SHEET STACKING ASSEMBLY

The invention relates to a sheet stacking assembly for creating a stack of sheets, particularly documents of value such as banknotes.

Conventional sheet stacking assemblies comprise one or more rotating wheels provided with a set of radially outwardly extending tines between which individual sheets are inserted. The wheel rotates so that the sheets engage a stripping plate which causes the sheets to be withdrawn from the stacking wheel, as the wheel rotates, and to drop down onto a stacking support. These stacking systems provide well registered stacks of banknotes or other sheets but require precise synchronisation between the stacking wheel and transport supplying sheets to the stacking wheel.

There is therefore a need to provide a simple sheet stacking assembly for use, for example, in banknote dispensing systems and the like.

In accordance with the present invention, a sheet stacking assembly comprises a stacking pocket comprising an upwardly facing support surface and an end wall; and at least one flail assembly rotatably mounted above the support surface, the flail assembly comprising two sets of flails, the flails of one set being axially spaced with respect to the other set, and the flails of the one set being circumferentially offset with respect to the flails of the other set, whereby in use sheets fed to the sheet stacking assembly are engaged by the flails of the flail assembly as it rotates so as to feed the sheet into the stacking pocket.

With this invention, instead of utilizing a conventional stacking wheel with the need to accurately aligned each incoming sheet with a space between adjacent tines, a much simpler construction is provided in which flails are used to draw successive sheets into the stacking pocket. Thus, there is no need for precise timing accuracy between a transport supplying sheets to the stacking assembly and the rotational position of the flail assembly. Furthermore, by providing the flail assembly with two sets of axially spaced flails, a larger surface area of flail

engages each sheet at any time. If only one set of flails was used, a first flail would engage an incoming sheet but the next flail would be largely hidden by the first flail, at least initially, and only its tip engage the incoming sheet and therefore make very little difference to the frictional feed force applied to the incoming sheet. By utilizing axially offset sets of flails, this problem is significantly reduced.

The flails typically comprise flexible rubber tines although other materials could also be used providing they have sufficient flexibility and friction.

In some cases, the support surface is fixed relative to the flail assembly and as a stack of sheets builds up this is accommodated by the flexibility of the flails. However, in a preferred embodiment, the support surface is defined by a movably mounted plate adapted to move away from the or each flail assembly as a stack of sheets is built up.

Once the stack of sheets has been formed in the stacking pocket, it could be simply removed manually or indeed the entire pocket could be bodily moved by a mechanical transfer system to an outlet position. Conveniently, however, the sheet stacking assembly further comprises at least one feed system, such as a feed belt or feed roller, located relative to the support surface so as to contact the lowermost sheet in the stacking pocket.

This feed system can then be used to feed the stack of sheets to the outlet and is preferably actuable in opposite directions to enable feed of the stack to more than one outlet.

In order to enable the stack of sheets to be fed onwards in the feed direction, the end plate is preferably retractable.

Some examples of banknote processing systems incorporating the sheet stacking assembly according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a banknote processing system;

Figures 2 and 3 are perspective views of the metal framework of the banknote processing system;

Figures 4 and 5 are opposite end views of the metal framework shown in Figures 2 and 3;

Figure 6 illustrates a cut-out support for a tine wrap;

Figure 7 illustrates a cut-out for mounting shafts;

Figure 8 illustrates a shaft assembly for mounting in the cut-out shown in Figure 7;

Figure 9 illustrates another shaft assembly for mounting in the cut-out of Figure 7;

Figures 10 and 11 illustrate a mounting arrangement for an exit paper guide;

Figure 12 is another cross-sectional view through the sheet processing system but with various parts omitted for clarity;

Figures 13-16 are perspective views from different directions of the vertical transport shown in Figure 1 ;

Figures 17 and 18 are perspective views of a double detector;

Figures 19 and 20 are perspective views of the horizontal transport system shown in Figure 1 , some parts having been omitted in Figure 20 for clarity;

Figure 21 illustrates a latch mechanism for the horizontal transport;

Figure 22 is a perspective view illustrating a typical mounting arrangement for a shaft;

Figure 23 is a side view of the diverters shown in Figure 1 ;

Figure 24 is a perspective view of the diverters;

Figure 25 is a perspective view of the reject cassette shown in Figure 1 ;

Figures 26 and 27 illustrate the handle assembly of the reject cassette in more detail;

