MXPA00004875A - Document sensor for currency recycling automated banking machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an automated banking machine that identifies and stores documents such as currency notes, deposited by a user, and dispenses such documents to users. Conventional banking machines use document thickness sensors for detecting double feeds by sensing the transmissivity of light through a small area of the note. Conditions such as marking, staining or bleaching of the notes can make sensing unreliable. The invention overcomes this by the use of a sheet thickness detector (810) that senses light transmissivity over a relatively large width of the note. The thickness detector includes a radiation source (822) from which radiation is directed by a radiation guide (824) to a generally linear elongated radiation outlet (826) which extends transversely to the sheet path. A receiver (814) includes a radiation sensitive element (830) which is also transversely elongated relative to the sheet path. Sheets passing between the emitter and receiver cause variations in the amount of radiation reaching the receiver.

Description

DOCUMENT SENSOR FOR AUTOMATED BANK MACHINE FOR RECYCLING MONEY TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to automated banking machines. Specifically, this invention relates to an automated banking machine that allows money bills, notes or other documents deposited by a customer to be identified and stored in the machine, and then selectively supplied to another customer.

ANTECEDENTS OF ART Automated banking machines are well known in the art. A popular type of automated banking machines is an ATM machine. Other types of automated banking machines are used for cash and cash. These machines are often used by tellers or customer service representatives in the areas of banking transactions and other transactions.

The commonly used ATM machines accept deposits from customers and process the deposits using the devices which are separate from the devices which supply the tickets and other items to the customers. The most common depositories of ATM machines require customers to place their deposits in an envelope. The envelope is accepted in the storage machine. Even when the client indicates the value of the contents of the envelope, the client's account is often not credited by the amount of the deposit until the envelope removed from the ATM machine by the bank staff and the contents are verified.

Other ATM machines are capable of receiving checks and other negotiable instruments. Such machines may include a device such as that shown in U.S. Patent No. 5,422,467. Devices of this type can be used to cancel and produce electronic images of checks which are deposited in an ATM machine. L canceled checks are stored in the machine for later removal by bank staff.

Money bills, traveler's checks and other documents and sheet materials that are commonly stocked by the ATM machine are usually housed in removable boats. The sheets are stocked from the cans and delivered by the machine to the customers. Periodically these cans must be removed from the machine and supply of sheets there must be replaced. This is a labor of intensive activity. To replace the boats, the part of the ATM machine must be opened. The bots on the machine must be removed and new cans, which include a new supply of sheets, must be placed on the machine. Alternatively, the cans in the machine must be opened, money or other sheets must be added and then replaced. After the boats are placed again the insurance part of the machine must be closed.

The replacement or replenishment of the boats often requires transporting the full boats to the machine and returning the partially empty boats to a remote location. Even though efforts have been made in the design of the boat to minimize opportunities for looting, there is always some risk. Therefore, such activities are normally carried out by armored carriers. More than one person is often assigned to any task where they have access to cash or other securities on the machine. Due to the fact that numerous individuals may be involved in the loading of replacement boats, in the transportation of the replacement boats for the ATM machines, the replacement of the boats, the return of the removed boats and the audit of the contents. of the returned boats, it is often difficult to identify the cause of any losses.

The need to periodically replace cash cans is an inconvenience because the ATM machines must be closed. Customers are not able to use the ATM machine while the cash supply is being refilled, and opportunities to conduct transactions are lost and this may result in customer dissatisfaction. Customers will also be disappointed if filling operations are not carried out frequently enough, and the machine runs out of cash or other documents.

Other types of automated banking machines, such as those that supply cash to customer service representatives, have the same disadvantages as ATM machines. The periodic replenishment of cash or other valuable documents that are supplied by the machine must be done to keep the machine in operation. Even when such machines accelerate the customer cashout service, there is a significant cost associated with the segregation, preparation and transportation of the cash before it is placed inside the machine.

Other banking machines have been developed to identify and count cash. Such machines can be used in banking and sales environments. The machines which count money usually require that the money be preoriented in a particular way to obtain proper identification. This is a time consuming task for the person operating the machine. Many cash meter machines also tend to reject valid bills due to natural deterioration that occurs in the bills or money of the United States of America. The speed associated with such cash account and acceptance machines is also less than desirable in many cases.

The automated banking machines which are capable of receiving the cash, of identifying the particular ticket and the denomination of the tickets, of storing money and of subsequently supplying it to a customer have been used in other countries outside the United States of America. Such recycling machines are feasible in countries such as the Jap where the money bills include a special feature, which facilitates their identification by the machines. However, such recycling machines have generally not been feasible with the money bills of the United States of America which generally does not include special features that facilitate identification by the machine. The money notes of the United States of America are also subject to a wide range of conditions such as wear, dirt and bleaching, which do not make a ticket impossible to use, but which make it difficult for a machine to identify it. adequately.

The money recycling type banking machines that have been developed also generally suffer from speeds of. Slow operation. This is particularly true when the machines are used to process a large number of bills. Frequently, such machines require that the bills be oriented in a particular manner and considerable time is associated with the rejection of the bills due to inadequate orientation. Handling the sheets to facilitate identification and storage is also a time-consuming process. Once a sheet has been initially identified as adequate and has been stored in the machine, there is usually no verification to be sure that the original determination of the type and character of the ticket is correct. As a result of this, a customer may receive a wrongly identified note. This can reduce customer satisfaction.

Automated banking machine suppliers usually collect one ticket at a time. Occasional failures may occur and double or even triple tickets may be collected. Collecting double tickets is particularly a concern in an automated bank recycling machine where the bills must be separated to be identified. Several types of dual detector devices have been developed. Some of such devices are based on the physical contact with the notes that pass to determine the thickness. Other sensors determine the bill thickness of optical properties or other notes that pass.

The previous bill perception devices which perceive the optical properties have sought to detect doubles by sensing the transmission of light through a small area of a bill. This approach has an inherent lack of confidence due to the different optical properties that exist in various areas of a ticket. Conditions such as marking, staining or bleaching of banknotes can make a conventional optical sensor for double notes unreliable.

Therefore, there is a need for automated banking machines to recycle money that is more reliable, that operates faster and that can be used with the US and other countries' tickets as well as other documents, which have a wide range of properties. There is also a need for a device which perceives the thickness of the document more reliably in such an automated banking machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a banknote recycling automated machine.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated bank recycling machine which is reliable and which operates more quickly.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated bank recycling machine which works with money bills and other documents having a wide variety of properties.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated banking machine for recycling money that is capable of unstacking and separating the documents that enter a stack.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated banking machine that orients documents in relation to a sheet path while moving such documents at a high rate of speed.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated money recycling machine that can transport a plurality of documents in a sheet path concurrently and at a high speed rate.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated banking machine for recycling money that identifies documents and which returns unidentifiable documents to a customer.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated banking machine for recycling money that allows a customer to deposit documents in a bank machine, and after the documents have been identified, to choose whether to deposit the documents oe to be returned.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated bank recycling machine that can identify the deposited documents if they import their orientation.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated money recycling machine that allows the selective storage of documents deposited in storage areas in the machine.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated money recycling machine that allows the selective storage of documents deposited in removable cans.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated money recycling machine that allows a retrieval of the documents stored in the storage areas and to deliver the documents to the customers.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automated banking machine in which documents can be concurrently transported, oriented, stored in storage areas and be supplied from other storage areas within the machine.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an automatic banking machine that includes a device which is more reliable to perceive the thickness of documents which is more desirable.

The additional objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following better modes for carrying out the invention and the appended claims.

The above objects are achieved in a preferred embodiment of the present invention by means of an automated banking money recycling machine. The machine includes an entry / exit area in which a client can insert documents that are to be deposited and from which the client can withdraw documents and can receive them.

A customer deposits documents in a pile. The documents are moved from the entrance / exit area to the central transport. In an unstacking area, the documents are removed from the stack one by one and separated into a stream of single separate documents. The documents move along a document path in the central transport. The documents moving in the central transport are each stretched to properly orient them in relation to the direction of travel along the document path. The documents are also moved to align them in an adequate centered relationship in the document path.

Each document is then moved beyond a document type identifier device which operates to identify the type and / or denomination of each document.

The identifiable documents are directed to a plic area while the unidentifiable documents are directed to a rejection area of the entrance / exit area of the machine.

A client is informed of any non-identifiable documents through the input and output devices of the machine. Any non-identifiable documents can then be delivered to the client from the rejection area. Alternatively, depending on the programming of the machine, such rejected documents can be stored in the machine for further analysis.

The documents properly identified are initially maintained in the escrow area. The output devices on the machine indicate to the client the type and / or the value of the identifiable documents. The client is preferably enabled to select either to have such documents returned or to deposit such documents. If the client chooses to have the documents returned, the documents are passed out of the entry / exit area and the client's account is not credited for the value of the documents.

If the customer chooses to deposit the documents, those documents are again moved through the central transport in a stream of separate documents that moves quickly. The documents are again identified by the identification device. However, rather than being directed to the reject and escrow areas, the identified documents are now preferably directed by the machine control system to selected storage areas. The storage areas are places in which the documents of particular types are stored in the machine The storage areas in the machine of the preferred embodiment are areas in a plurality of removable cans. The customer's account is then credited by the value of the documents deposited.

The same customer who deposited the documents a subsequent customer who wishes to make a withdrawal from the machine can receive the documents that have previously been stored in the storage areas. The assortment mechanisms of documents associated with the storage areas selectively remove the documents from the storage areas and direct them to the central transport of the machine. As the documents move through the central transport, they pass through the identification device. The type and denomination of the document that is being supplied is verified. This ensures that the initial identification of the documents made when they were deposited in the machine is correct. This third check ensures that a customer who removes documents from the machine does not receive an inappropriate document. The documents are removed from the storage areas concurrently so as to facilitate the rapid operation of the machine and are controlled in the movement through the remote transport segments and the central transport to ensure that they move as a stream of separate documents to go through the identification device.

The identified documents that are to be delivered to the customer are moved by the central transport to the escrow area. From the escrow area these are presented to the client. The client's account is then loaded by the documents that have been withdrawn.

Such suitable mechanisms are used to collect and separate the documents so that they can be transported in a stream through the machine. The sheet thickness sensing devices are used to ensure that they are not added to the overlapping or double banknotes. The document thickness sensing device includes a transmitter and a receiver on the opposite sides of a sheet path. Documents that move in a sheet path pass between the sender and receiver.

The emitter includes a source of radiation. A radiation guide accepts light from the radiation source and delivers it to a linearly elongated radiation output. The radiation output generally extends transversely to the direction of document travel through the sheet path. In the preferred embodiment, the radiation output extends transversely over a distance which is greater than 10% of the width of the documents in the transverse direction.

The receiver includes a radiation sensor element which is aligned with the radiation output. The radiation sensor element extends to the width of the radiation outlet. The radiation sensor element produces signals which respond to the amount of radiation reached by the radiation-sensitive element from the radiation outlet.

When the documents pass between the sender and the receiver, the radiation passes through the documents. The amount of radiation that the radiation-sensitive element reaches varies with the thickness of the documents that pass through. The transmission of radiation through the document areas also varies due to printing patterns and other markings on the document. The relatively large width of the radiation output and the radiation-sensitive element mean that the output signals are generally not affected by local conditions on the banknote. If the radiation that passes through the ticket is below a threshold which is indicative of double documents these documents can be recovered and separated. Once the documents are separated these can be handled by the machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an automated bank recycling machine for money of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the functions carried out by the machine shown in Figure 1 Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the central transport components in the entrance / exit area of the machine.

Figure 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 schematically representing the entry of a document stack by a customer.

Figure 5 is a schematic view of the entry / exit area showing the reception of a document stack from a client.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 which shows the document stack after it has been placed inside the machine.

Figure 7 is a schematic view similar to that of Figure 1 showing a stack of inserted documents being moved from the input / output area of the machine to the document unstacking area of the machine.

Figure 8 is a schematic view showing the stack moving from the entry / exit area to the unstacked area d.

Figure 9 is a schematic view of the unstacked area of the machine before the arrival of the stack.

Figure 10 is a schematic view of an unstacking area showing a stack of documents that are being transported to the unstacking area.

Figure 11 is a view similar to that of Figure 10 showing the stack of documents moving and unstacking position.

Figure 12 is a view similar to that of Figure 11 with the documents in position for unstacking in the unstacking area.

Figure 13 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 showing the documents that pass from the unstacked area d via the central transport to the reject and escrow areas of the machine.

Figure 14 is a view similar to that of Figure 12 showing a document being unstacked in the unstacking area.

