Patent Application
20140032396
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1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to automated currency processing and, more specifically, to the automated identification and tracking of bank notes.
2. Description of Related Art
Automated processing of large volumes of currency is an important part of numerous aspects of the distribution, collection, and accounting of paper currency. It is desirable to perform the processing of currency in an efficient manner while taking into account the various associated security considerations. The processing of currency may entail a number of steps, including, but not limited to, collection of notes by a teller or cashier; accounting of individual commercial deposits or bank teller pay-in accounts, transfer of deposits to a central processing facility, handling of the deposits upon arrival at the processing facility, and the processing of individual accounts through automated processing machines.
Automation of these tasks and elimination of human involvement in the process is beneficial as it is likely to improve accuracy, enhance efficiency, and reduce the likelihood of security concerns such as theft, inadvertent loss or mishandling of currency. When transferring bank notes from one entity to another (e.g. from a bank branch to a branch of the Federal Reserve Bank) it is important to keep track of the bank notes being transferred. Typically, an individual at the sending entity counts the bank notes and places them in a bag that is marked with the amount of currency contained therein. Upon receipt, an individual at the receiving entity opens the bag and counts the bank notes to ensure that the amount in the bag matches the amount denoted thereon.
Additionally, many entities such as national central banks, independent currency transporting companies, currency printing facilities, and individual banks may utilize different automated currency processing machines to confirm that the bag contains the amount of currency denoted thereon. Once the receiving entity confirms that the amount of currency in the bag matches the amount denoted on the bag, that amount will be credited to the sending entity. Generally, an automated currency processing machine may include a conveyor system that may transport a note past one or more detectors. For example, the note may be passed through a series of electrical transducers designed to measure the note's width, length, and thickness. The note may also be passed through other detectors such as, for example, optical sensors that record the note's color patterns and other detectors that may detect the note's magnetic or other physical characteristics. The information gathered by the sensors may then be used to facilitate the sorting of the individual notes and the accumulation of data regarding each note that passes through the automated mechanism. For instance, the automated currency processing machine may process a bundle of bank notes to ensure that it is all of one denomination with acceptable fitness characteristics or it may separate a bundle of bank notes into individual denominations, while simultaneously counting the stack to confirm a previous accounting. The automated currency processing machine may also reject any currency that does not meet fitness specifications, identify any counterfeit bills, and/or track individual notes by serial number.
Typically, an automated currency processing machine may be loaded with a single stack of currency at a time that is associated with a single set of accounting parameters before executing the sort process. That stack may then be fed into the automated currency processing machine and be sorted based on customer needs. The data obtained by the automated currency processing machine from the sort process, for example, the number of each denomination note detected and/or the total deposit amount, may then be compared to the same data identified to the bundle of bank notes prior to the processing cycle.
In order to improve efficiency and accuracy and reduce security risks, it is desirable to develop an automated process for keeping track of bank notes transferred between different entities and reconciling accounts associated with those transfers.
The present disclosure will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers refer to like parts throughout the views, wherein:
The disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the disclosure being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.
The present disclosure utilizes a novel method for monitoring and processing large volumes of currency at high speed while keeping track of the specific accounting parameters that the currency corresponds to.
For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communication with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.
For the purposes of this disclosure, computer-readable media may include any instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retain data and/or instructions for a period of time. Computer-readable media may include, for example, without limitation, storage media such as a direct access storage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or floppy disk drive), a sequential access storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), compact disk, CD-ROM, DVD, RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), and/or flash memory; as well as communications media such as wires, optical fibers, microwaves, radio waves, and other electromagnetic and/or optical carriers; and/or any combination of the foregoing.
The terms “couple” or “couples” as used herein are intended to mean either an indirect or direct connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct connection, or through an indirect mechanical or electrical connection via other devices and connections. Similarly, the term “communicatively coupled” as used herein is intended to mean either a direct or an indirect communication connection. Such connection may be a wired or wireless connection such as, for example, Ethernet or LAN. Such wired and wireless connections are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and will therefore not be discussed in detail herein. Thus, if a first device communicatively couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct connection, or through an indirect communication connection via other devices and connections.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, prior to sending a bag 6 containing a plurality of bundles of bank notes 202, 204, 206, the bank branch 2 determines the number and characteristics of the bank notes in each bundle. In one embodiment, the bank branch 2 may determine the number and denomination of the notes in each bundle 202, 204, 206. In certain embodiments, a bank note processing machine may be used to determine the characteristics of the bank note bundles.
