GB2165492A

GB2165492A - Cheque writing apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2165492A
Application number: GB08426280A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Bradbrook; Ian Collins; William Revell
Original assignee: PA Consulting Services Ltd
Current assignee: PA Consulting Services Ltd
Priority date: 1984-10-17
Filing date: 1984-10-17
Publication date: 1986-04-16
Also published as: GB2165492B; GB8426280D0

Abstract

Cheque writing apparatus has a slot for entry of a cheque, drive rollers (16, 18) for transporting the cheque, a selectively activatable printing means and a cheque card holder (22) in which a cheque card may be positioned via a cheque card entry slot, means for operating the drive rollers to transport the cheque for printing on its face and for transfer of information to its back from the cheque card prior to discharging the cheque, and means for effecting the transfer of embossed information from the card to the cheque in the form of a pressure roller (26), which may apply ink or may be inked. Ink ribbon from 46 may be used to supply ink for the selective printing means. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improved cheque writing apparatus Field of the invention This invention concerns cheque writing apparatus and particularly apparatus by which the information to be entered on a cheque such as Payee, Amount, Date etc., can be automatically written onto the cheque and in which details concerning the payers cheque card can be automatically entered on the rear of the cheque.

Background to the invention U.K. Patent Specification 2081185 describes che que writing apparatus of this general type. The present invention is concerned with improvements and modifications to that original design.

Summary of the invention According to one aspect of the present invention in cheque writing apparatus: 1. a cheque entry; 2. drive means for transporting the cheque from the entry into the printing apparatus and after printing discharging the cheque; 3. printing means for printing information on the face of the cheque as the latter is moved by the drive means; 4. a cheque card entry and guide means for locating a cheque card adjacent the line of movement of a cheque through the apparatus; 5. roller means for squeezing the cheque against the embossed surface of the cheque card, inking means associated with the roller means forming an impression of the embossing on the reverse side of the cheque; and, 6. drive means for effecting relative movement between the roller means and the said cheque card to form the impression of the embossing of the cheque card on the reverse side of the cheque.

Preferably the cheque and cheque card are held stationary and the roller means is moved relative to the cheque and cheque card.

Preferably the inking means is incorporated into the roller means.

Conveniently the drive means for the roller means is in the form of a lead screw which is rotated by a drive motor.

Preferably the drive means for the cheque comprises a pair of pinch rollers downstream of the said cheque entry and drive means therefore serves to rotate one or other or both of the pinch rollers.

The cheque drive means may comprise a second pair of pinch rollers located beyond the cheque card location so that the cheque is moved first past the printing head and then into a position adjacent the cheque card and is thereafter nipped and drawn out of the apparatus in one direction.

Alternatively and preferably a single pair of nip rollers is provided and the direction of rotation is reversed after the impression of the cheque card is made so as to eject the cheque back through the entry.

Conveniently the printing means comprise one or more line printers together with associated control circuits under the control of a central processor unit having stored therein information by which different portions of the line printer or printers can be energised so as to position the printed marks on the cheque at the appropriate positions given the cheque format.

Conveniently the apparatus includes keyboard means which may be integrally formed therewith or located in a separate apparatus and electrically connected thereto by which information can be entered including the format of the cheque so that the appropriate control signals are derived from the central processor unit and supplied to the printing devices so that printed material on the cheque appears aligned and in the correct position.

Reference is made to published specification 2081185 for information relating to the central processor derived control signals.

According to another aspect of the present invention cheque writing apparatus is incorporated into a cash till as employed in retail shops and the like so that when a customer pays by cheque the cheque blank can be entered into a slot associated with the till and the information to enable the cheque to be written is entered via a keyboard also associated with the till.

According to another aspect of the invention, the cheque writing apparatus is remote from the till but the keyboard and other controls for setting up the cheque writing apparatus and entering information to be written on the cheque is located either as part of or adjacent the till and consequently the keyboard is connected to the cheque writing apparatus by a flying lead or the like.

