The present invention relates to a banknote-handling system for the retail trade comprising a banknote receiving unit with an associated cassette in which to receive banknotes.

Previously disclosed systems of the above-mentioned kind are emptied in a variety of ways. The security of the staff who operate the system is very important in order to prevent access to and theft of stored banknotes and other means of payment of equivalent value, which are thus attractive for dishonest individuals to attempt to appropriate.

EP 0692599 Al describes a system for the secure transport and handling of valuable papers and comprises cassettes, in which the banknotes, etc., are placed for handling in a secure fashion. The banknotes are stored in stacks in this previously disclosed system, however, and not on a roll.

The problem that it is proposed to solve in accordance with the present invention is, in addition to enabling the banknotes to be handled in a secure and efficient manner, both for their rapid delivery from a shop till or a shop office, fσr example, and in the reverse order to a till or shop office of the kind in question, to ensure that the tills in a shop do not contain too much cash, but that the cash is instead stored securely in the office premises of the shop, and in the reverse order when it is wished to ensure that the till has sufficient banknotes of smaller denominations to enable it to function effectively and in accordance with new systems according to which the staff at the till are not required to handle the banknotes themselves, but this is taken care of by the system and the customers.

In accordance with the present invention, in order to be able to handle banknotes of different denominations rapidly and efficiently, these are stored securely held on a rotatable drum.

It is considerably easier to handle the banknotes if they are lying distributed in a long row compared with picking out the right banknotes from a bundle of banknotes in which the banknotes lie stacked together at random one on top of the other. It is sufficient to see how you need to leaf through a wallet for the right banknote, assuming that you do not already make all your transactions by credit card.

The principal underlying idea of the present invention is thus to be able to operate the aforementioned banknote receiving drum and, at the same time, to hold the banknotes in place on the storage drum in the cassette.

In accordance with EP 1291 831 A2, a dedicated unit for receiving and recording banknotes as they are fed in is arranged in a processing centre for banknotes. The banknotes in this case are received between dual belts, which are in turn rolled onto a rotating storage drum.

Such storage of the banknotes securely attached one after the other in a particular sequence does not permit desired banknotes of the right denomination to be fed out, unlike the case in which the banknotes are forced against a drum by belts, but it is then necessary to take the banknote that arrives in sequence followed by the next one. This system is intended for banknotes of the same denomination, or if it is simply intended to receive banknotes securely as they are fed in at random and held in the form of a line inside a cassette in the machine.

The principal object of the present invention is thus, in the first instance, to make available a system which solves the aforementioned problem in a simple and efficient manner.

The aforementioned object is achieved by means of a banknote handling system in accordance with the present invention, which is characterized essentially in that the cassette comprises a rotatably driven storage drum for banknotes contained within a surrounding casing, in that the drive source

for driving the aforementioned rotatable banknote storage drum is arranged inside the aforementioned cassette, in that banknotes are so arranged as to be received rolled onto the aforementioned drum and pressed down by moving belts at a mutual distance from one another viewed in the direction of rotation of the drum, in that the cassette is so arranged as to be capable of being connected in a lockable fashion to the aforementioned banknote receiving unit, and is capable of being attached respectively in a lockable and unlockable fashion to an emptying device for banknotes, which are received wound onto the aforementioned storage drum, and in that the cassette comprises a timer for the activation of marking and/or destruction, for example by dyeing the contents in the event of attack and theft of the cassette. What is indicated in the aforementioned claims cannot be regarded as being obvious to a person skilled in the art, because it is not simply a matter of taking any drum at all and storing the cash on it, but this must be done in a particular way in order for it to function. It is sufficient for the staff to arrive at the emptying point with the cassette, and in this case for the drive for the drum to be present inside the aforementioned cassette in order to take care of the transfer of the banknotes.

The invention is described below as a number of preferred illustrative embodiments, in conjunction with which reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows the system schematically in the form of a block diagram showing possible constituent component parts of the aforementioned secure banknote-handling system; Figs. 2-6 show different constituent parts of he system separately and performing their function;

Figs. 7-9 show the application of the system in conjunction with handling of the constituent cassette before emptying; and

Figs. 10-13 show the cassette from the fully closed position to the opened position to illustrate the function involved, in receiving banknotes therein on a storage drum for banknotes .

The invention relates to a closed and thus secure banknote-handling system 1 intended for the retail trade and comprising a banknote receiving unit 2, which is not illustrated in more detail and described more thoroughly here, and with an associated cassette 3 for the receiving and storage of surplus banknotes 4 that are received and transferred from the aforementioned banknote receiving unit 2 as this operates and customers pay for the goods that they purchase. The till assistant feeds the banknotes 4 in a previously disclosed fashion into the banknote receiving unit 2, which incorporates a checking device that is so arranged as to receive the banknotes and verify their genuineness, or as to issue one or more banknotes per second, and which is preferably so arranged in addition as to be capable of handling several denominations at the same time.

The aforementioned banknote receiving unit 2 is so arranged as to be capable of storing as many as ninety banknotes simultaneously, for example, on a rotating storage wheel and, in addition, of causing the surplus to be delivered into a closed cassette 3. The cash desk 5 in question also includes a storage and issuing unit intended for coins, although this is not described and illustrated here in greater detail because it does not constitute a part of the present invention at this time.