Returning to
In certain embodiments, instead of including all the supplied characteristics of the bundle of bank notes on the RFID chip, the RFID chip may only include a specific RFID number stored in a computer-readable medium. One or more of the supplied characteristics listed above may then be linked to the specific RFID number in a computer-readable medium which may be located separate from the RFID chip. For instance, in certain embodiments, the central processor 120 may have access to a database reflecting the supplied characteristics for a bundle of bank notes corresponding to a specific RFID number. The RFID number may, for instance, be associated with a range of RFID numbers assigned to a branch bank or other entity. Then, once the RFID number of a particular RFID chip is identified (as discussed in more detail below), the central processor 120 can readily obtain the supplied characteristics associated with that particular RFID number relating to the bundle of bank notes.
Although the separator tags 212, 214, 216 are placed in front of the bundles of bank notes in the embodiment of
Returning now to
The bundles of bank notes 202, 204, 206 are then directed through a bank note processing machine at the Federal Reserve Bank 4. The bank note processing machine at the Federal Reserve Bank may resemble that shown in
For the purposes of illustration only, assume that the batch of currency 200 of
First at step 302, the RFID reader 122 submits a query to the item that passes by it along the transport device 112. Using the illustrative example of the batch of currency 200 of
Once the RFID reader 122 determines that a separator tag is passing by it, the process proceeds to step 306 where the RFID reader 122 informs the central processor 120 that a separator tag has been identified. Once the central processor 120 is informed that the item passing through is a separator tag and not a bank note, the central processor 120 ensures that the passage of the separator tag does not interfere with the bank note processing machine. For instance, because the separator tag does not have the same characteristics as the bank notes, absent an intervention by the central processor, one or more detectors of the bank note processing machine may treat the separator tag as an unfit bank note or it may be taken out of the stack. However, such issues are avoided by informing the central processor 120 that the item passing through the bank note processing machine is a separator tag and not a bank note. In the illustrative example using the batch of currency 200 of
Next, at step 308, in response to the query by RFID reader 122, the RFID chip of the separator tag transmits the information stored on a computer-readable medium therein to the RFID reader 122. In the illustrative example using the batch of currency 200 of
Next, at step 310 the RFID reader 122 and/or the central processor 120 may store the information obtained from RFID chip of the separator tag in a computer-readable medium. In the illustrative example using the batch of currency 200 of
Once the information from the RFID chip 226 is stored at step 310, at step 312 it is determined if there are more items remaining in the batch of currency. If there are no more items remaining in the batch of currency then the process will terminate at step 314 because all the notes and separator tags in the batch of currency 200 have already been accounted for. If there are items remaining in the batch of currency, the process returns to step 302 and the RFID reader 122 submits a query to the next item passing by. In the illustrative example using the batch of currency 200 of
Returning now to step 304, if it is determined that the item being queried by the RFID reader 122 is not a separator tag, the process continues to step 316 to determine if a previous separator tag was detected. If no separator tag was previously detected that indicates that no separator tags were used for the particular bundle of bank notes and so the process returns to step 302 to find the next separator tag. In contrast, if at step 304 it is determined that the current item is not a separator tag and at step 316 it is determined that a previous separator tag was identified, the process continues to step 318. In the illustrative example using the batch of currency 200 of
At step 318, the central processor 120 attributes the bank note currently passing through the bank note processing machine to the previous separator tag that has been identified by the RFID reader 122. In the illustrative example using the batch of currency 200 of
The process then returns to step 312 to determine if there are more items remaining in the batch of currency. Once there are no more items remaining in the batch of currency, the process terminates at step 314.
Accordingly, by the time the process terminates at step 314, the central processor has received the information on the RFID chip of each bundle of bank notes of the batch of currency and has processed the bank notes in each of the stacks. The central processor 120 has also associated the supplied characteristics (e.g., amount, denomination and other characteristics of each stack) with its corresponding separator tag. Thus, the central processor 120 can now compare the results of its processing (i.e. the determined characteristics) for each bundle of bank notes with the information provided in the RFID chip of the separator tag of each stack as provided by the sender. In certain embodiments, rather than containing the supplied characteristics locally on the RFID chip, the supplied characteristics may instead be stored in a central database 12. The central database 12 may be comprised of a computer-readable medium and may be part of an information handling system. The central processor 120 of the bank note processing machine at the Federal Reserve Bank 4 may be communicatively coupled to that central database 12 and the RFID chip associated with each bundle of bank notes 202, 204, 206 may include a pointer to the supplied characteristics.