Figures 28 and 29 illustrate parts of the shutter control system of the reject cassette;

Figure 30 illustrates a key lock mounted to the reject cassette;

Figure 31 is a perspective view from above of the sheet stacking assembly or bundler shown in Figure 1 ;

Figures 31a and 31b are side and end views of a flail assembly;

Figure 31c is a side view of a flail assembly in use;

Figure 32 is a bottom perspective view of the top plate of the sheet stacking assembly;

Figure 33 is a bottom perspective view of the base plate of the stacking assembly;

Figure 34 is a top perspective view of the base plate;

Figure 35 is another perspective view from underneath of the base plate of the stacking assembly;

Figure 36 is a perspective view of the registration gate of the stacking assembly;

Figure 37 is a side view of the sheet processing system showing the transport drive mechanism;

Figure 38 illustrates the drive motor for the transport drive system;

Figure 39 is a perspective view of a first transport extension;

Figures 40 and 41 are perspective views from above and below respectively of the first transport extension with covers removed; and,

Figures 42-44 are views similar to Figures 39-41 but of a second transport extension.

The processor is constructed in a sheet metal framework which will be housed in a suitable enclosure in use. A cross-sectional view of the processor is shown in Figure 1 , which shows the following subassemblies:

A vertical transport 100 which receives notes from a separate sheet feeding unit to which the processor is attached in use.

A bi-directional horizontal transport 200 located above the vertical transport which receives the notes conveyed by the vertical transport.

A pair of diverters 300 and 400 which can divert notes from the horizontal transport.

A reject cassette 500 for receiving notes diverted from the horizontal transport.

A bundler 600 which receives notes from the horizontal transport and stacks them into a bundle.

• A drive motor and transport driving mechanism 799 (only the drive motor is visible in Figure 1).

Two output locations A and B at which bundles of notes may be presented to a user.

The processor may also comprise optional transport extensions to locate the output locations further from the processor, although these are not shown in Figure 1.

The construction of the metal framework and each of these subassemblies will be described in detail below.

METAL FRAMEWORK

The metal framework is shown in Figures 2 to 5. The processor is constructed between two pressed sheet steel side plates 1 and 2. The side plates 1 and 2 are joined by a metal base plate 3, a vertical plate 4, a horizontal plate 5 and a U- shaped horizontal member 6. There is also a metal paper guide (known as the exit paper guide) 119 (shown in Figure 2) secured to each of the side plates 1 and 2. This type of construction leads to an extremely rigid structure.

The various subassemblies which make up the document processor are attached to at least one of the side plates 1 and 2. Some of the items making up the subassemblies are attached to brackets fixed (by screws or spot welding) to the side plates 1 and 2. These includes a bracket 7 to support the main drive motor 720, a bracket 8 to support the diverter motors 301 and 401 , a bracket 9 to support the motor 630 for driving the registration gate 615, a bracket 10 to support the motor 616 for the bundler 600, and brackets 11 and 12 to support

some of the idlers and bearings. There is also a cover 13 for a handwheel for driving the transport by hand.

Figures 6 to 11 illustrate some of the features of the pressed steel side plates 1 and 2 which aid assembly of the processor.

In Figure 6, a cut-out 14 in side plate 1 is shown. The cut-out 14 is used for attaching a wiring loom to the side plates 1 and 2 by way of a tie wrap. Specifically, the tie wrap is loosely secured around the wiring loom and then fitted over the end 16 onto the stem 15 where it is tightened to hold the wiring loom firmly in place. The shape of the end 16 prevents the tie wrap from sliding off the stem 15.

Figure 7 shows another type of cut-out 17 in side plate 1. This cut-out has three circular sections 18, 19 and 20. The arrangement of these three circular sections

18, 19 and 20 makes the assembly of the shafts which make up the transport and their location between the side plates 1 and 2 particularly easy. One of the shaft assemblies is shown in Figure 8. This shows a shaft 21 supported by two bearings 22 and 23. This shaft assembly (including the rollers) is assembled as a separate item and then the whole shaft assembly is inserted through circular section 18. The far end bearing 22 is located in its receiving aperture in the furthest side plate 2 and the near end bearing 23 is slid into position in one of circular sections 19 and 20. The near end bearing 23 is held in place by a bearing retainer 24 which is held in place by a self-tapping screw 25 screwed into the nearest side plate 1.

