Banknote store

Abstract: A banknote store can remove banknotes individually from a stack by light air pressure extending over a substantial area of the banknote, the banknote then being transportable without needing to move the source of the reduced pressure. Banknotes are added individually by using reduced pressure to hold them against a transport belt before they are deposited on the stack.

Description: This invention relates to the storage of banknotes or other sheets of value, which are herein referred to simply as banknotes or bills. There have been proposed numerous types of banknote stores. Some enable dispensing of banknotes, for example in automatic cash dispensing machines. Others allow the addition of banknotes to the store, for example in vending machines. It is however not very common to have storage means which can both receive and dispense individual banknotes, because the mechanisms used hereto for achieving this have been unreliable, expensive, complicated and/or large, which has meant that the mechanisms have been unsuitable especially for use in vending applications. Adding banknotes to the stack is often achieved by a transport mechanism which moves the banknote to a position above the stack, and a piston which shifts the banknote from the transport mechanism to the stack. This requires a lot of space. The various techniques used for achieving dispensing of individual banknotes have included the application of friction, for example to cause a buckling configuration of the uppermost banknote to enable it to be stripped from the stack. It is also known to remove banknotes by the use of suction. For example, a suction pump is connected via a conduit to an outlet on the periphery of a roller and a banknote is gripped and held on the roller by the strong suction force. Rotation of the roller then strips the banknote from a stack. This however can be quite complicated to construct, and is subject to reliability problems if there are holes in the banknotes. EP-A-0812790 discloses apparatus for paying out a banknote from a stack thereof, the apparatus comprising air conveying means to cause a reduced air pressure to be applied above the stack and means for transporting a banknote relative to the air conveying means. The air conveying means is continuously driven to lift banknotes from the stack so that when the transporting means laterally moves a lifted banknote to expose the air conveying means, the next banknote in the stack is lifted. DE-A-1 933 077 discloses apparatus for handling sheets including adding a sheet to the top of a stack thereof. The apparatus comprises air conveying means for lifting the sheets and the air conveying means are mounted and fixed relative to a transporting means so that when the air conveying means has lifted a sheet, the transporting means can laterally move the air conveying means and hence, the sheet. Some aspects of the present invention relate to techniques for individually adding banknotes to a store. Preferably, these aspects are combined in a banknote store which can both receive banknotes individually and dispense them individually. However, the invention is also applicable to stores which have a pre-formed stack therein, from which banknotes can be individually dispensed, and stores which can receive banknotes individually but which either cannot dispense banknotes or can only dispense them as a bundle. Aspects of the present invention are set out in the accompanying claims. According to a further aspect, banknotes are moved from a stack by the application of relatively low-strength suction over a relatively large area. This means that small holes in the banknote will not influence the operation. Also, because the forces involved are relatively low, a separate transport means can be used for conveying the banknote laterally away from the stack without the requirement for moving the reduced-pressure area. Conversely, and according to a further aspect of the invention, a banknote can be laterally moved to a position in which it is suspended above a stack by a relatively low-force suction applied over a relatively large area, thus enabling the banknote to be deposited on the stack when the source of the reduced pressure is deactivated. In each of these aspects, preferably, the area over which the reduced pressure is applied can be varied. Thus, the area can be progressively reduced as a banknote is transported away from the stack, so that the remaining bills in the stack are not subject to a significant amount of reduced pressure. For similar reasons, the amount of area over which the reduced pressure is applied can be increased as a banknote is moved over the stack. Arrangements embodying the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings which are schematic views of the various embodiments in which like reference numbers represent like integers, and in which: Figure 1 shows a banknote store according to a first embodiment; Figure 2 shows a banknote escrow store according to a second embodiment; Figures 3A to 3H are views showing successive stages of operation of the escrow store of Figure 2 when a new banknote is added to the store; Figures 4A to 4H show