WO2009103934A1

WO2009103934A1 - Sheet handling apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2009103934A1
Application number: PCT/GB2008/000577
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lars Jorgen Gustavsson; Steven Michael Hosking; Anders Benght Verner Nordin
Original assignee: Talaris Holdings Limited
Priority date: 2008-02-19
Filing date: 2008-02-19
Publication date: 2009-08-27

Abstract

A feed mechanism is disclosed for feeding sheets from a sheet store, comprising:, a reversible feed assembly arranged to feed sheets out of and, upon reversal, into the sheet store; and a separator assembly arranged to receive sheets from the reversible feed assembly and adapted to pass sheets singly into a transport path. The separator assembly comprises: a first rotatable separator member arranged to be driven, in use, towards the transport path and being provided with first retardation means for at least decelerating rotation in the opposite sense; a second rotatable separator member (321) opposing the first to define a nip therebetween, the second rotatable separator (321) member being freely rotatable towards the reversible feed assembly, and having second retardation means for at least decelerating rotation in the opposite sense. Reversal of a sheet out of the nip by the reversible feed assembly causes rotation of the second rotatable member. A sheet feeding method is also disclosed.

Description

SHEET HANDLING APPARATUS

This invention relates to a sheet handling apparatus and methods for operation thereof. The apparatus and methods are particularly suitable for handling documents of value, such as banknotes. The handling apparatus is particularly well adapted for the dispensing or receiving of banknotes and may, for example, be utilised in a cash dispensing machine or deposit apparatus.

The invention provides a sheet handling apparatus substantially as herein after described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Sheet handling apparatus used for the dispensing and/or accepting of sheet documents such as banknotes typically make use of a number of cassettes inserted into respective housings provided in the apparatus. If banknotes are to be dispensed from a cassette, the cassette is pre-loaded with a stack of banknotes, typically of a single denomination. Typically, several such cassettes are employed, one for each denomination to be dispensed. Similarly, if banknotes are to be accepted by the apparatus, one or more cassettes into which banknotes can be fed by the apparatus are provided. These may be inserted empty and later removed for retrieval of the accepted banknotes.

In some cases, the same cassette may be used to dispense and accept banknotes. However, more usually it is preferred to provide one or more cassettes dedicated to dispensing banknotes, and one or more cassettes for accepting banknotes, which may be "reject" banknotes.

Such apparatus typically further comprise means for feeding banknotes out of the dispensing cassette and means for transporting banknotes from the feeder means towards an output for presentation to a user.

Examples of conventional feeding mechanisms can be found in EP-A- 0260015 and WO-A-01 /60727. The uppermost note in a cassette contacts a pair of feed rollers which, when driven forward, draw the uppermost note out of the cassette due to friction between the feed roller surface and the note. However, it is common that, in practice, more than one note will be drawn forward owing to note-to-note friction. For this reason, a separator is provided just downstream of the feeder rollers which allows notes to pass only one at a time. The separator comprises a pair of separator rollers which are driven forward simultaneously with the feed rollers, and an opposing set of contra- rollers which are driven slowly in reverse, typically by means of twin clutches coupled via respective eccentric cams to the same feed motor. Both the separator rollers and the contra-rollers are equipped with one-way clutches to prevent them turning in the opposite direction to that intended.

As notes exiting the cassette move towards the nip between the separator rollers and the contra-rollers, the driven separator rollers draw the uppermost note through the pinch point, whereas the rearwardly rotating contra- rollers retard any other notes which have been drawn from the cassette and prevent them passing.

In order to achieve effective separation such that notes are passed singly into the transport path (i.e. with no overlap of notes), the size of the nip between the separator rollers and the contra-rollers is critical and therefore the contra- rollers are adjustably mounted such that their position can be accurately decided by a user. It is also for this reason that the contra-rollers are driven in reverse: any wear occurring is spread out evenly around the circumference of the roller, thereby increasing the component's lifetime. However, the mechanical linkage necessary to drive the contra-roller backwards is complex and involves a large number of parts, thereby adding to the cost of the machine and requiring regular maintenance.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a feed mechanism for feeding sheets from a sheet store comprises; a reversible feed assembly arranged to feed sheets out of and, upon reversal, into the sheet store; and a separator assembly arranged to receive sheets from the reversible feed assembly and adapted to pass sheets singly into a transport path; the separator assembly comprising: a first rotatable separator member arranged to be driven, in use, towards the transport path and being provided with first retardation means for at least decelerating rotation in the opposite sense; a second rotatable separator member opposing the first to define a nip therebetween, the second rotatable separator member being freely rotatable towards the reversible feed assembly, and having second retardation means for at least decelerating rotation in the opposite sense; such that reversal of a sheet out of the nip by the reversible feed assembly causes rotation of the second rotatable member. By configuring the second rotatable separator member in this way, it becomes possible to do away entirely with any mechanical linkage for providing drive to this component. Instead, the second rotatable separator member can now be provided by a "one-way" idler roller (or similar). The arrangement of the components is such that when the feed assembly is reversed in order to return any additionally feed sheets to the sheet store, any sheet located between the feed assembly and the separator assembly is pulled out of the nip (against the friction of the separating member) and causes the second rotatable member to rotate by a random amount. Once the sheet has exited the nip, the second rotatable member comes to rest and, in the vast majority of cases, a different region of its surface will now be facing the nip, thereby spreading out any wear caused by the separation process around the circumference of the roller. Since the amount by which the roller rotates is uncontrolled (and therefore random), it is possible that in some rare cases the roller may come to rest with the same area of its circumference facing the nip as before. However, the occurrences of this are few and therefore do not significantly impact upon wear.