Figure 15 is a view similar to that of Figure 14 showing a document that is being removed from the stack and moving beyond the sensors to sense double and pre-centered.

Figure 16 is a schematic view showing a double bill that is being returned in the stack.

Figure 17 is a cross-sectional view of a mechanism used for unstacking bills in the unstacked area d.

Figure 18 is a schematic view of a shuttle medi which is part of a pulling mechanism, the shuttle being shown in a bill passing position.

Figure 19 is a view similar to that of Figure 18 showing the shuttle media in a ticket stopping position.

Figure 20 is a top plan view of a shuttle used to stretch and center the documents in the central transport.

Figure 21 is a schematic view of a misaligned bill.

Figure 22 is a schematic view similar to l of Figure 21 showing the bill that is being stretched by the operation of the shuttle.

Figure 23 is a view similar to that of Figure 22 showing the banknote aligned transversely to the direction of travel in the central transport but in an off-center condition.

Figure 24 is a schematic view of the billet shown in Figure 23 which has been moved by the shuttle to a position centered on the central transport.

Figure 25 is a schematic view showing the shuttle moving a document transversely to the direction of travel in the central transport.

Figure 26 is a schematic view of the pre-centering and centering circuit used in connection with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 27 is a schematic view of the entry / exit area of the machine when the documents are delivered from the central transport.

Figure 28 is a schematic view similar to l of Figure 1 showing the non-identifiable documents that are being delivered outside the machine to a customer.

Figure 29 is a schematic view of the entry / exit area showing the unidentifiable documents that are being moved outside the machine.

Figure 30 is a schematic view similar to Figure 29 showing the unidentifiable documents being directed to the machine for storage.

Figure 31 is a schematic view similar to that of Figure 1 showing the documents held in escrow being directed to the central transport for storage in the machine.

Figure 32 is a schematic view of an entry / exit area that moves documents held in the escrow area.

Figure 33 is a schematic view showing a part of the drive mechanism for the drive belts in the entry / exit area.

Figure 34 is a schematic and isometric view of the input / output area drive mechanism.

Figure 35 is a schematic view similar to that of Figure 1 showing the documents that have been previously held in the escrow area that are being unstacked and that are being passed through the central transport and to the machine for storage in the storage areas of document storage boats.

Figure 36 is a schematic view of the arrangement of carriage and band used for transporting materials in the central transport of the machine.

Figure 37 is a side view of a guide used in relation to the carriage transport rollers.

Figure 38 is a side view in cross-section of the carriage rollers, of the strips and guides of documents shown in a support relationship with a document Figure 39 is a side view of a door mechanism used to direct the moving documents and remote transport segments, with the door mechanism shown in position allowing a document to pass directly through it.

Figure 40 is a side view of the door mechanism shown in Figure 39 in a condition that passes a document from the remote transport segment to a can transport.

Figure 41 is a view similar to that of Figure 39 with the gate mechanism shown passing a document from a boat transport to the remote transport segment.

Figure 42 is a view of the gate mechanism shown in Figure 39 in a condition that allows a document to pass from the can transport to the remote transport segment, with the document moving in an opposite direction from that shown in the Figure 41 Figure 43 is a view of the door mechanism shown in Figure 39 with a document passing from the remote transport segment to the can transport with the document moving in an opposite direction from that shown in Figure 40.

Figure 44 is a schematic view of an array of belts and pulleys adjacent to the door mechanism shown in Figure 39.

Figure 45 is a schematic view of a sheet transport exemplifying the principles used to move documents in the remote transport segments and in the boat transports.

Figure 46 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a document moving in a transport of the type shown in Figure 45.

Figure 47 is a top plan view of a lid covering a storage area inside a money recycling bin.

Figure 48 is a side transverse sectional view of a storage area in a diner shown with a sheet moving toward the storage area.

Figure 49 is a view similar to that of Figure 48 showing the partially accepted sheet in the storage area.

Figure 50 is a front plane view of the supply wheels, take-up wheels and knock wheels adjacent to the storage area, with the sheet shown moving inside the storage area as indicated in Figure 49.

Figure 51 is a view similar to that of Figure 49 with the leaf moved inside the storage area but placed on top of the stack of documents held there.

Figure 52 is a view similar to that of Figure 50 with the accepted sheet integrated in the stack.

Figure 53 is a view similar to that of Figure 52 with the recently accepted sheet held as a part of the stack by fingers placed next to the storage area.

Figure 54 is a schematic view similar to l of Figure 1 showing the flow of leaves from a storage area to a escrow area in response to an entry d of document sourcing by a user.

Figure 55 is a cross-sectional view of a storage area including a stack of sheets ah from which a sheet is to be removed as part of an assortment operation.

Figure 56 is a view similar to that of Figure 55 in which the fingers holding the stack of sheets in the storage area have been retracted to allow the sheets to engage the interior surface of the trunk door.

Figure 57 is a view similar to that of Figure 56 in which the trunk door is raised with the supply wheels and the blow wheels shown beginning to move as to take a sheet from the stack.

Figure 58 is a view similar to that of Figure 57 showing the supply and strike wheels moving to a position in which a top sheet on the pil is being removed therefrom.

Figure 59 is a front view of the supply wheels, the caster wheels, the caster wheels and the caster wheels in contact with a blade as it is removed from the stack in the manner shown in Figure 58.

Figure 60 is a view similar to that of Figure 58 with the sheet shown having been removed from the storage area and being perceived by the doubles detector.

Figure 61 is a top plan view of the chest door that lies on a storage area showing a sheet that has been removed therefrom and that is moved to a door mechanism on one side of the remote transport.

Figure 62 is a schematic view similar to l of Figure 1 showing a stack of sheets that have been stocked from the storage locations that is being delivered to a user of the machine.

Figure 63 is a schematic architectural view of the control system of a preferred embodiment of the machine.

Figures 64-68 are a simplified flow chart showing an exemplary transaction flow for a deposit transaction carried out in an automated money recycling machine of the present invention.

Figures 69 and 70 are a simplified flow chart showing the transaction flow of a withdrawal transaction carried out on the machine.

Figure 71 is a schematic cross-section and side view of the emitter and receiver of a sheet thickness detector used in the machine.

Figure 72 is a view similar to that of Figure 71 with a sheet shown and placed between the emitter and detector.

Figure 73 is a schematic side view partially in section of an alternate form of the emitter shown in Figure 71.

Figure 74 is an exploded view of the broadcast shown in Figure 73.

Fig. 75 is an additional exploded view of emitter shown in Fig. 74.

Figure 76 is an amplified view of the radiation output and the optical fiber strands used in the radiation guide of the preferred embodiment.

Fig. 77 is a top plane view of the sheet thickness detector receiver.

Figure 78 is an isometric view of the receiver shown in Figure 77.

Figure 79 is a graph showing signals generated by the receiver in response to the passage of single and double sheets.

BEST MODES TO CARRY OUT THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Figure 1 there is shown an automated banking machine d recycled money representing an embodiment of the present invention generally indicated with the number 10. The machine includes an enclosure 12. The enclosure 12 includes a client interconnection area generally indicated at number 14 Interconnection area 14 includes components used in communicating with a user of the machine. These components may include a display 16, which serves as an output device. The interconnection area may also include a keyboard 18 and / or a card reader 20, which serves as a manually operable input device through which a user can put information or instructions into the machine. It should be understood that these devices are example and other input and output devices such as displays, digital display, audio speakers, iris scanning devices, fingerprint reading devices, infrared transmitters and receivers and other devices which are capable of receive or provide information may be used.

The machine also includes other devices which are schematically indicated. Such devices may include a receipt printer 22, which provides receipts to a customer in relation to activities related to his transactions. Other devices indicated schematically include a journal printer 24 for making a paper record of the transactions. A book printer 26 indicated schematically may also be included within the enclosure of the machine. A check image formation device 28 may also be included for the purpose of producing electronic images of the checks deposited in the machine as well as for the cancellation of such checks. Such a check imaging device may be of the type shown in U.S. Patent No. 5,422,467 or other similar mechanism.

Devices 22, 24, 26 and 28 are exemplary other devices may also be included in the machine, such as video cameras for connection to a remote site, an acceptance mechanism for envelope deposits, ticket printing devices , devices for printing statements and other devices. It should further be understood that even when the embodiment described herein is in the form of an automated teller machine (ATM), the present invention may be used in connection with other types of automated banking machines.

The machine 10 includes a control system generally indicated with the number 30. The control system is in operative connection with the components of the machine and controls the operation thereof in accordance with the programmed instructions. The control system 30 also provides communications with other computers in relation to transactions carried out on the machine. Such communications may be provided by any suitable means, such as telephone lines, a wireless radio link or through a connection through a proprietary transaction network.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has the ability to recycle money or other sheets or documents that represent a value received from a customer. For the purposes of this description except where indicated, the words documents, sheets, bills and money, are used interchangeably to refer to the sheet materials processed by the invention. The recycling process involves receiving the documents in a customer's volume, identifying the type of documents deposited and storing the documents in appropriate places inside the machine. The stored documents can then be selectively retrieved and provided to customers who wish to withdraw funds from the machine.

The preferred embodiment of the invention includes the functional components schematically indicated in Figure 2. These functional components include an input / output function which receives the documents and delivers the documents to the users of the machine. An unstack function 34 receives the documents from the input / output function 32. The unstack function serves to separate the documents? of the stack and deliver them to a leaf trajectory in a spaced and separated relationship.

The functional components of the machine further include a stretching function 36. As discussed in detail later, the stretching function operates to orient the documents so that they are aligned transversely with a sheet path. An alignment function 38 also orientates moving documents by centering them relative to the sheet path. After the documents have been aligned they are passed to an identification function 40. The identification function operates to determine the type of documents passed through the sheet path. In the preferred embodiment, the identification function includes determining the type and denomination of the money bill or other document. Also the identification function determines if a document looks suspicious or simply is not identifiable.

The identification function is linked to the input / output function so that clients can have any suspicious documents or identifiable documents returned to them, rather than being deposited in the machine. The identification function is also linked to some functions of storage and retrieval of documents 42, 44, 46 and 48. The functions of storage and recovery operate to store the documents in place selected, and to recover those documents for the purposes of deliver the documents to a client.

Referring again to Figure 1, the apparatus which carries out the previously described functions is shown schematically. The input / output function was carried out in an input / output area generally indicated with number 50. The input / output area is on one side of an opening 52 in the machine case. The access through the opening 52 is controlled by a movable door 54 which is shown in the closed position in Figure 1.

The entry / exit area 50 includes four conveyors of the band type. These band-type bearings are suitable devices for moving a stack of sheets preferably each comprising a plurality of webs such as are shown in the patent of American States number 5,507,481. The first bands 56 and the second bands 58 join a delivery / rejection area 60 which extends vertically between the bands. As explained below, bands 56 and 58 are movable vertically in relation to one another and move in a coordinated relationship to transport a stack of sheets placed therebetween.

The entry / exit area 50 also includes the third bands 62 and the fourth bands 64. The third bands 62 and the fourth bands 64 vertically join a plic area generally indicated with the number 66. The bands 62 and 64 are similar to the bands 56 and 58 and are capable of moving a stack of documents between them. The bands in the entry / exit area, as well as a gate 54, are driven by appropriate motors indicated schematically with the number 6 which are operated by the control system 30. The area of entry / exit can be operated in various modes , the examples of which will be discussed hereafter. The Figure shows the entry / exit area 50 in greater detail.

The entrance / exit area communicates with a central transport generally indicated with the number 70. The central transport 70 includes an unstacking area generally indicated with the number 72. The unstacking area includes a tray 74 which is suitable for moving a document stack on it. The unstacking area 72 further includes the conveyor belts 76 and the picking bands 78. As will be explained later in detail, the unstack area operates to separate documents and deliver them in a spaced relationship to a central transport document path.

The stretching operation also includes double sensors 80 for use in detecting double document cases which have been removed from a stack in the unstacked area d. These documents can be separated in a later discussed way. The pre-centering sensors are also provided in a partnership with the unstack operation whose sensors operate to ensure that the stretching and alignment operations are properly carried out.

From the unstacking area the sheets are transported to a centering and stretching device 84. The stretching and centering device 84 performs the function of aligning the sheets transversely to a sheet trajectory. It also performs the function of moving the leaf so that they are centered in relation to the leaf trajectory through the central transport.

From the stretching and centering device, the documents change direction by being flipped over the carriage rollers 86 and moved beyond the identification device 88. The identification device 88 is preferably of the type shown in the patent application. of the United States of America series number 08 / 749,260 filed on November 15, 1996 which is the property of the assignee of the present invention and whose description is incorporated herein by reference. In alternate additions, other types of identification devices may be used. The identification devices preferably identify the type and character of the ticket that passes. The identification devices also preferably distinguish genuine documents such as genuine diner notes from unidentifiable or suspicious documents.

