Patent Application
20130153653
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for guiding an item of media travelling along a pre-determined transport pathway. In particular, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to how an item of media such as a currency note or the like may be conveyed along a transport pathway that is bent in at least one region. For example, when the pathway bends around a corner. The item is guided as it travels around the corner region minimising the chance of transport failure.
Media depositories are used to receive media items from a customer. One common type of media depository is a sheet media depository for receiving items of media in sheet form. For example, such items of media can be currency notes, cheques, tickets, giros, receipts or the like.
Sheet media depositories are used in automated teller machines (ATMs) and other self-service terminals. Other such self-service terminals are vending machines, change machines, teller units, cash recyclers or the like. The sheet media depositories are used to identify, validate and store or return deposited sheets.
Some sheet depositories are capable of receiving a bunch of sheets in a loading area and then picking individual sheets from the bunch so that each sheet can then be identified and validated individually prior to storage of the validated sheet within a depository or returned to a customer. These depositories are sometimes referred to as bunch sheet depositories. Bunch sheet depositories may transport the bunch from a loading area to a picking area or the picking area may be adjacent to the loading area.
Bunches of items of media such as currency notes and/or cheques are thus deposited by a user and, subsequent to a user agreement step and item verification step, these items are stored semi-permanently within a self-service terminal until security staff or bank staff come to empty the storage unit. The storage unit is sometimes referred to as a stacking bin. Alternatively, when an input item is identified as being an illicit or damaged item, the item is stored in a storage unit referred to as a reject bin.
In prior known ATMs, teller assist units, and other self-service terminals or the like which may or may not include a depository, items such as cheques or currency notes are thus driven through a sheet transport system using pairs of rollers and/or belts that pinch the items and rotate to drive items along a pre-determined pathway. Often, at a final pair of rollers, the items are pushed into a stack of items being stored or dispensed. Because of the flexible nature of the items, it is difficult to ensure that transported items of media reach a desired destination.
Another problem which is well observed in prior art systems relates to the transportation of items of media such as cheques or currency notes as they travel around a corner. In this sense, it will be understood that a corner refers to any region where a direction of transport along a transport pathway changes quickly between 75° and 135°. Under such circumstances, a leading edge of an item of media tends to “scrape” along an outer radius of a curved guide or deflector. This can cause jamming of the document flow. Also, the item tends to bend under such movement and this resists movement which can ultimately cause “crumpling” or increased drive reel wear.
It is an aim of the present invention to at least partly mitigate the above-mentioned problems.
It is an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for guiding an item of media as it travels along a pre-determined transport pathway which includes an arcuate region such as a corner region.
It is an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a drive roller at a centre of a radius of curvature at a curved region of a transport pathway together with spring loaded pinch idlers so that an item of media is driven around the corner region rather than merely being pushed through it.
It is an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for guiding a transport path of an item of media in which the method includes urging an item of media along an arcuate guide surface and locating the item away from that guide surface on a rotating outer surface of one or more pulleys which extend through an opening in the guide surface.
It is an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a low cost pinch idler system which can assist in guiding items of media around a corner.
It is an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for guiding items of media as they travel around a corner which is able to automatically and constantly adjust to document thickness and/or which can be assembled without the use of complex tools.
It is an aim of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus that helps support and/or locate and/or drive an item of media along a straight or almost straight transport pathway.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for guiding an item of media travelling along a pre-determined transport pathway, comprising:
Aptly, the guide body comprises at least one pulley shaft support comprising a substantially C-shaped slot having an inner generally curved surface region and a substantially linear abutment surface region.
Aptly, the at least one pulley member comprises at least a pair of pulley members each having a groove extending circumferentially around a respective circular engaging surface and arranged to rotate about a respective pulley shaft supported in a respective pulley shaft support of the guide body wherein a resilient “O” ring member is looped around the grooves in the pair of pulley members.
Aptly, the groove in each pulley member has a depth greater than a cross-sectional thickness of the “O” ring member.
