The present invention relates to a method for stacking sheet material as well as a spiral slot stacker for stacking sheet material, in particular for the use in a bank note processing apparatus.
In conventional bank note processing apparatus the bank notes are generally singled from a stack and led past a sensor device by means of a transport path. The individual bank notes are checked by sensors of the sensor device and dependent on the checking result are supplied to certain final destinations or stacker units. Accordingly, several stacker units can be available, which stack the bank notes of the different categories into units of an adjustable piece number. If for example bank notes of a certain category are to be stacked in units of a piece number of 100 bank notes, it is necessary to perform a separation in the continuous flow of bank notes between the one hundredth bank note and the following bank note meant for the same stacker after the one hundredth bank note has arrived at the stacker.
In this context EP 0 119 814 B1 describes a spiral slot stacker for paper sheets, wherein the singled paper sheets are fed via a supply unit into slots of a stacker wheel, with a stack deposit, in which the paper sheets, which are stripped off from the stacker wheel by means of a fixed stripper, are stacked. Furthermore the spiral slot stacker comprises swiveling separators on which, when in an accommodation position in which they are fixed above the stack deposit, paper sheets which are stripped off from the stacker wheel are stacked intermediately. When the separators are subsequently swiveled out of the accommodation position, the intermediately stacked bank notes collide with the fixed stripper, are stripped off and stacked on the stack deposit. The use of the separators enables the separation of the paper sheets supplied to the spiral slot stacker into units of a predetermined piece number by removing paper sheets which are stacked on the stack deposit and intermediately stacking the subsequent paper sheets on the separators. However, at high transport speeds the secure function of the spiral slot stacker cannot be guaranteed, since relatively great actuating forces have to be applied in order to accelerate the separators.
Instead of the use of separators the published patent application DE 102 34 970 A1 suggests to intermediately stack bank notes in the stacker wheel of a spiral slot stacker. If for example the bank notes supplied to the spiral slot stacker are to be separated into units of 100 bank notes each on a stack deposit, after the one hundredth bank note was stripped off from the stacker wheel the bank notes can be intermediately stacked in the slots of the stacker wheel for such a time until the stack deposit has been emptied. Therein, a stripper for stripping the bank notes comprises two movable components, i.e. a first part which is moved out of the strip-off position during the intermediate stacking procedure, and a second part which is rotated along with the rotating stacker wheel during the intermediate stacking procedure.
In a first embodiment, the second part of the stripper rotates along with the stacker wheel for such a time until the stack deposit is prepared to accommodate a next bank-note stack and the second part of the stripper again has reached its strip-off position in which it is then fixed. The bank notes accommodated in the stacker wheel are thus stripped off and stacked on the stack deposit. Then the first part of the stripper can be moved back to its strip-off position, too. This embodiment bears the risk of the collision of the bank note and the second part of the stripper, which temporarily rotates along with the stacker wheel, during the insertion of the bank note into the stacker wheel.
In a second embodiment, like in the first embodiment, the first part of the stripper is moved out of the strip-off position and the second part is moved along with the stacker wheel while the stack deposit is emptied. However, the second, rotating-along part of the stripper is subsequently brought back to its strip-off position against the rotation direction of the stacker wheel and is fixed in order to strip the bank notes off from the stacker wheel. In this case the stack deposit has to be prepared very quickly for the accommodation of the next stack of bank notes to be stacked, since the second part of the stripper otherwise moves too far away from the stack deposit and the bank notes would no longer be reliably stacked on the stack deposit during the return of the stripper. In order to avoid this problem, in the published patent application DE 102 34 970 A1 therefore again the use of an auxiliary stack deposit or separator is suggested in order to intermediately stack the bank notes stripped off from the stacker wheel while the proper stack deposit is emptied.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an alternative solution for the intermediate stacking of sheet material in a spiral slot stacker.
A spiral slot stacker for stacking sheet material according to the invention comprises a stacker wheel, a movable stripper and a stack deposit. Singled sheet material is supplied to the stacker wheel in such a manner that it is accommodated in slots of the stacker wheel, which are spirally disposed one after another around a rotation axis. The stacker wheel turns so that the slots are filled with sheet material. Therein it is also possible that the slots of the stacker wheel accommodate several sheets. By means of the stripper the sheet material is stripped off from the slots of the stacker wheel.
