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

• US 8,787,652 B1
• Filed: 10/21/2013
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Jones, William J., Csulits, Frank M., Hallowell, Curtis W., Mennie, Douglas U., Anderson, Matthew L., Klein, Robert J., Jaeger, Ralf H., Badalamenti, David R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Johns, Andrew W
• Application Number:
  US14/058,950
• Time in Patent Office: 274 Days
• Field of Search: 382/135, 382/137, 382/140, 902/8, 902/20, 705/45, 209/534
• US Class Current: 382/135
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/146 Aligning or centring of the image pick-up or image-field
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/148 Segmentation of character regions
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0047 using checkcodes, e.g. coded numbers derived from serial number and denomination
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/04 Testing magnetic properties of the materials thereof, e.g. by detection of magnetic imprint G07D7/01 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/12 Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/202 using pattern matching

Abstract

A first prompt is displayed to insert a deposit slip that includes declared information. The deposit slip is received, transported at a first speed, and imaged. A total declared cash-in amount and a total declared check amount are extracted from image data associated with the deposit slip. The total declared cash-in amount is determined to be a non-zero number. A second prompt is displayed to insert currency bills. The currency bills are received, transported at a second speed, and imaged. Deposit information is generated from image data associated with each of the currency bills. The deposit information at least includes a calculated total cash deposit amount. The deposit information is compared with the declared information to determine if the deposit transaction is balanced.

Claims

1. A document processing system for processing a deposit transaction including a plurality of documents, the system comprising:

a display;

one or more processors;

an input receptacle configured to receive currency bills and checks associated with the deposit transaction;

an image scanner configured to produce image data associated with currency bills and checks received in the input receptacle, the image data being reproducible as visually readable images of at least a portion of a respective currency bill or a respective check;

a transport mechanism configured to transport the currency bills at a first transportation speed along a transport path from the input receptacle past the image scanner and to transport the checks at a second transportation speed along the transport path from the input receptacle past the image scanner; and

one or more memory devices storing instructions that, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the document processing system to implement the acts of;

displaying on the display a first prompt to a user to insert currency bills associated with the deposit transaction;

after receiving the currency bills in the input receptacle, transporting the currency bills, one at a time, at the first transportation speed along the transport path;

imaging the currency bills with the image scanner to produce image data associated with each of the currency bills;

displaying a second prompt to the user of the document processing system to insert checks associated with the deposit transaction;

after receiving the checks in the input receptacle, transporting the checks, one at a time, at the second transportation speed along the transport path;

imaging the checks with the image scanner to produce image data associated with each of the checks; and

generating a virtual deposit slip for the deposit transaction, the virtual deposit slip at least partially formed from information extracted from the produced image data associated with the currency bills and the checks.

2. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes determining a total deposit amount from information extracted from the produced image data.

3. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes determining a total check deposit amount and a total cash deposit amount from information extracted from the produced image data.

4. The document processing system of claim 3, further comprising an input interface, wherein the one or more memory devices store instructions that, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the document processing system to further implement the acts of:

receiving declared information including a total declared check deposit amount and a total declared cash deposit amount via the input interface; and

comparing the total check deposit amount and the total cash deposit amount determined for the generated virtual deposit slip with the declared information to determine if the amounts match.

5. The document processing system of claim 4, wherein the one or more memory devices store instructions that, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the document processing system to further implement the acts of:

determining that the amounts do not match; and

in response to determining that the amounts do not match, displaying a non-matching indicator on the document processing system.

6. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes forming the virtual deposit slip with at least a portion of a financial institution account number and at least a portion of a transaction identifier.

7. The document processing system of claim 1, further comprising an input interface operable to receive inputs from a document processing system operator, the input interface being configured to receive a financial institution account number associated with the deposit transaction.

8. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes forming a virtual deposit slip that includes a number-of-documents field.

9. The document processing system of claim 1, further comprising a printer, the one or more memory devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the document processing system to further implement the act of transmitting the generated virtual deposit slip for printing on the printer.

10. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein the document processing system is communicatively connected to a printer, the document processing system transmitting the generated virtual deposit slip to an output interface operatively connected to the printer.

11. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein the one or more memory devices store instructions that, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the document processing system to further implement the act of generating a record for each currency bill and each check associated with the deposit transaction, each record including a respective portion of the image data associated with each individual currency bill or each individual check.

12. The document processing system of claim 11, further comprising an output interface, the one or more memory devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the document processing system to further implement the act of sending the generated virtual deposit slip and each record to the output interface for transmittal over a network.

13. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes forming the virtual deposit slip with at least a portion of a financial institution account number associated with the deposit transaction, and wherein the one or more memory devices store instructions that, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the document processing system to further implement the acts of:

generating a record for each currency bill and each check associated with the deposit transaction, each record including a respective portion of the image data associated with each individual currency bill or each individual check; and

tagging at least a portion of the financial institution account number to each generated record associated with the deposit transaction.

14. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes forming the virtual deposit slip with at least a portion of a transaction identifier, and wherein the one or more memory devices store instructions that, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the document processing system to further implement the acts of:

generating a record for each currency bill and each check associated with the deposit transaction, each record including a respective portion of the image data associated with each individual currency bill or each individual check; and

tagging at least a portion of the transaction identifier to each generated record associated with the deposit transaction.

15. The document processing system of claim 1, wherein the first transportation speed and the second transport speed are both at least about 500 documents per minute.

16. A method of processing a deposit transaction on a document processing device, the deposit transaction involving a plurality of documents including currency bills and checks, the method comprising the acts of:

displaying a first prompt on the document processing device to insert currency bills associated with the deposit transaction;

receiving the currency bills associated with the deposit transaction in an input receptacle of the document processing device;

transporting the currency bills, one at a time, at a first transportation speed along a transport path from the input receptacle past an image scanner;

imaging the currency bills with the image scanner to produce image data associated with each of the currency bills, the image data associated with each individual currency bill being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of a respective currency bill;

displaying a second prompt on the document processing device to insert checks associated with the deposit transaction;

receiving the checks associated with the deposit transaction in the input receptacle of the document processing device;

transporting the checks, one at a time, at a second transportation speed along the transport path from the input receptacle past the image scanner;

imaging the checks with the image scanner to produce image data associated with each of the checks, the image data associated with each individual check being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of a respective check; and

generating a virtual deposit slip for the deposit transaction via one or more processors associated with the document processing device, the virtual deposit slip at least partially formed from information extracted from the produced image data associated with the currency bills and the checks.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes determining a total deposit amount from information extracted from the produced image data.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes determining a total check deposit amount and a total cash deposit amount from information extracted from the produced image data.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the acts of:

receiving, via a user input interface, declared information including a total declared check deposit amount and a total declared cash deposit amount; and

comparing, via at least one of the one or more processors, the total check deposit amount and the total cash deposit amount determined for the generated virtual deposit slip with the declared information to determine if the amounts match.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the acts of:

determining, via at least one of the one or more processors, that the amounts do not match; and

in response to determining that the amounts do not match, displaying a non-matching indicator on the document processing device.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes forming the virtual deposit slip with at least a portion of a financial institution account number and at least a portion of a transaction identifier.

22. The method of claim 16, further comprising the act of receiving, via the user input interface, a financial institution account number associated with the deposit transaction.

23. The method of claim 16, further comprising the act of transmitting the generated virtual deposit slip to an output interface for printing.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes forming the virtual deposit slip with at least a portion of a financial institution account number associated with the deposit transaction, and further comprising the acts of:

generating a record for each currency bill and each check associated with the deposit transaction, each record including a respective portion of the image data associated with each individual currency bill or each individual check; and

tagging at least a portion of the financial institution account number to each generated record associated with the deposit transaction.

25. The method of claim 16, wherein the generating of the virtual deposit slip includes forming the virtual deposit slip with at least a portion of a transaction identifier, and further comprising the acts of:

generating a record for each currency bill and each check associated with the deposit transaction, each record including a respective portion of the image data associated with each individual currency bill or each individual check; and

tagging at least a portion of the transaction identifier to each generated record associated with the deposit transaction.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein the first transportation speed and the second transport speed are both at least about 500 documents per minute.