EP0917691A1

EP0917691A1 - Roller storage arrangement

Info

Publication number: EP0917691A1
Application number: EP97932723A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bernhard Lutz
Original assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Current assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Priority date: 1996-07-24
Filing date: 1997-07-02
Publication date: 1999-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 2017-07-02
Also published as: US6164585A; WO1998005007A1; DE19629900A1; EP0917691B1; DE59704887D1

Abstract

The invention relates to a roller storage arrangement for sheet-shaped objects, in particular bank notes, with two roller cores (10, 12) which are each connected to a drive mechanism (18, 20), the drive direction thereof being changeable, and between which a common storage tape (22) can be rewound. The storage tape (22) is divided into logical sectors (52) which follow each other in the longitudinal direction of the tape and which are each intended to hold an object to be stored. An engaging/disengaging unit (28) is arranged between the roller cores (10, 12) and is optionally adjustable between a position of rest and an engaging/disengaging position.

Description

Roller storage arrangement

The invention relates to a roll storage arrangement for sheet-shaped objects, in particular bank notes, according to the preamble of claim 1.

Two different technical concepts are currently used to store banknotes in ATMs, namely cassette storage and roll storage. Banknotes are stored in bundle form in cassette memories, each cassette storing one type of note. In the case of a roll storage device, the storage generally takes place between rolled-up plastic or metal strips. Here, too, one note type is saved per roll memory if the roll memory serves as the main memory. Banknotes of a mixed bundle of banknotes can also be stored if the roll store serves only as an intermediate store, namely as a so-called intermediate cash register for entered banknotes.

When using both storage technologies in automated teller machines, especially in so-called recycling machines for a closed cash cycle, a storage medium (cassette or roll) must be available for each type of note to be expected. Storage media, however, take up a lot of space and are expensive, so that there is usually a restriction to the most common types of notes.

If notes are accepted or should be issued for which no storage medium is available (1000 DM notes, foreign currencies or the like), these can be At best, recycling machines are collected together, but are no longer issued. In addition, both storage media have in common that when used as a mass storage device in recycling machines an above-mentioned intermediate cash desk is always required, since if a deposit process is canceled by the customer, it cannot otherwise be guaranteed that the banknotes already stored can be reissued in the original. However, this measure is imperative, for example, as protection against money laundering.

EP-A-0 735 513 specifies a roll storage arrangement of the type mentioned at the outset, with which deposited banknotes, even of different currencies or types of notes, can be stored in such a way that they can also be output again at a later point in time. Two storage coils are provided, between which a storage tape can be wound back and forth as desired. The storage tape is divided into sectors of fixed length, which are identified by coding and can therefore be found at any time. For this purpose, an electronic memory is provided, in which the relationship between the banknotes and the sector codes is stored.

A bank note is inserted between the storage tape and a second tape for storage in the winding of a storage coil. Both tapes with the banknote in between are then wound onto a storage spool. The second tape is unwound from a separate supply reel when a banknote is stored and wound up again when it is stored out. The known device is constructed symmetrically, so that each storage spool is assigned a supply spool and a second band. So three tapes and four spools are required. The space requirement and effort in drive technology for four with synchronous peripheral speed but coils that can be driven freely are large. The utilization of the storage volume on the storage reel is also unfavorable, since two layers of tape are wound onto it per bill deposit. The degree of utilization is further reduced by the fact that the sector length must be adapted to the length of the largest banknote occurring.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a roller storage arrangement of the type mentioned at the outset, which ensures a high level of space utilization in the storage with little construction effort for the storage drive.

This object is achieved by the features specified in the characterizing part of claim 1.

According to the invention, the objects to be stored - hereinafter the term "banknotes" is used - are stored between the winding layers of one of the tape windings formed on the roll cores. Only a single storage tape is used, ie the banknotes are inserted between the winding layers of one and the same storage tape. In contrast to the prior art, only two tape windings to be driven in opposite directions are therefore necessary. The storage space available on the reels is used particularly well, since only one storage tape layer has to be wound up per banknote layer. The storage tape itself can consist of two or more subbands arranged at a distance from one another.

The in / out unit has at least one pair of endless belts which together form a belt gap for the transport of banknotes to be stored, the in / out unit being arranged in such a way that the strands of the endless belt forming the belt gap are in the inoperative position of the in / out unit lie in one level with the storage tape next to it and in the / Track-out position are pivoted relative to the plane of the storage band about a pivot axis running through a longitudinal end of the belt gap and lying in the plane of the storage band. If the storage tape consists of only one tape, it is advisable to provide a pair of endless belts on both sides of the tape. If the storage tape consists of two partial belts, a third pair of endless belts can also be provided between the two partial belts. This increases the transport security when inserting and removing banknotes.

In order to accelerate the entry and exit of banknotes and thus reduce the access time to certain banknotes, an entry / exit unit can be assigned to each tape winding. It is thus possible for bank notes to be tracked in and out regardless of the direction in which the storage tape runs. In a preferred embodiment, however, an engagement / disengagement unit is arranged between the two tape windings in such a way that it can optionally be adjusted relative to each of the tape windings in an engagement / disengagement position.

