GB2461683A

GB2461683A - Method and apparatus for storing sheet objects

Info

Publication number: GB2461683A
Application number: GB0809864A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Malcolm Bell; Colin Spooner
Original assignee: Money Controls Ltd
Current assignee: Crane Payment Innovations Ltd
Priority date: 2008-05-30
Filing date: 2008-05-30
Publication date: 2010-01-13
Also published as: GB0809864D0

Abstract

A packing apparatus for packing sheet objects 3, such as bank notes, into a resilient, extendible container 4 comprises an input feed mechanism 2 configured to feed sheet objects 3 into the container 4 and a container-extension mechanism (5, figure 1a) configured to extend the container 4 and thereby increase its capacity to contain sheet objects 3. The extendable container 4 may be formed in an extended configuration and compressed into an unextended configuration. The container 4 may also be configured to tend to return to its unextended configuration in the absence of the action of a container-extension mechanism 5.

Description

Method and apparatus for storing sheet objects

Description

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for storing sheet objects such as banknotes.

Hitherto, banknotes have been counted in note counting machines and wrapped in stacks with paper bands. Also, devices such as our WAGS 5 (World Acceptor Cassette System) note bill and bar coded ticket/coupon acceptor may be used, which has a cassette stacking system. The cassette comprises a metal box that receives validated bank notes or the like from a note acceptor. The cassette may be removed by an operator and taken to a secure location where it is unloaded, for onward transmission of the banknotes e.g. to a bank.

A problem with the cassette system is that the cassettes are inherently expensive.

As a result, cassettes are reused and hence must be returned to the source following transportation to the bank or count centre. For many Cash in Transit (CIT) operators, the cost of the return trip is an unacceptable burden.

Furthermore, banks and count centres often cannot provide the storage space required for a large number of empty cassettes.

In addition, to meet security, health and safety and insurance requirements, CIT operators must take cash across pavements to vehicles in approved security boxes, which typically include anti-attack mechanisms such as alarms and stain injection devices. Rigid cassettes cannot be easily installed in such boxes.

Furthermore, the resultant weight can exceed the approved operator carrying limit.

It has also been proposed to store banknotes in sealed plastic bags. However, this approach has the disadvantage that the notes become disordered in the bag during transport, which makes unloading and sorting the notes difficult.

Therefore, there is a need for a disposable package system that is lightweight, small enough to fit into a security box and low cost. Further, to permit maximum labour efficiency in Count Centres arising from well presented, stacks of bills must be stacked, and must be kept stacked in a neat and firm "brick".

The present invention provides an alternative approach for packing sheet objects such as banknotes.

The invention provides a packing apparatus for packing sheet objects into a resilient, extendible container, the apparatus comprising an input feed mechanism configured to feed sheet objects into the container and a container-extension mechanism configured to extend the container and thereby increase its capacity to contain sheet objects.

The input feed mechanism of the packing apparatus may be configured to successively feed sheet objects into the container such that a stack of sheet objects is formed therein. The container-extension mechanism may be configured to extend the container such that the top of the stack of sheet objects remains in a fixed position.

The invention also provides a method of manufacturing an extendible container for storing sheet objects, comprising forming an extended container and compressing the extended container and thereby forming the extendible container. The container may be heated as it is compressed.

The invention also provides a resilient, extendible container for holding sheet objects, the container having an unextended mode and an extended mode, and adapted such that in the extended mode the container resiles towards its unextended mode and thereby holds sheet objects in place therein.

The container may have concertina walls.

At least one of the concertina walls may comprise first and second oppositely sloping concertina fold lines. The wall may have two side edges, and the first and second concertina fold lines may extend from the first side edge to the second side edge.

The first and second concertina fold lines may extend from protrusions on the first and second side edges.

The first concertina fold line may be one of a first plurality of concertina fold lines, the second concertina fold line may be one a second plurality of concertina fold lines and the first plurality of fold lines may be interspaced between the second plurality of fold lines.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, an embodiment thereof will now be described by way of illustrative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a packing apparatus.

Figure 2 shows a sectional view of the packing apparatus and a rear view of an input feed mechanism of the packing apparatus.

Figure 3 shows an extendible container.

Figure 4 shows a container during various packing stages.

Figure 5 illustrates a method of manufacturing a resilient, extendible container.

Figure 6 shows another extendible container.

Figure 7 shows a more detailed view of an extendible container.

Figure 8 shows sectional views of an extendible container.

Referring to Figure 1 (a), a packing apparatus 1 comprises an input feed mechanism 2 for feeding sheet objects such as banknotes 3 into a resilient, extendible plastic container 4 and a container extension mechanism 5 for extending the container 4 so as to increase the length of the container and thereby increase its capacity to contain banknotes.

