DE20003157U1 - Self-service coin counter - Google Patents

Description

The innovation concerns a self-service coin counter with a coin recognition device, a counting device connected downstream of it and an adding device connected to the latter, the output signal of which can be fed to a receipt printer in accordance with the total amount of the coins entered.
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Such self-service coin counters are installed in the self-service area or in the entrance halls or foyers of financial institutions. The customer can insert a random number of coins of different values into an input hopper of the coin counter and receives a receipt from the receipt printer, which is presented at the cash desk, which must be manned by an employee of the financial institution in question, so that the customer can either receive the amount noted on the receipt or have it credited to his account.

This procedure requires the intervention of an employee of the financial institution and can therefore only be carried out during the normal business hours of the financial institution in question. For the customer in a hurry, handling or using the self-service coin counter in conjunction with presenting the receipt at the cash desk is particularly annoying when relatively small amounts are involved. This applies in particular when a customer wants to relieve his wallet, which is carried in the pockets of his suit, of the weight of coins that have accidentally accumulated in his wallet.

Taking this situation into account, one aim of the innovation is to design a self-service coin counter of the type defined above in such a way that a

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ISH electronic GmbH

Customers can deposit coins without involving employees of a financial institution and the corresponding amount remains immediately available to them.

This aim is achieved according to the innovation in that the output signal of the adding unit of the self-service coin counter can be transmitted not only to the receipt printer but also via a coding and encryption device to a money card reading and writing device, which contains a money card checking station and an addition station for adding a data value corresponding to the amount of money stored on the money card and the coded and encrypted data value corresponding to the output signal of the adding unit, that the addition value supplied by the addition station can be written onto the money card by the money card reading and writing device, and that the money card reading and writing device is coupled to an authorization point, in particular in a server or a data processing device.

Advantageous embodiments of this self-service coin counter are the subject of the protection claims subordinate to the appended claim 1.

It can be seen that the self-service coin counter proposed here, in which even relatively small amounts of coins of different values can be inserted, can relieve the burden on bank employees and can also be used by customers in the evenings or on holidays. Using the self-service coin counter of the type specified here during the opening hours of the bank avoids the loss of time that is essentially caused by crediting the account or by issuing cash with the help of the bank employee at the cash desk, even when processing small amounts.

would be created consistently.

In the following, embodiments are explained in more detail with reference to the drawing, in which a self-service coin counter of the type specified here is shown schematically as a block diagram.

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The self-service coin counter contains an input tray 1 with an input hopper that feeds a sorting device in which coins of different types of currency are sorted. From there, coins identified as being of the same type by the sorting device go to a coin recognition device 2, which carries out an identification. Both the sorting device (not shown in the drawing) and the coin recognition device eliminate coins and objects that are not to be counted.

The coin recognition device 2 is followed by a counting device 3 which counts coins of the same value in the individual channels in accordance with the coin values. The count values are multiplied by the respective coin value and added up in an adding device 4.

The output signal of the adding unit 4 corresponding to the total amount of the coins entered and recognized as genuine is passed via a line 5 and a branch 6 to a receipt printer 7, which prints out a receipt 8 on which the counted and added total amount is recorded, indicating the corresponding currency.

In addition, the output signal corresponding to the counted and added total value passes from the output line 5 to a coding and encryption device 9, which generates on its output line 10 a coded and encrypted output signal corresponding to the counted and added total amount, which does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the signal input on the line 5 without knowledge of the coding and encryption.

The output signal of the adder 4 from the output line 5 or, according to

a modified embodiment, the coded and encrypted output signal of the coding and encryption device 9 from the output line 10 passes through a transmission channel 11 or 11' (the latter in the drawing by a

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dotted line) to a data processing device 12. This data processing device can be a server installed at the location of the financial institution concerned, a central data processing device of the bank concerned, a data processing device or the data processing device of a register office which is connected to a group of financial institutions or banks via a data network. The transmission channel 11 or 11' can be a line connection or a wireless data transmission channel.

In the data processing device 12 remote from the self-service coin counter there is a storage area in which a storage content is accumulated that corresponds to the content of a coin safe 13 in which the coins passing through the counting device 3 are accumulated. In addition, in the data processing device 12 there is a storage area in which a content is accumulated that corresponds to the total amount that is determined by the counting device 3 during a counting process. This storage content represents a booking counter account that has a credit balance at the end of the counting process in the self-service coin counter that is available to the customer who has used the self-service coin counter service after he has handed in his coins.

