EP0645742A2 - Cash desk, the safe of which is selectively operable by two cashiers - Google Patents

Abstract

The cash safe (1) has a safe operating unit (7) to be operated selectively by two cashiers (4a, 4b), with only a single banknote output (11) and input (39) unit. The dispensing orifice of the banknote output unit (11) can be closed by means of a two-part cover (13a, 13b). For dispensing banknotes, only that orifice part adjacent to the respective cashier (4a, 4b) is opened in each case. This results in a perfect allocation of the cash sum supplied for one of the two bank employees. Even if there is carelessness, the second bank employee cannot take hold of the banknote bundle supplied for the first bank employee. Preferably, the safe operating unit (7) can be removed from the safe base unit (15) of the cash safe (1), the safe base unit (15) containing a banknote store. The top side of the safe base unit (15) adjacent to the safe operating unit (7) is completely closed, with the exception of a narrow slot, through which the banknotes can be dispensed from or introduced into the banknote store. That is to say, with the safe operating unit (7) removed, there is sufficient protection against unauthorised access to the banknote store. For a choice of routes of the banknotes from banknote input unit (39) to the banknote store or to the banknote dispensing unit (11) or from the banknote store to the banknote dispensing unit (11), a bar-shaped route selection element rotatable about its longitudinal axis is used. The route selection element is pierced at least with a longitudinal slot. An input orifice of an input unit (39) for banknotes can be closed by means of a swing-open cover (57). A lever of a two-armed lever arrangement is arranged on the cover. By means of the lever arrangement, a banknote pressure plate for pressing the banknotes down in order to separate them can be pressed onto a bearing plate. During the pressing-down operation, the banknote pressure plate is movable parallel to the surface of the bearing plate by the lever arrangement as a result of the closing of the cover. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a cash vault with a vault control unit that can be operated optionally by two cashiers with only a single bank note dispensing unit.

A cash vault is understood to be a device which is intended for obtaining means of payment, in particular banknotes. Cash safes are preferably set up in the counter rooms of banking institutions and provide a desired amount of money after entering a security code. Depending on the security precautions in the counter rooms, a maximum predetermined amount of money is stored in a cash store within the cash vault. The cash vaults can now be operated directly by bank customers or by bank employees. The cash vault described below is optionally operated by two bank employees, but could also be operated by two bank customers at the same time.

GB-A 2 026 220 describes a cash vault which can be operated by a bank clerk standing to the left and to the right of him. So that one of the bank employees mistakenly removes the banknotes made available for the other from the cash vault when the two bank employees request money almost at the same time, the only banknote dispensing opening in a vertical wall of the cash vault has a right and a left slide. The right slide is pushed out when the amount provided is intended for the bank employee on the left. The same applies to the left slide.

The invention solves the problem of creating a cash register safe with an ergonomically designed, beautifully designed safe control unit with only a single bank note dispenser for two bank employees, in which the amount of money provided for one of the two bank employees is correctly assigned. The second bank employee cannot seize the bundle of banknotes provided for the first bank employee even if he is not careful. Special emphasis was placed on serviceability when designing the safe control unit.

In GB-A 2 026 220 the banknote dispensing opening is arranged in a vertical end wall; the cashier must therefore always reach into an invisible opening. In the case of the invention, on the other hand, the dispensing opening of the dispensing unit is covered by a two-part cover, with the respective partial cover that is closest to the bank employee for whom the bank notes provided are intended being opened.

The cover is preferably arranged in such a way that, when the cover is closed, the top, side walls and edges of the safe control unit are optically continued without any significant interruption.

Since the dispensing opening can be easily seen from above when the partial cover is open and cannot only be felt from the side as in GB-A 2 026 220, secure access by bank employees is possible. This safe and quick access is additionally improved by the trapezoidal design of the longitudinal opening.

The possibility of removing the safe control unit in a simple manner from the upper side of the basic safe unit containing the cash store made it possible to achieve a particular ease of servicing when eliminating any banknote jam that might occur. The base of the safe unit has only a narrow slot on its top, through which the banknotes coming from the money store are pushed out or pushed in to be stored in the latter. That is, If the safe control unit is removed, there is sufficient protection against unauthorized access to the banknote storage. The banknotes are made available to the conveyor device in the interior of the banknote store. Service operations on the safe control unit can therefore be carried out at any time without any security risk, even when there is public traffic in the counter hall.

