Apparatus and system for imaging currency bills and financial documents and method for using the same

• US 8,627,939 B1
• Filed: 12/10/2010
• Issued: 01/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Jones, William J., Csulits, Frank M., Mennie, Douglas U., Jaeger, Ralf H., Klein, Robert J., Beutel, Dale E., Badalamenti, David R.
• Primary Examiner(s): SHAPIRO, JEFFREY ALAN
• Application Number:
  US12/965,626
• Time in Patent Office: 1,131 Days
• Field of Search: 194/206, 194/207, 209/534, 705/30, 705/35, 382/135, 235/379, 235/380, 902 8- 21, 902/37, 902/40, 902/41
• US Class Current: 194/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/00 Pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/389 Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/143 Sensing or illuminating at different wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/24 Managing the stock of valuable papers
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/30 Tracking or tracing valuable papers or cassettes
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/32 Record keeping transaction aspects G07F19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/34 Monitoring the contents of devices, e.g. the number of stored valuable papers
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/36 Auditing of activities
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0047 using checkcodes, e.g. coded numbers derived from serial number and denomination
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/20 Automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/202 Depositing operations within ATMs depositing in general G07D11/00

Abstract

A device has a deposit, a sell, and an audit mode of operation to monitor and reconcile bills. The device includes a memory storing records, an input receptacle to receive bills, an image scanner to image bills, a transportation mechanism to transport bills, and one or more processors. In the deposit mode, the one or more processors extract serial numbers and generate records. Each record includes a physical bill location field to indicate the location that the bill is expected to be physically located. In the sell mode, the one or more processors update the physical bill location fields to indicate that the expected physical bill location is a second location. In the audit mode, the one or more processors determine if each record corresponds with an audit record and generate an indication that the teller drawer is balanced responsive to a determination that each audit record corresponds with a respective record and a determination that each record corresponds with an audit record.

Claims

1. A method of reconciling currency bills in a plurality of teller drawers, wherein a memory stores a plurality of teller drawer files, each teller drawer file being associated with a respective one of the plurality of teller drawers and including a teller drawer record for each currency bill expected to be in the respective teller drawer, the method comprising:

operating a document processing device in an audit mode, wherein the document processing device performs the acts of;

receiving a first plurality of audit-currency-bills in an input receptacle of the document processing device, the first plurality of audit-currency-bills including all of the currency bills that were in a first one of the plurality of teller drawers;

transporting the first plurality of audit-currency-bills from the input receptacle past an image scanner;

generating a first audit file, the first audit file including an audit record for each one of the first plurality of audit-currency-bills;

receiving a second plurality of audit-currency-bills in the input receptacle of the document processing device, the second plurality of audit-currency-bills including all of the currency bills that were in a second one of the plurality of teller drawers;

transporting the second plurality of audit-currency-bills from the input receptacle past the image scanner;

generating a second audit file, the second audit file including an audit record for each one of the second plurality of audit-currency-bills;

automatically determining if the first audit file matches a first one of the plurality of teller drawer files associated with the first one of the plurality of teller drawers;

automatically determining if the second audit file matches a second one of the plurality of teller drawer files associated with the second one of the plurality of teller drawers;

responsive to a determination that the first audit file does not match the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files associated with the first one of the plurality of teller drawers, automatically generating a first variance report;

responsive to a determination that the second audit file does not match the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files associated with the second one of the plurality of teller drawers, automatically generating a second variance report; and

