US3392271A

US3392271A - Money counting machine

Info

Publication number: US3392271A
Application number: US400455A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas E Hayes
Original assignee: THOMAS E HAYES
Current assignee: THOMAS E HAYES
Priority date: 1964-09-30
Filing date: 1964-09-30
Publication date: 1968-07-09
Anticipated expiration: 1985-07-09
Also published as: DE1499521A1; FR1430519A; GB1077111A; BE659798A

Description

July 9, 1968 T. E. HAYES MONEY COUNTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ik m Q I in IIJ) 1 'hay INVENTOR n (tuwwct vBY ,Q i klwmw .wmmuw 1: 1| .W

ATTORNEYS M, N IM wm\ :mm 5 ILM m\ um mw t l A July 9, 1968 T. E. HAYES MONEY COUNTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 30, 1964 INVENTOR T E HAYES `aw1mce ATTORNEYS T. E. HAYES MONEY COUNTING MACHINE E. `\I N. mm m\ .Uh l 1\): RNW. Nm l NN.\Y mb ou N. Ulf Nm E mm NE nu' 1x Xmm. MN n f. 1; l

July 9, 1968 Filed sept. 30, 1964 x N@ ww. uw

n@ )u E maowkwumz'gammc ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,392,271 MONEY COUNTING MACHINE Thomas E. Hayes, Bethesda, Md.- (619 H St. NW., Washington, D.C. 20001) Filed Sept. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 400,455 9 Claims. (Cl. 23S-92) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE lCurrency counting machine which provides visual indication of the happening of certain events to indicate to the operator procedures to be followed for continued operation wherein means are provided to set the machine for automatic operation for skilled operators or `for manual operation for unskilled operators. When set for manual operation, a series of visual indicators operate in precise sequence as operations are performed to indicate each successive operation in turn. Manual starting is required, and a particular device is required as the starting instrument. Improved feed roller couple drive, and improved bill separators are disclosed.

This invention relates to currency counting machines of the general type illustrated in my prior 'Patents Nos. 2,425,318 and 2,429,159, and is an improvement over the |machines disclosed in those patents.

The above mentioned prior patents sihow machines lwhich have a plurality of currency-receiving compartments into whic-h lbills of different denominations, different sources of ori-gin, or different degrees of remaining life, depending upon the type of sorting required, are fed. The bills enter between roller pairs which cause the actuation of a piece-counter at the particular compartment and a piece, or value, totalizer for all compartments. Insertion of a double-bill (two bills together) between the rollers will cause the machine to stop. When one-hundred bills, or other predetermined number, are accumulated in a compartment, the machine pauses and provides visual indication of the particular compartment, so that a separator may Ibe inserted to achieve sep-aration of accumulated `bills in stacks of one-hundred or other preselected number. When the total piece counter for all compartments reaches a preselected number, the machine stops and cannot again start until the accumulated bills on accumulating shelves, or flaps, have been dumped to clear the machine for another count.

If the various operations 1eq-uired lby the operator are performed at the proper time and in the proper sequence, the machines of the prior patents would operate without error. However, operators will not always follow instructions, and new operators, particularly, become confused if multiple possible operating conditions happen simultaneously, and are unable to follow a prescribed procedure unless some indication is given to suggest steps of procedure.

It is the `general object of the present invention to provide an improved currency counting machine which iS less susceptible to improper operation by unskilled operators.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of such a machine wherein visual indication of the multiple steps to |be performed will appear sequentially as the several steps are performed to provide an operator with precise step-by-step guides to operating procedure.

Another object is the provision of a machine of this nature havin-g means for automatic operation lwhen used by a skilled operator, and means requiring manual manipulations to be performed with prescribed auxiliary equipment to achieve continued operation when nonskilled operators are in attendance, with means for setting ice a machine for automatic or .man-ual operation lwhich cannot be changed from one setting to another except 'by authorized personnel.

A further object is to provide improved drive means lfor the feed roller couple at the entrance to compartments to obtain an improved feed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved separators for placement between accumulations of predetermined numbers of bills within the compartments of the machine.

Other objects of the invention `will appear from the following description of practical embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany and form part of, this specication.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a currency counting machine of the general type referred to, and incorporating the improvements of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective on an enlarged scale of the bill-entrance and adjacent mechanism at one compartment of the machine;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3 3 of FIGURE 2, illustrating the general arrangement at a typical bill-entrance;

FIGURE 4 is a section taken on the line 4 4 of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a section taken on the line 5 5 of FIG- URE 1, illustrating a manual reset mechanism and its manner of use;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a separator for placement between predetermined accumulations of bills in the several compartments of the machine; and

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view of the operating circuits of the machine.

