Method of operating automated teller machine in multi-sheet withdrawals

Abstract

A method of operating a device (10) for handling banknotes detects multi-sheet withdrawals using a multi-sheet withdrawal sensor (30). If a multi-sheet withdrawal has been detected, at least the banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal are supplied to an input and/or output tray (22). Next, the banknotes are further separated. The denomination and/or number of the banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal is determined. The determined number and/or denomination is taken into account in the framework of the inventory management of the cash cassettes (16).

Claims

1. A method of operating an automated teller machine (ATM) comprising: receiving a deposit of a first plurality of banknotes in an input and output tray of the ATM from a customer; separating the first plurality of banknotes deposited in the input and output tray during said receiving with a separating unit of the ATM; taking a second plurality banknotes out from one or more cash cassettes of the ATM in accordance with a disbursement request from an operator of the ATM; detecting, with at least one multi-sheet withdrawal sensor of the ATM, a multi-sheet withdrawal among at least some of the second plurality of banknotes taken from the one or more cassettes of the ATM during said taking from the one or more cash cassettes; transporting at least the multi-sheet withdrawal of the second plurality of banknotes, taken from the one or more cassettes of the ATM during said taking, to the input and output tray when the multi-sheet withdrawal has been detected during said detecting; and separating, with the separating unit, the banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal after the multi-sheet withdrawal was transported to the input and output tray during said transporting.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein only one multi-sheet withdrawal sensor for determining multi-sheet withdrawals is used for the banknotes taken out from all of the cash cassettes.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said taking is further defined as taking the second plurality banknotes out from a plurality of cash cassettes of the ATM in accordance with a disbursement request from an operator of the ATM; and wherein said method further comprises: assigning a time stamp to each one of the banknotes that is taken out from one of the plurality of cash cassettes during said taking, said assigning executed prior to said detecting.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein: said transporting further comprises transporting all of the second plurality of banknotes taken in response to the disbursement request during said taking to the input and output tray when the multi-sheet withdrawal has been detected including the multi-sheet withdrawal and single-sheet withdrawals of the second plurality of banknotes; and said separating further comprises separating all of the second plurality of banknotes, including the multi-sheet withdrawal and single-sheet withdrawals of the second plurality of banknotes transported during said transporting, out from the input and output tray.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising: determining, with a reader unit and after said separating, the denomination of each of the separated banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal and the number of the separated banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising: directing the separated banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal back to the input and output tray in response to said determining and in response to the disbursement request from the operator.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising: bypassing the one or more cash cassettes of the ATM and a reject cassette of the ATM during said directing of the separated banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal to the input and output tray.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising: storing the separated banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal in a temporary storage of the ATM after said determining and before said directing back to the input and output tray of the ATM, wherein the temporary storage of the ATM is distinct from the one or more cash cassettes of the ATM and a reject cassette of the ATM.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation of an automated teller machine;

(2) FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method of operating a device for handling banknotes according to a first embodiment; and

(3) FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method of operating a device for handling banknotes according to a second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation of a device for handling banknotes that is embodied as an automated teller machine 10. Alternatively, the device for handling banknotes may also pertain to an automatic cash safe or to an automatic cash register system.

(5) The automated teller machine 10 comprises a head module 12 and a safe deposit module 14, which accommodates three cash cassettes 16 and a reject and retract cassette 18 in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1. The automated teller machine 10 is configured as a recycling machine, meaning that banknotes can be deposited therein and likewise can also be disbursed therefrom. Alternatively, the automated teller machine 10 may be strictly a cash disbursement machine.

(6) The deposited banknotes are accommodated in the cash cassettes 16, as are the additional banknotes that are available for disbursement. Herein, the banknotes are accommodated in particular in the form of a stack of banknotes standing on the edges thereof, and can be separated and taken out from the cash cassettes 16 or supplied to the cash cassettes 16 via a separation and supply modules (not shown). The reject and retract cassette 18 serves to accommodate banknotes that are not taken out, suspected counterfeit notes, or other banknotes, which are not to be disbursed back out.

(7) In the safe deposit module 14, a slot 20 is provided, through which the banknotes can be transported between the head module 12 and the safe deposit module 14. In the head module 12, which is depicted in a very simplified manner, an input and/or output unit 22 (also referenced as the “input and/or output tray” and “input and output unit tray”) for inputting banknotes and/or outputting banknotes to a customer is illustrated.

