Document transfer apparatus

• US 7,650,980 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2004
• Issued: 01/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Klein, Robert J., Hallowell, Curtis W., Jenrick, Charles P.
• Primary Examiner(s): SHAPIRO, JEFFERY A
• Application Number:
  US10/861,338
• Publication Number:
  US 20040251110A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,062 Days
• Field of Search: 209/534, 194/206, 194/207, 414/792.7, 414/794.1, 414/789.5, 414/790.3, 414/790.1, 414/788, 414/789, 414/793.4, 414/793.8, 414/791, 414/790.8, 414/790, 902/13, 271/187, 271/315
• US Class Current: 194/206
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2301/332 Turning, overturning
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2701/1912 Banknotes, bills and cheques or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/10 Mechanical details
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/13 with internal means for handling valuable papers
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/14 Inlet or outlet ports
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/202 Depositing operations within ATMs depositing in general G07D11/00

Abstract

A method and apparatus for handling bill jams within a currency processing device is provided. The device includes a transport mechanism adapted to transport bills along a transport path, one at a time, from the input receptacle past an evaluation unit into a plurality of output receptacles. At least one of the output receptacles includes a holding area and a storage area. A plurality of bill passage sensors are sequentially disposed along the transport path that are adapted to detect the passage of a bill as each bill is transported past each sensor. An encoder is adapted to produce an encoder count for each incremental movement of the transport mechanism. A controller counts the total number of bills transported into each of the holding areas and the total number of bills moved from a holding area to a corresponding storage area after a predetermined number of bills have been transported into the holding area. The controller tracks the movement of each of the bills along the transport path into each of the holding areas with the plurality of bill passage sensors. The presence of a bill jam is detected when a bill is not transported past one of the plurality of bill passage sensors within a requisite number of encoder counts. The operation of the transport mechanism is suspended upon detection of a bill jam. The bills from each of the holding areas are moved to the corresponding storage areas upon suspension of the operation of the transport mechanism. Remaining bills are then flushed from the transport path after moving the bills from each of the holding areas to the corresponding storage areas upon suspension of the operation of the transport mechanism.

Claims

1. An apparatus for transferring a plurality of documents from a first compartment to a second compartment, the apparatus comprising:

a plunger assembly;

at least one arm coupled to the plunger assembly;

a gate disposed between the first compartment and the second compartment, the gate having an open position and a closed position, the gate forming a document supporting surface when in the closed position;

at least one lever coupled to the gate, the lever being in a first position when the gate is in the closed position and the lever being in a second position when the gate is in the open position; and

wherein the gate moves from the closed position to the open position when the plunger assembly urges the documents against the gate from the first compartment towards the second compartment, and wherein the arm moves the lever from the second position to the first position to move the gate from the open position to the closed position when the plunger assembly retracts from the second compartment to the first compartment.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the gate comprises:

a rotatable shaft extending transversely across an opening of the second compartment; and

a shutter connected to the shaft.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the gate comprises:

first and second parallel rotatable shafts extending transversely across an opening of the second compartment;

a first shutter connected to the first shaft; and

a second shutter connected to the second shaft.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a belt adapted to bidirectionally drive the plunger assembly.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the belt is a timing belt.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a spring coupled to the lever, the spring maintaining the gate in the open and the closed position.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising one or more guides adapted to align documents within the first compartment.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a rigid support member, wherein the plunger assembly is slidably engaged to the rigid support member.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a stacker wheel being adapted to stack documents upon the gate.

21. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first compartment, the gate, and the second compartment are each adapted to accommodate bills ranging in size from about 4.39 inches long by about 2.40 inches wide to about 7.17 inches long by about 3.82 inches wide.

39. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the first and second shutters rotate into the open position and into the closed position when the first and second parallel rotatable shafts rotate.