According to an advantageous further development of the invention, the sectors are determined by measuring the length of the tape that has been passed, with knowledge of the sector length. The sector length (measured in the longitudinal direction of the tape) depends on the largest banknote width when the banknotes are processed crosswise or on the largest banknote length when they are processed longitudinally.

With a fixed sector length, this must correspond to the size of the largest banknote occurring. In the case of currency systems with small banknotes, the degree of utilization of the storage capacity therefore deteriorates. According to a development of the invention, therefore desired sector length is stored in the control device during an initialization phase of the roll memory. The storage capacity of a roll memory can thus be adapted to the banknote size of a particular currency. It is also possible to divide the storage space in the field into several storage areas with sectors of different sizes to suit the application. For example, the inner layers of the tape reels can be provided with larger sectors for higher-value, less frequently issued or stored banknotes, which are larger than lower-value in most currencies. The remaining storage space can then be provided with smaller sectors.

The subdivision of the storage tape into logically identifiable sectors allows direct addressing of each individual stored banknote by specifying the length section it occupies. If the banknote can be recognized at all by the machine, the location of the stored banknote, namely the length section characterizing its sector, is recorded. The optional switching on and off of the on / off track unit gives the possibility to find a specific sector on the storage tape and to track the bank note stored there. The exact control of the in / out unit can be made even easier if, according to a development of the invention, a sensor connected to the control device for detecting the front and / or back edge of the bank notes is arranged between the tape winding and the in / out unit.

If the roll storage device according to the invention is used in an automated teller machine, it is not necessary to store deposited banknotes temporarily. The banknotes can be stored in the roll storage immediately and, if necessary, time individually identified, collected and handed out to the customer.

The following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings explains the invention on the basis of exemplary embodiments. Show it:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a storage arrangement according to the invention with the on / off unit in its rest position,

FIG. 2 shows a representation corresponding to FIG. 1 with the in / out unit in the in

/ Tracking,

Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of a portion of the storage tape and the lower part of the on / off unit and

Figure 4 is a schematic representation corresponding to Figure 1 of a modified embodiment of the invention.

The roller storage arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises roller cores 10 and 12 which are arranged at a distance from one another and parallel to one another and which are each coupled to the output shaft 14 or 16 of a motor 18 or 20 which can be switched in its direction of rotation. A storage tape 22 is wound onto the roll cores 10, 12 to form a tape roll 24 or 26, so that a stretch of the storage tape 22 stretched between the tape rolls 24 and 26 remains freely accessible.

Arranged in the area between the two tape reels 24, 26 is an engagement / unloading unit or loading rocker, generally designated 28, which comprises a belt group 30 arranged below the storage belt 22 and a belt group 32 arranged above the storage belt 22 includes. As FIG. 3 shows, the storage belt 22 consists of two sub-belts 34 running parallel to one another in the same plane. Each belt group 30 and 32 consists of three parallel endless belts 36 which are guided over coaxial rollers 38 in such a way that a belt drum runs in the plane of the sub-bands 34 and parallel to them, as shown in FIG. 3. The mutually facing belt spaces of the two belt groups 30, 32 work together to form a belt gap 40 for the transport of banknotes. The belt groups 30, 32 are driven at the same feed speed and in the same direction as the storage belt 22.

The loading rocker 28 can be adjusted by means of an adjusting device 42 between a rest position shown in FIG. 1, in which banknotes lying on the storage belt 22 can pass through the belt gap unhindered, and an engagement / disengagement position shown in FIG. 2, in which the loading rocker 28 is moved through one one end of the belt gap 40 is pivoted parallel to the axes of the rollers 38, the pivot axis 44 (FIG. 2) is pivoted and thereby comes into alignment with the end of the belt gap 40 opposite the pivot axis 44 in alignment with a track 46 through which banknotes to be stored are fed or fed banknotes removed from the memory can be removed, as indicated by the double arrow 48.

The motors 18, 20 and the adjusting device 42 for adjusting the loading rocker 28 are controlled via a control device 50 of the storage arrangement, which also takes over the management of the storage inventory.

According to the invention, the storage tape 22 is divided in its longitudinal direction into individual sectors 52 (FIG. 3), the expansion of which in the tape longitudinal direction during a longitudinal processing of banknotes to be stored corresponds to the length thereof and, in the case of cross-processing of the banknotes to be stored (banknote 53 in FIG. 3), corresponds to the width thereof. The location of the sectors 52 on the storage tape 22 is determined by measuring the continuous tape length. For this purpose, a measuring device 54 is provided, which is connected to the control device 50. The measuring device 54 is attached to the loading rocker 28. A sensor 56, which is also connected to the control device 50, is arranged near the storage belt 22 and the pivot axis 44 of the loading rocker 28 for scanning the front and rear edges of the banknotes. With the aid of this sensor 56, exact, band-synchronous control of the actuating device 42 of the loading rocker 28 is made even easier. Each sector 52 can thus be uniquely identified by direct actuation of the sector on the basis of a specific band length section and brought into a position relative to the loading rocker 28 in which the latter can deposit a banknote on the selected sector of the storage band or remove it from the sector concerned. The assignment of individual banknotes and the corresponding sectors in which they are stored is carried out by the memory management housed in the control device 50.

