Patent Application
20110163493
The present invention relates to a media separator and a method for separating media in lump, and, in more particular, to a paper sheet separator and a method for separating paper sheets or the like, such as bills, put in a lump into the separator from each other prior to sending them out to the outside of the separator.
Conventionally, media separators for separating paper sheet-like media inserted in a lump from each other to send them out have been used in, for example, bill teller machines and the like.
In such a media separator, when paper sheets different in length are inserted in a lump at one time without aligning the leading edges thereof in the insertion direction, shorter paper sheets remain inside the media separator. Thus, there has been a problem that it is impossible to convey remaining media to a conveyer or the like disposed at the subsequent stage of the media separator.
As a device for solving that problem, there is a media separator described in Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2002-155539. This separator has an auxiliary picker roller disposed between a lumped-media conveyer mechanism and a picker roller to rotate to thereby send out shorter media received by the lumped-media conveyer mechanism toward the picker roller. That makes it possible to convey media, even shorter, to a conveyer or the like disposed downstream the media separator without having shorter media remain within the lumped-media conveyer mechanism.
However, in the above-mentioned separator, it is very difficult to additionally dispose an auxiliary picker roller in an extremely small space from the media inlet slot to the picker roller. Therefore, there is a problem that the separator would be structurally overstuffed so as to possibly cause a conveyance difficulty such as a paper jam.
Considering the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a media separator and a method for reliably separating lumped media which may be different in length to send out them without causing any conveyance difficulty.
In accordance with the present invention, a media separator for separating and sending out lumped media includes a lumped-media conveyer mechanism which receives lumped media to convey the lumped media in a predetermined direction, and a picker roller which separates the lumped media conveyed by the lumped-media conveyer mechanism. The lumped-media conveyer mechanism has an auxiliary conveyer body for conveying the media to the picker roller.
Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention, a media separating method for separating and sending out lumped media includes using a lumped-media conveyer mechanism which conveys lumped media received from the outside in a predetermined direction to convey the lumped media in the predetermined direction, using a picker roller to separate the conveyed lumped media, and conveying a medium relatively so short as not to reach the picker roller to the picker roller by means of an auxiliary conveyer body arranged in the lumped-media conveyer mechanism.
In accordance with the present invention, even when lumped media which have paper sheet-like media different in length mixed are input in a lump and a shorter medium does not reach the picker roller, the medium is conveyed toward the picker roller by the auxiliary conveyer body arranged in the lumped-media conveyer mechanism. It is therefore possible to reliably separate media from the lumped media, regardless of the length of each medium, to convey separated media.
Further, in accordance with the present invention, since the auxiliary conveyer body is arranged in the lumped-media conveyer mechanism, it is possible to establish a media conveyance channel from a site receiving the media to the picker roller, which can expect a secure conveyance and achieve downsizing of the media separator.
The objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Next, an embodiment of a media separator according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. A media separator 10 according to the present embodiment shown in
However, the media separator according to the present invention separates media in a lump from each other, which are not limited to bills but may be any kinds of paper sheets such as checks and various types of cards. Therefore, the media separator 10 according to the present invention is applicable to not only the bill teller machine 100 shown in
First, the configuration and operation of the bill teller machine 100 in which the media separator 10 according to the present invention is for use will be schematically described with reference to
Inside the bill teller machine 100, the media separator 10 according to the present invention is disposed so as to be capable of receiving bills 200 in a lump. For example, the media separator 10 is provided with a customer interface 12 serving as receiving the bills 200 from the outside of the bill teller machine 100 so that the customer interface 12 functions as an inlet of the bill teller machine 100. The media separator 10, when having received the bills 200 in a lump through the customer interface 12, separates the bills 200 from each other in the processes which will be described later in detail.
