Patent Publication Number: US-7913830-B2

Title: Bill storage device in automated teller machine and method for storing bill in the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE(S) TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     The application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0088870, filed on Sep. 9, 2008, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a storage device and method for storing bills such as paper moneys or checks and the like received into an automated teller machine, and more particularly, to a bill storage device in an automated teller machine being capable of storing perpendicularly a paper money or a check in a state where the bill or check can be sorted and stored in a right side and left side according to a kind and a dimension of the paper money or a check, and a method for storing a bill. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In general, a cash dispenser unit (CDU) and a bill recycling machine (BRM) have been developed for rendering rapidly and conveniently almost financial services except a consulting service without regard to time, these cash dispenser unit and bill recycling machine are referred to as an automated teller machine (ATM). 
     In addition to a function of receiving/drawing cash, various functions such as a unit for processing a card, an unit for processing a bankbook and a device for receiving a check are added to the ATM according to a function of financial service. In general, in a conventional storage device in the ATM, the bills or checks inputted into the ATM are stored horizontally in a storage box regardless of a kind of bill or check. 
     However, the conventional storage device in which the inputted bills are stored horizontally has a problem in that a size of the ATM must become large. 
     In view of a management of the ATM, in addition, it is necessary to sort the bills and checks and store them in the separate parts according to a kind and a size. In the conventional storage device, however, the bill and check cannot be sorted and stored separately, and so a management of the ATM is limited. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device and method for storing a bill being capable of achieving a compact automated teller machine. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a device and method for storing a bill in an automated teller machine, capable of sorting and storing separately a bill or a check according to a kind of the bill or the check. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bill storage device in an automated teller machine. The bill storage device includes a pair of opening/closing plates for supporting both side surfaces of the bill inputted into the input port; first and second storage parts arranged at both sides of the input port for storing the bill; a push bar placed in the input port and stroke-operated selectively toward a target storage part in which the bill is inputting; a push bar transferring module for performing a stroke-operation of the push bar; and a pair of push plates forcing a pressure toward the input port to support perpendicularly the bill stored the target storage part by a stroke-operation of the push bar. 
     The push bar transferring module includes a sliding member coupled to a lower portion of the push bar and a driving motor for enabling the sliding member to be slid, and it is preferable that the bill storage device further includes a link module being interlocked with a stroke-operation of the push bar to retreat any one of the opening/closing plates. 
     The link module includes a pair of first rotating members being rotated individually according to a sliding of the sliding member; a pair of second rotating members being rotated according to rotations of the first rotating members, respectively, to allow the opening/closing plate to be coupled to the second rotating members to retreat the opening/closing plate; and a pair of springs supplying a pressure to each of the second rotating members to allow the opening/closing plates to be placed in a closing state. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for storing bill in a bill storage device in the automated teller machine. The method includes determining a target storage part for storing the bill according to a kind and a dimension of the bill to be inputted; placing a push bar at an adjusted location in advance before the bill is inputted for allowing the push bar to push the bill toward the target storage part; inputting perpendicularly the bill toward the target storage part through an input port; and stroke-operating the push bar toward the target storage part to store perpendicularly the bill, which is inputted through the target input port, into the target storage part. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic bottom perspective view of a bill storage device in an automated teller machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, which is in a standby mode; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic bottom perspective view of the bill storage device shown in  FIG. 1  in a receiving mode, which illustrates one side opening/closing plate in an input port; 
         FIG. 3  is a plane view of a bill storage device shown  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic perspective view seen from “IV” in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic perspective view seen from “V” in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic perspective view seen from “VI” in  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 7  is a plane view of a bill storage device shown  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that they can be readily implemented by those skilled in the art. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic bottom perspective view of a bill storage device in an automated teller machine according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is in a standby mode, and  FIG. 2  is a schematic bottom perspective view of a bill storage device which is in a receiving mode, for illustrating one side opening/closing plate in an input port. Here, a push plate is omitted in  FIG. 2 . Also,  FIG. 3  is a plane view of the bill storage device shown  FIG. 1 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a bill storage device in an automated teller machine of the present invention comprises an input port  10  to which a bill  4  is received into the automated teller machine (hereinafter, referred to as “ATM”) and then is introduced vertically; a pair of opening/closing plates  14  and  16  for supporting both side surfaces of the bill received through the input port  10 ; first and second storage parts  20  and  22  arranged with respect to the input port  10 ; a push bar  30  (see  FIG. 2 ) located in the input port  10  such that the push bar is selectively stroke-operated toward the storage part into which the bill  4  is inputting; a push bar transferring module  40  and  50  for performing a stroke-operation of the push bar  30 ; and a pair of push plates  60  and  62  for applying a pressure toward the input port  10  to support vertically the bill stored by a stroke-operation of the push bar  30 . 
