Cash box with dual-roll storage system

Abstract

The invention relates to apparatus having a cash box device (100, 500) that comprises a housing (106) in which two roll storage systems (102, 104) for storing bank notes are held.

Claims

1. A device for handling bank notes, having an input and/or output unit to input and/or output bank notes to an operator, comprising: a receiving area to accommodate a device having a housing and a first roll storage system disposed inside the housing for storing bank notes, wherein a second roll storage system is accommodated for storing bank notes, wherein a first slot is provided in a wall of the housing for feeding bank notes to the first roll storage system and a second slot is provided for feeding bank notes to the second roll storage system, a first feed and/or removal unit to feed or remove bank notes through the first slot of the device, a second feed and/or removal unit to feed or remove bank notes through the second slot of the device, and a transport unit to transport bank notes between the input and/or output unit and the feed and/or removal units.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the first roll storage system comprises a first winding drum, a first film reel, a second film reel, a first film tape connected to the first winding drum and to the first film reel and a second film tape connected to the first winding drum and to the second film reel, and wherein the second roll storage system comprises a second winding drum, a third film reel, a fourth film reel, a third film tape connected to the second winding drum and to the third film reel, and a fourth film tape connected to the second winding drum and to the fourth film reel.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein a first pair of rollers and a second pair of rollers are provided, wherein the first film tape is led over a first roller of the first pair of rollers and the second film tape is led over a second roller of the first pair of rollers, wherein a switching array in a first switching position routes the bank notes fed in through the first slot to the first pair of rollers in such a manner that the bank notes are arranged between the first film tape and the second film tape, wherein the third film tape is taken over a third roller of the second pair of rollers, and the fourth tape is taken over a fourth roller of the second pair of rollers, and wherein the switching array in a second switching position routes the bank notes fed through the first slot in such a manner that the bank notes are arranged between the third film tape and the fourth film tape.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the first film tape, the second film tape, the third film tape and/or the fourth film tape are each taken over at least one deflecting element.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the second film tape is taken past the first winding drum with the aid of at least one idler pulley at a predetermined angle.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the fourth film tape is taken past the second winding drum with the aid of at least one idler pulley at a predetermined angle.

7. The device of claim 2, wherein the first winding drum is located at a first distance from the first slot and the second winding drum is located at a second distance from the second slot and wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the first slot and the second slot are located on the wall of the housing at a predetermined distance from each other.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein a first pair of rollers and a second pair of rollers are provided, wherein a first film tape is guided over a first roller of the first pair of rollers and a second film tape is guided over a second roller of the first pair of rollers, wherein the bank notes fed through the first slot are led between the first and second rollers of the first pair of rollers, so that the bank notes are arranged between the first film tape and the second film tape, wherein a third film tape is taken over a third roller of the second pair of rollers and a fourth film tape is taken over a fourth roller of the second pair of rollers, wherein the bank notes brought in through the second slot are led between the third and fourth rollers of the second pair of rollers so that the bank notes are arranged between the third film tape and the fourth film tape.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein a first winding drum is between a first film reel and a second film reel, and wherein the first pair of rollers and the first film reel are on a same side of the first winding drum.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein a second winding drum is between a third film reel and a fourth film reel, and wherein the third film reel and the second pair of rollers are on a same side of the second winding drum.

12. A device for handling bank notes, having an input and/or output unit to input and/or output bank notes to an operator, comprising: a receiving area to accommodate a device having a housing and a first roll storage system disposed inside the housing for storing bank notes, wherein a first slot is provided in a wall of the housing for feeding bank notes to the first roll storage system, a first feed and/or removal unit to feed or remove bank notes through the first slot of the device, and a transport unit to transport bank notes between the input and/or output unit and the feed and/or removal unit, wherein the receiving area is configured in such a manner and the first feed and/or removal unit is located in such a manner that the device with the first roll storage system is installed in the receiving area, wherein the bank notes are fed to or removed from the device with the first roll storage system by way of the first feed and/or removal unit.

13. A device for handling bank notes, having an input and/or output unit to input and/or output bank notes to an operator, comprising: a first receiving area to accommodate a first device having a first housing and a first roll storage system disposed inside the first housing for storing bank notes, and a second receiving area to accommodate a second device having a second housing and a second roll storage system disposed inside the second housing for storing bank notes, wherein a first slot is provided in a wall of the housing for feeding bank notes to the first roll storage system and a second slot is provided for feeding bank notes to the second roll storage system, a first feed and/or removal unit to feed or remove bank notes through the first slot of the device, a second feed and/or removal unit to feed or remove bank notes through the second slot of the device, and a transport unit to transport bank notes between the input and/or output unit and the feed and/or removal units.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Additional features and advantages of the invention emerge from the following description that explains the invention more thoroughly using embodiments in conjunction with the appended Figures.