Aptly, as an item of media is located between the outer drive surface of the roller and the engaging surface of at least one pulley member, the drive shaft of the at least one pulley member is located against the linear abutment surface region of a respective pulley shaft support to increase tension in the “O” ring member.
Aptly, the at least one drive roller comprises a plurality of drive rollers arranged axially along a common drive shaft; and the at least a pair of pulley members comprises a plurality of pairs of resiliently connected pulley members juxtaposed against a respective one of the plurality of drive rollers.
Aptly, the arcuate guide surface has a first radius of curvature and the drive surface is substantially cylindrical having a radius of curvature substantially equal to the first radius of curvature.
Aptly, the drive roller and pulley member co-operate to simultaneously rotate and pinch said an item therebetween at a moving pinch point.
Aptly, said item of media is guided from a portion of the transport pathway in which the item travels in a first direction of travel to a further portion of the transport pathway in which the item travels in a further direction of travel, said further direction being about around 75° to 135° from the first direction.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automated teller machine (ATM) comprising apparatus for guiding an item of media travelling along a pre-determined transport pathway, comprising:
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for guiding an item of media travelling along a pre-determined transport pathway, comprising:
Aptly, the method includes the step of guiding said item of media from a portion of the transport pathway in which the item travels in a first direction of travel to a further portion of the transport pathway in which the item travels in a further direction of travel which is about around 75° to 135° from the first direction.
Aptly, the method includes supporting a pulley shaft of the pulley member in a substantially C-shaped slot comprising an inner generally curved surface region that includes a substantially linear abutment surface; and urging the pulley shaft against the linear abutment surface as the item of media is pinched between the drive roller and the pulley member.
Aptly, the method includes as the pulley shaft is urged against and rides along the linear abutment surface, simultaneously and automatically increasing an urging force by stretching a resilient “O” ring that is arranged to urge the pulley towards the roller.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for guiding an item of media along a transport path, comprising the steps of:
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for guiding an item of media travelling along a pre-determined transport pathway, comprising:
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a moving surface for a leading edge of an item of media such as a currency note or the like to travel on whilst bending around a corner region. This helps reduce the risk of jamming.
Certain embodiments of the present invention reduce a drive force required to transport items of media. This helps lessen the load on a motor.
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a low cost pinch idler system which includes no unnecessary spring or idler arms.
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a small footprint which allows placement in tight quarters.
Certain embodiments of the present invention can be adapted to be used in straight line or near straight line transport.
Certain embodiments of the present invention require no or only a very limited number of tools for assembly.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described hereinafter, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
In the drawings like reference numerals refer to like parts.
The ATM 100 includes different modules for enabling transactions to be executed and recorded by the ATM 100. These ATM modules include customer transaction modules and service personnel modules. The ATM modules include an ATM controller 101, a customer display 102, a card reader/writer module 103, an encrypting keypad module 104, a receipt printer module 105, a cash dispenser module 106, a journal printer module 107 for creating a record of every transaction executed by the ATM, a connection module 108, an operator panel module 109 for use by a service operator (such as a field engineer, a replenisher (of currency, of printed paper or the like), or the like).
Certain customer transaction modules (such as the ATM controller 101) are also used by the service personnel for implementing management functions. However, some of the modules are referred to herein as service personnel modules (such as the journal printer module 107 and the operator panel module 109) because they are never used by ATM customers.
The depository is shown in more detail in
The depository 150 includes a plurality of transport units only some of which are described herein. An upper sheet transport section 205 is located above the bunch loader and adjacent to the picker 207. A lower sheet transport section 206 is located beneath the bunch loader 204 and near the bunch deposit slot 202.
The bunch loader 204 is used to transport deposited bank notes from the bunch deposit slot 202 to the pick unit 207.
There are two different routes that can be taken by an item of media that is inserted into the depository 150. A first route is shown by arrow A and involves the sheet item being picked from the bunch of sheets 203, transported to the picker unit 207, moved past the validator 208 to be identified and validated, placed in the escrow 209 and from the escrow 209 transported into the storage compartment 210.
