System and method for processing currency bills and documents bearing barcodes in a document processing device

• US 6,843,418 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2002
• Issued: 01/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Jones, William J., Klein, Robert J., Hallowell, Curtis W., Jenrick, Charles P.
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US10/205,144
• Publication Number:
  US 20040016797A1
• Time in Patent Office: 910 Days
• Field of Search: 23546201-46248, 235/472.01, 235/472.02, 235/472.03, 235/379, 235/375, 235/380, 235/381, 194/206, 194/207, 209/534
• US Class Current: 235/462.01
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/0096 Accepting paper currency or other valuables in containers, e.g. in code-marked envelopes
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/50 Sorting or counting valuable papers
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0043 using barcodes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3246 involving coins and/or banknotes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3248 involving non-monetary media of fixed value, e.g. casino chips of fixed value
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/04 by paper currency
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0045 with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader

Abstract

A document processing device having an evaluation region disposed along a transport path between an input and output receptacle capable of processing both currency bills and barcoded media having at least two barcodes. One of the barcodes encodes a ticket number and another barcode encodes a payout amount associated with that ticket number. The evaluation region includes detectors for detecting predetermined characteristics of currency bills and a barcode reader for scanning the barcodes printed on the barcoded media. A controller coupled to the evaluation region controls the operation of the document processing device and receives input from and provides information to a user via a control unit In some embodiments, the document processing device may have any number of output receptacles, and the control unit allows the user to specify which output receptacle receives which type of document An optional coin sorter may be coupled to the document processing device to allow document and coin processing The document processing device may be coupled to a network to communicate information to devices linked to the network.

Claims

1. A document processing device, comprising

an input receptacle adapted to receive currency bills and substitute currency media, at least one of the substitute currency media having at least a first barcode pattern and a second barcode pattern disposed thereon;

at least one output receptacle adapted to receive currency bills and substitute currency media after the currency bills and substitute currency media have been evaluated;

a transport mechanism adapted to transport the currency bills and substitute currency media, one at a time, from the input receptacle to the at least one output receptacle along a transport path;

an evaluation unit comprising at least one currency detector disposed along the transport path between the input receptacle and the output receptacle, the at least one currency detector being capable of evaluating currency bills, and a first media detector disposed along the transport path between the input receptacle and the output receptacle, the first media detector being capable of detecting the first barcode pattern and the second barcode pattern, and

a controller coupled to the evaluation unit, the controller being adapted to control the operation of the transport mechanism and the operation of the evaluation unit.

2. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the first barcode pattern and the second barcode pattern are on the same surface of the at least one of the substitute currency media.

3. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the first barcode pattern and the second barcode pattern are on opposite surfaces of the at least one of the substitute currency media.

4. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the first barcode pattern represents identification information.

5. The document processing device of claim 4, wherein the identification information is a ticket number.

6. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the second barcode pattern represents a value.

7. The document processing device of claim 6, wherein the value is an amount of currency.

8. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the first barcode pattern and the second barcode pattern are encoded according to the same barcode symbology.

9. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the first barcode pattern is encoded according to a first barcode symbology and the second barcode pattern is encoded according to a second barcode symbology.

10. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the media detector includes a barcode reader.

11. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the media detector includes at least a first barcode reader and a second barcode reader.

12. The document processing device of claim 11, wherein the first barcode reader and the second barcode reader are disposed on the same side of the transport path.

13. The document processing device of claim 11, wherein the first barcode reader and the second barcode reader are disposed on opposite sides of the transport path.

14. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the currency bills and substitute currency media are transported along the transport path at a rate of at least 1000 documents per minute.

15. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the currency bills and substitute currency media are transported along the transport path at a rate of at least 1200 documents per minute.

16. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the currency bills and substitute currency media are transported along the transport path at a rate of at least 1600 documents per minute.

17. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the currency detector includes at least one of an optical scan head, a magnetic sensor, a size-detection sensor, a density sensor, a thread sensor, an infrared sensor, an ultraviolet scan head, a fluorescent scan head, and a full image scanner.

18. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the substitute currency media includes at least one of casino script, casino cashout tickets, retailer coupons, and gift certificates.

19. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the at least one substitute currency media further includes a third barcode pattern, the media detector being capable of detecting the third barcode pattern.

20. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the at least one output receptacle is exactly one output receptacle.

21. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the at least one output receptacle is at least two output receptacles.

22. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the at least one output receptacle is at least eight output receptacles.

23. The document processing device of claim 1, wherein the currency bills and substitute currency media are transported one at a time and in any order from the input receptacle to the at least one output receptacle along a transport path.