The media separator 10 has a bill discharger unit (separator gate 38, which will be described later) for discharging separated bills. The bill discharger unit is connected to a bill conveyance channel 102. The bill conveyance channel 102 is branched off at several points, each of which is provided with a blade 104 for switching bills to a desired conveying direction. The bill conveyance channel 102 serves as a path for feeding a bill sent out from the media separator 10 into another processing section such as a discriminator 106 which will be described later.
The separator gate 38 of the media separator 10 is connected through the bill conveyance channel 102 to the bill receiving slot of the discriminator 106. The discriminator 106 receives bills individually sent out from the media separator 10 on its bill receiving slot, and discriminates the received bills in denomination, damaged or not, authenticity, number of sheets or the like.
The separator gate 38 of the media separator 10 and a bill discharging slot of the discriminator 106 may be configured to be connected to the bill receiving slot of a temporary storage 108 through the bill conveyance channel 102. The temporary storage 108 receives any bills from the bill receiving slot and holds them as bills sent out from the media separator 10 or judged as abnormal by the discriminator 106 in accordance with an intended use of the bill teller machine 100.
Moreover, the separator gate 38 in the media separator 10 and the bill discharging slot of the discriminator 106 are connected through the bill conveyance channel 102 to bill storages 110 and 112. The bill storages 110 and 112 are units for ultimately storing bills therein, which can be sorted out, for example, in terms of denomination by switching the blades 104.
Next, the configuration of the embodiment of the media separator 10 according to the present invention will be described with reference to
The media separator 10 has the customer interface 12. This customer interface specifically has a bill inlet slot 14 into which the bills 200 are input by the input action of a user, the operation of another device or the like. The bill inlet slot 14 may be provided with a shutter, which is configured to open to allow the bills 200 to be accepted only when bills 200 are to be separated.
The media separator 10 has a lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16 for conveying the lumped bills 200. As for the layout of the customer interface 12, the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16 is disposed to be connected to the customer interface 12 so as to be capable of receiving the lumped bills 200 from the outside through the bill inlet slot 14 of the customer interface 12. That means that the media conveying mechanism 16 has its conveying source end connected to the customer interface 12. This configuration allows the customer interface 12 to function to guide lumped media inserted from the outside to the media conveying mechanism 16.
The lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16 is composed of an upper and a lower conveyor 16a and 16b respectively disposed above and under the inserted bills 200. The upper and lower conveyors 16a and 16b have respective endless belts 18a and 18b for conveying the bills 200. Furthermore, the upper and lower conveyors 16a and 16b have respective pulleys 20a and 20b disposed at the ends thereof on the side of the customer interface 12, more specifically, of the conveying source of the bills 200, as well as respective pulleys 22a and 22b disposed at the ends thereof in the reverse direction, more specifically, on the side of the conveying destination of the bills 200.
The endless belt 18a bridges the pulleys 20a and 22a. Similarly, the endless belt 18b bridges the pulleys 20b and 22b. The endless belts 18a and 18b, thus bridging, are kept in the horizontal direction. The space between the endless belts 18a and 18b serves as a conveying channel for the bills 200 inside the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16.
Furthermore, the media separator 10 may be provided with sensors 24 monitoring the vicinity of the connecting portion on the side of the slot 12 of the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16 to sense the bills 200 being input. In the present embodiment shown in the figures, the sensors 24 are disposed in the vicinity of the customer interface 12 one above the other with respect to the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16 so as to face each other. However, the sensors 24 may be disposed at any positions as long as they can sense the bills 200 being input.
The lower conveyor 16b is connected to a driving unit, not shown, and is movable in the vertical direction, arrow A in
At least one of the pulleys 20a and 22a and at least one of the pulleys 20b and 22b are connected to the driving unit, not shown, to receive the power generated by and transmitted from the driving unit, not shown, to be rotated in predetermined directions. By rotating the pulleys 20a and 22a in the same direction and by rotating the pulleys 20b and 22b in the reverse direction to the pulleys 20a and 22a, the endless belts 18 are brought into action in the horizontal direction. By this action, it is possible to convey the bills 200, inserted from the bill inlet slot 14 and pinched by the operation of the lower conveyor 16b, to the subsequent mechanism, arrows C in
The pulley 22a on the side of the conveying direction of the upper conveyor 16a has a shaft hole passing through its central part, into which a shaft 26 is inserted to be fixed to the pulley. Moreover, the shaft 26 inserted into the pulley 22a has both ends thereof provided with tongue pieces 28a and 28b serving as auxiliary conveying bodies. Since that configuration renders the tongue pieces 28 to be arranged coaxially with the pulley 22, the rotation of the pulley 22a causes the tongue pieces 28 to rotate as well.