The two prior patents mentioned above disclose machines `for two different purposes. Patent No. 2,425,318 relates to a machine for sorting and counting currency of different denominations, wherein =bills of different denominations are inserted in different compartments lwith the bills in each compartment being piece-counted and the total dollar value of all of the bills :bein-g registered on a totalizer. This machine is used t-o sort and count money receipts, money deposits, etc. The machine shown in Patent No. 2,429,159 is designed to sort and verify straps of -bills of a single denomination. With the later machine, a piece count is obtained in each compartment, and the totalizer count serves to verify the total number of bills counted. Thus, if a strap of fifty bills or one hundred bills is counted, the totalizer should register :fifty or zero at the end of a count if the strap contains the proper number of bills.

For purposes of disclosure, a machine for counting bills of a single denomination has been illustrated and will be described in the present application. The improvements disclosed herein are applicable to machines of either type, and reference may Ibe had to the above mentioned patents for details of construction of the |basic parts of the equipment. Only those parts of the machine required to disclose the improvements have been shown in detail in this application.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the machine 1 consists of a cabinet 2 mounted upon a suitable stand 3.

The cabinet has a base 4, back wall 5, end Wall 6, and end housing 7 enclosing some of the operative parts of the machine. The area between the end wall and end housing is divided into a plurality of bill-receiving compartments i8 by a plurality of partitions 9 arranged in parallel, vertical relation on the base and projecting forwardly from the back wall. The horizontal cross-section of each compartment is substantially the shape of a bill and just enough larger than a bill to allow bills to settle flat therein and accumulate in stacks.

At the upper end of each compartment at the forward edge, there is a pair of bill-feeding rollers and 11. The lower rollers 10 are mounted upon a common shaft 12 which is driven by a suitable motor, not shown in detail but indicated diagrammatically at 13 in FIGURE 7. A shelf 14 extends horizontally in front of the compartments at about the level of the line of contact between rollers 10 and 11, the shelf being supported in brackets 15. The shelves are slightly concave between brackets, which, together with the fact that the rollers 10` are larger in diameter at their side edges than in the center, causes bills fed to the machine to assume a trough shape, stiffening the bills so that they will pass between the rollers and into the compartments in full length condition. The shelves are made of two thicknesses of exible plastic which permits them to be easily inserted and readily assure the desired concave shape.

The upper roller 11 is rotatably mounted in the bifurcated end of a tilting support 16, freely mounted on a hinge pin 17 held in a hinge block 18 which is fixed to a bar 19 extending across the top of the machine. The support 16 has an arm 20 projecting forwardly and resting upon a seating rail 21. A Suitable fine adjusting means 22 is used to determine the desired at rest position of the tilting support, and, consequently, the gravity pressure roller 11 exerts upon roller 10. It is desirable that the upper roller be in contact with the lower roller and be driven by it so that the upper roller will be in motion when a bill is inserted between the rollers. In order that a light contact may be maintained and yet a positive drive with little or no noise be achieved, the lower roller is annularly grooved at its center, at 23, and a rubber drive ring 24 is seated in the groove. Driving contact between the upper roller and the ring can be maintained with but little compression of the ring.

The feed roller couple has three functions: It feeds bills into the compartment; it serves as the actuating means to count the bills inserted; and it calipers the bills to detect the presence of more than one bill. The feeding function is clear as roller 10 is driven, and, in turn, drives roller 11. Separation of the rollers by entry of a bill between them causes the tilting support 16 to actuate a micro switch 25 to energize a conventional piece counter 26 positioned at the compartment into which the bill is fed. Separation of the bills beyond a predetermined amount causes the tilting support to actuate a double bill micro switch 27 to close a circuit to stop the machine with the plural bills between the rollers. Micro switches 25 and 27 are fixed on opposite sides of a mounting bar 28 extending the length of the machine above the tilting supports 16. It will be noted that switch 25 is located adjacent the end of arm and that switch 27 is directly above roller 11, much closer to the pivot point of the tilting support. With this arrangement, much greater separation of the rollers is required to operate switch 27 even though switches and 27 have the same operating characteristics.

Within each compartment, below the level of the feed rollers, there is a pair of hinged shelves, or flaps, 29. These shelves or flaps are normally in horizontal position and form receiving platforms upon which bills fed to the compartments are supported and stacked. The flaps of all of the compartments have interconnecting linkage by means of which they can be dumped to drop accumulated bills into the lower section of the compartments. Operation of a solenoid 30 (see FIGURE 7) causes the aps to dump. The linkage for dumping the flaps is shown in detail in the above mentioned prior patents.

The several piece counters 26 are located in a counter panel 31 along the upper back of the machine, each counter being above the compartment it serves. At the far right of the panel 31, as viewed in FIGURE 1, there is a totalizer 32 which operates each time one of the counters 26 is operated, so as to obtain a total of the bills fed to the machine. As disclosed in the above mentioned prior patents, the piece counters 26 mechanically operate switches to close a circuit to the totalizer when the piece counters are actuated. Thus, as a piece counter operates to register a count, it closes a switch tothe totalizer circuit so that the totalizer operates. There will be one such switch 32 for each piece counter, with the switches arranged in parallel. Only one switch 32 is shown by way of illustration in FIGURE 7.

