominations of banknotes, e.g., storage bay 1760b may be assigned to store US $1 bills, storage bay 1760c may be assigned to store US $5 bills, storage bay 1760d may be assigned to store US $10 bills, storage bay 1760e may be assigned to store US $20 bills, storage bay 1760f may be assigned to store US $100 bills. Note, according to some embodiments, the recycler 100 may comprise fewer or more than six storage bays 1760a-1760f such as for example, one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, nine, ten, etc. storage bays 1760.
According to some embodiments, the storage bays 1760a-1760f reside within a housing such as housing 1702 of the recycler 1700 having one or more security doors. The housing and security door(s) serve as a safe and may be made of high strength material such as metal and/or hard plastic. The storage bays 1760a-1760f are distinguishable from the open output receptacles 140a, 140b in that the storage bays are secured within a housing of the recycler 1700 and are not externally accessible to a typical user or operator of the recycler 1700 and are not externally accessible while the banknote recycler 1700 is operating under normal operating conditions such as when an operator is using the banknote recycler to deposit notes into the banknote recycler 1700 via an input receptacle such as input receptacle 110 and/or when an operator is using the banknote recycler 1700 to dispense banknotes to one or more externally accessible, open output receptacles such as open output receptacles 140a, 140b shown in
The main transport mechanism 1820 is described in more detail in connection with
A lower storage bay transport path 1820D is formed between the middle transport section 1820B and the lower transport section 1820A and an upper transport path 1820E is formed between the middle transport section 1820B and the upper transport section 1820C. The lower transport section comprises an upper transport plate 1802, the middle transport section 1820B comprises a lower transport plate 1804 and an upper transport plate 1806, and the upper transport section 1820C comprises a lower transport plate 1808. When in their closed operational position, the transport plates 1802 and 1804 are slightly spaced apart from each other and define the lower transport path 1820D therebetween and the transport plates 1806 and 1808 are slightly spaced apart for each other and define the upper transport path 1820E therebetween. Each transport plate 1802-1808 has a plurality of transport roll apertures therein through which a corresponding plurality of transport rolls project into the transport paths 1820D and 1820E. More specifically, the transport plate 1802 has a plurality of transport roll apertures through which a plurality of passive transport rolls 1812 project upward into the lower transport path 1820D so as to contact banknotes being transported along the lower transport path 1820D. The transport plate 1804 has a corresponding plurality of transport roll apertures through which a plurality of driven transport rolls 1814 project downward into the lower transport path 1820D so as to contact and drive banknotes along the lower transport path 1820D. The transport roll apertures in transport plate 1804 are positioned directly above the transport roll apertures in transport plate 1802 so that a passive transport roll 1812 protecting through each aperture comes in contact with a corresponding driven transport roll 1814 when the transport plates 1802 and 1804 are in an operational position such as shown in
Similarly, the transport plate 1808 has a plurality of transport roll apertures through which a plurality of passive transport rolls 1818 project downward into the upper return transport path 1820E so as to contact banknotes being transported along the upper return transport path 1820E. The transport plate 1806 has a corresponding plurality of transport roll apertures through which the plurality of driven transport rolls 1814 project upward into the upper return transport path 1820E so as to contact and drive banknotes along the upper return transport path 1820E. The transport roll apertures in transport plate 1808 are positioned directly above the transport roll apertures in transport plate 1806 so that a passive transport roll 1818 protecting through each aperture comes in contact with a corresponding driven transport roll 1814 when the transport plates 1806 and 1808 are in an operational position such as shown in
As best seen if
As can be seen in
Also illustrated in
Referring to
One of the feeder modules 1900 is described in more detail in connection with
The feeder module 1900 may comprise a housing 1900HS comprising an upstream side 1970US, a downstream side 1970DS, a front side 1970FR, and a rear side 1970R. The feeder module 1900 may also comprise one or more of a guide feeder entry wall 1971, a feeding plate 1972, positioning tabs 1968, upper in-feed passive rolls 1997, lower in-feed passive rolls 1998, feeder springs 1969, upper out-feed passive rolls 1982U, lower out-feed passive rolls 1982L, a feeder module motor 1990, stripping or auxiliary wheels 1974, a drive roll 1975, retard rollers 1979, and an idler roll 1976.
According to some embodiments, the feeder module 1900 assists with both the feeding of banknotes into a corresponding storage bay 1760 but also feeding of banknotes out of the storage bay. According to some embodiments, the feeder module 1900 comprises a banknote dispensing assembly that may comprises one or more stripping or auxiliary wheels 1974 and one or more drive rolls 1975. According to some embodiments, the dispensing assembly may also comprise one or more retard rollers 1979, one or more idler rolls 1976, and/or the feeder module motor 1990.
According to some embodiments, each feeder module 1900 have one or more electrostatic brushes 1900BR (see, e.g.,
According to some embodiments, the feeder modules 1900 have one or more arms 1963 extending from a rear side of the feeder module housing 1900HS. Each arm 1963 has a pair of flanges 1964 with a slot 1966 therebetween. The feeder module 1900 may be pivotally coupled to the pivot bar 1708 (see
Additionally, according to some embodiments, the feeder modules 1900 and the storage bay chassis 1704 are configured to allow a feeder module 1900 to self-center itself when lowered into its operating position (e.g., when lowered from the positions of feeder module 1900d shown in
According to some embodiments, when the feeder module 1900 is moved into its operational position, the positioning flanges 1968 of the feeding module contact the infeed upper wall 1799IN and the outfeed upper wall 1799OUT (see
According to some embodiments, the feeder module 1900 and chassis 1704 also comprise one or more components to ensure a feeder module 1900 when lower into its operational position is also accurately vertically positioned at a desired height. According to some embodiments, the feeder module 1900 comprises a front lower positioning flange 1909 (
According to some embodiments, other feeder module 1900 positioning components may be alternatively or additionally employed. For example, according to some embodiments, when the feeder module 1900 is moved into its operational position, pairs of the positioning flanges 1768, 1968 contact each other and self-position the feeder module 1900 into its correct position above a given storage bay 1760. For example, one positioning flange 1768 near the top of a given storage bay 1760 is located so as to contact a corresponding positioning flange 1968 located on a feeder module 1900 when the feeder module is lowered into and/or is in its operational position. According to some embodiments, there is at least one set of positioning flanges 1768, 1968 on both the upstream side and the downstream side above each storage bay 1760. According to some embodiments, each pair of positioning flanges 1768, 1968 has a complimentary shape so that the chassis positioning flanges 1786 support the feeder modules 1900 via the feeder module positioning flanges 1968 and limit the depth to which a feeder module 1900 moves when lowered into an operational position. In this way, according to some embodiments, the positioning flanges 1768, 1968 position both vertically and horizontally (upstream-downstream) a feeder module above a given storage bay 1760 in a desired operational position. According to some embodiments, however, the positioning flanges 1768, 1968 position horizontally (upstream-downstream) a feeder module above a given storage bay 1760 in a desired operational position whereas the vertical position of the front of the feeder module 1900 is controlled by a bottom surface of a handle 1900H of the feeder module 1900 resting upon a front chassis rail 1704R (see
According to some embodiments, each of the feeder modules 1900a-1900f are identical and interchangeable modules that may be quickly inserted into and/or removed from a storage bay 1760. Thus, when servicing banknote recycler 1700, if one or more of the feeder modules is not working properly, a service technician may quickly and easily remove a malfunctioning feeder module 1900 and replace it with another modular feeder module 1900. According to such embodiments, the banknote recycler may then be quickly serviced and placed back into normal operational use. According to some such embodiments, a malfunctioning feeder module may then be serviced at a different location such as at a service technician's or manufacturer's facility so as to minimize time during which a service technician would need to interfere with the normal operation and use of the banknote recycler such as by bank tellers.
Depositing/in-Feeding
With particular reference to
The stacker wheels 2062 then stack the banknote onto a banknote support 2140 or, if there are already one or more banknotes stacked on the banknote support 2140, onto the top of the stack of banknotes being supported by banknote support 2140. The elevator 2110 may be slowly lowered as more banknotes are directed into storage bay 1760 so that the stacker wheels 2062 may stack incoming banknotes onto the top of the stack of banknotes being supported by banknote support 2140 wherein the top of the stack of banknotes is maintained generally at the same height. As the banknotes are not perfectly flat and may, in fact, have wrinkles and creases therein, as a stack of banknotes grows on the banknote support 2140, the stack of banknotes becomes to have a degree of vertical sponginess. According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler 1700 is operated at high speeds and can deliver notes from the storage bay transport path 1820D into a storage bay 1760 and onto and along the transport path 1820D and 1820E at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute.
Dispensing/Out-Feeding
Also with particular reference to
The stripping wheels 1974 feed each stripped bill into engagement with a drive roll 1975 mounted on a driven drive roll shaft 1975SH supported across the front and rear walls 1970FR and 1970R of the feeder module 1900. As described and illustrated in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,592 [Attorney Docket 247171-000131], incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, the drive roll 1975 may include a central smooth friction surface formed of a material such as rubber or hard plastic. This smooth friction surface is sandwiched between a pair of grooved surfaces 1975GR having high-friction portions formed from a high-friction material. The drive roll 1975 is mounted to drive wheel shaft 1975SH which is driven in a counter-clockwise in
The high-friction surfaces engage each bill after it is fed into engagement with the drive roll 1975 by the stripping wheels 1974, to frictionally advance the bill along a narrow passageway. The rotational movement of the drive roll 1975 and the stripping wheels 1974 may be synchronized so that the high-friction surfaces on the drive roll 1975 and the stripping wheels 1974 maintain a constant relationship to each other. Moreover, according to some embodiments, the drive roll 1975 is dimensioned so that the circumference of the outermost portions of the grooved surfaces is greater than the width W of a bill, such as the width of the widest bill to be stacked in a corresponding storage bay 1760, so that the bills advanced by the drive roll 1975 are spaced apart from each other. That is, each bill fed to the drive roll 1975 is advanced by that roll only when the high-friction surfaces come into engagement with the bill, so that the circumference of the drive roll 1975 determines the spacing between the leading edges of successive bills.