The tongue pieces 28 are configured to include the tongue pieces 28a and 28b attached to the respective ends of the shaft 26. The tongue pieces 28a and 28b are constituted of plate-like bodies made of elastic material such as rubber or synthetic resin radially provided. The rotary movement of the tongue pieces 28 which have the plate-like bodies radially provided causes bills whose length is not enough to reach a picker roller, which will be described later, to be fed out toward the picker roller. Since the tongue pieces 28 are formed of elastic bodies made of soft material easily deformable with external force, the bills 200 being conveyed would not receive great load.
On the side of the separator gate 38, more specifically at a position facing the pulley 22a in the bill conveying direction, of the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16, a picker roller 30 connected to the driving unit, not shown, is disposed. Due to this layout, the picker roller 30 receives the bills conveyed from the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16. The picker roller 30 receives the power transmitted from the driving unit to rotate, thereby individually feeding out the bills 200 conveyed from the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16.
Under and opposite to the picker roller 30 in the vertical direction, disposed is a press 32 for pressing the bills 200 against the picker roller 30. The press 32 is movable up and down, arrow B, by the driving unit not shown, thereby allowing the bills 200 to be pressed against and released from the picker roller 30. The operation of the press 32 may be executed in response to the bills 200 being sensed by the sensors installed in places.
Facing the picker roller 30 in the conveying direction of the bills 200, a feed roller 34 is disposed which is connected to the driving unit, not shown. Moreover, under and opposite to the feed roller 34, a reverse roller 36 is disposed. The reverse roller 36 as well may be connected to the driving unit, not shown. The rotary movement of the feed roller 34 and the reverse roller 36 causes the bills 200 conveyed from the picker roller 30 to be separated from each other to be transferred to the subsequent stage. That is, the feed roller 34 and the reverse roller 36 compose a bill discharger unit, i.e. the separator gate 38.
In the present embodiment, as shown in
The bills 200 separated from each other pass between the feed roller 34 and the reverse roller 36 to be fed out to the outside of the media separator 10 as shown by an arrow J.
Now, the operation of the media separator 10 according to the above-described configuration will be described with reference to
As shown in
When the sensors 24 sense the bills being put in, as shown in
Next, as shown in
When the sensors 40 sense the bills 200 arriving at the vicinity short of the separator gate 38, the driving unit ceases from operating after a predetermined period of time having elapsed. In turn, the pulleys 20 and 22 and hence the endless belts 18 will terminate the operation thereof after a predetermined period of time having elapsed. More specifically, upon detecting the arrival of the bills by the sensors 40, the bills 200 are conveyed by a predetermined distance, and thereafter the bills 200 will be stopped short of the separator gate 38, which includes the feed roller 34 and the reverse roller 36.
Subsequently, as shown in
In this state, since the bills 200b under the bills 200a are pressed by the press 32 to touch the picker roller 30, one or some of the bills 200b will be fed out before the bills 200a are fed out in the operation described below. However, the order of feeding-out does not matter in the present invention, which would not bring about any disadvantage.