The second optional route is shown by the arrow B and involves the sheet item being picked from the bunch of sheets 203, transported to the picker unit 207, moved past the validator 208 to be identified and validated, placed in the escrow 209 and from the escrow 209 returned to the customer via a rebunching unit 220 and via the loading unit 204 and lower transport section 206.
As will be understood by those skilled in the art, whether a sheet item is stored (that is to say, follows the route shown by arrow A) or returned to a customer (that is to say, follows a path shown by arrow B) depends on a number of factors, such as whether the sheet is recognised, whether a sheet is validated and/or whether a customer cancels or confirms a transaction or the like.
The guide body also includes entry fingers 405 and exit fingers 406 which assist in guiding an item of media towards and away from the guide surface.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
With no item of media located between the outer drive surface 402 of the roller and the outer item engaging surface 505 of the pulleys, the elastomeric nature of the belt 510 draws the pulley shafts to the bottom curved section of each slot. The outer item engaging surfaces of the two pulleys which extend through respective apertures in the guide surface 302 thus engage the outer drive surface 402 of a respective drive roller.
In use, an item of media is directed towards the curved guide surface along the direction shown by arrow A in
The guide body thus has two open ended slots with angled faces located on the sides of the slots away from an item of media. The grooved pulley assemblies are installed into the guide slots with an “O” ring stretched over both of the pulleys in a pair. The elasticity of the “O” ring retains the idler pulleys in the bottom of their respective slots. The groove in each pulley is slightly larger/deeper than the diameter of the “O” ring. This allows the idler pulley to ride against the inner drive roller and rotate without the “O” ring making contact with the drive roller. The rotation of the pulley drives the “O” ring. This helps reduce wear on the “O” ring.
As the document enters a corner region or other curved region defined by the curved guide surface it comes into contact with an already moving surface provided by the “O” ring and the idler pulleys. This lifts the lead edge of the document off the static surface of the guide body and begins to move the item around the curved corner region. When the document enters the pinch area between the drive roller and each pinch idler and “O” ring assembly the pinch idler and “O” ring assembly move away to accommodate the thickness of the item of media. This is accomplished by the idler shafts sliding up the angled surface of the linear walls 525 of the idler mounting slot with the pinch force being provided by the stretching of the “O” ring belt as it moves away and increases its length. Once the document has passed through, the idler pulleys return to their home position in the bottom of the slots and the “O” ring returns to its normal working length. The purpose of the flat section in each slot is thus to provide a surface for the shaft of the pulley to slide against. If the slot was simply larger than the shaft and did not include such a flat section the shaft of the pulley would just move away when an item of media entered the drive system, but the tension in the “O” ring would not increase. This would result in little or no pinch pressure in the drive system and the “O” ring would not necessarily return to its home position. By including the angled surfaces the tension in the “O” ring is maintained/increased, which in turn maintains a pinch force on an item of media. This consistent force or tension also helps return the pulleys to a home position after an item of media has exited.
The opposed slot 810 likewise has a curved bottom region 813 and a linear region 814. The slots in each pair of slots which house shafts for respective pulleys of a pulley pair may have an offset longitudinal axis as shown in
Certain embodiments of the present invention thus provide a moving surface for a leading edge of an item of media to travel on whilst bending around a corner. This helps reduce jams and drive force required to transport the item. Certain embodiments of the present invention also provide a mechanically non-complex and low cost pinch idler system. Using an expanding “O” ring the pinch idler system is allowed to adjust to document thickness without the need for complex or costly mechanisms.
Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the words “comprise” and “contain” and variations of them mean “including but not limited to” and they are not intended to (and do not) exclude other moieties, additives, components, integers or steps. Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the singular encompasses the plural unless the context otherwise requires. In particular, where the indefinite article is used, the specification is to be understood as contemplating plurality as well as singularity, unless the context requires otherwise.
Features, integers, characteristics or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment or example of the invention are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described herein unless incompatible therewith. All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of the features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. The invention is not restricted to any details of any foregoing embodiments. The invention extends to any novel one, or novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.
The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.