According to some embodiments, the drive roll 1975 and the stripping wheels 1974 are driven by motor 1990 controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202. As shown in
According to some embodiments, to assist with stopping of feeding of banknotes from the stack in the storage bay 1760 on an exact note, independent of the size of the stack, the stripping wheels 1974 may be always stopped with the raised, high-friction portions 1974SR positioned above the feeding plate 1972 of the storage bay 1760. This is accomplished by continuously monitoring the angular position of the high-friction portions of the stripping wheels 1974 via an encoder such as encoder 206, and then controlling the stopping time of the feeder module motor 1990 so that the motor 1990 always stops the stripping wheels 1974 in a position where the high-friction portions 1974SR are located above the feeding plate 1972 of the storage bay 1760.
According to some embodiments, in order to ensure firm engagement between the drive roll 1975 and a currency bill or banknote being fed, an idler roll 1976 urges each incoming bill against the smooth central surface of the drive roll 1975. The idler roll 1976 is journalled on a pair of arms 1976ARM (see
Turning back to
A banknote to be dispensed from a given storage bay 1760 is then routed along the transport path 1920d between the pair of spaced transport plates 1802, 1804. The banknote engages and is driven along the transport path 1820D by the driven transport rolls 1814 and a passive transport rolls 1812 positioned on the opposite side of the transport path 1820D and biased into engagement with the driven transport rolls 1814.
As can be seen in
According to some embodiments, the use of the springs 1969 aids in biasing the retard rollers 1979 into contact with banknotes traveling along the out-feed transport path 1900OUT while allowing the use of smaller retard rollers 1979 which in turn aids in making the feeder module 1900 and the overall recycler 1700 more compact.
According to some embodiments, as will be described more in connection with
According to some embodiments, a banknote dispensing assembly 1970 for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling or storage bay 1760 comprises stripping wheel 1974, drive roll 1975, and retard roller or nip roller 1979. The dispensing assembly 1970 is positioned near the upper end 1760UP of the recycling or storage bay 1760. According to some embodiments, the stripping wheel 1974 comprises a pair of stripping wheels supported for rotational movement about the driven stripping wheel shaft 1974SH, the drive roll 1975 comprises a pair of drive rolls, and the retard roller 1979 comprises a pair of nip rollers.
According to some embodiments, banknotes may be deposited into and dispensed from storage bay 1760 at a rate of at least 1000 banknotes per minute.
According to some embodiments, the distance between an upstream wall 1760US and a downstream wall 1760PS is between about 2.5 and 5.0 inches for storage bays 1760 configured to accept and dispense U.S. banknotes. According to some embodiments, the distance between an upstream wall 1760US and a downstream wall 1760PS is about 2¾ inches for storage bays 1760 configured to accept and dispense U.S. banknotes.
Stacker Modules
According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked in a respective one of the storage bays 1760a-1760f with the aid of a pair of stacker wheels 2062 mounted on a stacker wheel shaft 2062SH which is rotationally driven by a stacker wheel motor 2065. The motor 2065 is controlled by a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202.
The pair of stacker wheels 2062 are supported for rotational movement about a driven stripper wheel shaft 2062SH. The stripper wheel shaft 2062SH is rotationally driven about a longitudinal axis 2062A by the motor 2065. Each stacker wheel 2062 is laterally moveable along the stripper wheel shaft 2062SH. The stacker module 2000 further comprises a stacker wheel positioning mechanism 2053 that adjusts the lateral positions of the pair of stacker wheels 2062 along the stripper wheel shaft 2062SH.
According to some embodiments, the stacker module 2000 further comprises a pair of banknote stripping walls 2054. Referring to
During a banknote in-feed or deposit operation in which one or more banknotes are to be fed into a respective storage bay 1760a-1760f, the stacker wheels 2062 are moved into an inward, operational deposit or feed-in position as shown in
Referring to
Each linkage arm support 2048 has a central longitudinal aperture therein having a interior wall 2048IN having a circular cross-section. Each linkage arm support 2048 is positioned about the outer wall of the first longitudinal end 2062B1 of the stacker wheel base 2062B such that that the first longitudinal end 2060B1 of the stacker wheel base 2062B resides inside the central longitudinal aperture of the linkage arm support 2048. In similar fashion, the second stripping wall end 2054E2 of each stripping wall 2054 has a central longitudinal aperture therein having a circular cross-section and each second stripping wall end 2054E2 of each stripping wall 2054 is positioned about the outer wall of the second longitudinal end 2062B2 of the stacker wheel base 2062B such that that the second longitudinal end 2062B2 of the stacker wheel base 2062B resides inside the central longitudinal aperture of the second stripping wall end 2054E2 of each stripping wall 2054. According to some embodiments, a pair of retaining rings 2046 fixedly coupled to the ends of the stacker wheel base 2062B keep the linkage arm support 2048 and the second stripping wall end 2054E2 of each stripping wall 2054 from sliding off of the first and second longitudinal ends 2062B1, 2062B2 of the stacker wheel base 2062B as the linkage arm support 2048, the stacker wheel base 2062B, and the second stripping wall end 2054E2 of each stripping wall 2054 move longitudinally along the stacker wheel shaft 2062SH (left and right in
While the stacker wheel base 2062B and the stacker wheel 2062 coupled thereto also rotate about the longitudinal axis 2062A when the stacker wheel shaft 2062SH is rotated about its longitudinal axis 2062A, due to the circular cross-sections of the outer wall of the stacker wheel base 2062B, the central longitudinal aperture of the linkage arm support 2048, and the central longitudinal aperture of the second stripping wall end 2054E2 of each stripping wall 2054, the stacker wheel base 2062B is free to rotate about the longitudinal axis 2062A while the linkage arm support 2048 and stripping wall 2054 do not rotate about the longitudinal axis 2062A. The connection of each linkage arm support 2048 to a linkage arm 2048 inhibits the linkage arm support 2048 from rotating about the longitudinal axis 2062A. Likewise, the recovery rail 2059 residing in the notch in each first end 2054E1 of each banknote stripping wall 2054 inhibits each banknote stripping wall 2054 from rotating about the longitudinal axis 2062A.
In
While the stacker wheels 2062 and stacker wheel bases 2062B have been illustrated as two separate components, in some embodiments, each stacker wheel and stacker wheel base may be combined into a single integral part and/or comprise more than two parts.
The various components of the stacker module 2000 are coupled directly or indirectly to a removable stacker module mounting plate 2001. The stacker module mounting plate 2001 is mounted to near the upper end of a storage bay 1760a-1760f (see, e.g.,
According to some embodiments to replace a first stacker module 2000, a service personnel or technician may quickly disconnect the corresponding first stacker module mounting plate 2001 and associated electrical connections associated with a stacker module 2000 to be removed, remove the corresponding first stacker module mounting plate 2001 from a side of the storage bay 1760a-1760f such as via a front side of chassis 1704F, insert another second stacker module 2000 coupled to another second stacker module mounting plate 2001 through the side of the storage bay 1760a-1760f such as via a front side of chassis 1704F, couple the second stacker module mounting plate 2001 to the frame or walls of the corresponding storage bay 1760a-1760f, and reconnect the associated electrical connections. According to some such embodiments, a feeder module 1900 above the storage bay 1760 in which a stacker module 2000 is to be replaced does not have to be raised for removal of the stacker module 2000 or the insertion of a replacement stacker module 2000. According to some embodiments, each of the stacker modules 2000a-2000f are identical and interchangeable modules that may be quickly inserted into and/or removed from a storage bay 1760. Thus, when servicing banknote recycler 1700, if one or more of the stacker modules is not working properly, a service technician may quickly and easily remove a malfunctioning stacker module 2000 and replace it with another modular stacker module 2000. According to such embodiments, the banknote recycler may then be quickly serviced and placed back into normal operational use. According to some such embodiments, a malfunctioning stacker module may then be serviced at a different location such as at a service technician's or manufacturer's facility so as to minimize time during which a service technician would need to interfere with the normal operation and use of the banknote recycler such as by bank tellers.
As shown in
According to some embodiments, the stacking module 2000 also comprises one or more banknote drop-off detectors 2120. In operation, the banknote drop-off detector 2120 senses when the elevator 2110 and the banknote platform 2140 or top of the stack of banknotes are near or adjacent the stacking wheels 2062. According to some embodiments, the drop-off detectors 2120 employ a through light beam to detect the presence of banknotes, i.e., a light beam directed through a portion of the storage bay 1760 and detected by a detector 2120 wherein the presence of a banknote or the banknote platform 2140 blocks the light beam from reaching the detector 2120. According to some embodiments, one or more other types of detectors 2120 may be employed instead of a through light beam detector. The signal or signals from the detectors may be coupled to a processor such as processor 202 so that the elevator 2110 may be positioned at a desirable height to facilitate smooth stacking of banknotes onto the elevator platform 2140 or on to the top of a stack of banknotes residing thereon.