     The bill storage device of the present invention comprises a main body  2  having a rectangular parallelepiped box, the input port  10  is fixedly provided in the main body  2  like a partition wall. The first and second storage parts  20  and  22  are arranged at right side and left side of the input port  10 , and the bill  4  (indicated by a dotted line in  FIG. 1 ) introduced into the ATM is conveyed horizontally and inputted vertically into the input port  10  from an upper side of the input port  10 . In addition, the pair of push plates  60  and  62  placed at both sides of the input port  10  are installed such that the push plates  60  and  62  are slid toward right and left sides of the input port  10  by a stroke-operation of the push bar  30  to increase a gap in-between and then force a pressure toward the input port  10 . 
     In general, while the bill  4  introduced into the ATM is conveyed through a path provided in the ATM, a size and kind of the bill is recognized, and so the storage parts  20  and  22  in which the bill will be stored can be determined in advance. Accordingly, if the above structure is employed to the bill storage device of the present invention in which the storage parts  20  and  22  are formed at right and left sides of the input port  10 , a selective stack of the bill by which the bill introduced into the ATM can be received selectively in a target storage part determined in advance can be performed. In the drawings, although a space in the second storage part  22  at right is much larger than that of the first storage part  22  at left, it will be apparent that the spaces of the storage parts may be adjusted on the basis of an operation of the ATM. 
     As can be seen from  FIG. 3 , a guide groove  8  is formed on a bottom  6  of the main body  2 , the input port  10  having an opening section  12  of a certain width L formed thereon is perpendicular to an mid portion of the guide groove  8  to allow the opening section  12  to be communicated with the guide groove  8 . In addition, a flange part  32  attached to a lower portion of the push bar  30  is inserted in the guide groove  8 , and the push bar  30  is located in the opening section  12  and stroke-operated from right to left to close the opening section  12  of the input port  12  in a standby state. At this time, it is preferable that the push bar  30  has a width enough to enable the push bar to be passed easily through the opening section  12  and to push easily the introduced bill  4  to the storage part. 
     As shown  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , a pair of opening/closing plates  14  and  16  installed in the input port  10  supports both surfaces of the side portions of the bill introduced into the input port  10 . In a state where the bill is introduced into the input port  10  and supported perpendicularly by the opening/closing plates  14  and  16 , when one opening/closing plate corresponding to the storage part selected to store the bill is retreated, the bill becomes a free state, that is, the bill is not supported, and so the storing operation can be performed by only a short stroke of the push bar  30 . As a result, that the storage space in the ATM becomes increase accordingly. 
     Also, for example, in a case where the bill  4  which has a relative small size and is located at the opening section  12  of the input port  10  is stored in the second storage part  22 , even though a short right stroke of the push bar  30  is determined, the push bar can push the bill in the second storage part  22  since the opening section  12  has a preset width. However, it is not easy to push the larger-sized bill into the storage part through the opening section  12  having the same width. Accordingly, in order to push easily the bill into the storage part through the opening section having the same width regardless of a size of the bill  4 , a stroke of the push bar  30  should be lengthened. Due to the above solution, however, a dimension of the storage device becomes large so that it is difficult to realize and achieve the compact ATM. In the bill storage device of the present invention, therefore, although the push bar  30  is moved along the guide groove  8  with the determined short stroke, the opening/closing plates  14  and  16  are interlocked with left/right stroke of the push bar  30  and then retreated to open further the opening section  12 . Therefore, it is possible to push easily the bill into the first and second storage parts  20  and  22 . 
