Patent Grant
7780076
The present application claims priority from Japanese application JP2006-303496 filed on Nov. 9, 2006, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper currency handling apparatus to be mounted on an automatic cash dealing apparatus used in a financial institution, for example.
(2) Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a paper currency handling apparatus mounted on an automatic cash dealing apparatus used in a financial institution, for example comprises: a paper currency deposit and withdrawal port functioning to let out paper currencies deposited by a user one by one and functioning to discharge withdrawn paper currencies; a paper currency discrimination part discriminating deposited paper currencies or withdrawn paper currencies; a temporary housing for temporarily housing the deposited paper currency; a reject box housing rejected paper currencies which do not reach a predetermined standard at the paper currency discrimination part; a recycle box housing/storing the deposited paper currencies and letting out them as withdrawn paper currency; and a paper currency conveyance path bringing those respective units into connection.
In such a paper currency handling apparatus, diversification in monetary type and increase in capacity have progressed recently. Thereby, a recycle box is generally arranged in line in the lower part of the apparatus and the other portions are arranged by being integrated into the upper unit in the upper part of the paper currency handling apparatus (see JP-A-2003-208654).
In the paper currency deposit and withdrawal machine in the above described patent document, a paper currency deposit and withdrawal port, a paper currency discrimination part and a temporary housing are arranged in an upper unit in the upper part of the apparatus to discriminate the deposited paper currency with the paper currency discrimination part and convey the paper currency discriminated as acceptable to the temporary housing. Therefore, the deposit and withdrawal port and the temporary housing are arranged to sandwich the paper currency discrimination part in this order. Thus, in general, in a paper currency deposit and withdrawal machine, a deposit and withdrawal port, a paper currency discrimination part and a temporary housing are arranged in this order from the head of the apparatus.
Here, in order to discriminate paper currencies with the paper currency discrimination part to convey only acceptable paper currencies to the temporary housing, it is necessary to sort the paper currencies to the conveyance destinations based on the discrimination results of the paper currency discrimination part. And a certain amount of time is required for discrimination with a paper currency discrimination part. It is necessary to sort paper currencies to the temporary housing or the deposit and withdrawal port after a wait until a discrimination result is obtained after a paper currency passes the paper currency discrimination part. In order to buy time for the certain amount of time, the back stage of the paper currency discrimination part is provided with a conveyance path for buying time and that back stage of the conveyance path is provided with sorting branch paths. In order to provide that conveyance path, it is necessary to make the upper unit of the paper currency deposit and withdrawal machine large in the longitudinal direction or in the vertical direction.
However, in the recent years, reduction in size and increase in capacity for reducing size in the entire size of the paper currency deposit and withdrawal machine and increasing the paper currency housing capacity is required. Therefore, increase in size of the upper unit has been against the demand from the market.
In view of the above described problems, an object of the invention is to provide a paper currency handling apparatus persistent to the demand for reduction in size and increase in capacity and to establish satisfactory progress for users.
The present invention is a paper currency handling apparatus, comprising a temporary housing being arranged behind a paper currency deposit and withdrawal part; a paper currency discrimination part being arranged behind the temporary housing; a first conveyance path conveying a paper currency from below the paper currency let-out part to ahead of the paper currency discrimination part; a second conveyance path conveying a paper currency from behind the paper currency discrimination part to the temporary housing once ascending upward; and a first branch part going from behind the paper currency discrimination part to the second conveyance path to implement sorting to conveying destinations for a first time, wherein the first branch part is arranged in an upper part behind the temporary housing.
The invention can provide a paper currency handling apparatus persistent to the demand for reduction in size and increase in capacity to improve the satisfaction level of users.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
An embodiment of the present invention together with the drawings will be described below.
An automatic cash dealing apparatus 101 comprises, in its left interior, a card and ATM receipt processing mechanism 102 communicating with a card slot 102a provided in an upper front plate 101a to process cards of users, print and discharge ATM receipts and a customer operation part 105 displaying contents of dealing and receiving inputs. The automatic cash dealing apparatus 101 in its entirety is surrounded by an apparatus enclosure 101c. The automatic cash dealing apparatus 101 comprises, in its right interior, a paper currency handling apparatus 1 processing paper currencies with an inclined upper front plate 101b provided with a deposit and withdrawal port shutter 20a. That automatic cash dealing apparatus 101 with its front surface as a service interface carries out processing such as depositing, payment and transfer by users through cards, paper currencies and ATM receipts.
