Patent Application
20100295242
The present invention relates to a paper sheet processing apparatus (or paper handling apparatus) which is capable of performing an authenticity judgment for bills, cards, coupon tickets, and so on (hereafter collectively referred to as “paper sheet”).
In general, a bill processing apparatus, which is one of the embodiments of the paper sheet processing apparatus, is incorporated into a service device such as a game medium rental machine installed in a game hall, a vending machine or a ticket-vending machine installed in a public space, or the like which identifies the validity of a bill inserted from a bill insertion slot by a user and provides various types of products and services in accordance with a value of the bill having been judged as valid.
Recently, it is also seen that a coupon ticket or the like having an equivalent economic value to that of a bill is issued in a game hall and processed by a bill processing apparatus which handles a regular bill. As such a coupon ticket, what has a bar code printed on a paper sheet (thermal paper) formed in the same size as that of a specific bill (typically, United States dollar bill) is known (i.e., a coupon ticket with a bar code) and it is possible for a user to be provided with equivalent services to those by the bill when the issued coupon ticket with the bar code is inserted, in the same manner as the bill, into the insertion slot of the bill processing apparatus which processes the bill.
Meanwhile, in such a way of using the bill processing apparatus, it is necessary for the abovementioned bill processing apparatus to be configured to be capable of judging the authenticity of the bill as well as such a bar-coded paper sheet. As such a bill processing apparatus, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration that a sensor device for reading a bill or a bar-coded paper sheet inserted into a bill insertion slot is installed in a bill traveling route.
This sensor device has optical sensors which are provided alongside a traveling route, and each of the respective optical sensors has a structure in which a light emitting diode and a light receiving transistor are installed in parallel in a case, and is configured to receive a light reflected on the bottom surface and top surface of each bill. Therefore, when the respective light emitting diodes of the optical sensors provided in parallel emit lights simultaneously, there is a concern that each light receiving transistor may be affected by the lights from the other light emitting diodes.
[Patent Reference 1] Japanese patent No. 3320806
Then, here, a paper sheet processing apparatus capable of accurately reading a paper sheet serving as an identification object is provided.
In the present invention, a paper sheet processing apparatus comprises: a first sensor having a first light emitting part which irradiates an identification object with light and a first light receiving part which receives the light from the first light emitting part, and a second sensor having a second light emitting part which irradiates the identification object with light in a direction of irradiation different from that of the first light emitting part and a second light receiving part which receives the light from the second light emitting part. Further features of the present invention, its nature, and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following description of the preferred embodiment.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
A bill processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is so configured that it can be incorporated into, for example, various types of gaming machines such as a slot machine and the like, and the bill processing apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 2 and a housing part (e.g., stacker or cashbox) 100 which is provided to the apparatus main body 2 and is capable of stacking and housing a great number of bills. Here, the housing part 100 may be mountable to and demountable from the apparatus main body 2, and it is possible, for example, to remove from the apparatus main body 2 by pulling a handle 101 provided on the front face thereof in a state that a lock mechanism (not shown) is unlocked.
The above-mentioned bill processing apparatus 1 is configured to process, not only a bill, but also a paper sheet on which a bar code is printed so that the paper sheet may have an equivalent value to that of the bill. Such paper sheet on which the bar code is printed is made as a dedicated printer prints the bar code containing various types of information such as value information (information corresponding to the face value of the bill), issued date information, issued location information, and the like on a piece of paper formed in the same size as the bill, and the bill processing apparatus 1 is configured to judge the authenticity of the bill as well as the authenticity of such paper sheet on which the bar code is printed with bill reading means to be described later. That is, the bill processing apparatus 1 is configured to be capable of handling the paper sheet on which a dedicated bar code is printed as well the bill.
