Abstract:
A bulk check acceptor includes: a bundle receiving module for drawing a bundle of checks into an interior of the acceptor when an insertion hole shutter is open, and for transferring the checks on a leaf-by-leaf basis; an automatic alignment module for aligning and transferring the checks transferred on a leaf-by-leaf basis by the bundle receiving module; a recognition module for recognizing information on the checks automatically aligned and transferred by the automatic alignment module; an escrow module for escrowing the checks whose information has been recognized; a print module for endorsing a check which is permitted to be accepted; a rejecting module for discharging a rejected check through the bundle receiving module; and a storage box module for receiving the endorsed check.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE(S) TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0088866, filed on Sep. 9, 2008, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a bulk check acceptor, and, more specifically to a bulk check acceptor capable of accepting checks in bundles. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Financial automated apparatuses such as CDUs (Cash Dispenser Units) or BRMs (Bill Recycling Machines), are collectively referred to as ATMs (Automated Teller Machines). An ATM has been developed to provide financial services without the need of a clerk or bank teller. Using an ATM, most of financial services other than a face-to-face service are available anytime. 
         [0004]    In addition to cash deposit/withdrawal function, an ATM provides various functions, such as card processing, bankbook processing, or check accepting, according to the function of a financial service. 
         [0005]    Unlike a bill, a variety of characters are printed on a check with a specific magnetic ink. A check acceptor reads out characters, such as a serial number and face value, printed on a check using MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Reader) and then processes the receipt of the check. 
         [0006]    To this end, the check acceptor generally includes an insertion unit for receiving a check, a check alignment unit for aligning the inserted check in a predetermined position, a transfer unit for transferring the aligned check, an MICR unit for reading information on the check, a printing unit of a printer that prints on the rear surface of the check a character string transmitted from a top portion of the check, and a storage unit for sequentially stacking and storing checks that have been subjected to an accepting process. 
         [0007]    In the conventional check acceptors configured as above, differently from an ATM that in a bundle accepts a predetermined number of sheets of bills through the insertion unit, however, checks should be inserted to the insertion unit one by one, with aligned in a specific direction, so that the checks may be transferred along a predetermined transfer path and stored in the storage unit. That is, a check should be inserted into the insertion unit in a preset direction for insertion operation, which otherwise is not carried out. Moreover, the number of checks to be inserted is limited. 
         [0008]    Therefore, a plurality of checks should be inserted over several times, and this causes the check transaction to be time-consuming and inconvenient. 
         [0009]    In addition, whereas the size of a check is constant in Korea, in foreign countries, the size of a check differs from another -for example, a personal check personally issued is different in size from a business check issued by a corporation. Accordingly, the conventional check acceptor cannot transact checks of different size. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    In view of the above, the present invention provides a bulk check acceptor capable of accepting checks in a bundle regardless of a size or direction of the checks. 
         [0011]    In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bulk check acceptor including: a bundle receiving module located at a front and lower part of an acceptor body for transferring the checks on a leaf-by-leaf basis when a bundle of checks are inserted into the acceptor; an automatic alignment module located at a rear part of the bundle receiving module for aligning and transferring the checks transferred on a leaf-by-leaf basis by the bundle receiving module; a recognition module located at a rear part of the acceptor body for recognizing information on the checks aligned and transferred by the automatic alignment module; an escrow module located in a center of the acceptor body for escrowing the checks whose information has been recognized; a print module located over the recognition module for endorsing a check which is permitted to be accepted; a rejecting module located under the automatic alignment unit for discharging a rejected check through the bundle receiving module; and a storage box module located at a front and upper part of the acceptor body for receiving the endorsed check. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The above features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating a configuration of a bulk check acceptor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a view showing a transfer flow of checks from a bundle receiving module to an escrow module included in the bulk check acceptor shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a view showing a receipt flow of checks from an escrow module to a storage box module included in the bulk check acceptor shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a view showing a transfer flow of checks when the receipt of checks is canceled in an escrow module included in the bulk check acceptor shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a view showing a retraction flow of checks which are not withdrawn in the bulk check acceptor shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view showing a configuration of a bulk check acceptor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The bulk check acceptor includes a bundle receiving module  100  arranged at a front and lower part of a rectangular parallelepiped acceptor body  1 , an automatic alignment module  200  and a recognition module  300  that are sequentially placed at a rear part of the bundle receiving module  100 , an escrow module  400  arranged over the automatic alignment module  200  in the center of the acceptor body  1 , a print module  500  placed over the recognition module  300 , a rejecting module  600  placed under the automatic alignment module  200 , and a storage box module  700  placed at a front and upper part of the acceptor body  1 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the bulk check acceptor is closely packed. 