From the identification device, the documents are selectively addressed in response to the position of the deviation doors shown schematically with the number 90. The deviation doors operate under the control of the control system to direct the documents and to the delivery area / rejection 60, to the area of escrow 66 or to the areas of storage and retrieval of documents of the machine.

The document storage and retrieval areas include recycle bins 92, 94, 96 and 98, which are described in detail below. The recycling cans are preferably removed from the machine by authorized personnel. Each of the recycling bins includes four storage areas there. These are represented by the storage areas 100, 102, 104 and 106 in the can 94. The storage areas provide places to store documents that have successfully passed through the central transport. The documents are preferably stored in storage areas with documents of the same type. The documents stored in the storage areas can then be removed from them one at a time and delivered to other customers.

The documents are moved to the boats through remote transport segments generally indicated by l numbers 108, 110, 112 and 114. The remote transport segments are preferably arranged in an aligned manner so that the documents can be passed between the transport segments. . Each remote transport segment has a media gate mechanism associated therewith. The media gates generally indicated 116 116, 120 and 122 operate in a manner to be explained below to selectively direct documents from the remote transport segments to a connection with the adjacent bottle delivery transports indicated with numbers 124. , 126, 128 and 130. The boat transports operate in a manner that will be explained later to move the documents to and from the storage areas in the boats.

It should be appreciated that the various components which comprise the doors, the transport and storage areas have associated motors and sensors, all of which are in an operative connection with the control system for the purposes of perceiving and controlling the movement of the devices. documents through them.

It should be noted that in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a refuse area is generally indicated with the number 132 within the machine box in the bottom of the remote transport segments. The dump or dump area 132 functions as a receptacle for documents that are not determined to be suitable for handling which would otherwise be considered unsuitable for a subsequent retrieval and assortment to a customer. In the preferred embodiment the garbage area 132 comprises a tray which can be moved out of the machine box to facilitate cleaning and document removal when the inside of the machine has been accessed.

The operation of the automated bill recycling machine will now be explained through an example of operational steps and functions carried out in connection with a deposit transaction by a customer. It should be understood that this is only an example of a way in which the machine can be operated. Other methods of operation functions can be achieved based on the programming of the machine.

The transaction flow for deposit transactions is shown in. Figures 64-68. A client approaching the machine 10 operates the components in the client interconnection area 14 to enable the operation of the machine. This may include, for example, the insertion of a credit or debit card and the entry of a personal identification number (PIN). Of course other steps may be required by the client to identify himself to the machine. This may include other modes of operation such as biometric type or fingerprint identification devices. These steps by which the customer goes to identify themselves to the machine are represented in Figure 6 by the sequence of customer identification which is indicated by the number 134.

After the customers identify themselves to the machine, the machine is programmed to proceed through the main transaction sequence indicated generally with the number 136. This main transaction sequence preferably provides the customer with a menu of the various transaction options that are viable to be carried out on the machine 10 The transaction flow proceeds in Figure 64 of a step 138 in which a customer chooses to carry out a deposit transaction which involves the entry of documents, such as banknotes or money notes.

When the customers indicate that they attempt to make a deposit the machine immediately executes a step 140. In step 140 an inner door indicated 142 in Figures 4 5 is moved to block additional access to the interior of the machine from the delivery area / rejection 60. After the inner door 142 is extended, the program then executes a step 144 in which the front door 54 of the machine s moves to discover the opening 52. In this position a client is enabled to insert a stack of documents indicated with the number 146 in Figure 5 inside the delivery / reject area 60 between the bands 56 and 58. As shown in Figure 5, the bands 58 and 56 can also run inward to help place the stack 146 against the inner door 142.

As shown in Figure 6, the delivery / receipt sensors 148 and 150 are placed inside the machine case at one side of the opening 52. In the transaction flow as shown in Figure 64, a step 152 to determine if the storage cell 146 has moved beyond the sensors. A determination is made in a step 154 to determine if the sensors are clear. If the sensors 14 and 150 are not clear, a step 154. is carried out. In step 154 efforts are made to clear the sensors. This is done by running the conveyor belts 56 and 58 within a step 156 and to drive the customer in step 158 to put their deposit. Then the verification is done again to see if the sensors have been cleared. Provisions are made in the flow of transactions so that after a number of tests to clear the sensors, the conveyor belts 5 and 58 are run in reverse to remove anything that has been put into the machine, and the door 54 is closed.

If however the sensors 148 and 150 have been cleared indicating that a stack of documents has been properly inserted, the transaction flow moves to a step 160 at which the front door 54 is again closed as shown in Figure 6. The transaction flow then moves to a passage 162 in which the inner door 142 is retracted so that the stack 146 can be reprocessed in a hereinafter described manner.

The stack is then moved as shown schematically in Figure 7 from the delivery / reject area 60 to the unstacked area 72. This is accomplished as shown in Figure 65 by moving a carriage which supports four strips 64 upwards. in the entry / exit area 50 as s shown in Figure 8. The carriage for the bands 64 moved upwards to latch the carriage support bands 62 and 58 and to move them upwards as well. The carriage s moves up until the stack 146 is sandwiched between the bands 56 and 58. This is represented by step 164 in Figure 65. The bands 58 and 56 are then driven to move the stack inwardly. towards unstacked area 72.

The destacking area 72 is shown in detail in Figure 9 in detail. This includes the conveyor belts 7 and collection belts 78 which are independently operable by the motors or other suitable drive devices. A strip return stop 166 is movably placed in the area between the transport bands 66 and the bands 168 on the tray 74. It should be understood that the bands 76, 78 and 168 are arranged to be in the middle and ratio when the Tray 74 is moved to one side thereof in a manner as described in U.S. Patent No. 5,507,481, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The unstacking area 72 includes an unstack wall 170. An unstack wall 170 includes a plurality of steps 172 thereon, the purpose of which will be explained below. The unstacking wall 170 includes therein a plurality of grooves that extend generally vertically (not shown). The tray 74 includes a plurality of tray projections 174 which extend from an upper surface of the tray and extend into the slots. On one side of the collection band 78 are the contact stripping wheels indicated with the number 176 and the non-contact stripping wheels 178 whose function will be explained later.

In the operation of the machine the stack 146 e moved to the unstacking area for said unstacking. This is represented by a step 180 in Figure 65. As shown in Figure 10, in the step of moving the stack 146 to an unstacked area d, the tray 174 moves sufficiently toward the transport strips 76 for a movement mechanisms d so that the stack 146 can be moved thereon. The back stop 166 is raised to allow the cell to enter. The conveyor belts 76 and the tray bands 168 move forward so that the stack 146 moves toward the destacking wall 170. In the preferred form of the invention the tray 74 is spring-loaded upward and once the stack 146 is moved between them, the stack is maintained between the bands 168 on the tray 74 and the conveyor belts 76 and the picking bands 78 by the pressing force acting on the tray.

As shown in Figure 11, once the stack 146 moves past the back stop 166, said back stop is lowered to be in position behind the stack. As discussed below, the backstop is particularly useful when stripping double bills which can be picked up during the unstacking operation. As shown in Figure 11 the bands 78 are further run in the forward direction to move the stack 146 towards the wall 170. As shown in Figure 12 when the stack is completely moved against the wall 170, the steps 17 on the wall tend to spread the leaves in the pile. This extension of the sheets tends to break the surface tension between the adjacent sheets and facilitates the separation of each adjacent sheet from each other. It should be noted that the steps 172 are configured in a progression so that the contact of the sheets in the stack 146 with the steps 172 does not interfere with the movement of the tray 74 upwards as the sheets of the stack are removed. This allows the tray 74 to apply a continuous upward pressing force so that the uppermost sheet in the stack engages the collection bands 78.

Referring again to the transaction flow in Figure 65, once the stack has been moved to the unstack position, a check is made in step 182 to determine the presence of notes in the non-stacked area. Assuming that the notes are properly in position the flow then moves to an unstack routine in a step 184. As will be explained later in detail, the control system 30 of the present invention is a novel type control system which facilitates the quick operation of the machine. As represented in phantom by step 186 the control system operates to perform the tasks concurrently. As a result of this, rather than unstacking a single bill in the manner hereinafter described and then waiting for it to be processed, the preferred embodiment of the control system 30 unstacks a bill and as soon as the bill has left the bill. unstacking area, proceeds to unstack another ticket. This allows to provide a separate stream of leaves which move concurrently in the central transport under the control of the control system. This greatly accelerates the operation of the machine.

The operation of the machine in the unstacked operation d is shown schematically in Figure 13. As shown there, the stack 146 in the unstacking area 72 is separated into single sheets which are moved * through central transport 70 in the direction of the arrows C. The notes are then selectively addressed for reasons that are subsequently explained by the deviation gates 90 to either the delivery / rejection area 60 or the land area 66.

The operation of the unstacking device to unstack the sheets in the unstacking area 72 is explained with reference to Figures 14-17. The stack 146 is pushed up against the collection strips 78 by the patent leather 74. The lower pallet of the strips 78, which is engaged with the top sheet in the stack, moves to the left in FIG. collecting a sheet 188. As shown in Figure 17, the picking bands 78 are supported on the rollers and extend beyond the outer circumference of the stripping wheels without butt contact 178.

The contact stripping wheels 176 are arranged in a generally abutting relationship opposite the two inner pull strips 78. As the strip strips move to the left as shown in Figure 14, the contact stripping wheels and stripping wheels without contact 176 and 178 do not move. This serves to keep leaves other than the leaf different from the top sheet in the pile.

Referring again to Figure 14, if the sheet 188 is then moved from the stack it is a single sheet, this condition is perceived by the double sensors 80. Est means that the sheet is suitable for movement in the central transport. The blade then moves past the double sensors 80 in the vicinity of the take-up rollers 190 and 192. In response to the sheet being received being like a single sheet, the take-up roll 192 is moved from the position shown in ghost to the position shown in solid lines in which it is in contact with the sheet 188. The removal rollers 192 and 190 are driven in the indicated directions to move the sheet out of the stack. The drive of the take-up rollers is synchronized by the control system 30 to ensure that the sheet 188 is properly spaced a distance from the preceding unstacked sheet moving through the central conveyance.

As shown in FIG. 15, the sheet 188 is moved by the take-up rollers 190 and 192 beyond the pre-centering sensors 82. The centering sensors are operated in a manner that will be described later to perceive the position of the edges. of the sheet. The signals of the pre-centering sensors 82 are used by the control system 30 to move a shuttle which is associated with the stretching and centering operations for the sheet. The control system moves the shuttle transversely in the transport path to a position in which it is enabled to catch the moving leaf in the manner that will allow the leaf to be aligned. This is particularly valuable when the leaves which are removed from the pile are of different sizes.

It should be understood that even when the United States of America has tickets which are of the same size for all denominations, other countries use documents of different sizes for various types of coins. It is a fundamental advantage of the present invention that documents inserted by a user need not be arranged in such a way that the documents are all of the same size, nor that the documents need to be oriented in a particular direction in order to be handled by the preferred embodiment of the invention. The unstacker device of the embodiment described is particularly adapted to unstack the sheets having various sizes and which may not necessarily be positioned so as to be in alignment with the wall 170, particularly for the sheets in the middle of the stack 146.

In the event that a double ticket or document is received by the double 80 sensors, the bills can be separated. A double bill is indicated in Figure 16 by the sheets 194 which for the purpose of this example, are considered to be two overlapping sheets. To separate these sheets the collection bands 78 are stopped and the tray 74 moves downward so that the stack 146 is no longer pushed against the lower pallets of the collection bands 78.

The collection bands 78 are then run back so that the lower pallet thereof moves to the right as shown. This pulls leaves 194 back to the pile. Contact stripping wheels 176 and non-contact stripping wheels also rotate to facilitate pulling the sheets back to the stack. This is achieved in the preferred embodiment by having the caster wheels operated by a one-way clutch. The stripping wheels may rotate freely in the direction shown in Figure 16 but may not rotate in the opposite direction. The movement of the bands 78 pulls the sheets 194 back to the stack. The back strip stop operates to prevent the leaves from moving too far forward and falling out of the pile.

Once the sheets 194 are returned to the top of the stack the tray 74 is again raised and the collection operation is attempted. Generally one or more repeated attempts to undress the leaves will be successful so that the leaves are continuously removed from the stack 14 one by one.

