Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6484938
-
Patent Number
6,484,938
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, November 3, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, November 26, 200221 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Frech; Karl D.
- Franklin; Jamara A.
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 235 379
- 235 381
- 902 22
- 705 34
- 705 42
- 705 43
- 271 278
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A self-service terminal (SST) 10 has a user interface (12,14), a bank note receiver (16) where a user may input bank notes, and a bank note validator (18) for checking the bank notes received from the user (the user's bank notes). The terminal (10) also has a cassette receiver (36) for holding a cassette (34) which is to be replenished with the user's bank notes. A loading mechanism (32) is used to replenish the cassette (34) with the validated user's bank notes. The loading mechanism (32) has a pivoting linkage arrangement so that as the bank notes are stacked in the cassette (34), part of the linkage remains parallel to the stack of bank notes. The SST (10) also has a cassette emptying mechanism (38) for emptying and reconciling partially-filled cassettes (39). A method of replenishing a cassette with bank notes and an SST system are also described.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a self-service terminal (SST), and particularly to an SST for replenishing and/or reconciling currency cassettes.
Currency cassettes are used as the currency source in Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). The resources required to replenish (refill with currency) and reconcile (check that the number of bank notes dispensed equals the number of bank notes which were originally in the cassette) these cassettes are a major cost to the owners of ATMs. Conventionally, currency cassettes are replenished at central points which serve an ATM network (which may include up to several hundred ATMs).
A currency cassette requires reconciling and replenishing when its supply of currency falls below a predetermined value. When this occurs, the partially filled (below the predetermined value) cassette is removed from an ATM and replaced with a full cassette; the partially filled cassette is then transported by a secure carrier to the central point for replenishing.
High costs are incurred because of the need for high security in transporting currency both to and from an ATM. A financial center may have a large amount of currency which has to be transported to the central point for replenishing an ATM, but that financial center may house the ATM which is to be replenished. Thus, in some cases, a cassette from an ATM and currency from a financial center in which the ATM is located are both transported under high security to a remote center which loads the transported currency into the transported cassette to provide a replenished cassette, and the replenished cassette is then transported back to the financial center under high security.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to obviate or mitigate one or more of the above disadvantages.
According to the invention a self-service terminal comprises: a user interface; a media receiver for receiving valuable media items; a validator for checking the valuable media items received by the media receiver; characterized in that the terminal further comprises a cassette receiver for holding a cassette to be replenished; and a loading mechanism for replenishing the cassette with the validated valuable media items.
It will be appreciated that a cassette is replenished when it is filled with authentic media items, and is ready for loading into an SST without requiring any intermediate processing steps such as sorting the media items stored in the cassette.
By virtue of the invention a terminal is provided which may have similar dimensions to a conventional ATM, or which may be desktop in size. The terminal facilitates replenishing of a currency cassette by a user so that financial centers such as retail outlets and banks may use this type of terminal to replenish cassettes used in local ATMs and thereby minimize the transportation of currency.
The terminal may have a plurality of cassette receivers so that different types of media items can be stored. For example, one cassette may store one denomination of currency, and a second cassette may store a different denomination of currency.
Preferably, the validator checks the valuable media items by implementing one or more predetermined acceptance criterion.
Preferably, the validator includes media identification apparatus which may include measuring apparatus for measuring the dimensions of each media item to discriminate between different types of media items (for example different denominations of currency) and/or to verify that the media item is authentic (for example by comparing the measured dimensions of the media item with pre-stored dimensions for that media item).
Preferably, the validator includes counterfeit detection apparatus. Various types of counterfeit detection apparatus may be used depending on the type of media item to be dispensed and the security features used in that media item.
Preferably, the terminal further comprises a condition sorter for checking characteristics of each media item received. If a received media item does not fulfill a predetermined condition acceptance criterion then the media item may be rejected. The characteristics that may be checked include the porosity of the media item, and whether the media item is free from tears, cuts, folds, creases, or other such defects.
The terminal may further comprise a cassette reader mechanism for use with cassettes having an identifier which records, for example, the type of media item stored, the number of media items stored in a full cassette, and the number of media items stored in the cassette when it is removed from a terminal (if it is removed when it is partially full). The terminal may have a programmer for writing information to a cassette identifier. The terminal may be in communication with a network of SSTs, thereby enabling the terminal to communicate with another SST to determine the type of media items and the number of media items to be stored in the cassette.
