The present invention relates to a dispensing system and in particular to a system for sequential depletion of media stacked in containers or cassettes such as currencies /banknotes in ATMs and the like. More particularly, the present invention is directed to Automated Teller Machine, such that the stack of media in the cassette is subjected to gravity feed in a vertical disposition of the stack in a container loaded with media such as currency notes, to keep the stack oriented against its bottom face as successive pieces of media are drawn out from the bottom till said stack is fully exhausted. The present invention is thus capable of providing media dispensing systems with a means of accessing the pieces of media in a sequential manner by gravity feeding at all stages of depletion, thus ensuring wide use of such devices in ATMs or similar other paper product- based stacking, counting and dispensing/vending based applications in a simple, cost effective and reliable manner.

BACKGROUND ART

It is well known in the art of physical paper currency transactions in Banking industry that ATMs are devices of extreme importance needing secured and reliable operation as they dispense valuable media such as currencies/banknotes in automated and controlled manner without human intervention, except for requisition by authorized customer on a console. Conventionally, currencies/banknotes of different denominations are stored within an ATM in respective currency cassettes/containers, which are placed in a substantially horizontal orientation, from which notes are retrieved or "picked" as required for dispensing operatively by a friction roller in contact with the currency note in sequential order in response to a particular requisition. ATM devices are adapted for dispensing paper and other such media of uniform dimensions which are dispensed from the cassette, with the required number of pieces drawn out one-by-one by a friction roller. The action of the friction roller requires that the currency note/paper document in immediate contact with it be pressed against the roller with a desired force to pick up the piece from the stack in the cassette. This force is provided usually by a moving plate in the conventional configuration that pushes the stack from its farthest side by means of a pre- tensioned spring that provides the required biasing force. The size of the stack diminishes as pieces are drawn out by the friction roller, causing the spring force to diminish progressively. Hence, the pre-tensioning needs to be calibrated such that even when there is only one piece in the stack, the pressing force is adequate. Though the force exerted when the stack is full would be higher than when it is empty, the design should ensure that this variation in pressure is as low as possible. This requires the length of the spring pre- tensioning to be much larger than the length of the stack; to accomplish which, the free length of the spring should in turn be much larger than the extent of spring pre-tensioning. As a result, the length of the spring required is very much longer than the length of the stack. Accommodating such a long spring within the length of the cassette (whose length is comparable to that of the stack) and isolating the spring from direct contact with the stack leads to significant complexities in design. This in turn increases the cost of the cassette as well as reduces its reliability and life.

It is also known in the prior art currency dispensing systems/ATMs, wherein pneumatic tubes have been used, that required a piston-like carrier which must be loaded and unloaded with bank notes, needing a complex operation.

Another prior art apparatus is described in European Patent Application No. 0 448 385 wherein, a vacuum operated picking devices apply suction force to the end note in a stack of notes in a cassette, and move the notes towards rollers which hold the notes while the suction force is removed. The rollers then move the notes to the cash dispensing part of the apparatus; the suction force is removed by venting the suction device to the atmosphere. The operation of the device suffers essentially from ingress of dust and grit which are drawn into the system from the atmosphere and the associated vacuum pump becomes inefficient and eventually fails.

Thus it is clearly apparent from the above described cited art that none of the cited patents attempted to solve reliably the presentation of successive media in a stack to a dispensing means involving gravity feed as dealt with in the present invention, wherein the use of gravity by self weight of the stack, augmented by other features to ensure a reliable system of urging the stack towards the friction-pick roller in a cash-dispenser for the ATMs. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is thus the basic object of the present invention to provide a gravity-assisted system for a cost effective and reliable means of presenting sequentially the media located in a container/cassette to a friction-pick roller for dispensation of such media as currency notes in ATMs.

A further object of the present invention is directed to a system for ensuring that the biasing force on the stack in the said system would be augmented by the force of a dead-weight when the self-weight of the stack, through progressive depletion of the media, becomes too small to be effective.

A still further object of the present invention is directed to a system for sequential dispensing of media in cassettes wherein said gravity feeding based system having a mechanism comprising stack of media mounted in a container or cassette, a bottom plate of such cassette with openings that permit a friction roller to access the lowest piece of media and an opening at the bottom of the front face of the cassette through which the media may be conveyed out of the cassette by the said friction roller maintaining specific functional relation there between so as to achieve desired reliable note dispensing under the force of contact.

A still further object of the present invention is directed to a system for sequentially presenting media in cassettes to a dispenser by alternatively orienting the stack off the vertical by mounting the cassette at an inclination to the vertical, wherein a sufficiently effective component of the weight acts along the inclination of the cassette.

A still further object of the present invention is directed to a system for sequentially presenting media in cassettes to a dispenser wherein a slide way is provided that constrains the motion of the dead-weight in such a manner as to favor desired sequentially uniform dispensing of media from a stack/container under gravitational force of contact.