The first retardation means could take the form of a brake or ratchet or any other component which slows or stops rotation of the first rotatable separator member towards the reversible feed assembly. However, in the preferred embodiment, the first retardation means is a one-way clutch, permitting rotation of the first rotatable separator member towards the transport path only.

Likewise, the second retardation means could be provided in the form of a brake, ratchet etc, but preferably, the second retardation means is a one-way clutch, permitting rotation in the second rotatable separator member towards the reversible feed assembly only. The second rotatable separator member could be mounted in an adjustable manner such that the size of the nip can be fixed at a number of different positions by the user in a manner similar to that disclosed in relation to the contra-roller of the prior art. However, with the above-described feed mechanism, it has been found that effective separation of notes can be achieved by allowing the size of the nip to be self-adjusting depending on the notes presented to it. Therefore, resilient means are preferably provided for urging the first and second rotatable separator members together such that the size of the nip is self-adjusting.

This could be achieved by making either component spring loaded. However, preferably the resilient means comprises a spring assembly arranged to urge the second rotatable separator member towards the first rotatable separator member. In practice, this arrangement has been found to be more convenient since the second rotatable separator member is undriven.

Advantageously, the feed mechanism further comprises a feed driver arranged to transmit drive to the reversible feed assembly. A separate driver could be provided to transmit drive to the first rotatable separator member. However, it is preferable that the same feed driver would be further configured to transmit drive to the first rotatable separator member. This allows both components to be driven simultaneously and with equal angular velocity (if desired).

The reversible feed assembly could comprise any suitable components such as a barrel roller, friction belt or friction plate. However, preferably the reversible feed assembly comprises two feed rollers spaced along an axial feed shaft fixed thereto for rotation therewith.

Similarly, the first rotatable separator member could comprise any suitable components. However, preferably it comprises two separator rollers spaced along an axial separator shaft, fixed thereto for rotation therewith. Similarly, the second rotatable separator member could comprise any suitable rotatable components. However, preferably it comprises two idler rollers mounted on a support sprung towards the nip. The retardation means such as a one-way clutch is preferably disposed between the two idler rollers.

Preferably, the feed mechanism further comprises a sensor arranged to sense the passage of sheets into the transport path from the separator assembly.

The feed mechanism could be controlled in a number of ways. For example, a local processor may be provided for receipt of commands from a remote controller, for example a personal computer. However, preferably the feed mechanism further comprises a controller adapted to, upon receipt of a dispense command, control the reversible feed assembly to feed a required number of sheets out of the store and control the first rotatable separator member to pass the sheet(s) to the transport path. Preferably, the controller is adapted to control the reversible feed assembly and first rotatable separator member by actuating the feed driver.

The feed mechanism could be controlled to continuously feed sheets out of the store and through the separator until the required number of sheets have been passed. However, preferably, the controller is adapted to stop the reversible feed assembly and the first rotatable separator member when each sheet is sensed to have passed into the transport path by the sensor. In this way, feeding is more accurately controlled. The halting of the reversible feed assembly and first rotatable separator member may occur with a predetermined delay after the sensor detects the passage of the sheet so as to allow for long documents (such as larger banknotes) to exit the feed assembly and/or separator assembly.

Preferably, the controller is adapted to restart the reversible feed assembly and the first rotatable separator member after a predetermined delay in order to feed the next sheet. This ensures there is a gap between each note in the transport path. The predetermined delay may be adjusted in order to adjust the size of the gap and this could be done manually by a user or automatically by the controller based on the inter-note gap as sensed by the sensor. Advantageously, upon receipt of an anti-shingle command, the controller is adapted to control the reversible feed member to feed any sheet(s) between it and the separator assembly into the store. This could involve simply reversing the feed assembly without any preparatory steps. However, preferably, upon receipt of the anti-shingle command, the controller is adapted to control the reversible feed member to feed a sheet into the nip defined in the separator assembly, before reversing to feed sheet(s) into the store. By preceding the reverse movement with a short forward motion, contact between the second rotatable separator member and one or more notes is ensured, and the subsequent reversal of the notes is more likely to result in rotation of the rotatable separator member.

The controller could be arranged to perform the anti-shingle routine after each note has been successfully passed into the transport path. Alternatively, this could occur after a predetermined number of sheets have been fed or on some other known schedule. However, preferably, the controller is adapted to perform the anti-shingle step(s) once the required number of sheets (those needed for the dispense command) have been passed to the transport path.

Thus, the reverse feed takes place at the completion of each dispense operation.

An additional sensor could be used to detect when any such additionally fed sheets have been successfully reinserted into the store. However, in the preferred embodiment the reversible feed member is reversed for a predetermined period of time, selected so as to be sufficient to feed any sheets into the store, and so does not need to rely on any such sensors.

The invention further provides a sheet feeding method for feeding sheets from a sheet store into a transport path, comprising: activating a feed assembly to feed a sheet from the sheet store towards a separator assembly, and activating the separator assembly to pass the sheet into a transport system; halting the feed assembly and separator assembly; reversing the feed assembly to feed any sheets located between the feed assembly and the separator assembly into the sheet store; and halting the feed assembly. Preferably, the sheet feeding method further comprises, prior to reversing the feed assembly, re-activating the feed assembly to feed any sheet located between the feed assembly and the separator assembly towards the separator assembly.

