DEFINITIONS Groups of notes have not been described by a consistent terminology in the prior art. For the purpose of the present specification: -A pack denotes a group containing a relatively small number of notes, most usually 100 notes but in some markets 50 or 25 notes. The, notes can be banded or un-banded.

-A bundle denotes a group of 1000 notes.

-A stack denotes a group of notes in the standard number for filling into an ATM cassette, most commonly 2000 notes, but in some markets e. g. 3000 notes.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION ATM's provide a major route for the issue of notes to the public. There were, in 1999, over 200,000 ATM's in operation in Europe issuing over 25 billion notes per year. Worldwide, the number of ATM's was then over 900,000 and their number is increasing rapidly. There are over 3 million ATM cassettes in circulation and approximately 48 million filling operations are carried out each year. ATM usage is currently increasing by about 12% p. a. The replenishment of ATM's with notes is therefore a human activity of increasing scale and importance.

ATM's are supplied with notes in replaceable cassettes which are each pre-filled with a pre-determined number of notes of a particular denomination, inserted into an ATM machine, used as the source of notes of that denomination to

be dispensed by the machine, and removed when nearly empty. Each ATM typically has a number of cassettes each filled with notes of a different denomination. The cassette is not normally allowed to become completely empty, otherwise the ATM will be limited in the range of transactions it can perform or will be out of service until it is replenished. In the UK it is common for an individual cassette to be filled with 2000 notes and to be removed from the ATM when the cassette reaches a"nearly empty"state. A complete stack of notes contained within a cassette normally contains 2000 notes.

ATM's are made by a number of manufacturers e. g. NCR, Siemens, Diebold and Fujitsu/ICL. Each manufacturer has one or more cassette designs that are standard for its ATM's. Cassettes of different manufacturers have features in common. They normally have a door in the forward end that is locked shut until engaged by a release key of an ATM machine, when it is retracted by the machine to reveal a dispensing aperture or mouth through which the notes can be removed one-by-one. They also normally have a lid that can be removed or opened to give access to the note-receiving space, to permit notes to be removed from a spent cassette and to permit the cassette to be refilled with a new supply of notes.

However, they differ in constructional details and the cassettes of one manufacturer generally do not fit the machines of a different manufacturer. Secure banknote cassettes for ATM machines are described, for example, in GB-A- 1305394 and US-A-4275667 (De La Rue Systems) and US-A-4529119,4659008 and 4816652 (NCR Corporation).

In the UK and in other developed markets, processing of notes and filling ATM cassettes is carried out in cash centers operated by banks or by cash-in- transit companies e. g. Securicor plc which operate under the supervision of central banks.

ATM cassettes can be filled with new notes, and the finishing operations carried out by the note manufacturer influence the operations required for correct filling of an ATM cassette. As described in US-A-3939621 (Giori), in the manufacture of new notes, sheets are printed which carry e. g. 24 notes arranged in four columns and in six rows. Piles of 100 sheets pass through a cutting unit having stations in which the sheets are successively trimmed and cut to form

packs of 100 notes. The packs then pass to a banding unit where individual packs of 100 notes are banded together. Bundles are then assembled each consisting of ten packs of 100 notes. The bundle of packs is then banded together at a further banding station, wrapped in a sheet of heat-shrinkable plastics material and passed through a shrink tunnel where the wrapping heat shrinks to tightly enclose the six faces of the bundle and provide security against tampering. An easily openable form of packaging for a bundle of notes as aforesaid is disclosed in EP-A- 0068567. Bundles of new notes made in the above way cannot be filled directly into ATM cassettes. A single bundle is not ATM-fit for three main reasons: (i) It contains only 1000 notes, whereas the standard for filling an ATM is 2000 notes or 3000 notes in some countries.

(ii) The sheets are heavily compressed during the note cutting operation and again by the stamping head of the banding machine during the pack banding operation, and are maintained in compression for an extended period by the applied shrink-wrapping. As a result, adjacent notes within a pack can become adhered together via the intaglio ink used to print them. The individual notes of the pack therefore have to be separated to destroy any intaglio adhesion before the notes can be loaded into an ATM cassette, otherwise the ATM mechanism will not reliably separate individual notes and fed them forward.

(iii) The new notes all have the same orientation. Before they can be filled into the cassette they have to be formed into a stack that is level or of even height.

Because of differences in printing density, and in particular the density of intaglio printing, and also because of other features such as watermarks, the effective thickness of one side of a banknote differs slightly from the thickness of the other side. When a multiplicity of notes all of the same orientation is formed into a stack of e. g. 2000 notes, the stack will be higher on one side than on the other. A stack whose thickness differs with position may not give reliable results when placed into the cassette of an ATM, and in particular will be prone to double-feeds and jamming. The filling operation therefore has to comply with the requirement that the stack should be level.

Notes that have been issued to the public and returned to a bank have to be

passed through high speed sorting machines in which a number of checks are carried out. These include authenticity and ATM fitness tests. Authenticity tests may include checks for UV and IR features, checks for thread presence and checks for print features. Checks for elasticity, paper stiffness etc. are related to ATM fitness. The sorter produces a product stream of notes which are ATM-fit, another stream of notes which can be re-issued to the public but are not ATM-fit, and a further stream of notes which are at the end of their useful life and should be destroyed. The ATM-fit output from high speed sorting machines at present reaches cash centers in the form of packs of most usually 100 but in more modern machines sometimes 250 or 500 notes banded together, assembled into banded bundles of 1000 notes and shrink-wrapped for security. Again the notes all have the same orientation. Existing sorting machines do not have facilities for re- orienting the notes fed into them, and notes which do not face the required direction or have the required orientation may fail the authenticity test carried out by the machine and pass to a reject stream. Packets removed from bundles of used notes do not have to be separated because they do not suffer from the intaglio adhesion problem. However, they still have to be re-oriented by the operator as they are placed into the cassette in order to form a level stack. Re-orientation is required because of the intaglio printing on the notes and also because the difference in print pattern may give rise to a difference in effective thickness between the sides of the note as a result of wear.