A still further object of the present invention is directed to a system for sequentially presenting media in cassettes to a dispenser wherein the mechanism of the system avoids any clamping frictional force against the floor of the cassette that impedes free pick up of the piece by the roller. A still further object of the present invention is directed to a system for sequentially presenting media in cassettes to a dispenser' wherein an inclined surface at the bottom of the cassette is introduced at the rear of the stack, which progressively isolates the proximate (lowest) pieces from the weight of the stack above, to avoid the stated clamping frictional force.

A still further object of the present invention is directed to a system for sequentially presenting media in cassettes to a dispenser wherein rear of the stack is restrained from slipping into the empty space above it, causing the dead-weight to 'sink' beneath the stack.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus according to the basic aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for sequentially presenting media such as currencies /banknotes stacked in a cassette for sequential depletion by a dispenser system in ATMs and the like comprising: A friction-pick roller;

Container or cassette means adapted to orient vertically the stack of media, above the said friction-pick roller, such that successive pieces of the media are horizontal and arranged one above the other, whereby the self-weight of the stack keeps it oriented towards the bottom as successive pieces of the media are removed from its lowest end;

Openings at the bottom plate of the cassette that provide access to the lowest piece of media for removal by the said friction-pick roller; and A slot-like opening at the front-edge of the bottom plate to enable the media to be conveyed out.

In the above system for sequentially presenting media stacked in containers or cassettes comprising orienting the stack off the vertical wherein a sufficiently effective component of the weight acts along the inclination of the stack to keep it oriented towards the bottom plate as successive pieces of the media are removed from its lowest end.

In accordance with an aspect of the above system for sequential depletion of media stacked in containers or cassettes the said self- weight of the stack may be augmented by addition of a deadweight above said stack, to be effective when the self-weight of the stack is too little to provide adequate force of contact with the friction-pick roller. According to another aspect of the system for sequentially presenting media stacked in containers/ cassettes further comprising an incline that converges the bottom of the stack from its rear, to progressively relieve the rear of the lowest pieces of the media from the action of the weight above, rendering them free from the force due to self-weight of the stack, for easy removal through the said slot provided at the bottom of the front side of the cassette.

Advantageously, in the above system the resistance to the downward movement of the stack is enhanced in parts of the inner vertical faces by surface geometric features like serrations, or overlay of factional material like rubber, or both, to more effectively relieve the lowest piece of media from the weight of the stack.

Importantly, the weight is concentrated near the front face of the stack, to bear down upon the picker roller under the bottom plate, without clamping the media against the face of the bottom plate elsewhere.

In accordance with a preferred aspect in the above system for sequential depletion of media stacked in containers or cassettes a light stiff plate is mounted on the dead-weight to restrain the rear of the stack from slipping upward, thereby preventing the dead-weight from sinking beneath the stack.

Also, the said plate is placed in such a manner that its movement is not impeded by coming in contact with the walls of the cassette throughout the stroke of its movement in the cassette.

The system for sequential depletion of media stacked in containers or cassettes according to the invention further comprises clamps adapted to fasten the plate to the moving dead-weight with some 'play' to ensure that its stiffness does not bear down on the stack to clamp the media against the rear of the bottom plate.

In the above system, the said bottom plate is provided with projections that prevent excessive weight from acting on the pick-up rollers, especially when the stack is heavy, so that the torque required to pick media is kept minimal. In accordance with a preferred aspect in the above system for sequential depletion of media stacked in containers or cassettes the cassette may be separated from the dispenser or re-oriented to a horizontal or other convenient orientation for replenishment or removal of media.

In the above system, the cassette alone is re-oriented, or is accompanied by some or all components of the associated picking / dispensing mechanism during such re-orientation, so that relative motion between the lowest media and associated picking components preserves their relative positions and prevents entanglement of media with associated dispenser components.

According to another aspect of the system for sequentially presenting media stacked in containers/ cassettes a shutter or equivalent mechanism is provided at the exit slot, to prevent exit of media through the slot when the cassette is re-oriented (horizontally or otherwise) for replenishment/removal of media; the said mechanism being triggered to a closed position when the cassette is swiveled out, and being triggered to an open position when the cassette is restored. In accordance with an aspect of the above system for sequential depletion of media stacked in containers or cassettes comprises Automated teller Machines (ATM) and the stack of media comprises currency notes.

The details of the invention, its objects and advantages are explained hereunder in greater detail in relation to non-limiting exemplary illustrations as per the following accompanying figures:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

Figure 1: is the schematic illustration of the cassette/container of the currency note dispensing device according to the present invention. This figure also shows the spring-loaded shutter which is opened when the cassette is engaged with the dispenser, but shuts when the cassette is moved away from it. The shutter sub-assembly has been removed from all the other illustrations, for clarity.

