CA1126224A - Money dispensing system - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A detector mechanism and system for currency dispen-sers for automatic banking equipment which senses the presence of multiple or double bills, called "doubles", at any bill lo-cation in a series of bills intended to be fed one by one in a path of travel from a supply of bills to a place of delivery to a customer. The bill thickness of each bill is gauged con-tinuously while moving in the path of travel, and the thickness measurements are time averaged over substantially the entire length of the gauged portion of the bill. The averaged and normal bill thicknesses are compared to determine if the aver-aged thickness is greater than the normal thickness by a pre-determined amount. A greater thickness determination generates a signal of the presence of doubles, and the signal actuates means to reject the doubles while moving in the path of travel before delivery of the doubles to a customer.

Description

622~

This is a divi.sion of Canadian ~pplication Serial No. 307,409 ~iled July 14, 1978.
BAC~GROUND OF TI~E ~.NVENYION
.
~ield of ~he Invention The invention relates ~o a detec~ion system and mech-anism ~or a currency dispenser which senses the presence of multiple or double bills at ~ny bill location ln a seriès of bills being ed lengthl,:ise in ~ path oi travel, one a~ a ti~e, ~rom a stacked currer.cy supply ~o a customer access delivery receptacle o~ automatic banking equipment.
More par~icularly, the invention relates ~o a syste~
and mechanism which g~uges the thic~ness o bills ~oving iII the path of travel, and time averages the gaug~d measurements along substantially ~he entir~ length of ~he gauge~ portion of each bill to indica~e averaged thickness and ~o generate a signal indicating whether multiple or double bills, rather than a .' ~

1 single bill, are present a~ any bill location in the series of moving bills.
Also, the inven~ion rela~es to a detector and syste~
in which the bill thickness gau~in~ i5 performed mechanically ~ to generate the sig-: nal indicating the occurrence of multiple or double bills, herein called "doubles."

... . .
Description of the Prior Art A variety of means have been used in the past-for detecting characteristics of paper ~oney or currency bills or other documents being conveyed from place to pl~ce in a line or path of travel and ed in a series one by one along the path of traYel for counting the bills or dGcuments, for sensing an overlapped relationship of successive documents, or for sensing the presence at any bill location of doubles.
Spring-biased levers, roller swi~ch~s, photoelectric sensors and other similar devices have been used for these pur- :
poses. Examples o~ bill counters or dispensers 2re in Unitcd States Pat~nt Nos. 3,077,983, 3,16~,644, 3,578,31~ 3,760,158, ~,767,080, 3,g37,453, 3,675,816 and 3,7~1,916. These prior d.eYices substantially instantzneously generate.a signal of the ; existence of the cond~tion being sensed. In the case of th~
serles of paper money bills being fed, the prior si~naling of doubles is tri~gere~ ediately wheno~er the light be2m of the photoelectric sensor is attenua~ed to a dcgree greater ~han that represon~ing th~ thickness of a single bill.
Such a si~nal may be trig~e~¢d by the prcsonce of dirt or an inkspot or other dark areas on the bill, or by a folded or Small thickencd arca o~ tho bill anywhere along the bill zone boing se~n by th~ sensor, and without th~ ~c~ual pr~sence o doubles. In efect, whore currency is hcing dispensed, such 22a~

1 prior detec~ors may be said to be too sensitive.
Since color, shades of color and variation in thick-ness of currency thus may trigger such prior photoelectric detectors to produce a doubles si~nal when doubles actually are not present, problems have arisen which render prior doubles detector devices unsatisfacSory for simple, ready, efficient or proper control and handling in automatic banking equipment, for currencies o a number of countries where numerous bill colors for the same bill denomination are used, as well as for 10 handling bills having variable opacity due to variable degrees of color or thickness.
Similar problems also are involved in handling a mix-ture of new and old paper money bills in such banking equipment, since certain characteristics of old money may differ from those of new money, producing different sensor si~nal~ for old as compared to new bills, with one or a ~iven sensor adjustment.
Stated another way, prior doubles detection in cur-rency dispensers has invol~ed looking at a bill at one point;
and i it appears thicker, the bill will be rejected as a 20 doubles.
Thus, there exists a need for a dou~les detector and sys-tem for currency dispensers which permits both new and old bills to be used and intermixed in the currency supply from which f currency is dispens~d; and also for a detector and system which is not affected by bill color, or changes in color or degree of colorr, or small bill areas of greater than normal bill thickness.
Further, there exists a need for a doubles detector and system for currency ~ispensers for automatic banking units which eliminates the stated difficulties or undesirable char-30 acteristics encountered in the construction~ operation or use of prior devices.

~ ~ 62 2 SUMMARY OP THE INVENTION
.
Objectives of the invention include pro~iding a cur-rency dispenser for automatic bankin~ equipment with detector mechanism which senscs the presence of doubles at any bill lo-cation.in a series of bills being moved and intended to be fed one by one in a path of travel from a supply of bills to a customer access delivery receptacle by time averaging the bill thickness of each bill over substantially the entire length of portions of such bill continuously gauged while moving in the 1~ path of travel; providing such doubles detector mechanism which utilizes a time-averaged bill thickness determination that ex-ceeds normal bill average thickness by a prede~ermined amGunt to signal the presence of doubles and to reject such doubles .
befcre deliYery to a customer delivery receptacle; providlng such doubles detector mechanism which readily and efficiently '!
, performs a doubles detection operation on paper money bills fed ''5 one by one in a path of travel from a paper money bill supply which may include a random mixture of old and new paper money bills; providing such doubles detector mechanism which operatë~
efficiently to detect and reject bills as doubles intended to be ed at spaced intervals one ~y one in a path of travel .that accidentally are abutted end to end or edge to edge or are . ,~, . . .
slightly overlapped e~en though such bills are not in the usual doubles relation of one bill on top of or stuc~ to another;
pro~iding such doubles detector mechanism which msy be operated efficiently for ~he lntended purpose whether the bills as fed in a-path of travel are fed lengthwise one by one or crosswisc one by one; providing such doubles detector mechanism which may be associated ~nd operated in multiples of two or more detector units for disp~nsing two or more denominations of bills and in which the bills are fed one at a time from one dispenser unit 1 and then one at a time from another d$spenser unit ~o a common customer delivery receptacle; providing such doubles detector mechanism which conveys the bills by driven roll conveyor means past the doubles detecting gauging station and then to revers-ible driven flexible belt conveyor means which conveys the bills to the customer delivery receptacle, or which rejects the bills - from the path of travel when doubles are detected; providing such doubles detector mechanism in which the flexible conveyor belt means may also serve as conveyor means for material de- 10 posited into the automatic banking equipment; providing sùch doubles detector mechanism which may include either mechanical .. ..... ..
or photosensitive means for gauging continuously the thickness of each bill succcssively moved past the thickness gsuging sta-. .... . ............ . . .
tion; providing such doubles detector mechanism which mæy reli~
ably and effectirely gauge paper money bill thickness variations of from 1/17 to 1/7 of the normsl bill thickness; providing such doublés detector mechanism which may accept bills fed one by one from any desired type of stacked currency or paper money sùpply or container ~eans for such currency supply; providing such ~ s - ..
doubles detector mechsnism which may accept paper money bills ... ..
j ed one by one rom any type o currency supply by any desired ... . . . . .
type of picker mechanism which removes the bills one by one from ~ . .
the supply and feeds the bills one by one to the doubles detec-. ".;
~. tor mechanism; providing ~uch doubles detector mechanism which . ..
discharges doubles, when detected, from the belt conveyor means to re3ected bill contsiner means, which container means i5 removable from the currcncy dispenser, and preferably is locked during the act o removal; providing such doubles detector mech-. - . .
anism which readily accepts currencies of various countries o~
difcring types of colors, thicknesses, etc., and performs the doubles detection operation regardless of or una~ected by ~lZ6Z2g such colors, shades of color and variations in thickness some~imes present in such foreign currency to effectively detect the presence of doubles; providing a new doubles detector system incorporating the principles of and steps of operation set forth; and providing new doubles detector mechanism and system which achieve the stated objectives in a reliable, effective, easily serviced, and secure manner, and which solve problems and satisfy needs that have existed in the field of currency dispensers for automatic banking equipment and systems.
The invention according to the parent application over-comes the problems of the prior art by providing a note dis-penser for automatic banking equipment comprising a note con-tainer for containing notes to be delivered to a delivery station, a doubles detector mechanism including means for.
generating a doubles-detected signal, and means for continu-ously moving notes successively along a path from -the con- ~.
tainer, through the doubles detector mechanism and to the delivery station, the moving means comprising a picker . mechanism for removing notes one at a time from the contain-er, a conveyor roll assemblage for moving notes delivered by the picker mechanism successively through the doubles detector mechanism, a reversible note delivery and reject conveyo~j separate from and for receiving notes from the conveyor roll assemblage, the reversible conveyor in one direction of movement delivering the notes to the delivery station and in its opposite direction of movement delivering detected doubles notes to a reject station, a generated doubles-detected signal actuating the reversible conveyor to establish the opposite direction of movement, and means for driving the picker mechanism, the conveyor roll assemblage and the reversible conveyor in coordination.