(8) If banknotes are inputted by the customer, then the inputted banknotes are separated via a separation unit 24 and next supplied to a reader unit 26, by means of which the denomination and/or authenticity of the individual banknotes can be determined. Next, these banknotes are supplied to a temporary storage 28 and stored therein until such a time as when the banknotes, which were inputted all at once as a bundle of banknotes, have been separated and the authenticity thereof has been verified. The temporary storage 28 is, in particular, a roll storage. Next, the deposited banknotes are supplied to the cash cassettes 16.

(9) Conversely, during disbursement, after a corresponding disbursement request has been inputted by a customer, then the banknotes that are needed for the disbursement of the desired amount are taken out from the cash cassette 16. In this process, in particular, a control unit (not shown) determines, on the basis of the desired disbursement amount, how many banknotes should be taken out of which cash cassette 16.

(10) When the banknotes are being taken from the cash cassettes 16, it may happen that instead of each banknote being withdrawn individually, there may inadvertently be multi-sheet withdrawals. A multi-sheet withdrawal refers in particular to when two or more at least partially overlapping banknotes are withdrawn.

(11) In such double withdrawals, there is a problem in that if the banknotes are outputted to the customer, then the customer receives more money than had been requested and than would be debited from his account. To avoid this, a thickness sensor 30 is provided, which determines the thickness of the banknotes that are taken out from the cash cassettes 16 and transported past the thickness sensor 30. The thickness provides a simple manner of determining whether a multi-sheet withdrawal is taking place.

(12) In known automated teller machines 10, the multi-sheet withdrawals would then be supplied to the reject and retract cassette 18. This is problematic, however, in that it is then not known how many banknotes are contained in the individual multi-sheet withdrawals, such that the inventory of the cash cassettes 16 is likewise no longer known. This is especially critical for a cash cycle management in which cash cassettes are interchanged between automated teller machines 10, without first being supplied to a cash center.

(13) FIGS. 2 and 3 each illustrate flowcharts of a method of operating a device for handling banknotes, with which the inventory of the cash cassettes 16 can be accurately determined at any time, even in the event of multi-sheet withdrawals, such that inventor can be managed reliably.

(14) The method according to a first embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 2, is started in step S10. Next, in step S12 a disbursement request is made, with which a customer requests the payment of a desired amount of money. A control unit determines which banknotes must be removed from which cash cassettes 16 in order to disburse the desired amount of this disbursement request. In step S14, the individual banknotes are then incrementally taken out from the cash cassettes 16. Here, in step S16, each banknote is assigned a so-called time stamp, through which it is possible to assign the individual removed banknotes to the cash cassettes 16. This time stamp can in particular take the form of saving the chronological order of the banknotes that were taken out from the individual cash cassettes.

(15) It is advantageous to provide such a time stamp because then only a single thickness sensor 30 needs to be provided for detecting multi-sheet withdrawals of banknotes being taken out from all of the cash cassettes 16. The time stamp also makes it possible to determine, at any time, the cash cassette 16 from which the corresponding banknote was removed or the corresponding bank notes were removed for a multi-sheet withdrawal. Thus, there is no need to provide an individual thickness sensor for each cash cassette 16, and this results in space and cost savings.

(16) In step S18, the thickness sensor 30 determines whether a multi-sheet withdrawal has taken place in the removal of the banknotes from the cash cassettes 16. If no multi-sheet withdrawal has taken place for any of the banknotes of the disbursement request, then all of the banknotes are supplied in step S20 to the input and/or output tray, and outputted in step S22 to a customer, before the method is terminated in step S24.

(17) If, however, it is determined in step 818 that at least one multi-sheet withdrawal has taken place, then all of the banknotes of the disbursement request are in step 826 transported to the input and/or output tray. In particular, not only those banknotes with which a multi-sheet withdrawal has not taken place (“single-sheet withdrawals”) are transported, but so too are the banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal transported into the input and/or output tray 22.

(18) After all of the banknotes of the disbursement request have been placed in the input and/or output tray 22, then in step S28 the banknotes that are arranged in the input and/or output tray are separated, analogously to when banknotes are deposited. In step S30, the reader unit 26 determines the number and/or denomination of the banknotes, which are removed from the input and/or output tray 22. Here, the banknotes are initially in step S32 supplied respectively to the temporary storage 28, until all the banknotes present in the input and/or output tray have been separated and supplied to the reader unit 26.

(19) In step S34, it is determined whether the total value of the banknotes that were removed from the input and/or output tray and supplied to the temporary storage 28 or the number of banknotes is correct. In particular, it is determined here whether the total value coincides with the desired disbursement amount and/or whether the number coincides with the predetermined number of banknotes that should actually be disbursed.

(20) If the total value and/or number coincides with the target values, then in step S20 all of the banknotes are transported from the temporary storage 28 back into the input and/or output tray 22, so that the banknotes can be outputted in step S22 to the customer before the method is terminated in step S24.

