System and method for processing batches of documents

Abstract

A method of processing documents by receiving at least a batch of documents and a separator card in an input receptacle of a document processing device. The separator card includes a conductive material disposed on one side, and a barcode indicative of the source of the batch of documents. The documents and separator card are transported via a transport mechanism past an evaluation unit and a field-effect sensor, respectively. The document processing device evaluates each document, determines whether the document meets or fails predetermined criteria, and detects the presence of the conductive material when a separator card is transported past the sensor. The source identification information from each separator card is entered into a memory of the document processing device after all the documents from the corresponding batch of documents have met the predetermined criteria. Feeder operation is paused between each batch long enough to verify that the previous batch closed successfully. Pausing feeder operation to address document anomalies before subsequent batches are processed promotes batch integrity and reduces operator confusion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 502,924, entitled “System And Method For Processing Batches Of Documents,” which was filed on Sep. 15, 2003, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to document processing systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for processing documents including separator cards in a document processing device. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] In a document processing environment it is highly desirable to achieve efficient means of processing documents. In general, higher efficiency in the processing of documents translates into lower business costs. Many businesses, such as banks, casinos, and retail stores, need to process large volumes of documents on a daily basis. [0004] It is typical in a currency processing operation for one or several employees to prepare batches o...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

This manual entry is slow, costly, and prone to error.

Processing each batch of documents manually can be very demanding on a human operator and can provide poor and inconsistent results.

Because the method relies upon human intervention, the rate at which documents can be processed during a particular day can vary unpredictably.

In addition, the chance of human error is extremely high.

Furthermore, the employment of two or more persons for retrieving and processing the batches of documents increases the cost associated with the processing of the batches of documents.

Batch integrity can be adversely affected when a mishap occurs, such as a document jam or a feed error, causing bills from subsequent batches to be intermingled with bills currently being processed.

This intermingling can lead to operator confusion, which in turn translates into higher costs and wasted time.

For example, loss of batch integrity is a particular problem in document processing operations that process multiple batches of documents continuously.

This problem is caused in part because the continuous feeding of the batches increases the potential of having documents from more than one batch present in the document processing device following a document jam or feed error.

This problem is compounded by the fact that different documents can reach different areas in the document processing device at different times, making it very complicated if not impossible for the operator to determine which documents belong with which batches.

When the operator attempts to recreate the original sets of batches, the potential for human error is very high, insofar as the operator can easily return a document to the wrong batch.

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