An example of a sheet handling apparatus in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a sheet handling apparatus in front perspective view; Figure 2 shows the sheet handling apparatus of Figure 1 in rear perspective view;

Figures 3a and 3b depict a first example of a cassette for use in the embodiment in top and underneath perspective views, respectively; Figures 4a and 4b show the cassette of Figure 3 with the lid removed, empty and full respectively;

Figure 5 shows the interior of the lid of the cassette of Figures 3 and 4;

Figure 6a shows the shutter opening components and the cassette lock mechanism of the cassette shown in Figures 3 and 4; Figure 7 shows the cassette lock mechanism in a closed configuration;

Figure 8 shows the cassette lock mechanism in a priming configuration;

Figure 9 shows the cassette lock mechanism in a lid-open configuration;

Figure 10 shows the cassette lock mechanism in a primed configuration;

Figure 11 shows the cassette lock mechanism in a shutter-open configuration;

Figure 12 shows an end view of a second example of a cassette for use in the embodiment;

Figures 13a and 13b show the cassette of Figure 12 in combination with tamper seals; Figure 14 shows a right side view of the sheet handling apparatus of

Figures 1 and 2 with the cassettes removed.

Figure 15 shows a store housing module, forming part of the sheet handling apparatus of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 16 schematically depicts a separator roller assembly forming part of a feed mechanism used in the embodiment;

Figure 17 is a cross-section depicting a feed mechanism and transport module used in the embodiment;

Figures 18, 19 and 20 are views of the feed mechanism with various components removed for clarity; Figure 21 is a front perspective view of the transport module; and

Figure 22 is an underneath perspective view of the transport module. 0. Overview

This description relates to an apparatus for handling sheet documents. In particular, the apparatus is adapted to dispense banknotes for presentation to a user. The apparatus will therefore generally be described as a dispenser, but it should be appreciated that its functions are not limited to this. For example, the apparatus may be used to accept deposited banknotes. Similarly, the apparatus is primarily described as handling banknotes; however any suitable sheet objects could be dispensed or otherwise processed using the device. Typically, the apparatus herein described will be used in combination with a further sheet handling apparatus adapted to present the dispensed banknotes to a user (or to receive inputted banknotes). A suitable device is disclosed in the International Patent Application filed on even date by G. Jantsch et al entitled SHEET DOCUMENT PROCESSOR. However, the apparatus could be used in combination with other outputting devices, or it could output the notes itself, directly to a user.

Throughout the description below, the orientation of the apparatus will be referenced as shown in Figure 1. Namely, the side of the apparatus provided with the feed and transport components is termed the front, and left and right are defined from the point of view of a user facing the front of the machine.

Figures 1 and 2 depict the constituent modules of the dispenser 10. In this example, the apparatus comprises two store housing modules 100 and 100', fitted on top of one another as shown. In use, each store housing module 100, 100' accommodates a sheet store, preferably in the form of a cassette 200, 200'. The number of cassettes (and corresponding store housings) can be selected according to the intended use of the apparatus. For small, single denomination machines, a single cassette may be adequate whereas in other cases, multiple cassettes may be preferred. Particularly preferred examples have two, three, four or five cassettes (and corresponding store housings). Typically, prior to inserting the cassette 200 into the respective store housing 100, the cassette is loaded with a stack of banknotes. Preferably the stack is of a single denomination (and currency), at least one cassette being loaded with each denomination it is desired to dispense. As described below, the transport module and feed mechanisms are driven independently of one another. During use, the transport module 400, 400' is preferably continuously driven and the various feed mechanisms 300, 300' are selectively activated upon receipt of commands, to feed notes from the respective cassettes 200, 200' into the transport module for output to a user.

1. Store housing module 100

Each store housing 100 is identical and is configured to be fixed to the next, one above the other as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The store housing 100 is defined by two side walls 101a and 101b and a base plate 102 (shown best in Figure 7). The base plate 102 of one store housing 100 forms a top plate of the store housing 100' below to complete the enclosure. In the case of the uppermost store housing 100, the top plate may be provided by an outer casing or by an adjacent apparatus.

Also affixed between the side walls 101a, 101b is a crossbar 110 for additional rigidity.

As shown best in Figure 6, the upper and lower edges of each side wall 101a, 101b are provided with a series of spaced protrusions 103, 104 respectively. Along the lower edge, the side wall 101a, 101b is fixed to a side flange of the base plate 102 at each protrusion 104. The protrusions 104 interdigitate with the protrusions 103' along the upper edges of the side walls of the adjacent store housing 100' such that the adjacent store housing 100' can also be affixed directly to the base plate 102 at each protrusion 103'. In this way, no additional fixing components are required.

Typically, each side wall includes cut-outs 197 and 198, shown best in Figure 7. Cut-outs 197 are provided to reduce the weight of the apparatus. Cutout 198 supports, in use, a feed controller in the form of PCB 199. As described in section 3 below, the PCB controls the feed mechanism 300. At the front of the store housing 100, each side wall 101a, 101b has an outboard flange 105a, 105b (Figure 1). In practice, these are used to affix an outer casing or to join the apparatus to another device. Typically, doors will be provided (in the casing or other device) to allow access to the front of the apparatus 10 for servicing.

At the rear of the store housing 100, each side wall 101a, 101b has an angled flange 106a, 106b arranged so as to act as a "funnel" to assist the user in inserting the cassette 200 into the store housing 100. A casing and/or doors may also be fitted to the exterior.