According therefore to a preferred feature of the invention a cash register or till for retail sales and the like incorporates a cheque writing facility including an entry for a cheque to be written, an entry for a cheque card to be endorsed on the back of the cheque and a keyboard by which information to be entered on the cheque can be entered into the machine and microprocessor means is provided containing information relating to different cheque formats to produce control signals for selecting or moving printing devices associated with the cheque writing apparatus to enter the desired information at the appropriate position on the cheque according to the format of the cheque selected.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a cheque writing apparatus constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is an end view in the direction of arrow D of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross sectional view on the line A-A of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a cross sectional view on the line B-B of Figure 1; and Figure 5 is a cross sectional view on the line C-C of Figure 1.

Detailed description of the drawings The apparatus shown in the drawings does not include the keyboard for entering information nor any visual display which may be associated with the equipment to assist in checking the information which is to be entered on the cheque. It is to be understood that these devices may be incorporated into the apparatus shown or into associated apparatus such as a cash register.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a housing generally designated 10 includes a cheque entry slot 12 into which a cheque can be edgewise entered in the direction of the arrow 14 of Figure 1. The cheque entry leads to a cheque drive formed by a pair of nip rollers 16 and 18 the latter being driven by a motor shown at 20 in Figure 3.

Rotation of the roller 18 causes the cheque to drive in the continued direction of arrow 14 past a cheque card holder 22 (to be described) until the cheque is at the end of the travel determined by the rotation of the roller 18 where the end of the cheque (the leading end, that is) is at the position marked at 24 in Figure 1.

Information entered into the apparatus and processed by a microprocessor control centre (not shown) determines the amount of rotation on roller 18 in dependance on the cheque format which has been entered which will determine the size of the cheque (i.e. the length and breadth).

In the foremost position the rear end of the cheque is still gripped between the rollers 18 and 16 and in this position a roller 26 is moved in the direction of the arrow 28 so as to form an inked impression on the reverse side of the cheque which faces the roller 26. To this end the roller 26 is a self inked roller or inking means (not shown) is associated therewith.

The roller 26 is carried by a carriage 30 better seen in Figure 4, which runs on two rails a first rail serving as a guide and support and identified by reference numeral 32 and the second being threaded along its length in the form of a screw and designated by reference numeral 34. This latter is threaded in a nut 36 held captive in the member 30 so that rotation of the screw 34 about its axis will cause axial movement in the direction of the arrow 28 (or in the opposite sense with appropriate opposite rotation of the screw 34). Rotation of screw 34 is achieved by means of a motor 38.

Control signals for the motor are also derived from the control centre.

The motion imparted by the motor 38 to the carriage 30 and roller 26 is such as to cause the roller 26 to traverse first in the direction of arrow 28 then in the opposite sense to its home position as shown in Figure 1 so as to cause an inked impression of the embossing of the cheque card to appear on the rear of the cheque.

The printing of characters on the face of the cheque is achieved by two printing heads (although more than two may be incorporated if required) identified by reference numerais 40 and 42 and best seen in Figure 3.

The printing heads are driven by a motor 44 and control signals for this motor are again derived from the control centre (not shown).

A cassette 46 containing an inking ribbon is located at the printing station opposite the print heads 40 and 42 and the ribbon lies between the printing heads and the face of the cheque on which the characters are to be printed.

The printing heads may be line printers or dot metrix printers as desired and control signals as appropriate are derived therefore.

The ribbon cassette 46 is driven either by separate drive or by reduction gearing from the pinch rollers 18 and 16 so as to present a fresh inked section of ribbon for each printing process.

As mentioned above a cheque card is inserted into a cheque card receiving station at 22 via a cheque card receiving slot 48 (see Figure 4). The latter permits an appropriate cheque card to be entered with its front face pointing towards the cheque so that upon application of the impression forming roller 26 on the other side of the cheque, the embossing on the face of the cheque card will appear in relief on the other side of the cheque.

The two guides 32 and 34 are mounted within two end plates at 5Q and 52 which extend perpendicular from a base plate 54 and rigidly secured thereto. The entire assembly is contained within the housing 10.

A keyboard (not shown) may be located in the lower section of the housing at 56 (see Figure 2) or by way of a flying lead may be located within another item of apparatus such as a cash register or till.