. . ~

1~262Z4 Thus the illvention disclosed herein relates to a new doubles detector mechanism for currency dispensers, whj.ch may be included in an automatic banking unit of the type in which currency in the form of paper money bills is delivered in requested amounts from a supply stack maintained under protective conditions in the banking unit from the supply to a customer access delivery receptacle, and in which the bills move one by one in a path of travel from the supply stack to the delivery receptacle normally at spaced inter-vals past the doubles detector mechanism. The doubles-detector mechanism includes in its most complete format, driven conveyor roll means receiving the bills delivered by picker mechanism which removes such bills from the supply stack one at a time; bill thickness gauging roll means in-cluding first and second spaced shafts, at least the first shaft preferably being rotatably driven and journaled on ; spaced support means and having a large diameter in cross section to provide shaft rigidity against bo~ing, the second shaft preferably being mounted non-rotatably on spaced support means and having a small diameter in cross section to permit shaft bowing flexibility, spaced pairs of opposed rolls mounted on the shafts, the rolls each including first and second rolls mounted on and rotatable with the first shaft, and third and fourth circular rolls mounted on the second shaft, the Pg~ - 6~ -~12622a~

1 second shaft being slightly bowed to maintain the ~hird and fourth rolls r~spectively in rollin~ contact with t~le first and second rolls~ the circular third and fourth rolls preferably bcing bearin~s journaled on the second shaft, the ~lexibility of the..s.econd sha~t permitting the second sha~t bow to increase when à'.bill i~ conveyed in a path of movement by the driven first shaft;botween the contacting first and third and second,and ourthi"~rol.1s thereby radially moving the third and fourth rolls, , j, . .
~ respe.c~ively, away from the first and second ro~ls a distance ..: .; . , . ~
equal,to the thickness at the bite of the rolls o~ the.bill conveyod bet~een the rolls, first and second switch means~,, respectively, operatively engaged with the third and fourth,rolls, ; one the switch means being a counter switch and the ot~er being a,doubles detecting switch; reversible driven flexible " " , . - .
, belt,conveyor means including flat platen means having delivery .. .
and roj~ct ends and having a gate entry slo.t between ~ts,ends at a location spaced above the gauging roll means; guide m,eans inclui~ng.separable guide members extending from the gau~ing roll me~ans,to said entry 'slot normally closing said s.lot,.the guide,,.,,,members being separable by movement o~ a bill alon~*he guide~ means between the guide ~embers; an endless flexibl~'belt ,. . . .
above".the platen trained around a pair of spaced belt s~pport ..... . . .
rolls,,".the belt support rolls being located, respectively, ad~acent the,del'ivery and reject platen ends, reversible,motor drive means operatively connected to at least one of the .belt drive.rolls; the belt hsving an active flight movable along ~he platen and havin~ an outer bill-engagin~ surface adjacent the platen and an inner surface; back-up plate means engaging the inner belt sur~ace between the belt support rolls holdin~ tho active belt ~ ht in bill-conveying contact against the platen to convey bills, that emergc from the guide means through the ~lZ~ZZ~
:.
:- gate entry slot to a location beneath the active belt flight, in a normal forward path of movement toward the platen delivery -~ end to deliver the bills from the bite between the belt and . platen to a customer delivery receptacle; the belt when its drive is reversed conveying a bill located between the active belt flight and the platen in a reverse direction, from the forward ., ; path of movement, across the gate entry slot to a bill reject container located adjacent the reject end of the platen; the doubles detecting switch means continuously gauging the thick-~10 ness of each bill substantially throughout its length measured ,~ in the direction of travel as it is fed through the gauging roll means; circuitry connected with the doubles detecting switch means operative to time average the gauge measurements made thxoughout the gauged length of each such bill to provide an averaged measurement of bill thickness, and operative to compare the averaged measurement with an arbitrarily selected predeter-.i mined value equal to or greater than normal bill average thick-ness and to provide a doubles signal when such averaged measure-: ment is greater than the arbitrary selected predetermined value, and also operative to reverse the belt conveyor drive upon the : generation of said doubles signal. .
Of the above aspects the present invention may be seen as providing a paper money dispensing system for automatic banking equipment having a bill supply, a bill delivery station and means for conveying paper money from the bill supply to the blll delivery station, including a belt conveyor having a pair of spaced belt conveyor rolls, flat platen means extending between the rolls, a belt backup plate spaced from the platen means and extending between the rolls, an endless rubber belt trained around the spaced conveyor rolls and having an active flight extending between and in contact with the platen means and the backup plate, and drive means operatively connected sd/-`~' -8-~L2S2Z~
with at least one of the conveyor rolls to rotate the one roll to move the belt active flight between the platen plate means and the backup plate, the active flight of the belt being pressed against the platen means by the backup plate, whereby , bills fed from the bill supply to the belt conveyor are conveyed by the rubber belt along the flat platen means to the bill delivery station.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`:~ Preferred embodiments of the invention - illustrative ~0 of the best modes in which applicants have contemplated applying ,; the principles - are set forth in the following description and shown in the drawings and are particularly and distinctly ~' pointed out and set forth in the appended claims.
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating certain components of automatic banking equipment provided with currency dispenser means equipped with the improved doubles detector mechani~m '' .

' ' ,:

sd/~ -8A-. ~lZ62Z~

1 Fig. ~ ls a diagramma~ic view of certain of the parts shown in Fig. l looking in the direction o~ the arrows 2-2, Fig. l;
. Fi~. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective view of an automatic ban~ing unit provided Wit]l currency dispenser means equippe~ with the new doubles detector mechanism; -~
. Fig. 4 is a grca~ly enlarged fragmentary sectionalview o~ ccrtain of the parts shown in Pig. l taken in section on the line 4-4, Pi~. 2, illustrating the bill thickness gauging roll mean.~ and doubles detecting switch, with no paper money:
bill passing between the rolls of the gauging roll meansi .. . .............. .
~. Fig. 5 is a view.similar to Fig. 4 illustrating~the bill t~ickness gsuging roll means actuated by the passagë:of one , . ~ ~, .. .
bill bctween the gauging rolls; ~ -/1: Fig. 6 is a view similar to Pigs. 4 and S showing a large,.number of bills, one on top of another, acciden~ally fed `
to the,gauging rolls; . .- ~
- Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan sectional view ta~en on .- : ~ . .
. the lane 7-7, Fig. 4j through the gauging roll axes, illustrating , . . ; ; ., ~
the gauging rolls awaiting passage of bills between the rol;ls;
.i, . .
:: Pig. 8 i~ a fragmentary view similar to Pig.:7.illus- :
trating a single b~ll passing b~tween one set of gauging~rolls, :.,, -.
and a doubles condition of two bills passing between anothe~
. - . ~ ,....
set of~gauging rolls;.
; Pi~. 9 is a ~ragmentary elevation sectional view look-lng ln the direc~ion of the arrows 9-9, Fig. 4;
~ Pig. lO is a sectional view taken on the line 10-lO, Pig. 4 and 10-10, Fig. 9;- -~ ig~ ll is a plan sectional view, loo~ing in the di-rectlon of the arrows ll-ll, Pig. 4, of the conveyor plsten with the con~eyor belt removed and showin~ ths guide memb~rs in closed position in the platen entry 310t;

_ g _ ~1~Z622~

1 Fig. 12 i~ a view similar to Fig. 11 but showing the guide members in open position with a bill passin~ therebotween;
Pig. 13 is an exploded perspective ~iew of the two guide members shown in Figs. ll and 12;
Fig. 14 is a fragmentary perspective view of the re-jected bill container;
Pig. 15 i5 a view similar to Pig. 1, looking at the equipment ~rom the other side;
~,. Pig. 16 ~s a view similar ~o ~iB. 4 of a modified form of construction; and . Figs. 17 through 25 are schema~ic wiring diagrams for several doubles detection control circuits.
Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.
. . :
: DESC}~IPTION OF TH~ PREPE}~RED EMBODIM~NTS
.., ~ . , .. . .. _ .
.....
In ~eneral . . .
. Pundam~ntal characterizing conceptusl features of ~he invention con~on to all embodiments of the new doubles detector and system include continuously or repeatedly sensing, measuring or gauging the th$ckness o~ each bill substantially throughout its length measured in the direction of traYel as it is fed in a path o~ travel from ~ stack supply of bills to a place of delivery to a customer; time averaging the gauge measurements made throughout the gauged len~th o~ each such bill during ~
thic~ness gauging to provide an inte~rated or averaged measure-ment of bill thickness, then comparing such avera~ed measurement with the normal bill average thickness or with an arbitrarily selected value ~reater than normal bill average thickness, so that when the sveraged measurement is greater than the normal bill average thickness or selected value, a signal is generated indicating that a doubles is present rather than a single bill;

~L~26'~24 1 and using such signal to reject the doubles rom the path of travel beore the doubles reaches the place of delivery to a customer.
In every embodiment, where two bills are abutted.end to end:or edge to edge or are slightly overlapped when passing through the gauging operation, the time averaging which extends ., ~ . .
over a greater length t~an the length or width of one bill~pro- -duces a signal which rejects both bills, even though such bills , . . . ...
are no.t.in the usual doubles relation of one bill on top.of or ; , . . . . .
stuck ~o another. Such abutted or overlapped b`ills, however, -: 1.
also are included when the .term "doubles" is used herein.. : .
. . It has been indicated that gauge measurements o .thick-ness of each bill are.made continuously substantially through-out the.length of each bill, or lengthwise thereof. The use of . . .............. .
the term "lengthwise" refers to the manner in which the average thickness is deter~ined and not as requiring lengthwise.fesd of the bi.ll. That i5, the bills may be fed in a path of trave~l.with the bills extending-crosswise of the direction of travelj~and ... . ... ~ ..
the continuous gsuging occurs across the bill. ....~
":, ~ 20 .~ . .. It is preferred to feed the bills lengthwise one.. by ,~: . . .. . .. .
one rather than cros.swise one by one because crosswise feed~ in- ~
creases the width o~ the banking unit. This banking unit width `
. i .
is incréased more if two or more different denominations of bills are dis.pensed side by side from the supply stacks of such dif-, ferent.denomination bills. However, it is desirable to provide mini~m width banking units whîch thus favors lengthwise bill feed.~,."i- , ",~
. i...... Normally, in prior systems for detecting doublesj ap-prox$mately a lOt portion of each end or edge of a bill in re-lation to the direction of bill travel is ignored in sen~ing ~he bill.thlckness because used bills may have frayed ends or edges ~ Z 6Z Z 4 1 or little corner Eolds, etc., which present bill portions that should not be takcn as a ~asis of accurate thickness measurements.
For these reasons, among others, in accordance with the invention, the continuous thickness gauging occurs through-out at least 80t of the central portion of the bill measured in the direction of bill travel. Such 80~ measurement zone is com-prehended when referring to gauging "substantially throughout the bill length measured in the direction of travel."
The various comments made are applicable to each dis-penser line or each bill denomination. When bills of two ormore denominations are to be dispensed, there is a dispensing line, unit or mechanism for each bill denomination. In each line, the bills are fed one at a time. The separate lines pre-fera~ly are located side by side in the banking equipment to simplify the construction and operation of the e~uipment. Thus, certain of the detector components are shared by all of the dispenser lines, such as shafts, drive means, etc.
A typical automatic banking unit for dispensing cur-rency in response to the presentation by a bank customer of coded card means is diagrammatically illustrated at 1 in Fig. 3.
. .
Such units may be energized when a customer presents or enters a coded card ~nto slot 2. The coded card is veriied to con-firm that it is an authorized card and that the user thereo~ is the authorized user through a card reader and other known devices contained in the unit 1 or electrically connected thereto.
After the card and customer verification has been car-ried out, keyboard entries may be made by the customer at 3 in accordance with instruct~ons presented to the customer at in-struction panel 4. The entries among otheT matters may indicate the amount of currency that the customer desires to withdraw, or may indicate that the customeT desires to make a deposit.