Figure Ia: is a side-view of the arrangement showing the operative parts distinctly.

Figure Ib: is the schematic illustration of the cassette/container without deadweight, to illustrate its operative features and its position in relation to the picker roller.

Figure 2: is the schematic section view of the cassette/container for stacking and dispensing of the notes with the dead weight close to its bottom position when the stack is nearly depleted. Figure 3: is the schematic section view of the cassette for stacking currency notes showing the location of an inclined plate to function as separator of notes for dispensing, with the dead weight close to its top position when the stack is nearly full.

Figure 4: is a close-up view of the assembly of the plate with the dead-weight with a means of fastening that permits some play in the plate.

Figure 5: is the sectional illustration of the cassette/container in vertical position, with serrated members that offer frictional resistance when the stack is heavy.

Figure 6: is a close-up view showing the projections on the bottom face of the cassette, in the proximity of the wheels of the picker roller.

Figure 7: is the schematic illustration of the cassette/container mounted at an angle offset from the vertical, located inside an enclosure of size appropriate to this orientation.

Figure 8: is the schematic illustration of the cassette/container mounted vertically, located inside an enclosure of size appropriate to this orientation.

Figure 9: is the schematic illustration of the cassette/container with the cassette re-oriented to a substantially horizontal orientation for cash replenishment, without re-orienting the associated dispenser.

Figure 10: is the schematic illustration of the cassette/container re-oriented to a substantially horizontal orientation for cash replenishment, the dispenser moving together with it.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES

The present invention relates to a dispensing system and in particular to a system for sequential depletion of media stacked in containers or cassettes such as currencies /banknotes in ATMs and the like. More particularly, the present invention is directed to Automated Teller Machine, such that the stack of media in the cassette is subjected to gravity feed in a vertical disposition of the stack in a container loaded with media such as currency notes, to keep the stack oriented against its bottom face as successive pieces of media are drawn out from the bottom till said stack is fully exhausted. Currency cassettes hold media arranged parallel to each other in a stack. When loaded in a dispenser, the stack is to be held pressed along the length of the stack, so that the face of the last piece of media is aligned against one face of the cassette. This face of the cassette is provided with openings that permit a friction-roller to draw out the piece. When the piece is drawn out, the entire stack is urged towards the friction roller on account of the pressing force, to cause the next piece of media to be accessible to the friction roller. In this manner, the entire stack is rendered amenable to sequential dispensation of media.

Conventionally, individual pieces of media are held vertically in the cassette, so that the stack formed by adding successive pieces in parallel builds up in a direction that is essentially horizontal. The force needed to bias the stack towards one face is typically provided by means of a spring. The force due to the spring is greater when the stack is full, but consistent dispensation requires that it should be large enough even when the stack is small. To avoid excessive increase of force when the stack is full, the free length of the spring should necessarily be much greater than the length of the stack.

Since the size of the cassette is comparable to the size of the stack, the spring needs to be accommodated within this by folding it several times over, with guiding pulleys and other provisions for the smooth extension and contraction of the spring during operation. Further, the spring and associated mechanisms should be isolated from direct contact with the media, to avoid entanglement. This is achieved by enclosing these behind an inner wall within the cassette.

When currency is to be replenished, the pusher-plate actuated by the spring needs to be pushed towards the extreme position (which corresponds to maximum spring-force) to allow access to the container where the media are to be placed. Retaining the pusher-plate in this position calls for the provision of a ratchet-slider arrangement which may be disengaged after the operation of replenishment is complete.

As can be seen, the seemingly simple need to keep the stack pressed against a wall facing the media leads to significant design overheads in this configuration.

It is among the objects of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the disadvantages and difficulties described above.

Reference is first invited to the accompanying Figures: 1,1a and Ib that schematically illustrate the cassette/container, wherein the cassette (1) is located vertically above the friction-pick roller (2), so that the front most media item (3) is at the bottom of the stack. The rotation of the roller causes the front most media item (3) to be drawn out of the cassette through the slot-like opening (13) at the edge between the bottom plate (9) and the front vertical face of the cassette. As can be readily visualized, each media item in the stack is horizontal, with successive pieces placed one above the other to build a vertical stack. The self-weight of the stack generally provides the force required to keep the front most media item pressed against the friction roller.

Figure: 1 shows one implementation of a spring-loaded shutter arrangement (15) mounted on a frame (14) which is moved by a preset distance when the cassette is located in the dispenser. This exposes the currency exit slot (13) to permit drawing out media from the cassette. However, when the cassette is drawn away from the dispenser, as might be required when the insides of the cassette have to be accessed for replenishment of media, the biasing force of the springs pushes the shutter (15) down by the preset distance to shut the opening (13). The location of the opening (13) is illustrated in Figure: l(b).