Figure 9 shows an alternative mounting arrangement that is used with some of the shafts that make up the transport system, specifically those which are spring mounted so that they can move apart from opposing shaft and roller assemblies to allow the passage of bundles of notes of differing thicknesses. In this arrangement, a shaft 26 is supported by two bearings 27 and 28. A bearing end- cap 29 is fitted over bearing 28 and introduced through circular section 20. The bearing 27 is pushed into another bearing end-cap 30 which is already mounted

on side plate 2. The end-cap 29 is then pushed into position in circular section 19 or 20. The shaft is capable of moving against the spring tension in springs 31 and 32 which are hooked at one end into lugs 33 and 34 in end-caps 30 and 29 and at the other end onto features provided on the side plates 1 and 2. The displacement between opposing shafts can therefore automatically adjust to accommodate note bundles of different thicknesses.

Figures 10 and 11 shows the mounting arrangement for the exit paper guide 119 in the vertical transport 100. As can be seen a flat horizontal section of the exit paper guide 119 is located on top of a tab 35 and the mounting flange is located between tabs 36 and 37. These tabs 35, 36 and 37 constrain the location of the exit paper guide 119 so that it cannot be installed incorrectly. This is particularly important as the positioning of the exit paper guide 119 is critical to the correct operation of the transport.

OVERVIEW OF TRANSPORT PATH

Figure 12 shows a cross-section through the processor in which extraneous components have been hidden so that the transport path is more clearly visible.

Notes are received at point C from the feeder unit which is described in more detail in co-pending PCT application PCT/GB 2008/000517 entitled "Sheet Handling Apparatus" filed by De La Rue International Limited. They are fed through the vertical transport 100 vertically upwards towards the exit paper guide 119 which guides the notes into the horizontal transport 200.

The horizontal transport 200 can operate bi-directionally. In a first mode, it feeds notes received from the vertical transport 100 in a leftwards direction towards bundler 600. When the transport is operating in this direction, the notes may be diverted by either of diverters 300 or 400 into reject cassette 500.

In a second mode of operation the transport feeds bundled notes from the bundler 600 to output location A. If a bundle of notes is not retrieved from output

location A then it is retracted by the horizontal transport 200 and diverted into reject cassette 500. The bundler 600 is also capable of presenting notes at output location B.

VERTICAL TRANSPORT

Figures 13 to 16 show the vertical transport 100 in detail.

Figure 13 shows a perspective view of the vertical transport 100. This comprises an inner plastic moulding 101 and an outer plastic moulding 102 on which all the other parts of the vertical transport 100 are mounted. The inner plastic moulding 101 and outer plastic moulding 102 are hinged together along their bottom edges by way of two stub shafts coupled to outer plastic moulding 102 and supported by bearings 104 and 105 fitted into inner plastic moulding 101. The inner plastic moulding 101 and outer plastic moulding 102 are held together by a latch system which comprises two hooks 106 and 107 which engage with pins 108 integral with the inner plastic moulding 101. The pin which engages with hook 107 is not visible in any of the figures. The hooks 106 and 107 are fitted to outer plastic moulding 102 by way of a shaft 109. The shaft 109 can be rotated against torsion spring 110 relative to the outer plastic moulding 102 using lever 111. This disengages the hooks 106 and 107 from pins 108 and allows the outer plastic moulding 102 to be rotated around the two stub shafts relative to inner plastic moulding 101. Access to the interior of the vertical transport 100 can therefore be gained for the purposes of jam clearance and other maintenance.

As can be seen from Figures 13 and 14, the outer plastic moulding 102 has three belts 112a, 112b and 112c entrained around respective rollers mounted on shafts 103, 113 and 114 which can rotate freely within bearings which support the shafts 103, 113 and 114 on outer plastic moulding 102. Providing three parallel belts 112a, 112b and 112c is advantageous as it helps to prevent skew of the notes as they are transported.

Figures 15 and 16 show details of the inner plastic moulding 101. As can be seen, this has three belts 115a, 115b and 115c which correspond to belts 112a, 112b and 112c. When the outer plastic moulding 102 and inner plastic moulding 101 are brought together as shown in Figure 13, the belts 112a, 112b and 112c lie adjacent the corresponding belts 115a, 115b and 115c. Thus notes may be transported by movement of the belts 112a, 112b, 112c, 115a, 115b and 115c together. The belts 115a, 115b and 115c are entrained around respective rollers mounted on shafts 116, 117 and 118 which can rotate freely within bearings which support the shafts 116, 117 and 118 on inner plastic moulding 101.