24. A document processing device, comprising:

an input receptacle adapted to receive currency bills and substitute currency media, at least one of the substitute currency media including at least a first barcode pattern representative of a ticket number and a second barcode pattern representative of a value,

at least one output receptacle adapted to receive currency bills and substitute currency media after the currency bills and substitute currency media have been evaluated,

a transport mechanism adapted to transport the currency bills and substitute currency media, one at a time, from the input receptacle to the at least one output receptacle along a transport path;

an evaluation unit comprising at least one currency detector disposed along the transport path between the input receptacle and the output receptacle, the at least one currency detector being capable of evaluating currency bills, and a first media detector disposed along the transport path between the input receptacle and the output receptacle, the first media detector being capable of detecting the first barcode pattern and the second barcode pattern;

a controller coupled to the evaluation unit, the controller being adapted to control the operation of the transport mechanism and the operation of the evaluation unit, and

a communications port coupled to the controller, the communications port being adapted to transmit at least one of the ticket number associated with the first barcode pattern and the value associated with the second barcode pattern.

25. The document processing device of claim 24, wherein the controller is further adapted to save the ticket number and the value to an export file.

26. The document processing device of claim 25, wherein the communications port is further adapted to transmit the export file to another system.

27. An apparatus for processing both currency bills and substitute currency media, comprising:

an input receptacle adapted to receive currency bills and substitute currency media, each of the substitute currency media including at least a first barcode pattern encoding a number and a second barcode pattern encoding a value associated with the number;

at least one output receptacle adapted to receive currency bills and substitute currency media after the currency bills and substitute currency media have been evaluated;

a transport mechanism adapted to transport the currency bills and substitute currency media, one at a time, from the input receptacle to the at least one output receptacle along a transport path,

an evaluation unit comprising at least one detector disposed along the transport path between the input receptacle and the output receptacle, the at least one detector being capable of evaluating currency bills and of decoding the number encoded in the first barcode pattern and the value encoded in the second barcode pattern on each of the substitute currency media, one of the substitute currency media on which a number and a value are decoded being termed a valid substitute currency medium, and

a controller coupled to the evaluation unit, the controller being adapted to control the operation of the transport mechanism and the operation of the evaluation unit, the controller including a memory, the memory being adapted to store the number and the value of each valid substitute currency medium decoded by the detector.

28. The document processing device of claim 27, wherein the at least one detector is a full image scanner.

29. The document processing device of claim 27, wherein the detector includes a currency detector and a barcode reader.

30. The document processing device of claim 27, wherein the detector includes a currency detector and a barcode reader.

31. The document processing device of claim 27, wherein the controller is adapted to save the contents of the memory to a storage medium.

32. The document processing device of claim 31, wherein the storage medium is a hard drive.

33. The document processing device of claim 31, wherein the storage medium is a network drive.

34. The document processing device of claim 31, wherein the storage medium is a floppy disk.

35. The document processing device of claim 27, further comprising a communications port coupled to the controller, the communications port being adapted to transmit at least a portion of the contents of the memory to another system.

36. The document processing device of claim 27, further comprising a communications port coupled to the controller, the communications port being adapted to transmit the number and the value of at least one valid substitute currency medium decoded by the decoder to another system.

37. The document processing device of claim 27, wherein the value is an amount of currency.

38. An evaluation unit for evaluating currency bills and barcoded tickets in a document processing device, comprising:

a first detector adapted to detect characteristic information of a currency bill,

a second detector adapted to detect at least two barcode patterns on a barcoded ticket that is redeemable for cash; and

a controller coupled to said second detector adapted to decode the at least two barcode patterns into a set of characters identifying a particular one of the barcoded tickets and a number representing an amount of currency, the particular one of the barcoded tickets being termed a valid barcoded ticket.

39. The document processing device of claim 38, wherein the set of characters is a barcoded ticket number.

40. The document processing device of claim 38, wherein the at least two barcode patterns are encoded according to the same barcode symbology.

41. The document processing device of claim 40, wherein the second detector includes a barcode reader adapted to decode the at least two barcode patterns.

42. The document processing device of claim 38, wherein the at least two barcode patterns are encoded according to different barcode symbologies.

43. The document processing device of claim 42, wherein the second detector includes a first barcode reader adapted to decode one of the at least two barcode patterns and a second barcode reader adapted to decode a second one of the at least two barcode patterns.

44. The document processing device of claim 38, wherein the characteristic information includes at least one of size, thickness, color, magnetism, reflectivity, absorbability, transmissivity, electrical conductivity, and serial number.

45. The document processing device of claim 38, wherein the characteristic information includes at least one of size, thickness, color, magnetism, reflectivity, to absorbability, transmissivity, electrical conductivity, and serial number.

46. The document processing device of claim 38, wherein the first detector includes at least one of an optical scan head, a magnetic sensor, a size-detection sensor, a density sensor, a thread sensor, an infrared sensor, an ultraviolet scan head, a fluorescent light scan head, and a full image scanner.