The transaction flow associated with the perception of doubles and the efforts to undress the top sheet are represented in Figure 65. In a step 196 a determination is made as to whether it has been perceived during the de-stacking routine. If this is the case, the step associated with the descent of the stack 198 is executed. The collection bands are moved and reversed in a step 200 to pull the doubles back into the stack and the stack is then raised in a step 202. As discussed previously, the unstack routine is then started again. Of course, if the doubles are not perceived when a sheet is collected, the sheet moves beyond the pre-centering sensors 82 and the transverse position of the not in the transport is perceived in step 204.

After a document passes through the pre-centering sensors, it then moves to the combined stretch and alignment device 84. The device is adapted to catch a moving sheet and align it to the leading edge transversely to the direction of travel of the sheet. in the path of the sheet. Once the front edge of the blade has been transversely aligned, the device 84 operates to move the blade so that its center line is in alignment with the centerline of the transport path. Doing this allows the document to be identified more quickly for reasons which are explained later.

As shown in Figure 20, the pulling and aligning device includes a shuttle indicated with the number 204. The shuttle is composed of a pair of shuttle dots 206 and 208. Each shuttle half is connected to the drive shaft 210 which operates to move the pinching wheels 212 and 214 on the shuttle means in the manner explained hereinafter. The shuttle 204 is also movable transversely on the drive shaft 210. The shuttle also includes a first sensor 216 on one side of the shuttle med 206 and a second sensor 218 on the side of the shuttle med. 208. The shuttle also includes a sensor 220 medium. The pinch rollers engage a segmented loose shaft 222.

Referring to Figure 18, the average thrower 206 is shown schematically there. The half-thrower includes a solenoid 224. The solenoid 224 is connected to a movable brake rod 226 which can be moved over the bolts 228. The pinch wheel 212 rotates about a center bolt 230. The central pin 230 is mounted in the form mobile in a slot 232 on the body of the shuttle media 206.

The drive shaft 210 is a grooved-type shaft as shown. The shaft 210 extends through a driving wheel 234 which is mounted to rotate about the body of the shuttle means 206.

As shown in Figure 18 when the solenoid 224 is not activated the pinch wheel 212 is pressed to make contact with the driving wheel 234 by means of a schematically indicated resort 236. The pinch wheel 212 rotates in response to the rotation of the drive shaft 210. The rotation of the pinch wheel 212 also engages the independently rotatable segments of the segmented shaft 222. The documents are enabled to pass through the point of pressure between the pinch wheels 212 and 222 in response to the rotation of the roller. of pinch 212 by the driving wheel 234.

As shown in Figure 19, when the solenoid 224 is energized the brake rod 226 moves. The movement of the brake rod causes the brake rod to engage the wheel of pelli.zco 212. By engaging the brake rod the pinch wheel, said pinch wheel is displaced from the driving wheel 234 and its movement is prevented until that the solenoid is again de-energized and the brake rod retracted. As a result of this, any document that is placed at the point of pressure between the pinch roller 212 and the segmented shaft 222 when the solenoid is energized, will stop at this position. Documents will be prevented from moving to the area of the pressure point until the solenoid is de-energized.

The operation of the shuttle is indicated schematically in Figures 21-24. As shown in Figure 21, a sheet or document is shown moving in the direction of the arrow in the path of the sheet. The shuttle moves before the arrival of the blade in a transverse direction on the drive shaft 210 so that the pinch rollers 212 and 214 will both engage the blade. This is done by the control system 30 based on the signals from the pre-centering sensors 82 which are upwardly shuttle d 48. The shuttle moves transversely in the blade path by a fast-acting motor or other suitable device. .

In response to the movement of the blade 238 into the area adjacent to the pinch rollers, the sensors 216 218 and 220 perceive the sheet. Because the sample sheet 23 is skewed, the sensor adjacent the pinch roller 214 which is the sensor 218 will sense the leading edge of the first sheet. When this occurs, the solenoid associated with the shuttle med 208 is energized, stopping the movement of the pinch rod 214, while the roller 212 continues to rotate in response to the rotation of the shaft 210. As a result of this the blade 238 begins to rotate around the pinch point 2 created between the stationary roller 214 and the segmented axis 22 The blade 238 moves so that its leading edge 2 begins to move in a condition aligned in the direction transverse to the direction of movement of the sheet.

As shown in Figure 23, the blade 238 rotates about the pinch point 240 until the leading edge 242 is transversely aligned with the path of the blade When an aligned condition is reached, the solenoid 224 energized to stop roller movement of pinch 212. This produces a second pinch point 244 between note 238 and loose axis 222.

In the stopped condition of the banknote shown in Figure 23, the leading edge 242 of the sheet extends in the path of the sheet beyond the center sensors generally indicated by the numeral 246. The centered sensors operate to perceive the lateral edges of the bank. the leaf indicated with the numbers 248 and 250 in Figure 23, in a manner hereinafter described. Upon perceiving the lateral edges the control system 30 determines the position of the center line of the sheet 238. This centerline is indicated schematically in Figure 23 with the number 252. The launcher then moves the sheet transversely in the manner indicated in FIG. Figure 25. The blade is moved in a contact relationship between the pinch rollers 212 and 214 and the loose shaft 222. As shown in Figure 24, the blade 238 is moved to the right so that the center line of the blade 252 it is generally in alignment with a center line of the transpire path 254.

Once the sheet has been stretched in this way and moved to a relationship centered in the transport path, the solenoids operating the pinch rollers 212 and 214 are released simultaneously to discharge the leaf 238 of the shuttle. This is done in a manner which ensures that the sheet 238 is adequately spaced from the preceding sheet. Optimally the blade does not retract in any way from what is absolutely necessary to ensure that the blade is properly oriented.

The schematic view of the components of the centering circuit which is used in relation to the centering sensors 246 and the pre centering sensors 82 is indicated schematically in Figure 26. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the sensors 246 include the coupled devices. and loaded (CCDs) which are used to perceive the edges of the sheet. An emission is provided on an opposite side of the devices to provide a source of radiation for perceiving the edges of the sheet. The signals of the sensors 246 are transmitted to an amplifier 256. The signals of the amplifier are sent to a digitized comparison 258. The digitized comparator is provided with a threshold input from an interconnection 260.

A trip point output from the interconnection 260 is determined by a computer program routine that adjusts the threshold input for the presence of a bill based on the radiation perceived by the sensors when a ticket is not present. This allows the adjustment of the sensors with respect to changes during the operation of the device, such as changes in the intensity of the emitters or the accumulation of dirt on the emitters or on the sensors.

The output of the digitized comparator is transmitted to a programmable logic device 262. The programmable logic device determines the position of the edge of the note and transmits the output signals together with the timing signals to a processor 264. The processor generates signals in accordance with its programming to move the shuttle to the desired position. In the case of pre-centering sensors the shuttle moves to a position to ensure that it finds the bill. In the case of the centering and stretching operation sensors, the shuttle is moved to ensure that the note moves to align with the transport center. The synchronization signals also follow when the front and rear edge of the ticket find the sensors allow the control system to maintain the proper separation of the notes within the central part. The signals of the sensors 246 as well as those of the sensors 216, 218 and 22 on the shuttle are used for a bill which has been released from the shuttle and moves outward in the coordinated and appropriate manner.

The logical flow associated with the stretching and alignment operations is shown with reference to the steps indicated in Figure 65. As indicated by step 266, signals from the pre-centering sensors 82 are used to move the shuttle to ensure that This engages the bill A stretching step 268 operates in the manner already described above to align a leading edge of the bill so that it extends transversely to the direction of movement of the sheet in transport. In a step 270 the central line of the sheet moves in alignment with the center line of the sheet transport. The sheet having been stretched in alignment, is released in step 272 in a continuous synchronized manner on its path in the path of the sheet.

As shown in Figure 13, after a document leaves the alignment and stretching device said document moves through the transport area centers where it is sensed by several sensors associated with the identification device 88. In one form Preferred of the invention the identification device is of the type shown in the United States of America patent application number 08 / 749,260 filed on November 15, 1996 which is incorporated herein. This identification device is suitable to identify the type and denomination of a passing document. It is also suitable to distinguish genuine documents from suspicious documents. A benefit of the device used in the embodiment described is its ability to identify a document despite the document failure to be aligned with the path of the sheet. It should be understood that due to the various conditions, despite the efforts made to orient each sheet, the sheets may still be somewhat out of alignment at the time of analysis by the identification device. Of course in other embodiments, other devices can be used for identification.

The ticket analysis by the identification device 88 produces signals. These signals can be indicative of the type of ticket and the denomination Alternatively, the signals can be indicative that the note can not be identified satisfactorily or that they are invalid. These signals are transmitted to the control system 30 which operates the diversion gates 90 to a central transport side. As shown in Figure 27, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the documents which can not be identified with a high degree of confidence are directed by the doors 90 to the delivery / rejection area 60 are subjected to the second bands 58 Such rejected bills are represented in Figure 27 by a stack 274.

The documents identified as suitable for the deposit are directed by the diversion gate 90 to the cover area 66 where such bills are held on the web 64. Such identified documents are shown in Figure 27 by the stack 276. It should be understood that the Direction of the sheets identified to the position of escrow 266 is optional depending on the programming of the control systems 30 d the machine. Identifiable bills can be directed directly to the storage areas appropriate for recovery.

The transaction flow associated with the analysis of the documents and the address to the rejection / delivery and escrow areas is represented in Figure 66. The analysis of the moving documents is represented by a step 278. If the bill is properly identified in step 280, a check is made in the next step 282 to determine if the machine is in a deposit mode, if this is so The properly identified bills are directed to the storage areas in the recycling bins. If the machine is not currently in a storage mode, which is the case with the described example, the suitably identified bills are directed to the escrow position in a step 284.

If in a step 280 a bill is not identifiable or is identified as unacceptable the bill is directed to the rejection position in a step 286. Of course it should be understood that the steps of unstacking, pre-centering stretch, alignment and identifying bills everything is being carried out concurrently as each document passes through the central transport. The bills are always directed to the escrow or reject positions until the stack of bills has been completely unstacked.

In the operation of the invention of the preferred embodiments, the sheets which are not acceptable to the machine, such as the unidentifiable sheets, and the sheets which appear suspicious are returned to the customer from the entrance / exit area 50. This is represented schematically in Figure 28 which shows the rejected pil 274 that is being delivered to the customer through the opening 52. This is normally done by the machine after displaying to the customers through the interconnection 14, l information about a number of documents which were not identifiable or not acceptable in the deposit pile that had been submitted. Clients will be notified of the value of the documents that have been properly identified.

In alternate additions to the client, you may have the option of inserting an entry to the client interconnection to treat the rejected sheets to determine if they can be identified. If this occurs, the machine can be programmed to run the reject stack 274 back through the central transport in the manner previously made with the pil deposited. This is a way of choice in programming the machine and depends on the preferences of the machine operator.

Assuming that the reject stack 274 is to be returned to the customer, the reject stack is delivered to the client in a manner indicated in Figure 29. The inner door 14 is extended while the carriage support strips 6 are raised in a manner that the stack 276 engages the carriage support strips 62 and 58. The webs 58 are raised so that the reject stack engages the webs 56. When the reject stack 274 is sandwiched between webs 56 and 58, it is open the door 54. The reject stack 274 e moved by the strips 56 and 58 out of the opening 52 in the machine box. The delivery and receipt sensors 148 and 150 one side of the opening 52 operate to sense the movement of the stack.

The transaction flow associated with the delivery of the reject stack to the customers is represented in Figur 66. In step 288 a determination is made as to whether the bills are present in a reject stack after all the sheets have been unstacked and passed through the central transport. If this is the case, the reject stack is moved to the delivery position in step 290. The inner door is closed in a step 292 as shown in Figure 29. The front door is then opened in step 294 and the bands are driven to deliver the reject stack to the client in step 296.

As shown in Figure 67, the client can then be urged to take the reject stack in a step 298. This is done through the client interconnect. The sensors 148 and 150 are then monitored in a step 300 and a decision is made in step 302 of whether the reject sheets have been taken. If the leaves have been taken from the front door 54 d the machine is closed in a step 304 and the inner door is retracted in a step 306.

As previously discussed, in the described incorporation of the invention the client is required to take the rejected sheets. Therefore if in a step 302 the customer has not taken the sheets, the transport is operated to push the sheets out of the opening 52 in a step 308. After the transport has run in a sufficient manner to push the sheets outwardly the Front door is closed.

