Abstract:
A depositor accommodating substantially thicker deposits than was possible with prior systems. A pair of plates each having a transport mechanism disposed as part thereof are coupled to a housing so as to abut each other, one above the other, in a rest position. A drive shaft for the transport mechanisms of the upper and lower plates are rotatably coupled to the housing and define an axis of rotation for each plate. The drive shaft for the top plate is disposed at an opposite end from the drive shaft of the bottom plate. A free end of each plate, the end opposite the drive shaft, is elastically coupled to the housing. This allows a substantially thicker deposit envelope to be accepted than was possible with prior systems.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a mechanism for accepting customer deposits. More specifically, the invention relates to an automated depositor which can receive customer deposits of bundles of cash and/or checks of widely varying thicknesses and with reduced maintenance. 
     (2) Related Art 
     Automated depositors have been widely used in the banking industry for many years. Depositors are typically incorporated into automatic teller machines (ATMs), which provide other after hours banking services in addition to those provided by the depositor. Prior art depositors typically have a front gate which covers a deposit receiving opening or mouth of the depositor. The gate is typically driven by a solenoid which, in turn, is activated responsive to the deposit request by a customer. When the gate opens, it exposes through the opening an upper and lower plate, one of which typically includes a drive belt which frictionally engages the envelope to be deposited. The plate with drive belt is typically fixed within the depositor and does not move regardless of the thickness of the envelope, e.g., the deposit, being deposited. The other plate typically floats so as to maintain pressure between itself and the envelope and, therefore, the drive belt and the envelope. In such case, the floating plate is smooth so as to reduce the probability of a jam caused by the envelope sticking on the floating plate. 
     The maximum float of the floating plate has typically been about one quarter inch. Thus, these prior art depositors typically only accommodated deposit envelopes having a maximum thickness of about a quarter of an inch. This is a major shortcoming in view of the fact that the deposits of many customers, particularly businesses, are typically in the range of a quarter of an inch to one inch. Moreover, it is often not convenient for businesses to make their deposits during normal banking hours, nor is it convenient for them to have to split the deposits into multiple deposits of a quarter inch or less in order to complete the daily deposits outside of banking hours. 
     Prior art depositors also include printing devices such as a dot matrix printer or an inkjet printhead disposed within the depositor to allow printing on the envelope being deposited. This allows the bank to identify the deposit by an account number and conduct the transaction with minimal employee time. The printing is particularly important as physical deposit slips with account numbers are typically no longer included with the deposit. The print mechanisms suffer a number of problems. Residual ink often clogs the jetports of the inkjet printer and results in illegible printing. In some cases, the printer could not process the data or print it during the limited exposure as the envelope is driven under the printhead. Either case results in wasted employee time matching an account to the items being deposited. 
     In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to develop a depositor that accommodates a broader range of deposit thicknesses within improved printing reliability. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A depositor accommodating thick deposits is disclosed. A pair of plates each having a transport mechanism disposed as part thereof are coupled to a housing so as to abut each other, one above the other, in a rest position. A drive shaft for the transport mechanisms of the upper and lower plates are rotatably coupled to the housing and define an axis of rotation for each plate. The drive shaft for the top plate is disposed at an opposite end from the drive shaft of the bottom plate. A free end of each plate, the end opposite the drive shaft, is elastically coupled to the housing. This allows a substantially thicker deposit envelope to be accepted than was possible with prior systems. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a right side view of a depositor of one embodiment of the invention with the right housing cover removed. 
     FIG. 2 is a left side view of depositor FIG. 1 with the left housing cover removed. 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of upper plate  10  in one embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of the top plate of FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view of the lower plate of one embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 6 a  shows a maintenance station  29  in a capping, or inactive, position. 
     FIG. 6 b  shows the maintenance station  29  in the printing (deposit accepting) position. 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional right side view of the depositor of one embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 is a right side view of a depositor of one embodiment of the invention with the right housing cover removed. A motor  1  is provided and coupled to housing  6 . The motor  1  drives timing belt  2  which in turn directly drives drive shaft  21  and pulley  3 . Timing belt  2  indirectly drives drive shaft  11  via pulley  3  and a gear assembly (not shown). The drive shafts  11  and  21  are rotatably coupled to housing  6 . This rotatable coupling can be accomplished using bushings or other similar known technique. Drive shafts  11  and  21  drive the transport mechanisms of upper plate  10  and lower plate  20 , respectively. One possible transport mechanism is one or more belts that surround drive shafts  11  and  21  wherein the belts are able to frictionally engage a depositable item. Spring  22  couples the lower plate  20  to the housing  6  at a connection point  80 . Similarly, spring  12  elastically couples the upper plate  10  to the housing  6  at a connection point  70 . A front gate  5  is coupled to the housing  6  and covers a mouth of the depositor when the depositor is installed in, for example, an ATM assembly. 
