WO2013179306A2

WO2013179306A2 - Cash dispensing machine with mechanism for separation of overlapped media items

Info

Publication number: WO2013179306A2
Application number: PCT/IN2013/000334
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kannan Lakshminarayan; Narayanakumar Ramanathan; Manoj Kunhi PURAYIL
Original assignee: Vortex Engineering Private Limited
Priority date: 2012-05-30
Filing date: 2013-05-23
Publication date: 2013-12-05
Also published as: CN104428228B; BR112014028888A2; WO2013179306A3; CN104428228A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a mechanism of selectively separating and conveying leading media item when a plurality of media items is erroneously picked from a cash dispensing machine, comprising at least one media sensor to detect magnitude of offset (f) of the leading media item; at least one pick roller with at least one retarding means to singly deliver the media items from a stack; and at least one take-away roller co-operating with a pinch-roller to draw out the leading media item from the plurality of items picked to convey it along a normal path (A). The pick roller may be stopped when the leading media item is free of the pick roller and cause it to act as grip roller, to prevent further movement of the trailing media item(s). The mechanism selectively separates and conveys the leading media item when offset (f) between the leading media item and the next media item is greater than threshold (x) defined by geometry of arrangement.

Description

CASH DISPENSING MACHINE WITH MECHANISM FOR SEPARATION OF

OVERLAPPED MEDIA ITEMS

FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to a mechanism for separating overlapped media items in cash dispensing machines. Specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for separating overlapped media items and dispensing the same, where required numbers of successive media items are required to be picked one by one. More specifically, the system of the present invention separates overlapped media items when the normal picking action fails. Further, the present invention provides an alternate path for the delivery of overlapped media items, when the separation is not feasible.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Automated banking machines help customers of a financial institution to carry out a financial transaction. Automated banking machines like ATMs are provided with cash dispensers, which form the central part of the machine. Cash dispensers have an input stack of notes from which individual notes are drawn one at a time by a picking roller. Retarding means such as friction pads or drag rollers are provided along the path of the note being picked in order to ensure that only one note is picked at a time. However, variations in the quality of the notes and other operating conditions may cause multiple notes to be picked. Sensors are provided to detect such errors and cause such wrongly picked notes to be delivered to a divert bin. However, such cycles depletes the stack without providing any useful output.

Known in prior art are methods for returning wrongly picked notes to the stack for subsequent picking trials. CA 1122173 and EP 0148877 describe such methods. The wrongly picked notes are moved in the opposite direction in order to return the notes to the stack. However, this may cause jams and may also crumple or damage the notes through repeated handling. Additionally, time is wasted because of multiple picking trials. US3937453 relates to a banking machine having separator rollers, wherein one of the rollers rotates in a direction opposite the other to separate several bills, when more than one bill passes through it. The banking machine further comprises spaced detectors, which detects overlapping or trailing document condition. On detection of said conditions, a divert gate opens to divert all documents from the belt transport into a retaining bin.

US4095781 discloses a currency dispensing apparatus having a overlapped bill sensor located along a transport path present between a suction pickup head and a diverter which in cooperation with a control circuitry responsive to the sensor, controls the diverter for diverting overlapped bills into a reject bin while allowing single bills to be transported to a customer delivery chute.

US5988634 relates to an apparatus having a pair of rollers arranged to generate an output voltage whose magnitude varies in response to the passage single or multiple notes between the rollers. Based on the output values, a determination is made as to whether or not a single note is present.

US6241244 discloses an automated banking machine having a sheet thickness detector that includes a radiation source for distinguishing single sheets or double sheets passing through the machine.

EP0160013 describes an apparatus comprising a sensing means for detecting the overlapped condition of documents and another sensing means for operating drive rollers to move the stacked documents to a remote distribution station.

JP56023150 relates to an overlap detector, wherein when overlapped pieces of paper money is delivered, the speed of passing through a displacement section is reduced and the length of the pieces of paper money perpendicular to feed direction is increased to operate a photo sensor to detect the overlap of the paper money.

Thus, there exists a need for a mechanism for effectively separating overlapped media items in cash dispensing mechanism without causing the aforementioned problems. The system and method of the present invention performs overlapped note separation without having to change the direction of movement of the note, thereby avoiding possible machine jams and damage to the notes. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

One or more of the problems of the conventional prior art may be overcome by various embodiments of the present invention.

The primary object of the present invention is directed to a system for separating overlapped media items and dispensing the same in cash dispensing machines, when the normal action of picking means fails to pick them individually.

