Method for controlling two interrelated transport means and machine thus controlled, especially a personal banking machine

A method and personal banking machine is described by which two items such as cash and statement can be issued simultaneously through one and the same gate. The optimum point in time is determined and adaptively controlled by which the front edge of statement touches the bundle of bank notes during issuing movement of the bank notes. Then both, bank notes and statement, are moved together to their respective end positions. The method and the machine starts the statement transport after a certain monitored delay time (DELTA-STATEMENT). By calculating out of the time difference between the point in time at which the bank notes reach the end position and the statement reaches its end position, a new time delay (DELTA-STATEMENT) is calculated for the next combined cash and statement issue operation. The method provides for the simultaneous issuance of bank notes and a statement through a common exit gate.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a method for determining and adaptively 
controlling the optimum moment in time to start a second transport means 
after the start of a first transport means, both interrelated transport 
means having different velocities, so that the front edges of both 
transported items reach a certain end position, after a certain amount of 
common way in the transport path, whereby said transported items and the 
paths of their transporting means merge under a certain angle, said angle 
being preferably up to 90.degree.. The invention furthermore relates to a 
personal banking machine controlled by the inventive method. 
DESCRIPTION OF BACKGROUND ART 
European Patent Specification No. 0 036 266 B1 describes a bank note 
dispensing machine with a delivery device for the receipt for the bank 
notes dispensed. Bank notes are transported from a first source to a 
delivery conveyor by a first transport means. The printed receipt, 
documenting the delivery of the dispensed bank notes, is transported from 
the printer through a second transport path and delivered then to the back 
of the already stacked bundle of bank notes on the very same conveyor. If 
both, bank notes and receipt are collected on the conveyor, both are 
transported through an exit slot of the machine. There the consumer can 
grasp the bank notes together with the printed receipt. 
In this known bank note dispensing machine the bank notes and the receipt 
exit the machine through one and the same slot simultaneously. 
Nevertheless they are bundled inside the machine in such a way, that the 
collection of money and receipt has to be performed outside of a safe. A 
safe very often is required for keeping the money, and after the money has 
been collected in the correct and needed amount then this bundle of bank 
notes is exited through a slot from the safe. Such a delivery method of 
the money out of a safeguarded area is not possible with the delivery 
systems of the present invention, particularly the IBM 4731. 
In the UK Patent Application No. GB 2 141 407 A, a cash dispensing machine 
is described in which one or more bank note stores and one receipt store 
are provided in a stack. The lower most, or in other words the transport 
path in the upstream position, is provided for the receipt store. During 
issuing the bank notes from the different stores to the exit gate, a 
receipt is printed and, after the last issued bank note, delivered into 
the very same transport path to exit the same gate. A simultaneous exiting 
of receipt and bank notes at the slot or the exit gate of the banking 
terminal is not possible with this machine. 
The IBM 4731 Personal Banking Machine provides the possibility to issue 
bank notes, to issue statements and to issue statements together with bank 
notes. The bank notes are kept in cartridges within a safe and within the 
safe arranged in the bundle to be issued to the consumer. Only if the 
bundle contains the correct number of bank notes are they provided on a 
conveyor to be issued through a slot within the safe. A printer is 
provided to print the receipt, to print one or more statements, to collect 
them and to issue them together with the bundle of bank notes 
simultaneously through one issue gate. There the consumer grasps the 
bundle of bank notes together with the statement. The bundle of bank notes 
is transported to the gate by the so-called front drive forming a first 
transport means. The statement or several statements also collected in a 
bundle are provided by a printer and collected at a statement issuing 
position. They are exited to the gate by a second transport means. Both 
transport means coincide at the issue gate in a certain angle of less than 
90.degree.. For more details reference is made to the IBM 4731 Personal 
Banking Machine General Information Manual Form Number GA 19-5346-1, 
especially chapter 2 as well as to IBM 4731 Personal Banking Machine 
Operators Guide Form Number GA 19-5357-1, chapter 2. Those manuals are 
incorporated here by references. 
As already stated in the IBM 4731 Personal Banking Machine, statement or 
statements and bundle of bank notes are issued through a common gate or 
issuing slot and offered to the consumer. Statement and bundle of bank 
notes come together at the issue gate on transports from different 
independent units. So the statement is transported from the printer with a 
relatively low velocity of for example 70 mm/s. At the same time the 
bundle of bank notes is transported through the front drive, a pair of 
belts clamp the bundle in between them, and transport the bundle of bank 
notes with a relatively high velocity of about 300 mm/s to the issuing 
slot. 
