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

• US 8,948,490 B1
• Filed: 06/09/2014
• Issued: 02/03/2015
• 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:
  US14/299,691
• Time in Patent Office: 239 Days
• Field of Search: 382/135, 382/137, 382/139, 382/140, 705/45, 902/8, 902/20, 209/534, 235/379
• 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 method of processing a deposit transaction involving a plurality of documents in a document processing device, the document processing device performing the acts comprising:

displaying a first prompt to insert a deposit slip associated with the deposit transaction, the deposit slip at least including a customer account number;

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

transporting the deposit slip at a first transportation speed along a transport path from the input receptacle past an image scanner;

imaging the deposit slip with the image scanner to produce image data associated with the deposit slip, the image data associated with the deposit slip being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of the deposit slip;

extracting the customer account number from the image data associated with the deposit slip;

displaying a second prompt to insert currency bills associated with the deposit transaction;

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

transporting the currency bills, in a serial fashion, at a second transportation speed along the transport path from the input receptacle past the 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.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first prompt and the second prompt are separate and distinct prompts.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the deposit slip further includes a total declared deposit amount, a total declared cash-in amount, a total declared cash-out amount, and a total declared check amount.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising prior to displaying the second prompt, determining that the total declared cash-in amount is a non-zero number.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

displaying a third prompt 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, in a serial fashion, at a third transportation speed along the transport path from the input receptacle past the image scanner; and

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.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising prior to displaying the third prompt, determining that the total declared check amount is a non-zero number.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising extracting the total declared check deposit amount and the total declared cash deposit amount from the image data associated with the deposit slip to produce declared information.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising generating deposit information from the image data associated with the deposit transaction, the deposit information at least including a calculated total check deposit amount and a calculated total cash deposit amount.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising comparing the deposit information with the declared information to determine if the deposit transaction is balanced.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising in response to determining that the deposit transaction is not balanced, displaying a non-balance indicator on a display of the document processing device.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the generating comprises:

denominating, counting, and totaling the currency bills to determine the calculated total cash deposit amount;

extracting a check amount from each of the checks and totaling the check amounts to determine the calculated total check deposit amount; and

totaling the calculated total cash deposit amount and the calculated total check deposit amount to determine a total deposit amount.

12. The method of claim 5, further comprising 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.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising tagging a teller identifier to each generated record associated with the deposit transaction.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising tagging the extracted customer account number to each generated record associated with the deposit transaction and storing the records in a records storage database.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising transmitting the records associated with checks to a proof of deposit system.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising denominating each of the currency bills and tagging the denomination to the record associated with the respective currency bill.

17. The method of claim 5, wherein the second transportation speed is faster than the third transportation speed and the third transportation speed is faster than the first transportation speed.

18. The method of claim 5, wherein the second transportation speed is at least about five times faster than the first transportation speed and the third transportation speed.

19. The method of claim 5, wherein the first transportation speed is at least about 100 documents per minute, the second transportation speed is at least about 800 documents per minute, and the third transportation speed is at least about 300 documents per minute.

20. The method of claim 5, wherein the first transportation speed is at least about 100 documents per minute, the second transportation speed is at least about 1000 documents per minute, and the third transportation speed is at least about 600 documents per minute.

21. The method of claim 5, wherein the first transportation speed, the second transport speed, and the third transport speed are all at least about 100 documents per minute.

22. The method of claim 5, wherein the first transportation speed, the second transport speed, and the third transport speed are all at least about 300 documents per minute.

23. The method of claim 5, wherein the first transportation speed, the second transport speed, and the third transport speed are all at least about 600 documents per minute.

24. The method of claim 5, wherein the first transportation speed, the second transport speed, and the third transport speed are all at least about 800 documents per minute.

25. The method of claim 5, wherein the first transportation speed, the second transport speed, and the third transport speed are all at least about 1000 documents per minute.

26. The method of claim 5, wherein the first transportation speed, the second transport speed, and the third transport speed are all at least about 1500 documents per minute.

27. The method of claim 5, wherein each document received in the input receptacle of the document processing device has a wide edge, and wherein the documents are transported in a wide-edge leading manner.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the second transportation speed is faster than the first transportation speed.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the second transportation speed is at least about five times faster than the first transportation speed.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the currency bills are U.S. currency bills.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the currency bills include currency bills associated with multiple countries including two or more of the following currencies:

U.S. dollar, euro, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen, and pound sterling.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the document processing device has a footprint of less than about 2 square feet.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the document processing device has a weight of less than about 30 pounds.