BANKNOTES WITHDRAW AND TRANSFER UNIT STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENT

Description

This application claims priority to Taiwanese Patent Application No. 101217561 filed on Sep. 12, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the modern times that changes rapidly, business operators rely on the use of high technologies to ease intense competitions from the opponents and to lower their own operation costs. Therefore, traditional on-the-counter operations are gradually replaced by automatic and electronic help-yourself-services to improve the product innovation capability. Banks that conduct financial transactions automatically now transfer and process transaction services through the use of computers and communication technologies; i.e., software and hardware of electronic devices are used in place of manual and on-the-paper operations to accomplish services such as money deposit, money withdrawl, inquiry, money transfer, deposit book services, log-in and password modification. More particularly, automatic teller machines (ATMs) capable of processing some simple transactions but not having a decision-making capability make the transactions more convenient.

As an extension of on-the-counter services, ATMs are a kind of automated machines that may be operated by customers themselves. With the ATMSs, the bank services may be extended beyond the counters without being restricted within the business halls of a bank. The ATMs may be installed in public places or places where there are large crowds of people. Through deployment of the ATMs, the bank may provide more services in a better and more convenient way and attract more customers. Currently with the ATMs, 24-hour all-weather services may be provided and inter-bank on-line operations may be conducted to allow the customers to deposit or withdraw money at any time. Thus, cases where a customer has to carry about too much money or a customer in need of cash cannot find a place to withdraw money are avoided.

However, for banks that provide services through ATMs, the cost of ATMs is very high. For example, an ATM having a money withdrawing function costs at least about 600,000 NTD, an ATM having both a money-withdrawing function and a deposit book printing function costs about 900,000 NTD, and an ATM having a money-withdrawing function, a deposit book printing function and a depositing function costs about 1,500,000 NTD.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of the prior art ATM. The principle of the prior art ATM will be described as follows with reference to FIG. 1: a banknotes accommodating unit 10 is disposed in an ATM rack 16; a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit 11 is disposed beside the banknotes accommodating unit 10 to withdraw banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit 10 and then transfer the banknotes to a banknotes stack unit 12; the banknotes stack unit 12 inspects whether any of the banknotes is worn or calculates whether the stacked banknotes complies with a specified amount; and if any of the stacked banknotes is worn or the stacked banknotes exceeds the specified amount, then the banknotes will be transferred into a banknotes recovering unit 13, and if none of the stacked banknotes is worn and the stacked banknotes complies with the specified amount, then the banknotes will be transferred into a banknotes outputting unit 14; the banknotes outputting unit 14 transfers the banknotes to a client; and an ATM control unit is used to control interactions between the banknotes accommodating unit 10, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit 11, the banknotes stack unit 12, the banknotes recovering unit 13 and the banknotes outputting unit 14.

Referring back to the prior art of FIG. 1, as may be known from a banknotes transferring elements including the banknotes accommodating unit 10, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit 11, the banknotes stack unit 12, the banknotes recovering unit 13 and the banknotes outputting unit 14, the ATM is of a non-linear banknotes withdraw design and requires multi-step transition to achieve the purpose of withdrawing and transferring banknotes. The non-linear design reduces the reliability of the ATM, cannot make full use of the space, decreases the maximum banknotes storage capacity, and requires additional manpower to supplement banknotes.

It may therefore be desirable to improve the structure of ATMs so that prices of the ATMs may be reduced to improve the competitive power of the ATMs in the market by improving the reliability and reducing the manufacturing cost of the ATMs.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement, and more particularly, to a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement for an automatic teller machine (ATM).

The objective of the present invention is to improve the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit in the ATM so that the price of the ATM may be reduced to improve the competitive power of the ATM in the market by improving the reliability of the ATM and reducing the manufacturing cost of the ATM.

Accordingly, examples of the present invention may provide a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement, which is used in an ATM and comprises:

an ATM rack, wherein a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit is fixed on the ATM rack, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit comprising:

a cover plate formed with a plurality of through holes that communicate with a negative-pressure system;

a conveyor belt disposed under the cover plate and formed with a plurality of through holes that are designed to be offset from the through holes of the cover plate; and

a banknotes accommodating unit disposed under the conveyor belt to accommodate banknotes, and equipped with a banknotes pushing system.

The banknotes are withdrawn and transferred as follows:

the banknotes pushing system is disposed in the banknotes accommodating unit to push the banknotes to move upwards;

when the through holes of the conveyor belt communicate with the through holes of the cover plate, the negative-pressure system sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit; and

because the through holes of the conveyor belt are offset from the through holes of the cover plate, it may be ensured that the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes.