The bundle of bank notes with the statement or the statements, are brought 
together and because of the different velocities of the items, the 
following problems are caused: 
The fast moving bundle of bank notes pulls the statement too far. As a 
result, a predictable end position of the statement is not possible. This 
predictable end position of the statement is an absolute must. If the 
consumer forgets to take the statement or to take the bundle of bank notes 
after the elapse of a certain amount of time the statement and the bundle 
of bank notes will be retracted and deposited in different bins. The 
non-taking is sensed by the machine. If the statement is pulled too far 
out of the issuing gate by the moving bundle of bank notes the machine 
senses that the statement has been taken by the consumer. In reality the 
statement might still be within the gate. This leads to difficulties and 
malfunction of the machine. 
There are different factors contributing to this problem. Those are that 
the velocity of the bundle of bank notes is essentially higher than that 
of the statement. Furthermore, the bundle of bank note and statement are 
not issued parallel to each other through the slot of the exit gate but 
they come together under a certain angle. Also, the slot of the exit gate 
is relatively narrow which means that the statement is pulled out of the 
slot of the exit gate by the bundle of bank notes beyond that which is 
desired. And, there is a relatively high coefficient of friction between 
the bank note and the statement, and furthermore, the statement is not 
kept within the printer or its delivering transport, but joined with the 
moving bank notes at a different velocity. 
To avoid the bank note pulling out of the statement through the slot of the 
exit gate all of these factors would have to be improved. This would imply 
a redesign, and change of the construction, both imposing considerable 
cost and time efforts. 
One possible solution probably would be to delay the transport of the 
statement to the slot of the issuing gate so that it is issued through the 
slot after the bundle of bank notes already has been issued. But in 
reality, it is impossible to push the thin statement or the thinner bundle 
of statements through the slot later, since the slot is very narrow and 
the bundle of bank notes fans out and thus gets thicker outside of the 
issuing gate, thus the slot is clogged up. Such a method of operating 
would lead to a blocking and jamming of the issue gate. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is the object of the present invention to avoid the above mentioned 
drawbacks and to provide a method for determining the optimum moment in 
time at which two transported items should come together in frictional 
contact when they are issued by two transport means having different 
transport directions and having different transport velocities, so that 
both transported items reach a certain predetermined end position. 
It is also an object of the present invention to have this method applied 
adaptively with every single case of issuing the items. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a personal banking 
machine with a control such that bank notes to be issued stemming from one 
source and statements stemming from a second source are issued through a 
common issuing gate simultaneously such that both reach a predetermined 
end position and no blocking of the gate or jam in the immediate vicinity 
of the gate or malfunction of the personal banking machine happens. 
These objects and also further not mentioned objects and features are 
solved in an advantageous manner by the method claim 1 as well as by the 
apparatus claim 6 and its different appropriately associated subclaims. 
The method in accordance with the present invention provides in an 
advantageous manner the optimum point in time for bringing together the 
front edges of the statement with the bank note so that both on their 
final way through the gate reach their predetermined end position for 
optimum functioning of the banking machine. The method is adaptively 
working changes in machine parameters, so that a slowing down of motors or 
other variable factors do not detrimentally affect the functioning of the 
machine. 
The adaptive controlling method in accordance with the present invention 
can preferably be implemented in microcode. This has the advantage that it 
can be used in different machines having different transport means, 
without the need to change the microcode. Therefore the inventive method 
can be used in a very flexible manner.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference to FIG. 1 schematically the area behind the issue gate 1 is 
shown. Issue gate 1 is essentially made up by two wall parts 2 and 3 above 
and below a moveable flap 4. Flap 4 is moveable in direction of double 
arrow 5 either to the open position as shown in FIG. 1 or to the closed 
position when Flap 4 is turned to the right in FIG. 1 and closes issue 
slot 6. Issue slot 6 essentially is formed by the right end part of flap 4 
and wall part 2 on the left side, seen in FIG. 1, and on the left hand 
side of wall part 3 on the right side of slot 6. Within slot 6 there is 
shown a bundle 7 of bank notes, hereinafter referred to as cash 7. 
Furthermore, in the slot 6 there is shown statement 8. It might be, that 
there are several statements, but in the following it is only talked about 
statement in the singular and nominated as 8. Cash 7 is transported in 
accordance to arrow g by a first transport means 10, called the front 
drive which is only indicated schematically in FIG. 1. Statement 8 is 
transported by a second transport means 11 in the direction of arrow 12 
toward slot 6 of issue gate 1. The main directions, indicated by arrows 9 
and 12 of the respective first transport means 10 and second transport 
means 11 are inclined to each other by an angle .alpha.. This angle 
.alpha. is less than 90.degree.. Those transport paths converge within the 
area of slot 6 of issue gate 1. Within slot 6 statement 8 and cash 7 touch 
each other and change in a curved manner their formerly straight direction 
of movement. In the transport path of first transport means 10 there is 
provided a sensor 13 which is used to sense the end position and the 
presence of cash 7 in the exit position. Furthermore, in the transport 
path of second transport means 11 there is provided a sensor 14 for 
sensing the predetermined end position of statement 8 within exit slot 6 
of issue gate 1. 