The rollers mounted on shafts 103, 113, 114, 116, 117 and 118 are all centrally grooved as can be seen best from the rollers on shaft 117 in Figure 16. The belts 112a, 112b, 112c, 115a, 115b and 115c are T-shaped in cross-section, the ridge forming the T-shape running in the grooves in the rollers. This helps prevent the belts 112a, 112b, 112c, 115a, 115b and 115c from riding off the rollers.

Notes that have been fed through the vertical transport 100 are then guided by exit paper guide 119 into the horizontal transport 200. The positioning and shape of the exit paper guide 119 is critical as discussed above. It must lie below the level at which the notes run within horizontal transport 200 so that this can operate bi-directionally.

Figure 15 also shows a pair of apertures 1120a and 1120b in inner plastic moulding 101 through which double detector rollers pass into the path of passing notes. The rollers run against hardened steel wear pads 121a and 121b which are inserted into outer plastic moulding 102. The double detector has the function of detecting the thickness of passing notes. If overlapped notes (i.e. a double or greater thickness note) passes through the vertical transport then this can be detected and used as the basis for diverting the note using the reject diverter.

The double detector is shown in Figures 17 and 18. The rollers 120a and 120b are mounted for free rotation on the ends of lever arms 122a and 122b which are biased by torsion springs 123a and 123b against wear pads 121a and 121 b. The wear pads 121a and 121b form datum surfaces from which the detector is calibrated.

The other ends of the lever arms 122a and 122b are formed into flags 124a and 124b, each of which lies between a respective infrared light emitting diode (LED) 125a and 125b and photodiode126a and 126b. The LEDs and photodiodes are mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) 127.

When a note passes through the vertical transport 100 it causes the rollers 120a and 120b to separate from the datum surface of the wear pads 121a and 121 b. The degree of separation is dependent on the note thickness. The movement of the rollers 120a and 120b causes corresponding movement of the flags 124a and 124b. The flags 124a and 124b partially eclipse the beam of light between the LEDs 125a and 125b and photodiodes126a and 126b. The note thickness therefore directly controls the signal which is generated by the photodiodes 126a and 126b, thereby allowing double thickness documents passing through the vertical transport 100 to be detected.

This principle of operation is similar to those disclosed in EP0130824, EP0130825, EP0206675 and EP0168202.

The double detector is calibrated during setup by feeding single notes through the double detector and adjusting the gain of the amplifiers which receive the signals from photodiodes 126a and 126b to provide an output of around 1 volt. A double thickness note is detected if the measured signal drops by around 30% from this nominal 1 volt value.

HORIZONTAL TRANSPORT

Figure 19 shows a view of the horizontal transport 200 with all extraneous components hidden. Figure 20 shows a view of the horizontal transport 200 with the top rollers and associated parts hidden from view for clarity.

The top part of the horizontal transport 200 is built between two side frames 201 and 202 which are moulded from plastic. The top part comprises three T-shaped belts 203a, 203b and 203c entrained around grooved rollers mounted on seven shafts. These shafts include the six shown by reference numerals 204, 205, 206, 207, 208 and 209 in Figure 19. Although the seventh shaft is hidden from view in Figure 20 it lies directly beneath shaft 208 and its location may be seen from Figure 12 (the location being generally indicated by reference numeral 238). Shafts 204 and 209 bear crown rollers (which are also grooved) to assist the belts from tracking back to the correct location if they become dislodged.

The side frames 201 and 202 are held together rigidly by beams 210, 211 and 212.

The lower part of the horizontal transport is split into sections. The first section is to the left of the exit paper guide 119 in Figure 2O.This comprises three T- shaped belts 213a, 213b and 213c entrained around grooved crown rollers mounted on shafts 214 and 215.

The middle section (between the exit paper guide 119 and the diverters) comprises three T-shaped belts 216a, 216b and 216c entrained around grooved rollers mounted on shafts 217, 218, 219 and 220. The path followed by the belts is also governed by plain rollers mounted on shafts 221 and 222 which lie outside the belt.

The last section is formed by belts 223a, 223b and 223c entrained around rollers on shafts 224 and 225. The rollers on shaft 224 are simple grooved rollers whilst those on shaft 225 are crown rollers.

