Abstract

There is disclosed a drop safe comprising a vault, a computing means located inside said vault, at least one bill validator, a code reader, and a currency compartment. The computing means is operatively connected to the bill validator which reads paper currency, and a code reader which reads codes. The currency compartment receives and stores paper currency received from the bill validator. The computing means, which is initially in an idle mode, is configured to switch to a deposit taking mode when the code reader detects a deposit initiation code. While in the deposit taking mode, the computing means monitors the bill validator and the code reader for (a) detection of a deposit of a valid paper currency in the bill validator, (b) detection of a deposit termination code by the code reader, and (c) a time-out condition (i.e. a predetermined amount of time has elapsed after the last paper currency was deposited into the bill validator and no termination code is detected). The deposit taking mode terminates when the personnel presents a deposit termination code or a time--out condition is detected, in which case the computing means switches back to the idle mode. The code reader may be a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader for reading RFID codes, a smart card reader for reading smart card codes, a magnetic strip reader for reading magnetic codes, an optical reader for reading optical codes, or a biometric code reader for reading biometric codes. Methods of depositing cash into the drop safe, and removing cash from the drop safe are also disclosed.

IPC Classes  ?

• E04G 1/00 - Scaffolds primarily resting on the ground
• E05G 1/00 - Safes or strong-rooms for valuables
• G07D 7/00 - Testing specially adapted to determine the identity or genuineness of valuable papers or for segregating those which are unacceptable, e.g. banknotes that are alien to a currency
• G07D 11/17 - Aligning