FIG. 2 shows in addition to the gate area as shown in FIG. 1, further 
details schematically of the cash issuing from the first transport means 
10 as well as the cash source. The cash is kept within a safe 20. By means 
not shown in further details it is collected as a bundle 21 behind a 
hook-like member 22 of a conveyor 23. Conveyor 23 moves the hook-like 
member 22 which is attached to belt 24 up and down in accordance to double 
arrow 25. If hook-like member 22 with bundle 21 is in its upper position 
of conveyor 23, the bundle is caught by two transport rollers 26 and 
furthermore transported to a transport device 27. This transport device 27 
formed by belts 28 transports the bundle 21 further up and delivers it to 
first transport means 10. First transport means 10 is formed essentially 
by two belts 29 and 30 which are guided over several rollers and guide the 
bundle 21 between themselves up to slot 6 of issue gate 1 in accordance 
with arrow 9. 
Shown in more detail in FIG. 2 is second transport means 11 that transports 
statement 8 to slot 6 of issue gate 1. There a statement 8 rests against a 
hook-like member 15. If second transport means 11 turns clockwise as shown 
in FIG. 2, then statement 11 resting against hook-like member 15 is 
transported in direction of arrow 12 toward slot 6 of issue gate 1. 
As seen in FIG. 2, the way bundle 21 of cash 7 has to be transported is 
much longer than statement 8 has to be transported from the not shown 
printer 2, both to the slot 6. Depending on different machine design and 
different wall thickness of safe 20, this path length varies. Therefore, 
the velocity V.sub.C of front drive 10 forming the first transport means, 
and also for transport means 27 and the velocity of conveyor 23, is chosen 
as a higher velocity than for velocity V.sub.S of the statement. The 
actual value in a practical example is for V.sub.C 300 mm/S and for 
V.sub.S 70 mm/S. For an optimum issue of both cash 7 and statement 8 it 
has been found that front edge 16 of statement 8 has to join cash 7 at a 
moment in time at which first transport means 10 is still moving cash 7 
upward in direction of arrow 9 toward the respective end position of cash 
7. Then both transport means 10 and 11, having different Velocities 
V.sub.C and V.sub.S move together. Both transport means 10 and 11 are then 
stopped at the same or different moments in time, depending upon the 
different end positions of those transport means. 
In connection with the flowchart as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the 
adaptive control method of the invention will be described. The optimum 
moment in time at which statement 8 and cash 7 touch each other in slot 6 
of issue gate 1 is reached, if cash 7 helps to pull statement 8 out 
through the slot. On the other hand, statement 8 is not allowed to be 
pulled out over its predetermined end position. That means that upon 
touching of cash 7 and statement 8 the way left to be travelled for the 
statement in its end position, is not allowed to be shorter than the way 
left for the cash 7 to be transported in its respective end position. This 
method also considers the different transport velocities V.sub.C and 
V.sub.S, the different lengths of both paths, the lengths of the 
transported items. 
The adaptive control is characterized by starting the first drive means 10, 
i.e. front drive and conveyor 23 together with transport means 27 first. 
i.e. starting the transport means having the longer transport time first. 
Then the second transport means 11, having the shorter transport time to 
the exit slot 1, is started after a predetermined delay time 
DELTA-STATEMENT. The time at which cash 7 has reached its end position and 
the time at which the statement reaches its respective end position is 
monitored. Out of the time differences between the times at which cash 7 
and statement 8 reach their respective end positions a new predetermined 
delay time DELTA-STATEMENT is calculated. This new DELTA-STATEMENT is then 
used as the predetermined delay time for the next combined issue of 
statement 8 and cash 7. This routine is repeated with every transport 
action using both transport means. 