It is another object of the present invention, wherein distinct rules are defined to handle media items that are (i) correctly dispensed singly (ii) incorrectly dispensed in plurality with an offset that is amenable to separation of single items and (iii) incorrectly dispensed in plurality with an offset that is not amenable to separation of single items.

It is another object of the present invention, wherein the relationship among parameters of the system is derived from said rules in combination with the range of width of the media items to be handled by the system, so that every instance of pick - whether erroneous or not— is handled in at least one of the three ways defined above.

It is another object of the present invention, wherein the separation of overlapped media items is carried out without reversing the direction of movement of the media items along conveyance path.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Thus according to the basic aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mechanism of selectively separating and conveying leading media item when a plurality of media items is erroneously picked from a cash dispensing machine, the mechanism comprising:

At least one media sensor to detect magnitude of offset (f) of the leading media item;

At least one pick roller with at least one retarding means to singly deliver the media items from a stack; and

At least one take-away roller co-operating with a pinch-roller to draw out the leading media item from the plurality of items picked to convey it along a normal path (A); wherein the pick roller may be stopped when the leading media item is free of the pick roller and cause it to act as grip roller, in co-operation with the retarding means, to prevent further movement of the trailing media item(s) thereby drawing out the leading media item alone by the take-away roller along the normal path (A), wherein the mechanism selectively separates and conveys the leading media item when offset (f) between the leading media item and the next media item is greater than threshold (x) defined by geometry of arrangement, and

wherein the threshold (x) is characterised by condition that the leading-edge of the second media item is not under the grip of the take-away roller when the first media item is free of the pick-roller.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the mechanism further comprises at least one diverter which is triggered to convey the media items along an alternate path (B), wherein the diverter is triggered before the leading edge of the first media item reaches tip of the diverter when the offset (f) between the media items is less than threshold (y), and wherein the threshold (y) is characterised by the condition that the leading-edge of the leading media item is not already irrevocably advanced along normal path (A) by the time the presence of the overlapped second media item is detected.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the geometry of the mechanism is designed to ensure that the threshold (y) is not less than the threshold (x) so that every instance where the leading media item cannot be separated are amenable to handling by diverting the media items along the alternate path (B).

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein

the media sensor is positioned at a fixed distance (d) downstream of the pick roller along the path of the media from the pick-roller to the take-away roller,

the take-away roller is positioned at a fixed distance (c) downstream of the media sensor,

the diverter is positioned at a fixed distance (e) downstream of the take-away roller, and

the media items being dispensed are of span (w).

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein when the media items are correctly dispensed singly, the span (w) of the media item is greater than (c+d) = L thereby ensuring that the leading-edge of the media item is gripped by either the pick-roller or the take-away roller along its path of travel. It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the threshold (x) is set at w-d-c to ensure that the second media item is not gripped by the takeaway roller when the presence of overlapped condition is detected.

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the threshold (y) is set at e+c to ensure that the diverter is tripped before the leading media item crosses the diverter along the normal path (A). it is another aspect of the present invention, wherein w < 2c+d+e = H, to ensure that every instance where overlapped media items cannot be separated can be handled by diverting them along the alternate path (B).

It is another aspect of the present invention, wherein the capability of the mechanism to handle the media items is bounded by a maximum span of H and a minimum span of L. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING

Figure 1 : Illustrates the mechanism according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING The present invention as discussed hereinbefore relates to a system for separating overlapped media items including currency notes and other valuable media, and dispensing the same in cash dispensing machines, when the normal action of picking means fails to pick them individually. The relationship among parameters of the system is derived from distinct rules defined to handle media items that are (i) correctly dispensed singly (ii) incorrectly dispensed in plurality with an offset that is amenable to separation of single items and (iii) incorrectly dispensed in plurality with an offset that is not amenable to separation of single items, the said rules in combination with the range of width of the media items is to be handled by the system, so that every instance of erroneous pick is handled in one of the three ways as defined above. In the present system, the separation of overlapped media item is carried out without reversing the direction of movement of the overlapped media item along conveyance path.