If a storage arrangement described above is used in automatic cash dispensers and dispensers, in which deposited banknotes are also to be re-issued to other customers (recycling machines), all of the notes recognized by the note acceptor, ie also foreign currencies, can be received and issued. In an electronic memory of the control device, only a corresponding free sector 52 of the memory tape is assigned to each note taken. The inventory management of the machine registers note type and band sector. During the payout process, a sector is approached that has a no- te of the desired amount is filled. This note is tracked out and paid out via the rocker switch 28. If the payment is canceled, the original banknotes that have already been paid in before the cancellation must be returned to the customer. So far, a buffer was required for this. However, since the storage locations of the individual banknotes can be found unambiguously in the storage arrangement according to the invention, an intermediate store can be omitted.

A further advantage of the solution according to the invention is that the access times to the memory can be optimized by appropriate control, for example by storing rarely used note types in sectors at the ends of the tape, while the more common and frequently required note types are stored in the middle of the tape. where faster access can take place. By identifying the sectors on the basis of the band length section they occupy, it is also possible with purely control-technical means to choose the sectors of different sizes depending on the application and / or the currencies to be stored.

In the embodiment of the storage arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 to 2, the storing, ie the depositing of the banknotes on the storage tape 22 takes place while the latter runs from the tape winding 26 onto the tape winding 24, ie from right to left in the figures . Banknotes can be removed if the tape runs in the opposite direction. If the sought banknotes are now stored in the winding 26, they would first have to be transported to the belt winding 24 by the loading rocker 28 and then unraveled in the opposite direction. This means a loss of time. It is therefore expedient to mount the loading rocker 28 and to design the adjusting device 24 such that the loading rocker 28 can be brought into an in / out position with respect to each tape roll 24 and 26, so that 22 bank notes can be in and out in each running direction of the storage tape. In addition to the corresponding mounting of the loading rocker 28, a second track 46 is then also required for feeding and removing the banknotes, as is indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 1.

Another, more complex option is shown in FIG. 4. In the case of the storage arrangement shown schematically there, the same parts are again provided with the same reference numerals. FIG. 4 shows a storage arrangement, a loading rocker being assigned to each tape roll. FIG. 4 further shows that several of the memory arrangements shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be arranged next to one another in order to increase the total memory capacity. It is possible to drive the coaxial roller cores via a common motor or also individually.

In the exemplary embodiments shown above, a single storage tape (although it may consist of the sub-tapes 34) was used, the banknotes being clamped between the individual winding layers of the storage tape 22.

Instead of a separate motor 14, 16 for each roller core 10 or 12, it is also possible to provide a single motor which drives the belt groups 30, 32 and the storage tape 22 passing between them. The roller cores 10, 12 can then be coupled to this motor via a slip clutch.

It is understood that the roll storage arrangement described above is suitable not only for banknotes, but generally for sheet-shaped objects.

Claims

Patent claims

1. Roll storage arrangement for sheet-shaped objects, in particular banknotes with two roll cores (10, 12), each of which is connected to a drive (18, 20) which can be switched in its drive direction and on which a common storage tape (22) can be wound up in such a way that it can be rewound between the roll cores (10, 12), with an in / out unit (28) for feeding articles to be stored to one of the tape rolls (24, 26) formed on the roll cores (10, 12) and for removing a stored object from the tape roll (24, 26) and with a control device (50) for controlling the drives (18, 20) and the engagement / disengagement unit (28), characterized in that the objects to be stored between the winding layers of the storage tape ( 22) one of the tape windings (24, 26) formed on the roll cores (10, 12) are stored and that the in / out unit (28) has at least one pair in the same direction and in synchronism with the storage tape (22 ) has drivable endless belts (36) which together form a belt gap (40) for the transport of objects to be stored, the in / out unit (28) being arranged such that the strands of the endless belts (40) forming the belt gap (40) 36) in a rest position of the in / out unit (28) in one plane with the storage tape (22) next to it and are pivoted in an in / out position by a pivot axis (44) which runs through a longitudinal end of the belt gap (40) and lies in the plane of the storage band (22) with respect to the plane of the storage band (22).

2. Roll storage arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that each tape roll (24, 26) is associated with an on / off unit (28).

3. Roll storage arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the in / out unit (28) is arranged between the two roll cores (10, 12) in such a way that they are optionally relative to each of the band reels (24, 26) an on / off position is adjustable.

4. Roll storage arrangement according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the storage tape (22) is divided into successive logical sectors (52) in the tape longitudinal direction for receiving one object each to be stored, that with the control device (50) a measuring device ( 54) for detecting continuous tape lengths of the storage tape (22) for identifying the sectors (52) and that the in / out unit (28) is selectively adjustable between the inoperative position and the in / out position depending on a tape length measured value.

5. Roll storage arrangement according to claim 4, characterized in that between the tape reel (24) and the on / off unit (28) with the control device (50) connected sensor (56) for detecting the front and / or rear edge of a Object is arranged.