FR2729431A1 - Security system for transferring funds through wall - Google Patents

Abstract

The transfer system includes a safe (12) set in the wall (30) of a bank or post office. The safe has two doors, one external (16) and the other internal (20). A rotating drum (58) is fitted inside the safe. The funds are placed in a recess in the drum. The drum may rotate between three set positions: the opening facing the exterior door, facing a side wall and facing the interior door. The exterior and interior doors may have separate controls to release their locks. The controls are activated by a computer that responds to digital keypads on the exterior and interior doors. Rotation of the drum may also be controlled by the computer, using monitoring of door position via an optical track on the drum which is scanned by infra-red cells fitted inside the safe.

Description

SECURITY DEVICE
FOR THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS THROUGH WALLS
The present invention relates to a security device for transferring funds through a wall. This device is more particularly, although not exclusively, intended for banking or postal agencies. Its purpose is to provide a link allowing the transfer of funds between outside and inside the agency, without physical penetration of people into the agency.

 In the present application, funds are referred to as fund containers, secure mail, suitcases, bags or the like. Likewise, delivery means any exchange of funds made from inside to outside the agency and vice versa.

 Currently, fund transfers are carried out essentially by two methods.

 The first method consists in placing the funds in suitcases or bags, and in transporting said suitcases or bags, not particularly protected in themselves, in armored vehicles.

 This method poses significant security problems since, apart from armored vehicles, the security of the contents of suitcases or bags is ensured by armed conveyors and only by them. Daytime penetration in the agency is not reassuring for the clientele and for agency staff, it is delicate for conveyors and it is at great risk for everyone in case of burglary.

 Night delivery is excluded because the risk of assault is increased, in addition to the accessibility problems inside the agency explained below.

 Also, a second method has been proposed which consists in placing the funds in special containers called "secure funds transport cassettes", said cassettes being punished with their own funds protection devices, and in transporting said cassettes in specially vehicles fitted Unnecessary armored.

 These cassettes are containers, generally of a rectangular parallelepiped shape, provided with a device for protecting the funds, housed in the cassette. It may, for example, be a computer security device which, when the normal procedure for opening the cassette is not respected, activates a device for destroying the funds or marking the funds by means of an indelible ink making funds unusable or for care recognizable and difficult to sell in large quantities.

 In the following, the operation making the funds unusable will be called destruction.

 Generally, the transport cassette has a connection pin connected to the computer security device housed in the cassette. The pin allows the cassette to be connected to computer supports provided for this purpose installed in transport vehicles and in storage and distribution places.

 The progress of the IT security device is generally such that the opening of the cassette cannot be done without damage to the funds in the said cassette unless it is correctly connected to a predetermined computer medium and the normal procedure for opening is carried out correctly. Generally, this computer security procedure requires that the cassette be connected to predetermined computer media within predetermined time periods.

 Thus, such a cassette ensures the protection of the funds without requiring the use of a transport vehicle which is armored. A simple unarmoured vehicle with suitable computer media is sufficient.

 This second method of transporting funds solves some of the difficulties relating to the first method of transport. Indeed, the funds benefit from a double protection: a first protection which is directly ensured by the cassette itself, as explained previously, and a second protection ensured by the physical presence of the conveyors.

 However, problems remain.

 By carrying out secure cash transfers during the day, the conveyors are mice to traffic difficulties, which often causes delays in their planning of agencies to deliver. Thus, it can happen to them to reach an agency after the closing time. In this case, either they turn back without having made the delivery, or, if they have the agency keys, they still make the delivery. This is not without risk, since the agency is closed and under alarm. There are many safety measures to be observed, in particular to avoid triggering the alarm. It turns out that the conveyors are more vulnerable in case of attack by burglars. Delivery is done quickly because these opening and closing operations of the agency take time. I1 also poses problems of responsibility for closing and resetting under alarm.

 In addition to this problem, the schedule not being respected, this generates risks of destruction of the contents of the cassettes for non-compliance with the authorized deadlines.

 In addition, even if the cassettes have their own protection, the conveyors are still obliged to enter the agency to make the delivery, in particular to be able to connect the cassettes to the computer media provided for this purpose in the agency.

 Thus, if it is not practical to deliver agencies during the day while the agency is open, it is even less practical to deliver them during the night.