successive stages of operation of the escrow store when a banknote is removed from the store; Figures 5A to 5E show successive stages of operation when the stack is removed from the escrow store as a bundle; Figures 6A to 6F show successive stages of operation of a device for shifting a stack support of the embodiments of Figures 1 and 2 when a banknote is added to the stack; Figures 7A to 7F are views similar to those of Figures 6A to 6F but showing the stages of operation when a banknote is removed; Figures 8A to 8C show a store according to a third embodiment of the invention; Figures 9A to 9D show a store according to a fourth embodiment of the invention; Figure 10 shows part of a store according to a fifth embodiment of the invention; Figure 11 is a view from below of the mouth of the air conveying means of a store according to a sixth embodiment of the invention; Figure 12 is a view from below of the air conveying means of a seventh embodiment of the invention; and Figure 13 illustrates an eighth embodiment of the invention. Referring to Figure 1, the banknote store 2 is operable to store a stack 4 of banknotes which are supported by a platform 6 biassed upwardly by a spring 7. The platform 6 pushes the stack so that the uppermost bill is pressed against a belt 8 which has a high coefficient of friction and which extends around rollers 10. Two fans, 12, 14, are disposed above the belt 8 and are positioned so that they cause air to flow upwardly through the fan housings 18, 20. The housings 18, 20 thus constitute conduits or air conveying means which convey air away from the banknote stack 4 and thus produce a low pressure over a substantial area. Each of the fans 12, 14 can comprise a cooling fan of the type commonly used in personal computers. Such fans are compact, inexpensive and readily available. Another belt 22 extends around rollers 24 and is operable to convey banknotes individually between the stack and an inlet/outlet 26. Details of the operation of the store 2 will become apparent from the following description. In brief, to extract a banknote from the top of the stack, the fans 12 and 14 are energised so as to retain the topmost banknote up against the belt 8, the platform 6 and the supported stack 4 are moved downwards, and the belts 8 and 22 are driven so as to convey the banknote to the inlet/outlet 26. In order to add a banknote to the stack, the platform 6 and the stack 4 are moved downwardly, the new banknote is fed from the inlet/outlet 26 by means of the belts 8 and 22 to a location beneath the fans 12 and 14, the fans 12 and 14 being energised so as to suspend the banknote over the stack 4, and the platform 6 and stack 4 are raised and the fans 12 and 14 de-energised. Referring to Figure 2, this shows a second embodiment which is similar to the embodiment of Figure 1, except that, in this embodiment, which constitutes an escrow store, the entire stack 4 of banknotes can be removed as a bundle. For this purpose, the platform 6 is provided with a further transport mechanism formed by a belt 28 and rollers 30. Banknotes can be individually added to and removed from the stack 4, as in the embodiment of Figure 1. However, additionally, by simultaneously driving the belts 8, 22 and 28, the entire stack can be conveyed to the inlet/outlet 26. One of the rollers 10' can drive, via idle rollers 32, the belt 28 where it extends around one of the rollers 30' so as to synchronise the movement of the belts 8 and 28. The roller 10' and the rollers 32 are mounted on a common support structure which is pivotable about the axis of the roller 10' and biassed in the direction of arrow A, so that the belt 28 and the roller 30' are drivingly engaged irrespective of their rest positions, which are determined by the thickness of the stack 4. The insertion and extraction of individual banknotes from the store of the embodiment of Figure 2 will now be described in detail with reference to Figures 3 and 4. The store of the embodiment of Figure 1 would operate in a corresponding manner. Figure 3A shows the store 2 in a state it adopts before a new banknote 34 is added. The operation begins by forcing the platform 6, and thus the supported stack 4, to move downwardly (Figure 3B). Preferably, the platform is moved downwardly by a predetermined distance, irrespective of its starting position, which will be dependent upon the thickness of the stack 4. As a result, there will be a predetermined distance d separating the uppermost banknote from the belt 8. Then, as shown in Figure 3C, the belts 8 and 22 are driven in the directions of the proximate arrows so as to convey the banknote 34 from the inlet towards the lateral position of the stack. Referring to Figure 3D, as the leading end of the banknote 34 passes underneath the fan 14, the fan is energised so as to suspend this part of the banknote above the stack and against the belt 8. As shown in Figure 3E, the fan 12 is energised as the leading end of the banknote 34 reaches the area underneath it, and thus when the banknote is laterally aligned with the stack 4, as shown in Figure 3F, both fans 12 and 14 are holding the banknote suspended against the belt 8. The platform 