As shown in
Also, in the apparatus main body 2, a bill conveyance mechanism 6 that conveys a bill along a bill traveling route 3; an insertion detecting sensor 7 that detects the bill inserted into the bill insertion slot 5; bill reading means (first sensor) 8 that is installed on a downstream side of the insertion detecting sensor 7 and reads out information on the bill and the paper sheet on which the bar code is printed in a traveling sate; a skew correction mechanism 10 that accurately positions and conveys the bill with respect to the bill reading means 8; a movable piece passage detecting sensor 12 that detects that the bill passes through a pair of movable pieces constituting the skew correction mechanism; a bar code sensor (second sensor) 88 that is capable of reading out a bar code on the bill having been inserted as a printed face thereof is on a top face side when the bar code on the bill cannot be read out by the bill reading means 8; and a discharge detecting sensor 18 that detects that the bill is discharged into a bill housing part 100 are provided.
Hereafter, the respective components described above will be described in detail. The bill traveling route 3 extends from the bill insertion slot 5 toward the inside, and comprises a first traveling route 3A and a second traveling route 3B extending from the first traveling route 3A toward the downstream side and being inclined downwardly at a predetermined angle to the first traveling route 3A. The second traveling route 3B is bent in a vertical direction on the downstream side and a discharge slot 3a from which the bill is discharged into the bill housing part 100 is formed at an end portion on the downstream side such that the bill discharged from the discharge slot 3a is fed into a feed port (receiving port) 103 of the bill housing part 100 in the vertical direction.
The bill conveyance mechanism 6 is a mechanism capable of conveying the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot 5 along the insertion direction, and of conveying back the bill in an insertion state toward the bill insertion slot 5. The bill conveyance mechanism 6 comprises a motor 13 (refer to
The conveyor roller pairs are installed so as to be partially exposed on the bill traveling route 3, and all the pairs are constituted of driving rollers of the conveyor rollers 14B, 15B, 16B, and 17B installed on the underside of the bill traveling route 3 driven by the motor 13; and pinch-rollers of the conveyor rollers 14A, 15A, 16A, and 17A installed on the upperside and driven by the these driving rollers. In addition, the conveyor roller pair (14A and 14B) to first nip and hold therebetween the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot 5, and to convey the bill toward the back side, as shown in
Further, the conveyor roller pair (14A and 14B) disposed in the vicinity of the bill insertion slot 5 is usually in a state that the upper conveyor roller 14A is spaced from the lower conveyor roller 14B, and the upper conveyor roller 14A is driven to move toward the lower conveyor roller 14B to nip and hold the inserted bill therebetween when insertion of the bill is sensed by the insertion detecting sensor 7.
Thus, the upper conveyor roller 14A is controllably driven to be pressed against or spaced from the lower conveyor roller 14B by a motor 70 (refer to
Further, the skew correction mechanism 10 comprises a pair of right and left movable pieces 10A (only one side is shown) such that the pair of right and left movable pieces 10A are moved to get closer with each other by driving a motor 40 for a skew driving mechanism, whereby the skew correction process is performed for the bill.
The conveyor rollers 14B, 15B, 16B and 17B installed on the underside of the bill traveling route 3 are, as shown in
In accordance with the configuration described above, when the motor 13 is driven to normally rotate, the conveyor rollers 14B, 15B, 16B, and 17B are driven to normally rotate in synchronization therewith to convey the bill toward the insertion direction. When the motor 13 is driven to reversely rotate, the conveyor rollers 14B, 15B, 16B, and 17B are driven to reversely rotate in synchronization therewith to convey back the bill toward the bill insertion slot 5 side.
The insertion detecting sensor 7 is to generate a detection signal when a bill inserted into the bill insertion slot 5 is detected. And when the detection signal is generated, the motor 13 is driven in a normal direction and the bill is conveyed in the insertion direction. The insertion detecting sensor 7 of this embodiment is installed between the pair of conveyor rollers (14A and 14B) and the skew correction mechanism 10 and comprises, for example, an optical sensor such as a regressive reflection type photo sensor. However, the insertion detecting sensor 7 may comprise a mechanical sensor other than the optical sensor.