1~262Z~

1 A deposit may be made by entry o~ an envelopc con-taining the deposit in deposit slot 5. If currency is to be dispensed, it may be deli~ered rom mechanism wi~hin the unit 1 at the customer access bill delivery receptacle means 6. A
record of or receipt for the transaction may in some instances be issued to the customer through receipt slot 7. The card entry slot 2, the ~eyboard 3, the instruction panel which may be a TV screen 4, the depository slot 5, the bill delivery receptacle 6, and the receipt slot 7 all are preerably formed in or carried by the recessed facia plate means 8.
Cash dispenser and depository conponents are generally diagrammatically illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and may ~nclude a container 9 for a supply of paper money in the form of bills which may be a random collection of new and old bills in a stack protectively held in the c~ntainer 9. The money supply con-tainer 9 may be of the type of Sealed Tamper-Indicating ~Ioney Dispensing Container For Automatic Banking Systems shown and described in the Graef et al Canadian:patent application Serial No. 295,090, filed ~anuary 17, 1978, or it may comprise any Z0 other desired receptacle construction ~or containing a supply of st~cked paper money bllls.
Prequently, it is desired to provide for dispensing currency at automatic banking units iJl two denominations su h as ten and one dollar bills, or twenty and five doll~r bills.
Accordingly, two paper money bill containers 9 and ga are illus-trated in Fi~. 2 to satisfy such requirements. Containers 9 and 9~ preferably are located side by side as shown. However, it is contemplated that any desired numb~r of containers for currency of diPferent denominations, say one to ~hree or four containers can be present in an automatic banking unit and located side by side as generally indicated by the two con~ainers 9 and 9a.

- 13 ~

1 Fr~quently, it is desired to provide a depository com-ponent in an automatic bankin~ unit. The general location of such a depository componen~ i~ indica~ed at 10 with which the deposit slot S o~ Fi~. 3 con~unicates. The side by side arrange-ment of the currency supply containers 9~ 9a and of the deposi-tory unit 10 has special coopcrative ad~antages in accordance with certain aspec~s of the inv0ntion described below.
Each bill supply container 9 or 9a has its own asso-ciated picker mechanism 11 or lla (Figs. 1 and 2). Again, any desired pickcr mechan~sm for picklng paper money bills on¢ at a tim~ from a stacked supply and for feeding the same, bill by bill, to other components of a bankin~ system may be used.
The improved doubles detector mechanism operates auto-matically to reject doubles and a rejected bill container to receive the doublcs that are reiected is indicated generally at 15 in Fig. 1, but is romoved for clarity from Fig. 2.

First Embodiment The improved doubles detector mechanism is generally indicated at 12 in Pigs. 1 and 2 ~nd generally includes bill thickness gauging means generally indicated at 13 and reversible driven flexible belt conveyor means gen~rally indicated at 14.
In the embodiment o the invention shown in Pigs. 1 through lS, the bill thickness gaugin~ means 13 has roll pairs and switch means or continuously gauging the thickne~s of bills passed between the rolls, well shown in ~igs. 4, S and 6.
The roll-gaugi~g means, as shown, includes shafts,gen-erally indicated at 16 and 17 mounted on side walls 18 and 19 of the housings for picker mechanisms 11 and lla.
Referring to Fig. 7, the shaft 16 is journaled at its ends in bearings 20 for rotation in synchronism with picker mechanism conveyor roll shaft 21 also journaled in the picker ~2~;224 1 mechanism housing and located below gauging roll shafts 16 and 17.
Ths gau~ing shaft 16 ha~ a large diameter in cross sec-tion to provide shaft ri~idity against bowing; while tho gauge-ing shaft 17 has a small diameter in cross section to permi*
shaft bowing flexibility. T~le shaft 17 is mounted non-rotata~ly ln end supports 22 on picker walls 18 and 19 and is also sup-ported midway its ends on a ~upport member 23 for a purpose to be described (Pig. 8).
Shaft 16 has a pair of spaced rolls 24 and 25 thereon near to picker side wall 18 and has another pair of spaced rolls 26 and 27 near to picker side wall 19. A pair of spaced rolls 24a and 25a is mounted on ~he sha~t portion 17a o shaf~ 17 which exSends between wall 18 and mid support 23. Another 2air of spaced rolls 26a and 27a is mounted on the shaft portion 17b of shaft 17.
The rolls 24a, ~Sa, 26a and 27a preferably compri6e ., .
antifriction bearings having circular outer contours and jour-naled on the shaft portions 17a and 17b. The ~arirAg rolls Z4a : :
and 25a are normally in rolling contact with rolls 24 and 25, respectively, and serve money supply 9 and picker 11. Similarly, besring rolls 26a and 27a are normally in rolling contact with the rolls 26 and 27, respectively, and serve money supply 9a and picker lla.
The pairs of spaced contac~ing rolls 24, 25, 24a and 25a thus form two pairs of gauging rolls between which a paper money bill from supply unit 9 ~ay be conveyed, as shown at B
in Pigs. S and 8. Similarly, the psirs o~ gauging rolls 26, 27, 26a snd 27a serve the money supply 9a.
The fixed supports 22 and 23 for the thin shaft por-tion 17a are 50 located with respect to the axis of the shaft 16 that when the parts are assembled and the bearing gauging ~26;~:;24 1 rolls 24a and 25a are in rolling contact with the rolls 24 and 25, respectively, on shaf~ 16, the shaft 17a assumes a slight bow as shown in ull lines in Fig. 7. The dot-dash lines in Pig. 7 adjacent the full line illus~ration of the shaft portion 17a illus~rate the theoretical outline of shsft portion 17a if the shaft were straight and not subjected to the bowing pressure from the mounting illustrated and described.
The path of movement of bills through the doubles detector mechanism 12 from the picker mechanism 11 is ge~erally defined by guide means which include ~eparable guide members 28 and 29 preferably formed of molded plastic material imparting some flexibility to the guide members. Guide member 28 has ears 30 and 31 at its ends which are secured by screws 32 to the picker~side walls 18 and 19 holding the member in a relatively fixed position.
Rectan~ular ears 33 project downwardly from the lower portion of fixed guide me~ber 28 (Pig. 13) havin~ rounded pockets 34 formed therein. Needle-like roll~rs 35 are rota~ably mounted in the guide member pock~ts 34 engaged ~ rubber dri~e rolls 36 carried by drive shaft 21. The drive shaft 21 acts as a conveyor feed shaft ~or the doubles detes~or mech~nism to feed paper money bills B from the picker mechanism 11 to the ~auging means 13 by imparting dri~ing engagement to the bills B through the rubber dri~e rolls 36 pressing against the necdle rollers 35, as shown for example~ in Fig. 5.
The other guid¢ member 29 of the guide means is mounted on a shaft 37 carried by the picker housing and has a keyhole portion 38 which snaps over the shaft 21 to support the lower portion 39 of member 29 in fixed position. The upper portion 40 of member 29 is flexibly movable with respect to the lower portion 39 about the zonc 41 which acts as a pivot point for movement of the upper ~uidc member portion 40.

l~Z6224 There is a pair o rubber arive or fee~ rO113 36 for each bill ~ee~d line, olle roll ~6 opposito esch needle roller 35, and ~he needle rollers 35 arc bilsed against rubber rolls 36 by the leaf sprin~s 42, ~he lower ends of which pTess the rollers 3S toward rolls 36.
As stated, ~he sha~ts 16 ~nd ~l are ~riven in syn-chronism and ro~ate in the direction o ~he arrows s~lown in Pigs. 4 and S so tha~ a bill B is conveyed in its path of travel between rolls 36 and 35 and between t~e detector rolls 24 and 24~, or 25 and 25a,etc., toward belt conv~yor means 14 between the guide ~e~bers 28 and 29. During ~he conveyor feed ~novemen~c of th~ bill B (F~g. S3 upward ~e~ween 'clLe ~ui~e mcmb~rs, the bill separate5 the upper portlon 40 of the guille ~ember 29 fTom thc ~uide member 28, as s31own. The flexibility OI' the guide ~ember 29 ~nd pivoting of upper portion 40 about piltot point 41 permit~ such separation, against the very li~,ht pull of a spring 43 connected with the. picke~ housing and ths ear 44 on the upper end o ~he upper gulde m~mber portion 40.
The upper end of upper por~ion 40 o~ guide melQbex ~9 20 has a series o spaced flange~ ;e or co~nb-lik~ teeth or pro-~ectiolls 45 which project toward and into spaced op~ning~ 46 for~ed in the upper eAd o~ guide me~b~r 28, as shown in Fi;~. 4.
As the bill B is fed between ~hc ~uide member~ 28 and 29, t..e bill pa~se~ botweon th0 teeth 45 ~nd the curv~d portion of the guite member Z8 ~n which the openings 46 are formed, and upper guidc por*ion 40 separates from member 28, as sho~n in Pig. 5.
The belt conveyor ~lean~ 14 generally incl~des 1at platen pl~te ~eans 47 pre~erably co~prisin~ th'0 ul~tes 48 and 4g wh~ch are split at 50 (Pig. 4). Plate 49 is ca~ried by th~
picker housing while pla~e 4R i~ ~ounte~ on top of the housing, ~enerally ~ndicated ~t 51, for the conlponen~s illustrated in Figs. ~ and ~.