In alternate embodiments of the invention, the customer may have the option of having the reject stack retested to determine whether the documents can be identified. In other alternate additions the machine can be programmed so as not to return the rejected or unidentified sheet to the clients. This can be done for purposes such as to prevent counterfeit bills from being placed back in circulation. If the machine is programmed in this manner, the reject stack 274 can be moved in the manner shown in Figure 30 back to the unstacked machine area for an additional pass through central transport. In this second pass the leaves can be either returned to the rejection area if they can not be identified; they can be placed in the escrow area they can be identified; or alternatively, recycle cans 132 can be passed to a storage location in the garbage area for further analysis. Because the preferred embodiment of the present invention is capable of tracking individual sheets which pass through the machine, it is possible for the machine to continue to determine where the particular sheets were originally based on their storage location and position within the machine. a storage place.

Returning to the operation of the described embodiment, the stack 276 maintained in the escrow position now moved upward and the entry / exit area as indicated in Figure 31. At this point, the client may have the option to receive the identifiable sheets that have been deposited again This can be done for example if the clients are not in agreement with the account of the sheets of the machine. This can be achieved by programming the machine so that the customer can obtain the return of the documents in escrow by an appropriate input to an input device of the interconnection.

If the machine is programmed to deposit the identified documents held in escrow, the machine moves the document stack 276 in the manner shown in Figure 31 Alternatively, the escrow stack will be moved in a manner shown in Figure 31 if the machine requires that the client input deposits the escrow documents and such entry is given through the client interconnection.

When the stack stack 276 is to be deposited the machine, the web 64 is raised to the position shown in Figure 32 and the stack stack 276 is sandwiched between the webs 62 and 64. The webs are then driven to move. the stack stack 276 to the area not stacked the machine in the manner previously described.

The operation of the driving rollers and the moving belt carriages of the entrance / exit area 50 are described in greater detail in Figures 33 and 34. The carriage associated with the bands 64 is moved up and towards aba by a driving mechanism. The carriage that holds the bands 62 and 58 is free floating but is restricted to a degree that it can move downwards. The carriage supporting the bands 56 can be rotatably conformed to the position of an adjacent stack but is generally prevented from moving downwards. This configuration minimizes the complexity of the input / output mechanism.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the carriage support bands 64, 62 and 68 are guided to move vertically by a first guide shaft / impeller 310 and second guide shaft / driver 312. The guide shafts / impellers n are only they generally extend vertically, but also they are slotted axes that can be rotated by suitable transmission mechanisms in the directions shown. The movable guide blocks 314 and 316 can movers vertically on the axis 310. Each guide block represented by the block guide 314 in Figure 33 includes the chamfer gear 318. The chamfer gears operate to transmit rotational movement from the guide shaft / impeller 310 to the axes 320 and 322. The axes 320 and 322 include the rollers on which the bands 56 and 58 are held respectively The guide blocks 324 and 326 can be moved on the shaft 312. As indicated in FIG. 33 by the guide block 324, the guide block includes the oscillating gears 32 which operate to transmit the rotational motion of the guide shaft. drive 312 to the axes 330 and 332. The webs 62 64 are supported on the rollers which are driven by the axes 330 and 332 respectively.

As it should be appreciated, this arrangement for driving the bands in the entry / exit area reduces the complexity and comparison to other arrangements. This arrangement also increases the flexibility to selectively place stacks of documents.

Returning to the sample transaction flow with the stack stack 276 in the position shown in Figure 31, the transaction flow continues in the manner indicated in Fig. 67. As indicated in step 334, the escrow stack is movable. upwards so that it is in a position to be delivered to the cusr or to be moved back to the unstacked position. The cusrs operating the machine are then urged to step 336 to indicate whether they wish to have the stack replaced or that the amount deposited in the escrow stack in the machine be deposited. As indicated by country 338, if the cusr chooses to have the returned battery rather than deposited, the machine continues to return the stack to the cusr The process of returning the stack is indicated through the transaction flow shown in Figure 68. E this point in the transaction flow the stack stack 266 is on one side of the opening 52, and can be easily delivered to the cusr. The inner gate is closed in step 340 and the front door is open in step 342. The bands 62 and 6 are then urged to move the stack of stem towards the front to present it to the cusr in step 344. A determination is made in the step 346 of whether the client has taken the escrow.

This is based on signals from the sensors 148 and 158. If the escrow is perceived as taken, the machine returns to the main ATM machine transaction sequence in step 348.

If the client does not take the stack, pas is executed to encourage the cusr to take the stack, or to retract it by machine. If the stack is not perceived as taken in step 346, the cusr is encouraged through the interconnection of the machine at step 358 to take the stack. If the stack is now perceived as having been taken, a step 352 returns the machine to the main sequence. However, if the stack is not yet taken, transaction flow continues through steps 354 and 356 which stack is recovered and stored, and an irregular transaction is noted. This can occur for example by retracting the stack inside the machine by closing the door and then passing the stack through the central transport to a storage area.

The alternate forms of the invention may be provided to credit the cusr's account for the amounts which they have deposited and which they wish to return but do not take them. If the machine is programmed to operate in this way the documents in the escrow stack will be stored according to their type and denomination in the various storage areas in the recycling cans. Alternatively, the documents in the escrow area can be stored separately in one of the storage areas. The machine can be programmed to allow the client to return at a later time and obtain the documents in the escrow stack. This can be valuable for example if the client forgets to take the stack or is distracted while carrying out his transaction.

In most cases when a customer has deposited documents in the machine, these clients will choose to have the funds credited to their account. As a result of this, in the transaction flow in step 338 the clients will indicate through the customer interconnection that they wish to make a deposit. The transaction flow is moved through a step 358 in which the machine is put into the deposit mode. Then the stack stack 276 is moved to the unstacked area d in step 360. This is done in the manner previously described for the deposited stack.

As shown schematically in Figure 35, the escrow stack will now be unstacked in the manner previously discussed. However, now instead of the unstacked bills which are directed by the deviation gate 90 to the escrow area and to the delivery / rejection area, the bills are selectively directed downwards in the machine as shown, to the various areas of storage in recycling cans. During this operation each of the unstacked bills is again identified by the bill identification apparatus 88. The identification of the type of bills is used to selectively direct each document to the storage area where the documents of that type are stored. It should be understood that the internal memory of the machine is preferably programmed to record the type of document held in the escrow stack and to compare the determination of the type of document made in the initial pass with the type determination made in the second pass. In the event of an error or inconsistency, the deviation gate 90 can be used to direct any irregular documents to the delivery / rejection area 60 instead of moving it down to a place in the storage in the machine.

As can be seen with the transaction flow beginning at step 358 in Figure 67, the plic pile undergoes the unstacked process previously described in relation to steps 184, 196 and 204. Each note is also stretched centered relative to the transport path and then release.

The notes undergo an analysis of the analysis in the manner discussed in connection with step 278 and if the note n is properly identified in step 280, the transaction flow d moves to step 262 when the machine is in the warehouse mode. In step 262 each note is dispatched to an appropriate storage location. The bills are moved through this central transport in the direction of the arrows "D" shown in Figure 35. Each bill is then directed to an appropriate storage location in a passage 264. It should be noted that the bills are moving concurrently towards different storage places under the control of control system. Figure 35 shows an example of a bill that is being deposited in a storage area 102. It should be understood, however, that bills can be moved in numerous storage areas during the warehouse process.

The notes in the stack 276 continue to be unstacked until the stack is determined to have run out in step 266. Assuming no notes have been rejected during the deposit process, the transaction flow can then be returned to the transaction sequence. Primary AT in a step 268. The customer can be provided with a receipt for their deposit and can continue with other transactions.

In the operation of the central transport 70 there are places in which the bills in movement must suffer generally 180 degrees turns. An example of this is indicated by the transport section 370 which is shown in Figure 35. In the transport section 370 the documents that must be aligned in the transport path have had their address reversed so that they can pass a side of the identification device 88. The transport section 370 requires that the bills be transported in an exact manner and keep their relationship aligned and spaced. The documents are also preferably unwrinkled or otherwise distorted, as this may adversely impact the ability to be identified in the next section. More details regarding the transportation section 370 are shown in Figures 36-38.

The transport section 370 includes a plurality of webs 372. These webs in the preferred embodiment are V-type webs that engage the impeller and slack rollers 374, 376 and 378. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the transverse section in the form of " V of the webs 372 is pointed radially inwardly to pass the web by the rollers 374, 376 and 378.

As the bands 372 move between the rollers 37 and 376 they are supported on the carriage rollers 380. The carriage rollers 380 hold the band in a manner so that the "V" section is pointed outwardly from the carriage rollers. An upper planar surface of each band is positioned on one side of an annular dimple 382 on the outer circumference of each carriage roll. The carriage rollers 380 are also spaced apart from each other. The guides 384 which generally have a smaller diameter than the carriage rollers are placed between them. An example of a guide 364 is shown in greater detail in Figure 37.

When a note 386 passes through the transport section 370 they are held between the flat surfaces of the web 372 and the dimples 382 of the carriage rollers as shown in Figure 38. The notes move around the rollers. of carriage without being distorted skew. When the bills are passed into the area adjacent the roller 376 the projections 388 on the guides push the bill out of contact with the carriage rollers and in the desired direction.

This configuration is used in a preferred embodiment of the invention since it has been found that tickets can be generally transported through the transport section 370 without adversely impacting their aligned and separate relationship. The ability to flip the banknote trajectory 180 degrees also greatly reduces the overall size of the automated banking machine.

As shown in Figure 35, the tickets which are passed through the central transport 70, and which are moved to the storage areas inside the machine, pass down through the central transport through the remote transportation segments. 108, 110, 112 and 114 These remote transport segments operate as part of a remote transport. The remote transport segments are vertically aligned in the preferred embodiments to allow documents to be selectively transported between transport segments. The transport segment also allows the documents to be selectively addressed either through the transport segments in or out of the adjacent bot transports, one of which is placed on the side of each transport segment. The selective direction of the documents is achieved through the use of a middle door associated with each transport segment which is operated under the control of control system 30.

An example of a transport segment used in a preferred embodiment of the invention is indicated by the transport segment 110 shown in Figure 39. The transport segment 110 includes a plurality of spaced band support rollers 390 and 392. Each of the rollers supports a band 394 thereon (see Figure 44). An inner pallet 396 of each strip 394 is positioned on one side of a first sheet support surface 398 and a second sheet support surface 400. The sheet supporting surfaces each include a plurality of raised and spaced projections or of dimples on them. These high projections serve to break the surface tension and minimize the risk of documents sticking there.

The principles of operation of the transport segment 110 as well as the can transport used in the preferred embodiment can be seen with reference to Figures 45 and 46. The transports operate to sustain the documents in a relationship engaged between an outer surface of a band vane and the elongated projections which extend towards the band vane from an adjacent support surface. In the example shown in Figure 45, the band vanes 402 extend to one side of a support surface 404. The projections 406 extend transversely between the band vanes from the support surface. A document 408 which is engaged between the band vanes and the supporting surface is pressed deformed by the projections 406 to remain engaged with the band vanes. This allows the movement of the band vanes to move exactly the document 408 in a relationship attached thereto.

Referring to Figure 39, the projections 41 extend from the first sheet support surface 398. The projections 410 are generally segmented projections include the tapered front and tail edges to minimize the risk of documents being caught therein. Loose rolls 412 and 416 are also screwed onto and a support connection with the member including a sheet support surface 398. Loose rolls 412 and 416 are generally placed in an aligned relationship with the inner vanes 396 and perform a function which will be explained later.

Each remote transport segment has a boat transport adjacent to it. In the case of the transport segment 110, the can transport 126 extends adjacent to it as shown in Figure 1. The can transport 126 includes the pairs of spaced band support rollers 418, only one of which is shown in Figur 39. Rollers 418 support webs 420 which include lower pallets 422. Lower pallets 42 extend to one side of a support surface 424 which includes the dimpled projections thereon of the tip previously discussed. The projections 426 extend from the support surface 424 between the bands and are generally parallel thereto. This structure allows the documents to be transported in a hooked relationship between the projections 426 and the band vanes 422 in a manner previously described.

As shown in Figure 44, the rollers 418 of the can bearings and rollers 390 of the remote transport segments are arranged in a transverse intermediate relationship, similar to the manner in which the projections on the supporting surface are placed transversely in the middle of the band vanes. This ensures that documents can be passed between transport segments in a controlled relationship in the manner described here.

Each of the remot transport segments includes a middle gate which is selectively operable to direct the documents in the desired directions. In the case of the transport segment 110 the middle door associated with it is the door 118. The door 118 includes a plurality of movable arms 428. The arms are engaged to movers together and are selectively movable about an axis of the rollers 390 Each arm 428 has a roller 430 mounted movably thereon. Each roller 430 which serves as a diverter roller is positioned in alignment with a corresponding inner band pallet 396.