Referring to Figure 1, the mechanism for selectively separating and conveying leading media item picked from a plurality of media items from a cash dispensing machine comprises at least one pick roller (1), at least one retarding means (2), at least one media sensor (5), at least one pinch-roller (6) co-operating with at least one take-away roller (7) and at least one diverter (8). The retarding means is a frictional retard pad (2) or retarding roller, which acts with the pick roller to deliver singly the media items from a stack. The pick-roller (1) and the accompanying retard pad (2) co-operate to ensure that the media items which are to be discharged are picked from a stack one by one and conveyed towards the take-away roller (7). All the media items in a stack are of same size, being of span (w) in the direction of transport. The media sensor (5) is positioned at a fixed distance (d) downstream of the pick roller (1) along the path of the media from the pick-roller (1 ) to the take-away roller (7). The media sensor (5) is capable of distinguishing multiple states of the picked media item (3), namely, (i) absence of any media item (ii) presence of one media item and (iii) presence of more than one media item. The media sensor (5) thus detects the magnitude of offset (f) of the leading media item with respect to the next, when more than one media item is erroneously picked. The take-away roller (7) is positioned at a fixed distance (c) downstream of the media sensor (5) to draw out the leading media item, in cooperation with the pinch roller (6) that is pressed against it, from the plurality of items picked to convey it to normal path (A). During this action, the pick-roller (1) is stopped so that, in co-operation with the retard means, it clamps the subsequent media items and prevents their further transport along the path. The diverter (8), which is electrically triggered, is positioned at a fixed distance (e) downstream of the take-away roller (7), the position of its tip (either at P or Q) deciding the path that the media item would follow subsequently (normal path A or the alternate path B). Triggering of the diverter (8) is resorted to when it is determined that the offset between the media items is too small to separate the leading media item reliably. The surface speeds of the pinch roller (6) and the take away roller (7) are equal.

Certain reasonable assumptions are made such as (i) The sensing time of the media sensor (5) is negligible, compared to the speed of mechanical motion (ii) Actuators are capable of instantly braking the motion of any of the rollers in response to a signal from the media sensor (5). As will be apparent from the following description, the parameters of the design can be readily modified to accommodate changes to the extent such assumptions are not valid, without impacting the applicability of the invention. For normal dispensation:

In one embodiment, when media items are correctly dispensed one-by-one or singly, the diverter (8) tip is at position (P) and the items are drawn along the normal path (A) by the take-away roller (7) to be assembled into a bunch. During the travel from the pick-roller (1) to the take-away roller (7), the media item should always be under the grip of at least one of the rollers to maintain reliable control over its movement. A requirement for such an action is that the leading edge of the media item should be gripped by the take-away roller (7) and its co-operating pinch-roller (6) before its trailing edge is free of the pick roller (1). This imposes a requirement that the media item span (w) be greater than (c+d). Thus, rule-1 is w>c+d =L for normal dispensation.

For separation of overlapped media items:

In another embodiment, when a pair of media items is dispensed with an offset or when the media items are incorrectly dispensed in plurality with an offset that is amenable to separation of single media items, the magnitude of the offset (f) is inferred from the time elapsed between detection of the leading-edge of the first media item and detection of overlapped condition by the media sensor (5) - since the speed at which the media items are conveyed is known.

The items are conveyed till the leading media item is gripped by the take-away roller (7) 'and' the trailing-edge of this media item is free from the grip of the pick-roller (1) - the logical 'and' indicating that both these conditions have to be satisfied. If the offset (f) between the media items is adequate, the leading-edge of the second media item will not be under the grip of the take-away roller (7) when the first media item is free of the pick-roller (1). This will happen if the offset (f) between the media items is greater than (w-d-c). This threshold for separation of overlapped media items (4) can be denoted as (x). The threshold (x) is characterised by condition that the leading-edge of the second media item is not under the grip of the take-away roller (7) when the first media item is free of the pick-roller (1). Thus, rule -2 is f>x, where x=w-d-c for separation of overlapped media items. If the above condition is satisfied, as confirmed by signals from the media sensor (5), the pick roller (1) is stopped when the leading media item is free of the pick roller (1), to halt further movement of the trailing media item. The take-away roller (7) alone is then run to draw out the leading media item into normal path (A). Subsequently, the trailing item is then advanced by running the pick roller (1) and drawn into normal path (A) if the media sensor (5) confirms that it is a single-piece. The mechanism thus selectively separates and conveys the leading media item when offset (f) between the leading media item and the next media item is greater than threshold (x) defined by geometry of the said arrangement.

For diverting of overlapped media items:

In another embodiment, when the media items are incorrectly dispensed in plurality with an offset that is not amenable to separation of single media items or when the offset (f) between multiple media items is less than that needed to separate the leading item as described above, i.e., offset (f) is less than (x), the items picked are regarded as substantially 'coincident' and they are diverted from the normal path (A) of travel, to be conveyed along the alternate path (B). This is achieved by tripping the diverter (8) to position (Q) before the leading edge of the first media-item reaches the tip of the diverter (8). The signals from the sensor (5) are used to determine that the offset (f) is indeed less than the threshold (x), before the diverter (8) is triggered.