Preferably, the cassette receiver is arranged to hold a cassette in an inclined position to facilitate loading of valuable media items into the cassette.
Preferably, the cassette receiver is operable to detect the presence of a cassette which has been loaded into it and to bring the loaded cassette to an inclined position to facilitate loading of media items into the cassette. The cassette receiver may also automatically remove the lid of the cassette.
Preferably, the loading mechanism has a media conveyor for delivering media items to a cassette, and a conveyor deflector configured so that when a media item is present the media item co-operates with the conveyor deflector to displace at least part of the conveyor from a first (non-deflected) position to a second (deflected) position in which stacking of the media item in the cassette is facilitated by allowing the media item to be stacked to pass between the top of the media items stack and the raised part of the conveyor.
Preferably, the media conveyor has a pivoting linkage arrangement whereby a pivoting portion of the linkage may move in an arcuate path between the top and the bottom of the cassette; whereas, a parallel portion of the linkage maintains an orientation parallel to the orientation in which a media item is to be stacked.
The parallel portion of the linkage is located in the cassette and is aligned so that, in use, the orientation is parallel to and resting on the stack of media items in the cassette.
Preferably, the media conveyor has an arrangement of stretchable, endless conveyor belts, at least one (upper) belt extending from the pivoting portion of the linkage to the parallel portion of the linkage and being in contact with a surface onto which a media item is to be stacked. The surface onto which a media item is to be stacked will initially be a pusher plate in the cassette, but when one item of media is stacked on the pusher plate the surface will be the last media item stacked.
Preferably, the media conveyor is counterbalanced to provide only a small net downward force on the last media item stacked.
Preferably, the media deflector comprises a low-friction plate having at least one slot in a surface inclined with respect to the at least one upper conveyor belt, the plate being located below the at least one upper conveyor belt such that the at least one upper conveyor belt passes through the at least one slot.
The upper conveyor belt rests on the media stack and transports media items beneath it, therefore the loading mechanism automatically rises as a media item is stacked. As the upper conveyor is driven it acts to urge the media items stack against a back wall of the cassette because the belt rests on the media items stack.
Preferably, the terminal further comprises a cassette tray for receiving a cassette to be emptied, and an emptying mechanism for removing media items from a cassette inserted into the cassette tray. The emptying mechanism may be a conventional pick mechanism.
Preferably, the terminal is operable to count the number of media items removed from a cassette to be emptied whereby the contents of the cassette to be emptied can be reconciled.
Also according to the invention a method of replenishing a cassette with valuable media items in an SST is characterized by the steps of: retaining the cassette in a position for receiving media items; receiving media items to be used in replenishing the cassette; validating the received media items; and loading the validated media items into the cassette to replenish the cassette.
The step of validating the received media items includes checking characteristics of the received media items, so that the media items are rejected if they do not fulfill one or more predetermined acceptance criterion.
Further according to the invention a self-service terminal system comprises: a user interface; a media receiver for receiving valuable media items; and a validator for checking the valuable media items received by the media receiver; characterized in that the terminal retains a cassette in a position for being replenished with valuable media items; and replenishes the cassette with validated valuable media items using a loading mechanism which moves between a top and bottom of the cassette.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
is a schematic diagram of an SST according to one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2
is a flowchart showing the process steps involved in receiving and loading notes in the terminal of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is a diagram illustrating the operation of the cassette loading mechanism of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 4
is a plan view of part of the mechanism of
FIG. 3
;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of part of the mechanism of
FIG. 3
; and
FIGS. 6
a
to
6
e
show a media item at various stages of transportation in the mechanism of FIG.
3
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to
FIG. 1
, an SST
10
has a user interface (comprising a keyboard
12
and a display
14
) and a media receiver
16
for receiving valuable media items in the form of bank notes which may be input individually or as a bunch.
The bank notes are transported individually from the receiver
16
to a validator
18
by a note conveyor
20
, which may be an arrangement of stretchable endless belts.
The validator
18
has a multiple note detect stage for detecting and rejecting multiple notes and for allowing single notes to pass to the examination stage in the validator
18
. In the validation stage, the validator
18
examines each single bank note to check that the note is authentic. A number of examination techniques are known, and various validator algorithms are available. For example, the validator
18
may measure the lateral dimensions of the note. The validator may also implement some counterfeit detection algorithm.