The advantageous design of a bar-shaped routing element for the banknotes, which can be pivoted about its longitudinal axis and has two longitudinal slots, allows simple guidance to the desired destinations and sorting out of the banknotes. Adjustments to different sheet thicknesses of the upper cover of the safe base unit can also be made easily.

Due to the design of the cover of the input unit with a lever arrangement, which shifts a banknote pressure plate perpendicular to a contact plate for the banknotes, a correct pressing of the input is possible Banknotes are given to a side wall having a banknote separating roller while the cover is being closed. With only a few mechanical elements interacting with the cover, the pressing and the release of a further slot for the individual banknotes is carried out.

Fig. 1

einen Kassentresor in einem Schalterraum mit zwei Dateneingabeeinrichtungen für je einen Bankangestellten,

Fig. 2

eine Seitenansicht einer Tresorbedieneinheit des Kassentresors,

Fig. 3

einen Längsschnitt durch die Tresorbedieneinheit des Kassentresors,

Fig. 4

eine schematische Darstellung eines Querschnitts durch den Kassentresor,

Fig. 5

einen Querschnitt durch ein Wegewahlelement des Kassentresors, um die Banknoten aus der Tresorgrundeinheit des Kassentresors in die Ausgabeeinheit der Tresorbedieneinheit bzw. von deren Eingabeeinheit direkt zu deren Ausgabeeinheit bei fehlerhaften Banknoten zu leiten, wobei in der hier gezeigten Stellung des Wegewahlelements die Banknoten von der Eingabeeinheit sowie vom Geldspeicher zur Ausgabeeinheit geleitet werden können,

Fig. 6

das in Figur 5 dargestellte Wegewahlelement in einer Stellung, in der die Banknoten von der Eingabeeinheit in den Geldspeicher geleitet werden können und

Fig. 7

einen Längsschnitt durch die Banknoteneingabeeinheit der Tresorbedieneinheit des Kassentresors.

In the following, exemplary embodiments of the cash vault according to the invention are explained in more detail with reference to drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

a cash register safe in a counter room with two data entry devices for one bank employee each,

Fig. 2

2 shows a side view of a safe operating unit of the cash safe,

Fig. 3

a longitudinal section through the safe control unit of the cash vault,

Fig. 4

a schematic representation of a cross section through the cash vault,

Fig. 5

a cross section through a routing element of the cash register safe to direct the bank notes from the safe base unit of the cash safe into the output unit of the safe control unit or from its input unit directly to its output unit in the case of defective bank notes, the bank notes from the input unit and in the position of the routing element shown here can be routed from the cash store to the dispenser,

Fig. 6

the routing element shown in Figure 5 in a position in which the banknotes can be fed from the input unit into the money store and

Fig. 7

a longitudinal section through the banknote input unit of the safe control unit of the cash vault.

1 shows a cash vault 1 to be used as a cashier by two bank employees 4a and 4b . The cash vault 1 is separated from the bank customers by a counter 3 . The two bank employees 4a and 4b stand to the right and left of the cash vault 1 . Each of the two bank employees 4a and 4b has a terminal 5a and 5b for the data-electronic operation of the cash vault 1 , for the execution of debits, banknote entry and exit, etc.

The cash vault 1 has a safe operating unit 7 , which can be removed for service purposes and is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2 , the front part 9 of which can be removed separately from the rear part 10 in order to be able to push the cash vault 1 partially under the counter 3 for reasons of space savings.

An output unit 11 and an input unit 39 for banknotes are arranged on the top of the rear part 10 of the safe control unit 7 . The dispensing unit 11 can be completely closed with a two-part cover 13a and 13b . The right partial cover 13a can be opened and closed independently of the left 13b . In Figure 1 , the right cover 13a is closed and the left partial cover 13b is shown open. The bank clerk 4b standing on the left side of the cash vault 1 has free access from above left to the bundle of banknotes 12 provided in the output unit 11 for the output. Since the right partial cover 13a of the dispensing unit 11 is closed, the bank clerk 4a standing on the right side of the cash vault 1 has no access into the dispensing unit 11 .