automatically reconciling the plurality of teller drawers by comparing the first variance report with the second variance report.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first audit file does not match the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files in response to the first audit file including an unexpected record or in response to the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files including a no-show record.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the unexpected record is an audit record included in the first audit file that does not match any of the teller drawer records included in the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files, and wherein the no-show record is a teller drawer record included in the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files that does not match any of the audit records included in the first audit file.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second audit file does not match the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files in response to the second audit file including an unexpected record or in response to the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files including a no-show record, the unexpected record being an audit record included in the second audit file that does not match any of the teller drawer records included in the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files, the no-show record being a teller drawer record included in the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files that does not match any of the audit records included in the second audit file.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first variance report and the second variance report each includes a serial number and a denomination for each no-show record and for each unexpected record.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the act of automatically reconciling the plurality of teller drawers includes automatically comparing the serial number and denomination included for each unexpected record in the first audit file with the serial number and denomination for each no-show record in the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files and comparing the serial number and denomination for each unexpected record in the second audit file with the serial number and denomination for each no-show record in the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each currency bill has a wide edge, and wherein the transporting occurs in a wide-edge leading manner.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the transporting and the generating occur at a rate of at least about 1000 bills per minute.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein all of the currency bills are circulated U.S. currency bills.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the transporting and the generating occur at a rate of at least about 1200 bills per minute.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the document processing device has a footprint of less than about 2 square feet and a weight of less than about 30 pounds.

12. A document processing device having an audit mode of operation to reconcile currency bills associated with a plurality of teller drawers, the device comprising:

a memory storing a plurality of teller drawer files, each teller drawer file being associated with a respective one of the plurality of teller drawers and including a teller drawer record for each currency bill which is expected to be in the respective teller drawer;

an input receptacle configured to receive a set of audit-currency-bills from each of the plurality of teller drawers, the set of audit-currency-bills from each of the plurality of teller drawers including all of the currency bills that were in a respective teller drawer; and

a transport mechanism configured to transport the audit-currency-bills from the input receptacle past an image scanner to one or more output receptacles; and

one or more processors configured to;

(i) generate a respective audit file for each set of audit-currency-bills, each one of the respective audit files including an audit record for each one of the audit-currency-bills in a respective set;

(ii) determine if each respective audit file matches a corresponding teller drawer file;

(iii) generate a respective variance report responsive to a determination that an audit files does not match a corresponding teller drawer file; and

(iv) in response to a plurality of variance reports being generated, compare information in the plurality of variance reports to determine if, collectively, all of the teller drawers are in balance.

13. The document processing device of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate a balance indication if each audit file has a corresponding matching teller drawer file.

14. The document processing device of claim 12, wherein a first one of the audit files does not match a corresponding teller drawer file in response to the first one of the audit files including an unexpected record or in response to the corresponding teller drawer file including a no-show record.

15. The document processing device of claim 14, wherein the unexpected record is an audit record included in the first one of the audit files that does not match any of the teller drawer records included in the corresponding teller drawer file, and wherein the no-show record is a teller drawer record included in the corresponding teller drawer file that does not match any of the audit records included in the first one of the audit files.

16. The document processing device of claim 15, wherein the respective variance report includes a serial number and a denomination associated with each no-show record and each unexpected record.

17. The document processing device of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to compare the information in the plurality of variance reports by automatically comparing the serial number and denomination associated with each unexpected record in each of the audit files with the serial number and denomination associated with each no-show record in each of the audit files.

18. The document processing device of claim 12, wherein each currency bill has a wide edge, and wherein the transporting occurs in a wide-edge leading manner.

19. The document processing device of claim 12, wherein all of the currency bills are circulated U.S. currency bills.

20. The document processing device of claim 19, wherein the transporting and the generating occur at a rate of at least about 1000 bills per minute.

21. The document processing device of claim 12, wherein the document processing device has a footprint of less than about 2 square feet and a weight of less than about 30 pounds.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the first audit file does not match the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files in response to the first audit file including an unexpected record or in response to the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files including a no-show record.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the unexpected record is an audit record included in the first audit file that does not match any of the teller drawer records included in the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files, and wherein the no-show record is a teller drawer record included in the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files that does not match any of the audit records included in the first audit file.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the second audit file does not match the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files in response to the second audit file including an unexpected record or in response to the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files including a no-show record.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the unexpected record is an audit record included in the second audit file that does not match any of the teller drawer records included in the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files, and wherein the no-show record is a teller drawer record included in the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files that does not match any of the audit records included in the second audit file.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the first variance report and the second variance report each includes an extracted serial number and a denomination for each no-show record and for each unexpected record.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the act of automatically reconciling the plurality of teller drawers includes automatically comparing the extracted serial number and denomination included for each unexpected record in the first audit file with the extracted serial number and denomination for each no-show record in the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files and comparing the extracted serial number and denomination for each unexpected record in the second audit file with the extracted serial number and denomination for each no-show record in the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files.