The validator
18
has a reject note output conveyor
22
for transporting notes which fail the multiple note detect stage and for transporting notes which fail the examination stage to a reject note dispenser
24
. The validator
18
also has a validated note conveyor
26
for transporting valid notes to a note condition sorter
28
.
The note condition sorter
28
examines each validated note to check that each note fulfills a predetermined condition acceptance criterion. For example, each note may require to be free from tears, or may require to have a certain predetermined porosity. The condition sorter
28
has a reject conveyor
30
for transporting notes failing the note condition examination to the reject note dispenser
24
. The condition sorter
28
also has a loading mechanism
32
for loading notes which pass the note condition examination into a cassette to be replenished
34
.
The cassette to be replenished
34
is retained in the SST
10
in an inclined position (at an angle of 60 degrees to the horizontal) by a cassette receiver
36
. The SST
10
also has a cassette tray
38
for receiving a cassette to be emptied
39
. An emptying mechanism
40
in the form of a conventional pick mechanism is used to remove bank notes from a cassette
39
inserted into the cassette tray
38
and transport these removed notes to the validator
18
.
A cassette reader mechanism
41
is located in the SST
10
for use with cassettes
34
having an identifier
35
. A cassette identifier
35
typically records the type of media items, the number of media items stored in the cassette
34
when full, and the number of media items stored in the cassette
34
when partially full (i.e. if it is removed from an ATM before it is completely empty). The cassette reader mechanism
41
includes a programmer for writing information to a cassette identifier
35
.
The SST
10
also has a processor
42
in the form of a microcomputer for controlling and operating the user interface (
12
and
14
), receiver
16
, validator
18
, reject note dispenser
24
, sorter
28
, loading mechanism
32
, conveyors
20
,
22
,
26
,
30
, cassette receiver
36
, and cassette reader mechanism
41
. The SST
10
has a communication link
50
for communicating with other SSTs in a network. The microcomputer
42
and communication link
50
are not shown connected to any of the blocks (e.g. blocks
16
,
18
,
28
,
36
) in
FIG. 1
because
FIG. 1
illustrates the physical arrangement rather than the electrical interconnection of the SST
10
.
The operation of the SST
10
will now be described with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 2
. An authorized operator places an empty cassette to be replenished
34
into the entrance of the cassette receiver
36
. The cassette receiver
36
automatically detects the cassette
34
, removes the lid of the cassette
34
, inclines the cassette
34
at an angle of approximately 60 degrees to the horizontal, and brings the loading mechanism
32
into engagement with the cassette
34
.
The cassette reader mechanism
41
reads information contained in the identifier
35
to determine the type of media items and the number of media items to be stored in the cassette
34
. The display
14
then informs a user about the type of media items required (in this embodiment the denomination of bank notes) and the number of media items needed to fill the cassette
34
.
A user may then initiate replenishing of the cassette
34
by inputting the required quantity and denomination of notes (step
60
) to the receiver
16
. These notes are individually conveyed to the validator
18
by note conveyor
20
. The validator
18
individually examines each bank note to verify that the note is authentic (step
62
). Notes which fail the validation are rejected (step
64
) and transported by conveyor
22
to the reject bin
24
. Notes which pass the validation are transported by conveyor
26
to the note condition sorter
28
which examines (step
66
) each validated note to check that it fulfills a predetermined acceptance criterion.
The notes which fail the condition sorter examination are rejected (step
64
) and transported by conveyor
30
to the reject bin
24
. The notes which pass the condition sorter examination are loaded (step
68
) into the cassette
34
by loading mechanism
32
.
If the cassette
34
is not full after all of the notes input by the user have been loaded, then the SST
10
notifies the user that the cassette
34
is not full and asks if the user intends inputting more notes (step
70
). If the user inputs more notes then the procedure is repeated, otherwise the cassette
34
may be left in the terminal
10
until a later time when more notes are to be input or the cassette
34
may be removed (in some circumstances only a partially filled cassette
34
may be required). When the cassette
34
is full the cassette receiver
36
automatically replaces the lid and moves the cassette
34
to an exit position where it may be withdrawn by an authorized operator.