Cash centers can fill ATM cassettes with new or recycled and checked notes, which have to be made up into stacks of the correct size and filled into the cassettes. The stack make-up and cassette filling processes are at present carried out manually and involve labor-intensive cassette handling, accounting and supervisory tasks.

In a cash center at present the person who fills a cassette usually also makes the required note stack. The bundles of notes used as the starting point are similar, except that new notes are subject to intaglio adhesion. The operator is supplied with wrapped and banded bundles of 1000 notes containing banded packs of e. g. 100 notes all facing in the same direction and all in the same orientation. He or she removes the wrapper and the outer band from the bundle, takes a pack and removes the band from it. In the case of a pack of new notes, the

operator feeds the pack through a tabletop friction counter, which separates and counts the notes. This operation is labor-intensive and is insecure, especially in the context of a new issue of notes such as the Euro, where theft of a note in advance of their issue to the public could give an advantage to a counterfeiter. Recycled ATM-fit notes, as previously explained do not suffer from intaglio adhesion and do not have to be passed through the friction counter. Part of the equipment with which the operator is provided is a former in which to assemble a stack. He or she places successive packs of de-banded notes one on another in the former, with each pack rotated 180 degrees with respect to the pack below so that the stack is level. The notes are then transferred manually into the ATM cassette.

Although there have been some publications that purport to disclose improved manual filling or machine filling of cassettes, no satisfactory way of facilitating the filling of the stack into a cassette either bay hand or by machine has not yet been devised. In particular, no process has yet been disclosed that permits a cassette to be filled by machine with an ATM-ready stack.

EP-A-0811956 (G. D. S. p. A., Bologna) discloses feeding notes from a feed-out duct of a sorting machine into a stacking channel and transferring the stack to a bundling machine that binds it with a band. However, the notes in the feed-out duct are all oriented the same way, and that orientation is preserved in the bundle that forms in the feed-out duct. EP-A-0854088 (G. D. S. p. A., Bologna) discloses a binder that receives bundles formed as indicated above and applies parallel bands to opposite ends of the bundle. Banding bundles of bank-notes with loops of heat-sealable tape is disclosed in e. g. US-A-4369088 (Toyo Shibura) Relatively small groups of e. g. 100 notes banded together to form packs are stacked one on another e. g. in 10's to form bundles of e. g. 1000 notes. Each loop of the heat salable tape is formed in advance and the bundle is inserted into the loop, after which the loop is tightened and a heated pressure member is applied to seal the end to the adjacent surface of the tape. The disclosed apparatus enables two loops to be applied, the first being along the longitudinal center line of the bundle, and the second being along the transverse center line of the bundle to give a cross-shaped binding. Forming a bundle from loose notes and subsequently banding the bundle is neither disclosed nor suggested. US-A-5022531 (Toshiba) discloses apparatus for receiving and checking bundles of bank notes with 100

notes in a pack and 10 packs in a bundle. No relevant use for a banded bundle of bank notes has been disclosed other than removing the bands and filling the notes into cassettes using the manual procedure described above.

A machine for forming stacks of bank-notes from a high-speed sorter in groups rotated 180° with respect to adjacent groups is described in EP-A-0885826 (G. D. S. p. A., Bologna). In that machine, stacking stations have feed ducts along which single notes or packs of notes are directed. The notes or packs pass into an accumulator in which they are gathered into an ordered stack. A rotary table is provided between the feed duct and the accumulator to enable the required 180° re-orientation to be carried out. The illustrated embodiment works with banded packs of notes, and as previously explained the bands have to be removed before the notes can be filled into an ATM cassette. Although it is stated that the machine can work with individual notes or groups of notes, detailed instructions for performing this operation are not given. Furthermore, the machine as described does not have facilities for counting the notes as they are formed into a stack or for forming stacks containing a predetermined number of notes. Production of ATM-ready note bundles or stacks and the filling of such bundles or stacks as an entirety into cassettes by hand or by machine is neither disclosed nor suggested.

US-A-4704061 (NCR Corporation) is concerned with improving upon the operation of loading notes directly into a cassette, which it identifies as being tedious and time-consuming. NCR's solution is to provide a tray for receiving notes to form a complete stack and for fitting into a cassette. The tray has a base member having an opening in it and also has a separate plate positioned over the base member and over the opening for supporting a stack of notes in the tray.