     The stroke operation of the push bar  30  as described above is performed by a push bar transferring module comprised of a sliding member  40  and a push bar driving motor  50  which causes the sliding member  40  to slide. In response to a stroke-operation of the push bar  30 , a link module retreats any one of the opening/closing plates  14  and  16 . The link module includes a pair of first rotating members  70  and  71  being rotated individually according to a sliding of the sliding member  40 , a pair of second rotating members  80  and  82  being rotated according to rotations of the first rotating members  70  and  72 , respectively, to allow the opening/closing plate to be coupled to the second rotating members  80  and  82  to retreat the opening/closing plate, and a pair of springs  90  forcing a pressure to each of the second rotating members  80  and  82  to allow the opening/closing plates  14  and  16  to be placed in a closing state. 
     As can be seen from  FIG. 4  to  FIG. 6 , the sliding member  40  is attached to a low side of the push bar  30  and screw-coupled to the flange part  32  inserted in the guide groove  8 . A rectangular projection part  42  is formed on a front surface of the sliding member  40  and is guided by guide protrusions  3  provided in parallel on a bottom of the main body  2 . In addition, a coupling part  44  formed on one side of the sliding member  40  is coupled to a driving belt  56  wound around a driving pulley  55  and inserted into a guide rod  58  so that the sliding member  40  is slid along the guide rod  58  depending on a rotation of the driving belt  56 . A bevel gear  27  coupled to a shaft of the push bar driving motor  50  is provided on one side of the driving pulley  55 , and so the driving belt  56  is rotated forwardly/reversely according to a forward/reverse rotation of the driving motor  50 . Due to the above operation, the sliding member  40  is slid from side to side, and so the push bar  30  is stroke-operated from side to side. 
     Further, in the bill storage device of the present invention, a pair of guide slits  17  and  18  are formed at a lower side of the input port  10 , the opening/closing plates  14  and  16  are inserted into the guide slits  17  and  18 , respectively, and a coupling plate  34  is screw-coupled and attached to a lower side of the guide slits. A bearing protrusion  46  is provided at a center of the sliding member  40 , and a pair of first rotating members  70  and  72  opposited to each other about the bearing protrusion  46  are provided. Each of the first rotating members  70  and  72 , which has a capital letter of alphabet “L” shape, is divided into a vertical part  74  and a convexed part  76  formed on a horizontal region with respect to a first hinge shaft  73 . The convexed part  76  is comprised of an inclined surface  78  extended from a protrusion  77  formed on one side thereof and a curved surface  79  connected to the inclined surface  78 . 
     In addition, a pair of the second rotating members  80  and  82  is interlocked with the first rotating members  70  and  72 , respectively, and so each of the second rotating members is rotated in response to a rotation of each first rotating member. Each of the second rotating members  80  and  82  has a rotating pin  84  protruded downward on a center thereof, and one end of each second rotating member is screw-coupled to the coupling plate  34  attached to a lower surface of each of the opening/closing plates  14  and  16 . Also, each of second rotating members has a recess  86  formed on the other end thereof, a second hinge shaft  88  being inserted into the recess. In a standby state pressurized by the spring  90 , the rotating pin  84  formed on a center of each of the second rotating members  80  and  82  is in contact with the protrusion  77  of the convexed part  76  of each of the first rotating members  70  and  72 . In a rotating state, however, the rotating pin  84  must be moved from the inclined surface  78  to the curved surface  79  of each of the first rotating members  70  and  72  and then placed on the curved surface  79 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , if the push bar  30  is stroke-operated toward the second storage part  22 , the sliding member  40  is also slid in the right direction in  FIG. 2 , that is, is slid toward the second storage part  22 . At this time, the bearing protrusion  46  provided on the sliding member  40  pushes the vertical part  74  of the first rotating member  72 , which causes the first rotating member  72  to rotate in a counterclockwise direction with respect to the first hinge shaft  73 . 
