CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to, and claims the benefit of, Italian patent application No. 102019000006048, filed on Apr. 18, 2019, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a system for the safe coupling of a re-usable bag, intended to be filled with banknotes or other paper currency, to a banknote handling and storing machine.

The disclosure also relates to a method for coupling and removing such a bag to/from the machine.

BACKGROUND

Banknote handling and storing machines are normally provided with a safe in which the banknotes (at least those that are not optionally intended to be directly dispensed by the machine itself, if the machine provides for this functionality) are accumulated waiting to be removed and taken to suitable currency deposit stores, or used to fill other cash dispenser machines.

In order to accumulate banknotes in the safe it is possible to use rigid containers (boxes) or flexible bag-type containers. In turn, bag-type containers may be of the single-use type, which are sealed (or in any case irreversibly closed) once filled, before being extracted from the machine, or of the reusable type. The latter are provided with a reversible closure, typically a lid that must be applied to the mouth of the bag to enable the release of the bag itself from the frame of the safe.

In the prior art, the coupling systems of reusable bags to the machine essentially comprise three components:a bag-holding frame, fixed to the safe of the banknote handling and storing machine, which has the function of supporting the bag and keeping it hooked;the bag container, comprised of a rigid port (or frame), to which the flexible bag is permanently fixed;a lid (normally comprised of a rigid element), intended to close the port of the bag container when the filling operations are terminated, which also has the function of enabling the release of the bag container from the safe (once hooked to the rigid port).

Both the hooking of the bag to the bag-holding frame, and the hooking of the lid to the rigid port of the bag container are currently done through purely mechanical couplings.

It is clear how this can lead to serious safety problems both with regard to the possibility of removing the bag container inappropriately from the safe, and with regard to the possibility of tampering with the lid after the extraction of the bag container from the safe.

In particular, in order to try to at least partially limit the possibility of tampering after the removal of the container from the machine, it is common for the operator in charge of transporting valuables to apply a safety seal to the bag after having inserted the lid onto the rigid port.

Typically, such a safety seal consists of a plastic strap inserted in respective slots present on the edge of the lid and of the rigid port of the bag container. However, there can be no guarantee against possible fraudulent actions against the container, for example breaking the strap and then replacing it with a new one after having tampered with the content of the bag.

SUMMARY

The general purpose of the present disclosure is to avoid the aforementioned drawbacks by providing a system for the safe coupling of a re-usable bag to a banknote handling and storing machine, which allows an increase in the security level both in relation to authorisation to remove the bag from the machine, and in relation to possible tampering of the bag during the subsequent transportation steps.

A further purpose of the disclosure is to ensure that the bag can be removed from the machine only if the correct lid intended to be associated, by the authorised operator, to that specific bag is applied thereto.

In view of such purposes it has been thought of to make, according to the disclosure, a system for the safe coupling of a re-usable bag to a banknote handling and storing machine, comprising:a bag container, comprised of a rigid upper port and of a flexible bag permanently fixed to said rigid port;a lid, designed to be inserted onto the rigid port for closing the bag container when the filling operations are terminated;a bag-holding frame, suitable for being stably fixed to a safe structure of the machine, for supporting and hooking the bag container when placed inside the machine to be filled with the banknotes;
characterized in that it comprises first coupling and hooking electro-mechanical means between the bag container and the bag-holding frame and second coupling and hooking electro-mechanical means between the lid and the bag container, said first coupling and hooking electro-mechanical means between the bag container and the bag-holding frame comprising a first electro-actuated lock provided on the bag-holding frame and a blocking element provided on the rigid port of the bag container in correspondence of said first electro-actuated lock to engage and block into the same when the bag container is correctly coupled to the bag-holding frame, with a micro-switch provided within said first electro-actuated lock to detect the correct blocking of the rigid port in the bag-holding frame and to send to a control unit a signal of correct blocking of the bag container on the bag-holding frame, said first coupling and hooking electro-mechanical means between the bag container and the bag-holding frame further comprising a first electric connector provided on the bag-holding frame and a second electric connector provided on the rigid port of the bag container in correspondence of said first electric connector to realize the electric connection between the bag container, the bag-holding frame and the control unit when the bag container is positioned on the bag-holding frame, said first coupling and hooking electro-mechanical means between the bag container and the bag-holding frame further comprising a position sensor, provided on the bag-holding frame, to detect the presence of the bag container in the correct position on the bag-holding frame and to send to the control unit a signal of the presence of the bag container on the bag-holding frame, said second coupling and hooking electro-mechanical means between the lid and the bag container comprising a second lock provided on the rigid port of the bag container and a hooking element provided on the lid in correspondence of said second lock to engage and block into the same when the lid is correctly inserted on the rigid port in a closure position of the bag container, with a micro-switch provided within said second lock to detect the correct insertion of the lid in the rigid port of the bag container and to send to the control unit a signal of correct insertion of the lid through the electric connectors between the bag container and the bag-holding frame.

According to the disclosure, a method for coupling and removal of a bag container from a banknote handling and storing machine has also been made, comprising, for the insertion of the bag container into the machine, the steps of:applying a safety seal on the closure door of said second lock provided on the rigid port of the bag container, thus preventing the access to the lid release button;introducing the bag container inside the machine, inserting its upper rigid port into guides of the bag-holding frame until engagement of the blocking element in said first electro-actuated lock provided on the bag-holding frame, thus realizing an electric connection between the electric connectors respectively provided on the bag-holding frame and on the bag container and sending to the control unit a signal of presence and correct blocking of the bag container on the bag-holding frame;
and for removal of the bag container from the machine, the steps of:inserting the closure lid onto the upper rigid port of the bag container along guides of said rigid port until engagement of the blocking element in said second lock provided on the rigid port of the bag container, thus sending to the control unit a signal of correct insertion of the lid through the electric connectors between the bag container and the bag-holding frame and obtaining from the control unit an opening command for said first electro-actuated lock to release the bag container from the bag-holding frame;extracting the bag container from the machine.

