Automated document processing system and method using image scanning

• US 20050207634A1
• Filed: 02/01/2005
• Published: 09/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Mennie, Douglas U., Jones, John E., Jones, William J., Jones, Paul A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,125,624 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/135
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/30 Tracking or tracing valuable papers or cassettes
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/50 Sorting or counting valuable papers
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 3/14 Apparatus driven under control of coin-sensing elements
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/12 Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/20 Testing patterns thereon G07D7/004, G07D7/005 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/207 Surveillance aspects at ATMs

Abstract

A document processing system includes an input receptacle for receiving documents. A transport mechanism receives the documents from the input receptacle and transports the documents past an image scanner and a discrimination unit. An output receptacle receives the documents from the transport mechanism after being transported past the full image scanner and the discrimination unit. The image scanner operates to obtain images of the documents and further operates to obtain images of selected portions of the documents, and further can obtain information contained in the selected portions. The discrimination unit operates to determine document authenticity. A system controller directs the flow of documents over the transport mechanism.

Claims

1. A machine, comprising:

an input receptacle that accepts into the machine a stack of documents, the stack including both currency notes and checks;

a transport mechanism that conveys the documents individually from the input receptacle;

an imaging device operative to produce an electronic representation of at least a portion of a check that has been individually conveyed from the input receptacle;

a validating device operative to assess the validity of a note that has been individually conveyed from the input receptacle; and

a sorting unit operative to sort the individually conveyed notes into at least one bin which contains notes assessed as valid through operation of the validating device.

2. The machine according to claim 1 and further comprising at least one input device that is operative to receive at least one input which is usable to identify a user of the machine.

3. The machine according to claim 1 and further including at least one note dispensing device to deliver notes to a user of the machine.

4. The machine according to claim 1 and further including at least one coin dispensing device to deliver coins to a user of the machine.

5. The machine according to claim 1 further including means for electronically tagging electronic representations of the check with check transaction data, that data including data selected from the group consisting of check amount, check account and check number.

6. The machine according to claim 1 further including means for electronically tagging electronic representations of the check with check transaction data, that data including data identifying a bank through which the electronic representation of the check passes.

7. The machine according to claim 1 further including a stacking unit operative to stack individually conveyed documents.

8. The machine according to claim 1 further including means for dispensing notes from the machine in response to the receipt of a document by the machine.

9. The machine according to claim 1 wherein the sorting unit is further operative to sort the individually conveyed notes into at least one bin which contains notes assessed as invalid through operation of the validating device.

10. The machine according to claim 1 further including means for identifying a serial of individually conveyed notes.

11. The machine according to claim 10 wherein the identified serial number of the individually conveyed note is stored.

12. The machine according to claim 1 further including a document producing device to produce documents.

13. The machine according to claim 12 wherein the produced documents are checks.

14. The machine according to claim 1 wherein the transport mechanism conveys the currency bills and checks individually with their wide edges leading past the imaging device and validating device.

15. The machine according to claim 14 wherein the transport mechanism conveys the currency bills and checks individually at rate of at least 800 documents per minute.

16. A method, comprising:

receiving a stack of documents including notes and checks in a machine at an input receptacle;

conveying the documents individually from the input receptacle;

producing with an imaging device an electronic representation of at least a portion of a check that has been individually conveyed from the input receptacle;

assessing with a validating device the validity of at least one note that has been individually conveyed from the input receptacle; and

sorting the individually conveyed notes into at least one bin which contains notes assessed as valid by the validating device.

17. The method according to claim 16 further comprising dispensing notes from the machine to a user of the machine.

18. The method according to claim 16 further comprising dispensing notes from the machine in response to the receipt of a document by the machine.

19. The method according to claim 16 further comprising receiving at least one input which is usable to identify a user of the machine.

20. The method according to claim 16 further comprising dispensing coins from the machine to a user of the machine.

21. The method according to claim 16 further including electronically tagging electronic representations of the check with check transaction data, that data including data selected from the group consisting of check amount, check account and check number.

22. The method according to claim 16 further including electronically tagging electronic representations of the check with check transaction data, that data including data identifying a bank through which the electronic representation of the check passes.

23. The method according to claim 16 further including stacking individually conveyed documents.

24. The method according to claim 16 wherein sorting further comprises sorting the individually conveyed notes into at least one bin which contains notes assessed as invalid through operation of the validating device.

25. The method according to claim 16 further including identifying a serial of individually conveyed notes.

26. The method according to claim 25 further comprising storing the identified serial number of the individually conveyed note.

27. The method according to claim 16 further including producing documents.

28. The method according to claim 27 wherein the produced documents are checks.

29. The method according to claim 16 wherein conveying comprises conveying the currency bills and checks individually with their wide edges leading past the imaging device and validating device.

30. The method according to claim 29 wherein conveying further comprises conveying the currency bills and checks individually at rate of at least 800 documents per minute.

31. An apparatus comprising:

a document transport path for individually conveying documents from a stack including checks and currency bills;

a sensing assembly adjacent the transport path, wherein the sensing assembly is operative to sense radiation that is reflected from documents conveyed along the transport path;

processing means connected to the sensing assembly and operative when the document is a currency bill to determine a characteristic of the currency bill from the reflected radiation and operative when the document is a check to capture an electronic image of the check from the reflected radiation; and

a storage device for storing captured electronic check images.

32. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the processing means compares reflected radiation to stored values in a data store corresponding to reflection properties of a plurality of bill denominations in order to determine the characteristic of a denomination of the currency bill.

33. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the sensing assembly includes at least one linear array of radiation detectors.