6 is then released so that it can move upwardly under the force of the biassing means 7 (Figure 3G), and after the platform has moved upwardly the energisation of the fans 12 and 14 is terminated (Figure 3H) so that the stack now has a new banknote 34 on the top. It will be noted that, while the platform 6 is in its lower position (Figure 3C), it is no longer engaged by the idling rollers 32 so that the driving movement of the belt 8 is not transmitted to the platform belt 28. Figure 4A shows the store 2 in its initial state prior to the removal of the uppermost banknote 34. At Figure 4B, the fans 12 and 14 are energised so as to cause the banknote 34 to be held against the belt 8. Then, at Figure 4C, the platform 6 is caused to moved downwardly by a predetermined distance, the banknote 34 being retained in its initial position. At step 4D, the belts 8 and 22 are driven in the direction of the arrows so that the banknote is conveyed towards the inlet/outlet 26. During this movement, as shown in Figures 4D and 4E, the fans 12 and 14 are switched off in succession so that no, or little, suction is applied to the remainder of the stack 4. After the banknote 34 has been removed (Figure 4F), the platform 6 is released (Figure 4G) and thus the stack is moved back upwardly into its initial position (Figure 4H). Figure 5A shows the store 2 immediately before the stack 4 is dispensed as a bundle. At Figure 5B, the belts 8 and 22 are driven in the direction of the proximate arrows, thus causing the belt 28 also to be driven by the idle rollers 32. Thus, the entire stack is moved to the right as shown in the drawings until it is gripped between the belts 8 and 22 and then transported to and out of the inlet/outlet 26 (Figures 5D and 5E). One of the rollers 10" may be movable against a bias so as to allow more room to accommodate the stack 4 between the belts 8 and 22. For example, the roller 10" may be mounted on a structure which is pivoted about-an axis 36, the structure (not shown) being biassed in a clockwise direction about the axis. Figures 6 and 7 show the operation of the mechanism which ensures that the platform 6 is driven downwardly by a predetermined distance, irrespective of its initial position. Referring to Figure 6A, the mechanism comprises a member 40 attached to the platform 6 (not shown in Figure 6). A lower shaft 42 extends downwardly through an aperture in the member 40, and is biassed upwardly by a spring 44. A pin 46 projects into a helical groove 48 in the surface of the shaft 42, the groove 48 and pin 46 thus operating as a worm gear. An upper shaft 50 is located above the lower shaft 42 and supported in a collar 52. A vertical groove 54 in the shaft 50 co-operates with a pin (not shown) to ensure that the upper shaft 50 cannot rotate about its axis. The shaft 50 is biassed upwardly by a spring 56, so that a roller 58 at the top of the shaft engages a cam 60. The lower end of the upper shaft 50 faces the upper end of the lower shaft 42, these ends being provided with intra-engageable surfaces 62 having a high coefficient of friction. To operate the mechanism, the cam 60 is rotated (Figure 6B) to bring the surfaces 62 into engagement and then to push the shaft 42 downwardly (Figure 6C). Because the upper shaft 50 cannot rotate, and because of the friction between the surfaces 62, the lower shaft 42 also cannot rotate and thus engagement of the groove 48 with the pin 46 causes the member 40 to move downwardly with the shaft 42. Referring to Figure 6D, assuming that a banknote 34 (the thickness of which is shown exaggerated for purpose of clarity) is added, then when the cam continues to rotate so that the spring 56 lifts the shaft 50 (Figure 6E), the platform 6 and member 40 will not be able to rise very far. However, after the surfaces 62 disengage, the shaft 42 is free to rotate, and therefore can continue to rise to its initial position (Figure 6F) as the pin 46 slides within the groove 48. Figures 7A to 7F show similar operations which occur when the banknote 34 is removed. This means that by the time the shaft 42 moves back to its initial position (Figure 7E), the member 40 and platform 6 have further to travel. However, as shown in Figure 7F, this is permitted because the shaft 42 is free to rotate under the influence of the pin 46 moving upwardly and sliding in the groove 48. Accordingly, the shaft 42 always returns to the same vertical position, irrespective of the thickness of the stack of banknotes. Thus, the stroke imparted to the shaft 42 is always the same, and because the shaft 42 cannot rotate when engaged by the upper shaft 50, the amount of movement imparted to the member 40 and thus the platform 6 is always the same. Figures 8A to 8C show a third embodiment. In this embodiment, the fans 12 and 14 are supported on a piston 80 having a relative short stroke. Most of the time, the lower surface 82 of the piston 80 is located above the belt 8. However, when moving the platform 6 downwardly in order to extract a banknote, the piston 80 is also moved downwardly by a corresponding amount. The lower surface 82 is of smaller area than the banknotes and, preferably, disposed centrally of the banknote