As the stack-size diminishes through sequential removal of media, a point may be reached when the force on account of the self-weight is no longer adequate. A dead-weight (4) is therefore added to the top of the stack as illustrated in Figure: 2, to ensure that the force pressing down on the front most media item (3) does not fall below a threshold defined by this weight. This deadweight is typically made of a dense material like steel, for compactness. Further, the footprint of this deadweight is confined to the zone defined by region of contact of the friction- pick roller with the front most media item (3). This is to ensure that the force acts effectively at the region where it is needed, without acting elsewhere where it may cause a clamping of the media, thereby impairing dispensation as illustrated in Figure: 3. This relative orientation of the deadweight with respect to the friction-pick roller is maintained throughout its stroke of movement - as the stack is progressively diminished — by constraining its motion along a slide way (5). The inner container of the cassette, without the deadweight, is depicted in Figure: l(b).

As a result of this small footprint, much of the last media item (6) (i.e., the uppermost item which is in contact with the deadweight) is not restrained by it. Hence, the upper face of the stack is inadequately constrained and coujd collapse if there are any disturbing influences (for instance, when the cassette is manually handled). This would cause the upper media to slip above the weight, in turn causing the weight to slip down, to sink into the stack. Reliable dispensation is not possible under such an eventuality. Hence, a light plate (7) is mounted on the weight to overhang beyond its footprint, to restrain the upper pieces of media. The span of the overhang should be such that it does not touch any of the side-walls of the cassettes throughout the stroke of the motion of the weight, so that the free movement of the weight is not impeded. The plate is kept light so that its weight does not press down on the rear of the stack, thereby clamping it and hindering dispensation. Further, it is to be ensured that the action of this plate - to restrain the upper most media — does not lead to a reaction force that clamps the lowest media against the floor of the cassette, as this clamping action would impose a greater load on the picker roller. To accomplish this, the plate is fastened to the deadweight with a little 'play' as illustrated in Figure: 4.

In the more general situation where the self-weight of the stack is adequate to urge the stack downward without need for a dead-weight, it is necessary to ensure that the force due to self- weight is not distributed in other regions of the facing (bottom) wall of the cassette, causing a clamping force on the front most media item (as this would in turn impose a heavy load on the picking roller).

This is substantially achieved by providing an inclined surface (8) at the far-end of the bottom face (9) of the cassette, on the side opposite to the direction in which the pieces are drawn out by the picker roller. This prevents the self weight from acting anywhere on the facing wall other than at the region where the picker roller accesses the front most media item. The arching of the bottom of the stack relieves the trailing edge of the front most media item from being subjected to excessive loads.

Further, it is necessary to ensure that the force acting on the picking roller due to self-weight is not excessively large, especially in situations where the stack size is large, since this would impose a heavy load on the picking roller.

This object may be fulfilled by enhancing resistance to the downward motion of the stack. This may be achieved by increasing the friction on the vertical faces of the cassette by inclusion of rubber-like materials or serrated strips that impede the motion. These elements may be preferentially included at locations above a certain height of the stack, so that their action is limited to situations when the stack is heavy as illustrated in Figure: 5 This object may be further fulfilled by providing projections (10) on the Bottom face (9) of the cassette, in the proximity of the wheels of the picker roller (2). These projections bear part of the self-weight of the stack, relieving the load on the picker rollers as illustrated in Figure: 6.

All the embodiments described above would work as effectively if the cassette were mounted at an angle offset from the vertical, as long as the gravitational component of the forces acting on the front most (i.e., lowest) media item (3) are adequate to cause the actions described above. This may call for suitable modification of these embodiments - for instance, increasing the magnitude of the dead-weight. Such an orientation may be advantageous, as illustrated in Figure: 7 and Figure: 8, in changing the form factor of the dispenser and hence, its enclosure (11).

Reference is next invited to the accompanying Figure: 9 that clearly show that the rear-wall of the cassette (i.e., the wall far from the slot through which media are drawn out) is typically the lid (12) that is releasably coupled to the rest of the body. Opening this lid provides the human agent access to replenish the stock of media or to remove the media within. This is carried out conveniently w.hen the cassette is held in a substantially horizontal orientation, with the Hd on top. Hence, there is need for an arrangement by which the cassette, which is vertical when the dispenser is operational, may be oriented horizontally to allow access to the human agent for replenishment / removal of media. This may provided by means of guide-ways and / or pivots, in relation to which the cassette is located in the body of the dispenser. The cassette may be removed from the dispenser or re-oriented from its operational position to bring it to a horizontal orientation at a location that provides convenient access to a human agent.

When the cassette is re-oriented as described above, it may be advantageous to move the associated picker / dispenser mechanism, or certain components of it, along with the cassette, so that the relative positions of these components with respect to the cassette are unaltered as illustrated in Figure: 10. This also minimizes the chances of media in the cassette getting entangled with the components around.