Notes are loaded into the tray until it is full, after which the cassette, with its lid open or removed and with its pressure plate latched into a fully retracted position is inverted and placed onto the tray. The tray, the stack of notes and the cassette that is held in place on the tray are then inverted. The plate is now accessible through the opening in the tray base member. An operator can remove the tray whilst at the same time pushing on the plate so as to hold the stack of notes in the internal load space of the cassette. At the completion of this operation, the stack of notes is located in the correct position within the cassette. The plate which is resting on the stack of notes can be removed and returned to the tray, after which

the cassette pressure plate can be unlatched and engaged with the stack, and the lid can be replaced to complete the filling operation. In this way, it is stated that simple and rapid loading of a cassette can be carried out. NCR further explain that a stock of ready-loaded containers can be held available at a bank or other building where an ATM is installed, so that the time taken to replenish ATM cassettes can be minimized. However, as previously explained, the practice in the industry is to re-fill cassettes in cash centers and not locally in bank branches and other ATM locations. Furthermore, in the NCR method, the tedious and time consuming operation of filling the cassette is substituted by the equally tedious and time consuming operation of filling the tray, and proposals for facilitating or automating that task are not disclosed.

US-A-5871209 (Currency Systems International) is concerned with the use of high speed note sorting machines in cash centers, and in particular with the mismatch between the speed at which the sorter can run and the speed at which notes can be inserted into and removed from the sorter. The disclosed solution involves the use of a cassette having an end door which can be hinged between an upright closed position and a flat open position in which stacks of notes can be moved directly into and out of the note-receiving space of the cassette. However, this solution is inherently unattractive because it relies on dedicated cassettes and is not backward compatible with existing cassettes.

EP-A-0955259 (G. D. S. p. A., Bologna) discloses apparatus by which groups of notes can be loaded into ATM cassettes. Notes from a sorting machine enter a plurality of stacking modules provided with respective channels. Notes accumulate as ordered stacks at the outlets of the channels. Empty cassettes with their lids open are directed to a release and load station. A pickup and transfer device can move sequentially and synchronously with cassette feeding between two working positions. In a first position, a stack of notes is picked up from one of the outlets and in the second position the stack is delivered to a cassette and placed in the note-receiving space of the cassette. However, as previously explained, notes from a sorting machine all have the same orientation, and are therefore not ATM-compatible. Picking up a stack of notes from an outlet of a sorting machine, using a transfer device to convey it to an ATM cassette, and feeding the stack directly into the cassette does not place an ATM-fit stack of

notes into the cassette. For that reason a machine as disclosed would not command the acceptance of users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide methods and apparatus that alleviate or overcome at least some of the problems identified above.

It is an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for facilitating the filling of spent cassettes with ATM-fit note stacks and bundles.

It is a yet further object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for forming banknotes into ATM-fit stacks and bundles.

It is a yet further object of the invention to provide ATM-fit note stacks or bundles prepared for manual filling as a group into an ATM cassette.

The present invention provides a method of filling a note-receiving space of an ATM cassette, which comprises placing into said space a pre-formed pack or bundle of loose notes that alternate in orientation along said pack or bundle.

In a further aspect, the invention provides apparatus for assembling a stack containing a predetermined number of notes, said apparatus comprising: means for counting notes to form the stack; and means for supplying the notes to the stack so that the notes alternate, individually or in groups, in orientation along the stack.

Said apparatus may comprise: first and second note holders for holding notes to be inserted in an orientation 180° apart ; means for counting notes from the first or second note holders; transfer means for receiving removed and counted notes and conveying them to a collator where they form a stack or bundle; and control means arranged to bring about removal of notes from the first and second note holders so that notes of opposite orientation are distributed through the stack in approximately equal numbers.

In order to permit the above apparatus to run at speed, the removal and counting means is preferably controlled for removal of notes alternately from the first and second note holders in groups of a predetermined number e. g. 100.

For use in manual feeding of notes directly or via an intermediate tray into the cassette, the apparatus described above may further comprise at least one bander for banding the collated stack or bundle of notes and a shrink wrapper for shrink wrapping the banded bundle.

The invention further provides a method for forming a stack of notes which comprises: supplying first notes to a first note holder in a first orientation; supplying second notes to a second note holder in a second orientation opposite to said first orientation; extracting and counting the notes form the first and second note holders; and forming the notes counted out from the first and second note holders into a stack that has substantially equal numbers of notes of the opposite orientation distributed along it.

Simplification of manual cassette filling with notes, especially asymmetrically intaglio-printed notes such as UK currency notes, is an important aspect of the invention. For that purpose, the invention provides an ATM-fit stack or bundle or other >100 note group of loose notes fastened together by at least one band or other fastening means, wherein equal numbers of the notes are oppositely oriented along or through the stack, bundle or group. A banded bundle or stack of loose notes in which approximately equal numbers of the notes are oppositely oriented is novel, simplifies the manual filling of cassettes and reduces material cost.

A method and apparatus is also provided for operating a processing station for spent cassettes from automatic teller machines in a cash processing centre. As each cassette is received by the processing station the identity of the cassette is read. Residual notes are extracted from the cassette by means of a note extractor that forwards the extracted notes to a store, which is a secure space in which the

notes extracted from successive cassettes accumulate. The cassette is then forwarded for to a loading station where it is machine loaded with a fresh ATM-fit stack of a predetermined number of notes in which substantially equal numbers of the notes are oppositely oriented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a generalized perspective view of an ATM cassette with its lid in place and with a key being inserted for retraction of a closure to open a note dispensing aperture; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but with the lid partially open or removed and with the note dispensing aperture open; Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a cassette filling operation showing a single pre-formed banded stack being loaded into the note-receiving space of the cassette of Figs. 1 and 2 ; Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a second cassette filling operation showing two pre-formed banded bundles being loaded into the note-receiving space of the cassette of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 5 shows a stack of notes, a tray and a cassette at successive stages of loading of loading the notes of a banded stack into a cassette according to an alternative method; Fig. 6 shows the assembly of un-banded groups of oppositely oriented notes to form a singly banded ATM-compatible stack; Fig. 7 shows a dual banded ATM-compatible stack; Fig. 8 is a block diagram of apparatus for forming the ATM compatible stack of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of a buffer device and jogging conveyor forming part of the apparatus of Fig 8, the view being taken in section along the line A-A of Fig. 8; Fig 10 is a diagrammatic exploded view of a collator forming part of the apparatus of Fig. 8; Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic plan of apparatus for forming and collating an ATM-compatible note stack and machine-filling it into a cassette from which