In FIG. 2 , the left partial cover 13 is shown completely closed and the right partial cover 13a is shown partially open for a better understanding. A partial opening is not planned during operation. The illustration in FIG. 2 is only intended to show the function of the partial covers 13a and 13b and their two-part design.

For ergonomic reasons, the output unit 11 is designed as a horizontally transverse trapezoidal longitudinal opening with open end faces on top of the safe control unit 7 . For design reasons, the cover of the safe control unit 7 extends just above the upper edge of a basic safe unit 15 . A banknote store 35 , indicated in FIG. 4, is arranged in the basic safe unit 15 .

The safe control unit 7 is detachably held on the safe base unit 15 by means of a holding unit 17 shown in FIG . The free distance of the holding unit 17 from an upper wall 23 of the safe base unit 15 depends on the thickness of this wall 23 . This thickness can vary depending on the security requirements of the bank. Due to these different thicknesses, the distance of the holding unit 17 from the inside of the wall 23 or from a reference plate 24 arranged at a well-defined distance to the inside must be set exactly during the assembly of the cash vault 1 , so that a perfect transfer of banknotes from the banknote store 35 to the safe control unit 7 can be done. To adjust the height of the holding unit 17 , four cylindrical mounting bolts 19 (only two are visible in FIG. 3 ) are used with the banknote store 35 pulled out of the basic safe unit 15 . The mounting bolts 19 have a widened upper part 20 . With their thin cross section, they are first through a through hole 18a in the wall 23 and a through hole 18b in the reference plate 24 stuck. The mounting bolts 19 now rest on their transition from the thin cross section to the thicker upper part 20 on the edge of the borehole of the reference plate 24 . A spacer sleeve 26 is now placed over each upper part 20 . The height of the spacer sleeve 26 is a measure of the distance of the holding unit 17 from the safe wall 23 , ie from the reference plate 24 . Threaded bolts (not shown) are arranged on the wall 23 at the points designated by the reference number 25 . A total of four threaded bolts are used. A first nut, also not shown, is now screwed onto this threaded bolt. Now the holding unit 17 is placed on the mounting bolts 19 . It now rests on the upper end face of the spacer sleeves 26 . The first nuts on the threaded bolts at the point with the reference number 25 are screwed up from the side of the cash vault 1 with a socket wrench until the bottom of the holding unit 17 just lies on them without lifting off the upper end face of the spacer sleeves 26 . The holding unit 17 is then removed again, the mounting bolts 19 with the spacer sleeve 26 attached are removed, and the holding unit 17 is placed back on the first nuts on the threaded bolts at points 25 . A second nut shown at points 25 in FIG. 3 is screwed onto the threaded bolts and braced against the first. The holding unit 17 is now mounted in the correct horizontal and vertical position with respect to the basic safe unit 15 . The correct horizontal position results from the position of through holes (not shown) intended for the threaded bolts in the bottom of the holding unit 17 . The position of the plug-on safe operating unit 7 relative to the holding unit 17 is determined by three dowel pins 21 , only two of which are shown in FIG. 3 . After the assembly bolts 19 have been removed, the banknote store 35 can also be retracted since they are no longer present in its free space.

Each of the covers 13a and 13b is by one on its Side-engaging friction wheel 27 can be moved horizontally to open and close. Each of the friction wheels 27 is driven by an electric motor 29 which presses them resiliently against the cover in question. Each electric motor 29 is controlled via a driver stage (not shown) by a computer (not shown) connected to the terminals 5a and 5b . Each cover 13a and 13b is mounted on its lower side with two guide elements 31a and 31b horizontally displaceably on a guide rail 33 arranged on the holding device 17 .

A schematic cross-sectional representation through the entire cash vault 1 is shown in FIG . The banknotes are transported upwards from the banknote storage unit 35 arranged in the vault base unit 15 to the vault control unit 7 by a conveyor device 36 and are deposited there by a storage wheel 37 in the output unit 11 to form the bundle 12 . Banknotes which are input into an input unit 39 in the safe control unit 7 are, if they are defective, transported to the output unit 11 after being checked by a test unit (not shown) or, if they are free of errors, stored in the banknote memory 35 by the conveyor 36 . A banknote store of this type with the associated funding is such. B. described in EP-A 0 290 731.