47. A document processing device in a system having a plurality of machines adapted to accept documents, the plurality of machines being coupled to an accounting system, the document processing device comprising:

an input receptacle adapted to receive a stack of documents including currency bills and substitute currency media, each of the substitute currency media including at least a first barcode pattern encoding a number and a second barcode pattern encoding a value;

at least one output receptacle adapted to receive the stack of documents after the currency bills and substitute currency media have been evaluated,

a transport mechanism adapted to transport the currency bills and substitute currency media, one at a time, from the input receptacle to the at least one output receptacle along a transport path;

an evaluation unit comprising at least one detector disposed along the transport path between the input receptacle and the output receptacle, the at least one detector being capable of evaluating currency bills and of decoding the number encoded in the first barcode pattern and the value encoded in the second barcode pattern on each of the substitute currency media, and

a controller coupled to the evaluation unit, the controller being adapted to control the operation of the transport mechanism and the operation of the evaluation unit, the controller further being adapted to store the number and the value of each substitute currency medium to a file.

48. The document processing device of claim 47 in combination with an accounting system, the accounting system being adapted to reconcile the number and the value of each substitute currency medium in the file with pre-processed document data.

49. The document processing device of claim 47, further comprising a communications port coupled to the controller, the communications port being adapted to transmit the file to the accounting system.

50. The document processing device of claim 47, wherein the file is stored on a removable storage media.

51. A method of processing both currency bills and substitute currency media in a document processing device, the method comprising:

receiving a stack of documents including currency bills and substitute currency media to be evaluated in an input receptacle of the device,

transporting each of the documents, one document at a time, past a currency detector and past a media detector,

scanning each document to obtain characteristic information associated with a currency bill,

scanning each document to obtain characteristic information associated with a substitute currency medium, the characteristic information including a first barcode pattern and a second barcode pattern,

determining whether each document meets or fails at least one criterion; and

directing each document to at least one output receptacle based on the step of determining.

52. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

decoding the first barcode pattern into a ticket number, and

decoding the second barcode pattern into an amount of currency.

53. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

storing the characteristic information associated with the currency bill in a storage medium, and

storing the characteristic information associated with the substitute currency medium in a storage medium.

54. The method of claim 51, wherein the characteristic information associated with the currency bill is a ticket number and the characteristic information associated with the substitute currency medium is a value, the method further comprising transmitting the ticket number and the value to a system.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the system is an accounting system, the method further comprising reconciling the ticket numbers and the values obtained by the document processing device with ticket numbers and values stored in the accounting system.

56. A method of processing documents, comprising:

accepting a plurality of documents including substitute currency media into an input receptacle of a document processing device, each of the substitute currency media including more than one barcode pattern thereon;

transporting each of the documents, one document at a time, past a detector;

scanning each document via the detector for at least a first barcode pattern and a second barcode pattern, a document having a decodable first barcode pattern and a decodable second barcode pattern being termed a valid substitute currency medium,

first decoding for each valid substitute currency medium the first barcode pattern into a first set of characters representing identification information;

second decoding for each valid substitute currency medium the second barcode pattern into a second set of characters representing an amount of currency; and

directing each document to at least one output receptacle.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the steps of first decoding and second decoding are both carried out by a barcode reader.

58. The method of claim 56, wherein the step of first decoding is carried out by a first barcode reader and the step of second decoding is carried out by a second barcode reader, the first barcode reader being adapted to decode a barcode symbology different from that of the second barcode reader.

59. The method of claim 56, further comprising adding the amount of currency to a running total and storing the running total after a last one of the plurality of documents has been processed.

60. The method of claim 56, wherein the identification information includes a ticket number, the method further comprising storing the ticket number of each valid substitute currency medium in a file and providing the file to a ticket tracking system.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the providing is carried out over a network.

62. The method of claim 56, wherein the providing is carried out via a floppy disk.

63. The method of claim 56, wherein the identification information includes a ticket number, the method further comprising storing the ticket number and the amount of currency of each valid substitute currency medium in a file and providing the file to an accounting system.

64. The method of claim 56, wherein the plurality of documents include currency bills.

65. The method of claim 56, wherein the plurality of documents include a batch identification card bearing encoded information identifying the document processing device.

66. A method of processing documents, comprising the steps of

generating pre-processed document data indicative of characteristic information of currency bills and substitute currency media received and dispensed by a document accepting device, the substitute currency media having a first barcode pattern encoding a number and a second barcode pattern encoding a value,

processing the currency bills and substitute currency media in a document processing device;

first decoding, in the document processing device, the first barcode pattern on each substitute currency media into the number,

second decoding, in the document processing device, the second barcode pattern on each substitute currency media into the value;

providing the number and the value of each substitute currency media to an accounting system; and

reconciling in the accounting system the number and the value of each substitute currency media with the pre-processed document data.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the providing is carried out by storing the number and the value of each substitute currency media to a file and transmitting the file to the accounting system.

68. The method of claim 66, wherein the providing is carried out by storing the number and the value of each substitute currency media to a removable storage medium and providing the removable storage medium to the accounting system.

69. The method of claim 66, further comprising:

providing the number of each substitute currency media from the accounting system to a media tracking system; and

retrieving a value from the media tracking system corresponding to the number.