Above the counter panel 31, there is a switch console 33 and a separator tray 34. The switch console contains a key-operated switch 35, to convert certain operations of the machine from automatic to manual, a manual switch 36 enclosed within a housing 37 having a restricted inlet slot 38 through which the switch button 39 can be manipulated with a proper device, and a signal light 40 to indicate when one hundred bills have been accumulated in a compartment.

The separator tray may be any suitable compartmented unit to hold a supply of separators 41 to place upon cach stack of one hundred bills accumulated in a compartment 8, so that upon completion of a period of operation of the machine, the bills stacked in the lower sections of the compartments will be separated into groups of one hundred for strapping. The normal separator is simply a rectangular member with perhaps `a finger hole 42 at the center for ease in handling. The improved separator, however, is recessed in each end to provide a pair of spaced ngers 43 projecting from each end. This construction serves two purposes. First, it provides switch operating fingers on each end of the separator for insertion within the slot 38 in the housing 37 to contact, and operate, switch .button 39. Second, if a separator is dropped within a compartment 8 and, instead of falling flat, assumes an inclined position with its upper end in contact with the front plate 44, the -bifuricated end will straddle the separator risers 45 at the center of each compartment and drop down to a position where bills entering the compartment will ybe unable to get beneath the separator to result in an improper number of bills below the separator and an improper number above. The front plate 44 has its upper edge lowered and the risers 45 mounted thereon to achieve this purpose.

In using the machine, an operator will insert bills into selected roller couples in accordance with the sorting that is required. As a bill passes between the rollers, the support 16 is tilted and micro switch 25 closed. Referring to FIGURE 7, it will be seen that switch 25 is in a circuit which bridges the positive and

negative power lines

46 and 47. The circuit includes switch 25, coils 48 of piece counter 26 and the normally closed contacts 49 of a counter relay having an operating coil 50. This will actuate the piece counter and make the count. Only one such circuit is shown, -but it will be understood that there is one counter circuit for each compartment.

As mentioned above, operation of a piece counter mechanically closes a switch 51 in circuit with totalizer 32. Switch 51 is in a line 52 from -power line 46, which includes totalizer coils 53, and is connected to return line 47. A parallel circuit includes switch 51, line 54, counter relay coil 50 and return line 47. Thus, whenever switch 51 is closed the totalizer will count and the counter relay will be energized. Operation of the counter relay will open contacts 49 to break the circuit to the piece counter and allow it to return to its position of rest even though the bill may still be between the rollers. So long as a bill remains between the rollers, counter relay coil 50 will be energized, even though the piece counter returns to its position of rest which allows micro switch 51 to open and the totalizer to return to rest position. This is accomplished by a bridge line 55 from the piece counter circuit ahead of contacts 49 to the wire 54. The bridge line includes a resistance 56 which prevents flow of current through the bridge line under normal operation, but permits a lower voltage ow through the piece counter coils 48 when contacts 49 open and switch 25 is held closed. Under these circumstances, there is insufficient current to operate the piece counter, but suicient to maintain relay coil 50 energized. This prevents automatic restartingof the machine after stopping with a bill between the rollers, except under certain normal operating procedures which will be described. During a count, the normal operation upon insertion of a bill -between a pair of feed rollers will be, energization of the piece counter at the compartment, operation of the totalizer and simultaneous breaking of the piece counter circuit, and breaking of the totalizer circuit, in sequence and in that order.

The machine is arranged to operate upon a predetermined cycle which is governed by the count on the totalizer. At times, when straps of one hundred -bills are being counted, the machine can be set to stop upon one hundred count on the totalizer. If straps of fifty bills are being sorted and counted, the machine may be set to stop upon the totalizer reaching a count of fifty. This is not new, and is disclosed in detail in prior Patent No. 2,429,159. Briey stated, this is accomplished by providing the tenS Wheel of the totalizer with two cams, one 'between the 9 and Q positions `of the wheel, and one between the 4 and 5. Thus, whenever the tens wheel moves from a 49 to 50 register, or from a 99 to a 100 register, one of the cams can operate a microswitch, as disclosed in detail in Patent No. 2,429,159.