Further, the movable piece passage detecting sensor 12 is to generate a sensed signal when it is sensed that a front end of the bill passes through a pair of right and left movable pieces 10A constituting the skew correction mechanism 10, and when the detection signal is generated, the driving by the motor 13 is stopped such that the skew correction is made. The movable piece passage detecting sensor 12 of this embodiment is disposed on the upstream side from the bill reading means 8 and also comprises an optical sensor or a mechanical sensor in the same way as mentioned before with respect to the insertion detecting sensor.
Further, the discharge detecting sensor 18 is to detect a back end of the bill passing through such that it is detected that the bill is discharged into the bill housing part 100. The discharge detecting sensor 18 is disposed just in front of the receiving port 103 of the bill housing part 100 on the downstream side of the second traveling route 3B. When the detection signal is transmitted from the discharge detecting sensor 18, the driving by the motor 13 is stopped and the conveyance processing of the bill is terminated. The discharge detecting sensor 18 also comprises an optical sensor or a mechanical sensor in the same way as the aforementioned insertion detecting sensor.
The bill reading means (first sensor) 8 reads bill information (bar code information) on the bill (paper sheet on which a bar code is printed) conveyed in a state that the skew is eliminated by the skew correction mechanism 10, and determines the validity (authenticity). In this embodiment, the bill reading means 8, which is installed in the above-mentioned first traveling route 3A, comprises a line sensor which irradiates the bill (paper sheet on which a bar code is printed) being conveyed from top and bottom sides thereof with light such that transmitted light and reflected light thereof are detected by a light receiving element so as to perform reading.
The bill authenticity identification process according to this embodiment is performed by letting light emitting means irradiate light having a predetermined wavelength to a printed area on a surface of the bill being conveyed, acquiring transmitted-light data of the light transmitted through the bill and reflected-light data of the light reflected by the bill, and comparing such data with the reference data of the legitimate bill having stored in advance such that the identification accuracy may be improved.
Here, a concrete bill authenticity identification method will not be written in detail since it is possible to acquire various kinds of received-light data (transmitted-light data and reflected-light data) depending on the wavelengths of the irradiated lights to the bill and the irradiated areas of the bill. However, for example, in a watermarked area of the bill, if an image on the area is viewed with lights of different wavelengths, the image appears greatly different depending on the lights. Therefore, it can be considered that the bill to become an identification object is identified as the legitimate bill or the counterfeit bill by setting this portion as the specified area, acquiring transmitted-light data and reflected-light data from the specified area, and comparing such data with legitimate data from the same specified area of the legitimate bill having been stored in advance in storage means (ROM). At this time, provided that specified areas are predetermined according to the kind of the bill, predetermined weighting may be applied to the transmitted-light data and the reflected-light data from this specified area, thereby enabling improvement of the authenticity identification accuracy.
Concretely, the bill reading means 8 has a light emitting unit 8A which is installed on the side of the open/close member 2B and provided with a transmission light emitting part (first light emitting part) 8a capable of irradiating the upper side of the bill to be conveyed with the light, and a light receiving/emitting unit 8B which is installed on the side of the main body frame 2A.
The light receiving/emitting unit 8B has a light receiving part (first light receiving part) 8b which is provided with a light receiving sensor (to be configured as a line sensor in this embodiment) facing the first light emitting part 8a across the bill, and reflection light emitting parts 8c which are installed adjacently on the both sides of the light receiving part 8b along the bill traveling direction.
The transmission light emitting part (first light emitting part) 8a so arranged as to face the light receiving part 8b works as a light source for transmission for a bill to be conveyed. As shown in
The light receiving part 8b of the light receiving/emitting unit 8B is formed in a thin-walled plate shape having a band shape extending in a lateral direction of the bill traveling route 3 and having a width to an extent that the sensitivity of the light receiving sensor (not shown) provided in the light receiving part 8a is not affected. In addition, the light receiving sensor is configured as a so-called line sensor in which a plurality of CCDs (Charge Coupled Devices) are provided linearly in the center in the thickness direction of the light receiving part 8b, and a GRIN lens array is disposed linearly above these CCDs so as to collect the transmitted light and the reflected light. Therefore, it is possible to receive the transmitted light or the reflected light emitted from the transmission light emitting part 8a or the reflection light emitting parts 8c such that the bill serving as the object for the authenticity judgment is irradiated, and generate contrasting density data according to its luminance (pixel data containing information of brightness) as the received-light data and a two-dimensional image on the basis of the contrasting density data.