In front of the base plate 102 is located a mounting block 115. As will be described below, this component performs multiple functions, one of which is to complete the base coverage in order to keep adjacent store housings 100, 100' separate. The mounting block 115 also supports two probes 150a and 150b, each comprising an elongate member of rectangular cross section. Each probe is positioned to align with apertures provided in the cassette 200 as detailed in section 2 below. When a cassette is slid into store housing 100, the probes 150a and 150b engage the cassette and cause it to open. Recesses 151a and 151b provided in the end of each probe 150a and 150b are arranged to couple with features in the cassette in order to close the cassette when it is withdrawn.

2. Cassette 200

Figures 3a and 3b show the exterior of a cassette 200. The cassette 200 comprises a base 201 and a lid 202, joined at the front by a hinge 203. At its front end, the cassette has an aperture 270 which is shown closed by shutter 272. In the present example, the shutter 272 is a roller shutter, following a curved profile. When the cassette 200 is slid forwards into a store housing 100, the aforementioned probes 150a and 150b are received by apertures 267a and 267b adjacent the shutter 272, and cause the shutter to be pushed open, as described below.

The cassette 200 is loaded and unloaded by opening the lid 202. In order to secure the lid 202 and prevent the shutter 272 being opened indiscriminately, the cassette is further provided with a locking mechanism 280 (Figure 4a). This is shown in more detail in Figures 6a and 6b.

In Figure 6a, all but an end section of the lid 202 has been deleted for clarity, and the base of the cassette 201 is removed. Figure 6b shows the same components in an end view. The shutter 272 is directly mounted to shutter support bar 288 which has an ¹E' shaped layout. The extremities of shutter bar 288 are provided with connection means for coupling with probes 150a and 150b provided in store housing 100 as described in section 1. The shutter bar 288 includes connection means for ensuring a two-way coupling to the store housing as disclosed, for example in EP-A-263679.

The shutter support bar 288 contacts an arm 287 which is pivotably mounted in the base of cassette 200 about an axis 287a. At its end furthest from shutter support bar 288, the arm 287 is affixed to slide element 286, best viewed in Figure 6b. Sliding of the shutter support bar 288 towards the slide element 286 is converted into lateral sliding of the slide element 286 by the arrangement of arm 287 such that slide element 286 is caused to slide from left to right as viewed in Figure 6b.

The locking mechanism 280 is mounted to the internal wall 204 of the cassette as shown in Figures 4a and 4b. The wall 204 is machined or provided with mouldings to support each component in the manner necessary. The locking mechanism comprises a locking plate 281 which is slideable from left to right as viewed in Figure 6b. Motion of the locking plate 281 is effected by actuator 282 in the form of a lever. In the example shown in Figures 6a and 6b, the lever 282 is operated by a key operated lock 290.

The locking plate 281 includes a recess defining a cam surface 281a including a ramp and a notch. The locking plate 281 is coupled to a stop member 283 which is slideably mounted in a direction perpendicular to the slide direction of locking plate 281 via a cam follower in the form of pin 283a which rests on the cam surface 281a. The stop member 83 is urged downward by resilient element 283b.

A latch member 284 is pivotably mounted to internal wall 204 about axis 285. The latch member 284 includes a hook 284a which, in the position shown in Figure 6b, engages a feature 263 provided in lid 202 which holds the lid 262 in its closed position. The slide element 286 is disposed underneath locking plate 281 and is slideable along the same direction. The slide 286 includes a cam surface 286a. W

12

Figure 7 shows the locking mechanism in its closed position. A resilient element urges the locking plate 281 against lever 282. Stop member 283 is at its lowermost position due to the action of spring 283b. Pin 283a rests at the lowermost point of cam surface 281a. In this position, the slide element cannot

5 pass stop member 283a and motion of shutter support bar 288 is thus obstructed via arm 287, thereby preventing opening of shutter 272.

Turning the actuator 282 anticlockwise slides the locking plate 281 into its primed position, shown in Figure 8. The pin 283a follows the ramp of cam surface 281a upwards, lifting stop member 283 against the action of spring 283a

10 to bring its lowermost extremity up to the height of cam surface 286a provided on slide 286. In this position, the shutter 272 can be opened as will be described below. However, to unlock the lid 202, the lever 282 is turned further anticlockwise as shown in Figure 9, sliding locking plate 281 into its open position. Here, a surface 281b on the locking plate 281 contacts a protrusion

15 284b provided on the latch element 284, causing the latch element 284 to pivot anticlockwise thus disengaging the hook 284a from the feature 263 provided on the lid 202. In this position, the user is free to open the lid 262 and load or unload banknotes as necessary.

Once loaded, the cassette is ready to be inserted into the store housing

20 and the actuator 282 is returned to its default position as shown in Figure 10, in which it does not constrain the locking plate 281 into its primed position. This is achieved in by arranging the key operated lock barrel 290 such that the key may only be removed when the lever 282 is in this default position.

As shown in Figure 11, when the cassette is inserted into the store

25 housing, the shutter support bar 288 engages probes 150a and 150b and is slid towards the locking mechanism. Since the shutter support 288 is directly connected to the shutter 272 sliding of the support bar 288 automatically pulls the shutter open. Pivoting of the arm 287 causes the slide 286 to move past the primed stop member 283, lifting it out of the notch provided in cam surface 281

30 and allowing the locking plate 281 to return to its original position as is shown in Figure 11.