In another example embodiment of the present invention, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit further comprises: a banknotes transfer guiding unit disposed under the conveyor belt to guide a negative-pressure sucking air flow. Guiding the negative-pressure sucking air flow can adjust the sucking efficacy or enhance the sucking efficacy or adjust the sucking position.

In another example embodiment of the present invention, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit comprises: a banknotes stack unit, which is provided with a storage area thereon to store the banknotes transferred from the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit, wherein the banknotes stack unit inspects whether any of the banknotes is worn or calculates whether the banknotes complies with a specified amount, and if any of the banknotes is worn or the banknotes exceeds the specified amount, then the storage area is rotated in a direction to transfer the banknotes into a banknotes recovering unit, and if none of the banknotes is worn and the banknotes complies with the specified amount, then the storage area is rotated in an opposite direction to transfer the banknotes to a banknotes outputting unit.

Some examples of the present invention may provide a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement, which is used in an automatic teller machine (ATM) and comprises: an ATM rack, wherein a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit is fixed on the ATM rack, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit comprising: a cover plate formed with a plurality of through holes that communicate with a negative-pressure system; a conveyor belt disposed under the cover plate, and formed with a plurality of through holes that are designed to be offset from the through holes of the cover plate; a banknotes transfer guiding unit disposed under the conveyor belt to guide a negative-pressure sucking air flow; a banknotes accommodating unit disposed under the conveyor belt to accommodate banknotes, and equipped with a banknotes pushing system; and a banknotes stack unit provided with a storage area thereon to store the banknotes transferred from the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit, wherein when the conveyor belt moves forward so that the through holes of the conveyor belt communicate with the through holes of the cover plate, the negative-pressure system sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit, wherein the through holes of the conveyor belt are offset from the through holes of the cover plate to ensure that the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes, and wherein the banknotes stack unit inspects whether any of the banknotes is worn or calculates whether the banknotes complies with a specified amount.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings examples which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of a prior art ATM;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of an ATM in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of a conveyor belt in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic top view of a cover plate in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit having a banknotes transfer guiding unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit having the banknotes transfer guiding unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a banknotes stack unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating clockwise rotation of a storage area of the banknotes stack unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating counterclockwise rotation of the storage area of the banknotes stack unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention may be fully understood with reference to the following description of embodiments so that people skilled in the art may accomplish the present invention accordingly; however, implementation of the present invention is not limited by the following embodiments.

Reference will now be made in detail to the present examples of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of the ATM in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Referring further to the principle of an ATM of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, obviously FIG. 2 shows a linear banknotes withdraw design, which may improve the reliability of the ATM, make full use of the space, increase the maximum banknotes storage capacity, and reduce the use of manpower to supplement banknotes. The construction of the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit must be changed to transform the ATM from the non-linear banknotes withdraw design to the linear banknotes withdraw design.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which discloses that: the banknotes pushing system (which is shown as a servo pneumatic system in FIG. 3) is disposed on the banknotes accommodating unit to push the banknotes upwards; when the through holes of the conveyor belt communicate with the through holes of the cover plate, the negative-pressure system sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit; when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes, the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt; and the banknotes are collected in the banknotes stack unit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which discloses that: the banknotes pushing system (which is shown as a servo pneumatic system in FIG. 4) is disposed on the banknotes accommodating unit to push the banknotes upwards; when the through holes of the conveyor belt communicate with the through holes of the cover plate, the negative-pressure system sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit; when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes, the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt; and the banknotes are collected in the banknotes stack unit.

FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of the conveyor belt in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which discloses that: the through holes of the conveyor belt are arranged regularly.

