Method and device for further processing value documents

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12525085-B2
Application number	US-201917414157-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2019
Priority date	Dec 19, 2018
Publication date	Jan 13, 2026
Grant date	Jan 13, 2026

Abstract

A method and an apparatus are provided for further processing and for packing value documents, which were previously processed by a value document processing apparatus and bundled to form bundles. Labels are created for the bundles, which have a machine-readable identification item linked to the respective bundle's visible serial number. Before or after each bundle is labeled, an image of the bundle is detected with the aid of an inspection device to ascertain the actual serial number of the bundle and compare it to the serial number that belongs to the machine-readable identification. In dependence on whether or not the actual visible serial number of the respective bundle matches the visible serial number belonging to the machine-readable identification for the bundle, the respective bundle is further processed (e.g., packed by a packing apparatus) or not processed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method for further processing value documents which, with a value document processing apparatus, have been stacked to form stacks of value documents and have been bundled together with an enclosing material to form a bundle, with the steps of:
determining a visible serial number of the respective bundle by the value document processing apparatus, transmitting the visible serial number of the respective bundle from the value document processing apparatus to a control device, determining a machine-readable identification for the respective bundle by the control device based on the visible serial number of the respective bundle, producing a linking information item by the control device, which specifies with which visible serial number the respective machine-readable identification is linked, transmitting the machine-readable identification from the control device to a labeling device that is adapted for labeling the respective bundle bundled together with the enclosing material to form a bundle, creating a label for the respective bundle by means of the labeling device, wherein the machine-readable identification transmitted by the control device is applied to the respective label, transporting the respective bundle output from the value document processing apparatus and bundled together with an enclosing material to form a bundle to the labeling device with the aid of a transport device in order to label the respective bundle with the label created for the respective bundle, wherein the labeling device is separated from the value document processing apparatus by the transport device, detecting the respective bundle by an inspection device which has at least one camera with which it records an image of the respective bundle on which the visible serial number of the respective bundle and the label of the respective bundle is depicted, and checking the respective bundle after the bundle has been transported away from the value document processing apparatus by the transport device, wherein when checking the respective bundle,
an actual visible serial number of the respective bundle is extracted from the image recorded by the inspection device,
the visible serial number is ascertained which belongs to the machine-readable identification of the label that was created for the respective bundle based on the visible serial number of the respective bundle, and
the actual visible serial number of the respective bundle is compared with the visible serial number belonging to the machine-readable identification of the respective label,
wherein, in dependence on whether the checking of the respective bundle has a result that the actual visible serial number of the respective bundle matches the visible serial number belonging to the machine-readable identification of the respective label or not, the further processing of the respective bundle is continued in a case that there is a match and stopped in a case that there is not a match.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the respective bundle is labeled with the label created for the respective bundle before the respective bundle is detected by the inspection device so that the inspection device detects the already labeled bundle.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein, for detecting the machine-readable identification of the respective label, the inspection device extracts the machine-readable identification of the respective label from the recorded image or a different image recorded by the inspection device, which the inspection device has recorded of the respective bundle,
wherein the different image is recorded from the side of the bundle opposite the recorded image which is directed to the opposite side of the bundle.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the respective bundle is detected by the inspection device before the respective bundle is labeled with the label created for the respective bundle, so that the inspection device detects the not yet labeled bundle.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the enclosing material is a pre-packing material with which the bundle is enclosed in a ring shape.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the enclosing material is a band.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the respective stack of value documents which is bundled together to form a bundle is a stack of loose value documents or is a stack of several banded packets which are bundled together to form a bundle.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the value documents verified by the value document processing apparatus are bundled together to form a multiplicity of bundles and these are transferred to the transport device in such a manner that the bundles are transported in a certain sequence one after the other to the labeling device by means of the transport device, and that the value document processing apparatus transmits the visible serial numbers of the bundles transferred to the transport device with the same sequence to the control device in which the associated bundles are provided to be transported by the transport device to the labeling device.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the value document processing apparatus transmits the visible serial numbers serially in this sequence to the control device or transmits a list with visible serial numbers to the control device, in which the sequence of the visible serial numbers corresponds to the sequence in which the associated bundles are provided to be transported to the labeling device by the transport device.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the machine-readable identifications of the bundles are transmitted from the control device to the labeling device with the same sequence in which the associated bundles are provided to be transported to the labeling device by the transport device.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein respectively two bundles, whose stacks of value documents have been output by the value document processing apparatus and transported to the labeling device by means of the transport device directly one after the other, and whose checking has not revealed any error, are packed into one respective packing unit with the aid of a packing apparatus.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein in each case two bundles, whose stacks of value documents have been output by the value document processing apparatus and transported to the labeling device by means of the transport device directly one after the other, are supplied with labels during labeling, which have the same machine-readable information.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the two visible serial numbers of the two bundles are contained in the same machine-readable information in coded form.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein when checking the bundles, it is additionally verified whether respectively two bundles that are transported to the labeling device and verified directly one after the other, belong to one another, and in dependence on whether the two bundles directly following one after the other belong to one another or not, the further processing of the two bundles is continued or stopped,
wherein, in the case of continuing the further processing, they are packed into the same packing unit by a packing apparatus.

15 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the visible serial number of the respective bundle is the serial number of a value document that is uppermost or lowermost in the stack of the respective bundle.

16 . The method ac

Assignees

• Giesecke & Devrient Currency Technology Gmbh

Inventors

• Braun Harald
• Dittrich Steffen
• Gryxa Reinhold

Classifications

• B65B13/182

  Affixing labels during bundling · CPC title

• B65H2301/4314

  Making packets of bundles of banknotes or the like in correct sequence · CPC title

• G09F3/0297

  including a machine-readable marking, e.g. a bar code (digitally marked record carriers in general G06K19/00) · CPC title

• G07D2211/00

  Paper-money handling devices · CPC title

• G06K7/10861

  sensing of data fields affixed to objects or articles, e.g. coded labels (postal sorting B07C3/14, conveying articles B65G47/48) · CPC title