Method and apparatus for processing currency bills and coins

• US 20050077142A1
• Filed: 10/09/2003
• Published: 04/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Blake, John R., Munro, Mark C., Tam, Flavia, Noke, David O., Esterbrook, Timothy L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,036,651 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 194/217
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/50 Sorting or counting valuable papers
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 3/16 in combination with coin-counting
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 9/02 Change trays
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/20 Automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/203 Dispensing operations within ATMs dispensing in general G07D11/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 5/24 with change-giving
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0027 Details of drawer or money-box
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/06 with provision for the noting of the money to be paid

Abstract

A method and system for processing currency bills and coins in a cash receptacle for automatically determining a batch of currency. An operator provides an amount of cash, including currency bills and coins, and indicates a target amount of cash desired to be made available in a currency batch. The system includes a resident memory for storing a mode of operation, determines a total amount of the cash, and determines a cash removal amount by comparing the total amount of the cash to the target amount. The cash removal amount is displayed to the operator for adding or removing cash to obtain the appropriate currency batch, which corresponds to the target amount.

Claims

1. A method for processing currency bills and coins in a cash processing system that includes a currency bill processing device and a coin processing device, said cash processing system including a resident memory, comprising:

providing a cash receptacle containing a plurality of currency bills and a plurality of coins;

providing a target amount of cash to be stored in said cash receptacle, said cash being stored after a removing step is performed;

determining a coin total corresponding to the value of said plurality of coins in said cash receptacle by using said coin processing device;

determining a bill total corresponding to the value of said plurality of bills in said cash receptacle by using said currency bill processing device;

determining a bill removal amount;

removing said bill removal amount worth of currency bills from said plurality of currency bills provided in said cash receptacle; and

storing remaining currency bills and coins in said cash receptacle, the total amount of remaining currency bills and coins corresponding to said target amount of cash.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

rounding-down said coin total;

determining a coin removal amount corresponding to the difference between said coin total and the rounded-down coin total; and

removing a coin removal amount worth of coins from said cash receptacle.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein rounding-down comprises rounding-down to the nearest whole dollar amount.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein rounding-down comprises rounding-down to the nearest whole five dollar amount.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein determining said bill removal amount comprises:

determining a bill batch amount by subtracting said coin total from said target amount; and

subtracting said bill batch amount from said bill total.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying said bill removal amount to an operator.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying said coin removal amount to an operator.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising instructing an operator how many coins from each denomination are included in said coin removal amount.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising instructing an operator how many bills from each denomination are included in said bill removal amount.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting more than one currency media; and

determining said bill removal amount for each selected currency media.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising restricting operator access such that only predetermined operators are able to provide said target amount of cash.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising printing a receipt showing at least one of said target amount, said coin total, said bill total, and said bill removal amount.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a plurality of coins of a single denomination; and

counting said plurality of coins of a single denomination until reaching said target amount of cash.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a plurality of currency bills of a single denomination; and

counting said plurality of currency bills of a single denomination until reaching said target amount of cash.

15. A method for processing currency bills and coins in a system including a currency bill processing device and a coin processing device, at least one of said bill device and said coin device including a resident memory, comprising:

providing a cash receptacle having a plurality of currency bills and coins;

determining a currency bill total using said currency bill processing device, and determining a coin total using said coin processing device;

providing a round-off amount and a total amount, said total amount being a cash amount desired for availability in said cash receptacle after an adjusting step;

determining a coin batch by using said round-off amount to approximate said coin total to a predetermined dollar amount;

subtracting said coin batch from said total amount to obtain a bill batch;

determining a coin difference amount by subtracting said coin batch from said coin total;

determining a bill difference amount by subtracting said bill batch from said currency bill total; and

adjusting said cash receptacle in accordance with said coin difference amount and said bill difference amount, an operator removing an amount of coins equal to said coin difference amount if said coin difference amount is a positive number, said operator removing an amount of currency bills equal to said bill difference amount if said bill difference amount is a positive number, said operator adding an amount of coins equal to said coin difference amount if said coin difference is a negative number, and said operator adding an amount of currency bills equal to said bill difference amount if said bill difference amount is a negative number.

16. A system for processing currency bills and coins in a cash receptacle for automatically determining a currency batch, comprising:

a coin device for counting coins in the cash receptacle and determining a coin total;

a bill device for counting bills in the cash receptacle and determining a bill total, said bill device being communicatively linked to said coin device;

a memory being resident on at least one of said coin device and said bill device, said memory storing an operating mode for processing currency bills and coins, said memory further storing a target amount; and

a central processing unit for determining a bill removal amount, said bill removal amount being the difference between said target amount and a total of said coin total and said bill total, said central processing unit being communicatively linked to at least one of said coin device and said bill device.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said cash receptacle is at least one cash bag.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein said cash receptacle is a cash till.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein said cash receptacle is a register drawer.

20. The system of claim 16, further comprising at least one printer, said printer being communicatively linked to at least one of said bill device and said coin device.

21. The system of claim 16, further comprising a manifold for transporting the processed plurality of coins from said coin device to said coin receptacle.

22. A method for processing currency bills and coins in a cash processing system that includes a currency bill processing device and a coin processing device, said cash processing system including a resident memory, comprising:

providing a drawer containing a plurality of currency bills and a plurality of coins;

providing a target amount of cash to be returned to said drawer, said cash being returned after said plurality of currency bills and said plurality of coins are processed;

determining a coin total corresponding to the value of said plurality of coins in said drawer by using said coin processing device;

determining a bill total corresponding to the value of said plurality of bills in said drawer by using said currency bill processing device;

determining a return-to-drawer bill amount; and

returning said return-to-drawer bill amount worth of currency bills to said drawer.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining a return-to-drawer coin amount; and

returning said return-to-drawer coin amount worth of coins to said drawer.