The operation of the remote segment and the middle door will now be explained with reference to Figures 39-43. As shown in Figure 39, when the diverter roller 43 of the door 118 is positioned from the web pallets 396, or document 432 is enabled to pass directly through the remote transport segment. Even though document 432 is shown as moving up in Figure 39, it should be understood that documents can be moved downward as well. In a similar way the documents can be moved down and then passed upwards in the remote transport segment.

Figure 40 shows a document 434 that moved in a downward direction while the deviated roller 430 of the door 118 is extended. In this condition document 434 is directed towards the pressure point created by the band vanes 422 and the projections 426 of the canister transport 126. As a result of this, the movement of the band vanes 420 in the direction shown to be The average gate is transferred to the inside of a boat transport trajectory along which it is carried by the boat transport. As can be seen from Figure 40 when the door 118 is actuated the band vane 396 is deformed. The loose roller 416 holds the web pallet in the deformed position to avoid excessive wear as a result of friction.Figure 41 shows the document 436 being moved from the can transport to the remote transport segment 110. In the position shown the med gate 118 operates to direct the document 436 towards the remote transport segment 108 placed above the transport section. remote transport 110 (see Figure 35) and towards the central transport.

Figure 42 shows the gate 118 in a condition that directs a document 438 from the transport of bo 126 downward in the remote transport segment 110. As you will appreciate from the discussion above, the preferred embodiment of the invention allows the movement of the documents of one storage area to another. This function is enabled by the machine's control system that moves the documents from the storage areas in cans where they have been stored to the storage areas in cans either up or down the storage canister in the machine.

Figure 43 shows a document 440 moving up in the remote transport segment 110 and being directed by the gate 118 inside the bot transport 126. The ability to move the documents in the manner shown in Figures 39- 43 greatly facilitates the ability of the preferred embodiment of the present invention to store and retrieve documents. As will be appreciated from the previous Figures, the door mechanisms can also be used to selectively orient the documents. This may be desirable, particularly when it is desired to provide customers with uniformly oriented documents in a stack. This can be achieved by reorienting the documents before storage based on the orientation of the document as determined by the identification device 88. Without However, as discussed previously, the present invention does not require that the documents be oriented in any particular way for satisfactory operation.

The storage of the documents in a storage location will now be described with reference to Figur 47-53. For the purposes of this illustration, storage of a document in the storage area 10 as shown in Figure 35 will be discussed. It should be understood, however, that the following description is generally applicable to storing documents in any of the storage areas available in the preferred embodiment machine.

Referring to Figure 47, storage area 102 is shown from the top. The band vanes 422 of the can transport 26 extend above a coffer door 442. The coffer door 442 is mounted movably above the storage area 102. the coffer door 442 includes a support surface 444 which supports tickets or other documents that move on it and from adjacent storage areas. The support surface 444 included projections with holes which serve to reduce the surface tension and the adherence of the documents that move on it.

The hood door 442 includes the projections 446 which engage the documents that pass and hold the documents in contact with the bands 422. A pair of openings 448 are in an aligned relationship with the projections 446. The openings 448 provide access for the hitting wheel which will be discussed later. As can be seen in Figure 47 the projections 446 are tapered to one side of the openings 448 to minimize the risk of documents sticking thereon. The coffer door 44 also includes a plurality of rollers 450. The rollers 45 are placed in an aligned relationship with the strips 422. The rollers 450 engage the strips and facilitate the movement of the strips when the hood door 442 is opened to accept a document in a manner that is described later.

The coffer door 442 also includes a central opening 452. The central opening 452 is sized to accept a pair of striker wheels spaced close therein. The center hitting wheels 454 are similar in construction to the outer hitting wheels 456 which extend through the openings 448. The center opening 452 is also sized to accept the supply wheels 458 and 460 which are placed on one side of the wheel. front of the trunk door 442 covering the storage area 102. The supply wheels 458 and 460 are connected to the hitting wheels 454 by a supply band 462.

It should be understood that the striker wheels 45 and 456 as well as the supply wheels 458 and 460 are supported on a surface positioned to one side vertically above the hood door 442. The supply wheels and the striker wheels are preferably supported on the machine case, while the storage area 102 and the trunk door 442 are supported on the recycling can 94. The recycling can can be removed from the machine when the supply wheels and the hitting wheels are placed in a that these do not extend through the opening 452.

The hood door 442 also includes a sensor 464. The sensor 464 is an optical receiver-type sensor which receives signals from an opto-emitting device which is placed in the machine on one side of and above the sensor 45 when the canister 94 It is in an operative position. The sensor 46 is in connection with the control circuit of the machine.

The steps involved in storing a ticket in a storage area 102 will now be described with reference to Figures 48-53. The storage area 102 retains a stack 466 of documents. The stack 466 is preferably a plurality of horizontally oriented documents which are supported on a push plate 468. The push plate 468 is pressed upwards by a spring or other pressing mechanism. The stack is held at its upper end by a plurality of transversely spaced front fingers 470 and rear fingers 472. The front fingers and the rear fingers are movable in the manner discussed hereinafter.

The hood door 442 includes an interior surface 474 which includes a plurality of projections extending downwardly with the recesses therebetween. In the position of the fingers 470 and 472, the side projections 476 and 468 on one side of the upper ends of the fingers 470 and 472 respectively, extend above the pil and move in the recesses of the inner surface of the coffer door. These inwardly extending projections 47 and 478 of fingers 470 and 472 hold the top of the stack in a ratio captured at the positions shown in Figure 48.

In Figure 48 a document 480 is shown to move it towards the storage area 402. In this position before the arrival of the document, the supply wheels and the hitting wheels are placed above the support surface 444 of the coffer door . The withdrawal wheels 482 which are movably mounted on the edge 94, the cu including the storage area 102, are moved to a position positioned outside the supply wheels 458 and 460.

With the arrival of the document 480 to the storage area 102 the coffer door 442 rises upwards in a front area on one side of a front surface of the same The withdrawal rollers 482 move upwards while q the supply wheels 458 and 460 engage and move document inside the storage area 102. The fingers 4 and 472 move the top surface of the stack downwardly against the pressing door which is applied upwardly by the push plate 478. This allows the document 480 to move to the Storage area above the projection into the fingers.

Figure 50 shows the configuration of the supply wheels and withdrawal wheels as the document 480 is moved within the storage area. In this condition the rotating supply wheels 458 and 460 engage the document 480 as the withdrawal wheels 482 do, so that the document can be driven to the storage area. As shown in Figure 50, a stripping rod 484, the operation of which is discussed below in detail, remains positioned away from the supply web 462 upon entry of the document 480 into the storage area.

As shown in Figure 51, document 48 enters storage area 102 above stack 466. Fingers 470 and 472 are then moved outward as shown in Figure 51.

As shown in Figure 52, eventually the fingers 470 and 472 are moved outward by a sufficient distance to release the stack 466 so that it moves upward in response to the pressing force on the push plate 468. As a As a result of this, the document 480 was integrated into the stack when the coffer door 442 was moved down to its original position. When the coffer door is moved downward, the projections extending into the fingers 472 and 470 are in an aligned relationship with the recesses on the interior surface of the coffer door.

From the positions shown in Figure 52 the fingers 470 and 472 are moved inward to again capture the top surface of the stack which now includes the document 480. The withdrawal wheels 482 are retracted downwardly and the area of storage 102 is again ready to receive additional documents for storage there. As will be appreciated from the above discussion, mechanisms such as those shown and discussed are used to move the door of the chest door and the wheels of the invention. These mechanisms may include conventional motors and other mechanisms and articulations suitable for use in the movement of the components in the manner described. Such conventional components are not shown here to promote clarity and facilitate understanding of the operation of the invention.

It should be understood that when one or more documents are directed to a storage place in the machine, the storage place where the particular document or document is to be stored undergoes the series of steps described. Even though the series of operations for the storage place has been described as receiving the documents after integrating them into the stack in the place of storage or document at the same time, it should be understood that the mechanisms in the storage areas can be optimally configured that a plurality of documents can be collected in the storage area above the fingers and then the fingers and the chest door moved to integrate the plurality of documents into the stack. Such configuration can be used to optimize the speed of operation of the automated banking machine. It should be further understood that even when the mechanisms for storing documents in the storage areas are exemplary, other mechanisms which store such documents may be used in alternate embodiments of the invention.

The operation of the machine 10 is described herein in relation to a transaction in which the documents S recovered from the storage areas in the machine and are supplied to a customer. This is schematically represented in Figure 54. In the assortment operation, the documents will generally be removed from a plurality of storage locations and moved concurrently under the control of control system 30 to the top area 66. As shown schematically in FIG. Figure 54, each of the documents removed from the storage area moving from the respective boat transport to the adjacent remote transport segment is directed up through the door to the central transport. In the central transport the documents each pass through the identification device 88. The type and character of the document is again determined before being supplied to the customer. The flow of documents during this assortment operation (document retrieval) is represented by the arrows "E" in Figure 54. Of course, as you can see from the previous discussion, if at any time in document processing, which will be provided to the client, an improper or identifiable document is found, this can be directed to the delivery / rejection area 60 for reprocessing or return inside the machine.

The retrieval of the documents from a storage area is represented by the sequence of operations shown in Figures 55-61 in relation to the storage area 102. For purposes of clarity and simplicity of the document 480, which was previously deposited in the upper part of stack 466, will be supplied in this sequence d example of events.

As shown in Figure 55 in the initial position of the storage area 102, the chest door 44 is positioned downwardly by its associated mechanism. The inward projections of the fingers 470 and 472 extend the recesses in the inner surface 474 of the coffer door. The fingers together with the inner surface of the cofr door retain the upper part of the stack which is attached by the lid. 480. The stack 466 is pressed upward by the spring action of the thrust plate 468.

In the next step in the assortment of the document, the fingers 470 and 472 are moved outward in relation to the stack by their mechanism that responds to the signals of the control system. This allows the document 480 on the upper surface of the stack 466 to be engaged with the projections which join the inner surface 474 of the coffer door 442.

As shown immediately in Figure 57 e front of the coffer door 442 is moved upwards. The withdrawal wheels 482 are moved upward to engage the supply wheels 458 and 460 (see Figure 59). In similar fashion, the stripping roll 484 is moved to engage the supply web 462.

It should be noted with reference to Figure 59 that the supply wheel 460 includes an inner part which has a can segment 486 thereon. The high friction segment 486 comprises a band of resilient material extending radially outwardly beyond other portions of the outer circumference of the supply wheel and in part circumferentially around the inside of the wheel. The supply wheel 458 has a similar high friction segment 488 thereon. The high friction segments extend through the openings in the chest door to provide a grip contact with the upper document of the stack when the supply wheels are positioned to place the high friction segments in contact with the upper document. .

It should also be understood that the stripping rod 484 includes a one-way clutch type mechanism. This one-way clutch mechanism allows the stripping rod to rotate in a manner which allows a document to easily move inside the storage area 102. The clutch associated with a stripping roller 484 is oriented to receive the movement of the documents outside. of the storage area. In this manner, the stripping roll 484 served as a stripping device which generally engages only the single document in the very top portion of the stack undresses or prevents other documents from moving out of the storage area. This is achieved because the high friction segment provides a greater force that moves the single document in a first direction out of the storage area than the resistance applied to the document by the stripping roll.

As also shown in Figures 57 and 59, the kicking wheels 454 and 456 include a part extending outwardly. These parts extending outwardly are aligned so that all of the extendable parts extend through the respective openings in the coffer door simultaneously. As shown in Figure 59, these extendable portions are generally in angular alignment with the high friction segments arched on the supply wheels.

As shown in Figure 58 to pick up document supply wheels and sprockets s rotated so that the radially extending parts of the striker wheels and the friction segments engage document 480 in the upper part. 466. The action of the knocking wheels, supply wheels, take-up wheels and undressed roller operate to separate a document 480 from the stack and move it from the storage area as shown in Figure 58. incorporation preferred of The apparatus is generally designed in such a way that a single rotation of the supply wheels and the stroke wheels is sufficient to move a document from the storage area. Once the document is moved from the storage area the coffer door 442 is moved again and the removal wheels and the stripping roller are moved by their associated mechanisms so as to retract from the can. Fingers 470 and 472 are moved up and in to reattach the top of the stack.

When the document 480 is moved from the storage area 102, the transmission of the light through the document is perceived. The transmission of light through the document is sensed by a sensor 490 which is similar to sensor 464 and is placed on a coffer door or other structure that covers the storage area or another way in the first direction from the area storage 102. The emitter 492 mounted on the machine emits enough light so that it can be determined if a double note note has been removed from the stack.