notes remaining from a previous have been removed, with note transfer device forming part of said apparatus shown in a state in which a cassette readying tool and a stack handling tool carried by the transfer device are both retracted so that the transfer device is free to rotate; Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a collator which forms part of the apparatus of Fig. 11 and Fig. 12a is a detail of a support plate forming part of said collator ; Fig. 13 is an elevation of a carrousel that forms another part of the apparatus of Fig. 11; Fig. 14 is a view of the collator, transfer device and carrousel of the apparatus of Fig. 11 with the transfer device shown in a state in which the cassette readying tool and the stack handling tool carried by the transfer device have been extended into the cassette and into the collator respectively; Fig. 15 is a view similar to Fig 14, but with the transfer device in a further state in which the cassette-conditioning tool is retracted and the stack-handling device has been extended into the cassette to be filled; Fig. 16 is a diagram of a cassette showing in more detail the operation of the conditioning tool and of the filling tool carried by the transfer device; and Fig. 17 is a flow chart showing aspects of the operation of the apparatus of Fig. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a somewhat generalized tamper-proof cassette 10 for insertion into an ATM 12 showing features that are common to the cassettes of a number of different manufacturers. A stack of notes to be dispensed from the ATM is stored in the cassette 10 which can be removably inserted into the ATM and which positions the notes so that they can be withdrawn one at a time by a picker 11 of the ATM. Cassettes are loaded with notes in a cash center and are transported by a security firm to a bank branch or other place where the ATM is located. In normal operation, when the number of notes remaining in the ATM has reached a predetermined low value, the ATM discontinues note dispensing and provides an indication that another freshly loaded cassette is required. An authorized person withdraws the spent cassette from the ATM and replaces it with a fresh one. The spent cassette is returned to the cash center for refilling with a fresh supply of notes. Various people have access to the cassette

during the various operations of filling, transporting, installation and return that are required during the cash cycle. The cassette not only has to have an appropriate internal mechanism to permit note dispensing but also has to be constructed and to have internal mechanisms that resist unauthorized tampering with the contents.

The cassette comprises a body 14 formed at its front end with a note dispensing mouth 13 provided with a shutter door 16 that is moveable between the closed position of Fig. 1 and the open position of Fig. 2. The body 14 is also formed with a top opening that can be closed by a hinged or removable lid 18.

When the lid is in place, it can be secured against tampering by means of a lock or seal (not shown), as is well known in ATM cassette manufacture.

On opposite sides of the body 14, the cassette has side rails 20 to enable it to be mounted in correct alignment into a frame 22 of the ATM by pushing in the direction of the arrow 24. The forward end of the cassette engages a stationary key 26. Tines 28,30 projecting from the key 26 enter holes 32,34 in the body 14, and move the shutter door 16 to its open position so that mouth 13 becomes opened when the cassette is fully inserted into the machine. On reverse movement of the cassette, the tines 28,30 are withdrawn, an internal spring mechanism re-closes the shutter door 16 and an internal latching mechanism latches it closed to inhibit tampering with the contents of the cassette while the cassette is removed from the ATM. The shutter door 16 is conventional and comprises a plurality of horizontally directed slats 36 that are hingedly joined at their long sides to provide a secure flexible closure. During its opening movement, the shutter door 16 opens from the top to the bottom of the mouth 13 as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2. It slides under a note support structure 40, the ends of the slats 36 running in guide channels (not shown) to enable the required movement to take place.

In Fig. 2, it can be seen that the cassette 10 is loaded with a stack 48 of notes 46 that are supported by the internal note support structure 40 that is held in place e. g. by lugs 42 secured to anchor regions (not shown) within the cassette.

The support structure 40 includes a pressure plate 44 that is supported for movement along the cassette towards and away from the mouth 13 towards which it is biased by means of a spring (not shown). The plate 44 urges the notes 46

towards mouth 13, and restraining means (not shown) at the mouth holds the stack in place so that individual notes 46 can be removed one by one by the picker mechanism 11 of the ATM during cash dispensing.

The cash cycle of an ATM machine involves a number of operations. As previously explained the notes with which the ATM is to be filled may be new notes from a central bank, or they may be previously issued notes. They are conventionally supplied in banded packs of 100 which have to be de-banded, assembled into a stack of 2000 notes with the notes from adjoining packs facing in the same direction but in opposite orientations, and then filled into the cassette.

The present invention is based on the concept of providing pre-assembled bundles or a pre-assembled stack of loose notes that are to be inserted as a group into the note-receiving space of an ATM cassette, the notes alternating in orientation along the stack or bundle, individually or in groups. Such pre-assembled bundles or such a pre-assembled stack may be: filled manually directly into the note-receiving space of the cassette; filled manually into an intermediate note holder or tray which is then used to fill the note-receiving space of the cassette as in US-A-4704061 ; or supplied to a filling machine which can fill the notes into the note- receiving space of the cassette.