According to some embodiments, during operation in which banknotes are to be fed or deposited into a recycling bay 1760, a coordinated set of tamping devices will make repeated hits against the edges of the banknotes as the banknotes are engaged in the stacker wheels 2062 and against the edges of the top-most portion of the stack of banknotes being supported on the elevator platform 2140 of an elevator 2110. In operation, the coordinated set of tamping devices will urge the edges of the banknotes to be in alignment, so as to reduce or eliminate the chance a banknote will be in a position which will cause an error when that banknote is to be fed out of the recycling bay 1760. According to some embodiments, the coordinated set of tamping devices act only on the short or narrow sides of the banknotes, moving them to be centered about the stripping wheels 1974. According to some embodiments, the coordinated set of tamping devices act only on the wide or long side of the banknotes which are against downstream wall 1760PS. According to some embodiments, the coordinated set of tamping devices act only on the wide or long side of the banknotes which are against upstream wall 1760US. According to some embodiments, the coordinated set of tamping devices act on the wide or long side of the banknotes which are against downstream wall 1760DS and the narrow or short sides of the banknotes. According to some embodiments, the coordinated set of tamping devices act on the wide or long side of the banknotes which are against upstream wall 1760US and the narrow or short sides of the banknotes. According to some embodiments, the coordinated set of tamping devices act on the wide, long sides of the banknotes which are against downstream wall 1760DS and on the wide, long side of the banknotes which are against the upstream wall 1760US and the narrow, short sides of the banknotes. According to some embodiments, the coordinated set of tamping devices are actuated to make repeated hits against the edges of the banknotes by direct or indirect contact with cam devices located on the stacker wheel shaft 2062SH. According to some embodiments, some of the coordinated set of tamping devices are actuated to make repeated hits against the edges of the banknotes by a motor or solenoid controlled by one or more processors or controllers such as processor 202.
Elevator
The elevator 2110 has a lower housing 2111 and a banknote support or platform 2140. According to some embodiments, the platform 2140 is flexibly coupled to the lower housing 2110 such that the platform 2140 may move up and down (see arrow 21A) relative to the lower housing 2110. According to some embodiments, the platform 2140 is also pivotally coupled to the lower housing 2111 such that it may rotate about a pivot axis 2140A (see arrow 21B) with the pivot axis 2140A also being moveable up and down (see arrow 21A). According to some embodiments, the banknote support or platform 2140 is biased such as by one or more platform springs 2140SP upward away from the lower housing 2111 in each storage bay 1760a-1760f in a generally horizontal manner. According to some embodiments, the platform springs 2140SP permit a range of pivot or tilt of the platform 2140 about the pivot axis 2140A and a range of downward movement of the platform 2140 relative to the lower housing 2111 while the spacers 2117 limit that range of tilt and/or downward movement. According to some embodiments, the spacers 2117 allow the banknote support or platform 2140 to pivot about axis 2140A as previously described without allowing the banknote support or platform 2140 to pivot in any other direction. According to some embodiments, the spacers 2117 may be molded as an integral part of the platform 2140 or may be form as separate parts from the platform 2140
The elevator 2110 also comprises a pair of driven elevation gears 2113 that engage a pair of geared elevator tracks 2114 (see e.g.,
According to some embodiments, the elevation motor 2115 drives an elevation motor shaft 2115SH to rotate about an elevation motor shaft axis 2115A. An elevation motor worm gear 2115G is fixedly coupled to the elevation motor shaft 2115SH and drives one or more elevation shaft worm gears 2113G fixedly coupled to the elevation gear shaft 2113SH. As illustrated in
A banknote or a stack of banknotes stacked on the banknote support or platform 2140 can be moved up and down within a storage bay 1760a-1760f by the elevator 2110 being moved up and down.
Depositing/in-Feeding
As explained above, during a depositing, in-feed operation, the stacker wheels 2062 stack an in-coming banknote onto the banknote support 2140 or, if there are already one or more banknotes stacked on the banknote support 2140, onto the top of the stack of banknotes being supported by banknote support 2140. The elevator 2110 (under control of a processor or controller such as controller 202) may be slowly lowered as more banknotes are directed into storage bay 1760 so that the stacker wheels 2062 may stack incoming banknotes onto the top of the stack of banknotes being supported by banknote support 2140 wherein the top of the stack of banknotes is maintained generally at the same height. As the banknotes are not perfectly flat and may, in fact, have wrinkles and creases therein, as a stack of banknotes grows on the banknote support 2140, the stack of banknotes becomes to have a degree of vertical sponginess.
According to some embodiments, when a number of banknotes below a certain threshold are stacked on the banknote platform 2140, the platform springs 2140SP bias the banknote platform 2140 upward away from the lower housing 2111 and when more than the threshold number of banknotes are stacked on the banknote platform 2140, the weight of the stack of banknotes overcomes the bias of the platform springs 2140SP such that the banknote platform 2140 moves to its lowest point relative to the lower housing 2111 as may be dictated by spacers 2117. According to some embodiments, the platform springs 2140SP are selected so that threshold number of banknotes is relatively low, e.g., about 30 banknotes. According to some embodiments, the platform springs 2140SP are selected so that threshold number of banknotes is, e.g., about 300 banknotes. According to some embodiments, the platform springs 2140SP are selected so that threshold number of banknotes is, e.g., about 250 banknotes. According to some embodiments, the platform springs 2140SP are selected so that threshold number of banknotes is between about 240-360 banknotes. According to some embodiments, the platform springs 2140SP are selected so that threshold number of banknotes is higher such that the banknote platform 2140 remains biased away from the lower housing 2111 even when a relatively large number of banknotes are stacked on the platform.
Dispensing/Out-Feeding/Contact Force Measurement
During a feed-out or dispense operation, as discussed above in connection with
The output of the one or more sensors may be communicatively coupled to a controller or processor such as controller or processor 202 that controls the operation of elevation motor 2115 that controls the movement of the elevator 2110 (and/or the other elevators described herein) such as by communicating a pressure sensor to the processor. The controller or processor monitors the pressure sensor signal(s) and controls the elevation and/or movement of the elevator 2110 based on the information derived from the pressure sensor(s) such as by instructing the elevation motor 2115 controlling the elevator 2110 movement to slow down or stop or reverse direction so that the applied pressure or contact force by the top of the stack of banknotes on the stripping wheels 1974 and/or the feeding plate 1972 is maintained within an acceptable range. If the measured pressure is within the acceptable range, the feeding out operation is continued, e.g., stripping wheels 1974 and drive roll 1975 continue to rotate, and the elevator 2110 is maintained at its current position. When the measured pressure falls below a lower threshold value for the acceptable range, the elevator 2110 is raised (by signaling the elevator motor 2115 to rotate so as to raise the elevator) until the measured pressure again until the measured pressure is within the acceptable range, at which point the elevator 2110 is held at its current position (by signaling the elevator motor 2115 to stop) The feeding out operation is then continued, e.g., stripping wheels 1974 and drive roll 1975 rotate. This automated, self-regulating process continues until banknotes are no longer to be feed out of a corresponding storage bay 1760 and the feed-out or dispense operation is discontinued.
According to some embodiments, upon the initiation of a dispensing operation, the elevator 2110 is slowly raised and the controller monitors the pressure sensor signal. When the pressure sensor signal exceeds a first target threshold indicative that the amount of pressure is at a desired or optimal level, the controller instructs the elevator motor 2115 to stop causing the elevator 2110 to stop being raised. The controller then instructs a banknote dispensing assembly to start so that banknotes begin to be fed out of the banknotes storage bay. According to embodiments employing the feeder module 1900, the controller is communicatively coupled to feeder motor 1990 and instructs it to begin rotating which in turn causes stripping wheels 1974 and drive roll 1975 to being rotating. As banknotes are fed out of the storage bay, the level of the pressure sensor signal will begin to fall. When the pressure sensor signal falls below a first lower threshold, the controller instructs the elevator motor 2115 to begin rotating to cause the elevator 2110 to begin being raised. When the pressure sensor signal again exceeds the first target threshold indicative that the amount of pressure is at a desired or optimal level, the controller instructs the elevator motor to stop causing the elevator 2110 to stop being raised. According to some embodiments, between the time when the pressure sensor signal falls below the first lower threshold and the time it again exceeds the first target threshold, the controller signals the feeder motor 1990 to stop rotating. According to some alternative embodiments, between the time when the pressure sensor signal falls below the first lower threshold and the time it again exceeds the first target threshold, the feeder motor 1990 continues to rotate. According to some such alternative embodiments, the controller may signal the feeder motor 1990 to stop rotating if the pressure sensor signal falls below a second lower threshold which is lower than the first lower threshold.
The applied pressure or contact force by the top of the stack of banknotes on the stripping wheels 1974 and/or the feeding plate 1972 can be sensed either directly or indirectly. An embodiment for measuring the contact force indirectly can be understood with reference to
According to some embodiments, upon the initiation of a feed-out or dispense operation, the stripping wheels 1974 and drive roll 1975 are not rotated while the stack of banknotes supported by banknote platform 2140 is raised. As the top of the stack of banknotes starts to contact the stripping wheels 1974 a contact force begins to build up as the elevator 2114 continues to rise and the stack of banknotes begins to compress. Once the measured contact force reaches a target threshold value within the acceptable range, the controller 202 stops raising the elevator (by instructing the elevator motor 2115 to stop). At this point, the controller 2002 may initiate feeding out banknotes by instructing the feeder module motor 1990 to rotate the stripping wheel shaft 1974SH and the drive roll shaft 1975SH.
The controller 202 continues to monitor the contact as the stripping wheel shaft 1974SH rotates and as banknotes are being fed out. According to some embodiments, since realistic parts will have tolerances and run-outs associated with them, the controller 202 may average measurements over a single or a plurality of revolution cycles. According to some embodiments, the controller 202 could monitor the contract force mapped based on encoder position(s) and compare to an encoder-position based calibration. In conjunction with the sponginess of the note stack (or on shorter stacks with the help of the paddle springs) this will guarantee a fairly consistent contact pressure.
As explained above, the pressure or contact force between the top of a stack of banknotes and stripping wheels 1974 and/or the feeding plate 1972 can be sensed either directly or indirectly. According to some embodiments and with reference to
According to some embodiments, the contact force is determined by measuring the 1974SH bending strain.