The banknotes are routed using a routing element 41 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 . The routing element 41 is a circular cylinder rotatable about its longitudinal axis 43 with a drive (not shown). The circular cylinder is crossed by two axially extending longitudinal slots 45a and 45b . The longitudinal slots 45a and 45b cut through the circular cylinder to form three longitudinal cylinder sections 47a , 47b and 47c , which are mechanically held together on the cylinder base and / or head in a manner not shown.

The two longitudinal slots 45a and 45b are brought together at one point in the cylinder jacket to form a curved V's. The ends of the V-legs of the longitudinal slots 45a and 45b are funnel-shaped in cross section in order to ensure a good entry of the banknotes.

In FIG. 5 , the routing element 41 is in a position in which banknotes, coming from the input unit 39 - indicated by an arrow with the reference number 39 - are guided by the guide rollers 49a and 49b and additionally guided by auxiliary entry elements 51a and 51b into the longitudinal slot 45a be introduced and then leave it in the direction of the output unit 11 . The delivery unit 11 is guided via funnel-shaped guide plates 53a and 53b and a belt conveyor, only its rollers 55a and 55b being shown. The banknotes are transported from the input unit 39 back to the output unit 11 when the banknotes are assessed by a test unit (not shown) as not conforming to the standard. The linear promotion of banknotes will not be discussed further since linear banknote subsidies are known.

From the banknote store 35 , the banknotes are also transported with a belt conveyor device 36 ( not described in more detail) through the slot 22 in the upper safe wall of the safe base unit 15 and through the longitudinal slot 45b in the route selection element 41 to the dispensing unit 11 .

If the banknotes are to be transported from the input unit 39 to the banknote store 35 , the routing element 41 is pivoted such that the funnel-shaped opening of the longitudinal slot 45b , as shown in FIG. 6 , can receive banknotes coming from the input unit 39 .

The advantage of the routing element 41, which is designed compactly as a circular cylinder, lies in its simple design and thus insensitivity to routing elements, which are composed of a multiplicity of deflection plates designed as switches. The routing element 41 can be referred to as a "three-way valve" for sheet-like material. This route selection element 41 can not only be used in the selection of conveyance routes for banknotes, it can also be used in the case of other sheet-like goods for selecting various transportation routes. It can be used wherever quick sorting instructions must be followed. The speed of the changeover depends only on the moment of inertia of the route selection element, which can be influenced, inter alia, by the choice of the weight (in particular by the choice of the material used) and the cylinder diameter. The diameter used depends on the one hand on the rigidity of the material - stiff sheet materials require a larger diameter - and on the other hand on the number of branch points. Instead of two longitudinal slots, only one or more can be used. The longitudinal cylinder sections can also be hollow. Only one "skeleton" of the guides 45a and 45b can be used.

The input unit 39 , as shown in FIG. 7 , can be closed with a hinged cover 57 as a cover. The open lid position is shown in dashed lines in FIG. 7 and the closed lid 57 is drawn out. The cover 57 is arranged to be pivotable about the cover hinge 59 in a side wall 61 of the input unit 39 . A straight lever 63 is pivotally mounted on the cover 57, which is bent at the end region 66 facing away from its bearing 64 in a circular arc away from the straight line and has a curved guide groove 65 there . On the side wall 61 , a straight lever 67 is pivotally attached with a pivot bearing 69 . The lever 67 is in his End region 71 facing away from pivot bearing 69 is provided with a slot 73 which is open towards the lever end. A cam 75 is arranged above the slot base and engages in the guide groove 65 of the lever 63 . A rectangular cam 77 of a bank note pressure plate 79 engages in the slot 73 . The cam 77 is guided in a longitudinal slot 81 of a plate 82 fixedly connected to the side wall 61 . The longitudinal slot 81 runs perpendicular to a bearing plate 84 which can be pivoted about a bearing 83 in the side wall 61 and against which the bank notes can be pressed with the bank note pressure plate 79 . Due to the rectangular configuration of the cam 77 , the banknote pressure plate 79 can be moved in a stable position. The lever 67 is pretensioned by a spring 85 fastened to the contact wall 84 and thus pulls the bank note pressure plate 79 in the direction of the contact plate 84 . The contact plate 84 is pressed with a spring 87 against a stop 89 . The stop plate 84 has a recess 91 in which a roller 92 for separating the banknotes to be pressed is arranged. The lid 57 has a nose 93 which is disposed such that the contact plate is pushed away 84 against the force of the spring 87 with the lid 57 and a slot 95 frees, by which the roller 92, the bills separated for processing by the test unit and subsequent storage or output can be pushed.