Likewise a display device (not shown) may be incorporated either into the apparatus shown or into associated apparatus such as a till to indicate the information which is to be entered on the cheque before the print process is completed.

It is to be noted that the printing may be performed either as the cheque enters the apparatus and moves in the direction of the arrow 14 or as the cheque leaves the apparatus in the direction of the arrow 28. In the latter direction the printing of course will be made as it is written from left to right.

In an alternative arrangement, an inking film such as carbon film or the like is located between the cheque card location and the face of the cheque as it will lie in relation to the cheque card holder 22 and the cheque is entered into the equipment in reverse face relative to that previously described. The roller 26 then merely serves as a pressure roller and the cassette 46 with its inking ribbon is not required to extend around the cheque between the opposite face of the cheque and the printing heads but can extend on the right hand face of the cheque (as viewed in Figure 1) so that the impression forming pins or other devices from the printing heads impress the rear of the cheque and cause the characters to be printed on the face of the cheque in reverse about relative to that which would be formed in the other mode of operation previously described.

In all other respects the apparatus functions in the same way as previously described.

An advantage of this method is that the inked roller 26 does not have to be an inking roller and the inking cassette ribbon in the cassette 46 does not have to surround the cheque.

Claims

1. Cheque writing apparatus comprising: - an entry for the cheque; - drive means for transporting an entered cheque from the entry into the apparatus and after printing of the cheque discharging said cheque; - printing means for printing information on the face of the cheque as the latter is moved by the drive means; - an entry for a cheque card and guide means for positioning an entered cheque card adjacent the path of movement of an entered cheque; - roller means for pressing the back of the cheque against the embossed surface of the cheque card; - inking means for use in forming an inked impression of the embossed cheque card information on the back of the cheque; and - a driving device for effecting relative movement between the roller means and the entered cheque card to form said impression on the cheque.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the entered cheque and cheque card are held stationary at an embossing station and the roller means is driven relative thereto.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the inking means is incorporated in a unit with the roller means.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the driving device comprises a lead screw rotatable by a drive motor.

5. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the drive means comprises a pair of pinch rollers downstream of the entry for the cheque and at least one of which is drivable in rotation.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the drive means also includes a second pair of pinch rollers downstream of the first pair and at least one of which is drivable in rotation to discharge the cheque.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the two pairs of pinch rollers are operable to move the cheque first from the cheque entry, past a printing head and thence to a position adjacent the cheque card prior to cheque discharge.

8. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the said pair of pinch rollers are operable first to move the cheque in one direction and then the direction of rotation of the rollers is reversed to cause discharge of the cheque through the cheque entry, printing and embossing being effected, in either order, in course of the forward and return cheque movement.

9. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the printing means comprises one or more line printers together with associated control circuits supervised by a central processor unit having stored therein information by which different portions of the printer or printers can be activated so as to position printing on the cheque in accordance with its format.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, including keyboard means for entering information, including information relating to the cheque format, in order to enable printing of required information in the correct position for the cheque format.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, when incorporated in a cash till having a slot constituting the entry for a cheque and having an associated keyboard for entry of information.

12. Apparatus according to claim 10, when connected with a remote cash till associated with a keyboard for entry of information fed to said apparatus via a connecting lead.

13. Apparatus for writing cheques and transferring information from a cheque card on to said cheque, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Superseded claims 1 & 2 New or amended claims: Appendant claims and appendancies correspondingly re-numbered.

1. Cheque writing apparatus comprising: - an entry for the cheque; - drive means for transporting an entered cheque from the entry into the apparatus and after printing of the cheque discharging said cheque; - printing means for printing information on the face of the cheque as the latter is moved by the drive means; - an entry for a cheque card and guide means for positioning an entered cheque card adjacent the path of movement of an entered cheque; - roller means for pressing the back of the cheque against the embossed surface of the cheque card; - inking means for use in forming an inked impression of the embossed cheque card information on the back of the cheque; and - a driving device for effecting relative movement between the roller means and the entered cheque card to form said impression on the cheque; - wherein the entered cheque and cheque card are held stationary at an embossing station and the roller means is driven relative thereto.