(2) The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

(3) FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an array with a cash register system in accordance with a first embodiment and four cash boxes;

(4) FIG. 2 shows a schematic, perspective representation of a cash box in accordance with a first embodiment;

(5) FIG. 3 shows a schematic, perspective representation of the cash box from FIG. 2 without the housing;

(6) FIG. 4 shows a further schematic, perspective representation of the internal components of the cash box from FIGS. 2 and 3;

(7) FIG. 5 shows a side view of the internal components of the cash box from FIGS. 2 to 4;

(8) FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of an array with a cash register system in accordance with a second embodiment and four cash boxes;

(9) FIG. 7 shows a schematic representation of a cash box in accordance with a second embodiment; and

(10) FIG. 8 shows a schematic, greatly simplified representation of the cash box from FIG. 7 and a feed and/or removal unit.

(11) Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(12) Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(13) A schematic representation of an array 10 is shown in FIG. 1, comprising a device 20 configured as an automated cash register system 20 for handling bank notes in accordance with a first embodiment and four cash boxes 100, 200, 300, 400 housed in receiving areas of the device. Alternatively, the device 20 can also be an automated safe or an automated teller machine.

(14) The device 20 comprises an input and output unit 22, with the aid of which the bank notes can be input into the device 20 and output from the device 20. In an alternative embodiment, only an input unit can be provided by way of which bank notes can only be input, or only an output unit by way of which bank notes can only be output. Furthermore, as an alternative, separate input and output units can be used for inputting or outputting.

(15) After the validity of the banknotes that have been input and/or their denomination has been sequentially determined with the aid of a sensor unit 24, the banknotes are taken by way of a transport unit 26 and feed and removal units 28 to 42 to the cash boxes 100, 200, 300, 400 and received therein. The device 20 comprises in particular a control unit that divides the bank notes in accordance with a predetermined distribution among the individual cash boxes 100, 200, 300, 400 depending on the denominations determined. To do this, the control unit activates the transport unit 26 and the feed and removal units 26 to 42 accordingly. The device 20 has four receiving areas 44 to 50 in which exactly one cash box 100, 200, 300, 400 can be accommodated. Rails are provided in the receiving areas 44 to 50 into which the cash boxes 100, 200, 300, 400 can be pushed and by which the cash boxes 100, 200, 300, 400 are retained securely. In addition, preferably at least one connector is located in each receiving area by way of which a connection can be created to a complementary plug connection on the cash box 100, 200, 300, 400 through which an electrical connection can be formed to the cash box 100, 200, 300, 400 so that the cash boxes 100, 200, 300, 400 can be controlled by the control unit in the device 20.

(16) Two feed and removal units 28 to 42 are allocated to each receiving area 44 to 50. The feed and removal units 28 to 42 are specifically identical in construction and are spaced at a predetermined distance from each other.

(17) One cash box 100 to 300 each having two roll storage systems 102, 104 is housed in each of the first three receiving areas 44 to 48. In contrast, one cash box 400 with precisely one roll storage system 402 is housed in the fourth receiving area 50. The construction of the cash boxes 100, 200, 300 having the two roll storage systems is described in greater detail in what follows in conjunction with FIGS. 2 to 5. The construction of the cash box 400 with one roll storage system is known, for example, from document DE 10 2007 022 556 A1.

(18) The receiving areas 44 to 50 are configured in such a manner that both cash boxes 100, 200, 300 with two roll storage systems 102, 104 and cash boxes 400 with only one roll storage system 402 can be housed optionally. To achieve this, cash boxes 100, 200, 300 with the two roll storage systems 102, 104 and cash box 400 with only the single roll storage system 402 specifically have the same dimensions. Further, the rails in particular by which cash boxes 100, 200, 300, 400 are retained in the receiving areas 44 to 50, and the connectors through which the electrical connection is made between the device 20 and cash boxes 100, 200, 300, 400, are located in the same positions in the case of cash boxes 100, 200, 300 with the two roll storage systems 102, 104 and in the case of cash box 44 with the single roll storage system 402.