In order to secure a continuous stacking of the sheet material in units of an adjustable piece number of sheets on the stack deposit without the necessity of stopping or buffering the supply of the sheet material to the stacker wheel, stopping the stacker wheel or introducing a separator for the intermediate stacking of the sheet material, the spiral slot stacker according to the present invention comprises a guideway which surrounds the stacker wheel at least partially and which is preferably adapted to the round shape of the stacker wheel circumference. If the stripper is in a first position, the sheet material accommodated in the slots is stripped off from the slots through collision with the stripper and is thus intermediately stacked between the stacker wheel circumference and the guideway. If the stack deposit is ready for the accommodation of sheet material, the stripper is brought to a second position, whereby the intermediately stacked sheet material is stacked on the stack deposit. As long as the stripper remains in this second position the sheet material collides with the stripper in the stacker wheel in such a way that it is directly stacked on the stack deposit without intermediate stacking. Since the bank notes are usually continuously supplied to the individual slots of the stacker wheel, further bank notes can also be intermediately stacked during the rotation of the stripper from the first to the second position.
Such a spiral slot stacker can for example also be used as an intermediate repository in a bank note deposit apparatus in which the bank notes fed in during a deposit transaction are first intermediately stored subsequent to a verification, in order to be finally deposited and credited to the user's account in the case that the user agrees to the conclusion of the pending transaction, or to be returned to the user without credit entry in the case of the cancellation of the pending transaction.
However, the spiral slot stacker is particularly suitable for use in a bank note processing apparatus. The intermediate stacking of the sheet material enables the continuous stacking of sheets of a continuous flow of sheet material in predetermined or adjustable piece numbers, since the sheet material can be intermediately stacked between the stacker wheel circumference and the guideway for such a time until the stack deposit has been emptied and prepared for the accommodation of sheet material.
In a start position the guideway is preferably disposed at a small distance to the stacker wheel circumference. In the case that a great number of sheets is intermediately stacked between the guideway and the stacker wheel circumference, a jamming of the sheet material can occur during the stacking of the intermediately stacked sheet material due to the small distance. Therefore in a first embodiment at least a portion of the guideway is disposed displaceably from the stacker wheel circumference in order to increase the distance between the stacker wheel circumference and the guideway. This provides for a pushing out of the intermediately stacked sheet material onto the stack deposit without difficulty.
The guideway surrounds the stacker wheel preferably covering a great circumferential angle, e. g. covering approximately 180°, in order to provide for the reliable stacking also of lengthy sheet material. In the case that the guideway is provided as a single-piece component therein, the movement of the guideway does not bring about a uniform increase of distance. Therefore, the guideway can be divided into partial guideways, preferably into two partial guideways, each of which surrounding approximately 90° of the stacker wheel circumference. If the partial guideways are now moved away from the stacker wheel circumference in a direction radial in relation to the rotation axis, an essentially more uniform increase of the gap between the stacker wheel circumference and the guideway is achieved.
The movable guideway and the movable stripper preferably have a common drive. The drive for example comprises a stepping motor around whose axis a barrel cam for the movement of the guideway and a mover for the movement of the stripper are provided. Therein the barrel cam and the arrangement of the mover are adjusted to each other in such a manner that a suitable succession of movement, dependent on the angle of rotation, of the guideway and of the stripper is secured. In this way the method steps of increasing the distance by moving the guideway away from the stacker wheel and of pushing out the stacked bank notes by means of the stripper can be chronologically coordinated. The stripper is preferably mounted on the rotation axis of the stacker wheel and can be moved independently therefrom. The torque application for the stripper is carried out in the vicinity of the stacker wheel rotation axis by the mover. By the movement of the stripper independent from the stacker wheel it is possible to guide the movement of the latter independently from the flow of sheet material supplied to the stacker wheel and the units of an adjustable piece number of sheets.