By comparing this information, the central processor at the Federal Reserve Bank 4 can determine if there is a discrepancy between the one or more supplied characteristics provided by the separator tag and the one or more determined characteristics obtained by the detectors of the bank note processing machine. Stated otherwise, the central processor 120 may generate comparison information by comparing the supplied characteristics of each bundle of bank notes with its determined characteristics. For instance, these discrepancies may include, but are not limited to, whether there are any discrepancies between the amount of money the sender indicated was included in each stack and the amount of money accounted for by the bank note processing machine; whether the denominations of the bank notes of each bundle of bank notes are consistent with the denominations of the bank notes of that bundle of bank notes as reported by the sender; and whether there were any counterfeit bank notes in the processed stack and if so, who was the sender of the stack that contained the counterfeit bank notes. If there is a discrepancy between the determined characteristics and the supplied characteristics the central processor may issue a notification. In certain embodiments, the central processor 120 may be communicatively coupled to a transmitter, enabling the central processor 120 to transmit the determined characteristics, the supplied characteristics as determined using the information on the RFID chip and/or the comparison information to the sending entity (bank branch 2), central database 12 or another information handling system.
In certain embodiments, the issued notification from the central processor 120 may then be reported to the sender which may be an individual or a financial institution. In certain embodiments, the central processor 120 or another information handling system may directly notify the sender of any such discrepancies based on the result of processing by the bank note processing machine. For instance, the sender may be notified by electronic mail or other wired or wireless communication methods or the discrepancies may be loaded onto a computer-readable medium and delivered to the sender. In this and other embodiments, the account of the sender that is maintained at the central bank or counting facility is debited or credited depending on any counting discrepancy.
In the illustrative embodiment of
Moreover, if the determined characteristics indicate that one or more bank notes in the bundle of bank notes failed to meet one or more threshold parameters and are therefore deemed unfit, the central processor may issue a notification to that effect. For instance, a bank note may be deemed unfit if it fails to meet the minimum acceptable fitness characteristics (e.g. the note was torn, soiled, or otherwise unacceptable) or if it is a counterfeit bank note. The notification issued by the central processor may include information regarding the reason the bank note is deemed unfit and/or the number of unfit bank notes in the bundle of bank notes.
Accordingly, with respect to the illustrative example using the batch of currency 200 of
If it is determined that there are no discrepancies between the determined characteristics of the bundle of bank notes and the supplied characteristics of the bundle of bank notes, the bank notes of each bundle of bank notes may be bundled and/or otherwise grouped together and credited to the sender. In the illustrative embodiment of
In certain embodiments, in addition to information stored in the computer readable medium in the RFID chips 222, 224, 226 of the separator tags 212, 214, 216, the separator tags 212, 214, 216 may also include written information thereon. Specifically, some of the information relating to the particular bundle of bank notes corresponding to the separator tag may be written on the separator tag 212, 214, 216 to permit visual inspection of the information. In these embodiments, one of the detectors 104, 106 may be an optical detector such as, for example, a camera. The camera can then capture an image of the information written on the separator tag and the captured image may be interpreted by the bank note processing machine. In certain embodiments, Optical Character Recognition (“OCR”) technology may be used to process the captured images. The use of OCR technology is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and will therefore not be discussed in detail herein.
In one embodiment, the central processor 120 which as discussed above, may be an information handling system, may have access to a computer-readable medium which contains instructions allowing the central processor 120 to automate the methods disclosed herein. Specifically, the central processor may use the instructions in the computer-readable medium to control the operation of the various system components (e.g., the feeder, the transport device, the RFID reader, the detectors, etc.), store information relating to the batch of currency in a computer-readable medium or transmit notifications to predetermined individuals and/or entities if there are discrepancies between the supplied characteristics and the determined characteristics.
As would be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, with the benefit of this disclosure, the process of
Specifically,
Next, at step 408, in response to the query by RFID reader 122, the RFID chip of the separator tag transmits the supplied characteristics stored in its computer-readable medium to the RFID reader 122 in the same manner discussed above with respect to
In other embodiments, a stack module as shown in
Accordingly, in one embodiment, the bank note processing machine may have different modes that can be selected by a user, with each mode corresponding to a different configuration of the stack module. The user may then select the appropriate mode of operation depending on the configuration of the stack module of the batch of currency that is going to be fed to the bank note processing machine which is known.
Although a number of steps are set forth in
Therefore, the present disclosure is well-adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those which are inherent therein. While the disclosure has been depicted and described by reference to exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, such a reference does not imply a limitation on the disclosure, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The disclosure is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts and having the benefit of this disclosure. The depicted and described embodiments of the disclosure are exemplary only, and are not exhaustive of the scope of the disclosure. Consequently, the disclosure is intended to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims, giving full cognizance to equivalents in all respects. The terms in the claims have their plain, ordinary meaning unless otherwise explicitly and clearly defined by the patentee.
