System and method for processing batches of documents

• US 7,849,994 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2008
• Issued: 12/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Klein, Robert J., Hallowell, Curtis W., Jenrick, Charles P.
• Primary Examiner(s): SHAPIRO, JEFFERY A
• Application Number:
  US12/147,308
• Publication Number:
  US 20090001661A1
• Time in Patent Office: 901 Days
• Field of Search: 194205-313, 209/534, 700/221, 270 5202- 5205
• US Class Current: 194/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/20 Controlling or monitoring the operation of devices; Data handling

Abstract

A method of processing documents by receiving at least a batch of documents and a separator card in an input receptacle of a document processing device. The separator card includes a conductive material disposed on one side, and a barcode indicative of the source of the batch of documents. The documents and separator card are transported via a transport mechanism past an evaluation unit and a field-effect sensor, respectively. The document processing device evaluates each document, determines whether the document meets or fails predetermined criteria, and detects the presence of the conductive material when a separator card is transported past the sensor. The source identification information from each separator card is entered into a memory of the document processing device after all the documents from the corresponding batch of documents have met the predetermined criteria. Feeder operation is paused between each batch long enough to verify that the previous batch closed successfully. Pausing feeder operation to address document anomalies before subsequent batches are processed promotes batch integrity and reduces operator confusion.

Claims

1. A method of processing documents, comprising:

receiving a plurality of batches of documents in an input receptacle of a document processing device, each batch having a separator card associated therewith, the documents including at least currency bills;

feeding the documents, one at a time, from the input receptacle into a transport mechanism of the document processing device;

transporting via the transport mechanism the documents, one at a time, along a transport path past one or more sensors of the document processing device;

sensing a separator card, after being fed into the transport mechanism, with at least one of the one or more sensors positioned along the transport path;

pausing the feeding from the input receptacle between each batch after the sensing of a separator card by the at least one of the one or more sensors positioned along the transport path; and

after pausing the feeding, transporting each document preceding a detected separator card to at least one output receptacle;

determining whether all documents preceding a detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle; and

resuming the feeding from the input receptacle after determining that all documents preceding a detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transporting is at a rate in excess of 800 documents per minute.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the documents comprise currency bills and substitute currency media.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the transporting is at a rate in excess of 1000 documents per minute.

5. A method of processing documents, comprising:

receiving a plurality of batches of documents in an input receptacle of a document processing device, each batch having a separator card associated therewith, the documents including at least currency bills or substitute currency media;

feeding documents, one at a time, from the input receptacle into a transport mechanism of the document processing device;

transporting via the transport mechanism the documents, one at a time, past one or more sensors positioned along a transport path of the transport mechanism of the document processing device to at least one output receptacle;

detecting a separator card being transported past at least one of the one or more sensors;

pausing the feeding from the input receptacle upon the detecting of a separator card by the at least one of the one or more sensors positioned along the transport path; and

after pausing the feeding, transporting each document preceding a detected separator card to the at least one output receptacle;

determining whether all documents preceding a detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle; and

resuming the feeding from the input receptacle after determining that all documents preceding a detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein each separator card includes source identification information that identifies a source from which an associated batch of documents was retrieved.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

determining whether a particular document meets or fails to meet at least one criterion;

detecting characteristic information associated with each non-separator card document, the characteristic information including at least the value of a document;

determining a batch total corresponding to the cumulative value of non-separator card documents in a batch of documents that fail to meet the at least one criterion;

associating the batch total of a batch of documents with the source identification information of the associated separator card; and

storing the source identification information and the associated batch total in a memory.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one criterion comprises a document being a no call bill.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one criterion comprises a document being a suspect bill.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one criterion comprises a document being a misfed document.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the transporting is at a rate in excess of 800 documents per minute.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the documents comprise currency bills and substitute currency media.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein the transporting is at a rate in excess of 800 documents per minute.

14. The method of claim 5, wherein the documents of a batch are ordered such that a separator card associated with a batch is the last document fed into the transport mechanism.

15. A method of processing at least two batches of documents, comprising the acts of:

loading the at least two batches into an input receptacle of a document processing device with a separator card separating each of the at least two batches for multiple batch processing, the documents including currency bills and substitute currency media;

transporting the batches in a sequence, one document at a time, from the input receptacle along a transport path past one or more sensors positioned along the transport path of the document processing device to at least one output receptacle;

pausing transportation of the documents from the input receptacle when a separator card is detected by the at least one of the one or more sensors and the device determines that documents preceding the detected separator card are still being transported to the at least one output receptacle; and

resuming transportation of documents from the input receptacle when the device determines that all documents preceding the detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the transporting of documents is at a rate in excess of 800 documents per minute.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein each separator card includes source identification information that identifies a source from which an associated batch of documents was retrieved.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

determining whether a particular document in a batch of documents meets or fails to meet at least one criterion;

detecting characteristic information associated with each document, the characteristic information including at least the value of a document;

determining a batch total corresponding to the cumulative value of documents in a batch of documents that fail to meet the at least one criterion;

associating the batch total of a batch of documents with the source identification information of the associated separator card; and

storing the source identification information and the associated batch total in a memory.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one criterion is selected from the group comprising:

a document being a no call bill, a document being a suspect bill, and a document being a misfed document.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the transporting is at a rate in excess of 800 documents per minute.

