Method and apparatus for document processing

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for document transport which reduces currency jams and is more accessible when clearing currency jams.
Briefly, according to one embodiment, a method and apparatus for transporting a currency bill to be evaluated by a discrimination and/or authentication apparatus is provided.
A transport mechanism includes a pair of substantially smooth opposing plates.
These plates are substantially free of surface features.
The smooth plates comprise a transport plate and a follower plate and define a currency pathway there between.
A plurality of transport rolls protrude through apertures in the transport plate so as to frictionally engage the bills and actively advance the bills through the currency pathway.
Furthermore, the follower plate is preferably mounted on a hinged module so that it may rotate out and away from the transport plate to allow easy access to the currency pathway.
In one embodiment, a transport mechanism includes a transport plate which defines in a substantially planar transport path between an evaluating mechanism and a plurality of output receptacles.
The transport mechanism may include a follower plate that is substantially smooth and without surface features.
The follower plate is positioned substantially parallel and in spaced relation to the opposing transport plate so as to define a currency pathway there between.
According to another embodiment, a currency evaluation device for receiving a stack of currency bills and rapidly evaluating all the bills in the stack is provided.
The device has an input receptacle for receiving a stack of bills to be evaluated and a number of output receptacles for receiving the bills after the bills have been evaluated.
A transport mechanism transports the bills, one at a time, from the input receptacle to one of the output receptacles along a transport path.
A discriminating unit evaluates the bills including determining certain information concerning the bills