 There are devices for day and night deliveries. These devices are in the form of double entry safes built into the front of the agency. One entrance is accessible from outside the agency, while the other entrance is accessible from inside the agency. However, these devices are not suitable for the delivery of the cassettes described above, in particular because of their high short. Also, these armored safes are not provided with the computer supports necessary for the connection with the cassettes.

 The object of the present invention is to facilitate the delivery of funds arranged in cassettes, noted overnight.

 Another object of the present invention is to allow the delivery of funds to agencies, day and night, without necessarily requiring that the funds conveyors enter the agency to effect delivery, while ensuring effective and efficient protection. funds.

 To this end, the present invention relates to a security device for the transfer of funds through a wall, characterized in that it comprises a cabinet embedded in a wall of an agency facade, said cabinet being provided with two doors. , one exterior and the other interior, at least one pivoting drum being disposed in one cabinet and provided with a housing intended to receive cassettes for transporting secure funds.

 Advantageously, this device comprises means for rotating the drum according to three determined positions, the first position being such that said housing is open on the interior door of the cabinet, the second position being such that said housing is open on one side side of the cabinet, the third position being such that said housing is open on the exterior door of the cabinet.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description which follows of a particular embodiment, description given by way of example only, with reference to the appended drawings in which
- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device
according to the present invention
- Figure 2 is a perspective view similar to the
Figure 1, one of the doors being open;
- Figure 3 is an elevational view of the drum;
- Figure 4 is a partial horizontal sectional view
of the device of Figure 1;
- Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an operating mode of a device in accordance with the
present invention.

 FIG. 1 represents an embodiment of the device of the present invention, designated as a whole by the reference 10.

The device 10 consists of a cabinet 12 of parallelepiped shape having six faces
- One face, called the outer face 14, united with a
door known as external door 16.

- Opposite this external face 14, one face,
said regulated or interior access face 18,
provided with a door called interior door 20.

 - An upper face 22 and a lower face 24.

 - Two side faces 26 and 28.

 In the present description, the term “exterior” means the side of the agency wall which is accessible from the outside and generally located on the street. The regulated or indoor access side is the one located inside the agency and which is only available to agency staff.

 This cabinet is embedded in a wall or partition 30 of the agency (shown in phantom in Figures 1 and 2), defining at E the outside of the agency and at I the inside of the agency. Advantageously, the embedding is carried out such that only the external face 14 is accessible from the external side E of the agency (FIG. 4).

 The faces of the cabinet 12 are made of a metallic material of suitable thickness, advantageously reinforced by stiffeners.

 On the outer door 16, a digital pave 32 and a light 34 are shown. The interior door 20 can also be provided with such a numeric keypad 32 and with such a light 34.

 Figure 2 shows the cabinet 12 of Figure 1 with the outer door 16 open.

 In this figure, it can be seen that the outer door 16 is provided with bolts 36 ensuring the locking of the door in the closed position, when they are inserted in corresponding lefts 38 formed in the cabinet 12 (in FIG. 2, only one strike 38 is shown).

 Of course, the interior door 20 is provided with similar pins also engaging in corresponding strikes of the cabinet 12 when the door 20 is closed. The actuation of the pins 36 is ensured by any suitable known device housed in the doors 16, 20.

 The interior of the cabinet 12 is arranged with several compartments and / or stages.

 A first stage, called lower stage 40, extends substantially over the entire width of the cabinet 12.

 A second stage, called the intermediate stage 42, is divided into two compartments 44, 46. The compartment 46 (said technical compartment) is, on each side of the cabinet 12, provided with a door 48 provided with a lock 50. This technical compartment 46 comprises in particular computer and mechanical means described below. The compartment 44 is provided with telescopic slides with a pivoting support (not shown) making it possible to slide a computer terminal (not shown) in the said compartment 44 in order to make the said terminal accessible from both sides of the cabinet.

 A third stage, called upper stage 52, is closed, on each side of the cabinet, by walls 54 defining a substantially rectangular vertical opening 56. This opening 56 is substantially centered relative to the cabinet 12.

 The stages defined above extend substantially over the entire depth of the cabinet 12.

 A cylindrical drum 58 is disposed vertically and centered in the upper stage 52, so as to close, on each side of the cabinet 12, the opening 56.