In FIGURE 7, the switch closed by the cams of the -totalizer tens wheel is shown at 57. This switch is in circuit with a manual selector switch 58. The arm of switch 58 can be moved from a fifty setting contact 59 to a one hundred setting contact 60. It will be seen that contact 59 is in permanent connection by wire `61 with a switch 57 and the operating coil 62 of a fifty stop relay. The line 61 bridges between the power lin-e 46 and return line 47. The contact `60 is connected by wire 63 to an operating coil 64 of a flap lock relay and to the return line 47. A bridge line y65 connects wires 61, v63, and normally open contact -66 of the iifty stop relay are in the line. With the selector switch set for one hundred stop, as shown in lfull lines, coil 62 of the fifty stop relay will be energized when the totalizer reaches a fty count. This will cause 4relay contacts -66 to close, setting up a circuit to the ap lock relay coil v64. The fifty stop relay is a latch relay, so contacts 66 will be held closed even tho-ugh the closing of microswitch 57 is only momentary as the totalizer wheel turns from one digit to the next. Consequently, when the totalizer wheel again operates switch 57 after a second count of fty, the coil 64 of the flap lock relay will be energized and that relay will operate to stop the machine, as will be described. It will .be seen that when selector switch 60 is moved to its other position, the oper- `ating coils 62 and `64 of both the fifty stop and flap lock relays will operate at each fifty count. The fifty stop relay has no function in this setting, but the flap lock relay will operate each fty count to stop the machine.

The flap lock relay has several sets of contacts which are operated when the coil 64 is energized. These include normally open contacts 67 in a ap reset circuit generally indicated at 68, two-position contacts 69 in a timer circuit 70, and twoposition contacts 71 in a motor and brake circuit 72. Operation of the flap lock relay upon reading the predetermined totalizer count accomplishes several things. It breaks the circuit to the motor 13 and makes a circuit to a motor brake to stop operation of the feed rollers. This occurs quickly enough to stop the rollers with the last bill between them, even though the piece count and totalizer count for that bill have been completed. It sets up a circuit to a flap, or shelf, drop mechanism, which is then operable by closing a manual switch. In turns on a signal light indicating the predetermined count, and it closes a circuit through a timer relay operating coil.

The motor circuit 72 includes a wire 73 from power line 47, movable contact 74 and fixed contact 75 of a billremover relay, to be described, movable contact 76 and fixed contact 77 of the two-position contacts 71, movable contact 78 and fixed contact 79 of a compartment one hundred stop relay to be described, movable contact 80 and xed contact 81 of a double-bill relay to be described, and motor 13 to return line 47. When the flap lock relay operating coil 64 is operated, the movable contact 76 will leave contact 77, breaking the circuit to the motor. Contact 76 will close with its other xed contact 82, which is in a line 83 connecting brake operating coil 84 to the return line 47 Thus, when the predetermined totalizer count has been reached, the motor will stop and the brake applied. It Will be noted that brake circuit line 83 has branch lines 84 running to `a second fixed contact 85 for closure with movable contact 78, and branch line 86 running to a second fixed contact 87 for closure with movable contact 80.

It was mentioned above that operation of the flap lock relay closed the normally open contacts 67 in the flap reset circuit 68. This sets up a circuit from power line 46 through line 88, normally closed double-bill relay contacts 89, normally closed compartment one hundred bill relay contacts 90, normally closed counter relay contacts 91, the contacts 67, contact 92 of manual ap switch 93, signal light 94, and return line 47. This light, which is at the right side of the machine adjacent the flap switch button 95, when on indicates to the operator the completion of the predetermined count on the totalizer. If, for example, a strap of one hundred bills has been counted, and the selector switch 60 is set to the one hundred position, the totalizer will register zero and the operator should have fed the last bill of the strap to the machine if the strap contained the proper number of bills.

It will be remembered that when the machine stopped, it stopped with the last bill between the rollers but with the count for that bill already registered on the piece conuter and totalizer. The piece counter and totalizer will have returned to inoperative position, but the counter relay will be energized through the resistance circuit set up through bridge wire 55. This will prevent the counter or totalizer from counting again until the bill is removed from the rollers and another inserted. Counter relay contacts 91, in the circuit for signal light 94, will be open, so that the light will not be on.

The operation of the counter relay and ap lock relay at the same time causes closure of normally open contacts of each in a circuit to the operating coil of a timer relay. This circuit is from the power line 46, through line 96, normally closed contacts 97 of the double-bill relay, the normally open (but now closed) contacts 98 of the counter relay, moveable contact 99 and xed contact 100 of the compartment one hundred bill relay, movable contact 101 of the flap lock relay contacts 69 which is now in contact with iixed contact 102, the timer relay operaing coil 103 and return line 57. This energizes the timer relay, closing its normally open contacts 104 in a timer holding circuit, and normally open contacts 105 in a combined bill-remover relay and compartment one hundred bill relay reset circuit. This includes power line 46, wire 106, timer relay contacts 105, the operating coil 107 of a bill-removing relay, and return line 47. A bridge wire 108 connects wire 106 with a reset coil 109 of the compartment one hundred bill relay, so that the reset coil is energized. As the compartment one hundred bill relay has not been energized in this particular operation, the closing of the reset coil circuit is ineiective.

The closing of timer relay contact 104 establishes a holding circuit for the timer coil 103 so that the timer will remain active even though one of the other relays having contacts in the timer circuit should operate and open the line. The holding circuit contacts can be of the time delay opening type, such as disclosed in prior Patent No. 2,429,159.