Also, the reflection light emitting part 8c of the light receiving/emitting unit 8B may, in a similar manner as with the transmission light emitting part 8a, be constituted of a rectangular bar-like body made of synthetic resin that can irradiate light entirely and equally from an LED element attached to its one end via a light guiding body. The reflection light emitting parts 8c are also configured to be linearly installed in parallel with the light receiving part 8b (line sensor).
The reflection light emitting parts 8c are capable of irradiating a bill with light at a predetermined angle of elevation, and are installed to eventually receive a reflected light from the bill in the direction D1 in
In addition, the configuration, the arrangement, and the like of the light emitting unit 8A and the light receiving/emitting unit 8B as described above are not limited to those described in this embodiment, and may be modified as appropriate.
Further, the bar code sensor (second sensor) 88 is installed in the second traveling route 3B formed to be bent to the first traveling route 3A, and more specifically is disposed between the conveyor roller pair (16A and 16B) and the conveyor roller pair (17A and 17B), and is constituted of an optical type of reflective photo sensor. This bar code sensor 88 is, as shown in
Further, the bar code sensor (second sensor) 88 has, as described above, a function of reading the bar code when the bar code on the paper sheet to be conveyed cannot be read out by the bill reading means (first sensor) 8 (for the bar code of the paper sheet inserted as a printed surface thereof is set on the upper side). Further, the bar code sensor 88 may also have other functions than that of reading the bar code. For example, as will be described later, a function of monitoring a movement of the bill waiting in an escrow position or the paper sheet on which the bar code is printed may be provided thereto in addition to the above function.
The bill housing part 100 which houses the above-described bill and the like is so configured as to stack and house sequentially bills (including paper sheets on which bar codes are printed) identified as being genuine by the bill reading means 8.
As shown in
In the main body frame 100A, a press standby part 108 that keeps a dropping bill as it falls is provided so as to continuously communicate with the receiving port 103. A pair of regulatory members 110 are disposed on both sides of the press standby part 108, respectively, the regulatory members 110 extending in a vertical direction. An opening is formed between the pair of regulatory members 110 such that the presser plate 115 passes through the opening as bills are successively stacked onto the placing plate 105.
Further, protruding walls are formed on both side walls inside the main body frame 100A such that the placing plate 105 may hit and contact thereon when the placing plate is pressed by the biasing means 106. When the placing plate is biased back by the biasing means 106 after bills are sequentially stacked on the placing plate 105, the protruding walls take a holding role to stably hold the stacked bills by hitting and contacting both sides of a surface of an uppermost bill M1 of the stacked bills.
Further, the presser plate 115 that presses toward the placing plate 105 a bill falling into the press standby part 108 from the receiving port 103 is installed in the main body frame 100A. The presser plate 115 is formed in such a size that it may be capable of reciprocating through an opening formed between the pair of regulatory members 110, and gets into the opening so as to be driven to reciprocate between a position where the bills are pressed against the placing plate 105 (a pressing position) and another position where the press standby part 108 is opened (an initial position). In this case, the bill passes through the opening as being flexibly bent in a pressing operation of the presser plate 115 and is then placed on the placing plate 105.
