Patent ID: 7913830

Claim:
A bill storage device for storing a plurality of bills in an automated teller machine having a controller for determining whether a bill having four edges and two faces is of a first configuration or a second configuration, the bill storage device comprising; a main body including a first storage part and a second storage part, the first storage part storing a first stack of bills in an upright manner with edges of the first stack of bills set on a surface of the main body, and a second storage part storing a second stack of bills in an upright manner with edges of the second stack of bills set on the surface of the main body; an input port at one side of the main body through which a bill is fed edgewise into the main body along a path; a first opening/closing plate within the main body, the first opening/closing plate slidably movable relative to the input port in a direction substantially perpendicular to the path, responsive to the controller determining that the bill is of the first configuration, to open a first part of the input port and place the fed bill for storing in the first storage part in a first position of the main body in an upright manner with an edge of the bill set on the surface of the main body; a second opening/closing plate within the main body, the second opening/closing plate slidably movable relative to the input port in a direction substantially perpendicular to the path, responsive to the controller determining that the bill is of the second configuration, to open a second part of the input port and place the fed bill for storing in the second storage part in a second position of the main body in an upright manner with an edge of the bill set on the surface of the main body; a first push plate in the first storage part for supporting a face of the first stack of the bills; a second push plate in the second storage part for supporting a face of the second stack of the bills; and a push bar between the first push plate and the second push plate; wherein responsive to the controller determining that the bill is of the first configuration, the push bar pushing the bill in the first position towards the first push plate and away from the second opening/closing plate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the path to store the bill in the first storage part with the bill compressed into the first stack, wherein responsive to determining at the controller that the bill is of the second configuration, the push bar pushing the bill in the second position towards the second push plate and away from the first opening/closing plate in a direction substantially perpendicular to the path to store the bill in the second storage part with the bill compressed into the second stack, and wherein responsive to storing the bill in either the first storage part or the second storage part, the push bar returns to a position between the first position and the second position.