When the cassette is withdrawn from the store housing 100, the probes 150a and 150b pull the shutter support bar 288 back to its original position, thus closing the shutter 272 and sliding slide element 286 back to its starting point as shown in Figure 7. In doing so, the stop element 283 drops back to its lowest position in which the slide element is prevented from opening, thus preventing reinsertion of the cassette into the sheet handling apparatus. The key operated actuator may be replaced by a handle 290', an example of which is shown in Figure 12. In order to detect tampering, it is preferable to provide the cassette with one or more tamper seals, examples of which are shown in Figures 13a and 13b. Figure 13b shows an example of the cassette 200' with a lever 290' in place of a key operated lock. An anchor tab 292 is provided in the fasia of the cassette which extends through an aperture in lever 90' and permits securing of a padlock seal 291. The handle 290' cannot be turned without removing or breaking the padlock seal 291. In certain cases it may also be desirable to include a second tamper seal 293 between the lid 202 and the base 201 of the cassette. A second anchor 294 connected to the lid 202 and passing through the base 201 may be provided for this purpose.

Figure 13b shows alternative seals in the form of rat tail tags 91', 93' used at the same positions.

The handle 290' is tagged in a position which corresponds to the actuator 282 being located in its default position (i.e. not constraining the locking plate 81 to stay primed).

The interior of the cassette 200 is shown in Figure 4a with no banknotes loaded. The internal wall 204 defines the banknote enclosure. When loaded, the notes rest on base 205 which includes a central raised portion 205a supporting a pusher plate 220. The pusher plate 220 slidably engages an elongate slot 206 provided in base 205 and comprises a pressure surface 220a, which contacts a face of the banknote stack in use, and a slide surface 220b, facing the base 205.

The pusher plate 220 is urged toward the shutter end of the cassette 200 by two springs (not shown) under the base 205. When a stack of banknotes B is loaded into the cassette, the pusher plate 220 is retracted towards the rear of the cassette in order to accommodate the stack, as shown in Figure 4b.

Figure 5 shows the underside of the pusher plate 220. Flanges 221a and 221b on either side of the slide surface 220b fit slidably to the central raised portion 205a of the cassette base. Bosses 222a and 222b are arranged to engage the two spring elements (not shown) which urge the pusher plate 220 toward the shutter 210. Bar element 223 extends from the pusher plate 220 through the elongate slot 206 in the base 205 and then laterally to secure the ends of the spring elements. A pivotable latch 224 is mounted to the pusher plate 220 and includes two stops 225a, 225b at its lower extremities, which extend through the slide surface 220b of the pusher plate 220. When loading the cassette, the latch 224 can be pivoted towards the pressure surface 220a of the pusher plate 220, lowering the stops 225 to engage a pair of apertures 206a provided either side of the elongate slot in base 205. This holds the pusher plate in position against the force of the spring elements whilst the notes are being loaded. A series of such apertures 206a is provided so that the pusher plate can be fixed at an appropriate position. When the cassette is ready for use, the latch 224 must be returned to its original position in which the series of apertures 206a act as a ratchet system to support the notes (via latch 224) if the cassette is transported upside-down (with the handle 299 facing downwards) as the pusher plate spring load for efficient feeding is insufficient to support the mass of the note pack in this position.

As shown in Figure 5, the lid 202 also includes a series of support points 207a, 207b at the front of the lid, and corresponding support points 208a, 208b at the rear, together with central points 209a and 209b on opposing sides. Each support point comprises a number of support slots spaced along the height of the lid. The slots are used to support guide rails 230, two examples of which are shown in Figure 5. In use, the guide rails 230 are positioned adjacent the stack of banknotes to guide its motion as notes are dispensed. Positioned approximately central to the rails 230 is an additional support (not shown) made, for example, of plastic or rubber. This support has corresponding grooves and can be trimmed to match the slot positions. Conventionally, a cassette is only adjusted twice during its working life so this central support is regarded as sacrificial and can be supplied as a spare. The position of the guide plate may be adjusted by appropriate selection of the support slot to fit different sizes of note. In order that the contents of the cassette may be readily identified by the sheet handling device, the cassette is provided with a magnetic code. A code support 240 is disposed on the inside wall of the cassette as shown in Figure 4a. The support 240 includes a series of recesses 241 into which magnets can be arranged and a clip cover for retention of the magnets. In this example, the support provides for a line of up to six magnets, but in other examples the support may allow for an array, eg. a 3x3 array, of magnets. A "digital" code is created by affixing magnets to certain recesses. For example the presence of a magnet in a recess may constitute a "1", and its absence a "0" corresponding to that recess. Different arrangements of "1"s and "0" create recognisable codes. Magnetic detectors, such as Hall sensors, are provided in the store housing 100 to sense the presence (or absence) of magnets in each recess. Preferably, the code support 240 is arranged to be adjacent the PCB 199 (see Figure 6) in use, and the magnetic detectors are provided on the PCB 199. The code used may be a unique code identifying the cassette for look-up in a database to identify its contents, or a predefined code relating directly to what has been loaded into the cassette. The code may include identifying the denomination, currency and/or quantity of banknotes loaded into the cassette.

3. Feed mechanism 300

Once the cassette 200 has been inserted into the store housing 100 and the shutter opened as previously described, the uppermost note in the banknote stack is positioned adjacent the feed mechanism 300. The position of the uppermost banknote is shown approximately by the line B in Figure 6 (not to scale).