The presser plate 115 is driven to reciprocate as described above via a presser plate driving mechanism 120 installed in the main body frame 100A. The presser plate driving mechanism 120 comprises a pair of link members 115a and 115b having respective ends thereof supported pivotally by the presser plate 115 so as to allow the presser plate 115 to reciprocate in an arrow A direction in
As shown in
As a result therefrom, the presser plate 115 is driven to reciprocate in the arrow A direction as the motor 20 installed in the apparatus main body 2 is driven to rotate so as to drive the main body side train 21 and in turn the presser plate driving mechanism 120 (the housing part side gear train 124, the rack installed onto the movable member 122, and the link members 115a, 115b, etc.).
Conveyor members 150 which are capable of touching the bill conveyed-in from the receiving port 103 are installed in the main body frame 100A. The conveyor members 150 take their own role to contact the bill conveyed-in so as to stably guide the bill to an appropriate position in the press standby part 108 (position where the bill can be stably pressed without causing the bill to be moved to the right or left side when the bill is pressed by the presser plate 115). In this embodiment, the conveyor members are constituted of belt-like members (hereafter called belts 150) installed so as to face the press standby part 108.
In this case, the belts 150 are installed so as to extend along the conveying-in direction with respect to the bill, and are wrapped around the pair of pulleys 150A and 150B supported rotatably on both ends in the conveying-in direction. Further, the belts 150 contact a conveyor roller 150C extending in an axis direction which is supported rotatably in the region of the receiving port 103, and the belts 150 and the conveyor roller 150C nip and hold the bill conveyed-in the receiving port 103 therebetween to guide the bill directly to the press standby part 108. Moreover, in this embodiment, the pair of belts 150 are provided on the right and left sides, respectively, across the above-described presser plate 115 in order to be capable of contacting the surface on left and right sides of the bill. Here, the belts 150 may be prevented from loosening by not only being wrapped around the pulleys 150A and 150B at the both ends, but also causing tension pulleys to push the belts 150 at the intermediate positions, respectively.
The pair of belts 150 are configured to be driven by the motor 13 that drives the above-described plurality of conveyor rollers installed in the apparatus main body 2. In detail, as shown in
As described above, when the bill is inserted into the inside via the bill insertion slot 5, the bill is moved inside the bill traveling route 3 by the bill conveyance mechanism 6. As shown in
Next, control means 200 that controls the driving of the bill conveyance mechanism 6, the bill reading means (first sensor) 8, a bar code sensor (second sensor) 88, and the like as mentioned above will be described with reference to a block diagram of
The control means 200 as shown in a block diagram of
In the ROM 212, permanent data such as various types of programs such as an authenticity judgment program in the authenticity judging part, operation programs for the respective drive units such as the motor 13 for the bill conveyance mechanism, the motor 20 for the presser plate, the motor 40 for the skew correction mechanism, and the roller up-and-down motor 70 for lifting up and down rollers, and the like are stored.
The CPU 210 operates according to the programs stored in the ROM 212, and carries out input and output of the signals with respect to the respective drive units described above via an I/O port 220, so as to perform the entire operational control of the bill processing apparatus. That is, the motor 13 for the bill conveyance mechanism, the motor 20 for the presser plate, the motor 40 for the skew correction mechanism, the roller up-and-down motor 70, and the transmission light emitting part 8a and the reflection light emitting part 8c of the above-mentioned bill reading means 8 are connected to the CPU 210 via the I/O port 220. The operations of these drive units are controlled by control signals transmitted from the CPU 210 in accordance with the operation programs stored in the ROM 212.
Further, the CPU 210 is so configured that detection signals from the insertion detecting sensor 7, the movable piece passage detecting sensor 12, the discharge detecting sensor 18, and the bar code sensor (second sensor) 88 are input into the CPU 210 via the I/O port 220, and the driving of the respective drive units is controlled based on these detection signals.