stack. Thus, with the fans 12, 14 in operation, the left and right ends of the banknote are pulled upwardly to a greater degree than the central region. The consequence is that the uppermost banknote is pulled into a non-planar configuration as shown in Figure 8B. This reduces any tendency for a plurality of banknotes to be retained against the belt 8 by the fans 12, 14, rather than a single banknote. The piston 80 is then moved upwardly (Figure 8C) so that the uppermost banknote is held against the belt 8 before it is transported away. Similar advantages can be achieved by providing a piston of variable geometry. Referring to Figures 9A to 9D, the piston 80 which supports the fans 12, 14 is normally located above the belt 8, but moved downwardly when the platform 6 is moved downwardly. The fans are energised at this time. Then, (Figure 9C) the piston 80 is adjusted so that its two ends pivot upwardly, so that a lower surface 82 of the piston is non-planar, thus more positively separating the uppermost banknote from the rest of the stack. The piston 80 is then moved upwardly and straightened at the same time (Figure 9D) before the uppermost banknote is removed. Figure 10 shows an alternative embodiment in which there is a static structure forming a non-planar surface 82. The belt 8 extends adjacent to this surface, and, when the fans 12, 14 are activated, the uppermost banknote will be pulled against the belt 8 and hence into a non-planar configuration. This arrangement therefore has similar advantages to those of Figures 8 and 9, but does not require a mechanism for shifting the fan-supporting structure 80 of those embodiments. Of course, the arrangements described with reference to Figures 8 to 10 can be applied to the escrow store of Figure 2. Various modifications can be made to the embodiments described above. For example, the fans 12, 14 may not be located in close proximity to the belt 8, but instead may be remote and connected to inlets near the belt 8 via conduits. The same fans may also be used for other stores, and valves or shutters may be used to control the application of the reduced pressure to the various parts of the stores. Additionally, or alternatively, instead of using a plurality of individually-energisable fans, there could be a single fan, preferably with means (such as a shutter) provided for progressively altering the area over which the reduced pressure is applied. For example, referring to Figure 11, this shows a view from below of the mouth 100 of an air-conveying means coupled to a fan or other source of partial vacuum. As the banknote 34 is moved to the right by belts 8, a shutter 102 progressively closes the mouth 100. The shutter 102 could perhaps be unwound from a roll 104. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 12, the belt 8 may be formed of at least one portion 106 which blocks the air flow to the mouth 100 and thus acts as a shutter, and at least one portion 108 which allows air flow and thus permits a banknote 34 to be suspended against the belt. Preferably, the maximum area (either a single continuous area or the total of a number of discrete areas) over which the reduced pressure is applied to the banknote is equal to at least 30 percent of the surface area of the banknote, and more preferably is greater than 75 percent of the area of the banknote, at least for some banknote denominations. It is to be noted that the store may be a multi-denominational store, or the same structure could be used for single denomination stores which handle respective different denominations. In the embodiments described above, the light air pressure is applied to the banknote stack to attract the uppermost note before the platform and the supported stack are moved downwardly. Although this is the preferred operation, the reduction in pressure can occur after the platform is moved downwardly so as to lift the uppermost banknote, if this is desired. In the embodiments described above, the platform supporting the stack is moved away from the transport means 8 during insertion or extraction of an individual banknote. Instead, the transport means 8, possibly in combination with the air conveying means, can be moved upwardly away from the stack. This could be achieved either by linear motion in an upward direction so that there is a gap between the stack and the belt 8 along the whole length of the stack. Alternatively, as shown in Figures 13A and 13B, the upper structure can be pivoted so that the belt is separated from the stack at one end of the stack, but remains in contact at the other end. The banknote is inserted by conveying it from an inlet conveyor 130 to the stack, using the belt 8, while the fan 12 is activated (Figure 13A). Movement of the stack is prevented by clamping using a finger 132. The belt 8 is then brought down fully on top of the stack 4 (Figure 13B) with the finger 132 removed. To remove a banknote, the fan 12 is activated and the belt pivoted back to the position shown in Figure 13A with the finger 132 removed. The finger 132 is then re-inserted to clamp the remainder of the stack, and the belt 8 is driven so that the uppermost note is fed to the exit conveyor 134.