(19) As already described, each receiving area 44 to 50 comprises exactly two feed and removal units 28 to 42, wherein, in receiving area 44 to 48 in which a cash box 100, 200, 300 with two roll storage systems 102, 104 is accommodated, the feeding and removal of bank notes to or from the first roll storage system 102 takes place with the aid of the first removal units 28, and the feeding and removal of bank notes to or from the second roll storage system 104 of cash box 100 takes place with the aid of the second feed and removal unit 30 assigned to the corresponding receiving area 44 to 48.

(20) If, on the other hand, a cash box 400 that comprises only one roll storage system is located in the receiving area 44 to 50, as shown in the case of receiving area 50, the feeding of bank notes to this roll storage system 404 and the removal of bank notes from this roll storage system 402 is carried out with the aid of only one predetermined feed and removal unit 40 for the receiving area 50.

(21) In an alternative embodiment, more or fewer than four receiving areas 44 to 50 can be provided to receive one cash box each 100, 200, 300. For example, five receiving areas 44 to 50 or three receiving areas 44 to 50 can be provided. In addition, a cash box 100, 200, 300, 400 may be located in only one part of the receiving areas 44 to 50, and the remaining part of the receiving areas 44 to 50 may be empty. Furthermore, the equipping of the device 20 with cash boxes 100, 200, 300 having two roll storage systems 102, 104 and cash boxes 400 having only one roll storage system 402 may vary. For example, cash boxes 100, 200, 300 having two roll storage systems 102, 104 may be housed in two of the receiving areas 44 to 50, and cash boxes 400 having only one roll storage system 402 may be housed in the two other receiving areas 44 to 50. Further, cash boxes may additionally be provided in one of the receiving areas 44 to 50 or even in several of the receiving areas 44 to 50 in which the bank notes are kept, not on roll storage systems 102, 104, 402, but in stacked form.

(22) By varying how the device 20 was equipped with cash boxes 100, 200, 300 with two roll storage systems 102, 104 and cash boxes 400 with only a single roll storage system 402, the number of roll storage systems 102, 104, 402 available for receiving bank notes can be adjusted easily to individual customer wishes without structural modifications to the device 20 being necessary. In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a total of seven different roll storage systems 102, 104, 402 is available to receive bank notes so that bank notes of a Euro currency set can be stored unmixed, i.e. only bank notes of one denomination are accepted on the roll storage system 102, 104, 402. This has the advantage that at the time of disbursal a bank note of the desired denomination can be removed directly from the appropriate roll storage system. With mixed storage on the other hand, it may be necessary, if one requires a bank note of a specific denomination, for bank notes of other denominations that have been stored ahead of this bank note in the disbursal sequence of the appropriate roll storage system 102, 104, 402 to have to be likewise removed and buffered in specially provided interim storage.

(23) In what follows, in conjunction with FIGS. 2 to 5, the construction of the cash boxes 100, 200, 300 with two roll storage systems 102, 104 will be described in detail in accordance with a first embodiment. In order to simplify the presentation, it will be shown using cash box 100 as an example. Cash boxes 200 and 300 are identical in construction to this first cash box 100.

(24) Cash box 100 has a housing 106 by which the roll storage systems 102, 104 are protected and by which access to bank notes taken up on the roll storage systems 102, 104 is prevented. Two slots 110, 112 are provided in one wall 108 of the housing 106, wherein bank notes can be fed to the first roll storage system 102 through the first slot 110, or bank notes taken up on the first roll storage system 102 can be removed, and bank notes can be taken to the second roll storage system through the second slot 112, or the bank notes taken up on the second roll storage system can be removed. The slots 110, 112 are arranged specifically on the same side of the housing 106 at a predetermined distance from each other. The slots 110, 112 are preferably arranged in such a manner that when cash box 100 is housed in the receiving area 44 of the device 20, the first slot 110 is disposed in such a manner that bank notes can be transported through said slot with the aid of the first feed and removal unit 28, and the second slot 112 is disposed in such a manner that the bank notes can be transported through said slot with the aid of the second feed and removal unit 130.

(25) The housing 106 is blanked out in FIGS. 2 to 5 so that the components of cash box 100 arranged in the interior of the housing 106 are more easily visible. In FIGS. 4 and 5 side walls 101a, 101b of cash box 100 are additionally blanked out so that the construction and arrangement of the roll storage systems 102, 104 are clearly identifiable.