It is anticipated that in this embodiment the user of the SST
10
may be a person who has access to sufficient quantities of high quality bank notes suitable for dispensing from an ATM.
FIG. 3
is a diagram illustrating the operation of the cassette loading mechanism
32
of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 3
shows loading mechanism
32
located in a central position and delivering a bank note
80
a to cassette
34
which is partly filled with notes
80
stacked on a pusher plate
81
latched back into the loading position.
FIG. 3
shows in dotted lines the loading mechanism
32
′ in an upper position (where the cassette
34
is full of notes
80
) and the loading mechanism
32
″ in a lower position (where the cassette
34
is empty).
The loading mechanism
32
comprises a media conveyor (having a pivoting portion
82
and a parallel portion
84
) and a conveyor deflector
86
.
The pivoting portion
82
is pivotably mounted to twin axles
88
,
90
at each of its ends
92
,
94
. End
92
receives notes
80
from the condition sorter
28
(FIG.
1
).
End
94
is pivotably coupled to the parallel portion
84
. One end
96
of the parallel portion
84
supports the twin axles
90
, and the opposite end
98
of the parallel portion
84
supports axle
100
, such that each of the axles
90
,
100
is free to rotate about its axis.
The media conveyor (
82
,
84
) has three upper belts
110
extending from end
92
to end
98
and spaced along axle
100
and the upper axle of twin axle
88
; and three lower belts
112
extending from end
92
to end
94
and spaced along the lower axles of twin axles
88
,
90
.
End
98
rests on the stack of notes
80
. The upper and lower belts
110
,
112
move in the direction of arrow
102
and individual notes
80
are transported by belts
110
,
112
between twin axles
88
and between twin axles
90
and are delivered to the conveyor deflector
86
.
The conveyor deflector
86
is shown in more detail in
FIGS. 4 and 5
. For clarity, in
FIG. 4
the lower belts
112
are not shown and the axles
88
,
90
,
100
are only shown as dotted lines.
None of the belts
110
,
112
is shown in
FIG. 5
, to aid clarity. The deflector
86
is in the form of a profiled plate having three slots
120
defined in the delivery end
122
(the part of the plate nearest the stack of notes
80
).
The plate
86
is inclined relative to the belts
110
with the lowest part of the plate
86
being the receiving end
124
(the part of plate
86
nearest end
96
) and the highest part of the plate
86
being the delivery end
122
so that each of the three upper belts
110
passes through a respective slot
120
, as shown in FIG.
4
. The length of the slots
120
is such that when no notes
80
are present on the plate
86
the upper belts
110
may pass through the slots
120
without being in contact with the plate
86
(i.e. the upper belts
110
are non-deflected) as shown by dotted line
126
in FIG.
3
.
The receiving end
124
of plate
86
is curved downwards to aid transportation of a note
80
from the pivoting portion
82
to the parallel portion
84
. The delivery end
122
is located a short distance (e.g. 5 mm) from the edge of the stack of notes
80
so that there is a gap between the delivery end
122
and the stack of notes
80
.
As a note
80
a
(
FIG. 3
) is transported over the plate
86
towards delivery end
122
, the note
80
a
begins to cover the slots
120
and thereby begins to displace (raise) the lower portions of the upper belts
110
. As the note
80
a
moves along the plate
86
and covers a larger amount of each slot
120
the displacement increases. Maximum displacement occurs when the note
80
a
covers delivery end
122
. Thus, note
80
a
and plate
86
co-operate to displace the lower portions of the upper belts
110
.
FIGS. 6
a
to
6
e
show note
80
a
at various stages of transportation between plate
86
and the stack of notes
80
which are located adjacent a rear wall
134
of the cassette
34
. When note
80
a
overhangs delivery end
122
(
FIG. 6a
) the front end (
80
a
′) of note
80
a
begins to move out of contact with belts
110
. As note
80
a
is transported further towards the stack of notes, less of the note
80
a
is in contact with the belts
110
, as shown by
FIGS. 6
b
and
6
c
. However, before note
80
a
loses contact with belts
110
and plate
86
, the front end
80
a
′ of note
80
a
comes into contact with the stack of notes
80
, as shown in
FIG. 6
d
. When note
80
a
is transported beyond end
122
, belts
110
move back down the slots
120
to the non-displaced position (shown by dotted line
126
). As the belts
110
move downwards they come into contact with note
80
a
and urge it towards the rear wall
134
of the cassette
34
, thereby neatly stacking note
80
a
on top of the stack of notes
80
.