Moreover, a detection signal based on a transmitted light or a reflected light of the light which is irradiated to the bill or the bill on which the bar-code is printed (identification object), is input to the CPU 210 via the I/O port 220 from the first light receiving part 8b in the above-mentioned bill reading means (first sensor) 8, and the detection signal is compared with the reference data stored in the reference data storage part 216 to execute the authenticity judgment process for the bill or the paper sheet on which the bar-code is printed. Further, a detection signal about the bar code of the paper sheet to be conveyed with the bar code on the top surface is also input to the CPU 210 via the I/O port 220 from the second light receiving part 88b of the bar code sensor (second sensor), and the detection signal is compared with the reference data stored in the reference data storage part 216 to execute the authenticity judgment process for the paper sheet on which the bar-code is printed.
The RAM 214 stores data and programs used for the CPU 210 to operate, and the reference data storage part 216 stores reference data used for executing the authenticity judgment process for the bill or the paper sheet on which the bar-code is printed. Here, the reference data is stored in the dedicated reference data storage part 216. However, the data may be stored in the ROM 212.
Next, the bill processing operation in the bill processing apparatus 1 executed by the control means 200 will be described according to the flowcharts of
When an operator inserts a bill or a paper sheet on which a bar code is printed (hereinafter, these are referred to as “paper sheet”) into the bill insertion slot 5, the conveyor roller pair (14A and 14B) installed in the vicinity of the bill insertion slot is in a state that the rollers are spaced from each other in an initial stage (refer to ST17 and ST56 to be described later). Further, with respect to the presser plate 115, the pair of link members 115a, 115b driving the presser plate 115 are positioned in the press standby part 108, and the pair of link members 115a, 115b prevent the paper sheet from being conveyed into the press standby part 108 from the receiving port 103. That is, in this state, the presser plate 115 is brought into the opening formed between the pair of regulatory members 110 such that the condition is so made as to prevent the paper sheets stored in the bill housing part from being drawn out through the opening.
Moreover, the pair of movable pieces 10A constituting the skew correction mechanism 10 located on the downstream side of the conveyor roller pair (14A, 14B) are in a state that the pair of movable pieces 10A are moved to leave the minimum open width therebetween (for example, an interval between the pair of movable pieces 10A is 52 mm; refer to ST16 and ST57 to be described later) so as to prevent the paper sheet from being drawn out in the initial stage.
In the initial state of the above-described pair of conveyor rollers (14A and 14B), it is possible for the operator to easily insert even a paper sheet having wrinkles into the paper sheet insertion slot 5. Then, when insertion of the paper sheet is detected by the insertion detecting sensor 7 (ST01), the driving motor 20 of the above-described presser plate 115 is driven to rotate reversely for a predetermined amount (ST02) to move the presser plate 115 to the initial position. That is, the presser plate 115 is in a state that the presser plate 115 is moved and remains in the opening formed between the pair of regulatory members 110 such that it is so arranged that the paper sheet cannot pass through the opening until the insertion of a paper sheet is detected by the insertion detecting sensor 7.
When the presser plate 115 is moved from the standby position to the initial position, the press waiting part 108 becomes in an open state (refer to
Further, the above-described roller up-and-down motor 70 is driven to move the upper conveyor roller 14A so as to make a contact with the lower conveyor roller 14B. In accordance therewith, the inserted paper sheet is nipped and held therebetween by the pair of conveyor rollers (14A and 14B) (ST03).
Next, a traveling route opening process is conducted (ST04). The opening process is conducted by driving the pair of movable pieces 30A, 30B to move in separating directions so as to become apart with each other as the motor 40 for the skew correction mechanism is driven to rotate reversely as shown in the flow chart of
Next, the bill conveyor motor 13 is driven to rotate normally (ST05). The paper sheet is conveyed into the inside of the apparatus by the conveyor roller pair (14A and 14B), and when the movable piece passage detecting sensor 12 installed on the downstream side from the skew correction mechanism 10 detects the leading end of the paper sheet, the bill conveyor motor 13 is stopped (STO6 and ST07). At this time, the paper sheet is located between the pair of movable pieces 10A constituting the skew correction mechanism 10.
Next, the above-described roller un-and-down motor 70 is driven to allow the conveyor roller pair (14A and 14B) holding the paper sheet therebetween to become apart from each other (ST08). At this time, the paper sheet is in a state that no load is applied.