When the bill-remover relay coil is operated, it closes normally open contacts 110 in a bridge line 111 around the several control switches in the motor and brake circuit 72, and causes the bill-remover relay movable contact 74 to break contact with fixed contact 75 and make close with its other xed contact 112 in the line 111. This opens the brake circiut by separation of

contacts

74 and 75 and establishes a circiut to motor 13. The rollers again rotates to move the bill held between into the compartment. Of course, as soon as the bill leaves the rollers the counter relay is deenergized. This opens contacts 98 to disrupt the .timer circuit, which, in turn, causes contacts 105 to open to deenergize the bill removed relay and reestablish contact between

relay contacts

74 and 75 and stop the motor. As the ap lock relay is still energized, contacts 76 and 82 will be closed to complete the circuit to the motor brake.

When the counter relay returns to rest, contacts 91 reclose to complete the circuit through signal light 94. The operator knows that conditions are now proper for dumping the shelves, or aps 29 to drop all bills on the flaps into the bottoms of the compartments so that a new count can be started without mixing with a` previous count. To prevent errors, the machine will not restart until this has been done.

To drop the aps, the button 95 is pressed to close switch93. This completes a circuit through wire S8, and the now all-closed contacts therealong, switch 93, wire 113, solenoid coil 30 and return line 47. Solenoid 30 dumps the aps, as shown in the prior mentioned patents, When the flaps reach their lowermost position, they close micro-switch 114 to which flap lock relay reset coil 115 and fifty -bill reset coil 116 are connected in parallel. As soon as the switch 93 is released, it bridges contacts 117 and 118 in line 119 to complete a circuit through the

reset coil

115 and 116. Because of the mechanical lag of the aps beginning their return movement, switch 114 will remain closed for the instant necessary to reset the ap lock and fifty bill relays. This will reopen ap lock contacts 67 to break the circuit to signal light 94. It will reclose contacts 101 and 102 in the timer circuit, and reclose contacts 76 and 77 to start the motor. When the iifty bill relay is reset, its contacts 66 reopen. A new count can lbe started.

The above operation is continued until one hundred bills are accumulated in any one of the compartments. When this occurs, the piece counter at that compartment, in moving from a count of 99 to 0, closes a microswitch 120 in the compartment one hundred bill relay circuit. It will be understood that there will be one such switch for each compartment, with the switches arranged in parallel so that closing of any one will complete the circuit. For simplicity, only one switch is shown. The circuit includes power line 46, wire 121, compartment one hundred bill relay operating `coil 122 and return line 47. When coil 122 is energized, relay contacts 90 in the flap reset circuit open so that light 94 cannot come on even though one hundred count should be registered on the totalizer simultaneously with a compartment one hundred count and the Hap lock relay operate to close contacts 67. In other words, there will be no visual indication of one hundred totalizer count, nor can the aps be dumped while the compartment one hundred bill is in operative condition. At the same time, contacts 99 in the timer circuit will break with contact 100 and close with contact 123 to close the timer circuit if the apparatus is set for automatic operation. Contact 78 also breaks with contact 79 in the motor circuit and closes with contact 85 in the brake circuit to stop the motor and apply the brake. Still another set of normally open contacts 124 will close to complete a circuit through wire 125 and the signal light 40 to indicate that one hundred count has been completed in one compartment.

If the machine has been set for automatic operation, key oper-ated switch 35 will be in the automatic position,

, as shown, closing a circuit through a wire 126 from the fixed contact 123, with which the compartment one hundred bill relay movable contact 99 has just closed, to iixed contact 102 of the flap lock relay contacts in the timer circuit, with which the movable contact 101 is closed. As the machine stopped with the one hundredth l 8 bill between the rollers, counter relay contacts 98 will be closed and the timer circuit is completed. This will close the timer holding circuit through timer relay contacts 104, and close contacts to operate the billremover coil 107 and compartment one hundred bill relay reset coil 109. Thereupon, the motorfwillbe started momentarily to feed the bill heldibetween the rollers intothe compartment, as previously described. When'y the bill leaves the rollers, the vcounter relay will be de-energized' to' break the ltimer circuit. This, in turn, will'break 'thebillremover circuit. As the compartment one hundred bill relay has already been reset, light 40 will be out, and all parts will be in their normal operating condition with the motor running.

The stopping of the machine, together with the lighting of signal 40, serves to inform the operator that one hundred count has been reached in one compartment and a' separator 41 should be taken from the tray 34 and dropped into the compartment showing zero on the piece counter. In all probability, the momentary pausing of the last bill between the rollers has already indicated to the operator which compartment has completed the count.-

lThere are times, however, particularly with new operators, when the operator will note the pause in operation, but when the machine restarts will forget to place the separator in the compartment. If this occurs, the bills in the bottom of the compartments will not be in separated stacks of one hundred for strapping, and will have to be recounted.