The feed mechanism 300 comprises a feed assembly arranged to feed notes out of the cassette 200 though the shutter, and a separator assembly arranged to pass one note at a time from the feed assembly into the ongoing transport path (described in Section 4 below). The separator assembly is required because it is common for more than one note to be dragged out of the cassette on operation of the feed assembly due to inter-note friction. The separator assembly acts to hold back any such "additionally fed" notes so that notes are transported singly in the rest of the apparatus.

The feed assembly is best viewed in Figure 7 and comprises two feed wheels 311a and 311b spaced along a feed shaft 310 which is journalled between the side walls 101a and 101b of the store housing 100. The feed wheels 311a and 311b are fixed to the feed shaft 310 for rotation therewith. A feed motor 399 is arranged to provide drive to the feed shaft 310 via motor cog

398, timing belt 313 and drive cog 312 provided on the right end of feed shaft

310. The feed wheels 311a, 311b can be rotated in either direction upon appropriate activation of motor 399. The feed motor 399 may be provided with a switch 399a for detecting the closure of any door provided in the external casing of the machine, to ensure safe operation.

Each feed wheel 311a, 311b has a high friction circumferential surface for contacting the uppermost note in the cassette. When the motor 399 drives the wheels forward, the uppermost note (and, typically, some neighbouring notes) are urged out of the cassette toward the separator assembly. This comprises a separator roller assembly 321 and an opposing separator idler assembly which in Figure 7 is concealed by cover 116.

The separator roller assembly is shown in Figure 8 and comprises two separator rollers 321a and 321b fixed on a separator shaft 320 supported by the two side walls of the store housing. The separator rollers 321a, 321b rotate with the shaft 320. Between the separator rollers is a belt support roller 321c which will be described further below. The belt support roller is not fixed to the shaft

320 and therefore is free to rotate independently. In practice, the belt support member may comprise a ball bearing mounted about a core extending between the separator rollers 321a and 321b. The separator rollers 321a, 321b each have a high friction circumferential surface.

The separator shaft 320 is driven by feed motor 399 via transfer cog 315

(mounted to the side wall of the store housing) and drive cog 322 provided on the right hand end of the separator shaft 320. A one-way clutch 323 is also arranged on the separator shaft so as to permit rotation in the forwards direction but prevent rotation towards the feed wheels 311. Figure 9 shows a cross section though the apparatus and reveals separator idler rollers 331a, 331b opposing the separator wheels 321a, 321b to define a nip (pinch point) therebetween. The two separator idler rollers are mounted on a support arm 330 which is resiliently joined to mounting block 115 (see Figure 10). The support arm 330 passes though a protrusion 332a of a bracket 332, which also houses a one-way clutch 335 (not visible). The one-way clutch permits free rotation of the separator idler rollers in the backwards direction (towards the feed wheels 311) but prevents rotation in the opposition sense. The bracket 332 is contained within an aperture 115a of the mounting block 115 in such a way that a degree of movement towards and away from the nip is permitted. The bracket connects to support block 333 (best viewed in Figure 11), which is sprung forwards by tension spring 334 attaching support block 333 to the mounting block 115. The separator idler rollers are thus urged toward the separator wheels such that the size of the nip is self-adjusting. The separator idler rollers 331 have a relatively low-friction surface.

When a note is fed by the feed wheels towards the separator assembly, it enters the nip whilst any other notes which have also exited the cassette are held back by the (stationary) separator idler rollers 331. Thus, only a single, non-overlapped note is passed into the subsequent transport path.

After feeding, it is necessary to return any "additionally fed" notes to the cassette. This is important for security reasons and also since, in practice, it will not be possible to withdraw the cassette for refilling if there are any "half fed" notes, because the shutter cannot be closed. This process is termed "anti- shingling". In order to achieve this, the feed motor 399 is reversed which causes the feed wheels 331 to turn in the opposite sense, and feed any notes located between the feed assembly and the separator assembly back into the cassette 200. The separator wheels 321a and 321b do not rotate due to the one-way clutch 323. However, the separator idler rollers 331 are free to rotate in the reverse direction and do so upon the removal of any note(s) extending into the nip. The resulting rotation turns the separator idler rollers by an uncontrolled amount and when they come to rest, in the vast majority of instances, a different area of the rollers' surface is facing the nip. This allows any wear experienced by the separator idler rollers 331 to be shared evenly around the components' circumference, and extends their lifetime whilst minimising necessary intervention by the user.

In practice, feeding of a note is initiated by receipt of a dispense command from the PCB 199. Depending on the set-up, the command may originate from another controller such as a remote PC, or another device such as the apparatus disclosed in the International Patent Application filed on even date by G. Jantsch et al entitled SHEET DOCUMENT PROCESSOR.

The dispense command typically specifies a number of banknotes to be dispensed from any one cassette 200. Upon receipt of such a command, the controller activates feed motor 399 to drive the feed assembly and separator assembly forward to feed one note. The passage of the note into the transport path from the separator is detected by a sensor 380 which comprises optical emitter 381, detector 382 and optical fibre 383 arranged on the opposite side of the transport path to optically couple the emitter to the detector. A note passing between the emitter or detector elements and the optical fibre breaks the radiation beam and so enables its presence to be sensed. A suitable sensor 380 is described in more detail in our International Patent Application filed on even date entitled SENSOR. The ends of the optical fibre 383a and 383b are polished and set in apertures 381c and 382c in a guide member 340 (see Figures 11 and 12). Opposite one end are optical emitter components 381a, 381b, and opposite the other are optical detector elements 382a, 382b. Each is connected to the PCB 199.