Next, as shown in
Once the bills 200a are conveyed to the picker roller 30, they receive the power generated by the picker roller 30 rotating to further be conveyed to the separator gate 38. Then, as shown in
It is to be noted that, where all the lumped bills 200 are the same in length in the longitudinal direction thereof, the media separator 10 also operates in a similar fashion as described above and shown in
As described above, in accordance with the present embodiment, even when the lumped bills 200 including the bills 200a and 200b different in length are put into the media separator 10 without aligning the leading edges thereof in the longitudinal direction, it is possible for the tongue pieces 28 to convey the shorter bills 200a which have not reached the picker roller 24 when the bills 200 are stopped to be conveyed short of the separator gate up to the picker roller 24. As with the longer bills 200b, the shorter bills 200a can be separated from the lumped bills 200 to be fed to the subsequent device.
Meanwhile, in the case where the bills 200 including ones different in length are put in a lump into the media separator 10 without aligning the front leading edges in the conveying direction of the bills 200, it is possible that, when the bills 200 are stopped to be conveyed inside the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16, the bills 200c shorter in longitudinal length not enough to be conveyed to the auxiliary conveying bodies remain in the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16. An alternative embodiment of the media separator 10 according to the present invention which will be described below is configured to overcome the case where the bills 200c remain in the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16.
Some of the components of the media separator 10 of the alternative embodiment which are the same as the above-described embodiment will be denoted with the same reference numerals, and will not be described in detail. Further, for convenience of understanding the invention, some of the components may daringly be omitted from illustration.
In the alternative embodiment, as shown in an essential side view of
Since the remaining components are the same in configuration as the above-described embodiment, a detailed description thereof will be omitted with the same components denoted with the same reference numerals.
Now, the operation of the alternative embodiment having the sensors 44 will be described with reference to
While waiting for insertion of the bills 200, the media separator 10 is the same as the earlier-described embodiment, in particular,
As shown in
Given that the longitudinal lengths of the bills 200b and 200c are L2 and L3, respectively, it is assumed as L2>L3. It is further assumed that the longitudinal length L3 of the bills 200c is yet shorter than the longitudinal length L1 of the bills 200a for use in the earlier-described embodiment to the extent that, when the bills are put into the media separator 10 with the rear edges, in the conveying direction, of the bills 200 aligned, and then the front edges of the bills 200b reach the separator gate 38, the bills 200c are so short as not to reach the picker roller 30 as well as even the tongue pieces 28.
When the sensors 24 sense the bills 200 being inserted, as with the earlier-described embodiment shown in
Next, the driving unit, not shown, rotates the pulleys 20 and 22, and the endless belts 18 mounted on the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16 are thereby moved in the direction C1 in the figure. That operation of the endless belts 18 makes the bills 200 are conveyed in a lump in the direction E1 in the figure. When the sensors 40 senses the bills 200 arriving at the vicinity short of the separator gate 38, the operation of the driving unit is stopped after the predetermined period of time having elapsed. That will cause the operation of the pulleys 20 and 22 and hence the endless belts 18 to be terminated after the predetermined period of time having elapsed. More specifically, upon the sensors 40 detecting the arrival of the bills, the bills 200 are conveyed by the predetermined distance and then stopped prior to the separator gate 38. This operation is in the same way as the earlier-described embodiment. However, with the alternative embodiment, the shorter bills 200c have not reached the tongue pieces 28 as shown in
Subsequently, the driving unit, not shown, moves the press 32 upward to press the bills 200 against the picker roller 30. Further, the driving unit, not shown, drives the lower conveyor 16b downward. The bills 200 are thereby released from being pinched by the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16. This operation is the same as in the earlier-described embodiment shown in
Next, as shown in
When the bills 200b are all separated to be sent out to the subsequent stage, the driving unit, not shown, is disabled to thereby stop the tongue pieces 28, the picker roller 30 and the feed roller 34 from rotating. The state at that time is shown in
The reason that the bills 200c remain will be further described below. Because the lower conveyance channel 16b is brought down in advance of the start of the rotary movements of the picker roller 30 and the like, the bills 200c remain without being pressed against the upper conveyor 16a. That causes no friction between the endless belts 18a and the bills 200c. Moreover, since the bills 200c are outside the position where the tongue pieces 28 are available, they remain in the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16 until the other bills 200b are completely fed out.