In order to prevent this occurrence with new operators, key switch 35 will be operated to set the machine for manual operation. This opens switch 35 so that when the compartment one hundred *bill relay operates and movable relay contact 99 in the timer circuit closes with fixed contact 123 no circuit will be :completed to the timer relay. Consequently, the machine, which stopped when the compartment one hundred bill relay operated, will remain stopped. The only way in which the machine can be started is by taking a separator from tray 34 `and inserting one of the projecting ylingers 43 through slot 38 in switch housing 37 into contact with switch button 39. If the button is pressed, switch 36 will be closed, completing a circuit through line 127, parallel to wire 106, to energize the bill removing relay coil 107 and compartment one hundred bill reset coil 109. This will restart motor 13 to feed the one hundredth bill into the compartment and reclose

contacts

78 and 79 in the motor circuit to reestablish normal operating conditions. As the operator has a separator in hand, it will be dropped into the proper compartment.

At times during operation of the machine two bills will be stuck together and fed as -a single bill to the rollers. The added thickness will lift the upper roller suiciently to cause the tilting support 16 to close microswitch 27. This switch is in a line 128 bridging the

power lines

46 and 47, and including an operating coil 129 `of a doublebill relay. The relay will be energized causing its contacts 89 in the iiap reset circuit 68 to open making that circuit inoperativeAt the same time, contacts 130 in the compartment one hundred billV signal circuit open, contacts 131 in the bill-removal relay and compartment lone hundred bill relay reset circuits open, contacts 97 in the timer circuit open, and movable contact 90 breaks with contact 81 in the motor circuitto stop the motor and closes with contact 87 in the brake circuit to -apply the brake. Thus, the motor is stopped and all of the circuits involved in restoring the machine to operating condition after stopping are rendered inoperative, VIn order to indicate the condition, another set of double-bill relay contacts 132 in a line 133 close to establish a circuit through a signal light 134 to indicate the presence of a double bill. The machine may be restored to normal running condition (if a totalizer one hundred count and/ or a compartment one hundred count did not occur at the same time) by simply y withdrawing the bills from the rollers. This breaks the relay circuit', turns oti signal 134 and reestablishes the operating circuits.

it will now be clear that there are three occurrences which will stop the machine, the insertion of a double-bill, reaching one hundred count in any compartment, and reaching one hundred count on the totalizer. Each of these, and the manner of clearing the machine and restarting its operation, have been described in detail. There are times when more than one of these conditions will occur simultaneously. For example, a double-bill may be inserted and count one hundred or either a compartment counter or the totalizer, or a compartment one hundred count and a totalizer count may occur together. It is possible, of course, for all three to occur at the same time. The machine is so arranged that upon the simultaneous happening of more than one of these conditions, the conditions must be cleared in a predetermined order, and the signal lights will be turned on in the order in which the clearing operations must be performed. In other words a double-bill between the rollers will take precedence over all other conditions and must be corrected before other steps may be taken. A compartment one hundred count must be handled before a totalizer one hundred count clearing operation can take place. There are four multiple conditions which may be encountered: (l) a doublebill and compartment one hundred count; (2) a doublebill and totalizer one hundred count; (3) a double-bill, a compartment one hundred count and a totalizer one hundred count; and (4) a compartment one hundred count and a totalizer one hundred count. The procedure in each of these events will be discussed briey.

When a double-bill and compartment one hundred count occur together, the double-bill relay operating coil 129 is energized and all of the double-bill relay contacts close as previously described. At the same time, the compartment one hundred bill relay operating coil 122 is energized and the contacts of that relay are shifted. The motor will be stopped because of the separation of double-

bill contacts

80 and 81 and the separation of the compartment one hundred

bill relay contacts

78 and 79. The doublebill signal light 134 will be on and the double-bill will be held between the feed rollers. The compartment one hundred count light 4t! will not be on, as that circuit is broken by separation of the double-bill relay contact 130. The timer relay circuit cannot come on even if the machine is set for automatic operation because the doublebill relay contacts 97 are open. The operation of the manual switch 36 will have no effect, for that circuit also is broken by separation of the double-bill relay contacts 131 The attention of the operator will be attracted by the double-bill signal light and the double-bill will be removed, and one bill dropped into the compartment to keep the count accurate. Removal of the bill will deenergize the double-bill and counter relays allowing their contacts to return to normal position. This will turn off the double-bill signal 134 and complete the circuit through signal light 49. The operator will now know that a compartment one hundred count has been reached. The machine will not proceed with its normal restarting after a pause if on automatic, however, for there is no bill between the rollers and the counter relay contacts 9S in the timer relay circuit are open. If the machine were allowed to restart following removal of the double-bill, the operator might forget to insert a separator in the compartment even though light 40 would indicate that procedure in between the removal of the double-bill and restarting of the motor. In order to start the machine, a separator must be picked up for use in closing the manual switch 36. After starting, the operator will drop the separator into the proper compartment.