The top note in the stack of notes
80
is constantly urged towards the rear wall
134
of the cassette
34
by the belts
110
. This ensures that the top note in the stack does not hinder delivery of other notes. The parallel portion
84
is counterbalanced to provide a light net downward force on the stack of notes
80
. The size of the light net downward force is chosen so that the movement of the belts
110
do not cause crumpling or deformation of the top note in the stack; but do provide some urging of the top note to the rear wall
134
of the cassette
34
.
Thus, the belts
110
and plate
86
ensure that a note
80
a
is delivered to the top of the stack of notes
80
. It will be appreciated that the above arrangement causes the parallel portion
84
to rise automatically as notes
80
are added to the stack because the added notes are inserted between the belts
110
and the stack of notes
80
.
Referring again to
FIG. 3
, when a cassette
34
is empty, the loading mechanism is in the position shown by dotted lines
32
″, near the bottom
34
a
of the cassette
34
. As notes are delivered to the cassette
34
they are automatically stacked. During the stacking process the parallel portion
84
remains parallel to the topmost note in the stack of notes
80
.
Eventually, the cassette
34
is filled (as shown in
FIG. 3
by dotted lines
32
′ which are near to the top
34
b
of the cassette
34
) and the processor
42
instructs the loading mechanism
32
to cease transporting notes
80
to the cassette
34
. The cassette
34
is filled when the number of notes
80
in the cassette
34
equals the number of notes the cassette
34
can store (the storage capacity as recorded in the identifier
35
). The programmer in the cassette reader mechanism
41
then updates the identifier
35
so that the identifier
35
records the new number of notes
80
stored therein.
If the cassette
34
was partly filled with notes
80
when it was loaded into the SST
10
, then the identifier
35
stores that initial information (i.e. the number of notes
80
initially stored in the partly-filled cassette
34
), and the processor
42
ensures that only the required number of notes
80
(the difference between the storage capacity and the initial number of notes) are transported to the cassette
34
.
As the pivoting portion
82
moves from the empty position
32
″ to the full position
32
′, end
94
follows an arcuate path. To compensate for this lateral movement of end
94
the cassette receiver
36
moves the cassette
34
laterally (as shown by arrows
130
) to maintain a constant distance between end
94
and cassette
34
.
Referring again to
FIG. 1
, if a user has a partially filled cassette
39
which is to be emptied then the user inserts this cassette
39
into cassette tray
38
. The pick mechanism
40
detects the presence of the cassette
39
, removes bank notes from the cassette
39
one at a time, and transports these removed notes to the validator
18
. The microcomputer
42
counts the number of bank notes removed from the cassette
39
for reconciling the contents of the cassette
39
with the original (when full) contents of the cassette
39
. When the cassette
39
has been emptied it may be removed by a user.
Various modifications may be made to the above described embodiments within the scope of the invention. Valuable media other than bank notes may be used, such as share certificates, flight coupons, stamps, and such like. The SST may include note recognition so that the SST automatically identifies the type of note entered by the user. The conveyors (e.g.
20
,
22
,
30
) may be implemented by rollers or by suction devices. The reject note dispenser
24
may only be accessible to an authorized operator, so that any rejected media item is not returned to the user. The cassette receiver may be just a guide frame so that the operator must manually remove the lid of the cassette and load the cassette into the guide frame; in such an embodiment the cassette
34
may remain motionless and the loading mechanism
32
may move to compensate for the lateral movement of the end of the mechanism
32
between the empty and full positions. An optical sensor may be used to detect when the cassette to be replenished is full of notes and to notify the loading mechanism to stop transporting notes to the cassette. The number of notes required for to fill a cassette to be replenished may be obtained from an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) network host via the communication link
50
. The identifier
35
may store information about which SST the cassette
34
is intended for. The terminal
10
may receive sufficient notes to fill more than one cassette
34
, so that some cassettes
34
may be filled automatically with no user intervention except to load and remove the cassettes
34
.