2. A currency evaluation device for receiving a plurality of currency bills and rapidly evaluating each of the bills, the device comprising:

an input receptacle being adapted to receive a plurality of bills to be evaluated;

one or more output receptacles adapted to receive the bills after the bills have been evaluated, at least one of the output receptacles having a first compartment and a second compartment, the output receptacle having a gate disposed between the first compartment and the second compartment, the gate having an open position and a closed position, the gate forming a bill supporting surface when in the closed position, the gate having at least one lever coupled thereto, the lever being in a first position when the gate is in the closed position and the lever being in a second position when the gate is in the open position;

a transport mechanism being adapted to transport bills, one at a time along a transport path, from the input receptacle to the first compartment of the at least one of the output receptacles having a first compartment and a second compartment;

a plunger assembly that moves between the first compartment and the second compartment, the plunger assembly urging bills from the first compartment towards the second compartment and causing the gate to move from the closed position to the open position as the plunger assembly moves from the first compartment toward the second compartment, and wherein the plunger assembly engages the lever to move the gate from the open position to the closed position when the plunger assembly retracts from the second compartment to the first compartment;

an evaluating unit being adapted to determine information concerning the bills, the evaluation unit having at least one sensor positioned along the transport path between the input receptacle and the one or more output receptacles.

3. An apparatus for transferring a plurality of documents from a first compartment to a second compartment, the apparatus comprising:

a plunger assembly;

a gate disposed between the first compartment and the second compartment, the gate having an open position and a closed position, the gate forming a document supporting surface when in the closed position;

at least one lever, the lever being in a first position when the gate is in the closed position and the lever being in a second position when the gate is in the open position; and

wherein the gate moves from the closed position to the open position when the plunger assembly urges the documents against the gate towards the second compartment as the plunger assembly moves towards the second compartment, and wherein the plunger assembly moves the lever from the second position to the first position to move the gate from the open position to the closed position as the plunger is moving from the second compartment to the first compartment.

22. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the gate comprises:

a rotatable shaft extending transversely across an opening of the second compartment; and

a shutter connected to the shaft.

23. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the gate comprises:

first and second parallel rotatable shafts extending transversely across an opening of the second compartment;

a first shutter connected to the first shaft; and

a second shutter connected to the second shaft.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the at least one lever comprises a first lever extending from the first shaft and a second lever extending from the second shaft, the first and second levers being in the first position when the gate is closed and in the second position when the gate is open.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising:

a first resilient member attached to the first lever adapted to maintain the first lever in the second position; and

a second resilient member attached to the second lever adapted to maintain the second lever in the second position.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the first resilient member is a spring and the second resilient member is a spring.

27. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising a belt adapted to bidirectionally drive the plunger.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the belt is a timing belt.

29. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising a spring coupled to the lever, the spring being adapted to maintain the gate in the open and the closed position.

30. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising one or more guides adapted to align documents within the first compartment.

31. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising a stacker wheel being adapted to stack documents upon the gate.

32. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the first compartment, the gate, and the second compartment are each adapted to accommodate bills ranging in size from about 4.39 inches long by about 2.40 inches wide to about 7.17 inches long by about 3.82 inches wide.

4. An apparatus for transferring a plurality of documents from a first compartment to a second compartment, the apparatus comprising:

a plunger assembly that moves between the first compartment and the second compartment;

a gate disposed between the first compartment and the second compartment, the gate having an open position and a closed position;

a first resilient member coupled to the gate and applying a closing biasing force which maintains the gate in the closed position when the gate is in the closed position;

a second resilient member coupled to the gate and applying an opening biasing force which maintains the gate in the open position when the gate is in the open position;

wherein the gate moves from the closed position to the open position when the plunger assembly moves from the first compartment to the second compartment, and wherein the plunger assembly applies a force to the gate sufficient to overcome the opening biasing force applied by the second resilient member thereby causing the gate to move from the open position to the closed position when the plunger retracts from the second compartment to the first compartment.

33. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the gate comprises:

a rotatable shaft extending transversely across an opening of the second compartment; and

a shutter connected to the shaft.

34. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the gate comprises:

first and second parallel rotatable shafts extending transversely across an opening of the second compartment;

a first shutter connected to the first shaft; and

a second shutter connected to the second shaft.

35. The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising a belt adapted to bidirectionally drive the plunger.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein the belt is a timing belt.

37. The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising one or more guides adapted to align documents within the first compartment.

38. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the first compartment, the gate, and the second compartment are each adapted to accommodate bills ranging in size from about 4.39 inches long by about 2.40 inches wide to about 7.17 inches long by about 3.82 inches wide.

5. A currency evaluation device for receiving a plurality of currency bills and rapidly evaluating each of the bills, the device comprising:

an input receptacle adapted to receive a plurality of bills to be evaluated;

at least one output receptacle adapted to receive the bills after the bills have been evaluated, the at least one output receptacle having a first compartment and a second compartment, the output receptacle having a gate disposed between the first compartment and the second compartment, the gate having an open position and a closed position;

a transport mechanism adapted to transport bills, one at a time along a transport path, from the input receptacle to the first compartment of the at least one output receptacle;

an evaluating unit adapted to determine information concerning the bills, the evaluation unit having at least one sensor positioned along the transport path between the input receptacle and the at least one output receptacle;

a plunger assembly that moves between the first compartment and the second compartment;

a first resilient member coupled to the gate and applying a closing biasing force which maintains the gate in the closed position when the gate is in the closed position;

a second resilient member coupled to the gate and applying an opening biasing force which maintains the gate in the open position when the gate is in the open position;

wherein the gate moves from the closed position to the open position when the plunger assembly moves from the first compartment to the second compartment, and wherein the plunger assembly applies a force to the gate sufficient to overcome the opening biasing force applied by the second resilient member thereby causing the gate to move from the open position to the closed position when the plunger assembly retracts from the second compartment to the first compartment.

8. An apparatus for transferring a plurality of documents from a first compartment to a second compartment, the apparatus comprising:

a plunger assembly;

at least one arm coupled to the plunger assembly;

a gate disposed between the first compartment and the second compartment, the gate having an open position and a closed position, the gate being adapted to form a document supporting surface when in the closed position wherein the gate comprises first and second parallel rotatable shafts extending transversely across an opening of the second compartment;

a first shutter connected to the first shaft;

a second shutter connected to the second shaft;

at least one lever coupled to the gate, the lever being in a first position when the gate is in the closed position and the lever being in a second position when the gate is in the open position;

wherein the gate is adapted to move from the closed position to the open position when the plunger assembly urges the documents against the gate from the first compartment towards the second compartment, and wherein the arm is adapted to move the lever from the second position to the first position to move the gate from the open position to the closed position when the plunger assembly retracts from the second compartment to the first compartment; and

wherein the at least one lever comprises a first lever extending from the first shaft and a second lever extending from the second shaft, the first and second levers being in the first position when the gate is closed and in the second position when the gate is open, and wherein the at least one arm includes first and second arms extending from the plunger assembly to move the first and second levers from the second position to the first position to close the first and second shutters when the plunger assembly retracts from the second compartment to the first compartment.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising:

a first resilient member attached to the first lever adapted to maintain the first lever in the second position; and

a second resilient member attached to the second lever adapted to maintain the second lever in the second position.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the first resilient member is a spring and the second resilient member is a spring.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising:

a third resilient member coupled to the first arm, the third resilient member adapted to urge the first arm away from the plunger assembly; and

a fourth resilient member coupled to the second arm, the fourth resilient member adapted to urge the second arm away from the plunger assembly.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the first, second, third, and fourth resilient members are springs.

16. An apparatus for transferring a plurality of documents from a first compartment to a second compartment, the apparatus comprising:

a plunger assembly;

at least one arm coupled to the plunger assembly;

a gate disposed between the first compartment and the second compartment, the gate having an open position and a closed position, the gate being adapted to form a document supporting surface when in the closed position;

at least one lever coupled to the gate, the lever being in a first position when the gate is in the closed position and the lever being in a second position when the gate is in the open position;

wherein the gate is adapted to move from the closed position to the open position when the plunger assembly urges the documents against the gate from the first compartment towards the second compartment, and wherein the arm is adapted to move the lever from the second position to the first position to move the gate from the open position to the closed position when the plunger assembly retracts from the second compartment to the first compartment; and

wherein the arm has two ends, a first end of the arm being coupled to the plunger assembly, and wherein the plunger assembly further comprises a resilient member adapted to urge a second end of the arm away from the plunger assembly.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the resilient member is a spring.