17 ~

1 Tho platen means ~7 i~ for~e~ b~tween its ends wlth an entry slot ~n~rally indica~ed at 52, at a location spaced above thc ~auging means 13. The 510~ 52 preferably i5 for~ed at the locatlon of the joint or split 50 betwe~n plates 48 and 49. The slot S2 has a sawtooth or spsced tooth-liXe contour to recoiv0 the vsrious tecth or projections 45 on gu~d~ ~ember 2 a~ woll as si~lar tooth-like for~ations 53 at the upper ex-tromity o gu~de ~ember 28.
The interf~tting teeth 45 ~nd 53 in the slots or ope~-ings i6 ant 52 presont a continuous top surfac¢ ~or the plat~n moans 47 when the guide means is closed as in Pi~. 4, and ex-cept when guide members Z8 and 2~ are separa~ed by ~he passage of a bill along its pa~h of travel, as shown in Pig. ~.
, .
The ~elt conveyor means 14 also include~ a xenerally rectangular back-up plat~ 54 haYing side flange~ 55 ~xtendin~
along thc top of the platen 47. Bolt suppor~ rolls 56 are.
~ournal~d betwe~n and at *ho ends of the bac~-up plate flangos 55. An endlcss flexibl~, preferably ru~b~r, belt S7 is trained around the support rolls 56 and has an actlve-fli~ht which extends below tho bac~^up plste S4 and..abo~e the platen me~ns 47.
Tho bac~-up plate 54 w~th rolls 56 ~nd ~olt 57 as-semblod theroto ~o~prise a box-like unit which rests on the platen means 47 ~ut i~ movable up and down with respect to the pl~ten means for a purposc dcscribed below. The pos~tion o~
this ssc~bly during any such movcment i9 lndoxed by roll gu~dcs S8 mcunted by bolt~ S9 on and projecting outwardly of the back-up pla~e side flangos 55. The roll gu~des 58 are receiYed in upwardly opening slots 60 formed ~n upstanding wall portions 61 of the ~ain hous~ng 51 tPigs. 1 and 4).
The belt 57 has a reversible drlve described below and it~ activo flight nor~ally ~5 pressed aga~nst the platen 47 by thc back-up plate 54 of ~he belt as~e~ly. Thus, bllls ~ fed . :

/~fl~ ,',4 ?~

1 between guide members 28 and 29 and ~hrough the entry slo~ 52., are supported by the platen means 47 and are con~eyod or tr~ns-por~ed by the bolt 57 normally ~n ~e tirection shown by t~le arrow 62 in Flg. 4. The ~rrow 6~ indicatc~ ~he normal flow direcsion of movem¢n~ of b~lls B in their pa~h o~ tra~l fro~
thc ~uide members 28 and 2g to the b~ll delivery receptacle 6.
When the direc~ion o~ ~elt move~ent is r~versed, as indic~ted by the ar~ow 63 (Pig. 4), any bill s~pported on the pla~en ~oan~ 47 is convoyed by the bel~ 57 in the direction of the arrow 63, in respcnse to the detection o doubles by oper-ation of the dou~les detector mechanis~ described b~l~w. Any b~ll B that is con~cycd by ~he balt in the direction o the afrow 63 i~ discharged from th~ bel~ conveyor ~nto ~ rejected bill container lS which ~s remoYably ~upported by any suitable means on one of th~ walls l9a o the picker housin~.
. Thu~, any bill t~at e~er~es rom the guide means.
through the entry slot S2 ~lways mov~s ~o a location beneath the ac~i~e belt fligh~ ~n a normal forward path of movement toward th~ plate~ delivery end ~7a in the direction of the

2~ arrow 62 during nor~al forwaTd driYe movement of the belt. When the direction of ~ove~ent o the belt is reversed by ~he de~
tection of doubles, any bill or bills B located bet~een the active belt 1~ght ~nd the platen 47 to the right of the entr~
slot $2 will be con~reyed in a reYerse direction from the normal orward direction o~ mov~ent, ac~oss the ga.,o en~ry slo~ 52 which is clos~d, So the blll r~ect cont~in~r lS wh~ch i~ loc~ted Ad~acent thc rej~ct end 47b o th~ platen means 47.
The initlal slight ~ow of the shat portions 17a and 17b ~or maintaining the bearin~ ~auging rolls 24a to 27a ~n con-30 tact with tho ~chick shaft rolls 24 to 27 has been dcscrll)ed as shown in Fig. 7. Thc left-han~ portion of Fi~. B shows the ~or~l bowing o shaft portion 17b by ~ove~ent of a sin~le bill B

~9 _ ~ 6Z~
between the pairs of g~u~ing rolls 26-27 2J~d 26a-27a; whilo ~ho ri~ht-hand portion o Fig. 8 illu~trate~ the thin shaft portion 17a bowed further by two bills,, or a doublcs condition, p~ss~rg between the pairs o~ ga~lging rolls 24 25 and 24a-25a.
T~le doubles detector mech~n~ sm 12, in addition to the gau~ng rolls, also ~ncludes sw~ tch ~eans 64 . One swi*ch ~,eans 64 is assoclatcd with a~d a~tuated by each opposed psir o gaug~n~ rolls 24-24a, 25-25a" etc. Each of the switch means may be 8 plug, button or roller d~splacemen~-typ~ switcll. A rolle~
10 switch i5 pre~er~le as illustrated.
E~ch switch 64 includes a roller 65 mounted Oli ~ plug 66 movable axially in a barr~l 67 to actuate make and bre~k con-tacts contained in ~he switch housing 68. The ~arrel 67 ~s locked by nu~s 6~ and 70 on a thin 1ex~ble plate portion 71 of a U-shaped mounting pl~te 72. Pl~e 72 is mount~d by screws 73 on ~ mounting ~ngle 74 carried by the pi~k~r hous~nQ. Pre- `
ferably, a rub~cr pad or gasket 75 is interposed between th-3 :
plate 72 and membor 74. The upper end~ of the plate portions 71 are clan)ped by adjusting screws 76 to the moun~ing angle mem-ber 74 against the preesure of rubber pad 77.
Thus, a~us~cment of ~ny screw 76 enlbles the relatiYe po~ltion of ar~y switch 64 wi~h respect to its ~auging ~oller 24a to be accurately ~diustcd.
Mounting an~le 74 provldeg the mounting for all four o the sw~ch m~ans 64. The position o moun~ g an~le 74 with rospect to the gaug~ng ~oll n2eans mQy be gRnerally adjusted ~o and ~w~y fro~ the ~aug~ng means 13 (Pig. 4) by ad~ustment of the posi~ion o th~ ~olts 7~ and 79 in slo~s 80 and 81 in th~
~ount~ng an~le 74.
Thc normal avera~e thicknes~ o~ a bill B o~ Uni~e~
. States currency i5 0 . OQ35". The degree or effectiva accuracy of mechanical multiple bill switch ~au~ing i5 relate~ ~o the scnsiti~rity o the switch thst ~aug~s bill thickness in exccss of normal ~hicknos~. Th~ swltch may have a different~al ~ravel range of from O . 0~0~ to 0 . 0~05~ movement from its operatin~
point to i~s reset point ~or actuation after moYement froin its norm~l po5ition. This dlfferontîal travel rane provides for gauging variations in ~ill th~ckn0ss o~ 1/7 of' the thick-ness wherc the switch .has an 0. ~O05" dif~erential trav~l char-acterlstic. With a more sensiti~e switch haY~ng an 0.0002"
differential travel char~cteri~tic, a thictcness variation of 10 1/17 o the nos~al b~ll thicknoss n2ay bo gauged.
Accordingly, the mechanical b~ 11 thickness gaugill~
technique concept of the invention providos an extre~ely CTiti-cal control ~or the dctec~ion o~ dou~les. Further, where the switch is initially rery sensi~ive w~th an 0.0002" d~fferen~ial travol characteristic, if this characteristic chan~es i~ use to a 0.~005'` di~erential trar~l Yalue, ~h~ switch still will detect a bill thickness variation of 1/7 of the normal b~ll Shlckncss. ., Purther, switch ~ans 64, particularly o~ th~ roll~r switch-typc shown, may incorporato a large d~8ree of overtr~el ~hich will accommodate an overtravel condi~ion resul~ln~ fro~
the accidcntal ~eod through the doubles detector ~echanism of a large number o~ bills in ono pack~ ~uch as tsn cr mor~ biCls~ .-indicated at Bl in Pig. 6, whlch might ha~e been stapled together. The ability to acco~modate such a condition by switche~ haYing a large degrce of o~ertravel pre~ents thc doubles detector mechanism from being ~am~ed or damaged upon the ac-cidental occurrence of the condl~ion ~hown in ~i~. 6 wherein the ~llls Bl will pass to the ~on~eyor and will be rejected as doubles.
An illdiYidual switch means 64 is actuate~ one e~cll by 11;~6ZZ~

1 e~ch of th~ pairs of gaugin~ roll~rs 24-24a, etc. As shown, ther~ aro two ~wltch mean~ 64 for ~ach bill denomination dis-pense line. One of the switch means 64, for thc ~auging roll psir 24-24a ~ay be used to accomplish a counting function to count the number of ~ills bcing gauged. The other switch mean5 o~ a pair of swi~ch ~eans for $~id dispense line, for example, thc switch 64 ~or the pair of gauging rolls 25-25a is thc toubles detecting switch for that bill dispensing lin~.
As pr~viously descrlbed, e~ch of the switch means 64 i~ prov~ded with very sensitive adjusting means and as one or more bills pass between the gauging rollors, tho bow in the thin sha~t portion 17a or 17b is increusod, d~pending upon ~he thickne~s of the particular bill or ~ills~ The switch ~eans 24 detect the amount o~ switch moYement continuously which thus continuously measure~ the ~hickness of tho bills passing throu~h ~h~ detector.
Where tho banking un~t 1 is deslgned to supply bills of say two dif~erent denominations fro~ separate supplies o~
different denomination bill~ as describod, a sopsrate or indi-~idual doubles detector laechanism must be provited for oach .disponsing lino. Two such lino8 ar~ illustrated in Fi~s. 7 and 8 and under such circumstancos common sha~ts ant oth~r common component~ may be used for the two lines as shown to sorv~ the doubles dotoctor mochanism~ ~or each of the curr~ncy di~pensor line8.
The bowed-sha~t concopt of ~echan~c.ally rollor gauging ~11 thickness continuously require~ the thin shaft 17 to hare a ~eparate shaft porelon for each di~ponsor llne, and this i~
accomplished by us~ng one ~haft 17 for thc two lines and 5Up-porting th~ shaft at ~ts midpolnt by the mldsupport ~embcT 23.
In accords~ce wi~h tho ~nvention, the banking unit 1may include a depository section 10 (Plgs. 2 and 15) and the ^22 `~ llZ6ZZ4 1 ~elt con~eyor 57 cooparating wi~l~ th~ platen means 47 acts as a means of receiYing and convcyill~ deposited matcrial entered - into the unit through the ~posit ~lot 5 tPig. 3) which i~
aligned witil the platen delivery end 47a o~ the belt conveyor platen 47 (~ig. 15).
The pl~ten means 47 (Fig~ Z) extends lateral~y over -~
thc ~oubles detector ~echanisms for both of the two dispens~
lines and also across ~he top o~ the depository 10. ~rom ti~e platen deliYery end 47a, tho platen portion extendin~ o~er~the depo~ ory 10 disçharges through a wid¢ slot 82 havin~ edgès 83 and #4, the deposited materlal which drops as indicsted at D ~`
into the deposit co~partment of depository 10.
: A pr~nter mechanism of usual constr~ction 2nd operation ~ay be moun~ed at 85 within the d0pository 10 and belo~ platen -~
por~ion 47c to identify deposited material being received. Tha deposite~ material D is con~eyed by the ~elt conveyor into ~he ::
unit by ~verse movement of the belt which is in~tia~ed for a depositin~ operation by d~pository actuation ~ans which the ~;
custo~er is directed to operat~. .
; This facct of the inv0n~iYe concept maSerially ~pli-fies ~hc construction and cost of manuacture of banki~ ~nits which combine cash dispensing and depositing, sir.ce th~ cash dis-ponsing conv¢ying ~eans ~ ~he b~lt 57 and related pl~ten and other components - aro also used as ehe depository conveyor.
'~he prov~sion for up and down guided moYement of the conveyor belt &ssembly ~roller guides S8 and ope~ slots ~) p~rmits the convcyor belt 57 to raise and accept thick deposie packages V.
The rejection o doubles when detected has been d~-scribed, accomplished ~y rcvorsing the conveyor travel to con-vey ~ho rej¢cted doubles to tho re~ected bill container lS shownin Pig. 14. This container, as previously sSated, may be - 2~