34. The apparatus according to claim 33 wherein the linear array detects reflected radiation along a strip of each currency bill.

35. The apparatus according to claim 34 wherein when the processing means compares strip reflected radiation to stored values in a data store corresponding to strip reflection properties of a plurality of bill denominations in order to determine the characteristic of a denomination of the currency bill.

36. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the processing means is further operative when the document is a currency bill to capture an electronic image of the currency bill from the reflected radiation.

37. The apparatus according to claim 36 wherein processing means further extracts a serial number from the currency bill image.

38. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the processing means is further operative when the sheet is a check to extract a number from the check image.

39. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the processing means is further operative when the sheet is a check to extract an amount from the check image.

40. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the processing means is further operative when the sheet is a check to extract a signature from the check image.

41. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the sensing assembly includes a camera operable to capture an electronic image of the check.

42. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the sensing assembly includes a line scanner operable to capture an electronic image of the check.

43. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the characteristic is a denomination of the currency bill.

44. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the characteristic is an authenticity of the currency bill.

45. The apparatus according to claim 31 wherein the transport path conveys the currency bills and checks individually with their wide edges leading past the sensing assembly.

46. The apparatus according to claim 45 wherein the transport path conveys the currency bills and checks individually at rate of at least 800 documents per minute.

47. An apparatus comprising:

a document transport path for individually conveying documents from a stack including checks and currency bills;

a sensing assembly adjacent the transport path, wherein the sensing assembly is operative to sense radiation that is reflected from documents conveyed along the transport path; and

a processing unit connected to the sensing assembly and operative when the document is a currency bill to determine a characteristic of the currency bill from the reflected radiation and operative when the document is a check to capture an electronic image of the check from the reflected radiation.

48. The apparatus according to claim 47 wherein the reflected radiation is visible light.

49. The apparatus according to claim 47 wherein the reflected radiation is ultraviolet light.

50. The apparatus according to claim 47 wherein the sensing assembly includes a camera operable to capture an electronic image of the check.

51. The apparatus according to claim 47 wherein the sensing assembly includes a line scanner operable to capture an electronic image of the check.

52. The apparatus according to claim 47 wherein the characteristic is a denomination of the currency bill.

53. The apparatus according to claim 47 wherein the characteristic is an authenticity of the currency bill.

54. The apparatus according to claim 47 further including a memory for storing electronic images.

55. The apparatus according to claim 47 wherein the transport path conveys the currency bills and checks individually with their wide edges leading past the sensing assembly.

56. The apparatus according to claim 55 wherein the transport path conveys the currency bills and checks individually at rate of at least 800 documents per minute.

57. An apparatus comprising:

a transport path along which individual currency bills and checks pass;

a sensing assembly, comprising;

a document imager operable to capture electronic images of at least the checks which pass along the transport path; and

a reflective scanner operable to sense radiation that is reflected from at least the currency bills which pass along the transport path; and

a processing unit in operative connection with the document imager and the reflective scanner and further operable to process the reflected radiation sensed by the reflective scanner to determine at least one of currency bill denomination and currency bill validation and further operable to store captured electronic check images in, and retrieve captured electronic check images from, a storage device.

58. The apparatus according to claim 57 wherein the processing unit compares the reflected radiation sensed by the reflective scanner against stored radiation values for genuine currency bills in order to make the denomination and validation determinations.

59. The apparatus according to claim 57 wherein the processing unit is operable to determine both currency bill denomination and validation.

60. The apparatus according to claim 57 wherein the document imager further captures electronic images of the currency bills, and the processing unit is further operable to store captured electronic currency bill images in, and retrieve captured electronic currency bill images from, the storage device.

61. The apparatus according to claim 57 wherein the transport path conveys the currency bills and checks individually with their wide edges leading past the sensing assembly.

62. The apparatus according to claim 61 wherein the transport path conveys the currency bills and checks individually at rate of at least 800 documents per minute.

63. A machine comprising:

a transport path along which individual currency bills and checks pass;

a sensing assembly adjacent the transport path and operative to sense radiation that is reflected from bills and checks that pass along the transport path;

a processing unit operatively connected to the sensing assembly and a data storage device, wherein the processing unit processes the reflected radiation sensed by the sensing assembly in comparison to currency bill data from the data storage device to determine a denomination associated with each currency bill that passes along the transport path and to store electronic document image data associated with each check that passes along the transport path.

64. The machine according to claim 63 wherein the sensing assembly comprises a strip scanner to scan reflective data from a strip across each currency bill and an imaging device to capture the electronic images of each check.

65. The apparatus according to claim 63 wherein the transport path conveys the currency bills and checks individually with their wide edges leading past the sensing assembly.

66. The apparatus according to claim 65 wherein the transport path conveys the currency bills and checks individually at rate of at least 800 documents per minute.

67. A method comprising:

a) individually passing documents comprising currency bills and checks along a transport path;

b) sensing radiation that is reflected from bills and checks passed along the transport path using a sensing assembly adjacent the path;

c) determining through operation of a processing unit responsive to radiation sensed by the sensing assembly, a denomination associated with a currency bill passed along the transport path; and

d) storing in a data store through operation of the processing unit responsive to radiation sensed by the sensing assembly electronic image data corresponding to an image of a check passed along the transport path.

68. The method according to claim 67 wherein passing comprises conveying the currency bills and checks individually with their wide edges leading past the sensing assembly.

69. The method according to claim 68 wherein conveying further comprises conveying the currency bills and checks individually at rate of at least 800 documents per minute.