Granted Patent B2

US 8,985,297 · App. 12/599,596 · Granted Mar 24, 2015

Abstract

Claims (43)

1. A self-service voucher system for inputting and outputting vouchers, the self-service voucher system comprising:

a first processing circuit that is a closed loop circuit, wherein the processing circuit comprises circuitry configured to

(i) retrieve vouchers from a combined input and output drawer in which a customer interfaces with the vouchers,

(ii) provide the received vouchers from the combined input and output drawer to a sensor system,

(iii) forward the rejected ones of the received vouchers from the sensor system to a collecting drawer,

(iv) return the rejected ones of the received vouchers from the collecting drawer back to the combined input and output drawer,

(v) subsequent to returning the rejected ones of the received vouchers from the collecting drawer and prior to any customer interference with the rejected ones of the received vouchers returned to the combined input and output drawer, again retrieve the rejected ones of the received vouchers from the combined input and output drawer, and

(vi) via the sensor system, reevaluate the rejected ones of the received vouchers retrieved again from the combined input and output drawer; and

a second processing circuit configured to process vouchers that are not rejected by the sensor system.

2. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , wherein the first processing circuit and the second processing circuit overlap in sections.

3. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , wherein the first processing circuit is shorter than the second processing circuit.

4. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , wherein the combination input and output drawer is designed to be pivotable.

5. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , wherein the first processing circuit comprises the sensor system, wherein the sensor system is configured to identify vouchers unsuitable for acceptance, and wherein the vouchers unsuitable for acceptance include folded vouchers, damaged vouchers, and vouchers with foreign bodies attached.

6. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , wherein the first processing circuit is configured to divert and output vouchers identified at the sensor system as unsuitable directly into the collecting drawer or an output drawer.

7. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , wherein the second processing circuit comprises at least one voucher storage system, and wherein the at least one voucher storage system includes one or more roller storage systems or the collecting drawer for storing vouchers.

8. The self-service voucher system of claim 7 , wherein the collecting drawer is located upstream from the combined input and output drawer.

9. An automated teller machine comprising the self-service voucher system of claim 1 .

10. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , wherein the rejected ones of the received vouchers include at least one of unsuitable vouchers and misaligned vouchers.

11. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , further comprising the sensor system, wherein during a first iteration:

the sensor system evaluates N vouchers received by the combined input and output drawer, wherein N is an integer; and

the first processing circuit (i) separates M vouchers from the N vouchers, (ii) collects the M vouchers in the collecting drawer, and (iii) transfers the M vouchers back to the combined input and output drawer, wherein M is an integer less than N, wherein the M vouchers are the rejected ones of the received vouchers.

12. The self-service voucher system of claim 11 , wherein during a second iteration, the first processing circuit (i) separates L vouchers from the M vouchers, (ii) collects the L vouchers in the collecting drawer, and (iii) transfers the L vouchers back to the combined input and output drawer, where L is an integer less than M.

13. The self-service voucher system of claim 11 , wherein, subsequent to the first iteration, the first processing circuit selectively (i) proffers the M vouchers to an operator or (ii) reprocesses the M vouchers.

14. The self-service voucher system of claim 13 , wherein the reprocessing of the M vouchers includes the first processing circuit (i) separating L vouchers from the M vouchers, (ii) collecting the L vouchers in the collecting drawer, and (iii) transferring the L vouchers back to the combined input and output drawer, where L is an integer less than M.

15. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , wherein:

the second processing circuit comprises at least one of a roller storage system and a valuables cassette;

the at least one of the roller storage system and the valuables cassette temporarily stores the vouchers that are not rejected by the sensor system; and

at least one of the first processing circuit and the second processing circuit (i) transfers the vouchers that are not rejected by the sensor system from the at least one of the roller storage system and the valuables cassette to the collecting drawer and (ii) transfers the vouchers that are not rejected by the sensor system from the collecting drawer to the combined input and output drawer.

16. The self-service voucher system of claim 15 , wherein:

the first processing circuit comprises a shared section and transfers the rejected ones of the received vouchers to the collecting drawer via the shared section; and

the second processing circuit transfers the vouchers that are not rejected by the sensor system from the at least one of the roller storage system and the valuables cassette to the collecting drawer via the shared section.

17. The self-service voucher system of claim 1 , wherein:

the second processing circuit comprises a shared section and at least one of a roller storage system and a valuables cassette;

the second processing circuit transfers the vouchers that are not rejected by the sensor system from the sensing system to the at least one of the roller storage system and the valuables cassette via the shared section; and

the first processing circuit transfers the rejected ones of the received vouchers from the sensing system to the collecting drawer via the shared section.

18. The self-service voucher system of claim 15 , wherein:

the first processing circuit comprises the sensor system;

subsequent to receiving the vouchers from the customer in the combined input and output drawer and prior to forwarding the rejected ones of the vouchers to the collecting drawer, the sensor system is configured to perform an initial inspection of the vouchers;

the second processing circuit is configured to (i) receive the vouchers that are not rejected by the sensor system during the initial inspection, and (ii) store the vouchers in the at least one of the roller storage system and the valuables cassette;

the second processing circuit comprises a station; and

the station is configured to (i) check authenticity of the vouchers subsequent to the initial inspection, and (ii) return the vouchers from the second processing circuit to the collecting drawer.

19. The self-service voucher system of claim 18 , wherein the first processing circuit bypasses the second processing circuit if one of the vouchers is rejected by the sensor system during the initial inspection to directly return the one of the vouchers to the collecting drawer instead of forwarding the one of the vouchers to the second processing circuit.

20. The self-service voucher system of claim 18 , wherein the sensor system in performing the initial inspection (i) determines whether one or more of the vouchers are folded or include a staple, and (ii) rejects the vouchers that are folded or include a staple.

Assignments (10)