Compact currency recycling and accounting device and method of use

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to a compact currency recycling and accounting device and system for use wherein the device can fit under a counter and is capable of receiving, sorting and dispensing both bills and mixed denomination coins. The present invention offers the currency recycling functionality of larger safes in a more compact safe capable of fitting under the counter of a convenience store. The compact currency recycler of the present invention includes a coin recycling unit, a banknote recycling unit, a touchscreen display, a power supply, a CPU and an integrated printer. To overcome the challenges of limited access to only the front of the device in these under counter applications, the device relies upon a sliding, coin-receiving tray and sliding touchscreen display. Additionally, the banknote recycler and the coin recycler are able to slide into and out from the front of the device for ease of access.

Claims

1. A compact currency recycling device comprising: a housing suitable for placement under a counter; a coin recycler including a coin input tray in the front of said housing for receiving coins located on the exterior of said housing; a coin sorter disposed in said housing for sorting the coins into different denominations, and a plurality of coin hoppers disposed in said housing for storing the coins of sorted denominations and operable to dispense coins stored therein; a banknote recycler including a banknote acceptor accessible via the front of said housing for accepting banknotes of mixed denomination, and at least one cassette for storing the banknotes and operable to dispense banknotes stored therein; a user input device allowing a user to input operational commands for the device; wherein the coin input tray extends outwardly from the front of the device to allow accessibility when in use.

2. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1 wherein the user input device extends outwardly from the front of the device to allow accessibility when in use.

3. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1 further comprising a coin transport tray accessible via the exterior of said housing wherein the coin transport tray receives the coins dispensed from said coin hoppers.

4. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1 wherein the banknote acceptor validates the accepted banknotes.

5. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1 wherein the banknote acceptor counts the accepted banknotes.

6. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1 wherein the banknote acceptor sorts the accepted banknotes.

7. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1 wherein the housing is accessible via at least one front-opening door.

8. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1 wherein the user input device is integrated in the device.

9. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1 wherein the user input device is a touchscreen display.

10. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1 further comprising an integrated printer.

11. The compact currency recycling device of claim 1, wherein the user input device extends outwardly from the front of the device independently from the coin input tray.

12. A compact currency recycling and accounting device comprising: a housing suitable for placement under a counter; a coin recycler including a coin input tray in the front of said housing for receiving coins located on the exterior of said housing; a coin sorter disposed in said housing for sorting the coins into different denominations, and a plurality of coin hoppers disposed in said housing for storing the coins of sorted denominations and operable to dispense coins stored therein; a banknote recycler including a banknote acceptor accessible via the front of said housing for accepting banknotes of mixed denomination, and at least one cassette for storing the banknotes and operable to dispense banknotes stored therein; a user input device allowing a user to input operational commands for the device; a CPU and software capable of controlling the coin recycler and banknote recycler pursuant to the operational commands received via the user input device; and a power supply; wherein the coin input tray extends outwardly from the front of the device to allow accessibility when in use.

13. The compact currency recycling and accounting device of claim 12, wherein the user input device extends outwardly from the front of the device independently from the coin input tray.

14. A method of using a coin recycler housed in a compact currency recycling device comprising the steps of: accessing a user input device to input operational commands for the device; extending a coin input tray having a coin receiving insert outwardly from the front of the device to allow the loading of a plurality of coins into said insert; transporting the coins from said insert into a coin sorter by lifting up said insert wherein the coin sorter sorts the coins into various denominations; transporting the sorted coins to a plurality of coin hoppers for storing the coins of sorted denominations, which are operable to dispense the coins stored therein.

15. The method of using a coin recycler housed in a compact currency recycling device of claim 14, further comprising the step of returning the coin receiving insert to said tray and sliding said tray into the front of the device.

16. The method of using a coin recycler housed in a compact currency recycling device of claim 14, further comprising the step of extending the user input device outwardly from the front of the device before inputting operational commands.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention is further described and explained in relation to the following figures of the drawings wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a front view of the compact currency recycling and accounting device.

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the compact currency recycling and accounting device.

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the compact currency recycling and accounting device with the coin receiving tray extended for use.

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the compact currency recycling and accounting device with the perforated portion of the coin receiving tray rotated upward about its hinge.

(6) FIG. 5 is a front view of the compact currency recycling and accounting device with the front doors open.