     On the contrary, although not shown concretely in the drawings, if the sliding member  40  is slid in the left direction, that is, is slid toward the first storage part  20 , the bearing protrusion  46  provided on the sliding member  40  pushes the vertical part  74  of the first rotating member  70  as mentioned above, and therefore, the first rotating member  70  is rotated in a clockwise direction with respect to the first hinge shaft  73 . 
     If the first rotating member  72  is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as described above, the rotating pin  84 , which is formed at a center of the second rotating pin  82  and is in contact with the protrusion  77  of the convexed part  76  of the first rotating member  72 , is moved from the inclined surface  78  to the curved surface  79  of the convexed part  76  of the first rotating member  72  and then placed on the curved surface, and so the second rotating member  82  is rotated in a clockwise direction with respect to the second hinge shaft  88 . Simultaneously, the coupling plate  34  below the opening/closing plate  16  which is screw-coupled to one end of the second rotating member  82  is moved along the guide slit  18  of the input port  10 . Accordingly, the opening/closing plate  16  is moved forward and backward in the input port  10 . 
     Similarly, if the first rotating member  70  is rotated in a clockwise direction, the second rotating member  80  interlocked with the first rotating member  70  is rotated in a counterclockwise direction so that the opening/closing plate  14  is moved forward and backward in the input port  10 . 
     The bill is stored in a target bill storage device of the ATM according to the present invention configured as described as follows. 
     If the bill is introduced into the ATM, while the bill is conveyed through a conveyance path in the ATM, a kind and dimension of the bill are recognized by an appropriate recognition scheme well-known in the art, and then, on the basis of the recognition result, one target storage part of the storage parts  20  and  22  is determined in advance to store the bill. 
     According to the above determination, the push bar  30  is placed at a certain location in advance where the push bar will push the bill toward the target storage part before the bill is stored in the target storage part. 
     Subsequently, the bill inputted through the input port  10  is conveyed perpendicularly toward the target storage part determined in advance. For example, if it is determined that the bill  4  is to be stored into the second storage part  22 , the bill introduced vertically through the input port  10  is placed in the opening section  12  of the input port  10  between the push bar  30  and the second storage part  22 . 
     Subsequently, the driving motor  50  is driven to stroke-operate the push bar  30  toward the second storage  22 , and so the driving belt  56  is then rotated forwardly/reversely. According to a rotation of the driving belt, the sliding member  40  is slid toward the second storage part  22 , and the bearing protrusion  46  formed on a center of the sliding member  40  pushes the vertical part  74  of the first rotating member  72 . As a result, the first rotating member  72  is rotated in the counterclockwise direction with respect to the first hinge shaft  73 , and the second rotating member  82  interlocked with the first rotating member  72  is rotated in the clockwise direction with respect to the second hinge shaft  88  to open the opening/closing plate  16 . 
     In the bill storage device of the present invention as described above, in response to a stroke-operation of the push bar  30  toward the second storage part  22 , the opening/closing plate  16  is retracted into the input port  10 , and so the bill  4  passing through the opening section  12  of the input port  10  is pushed and received easily into the second storage part  22  by a stroke-operation of the push bar  30 . Simultaneously, since the pushed bill  4  is pressurized toward the input port  10  by the push plate  62 , the bill is stored perpendicularly between the input port  10  and the push plate  52 . 
     According to the present invention, in the first and second storage parts arranged at both sides of the input port through which the bill introduced in the ATM is inputted, the bill is introduced perpendicularly toward one storage part which is selected for storing the bill according to a kind and a dimension of the inputted bill so as to allow the push bar to be stroke-operated. Accordingly, the bill can be stored selectively and perpendicularly to achieve the compact ATM, and the bill can be sorted and stored according to a kind thereof to increase a convenience of an operation of the automated teller machine. 
     Only the preferred embodiment of the device and method for storing the bill in the automated teller machine according to the present invention is illustrated in the above description, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the push bar and the opening/closing plate can be operated by one driving source through a link means. However, the push bar and the opening/closing plate can be operated independently by the separate driving sources. 
     While the invention has been shown and described with respect to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.