This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. ยงยง119(a-d) to Swiss Patent Application CH 00694/10, filed on May 6, 2010, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as part of the present disclosure.
The invention relates to a device for receiving banknotes, a security system having a device for receiving banknotes, and a method for preparing a device which is designed to receive banknotes.
There are numerous systems for transporting objects which require protection, for example, valuables such as coins and banknotes, valuable papers, other valuable objects such as precious metals and precious stones, and documents to be kept secret.
The secure handling of large quantities of banknotes requires particular attention. Special strong boxes are increasingly being used, which are designed for the purpose of receiving individual banknotes or bundles of banknotes. A known safe 200 is shown in a schematic view in
A schematic view of a known cash box 201 is shown in
The safe 200, together with the cash box 201 and the banknote bag 130 and frame 120, forms a security system, which is used to protect the owners or possessors of the banknotes 1 from misuse or from pilferage of the banknotes 1. For this purpose, for example, the banknotes 1 may be checked and counted as they are drawn in. The count may be stored or transmitted to a server via a communication connection, for example. The cash box 201 may contain a pressure system having a gas cartridge, for example, to discharge a liquid (e.g., ink), if the safe 200 and/or the cash box 201 are manipulated. This system thus damages, marks, or destroys the banknotes 1 that are present in the cash box 201 using the previously mentioned liquid.
Overall, a closed loop may thus be implemented, in which all individual elements or components and all substeps are monitored and/or secured.
In previous solutions, rigid and liquid-tight plastic bags are used as the banknote bags 130. For the previously mentioned liquid to be able to reach the banknotes 1, a complex melting device must be used, which first melts the plastic bag before pressurized liquid can reach the banknotes 1. This approach is complex and susceptible to failure. In addition, it allows certain forms of manipulations, which could allow unauthorized persons to protect at least a part of the banknotes 1 from devaluation by the liquid.
It is a further disadvantage of prior solutions that the plastic bag together with the frame 120 form a complex functional unit, which is costly and susceptible to failure. In addition, this functional unit is designed so that the plastic bag must be destroyed to remove the banknotes 1 and the entire functional unit, together with the frame, must be discarded.
It is therefore the object of the invention to refine the security system of the type mentioned at the beginning and to improve its security. Simultaneously, the cost of the security system and/or individual components is to be reduced if possible.
In one aspect, a device for receiving at least one banknote comprises a frame including a banknote opening, a banknote bag connected to the frame by a bag opening such that the at least one banknote is introducible into the banknote bag through the banknote opening and the bag opening, and a stable sliding bolt. In some embodiments, the frame comprises an upper frame and a lower frame separable from each other, with the banknote opening extending through the upper frame and the lower frame when the upper frame is connected to the lower frame. The frame includes a guide for inserting the sliding bolt, with the guide being configured such that in the inserted state, the sliding bolt is locked to the frame and completely covers the banknote opening of the upper and lower frames.
In another aspect, a security system comprises a safe or a cash box and at least one device for receiving at least one banknote comprising a frame including a banknote opening, a banknote bag connected to the frame by a bag opening such that the at least one banknote is introducible into the banknote bag through the banknote opening and the bag opening, and a stable sliding bolt. In some embodiments, the frame comprises an upper frame and a lower frame separable from each other, with the banknote opening extending through the upper frame and the lower frame when the upper frame is connected to the lower frame. The frame includes a guide for inserting the sliding bolt, with the guide being configured such that in the inserted state, the sliding bolt is locked to the frame and completely covers the banknote opening of the upper and lower frames.
These and other advantages and features of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention, which are to be understood not to be limiting and which will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.
In the present disclosure, location and direction specifications are used hereafter in order to be able to better describe the invention. These specifications relate to a respective situation and therefore are not to be understood as a restriction. In order to be able to delimit the location and direction specifications better, a reference is sometimes also made to the safe 200 or the cash box 201, in which a reference is made to a device-side element or door-side element, for example.