(26) The first roll storage system 102 comprises a first winding drum 120, a first film reel 124, a second film reel 126, a fifth film reel 150, a sixth film reel 152, a first film tape 132, a second film tape 134, a third film tape 156, a fourth film tape 158, a first pair of rollers 170, and a second pair of rollers 174. Correspondingly, the second roll storage system 104 also comprises a second winding drum 122, a third film reel 128, a fourth film reel 130, a seventh film reel (not visible) and an eighth film reel 154, also a third film tape 136, a fourth film tape 138, a seventh film tape 160, an eighth film tape 162, a second pair of rollers 172, and a fourth pair of rollers 176.

(27) Film reels 124, 126, 128, 130, 150, 152, 154, pairs of rollers 170 to 176 and film tapes 132, 134, 163, 138, 156, 158, 160, 162 are arranged symmetrically to a center plane of the roll storage systems 102, 104 so that in what follows only the front elements shown in FIG. 5 are described for purposes of simplifying the description. The explanations apply equally to the corresponding rear elements in FIG. 5 that are concealed by the respective front elements.

(28) The first film tape 132 of the first roll storage system 102 is connected to the first film reel 124 and the first winding drum 120 and guided over a first roller 180 of the first pair of rollers 170. The second film tape 134 is connected to the first winding drum 120 and the second film reel 126 and guided over a second roller 182 of the first pair of rollers 170. The first slot 110 is disposed adjacent the first pair of rollers 170 so that the bank notes fed through first slot 110 are picked up between the two film tapes 132, 134 that are guided over the rollers 180, 182 of the first pair of rollers 170 and are spooled onto the first winding drum 120 together with the film tapes 132, 134. To do this, a first drive unit 90 is provided, specifically an electric motor with the aid of which the first winding drum 120, the rollers 180, 182 of the first pair of rollers 170 and/or the film reels 124, 126 can be driven. Depending on the direction of rotation of the winding drum 120, the film tapes 132, 134 and thus the bank notes are wound onto the winding drum 120 or unwound from the winding drum 120 and stored accordingly on the first roll storage system 102 or removed from the first roll storage system 102

(29) The first film reel 124 is located on the side of the first winding drum 120 facing the first slot 110, whereas the second film reel 126 is located on the side of the first winding drum 120 facing away from the first slot 110. The first film tape 132 is taken over an idler pulley 196 to the first pair of rollers 170. Correspondingly, a further idler pulley 194 is provided over which the second film tape 134 is taken from the second film reel 126 to the first pair of rollers 170. This results in an especially compact structure for the first roll storage system 102, so that sufficient installation space is available in the cash box 100 to locate the second roll storage system without the dimensions for the cash box 100 having to be larger than in the case of cash box 400 in which only one roll storage system 402 is provided.

(30) The third film tape 136 of the second roll storage system 104 is connected to the second winding drum 122 and to the third film reel 128 and taken over a third roller 184 of the second pair of rollers 172. Correspondingly, the fourth film tape 138 is connected to the second winding drum 122 as well as to the fourth film reel 130 and taken over a fourth roller 186 of the second pair of rollers 172. The second pair of rollers 172 is located adjacent the second slot 112 so that the bank notes fed through the second slot 112 of the cash box 100 are taken up between the two film tapes 136, 138 that are taken around the rollers 184, 186 of the second pair of rollers 172 and are wound onto the second winding drum 122 together with the film tapes 136, 138.

(31) As in the case of the first roll storage system 102, a drive unit 192 is also provided in the case of the second roll storage system 104, with the aid of which the second winding drum 12, film reels 128, 130 and/or rollers 184, 186 of the second pair of rollers 172 can be driven. The second drive unit 192 also comprises specifically an electric motor.

(32) The third film reel 128 and the fourth film reel 130 are specifically located on opposite sides of the second winding drum 122, where the third film reel 128 is preferably located on the side facing the second slot 112, and the fourth film reel 130 is located on the side facing away from the second slot 112.

(33) The third film tape 136 is taken over an idler pulley 198 that is located between the third film reel 128 and roller 184 of the second pair of rollers 172. The fourth film tape 138 is taken over two idler pulleys 202, 204 whereby the fourth film tape 138 is taken past the second winding drum. Both film tapes together are taken over a further idler pulley 206 from the second pair of rollers 172 to the second winding drum 122. Overall this also results in a compact construction for the second roll storage system 104. The limited available space is well utilized and a high total holding capacity in bank notes for cash box 100 is achieved. In particular, a maximum of about one third of the bank notes can be held on the roll storage system 102, 104 of the maximum that can be held on the roll storage system 402 of cash box 400 with only one roll storage system 402. Thus, the total holding capacity of cash box 100 with two roll storage systems 102, 104 amounts to about two-thirds of the total holding capacity of cash box 400 with only the single roll storage system 402.

