Patent Application
20110057383
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-208794, filed on Sep. 10, 2009, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a medium processing apparatus, which can be applied to, for example, an automated teller machine (ATM) used for a bank.
As illustrated in
When a medium, such as a passbook, is inserted through the medium inlet 33 of the front panel 32, the medium is conveyed along a conveying path 36 of the printer unit 35 and is printed thereon with some information at a printing section 37. Then, the printed passbook is reversely conveyed along the conveying path 36 to be discharged from the medium inlet 33 of the front panel 32.
However, there may be mismatch in the height between the medium inlet 33 of the front panel 32 and the front end of the conveying path 36 of the printer unit 35. Therefore, when the printer unit 35 is mounted, the front end of the conveying path 36 of printer unit 35 is required to be accurately positioned opposite the medium inlet 33 of front panel 32.
In this respect, the conveying path 36 is divided into front and rear sections and a support axis 40 along which a front-side conveying path 36a is rotatably mounted and pivots, as indicated with an arrow in
When the front end of the conveying path 36 of the printer unit 35 is to be positioned with respect to the medium inlet 33 of the front panel 32, the slide table 34 is forced to slide towards the front panel 32 as indicated by an arrow in
However, in the configuration where the front end of the front-side conveying path 36a is positioned with respect to the medium inlet 33 of the front panel 32 by moving the front-side conveying path 36a, a gap 45 may be formed between the front-side conveying path 36a and a conveying guide 44 of the back-side conveying path 36b as shown in
Further, depending on the type of ATMs whenever the printer unit 35 is mounted, there are differences in the height between the medium inlet 33 of the front panel 32 and the slide table 34. In this case, the bending angle 46 may vary at a point where the front-side conveying path 36a and the back-side conveying path 36b are coupled. This makes it difficult to maintain the reliability of the printer unit 35.
Furthermore, it is also contemplated that the front end of the conveying path 36 is positioned with respect to the medium inlet 33 of the front panel 32 by moving the entire body of the printer unit 35 upwards and downwards.
However, in this case, the height of the printer unit 35 must be adjusted up and down while making sure that it is level. Thus, the heavy weight of the printer unit 35 causes the workload of the operator to be undesirably increased.
In light of the above problems, there is a need for a medium processing apparatus which can reduce the conveying jam and also facilitate the adjustment of the height of the printer unit while maintaining the reliability.
According to one embodiment, a medium processing apparatus includes a main body, a printer unit, a support unit, and a height-adjusting member. The main body includes a medium inlet on a front panel and a guider inside the front panel, the guider is located in the vicinity of the medium inlet. The printer unit is located in the main body and prints on a medium being conveyed along a conveying path, and then discharges the medium from a front end of the conveying path to the medium inlet of the front panel. The support unit movably supports the printer unit so that the front end of the conveying path is moved up and down. The height-adjusting member is located at a moving end of the printer unit and is guided by the guider of the front panel through a sliding movement of any one of the front panel and the printer unit, so that the printer unit is moved around a support member of the printer unit and the front end of the conveying path is positioned opposite the medium inlet of the front panel.
Embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The ATM is an apparatus for processing a medium such as a passbook, or a detailed statement. A medium inlet 1b for receiving and discharging a medium may be installed in a front panel 1a of a main body 1. A printer unit 1A may be mounted inside the main body 1. A fascia part 2 may be installed in the front end of printer unit 1A for both uses as an inlet/outlet for a passbook and an outlet for a statement paper. The fascia part 2 may include the front end of a conveying path 6a, which will be described later.
In the rear side of the printer unit 1A, a paper loader 3 may be mounted to load a rolled thermal paper 4. One end of the thermal paper 4 may be fed out from the paper loader 3 to be conveyed along the conveying path 6a by a thermal paper conveying unit 5. Along the conveying path 6a, a thermal printer 7 and a cuter (not shown) may be sequentially arranged in the direction of conveying the thermal paper 4.
In the printer unit 1A, a passbook conveying unit 10 for conveying a passbook may be also installed along a conveying path 6b. The conveying path 6b may be connected to the conveying path 6a for the thermal paper 4, so that the passbook conveying unit 10 also serves as a conveying unit for conveying the thermal paper 4 along the conveying path 6b, which is discharged from the conveying path 6a.