According to some embodiments, a stiffer stripping wheel shaft 1974SH is employed and has bearings at each end thereof guided in such a way that the ends of the shaft 1974SH can move up and down. According to some such embodiments, the ends of the shaft 1974SH are spring loaded with known spring constants downward. According to such embodiments, the shaft 1974SH can move up and down as a whole and the position of the shaft is measured as an indication of the contact force of the top of the stack of banknotes on the stripping wheels 1974.
According to some embodiments and with reference to
According to some embodiments, shaft displacement stripping wheel shaft 1974SH may measured by two sensors by measuring the vertical displacement of each of two spring loaded bearing/bearing blocks at the ends of the stripping wheel shaft 1974SH.
According to some embodiments, force sensors are placed over vertically guided bearing blocks at each end of the stripping wheel shaft 1974SH. As the shaft gets pushed up, force sensors generate a direct force read-out (signal).
According to some embodiments including those described in the preceding paragraphs, measuring the displacement of the rotating shaft 1974SH is performed by one or more non-contact sensors such as hall effect sensors, proximity sensors (coils) or optical sensors. Alternatively or additionally, according to some embodiments including those described in the preceding paragraphs, measuring the displacement of the rotating shaft 1974SH is performed by one or more sensors that require contact with the rotating shaft 1974SH (e.g. by an LVDT or a contact lever leading to a sensor or even by a micro switch set to a certain trigger point) and may employ a bearing added to make the area of contact non-rotating if need be.
According to some embodiments, a bearing is added to the center of the shaft 1974SH, creating a non-rotating area onto which a lever can contact may be employed to allow for a direct force measurement in or near the center of the shaft.
According to some embodiments, a combination of compression or extension springs and limit switches are employed to provide feedback to the elevator motor 2115 and may be employed to maintain near constant contact pressure of the top of the stack of banknotes against stripping rollers 1974. According to some such embodiments, the use of the combination of compression or extension springs and limit switches does not require constant monitoring the pressure or contact force on the shaft 1974SH, and thus, may be employed to reduce the duty cycle of the motor 2115.
As discussed above, the platform 2140 is initially maintained in a generally horizontal manner or plane as banknotes are deposited on top of the platform 2140. However, because banknotes may be crinkled and/or creased as banknotes are stacked on top of each other, the top banknote may become to lie in a non-horizontal plane. During a feed-out or dispense operation, as discussed above in connection with
Additionally, the initial sponginess of a stack of banknotes and/or the ability of the platform 2140 which is spring-biased upward to tilt and/or move downward also assist in maintaining the amount of pressure or contact force by which the top banknote is pressed against the stripping wheels 1974 and/or the feeding plate 1972 within an acceptable range such as by providing some forgiveness without necessarily having to make fine adjustments to the level of the elevator 2110. For example, as banknotes are fed out of the storage bay 1760, one by one, and the weight of the remaining banknotes is not sufficient to overcome the upward bias of the platform springs 2140SP, the platform springs 2140SP will cause the platform 2140 to slowly rise, assisting with maintaining the contact force within the acceptable range without having to raise the elevator 2110. For larger stacks of banknotes even where the weight of the remaining banknotes is sufficient to overcome the upward bias of the platform springs 2140SP, as banknotes are fed out of the storage bay 1760, one by one, the sponginess of a stack of banknotes assists with maintaining the contact force within the acceptable range without having to raise the elevator 2110, that is, as notes are feed out of the storage bay, the sponginess of the remaining notes forces the topmost banknote upward against the stripping wheels 1974 without requiring the elevator 2110 to be moved upward.
However, as described above, in some embodiments, the weight of a sufficiently large number of banknotes overcomes the upward bias forces of the platform springs 2140SP such that the banknote platform 2140 moves to its lowest point relative to the lower housing 2111 and no longer provides a mechanism for assisting maintaining the contact force within an acceptable range as the top banknote is pressed against the stripping wheels 1974 and/or the feeding plate 1972. Accordingly, at such point, the position of the elevator 2110 must be adjusted as described above when the contact pressure falls outside the acceptable range.
According to some embodiments, the elevator lower housing 2111 is held generally horizontal in the storage bay 1760a-f in the long direction by the alignment of the left and right gears 2113 on the gear tracks 2114. The elevator lower housing 2111 (and therefore the banknote support or platform 2140) is held generally horizontal in the storage bay 1760a-f in the narrow or short direction by one or more bearings such as bearing 2110B1 which is separated by some distance from the elevation gear shaft 2113SH, and made to run vertically in a bearing track 1719 (see
According to some embodiments, each of the elevators 2110 are identical and interchangeable that may be quickly inserted into and/or removed from a storage bay 1760. Thus, when servicing banknote recycler 1700, if one or more of the elevators 2110 is not working properly, a service technician may quickly and easily remove a malfunctioning elevator 2110 and replace it with another modular elevator 2110. According to such embodiments, the banknote recycler may then be quickly serviced and placed back into normal operational use. According to some such embodiments, a malfunctioning elevator 2110 may then be serviced at a different location such as at a service technician's or manufacturer's facility so as to minimize time during which a service technician would need to interfere with the normal operation and use of the banknote recycler such as by bank tellers.
According to some embodiments, to install an elevator 2110 into a bay 1760, the elevation gear shaft worm gear 2113G is decoupled from the elevation motor worm gear 2115G, the elevation gears 2113 are coupled to the elevator tracks 2114 and the elevator 2110 is manually lowered down the tracks 2114. Then the lower end of tool 2113TL may be positioned on the opposite side of decoupling flange 2113L and the top of the tool 2113TL may move moved in the direction opposite to direction 21-A1 toward from elevation gear shaft worm gear 2113G so that it pivots about a portion of lower housing 2111 causing the lower end of the tool 2113TL to pull the decoupling flange 2113L and the elevation gear shaft worm gear 2113G in direction opposite of direction 21-B1 until the elevation gear shaft worm gear 2113G becomes coupled from the elevation motor worm gear 2115G.
According to some embodiments, absent the presence of the tool 2113TL, the elevation gear shaft spring 2113SP biases the elevation gear shaft worm gear 2113G into the operable position into engagement with the elevation motor worm gear 2115G. According to such embodiments, the bottom of the tool 2113TL must remain pushing flange decoupling flange 2113L in direction 21-B1 while the elevator is manually raised or lowered along the tracks 2114.
According to some embodiments, a service technician may instruct the processor or controller controlling the elevation motor 2115 such as controller 202 (such via an interface such as interface 208) to raise the elevator 2110 to the top of tracks 2114 where it may be manually removed and/or to lower the elevator 2110 down the tracks 2114 after the elevator 2110 has be coupled to the tracks 2114.
When removing a first elevator 2110 from the banknote recycler 1700, for example, when the elevator 2110 is not operating properly or otherwise needs service, a service personnel or technician may quickly disconnect any associated electrical connections (e.g., power, communications lines to one or more processors such as processor 202), remove the first elevator 2110 as described above, insert another elevator 2110 as described above and reconnect the associated electrical connections.
Referring to
According to some embodiments, each storage bay 1760 comprises an upstream wall or plate 1760US and a downstream wall or plate 1760DS. According to some embodiments, each storage bay 1760 comprises a means for maintaining the position of banknotes stack in a storage bay in transverse direction such as a front wall and a rear wall. In some embodiments, the front walls and rear walls are replaced with front retaining post 1760FP and a rear retaining post 1760RP. According to some embodiments, the upstream walls 1760US and the downstream walls 1760DS may be replaced with one or more posts. Each banknote recycler storage bay 1760 has an upper end 1760UP and a lower end 1760LO. The upstream wall 1760US, the downstream wall 1760DS, the front retaining post 1760FP, and the rear retaining post 1760RP help to contain stacked banknotes within the storage bay 1760 and serve to define a banknote space 1760SP of the storage bay 1760. According to some embodiments, banknotes are transported in a wide-edge leading manner and stacked each the storage bay 1760 with their wide edges being adjacent the upstream wall 1760US and the downstream wall 1760DS and their narrow edges being adjacent the front retaining post 1760FP, and the rear retaining post 1760RP.
According to some embodiments, the feeder shafts 1796SH and 1798SH on which driven feeder rolls 1796 and 1798, respectively, are mounted, are rotationally driven by one or more motors such as motor 1796M. According to some embodiments, the feeder shafts 1796SH and 1798SH are rotationally driven by one or more belts 1796B operatively coupled to the one or motors 1796M. According to some embodiments, a single motor 1796M drives a plurality of feeder shafts 1796SH and a plurality of shafts 1798SH. According to some embodiments, a single motor 1796M drives a plurality of feeder shafts 1796SH and a plurality of shafts 1798SH associated with in-feed transport paths 1900IN and out-feed transport paths 1900OUT associated with a plurality of storage bays 1760. According to some embodiments, a single motor 1796M drives all the feeder shafts 1796SH and all the shafts 1798SH of the banknote recycler 1700. According to some embodiments, the chassis 1704 has a front wall 1704F and a rear wall 1704R. According to some embodiments, the feeder shafts 1796SH and 1798SH are rotationally coupled to a front wall 1704F and a rear wall 1704R.