The first of these variants is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. In Fig. 3, the pressure plate 44 is slid away from the mouth 13 as indicated by the arrow 50 and latched or otherwise held in its fully retracted position. A pre-assembled stack 52 of 2000 loose notes held together in this case by a pair of bands 54 is placed manually into the resulting note-receiving space in a single operation as indicated by the arrows 56 to provide the note stack 48. Cuts 58 are then made through the bands 54, which are of low friction material e. g. plastics strip. Pulling the free ends of the bands 54 enables them to be removed with minimal disturbance to the stack 48, after which the pressure plate 44 can be released and contacted with the stack 48 and the lid 18 can be replaced and re-sealed. Significant economies in labor and materials flow from the use of a pre-banded stack ready for filling into

the ATM. In particular: -A pair of bands or a single band replaces the 22 bands at present used to hold together the two conventional bundles required for filling an ATM cassette.

The number of banding operations is correspondingly reduced.

-The length of banding material required is reduced from typically about 6 meters to about 2 meters if the stack is held together by two bands as illustrated or to only about 1 meter if the stack is held together by a single central band. As an indication of the magnitude of the potential savings, banding of the notes required for the launch of the Euro to form conventional bundles is estimated to require 40 million meters of banding material.

-Handling of loose notes is avoided because after the notes are removed from their packaging, they are placed directly into the cassette and the band or bands removed. The opportunity for loss or theft of single notes is reduced.

-The time-consuming manual operations involved in de-banding bundles and packets is eliminated, and the environmental cost of disposing of the banding material is reduced.

In Fig. 4, the filling operation is the same of that of Fig. 3 except that instead of the single pre-formed stack 52 there is employed a pair of bundles 60 each containing 1000 loose notes. The bundles are inserted as units each in a single operation and are held together during insertion by bands 62 of low friction material, the operation of inserting the bundles being represented by the arrows 64. After insertion, the bands 62 for each bundle are cut and removed by pulling, after which the procedure is as previously described. There is no reason why the notes should not be divided into three or more bundles of loose notes, but as the number of bundles is increased the advantage of simplicity and speed in the filling procedure is progressively lost. The use of a single banded stack containing all the notes required to fill the cassette is preferred. The use of two bundles is less preferred because the removal of the band or bands at one part of the stack may displace notes in the other part of the stack, which may be difficult for the operator to correct.

The second variant is illustrated in Fig. 5 in which a pre-formed stack 70 of 2000 notes held together by bands 72 is placed into an intermediate container in the form of a note-receiving tray 74 of the kind shown in US-A-4704061 as indicated by arrows 76. Cuts 78 are then made in the bands 72, which are then removed by pulling. The notes can be inspected whilst in the tray 74 and any minor displacement brought about by the removal of the bands 72 can then be rectified. Again the single stack could be replaced by a pair of banded ATM-ready bundles. The internal pressure plate 44 of an empty note cassette 10 having its lid open or removed is latched in a position fully retracted from the cassette mouth to define a note-receiving space. The cassette 10 is then inverted and placed over the tray 74 which is dimensioned so that it fits within the walls of the cassette and at the final position free side regions 71 of the note stack fit within the note support structure 40 of the cassette. The combination of the tray 74, note stack 70 and cassette 80 is inverted to the position shown in the lower portion of Fig. 5 with the base 84 of tray projecting slightly above the cassette 10 which is now in its normal loading or working orientation. The operator now presses down on a slideable plate 86 while at the same time lifting the remainder of the tray 74 away from the cassette. At the completion of this operation, the sack of notes 70 is located correctly in the note-receiving space of the cassette 80. The tray 74 and plate 86 are removed and the pressure plate 44 is unlatched and engaged with the stack of notes so as to urge them towards the mouth of the cassette. Finally the lid of the cassette is closed and locked, after which the now loaded cassette is ready for insertion into the cassette-receiving space of an ATM.

The assembly of first form of ATM-compatible stack is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 6. Ten loose packs 90 each containing 100 notes and having a first orientation A and ten similar loose packs 92 having an opposite orientation B are fed alternately to a collator to form an ATM-compatible stack 94 in which the individual packs are in an-ABABAB...-arrangement along the stack. A single band 96 of plastics material which is preferably bonded by ultrasound holds the notes of the stack together, and the stack is enclosed in transparent shrink wrapping material 98. The stack 99 of Fig. 7 is similar except that the single band 96 is replaced by a pair of bands 100,102.

Apparatus for forming the ATM-ready stack of Fig. 6 is shown in diagrammatic form in Fig. 8. The stack former 120 comprises a first sheet feeder and counter 122 having a first store or feed hopper 124 filled with said notes 90 of orientation A as indicated by step 126 of Fig. 17. A second sheet feeder and counter 128 has a second hopper or store 130 filled with said notes 92 facing in the same direction as the notes 90 but having the orientation B 180° apart from the orientation A as indicated by step 131 of Fig. 17. Notes are then counted out alternately, either individually or in groups, from the stored groups 90,92 and placed on one another to form the stack of Fig. 6 in which notes of orientation A and B alternate and which is level.