The card and ATM receipt processing mechanism 102, the paper currency handling apparatus 1 and the customer operation part 105 housed in the automatic cash dealing apparatus 101 are respectively connected to the body control part 107 with wiring such as a USB to carry out required operations under control of the body control part 107. In addition, an outside interface part 107b, a staff operation part 107c and an outside storage device 107d are connected to the body control part 107 by bus connection and the like to carry out required data exchange. Here, 101d denotes a power supply part supplying the above described respective mechanism portions and components with electric power.
The control part 10 of the paper currency handling apparatus 1 is connected to the body control part 107 of the automatic cash dealing apparatus 101 through wiring; controls the paper currency handling apparatus 1 according to commands from the body control part 107 and detection on the state of the paper currency handling apparatus 1 being a deposit and withdrawal machine; and sends the state of the paper currency handling apparatus 1 to the body control part 107 as required.
The paper currency handling apparatus 1 also includes a drive motor, an electromagnetic solenoid, and a sensor and the like (not illustrated in the drawing) in the respective units (a paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 as a paper currency deposit and withdrawal part, a paper currency discrimination part 3, a temporary housing 40, a conveyance path 50, a reject box 60 and recycle boxes 71 to 74 as paper currency housings) to activate and control the actuators (the drive motor and the electromagnetic solenoid and the like) while monitoring states with the sensor according to deals to be described later.
The paper currency handling apparatus 1 is roughly divided into and configured by an upper paper currency mechanism 1a and a lower paper currency mechanism 1b.
The upper paper currency mechanism 1a, to which mechanisms necessary for exchanging paper currencies mainly with users are integrated, is configured by a paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 for users to put in and take out paper currencies, a paper currency discrimination part 30 discriminating paper currencies, a temporary housing 40 for temporarily housing the deposited paper currencies up to completion of a deal; a reject box 60 housing paper currencies not served for withdrawal; and a control part 10. Here, in
The lower paper currency mechanism 1b is provided with a plurality of recycle boxes 71 to 74 for housing the deposited paper currencies according to monetary types and letting out paper currencies to be withdrawn.
For detailed description on the upper paper currency mechanism 1a, the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 is arranged on the forefront side to become a service interface and the temporary housing 40 is arranged behind the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 adjacently. Behind the temporary housing 40, a paper currency discrimination part 30 is arranged a little apart from the temporary housing 40.
The paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 is configured by a paper currency let-out part 20b letting out downward a paper currency put in from above in the state where the upper shutter 20a is open and a paper currency accumulation part 20c accumulating paper currencies conveyed from downward in series arrangement in this order.
The lower end of the paper currency let-out part 20b is connected to the forward surface of the paper currency discrimination part 30 with a conveyance path 51a and a conveyance path 51b as a first conveyance path extending in the backward and forward directions. Midway in the conveyance path 51a, a paper currency sorting gate 50c is provided as a second branch part for sorting paper currencies to the lower paper currency mechanism 1b.
The rear face of the paper currency discrimination part 30 is connected to the rear lower part of the temporary housing 40 with conveyance paths 52, 53 and 54 as a second conveyance path. The conveyance path 52 temporarily rises upwards from substantially center part in the vertical direction of the rear face of the paper currency discrimination part 30; goes substantially horizontally above the paper currency discrimination part 30 in the forward direction; and is connected to the paper currency sorting gate 50a as the first branch part provided in an upper position in the vicinity of the forward face of the paper currency discrimination part 30.
The paper currency sorting gate 50a is arranged in an upper position behind the temporary housing 40 and in a position closer to the back surface of the temporary housing 40 as much as possible. In addition, the paper currency sorting gate 50a is positioned behind the forward surface of the paper currency discrimination part 30 and above the upper surface of the paper currency discrimination part 30. For the example 1, from the paper currency discrimination part 30, the paper currency sorting gate 50a is arranged in a position in the vicinity of the upper forward part of the paper currency discrimination part 30.
The conveyance path 53 progresses forward-obliquely in the downward direction from the paper currency sorting gate 50a and is connected to the paper currency sorting gate 50b provided below and behind the temporary housing 40. The conveyance path 54 establishes connection between the paper currency sorting gate 50b and the temporary housing 40.