21. A document processing device, comprising:

an input receptacle configured to receive a plurality of batches of documents, each batch having a separator card associated therewith, the documents including currency bills or substitute currency media;

at least one output receptacle;

a feeder configured to feed the documents, one at a time, from the input receptacle into a transport mechanism of the document processing device;

the transport mechanism being configured to transport the documents, one at a time, along a transport path past one or more sensors to the at least one output receptacle, at least one of the one or more sensors being configured to detect a separator card, at least one of the one or more sensors being a currency bill denomination detection sensor; and

the device being configured to pause feeding from the input receptacle between batches upon detection of a separator card by the at least one of the one or more sensors, the device being configured to continue transporting documents in a batch of documents preceding a detected separator card to the at least one output receptacle after the feeding from the input receptacle is paused, the device being configured to determine whether all documents preceding a detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle, and the device being configured to resume feeding from the input receptacle after determining that all documents preceding a detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein each separator card includes source identification information that identifies a source from which an associated batch of documents was retrieved.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein each of the documents have a value associated therein, the device further comprising:

an evaluation unit configured to determine whether a particular document meets or fails to meet at least one criterion and being configured to determine the value of at least some of the documents;

a processor configured to determine a batch total corresponding to the cumulative value of documents in a batch of documents that fail to meet the at least one criterion;

the processor being configured to associate the batch total of a batch of documents with the source identification information of an associated separator card; and

a memory configured to store the source identification information and the associated batch total.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the at least one criterion comprises a document being a no call bill.

25. The device of claim 23, wherein the at least one criterion comprises a document being a suspect bill.

26. The device of claim 23, wherein the at least one criterion comprises a document being a misfed document.

27. The device of claim 21, wherein the documents comprise currency bills and substitute currency media.

28. A document processing device, comprising:

an input receptacle configured to receive a plurality of batches of documents, each batch having a separator card associated therewith, the documents including currency bills;

at least one output receptacle;

a feeder configured to feed the documents, one at a time, from the input receptacle into a transport mechanism of the document processing device;

the transport mechanism being configured to transport the documents, one at a time, along a transport path past one or more sensors to the at least one output receptacle;

at least one of the one or more sensors being configured to detect a separator card, at least one of the one or more sensors being a currency bill denomination detection sensor; and

the device being configured to pause feeding from the input receptacle upon a detection of a separator card, the device being configured to continue transporting documents in a batch of documents preceding a detected separator card to the at least one output receptacle after the feeding from the input receptacle is paused, the device being configured to determine whether all documents preceding a detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle, and the device being configured to resume feeding from the input receptacle after determining that all documents preceding a detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein each separator card includes source identification information that identifies a source from which an associated batch of documents was retrieved.

30. The device of claim 29, wherein each of the documents have a value associated therein, the device further comprising:

an evaluation unit configured to determine whether a particular document meets or fails to meet at least one criterion and being configured to determine the value of at least some of the documents;

a processor configured to determine a batch total corresponding to the cumulative value of documents in a batch of documents that fail to meet the at least one criterion;

the processor being configured to associate the batch total of a batch of documents with the source identification information of an associated separator card; and

a memory configured to store the source identification information and the associated batch total.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the at least one criterion is selected from the group comprising:

a document being a no call bill, a document being a suspect bill, and a document being a misfed document.

32. The device of claim 31, wherein the transporting is at a rate in excess of 1000 documents per minute.

33. A document processing device, comprising:

an input receptacle configured to receive at least two batches of documents with a separator card separating each of the at least two batches, the documents including currency bills and substitute currency media;

at least one output receptacle;

a transport mechanism configured to transport the documents, one at a time, from the input receptacle along a transport path past one or more sensors positioned along the transport path to the at least one output receptacle;

at least one of the one or more sensors being configured to detect a separator card, at least one of the one or more sensors being a currency bill denomination detection sensor;

the device being configured to pause transportation of the documents from the input receptacle when a separator card is detected by the one or more sensors; and

the device being configured to resume transportation of documents from the input receptacle when the device determines that all documents preceding the detected separator card have been transported to the at least one output receptacle.

34. The device of claim 33, wherein the documents of a batch are ordered such that a separator card associated with a batch is the last document fed into the transport mechanism.

35. The device of claim 33, wherein each separator card includes source identification information that identifies a source from which an associated batch of documents was retrieved.

36. The device of claim 35, wherein each of the currency bills and substitute currency media have a value associated therein, the device further comprising:

an evaluation unit configured to determine whether a particular document meets or fails to meet at least one criterion and being configured to determine the value of at least some of the currency bills and substitute currency media;

a processor configured to determine a batch total corresponding to the cumulative value of currency bills and substitute currency media in a batch of documents that fail to meet the at least one criterion;

the processor being configured to associate the batch total of a batch of documents with the source identification information of an associated separator card; and

a memory configured to store the source identification information and the associated batch total.

37. The device of claim 36, wherein the at least one criterion is selected from the group comprising:

a document being a no call bill, a document being a suspect bill, or a document being a misfed document.

38. The device of claim 37, wherein the transporting is at a rate in excess of 800 documents per minute.

39. The device of claim 33, wherein the transporting is at a rate in excess of 800 documents per minute.