Then, a skew correction operating process is executed as the paper sheet remains in this state (ST09). The skew correction operating process is conducted by driving the motor 40 for the skew correction mechanism to rotate normally to drive the pair of movable pieces 10A to get closer with each other. That is, in this skew correction operating process, as shown in the flowchart of
When the skew correction operating process as described above is completed, a traveling route opening process is subsequently executed (ST10). This process is conducted by moving the pair of movable pieces 10A in separating directions as the above-described motor 40 for the skew correction mechanism is driven to rotate reversely (refer to ST100 to ST102 of
Next, the above-described roller up-and-down motor 70 is driven to move the upper conveyor roller 14A to contact the lower conveyor roller 14B, and the paper sheet is nipped and held between the pair of conveyor rollers (14A and 14B) (ST11). Thereafter, the bill conveyor motor 13 is driven to rotate normally to convey the paper sheet into the inside of the apparatus, and when the paper sheet passes through the bill reading means 8, a reading process of the paper sheet is executed (ST12 and ST13). Further, in accordance therewith, the bar code sensor 88 starts reading the paper sheet (ST14).
Then, when the paper sheet to be conveyed passes through the paper sheet reading means 8, and the trailing end of the paper sheet is detected by the movable piece detecting sensor 12 (ST15), a process for closing the bill traveling route 3 is executed (ST17). In this process, first, as shown in the flowchart of
With this traveling route closing process, the pair of movable pieces 10A are moved to the positions of the minimum open width (width of 52 mm) narrower than the width of any paper sheet allowed to be inserted, thereby effectively preventing the paper sheet from being drawn out. That is, by executing such a bill traveling route closing process, an opening distance between the movable pieces 10A is made shorter than the width of the inserted paper sheet, thereby enabling the effective prevention of an action of drawing-out the paper sheet in the direction toward the insertion slot by the operator for illicit purposes.
In addition, when the movable piece detecting sensor as described above detects the movement of the movable pieces 10A in this state, it may be considered that the operator is committing some fraudulent activities such that a predetermined processes may be executed. For example, a fraudulent manipulated signal (an anomaly sensed signal) may be transmitted to a higher-level apparatus that manages the operations of the bill processing apparatus, or an annunciator lamp may be provided on the bill processing apparatus, and this lamp may blink, or without activating a process for input acceptance (ST23) input by another operator thereafter, a process in which a discharge operation or the like is forcibly conveyed out may be executed. Or, appropriate processes such as canceling the operation of the bill processing apparatus (for example, a process for stopping the processing, a process for discharging the bill, and the like) and the like may be executed.
Further, in succession to the traveling route closing process described above (ST16), a conveyor roller pair spacing process is executed such that the above-mentioned roller up-and-down motor 70 is driven to make the conveyor roller pair (14A, 14B) having been in a state capable of nipping and holding the paper sheet therebetween separate from each other (ST17). By executing the conveyor roller pair spacing process, even if the operator additionally inserts (double insertion) another paper sheet by mistake, the paper sheet is not subject to a feeding operation by the conveyor roller pair (14A, 14B) and hits front ends of the pair of movable pieces 10A in a closed state according to ST16 such that it is possible to reliably prevent the operation of paper sheet double-insertion.
Along with the bill traveling route closing process, when the bill reading means 8 reads the data up to the trailing end of the paper sheet, the bill conveyor motor 13 is driven for a predetermined amount and stops the paper sheet in a predetermined position (an escrow position; a position where the paper sheet is conveyed toward the downstream by 13 mm from the center position of the bill reading means 8), and at this time, an authenticity judgment process of the paper sheet is executed by referring to the legitimate data stored in the reference data storage part 216 of the aforementioned control means 200 (ST18 to ST21).
In addition, this escrow position is defined as a position where the bar code sensor 88 can complete reading of the bar code of the paper sheet inserted as the printed bar code is on the upper face, and detect the paper sheet.