The normal path (A) and alternate path (B) as seen from Figure 1 , diverge at a distance (e) downstream of the take-away roller (7). For the tripping of the diverter (8) to be successful, it should be carried out before the leading-edge of the first media item travels past this point of divergence. Hence, the offset (f) should be less than (e+c). If this threshold for diverting of overlapped media item (4) is denoted as (y), the resulting rule -3 is f<y, where y=e+c for diverting of overlapped media item (4). The threshold (y) is characterised by condition that the leading-edge of the leading media item is not already irrevocably advanced along the normal path (A) by the time the presence of the overlapped second media item is detected. Media items with an offset smaller than the threshold (y) can be successfully diverted. On the other hand, media items with an offset greater than the threshold (x) can be successfully separated. In order to successfully handle all cases of offset in at least one of the two ways, it is required that (y) be greater than (x) so that every instance where the leading media item cannot be separated is amenable to handling by diverting the media items along the alternate path (B). Otherwise, media items with an offset of magnitude between (x) and (y) can be neither separated, nor diverted. This leads to rule -4, that is, y>x =>e+c>w-d-c => w<2c+d+e =H to ensure that every instance where the leading media item cannot be separated is amenable to handling by diverting the plurality of media items. Rules 1 and 4 define the upper and lower bounds of the media item size that the system can successfully handle. By knowing the range of media item sizes that need to be handled, the system parameters can be designed to be in conformance with rules 1 to 4 above, in order to handle all cases where a pair of media items is picked. Further, if more than two media items are picked (for instance, if three notes are picked at a time), the problem can be treated as a succession of media item-pairs and handled as described above. In cases where separation of media items is not feasible, the overlapped media items are delivered to a divert bin.

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A mechanism of selectively separating and conveying leading media item when a plurality of media items is erroneously picked from a cash dispensing machine, the mechanism comprising:

At least one media sensor (5) to detect magnitude of offset (f) of the leading media item;

At least one pick roller (1) with at least one retarding means (2) to singly deliver the media items from a stack,; and

At least one take-away roller (7), co-operating with a pinch roller (6), to draw out the leading media item from the plurality of items picked to convey it along a normal path (A);

wherein the pick roller (1) may be stopped when the leading media item is free of the pick roller and cause it to act as grip roller, in co-operation with the retarding means, to prevent further movement of the trailing media item(s) thereby drawing out the leading media item alone by the take-away roller (7) along the normal path (A),

wherein the mechanism selectively separates and conveys the leading media item when offset (f) between the leading media item and the next media item is greater than threshold (x) defined by geometry of arrangement, and wherein the threshold (x) is characterised by condition that the leading-edge of the second media item is not under the grip of the take-away roller (7) when the first media item is free of the pick-roller (1).

2. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mechanism further comprises at least one diverter (8) which is triggered to convey the media items along an alternate path (B),

wherein the diverter (8) is triggered before the leading edge of the first media item reaches tip of the diverter when the offset (f) between the media items is less than threshold (y), and

wherein the threshold (y) is characterised by the condition that the leading-edge of the leading media item is not already irrevocably advanced along the normal path (A) by the time the presence of the overlapped second media item is detected.

3. The mechanism as claimed in claim 2, wherein the geometry of the mechanism is designed to ensure that the threshold (y) is not less than the threshold (x) so that every instance where the leading media item cannot be separated is amenable to handling by diverting the media items along the alternate path (B).

4. The mechanism as claimed in claim 1 , wherein

the media sensor (5) is positioned at a fixed distance (d) downstream of the pick roller (1) along the path of the media from the pick-roller (1) to the takeaway roller (7),

the take-away roller (7) is positioned at a fixed distance (c) downstream of the media sensor (5),

the diverter (8) is positioned at a fixed distance (e) downstream of the takeaway roller (7), and

the media items being dispensed are of span (w).

5. The mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein when the media items are correctly dispensed singly, span (w) of the media item is greater than (c+d) = L thereby ensuring that the leading-edge of the media item is gripped by either the pick-roller (1) or the take-away roller (7) along its path of travel.

6. The mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein the threshold (x) is set at w-d-c to ensure that the second media item is not gripped by the take-away roller when the presence of overlapped condition is detected.

7. The mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein the threshold (y) is set at e+c to ensure that the diverter (8) is tripped before the leading media item crosses the diverter along the normal path (A).

8. The mechanism as claimed in claim 4, wherein w < 2c+d+e = H, to ensure that every instance where overlapped media items cannot be separated can be handled by diverting them along the alternate path (B).

9. The mechanism as claimed in claims 5 and 8, wherein the capability of the mechanism to handle the media items is bounded by a maximum span of H and a minimum span of L.