According to some embodiments, the internal size (that is, the space in which banknotes are stored) of the storage bays 1760a-1760f may be adjusted to accommodate different sizes of banknotes, e.g., a storage bay sized to accommodate U.S. currency may be adjusted accommodate €10 banknotes or a storage bay sized to accommodate €10 banknotes may be adjusted accommodate €20 banknotes as described above in connection with
According to some embodiments, the front retaining post 1760FP and the rear retaining post 1760RP are coupled to the chassis 1704 via storage bay wall retainers 1707. According to some embodiments, the wide or long horizontal dimension of the banknote space 1760SP of a storage bay 1760 may be adjusted by uses storage bay wall retainers 1707 of different lengths so as to adjust the distance between a front retaining post 1760FP or rear retaining post 1760RP and a corresponding front wall 1704F and a rear wall 1704R of the chassis. According to some embodiments, the storage bay wall retainers 1707 may have a slidably, adjustable length in the front-back direction (parallel to a wide-dimension of a storage bay 1760) of the storage bay such that one or both of the front-back positions of the front retaining post 1760FP and/or rear retaining post 1760RP may be adjusted. According to some such embodiments, the storage bay wall retainers 1707 may have preset engagement positions corresponding to wide-dimensions associated with banknotes having different wide dimensions, e.g., a first present engagement position for U.S. banknotes, a second preset engagement position for €10 banknotes, a third preset engagement position for €20 banknotes, etc. According to some embodiments, the storage bay wall retainers 1707 snap into the various preset engagement positions as the front retaining post 1760FP and/or rear retaining post 1760RP are pulled or push in a front-back (parallel to a wide-dimension of a storage bay 1760) direction.
According to some embodiments, the storage bays 1760a-1760f are dimensioned to accommodate a stack of as many as 5000 banknotes. For recyclers 1700 having six storage bays with one being used as an escrow bay, the five remaining storage bays, e.g., bays 1760b-1760f may accommodate and store as many as 25,000 banknotes. According to some embodiments, each storage bay 1760a-1760f is dimensioned to accommodate a stack of at least 4,5000 banknotes. According to some embodiments, each storage bay 1760a-1760f is dimensioned to accommodate a stack of at least 4000 banknotes. According to some embodiments, each storage bay 1760a-1760f is dimensioned to accommodate a stack of at least 3000 banknotes. According to some embodiments, each storage bay 1760a-1760f is dimensioned to accommodate a stack of at least 1000 banknotes. According to some embodiments, each storage bay 1760a-1760f is dimensioned to accommodate a stack of at least 2000 banknotes. According to some embodiments, each storage bay 1760a-1760f is dimensioned to accommodate a stack of at least 2500 banknotes.
According to some embodiments, referring to
According to some embodiments, banknotes may be deposited into and dispensed from storage bay 1760 at a rate of at least 1000 banknotes per minute.
According to some embodiments, the transport mechanism 1820 is operated at high speeds and can transport banknotes at a rate of at least 5000 inches per minute and/or deliver notes from the transport path 1820D into a storage bay 1760 at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute and/or deliver notes from a storage bay 1760 onto the transport path 1820D at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute.
According to some embodiments, a stack of up to about 5000 banknotes may be stacked on the elevator platform 2140 and dispensed at high-speed (e.g., at least 1000 banknotes per minute or banknotes are transported at a rate of at least 5000 inches per minute). According to some embodiments, a stack of at least about 4500 banknotes may be stacked on the elevator platform 2140 and dispensed at high-speed (e.g., at least 1000 banknotes per minute or banknotes are transported at a rate of at least 5000 inches per minute). According to some embodiments, a stack of at least about 3000 banknotes may be stacked on the elevator platform 2140 and dispensed at high-speed (e.g., at least 1000 banknotes per minute or banknotes are transported at a rate of at least 5000 inches per minute). According to some embodiments, a stack of at least about 2000 banknotes may be stacked on the elevator platform 2140 and dispensed at high-speed (e.g., at least 1000 banknotes per minute or banknotes are transported at a rate of at least 5000 inches per minute). According to some embodiments, a stack of at least about 1000 banknotes may be stacked on the elevator platform 2140 and dispensed at high-speed (e.g., at least 1000 banknotes per minute or banknotes are transported at a rate of at least 5000 inches per minute).
According to some embodiments, the banknote recycler 1700 is operated at high speeds and can deliver notes from the storage bay transport path 1820D into a storage bay 1760 at a rate of at least 1000 bills/banknotes per minute. According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into a storage bay 1760 and dispensed from the storage bay 1760 at a rate of at least 600 banknotes per minutes. According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 1760 and dispensed from the storage bay 1760 at a rate of at least 800 banknotes per minutes. According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 1760 and dispensed from the storage bay 1760 at a rate of at least 1000 banknotes per minutes.
According to some embodiments, banknotes are stacked into the storage bay 1760 and dispensed from the storage bay 1760 at different speeds.
According to some embodiments, the storage bays 1760 described above are modular and interchangeable with each other.
Embodiment 1. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end and at least one generally vertically side;
an elevator having at least one retractable banknote support, the elevator configured to move upward and downward with respect to the at least one generally vertically side of the recycler bay, the retractable banknote support configured to move into and out of the recycling bay;
a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay;
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the lower end of the recycling bay and comprising:
a pair of stripping wheels supported for rotational movement about a driven stripping wheel shaft,
a pair of drive rolls, and
a pair of nip rollers;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be sequentially fed into the recycling bay, the at least one retractable banknote support is extended into the recycling bay so as to provide a structure on which banknotes may be stacked within the recycling bay and wherein the elevator is raised to a level so as to facilitate the stacking of banknotes being fed into the recycling bay, one on top of the other on the at least one retractable banknote support and wherein the elevator is lowered as banknotes are fed into the recycling bay so that the top of the stack of banknotes residing within the recycling bay and onto which incoming banknotes are stacked remains at about the same level;
wherein prior to a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator is lowered to a bottom of the recycling bay if no banknotes reside at the bottom of the recycling bay and wherein the at least one retractable banknote support is moved out of the recycling bay so that the stack of banknotes that had been supported by the at least one retractable support come to rest upon a bottom surface of the recycling bay;
wherein prior to a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator is lowered to a location adjacent the top of a stack of banknotes resting on the bottom of the recycling bay if there are banknotes already residing at the bottom of the recycling bay and wherein the at least one retractable banknote support is moved out of the recycling bay so that the stack of banknotes that had been supported by the at least one retractable support come to rest upon the top of the stack of banknotes already residing at the bottom of the recycling bay.
Embodiment 2. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end and at least one generally vertically side;
an elevator having at least one retractable banknote support, the elevator configured to move upward and downward with respect to the at least one generally vertically side of the recycler bay, the retractable banknote support configured to move into and out of the recycling bay;
a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay;
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the lower end of the recycling bay;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be sequentially fed into the recycling bay, the at least one retractable banknote support is extended into the recycling bay so as to provide a structure on which banknotes may be stacked within the recycling bay and wherein the elevator is raised to a level so as to facilitate the stacking of banknotes being fed into the recycling bay, one on top of the other on the at least one retractable banknote support and wherein the elevator is lowered as banknotes are fed into the recycling bay so that the top of the stack of banknotes residing within the recycling bay and onto which incoming banknotes are stacked remains at about the same level;
wherein prior to a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator is lowered to the bottom of the recycling bay if no banknotes reside at the bottom of the recycling bay and wherein the at least one retractable banknote support is moved out of the recycling bay so that the stack of banknotes that had been supported by the at least one retractable support come to rest upon a bottom surface of the recycling bay;
wherein prior to a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator is lowered to a location adjacent the top of a stack of banknotes resting on the bottom of the recycling bay if there are banknotes already residing at the bottom of the recycling bay and wherein the at least one retractable banknote support is moved out of the recycling bay so that the stack of banknotes that had been supported by the at least one retractable support come to rest upon the top of the stack of banknotes already residing at the bottom of the recycling bay.
Embodiment 3. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end, the recycling bay having a banknote leading edge side and a banknote trailing edge side;
an elevator banknote stacker plate configured to move upward and downward within the recycler bay;
a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end and banknote trailing edge side of the recycling bay and comprising:
a pair of drive rolls supported for rotational movement about a driven drive roll shaft,
a pair of nip rollers supported for rotational movement about a nip roller shaft, each of the nip rollers being positioned below a corresponding one of the drive rolls such that banknotes may pass between each corresponding drive roll and nip roller pair,
a plurality of tap down assemblies supported for rotational movement about the nip roller shaft, each tap down assembly having a base and a plurality of flexible tap down projections extending from the base, the base having a circumference extending around the nip roller shaft, the plurality of tap down projections being positioned about the circumference of a corresponding base such that collectively the plurality of tap down projections extend from a corresponding base over less than about 180° of the circumference of the base, and
a pair of ceiling guides positioned so as to guide the leading edge of banknotes emerging from between each drive roll and nip roller pair downward into the recycling bay and toward the banknote leading edge side of the recycling bay and on top of any preceding banknotes resting on the elevator banknote stacker plate;
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay and comprising:
a pair of stripping wheels supported for rotational movement about a driven stripping wheel shaft,
the pair of drive rolls, and
the pair of nip rollers;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be sequentially fed into the recycling bay, the plurality of tap down assemblies are rotated such that the plurality of tap down projections push the trailing edges of banknotes that have been fed into the recycling bay downward so as to facilitate a succeeding banknote entering the recycling bay to be positioned on the upper side of a prior fed banknote;
wherein during a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator banknote stacker plate is elevated such that the stripping wheels sequentially engage the topmost banknote stacked in the recycling bay and urge the topmost banknote into contact with the pair of drive rolls which act to feed banknotes out of the recycling bay arrangement, one bill at a time; and wherein during a dispensing operation the tap down assemblies are rotationally positioned such that the plurality of tap down projections do not extend into the recycling bay nor above the top of the nip rollers.
Embodiment 4. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end, the recycling bay having a banknote leading edge side and a banknote trailing edge side;
an elevator banknote stacker plate configured to move upward and downward within the recycler bay;
a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end and banknote trailing edge side of the recycling bay and comprising:
one or more tap down assemblies supported for rotational movement about a shaft, each tap down assembly having a base and a plurality of flexible tap down projections extending from the base, the base having a circumference extending around the shaft, the plurality of tap down projections being positioned about the circumference of a corresponding base such that collectively the plurality of tap down projections extend from a corresponding base over less than about 180° of the circumference of the base, and
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be sequentially fed into the recycling bay, the plurality of tap down assemblies are rotated such that the plurality of tap down projections push the trailing edges of banknotes that have been fed into the recycling bay downward so as to facilitate a succeeding banknote entering the recycling bay to be positioned on an upper side of a prior fed banknote;
wherein during a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator banknote stacker plate is elevated such that the banknote feeding assembly sequentially engages the topmost banknote stacked in the recycling bay and feeds banknotes out of the recycling bay arrangement, one bill at a time; and wherein during a dispensing operation the tap down assemblies are rotationally positioned such that the plurality of tap down projections do not extend into the recycling bay.
