US 5,615,625 AGranted

System for the secure transportation of articles

AssigneeFirst National Bank of Southern Africa Limited

InventorsGerald A. Cassidy, Khathutshelo S. Netshisaulu, Aharon Lubashevsky

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Abstract

A system for the secure transportation of articles such as cheques and bank notes comprises first and second docking stations at different locations, and a secure container which mates with the docking stations. The container has a number of lockable doors into which bank notes are fed by a feeder mechanism at the first docking station. The container has its own microcontroller which monitors the status of the doors and the integrity of the container, and which can respond to external control signals while it is in transit. Once the container has been loaded at one docking station, it is transported to the second docking station at a different location, where it can be unloaded. A one-time code is generated each time the container is loaded, and must be communicated to the second docking station before the container can be unloaded. Any attempt to tamper with the container while it is in transit results in the activation of a dye dispenser, which marks the contents of the container.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A system for the secure transportation of articles, comprising first and second docking stations at respective different locations, and a container for articles, each docking station comprising a housing defining a port for receiving the container;

locating means for locating the container in a predetermined position in the port;
feed means for receiving articles and feeding them into an opening in the container;
control means for controlling and monitoring the operation of the docking station and for generating a record of articles fed into the container;
and a communication apparatus for transmitting data between the first and second docking stations independent of the container, the data comprising an access code entered at the first docking station at the time of loading the container, the access code being required by the control means of the second docking station for unloading of the container at the second docking station, the container comprising a housing having at least one opening for receiving articles from the feed means of the docking station;
closure means for closing the at least one opening lockably;
first operating means for selectively locking and unlocking the closure means while the container is received by the port of the docking station;
and monitoring means for monitoring the integrity of the container in use and for generating an alarm signal if the container is opened in an unauthorized manner.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.