The passbook conveying unit 10 may include a plurality of pairs of conveying rollers 11a to 11e, entering rollers 12, and feeding rollers 15, which are arranged to be spaced by a predetermined interval along the conveying path 6b. A dot printer 9 having a dot head 9a as a serial head may be arranged in the conveying path 6b for a passbook, the conveying path communicating with the fascia part 2.
In the above configuration, in case a passbook is to be printed on, the passbook may be inserted from the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a into the fascia part 2 of the printer unit 1A. Upon inserting the passbook, the pair of entering rollers 12, the pairs of conveying rollers 11a to 11e, and the pair of feeding rollers 15 may be rotated forward. When the passbook is conveyed to reach a dot printing position by the rotation of the rollers, the dot head 9a may operate to print on the passbook. When the printing operation is completed, the pair of entering rollers 12, the pair of feeding rollers 15, and the pairs of conveying rollers 11a to 11e may be rotated in a reverse direction. With this reverse rotation, the passbook may be reversely conveyed to be discharged from the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a via the fascia part 2.
In case a statement paper is to be printed, the thermal paper 4 may be conveyed by the rotation of a platen roller to be printed thereon information by heating of a thermal head. After printing, the thermal paper 4 may be delivered by a pair of thermal-side feeding rollers 14 and pass through a cuter. When the thermal paper 4 is fed a certain distance, the thermal paper 4 may be cut to have a certain size to form a statement paper. The statement paper may be reversely conveyed along the conveying path 6b by the reverse rotation of the pair of feeding rollers 15, pairs of conveying rollers 11a to 11e, and the pair of entering rollers 12, and then may be discharged from the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a via the fascia part 2.
However, there may be a mismatch in height between the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a and the front end of the conveying path 6b of the printer unit 1A. Therefore, when the printer unit 1A is mounted, the front end of the conveying path 6b of the printer unit 1A is required to be positioned opposite the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a by adjusting the height of the front end of the conveying path 6b.
In the following description, a mechanism to position the front end of the conveying path 6b of the printer unit 1A with respect to the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a will be described.
The printer unit 1A may be mounted on a slide table 22 with a support base 21 interposed therebetween. A support member including support axes 23 may be installed on both sides of the lower portion of the printer unit 1A, i.e. on the left and the right sides approximately at the center of the printer unit 1A. The support axes 23 may allow the printer unit 1A to be pivotably supported by the support base 21. The printer unit 1A may be entirely movable upward and downward along the support axes 23 in the direction as indicate by an arrow in
Meanwhile, a pair of brackets 25 may be located in the vicinity of the medium inlet 1b inside the front panel 1a. The pair of brackets 25 as a guider may be installed while being oppositely spaced by the width of the medium inlet 1b. The brackets 25 have roughly V-shaped slit portions 25a, into which the adjusting pins 24 on both sides of the front end of the printer unit 1A are inserted.
In another embodiment, the front end of the conveying path 6b of the printer unit 1A is positioned with respect to the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a.
In this embodiment, the slide table 22 may be forced to slide towards the front panel 1 in the direction as indicated by an arrow. With this sliding movement, the adjusting pins 24 of the front end of the printer unit 1A may be inserted and guided into the slit portions 25a of the adjusting brackets 25 of the front panel 1a. This may allow the printer unit 1A to move its front end upward and downward along the support axes 23, so that the fascia part 2 of the front end of the conveying path 6b is positioned opposite the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a. After the positioning is completed as described above, the printer unit 1A may be fixed to the support base 21 by fixing screws 27a and 27b, thereby completing the operation of mounting the printer unit.
As set forth above, according to some embodiments, the fascia part 2 may be moved upward and downward to be positioned opposite the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a by moving the entire body of the printer unit 1A. Therefore, the occurrence of a conveying jam can be prevented without dividing the conveying path as configured in the conventional apparatus.
Further, since the conveying path of the printer unit 1A does not need to be bent when the printer unit 1A is mounted in an ATM, it is possible to maintain reliability.
Furthermore, since pivoting points of the printer unit 1A are located at the approximate longitudinal center on the right and the left sides of the printer unit 1A, the printer unit 1A can be easily pivoted even with a small amount of force irrespective of the weight of the printer unit 1A.
While the above embodiments describe that the fascia part 2 of the printer unit 1A is positioned opposite the medium inlet 1b of the front panel 1a by moving the slide table 22, the positioning may be performed by moving the front panel 1a while the slide table 22 is fixed.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and modifications in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-208794 | Sep 2009 | JP | national |