The container extension mechanism 5 is configured to extend the container by applying a force thereto. In use, the container extension mechanism 5 is removably connected to the container 4, and the container extension mechanism is configured such that a movement of a part of the mechanism 5 causes the container to extend.

As shown in Figure 1, the container extension mechanism may include a movable rod 6 which can be removable connected with a connector 7 on the container 4, and a positioning mechanism 8 which is configured to draw the rod vertically downwards in order to extend the container 4, as illustrated in Figure 1(b).

Alternatively, the container extension mechanism 5 may include a fork element, a screw and a gearing mechanism arranged such that the fork element may be raised or lowered by rotation of the screw. In use, the fork element can be engaged with the connecting member 7 on the container 4 and the screw can be rotated in order to lower the fork element and thereby extend the container.

The size of the container can therefore be chosen to accommodate smaller or larger numbers of banknotes. This feature eases transportation of the container, especially if many containers are to be transported simultaneously in a limited transportation space.

Referring to Figure 2 (a), which shows a sectional view of the packing apparatus, the input feed mechanism 2 includes a feeding unit 8 and first and second rotating spiral reels 9, only one of which is shown in Figure 2 (a).

Figure 2 (b) shows a rear view of the input feed mechanism 2. Referring to figure 2 (b), the input feed mechanism 2 includes a curved guiding surface 10 with slits ha and hib therein from which arms 12a and 12b of the first and second rotating spiral reels 9 respectively protrude.

A banknote 3 to be packed in the container 4 is fed by feeding unit 8 in between the arms 12 of the first and second rotating spiral reels and is thereby guided across curved guiding surface 10 and into the open top 4a of plastic container 4.

The input feed mechanism has an abutment (not shown) between the fingers of the reels which wipes the notes out of the spiral at the appropriate point. As shown in Figure 2(a), the banknotes 3 fed into the container by the input feed mechanism 2 form a stack 13 on a base 4b of the container 4.

One example of such a feed mechanism is the "Castella" bill counter and stacker machine, manufactured by Giesecke and Devrient, which counts and stacks bills, and also as used in products such as the GFB-800 bill counter made by Glory Ltd. Figure 3 illustrates the plastic container 4 in more detail. The container 4 has an open top 4a, concertina walls 4c, and a base 4b. The connector 7 is disposed on the outer surface of the base 4b of the container. As shown, as the container 4 is extended, the concertina walls unfold. The concertina walls thus allow the container to be extended resiliently without excessively stretching the plastic.

The rate at which the container extension mechanism 5 extends the container can be determined by the rate at which the input feed mechanism 2 feeds banknotes into the container.

In one example, the container-extension mechanism extends the container at such a rate that the top of the stack of sheet objects remains in substantially the same position.

In another example, where the input feed mechanism 2 feeds banknotes into the container at a rate of N banknotes per second, the container extension mechanism extends the container such that the capacity of the container is increased by N banknotes every second. This can be achieved by increasing the length of the container by N * z microns or more per second, where z is the thickness of a banknote in microns. Thus, for example, if the input feed mechanism feeds banknotes having a thickness of 75 microns into the container at a rate of 40 banknotes per second, the container extension mechanism can extend the container by at least 3 mm per second in order to accommodate the additional notes.

The packing apparatus 1 also includes a lid attachment mechanism (not shown) which is configured to feed a lid onto the open top of the container and weld the lid thereto The lid 4d is a cut length of a continuous strip of thermoplastic lid material which is disposed on a reel within the packing apparatus 1. In operation, the continuous strip of lid material is fed from the reel, cut with a guillotine and then attached to the container 4.

The strip of lid material has a printable surface such as a coating of thermal printable laminate and the packing apparatus 1 further comprises a printer for printing a pattern such as text or a bar code onto the lid in order to identify the contents inside. The printer may, for example, be an inkjet printer or a thermal printer. The pattern may be printed on the outside of the lid 4d, or alternatively may be printed on the inside of the lid 4d as the strip of lid material is fed from the roll, in order to prevent tampering. That is, the pattern may be printed on a side of the lid that is inside the container after the lid is welded to the container.

Printing onto the side of the lid that after welding is on the inside of a container, in order to provide a tamperproof configuration in which data corresponding to the number and denomination of sheet objects can be securely associated with the contents of the container is described in more detail in "PACKAGING DEVICE AND CONTAINER FOR SHEET OBJECTS", WO/2005/054055, from the same applicant.

Additionally or alternatively an RFID tag may be placed in or in association with the container, as is also described in WO/2005/054055. The RFID may be programmed with data concerning the bank notes counted by the feed mechanism.

During operation of the packing apparatus 1, the input feed mechanism feeds notes supplied by the user into the container, while the container extension mechanism simultaneously vertically extends the container to accommodate the additional notes.

