Method and apparatus for processing bank notes
AssigneeGiesecke & Devrient GmbH
InventorAlfred Schmidt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for automatic processing of sheet material, e.g. bank notes, wherein the bank notes are singled, transferred to a transport system, tested, and stacked in units of a predetermined piece number in so-called stackers by predetermined categories in accordance with the testing. The transfer of bank note to the transport system is interrupted as soon as the sensor unit ascertains that the predetermined piece number of a category is reached in a stacker. The bank notes of the same category already singled at this time are stored temporarily in the sorting plant until the stacker has processed the deposited predetermined piece number. The time for the interruption of singling is such that the first bank note singled again reaches the stacker only when the latter is ready for service again
Claims13
A method for processing a plurality of sheets of material, each of said sheets exhibiting a characteristic which may differ among the sheets, said method forming at least one stack of a predetermined number of sheets having a selected characteristic, said method comprising the steps of:
- singling the sheets;
- transferring the singled sheets to a first end of a transport path and moving the sheets in seriatim along the transport path;
- testing the sheets in the transport path for the selected characteristic;
- continuing the movement of sheets having the selected characteristic in the transport path toward a second end of said transport path at which the stack is to be formed;
- removing said sheets from the transport path and forming a stack of the sheets;
- counting the number of sheets having the selected characteristic as they move along the transport path;
- interrupting the transferring of the sheets to the transport path when the last sheet of the predetermined number of sheets for the stack has been counted;
- after the interruption, sorting sheets that are following the last sheet in the transport path;
- and thereafter
- discharging the stored sheets to form a new stack of sheets.
An apparatus for processing a plurality of sheets of material, each of said sheets exhibiting a characteristic which may differ among the sheets, said apparatus forming at least one stack of a predetermined number of sheets having a selected characteristic, said apparatus comprising:
- a singling unit for singling the sheets;
- transport means having a first end for receiving the singled sheets, said transport means having a transport path along which the sheets are moved in seriatim;
- sensor means located along the transport path formed in said transport means for testing the sheets moving in the transport path for the selected characteristic;
- means for counting the number of sheets having the selected characteristic as they move along the transport path;
- a stacker device proximate to a second end of said transport means for receiving sheets having the selected characteristic from said transport path and for forming a stack of the sheets;
- means for interrupting the transfer of sheets to said transport means when the last sheet of the predetermined number of sheets for the stack has been counted;
- and
- means for storing the sheets that are following the last sheet in the transport path as separate sheets while said stacking device completes the formation of the stack of sheets and for thereafter discharging the stored sheets to said stacking device for forming a new stack of sheets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.