In a further embodiment the spiral slot stacker has a second movable stripper. In a first position the second stacker engages with the stacker wheel in such a manner that it strips the sheet material off from the slots of the stacker wheel onto the stack deposit. In a second position, however, the second stripper is moved so far out of the stacker wheel that it does no longer take hold of the sheet material held in the stacker wheel. The outward movement of the second stripper out of the stacker wheel is correlated to the rotation speed of the stacker wheel in such a way that an nth sheet is neatly stripped off from the stacker wheel, whereas an n+1th sheet accommodated in the subsequent slot is just not taken hold of any more. The n+1th sheet then collides with the first stripper which is in its (first) intermediate stacking position. This sheet and the subsequent sheets are stripped off from the stacker wheel by colliding with the first stripper and are intermediately stacked between the stacker wheel circumference and the guideway. When the first stripper is moved to its second position, the intermediately stacked bank notes are pushed onto the stack deposit and stacked there, and also the bank notes in the stacker wheel are directly stacked on the stack deposit as long as the first stripper remains in this position. Now the second stripper can be moved back to its first position in which it strips off the sheet material from the slots onto the stack deposit, and then also the first stripper can be moved back to its first position. By the use of the second movable stripper it is above all possible to achieve a continuous stacking also at high speeds of the stacker wheel and of the sheet- material supply. In another further embodiment the stack deposit is provided as a lockable sheet material repository. Such a spiral slot stacker can be used in a bank note deposit apparatus. If for example, like in the already described deposit transaction, the user agrees to the conclusion of the pending transaction, the bank notes can be deposited in the lockable repository, e. g. a cash box, and can be credited to the user's account. By the use of the lockable repository the secure storage of the stacked bank notes can be guaranteed.
In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention the spiral slot stacker comprises a side edge guide for guiding the side edges of the sheet material accommodated in the stacker wheel. Especially at high speeds the sheet material often does not lie flush in the slots of the stacker wheel, for which reason a side edge guide is advantageous in order to align the side edges of the sheet material accommodated in the stacker wheel. The side edge guide is movable in an axial direction in order to enable the adaptation of the spiral slot stacker to the processing of sheet material of variable formats. Such an axially movable side edge guide can also be used advantageously in conventional spiral slot stackers, e. g. also in such stackers with fixed strippers.
As already described, the sheet material is intermediately stacked between the stacker wheel circumference and the guideway for such a time until the stack deposit is ready for the accommodation of sheet material, thus the sheet material stacked there has been removed. The spiral slot stacker has a removal device for the removal of the stack from the stack deposit. The removal device has a rake-shaped bottom to which the stack deposit is adapted in that it is also provided in a rake-like shape, so that the bottom of the removal device can be moved underneath the sheet material stacked on the stack deposit. During the removal of the sheet material, thus when the rake-shaped bottom of the removal device is moved underneath the sheet material, the bottom displaces a preferably provided rake-shaped panel which fills the gaps of the rake-shaped stack deposit at least partially in order to form the stack deposit surface together with the latter during the stacking of the sheet material.
The removed sheet material can then for example be deposited in a stack receptacle or in a box. To enable a reliable stripping-off of the sheet material into the stack receptacle, the stack receptacle comprises a side well which is adapted to the rake-shaped bottom of the removal device and which is also rake-shaped, through which the bottom can be moved in a combining manner in order to deposit the sheet material in the stack receptacle in this manner.
In one embodiment the removal device is provided as a gripper with an upper gripper portion and the rake-shaped bottom for gripping the sheet material stacked on the stack deposit. Therein, due to the axially variable side edge guide, the maximum depth of the upper gripper portion should not exceed the dimension of the narrowest sheet material to be stacked. Such a removal device can also be advantageously used in conventional spiral slot stackers, e.g. also in such with fixed strippers.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will result from the following description of a variety of exemplary embodiments and alternative embodiments according to the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings. The figures are described as follows:
Spiral slot stackers like those described hereinafter with reference to the attached drawings can for example be used in bank note processing apparatus.
In bank note processing apparatus bank notes are singled and supplied to the stacker successively. The slots of the stacker accommodating the bank notes are formed by stacker wheel fingers spirally disposed side by side around a rotation axis and spaced apart from each other, between which the stripper with stripping fingers suitably adapted and disposed side by side moves into engagement, in order to strip off the bank notes from the slots again. In
In
In
As soon as it has collected the one hundredth bank note, the second stripper 12 is moved to a second position, so that it can no longer take hold of the bank notes accommodated in the subsequent slots 5 of the stacker wheel 4. The bank notes 6 then remain in the slots 5, as is shown in
Subsequently, the first stripper 2, as is shown in
When the first stripper 2 it in its second position, the second stripper 12 is returned to its first position, so that the first and the second stripper 12, as shown in
In this exemplary embodiment the bank notes 7 are intermediately stacked for such a time until the lock of the sheet material repository 13 has been opened in order to deposit the intermediately stacked bank notes 7 directly in the sheet material repository 13, as is shown in
It can be seen in
The removal device 15, as is shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2004 023 312 | May 2004 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2005/005012 | 5/9/2005 | WO | 00 | 11/19/2007 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2005/110904 | 11/24/2005 | WO | A |
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