Connection between the paper currency sorting gate 50b and the lower end of the paper currency accumulation part 20c is established by the conveyance path 55. The conveyance path 55 extends substantially horizontally in the forward and backward directions. Accordingly, connection between the back of the paper currency discrimination part 30 and the paper currency accumulation part 20c is established by the conveyance paths 52, 53 and 55.
Connection between the paper currency sorting gate 50a and the forward upper end of the reject box 60 is established by the conveyance path 56. The conveyance path 56 extends backward from the paper currency sorting gate 50a substantially horizontally and thereafter goes downward and backward-obliquely.
The lower part of the paper currency sorting gate 50c provided midway in the conveyance path 51a connecting the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 to the paper currency discrimination part 30 is provided with a conveyance path 57 as a third conveyance path to exchange paper currencies with the lower paper currency mechanism 1b. The conveyance path 57 extends upward and downward.
In addition, a paper currency sorting gate 50j is provided between the conveyance path 51a and conveyance path 51b. A conveyance path 59 is provided as a fourth conveyance path establishing connection between the paper currency sorting gate 50j and the paper currency accumulation part 20c. Thereby, the paper accumulation part 20c of the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 is configured to be capable of housing paper currencies conveyed in any of the forward and backward directions from the paper currency discrimination part 30 and discriminated.
At least the conveyance paths 51b, 52, 53, 54 and 57 among those conveyance paths are configured so that a paper currency can be conveyed in any direction from upstream to downstream and from downstream to upstream.
Thus, from upstream to downstream, the paper currency let-out part 20b of the deposit and withdrawal port 20, the conveyance paths 51a and 51b, the paper currency discrimination part 30, the conveyance path 52, the paper currency sorting gate 50a, the conveyance path 53, the paper currency sorting gate 50b, the conveyance paths 55 and 59, and the paper currency accumulation part 20c are connected in this order.
The lower paper currency mechanism 1b is provided with recycle boxes 71 to 74 for housing and letting out paper currencies again on the basis of monetary type. A housing box 61 housing paper currencies not served for recycling is mounted further. In addition, above the respective recycle boxes 71 to 74 and the housing box 61, a substantially horizontal conveyance path 58 connected to the conveyance path 57 provided in the lower part of the upper paper currency mechanism 1a and being bi-directionally conveyable is provided to extend backward and forward. Moreover, above the recycle boxes 71 to 74 and the housing box 61, paper currency sorting gates 50d to 50h for sorting paper currencies to be housed respectively are provided.
Next, operations of the paper currency handling apparatus 1 at the occasion of deposit deal processing will be described.
The paper currency let-out part 20b of the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 separates and lets out downward a plurality of deposited paper currencies one by one. The paper currencies let out downward from the paper currency let-out part 20b are conveyed backward substantially horizontally by the conveyance paths 51a and 51b and pass backward from the forward surface through the paper currency discrimination part 30. The paper currency discrimination part 30 discriminates authenticity, monetary types and a state with or without defects on the passing paper currencies with the internally mounted sensor and the like.
A paper currency having passed through the paper currency discrimination part 30 is temporarily conveyed upward by the conveyance path 52 from the back surface of the paper currency discrimination part 30 and is further conveyed substantially horizontally in the forward direction. During conveyance by that conveyance path 52, discrimination by the above described paper currency discrimination part 30 is completed and the paper currency sorting gates 50a and 50b are switched based on the discrimination result.
In the case where a paper currency is discriminated to be acceptable by the paper currency discrimination part 30, the paper currency sorting gates 50a and 50b are switched toward the temporary housing 40 and the paper currency is conveyed downward and forward by the conveyance paths 53 and 54 to accumulate the paper currency inside the temporary housing 40.
In the case where the paper currency is discriminated to be unacceptable by the paper currency discrimination part 30, the paper currency sorting gates 50a and 50b are switched toward the paper currency accumulation part 20c. The paper currency is housed in paper currency accumulation part 20c as deposit rejected paper currency and, thereafter, moves to the lower part of the shutter 20a by a push plate not illustrated in the drawing. Thereafter, the shutter 20a opens and the paper currency is returned to the user.
All paper currencies thus put in to the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 are processed; the deposited amount of money corresponds to the amount of money counted by the paper currency handling apparatus 1; and a user inputs deposit dealing confirmation with the customer operation part 105 (see
The housing processing switches the paper currency sorting gates 50a and 50b at first so as to establish connection between the temporary housing 40 and the paper currency discrimination part 30 and switches the paper currency sorting gate 50c so as to establish connection between the paper currency discrimination part 30 and the conveyance path 57.
