A variety of bill or currency validation and stacking techniques are known in the prior art, including the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,628,194 (METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CURRENCY VALIDATION), 4,722,519 (STACKER APPARATUS), 4,765,607 (STACKER APPARATUS), 4,775,824 (MOTOR CONTROL FOR BANKNOTE HANDLING APPARATUS), 5,209,395 (METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A LOCKABLE, REMOVABLE CASSETTE, FOR SECURELY STORING CURRENCY), 5,222,584 (CURRENCY VALIDATOR), 5,209,335 (SECURITY ARRANGEMENT FOR USE WITH A LOCKABLE, REMOVABLE CASSETTE) and Ser. No. 08/376,809, filed Jan. 23, 1995, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated by reference herein.
Bill validators typically include a magazine portion for storing authentic bills. When the magazine is full, no further bills can be accepted and the bill validator goes out of service. Regular service calls are required to replace full magazines with empty magazines or to remove some or all of the stored bills so that the bill validator can return to service. A mechanical switch is often provided proximate the magazine portion of the validator to be reset by the service person after the magazine is removed or emptied. Often, the service person forgets to set the switch, leaving the empty bill validator out of service. In addition, mechanical switches are prone to breakage. Mechanical switches have also been provided which automatically set and reset on removal of the magazine or opening and closing of a magazine door.
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