 The drum 58 is shown in FIG. 3.

 This drum 58 is movable in rotation relative to its vertical axis 60.

 The cylindrical vertical wall 62 of the drum 58 is completed by a lower flange 64 and by an upper flange 66. The rotation of the drum 58 on its axis 60 is effected by means of shafts 61 integral with the flanges 64, 66.

 The wall 62 has an opening 68 extending from the lower flange 64 to the upper flange 66. This opening 68 defines a substantially parallelepiped housing housed in the drum 58 and centered with respect to the axis 60 of the drum. This housing is delimited by parallel walls 70 and a bottom wall 72.

 The parallel walls 70 are provided with slides 74.

These slides 74 make it possible to support cassettes 76 (shown in broken lines) which can be placed in said housing of the drum.

 The bottom wall 72 is provided, at appropriate locations, with connection pins 78. These connection pins 78 are connected by targets 80 to a central computer unit (not shown), for example arranged in the technical compartment 46. The cables 80 pass through the drum 58 along the axis of the lower shaft 61. The connection pins 78 are intended to cooperate with the connection pins with which the cassettes are provided and which are themselves connected to the computer security device housed in the cassettes.

 The lower shaft 61 is provided with a pinion 82. The pinion 82 meshes with a toothed belt (not shown) actuated by a pinion secured to a DC motor (not shown) which is, for example, arranged in the technical compartment 46.

 The periphery of the upper flange 66 is provided with an optical track 84. This optical track 84 is intended to be read by infrared cells (not shown) connected to the central computer unit. Reading the optical track 84 allows the central unit to properly pilot the motor ensuring the rotation of the drum 58.

 The computer terminal arranged on slides in compartment 44 is connected with the central unit arranged in technical compartment 46. The keypad 32 is also connected with said central unit. This central unit is programmed to manage the operation of the cabinet 12. The central unit also manages the actuation of the bolts 36.

 The operation of the cabinet will now be explained, with reference to a preferred operating mode as illustrated in FIG. 5.

 The optical track 84 is arranged so that the drum 58 can occupy three determined positions: a first position for which the opening 68 of the drum 58 faces the interior door 20 (FIG. 5D); a second position for which the opening 68 of the drum 58 is opposite one of the lateral faces (for example 28) of the cabinet 12 (FIGS. SA, 5C, 5E); a third position for which the opening 68 of the drum 58 is opposite the outer door 16 (FIG. 5B).

 The drum is allowed to rotate 180th, namely from the first position to the third position through the second position and vice versa. Locking means can be provided to ensure that rotation of the drum 58 is made impossible beyond the first and third positions.

The preferred operating cycle is as follows
Out of period of use, the two doors 16 and 20 are closed, the drum 58 being in the second position (FIG. 5A).

 The conveyors, from day to night, open the outer door 16 after entering an appropriate code on the numeric keypad 32 and, after identification on the mobile terminal in compartment 44, call the drum in the third position (FIG. 5B). They insert the cassettes 76 into the drum 58 by sliding them on the slides 74, until the pin of each cassette is connected with the corresponding pin 78 of the drum 58.

 Then, the conveyors close the outer door 16, which brings the drum 58 back to the second position (FIG. 5C). Alternatively, it can be provided that the conveyors close the outer door 16 after having brought the drum 58 into the second position by means of an appropriate order on the computer terminal.

 Before closing the external door 16, the conveyors can also deposit objects in the coartinent of the first stage 40. The objects generally deposited in this cospartisent / stage 40 do not require very important protection. It is very often mail that has no market value.

 As soon as the outer door 16 is closed, the indicator 34 of this door 16 turns red, while the indicator 34 of the inner door 20, initially red, turns green.

As soon as the indicator 34 of the interior door 20 is green, the latter can be opened, while the exterior door 16, indicator 34 in red, can no longer be opened.

 An authorized person opens the interior door 20 after having typed an appropriate code on the numeric keypad 32 of this interior door 20. He calls the drum 58 in the first position after identification on the computer terminal housed in the compartment 44 (FIG. 5D).

 It can open the cassettes 76 by means of the normal opening procedure specific to the computer security devices housed in said cassettes. The programming of the central unit is such that the authorized opening of the cassette cannot be carried out. only when the drum 58 is in the first position.

