Currency Cassette Capacity Monitoring And Reporting
An indicator, such as an alarm or warning, is generated to indicate that a document storage cassette attached to a document handling device (e.g., a currency validator) has reached a particular capacity or is approaching its full capacity.
1 . A method of providing an indication of the status of a document storage cassette attached to a document acceptor that is coupled to a host machine, the method being performed by the document acceptor and comprising:
monitoring the number of documents inserted into the cassette; and
generating an indicator in the vicinity of the document acceptor when the capacity of the document storage cassette reaches a specified level.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating an indicator includes generating a visual indicator.
3 . The method of claim 2 wherein generating an indicator comprises causing a light source to be turned on.
4 . The method of claim 3 wherein the light source is a LED.
5 . The method of claim 2 wherein generating an indicator includes causing a blinking rate of a light source to change in accordance with the capacity of the document storage cassette.
6 . The method of claim 2 wherein generating an indicator includes causing a blinking rate of a light source to change in accordance with a predicted amount of time until the document storage cassette reaches full capacity.
7 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating an indicator includes generating an audible sound.
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein monitoring the number of documents in the cassette includes tracking the number of stack cycles that occur.
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein monitoring the number of documents in the cassette includes monitoring a motor current associated with the cassette, and using the motor current to estimate the number of documents stored in the cassette.
10 . A method of providing an indication of the status of a document storage cassette attached to a document acceptor that is coupled to a host machine, the method being performed by the document acceptor and comprising:
monitoring a number of documents in the cassette;
monitoring a feed-rate of documents being inserted into the cassette;
predicting when a capacity of the document storage cassette is expected to reach a specified level based on the feed-rate and the number of documents currently in the cassette; and
generating an indicator or causing a message to be sent when it is determined that the capacity of the document storage cassette is expected to reach the specified level within a specified amount of time.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein said estimating includes estimating when the capacity of the document storage cassette is expected to reach its full capacity.
12 . The method of claim 10 including generating an indicator in the vicinity of the document acceptor when the capacity of the document storage cassette reaches the specified level.
13 . The method of claim 12 wherein the indicator comprises a visual or audio indicator.
14 . The method of claim 12 wherein generating an indicator includes causing a blinking rate of a light source to change in accordance with a predicted amount of time until the document storage cassette reaches full capacity.
15 . The method of claim 10 wherein the document acceptor is a currency validator.
16 . An apparatus comprising:
a document acceptor; and
a document storage cassette attached to the document acceptor;
wherein the document acceptor is operable to:
monitor the number of documents inserted into the cassette; and
generate a signal to provide an indicator in the vicinity of the document acceptor when the capacity of the document storage cassette reaches a specified level.
17 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the document acceptor is operable to generate a signal to provide a visual indicator in the vicinity of the document acceptor when the capacity of the document storage cassette reaches a specified level.
18 . The apparatus of claim 16 comprising a light source, wherein the document acceptor is operable to generate a signal to cause the light source to be turned on when the capacity of the document storage cassette reaches a specified level.
19 . The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the light source is a LED.
20 . The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the document acceptor is operable to generate a signal to cause a blinking rate of the light source to change in accordance with the capacity of the document storage cassette.
21 . The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the document acceptor is operable to generate a signal to cause a blinking rate of the light source to change in accordance with a predicted amount of time until the document storage cassette reaches full capacity.
22 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the document acceptor is operable to generate a signal to provide an audible sound when the capacity of the document storage cassette reaches a specified level.
23 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the document acceptor is operable to track the number of stack cycles that occur.
24 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the document acceptor is operable to monitor a motor current associated with the cassette, and to use the motor current to estimate the number of documents stored in the cassette.
25 . An apparatus comprising:
a document acceptor; and
a document storage cassette attached to the document acceptor;
wherein the document acceptor is operable to:
monitor a number of documents in the cassette;
monitor a feed-rate of documents being inserted into the cassette;
predict when a capacity of the document storage cassette is expected to reach a specified level based on the feed-rate and the number of documents currently in the cassette; and
generate a signal to provide an indicator or to cause a message to be sent when it is determined that the capacity of the document storage cassette is expected to reach the specified level within a specified amount of time.
26 . The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the document acceptor is operable to estimate when the capacity of the document storage cassette is expected to reach its full capacity.
27 . The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the document acceptor is operable to generate a signal to provide an indicator in the vicinity of the document acceptor when the capacity of the document storage cassette reaches the specified level.
28 . The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the indicator comprises a visual or audio indicator.
29 . The apparatus of claim 27 comprising a light source, wherein the document acceptor is operable to generate a signal to cause a blinking rate of the light source to change in accordance with a predicted amount of time until the document storage cassette reaches full capacity.
30 . The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the document acceptor is a currency validator.
31 . A method of providing an indication of the status of a document storage cassette attached to a document acceptor that is coupled to a host machine, each step in the method being performed by at least one of the host machine or the document acceptor, the method comprising:
monitoring a number of documents in the cassette;
monitoring a feed-rate of documents being inserted into the cassette;
predicting when a capacity of the document storage cassette is expected to reach a specified level based on the feed-rate and the number of documents currently in the cassette; and
generating an indicator or causing a message to be sent when it is determined that the capacity of the document storage cassette is expected to reach the specified level within a specified amount of time.
32 . The method of claim 31 wherein said estimating includes estimating when the capacity of the document storage cassette is expected to reach its full capacity.
33 . The method of claim 31 including generating an indicator in the vicinity of the document acceptor when the capacity of the document storage cassette reaches the specified level.
34 . The method of claim 33 wherein the indicator comprises a visual or audio indicator.
35 . The method of claim 33 wherein generating an indicator includes causing a blinking rate of a light source to change in accordance with a predicted amount of time until the document storage cassette reaches full capacity.
36 . The method of claim 31 wherein the document acceptor is a currency validator.
37 . The method of claim 11 wherein the document acceptor is a currency validator.
38 . The method of claim 15 wherein the method further includes determining a validity and denomination of currency documents inserted into the currency validator and directing acceptable currency documents to the cassette.
39 . The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the document acceptor is a currency validator.
40 . The apparatus of claim 30 wherein the document acceptor is further operable to determine a validity and denomination of currency documents inserted into the currency validator and to direct acceptable currency documents to the document storage cassette.
41 . The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the document acceptor is operable to re-determine the feed rate on a fixed periodic basis.
42 . The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the document acceptor is operable to monitor the feed rate of documents based on a number of stack cycles that occurs during a specified period of time.
43 . The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the document acceptor is operable to monitor a number of documents stored in the cassette based on values of motor current.