~'126~Z4 1 detachably connected to ~he picker housing ad~acent the reject end 47b of plat~n means 47. ~ont~iner 15 is a iv~-sided box-lik~ struc~ure with an open ~outh 86 at ~he top adapted to receiv~ re~ected bills discharged from ~he balt co~v¢yor means. Contain~r 15 is re~ovably mounted on the pic~er hou~ina ac shown ~enerally in Figs. 1, q and 15. It proferably is pro-vided with a closuro me~er 87 pivotally Mounted at 88 snd controlled by lock means 89, the key for which is retaîned by thc picker mechanis~ and which must b~ in locked condition be-fore the container 15 can be romov~d from the picker uni~.
Such key ret~ntion protecti~e arrangement for the re-~ectcd bill container l5 may be similar to that shown in sai~
Canadian pa~cnt application Serial No. 295,090 and whlch may be used in connection with th~ placomen~ and removal of sesled monoy.supply c&n~sters 9 ~nd 9a in automatic banking unit 1.
In accordance with the concepts of the improved doubles detector mechanis~, and its coordina~ion wi~h o~her co~ponents of the ~anking unit 1, the belt conYeyo~ ~eans and the doublas det~ctor ~ecllanis~ may have a com~on drive ~eans also com~on to the picker mechanis~s associated with ~ach cursency dispensing linc. :Th~s ~rive mechanism is shown dia~ramm.atically in Fig. 15 and may compriso a main driv~ ~otor, no* shown~ h~ving a driYe shat gO which oper2tes various elements of the picker mechanism through a g0ar train including gears 91, 92, 93, g4, 94a, 95, 96, 97, 98 and g9. The gears 96 and 97 are ~.ounted on the shat 21 for thc rubber drive rolls 36. The gear 98 is mounted on tl~e thic~ gauging sha~c 16. The gcar 99 is ~ounted on ti~e rubber belt asse~bly on a ~tub shaft whicl~ also. carries a belt drive pulley 100 which i$ connecte~ by a drive belt 101 with a pulley 102 moun~ccd on the belt support roll S6 at the re~ ect end 47b o~ the belt convcyor.

. .

~i26Zz'~

Th~ gears 97, 9~ and ~.) all h~vo tho sa~.e num~r of tecth 50 t.hat th~ ~haft~ on which th~y are mounted arei SyJl-chronized in ro.tat~ve movement ~o that tho conveyi~l~ feed im~arted to any bill f~d to ~he feed roll 36 ~nd eng~5~ing rollers 3S ls unl~orm throughou'c th~ path o tr~vel of ~he bills to their ulti~ate dest~nation.
}~or conYcnie~ce ir~ th0 con~rol and opera~ion o~' the l~proved banking unit 1, the sealed ~oney supply canisters ~
and 9n prefer~bly are of the type sho~n ~ said Canucl~n p~tent 1,0 applicati~n Serial ~o . 295, 0~0 . When they are ins~a}led ir~
and remo~ed from the banking unit 1, che picker ~echanis~s 11 and lla ~ust be EQovod out of th0 way. Thi~ may bo ~cco~plished by pi-vot~ ountin~ the entire picker ~echanl~m houslng on a pi~ot 103. PiYot~l ~oYement o~ tho pîcXer housin~, ind,icated in dot-dash lines in Pi~. lS, carri¢s with it the gearinl3 gl through ~8, gear jg8 b~in~ disenga~ed fro~ g~ar 99 on thc ~Ql~
conYeyor &ssem~ly. The pl~ten portlon 49 which closes the ~op o the picker housing also mov~s with the p~cl;er housin~, thus 8epar~ing tho platen at the slo~ 52 and th~ ~ivi~:Ln~ point ~0.
In the ore~oing de~crip~ on ~f ~he n~w doubles ~e^
toctor and syst~, a banklng unit h~s b~en describcd which inc~ude3 the depository 10 and two cur~n~y disp~nser lin.es ~or dispensin~ curroncy of two dif~rent denominat~ons fro~ monc~
supply c~niste~s ~ an~ 9a. It is to bc und~rstood, howcver, that the operation of the n~w doubl~s detector mech~nism is no~
dependent upon tho pr~ssence ~f a depositQrr in She t~ankin~` ilni~
or of a plurality of lines for dispensin~ two àenominations of b~lls, s~nc~ the doubles detector mechanisl3 incorpo~ating ~ho conc~p~s of the ~nvention may be operated hy f~cding bills from a singl~ ~on~y supp~y canls~r 9 throu~h the mediu~ of a pic~:r 11 and ~rom the doubles dotec~or mcch~n~s~n 12 to belt conveyor means 14.

~26Zz4 However, thc improved doubles dctectGr mecllanisnl alld system has th~ si~IIificant adv~nta~e that a plurality of l~ill denomination feed linos and/or a deposi~ory un~t, or both, ulay ~e integr~lly incorporated throu~h common drives, et~. wi'~h ~he new doubles de~tector m~chanis~ and sys'ce~.
The thic}cness o~ any blll or dou~les ~ay be ~auged in several manners. Thus far, thc mechanism descri~ed essen~ially has been a n~echanical thickness gnug$ng mechanism. ~owever, physLcal characteristics oi; a.bill which may be used to gauge its thickness are ~ts opacity or its ability to attenuate the trans~iss~on o~ light. A sliglltly ~odified form o~ gauglng means for the new doubles de~ector machanis~ and syste~ in-volving the use of photosensitive ~hickne~s gauging is shown in the second embodiment describod below.
~s .
Second ~mbodi~ent The descriptlon of th~ ~uipment illu~trated in Pigs. l throu~h lS applies to thc ~odified or~ o~ construc~ion illustrated in Pig. 16 except that the gaugin~ means 13 pro-~ided by the rollQ 24, 25, etc. and switch ~oans 64 are omi~t~d, the guide members 28 and 2~ are shortened and th~ Bills B are ed rom rolls 35 and 36 dir*ctly between the guide meml~ers 28 an~ 29 to enter the bolt conveyor 1aeans 14.
A photosensor is pro~ided between the ~ate entry slot 52 and the rolls 36 and 37 J comprising a light source 104 and an elcct~ic eye l~S. The sensor 104-105 acts as a thickncss :~ gaugin~ means whicl~ operates continuously to proYide signals o thickness and thickness changes at the output o~ the photo-system detector lO~. These signals ess~ntially ar~ the same as the sign~ls produccd by the swltch m~ans 64 in the f irst 30 embodim~nt.
In other words, th~ signals produced mechanically by . .
, ~

1~6ZZ4 1 deflection or tl-~ light beQ~l signals.producetl by attenuation o~
the light ~eams ac~ as bill thickr.e~ss ~asure~.ent signals and ar~ processed ~hrou~ the ~lectroni~, syste~ls ~escri~e~ below in ~he same ~ann~ to produce time a~era~ing of the bill thicXness and to generate decision signals indicating tlle pre~ence or absence of doubles.
Referring now ~o Fig~. 17-25, several contrcl circuits - for detecting doubles ~n accordance with the inYention are de-scribed below.
Fig. 17 show~ a si~plifled block diagra~ of the b2sic doubles detector circuit. The signal Y5 ~ay ~e genera~ed by a mechanical gaug~ or-d~tector, such as gau~in~ ~eans 13 ~Figs. 1 15) or by an optical system~ 5uch 8S 104-105 ~Fig. 16), and is supplied to an aYeraging or integrator c~rcuit 106. Integrator 106 ~s any of sev~ral circuits as descri~ed in detail ~elow, which time aYerag~s or integrates the thickness measurements made by gau~ng means 13 or photosystem 104-lQ5. The terms 'ttime , average" or "int~¢rate" are interpreted herein to mea~ aYeraged ! or integrat~d with respect ~o ti~e over substan~ially the ~ntiro 20 lengeh o the gauged portio~ of a bill B. The ter~s "ti~e a~- -eragod!' or "integrated" also co~preh~nd Yariations of the inven-tion wherein ~eraging or in~e~ratlng is ~adc as a function of anothor independens variable, such as length or posit~on.
The output o Vint of inte~rator 1~6 represents the aYerage m~asurod thickness of the bill B over substan~ially the entire longth of the gauged portion of the ~ill and is supplied to a comparator 1~7 which compares tho s~nal Vint (which is a function of VR and b~ll thickness) with a reerence signal V~
gonerat¢d by a roerenc~ circuit 108. Tho output signal YO of 30 comparator 107 is respon~lve to the re~ult of the compar~son and indic~tes whcther or not thc b111 B can bc classi~ed a~ a double~.