The note path between the middle section and the last section is dictated by the diverters 300 and 400. When these are in their normal (i.e. non-diverting) state as shown in Figure 20 the notes are guided straight over the top of them between the middle and last sections. To assist the passage of notes two paper guides 226 and 227 are provided which help to prevent the corners of passing notes them from catching in static parts of the processor as they pass through the horizontal transport 200.

The top part of the transport is hinged so that it may be rotated relative to the bottom part for the purposes of jam clearance and other maintenance. The latch release mechanism to allow the top part to be hinged is built around shaft 228 and is shown in detail in Figure 21. This shows a lever 238 which allows the shaft 228 to be rotated against torsion spring 229. The shaft is mounted to the side frames 201 and 202 on bearings which are located under respective bearing caps 230. Rotation of shaft 228 causes latch members 231 to be rotated such that they can be brought past latch members 232 (this is the condition shown in Figure 21). The latch members 232 are spring loaded to return to the position shown in Figure 21 and are mounted on the bundler 600. When the top part is replaced to its latched location the latch members 231 force latch members 232 out of their way. The latch members 232 then return to their normal location holding latch members 231 and hence the top part of the horizontal transport 200 in place.

Figure 22 shows how the seven shafts 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209 and 238 are mounted between the side frames 201 and 202. This is shown by example with reference to shaft 207 in Figure 22. The rollers and bearings are fitted to the shaft 207 and a bearing retainer 233 fitted to the nearest bearing 234. The bearing at the other end of the shaft 207 is then passed through the hole in side frame 202 and into position in side frame 201. The bearing retainer is then screwed into place in side frame 202 to hold the shaft 207 in place.

Shafts 214 and 225 are mounted to the side plates 1 and 2 by way of springs (as explained already with reference to Figure 8) so that they can move to accommodate note bundles of different thickness. This is necessary because they are directly opposed to shafts 204 and 209 and must separate from them to allow thick bundles to pass. In other regions of the horizontal transport this spring mounting is not required as there is sufficient resilience in the belts and the shafts are not directly opposite.

Figures 19 and 20 show details of a track sensor for detecting the passage of documents along the horizontal transport 200. This sensor comprises an LED 235 and a phototransistor 236 mounted in the bottom part of the horizontal transport 200 and an optical fibre 237 mounted in the top part of the horizontal transport. The passage of a note along the horizontal transport 200 interrupts a beam of light between the LED 235 and optical fibre 237, thereby causing the signal generated by phototransistor 236 to be interrupted or to fluctuate. The passage of the note can therefore be detected. This type of sensor is described in more detail in co-pending PCT application PCT/GB 2008/000566 filed by De La Rue International Limited.

DIVERTERS

Figure 23 shows a detailed view of the diverters 300 and 400 with all other extraneous parts hidden. The diverter 300 is used to divert retracted notes that have not been retrieved by a user from location A to the reject cassette 500 whilst the divert 400 is used to divert rejected notes that are to be diverted before they reach the bundler 600 (for example, because the note is suspected in fact to be two overlapped notes).

Figure 24 shows a perspective view of diverter 300.

The diverters 300 and 400 are moved between their normal state (as shown in Figure 23) and their diverting state by activating the respective dc motor 301 or 401. The rotation of dc motors 301 and 401 is coupled to the diverter shafts 302

and 402 via pinions 303 and 403, toothed belts 304 and 404 and pulleys 305 and 405. To divert notes the diverters 300 and 400 are rotated in an anticlockwise direction (as seen from the viewpoint of Figure 23). The rotation of the diverters 300 and 400 is limited by respective end stops 306 and 406 which strike a feature on the static part of the processor (for example, on the metal framework) when the diverter has moved to its maximum extent..

Each diverter 300 and 400 has four vanes. The vanes 307a, 307b, 307c and 307d of diverter 300 are clearly visible in Figure 24.

When diverter 300 is in its diverting state it diverts notes downwardly between parallel belts 216a to 216c and belts 308a to 308c entrained around rollers mounted on shafts 309 and 310.

When diverter 400 is in its diverting state it diverts notes downwardly between parallel belts 408a to 408c entrained around rollers mounted on shafts 409 and 410 and parallel belts 411a to 411c entrained around rollers mounted on shafts 412 and 413.