Claims
- 1. A self-service terminal comprising:a user interface; a receiver for receiving sheet currency from a person; a validator for detecting counterfeit currency in the receiver; a cassette receiver for holding a cassette to be replenished, said cassette having been removed from an Automated Teller Machine, ATM, and said cassette, when present in the cassette receiver, is located outside an ATM; and a loading mechanism for accepting validated, non-counterfeit currency from the receiver and replenishing the cassette with said validated currency.
- 2. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein the validator checks currency sheets by implementing one or more predetermined acceptance criteria.
- 3. A terminal according to claim 1, further comprising (i) a cassette tray for receiving a cassette to be emptied and (ii) a removal mechanism for removing sheets of currency from a cassette inserted into the cassette tray.
- 4. A terminal according to claim 3, further comprising means for counting the number of sheets of currency removed from the cassette to be emptied.
- 5. Terminal according to claim 3, wherein the receiver accepts currency sheets either individually or in a bunch.
- 6. A terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a cassette reader mechanism for use with a cassette having an identifier which records at least one of the type of sheet currency and the number of sheets of currency stored in the cassette.
- 7. A terminal according to claim 1, wherein the cassette receiver is operable to detect the presence of a cassette which has been loaded into the cassette receiver, and is operable to bring the loaded cassette to an inclined position to facilitate loading of media items into the cassette.
- 8. A self-service terminal comprising:a user interface; a receiver for receiving sheet currency from a person; a validator for detecting counterfeit currency in the receiver; a cassette receiver for holding a cassette to be replenished, said cassette being used by the terminal to dispense currency to customers; and a loading mechanism for accepting validated, non-counterfeit currency from the receiver and replenishing the cassette with said validated currency, wherein the loading mechanism includes (i) a conveyor for delivering sheet currency to a cassette, and (ii) a deflector configured such that when a sheet of currency is present the media item co-operates with the deflector to displace at least part of the conveyor from a non-deflected position to a deflected position in which stacking of the sheet currency in the cassette is facilitated by allowing the sheet currency to be stacked to pass between the top of the stack of sheet currency and a raised part of the conveyor.
- 9. A terminal according to claim 8, wherein the conveyor includes a pivoting linkage arrangement having a pivoting portion which is movable in an arcuate path between bottom and top of the cassette, and a parallel portion which maintains an orientation parallel to the orientation in which a sheet of currency is to be stacked.
- 10. A terminal according to claim 8, wherein the deflector includes a low-friction plate having at least one slot in a surface inclined with respect to at least one upper conveyor belt, the plate being located below the at least one upper conveyor belt such that the at least one upper conveyor belt passes through the at least one slot.
- 11. A self-service terminal system comprising:a user interface; a receiver for receiving sheet currency; a validator for checking whether counterfeit currency was received by the receiver; means for retaining a first cassette in a position for being replenished with sheet currency, said first cassette having been removed from an Automated Teller Machine, ATM, and said first cassette, when present in the means for retaining, is located outside an ATM; and a loading mechanism which moves between bottom and top of the first cassette to replenish the first cassette with currency which was validated as non-counterfeit by the validator.
- 12. System according to claim 11, wherein the receiver accepts currency sheets either individually or in a bunch.
- 13. System according to claim 11, and further comprising:(i) a cassette tray for receiving a cassette to be emptied, and (ii) a removal mechanism for removing sheets of currency from a cassette inserted into the cassette tray, and inserting the removed sheets into the first cassette.
- 14. A method of replenishing a cassette with sheet currency in a self-service terminal, the method comprising the steps of:removing the cassette from an Automated Teller Machine, ATM; retaining the cassette in a replenishment terminal different from the ATM, in a position for receiving sheets of currency; at the replenishment terminal, receiving sheet currency to be used in replenishing the cassette; using a validator at the replenishment terminal, validating whether the received sheet currency contains counterfeit currency; and using a loading conveyor, accepting from the validator sheet currency validated as non-counterfeit; and loading the sheet currency validated into the cassette to replenish the cassette.
- 15. A method according to claim 14, further comprising the step of:(a) checking characteristics of each currency sheet received and rejecting any received sheets not fulfilling a predetermined condition acceptance criterion.
- 16. A method according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of:(e) receiving a cassette to be emptied; (f) removing sheet currency from the received cassette to be emptied, and (g) counting the number of sheets of currency removed from the cassette to be emptied for reconciling the contents of the cassette to be emptied.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
9825510 |
Nov 1998 |
GB |
|
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