-` ` llZ~ZZ'~ -~eerrln~ ~o ~7iE. 1~, integr2tor 106 comprises a ro-si~tor 109a in ~ries ~ith diode lO~ corlnect~d to one inpllt of co~parator 1~7, a prede~erlained reference s~gl~al beir~ sup-plied to the remain~ng input by potentio~eter 110. Rcsis~or llOa and capaci~or ll~ aro connected between the cathode of diode lOg ~nd ground. The anode of diode 109 in turn is con-nected to the output of the thicknoss detector, preferably the thiclcness gauging ~ean~ 13. It is to be understood, however, that the circults shown ln Fig. lB may be used in combination 10 w~th any suitable thickness sensor that gencrates a digi~l signal in response to bill ~h~ckness, for ex~mple, a logic 1 signal in rcsponse to a doubles and a logic 0 signal i~ response ta no double~.
The d~tector or sensor signal Vs is supplied to capac-itor llOb through the diode 109, the exponontial value of the f signal being stored on thc capacitor. DiscllRrge o capacitor llOb is blocked by diode 109 and by the high input impedance o~
comparator 107, discharg~ of the capac~or bein~ proY4ded only through thc resistor llOa at a controlled r~te. l`h~ output V0 ~ of comparator 107 is responsive to the magnitude of voltng~
gtored on capacitor llOb compared to the ~agnitude o ~oltage.
pro~ided by reference potentiometer 110. Tho ~agnitude o~
~oltagc stored on capacitor llOb is a functLon of the a~era~c meaqured thickn~ss along the gaugod portion of the bill, that is, when there is a double~, a lo~ic 1 signal is generated by gauging means 13, cau~ing capac~tor llOb to cha~ge up toward the logic 1 voltag~ level, e.g. fiYe YoltS . When no doubles is detected by the ~auging moans 13, the gauging means generateg a logic 0 si~nal, c.g. 0 volts, ~rmi~tin~ capacitor 110~ to 30 di~charge at a controllcd rate through resistor llOa. Thu~, the voltage stored on capacitor llOb at any t~e is d~pend¢nt lZ6ZZ'~

1 upen the duration of timo th~t a doubles is detected by gaugillg means 13 compared to a total detecting ti~e, whlch is defined in this embodiment AS "averag~."
The operation of th~ Pig. 18 circuit shown is de- -8cribcd in more d~ail with respect to Fi~s. l9a-19c. Fig. 19a shows typical detector signals V~, gen~ra ed by gauging means 13, as a function of time for two successive bill5 being m~Yed through the gauging means. Ag shown, th~ ou~put of gaugin~ :
means 13 is at logic 0 when no doubles is dotect~d and i5 at logic l when a doubles is detected. ~hc outpu~ of 8auging means 13 or tho first b~ 11 shows tha~ thc thickne~s o~ only two rolatively short portions of the bill is large onough to cause gauging means 13 to indicste a doubles. These relati~ely short thick portions o~ a ~$11 are character~stic o~ transient ~hick- :
nesses that mi~ht be cQused by dirt or creases associated with a single b~ll. The first pulso charges capacitor llOb to a rolst~rely low voltage l~ecause the width of the ~irst pulse A
is small. The second; wider pulse B charg~s capacitor llOb by an incre~ental vol~age, ~ut th~ ~otal Yoltagc sto~ed on capacitor llOb i5 less than a threshold Yoltage ger.~at~d by potentiomcter 110, Fi8. 17.
Shus, the irst bill is recognized as belng a sin~e bill despito tho existence of tho transient regions defined by pulges A and B. This ~n contrast with prior art syst~ms with which we are aware, wherein the occurrence o transient region~
- having magn~tudes grea~er ~han a prcdetermined ~agni~ude would tend to incorrectly identify the bill as a d~ubl~s. Pig. 19c shcws that t~e output si~nal VO is at logic 0, indioating that no doubles hag ~een det~cted.

3~ On the other h~nd, assuming that gauging mcsns 13 now generates pulses C, D and E haYing the rclative widths shown ~n ~ 29 112622~

1 Fi~. 19~, ca~acltor llOb succ~ss~vely charges up to tile Yolt~gc leYcl shown, whieh is Brea~er than the magnitude of the thresh-old voltage sho~n in dotted lines. This lndicates that the avera~e thickness of the second bill ls lsrge enough to be clas-sified as a doubles, 8 logic 1 signal thereby be~n~ generated by comparator 107, as shown in Pi~. lgc.
It is apparent that successi~e in~re~ental voltage~
generated ~y gauging means 13 durin~ ~auging of each bill ac-cu~ulate toward a ~aximum magnitude to be exsmi~ed by compara~or 107. The time constant of resistor llOa is mflde large enough to pre~ent discharge of the capacitor llOb between logic 1 sig-nals of pulses within 8 bill, but sm~ll enou~h to permit th~
capacitor llOb to subst&ntially fully discharge between bills, a~ shown in Fi~. l9b.
Referring now to Pig . 20, ano~h~r e~cdiment of the toubles detector clrcuit is shown, wherein the ou~put of a thic~-ncss detec~or, such as the mochanical g~uging ~eans 13 or pho~o-system 104-105 is sa~pled at predeter~in~d, short ti~e inter~als.
The output of the detcctor at the sa~pled inter~als is clsssifi~d as a logic 1 or lo~ic 0, depending upon wbether or not a doubl~s is detected at each sa~plo time; ~nd the total- number o logic l signals tdoublos) co~pared to the total number of samples is counted to det~rmine whother the bill is to bs classified as a doublos . '`'' The ou~put Vs o the detector is supplied to a conven-tional signal sa~pling circuit 111, which samples tho det~ctor output at predetermined, equal, short t~me durations, as shown in Fig. ~lb, corresponding to polnts distributed along the gauged portion o~ the bill. Assuming that the output of the thickness detector, as shown in Fig. 21a, is iden~ical to ~he output as shown in Fig. l9a, pulses are generated by the signal ., : , .: ~ .
.

llZ62~'~

sa.npler 111 coineiding with ~he dete~tor si~nal Vs ~;lii.g. 21a~
at th~ sample times t 21b~ .
The pulses generated by si~n~l sampler 111, as shown in Pi~. 21c, are supplied to a pulse count~r 112 which CGUil~S
the number of pulse~ genera~ed by ~he s~npler over ~che g2~u~,~d portion of each bill. ~he output o~ pulse counter 112 i~ ~oni-tored by a di$ital *hreshold circui~ 113 ~hat ~enerat~s a 5ig-nal YO indicative o a doubles only if l~the number of pulses coun*ed ~y pulse counter 112 for each bill me~,ts or exceed~ a 10 predetermlned amount, the counter being reset af~cer e~ch bill .
For example, assuming that the threshold count of digital threshold circuit 113 lg 7 ~ no signal is gen~ra~ed ~y the threshold circuit durlng gaug,ing o~ the ~irst bili since only five pulses are counted 7 whereas a signal i~ gener~ted durin~
the second bill coillciding witJl the sevcn pulses generate~l by sampler 111 (sce Pi~. 21d).
It is app~rent that the numbel of pulses that ~re counted by pulse counter 112 during gauglllg of eaoh bill is pro-portional to the averag~ thickness o the bill throu~hout tl~e 20 gauged portion thereof. Thus, the circuit shown in Fig. 20 is rcsponsiYe to aYerage thickness o~ the bill.
In practico, a bill remains ln contact ~ith gsuging moan5 13 ~or approxlmately 180 m~ lliseconds along its pa~h of t~a~ nd is s~pled 40 tlmes. Th~ nu~bcr of samples indi-cating a double may be 20, or example ) beforc the ~ill being gauged is clfls~ified as a doubles.
}~eferr~n~ to Fig. 22, anothe~ ca~bodiment of a doubles detoctor ctrcuit, in accordance with ~cho lnYention is ~hown.
Thes ci2cuit of ~i~. 22 is ~specially ~dap~ed for, bu~ not 30 limit~d to, use with an optlcal thickness detector of the ~ype r~ferr~d ~o herelna~ove, as shown in Fig. 23a, havin~ an ou~put 6~Z'~

1 character~stic of the ~ype shown in ~i~. 23b. A bill ~ bein~
g3uged is mo~d along iss pat}l of tr~vel between light source 104, which ~ay ~e 8n inc~ndoscent lamp or LED, for exampl~, and an electric eye or photocell lOS. Exposurc of bill ~ to de-tector 105 during ~o~ement of the bill is herein referred to as "scannlng" o the bill.
Output voitago Vs f detoctor 105 is ~aximum when there is no bill B between lamp 104 and detector lOS. It is to bc understood, howe~er, that the operation of detector lOS
could be rovers~d.
In the present case, as shown in Fig. 23b, the de-tector voltage ~5 drops to a first levcl Vsl in r0sponse ~o th~
transmi~civity of a sin~le bill, and to a second, lower level Y52 in response to the ~allor trsns~isci~itr of a doubles. 3~ue to the gain charectcristic of a photodetector c~rcuit, however, tbere is a relativcly small difference in Yoltage between bloc.k- -age o~ light by a single bill and blocksge of ligllt by a doubles.
Purthcrmore, the ware orms shown in Fi~. 23b represent the ~-.
ideal- C85~, wherein the bills haYc const~nt transmiscivity alon~
2~ the ontire gaugod portion thereof. ln practice, tr~nsient tran-5itioDs are ~sde between the single bill, blocked d¢tector ~olt~gc Vsl, and doubles blll, ~locXed detecto~ ~oltage Vs2.
In accordance with the circuit ~hown in Pig. 22, as with the circuits shown in Figs. 18 and 20, a s1ngle bill or a double~ is classified in accordance with tho avera~cd ~hicknes~, or light trans~lsciv~ty or opacity, o the bill ~long the gaugcd portion thereof. In princ~ple, the circuit of Pig. 22, ~onitors the amount of light received by photodetector lOS in order to determine whether no bill i9 located or is passing be~ween l~mp 104 and the dct~ctor or at lcast one bill ls passing there-botween. When at lo~xt one bill is passlng ~etween lamp 104 and photodetoctor 105, tho output of dctoctor lOS is suppl~ed to an .