(7) FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the compact currency recycling and accounting device with the front doors open and the banknote recycler slid out for access.

(8) FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the compact currency recycling and accounting device with the coin recycler slid out for access.

(9) FIG. 8 is a side view of the upper coin paths for the compact currency recycling and accounting device.

(10) Like reference numerals are used to describe like parts in all figures of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(11) Referring to FIG. 1, compact currency recycling device 10 is shown. Compact currency recycling device 10 houses both a coin recycler and a banknote recycler. Compact currency recycling device 10 is controlled by a computer running a set of software programs that operate the individual components of device 10, including coin recycler and banknote recycler. In addition to housing the recyclers, device 10 also houses touchscreen display 18, a power supply (not shown), a CPU (not shown) and integrated printer 24. Front access doors 14 and 20 close with interlocking hinges that afford crumple zones to deter tampering. If a lever is used in an attempt to remove doors 14 and 20, the interlocking teeth will crumple and buckle, which increases the difficulty of removing doors 14 and 20.

(12) Door 20 closes the side of compact currency recycling device 10 that houses the coin recycler. Door 20 is unlocked either at a specified time or by a command entered by an authorized user on touchscreen display 18, which causes an internal deadbolt to be disengaged. Once the deadbolt is disengaged, door 20 is opened by the user physically lifting handle 32. Door 20 is shaped to accommodate and not interfere with coin receiving tray 17 and touchscreen display 18, which both slide out independently of each other when in use as discussed below. Door 20 houses integrated printer 24, which is built into door 20. Coin reject slot 28 is located in door 20, which is where rejected coins and other non-coin items placed into the coin recycler arrive after being rejected by the coin recycler. Coin transport tray 26, which receives dispensed coins from the coin recycler, fits through an opening near the bottom of door 20.

(13) Similar to door 20, door 14 closes the side of compact currency recycling device 10 that houses the banknote recycler. Door 14 is unlocked either at a specified time or by a command entered by an authorized user on touchscreen display 18 and opened via handle 30, which causes an internal deadbolt to be disengaged. Once the deadbolt is disengaged, door 14 is opened by the user physically lifting handle 30. Door 14 houses banknote validator 12, which accepts bills of various denominations before placing them in the desired cassettes housed inside compact currency recycling device 10.

(14) Referring to FIGS. 2-4, the usage positions of coin receiving tray 17 and touchscreen display 18 of compact currency recycling device 10 are shown. In FIG. 2, coin receiving tray 17 with liftable coin receiving insert 16 is shown in its stored, non-use position where it is tucked into the overall footprint of compact coin recycling device 10. Likewise, touchscreen display 18 is shown in its stored non-use position. In these positions, neither coin receiving tray 17 nor touchscreen display 18 would be accessible from the top to a user because of the countertop (not shown) that would be directly above device 10. In FIG. 3, both coin receiving tray 17 and touchscreen display 18 are shown in their extended, in-use position. In this position, both coin receiving tray 17 and touchscreen display 18 have been slid forward from the front of device 10 and out from underneath the countertop (not shown), which would terminate at or near the front edge of device 10. In this position, a user could easily operate touchscreen display 18 free of encumbrance by the countertop. Likewise, a user could easily load coins into coin receiving insert 16 without being blocked by the countertop. In this position, a user can place coins of mixed denominations into coin receiving insert 16. Insert 16 can include one or more perforations. To load the coins into the coin recycler, coin receiving insert 16 is rotated upwards by a user about its hinge as shown in FIG. 4. In this position, gravity causes the coins to fall into the internal coin sorter receiving bowl discussed below in reference to FIGS. 5 and 7. After the insert 16 and loading the coins into coin sorter, insert 16 can be rotated back downward into coin receiving tray 17 to allow tray 17 to be returned to its original position by sliding tray 17 into device 10.

(15) Because liquid spills can occur in certain environments, such as on countertops, coin receiving tray 17 includes vertical barrier 19, as shown in FIG. 4 located between the front portion and the back portion of tray 17 to prevent unwanted liquid spills that have entered tray 17 through the perforations in coin receiving insert 16 from entering the coin recycler. Vertical barrier 19 extends perpendicularly from tray 17 and fits in a slot of coin receiving insert 16 such that when coin receiving insert 16 is rotated upwards to load the coins, vertical barrier 19 remains in tray 17 and does not interfere with the flow of the coins. Preferably, the front portion of coin receiving tray 17 is slanted downwardly towards the front of device 10, and tray 17 includes a weep hole or other openings in the front portion to allow liquids that have entered tray 17 through the perforations to drain out of tray 17 and not enter device 10.