(34) The components of the first roll storage system 102 and the components of the second roll storage system 104 are specifically arranged in such a manner that the components of the first roll storage system 102 are arranged on a first side of an imaginary diagonal plane through cash box 100 that, with reference to FIG. 5, runs from the top left to the lower right. Correspondingly, the components of the second roll storage system 104 are arranged specifically on the side of this imaginary diagonal plane opposite to the first side.

(35) In an alternative embodiment, only two film tapes may be provided per roll storage system 102, 104 instead of four film tapes, wherein said two film tapes are advantageously configured wider than in the embodiment shown. As a further alternative more than four film tapes may be provided per roll storage system 102, 104, for example, six or eight film tapes. The number of film reels, pairs of rollers, and idler pulleys varies accordingly.

(36) A schematic representation of a cash register system 11 in accordance with a second embodiment with four cash boxes 400, 500 is shown in FIG. 6. The cash register system 11 in accordance with the second embodiment differs from the cash register system 10 of the first embodiment from FIG. 1 in that only one feed and/or removal unit 28, 32, 36, 40 is provided for each receiving area 44 to 50.

(37) The cash boxes 500 with the two roll storage systems 102, 104 located in the first receiving areas 44, 46, 48 are correspondingly configured differently from the cash boxes 100, 200, 300 of the first embodiment from FIGS. 1 to 5. The cash boxes 500 of the second embodiment have only a single slot 110 for feeding or removing bank notes, as described in greater detail below in conjunction with FIGS. 7 and 8.

(38) The result is a particularly simple, compact construction for cash register system 11. In particular, the cash boxes 500 in accordance with the second embodiment can also be used in known cash register systems 11 in which previously only cash boxes 400 having only a single roll storage system 402 were used.

(39) A schematic representation of a cash box 500 in accordance with the second embodiment is shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 8 shows a schematic representation of cash box 500 from FIG. 7 and a feed and/or removal unit 28, wherein the individual components of cash box 500 are shown greatly simplified for added clarity.

(40) Cash box 500 has only a single slot 110 in its housing 106 through which bank notes to be brought to cash box 500 are brought both to the first roll storage system 102 as well as to the second roll storage system 104. In the same manner, bank notes removed from both a first roll storage system 102 and from the second roll storage system 104 are removed by way of a slot 110 of cash box 500.

(41) In order to be able to feed the bank notes optionally to the two roll storage systems 102, 104, a switching array 502 is provided downstream from the slot 110. The switching array 502 comprises a switching element 504 which, in a first switch position, brings the bank notes fed in to a first path 506 for taking bank notes to the first roll storage system 102 and, in a second switch position, brings said bank notes to a second path 508 for taking bank notes to the second roll storage system 104. The second switch position is shown in FIG. 7, whereas the first switch position is shown in FIG. 8.

(42) The two paths 506, 508 are specifically bounded by guide element 510, for example, guide plates, and guide the bank notes transported along them to the two pairs of rollers 170, 172 so that the bank notes fed in, as described previously in conjunction with the first embodiment, are in turn received between the first and second film tape 132, 134 or between the third and fourth film tape 136, 138 and spooled onto the winding drums 120 or 122.

(43) In order to provide sufficient space for the switching array 502 in the immediate vicinity of the slot 110, the arrangement of the winding drums 120, 122 and of the film reels 124, 126, 128, 130 is modified in comparison with the first embodiment. The idler pulleys over which the film tapes 132 to 138, 156 to 162 are taken are correspondingly disposed differently. Thus, in the second embodiment, the first winding drum 120 is located with a greater distance to slot 110 than the second winding drum 122. In contrast to this, in the first embodiment the first winding drum 120 is located closer to the first slot 110 than the second winding drum 122 to the first slot 110 and the second slot 112.

(44) The two film reels 124, 126 of the first roll storage system 102 are located immediately adjacent to each other in the second embodiment and provided in an area bounded by one corner of the housing 106 and the two winding drums 120, 122. The two film reels 128, 130 of the second roll storage system 104 are similarly located immediately next to each other and between the side of the housing 106 of the cash box 500, in which slot 110 is located, and the second winding drum 122. In this way, a particularly compact, space-saving structure is achieved, so that in spite of the provision of the switching array 502 inside cash box 500 both the first roll storage system 102 and the second roll storage system 104 have a relatively large capacity.

(45) The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.