The emitter 492 and the sensor 490 are connected to the control system which is programmed to recognize when a double document has been collected from the storage area. The machine can operate in a number of ways depending on the programming of the control system to deal with this occurrence. If the document has been completely removed from the stack, the document can be returned to the address and placed back on the stack. Then an attempt is made to again remove it. Alternatively, in a second attempted collection operation the supply wheels can be swung back and forth as the bill is being collected to provide the possibility of two bills being removed together. This can be done automatically by the control system in some conditions where the documents are known to have a particularly high affinity or high voltage surface which makes them difficult to separate.

Finally, in the event that repeated attempts to collect a single ticket from the storage area are a failure, the machine can operate to direct the collected document or documents to another storage area or to the garbage area 132. The machine can then proceed to collect a next bill from the stack. The programming of the machine 1 is preferably established to minimize the associated delay when a collection problem is encountered.

After the document 480 has been successfully removed from the storage area 102 it is transported to the remote transport segment 110 and is directed by the gate 118 to the central transport. Document 48 together with other documents passes the identification device 88 which confirms the identity of each document. The documents are deposited in the escrow area 66 where a stack of escrow 494 is accumulated. Then as shown schematically in Figure 62, the stem area 494 is moved upward in the input / output area 50 of the machine. The door 54 is opened and the stack is delivered to the customer through the opening 52.

The transaction flow executed by the control system to carry out the operations of the machine in a withdrawal transaction is presented in Figures 69 and 70. As is the case with the deposit transaction, the first machine goes through a customer identification sequence represented by a step 134 in which the customer operating the machine is identified. This sequence of customer identification is not executed when the customer has operated the machine to carry out a previous transaction.

After the clients have identified themselves, the machine goes through the transaction sequence of the main automatic teller 136 as previously discussed.

Clients immediately indicate in a step 496 through the interconnection of clients that they wish to carry out a withdrawal transaction. The withdrawal amount then received by the machine based on the customer entries in a step 498. In a step 500 the machine operates to determine whether the withdrawal amount that the customer has requested is authorized by the programming of the machine and / programming of a computer which is in communication with the machine. If the withdrawal is not authorized, the machine returns the main sequence and provides instructions to the clients.

If the withdrawal amount is authorized, the control system of the machine sees the storage locations of the various denominations of banknotes in step 502 and calculates that a mix of tickets can be provided to the customer in the country. 504. It should be noted that in some embodiments of the invention which are intended to be used primarily by commercial customers, those customers may be allowed to select the mix of denominations of tickets that the customer will receive. This is done by the control system using »programmed drives displayed over the client interconnection. The client is provided with tickets through the customer's interconnection, which indicate the amount of money they want. However, if the machine does not provide that option or the customer does not want a specific denomination selection, the machine will operate to determine the number of the various types of tickets that are available to provide the tickets to the customer in the denominations that will minimize the probability of that the machine stays if tickets of a particular type.

The machine then continues at a step 506 in which the control system operates to collect the bills from the various storage areas. As indicated by phantom pas 508, collection operations are concurrently executed in the preferred embodiment of the invention. Multiple tickets can be collected from the various storage locations and can be moved as a separate ticket stream through the segments of remote transport and hast the central transport of the machine.

For each collection operation, after the ticket is collected a step 510 is carried out to perceive the double tickets that have been collected from a storage place. If a double is perceived in step 512 the billet is retracted to step 514 and an effort is made again to collect a single bill. If, however, if a single ticket is received in step 512, the bill is released in step 516. In step 516 the bill is released in a coordinated relationship with the other bills by the control system to ensure that each bill arrives. to the central transport of the machine in a relation spaced by the other bills. However, the spacing is such that the bills move concurrently and are delivered at the high-speed escrow site.

An analysis of each passing ticket is made by the identification device 88 which is indicated 'in a step 518. If the bill is recognized as adequate in a step 520, the bill is directed to the escrow area 66 in a step 522 If the ticket is not recognized in step 520 or is unfit, it is directed to the reject / delivery area 60 in a step 524. Failure to identify a ticket which comes from a storage location is an unusual event. This is because each stored ticket has usually been previously identified twice. Problems may arise when the bill was loaded into the boat outside the machine. If a ticket is rejected, the transaction flow of the described incorporation continues to an error recovery step 526. This error recovery program may include directing the ticket back through the central transport to a designated storage location for a later analysis.

The tickets are delivered to the escrow area so that all tickets which respond to the customer's withdrawal request have been delivered. Upon completion of the check in, it is verified in step 528. A check was then made in step 530 to determine if all the bills q have been delivered have been properly identified. If they have been and there are bills in the rejection area, error recovery step 526 is executed.

However, if the bills have been properly identified the stack stack corresponding to the stack 494, Figure 62 moves to the delivery position in a step 532 which aligns the escrow area with the opening in the box. The inner door is then closed in a step 534. The front door is opened in a passage 536 and the transport bands move to deliver the bills to the customer in a step 538.

In a step 540 a determination is made based on the reading of the sensors 148 and 150 to determine whether the bank of notes has been taken by the customer. If this is the case, s close the front door in step 542. The transaction flow then returns to the main ATM machine sequence in step 544.

However if the tickets are not taken by the customers the routines can be executed to encourage the customer through the customer interconnection to remove the tickets. However if the client does not collect the tickets, then step 546 is executed to retract the tickets inside. of the machine. The front door is closed in a step 548 and the machine then continues to the error recovery routine. This may include, for example, storing the tickets in a particular storage location. Alternatively, this may involve reversing the withdrawal transaction requested by the customer and placing the tickets back in the various storage areas by running them through central transportation.

An advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is the ability to operate at high speeds. This is achieved through the control system architecture 30 which is schematically represented in Figure 63. The preferred embodiment of the system uses a control system which includes a terminal processor 548. The terminal processor contains the general programming of the system. machine as well as the necessary programs for the operation of the communication functions with other systems and other functions that the machine carries out. As indicated in Figure 63, the terminal processor 548 is in operative connection with the stored data including the instructions and programmed data. The terminal processor 548 is in communication through the appropriate interconnections with the various devices of the computer machines 550.

The terminal processor 548 is also in an operational communication with a processor module 552. The module processor 552 orchestrates the operations carried out by the module driver mode 554, 556, 558, 560 562 and 564. As indicated, the module processor 552 is also in operative connection with its own respective data, which retains its instructions and programmed data. In a similar way, each of the module controllers preferably includes data storage to retain various instructions and programmed data. The module processor 55 is operatively connected to each of the module controllers via a data bus 566. The module controllers, each communicate via the data bus, only with the module processor 552, and the module processor s communicates directly with each module controller. The module controller has associated therewith the computer apparatus devices indicated with the number 567. Each module controller has associated with it its own respective types of computer machine devices, which are responsible for the operation and control .

In the operation of the system, each controller module operates programs to execute particular tasks associated with each device of the computer apparatus that is connected to it. This can be, for example, a particular function associated with moving a mechanism or a document. These tasks are coordinated in the areas executed through the module controller in relation to the computer devices. The movement of the document concurrently, however, coordinated by the module processor 552 operating to send the control signals to the various module controllers, so that the document handling functions carried out in a chronized and coordinated relationship. The termination processor 548 controls the operation of the module processor to carry out the particular transactions, which are indicated by the terminal programming. As a result of this configuration, the documents are allowed to be handled concurrently, but independently through the machine which greatly accelerates the storage operation of document retrieval.

The sheet thickness detectors used in the preferred embodiment of the machine 10 allow a reliable perception in the case of double or overlapped documents that have entered the sheet path. As previously discussed, in the case of doubles which are stocked from the unstacking area 72, the double sensors 80 allow the double bills to be perceived so that they can be returned to the stack of documents. Similarly, when the documents are supplied from the sheet thickness sensor storage areas which includes a transmitter 492 and a sensor 490, they detect whether a single or double sheet is being moved from the storage area. This allows the double sheets to be retracted.

In the preferred form of the invention, optical sheet thickness sensors are used. Optical sensors have an advantage in the sense that these require physical contact between the components of the detector. This is advantageous when a component of the detector must be supported on a removable component, such as a recycled can. The use of the optical detectors is also an advantage when the detector components must be placed on a moving component such as a hood door 442 on which the sensor 490 is supported.

Optical type sheet thickness detectors generally detect the thicknesses of the sheets that pass by perceiving the amount of light which is allowed to pass through the sheet. Because triple double sheets pass significantly less radiation through it than a single sheet, double or overlapped sheets can often be detected.

One problem which arises in the use of optical sensors for banknotes and similar documents is that the printed patterns on the banknotes are not uniform. The conventional optical double detectors generally pass light through only a small area on the bank. ticket. If an optical sensor finds an area that has other markings printed when the light passes, an erroneous indication of a double ticket may result. In addition, diner tickets can get dirty and sometimes marked by people with ink or pencil. When the area perceived by the double detector d includes such markings, erroneous double indications may result. Different currencies also have different properties which can cause the transmission of a ticket sheet to change from one place to another. Generally those who have tried to use optical tip sheet thickness sensors in automated banking machines have tried to place the sensors in an area where transmission through a sheet is not feasible to result in false double indications.

The present invention is configured to handle a wide variety of different types of sheets. It also handles sheets in a variety of orientations. As a result of this there is no single place where a conventional optical sheet thickness detector can be placed in relation to the sheet path it will go through as being a "good point" in terms of not finding areas of low transmission.

To overcome this limitation, the preferred embodiment of the present invention employs a novel sheet thickness detector which can be used to detect the thickness of leaves moving in a sheet path. A first embodiment of the sheet thickness detector is shown schematically in FIG. 71 and is indicated by the number 810. The detector 810 includes a transmitter 812 and a receiver 814. The emitter 812 and the receiver 814 are similar to the emitter 492 and the 490 sensor which were previously discussed. The receiver 814 is shown in a support relationship on a hood door 816 which covers a document storage area (not shown). The hood door 816 includes projections 818 that extend over the chest door in the direction of blade travel so as to retain the blade in contact with an adjacent band. The surface tension breaking projections 820 are also known on the surface of the hood door 816.

The emitter 812 includes a radiation source 822. The radiation source in the preferred embodiment comprises an infrared light emitting diode (LED). In addition, other sources of radiation can be used. When the radiation source 822 is energized the radiation thereof is passed to a radiation guide 824. The radiation guide 824 passes the radiation from the source to a radiation outlet 826.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the radiation guide 824 is a bundle of optical fibers which is composed of a plurality of strands 828 of optical fiber materials. The wires 828 extend from a first bundle end where they receive light from the source 822 to a second end of the radiation outlet. As indicated in FIG. 76, the wires 828 are linearly aligned in a direction transverse to the sheet travel direction at the radiation outlet 826. As will be appreciated, this configuration provides a relatively wide linear strip from which the radiation is emitted. in the radiation output.

As shown in Figs. 77 and 78, the receiver 814 has a body 840 which extends into a recess in the surface of the chest door. An electrical connector 842 extends from the receiver. The electrical connector 842 passes the signals from the receiver to the can circuit, and which is in operative connection with the control circuit of the machine.

The receiver 814 includes a radiation sensor element 830. The radiation sensor element 830 is aligned with the radiation outlet 826 and is comparable in a transverse width therewith. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the radiation sensitive element 830 is a photodiode. The element 830 produces signals which correspond to the radiation quantity of the radiation output 826 which reaches the element 830.

The receiver 814 further includes lenses 832 which cover the radiation sensitive element 830. The lenses 832 pass the radiation from the emitter therethrough. The lenses 832 are bounded by an arcuate surface 834 in the cross section. The arcuate surface 834 includes a vertex area 836 which is a high point of the arcuate surface. It should be noted that the apex area 836 generally corresponds in height to the height of the projections 820. The radiation-sensitive element 830 is placed in the leaf path outward from the vertex 836. This reduces the risk that the lenses in the area that the 830 s element covers wear or becomes scratched due to contact with the sheets that pass over it.

The radiation source 822 and the radiation sensitive element 830 are in operative connection with the control system 830 of the machine. This allows the radiation source to be controlled so as to provide sufficient radiation for the purposes of detecting doubles which pass between the emitter and the receiver. The signals from the receiver 830 are used by the control system in the manner discussed hereinafter to sense when single and double document are present in the sheet path. When the double documents are detected they can be retracted back to the storage area from which they were stored, otherwise they can be handled appropriately. In the preferred embodiment the sheet thickness detector 810 is also used to sense the front and back edges of the sheets. This allows the control system to detect the position of the leaves that pass through the system, which is important to carry out the current transport of the files.