An optical sensor system is formed from a pair of optical emitters and a pair of optical receivers. These are mounted on sensor blocks 311 and 312 shown in Figure 1. Each of sensor blocks 311 and 312 carries an optical receiver and optical emitter, the optical emitter of sensor block 311 being in optical communication with the optical receiver of sensor block 312 and the optical emitter of sensor block 312 being in optical communication with the optical receiver of sensor block 311. The passage of a note down either of the diverting paths associated with diverters 300 and 400 causes the two beams of light to be interrupted allowing the passage of the note to be detected. The light is infrared in wavelength.

REJECT CASSETTE

Figure 25 shows a perspective view of the reject cassette 500 which receives notes that have been diverted by either of diverters 300 or 400.

The reject cassette 500 has a top shell 501 and a bottom shell 502. The top shell 501 and bottom shell 502 are hinged together such that the top shell 501 can be opened to enable access to notes stored in the bottom shell 502.

The reject cassette 500 has a handle 503 for removing the reject cassette 500 from the document processor. Figures 26 and 27 show the handle assembly in more detail. The handle 503 is mounted to the top shell 501 by way of two pins 506 and 507 which slide in grooves 508 and 509 in handle 503. The handle 503 may therefore be pulled forwards when it is desired to remove the reject cassette 500. The handle is coupled to a pin 510 which in turn is coupled to a spring 511 entrained around pulley 512 and fastened to handle tray 513. Thus, the handle 503 is pulled back to the position shown in Figures 25 and 26 when it is released.

Two shutters 504 and 505 are provided which are only opened when the reject cassette 500 is inserted in the processor. Figures 28 and 29 (in which the top shell 501 has been hidden) show in detail how the shutters 504 and 505 are operated. The shutters 504 and 505 are integral with side members 514 and 515 which can slide on base plates 516 and 517. The base plates 516 and 517 are screwed to top shell 501 to hold the side members 514 and 515 in place.

When the reject cassette 500 is inserted into the processor, prongs 518 and 519 (which are fitted to the processor) pass through apertures in the top shell 501 and engage with plungers 520 and 521 which push against springs 522 and 523. This can be seen in Figure 29 in which the side members 514 and 515 and shutters 504 and 505 have been hidden. The disc rollers 524 and 525 fall into slots (not shown) in the prongs 518 and 519. The movement of the prongs 518 and 519 is coupled to the shutters in 504 and 505 so as to expose the

corresponding openings in the top shell 501. The prongs 518 and 519 are coupled such that their motion is coupled to the shutters 504 and 505 in both directions as explained in EP0263679.

As the reject cassette 500 is removed, the disc rollers 524 and 525 are forced out of the slots in prongs 518 and 519 and the springs 522 and 523 push the plungers 520 and 521 back to the position shown in the Figures. The shutters 504 to 505 also return to their original positions to obscure the openings in top shell 501.

When the openings in the top shell 501 are exposed, notes diverted by diverters 300 and 400 are collected within the bottom shell 502. This is divided into two parts by a separator 526 as shown in Figure 30. This segregates the notes diverted by diverter 300 from those diverted by diverter 400.

Figure 30 also shows a key lock which allows the reject cassette to be opened by releasing the top shell 501 from the bottom shell 502.

BUNDLER

The bundler is shown in Figures 31 to 36. It is built around a top plate 601 and a base plate 602. The base plate 602 is upwardly facing and in this embodiment is horizontal.

The top plate 601 houses two T-shaped belts 603a and 603b entrained around grooved rollers on shafts 604 and 605. The belts 603a and 603b are exposed through apertures in the underside of top plate 601 as can be seen from Figure 32.

Drive to the belts 603a and 603b is coupled from the transport via shaft 606 and toothed belt 607 which is entrained around pulleys mounted on shafts 604 and 606.

A pair of flail assemblies 608a and 608b is also mounted on shaft 606. Each flail assembly 608a, 608b comprises two parallel rows 650a,651a, 650b, 651b of flexible rubber flails or tines circumferentially offset from each other. One of the flail assembles 608a is shown in more detail in Figures 31a and 31b. As can be seen, the flails 650a are equiangularly offset from one another, and the flails 651a are equiangularly offset from one another by a similar amount to the flails 650a. However, when viewed axially, each flail 650a is located substantially centrally of a pair of flails 651a.

The flails are exposed through apertures 607a,607b in the underside of top plate 601. The flails act to force notes received from the horizontal transport 200 into a stack which is formed on base plate 602.

As shown in Figure 31c, the flail assembly 608a rotates in the direction 690 and the fails 608a engage incoming notes 692,694. The flails 608a flex so that a surface portion of the flails frictionally engages each note 692,694 and draws it beneath the assembly 608a onto the stack 602.