11~6Z2~

1 int~grator circuit. Since dctector 10~ ~enerates a highcr ma~litude of voltage in respo~se ~o a single bill than it ~enarates in respons~ to a doubles bill, ~nd ~inc~ the oUtpL~
of an integ~a~or in response ~o ~ cons~nt or DC voltage is a ra~.p having a sl~p~ proportio~ o Yolta~ ~agnisude, it is apparent that the slope of the r~p volta~o, as generatcd by th~ in~egrator, is greater for a singl~ b~ll.
Furthermore, it is apparen~ that the minor trænsients or p~rturbat~ons would ~end to b~ smoothed or ~vera~ed by ~he integrator with only a small change in slope ~ing ~fectedO
That is, the slope of the ramp generated ~y ~he integrator is substantially unafected by ~ransient ch~n~es in opa~uenes~ or transmisoivity of the bill, sinc~ such trans~nt charac~eristics are "intcgrated out."
The presence of a single bill or a doubles can ~hus be accurately determined by monitoring the output of the inte-grator at a predetcr~ined period of tim~ to deterJaine whether tho output volta~ is ~bovc or ~elow ~ prcdetermined ~agnitudc.
For e~&rlple, if ~he int~ra~or ou~pu~ voltage is aboYe a pro-determined m~nitude ut a prcdetermined time, thc ~ill b~iA~g~ugod is classi~ied a~ a single bill. Alterna~iYely, ~he out-put of She integrator ~ay be continuously ~lonitored, and ~he ~ime ~easured at which the output reaches a predeter~ined ma~-nitud~ the predeterminod ma~ni~ud~ is reachcd prior ~o a predeterminod ~ime, for example, the bill wo~ld be classified as a single b~ll.
Referris~g now to Fig. 22 in more detsil, the ou~cput o~ det~ctor lOS i~ supplied to a buffer circui~ 112a to pre~rent load~ng of ~h~ detector. I'he output o bufer 112a in turn is connecto~ to the lnput of a irst analog ~witch 113a. Also connected to ~he OUtpllt o~ buffer 112a ar~ a comparator 114 and 1~262Z4 1 a peak de~ector id~ntiied ~eneral~y by th~ numeral llS. 'rhc output ~oltage o~ huer 112a is m~ximu~ whon ther~ is no bill between lamp 104 snd d~tector 105 as aforementioned. Thi~ con-dition s reerred to l~erein as quiesc~nt. The output volta~e of buffer 112a drops to a lower levol when there is at l~a5t on~ bill be~ween ~h~ lamp 104 and detector 105 ca~sing li~ht blockage.
; Co~par~or 114 compare~ the voltsge gener~ed by bu~far 112~ wish a rcference voltagc generated by po~entio~eter 115a in ord~r ~o determinc whether or not a~ leas~ one bill ~s located bctwecn ~he lamp 104 and d~tector lOS. When there i3 at least one blll located between the lamp 104 and detector 1~5, the voltage a~ tho output of bu~e~ 112a ~ill be lower in magni-~ude than the rofe~ence volta~e at 115a, wher~by Q oon~rol 5ig-nal is generated hy the comparator 114. ~he control signal gcnorat~d by co~par~or 114 ~s supplied to control Sermlnal C
of switch 113a and con~rol terminal C2 of a socond a~aio~ swi~ch 116. ~he control signal supplied to the switch 116 is ~nYert~d in an.invertor circuit 111 so that swi~ches 113a and 116 are always in oppo~ite states, that is: the firs~ switch is on ~nd th0 second sw~tch is off and vice Y~rsa.
Tho output of thc first switch 113a is supplied to a con~ention~l intc~r~tor circuit 118, corresponding to ~lock 106 ~n ~ig. 17~ through a potcntio~et~r 119. Potentiometer 11 control~ the gain o~ integrator 118, and i5 pro~lded for the purpo~o o accom~odat~ng bil}s o diferent deno~inations or typos, ~s expl~ined more fully below. The output of inte~rstor 118 in turn i~ conn~cted to on~ input termin~l of compar~tor circuit 119a, corresponding ~o block 107 in Pig. 17. The re-mainin~ input o~ compara~or llga ~s connected to th~ output ofpeaX detector circuit 115 which devolops a refer¢nce voltage 622'~

1 for comparator 11~ that i5 deriv~d from th¢ p~aX, or qui~scent, volta~e gen~rat¢d b~ detector 105. The r~fer~nce vol~age for comparator ll~a is dcrived from the quiescent voltage, or un-blockod detector voltage, so that the r~rence voltage is au~omaticslly co~pensated or conditio~s unr¢lated to bill th~ckness, such as different or changing detector parameters~
dirt in the optical system, etc.
~ Peak detector 115 which corresponds to block 1~8 in Fi~. 17 comprisos a diode 121 conn~cted to storage capaci-tor 1~2 and to invert~ 12~ throu~h re~lstor 122a. The pur-~ pose of inverter lZ3 is to invert the polarity o~ the peak or ; qui~scent voltage stored on capacitor 122 to be suppl~ed to comparator ll9a for compa~ison with the inte~rator 118 Yolta~e.
Integra~or ll~ compr~s~s a convent~onal operational a~pl~fier 124 ha~ing a capacitor 125 in the ~eedback loop there~
o, in a conventio~al msnner. ~witch 116 i5 connected across ~he c-pacitor 125 through 8 ~mall r~s~tor 126 so as to ~urn the intogrator on and of aS predetermined times.
In operation, when a bill is located betw~en the l~ht ; 20 source 104 and da~octor 105, switch 113a is *urned on and switch 116 is turned o~ by the output ef comparator 114. In this condltion, the integrator i5 ena~led and a slgnal flow ~ath is ost~blishcd bétween bu~for 112a ~nd integrator 118. The out~ut of integrator 118 i~ thus a ramp h~ving a slope pro3~ortional t3 tho magnitude of the detector signal ~s~ which in turn is a fun~tion o instantaneous b~ll thickness.
~ig. 24 ~llustrates tho operat~on o integrator 118, whoroln rsmp VA corresponds to light transmitted through a s~ngle bill and ha~lng a relativcly largo slope, snd VB corros-ponds ~o tho response o~ detoctor 105 to light transmitt~d through a doubles, and has ~ relatiYely small~r slope. Tho 1~26~2~

tim~ at which ~olt~ge of -the r~mp VA in~ersec~s the quiescent or reerence vol~age VQ is Ts~ and the ~imo at which ra~p V~
lnter~ects the rcferctlce voltage VQ is TD. Accordingly, a ;; longer period of timo elap~es beore ~he output of inte~,rator 118 reac]les the rserence roltage VQ whon th~re is a doubl~s, th~n when there is a single ~ill looated between lamp 104 and detector 105.
The dotted line Vc repr0sents an actual output from integrator 118 showing non-linearities assecia~sd wi~h trans^ ~ ~ ie~t changes in light transmi~civi~y or opac~ty along th~
gaug~d portilon of a bill, and intersect refer~ncc vo}tage VQ
at til~e T1. This bill may ~e classified as 8 single or a dou~lcs, depending on the deinitions, which depend upon aYerage thickness or opacity, applic~. It is ~hus apparent that th~
num~er of bills, that is~ ~he~her ther~ is a single ~ill or doubles, between la~p 104 and detector 105 can be determine~ by determinin8 whether the magnitude of the ramp ~oltage is abovo or below a predetermlned ma~n~tude at a predctermined ~i~e, as described above.
2~ For example, in Pig. 24, A~ timc TT, the magnitudo of C is larger than the magnitudo o reference voltago VQ, and the bill being gauged is clsssified as a singlo bill. On the cther hand, at th~ time TT, the m~gnitude of ramp VD is lcs5 th~n VQ, and the ~ill ls cl~ssl~ied as a doubles.
Th~ slope of the ramp generated by th¢ integrator 118 i3 controlled by po~ontiometor 119, so that the opcration of the integrator can be ad~usted to bo usable with b~lls of dif-fcrent denomin~tions or types whilo maintaining a constant ti~e i at whlch ~he ma~nitud~ of the ramp is moasured. In osher words, 30 the potentiometer 119 controls the slope of all ramps generated by Integrator 118 wherc~y thc circuit may be calibrated to ~e oper~tive with any tyPs or denomin~tion of b$11.

1 ~ig. ~5 shows another embodiment of tb~ ~oubles de-tector circui~ and is similar to ~he circuit shown in Pig. 22 except ~ha~ a constant, preselec~ed referencc voltag~ developed by potentiome~er 124a is supplied to one input of co~pa~a~or llga rather ~han a var~able reference. Changes in ambi~nt con-ditions unrela~ed to bill th~ckness are compensated by automat-ically adjusting the intensity o lamp 104 usin~ a lamp driver clrcu~t indicated generally by 1~7. The input of dri~sr sir-cuit 127 is connec~ed to the output o~ huffer 112B go a~ to be : 10 rosponsi~e to the output of detector lOS. Dri~er 127 CO~1-prisc~ a peak dctector c~rcuit includ~ng diods 128, resis~or 129 and capacitor 13~, the output o~ which ~s supplled to ~
conventional operational amplii~r 131 throu~h rosistor 130a.
Opor~tional ampli~ier 131 controls the base driYe on l~mp driver transistor 132 connect~d in series with la~p lQ4 and ~upply volta~ source V. Current-limit~ng reslstor 135 is conn~cte~
betwe~n ~n~plifier 131 and the ~ransis~or 132. Peedl~cX is pro-- Yided between emi~ter resi~or 134 and ~he input o~ operational a~plif1er 131 via resistor 136.
In operation, th~ volta~e on capaci~or 130 trac~s the voltage VQ, which is the ~uiescent or u~locked voltag* ~ener ated by sonsor 105. I~esistor 129 is a pull down resistor to partially d~schar~ capacitor 130 when th~re i5 a dccr~ase in qulo~cent volta~e VQ. Tho voltage on capacitor 130 is used to contr~l ~a~e driYo of lamp driver tr~nsistor 13~ as a ful.c~ion Of the m~gnitudo o quiescent vol~age VQ throu~h amplifler 131.
The output o~ ampli~ier 131 is manu~lly adjusted by potcntio-me~er 137 to provide rated current through l~mp 104. Thereafter~
tho curr~nt iS automa~ically controlled to maintain a constan~
V~ b~y ~eedback resistor 136.
The i~proved doubles dotector and sy~tem n~y be u~ed in any o~ thc ~lanners described for detecting and rejccting - 37~
- :