Paper currencies let out by the temporary housing 40 one by one are conveyed to the paper currency discrimination part 30 through the conveyance path 54, the paper currency sorting gate 50b, the conveyance path 53, the paper currency sorting gate 50a and the conveyance path 52. The paper currencies having passed the paper currency discrimination part 30 are conveyed by the conveyance paths 51b and 51a and are conveyed to the conveyance path 57 by the paper currency sorting gate 50c. The paper currencies are conveyed by the conveyance path 58 of the lower paper currency mechanism 1b, sorted by the paper currency sorting gates 50d to 50h switched based on types of money or the like and housed in any one of the housing box 61 and the recycle boxes 71 to 74.
Here, in the case of adopting a configuration in which monetary types of paper currencies and the like are discriminated by the paper currency discrimination part 30 during that housing processing and the paper currency sorting gates 50d to 50h are switched as a result of that discrimination, discrimination is completed to enable switching of the paper currency sorting gates 50d to 50h while the paper currencies are being conveyed by the conveyance paths 51b, 51a and 57.
Next, operations carried out by the paper currency handling apparatus 1 at the occasion of a withdrawal dealing process will be described.
For the withdrawal dealing process, a predetermined number of paper currencies are let out one by one from the respective recycle boxes 71 to 74 on the basis of the type of money. The paper currencies let out are conveyed to the paper currency discrimination part 30 by the conveyance paths 58, 57, 51a and 51b.
The paper currency discrimination part 30 discriminates whether a passing paper currency is or is not an allowable withdrawal paper currency.
In the case of an allowable withdrawal paper currency, the paper currency sorting gates 50a and 50b are switched to establish connection between the paper currency discrimination part 30 and the paper currency accumulation part 20c and the paper currency is conveyed up to the paper currency accumulation part 20c by the conveyance paths 52, 53 and 55 to accumulate paper currencies in the paper currency accumulation part 20c.
In case of an unallowable withdrawal paper currency, the paper currency sorting gate 50a is switched to establish connection between the paper currency discrimination part 30 and the reject box 60 and the paper currency is conveyed to the reject box 60. That discrimination and the switching of the paper currency sorting gates 50a and 50b as a result of discrimination is completed while the paper currency is being conveyed by the conveyance path 52.
Thus, when the conveyance operation of the paper currency is over, the shutter 20a of the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 is opened. Then the paper currencies accumulated in the paper currency accumulation part 20c will be in the state where users can get out the paper currencies. When paper currencies are got out by a user, the shutter 20a will be closed. Then the withdrawal process is over.
A paper currency handling apparatus 1 persistent to the demand for reduction in size and increase in capacity can be provided by the above described configuration and operations. In detail, the deposit and withdrawal port 20, the temporary housing 40 and, the paper currency discrimination part 30 are arranged in line from forward to backward in this order. The conveyance paths 51 to 55 are arranged along the circumference of those paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20, temporary housing 40 and the paper currency discrimination part 30. Therefore the extra space is deleted to use the space efficiently. Thereby the upper paper currency mechanism 1a can be made compact and small.
In particular, the conveyance path 52 being downstream immediately after the paper currency discrimination part 30 rises upward at the rear exit of the paper currency discrimination part 30; changes its direction toward ahead of the apparatus above the paper currency discrimination part 30; and is connected to the paper currency sorting gate 50a mounted in the vicinity of the temporary housing 40; and, therefore, can also be used as the conveyance path for buying time required for the discrimination processing. Thereby, it is not necessary to provide a conveyance path dedicated for waiting for the discrimination result between the paper currency discrimination part 30 and the temporary housing 40 as in the conventional cases but efficient implementation without waste becomes feasible.
In addition, the conveyance paths 52 and 56 mounted above the paper currency discrimination part 30 extend substantially horizontally in the forward and backward directions. Therefore, only the conveyance belt for conveying paper currencies needs to be implemented so size reduction of the implementation space in the height direction can be achieved. Therefore, even the total of the reduction in implementation space in the height direction even for the paper currency discrimination part 30 and the conveyance paths 52 and 56 thereabove will become feasible.
In addition, the implementation space of the conveyance paths 52 and 56 in the height direction is reduced. Thereby, that height can be sufficiently reduced even compared with the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 and the temporary housing 40. The respective units of the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20, the temporary housing 40 and the paper currency discrimination part 30 in the upper paper currency mechanism 1a can be mounted substantially horizontally. Thereby, the height of the upper paper currency mechanism 1a can be reduced.