This booking counter account memory content of the data processing device 12 is compared in a comparison station 14 with the output signal of the coding and encryption device 9 present on the line 10. It is understood that when a signal corresponding to the total amount added up by the adder 4 is fed to the data processing device 12 via the line 11, a corresponding coding and encryption is carried out in the data processing device, as is done in the coding and encryption device 9, in order to be able to carry out a corresponding comparison in the comparison station 14.

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A positive comparison result in the comparison station 14 causes, on the one hand, a relief of the booking counter account via a coupling connection between the comparison station 14 and the data processing device 12 in the form of a line connection or a wireless communication channel 15 and, on the other hand, the transmission of a signal value intended for addition to an addition station 17 via a line 16, which receives as a further input signal a data value via an input line 18 which represents a remaining amount stored on a cash card.

The cash card designated 19 in the drawing is inserted by the customer who uses the self-service coin counter and has inserted a certain amount of coins into the coin counter into a cash card reading and writing device 20 which includes a reading and writing station 21, an authenticity and validity checking station 22 and a stored amount holding station 23 in addition to the previously mentioned addition station 17 and the comparison station 14.

Both the authenticity and validity checking station 22 and the storage station 23 holding a remaining memory amount of the cash card 19 are each connected to the data processing device 12 via line channels or wireless transmission channels in order to compare the data scanned from the cash card 19 for authenticity checking and validity checking with data from the data processing device 12 or to compare a remaining memory amount scanned and decrypted from the cash card 19 with records in the data processing device 12.

In the addition station 17, the data value supplied by the holding station 23 is then added to the data value supplied by the comparison station 14, and the result of the addition is written as a new storage amount in the read and write station 21 on the cash card 19.

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It should be noted that the entire self-service coin counter can be housed in an armored, burglar-proof housing in such a way that manipulation of the data which could falsify the result of the addition in the addition station 17 is prevented.

The expert will recognize that in the drawing certain equipment units are identified as

Block symbols are shown, but these device units can also be combined in a modified form, taking into account aspects of the organisation of the data network assigned to the bank or financial institution and the associated data processing facilities.

Claims (5)

1. Self-service coin counter with a coin recognition device ( 2 ), a counting device ( 3) connected downstream thereof which feeds a coin safe (13 ) and an adding device ( 4 ) connected to the latter, the output signal of which can be fed to a receipt printer ( 7 ) in accordance with the total amount of the coins inserted, characterized in that the output signal of the adding device ( 4 ) can also be transmitted via a coding and encryption device ( 9 ) to a money card reading and writing device ( 20 ) which contains a money card checking station ( 22 ) and an adding station ( 17 ) for adding a data value corresponding to the amount of money stored on the money card and the coded and encrypted data value corresponding to the output signal of the adding device ( 4 ), that the addition value supplied by the adding station ( 17 ) is transmitted by the money card reading and writing device (20) to the money card. 20 ) can be written onto the cash card, and that the cash card reading and writing device ( 20 ) is coupled to an authorization point, in particular in a server or a data processing device ( 12 ). 2. Coin counter according to claim 1, characterized in that the money card checking station ( 22 ) of the money card reading and writing device ( 20 ) has a connection to the authorization point. 3. Coin counter according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the money card reading and writing device ( 20 ) contains a comparison station ( 14 ) in which the data value corresponding to the output signal of the adding unit ( 4 ) is compared with a data value corresponding to the status of a booking counter account, the account status of which can be transmitted via a coupling connection ( 15 ) from a server or a data processing device ( 12 ) to the comparison station ( 14 ), the comparison station using this coupling connection to relieve the booking counter account depending on the comparison result and to supply the addition station ( 17 ) with the data value used to supplement the storage amount of the money card. 4. Coin counter according to claim 3, characterized in that the output signal of the adding unit ( 4 ) or a coded and encrypted data value corresponding to this output signal can be transmitted ( 11 , 11 ') to the server or the data processing device ( 12 ) and can be stored in a memory representing the status of the booking counter account. 5. Coin counter according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is enclosed in an armoured housing.