Embodiment 5. The banknote recycling bay arrangement of embodiment 4 wherein the banknote feeding assembly further comprises one or more of drive rolls supported for rotational movement about a driven drive roll shaft, one or more pair of nip rollers supported for rotational movement about a nip roller shaft, each of the nip rollers being positioned below a corresponding one of the drive rolls such that banknotes may pass between each corresponding drive roll and nip roller pair.
Embodiment 6. The banknote recycling bay arrangement of embodiments 4 or 5 further comprising one or more of ceiling guides positioned so as to guide the leading edge of banknotes emerging from between each drive roll and nip roller pair downward into the recycling bay and toward the banknote leading edge side of the recycling bay and on top of any preceding banknotes resting on the elevator banknote stacker plate.
Embodiment 7. The banknote recycling bay arrangement of any of embodiments 4-6 wherein the dispensing assembly comprises: one or more of stripping wheels supported for rotational movement about a driven stripping wheel shaft, one or more pair of drive rolls, and one or more pair of nip rollers.
Embodiment 8. The banknote recycling bay arrangement of either embodiment 6 or embodiment 7 wherein during a dispensing operation the tap down assemblies are rotationally positioned such that the plurality of tap down projections do not extend into the recycling bay nor above the top of the one or more nip rollers.
Embodiment 9. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end;
a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay and comprising:
a pair of stacker wheels supported for rotational movement about a driven stacker wheel shaft;
each stacker wheel being laterally moveable along the driven stacker wheel shaft;
a stacker wheel positioning screw,
a pair of stacker wheel carriages, each carriage having a screw end and a stacker wheel end, the screw end of each carriage having a threaded aperture therein through which a portion of the positioning screw is threaded, each carriage having a pair of arms, each arm extending from the screw end toward the stacker wheel end and at least partially conforming about the stacker wheel shaft, the pair of arms of each carriage extending toward the stacker wheel shaft such that a corresponding stacker wheel is positioned about the stacker wheel shaft between the arms of a corresponding carriage; and
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay and comprising:
a pair of stripping wheels supported for rotational movement about the driven stacker wheel shaft, the pair of stripping wheels being laterally positioned about the stacker wheel shaft between the pair of stacker wheels, and
a pair of drive rolls supported for rotational movement about the drive roll shaft;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be fed into the recycling bay, the lateral position of the stacker wheels is adjusted to an inward position such that banknotes to be fed into the recycling bay are received by the stacker wheels and stacked in the recycling bay;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the lateral position of the stacker wheels is adjusted to an outward position such that banknotes to be fed out the recycling bay are not engaged by the stacker wheels but instead are engaged by the stripping wheels which sequentially engage the topmost banknote stacked in the recycling bay and urge the topmost banknote into contact with the pair of drive rolls which act to feed banknotes out of the recycling bay arrangement, one bill at a time;
wherein the lateral positions of the stacker wheels are adjusted by rotational movement of the stacker wheel positioning screw which serves to laterally move the pair of stacker wheel carriages laterally toward each other when driven in a first rotational direction and to laterally move the pair of stacker wheel carriages laterally away each other when driven in a second rotational direction, the lateral movement of the stacker wheel carriages imparting a corresponding lateral movement on the stacker wheels.
Embodiment 10. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of embodiment 9 wherein the stacker wheel positioning screw comprises threads oriented in a first direction on a first portion and threads oriented in a second opposite direction on a second portion, and wherein a first one of the stacker wheel carriages threadingly engages the first portion of the positioning screw and a second one of the stacker wheel carriages threadingly engages the second portion of the positioning screw.
Embodiment 11. A method of operating a generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end and at least one generally vertical side, the recycling bay comprising an elevator configured to move upward and downward with respect to the at least one generally vertical side of the recycler bay, a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay, and a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the lower end of the recycling bay, the method comprising the acts of: feeding banknotes into the recycling bay; and simultaneously feeding banknotes out of the recycling bay.
Embodiment 12. The method of embodiment 11 wherein the elevator has at least one retractable banknote support and the retractable banknote support configured to move into and out of the recycling bay.
Embodiment 13. A method of operating a generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end, a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay, and a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the lower end of the recycling bay, the method comprising the acts of: feeding banknotes into the recycling bay; and simultaneously feeding banknotes out of the recycling bay.
Embodiment 14. The method according to any of embodiments 11-13 wherein the act of feeding banknotes into the recycling bay is performed at a rate of at least 600 banknotes per minutes and wherein the act of simultaneously feeding banknotes out of the recycling bay is performed at a rate of at least 600 banknotes per minutes.
Embodiment 15. The method according to any of embodiments 11-13 wherein the act of feeding banknotes into the recycling bay is performed at a rate of at least 800 banknotes per minutes and wherein the act of simultaneously feeding banknotes out of the recycling bay is performed at a rate of at least 800 banknotes per minutes.
Embodiment 16. The method according to any of embodiments 11-13 wherein the act of feeding banknotes into the recycling bay is performed at a rate of at least 1000 banknotes per minutes and wherein the act of simultaneously feeding banknotes out of the recycling bay is performed at a rate of at least 1000 banknotes per minutes.
Embodiment 17. The method according to any of embodiments 11-13 wherein the act of feeding banknotes into the recycling bay is performed at a rate of at least 1200 banknotes per minutes and wherein the act of simultaneously feeding banknotes out of the recycling bay is performed at a rate of at least 1200 banknotes per minutes.
Embodiment 18. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end and at least one generally vertically side;
an elevator having at least one retractable banknote support, the elevator configured to move upward and downward with respect to the at least one generally vertically side of the recycler bay, the retractable banknote support configured to move into and out of the recycling bay;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be sequentially fed into the recycling bay, the at least one retractable banknote support is extended into the recycling bay so as to provide a structure on which banknotes may be stacked within the recycling bay and wherein the elevator is raised to a level so as to facilitate the stacking of banknotes being fed into the recycling bay, one on top of the other on the at least one retractable banknote support and wherein the elevator is lowered as banknotes are fed into the recycling bay so that the top of the stack of banknotes residing within the recycling bay and onto which incoming banknotes are stacked remains at about the same level;
wherein prior to a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator is lowered to the bottom of the recycling bay if no banknotes reside at the bottom of the recycling bay and wherein the at least one retractable banknote support is moved out of the recycling bay so that the stack of banknotes that had been supported by the at least one retractable support come to rest upon a bottom surface of the recycling bay;
wherein prior to a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator is lowered to a location adjacent the top of a stack of banknotes resting on the bottom of the recycling bay if there are banknotes already residing at the bottom of the recycling bay and wherein the at least one retractable banknote support is moved out of the recycling bay so that the stack of banknotes that had been supported by the at least one retractable support come to rest upon the top of the stack of banknotes already residing at the bottom of the recycling bay.
Embodiment 19. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end and at least one generally vertically side;
an elevator having at least one retractable banknote support, the elevator configured to move upward and downward with respect to the at least one generally vertically side of the recycler bay, the retractable banknote support configured to move into and out of the recycling bay;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be sequentially fed into the recycling bay, the at least one retractable banknote support is extended into the recycling bay so as to provide a structure on which banknotes may be stacked within the recycling bay.
Embodiment 20. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end, the recycling bay having a banknote leading edge side and a banknote trailing edge side;
an elevator banknote stacker plate or support configured to move upward and downward within the recycler bay;
a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end and banknote trailing edge side of the recycling bay and comprising:
a pair of drive rolls supported for rotational movement about a driven drive roll shaft,
a pair of nip rollers supported for rotational movement about a nip roller shaft, each of the nip rollers being positioned below a corresponding one of the drive rolls such that banknotes may pass between each corresponding drive roll and nip roller pair,
a plurality of tap down assemblies supported for rotational movement about the nip roller shaft, each tap down assembly having the base and a plurality of flexible tap down projections extending from the base, the base having a circumference extending around the nip roller shaft, the plurality of tap down projections being positioned about the circumference of a corresponding base such that collectively the plurality of tap down projections extending from a corresponding base over less than about 180° of the circumference of the base, and
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be sequentially fed into the recycling bay, the plurality of tap down assemblies are rotated such that the plurality of tap down projections push the trailing edges of banknotes that have been fed into the recycling bay downward so as to facilitate a succeeding banknote entering the recycling bay to be positioned on the upper side of a prior fed banknote;
wherein during a dispensing operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the elevator banknote stacker plate or support is elevated to urge a topmost banknote against the banknote dispensing assembly; and wherein during a dispensing operation the tap down assemblies are rotationally positioned such that the plurality of tap down projections do not extend into the recycling bay nor above the top of the nip rollers.
Embodiment 21. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end;
a banknote feeding assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, into the recycling bay, the feeding assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay;
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay;
a pair of stacker wheels supported for rotational movement about a driven stacker wheel shaft, each stacker wheel being laterally moveable along the driven stacker wheel shaft;
a stacker wheel positioning mechanism configured to adjust the lateral positions of the pair of stacker wheels along the stripper wheel shaft;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be fed into the recycling bay, the lateral position of the stacker wheels is adjusted by the stacker wheel positioning mechanism to an inward position such that banknotes to be fed into the recycling bay are received by the stacker wheels and stacked in the recycling bay;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the lateral position of the stacker wheels is adjusted by the stacker wheel positioning mechanism to an outward position such that banknotes to be fed out the recycling bay are not engaged by the stacker wheels but instead are engaged by the banknote dispensing assembly which sequentially engages the topmost banknote stacked in the recycling bay and feeds banknotes out of the recycling bay, one bill at a time.