FIG. 6 is a schematic top view of the cover plate in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which discloses that: the through holes of the cover plate are arranged irregularly; and through comparison between FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the regularly arranged through holes of the conveyor belt still keep partially communicating with the irregularly arranged through holes of the cover plate at any time, and this offset design may be used to ensure that the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit having a banknotes transfer guiding unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The banknotes pushing system (which is shown as a servo pneumatic system in FIG. 7) is disposed on the banknotes accommodating unit to push the banknotes upwards; a banknotes transfer guiding unit is disposed under the conveyor belt to guide a negative-pressure sucking air flow. Guiding the negative-pressure sucking air flow may adjust the sucking efficacy or enhance the sucking efficacy or adjust the sucking position. When the through holes of the conveyor belt communicate with the through holes of the cover plate, the negative-pressure system sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit; when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes, the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt; and the banknotes are collected in the banknotes stack unit.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit having the banknotes transfer guiding unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The banknotes pushing system (which is shown as a servo pneumatic system in FIG. 8) is disposed on the banknotes accommodating unit to push the banknotes upwards; a banknotes transfer guiding unit is disposed under the conveyor belt to guide a negative-pressure sucking air flow. Guiding the negative-pressure sucking air flow may adjust the sucking efficacy or enhance the sucking efficacy or adjust the sucking position. When the through holes of the conveyor belt communicate with the through holes of the cover plate, the negative-pressure system sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit; when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes, the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt; and the banknotes are collected in the banknotes stack unit.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the banknotes stack unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which discloses that the banknotes are collected in the banknotes stack unit.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating clockwise rotation of a storage area of the banknotes stack unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which discloses that: the storage area is disposed on the banknotes stack unit to store the banknotes; and the storage area is rotated clockwise to transfer the banknotes into a banknotes recovering unit.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating counterclockwise rotation of the storage area of the banknotes stack unit in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which discloses that: the storage area is disposed on the banknotes stack unit to store the banknotes; and the storage area is rotated counterclockwise to transfer the banknotes to a banknotes outputting unit.

Refer back to FIG. 2 to FIG. 11. This embodiment is a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement, which is used in an ATM and comprises: an ATM rack 16, wherein a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit 11 is fixed on the ATM rack 16, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit 11 comprising: a cover plate 40 formed with a plurality of through holes 41 that communicate with a negative-pressure system 42; a conveyor belt 30 disposed under the cover plate 40 and formed with a plurality of through holes 31 that are designed to be offset from the through holes 41 of the cover plate 40; and a banknotes accommodating unit 10 disposed under the conveyor belt 30 to accommodate banknotes, wherein a banknotes pushing system 101 is disposed at a lower portion of the banknotes accommodating unit 10.