 Then, it closes the interior door 20, which brings the drum 58 into the second position (Figure SE).

Alternatively, it can be provided that it closes the interior door 20 after having brought the drum 58 into the second position by means of an appropriate order on the computer terminal.

 As soon as the inner door 20 is closed, its indicator 34 turns red, while the indicator 34 of the outer door 16, which was red, turns green. As soon as the indicator 34 of the outer door 16 is green, the latter can be opened, while the inner door 20, indicator 34 in red, can no longer be opened.

We are then again in the case shown in Figure SA. The cycle can start again,
Multiple variations can be made to the operating cycle described above.

 In a first variant, it can be provided, by appropriate programming of the central unit, that the exterior door 16 can be re-opened twice in succession, that is to say without intermediate opening of the interior door 20, without however allow a second call of the drum 58 in the third position. For example, this mode of operation allows a first team of conveyors to have cassettes in the drum 58 and to close the outer door 16. Then, a second team can re-open the outer door 16 in order to deposit objects (from the mail for example) in the compartment / floor 40, without being able to call the drum 58 in the third position.

 With this first variant, when deliveries are made at night, a first team of conveyors can place cassettes in the drum 58 and close the exterior door 16 and, then, a second team has the means of opening the exterior door 16 to deposit mail in compartment / floor 40.

 In a second variant, the central unit can be programmed to deny that the interior door 20 can be re-opened several times, whether or not allowing the drum 58 to be called in the first position.

 Other operating variants can also be envisaged, according to an appropriate programming of the central unit.

 The present invention is particularly suitable for the delivery of funds arranged in secure funds transport cassettes.

 With the present device, the cassettes can be delivered day and night in the agency and connected to the appropriate supports 78, without requiring the penetration of natural persons into the agency.

 Also, as described for the preferred mode of operation, joint deliveries of cassettes and objects (for example mail) can be carried out in a single round by a single team of conveyors.

Indeed, the cassettes have their own security device, they can be transported in unarmoured vehicles equipped with appropriate IT supports. These vehicles are much less expensive than armored vehicles, which makes it cost-effective to transport cassettes and mail simultaneously.

 Of course, the device described above can undergo numerous modifications without departing from the scope of the present invention.

 The cabinet shown in the figures has an unused area, below the doors 16 and 20. In the iodine shown, this area is provided for ergonomic reasons in order to position the drum 58 & an adequate height when the cabinet rests on the ground. One can, of course, dispense with this unused area, by embedding the cabinet 12 in the agency wall at an adequate height.

 One can also arrange one cabinet 12 of several drums 58, ribs & ribs and / or one above the other.

 The keypads 32 (as well as the indicators 34) can be replaced by equivalent devices. For example, the exterior numeric keypad 32 can be replaced by an assembly comprising a non reproducible coded electronic key.

Claims (8)

IIVlMDICATIOMS  1. Security device for transferring funds through a wall, characterized in that it comprises a cabinet (12) embedded in a wall (30) of an agency facade, said cabinet (12) being provided with two doors, one exterior (16) and the other interior (20), at least one pivoting drum (58) being arranged in the cabinet (12) and provided with a housing designed to receive transport cassettes for secure fund (76).  2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means for rotating the drum according to three determined positions, the first position being such that said housing is open on the interior door (20) of the cabinet ( 12), the second position being such that said housing is open on a lateral face (28) of the cabinet (12), the third position being such that said housing is open on the external door (16) of the cabinet ( 12).  3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the exterior (16) and interior (20) doors are respectively provided with means for controlling their opening.  4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the means for controlling the opening of the doors comprise numeric keypads (32) arranged on each door and connected to a central computer control unit authorizing the blocking or unblocking of said doors .  5. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the housing formed in the drum (58) comprises connection pins (78) connected to a central unit and capable of connection with corresponding pins arranged on the secure cassettes (76).  6. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises means provided for controlling the rotation of the drum (58).  7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that said means comprise an optical track (84) arranged on the drum (58), Infra-Red cells arranged in the cabinet (12) opposite said track (84) and connected to a central computer unit controlling a motor which ensures the rotation of the drum (58).  8. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the cabinet (12) comprises a stage (40) capable of receiving objects.