(16) Coin receiving tray 17 preferably includes features that limit the user's ability to manipulate tray 17 to prevent damage to tray 17 when it is being slid into or out of device 10. One such feature is a restrictor placed at the rear of the back portion of tray 17 that prevents coin receiving insert from being lifted vertically until tray 17 has been pulled out from the front of device 10 a certain distance. The restrictor travels through a path as it is pulled out and travels over the coin receiving bowl. When the restrictor is over the bowl, it can be rotated downwardly into the bowl as the front edge of coin receiving insert 16 is rotated vertically. Coin receiving tray 17 cannot be horizontally returned to the device if coin receiving insert 16 is in the uplifted position because of an additional restrictor located on compact currency recycling device 10.

(17) Referring to FIG. 5, a front view of compact currency recycling device 10 is shown with doors 14 and 20 open. On the left side of device 10 is located the banknote recycler. Banknote validator 12 accepts, separates, validates, counts and sorts the banknotes of various denominations before transporting the banknotes to cassettes configured to store the banknotes, which can be either recycling cassette 36 or deposit cassettes 34. On the right side of device 10 is located the coin recycler, which consists generally of coin receiving bowl 44, coin sorter 42, upper coin manifold 45, coin paths 46, coin hoppers 40, lower coin manifold 27 and coin transport tray 26.

(18) Referring to FIG. 6, the banknote recycler components are shown in a slid forward position out of compact currency recycler device 10. Banknote recycler components would be extended outwardly in this position when the banknote recycler operator or the cash-in-transit courier needs access to the cassettes. The banknote recycler comprises banknote acceptor 12 to accept banknotes of mixed denomination where they then enter top module 38, which is the actual cash receiving and sending mechanism. Top module 38 is capable of separating, validating, counting, sorting and moving the banknotes into cassettes 34a, 34b and 36, which are configured to store banknotes. The banknote recycler components are slid into device 10 (as shown in FIG. 5) during use in which the cassettes are located under the area of banknote acceptor 12 where the banknotes are separated, validated, counted and sorted.

(19) Recycling cassette 36 preferably contains two drums and is configured to receive banknotes of two specific denominationsone denomination per drum. Typically in this two drum recycling cassette setup, one drum of recycling cassette 36 will store $1 bills and the other drum of recycling cassette 36 will store $5 bills. Alternatively, compact currency recycling device 10 can include a plurality of recyclying cassettes with each being capable of storing up to two denominations. Recycling cassette 36 is capable of dispensing the stored banknotes for re-use by the operator of device 10. Deposit cassettes 34a and 34b house banknotes of multiple denominations that are either of low-quality or when there is no recycling cassette configured to accept that denomination (e.g., $10, $20 and $100 bills). Additionally, the operator can control the banknote recycler to have recycling cassette 36 dispense banknotes into deposit cassettes 34a or 34b to reach a desired monetary value for subsequent retrieval by the cash-in-transit courier. Refill cassette 37 is manually filled by the operator and stores banknotes of one denomination that can be transported into recycling cassette 36 in case the operator has already emptied recycling cassettes 36 and needs to dispense additional banknotes.

(20) Referring to FIG. 7, the coin recycler components are shown in a slid forward position out of compact currency recycler 10. The coin recycler is capable of receiving a batch of mixed denomination coins, sorting the coins into denominations and dispensing a desired amount of coins. The batch of mixed denomination coins is received by the coin recycler through coin receiving tray 17 and coin receiving insert 16 as discussed above in reference to FIGS. 2-4. Once the coins are dumped out of coin receiving insert as shown in FIG. 4, the coins fall into coin receiving bowl 44 shown in FIG. 5. Coin receiving bowl 44 is angled downward so that coins are gravity-fed into coin sorter 42. Coin sorter 42 sorts the coins by denomination, which then pass into a first manifold consisting of individual coin paths 46a-46d for each coin denomination shown in FIG. 7. The first manifold is connected directly to coin sorter 42 as opposed to the base of coin sorter 42 to make more efficient use of the limited amount of vertical distance available in an under the counter compact safe. The coins travel through the individual coin paths 46a-46d into separate coin hoppers 40a-40d for each coin denomination, where they are stored. Additionally, coin chute 47 transports dollar coins to a separate hopper (not shown), which is not part of the coin recycling operation. If any dollar coins are encountered by coin sorter 42, they are transported through coin chute 47 to this non-shown hopper, where they remain until an operator or cash-in-transit courier opens device 10. Preferably the manifold 45 and coin paths 46a-46d are made from a clear material so as to afford visible inspection during maintenance, which will afford a maintenance technician any easy way to identify any manifold or coin path blockages.