By moving the cover 57 from the open position to the closed position, the banknotes inserted into the input unit 39 are pressed against the contact plate 84 , the pressing process being carried out by the banknote pressure plate 79, which is always parallel to the surface of the contact plate 84 , with a pressing force always perpendicular to the surface of the pressure plate becomes. The parallelism between banknote pressure plate 79 and contact plate 84 relates to the position of contact plate 84 in its position deflected by nose 93 . Furthermore, the slot 95 is only released when the cover 57 is closed, through which the banknotes are then passed individually. The distance between the banknote pressure plate 79 and the contact plate 84 when the cover 57 is closed is determined by the thickness of the banknote bundle 12 .

Instead of a single slot 22 through the upper wall of the safe base unit 15 , two slots 22a / b, which are separate from one another, can also be provided, the banknotes then being introduced into the banknote store through one slot and conveyed out through the other.

Instead of pushing the conveyor 36 through the single slot 22 , the slot can also be made so narrow that only individual bank notes can be pushed through. In this case, however, the upper wall of the safe base unit 15 must not exceed a thickness of 15 mm, since otherwise a perfect pushing through is no longer possible.

Claims (8)

Cash safe (1) with a safe operating unit (7 ) to be operated optionally by two cashiers (4a, 4b) with only a single banknote removal ( 11) and / or input unit (39) , characterized by a two-part cover (13a, 13b) , with which the dispensing opening of the banknote dispensing unit (11) can be closed and for opening the banknote dispenser the part of the opening that is adjacent to the relevant cashier (4a, 4b) can be released. Cash safe (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the dispensing unit (11) is arranged on the top of the cash safe (1) and can be operated by the cashiers (4a, 4b) from the top left or top right. Cash safe (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the dispensing opening of the dispensing unit (11) is designed as a horizontally extending, preferably a trapezoidal, longitudinal opening with open end faces. Cash safe (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the covers (13a, 13b) can be moved horizontally and perpendicularly to the longitudinal opening and have a recess corresponding to the cross section of the longitudinal opening. Cash safe (1) , in particular according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the safe control unit (7) can be removed from the safe base unit (15) of the cash safe (1) containing a bank note store ( 35) , preferably without using tools and the upper side of the basic safe unit adjacent to the safe operating unit (7) (15) is completely closed except for a narrow slot through which the banknotes can be issued or entered into the banknote store (35) . Cash safe (1) , in particular according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by a bar-shaped routing element (41) which can be rotated about its longitudinal axis (43 ) and which is traversed by at least one longitudinal slot (45a, 45b) , so that the banknotes can optionally have one Banknote input unit (39) coming in the direction of the banknote store (35) in the basic safe unit (15) or to the dispensing opening of the dispensing unit (11) or coming from the banknote store (35) to the dispensing opening. Cash safe (1) according to claim 6, characterized by two longitudinal slots (45a, 45b) which are joined together to form a V which is curved in cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (43) of the routing element (41) and preferably have a funnel-shaped inlet. Cash safe (1) , in particular according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by a hinged cover (57) for closing the input opening of the input unit (39) , a support plate (84) to which the bank notes are separated by a two-armed one after input lever arrangement (63, 67), of which one lever is supported on the cover (57) (63) can be pressed with a closed cover (57), a Banknotenandruckplatte (79) for compressing the banknotes and at least one guide element (91) for the Banknotenandruckplatte (79) with which the banknote pressure plate (79) can be guided perpendicularly to the contact plate (84) during the closing process of the cover.

Images