The lid attachment mechanism then welds a lid to the container such that the container and the lid form an integral whole. An operator can then disengage the container 4 from the connecting member 7. Once disengaged, the container resiles to or towards its unextended state, compressing the notes therein until the notes are held securely and firmly in place between the base and the lid of the sealed container 4.

The container may include one or more holes for releasing air from the container as it resiles. Alternatively, the container may not contain any air holes, and the container may compress until the compression is halted by the reaction forces from the compressed stack of notes or the compressed air within the container, or a combination of the two. The air may, in one example, be released following removal of the container 4 from the connecting member 7 by making a hole in the container. The holes described above may be sealed after the container is released from the container-extension mechanism.

In another example, the container-extending movement of the container extension mechanism may be at least partially reversed before the lid is attached, thus allowing the container to resile towards its unextended state and expelling the air inside. In the case described above in which the container extension mechanism includes a fork element and a screw, the movement of the fork element can be reversed by reversing the direction of rotation of the screw so that the fork element is raised.

Since the lid and the container form an integral plastic unit, it is very difficult for an embezzler to pilfer from the container without the container becoming damaged. That is, any damage to the container provides an indication that pilfering may have occurred. Furthermore, the plastic container is light and easy to transport.

Figure 4, shows a sectional view of the container 4. Figure 4(a) shows the container in an extended state. The container is maintained in the extended state by a force F, which may, for example, be applied by the container extension mechanism 5. As shown, the container contains a stack of banknotes 13 resting on the base 4b thereof. A lid 4d is then attached to the container, as shown in figure 4(b). The container 4 is then removed by an operator. As shown in Figure 4(c), restoring forces within the container urge it to compress. As the container resiles, the stack of notes 13 is compressed until the notes are held securely and firmly in place between the base and the lid of the sealed container 4.

As described above, the resiliently extendible container can be extended between its initial length Li and a desired extended length, L2. In manufacture of the resiliently extendible container, it is advantageous to initially form the container so that its length is between Li and L2, and then compress the formed container to the length Li, while applying heat thereto. In one example, the container is initially formed to have a length halfway between Li and L2.

Figure 5 illustrates a method of forming the resiliently extendible container.

Firstly, as shown in step Fl, a container having a length between Li and L2 is formed by blow moulding. The container may be formed from a high density polyethylene (HDPE) material, or alternatively, for example, slush/powder forming or injection moulding may be used. The container is then heated to its reformable temperature and axially compressed, as shown in step F2, so that the pleats deform as they close. The container is then chilled, as shown in step F3, in order to lock the thermoplastic material into its new compressed condition.

Forming the container to have a length between Li and L2 optimises the material flow in the blowing process and prevents excessive thinning of the material. Furthermore, forming the container in this manner allows the pleats to be automatically deformed in an appropriate fashion. Thus, the burden of calculating the required pleat shape is reduced, and tooling is simplified.

The compression stage has the further advantage that the volume of the empty container is reduced, thereby facilitating storage and distribution. Furthermore, compressing the container reduces the length of fall of the first bills fed into the container.

It has been found that the resilience of the container is improved if it is manufactured in this manner. This improved resilience has the advantage that even if the gap between the top of the stack of notes and top of the container is substantial, the container will still resile in the manner described above until the notes therein are tightly sealed.

The improved resilience may result from an increase in the yield point (elastic limit) of the plastic as a result of heating and compression during manufacture.

Even if the stress applied to the container when it is extended exceeds the yield point so that the container deforms plastically, the container will nonetheless have initially undergone elastic deformation and will therefore at least partially re-compress towards its original shape. By raising the elastic limit of the container using the manufacturing process described above, the extent to which the container compresses following extension may therefore be increased.

Furthermore, the compression step of the manufacturing process adds potential energy to the container and, as a result, extension of the container is facilitated.

-10 -That is, less force is required to extend a container manufactured by the preform-compression process described above than would be required to extend a container of the same shape and material but which was manufactured by direct plastic moulding.

The concertina wall structure of the container shown in Figure 3 has the disadvantage that compression or extension of the container may under certain conditions result in irreversible deformation of the concertina structure. For example, if the container is compressed with sufficient force, or if the compression force is not applied equally to all four walls of the container, the base of the container may irreversibly buckle. Once such irreversible deformation occurs, the container can no longer be used.

Figure 6-8 show a container 14 having an improved concertina wall structure.