11262Z~

doubles i31 any o the u~;ual and knowxl typical auto~atic ~enk.in~
units or sys ~ems .
Any such known autom~tic bankinB units which dispense papcr money bills equipped wiSh th~ improved doubl~3s de~c tor and sys~em may have the doubles det~ctor located in the p~th o~ el of the bills bein~ dlspen~;~d ahead o the loca ~on of tho cu~tomer access receptacle ~or the bills disp~ns~d. DUX`i.31g oper~tion of such a bsn~cing unit equipped with the l?npro~ed double~ det~cto2, when a signal ~s generated indicat~n~ the pres-10 enc~ ~f doubles, th~ signal aLctuate3 control means for ~hereversing motor ~or the banXing unit currency disp~nser ~-'rive t~ revcrse thc direc~ion of belt movement of the detee~c r con-veyor so as ~o conv~y the dotect~d doubles contra ~o ~he normal directi~n of bill tr~vel in its p~th o move~cn~c and to dis-char~s the doubles into a rejected bill container.
Such doubles detectin~ s~ als un~cr thc c~ncep~
describ~d resul~c from looking at the ~hole ~11, aver~gin~ e ~ill characteristics, and makin~ a d~ci~iGn as ~o ~he prGs~n~e of single or multlple bills from the signals ~e~era~ n 20 respo~t o~ ~he avorRge char~c~or~stics of th~ whole bil'.
On~ of the advan~cageous eatures o th~ impro~ed equipm~nt disclosed and described is the coopeIati~ ~rr~n~eD~ent between tho curroncy di ~p~nsing and doubl~s detec~ing c~3pon~nts, and t~o depo.~itory component, which are interrclated by ~h~
s~nglc relrersiblc belt con~reyor serving both dispensia~ and dopos it ing functions .
A ~urther dis~inctive feature of tl~e reversil31e belt ~nd ~ c platen mcans which orm tho bill ~nd deposited ~
torial convoyor i5 the ability o ~che convoyox, beca-.lso o~ its 30 rovers~ll charac~eristic, ~:o dlschar6~e bllls rom the convoyor in eith¢r of two opposîte directiolls ~rom a con~yor entry slot located intcrm~dia~l3 the conYeyor ends ~ tllroll~h whi.ci ~ 6~ 24 1 510t the ~ 5 are fed ono by on~ ~n their path o trav~l to the conYeyor.
Another feature is the thln shaft deflection thick-ness ~easuring concopt. As describ~d, on~ ehaft 17 with shaft portions 17a and 17b hav~ng the m~dsupport ~3 ~ay be us~d to provide ~hic~ness ~easurln~ deflection means, one f~r each d.is-pen~in~ line. ~l~arlyJ-if desired, th~ shnft p~rtions 17a and 17b l;lay b~ separa~e shats, each supported at ~t3 en~s ~o pro-vlde for tJle deflectio~ gsu~ing.
. Ot}ler uniquc feature5 rel~te to the constructian and operation of ~h~ various bill ~augin~ and thickness av~ra~ g d~vic~s an~ proced~r~ which accomplish doubles detecti~n ~n a str~am or series o~ bills mov~n~ one by one and composed of a rando~ arr~ngem~n~ of old and new ~on~y.
Added to the l~s~ d~scribed fea~ures ~s the accuracy and rol~abili~y of the improv~d double~ detec~lon operation free of inhe~nt problems previousl~ enco~untercd wi~h prior ~flvices and Sy~e~3 when ~ttempting to handle foreign currency havin~
~any and v~.riable colors and thlc~ncsses.
Stîil ~urther advantages ~ccrue fro~ the thic~ness areragin~ concept whi~h aYoids d~fficultle~ encountered wi~h prior single s~.r,;plin~ actu~t~on o photosens~tlve doubles detectors which ~ay r~ad the same doubles ndicating para~ter 4ro~a t~o new 3upe~ posed b~lls ~s from a s~n~lo mucll used dir~y bi~l, thug r~jecting the singl~ used dirty bills.
Accordin~ly, the prosence of doubles may be reliably and ~ccurately detected ln singl~ or ~ult~plc d~no~inQtion bill dispensing lines, or in suct arrang~men~s coupled wi~h depo¢itory mcans by ~he new doubles det~ctor ~chanism and syste~ for cur-rency dlspollsers ~hat are incor~o~at~d in ~utomatic bankin~
units; ~nd randomly arrang¢d new and old bills may b~ ~lan~led 3g llZ6ZZ~

1 ~n such units as well ~s paper ~oney currency of v~riou~
countries rcgardless o~ colvrs, shade~ o~ color and varying thickness of such currencios; and ~llus the new concepts incor~ :
poratin~ the princip1es and procedures set forth, achieve the stated ob~ectives and solve problems and satisfy needs that h~ve existcd or a considerable time in the art.
~ In the ~oregoing description, certain terms have been used for ~revity, clearness and understandinK; bu~ no unneces-sary l~aitat~ons are to b~ 1mplied beyond ~he requirements o the prior art bec~use such torms are u5ed ~or descriptive purposes ~nd are intended to be ~roadly construed. ~ ~-- ,~oreo~er, 2hc description and illustration of ~he 1n~ontion is by way of exa~ple, and the scopo o the inven~ion is not 1i~ited to the ex~ct details shown or de~cribed.
~ aving ~ow de3cribed the fe~tures, discoveries, and principles o~ tho invention, the manner ln wh1ch the new doubles det¢ctor is cons~ructed and op~rated, ant the advant~eou~, new and useul results ~btained; the new and usoful s~ructures, devices, co~pononts, elemen~s, arrangements, parts, co~b.in~
20 tion~ t xystems, s~ep~, operations, proceduros, ~ethod~ ~nd rolationships aro set forth ~n the appended clai~s.

.

,

Claims (13)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A paper money dispensing system for automatic banking equipment having a bill supply, a bill delivery station and means for conveying paper money from said bill supply to said bill delivery station, including a belt conveyor having a pair of spaced belt conveyor rolls, flat platen means extending between the rolls, a belt backup plate spaced from the platen means and extending between the rolls, an endless rubber belt trained around said spaced conveyor rolls and having an active flight extending between and in contact with said platen means and said backup plate, and drive means operatively connected with at least one of said conveyor rolls to rotate said one roll to move the belt active flight between said platen plate means and said backup plate, the active flight of the belt being pressed against the platen means by the backup plate, whereby bills fed from said bill supply to said belt conveyor are conveyed by the rubber belt along the flat platen means to the bill delivery station.

2. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 1, in which said platen means has an entry slot therein and said convey-ing means is arranged to feed the paper money from said bill supply through said entry slot.

3. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 2, in which said platen means comprises two platens with said entry slot formed therebetween.

4. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 2 or 3, in which first and second guide members extend into said entry slot for guiding the bills therethrough, one of said guide members being deflectable by a bill as it is guided into the entry slot when the said one guide member is in its undeflected position.

5. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 1, in which a doubles detector mechanism is provided between said bill supply and said belt conveyor in the means for conveying paper money, and in which the doubles detector mechanism includes means for generating a doubles detected signal.

6. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 1, which further comprises a depository mechanism housed within a compartment formed in the automatic banking equipment, the banking equipment being provided with a customer access facia formed with a depository entry slot through which deposited material is entered into the compartment, and in which the belt conveyor is located above the depository mechanism, the belt backup plate is yieldingly mounted to accommodate conveyance of deposited material of varying thickness, and the active flight of the rubber belt is pressed against the platen means by the yieldingly mounted belt backup plate, whereby deposited material fed to the belt conveyor from the depository entry slot is conveyed by the rubber belt along the flat platen means into the depository.

7. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 5, in which a depository mechanism is housed adjacent the doubles detector mechanism side-by-side within a compartment formed in to automatic banking equipment with the belt conveyor located above the side-by-side depository and doubles detector mechan-isms, the banking equipment being provided with a depository entry slot through which deposited material is entered into the compartment, and in which the belt backup plate is yield-ingly mounted to accommodate conveyance of deposited material of varying thickness, the platen means is formed with a deposit discharge slot through which deposited material is discharged from the belt conveyor into the depository, and the active flight of the rubber belt is pressed against the platen means by the yieldingly mounted belt backup plate, whereby deposited material fed to the belt con-veyor through the depository entry slot is conveyed by the rubber belt along the flat platen means between the endless belt and platen means to the deposit discharge slot where it is discharged into the depository.

8. A paper money dispensing system for automatic banking equipment having a bill supply, a bill delivery station, a doubles-detector mechanism including means for generating a doubles-detected signal, a depository mechanism adjacent the doubles detector mechanism, the depository mechanism and the doubles detector mechanism being housed side-by-side within a compartment formed in the automatic banking equipment, the banking equipment being provided with a customer access facia formed with a depository entry slot through which deposited material is entered into the compartment and being formed with. a bill delivery receptacle through which paper bills are dispensed to a customer, a belt conveyor located above the side-by-side depository and doubles detector mechanisms and includ-ing a platen, a belt backup and an endless belt, one run of which passes between the platen and the backup, the belt backup being yieldingly mounted to accommodate conveyance of deposited material of varying thickness, the platen being formed with a deposit discharge slot through which deposited material is discharged from the belt conveyor into the depository, and drive means for the belt conveyor to move deposited material from the depository entry slot along the platen between the endless belt and the platen to the deposit discharge slot, and to move bills from the supply stock and the doubles detector mechanism along the platen between the endless belt and the platen to the note delivery receptacle.

9 A dispensing system as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a bill container for said bill supply and means including the-said belt conveyor for continuous-ly moving bills successively along a path from said con-tainer, through said doubles detector mechanism and to said delivery station, said moving means further compris-ing a picker mechanism for removing bills one at a time from said container and a conveyor roll assemblage for moving bills delivered by the picker mechanism successive-ly through the doubles detector mechanism, the belt con-veyor being arranged to receive bills from the conveyor roll assemblage; and means for driving the picker mechan-ism, the conveyor roll assemblage and the belt conveyor in co-ordination.

10. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a bill container for said bill supply and means including the said belt conveyor for continuously moving bills successively along a path from said container, through said doubles detector mechanism and to said delivery station, said moving means further comprising a picker mechanism for removing bills one at a time from said container and a con-veyor roll assemblage for moving bills delivered by the picker mechanism successively through the doubles detector mechanism, the belt conveyor being arranged to receive bills from the conveyor roll assemblage; and means for driving the picker mechanism, the conveyor roll assemblage and the belt conveyor in co-ordination.

11. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 8, further comprising a bill container for said bill supply and means including the said belt conveyor for continuously moving bills successively along a path from said container, through said doubles detector mechanism and to said delivery station, said moving means further comprising a picker mechanism for removing bills one at a time from said container and a conveyor roll assemblage for moving bills delivered by the picker mechanism successively through the doubles detector mechanism, the belt conveyor being arranged to receive bills from the conveyor roll assemblage;
and means for driving the picker mechanism, the conveyor roll assemblage and the belt conveyor in co-ordination.

12. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 9, 10 or 11 in which said bill container comprises a sealed protec-tive container having an access opening which is locked closed until the container is in position.

13. A dispensing system as claimed in claim 5, 7 or 8, in which the doubles detector mechanism includes bill thickness gauging means for measuring the thickness of each bill substantially throughout a gauged length extending in the direction of travel as such bill moves in its path of travel past the thickness gauging means, and means for averaging thickness measurements made throughout the gauged length of such bill to provide an averaged bill thickness measurement, and in which means are provided for comparing such averaged measurement with a reference value greater than normal bill average thickness and means for generating said doubles-detected signal when the averaged measurement exceeds said reference value.