Under condition (2) above, the double-bill operation will be as just described. The totalizer, having reached one hundred, or fifty, count for which it is set, will close switch 57, energizing the flap lock relay operating coil 64 to shift the contacts of that relay. At this time the motor will be stopped and double-bill signal light 134 will be on. The totalizer one hundred light 94 will not be on, for its circuit will be open at double-bill relay contacts 89. For the same reason, it will be impossible to drop the bill aps or to reset the flap lock relay. The counter relay contact 91 in this circuit will also be open. When the operator removes the double-bill from the rollers, signal light 134 will go out. Contacts 89 and 91 in the flap relay reset circuit will be closed and signal light 94 Will come on, The manual iiap dump switch button 95 can then be pressed to close switch 93, dump the flaps, or shelves, and reset the ap lock relay. This operation will be as previously described.

On those occasions when condition (3) above occurs, the only Visual indication will be the double-bill signal light 134.

Lights

40 and 94 will not be on for their circuits are broken by the action of the double-bill relay. Of course, the motor is stopped. When the operator removes the double-bill, light 134 goes oft and light 40, indicating a compartment one hundred count come on. The totalizer one hundred count light 94 will remain oif, for that circuit is broken by separation of the compartment one hundred bill relay contacts 90. This also prevents operation of the totalizer relay reset mechanism. Duc to the fact that the timer relay circuit is broken by the now open counter relay contacts 98, the compartment one hundred bill `count relay must be reset by use of a separator in closing manual switch 36. This ensures the placement lof a separator in the compartment which has reached the one hundred count. Resetting the compartment one hundred count'relay restores the flap dumping and flap lock relay resetting circuits, and causes light 40 to go out and light 94 to come on, The aps can now be dropped in normal manner.

With the condition (4) above, the motor will be stopped and the compartment one hundred count signal 40 will be on. Due to the fact that compartment one hundred

relay contacts

99 and 100 are now open and flap lock relay contacts 101 and 102 are open, both in the timer circuit 70, the timer is inoperative, even though there is a bill between the feed rollers and counter relay contacts 98 are closed. Therefore it is necessary to reset the compartment one hundred counter relay by using a separator to operate switch 36. Here again the operator is forced to pick up a separator to correct the condition so that the placement of the separator in the compartment havin-g the one hundred count is practically assured. As soon as this is done, the light 40` goes out and light 94 comes on to indicate that the circuits are now in condition to drop the flaps and restart the motor.

Because of the interlock between the various controlling circuits, any multiple condition must be taken care of in a predetermined order. If a double-bill is present, it must be removed before any other procedure can take place. If there is a count of one hundred at any compartment in conjunction with one of the other conditions, the compartment one hundred relay must be reset through use of a separator to remind the operator that a separator must be placed in the particular compartment. The machine will never restart automatically, even if set for automatic operation, if the compartment one hundred count is reached simultaneously with another condition. Whenever one hundred counts are reached on a compartment and the totalizer together, the compartment count relay must be reset before the flaps can be dropped to insure the placement of the separator before dumping.

The controls arranged as described require a denite pattern of operating steps under all possible conditions. The operator is not compelled to memorize the procedures, or to check the machine to see what conditions have occurred, as the signal light for the procedure which must be performed first under existing conditions will be turned on. As this procedure is carried out, the other signals will come on singly in proper sequence. Thus, coupled with the use of the key operated switch 35 to require manual starting of the machine using a separator as the starting instrument, makes the machine operation substantially foolproof, and results in a great reduction of error in those operations where error has occurred with past machines.

While in the above one practical embodiment of the machine has `been disclosed, it will be evident that the specific details of construction shown and described are merely by way of illustration, and the machine may take other forms within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for sorting and counting paper money having a plurality of bill-receiving compartments, separable bill-feeding means associated with each compartment, means to drive the bill-feeding means, a piececounter associated with each compartment, a totalizingcounter common to all compartments, a piece-counter circuit for each compartment closeable by separation of the bill-feeding means at the respective compartments, and a totalizing counter circuit closeable by operation of any of the piece-counters, in combination; means to stop the means to drive the `bill-feeding means upon the occurrence of any one or more of three conditions, (l) insertion of plural bills simultaneously into the bill-feeding means, (2) any piece-counter reaching7 a predetermined count, (3) the totalizing-counter reaching a pre determined count, separate means to restart the means to drive the bill-feeding means after stopping upon the occurrence of each of the said three conditions, and means interlocking the said separate restarting means to require operation of the restarting means in a predetermined order upon the simultaneous occurrence of more than one of said conditions.

2. In a machine for sorting and counting paper money as claimed in claim 1 wherein, there are separate signals to indicate the occurrence of said conditions, and means to cause said signals to become operative in the predetermined order in which the restarting means are operative upon the simultaneous occurrence of more than one of said conditions.

3. `In a machine for sorting and counting paper money as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the means t0 restart the means to drive for bill-feeding means after stopping upon any of the piece-counters reaching a predetermined count including a circuit automatically operable to restart the means to drive the bill-feeding means and a parallel manually operable circuit, with means operable upon the simultaneous occurrence of another of said conditions to render the automatic circuit inoperative.

