Electronic transmission and tracking of deposit information

• US 7,216,098 B1
• Filed: 10/20/2000
• Issued: 05/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: FireKing Security Products LLC (Pfingsten Partners, LLC)
• Original Assignee: AT Systems, Inc. (HCA Security Acquisition Corp.)
• Inventors: Brooks, William F. Jr., Rushie, Peter J. III, duPlanti, Denis
• Primary Examiner(s): GORT, ELAINE L
• Application Number:
  US09/693,565
• Time in Patent Office: 2,391 Days
• Field of Search: 705/16, 705/18, 705/21, 705/30, 235/7.R, 235/379, 235/383, 235/10, 235/12, 235/17
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/12 electronically operated digital data processing aspects G06Q20/00

Abstract

A cash control system for a business establishment having one or more cash registers includes a safe assembly. The safe assembly includes a safe for securing cash and a currency reader coupled to the safe for determining the amount of cash received in the safe. A central control unit is configured to receive deposit information from the safe assembly and to generate and transmit deposit reports. Preferably, the central control unit also transmits identifiers that distinguish deposit information accumulated during an accounting period before a predetermined event and deposit information accumulated during the accounting period after the predetermined event. The cash information server is configured to receive the deposit information and the identifiers from the central control unit and to identify the amount of cash collected by the business establishment during the accounting period. Preferably, the cash information server is located off-site from the safe assembly.

Claims

1. A cash control system for a business establishment having one or more cash registers, the cash control system comprising:

a safe assembly including a safe adapted to secure cash and a currency reader coupled to the safe and programmed to determine an amount of cash received in the safe;

a memory in which a control software is stored, the control software programmed to update a pair of identifiers that distinguish deposit information accumulated only during an accounting period before a predetermined event and deposit information accumulated during an accounting period that includes a period after the predetermined event;

a central control unit which receives deposit information from the safe assembly and generates and transmits deposit reports, the central control unit uses the control software to update and transmit the pair of identifiers, the central control unit comprising;

means for detecting the predetermined event used to determine the accounting period before the predetermined event;

means for detecting the accounting period that includes the period after the predetermined event; and

means for generating, using the control software and based on the detected predetermined event and the accounting period that includes the period after the predetermined event, the pair of identifiers to indicate whether the deposit information was accumulated only during the accounting period before the predetermined event or during the accounting period that includes the period after the predetermined event by making the identifiers to be different from one another or to be identical to each other, wherein the pair of identifiers do not contain values including a date and/or a time of the predetermined event; and

a cash information server configured to receive the deposit information and the pair of identifiers from the central control unit and to identify the amount of cash collected by the business establishment during the accounting periods.

2. The cash control system of claim 1 further comprising a printer with a bar code generator coupled to the central control unit.

3. The cash control system of claim 1 further comprising a MICR line reader coupled to the central control unit to read MICR line information, the central control unit configured to transmit the MICR line information to the cash information server.

4. The cash control system of claim 1 further comprising at least one additional safe assembly including a second safe adapted to secure cash and a currency reader coupled to the second safe adapted to determine a second amount of cash received in the second safe and wherein the central control unit is configured to receive deposit information from the additional safe assembly and transmit deposit reports to the cash information server containing the deposit information received from the additional safe assembly.

5. The cash control system of claim 1 wherein the safe is associated with a unique number which is included in the deposit reports transmitted by the central control unit.

6. The cash control system of claim 5 wherein the central control unit is configured to identify when the safe is opened and the cash stored in the safe is removed.

7. The cash control system of claim 6 wherein the identifiers are a sequence number and an alternate sequence number, wherein the central control unit is configured to adjust at least one of the sequence number and the alternate sequence number based on removal of the cash from the safe.

8. The cash control system of claim 7 wherein one of the accounting periods is a business day as identified by a store manager.

9. The cash control system of claim 8, wherein the predetermined event is the opening of the safe and the cash stored in the safe removed and wherein the central control unit is configured to change one of the sequence number and the alternate sequence number at the time cash is removed from the safe and to change the other of the sequence number and the alternate sequence number at an end of the business day.

10. The cash control system of claim 9 wherein the central control unit is configured to transmit a first deposit report that identifies deposit information for the business day up to the time of removal of cash from the safe and wherein the sequence number and the alternate sequence number are different on the first deposit report and wherein the central control unit is configured to transmit a second deposit report that identifies deposit information for the business day starting from removal of cash from the safe and wherein the sequence number and the alternate sequence number are the same on the second deposit report.

11. The cash control system of claim 1, wherein the pair of identifiers distinguish the deposit information accumulated only during the accounting period before the predetermined event and deposit information accumulated only during an accounting period after the predetermined event.

12. The cash control system of claim 1, further comprising a transmitter for transmitting the pair of identifiers.

13. A cash control system for a business establishment having one or more cash registers, the cash control system comprising:

a safe assembly to collect cash, and to determine deposit information based on the cash collected at the business establishment;

a memory in which a control software is stored, the control software programmed to update a sequence number and an alternate sequence number such that the sequence number and the alternate sequence number are successively the same as or different from each other;

a central control unit which receives the deposit information from the safe assembly, generates a deposit report concerning the deposit information, updates, using the control software, the sequence number and the alternate sequence number, and transmits the deposit report, the sequence number and the alternate sequence number, the central control unit comprising;

means for detecting an armored car pickup; and

means for updating the alternate sequence number when the armored car pickup is detected to indicate an occurrence of the armored car pickup, wherein the sequence number and the alternate sequence number do not contain any date and/or time information;

a cash information server which receives the deposit information, the sequence number and the alternate sequence number from the central control unit, and identifies an amount of cash collected at the business establishment before and after the armored car pickup using the deposit information, the sequence number and the alternate sequence number; and

wherein the central control unit further comprises means for updating the sequence number at an end of a business day on which the armored car pickup occurred to match the alternate sequence number.

14. The cash control system of claim 13, wherein the alternate sequence number is incremented upon the occurrence of the armored car pickup, and the sequence number is incremented at the end of the business day on which the armored car pickup occurred to match the incremented alternate sequence number.

15. The cash control system of claim 13, wherein the system generates a print-out that includes the deposit information, a store number, the sequence number and the alternate sequence number after the occurrence of the armored car pickup.