Bill handling machine

• US 20040182678A1
• Filed: 12/23/2003
• Published: 09/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi-Omron Terminal Solutions Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kadowaki, Minoru, Matsuura, Kunihisa, Ina, Toshihiko
• Granted Patent: US 7,520,375 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 194/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/209 Specified transaction journal output feature, e.g. printed receipt or voice output
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/20 Controlling or monitoring the operation of devices; Data handling
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/36 Auditing of activities

Abstract

The banknote handling device of the invention notifies both a customer and a clerk at a financial institution of the occurrence of a counterfeit problem in the course of a transaction. When banknotes received from a customer include any counterfeit banknote, the banknote handling device collects the counterfeit banknotes to be not returnable to the customer. This desirably forbids circulation of the counterfeit banknotes. The occurrence of the counterfeit problem is described in a transaction statement on conclusion of the transaction. The transaction statement includes a transaction date/time, customer information, transaction details, a message, and financial institution information. The transaction details show the total amount of money received from the customer, the amount of money accepted for the transaction, that is, the amount of banknotes excluding the counterfeits, and the breakdown of the banknotes accepted for the transaction. The message suggests the customer a step to be taken. This arrangement conveniently and efficiently helps the customer and the clerk take prompt action on the counterfeit problem.

Claims

1. A banknote handling device that handles banknotes, said banknote handling device comprising:

a money-in module that receives banknotes from a customer;

a counterfeit collection box that stores counterfeit banknotes;

a discrimination module that carries out counterfeit detection and determines each banknote as counterfeit or as genuine;

a counterfeit processing module that stores each banknote determined as counterfeit into said counterfeit collection box, based on a result of the counterfeit detection by said discrimination module, and prohibits the stored counterfeit banknote from being returned to the customer; and

a notification module that notifies the customer of predetermined kind of information for specifying a total amount of money received from the customer, regardless of the result of the counterfeit detection by said discrimination module.

2. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the information notified by said notification module includes a number of each type of the banknotes received from the customer.

3. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the information notified by said notification module includes a specific piece of information for specifying an amount of banknotes determined as genuine by said discrimination module.

4. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 1, said banknote handling device further comprising:

an output module that outputs a form describing the information.

5. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 1, said banknote handling device further comprising:

a safe that receives therein multiple storage boxes for storing genuine banknotes,

wherein said counterfeit collection box is located outside said safe.

6. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 5, wherein said counterfeit collection box is located in said money-in module equipped with said discrimination module.

7. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 1, said banknote handling device further comprising:

multiple storage boxes for storing banknotes; and

a setting module that specifies at least one of said multiple storage boxes to said counterfeit collection box.

8. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 7, said banknote handling device further comprising:

a database that stores banknote type information corresponding to a number allocated to each of said multiple storage boxes,

wherein said setting module changes the storage in said database.

9. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 7, said banknote handling device further comprising:

a control module that sorts out each banknote determined as genuine or as counterfeit by said discrimination module to one of said storage boxes or said counterfeit collection box, based on the specification by said setting module.

10. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 1, said banknote handling device further comprising:

a temporary storage box that temporarily keeps the banknotes received through said money-in module,

wherein said counterfeit collection box is located at a position branched off a conveyor path of connecting said discrimination module with said temporary storage box.

11. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 1, said banknote handling device further comprising:

a temporary storage box that temporarily keeps the banknotes received through said money-in module;

a storage box that stores genuine banknotes; and

a control module that temporarily keeps the received banknotes in said temporary storage box and, in response to a deposit instruction from the customer, conveys banknotes determined as genuine, among the banknotes temporarily kept in said temporary storage box, to said storage box for storage while storing any banknote determined as counterfeit in said counterfeit collection box, said control module, in response to a cancellation instruction from the customer, returning banknotes determined as genuine, among the banknotes temporarily kept in said temporary storage box, to said money-in module while storing any banknote determined as counterfeit in said counterfeit collection box.

12. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 1, said banknote handling device further comprising:

a management module that maps each banknote determined as counterfeit and stored in said counterfeit collection box to customer information on the customer who has paid in the banknote.

13. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 1, said banknote handling device further comprising:

a control module that, when the banknotes received from the customer include any counterfeit banknote, stores all the banknotes including both genuine and counterfeit banknotes in said counterfeit collection box in such a manner that a bundle of banknotes received from each customer is parted from bundles of banknotes received from other customers by partition sheets.

14. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 13, said banknote handling device further comprising:

a stacker that keeps the partition sheets; and

a management module that manages customer information on each customer who has paid in any counterfeit banknote, mapped to the corresponding bundle of banknotes parted by the partition sheets.

15. A banknote handling device that handles banknotes, said banknote handling device comprising:

a money-in module that receives banknotes from a customer;

a safe that stores banknotes;

a discrimination module that carries out counterfeit detection and determines each banknote as counterfeit or as genuine; and

a collection box that stores each banknote determined as counterfeit by said discrimination module to be not returnable to the customer,

wherein said collection box is located outside said safe.

16. A banknote handling device that handles banknotes, said banknote handling device comprising:

a money-in module that receives banknotes from a customer;

a safe that stores banknotes;

multiple banknote storage boxes that are located in said safe and store banknotes classified by a banknote type;

a discrimination module that carries out counterfeit detection and determines each banknote as counterfeit or as genuine;

a setting storage module that sets at least one of said multiple banknote storage boxes to a collection box, which stores each banknote determined as counterfeit by said discrimination module to be not returnable to the customer, and stores the setting; and

a control module that sorts out each banknote determined as counterfeit to said collection box, based on a result of the counterfeit detection by said discrimination module.

17. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 16, wherein said control module, when a bundle of banknotes received for one transaction include any banknote determined as counterfeit, collectively stores the bundle of banknotes including both genuine and counterfeit banknotes in said collection box.

18. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 16, said banknote handling device further comprising:

a management module that manages customer information for identifying each customer who handles a transaction, mapped to presence or absence of any counterfeit banknote involved in the transaction.

19. A banknote handling device in accordance with claim 18, wherein said management module maps each banknote involved in the transaction to the customer information.