         [0020]    When an insertion hole shutter  10  included in the rectangular parallelepiped acceptor body  1  is open, the bundle receiving module  100  draws a bundle of checks into the interior of the acceptor, and separates the bundle into individual checks and transfers the individual checks. The automatic alignment module  200  aligns and transfers the checks separated and transferred from the bundle receiving module  100 . The recognition module  300  recognizes information on the checks automatically aligned and transferred by the automatic alignment module  200 . The escrow module  400  escrows the checks whose information has been recognized by the recognition module  300 . If the escrowed checks are approved for acceptance, the print module  500  endorses the checks and the endorsed checks are received in the storage box module  700 . However, if the escrowed checks are rejected for acceptance, the rejecting module  600  discharges the rejected checks to the exterior of the bundle receiving module  100 . 
         [0021]    More specifically, when viewed from a side surface, the bundle receiving module  100  is located at a front and lower part of the acceptor body  1 . The bundle receiving module  100  includes the insertion hole shutter  10  that is open by driving a pulse motor (not shown), an insertion unit  20  that transfers and draws a predetermined number of sheets of checks, e.g., a bundle of maximally fifties sheets of checks  2  in the interior of the acceptor in a low speed by driving a transfer motor (not shown) that clams and transfers the checks, and a separation unit  30  that separates and transfers the checks drawn in the insertion unit  20  one by one. 
         [0022]    When the checks  2  drawn in a bundle from the insertion unit  20  are transferred to the separation unit  30 , a bill press  32  included in the separation unit  30  rises to pressurize the transferred checks  2  and a separation member  34  rotates to separate the bundle into individual checks  2  by friction force. The separated check is transferred to the automatic alignment module  200  located at a rear part of the bundle receiving module  100 . 
         [0023]    The automatic alignment module  200  automatically aligns the check transferred from the bundle receiving module  100  on the basis of an end of either of the front or rear surface of the check and transfers the aligned check to the recognition module  300 . 
         [0024]    Meanwhile, the rejecting module  600  located under the automatic alignment module  200  receives checks to be rejected among the inserted bundle of checks  2 . The checks to be rejected include damaged checks or unrecognized checks. The rejected checks are returned in a bundle through the bundle receiving module  100 . 
         [0025]    The recognition module  300  includes an MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Reader)  310 , an MR (Magnetic Resonance) array  320 , and a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) unit  330 . The recognition module  300  is located substantially perpendicular to a rear part of the acceptor body  1 . The MICR  310  reads a serial number, a face value, and the like that are printed on each of the transferred checks. The MR array  320  detects a magnetic component of a printed part of the check. The CIS unit  330  scans the front and rear surfaces of the check to recognize information on the check and then transfers the check to the escrow module  400 . 
         [0026]    The escrow module  400  is configured as a cassette tape and located in the center of the acceptor body  1 , i.e. over the automatic alignment module  200 , to escrow a predetermined number of sheets of bundled checks, for example, up to fifties sheets of checks. 
         [0027]    After the checks are escrowed, images of the checks scanned by the CIS unit  330  of the recognition module  300  are displayed to a user, so that the user may transact the checks inserted into the acceptor body  1  while identifying the state of the displayed checks. 
         [0028]    For example, when the user allows the acceptor to receive the whole displayed checks all at once or to selectively receive some of the displayed checks, the escrowed checks are separated and selected one by one, and then the selected check is transferred to the print module  500  located over the recognition module  300 . 
         [0029]    To provide an endorsement function irrespective of the direction of the check inserted through the bundle receiving module  100 , that is, irrespective of whichever surface of the front and rear surfaces of the check is inserted first, the print module  500  includes a pair of ink units  520 . Depending on the direction of the inserted check, one of the pair of ink units  520  prints endorsement characters on the check transferred from the escrow module  400  and then transfers the endorsed check to the storage box module  700 . 
         [0030]    When the user allows the acceptor to cancel the receipt of the whole displayed checks all at once after the checks are escrowed, the bundle of checks escrowed are separated and selected one by one, and then transferred through the recognition module  300  to the rejecting module  600  located under the automatic alignment module  200 . 