The banknotes are withdrawn and transferred as follows: the banknotes pushing system 101 is disposed in the banknotes accommodating unit 10 to push the banknotes to move upwards; when the conveyor belt 30 moves forward so that the through holes 31 of the conveyor belt 30 communicate with the through holes 41 of the cover plate 40, the negative-pressure system 42 sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit 10; and because the through holes 31 of the conveyor belt 30 are offset from the through holes 41 of the cover plate 40, it may be ensured that the negative-pressure system 42 still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt 30 when the conveyor belt 30 is transferring the banknotes.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit 11 further comprises: a banknotes transfer guiding unit 111 disposed under the conveyor belt 30 to guide a negative-pressure sucking air flow. Guiding the negative-pressure sucking air flow may adjust the sucking efficacy or enhance the sucking efficacy or adjust the sucking position.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit 11 comprises: a banknotes stack unit 12, which is provided with a storage area 122 thereon to store the banknotes transferred from the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit 11, whereby the banknotes stack unit 12 inspects whether any of the banknotes is worn or calculates whether the banknotes complies with a specified amount, and if any of the banknotes is worn or the banknotes exceeds the specified amount, then the storage area 122 is rotated in a direction to transfer the banknotes into a banknotes recovering unit 13, and if none of the banknotes is worn and the banknotes complies with the specified amount, then the storage area 122 is rotated in an opposite direction to transfer the banknotes to a banknotes outputting unit 14.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the examples described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular examples disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Further, in describing representative examples of the present invention, the specification may have presented the method and/or process of the present invention as a particular sequence of steps. However, to the extent that the method or process does not rely on the particular order of steps set forth herein, the method or process should not be limited to the particular sequence of steps described. As one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, other sequences of steps may be possible. Therefore, the particular order of the steps set forth in the specification should not be construed as limitations on the claims. In addition, the claims directed to the method and/or process of the present invention should not be limited to the performance of their steps in the order written, and one skilled in the art can readily appreciate that the sequences may be varied and still remain within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement being used in an automatic teller machine (ATM), the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement comprising: an ATM rack, wherein a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit is fixed on the ATM rack, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit comprising: a cover plate formed with a plurality of through holes that communicate with a negative-pressure system;a conveyor belt disposed under the cover plate, and formed with a plurality of through holes that are designed to be offset from the through holes of the cover plate; anda banknotes accommodating unit disposed under the conveyor belt to accommodate banknotes, and equipped with a banknotes pushing system;wherein when the conveyor belt moves forward so that the through holes of the conveyor belt communicate with the through holes of the cover plate, the negative-pressure system sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit.
2. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 1, wherein the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit comprises a banknotes transfer guiding unit disposed under the conveyor belt to guide a negative-pressure sucking air flow.
3. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 2, wherein the banknotes transfer guiding unit guides the negative-pressure sucking air flow to adjust the sucking efficacy or enhance the sucking efficacy or adjust the sucking position.
4. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 1, wherein the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit further comprises a banknotes stack unit, which is provided with a storage area thereon to store the banknotes transferred from the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit, wherein the banknotes stack unit inspects whether any of the banknotes is worn or calculates whether the banknotes complies with a specified amount.
5. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 4, wherein any of the banknotes is worn or the banknotes exceeds the specified amount, then the storage area is rotated in a direction to transfer the banknotes into a banknotes recovering unit.
6. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 4, wherein none of the banknotes is worn and the banknotes complies with the specified amount, then the storage area is rotated in an opposite direction to transfer the banknotes to a banknotes outputting unit.
7. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 1, wherein the through holes of the conveyor belt are offset from the through holes of the cover plate to ensure that the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes
8. A banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement being used in an automatic teller machine (ATM), the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement comprising: an ATM rack, wherein a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit is fixed on the ATM rack, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit comprising: a cover plate formed with a plurality of through holes;a conveyor belt disposed under the cover plate, and formed with a plurality of through holes;a banknotes transfer guiding unit disposed under the conveyor belt; anda banknotes accommodating unit disposed under the conveyor belt to accommodate banknotes, and equipped with a banknotes pushing system.
9. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 8, wherein the plurality of through holes of the cover plate communicate with a negative-pressure system.
10. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 9, wherein when the conveyor belt moves forward so that the through holes of the conveyor belt communicate with the through holes of the cover plate, the negative-pressure system sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit.
11. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 10, wherein the through holes of the conveyor belt are offset from the through holes of the cover plate to ensure that the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes
12. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 9, wherein the banknotes transfer guiding unit guides a negative-pressure to suck air flow.
13. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 12, wherein the banknotes transfer guiding unit guides the negative-pressure sucking air flow to adjust the sucking efficacy or enhance the sucking efficacy or adjust the sucking position.
14. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 8, wherein the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit further comprises a banknotes stack unit, which is provided with a storage area thereon to store the banknotes transferred from the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit, wherein the banknotes stack unit inspects whether any of the banknotes is worn or calculates whether the banknotes complies with a specified amount.
15. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 14, wherein any of the banknotes is worn or the banknotes exceeds the specified amount, then the storage area is rotated in a direction to transfer the banknotes into a banknotes recovering unit.
16. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 14, wherein none of the banknotes is worn and the banknotes complies with the specified amount, then the storage area is rotated in an opposite direction to transfer the banknotes to a banknotes outputting unit.
17. A banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement being used in an automatic teller machine (ATM), the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement comprising: an ATM rack, wherein a banknotes withdraw and transfer unit is fixed on the ATM rack, the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit comprising: a cover plate formed with a plurality of through holes that communicate with a negative-pressure system;a conveyor belt disposed under the cover plate, and formed with a plurality of through holes that are designed to be offset from the through holes of the cover plate;a banknotes transfer guiding unit disposed under the conveyor belt to guide a negative-pressure sucking air flow;a banknotes accommodating unit disposed under the conveyor belt to accommodate banknotes, and equipped with a banknotes pushing system; anda banknotes stack unit provided with a storage area thereon to store the banknotes transferred from the banknotes withdraw and transfer unit,wherein when the conveyor belt moves forward so that the through holes of the conveyor belt communicate with the through holes of the cover plate, the negative-pressure system sucks the banknotes from the banknotes accommodating unit,wherein the through holes of the conveyor belt are offset from the through holes of the cover plate to ensure that the negative-pressure system still sucks the banknotes onto the conveyor belt when the conveyor belt is transferring the banknotes, andwherein the banknotes stack unit inspects whether any of the banknotes is worn or calculates whether the banknotes complies with a specified amount.
18. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 17, wherein the banknotes transfer guiding unit guides the negative-pressure sucking air flow to adjust the sucking efficacy or enhance the sucking efficacy or adjust the sucking position.
19. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 17, wherein any of the banknotes is worn or the banknotes exceeds the specified amount, then the storage area is rotated in a direction to transfer the banknotes into a banknotes recovering unit.
20. The banknotes withdraw and transfer unit structural improvement of claim 17, wherein none of the banknotes is worn and the banknotes complies with the specified amount, then the storage area is rotated in an opposite direction to transfer the banknotes to a banknotes outputting unit.

Priority Claims (1)

Number	Date	Country	Kind
101217561	Sep 2012	TW	national

BANKNOTES WITHDRAW AND TRANSFER UNIT STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENT

Information

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Inventors

CPC

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Abstract

Description

Claims

Priority Claims (1)