The program written as microcode uses the following main routines as shown 
in FIG. 3. In block 31 the program asks if this is the first combined 
issue for this machine. If this is the case. i.e. that the question is 
answered with yes, a default value for the DELTA-STATEMENT is fetched for 
using it for the INITIAL-DELTA-STATEMENT. From block 32 then the program 
goes to block 33. On the other hand if in the question of block 31 the 
answer was no, i.e. that it was not the first combined issue for this 
machine, the program also goes to block 33. In block 33 then the start for 
issuing cash is initiated. That means that conveyor 23 and front drive 10 
(and also transport means 27) as shown in FIG. 2 are started. At the same 
time the system timer is started with time DELTA-STATEMENT. In the next 
block 34 it is asked if the time DELTA-STATEMENT is oVer. If this is not 
the case, the program goes back to the beginning of block 34 and runs 
through a loop. If block 34 says that the time DELTA-STATEMENT is over, 
program goes to block 35 and starts issuing the statement. That means that 
now the second transport means 11 transporting statement 8 out of the 
machine is initiated to move in direction of arrow 12. Next in block 36 it 
is asked, is cash 7 just stopped at the gate 1. If the answer is yes, the 
real time is saved forming the CASH-OUT-TIME. This is done in block 37. If 
that is done, from block 37 the program goes to block 38. If in block 36 
the answer is no, i.e. that the cash 7 has not just stopped at the gate, 
the program goes directly to block 38 asking if the statement is just 
stopped at gate 1. If this is not the case, program goes to block 39 
asking, if the combined issue is finished. If this is not the case, 
program goes back to the beginning of block 36. If on the other hand in 
block 38 the statement just stopped at the gate, and the question is 
answered with yes, the real time is saved forming the STATEMENT-OUT-TIME. 
This is done in accordance with block 40. From block 40 program goes back 
to the beginning of block 39. If in block 39 the answer to the question, 
is the combined issue finished, is positive, the program goes into the 
calculation routine of DELTA-STATEMENT for the next combined issue 
operation. This routine is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4. 
Block 41 is asking, is the CASH-OUT-TIME plus a DELIVERY-OFFSET greater 
than the STATEMENT-OUT-TIME as measured in block 40. If the answer is yes. 
DELTA-STATEMENT is incremented as shown in block 42. If this is not the 
case, in block 43 it is asked if the CASH-OUT-TIME plus the 
DELIVERY-OFFSET is smaller than the STATEMENT-OUT-TIME. If this is the 
case, then in block 44 a decrement of the DELTA-STATEMENT is performed. If 
the answer is no in block 43, both come to an end. 
The newly calculated DELTA-STATEMENT is then used in the routine in 
accordance with FIG. 3, especially as stated in block 33. This adaptively 
corrected DELTA-STATEMENT is used for the start of the system timer in a 
new issue. Thus, the time delay, after which the second transport means 11 
for transporting the statement to the gate, is thus monitored 
continuously. 
By continuously monitoring, and if necessary recalculating, the value for 
DELTA-STATEMENT. as well as using it as default value in the beginning of 
a restart of the very same machine, an optimum moment in time is provided 
and safeguarded for the bringing together of statement 8 and cash 7. 
As already described especially in connection with FIGS. 3 and 4, the above 
shown sequence is preferably always repeated when cash 7 and statement 8 
are issued combined to the consumer. 
In a practically used operating system the internal clock has 50 ms steps 
to increment the system clock. This time interval of 50 ms is called a 
time slice. 
Thus the above mentioned variables mean the following: 
DELTA-STATEMENT is the number of time slices the statement issue is started 
after the Start-Issue-Cash. This variable is stored in a non-volatile 
memory. 
CASH-OUT-TIME is the time when the cash stops at the gate in its final end 
position. 
STATEMENT-OUT-TIME is the time when the statement stops at the gate in its 
final end position. 
DELIVERY-OFFSET is the time between when the cash 7 and the statement 8 
stop and when the optimum meeting point is reached. This variable depends 
on the statement length's. In a practical example for the statement 
length's there are provided 101 mm and 106 mm. In this case the same value 
of 2 time slices is used since the difference in length's is only 5 mm. 
INITIAL-DELTA-STATEMENT is a fixed value, that is used in the beginning for 
the very first cash and statement issuing operation. It is stored and can 
be replaced later on by the newly calculated DELTA-STATEMENT value. 
As shown by the flowcharts, an implementation of the method in accordance 
with the present invention can be done by microcode. This has the 
advantage of great flexibility so that for example in both machines IBM 
4731 and IBM 4732 which have different front drives (first transport means 
10) the same code can be used. The only point is that the value for the 
DELTA-STATEMENT is different so that the start point for starting the 
statement transport 11 differs. 
The method in accordance with the present invention and also the described 
personal banking machine including such an adaptive control provides many 
advantages. Specific machine parameters do not have to be determined in 
the beginning by measuring for each different machine, such as path length 
of bank notes and velocity of bank notes. Furthermore tolerances in 
production are considered by the adaptive control and thus an exact 
mechanical adjustment is not necessary. Also changes in wear and friction 
caused by aging are considered and thus no readjustment or changing of 
parts is necessary. A further big advantage is that for the drive of the 
different transport means cost reducing uncontrolled motors can be used. 
It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art of control mechanisms 
for banking machines that various changes can be made in the format and 
content of the transport control mechanism herein described without 
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.