In one aspect, the invention is described on the basis of
The device 100 comprises a frame 120, which, as shown in
The frame 120, which holds the banknote bag 130 open and fixedly clamps it, simultaneously provides the banknote opening 121. In addition, the frame 120 can be used as a mechanical interface, which is designed for the purpose of inserting the device 100 into a cash box 201 or into a safe 200. Interaction with the transfer mechanism (e.g., with the previously-mentioned plunger body) must be ensured. The transfer mechanism is referred to here as the handling mechanism 205.
In at least one embodiment, a frame 120 is used that comprises an upper frame 123 and a lower frame 124. The lower frame 124, which is shown in greater detail in
The frame 120 is composed of the upper and lower frames 123, 124 in such a way that the banknote opening 121 extends through both frames 123, 124 when the upper frame 123 is connected to the lower frame 124. The upper frame 123 and the lower frame 124 are implemented so that they are separable from one another. Both frames 123, 124 may engage each other so that they can only be separated by the use of a special tool. When the two frames 123, 124 are connected to each other they form the frame 120.
In one aspect, a sliding bolt 122, which is stable per se, is used and has at least two main functions. An exemplary sliding bolt 122 is shown in
The sliding bolt 122 may have an additional third function. This additional function may be used in multiple embodiments. If the device 100 is seated in a cash box 201 or a safe 200, the device 100 is connected via the frame 120 to the money transfer system or the money transfer mechanism (referred to as the handling mechanism 205) of the cash box 201 or the safe 200. In order to prevent the device 100 from being removed in an unauthorized manner, which would allow manipulation, removal of the device 100 is only possible if the sliding bolt 122 is in the inserted and locked state, i.e., is in the secured state. The device 100 may be decoupled or unlocked from the cash box 201 or from the safe 200, or the device 100 may be decoupled or unlocked in a further step from the cash box 201 or from the safe 200, only when the sliding bolt 122 reaches the secured state.
Alternatively, the sliding bolt 122 may also be designed so that in the secured state, it allows or releases unlocking or decoupling of the device 100. The actual unlocking or decoupling can be performed, for example, in a further step via a key, a contact switch, or a similar auxiliary element. This additional alternative design may be used in multiple embodiments.
The sliding bolt 122 can optionally be provided with a machine-readable code (e.g., a barcode), in order to support a security sequence or protocol.
Further aspects and details of embodiments of the invention are described hereafter, which can be applied as needed individually, jointly, or in various subcombinations.
The rubber ring 131 has the following function. In previous systems, a large spring or a spring-loaded follower plate is used in a cash box 201 to constantly press the banknote bag 130 upward in the direction of the frame 120. The spring or follower plate applies a counter force G1 (see
Other fasteners may also be used for fastening a rubber ring 131. It is also possible to provide two rubber rings, for example, instead of only one rubber ring 131. Both a closed rubber ring 131, as shown in
In one instance, the banknote bag 130 has eyes or hooks on the upper edge for better hooking on the frame 124. The banknote bag 130 may additionally, or alternatively, contain an elastic band or a rubber strip, which may be situated in the area of the bag opening 132. In these cases, the rubber ring 133 can be dispensed with.
The various functions of the sliding bolt 122 have been previously described.
The sliding bolt 122 may be provided with a handle area, a tab, or similar handling means 134, in order to be able to grasp the sliding bolt 122, insert it, and transfer it into the secured state.
The sliding bolt 122 may be provided with catch elements or (barbed) hooks 129, which grip or catch the frame 120 so that the sliding bolt 122 can only be removed by destroying the sliding bolt 122 or the catch elements or hooks 129. In the illustrated embodiment, the catch elements or hooks 129 of the sliding bolt 122 are somewhat flexible. When the sliding bolt 122 is inserted into the upper frame 123, the catch elements 129 are deformed inwardly toward the side plate 128 by the walls of the upper frame 123, allowing the sliding bolt 122 to be inserted. When the sliding bolt 122 is sufficiently inserted, the catch elements 129 expand outward into a slot 125A provided in the upper frame 123. The slot 125A is configured such as to prevent removal of the sliding bolt 122 without damaging the catch elements 129.