The sheet feeders and counters 122,128 may be of known type. They may feed individual notes from the top of a vertical note stack, but preferably they feed the notes from the base of the note stack. Suction feed or friction feed may be employed, means such as an optical transmission detector may be provided to produce an interrupt signal in the case of a double feed or other mis-feed, and a counter may be provided for counting the operations of the feed mechanism. For example a suction-based picker can be used for separating a note from the hopper 124,130 and forwarding it to a conveyor, Suction-based picker mechanisms are well known in ATM machines and can readily be adapted for the present task. An alternative mechanism in which suction elements supported on a common rocker- shaft to remove sheets one at a time from the underside of a sheet stack and a conveyor mechanism advances the removed sheets disclosed e. g. in US-A- 5125638 and 5253857 (Sitma S. p. A). Friction feeders are preferred, however, both from the standpoint of speed and because they give rise to a more positive separation of the individual notes and hence minimize the risk of double or multiple feeds as a result of intaglio adhesion. The sheet feeders and counters may employ a feed roll or belt and cooperating separator plate to permit sheets to pass between them from the stack one at a time as disclosed e. g. in US-A-4474365 (Brandt). Preferably the bottom portion of the stack is fanned to facilitate sheet separation as in US-A-3908983 and 4651983 (Longford Equipment International), a gear transmission for driving a pulsed feed wheel of the feeder of US-A- 4651983 being disclosed in US-A-5385509 (Longford Equipment International).

Notes separated and counted by counters 122,130 pass one after another

to respective conveyors 132,134 for forwarding notes extracted from the hoppers 124,130 to respective buffer devices 136,138 located above a common jogging conveyor 140. As more clearly seen in Fig. 9, notes from counter 122 are conveyed one after another by belts 142,144 through opening 145 into an upper region of buffer device 136. Notes pile one on another within the device 136 until a pack 146 of 100 notes (or other pre-determined pack number) has accumulated.

Hinged lower doors 148 on which the accumulating pack has been resting are then opened by actuating means represented by reference numeral 150 to allow the pack to fall onto the jogging conveyor 140. To assist the fall of the notes, a small positive pressure may be applied to the upper region of the buffer 136. These steps are indicated by numerals 160-174 of Fig. 17. In the event of a misfeed or jam, a lid of the buffer device 136 can be opened for removal of the notes that have accumulated in the device 136. After the counter 122, conveyor 132 and buffer 136 have been cleared of notes, the removed notes are counted off-line, the value of the count in counter 122 is reset to zero and note counting is restarted to form a new pack. This procedure reduces the chance of a deficient pack reaching the jogging conveyor 140 and then creating a deficient note stack which could be more difficult and time consuming to rectify. The construction and operation of the second counter 128, conveyor 134 and buffer unit 138 are as described in relation to the corresponding first units.

Packs from buffer units 136,138 in orientations A and B alternate along the jogging conveyor 140. The notes fit closely lengthwise and widthwise into the buffer devices 136,138 so that they already form a neat pile when they are released onto the conveyor 140. Longitudinal jogging is by abutment of the trailing edge of each pack 146 with a respective one of a series of traveling fingers 152 of the conveyor 140. Downstream of the device 138 the conveyor has lateral jogging means in the form of a fixed plate 154 and a vibratory plate 156 which converges at a small angle towards the fixed plate and is energized by an exciter 158. The fingers 152 push successive packs onto an output table 176 from which they are displaced at 90° by means of an ejector 180. By way of illustration the table 176 is shown as a flat sheet and the ejector 180 is shown as a pusher plate worked by a ram. Instead of these, however, the output table could take the form of a further intermittently driven belt conveyor in which the belt or belts run at right angles to the jogging conveyor 140 and the note stacks are advanced by

traveling fingers like the fingers 152.

Packs from output table 176 pass into collator 181 which includes a vertically indexed self-leveling table for the accumulating stack of notes. Its main functional components are represented in diagrammatic form in Fig. 10. A collator body is defined by lateral walls 182,184 that in this instance are slotted at 186, 188 and by rear wall portions 190 and 192 that are spaced apart to define between them a slot 194. A pair of plates 196,198 is supported by followers 200,201 that that travel along lead screws 202,203 operated by drives 204,205. The followers 200,201 travel in the slots 186,188 and operation of the drives 204,205 in synchronism causes the plates 196,198 to rise or fall relative to the walls of the collator. A slot 206 between the plates 196,198 is aligned with the slot 194. At the start of stack formation, the drives 204,205 are operated to bring the plates 196,198 to the top of the collator walls as indicated by step 208 of Fig. 17. A detector (not shown) provides a signal when the first pack has become correctly positioned on output table 176 to cause the ejector 180 to advance the pack onto the plates 196,198, these operations being represented by steps 210 and 212 of Fig. 17. Drives 204,205 are then operated to index plates 196,198 through a downward distance equal to the height of a pack, as indicated by step 214 of Fig 17. A control unit 216 checks at step 218 that the number of packs that have accumulated in the collator is less than 20. As successive packs reach table 176, steps 210-214 are repeated.

When a complete stack of 20 packs has accumulated in the collator, banding is initiated as indicated by step 220 of Fig. 17. A banding unit 222 moves into alignment with the slots 194,206 as indicated by arrows 224, after which a loop of banding material is formed around the stack, tightened and welded by ultrasound to form band 96. The banding unit may operate generally as described in EP-A-5168696 or WO 96/37499 (ATS Automatic Taping Systems AG). Such apparatus pulls the banding material around an arch to form a loop, tightens the loop around the stack or bundle and seals the banding material which is of thermoplastics by means of ultrasound. An ultrasonic seal enables a wide range of desired tensions to be given to the banding material whereas a conventional hot melt seal has a relatively narrow range of workable tensions. The banding material may be of plastics tape or it may be a light gauge paper laminated to a film of

plastics material. After the banding operation has been completed, the banding unit retracts and the banded stack is displaced from the collator by movement of ejector plates 223 as indicated by arrows 225. The banded stack is then wrapped in shrink-wrap material at wrapper 226 and passes through heated tunnel 228 to produce wrapped stacks at output table 230.