22. A method of reconciling currency bills in a plurality of teller drawers, wherein a memory stores a plurality of teller drawer files, each teller drawer file being associated with a respective one of the plurality of teller drawers and including a teller drawer record for each currency bill expected to be in the respective teller drawer, the method comprising:

operating a document processing device in an audit mode, wherein the document processing device performs the acts of;

receiving a first plurality of audit-currency-bills in an input receptacle of the document processing device, the first plurality of audit-currency-bills including all of the currency bills that were in a first one of the plurality of teller drawers;

transporting the first plurality of audit-currency-bills from the input receptacle past an image scanner;

imaging the first plurality of audit-currency-bills using the image scanner to produce first image data, a visually readable image of at least a portion of each one of the first plurality of audit-currency-bills being reproducible using the first image data associated with a respective one of the first plurality of audit-currency-bills;

extracting a serial number for each one of the first plurality of audit-currency-bills from the first image data;

generating a first audit file, the first audit file including an audit record for each one of the first plurality of audit-currency-bills, each audit record in the first audit file including a respective one of the extracted serial numbers;

receiving a second plurality of audit-currency-bills in the input receptacle of the document processing device, the second plurality of audit-currency-bills including all of the currency bills that were in a second one of the plurality of teller drawers;

transporting the second plurality of audit-currency-bills from the input receptacle past the image scanner;

imaging the second plurality of audit-currency-bills using the image scanner to produce second image data, a visually readable image of at least a portion of each one of the second plurality of audit-currency-bills being reproducible using the second image data associated with a respective one of the second plurality of audit-currency-bills;

extracting a serial number for each one of the second plurality of audit-currency-bills from the second image data;

generating a second audit file, the second audit file including an audit record for each one of the second plurality of audit-currency-bills, each audit record in the second audit file including a respective one of the extracted serial numbers;

automatically determining if the first audit file matches a first one of the plurality of teller drawer files associated with the first one of the plurality of teller drawers;

automatically determining if the second audit file matches a second one of the plurality of teller drawer files associated with the second one of the plurality of teller drawers;

responsive to a determination that the first audit file does not match the first one of the plurality of teller drawer files associated with the first one of the plurality of teller drawers, automatically generating a first variance report;

responsive to a determination that the second audit file does not match the second one of the plurality of teller drawer files associated with the second one of the plurality of teller drawers, automatically generating a second variance report; and

automatically reconciling the plurality of teller drawers by comparing the first variance report with the second variance report.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein each currency bill has a wide edge, and wherein the transporting acts occur in a wide-edge leading manner.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the acts of transporting and generating occur at a rate of at least about 1000 bills per minute.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein all of the currency bills are circulated U.S. currency bills.

32. The method of claim 22, wherein the acts of transporting and generating occur at a rate of at least about 800 bills per minute.

33. The method of claim 22, wherein the acts of transporting and generating occur at a rate of at least about 1200 bills per minute.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the document processing device has a footprint of less than about 2 square feet and a weight of less than about 30 pounds.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the automatically reconciling includes comparing information in the first variance report with information in the second variance report to determine if the first and the second teller drawers are in balance.

36. The method of claim 22, wherein the automatically reconciling includes comparing information in the first variance report with information in the second variance report to determine if the first and the second teller drawers are in balance.

37. The method of claim 22, wherein the document processing device has a footprint of less than about 2 square feet and a weight of less than about 30 pounds.