In addition, also in the depth direction, only space sufficient for arranging and mounting the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20, the temporary housing 40 and the paper currency discrimination part 30 will be satisfactory. The space for the conveyance path dedicated for waiting for the result of discrimination to be provided in the back stage of the paper currency discrimination part 30 will become unnecessary and reduction in size also in the depth direction becomes possible.
In addition, in general, the paper currency housing box (recycle boxes 71 to 74 in the present example) is mounted under the upper paper currency mechanism 1a. The conveyance route to the temporary housing 40 is caused to rise upward from the back of the paper currency discrimination part 30 to pass above the paper currency discrimination part 30 and is connected to the temporary housing 40. Thereby, that conveyance route and the conveyance route from the temporary housing 40 to the recycle boxes 71 to 74 under the upper paper currency mechanism 1a do not cross so more efficient implementation becomes possible.
In addition, paper currencies accumulated in the temporary housing 40 can be conveyed to the paper currency discrimination part 30 by the conveyance path 59 to be returned to the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 after discrimination. In addition, in the case where cancellation and the like of a deal occurs in the midst of the time of a deposit deal and the like, and in the case of returning the paper currencies accumulated in the temporary housing 40, the return paper currency can be counted and returned by the conveyance path 59. In addition, the conveyance path 59 will deprive of necessity of providing a separate conveyance route for conveying the paper currencies let out from the temporary housing 40 directly to the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20. Due to the necessity of the operation for conveying the paper currency let out from the temporary housing 40 to the paper currency discrimination part 30 through the conveyance paths 54, 53 and 52 with paper currency housing operations and the like, it is structurally difficult to switch to the side of the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 and the side of the conveyance path 54 immediately after a let-out operation from the temporary housing 40. However, by providing the conveyance path 59 in communication with the paper currency accumulation part 20c of the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 midway in the conveyance path 51b as described above, conveyance to the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 can be realized.
In addition, by reducing the height of the upper paper currency mechanism 1a in the upward and downward directions, while the height of the paper currency handling apparatus 1 in its entirety is kept as in the conventional cases, the height of the housing box 61 and the recycle boxes 71 to 74 can be increased to enable increase in housing amount of paper currency in the housing box 61 and the recycle boxes 71 to 74.
In addition, the reject box 60 is provided ahead of the paper currency sorting gate 50a. Thereby, after the conveyance path 52 saves the distance required for discrimination in the paper currency discrimination part 30, the paper currencies can be conveyed to the reject box 60.
Here, the above described example is configured by one-way conveyance path 51a from the front to the rear. However, this conveyance path 51a can be realized by a bi-directionally conveyable path. Thereby, the paper currencies remaining in the conveyance paths 51a, 51b and the like will become returnable to the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 by reversing the conveyance paths 51a, 51b and the like. In particular, for the conveyance path inside the paper currency discrimination part 30, it is necessary to narrow thickness of the conveyance path for performance of the sensor for discrimination. Therefore, in the case where a paper currency remains between the paper currency discrimination part 30 and the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20, rather than returning paper currencies to the deposit and withdrawal port through the paper currency discrimination part 30, by reversing the conveyance paths 51a and 51b to return the paper currencies directly to the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20, paper currencies become returnable to the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 in a more assured fashion. The paper currency handling apparatus 1 will be able to continue dealing by opening the shutter 20a on the upper surface to return paper currencies given back to the paper currency deposit and withdrawal port 20 to a user and to have the user to put in the paper currencies again.
In addition, in the above described example 1, the conveyance path 51a is provided midway with a paper currency sorting gate 50c connected to the conveyance path 57 to the lower paper currency mechanism 1b. The paper currency sorting gate 50c can be made movable in the forward and backward directions. Otherwise, a plurality of paper currency sorting gates 50c can be provided and divided at a plurality of sites.
Thereby, for the convenience of implementation to an apparatus such as an automatic cash dealing apparatus 101, the case of an occurrence of necessity of displacing the implementation position of the upper paper currency mechanism 1a with respect to the lower paper currency mechanism 1b in the forward and backward directions can be easily dealt with by changing the position of the paper currency sorting gate 50c. For example,
The present invention will not be limited only to the configuration of the above described embodiment but a lot of embodiments can be obtained.
It should be further understood by those skilled in the art that although the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.
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