At this time, the sensors 44 are in the state capable of sensing the bills 200c remaining in the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16. Then, in order to send out next the remaining bills 200c to the outside of the media separator 10, as shown in
Subsequently, as shown in
When the sensors 40 senses the conveyed bills 200c having arrived at the vicinity short of the separator gate 38, the driving unit, not shown, is disabled after the predetermined period of time elapsing to thereby stop the endless belts 18. Thus, the bills 200c are sent by the predetermined distance, and thereafter stop from being conveyed. It is noted that, in the case where the length L3 of the bills 200c is so short as not to be conveyed to the sensable area of the sensors 40, the driving unit, not shown, is arranged to stop after running the endless belts 18 for a predetermined period of time. That will allow the bills 200c to be conveyed to the press 32 as shown in
Next, as shown in
Next, as shown in
The above description of the operation is directed to the case where the bills 200c remaining inside the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16 are detected by the remaining-media sensors 44 installed inside the media separator 10. However, regardless of whether to sense bills by the sensors 44, or to provide the sensors 44 per se, the operation shown in
In addition, when all the lumped bills 200 have the same longitudinal length, the media separator 10 still operates as described above and shown in
In accordance with the alternative embodiment, when the bills 200b and 200c different in length are inserted in a lump without aligning the longitudinal leading edges thereof in the conveying direction and the shorter bills 200c do not reach the picker roller 30 and the tongue pieces 28 as auxiliary conveying bodies to remain in the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16, the operation is performed of conveying only the bills 200c remaining, after having the bills 200b separated and fed out, again to the picker roller 30, thereby being able to separate even too short bills 200c individually from the lumped bills 200 to sent them one by one to the subsequent device.
Next, the configuration and operation of another alternative embodiment of the media separator 10 according to the present invention will be described with reference to
As compared of the instant alternative embodiment with the above-described embodiments, there is a difference that the auxiliary conveying bodies fixed to the opposite ends of the shaft 26 penetrating the pulley 22a are the tongue pieces 28a and 28b in the above-described embodiments, whereas those are elastic rollers 48a and 48b in the present alternative embodiment. The elastic rollers 48 are discoid bodies made of elastic material such as rubber or plastic, which is easily deformable with external force. The rollers 48a and 48b have circular and planar central portions bonded to the ends of the shaft 26 so as to rotate while the shaft 26 rotates. By this rotary movement, the elastic rollers 48 feed out media such as bills, which are so short as not to reach the picker roller 30, toward the picker roller 30. Since the elastic rollers 48 are made of the elastic material, they can feed out the bills 200, being supplied, to the picker roller 30 without applying a great load to the bills 200.
The operation of the instant embodiment having the elastic rollers 48 as well will proceed in a way similar to the earlier-described embodiment having the tongue pieces 28 shown in
With the media separator 10 in accordance with the present embodiment thus configured and operated, even when the bills 200 in which the bills different in length are mixed are inserted in a lump without aligning the longitudinal front edges, in the conveying direction, of the lumped bills 200, it is possible for the elastic rollers 48 to convey to the picker roller 30 the shorter bills 200a which have not reached the picker roller 30 when the conveyance of the bills 200 is stopped short of the separator gate 38. Further, even when the shorter bills 200 do not reach the elastic rollers 48 to remain in the lumped-media conveyer mechanism 16, it is possible to convey only the remaining bills 200c, after having separated and fed out the bills 200b, to the picker roller 30. It is thereby possible to separate the shorter bills 200a and 200c one by one from the lumped bills 200 to convey them to the subsequent device.
The entire disclosure of Japanese patent application No. 2008-180100 filed on Jul. 10, 2008, including the specification, claims, accompanying drawings and abstract of the disclosure, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-180100 | Jul 2008 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2009/061093 | 6/18/2009 | WO | 00 | 1/10/2011 |