     FIG. 2 is a left side view of depositor FIG. 1 with the left housing cover removed. Micromotor  8  is coupled to a housing  6  and drives linkage  9  to open gate  5  responsive to initiation of a deposit request. The micromotor  8  improves control and response over the prior art solenoid opening techniques. Gear assembly  7  allows motor  1  to drive drive shaft  11  such that drive belts (not shown) on plates  10  and  20  drive in the same direction. One such gear assembly includes a gear, a bearing and a shaft. 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of upper plate  10  in one embodiment of the invention. Longitudinal members  14  support drive shaft  11  and a plurality of follower shafts  17 . Two long drive belts  13  are disposed on pulleys  18  of opposing sides of the longitudinal members  14 . A pair of short belts  15  and  16  are disposed between longitudinal members  14  and coupled to the drive and follower shafts by pulleys  18 . A space is provided between front short belt  15  and rear short belt  16  in which print mechanism  19  is disposed. Anti-fishing hooks  32  are coupled to drive shaft  11  using a torsion spring  36 . A first envelope sensor  31  is provided adjacent to short belt  15 , while a second envelope sensor  33  is provided adjacent to short belt  16 . The envelope sensors  31 ,  33  indicate when the deposit envelope has passed thereunder such that the gate  5  may be closed or a deposit accepted notification sent to the customer. Short belt  16  is offset, e.g., not co-linear with short belt  15 . This allows accommodation of sensor  33 , as well as clearing the print path such that no contact exists between the tray  10  and the print on the envelope created by print mechanism  19 . It is important to minimize or eliminate contact with the printed surface to allow the ink the opportunity to dry without smearing. 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of the top plate of FIG.  3 . Print mechanism  19  has printhead  34  disposed so as to be a predetermined distance from an envelope transported by the various drive belts, including short belts  15  and  16 . This distance is maintained because the printhead floats with the plate. Upper plate  10  can pivot about an axis defined by drive shaft  11 , but is restrained in a rest position by springs  12  (shown in FIG.  1 ). Thus, opposing end  50  can move in an upward arc above that pivot point, but the force exerted by springs  12  increases with displacement in accordance with Hooke&#39;s law. One or more stops (not shown) may be provided to ensure pivoting does not occur outside a maximum desired range. The pivoting of upper plate  10  and corresponding lower plate  20  occurs as a result of wedge action of a deposit envelope (described below). Accordingly, the springs  12  and  22  should be selected with sufficiently low spring constraints that within an established acceptable range, the resulting friction between plate  10  and plate  20  and the envelope will not over tax the motor  1  or result in a jam. The torsion spring  36  (as shown in FIG. 3) which the anti-fishing hook  32  is coupled to drive shaft  11  acts against the floor  37  of the plate  10 . 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view of the lower plate of one embodiment of the invention. Lower plate  20  has several structures corresponding to those found in the top plate. Specifically, lower plate  20  has a drive shaft  21  which drives two long drive belts  23  and two short drive belts  25  and  26 . The belts are supported by pulleys coupled to drive shaft  21  and follower shafts  27 . Significantly, drive shaft  21  is in the lower plate, the rear most shaft where the location of the front gate is defined to be the front. Similar to upper plate  10 , lower plate  20  pivots about an axis defined by its drive shaft  21 . Notably, this means that the front side of the lower plate  20  pivots, while the rear side of upper plate  10  pivots. Having effectively two floating plates, greater widths of deposit envelopes can be accommodated. In a preferred embodiment, the float of the upper plate  10  and lower plate  20  relative to each other allows deposit envelopes of up to one inch thickness to be deposited. 
     Lower plate  20  also includes a maintenance station  29  positioned so as to reside in a predetermined relation to the print mechanism  19  of the upper plate. The maintenance station  29  (described more fully with reference to FIGS. 6 a  and  6   b  below) is positioned between short belt  25  and short belt  26  of lower plate  20 . The maintenance station is driven by a micromotor  35  coupled to the lower plate. 
     FIG. 6 a  shows a maintenance station  29  in a capping, or inactive, position. A cam  45  is driven by the micromotor  35  to cause the wiper  41  and capping cup  42  to move through a predetermined arc. The wiper  41  clears residual ink from the printhead when it is driven over the printhead  33  in preparation for printing and following completion of a print. These periodic wipings of the printhead  33  reduce the probability of print malfunctions due to clogs of the inkjets. Additionally, the capping cup  42  which is disposed so as to cap the printhead when no deposit is occurring, decreases the air exposure of the printhead  33  and thereby makes it less likely for the printhead  33  to dry up. A spring  43  applies pressure on the lower side of the capping cup holding it in place. A stop  44  is provided to prevent the overrotation of the wiper capping cup assembly. FIG. 6 b  shows the maintenance station  29  in the printing (deposit accepting) position. In this position, the micromotor  35  has rotated the capping cup  42  90° such that it does not prevent passage of an incoming envelope. When the sensor  33  detects the envelope has passed, e.g., the deposit is accepted, the micromotor  35  rotates the capping cup  42  back into the capping position. 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional right side view of the depositor of one embodiment of the invention. As previously discussed, front gate  5  is opened responsive to a deposit request. Opening of gate  5  exposes mouth  70  into which a deposit envelope may be inserted. At the time the gate  5  opens, the drive belts  13  and  23 , as well as a short drive belt (not shown), will already be being driven by the motor by drive shafts  11  and  21 , respectively. The belts will, therefore, frictionally engage an inserted envelope drawing it into the depositor. The envelope will then serve as a wedge causing each plate to rotate about its axis of rotation along its respective drive shaft  11  or  21 . A maximum rotation is constrained by stops  51  for the upper plate  10 , and  61  for the lower plate  20 . Notably, each plate rotates independently of the other plate. The displacement of each plate is related to the location of the envelope relative to the axis of rotation. Once the sensor  31  detects that the envelope is completely inside, the front gate  5  can be driven closed. The drive belts  13 ,  15 ,  16 ,  23 ,  25 , and  26  will drive the envelope under the printhead  33  which will print a string of information on the envelope identifying the account and amount of the deposit. The envelope will then proceed across the plates and fall under the influence of gravity into a bin (not shown), thus, concluding the deposit. 
     In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the appended claims.