Embodiment 22. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of embodiment 21 wherein a stacker wheel positioning mechanism comprises:
a stacker wheel positioning screw; and
a pair of stacker wheel carriages, each carriage having a screw end and a stacker wheel end, the screw end of each carriage having a threaded aperture therein through which a portion of the positioning screw is threaded, each carriage having a pair of arms, each arm extending from the screw end toward the stacker wheel end and at least partially conforming about the stacker wheel shaft, the pair of arms of each carriage extending toward the stacker wheel shaft such that a corresponding stacker wheel is positioned about the stacker wheel shaft between the arms of a corresponding carriage;
wherein the lateral positions of the stacker wheels are adjusted by rotational movement of the stacker wheel positioning screw which serves to laterally move the pair of stacker wheel carriages laterally toward each other when driven in a first rotational direction and to laterally move the pair of stacker wheel carriages laterally away each other when driven in a second rotational direction, the lateral movement of the stacker wheel carriages imparting a corresponding lateral movement on the stacker wheels.
Embodiment 23. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of embodiment 22 wherein the stacker wheel positioning screw comprises threads oriented in a first direction on a first portion and threads oriented in a second opposite direction on a second portion, and wherein a first one of the stacker wheel carriages threadingly engages the first portion of the positioning screw and a second one of the stacker wheel carriages threadingly engages the second portion of the positioning screw.
Embodiment 24. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of any of embodiments 21-23 further comprising:
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the upper end of the recycling bay and comprising:
one or more stripping wheels supported for rotational movement about the driven stacker wheel shaft, the pair of stripping wheels being laterally positioned about the stacker wheel shaft between the pair of stacker wheels, and
one or more drive rolls supported for rotational movement about the drive roll shaft; and
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the recycling bay, the lateral position of the stacker wheels is adjusted by the stacker wheel positioning mechanism to an outward position such that banknotes to be fed out the recycling bay are not engaged by the stacker wheels but instead are engaged by the one or more stripping wheels which sequentially engages the topmost banknote stacked in the recycling bay and urges the topmost banknote into contact with the one or more drive rolls which act to feed banknotes out of the recycling bay arrangement, one bill at a time.
Embodiment 25. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of embodiment 21 wherein a stacker wheel positioning mechanism comprises:
a stacker wheel positioning motor or solenoid, an elongated rotatable cam crank comprising two ends, a pair of linkage arms comprising two ends, and a pair of linkage arm supports.
Embodiment 26. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of embodiment 25
wherein one end of a first one of the linkage arms is coupled to a first one of the ends of the cam crank and a second end of the first one of the linkage arms is couple to a first one of the linkage arm supports,
wherein one end of a second one of the linkage arms is coupled to a second one of the ends of the cam crank and a second end of the second one of the linkage arms is couple to a second one of the linkage arm supports,
wherein each stacker wheel is rotatably coupled to a respective one of the linkage arm supports.
Embodiment 27. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of embodiment 26 wherein the motor or solenoid is configured to rotate the elongated rotatable cam crank about a cam axis causing the ends of the cam crank to rotate about the cam axis thereby causing the linkage arm supports and the stacker wheels coupled thereto to move either laterally closer to each other or laterally away from each other.
Embodiment 28. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of any of embodiments 25-27 further comprising a controller or processor communicatively coupled to and controlling the motor or solenoid.
Embodiment 29. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of any of embodiments 25-28 further comprising a pair of stacker wheel bases and wherein each stacker wheel is fixedly coupled to a respective one of the stacker wheel bases and wherein each stacker wheel base is rotatably coupled to a respective one of the linkage arm supports.
Embodiment 30. A banknote stacker wheel assembly for stacking banknotes in a banknote receptacle comprising:
a pair of stacker wheels supported for rotational movement about a driven stacker wheel shaft, each stacker wheel being laterally moveable along the driven stacker wheel shaft;
a stacker wheel positioning mechanism configured to adjust the lateral positions of the pair of stacker wheels along the stripper wheel shaft.
Embodiment 31. The banknote stacker wheel assembly of embodiment 30 wherein a stacker wheel positioning mechanism comprises a stacker wheel positioning motor or solenoid, an elongated rotatable cam crank comprising two ends, a pair of linkage arms comprising two ends, and a pair of linkage arm supports.
Embodiment 32. The banknote stacker wheel assembly of embodiment 31
wherein one end of a first one of the linkage arms is coupled to a first one of the ends of the cam crank and a second end of the first one of the linkage arms is couple to a first one of the linkage arm supports,
wherein one end of a second one of the linkage arms is coupled to a second one of the ends of the cam crank and a second end of the second one of the linkage arms is couple to a second one of the linkage arm supports,
wherein each stacker wheel is rotatably coupled to a respective one of the linkage arm supports.
Embodiment 33. The banknote stacker wheel assembly of embodiment 32 wherein the motor or solenoid is configured to rotate the elongated rotatable cam crank about a cam axis causing the ends of the cam crank to rotate about the cam axis thereby causing the linkage arm supports and the stacker wheels coupled thereto to move either laterally closer to each other or laterally away from each other.
Embodiment 34. The banknote stacker wheel assembly of any of embodiments 31-33 further comprising a controller or processor communicatively coupled to and controlling the motor or solenoid.
Embodiment 35. The banknote stacker wheel assembly of any of embodiments 31-34 further comprising a pair of stacker wheel bases and wherein each stacker wheel is fixedly coupled to a respective one of the stacker wheel bases and wherein each stacker wheel base is rotatably coupled to a respective one of the linkage arm supports.
Embodiment 36. The banknote stacker wheel assembly of embodiment 30 wherein a stacker wheel positioning mechanism comprises:
a stacker wheel positioning screw; and
a pair of stacker wheel carriages, each carriage having a screw end and a stacker wheel end, the screw end of each carriage having a threaded aperture therein through which a portion of the positioning screw is threaded, each carriage having a pair of arms, each arm extending from the screw end toward the stacker wheel end and at least partially conforming about the stacker wheel shaft, the pair of arms of each carriage extending toward the stacker wheel shaft such that a corresponding stacker wheel is positioned about the stacker wheel shaft between the arms of a corresponding carriage;
wherein the lateral positions of the stacker wheels are adjusted by rotational movement of the stacker wheel positioning screw which serves to laterally move the pair of stacker wheel carriages laterally toward each other when driven in a first rotational direction and to laterally move the pair of stacker wheel carriages laterally away each other when driven in a second rotational direction, the lateral movement of the stacker wheel carriages imparting a corresponding lateral movement on the stacker wheels.
Embodiment 37. The banknote stacker wheel assembly of embodiment 36 wherein the stacker wheel positioning screw comprises threads oriented in a first direction on a first portion and threads oriented in a second opposite direction on a second portion, and wherein a first one of the stacker wheel carriages threadingly engages the first portion of the positioning screw and a second one of the stacker wheel carriages threadingly engages the second portion of the positioning screw.
Embodiment 38. The banknote stacker wheel assembly of any of embodiments 30-37
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be fed into the banknote receptacle, the lateral position of the stacker wheels is adjusted by the stacker wheel positioning mechanism to an inward position such that banknotes to be fed into the banknote receptacle are received by the stacker wheels and stacked in the banknote receptacle;
wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the banknote receptacle, the lateral position of the stacker wheels is adjusted by the stacker wheel positioning mechanism to an outward position such that banknotes to be fed out the recycling bay are not engaged by the stacker wheels but instead are engaged by a banknote dispensing assembly which sequentially engages a topmost banknote stacked in the banknote receptacle and feeds banknotes out of the banknote receptacle, one bill at a time.
Embodiment 39. A banknote stacker wheel module for stacking banknotes in a banknote receptacle comprising a removable stacker module mounting plate having coupled thereto: a pair of stacker wheels supported for rotational movement about a driven stacker wheel shaft, each stacker wheel being laterally moveable along the driven stacker wheel shaft; and a stacker wheel positioning mechanism configured to adjust the lateral positions of the pair of stacker wheels along the stripper wheel shaft.
Embodiment 40. The banknote stacker wheel module of embodiment 39 wherein a stacker wheel positioning mechanism comprises: a stacker wheel positioning motor or solenoid, an elongated rotatable cam crank comprising two ends, a pair of linkage arms comprising two ends, and a pair of linkage arm supports.
Embodiment 41. The banknote stacker wheel module of embodiment 40
wherein one end of a first one of the linkage arms is coupled to a first one of the ends of the cam crank and a second end of the first one of the linkage arms is couple to a first one of the linkage arm supports,
wherein one end of a second one of the linkage arms is coupled to a second one of the ends of the cam crank and a second end of the second one of the linkage arms is couple to a second one of the linkage arm supports,
wherein each stacker wheel is rotatably coupled to a respective one of the linkage arm supports.
Embodiment 42. The banknote stacker wheel module of embodiment 41 wherein the motor or solenoid is configured to rotate the elongated rotatable cam crank about a cam axis causing the ends of the cam crank to rotate about the cam axis thereby causing the linkage arm supports and the stacker wheels coupled thereto to move either laterally closer to each other or laterally away from each other.
Embodiment 43. The banknote stacker wheel module of any of embodiments 40-42 further comprising an electrical connections interface configured to be coupled to an external mating electrical connections interface not residing in the stacker wheel module such that when the two electrical connections interfaces are connected an external processor is communicatively coupled to the motor or solenoid.
Embodiment 44. The banknote stacker wheel module of any of embodiments 40-43 further comprising a pair of stacker wheel bases and wherein each stacker wheel is fixedly coupled to a respective one of the stacker wheel bases and wherein each stacker wheel base is rotatably coupled to a respective one of the linkage arm supports.