The aforementioned banknote-handling system 1 is so arranged as to be capable of being integrated readily with the

majority of existing electronic till systems, and as to be very simple and capable of rapid installation.

The invention relates to the design and function of the banknote-receiving unit itself with its associated cassette system and associated emptying unit.

The aforementioned cassette 3 comprises a rotatably driven storage drum 6 intended to accommodate banknotes 4 wound onto the aforementioned drum 6, and which is enclosed within a surrounding and enclosing casing 7, consisting inter alia of an unscrewable front panel 8, which has been unscrewed in the drawings in Figs. 11-13 in order clearly to illustrate the interior 9 of the cassette 3 and the associated drum 6. The banknotes 4 in this case are arranged in such a way as to be capable of being accommodated rolled on the aforementioned drum 6 and pressed down by moving belts 30, 31, 32 at a mutual distance L from one another viewed in the direction of rotation 10, 11 of the drum 6. The cassette 3 is so arranged as to be capable of being connected in a lockable fashion to the aforementioned banknote receiving unit 2 in a cash desk 5, 5 ¹ , 5 ² , where a till assistant 12 feeds in and pays out money respectively into and from the aforementioned unit 2, which the till assistant 12 has received from or must repay to the customers 13 who are making their purchases.

The aforementioned cassette 3 is also so arranged as to be capable of detachable attachment to an emptying device 14 for the aforementioned cassettes 3 situated at a distance from the aforementioned cash desks 5, 5 ¹ , 5 ² , for example inside an office 15 or some other secure area that is separate from the aforementioned cash desks 5-5 ² , and to which the customers shall not have access.

In order to make it difficult for any robbers who might consider grabbing the cassette 3 for themselves when it is being transported from the till area 16 to the area 17 where the

cassette 3 will be emptied of the banknotes 4 that it contains, the cassette 3 incorporates a timer that can be set to a desired time interval for the activation of means which permit marking and/or destruction, for example by dyeing the contents of the cassette 3 in the event of, for example, attack and theft of the same, so that the banknotes 4 cannot be used by the robbers.

The source of power for driving the aforementioned rotatable banknote storage drum 6 is arranged inside the aforementioned cassette 3 in the form of an electric motor which dra ^τ ws current from the till 5, 5 ¹ , 5 ² or from, the emptying device 14 in which the cassette 3 is accommodated in the different positions I and II.

The aforementioned cassette 3 is capable of attachment in a lockable fashion to an aforementioned emptying device 14 for banknotes 4 that are accommodated wound onto the aforementioned storage drum 6 as described above.

The emptying device 14, which also includes a packing unit for banknotes 4, preferably for the secure packing of the banknotes in the form of bundles in a so-called security bag of a previously disclosed kind, but which is not described here in greater detail, is connected to a security transport company 19 either directly or indirectly, for example via the Internet or

• some other appropriate means of communication 20. This makes it possible rapidly and securely to advise when the shop wishes to arrange for the collection of packed banknote bags.

Provided for this purpose are transport containers 21 included in the system and intended to receive banknotes 4 that are emptied from the cassette 3 into the emptying device 14 for packing in. plastic bags therein, and to transfer the aforementioned packed banknotes 4 to permit the banknotes 4 to be transferred securely from the shop 22 to the transport vehicle 23.

The aforementioned transport container 21 includes means for the marking and/or destruction of the contents, for example by dyeing the banknotes 4 and activation, for example in the event of attack and theft of the aforementioned transport container 21.

The cassette 3 in question is preferably so arranged as to be capable of being connected to a banknote empting device 14 accommodated in a separate area for the purpose of emptying banknotes 4 from the cassette 3 into the aforementioned device 14. The cassette 3 can be so arranged for this purpose as to be capable of being received by and connected in a lockable fashion to more than one receiving point A, B on the respective till 5, 5 ¹ , 5 ² , and preferably pairs of receiving points, which permits the alternate exchange of the cassettes 3. The aforementioned banknote emptying device 14 is formed by a casing 24 and enclosed therein a cavity 25 with an empting and packing device arranged to operate therein, although this is not shown here.

The cassettes 3 in question are capable of being received in a charging area C in the aforementioned banknote receiving unit 14, which charging area C is accessible from one 26 or the other 27 side of a partition wall 28 for a storage area 15 in the shop premises 22, on the outside or the inside of the same. The banknote receiving unit 2 and the cassettes 3 in question are each provided with its own keypad so arranged for decoding in conjunction with connecting and disconnecting the cassettes 3 to and from the aforementioned banknote receiving unit 2 and the emptying device 14. Service 30 can be connected to the system 1 via a line 29. The function of the system 1 should have been appreciated clearly from the above description and the illustrations in the drawings.

The invention is naturally not restricted to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the accompanying

drawings. Modifications are possible, in particular with regard to the nature of the various parts, or by the use of equivalent technology, but without for that reason departing from the area of protection afforded to the invention, as defined in the Patent Claims.