         [0031]    Meanwhile, by forming in the shape of a character “U” a transfer path provided between the automatic alignment module  200  and the recognition module  300  perpendicularly located at a rear part of the automatic alignment module  200 , and between the recognition module  300  and the rejecting module  600  located under the automatic alignment module  200 , the acceptor may be compactly configured. A first switching gate  810  is provided at the U-shaped transfer path. 
         [0032]    Unlike cancelling all at once, when the user allows the acceptor to selectively cancel the receipt of some of the displayed checks after the checks are escrowed, the selected checks are transferred to the recognition module  300 , and then to the rejecting module  600  via the first switching gate  810 . For this purpose, a second switching gate  820  is provided at a transfer path between the print module  500  and the recognition module  300  and between the recognition module  300  and the escrow module  400 . 
         [0033]    The rejecting module  600  stores a predetermined number of sheets of rejected checks and discharges them to the exterior of the acceptor body  1  through the separation unit  30  and the insertion unit  20  of the bundle receiving module  100 . 
         [0034]    The storage box module  700  stores the checks endorsed by the print module  500 . The storage box module  700  is located in the front and upper part of the acceptor body  1  in the shape of a door box. The storage box module  700  includes a first storage unit  710  and a second storage unit  720  that are located at left and right sides, respectively, which may selectively and perpendicularly store the endorsed checks-this is called “selective stacking function.” 
         [0035]    Assuming that about 2000 sheets of checks may be stored, the checks may be separately stored depending on the size or usage, for example, in such a manner that 200 sheets of personal checks each having small size and low usage are received in the first storage unit  710  and 1800 sheets of business checks each having relatively large size and high usage may be received in the second storage unit  720 . 
         [0036]    In addition, when the user does not withdraw a check which is returned by the rejecting module  600  to the insertion unit  20  of the bundle receiving module  100  because the check was damaged or unrecognizable, the storage box module  700  may have such a function as retracting the non-withdrawn checks. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a non-withdrawn check retracting box  730  is arranged over the second storage unit  720 . For this purpose, a third switching gate  830  is provided at a front surface of the non-withdrawn check retracting box  730 . 
         [0037]    Although not specifically shown in the present invention, a stamp module of a roller-type may be selectively or optionally provided at a space for a transfer path between the print module  500  and the storage box module  700 , that is, a space located over the escrow module  400 . The stamp module may stamp the check endorsed by the print module  500 . 
         [0038]    In the bulk check acceptor configured as above, as shown in  FIG. 2 , a bundle of checks  2  are inserted into the bundle receiving module  100  to be separated one by one, and then aligned by the automatic alignment module  200  on the basis of a front and right end. Thereafter, the checks pass through the first switching gate  810  and their information is read by the recognition module  300 . Then, the checks are transferred to the escrow module  400  via the second switching gate  820 . 
         [0039]    Subsequently, as shown in  FIG. 3 , when the user allows the acceptor to receive the whole checks or selectively receive some of the checks after the checks are escrowed, the escrowed checks are transferred one by one to the print module  500  which in turn endorses the checks, and then selectively and perpendicularly stacked and received in one of the storage units  710  and  720  of the storage box module  700 . 
         [0040]    Alternatively, when the user allows the acceptor to selectively cancel the receipt of some checks after the checks are escrowed, as shown in  FIG. 4 , selected ones among the escrowed checks are transferred not to the print module  500  but to the recognition module  300  by the second switching gate  820  and then passed through the rejecting module  600  by the first switching gate  810 , so that the selected checks are discharged in a bundle to the exterior of the acceptor body  1  through the bundle receiving module  100 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 5  depicts a flow of the bulk check acceptor retracting non-withdrawn checks. As shown in  FIG. 5 , when the checks discharged in a bundle are not withdrawn within a predetermined time, the non-withdrawn checks pass through the bundle receiving module  100 , the automatic alignment module  200 , and the recognition module  300  once more. Thereafter, the checks are re-escrowed by the escrow module  400  which in turns sequentially transfers the checks to the print module  500 , same as in  FIG. 2 . Then, the non-withdrawn checks are retracted to the non-withdrawn check retracting box  730  by the third switching gate  830  located over the storage box module  700 . 
         [0042]    As described above, the present invention may accept checks in a bundle regardless of a size or direction of the checks and may efficiently arrange its components, thereby increasing convenience of usage and achieving implementation in a compact-size. 
         [0043]    While the invention has been shown and described with respect to the embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.