Patent Application
20160379433
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for a banknote recycler to self-audit to determine the contents of the banknote recycler. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for a banknote recycler to self-audit by temporarily converting the deposit cassette into a recycling cassette and validating and counting the contents from an additional recycling cassette as it is moved into the converted deposit cassette (i.e., temporary recycling cassette), storing this information in the software and then moving the contents back to the original recycling cassette.
2. Description of Related Art
Banknote recyclers are typically used in retail, banking, automated teller machines and other cash-based operations where banknotes of various denominations are validated, counted and sorted for subsequent use. For example, a retail or banking cashier at the beginning of a shift requires an amount of bills in various denominations to use in a cash till drawer for dispensing change to customers. A typical banknote recycler has provisions for accepting banknotes of mixed denomination and then separating, validating, counting and sorting the banknotes. The accepted notes of each denomination are then placed into various recycling cassettes configured to receive that specific denomination. These recycling cassettes are capable of dispensing stored notes for use by the store in its operation, which is why they are called recycling cassettes. Low-quality notes and notes of denominations with no recycler cassette configured to accept that denomination are placed into one or more deposit cassettes, where they remain until picked up by a cash-in-transit courier or by the responsible party of the recycler who removes the bills for deposit. The banknote recyclers also have the capability to move notes from the recycling cassettes to the deposit cassette to raise the content of the deposit cassette to the desired monetary value for subsequent retrieval by the cash-in-transit courier. Typically, operators of banknote recyclers do not have the ability to remove notes once they have been placed inside the deposit cassette, as the deposit cassette is locked in place by the cash-in transit courier or the responsible party in the bank or retail environment. Banknote recyclers can be integrated into a coin and note (or note-only) cash recycling system where it is controlled by a set of software programs running on a computer.
It is necessary or desirable for the owner of the banknote recycler to audit the contents of the recycling cassettes from time-to-time. For example, the recycling cassettes may need to be audited when an accounting discrepancy is noticed or suspected, when a recycling cassette has been removed and replaced, or anytime the owner desires to audit the contents. Prior art banknote recyclers are typically audited using a labor- and time-intensive process where a human operator must manually empty the recycling cassette(s) to be audited and then manually feed the notes back into the banknote recycler. Prior art banknote recyclers are not capable of performing a self-audit wherein the current contents of each recycling cassette can be validated and counted automatically because there is no built-in audit functionality in the software and because there is no separate banknote storage area to store the bills as they are being validated and counted before being returned to the proper recycling cassette.
It is therefore desirable to have a banknote recycler capable of performing a self-audit of the contents of individual recycling cassettes, which does not involve the assistance by a human operator of the banknote recycler.
The present invention provides generally for a method for a banknote recycler to perform a self-audit of the contents of the recycler's recycling cassettes without the assistance of a human operator. Generally the method of present invention operates by transforming the deposit cassette into a temporary recycling cassette after the deposit cassette has been emptied of its contents by the cash-in-transit courier or other personnel responsible for the deposit cassette. The banknotes are validated and counted as they are moved from the recycling cassette into the empty deposit cassette, which serves as the banknote storage area. Providing this temporary storage area for the banknotes as they are counted and validated from the recycling cassette allows the present invention to perform a self-audit that was not possible with the prior art banknote recyclers. After the audit of the recycling cassette is complete, the banknote recycler is then instructed to move the notes from the deposit cassette back into the appropriate recycling cassette. These same steps can be performed for each recycling cassette that is desired to be audited.
The specific steps of the method for self-auditing of the present invention are described below. First, at some point during operation of the banknote recycler, the operating software records the desire to perform a self-audit at the next emptying of the deposit cassette by the cash-in-transit courier or responsible party. The desire to perform a self-audit is either entered by the operator of the banknote recycler (locally at the machine or remotely via an internet connection) or automatically triggered by an event such as removal of a recycle cassette, accounting discrepancy or other security event. Once the deposit cassette is emptied by the cash-in-transit courier, it can then be used as a temporary recycling cassette and the self-audit of the requested recycling cassettes can begin. Next, the software commands the banknote recycler to move the contents of the desired recycling cassette into the empty deposit cassette. The banknote recycler carries out this move, and the contents of the recycling cassette are validated and counted as it is emptied. The count of banknotes is recorded by the operating software. Then, the operating software commands the banknote recycler to temporarily re-configure the recycling and deposit cassettes to allow the banknotes to be moved back from the deposit cassette into the original recycling cassette. Any additional recycling cassettes that are desired to be audited would then follow the same steps described above. After the banknotes are moved back to the original recycling cassette, the operating software commands the banknote recycler to return to its normal operating cassette configuration.
The novel features and construction of the present invention, as well as additional objects thereof, will be understood more fully from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The invention is further described and explained in relation to the following figures of the drawings wherein:
Like reference numerals are used to describe like parts in all figures of the drawings.
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Other alterations and modifications of the invention will likewise become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the present disclosure, and it is intended that the scope of the invention disclosed herein be limited only by the broadest interpretation of the appended claims to which the inventor is legally entitled.