Referring to figures 6-8, each side edge El, E2, E3 of the container is formed in a zigzag shaped profile. As shown in Figure 7, edge El has a plurality of protrusions 14b, 14c having apexes from which concertina fold lines 14d, 14e extend. The protrusions l4b extend outwardly from face El, while the protrusions 14c extend outwardly from face F2. Similarly, protrusions l4f of edge E3 extend outwardly from the face opposite face F2 (not shown), while protrusions l4g of edge E2 extend outwardly from face Fl. Thus, the fold lines 14d and 14e slope oppositely to one another and each make a non-zero angle with a vertical plane when the container 14 is sitting upright on its base.

The improved container shown in Figures 6-8 has the advantage that it is more difficult to irreversibly deform than the structure shown in Figure 3.

It will be appreciated that the invention also includes many variations of the above described packing apparatus and method for packing sheet objects.

io For example, although the container 4 has been described hereinabove as being made from a polymeric material, any other suitable material could be used. -11 -

Still further, although the description hereinabove has referred to banknotes, any other suitable sheet object could be used, for example documents, papers or promissory notes.

The above embodiments or alternatives may be used either singly or in combination to achieve the effects provided by the invention.

Many further modifications and variations will be evident to those skilled in the art, that fall within the scope of the following claims:

Claims

-12 -Claims 1. A packing apparatus for packing sheet objects into a resilient, extendible container, the apparatus comprising: an input feed mechanism configured to feed sheet objects into the container; and a container-extension mechanism configured to extend the container and thereby increase its capacity to contain sheet objects.
2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the input feed mechanism is configured to successively feed sheet objects into the container such that a stack of sheet objects is formed therein; the container-extension mechanism is configured to extend the container such that the top of the stack of sheet objects remains in a fixed position.
3. An apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein: the input feed mechanism is configured to successively feed sheet objects into an open top of the container such that the stack of sheet objects is formed on the base thereof; and the container-extension mechanism is connectable with a connecting member disposed on outer surface of a base of the container and is configured to vertically extend the container and thereby downwardly displace the stack of sheet objects.
4. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, further comprising a lid attachment mechanism configured to attach a lid to the container and thereby seal the contents therein.
5. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the lid attachment mechanism is configured to attach the lid to the container such that the lid is integral therewith.

-13 -
6. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the container and lid are made from a polymeric material and the lid attachment mechanism is configured to weld the lid to the container.
7. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, further comprising a printer configured to print a pattern on the container.
8. An apparatus according to any of claims 1-6, further comprising a printer configured to print a pattern on the lid.
9. An apparatus according to claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the pattern comprises text;
10. An apparatus according to claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the pattern comprises a bar-code;
11. An apparatus according to claim 7-10, wherein the pattern indicates the contents of the container.
12. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein a movement of a part of the container-extension mechanism extends the container, and wherein the container-extension mechanism is further configured to at least partially reverse said movement such that the container resiles towards its unextended state, thereby holding the sheet objects in place therein.
13. A method for packing sheet objects into a resilient, extendible container, the method comprising: feeding sheet objects into the container; and extending the container and thereby increasing its capacity for containing sheet objects.
14. A method according to claim 13, wherein extending the container comprises moving a part of a container-extension mechanism; and further comprising a step of at least partially reversing said movement such that the container resiles towards its unextended state.
15. A method of manufacturing an extendible container for storing sheet objects, comprising: forming an extended container; compressing the extended container and thereby forming the extendible container.
16. A method of manufacturing an extendible container according to claim 15, further comprising heating the container as it is compressed.
17. A method of manufacturing an extendible container according to claim 16, further comprising cooling the container once it has been compresed.
18. A resilient, extendible container for holding sheet objects, the container having an unextended mode and an extended mode, and adapted such that in the extended mode the container resiles towards its unextended mode and thereby holds sheet objects in place therein.
19. A container as claimed in claim 18, wherein the container has concertina walls.
20. A container as claimed in claim 19, wherein at least one of said concertina walls comprises first and second oppositely sloping concertina fold lines.
21. A container as claimed in claim 20, wherein said concertina wall has two side edges, and wherein the first and second concertina fold lines extend from the first side edge to the second side edge.
22. A container as claimed in claim 21, wherein the first and second concertina fold lines extend from protrusions on the first and second side edges.-15 -
23. A container as claimed in claim 18-22, wherein: the first concertina fold line is one of a first plurality of concertina fold lines; the second concertina fold line is one a second plurality of concertina fold lines; and the first plurality of fold lines are interspaced between the second plurality of fold lines.
24. A container as claimed in any of claims 18-23, wherein the container has an open top and wherein the sheet objects can be sealed inside the container by attaching a lid thereto, thereby closing the open top.
25. A container as claimed in claim 24, wherein the container and lid are made from a polymeric material.
26. A container as claim in claim 24 or 25, further comprising a base, wherein the container resiles such that the sheet objects abut the base and the lid and are thereby held in place inside the container.