The axial offset of the two sets of flails increases the surface acting on the notes as compared with the use of a flail assembly with a single set of flails. In the latter case, after a first flail has contacted a note, only an end part of the next flail will contact the note initially because it is otherwise shielded from the note by the first flail. With the invention this problem is avoided. The new flail assemblies should also be contrasted with conventional stacking wheels where notes are fed between tines and rotated to a stacking position. With the flail assemblies, the notes are fed in a tangential manner into the stacking pocket and do not enter between the flails and so no synchronization is required between rotation of the flail assemblies and arrival of notes.

The base plate 602 also comprises a pair of belts 609a and 609b which are directly opposed by belts 603a and 603b. Belts 609a and 609b are T-shaped and are mounted on grooved rollers on shafts 610 and 611. Shaft 610 is coupled

to the transport drive mechanism via gears 612 and 613 (Figure 33) and hence shaft 614.

When the notes are received from the horizontal transport 200 they are stacked on base plate 602 by the flail assemblies 608a and 608b with which they frictionally engage and which have the same rotational speed as the transport although the linear speed at the tips of the flails 650a,651a,650b,651b. The flails not only force the notes into the stack in a downward direction against base plate

602 but their surfaces also frictionally engage the notes to force the stack towards a registration plate 615 shown in Figure 34. The base plate 602 and registration plate 615 define a stacking pocket.

The base plate 602 is movable relative to the top plate 601 so that it can accommodate different sizes of stack. The base plate 602 is moved downwards as more notes are added to the stack. Figure 35 shows the mechanism for moving the base plate 602. A motor 616 is coupled to gear 617 (via a pinion mounted on motor 616) and then via shaft 618 to gear 619. Gears 617 and 619 act as pinions in a rack and pinion assembly with racks 620 and 621. Thus, rotation of the motor 616 causes linear vertical movement of the base plate 602. A timing wheel 622 is mounted at the end of shaft 618 and passes through the slot in an optical sensor 623. The optical sensor 623 detects the passage of the slots in the timing wheel 622 as it rotates and hence can detect the amount of rotation of shaft 618. The vertical displacement between top plate 601 and bottom plate 602 can therefore be monitored and the displacement controlled depending upon the number of notes in the stack as detected from the transport.

The vertical motion of base plate 602 is constrained to the correct path by stays 624, 625, 626 and 627. These are each attached to a static part of the processor. The stays 624 and 625 guide the motion of the racks 620 and 621. The stays 626 and 627 receive projections 628 and 629 from the sides of base plate 602 in grooves to guide the motion of the base plate 602. This ensures that the motion is vertical.

The registration gate 615 is also movable so that notes can be fed from the bundler 600 to the output location B. In this mechanism, shown in Figure 36, a motor 630 drives a gear 631 via a pinion 632. The gear 631 is mounted on shaft 633 along with worm gear 634 which is coupled to gear 635 and hence via shaft 636 to gear 637. Rotation of the motor 630 therefore causes rotation of the two gears 635 and 637. These gears 635 and 637 engage with racks 638 and 639 which are integral with the registration gate 615. The gate 615 may therefore be moved in a vertical direction by operation of motor 630. A timing wheel 641 is mounted on shaft 633. This wheel cooperates with an optical sensor (not shown) as described above with reference to the base plate 602 so that the degree of movement of the gate 615 can be monitored and controlled.

The vertical motion of the registration gate is constrained to the correct path by a guide on each side. Only one guide 640 is shown on the right hand side but one is also provided on the left hand side. The guide 640 bears against the gate 615 to ensure that its motion is vertical.

A pair of optical sensors is fitted to the top plate 601 and base plate 602 to detect the passage of notes into and out of the bundler 600 over either the front edge or back edge. The optical sensors each comprise an optical transmitter 641 and 642 and optical receiver 643 and 644 in the top plate 601 and an optical fibre 644 and 645 in the base plate 602. They operate in the same manner as that described in a co-pending PCT application PCT/GB 2008/000566.