Figs 11-16 concern the third variant of the invention in which stack forming apparatus 301 is combined with a cassette processing and refilling station 303. That station includes apparatus for counting out the notes from spent cassettes, a transfer mechanism for transferring stacks from the stack forming apparatus, and a cassette filling mechanism. When a spent cassette is supplied to the station 301, the operator 304 reads the code on the cassette 310 e. g. by a bar code reader (or a reader may be provided in the refilling station). The cassette identity is input to a local data processing and control unit for the station. The operator then removes the lid and loads the cassette into the receiving station 305 in a vertical attitude, with its mouth 13 facing downwards and with the note- receiving space facing outwards as shown. The vertical attitude of the cassette serves to minimize the footprint of the processing station in the bank vault and also facilitates subsequent operations as will be explained below. The cassette lateral flanges 20 fit corresponding grooves of a cassette holder 307 so that the cassette can slide vertically downwards into the holder 307 in which it is retained until removed by the operator. The base of the holder 307 is provided with a key like the key 36 of Fig. 1. Its tines enter the correspondingly positioned holes in the body as the cassette is lowered into the holder and move the shutter door aside so that the mouth 13 of the cassette is open.

The holder 307 is one of a set of four such holders mounted on a carrousel 315 for rotation about a vertical axis as indicated by the arrow 317. The cassette at the station 305 is partly filled with notes from the ATM, and typically there may be about 50 notes remaining. When the cassette has been correctly inserted, and after a short delay to allow the operator to move his or her hands clear of the cassette or the safety system, the carrousel rotates to bring the cassette to unloading station 324. That station has a note extractor 326 that may be a modified version of a note picking and conveyor mechanism already known for fitting to an ATM. Such mechanisms can be relatively compact and are typically

of depth about 25 cm. If the cassette is positioned with the mouth 13 facing downwards they do not add unduly to the height of the apparatus. They include apparatus for verifying that only a single note has been extracted, and for accumulating mis-extracted notes. Such apparatus may be an LED and photosensor arranged to view each extracted note in transmission and to provide a signal if the intensity of the transmitted light is unexpectedly low because two or more notes have been extracted at the same time. The notes from the extractor 326 drop one by one through an opening into a store in the base of the carrousel where they accumulate. The store is a secure space within the station 303 to which access is through normally locked doors 329. It may typically have a capacity of about 5000 notes, which should be sufficient for a typical operator shift. The cassette at station 324 is shown at the end of the extraction procedure and is empty of notes. The vertical attitude of the cassette permits a relatively short and straight note path from the cassette mouth 13 through the note extractor to the note- receiving container or store located underneath the note extractor. An optional second or stand-by extraction station 324a is also provided for use e. g. if the first such station becomes disabled or if the note-receiving container thereof becomes filled during a shift, but may be omitted if desired. The cassette is rotated through station 324a and then enters a refilling station 330 at which it is re-filled with a fresh stack of 2000 notes, or such other predetermined number as may be required by local conditions and the requirements of the ATM operator. At the station 330, a vertical stack of notes is received from the stack former 301 and inserted through the open top of the cassette into the internal note-receiving space.

The stack former 301 operates as described in relation to the stack former of Fig. 8 up to the formation of an un-banded ATM-ready stack in the collator. In particular, it has hoppers 424,430 feeding oppositely oriented notes to counters 422,428 from which the notes pass via conveyors 432,434 to buffer devices 436,438 and thence to jogging conveyor 440. Jogging is by traveling fingers 452 and by plates 454,456 as in the previous embodiment. Packs of notes 446 pass to table 476 from which they are transferred by transfer device 460 to collator 481.

Because the stack that forms in the collator is un-banded, the collator can be of simpler construction than in the previous embodiment, as is apparent from Fig. 12.

It has a single back wall 483, lateral walls 485, 487 and a single support plate 489 that is controlled by a single vertical positioning device 491 incorporating a lead

screw and traveler as indicated. It will be appreciated that any convenient apparatus can be used for controlling the position of plate 489. However, the apparatus should be able to move the plate downward thorough steps equal to a pack height as successive packs accumulate, and then return the plate 489 to the top of its travel at the beginning of formation of a new stack.

Removal of assembled stacks from the collator 481 and machine filling into the empty cassette at station 330 is by means of a transfer device generally indicated by the reference numeral 500. The device includes a rotary support 501 that carries a cassette preparation tool 503 and a stack-handling tool 505. The cassette preparation tool 503 is bidirectionally radially movable under the control of an actuator 506 and the stack handling tool is also bidirectionally radially movable under the control of an actuator 507. When both tools are in their fully retracted positions as shown in Fig. 11, the support is rotatable to bring either tool into register with the station 330 and to bring the stack handling tool into register with the collator 481 as required.