Upon detection of the note at the sensor 383, the controller halts the feed motor 399 to stop the feed wheels 311 and separator wheels 321. In some embodiments this may occur after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the sensor trigger, to allow for larger notes to successfully exit the separator assembly before it is halted.

If another note is to be fed in order to meet the quantity required by the dispense command, after a predetermined delay, the controller reactivates the feed motor 399 to feed the next note into the transport path. This process is repeated until the correct number of notes has been output. Once the dispense command is met, the controller enters an "anti-shingle" routine in which the feed motor 399 is activated in reverse.

The feed wheels 311 rotate towards the cassette, returning any additionally fed notes to the stack. In doing so, as described above, the separator idler rollers are rotated by a random amount to a new angular position so that a new surface will be presented to the nip for the next dispensing operation.

In this embodiment, the feed motor 399 is run in reverse for a predetermined period of time judged sufficient to return any half-fed notes to the cassette. In other examples, an additional sensor may be included to detect when the anti-shingling step is complete, and the motor controlled in accordance with signals from the sensor.

Optionally, the anti-shingling step may begin with a short forward movement, which draws one or more of the additionally-fed notes into the separator pinch point, to ensure (or at least improve the likelihood) that there is contact between a note and the separator idler rollers 331 upon reversal. This helps to ensure that rotation of the separator idler rollers 331 occurs during every anti-shingle operation.

A current sensor may be provided on the motor 399 to detect over-current in the case of jams. A brake may be provided on the feed shaft 310 and/or the separator shaft 320 to assist in bringing the driven components to rest quickly upon command from the controller.

4. Transport Module 400

The transport module 400 provides the transport path onto which notes are passed from the separator assembly and conveyed for output to a user. As shown in Figure 6, each store housing 100 has a corresponding transport module 400 which adjoin those of neighbouring store housings (eg 100') to create a continuous vertical transport. Each transport module 400 is adapted to convey notes from its associated feed mechanism 300 and from lower transport modules (eg. 400'). The transport path is best shown in Figures 9 and 13, and is defined by two transport belts 497 and 498. First transport belt 497 is supported between idler belt support roller 441 at its uppermost end, mounted on shaft 440, and belt support roller 321c located between the separator wheels 321a, 321b (see section 3 above). Since the belt support roller 321c is not fixed to the separator shaft, it can rotate independently of the feed mechanism. The belt is tensioned by idler tension rollers 451 and 456. Roller 451 is supported on shaft 450, and roller 456 is mounted on a support arm 455 provided in a guide plate 460, described below. Second transport belt 498 is supported between drive roller 431 at its upper end, mounted on drive shaft 430, and pulley 421 at its lower end, mounted on shaft 420. The two belts oppose one another and are centrally located with respect to the note width.

The first transport belt preferably has a "T" shaped cross-section, with an outer flat surface for contacting the note, and an internal protrusion along its length. The protrusion fits into a corresponding groove provided in the supporting rollers for retaining the central position of the note. In one example, the idler roller 441 comprises two rollers spaced by two washers sized to form the necessary groove. Identical components can then be used to provide the idler roller 451, which faces the flat surface of the belt, with the two washers being placed outboard of the rollers, which combine to form one flat roller surface. The number of unique parts required is thus reduced.

The first pinch point in the transport module is provided by idler roller 411 which opposes the first transport belt 497 just downstream of the separator (see section 3). The idler roller 411 is supported on an arm 410 which is slidably located in the mounting block 115 as shown best in the underneath view of Figure 14. The idler roller 411 is urged toward the first transport belt by the support block 333 described in section 3 above.

From the first pinch point, the note is guided by the curved shape of the mounting block 115 around the separator roller assembly 321 to a second pinch point between the separator roller assembly 321 and the pulley roller 421 (Figure 9). From here, the opposing transport belts 497 and 498 convey the note upwards to exit the path at the arrow B. The note is guided by a fixed guide plate 460 on the cassette side of the path and two guide members 470a and 470b on the other.

The fixed guide plate 460 is attached to the side walls 101a, 101b at fixing points 461 and 462. The plate is typically made from an anti-static material such as conductive polymer. The plate also supports guide member 340 described in section 3 above, and roller 456 on an arm 455 inset into the plate 460.

The two guide members 470a, 470b are supported via arms 471a, 471b on crossbar 110 of the store housing 100. Each of the guide members 470a, 470b follows the contours of the fixed guide plate 460, spaced a small distance away from it. It is preferable to provide separate guide members rather than one guide plate for ease of jam clearance.

Additional note guidance and drive is provided by rollers 432a and 432b, mounted either side of the drive roller 431 on drive shaft 430, and by rollers 422a and 422b, mounted either side of pulley 421 on shaft 420 (Figure 13).

Drive is provided to the transport module via a drive cog 499 which is driven by a transport motor (not shown). The transport motor may form part of the sheet handling apparatus or could be provided in a separate device, such as that disclosed in the International Patent Application filed on even date by G. Jantsch et al entitled SHEET DOCUMENT PROCESSOR.