(21) If coin sorter 42 encounters an item or debris that is not a valid coin of one of the denominations device 10 is set to recycle, the item or debris is deposited in chute 48, which is connected to coin reject slot 28 located in door 20 (shown in FIG. 1). Preferably, coin sorter 42 incorporates coin discrimination technology for rejecting any counterfeit coins loaded into coin sorter 42. After the coins are sorted and stored in coin hoppers 40a-40d, they are dispensed into lower manifold 27, which consists of individual coin paths that terminate above coin transport tray 26. Lower manifold coin paths can be spaced appropriately such that the dispensed coins will fall directly into the appropriate compartments of coin transport tray 26.

(22) Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8 and because compact currency recycling device 10 is sized to fit under countertops, there is less vertical drop for the coins to travel between entry into the upper portion of device 10 via coin receiving tray 17 and exit from device 10 via coin transport tray 26. In order to facilitate coin sorting within a limited amount of vertical drop, the coin travel paths through the entire coin recycler are slanted or angular rather than strictly vertical, which reduces the vertical space required. For example, coin path 46c begins at the lowest point of manifold 45 furthest away from coin sorter 42, drops sharply down outwardly from manifold 45 and then is sharply angled back and down towards the front of device 10 where it terminates above coin hopper 40c. Likewise coin path 46d take a similar angle towards the front of device 10 and downward after steeply falling away from manifold 45 before terminating above coin hopper 40d. Coin path 46a drops sharply down from manifold 45 and then is sharply angled back and down towards the back of device 10 where it terminates above coin hopper 40a. Coin path 46b drops sharply down from manifold 45 in a straight line which places its termination point directly above coin hopper 40b.

(23) A user of compact currency recycling device 10 interfaces with device 10 through touchscreen display 18. In the preferred embodiment, each user would enter a unique user-identification PIN code on touchscreen display 18, which would allow device 10 to account for each user's activity with device 10 including counting the amount of currency, both banknotes and coins, that have been inserted into device 10 by that particular user or dispensed from device 10 to that particular user. Alternatively, device 10 may have integrated biometric technology to allow for the use of a user's fingerprints for example. After the user enters the PIN, the user can select to deposit banknotes into device 10. The user would be prompted to feed the banknotes into banknote validator 12, and device 10 would display to user via touchscreen display 18 the amount of banknotes deposited and record that amount. Device 10 also offers configurable user permission levels for device access wherein certain users (e.g., store employees) can perform limited tasks (e.g., deposit banknotes or coins) compared to more senior-level users that can perform additional tasks (e.g., withdraw banknotes or coins).

(24) Compact currency recycling device 10 can be set to monitor each employee, or alternatively a specific cash drawer till used by multiple employees during a shift. Device 10 therefore affords increased functionality, individual accountability and speed of processing. Device 10 also eliminates the time and effort required to manually count coins and bill notes. The automated accounting increases operator and manager accountability and can reduce losses. Further, device 10 has reporting capabilities to both banks and cash-in-transit couriers. Device 10 also preferably runs automatic end of day reporting while also providing real time banknote and coin level monitoring capabilities.

(25) Device 10 can be networked with other similar devices in use throughout the store or at a remote gas kiosk for example to allow total net reporting and provide complete store accounting and visibility. Device 10 can be networked with a bank or financial institution to offer provisional credit to the operator of device 10 when currency is deposited into deposit cassettes 34a or 34b.

(26) Other alterations and modifications of the invention will likewise become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the present disclosure, and it is intended that the scope of the invention disclosed herein be limited only by the broadest interpretation of the appended claims to which the inventor is legally entitled.