In order to fill a cassette, the first step is to rotate the support 501 so as to bring the preparation tool 503 into register with the cassette 310 at station 330. As best seen in Fig. 16, the preparation tool is supported by a mast structure 533 that supports the tool for bidirectional vertical movement relative to the support. For that purpose an actuator and follower assembly 534 of the tool travels along a vertical guide 535 of the mast. The pressure plate 344 of the cassette will initially be at the bottom of its travel adjacent cassette mouth 313. The assembly 534 is therefore driven downwards to align the tool 503 into it. Actuator 506 is then extended to engage jaws 537 of the tool with handle region 346 of the pressure plate. The assembly 534 is then driven upwardly to lift the pressure plate towards the top of its travel, at which position the pressure plate becomes latched. Actuator 506 is then retracted to return the preparation tool 503 from the extended position of Fig 14 to the retracted position of Fig 13. The note-receiving space of the cassette is now open for receipt of a note stack. Again as best seen in Fig. 16, the stack handling tool 505 has two pairs of laterally spaced fingers 542,542a which are movable apart by actuator means (not shown) to permit a stack of notes from the stack former 301 to enter the space between them. When the fingers have reached their fully spaced position, actuator 507 extends to position the fingers

above and below the note stack 446 in the collator 481, this position being shown in Fig. 14. As shown in Fig. 12a, the plate 489 is formed with a pair of recesses 489a, 489b to permit the fingers 542 to pass between the plate 489 and the note stack. The recesses in the plate 489 match a pair of recesses 314a, 314b that occur in the inner face of the forward end of the cassette so that the handling tool can work both within the collator 481 and within the cassette 310. The entry of the stack 446 into the fingers continues until the stack contacts stop surfaces 543 between which there is located an ejector plate 548. The positions of the fingers 542,542a and plate 548 with the actuator 507 extended is shown in phantom.

When the operation of loading the stack into the handling tool is complete, the upper pair of fingers 342a is returned towards the lower pair 342 to hold and compress the stack, the direction of relative movement being indicated by the arrow 544, after which the actuator 547 retracts to return the fingers to the position shown in solid lines in Fig 16. The transfer device has now returned to the rotatable state of Fig 11, the major changes being that the note-receiving space of the cassette is open and the handling tool carries a note stack.

The support 501 now rotates through 180° so that the handling tool 505 that was formerly facing the collator 481 now faces the cassette 310 as shown in Fig. 15. Actuator 507 is then extended to bring the fingers 542,542a, the pusher plate 548 and the stack 446 into the cassette 310. After the stack has been inserted into the cassette, fingers 542,542a are disengaged from the stack and retracted, the plate 548 is retracted and actuator 507 is retracted to disengage the stack- handling tool 505 from the notes that are now held in the cassette. The support 501 now rotates to re-position the preparation tool 503 in register with the cassette 310. The jaws 537 are re-engaged with the handle of the pressure plate 346 to unlatch the pressure plate (e. g. by operating an actuator to urge the jaws together) and lower it into contact with the note stack, after which the actuator 506 is retracted to remove the tool 503 from the cassette. A movable plate carried by the carrousel may be moved upwardly to close the opening 313 during stack insertion and react any forces on the stack e. g. resulting from the unlatching and release of the pressure plate 346.

The carrousel 315 now rotates to return the cassette to the station 305, where it is removed, visually inspected by the operator to verify the integrity of

the inserted stack and the lid is replaced. The cassette identity and its filled status are transmitted to the cash center management system.

A wall 600 encloses the stack forming unit 301 and the transfer unit 500 and is continuous with the casing of the cassette-processing unit. In normal running, loose notes are only accessible outside a cassette where they are inserted at hoppers 424,430, which gives a level of security that is significantly better than with manual filling.

The several operations of the apparatus described above may be under the direction of a microprocessor-based or microcontroller-based control unit in which the necessary instructions are stored and which is connected to the devices indicated above. The control unit and its connections are not shown to avoid unnecessary clutter of the drawings.

Various modifications may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the invention. For example In Fig. 11 the collator 481 could be aligned with the cassette loading station 30 and transport of note stacks between them could be by a linear conveyor as in EP-A-0955259 instead of via a rotary conveyor. However, in the above-disclosed apparatus, a rotary conveyor- based transfer device is preferred because it is believed to be more space-efficient than a device that works by translation. The cassette preparation tool could be positioned above the upper fingers 542a of the stack-handling tool. This arrangement permits a modified filling cycle in which the pressure plate 346 is released and lowered into contact with the note stack in the cassette before the plate 548 is retracted, avoiding any loss of control between release of the fingers and re-application of the pressure plate. Alternatively the cassette preparation tool could be fixed provided that its travel is such as not to interfere with the movement of the support 501 and the stack-handling tool 505.

Furthermore, there are uses for pre-packed bundles of notes that go beyond inserting them into a cassette of an ATM. A department store, petrol station or retail shop could have an ATM machine in which notes are inserted into a sliding openable tray which forms a permanent part of the machine rather than into a removable cassette. An employee could replenish the tray by e. g. opening it when

it is indicated to be nearly empty, unwrapping a bundle of e. g. 1000 banded shrink-wrapped notes and inserting the notes as a group into the drawer, after which the band is cut and removed and the drawer is re-closed. If the drawer has a capacity for say 1100 notes, it can be replenished when there are e. g. 50 notes remaining, the fresh bundle of 1000 notes substantially re-filling the drawer.

Employees never remove notes from the drawer unless forced to do so by a jam, and preferably always work with complete wrapped bundles of notes. Because they are always working with complete wrapped bundles that are placed direct into the machine drawer, the operation is much more secure and a method of ATM operation is provided that combines low operating costs with acceptable security.