Embodiment 45. The banknote stacker wheel module of any of embodiments 39-44 wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be fed into the banknote receptacle, the lateral position of the stacker wheels is adjusted by the stacker wheel positioning mechanism to an inward position such that banknotes to be fed into the banknote receptacle are received by the stacker wheels and stacked in the banknote receptacle; wherein during operation in which banknotes are to be fed out of the banknote receptacle, the lateral position of the stacker wheels is adjusted by the stacker wheel positioning mechanism to an outward position such that banknotes to be fed out the recycling bay are not engaged by the stacker wheels but instead are engaged by a banknote dispensing assembly which sequentially engages a topmost banknote stacked in the banknote receptacle and feeds banknotes out of the banknote receptacle, one bill at a time.
Embodiment 46. The banknote stacker wheel module of any of embodiments 39-45 wherein the removable stacker module mounting plate is removeably coupled to a portion of the banknote receptacle by one or more coupling devices.
Embodiment 47. The banknote stacker wheel module of embodiment 46 wherein the coupling devices comprise one or more screws.
Embodiment 48. The banknote stacker wheel module of embodiment 46 wherein the coupling devices comprise one or more bolts.
Embodiment 49. A feeder module for feeding banknotes into a banknote receptacle and feeding banknotes out of the banknote receptacle comprising:
a housing, the housing comprising a first side and an opposing a second side, wherein banknotes to be fed into the banknote receptacle are received adjacent the first side of the housing and are transported into the banknote receptacle along an in-feed transport path adjacent the first side, and wherein banknotes to be fed out of the banknote receptacle are received adjacent the second side of the housing and are transported out of the banknote receptacle along an out-feed transport path adjacent the second side;
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the banknote receptacle, the dispensing assembly being positioned near the upper end of the banknote receptacle and comprising:
one or more stripping wheels supported for rotational movement about the driven stacker wheel shaft, the pair of stripping wheels being laterally positioned about the stacker wheel shaft between the pair of stacker wheels, and
one or more drive rolls supported for rotational movement about the drive roll shaft;
wherein the banknote dispensing assembly feeds banknotes urged against the one or more stripping wheels into and along the out-feed transport path.
Embodiment 50. A banknote recycler comprising:
a chassis comprising a banknote storage bay; and
a feeder module positioned above the storage bay;
wherein the feeder module comprises:
a feeder module housing, the feeder module housing comprising a first side and an opposing a second side; and
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the banknote receptacle;
wherein the chassis comprises an infeed upper wall, an outfeed upper wall, and a plurality of driven feeder rolls, the infeed upper wall being positioned adjacent to the first side of the feeder module housing and defining an in-feed path therebetween, the outfeed upper wall being positioned adjacent to the second side of the feeder module housing and defining an out-feed path therebetween, at least a first one of the driven feeder rolls protects into the in-feed path and isoperable to transport banknotes along the in-feed path, and at least a second one of the driven feeder rolls protects into the out-feed path and is operable to transport banknotes along the out-feed path;
wherein banknotes to be fed into the banknote receptacle are received adjacent the first side of the housing and are transported along the in-feed transport path adjacent the first side and into the banknote receptacle, and wherein banknotes to be fed out of the banknote receptacle are received adjacent the second side of the housing and are transported out of the banknote receptacle along an out-feed transport path adjacent the second side; and
wherein the banknote dispensing assembly feeds banknotes in the storage bay, one at a time, into the out-feed transport path.
Embodiment 51. A banknote recycler comprising:
a chassis comprising a plurality of banknote storage bays positioned adjacent each other in an upstream/downstream direction; and
a feeder module positioned above each storage bay;
wherein each feeder module comprises:
a feeder module housing, the feeder module housing comprising a first side and an opposing a second side; and
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the banknote receptacle;
wherein the chassis comprises a plurality of infeed upper walls, a plurality of outfeed upper walls, and a plurality of driven feeder rolls, the chassis comprising:
a first infeed upper wall being positioned adjacent to the first side of a first feeder module housing of a first feeder module and defining a first in-feed path therebetween, a first outfeed upper wall being positioned adjacent to the second side of the first feeder module housing of the first feeder module and defining a first out-feed path therebetween,
a second infeed upper wall being positioned adjacent to the first side of a second feeder module housing of a second feeder module and defining a second in-feed path therebetween, a second outfeed upper wall being positioned adjacent to the second side of the second feeder module housing of the second feeder module and defining a second out-feed path therebetween, wherein the second feeder module is located downstream of the first feeder module,
a third infeed upper wall being positioned adjacent to the first side of a third feeder module housing of a third feeder module and defining a third in-feed path therebetween, a third outfeed upper wall being positioned adjacent to the second side of the third feeder module housing of the third feeder module and defining a third out-feed path therebetween, wherein the third feeder module is located upstream of the first feeder module,
wherein at least a first one of the driven feeder rolls protects through the first infeed upper wall into the first in-feed path and is operable to transport banknotes along the first in-feed path,
wherein the first one of the driven feeder rolls also protects through the second outfeed upper wall into the second out-feed path and is operable to transport banknotes along the second out-feed path;
wherein at least a second one of the driven feeder rolls protects through the first outfeed upper wall into the first out-feed path and is operable to transport banknotes along the first out-feed path;
wherein the second one of the driven feeder rolls also protects through the third outfeed upper wall into the third in-feed path and is operable to transport banknotes along the third in-feed path,
Embodiment 52. The banknote recyclers of embodiment 50 or embodiment 51 wherein each feeder module comprises one or more first positioning tabs located on a respective first side of the feeder module housing of the associated feeder module, and/or one or more second positioning tabs located on a respective second side of the feeder module housing of the associated feeder module, wherein each first positioning tab is configured to engage the infeed upper wall adjacent the associated first side of the feeder module housing, wherein each second positioning tab is configured to engage the outfeed upper wall adjacent the associated second side of the feeder module housing, and wherein the first positioning tabs and/or the second positioning tabs are configured to accurately position each feeder module between the associated infeed and outfeed upper walls of the chassis.
Embodiment 53. A banknote storage bay elevator comprising a lower housing; and a banknote platform positioned above the lower housing, wherein the platform is flexibly coupled to the lower housing such that the platform may move up and down relative to the lower housing.
Embodiment 54. The banknote storage bay elevator of embodiment 53 further comprising one or more platform springs biasing the banknote platform upward away from the lower housing.
Embodiment 56. The banknote storage bay elevator of embodiment 53 further wherein the one or more platform springs biasing the banknote platform upward away from the lower housing such that an upper surface of the platform lies in a generally horizontal plane.
Embodiment 57. The banknote storage bay elevator of any of embodiments 53-56 wherein the platform has a long dimension and a narrow dimension and wherein the platform is pivotally coupled to the lower housing such that the platform may rotate about a pivot axis transverse to the long dimension of the platform.
Embodiment 58. The banknote storage bay elevator of embodiment 57 further comprising one or more spacers coupled to either the platform or the lower housing and wherein a range of downward movement of the platform relative to the lower housing is limited by the spacers.
Embodiment 59. The banknote storage bay elevator of embodiment 57 wherein the spacers allow the banknote support or platform to pivot about the pivot axis without allowing the banknote support or platform to pivot in any other direction.
Embodiment 60. The banknote storage bay elevator of any of embodiments 53-57 further comprising one or more spacers coupled to either the platform or the lower housing and wherein a range of downward movement of the platform relative to the lower housing is limited by the spacers.
Embodiment 61. The banknote storage bay elevator of any of embodiments 53-60 further comprising one or more driven elevation gears fixedly mounted on a rotatable elevation gear shaft and a motor operable couple to and configured to rotate the elevation gear shaft.
Embodiment 62. A generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement comprising:
a generally vertically oriented banknote recycling bay for receiving banknotes therein, the recycling bay having an upper end and a lower end;
an elevator comprising an elevator banknote platform or support configured to move upward and downward within the recycler bay, the elevator banknote platform or support supporting a stack of banknotes thereon;
an elevator motor configured to move the elevator upward and downward within the recycler bay;
a banknote dispensing assembly for feeding banknotes, one at a time, out of the recycling bay, the dispensing assembly being positioned above the recycling bay;
a pressure sensor configured to generate a pressure signal; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the pressure sensor and the elevator motor and configured to control the operation of the elevator motor and receive the pressure signal from the pressure sensor;
wherein during a dispensing operation,
the elevator motor raises the elevator so as a top banknote residing in the stack of banknotes contacts the dispensing assembly,
wherein the pressure sensor is configured to measure the amount of pressure the top banknote applies to the dispensing assembly and communicate the amount of pressure to the processor via the pressure signal,
wherein the processor monitors the pressure signal and
a) when the processor detects the amount of pressure exceeds a first target threshold, the processor instructs the elevator motor to stop, and
b) when the processor detects the amount of pressure falls below a first lower threshold, the processor instructs the motor to raise the elevator.
Embodiment 63. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of embodiment 62 wherein the processor is communicatively coupled to the dispensing assembly and wherein the processor instructs the dispensing assembly to begin feeding banknotes out of the recycling bay.
Embodiment 64. The generally vertical banknote recycling bay arrangement of any of embodiments 62-63 wherein the dispensing assembly comprises a stripping wheel mounted on a stripping wheel shaft and wherein the top banknote residing in the stack of banknotes contacts the dispensing assembly by contacting the stripping wheel and wherein the stripping wheel shaft is configured to deflect upward under contact pressure from the top banknote, and wherein the pressure sensor measures the amount of pressure by measuring the amount of deflection exhibited by the stripping wheel shaft.
While the concepts disclosed herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the inventions to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the inventions as defined by the appended claims
This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/553,305 filed on Sep. 1, 2017, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62553305 | Sep 2017 | US |