4. In a machine for sorting and counting paper money as claimed in claim 3 wherein, there is a source of supply of separators for insertion between stacks of bills of predetermined numbers in the compartments, a switch in said parallel manual circuit, and means housing the switch to render it inaccessible for operation except by insertion of a separator in the housing.

5. In a machine for sorting and counting paper money having a plurality of bill-receiving compartments, separable bill-feeding means associated with each compartment, a motor and motor circuit to drive the bill-feeding means, a piece-counter associated with each compartment, a totalizing-counter common t-o all compartments, a piece-counter circuit for each compartment closable by separation of the bill-feeding means at the respective compartments, and a totalizing-counter circuit closable by operation of any of the piece-counters, in combination; a plural bill circuit including a relay operable by separation of any of the bill-feeding means by insertion of plural bills simultaneously into the bill-feeding means, the plural bill circuit relay having contacts in the motor circuit operable to stop the motor upon operation of the plural bill circuit, a compartment predetermined count circuit including a relay operable upon any of the piece-counters reaching a predetermined count, the compartment predetermined count relay having contacts in the motor circuit operable to stop the motor upon operation of the compartment predetermined count circuit, a totalizing predetermined count circuit including a relay operable upon the totalizing-counter reaching a predetermined count, the totalizing predetermined count relay having contact in the motor circuit operable to stop the motor upon operation of the totalizing predetermined count circuit, a timer circuit including a timer relay and contacts of the compartment predetermined count relay closable upon operation of the compartment predetermined count circuit, parallel compartment predetermined count relay reset circuits, one of said parallel circuits including contacts of the timer relay for automatic closure upon operation of the timer circuit, the other of said parallel circuits including a manual switch, manually operable means to reset the totalizing predetermined count relay, and means operable upon the operation of the compartment predetermined count circuit simultaneously with the plural bill circuit and/ or the totalizing predetermined circuit to prevent closing of the timer circuit, whereby the motor must be started by closing the manual switch.

6. In a machine for sorting and counting paper money as claimed in claim 5 wherein, the plural bill relay has contacts in the manual switch circuit to open upon operation of the plural bill circuit to prevent resetting the r compartment predetermined count relay while the plural bill circuit is operative, said manually operable means including a totalizing predetermined count relay resetting circuit, the plural bill relay having contacts in the totalizing predetermined count relay resetting circuit to open upon operation of the plural bill circuit to prevent resetting the totalizing predetermined count relay while the plural-bill circuit is operative, and the compartment predetermined count relay has contacts in the totalizing predetermined count relay resetting circuit to open upon operation of the compartment predetermined count circuit to prevent resetting the totalizing predetermined count relay while the compartment predetermined count circuit is operative.

7. In a machine for sorting and counting paper money as claimed in claim 6 wherein, there is a plural bill signal operable when plural bills are between the bill-feeding means, a compartment predetermined count signal operable when a piece counter reaches a predetermined count, a totalizer signal operable when the totalizing-counter reaches a predetermined count, means to prevent operation of the compartment predetermined count signal and the totalizer signal while the plural bill is operative, and means to prevent operation of the totalizer signal while the compartment predetermined count signal is operative.

8. In a money counting machine as claimed in claim 7 wherein, there is a supply of separators for placement in a compartment after reaching a predetermined count in the compartment, a manually closable switch in the manually closed motor restart circuit, and a housing for the manually closable switch having a confined entrance therein, the separators having at least one end member Shaped for entry into the confined entrance to the housing to close the manually closable switch.

9. In a machine for sorting and counting paper money having a plurality of bill-receiving compartments, separable bill-feeding means assoicated with each compartment, a motor and motor circuit to drive the bill-feeding means, a piece-counter associated with each compartment, a totalizing-counter common to all compartments, a piece-counter circuit for each compartment closable by separation of the bill-feeding means at the respective compartments, and a totalizing-counter circuit closable by operation of any of the piece-counters in combination; each bill-feeding means including a driving roller, a driven roller superimposed above the driving roller and mounted in a tiltable support, a pivot on the machine for the support, a micro-switch mounted above the tiltable support at a point spaced from the pivot and in- 13 eluded in the piece-counter circuit for that compartment, whereby tilting of the support when a bill passes between the driving and driven rollers will actuate the switch and operate the piece-counter for that compartment, and a second micro-switch above the tiltable support intermediate the first mentioned switch and the pivot forming part of a circuit to open the motor circuit and stop the motor, t-he second micro-switch being adjusted to be closed by the tilting support when the driven roller is thickness of a single bill.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Hayes 235-92 Hayes 23S-92 Hayes 23S-92 Hayes 23S- 92 Arenson 23S-132 X MAYNARD, R. WILBUR, Prima/'y Examiner.

G. I. MAIER, Assistant Examiner.