Point-of-Sale System
One aspect of the disclosure provides a point-of-sale terminal system. The system includes a till, a bill manipulator, and a bill acceptor. The till has a plurality of slots, with each slot being configured to hold currency in the form of bills. The bill manipulator is coupled to the plurality of slots, and a bill acceptor is coupled to the bill manipulator. The bill manipulator moves individual bills from the till to the bill acceptor and the bill acceptor outputs bills to a currency storage unit. The system also includes a processing device configured to determine a number of bills in each of the plurality of slots, to determine a number N indicating a number of bills to remove from a slot of the plurality of slots based on the number of bills in the slot, and to command the bill manipulator to transfer N bills from the slot.
1 . A point-of-sale terminal system, comprising:
a till having a plurality of slots, each slot being configured to hold currency in the form of bills;
a bill manipulator coupled the plurality of slots;
a bill acceptor coupled to the bill manipulator, wherein the bill manipulator moves individual bills from the till to the bill acceptor and the bill acceptor outputs bills to a currency storage unit;
a processing device configured to:
determine a number of bills in each of the plurality of slots;
determine a number N indicating a number of bills to remove from at least one slot in the plurality of slots based on the number of bills in the at least one slot; and
command the bill manipulator to transfer N bills from the at least one slot.
2 . The point-of-sale terminal of claim 1 , wherein the currency storage unit is a safe that receives the bills from the bill acceptor.
3 . The point-of-sale terminal of claim 1 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
facilitate a transaction;
determine an amount of currency received during the transaction; and
update an expected cash value of the till based on the amount of currency received during the transaction.
4 . The point-of-sale terminal of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of weight sensors, each weight sensor coupled to a respective slot of the plurality of slots and configured to output a weight of the respective slot.
5 . The point-of-sale terminal of claim 4 , wherein the processing device determines the number of bills in each of the plurality of slots based on the weight of the slot.
6 . The point-of-sale terminal of claim 1 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
command the bill manipulator to empty the bills in each of the plurality of tills into the bill acceptor;
receive a value of each bill passed through the bill acceptor; and
determine a final amount of currency in the till based on the respective values of the bills passed through the bill acceptor.
7 . The point-of-sale system of claim 1 , wherein the bill acceptor is configured to verify the authenticity of a received bill and the value of the received bill.
8 . A point-of-sale system, comprising:
a till having a slot;
a bill manipulator;
a bill acceptor coupled to the bill manipulator, wherein the bill manipulator moves individual bills from the slot to the bill acceptor and the bill acceptor outputs bills to a currency storage unit;
a processor configured to:
determine a number of bills in the slot;
determine a number N indicating a number of bills to remove from the slot based on the number of bills in the slot; and
command the bill manipulator to transfer N bills from the slot to the currency storage unit.
9 . The point-of-sale system of claim 8 , wherein the currency storage unit is a safe that receives the bills from the bill acceptor.
10 . The point-of-sale terminal of claim 8 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
facilitate a transaction;
determine an amount of currency received during the transaction; and
update an expected cash value of the till based on the amount of currency received during the transaction.
11 . The point-of-sale terminal of claim 8 , further comprising a weight sensor coupled to the slot that outputs a weight of the slot.
12 . The point-of-sale terminal of claim 11 , wherein the processing device determines the number of bills in the slot based on the weight of the slot.
13 . The point-of-sale terminal of claim 8 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
command the bill manipulator to transfer all of the bills in the slot into the bill acceptor;
receive a value of each bill passed through the bill acceptor; and
determine a final amount of currency in the till based on the respective values of the bills passed through the bill acceptor.
14 . The point-of-sale system of claim 8 , wherein the bill acceptor is configured to verify the authenticity of a received bill and the value of the received bill.
15 . A method of operating a point-of-sale system, the method comprising:
determining, at a processing device, a number of bills in a slot of a till;
determining, at the processing device, whether the number of bills exceeds a threshold;
when the number of bills exceeds the threshold:
determining, at the processing device, a number N indicating a number of bills to remove from the slot based on the number of bills in the slot; and
commanding, from the processing device, a bill manipulator to transfer N bills from the slot to a secure location.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the secure location is a safe.
17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein determining the number of bills in the slot includes:
receiving, at the processing device, a weight signal indicating the weight of the slot; and
determining, at the processing device, a weight of the bills in the slot based on the weight signal; and
determining, at the processing device, the number of bills in the slot based on the weight of the bills.
18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein determining whether the number of bills in the slot exceeds a threshold is performed upon determining that an expected value of bills in the till exceeds a value threshold.
19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the number N is based on a difference between the number of bills in the slot and a reset number of bills, the reset number of bills indicating a number of bills to have in the slot after the bills are transferred to the secure location.
20 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising transferring, by the bill manipulator, the N bills from the slot to the secure location, wherein the bill manipulator feeds the bills into a bill acceptor and the bill acceptor outputs the bills into the secure location.