(21) If, however, it is determined in step S24 that the total value or the number is not acceptable, then the banknotes are transported back into the cash cassettes 16 in step S36. Here, the banknotes are in particular respectively transported back to those cash cassettes from which they were removed, and/or are transported into those cash cassettes 16 that house a corresponding denomination.

(22) Alternatively, the banknotes may in step S36 also be supplied to the reject and retract cassette 18, but this is disadvantageous in that they are not available again for another disbursement.

(23) Next, in step S38, the counter readings for the cash cassettes 16 are corrected, meaning that the counters are corrected in such a manner that they again coincide with the actual inventory of banknotes in the cash cassettes. This ensures that the current counter reading is known at all times and thus that the inventory can be managed reliably. Thereafter, the method is terminated in step S24.

(24) The chronological order of steps S36 and S38 may be reversed, or steps S36 and S38 may be executed simultaneously.

(25) FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of operating a device for handling banknotes according to a second embodiment. After the method has been started in step S110, then the disbursement request, the removal of the banknotes, and the assignment of the corresponding time stamp again take place in steps S112 to S116.

(26) Next, in step S118 the thickness sensor 30 again determines whether a multi-sheet withdrawal has taken place. If no multi-sheet withdrawal has taken place for any of the banknotes of the disbursement request, then the banknotes are in step S120 transported to the input and/or output tray 22 and outputted to the customer in step S122 before the method is terminated in step S124.

(27) If, however, it is determined in step S118 that at least one multi-sheet withdrawal has taken place, then in step S126 only the banknotes of this multi-sheet withdrawal are transported to the temporary storage 28. The other banknotes, i.e., those banknotes with which a multi-sheet withdrawal did not take place, are in turn transported to the input and/or output tray 22 as before. For those banknotes with which a multi-sheet withdrawal has taken place, “replacement banknotes” are taken out from the respective cash cassettes 16, and, provided that no multi-sheet withdrawal has taken place here, are transported to the input and/or output tray 22. The desired total amount in the desired denominations can thereby be outputted to the customer.

(28) After the disbursement procedure is complete, i.e., after the customer has taken the desired banknotes out from the input and/or output tray 22, and if no other disbursement and/or deposit procedure has been started, then the banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal that were temporarily stored in the temporary storage are in step S128 transported to the input and/or output tray 22. If a plurality of multi-sheet withdrawals have taken place during one disbursement procedure, then the banknotes are supplied either simultaneously or sequentially to the input and/or output tray.

(29) In step S130, the banknotes of the multi-sheet withdrawal that have been arranged in the input and/or output tray 22 are separated and supplied to the reader unit 26, which in step S132 determines the number and denomination of the corresponding banknotes.

(30) Next, the banknotes are in step S134 transported back to the cash cassettes 16, with the banknotes preferably being supplied respectively to the cash cassettes 16 from which they were originally taken. Alternatively, the banknotes may be transported to other cash cassettes 16 with the corresponding denomination. It is also alternatively possible that the banknotes would not be supplied to the cash cassettes 16 but rather to the reject and retract cassette 18.

(31) Next, in step S136, the counter readings of the cash cassettes 16 are corrected in such a manner that the counter readings again correspond to the actual inventory of banknotes in the respective cash cassette 16. This achieves reliable inventory management. The chronological order of steps S134 and S136 may also be reversed, or steps S134 and S136 may be executed simultaneously.

(32) In step S124, the method is then terminated.

(33) Both methods are advantageous in making it possible to respectively determine the current inventory of banknotes in the cash cassettes 16 easily and quickly. Supplying the multi-sheet withdrawals to the input and/or output tray 22 and separating therefrom obviates the need to provide a separate separation unit or separate reader unit for separating the banknotes from the temporary storage 28 and reading the separated banknotes. An especially compact and simple configuration is thereby achieved.

(34) The method according to the first embodiment, described in connection with FIG. 2, has a further advantage over the method of the second embodiment according to claim 3 in that, provided that the disbursed amount is correct in spite of the positive detection of a multi-sheet withdrawal by the multi-sheet withdrawal sensor, referred to herein in the exemplary form of the thickness sensor 30, these banknotes are outputted to the customer and thus the transport of banknotes and resulting operations in the automated teller machine 10 are minimized.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

(35) 10 Automated teller machine 12 Head module 14 Safe deposit module 16 Cash cassette 18 Reject and retract cassette 20 Slot 22 Input and/or output tray 24 Separation unit 26 Reader unit 28 Temporary storage 30 Thickness sensor S10 to S136 Method step