To remove the sliding bolt 122, a blade or diagonal pliers may be used to cut through the catch elements or hooks 129, so that the sliding bolt 122 can be removed from the secured position. In this case, the sliding bolt 122 can only be used once, i.e., it is a disposable article. A cutting line T is shown by way of example in
As previously noted, the frame 120 comprises a lower frame 124 and an upper frame 123.
In the embodiment shown, the upper frame 123 has a handle plate or a handle groove 135 on the door-side end. The upper frame 123 encloses the banknote opening 121, as shown in
Multiple spring-loaded balls 138, e.g. six in the shown embodiment, may be provided on the top side of the upper frame 123 to produce a formfitting (catch) connection with the handling mechanism 205. The handling mechanism 205 has recesses 205a in this case, which the balls 138 engage. Other snap or spring mechanisms may also be provided, which are designed so that the frame 120 engages in the cash box 201 or the safe 200. It is beneficial that a precisely defined position is maintained, so that the handling mechanism 205 can readily deliver the banknotes 1 through the frame 120 into the banknote bag 130.
Lugs or hooks can be provided on the bottom side of the upper frame 123, which are designed so they fixedly engage in the clamping areas 127 of the lower frame 124, in order to fixedly connect the upper frame 123 to the lower frame 124. These lugs or hooks are not shown in
Further details of a combined or assembled frame 123 are shown in
Rollers or wheels 140 can be optionally provided on the device-side end of the frame 123, which allow a clean intake of the banknotes 1. They may be seated in the area of the handling mechanism 205.
The slot 125 may be provided on the upper frame 123, on the lower frame 124, or can be defined by both frame parts 123, 124 together.
Elements 141, which are designed for inserting or placing the frame 120 in the cash box 201 or the safe 200, are may be provided on the frame 120 (see
The removal of a filled banknote bag 130 is performed as shown by way of example. The cash box 201 or the safe 200 is transferred into a suitable mode (e.g., by inputting a PIN code or using a key). The door 204 is then opened and a new (undestroyed) sliding bolt 122 is inserted through the slot 125 into the frame 120. When the sliding bolt 122 reaches the secured position, the banknote opening 121 is completely covered and secured. Either the sliding bolt 122 directly unlocks the frame 120, including the banknote bag 130 upon reaching the secured position, or the sliding bolt 122 allows it to be unlocked. The actual unlocking can then be performed by, for example, using a further handling step (e.g., by the further input of a (different) PIN code or the use of a key). When the frame 120, including banknote bag 130, has been unlocked, the device 100 can be removed completely from the cash box 201 or the safe 200.
The device 100 can then be transported away in a special secured transport case or trolley, for example. The number of banknotes 1 located in the device 100 is stored, for example, in a memory of the cash box 201 or the safe 200. A mechanical manipulation of the banknote bag 130 or the frame 120 is recognizable. In addition, by recounting the banknotes 1, it is possible to recognize whether there is a shortfall in relation to the stored value.
In order to be able to remove the banknotes 1 at a secured location, e.g., in the cash office of a banking institute, the banknote bag 130 is cut open. The sliding bolt 122 is then destroyed and removed by the use of a suitable tool (e.g., a blade or diagonal pliers). A further suitable tool is used to separate the upper frame 123 from the lower frame 124. The remainder of the banknote bag 130 can then be removed.
The device 100 is then prepared for further use. by attaching a new banknote bag 130, as described, and connecting. the upper frame 123 to the lower frame 124.
Accordingly, the banknote bag 130 and the sliding bolt 122 are the only disposable parts which have a one time use. All other parts can be used multiple times, which is significantly more cost-effective and better for the environment than in the case of previous solutions, in which all parts are only capable of a single use.
As should be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art based on the teachings herein, numerous changes and modifications may be made to the above-described and other embodiments of the present invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, this detailed description of embodiments is to be taken in an illustrative, as opposed to a limiting, sense.
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