The drive cog 499 meshes with a cog 439 fixed to the right hand end of drive shaft 430. This transfers drive to transport belt 498 which takes the form of a toothed timing belt and so accurately drives the pulley shaft 420 at its lower end. A cog 429 is fixed to the right hand end of the pulley shaft and so is driven in sync. Any store housing 100' located beneath the transport module 400 is driven by the cog 429: as depicted in Figure 6, the cog 429 meshes with the neighbouring drive cog 499' to transfer drive thereto. The driven belt 498 also transfers drive to the first transport belt 497 by friction.

A note entering the transport module 400 from another store housing 100' does so at the arrow marked "A" in Figure 9. Here, an angled surface 115b of the mounting block 115 combines with the guide members 470a, 470b to form a "funnel" shape which guides a note from the lower transport module into the second pinch point between belt support roller 321c and pulley 421. From here the note is transported along the path between the belts 497 and 498 as previously described and output along arrow B, either into an upper transport assembly, or to another device for presentation to a user. In other examples, the user could receive the notes directly at the output point.

Claims

W23 CLAIMS

1. A feed mechanism for feeding sheets from a sheet store, comprising: a reversible feed assembly arranged to feed sheets out of and, upon 5 reversal, into the sheet store; and a separator assembly arranged to receive sheets from the reversible feed assembly and adapted to pass sheets singly into a transport path; the separator assembly comprising: a first rotatable separator member arranged to be driven, in use, towards 10 the transport path and being provided with first retardation means for at least decelerating rotation in the opposite sense; a second rotatable separator member opposing the first to define a nip therebetween, the second rotatable separator member being freely rotatable towards the reversible feed assembly, and having second retardation means for 15 at least decelerating rotation in the opposite sense; such that reversal of a sheet out of the nip by the reversible feed assembly causes rotation of the second rotatable member.

2. A feed mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein the first retardation means 20 is a one-way clutch, permitting rotation of the first rotatable separator member towards the transport path only.

3. A feed mechanism according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the second retardation means is a one-way clutch, permitting rotation of the second

25 rotatable separator member towards the reversible feed assembly only.

4. A feed mechanism according to any of the preceding claims, wherein resilient means are provided for urging the first and second rotatable separator members together such that the size of the nip is self-adjusting.

30

5. A feed mechanism according to claim 4 wherein the resilient means comprise a spring assembly arranged to urge the second rotatable separator member towards the first rotatable separator member.

6. A feed mechanism according to any of the preceding claims further comprising a feed driver arranged to transmit drive to the reversible feed assembly.

7. A feed mechanism according to claim 6 wherein the feed driver is further configured to transmit drive to the first rotatable separator member.

8. A feed mechanism according to any of the preceding claims wherein the reversible feed assembly comprises two feed rollers spaced along an axial feed shaft, fixed thereto for rotation therewith.

9. A feed mechanism according to any of the preceding claims wherein the first rotatable separator member comprises two separator rollers spaced along an axial separator shaft, fixed thereto for rotation therewith.

10. A feed mechanism according to any of the preceding claims wherein the second rotatable separator member comprises two idler rollers mounted on a support sprung towards the nip.

11. A feed mechanism according to any of the preceding claims further comprising a sensor arranged to sense the passage of sheets into the transport path from the separator assembly.

12. A feed mechanism according to any of the preceding claims further comprising a controller adapted to, upon receipt of a dispense command, control the reversible feed assembly to feed a required number of sheets out of the store and control the first rotatable separator member to pass the sheet(s) to the transport path.

13. A feed mechanism according to claim 12 when dependent on claim 7 wherein the controller is adapted to control the reversible feed assembly and first rotatable separator member by actuating the feed driver. W

25

14. A feed mechanism according to claim 12 or claim 13 when dependent on claim 11 , wherein the controller is adapted to stop the reversible feed assembly and the first rotatable separator member when each sheet is sensed to have

5 passed into the transport path by the sensor.

15. A feed mechanism according to claim 14 wherein the controller is adapted to restart the reversible feed assembly and the first rotatable separator member after a predetermined delay in order to feed the next sheet.

10

16. A feed mechanism according to any of claims 12 to 14 wherein, upon receipt of an anti-shingle command, the controller is adapted to control the reversible feed member to feed any sheet(s) between it and the separator assembly into the store.

15

17. A feed mechanism according to claim 16 wherein, upon receipt of the anti- shingle command, the controller is adapted to control the reversible feed member to feed a sheet into the nip defined in the separator assembly, before reversing to feed sheet(s) into the store.

20

18. A feed mechanism according to claim 16 or claim 17 wherein the reversible feed member is reversed for a predetermined period of time in order to feed any sheet(s) into the store.

25 19. A feed mechanism according to any of claims 16 to 18 wherein the anti- shingle command is issued once the required number of sheets have been passed to the transport path.

20. A sheet feeding method for feeding sheets from a sheet store into a transport 30 path, comprising: activating a feed assembly to feed a sheet from the sheet store towards a separator assembly, and activating the separator assembly to pass the sheet into a transport system; halting the feed assembly and separator assembly; reversing the feed assembly to feed any sheets located between the feed assembly and the separator assembly into the sheet store; and halting the feed assembly.

21. A sheet feeding method according to claim 20, further comprising, prior to reversing the feed assembly, re-activating the feed assembly to feed any sheet located between the feed assembly and the separator assembly towards the separator assembly.

22. A sheet feeding method according to claim 20 or claim 21 using a feed mechanism according to any of claims 1 to 19.

23. A sheet handling apparatus comprising a feed mechanism according to any of claims 1 to 19.

24. A sheet handling apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.