As shown in Figure 72, a document sheet 838 passes along a sheet path between the emitter 812 and the receiver 814. The sheet 838 moves along the sheet path in a generally indicated sheet direction. by the arrow S. The leaves can move along the sheet direction either to the left or to the right as shown in Figure 72.

Radiation from the radiation source 822 e directed by the radiation guide 824 and passes through the radiation outlet 826. This radiation is indicated by the arrow L passing through the sheet 838 to the element 830 on the receiver 814 As a result of the radiation hit the radiation sensitive element receiver 814 produces a signal which varies in response to the amount of radiation passing through the sheet.

An example of the signals generated in response to the single and double tickets is indicated in Figure 79. The signal output line 844 corresponds to the single bill that passes between the transmitter 812 and the receiver 814. As can be appreciated, when a sheet passes between the emitter and the receiver l the amplitude of the signal from the receiver falls with the front edge of the leaf and rises again when the leaf edge of the leaf passes. Signal line 844 oscillates as the leaf passes between the emitter and receiver due to variations in the transmission of various parts of the bill.

The signal output line 846 represents the passage of a double ticket. As it can be seen much less radiation can pass through overlapping tickets than through a ticket. As a result - the amplitude of the signal from the receiver is much lower when a double bill passes. The control system associated with the canister has stored there a threshold schematically indicated with the number 848 which corresponds to a signal amplitude below which the double bills are considered to be detected. The threshold 848 is determined based on experimentation with the particular type of sheets that the sheet thickness detector is used to detect. The preferred form of the invention generally provides the ability to designate thresholds which accurately predict the perception of double documents as opposed to singular documents soiled or marked.

It is a fundamental feature of the preferred embodiment of the present invention that the emitter and the receiver perceive the transmission of radiation through the sheet through a distance which is relatively wide compared to conventional optical fiber detectors. By perceiving the transmission over such a wide area, the localized areas of low transmission due to the indications on the single notes such as the marked areas or the areas printed with patterns where the printed one is placed, tend to be averaged with other areas and are not on a false indication of a double ticket.

In the preferred form of the invention, the radiation output and the radiation-sensitive element are transversely centered in the blade path and extend at a distance of approximately 20 millimeters. In the case of United States currency notes, the sender and the receiver perceive the transmission over a distance which is approximately 13% of the total ticket's width. It should be understood that even when this relationship is used in the preferred embodiment, in other incorporations greater or lesser percentages of the ticket width may be perceived.

In general, the perception of 5% of the ticket width for most types of sheets provides a significant advantage compared to other optical sheet thickness detectors which receive less than 1% of the ticket width. Perceiving 10% of the ticket's width also generally gives very good results. satisfactory. Higher percentages than those used in the preferred addition may also be used in other additions, provided that the percentage of the bill received is not so great that misalignment or skewing may cause false readings due to unobstructed transmission between the sender and the sender. sensor.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the area in which the sender and receiver perceive the ticket area is at or near the center. This provides for the perception of the ticket area between the bands that move the tickets along the boat transports. The configuration allows an accurate perception of the double bills despite the bias of the bills. Doubles are trained to be detected exactly in spite of localized banknote markings or bill changes due to staining or aging.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the light emitting diode which serves as the radiation source is placed in an opening in the emitter housing from which it can be easily removed. This allows the replacement of the light emitting diode in the event that it fails. In similar form, the receiver 814 is enabled to be easily removed from the bag in which it was placed on the door of the chest.

The control system of the machine in the preferred embodiment operates the radiation source at a sufficient level to achieve accurate detection of the double sheets. This was achieved by adjusting the intensity of the radiation source when the sheet is not present to achieve a desired output of the receiver. Achieving such a desired output allows s to have a sufficient differentiation in the amplitude of the signals when the sheets pass as to distinguish exactly single and double leaf.

In the preferred embodiment, the recycled containers include an outer memory. The external memory stores data representative of the intensity of the radiation source required to detect exactly doubles in some systems. Different types of detector emitter can be used. Alternatively, or in addition to the external memory may include representative data of the representative umbrales of doubles. The storage of the information in the on-board boat memory allows the machine control system to more easily control the transmitter and accurately read and interpret the signals generated by the receiver.

An alternate incorporation of a generally indicated emission with the number 850 is shown in Figures 73-75. The alternate emitter is of a type used in the machine in relation to the double sensors 80 of the central transport of the automated banking machine. The receiver used in relation to the emitter 850 is similar to the receiver 814.

The emitter 850 includes a body 852. The body 852 includes a central cavity 854. The cavity 854 houses a radiation guide 856. The radiation guide 856 in the embodiment shown comprises a bundle of optical fibers as in the previous embodiment. . However, radiation guide 856 extends generally straight as it extends outward toward a radiation outlet 858. Radiation guide 856 is maintained in position in cavity 854 by projections 860 and is secured in position with the compound generally indicated with the number 862.

The body 852 includes a back wall 864. The wall 864 has an opening 866 there. A rear wall of plurality of projections 868 extends in a surrounding relationship of the aperture 866 on the exterior of the wall 864. The projections 868 serve to releasably retain a radiation source 870 which in this embodiment is also a light emitting diode. infrared The projections 868 serve to releasably retain the light emitting diode in the aperture 866. The projections 868 are deformable to release the light emitting diode to allow rapid replacement.

The emitter 850 operates in combination with a similar receiver to receive to allow accurate detection of the double sheets. The transverse length of the radiation output 858 in relation to the width of the leaves allows to distinguish exactly the single leaves of the double leaves despite the localized areas of a low transmission on the leaves. Even when bundles of optical fibers are employed as the radiation guide in the embodiment shown, other embodiments may employ other devices to provide a source of relatively distributed radiation. In addition, infrared radiation sources are used in the preferred equipment in alternate forms of the invention which can use other sources and radiation frequencies. This can be particularly true in situations where the particular tip of the blade being handled has properties which provide greater differences in transmitter radiation between the singles and doubles when exposed to radiation at other frequencies.

Therefore, the preferred embodiment of the present invention achieves the claimed objectives, eliminates the difficulties encountered in the use of the above devices, system and methods, and achieves the results described herein.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clarity and understanding, however unnecessary limitations should not be implied because such terms are used for description purposes and are intended to be widely considered. In addition the above descriptions and illustrations are by way of examples and the invention is not limited to the details shown described.

In the following claims, any characteristic described to perform a function s will be considered as encompassing any means capable of carrying out the recited function and should not be limited to the means shown described in the preceding description as performing the function recited or the equivalents of it.

Having described the characteristics, discoveries or principles of the invention, the way in which it is constructed and operates and the new and useful results obtained, the new and useful structures, devices, elements, arrangements, parts, combinations, systems, operations , methods and relationships are set forth in the appended claims.

Claims (19)

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N S

1. An automated banking machine apparatus comprising a sheet path in the machine wherein the sheet travels along a sheet direction; a sheet thickness detector that senses the thickness of the sheets in the sheet path, and thickness detector includes a emitter on a first side of the sheet path and or receiver on an opposite side of the sheet path, wherein Leaves move in the path of leaves extending between the emitter and the receiver; The issuer includes a source of radiation; a radiation guide for accepting the light from the radiation source at a first end to deliver the light at a second end, the second end being essentially elongated by extending to a first distance generally transversely to the direction d of the sheet; The receiver includes: a sensing element of radiation in relation aligned with the second end d of the radiation guide, the element s extends transversely to the sheet trajectory the first distance, where the radiation-sensitive element generates signals in response to the radiation reaching it from the radiation source, where the signals are used by the machine to detect the thickness of the sheets passing between the emitter and receiver.

2. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the emitter includes a box having an opening, and wherein the radiation source can be removably placed in the opening.

3. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the radiation source emits radiation generally in a first direction, and wherein the radiation guide delivers the radiation to a second end in a direction generally perpendicular to the first direction

4. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the radiation guide comprises a bundle of optical fiber.

5. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 4, characterized in that the fiber optic bundle comprises a plurality of yarns, and wherein the yarns s extend in generally an aligned relationship in the transverse direction adjacent the second end.

6. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the receiver includes lenses that cover the radiation sensor element, wherein the lenses in the cross section taken parallel to the path of the leaf are bounded by an adjacent arcuate surface. to the sheet trajectory.

7. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 6, characterized in that the arcuate surface has a vertex area and wherein the radiation-sensitive element is positioned in the sheet direction away from the vertex area d.

8. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 7, characterized in that the machine also comprises the storage area, where the sheets are kept in the storage area and where a storage box door covers the storage area, and wherein the receiver is in a support connection with the chest door.

9. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the emitter and the receiver are generally in a transversely centered relation in relation to the sheet path.

10. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that the sheets move in the sheet path having a sheet width in the direction transverse to the sheet path and where the first distance is at least about 10% of the width of the sheet.

11. An apparatus comprising: a leaf movement mechanism, wherein the leaf movement mechanism is adapted to move the leaf in a leaf path, whereby the leaves move in the leaf trajectory generally along a leaf direction, in wherein the leaves moving in the sheet path have a sheet width in a direction generally transverse to the sheet direction, and wherein the sheets include index patterns thereon whose patterns are generally non-uniform throughout each sheet; a radiation emitter and a receiver 10 radiation, wherein the emitter and receiver are placed in a generally aligned relationship on opposite sides of the sheet path d so that the leaves moving in the sheet path pass between the emitter and the 15 receiver, wherein the receiver is operated to produce a signal that responds to the amount of radiation received from the emitter; a device in operative connection with e 20 receiver, wherein the device is operated to compare the signal with a threshold, wherein the threshold is indicative of more than one sheet extending between the emitter and the receiver; Y 25 wherein the emitter and the receiver are both elongated in the transverse direction to an extent in which the indicia in the non-uniform patterns do not generally cause the signal to cross the threshold when a single sheet extends between the emitter and the receiver .

12. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 11, characterized in that the transmitter and the receiver one extend transversely through at least 5% of the width of the sheet.

13. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 11, characterized in that the transmitter and the receiver one extend transversely through at least 10 of the width of the sheet.

14. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 11, characterized in that it also comprises a can, wherein the canister includes a storage area established to hold the leaves thereon, and further comprises a sheet dispensing machine, wherein the canister is removably mounted on the sheet dispensing machine, and wherein the canister includes a programmable memory in a support connection therewith and wherein the memory operates to retain the data corresponding to at least one of an emitter intensity or the threshold.

15. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 14, characterized in that the canister includes a plurality of storage areas and further comprises a plurality of transmitters and receivers, wherein a transmitter and a receiver purchase a pair, and wherein a pair is placed in the leaf path adjacent to each storage area, and where the memory operates to retain the data corresponding to at least u of the intensity and threshold for the respective emitter and receiver in each pair.

16. The apparatus, as claimed in clause 11, characterized in that the emitter comprises a radiation source and a radiation guide, wherein the radiation source is assembled in a releasably movable manner and operatively connected with the guide.

17. A method comprising the steps of: generally moving the leaves one at a time in a leaf path, wherein the leaves generally move along a leaf direction in the path of the leaf, and wherein each of the leaves has indicia patterns on the leaf same, wherein the patterns are not generally uniform throughout each sheet and where the indications affect the transmission of radiation through the sheet, wherein the sheets have width in a direction generally transverse the sheet path; Y passing radiation through a part of the anc of each moving leaf where the sufficiently large part so that the indications in the non-uniform patterns do not affect essentially the total amount of radiation passing through the part of each leaf movement singular in relation to other leaves that move singular.

18. The method, as claimed in clause 17, characterized in that it also comprises the steps of perceive the amount of radiation that passes through the part of each sheet; Y compare the amount of each sheet with a threshold where the threshold corresponds to overlapping sheet.

19. The method, as claimed in clause 18, characterized in that it also comprises the steps of producing radiation passed in the step of passing an emitter, and where the perception step includes perceiving the amount of radiation perceived by a receiver and also comprises the step of adjusting the intensity of the radiation produced by the emitter in the emission step, a level that responds to a quantity of radiation received by the receiver. SUMMARY The invention relates to an automated banking machine that identifies and stores documents such as bank notes, deposited by a user, and supplies such documents to users. Conventional banking machines use document thickness sensors to detect double supplies by sensing the transmission of the lu through the small area of the bill. Tale conditions such as marks, stains or bleaching of bills can make the perception unreliable. The invention supersedes this by the use of a sheet thickness detector which senses the transmission of light over a relatively large note width. The thickness detector includes a radiation source from which the radiation is directed by the radiation guide to an elongated radiation outlet generally line which extends transversely to the leaf path. A receiver includes a radiation sensitive element which is it is also transversely elongated in relation to the trajectory of the sheet. The leaves that pass between the emitter and the receiver cause variations in the amount of radiation reached by the receiver.