Claims: A method of adding a banknote (34) to a stack (4) thereof, the method comprising moving the banknote laterally with respect to an air conveying means (12, 14, 18, 20; 100) so that the banknote moves through an airflow caused by the air conveying means to a position above the stack while the air conveying means applies reduced pressure to the banknote so as to hold it suspended above the stack, and then depositing the banknote on the top of the stack by deactivating the air conveying means. A method as claimed in claim 1, including the step of progressively increasing the area over which the reduced air pressure is applied as the banknote (34) is laterally moved beneath the air conveying means (12, 14, 18, 20; 100). A method of handling banknotes (34), the method comprising adding a banknote to a stack (4) using a method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, and removing a bartknote from the stack causing said air conveying means (12, 14, 18, 20; 100) to reduce the air pressure above the top banknote so as to separate the top banknotes from the others, and moving the separated banknote laterally relative to the air conveying means. A method as claimed in claim 3, including the step of progressively reducing the area over which the air pressure is reduced as the banknote (34) is moved laterally when being removed from the stack (4). A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the reduced air pressure retains the banknote (34) against a non-planar structure (82) when the banknote is removed from the stack (4). A method as claimed in claim 3, including the step of causing the air conveying means (12, 14, 18, 20; 100) to reduce the air pressure in a region which is at least 30 percent of the area of the banknote (34). Apparatus (2) for storing banknotes (34) in a stack (4), the apparatus having air conveying means (12, 14, 18, 20; 100) to cause a reduced air pressure to be applied above the stack, and means (8, 22; 130, 8, 134) for transporting a banknote relative to the air conveying means; whereby a banknote can be separated from the top of the stack using the reduced air pressure, and then moved laterally using the transporting means, characterised in that a banknote can be added to the stack by using the transporting means to move the banknote through an airflow caused by the air conveying means to a position where it is suspended above the stack by the air conveying means, and then depositing the banknote on the stack by deactivating the air conveying means. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, including support means (6) for supporting the banknote stack (4), the support means being arranged for biassing the stack towards the transporting means (8, 22; 130, 8, 134). Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, including means (42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60) for moving the support means (6) away from the transporting means (8, 22; 130, 8, 134) prior to extracting a banknote (34) from or adding a banknote to the stack (4). Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the means (42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60) for moving the support means (6) is arranged to move the support means through a predetermined distance irrespective of its initial position. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10, including additional transport means (28) carried by the support means (6), to enable the entire stack (4) to be removed from the storage apparatus (2) as a bundle. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, including at least one fan (12, 14) for causing a reduced air pressure in a conduit (18, 20) forming said air conveying means. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, including a plurality of fans (12, 14) for producing the reduced air pressure, and further including control means (102, 104; 106, 108) for causing at least one of (i) switching the fans off in a progressive manner as a banknote (34) is removed from the store (2), and (ii) switching the fans on in a progressive manner as a banknote is added to the store.

Inventors: GARCIA GUILLERMO, POLIDORO ROBERTO, GARCIA, GUILLERMO, POLIDORO, ROBERTO
Applicants: MARS INC, MARS INCORPORATED
Application year: 2001
Main classification: B65H3
IPC codes: B65H3