The bundler 600 receives notes from the horizontal transport 200 and uses the flail assembies 608a and 608b to stack them against the base plate 602 and registration gate 615. As more notes are added to the stack, the separation between the base plate 602 and the top plate 601 is increased appropriately. When the stack is formed, the base plate 602 is driven back towards the top plate 601 to compress the stack slightly. This compression is assisted by springs (not shown) coupling the top plate 601 and base plate 602. The stack of notes can then either be fed by belts 603a, 603b, 609a and 609b back into horizontal transport 200 for delivery to output location A or the registration gate 615 can be

lowered and belts 603a, 603b, 609a and 609b can advance the stack to output location B.

TRANSPORT DRIVE MECHANISM

This is shown in Figure 37.

A main drive pulley 700 is fitted to the motor and couples with a pair of toothed belts 701 and 702.

Belt 701 is entrained around pulley 703 which drives one half of the vertical transport 100, pulley 704 which drives the first section of the horizontal transport 200 via toothed belt 706 and pulley 707, and pulley 705 which meshes with gear 708 to drive top part of the horizontal transport 200. Tension is maintained in belt 701 by spring loaded tensioner 709 and idler 711. The other half of the vertical transport 100 is driven by gear 710 which meshes with pulley 703.

Belt 702 is entrained around pulley 712 and pulley 750 which drive the shafts of the diverter 400 and the last section of the bottom part of horizontal transport 200. Tension is maintained in belt 702 by spring loaded tensioner 714 and idler 715.

Pulley 712 is coupled via gears 713, 714, 717 and 718 in conjunction with toothed belts 715 and 716 to provide drive to the top and base plates 601 and 602 of the bundler.

Drive is transferred to the transport extensions via gears 708 and 719.

Figure 38 shows how main pulley 700 is driven by motor 720 via pinion 721 and gear 722 which is coupled to the same shaft 723 as main pulley 700. As can be seen, the main pulley 700 has a ring of slots formed around its circumference.

The passage of these slots is detected by an optical sensor 724 through which

they pass and this enables the speed of the transport to be detected and controlled.

TRANSPORT EXTENSIONS

Figures 39 to 41 show a first transport extension with a length of 85mm which can be used to move output location B. The extension comprises upper and lower covers 800 and 801. These are hidden in Figures 40 and 41. The extension comprises four shafts 802, 803, 804 and 805, each of which bears grooved crown rollers. Three T-shaped belts 806a, 806b and 806c are entrained around these rollers. Shafts 802 and 805 are mounted in bearings fitted to the covers 800 and 801. Shafts 803 and 804 are movable against torsion springs 807, 808, 809 and 810 so that note bundles of different thicknesses may be accommodated.

The extension comprises two optical sensors, the first comprising optical emitters 811 and 813 and optical receivers 812 and 814, and the second comprising optical emitters 815 and 817 and optical receivers 816 and 818. Passage of a note bundle between opposed emitters and receivers will obscure the beam of infrared light allowing the bundle to be detected. The first sensor detects the passage of the bundle out of the extension whilst the second sensor detects the passage of the note into the extension from the processor.

Drive is supplied to the extension via shaft 819 which is coupled to the transport drive mechanism when the extension is fitted.

Figures 42 to 44 show a second transport extension with a length of 321mm which can be used to move output location A. The extension comprises upper and lower covers 900 and 901. These are hidden in Figures 43 and 44. The extension comprises four shafts 902, 903, 904 and 905 which bear grooved crown rollers. Three T-shaped belts 906a, 906b and 906c are entrained around these rollers. The other five shafts 920, 921 , 922, 923 and 924 all carry plain grooved rollers. The belts 906a, 906b and 906c are also entrained around these

rollers. Shafts 902, 905, 920, 921 , 922, 923 and 924 are mounted in bearings fitted to the covers 900 and 901. Shafts 903 and 904 are movable against torsion springs 907, 908, 909 and 910 so that note bundles of different thicknesses may be accommodated. The flexibility of the belts can accommodate this in other regions of the extension because there are no directly opposed rollers.

The extension comprises three optical sensors, the first comprising optical emitters 911 and 913 and optical receivers 912 and 914, and the second comprising optical emitters 915 and 917 and optical receivers 916 and 918. Passage of a note bundle between opposed emitters and receivers will obscure the beam of infrared light allowing the bundle to be detected. The first sensor detects the passage of the bundle out of the extension whilst the second sensor detects the passage of the note into the extension from the processor. The third sensor comprises a single emitter 925 and receiver 926 and detects the passage of notes along the transport extension.

Drive is supplied to the extension via shaft 919 which is coupled to the transport drive mechanism when the extension is fitted.