Then, in the authenticity judgment process in ST21 described above, when the paper sheet is judged as the legitimate one (ST22; Yes), an input from the operator is received (ST23). This input corresponds to an acceptance operation in which the operator presses an acceptance button in order to accept provision of services (for example, an acceptance process according to the start of a game in the case of a gaming unit), and a process in which the operator presses a return button in order to execute a process for returning the inserted paper sheet.
Further, during execution of the processes in ST22 and ST23, an interrupt process as shown in
As described above, in a state that the paper sheet is stopped and staying at the escrow position, it is likely that a fraudulent activity may be committed. However, when a movement of the paper sheet is detected at the escrow position by the bar code sensor 88, the operation of the conveyance mechanism 6 may be cancelled or disabled such that it can be reliably prevent such a fraudulent activity.
Then, when an operation to accept the provision of various types of services is input (ST24; Yes), the bill conveyor motor 13 is consecutively driven to rotate normally to convey the paper sheet in this state toward the bill housing part 100 (ST25).
In the process of ST25, the bar code sensor 88 has detected an existence of the identification object (ST26), and when the existence of the paper sheet is not recognized at the stage of a conveying process for the paper sheet (within a period of time of a movement of the paper sheet), it is judged that the paper sheet has been drawn out or the like, and a process of cancelling and disabling the operation of the apparatus (ST26; No., ST40) is executed. This process of cancelling and disabling corresponds to a process of stopping the operation of the conveyance mechanism 6 so as to be incapable of conveying a paper sheet, a discharge operation for the paper sheet, stopping of a transaction process with higher-level apparatuses, and the like. Further, in the process of ST25, since the period of time of the movement of the paper sheet from the bar code sensor 88 is specified, the period has been detected (ST27), and when the bar code sensor 88 detects the presence of the identification object after the time passes (ST27; Yes), it is judged that the paper sheet is jammed, a process of cancelling and disabling the operation of the apparatus as described above is executed (ST28; No, ST40).
In this way, in this embodiment, the bar code sensor 88 has a function to detect the existence of a paper sheet, and the operation of the conveyance mechanism 6 is cancelled and disabled on the basis of a detection result from the bar code sensor 88 and the time in which a paper sheet is moved by the conveyance mechanism 6 to pass through the bar code sensor 88, by the above-described control means 200.
That is, in considering that a period of time for the paper sheet to pass can be specified by the bar code sensor 88 when the paper sheet is moved, the operation of the conveyance mechanism 6 is cancelled and disabled if the bar code sensor 88 detects the existence of the paper sheet even after the specified period of time or if the paper sheet cannot be detected within the passing period of time. Accordingly, it is possible to detect jamming of the paper sheet, or effectively prevent a fraudulent activity such as an activity of drawing out the paper sheet.
Then, when the paper sheet is conveyed in the above-mentioned process of ST25, the bill conveyor motor 13 is driven to rotate normally until the trailing end of the paper sheet is detected by the discharge detecting sensor 18 (ST29), and after the trailing end of the paper sheet is detected by the discharge detecting sensor 18, the bill conveyor motor 13 is driven to rotate normally for the predetermined amount (ST30 and ST31).
The process for driving the bill conveyor motor 13 to rotate normally in ST30 and ST31 corresponds to a driving amount for which the paper sheet is conveyed in the receiving port 103 of the bill housing part 100 from the discharge slot 3a on the downstream side of the bill traveling route 3 of the apparatus main body 2 so that the pair of belts 150 contact the surface on both sides of the conveyed-in bill to guide it stably to the press standby part 108. That is, by further driving the bill conveyor motor 13 to rotate normally for a predetermined amount after the trailing end of the paper sheet is detected by the discharge detecting sensor 18, the pair of belts 150 contact the paper sheet conveyed-in and are driven in the feeding direction so as to guide the paper sheet in a stable state to the press standby part 108.
Then, after the above-described bill conveyor motor 13 is stopped, the process for driving the presser plate 115 is executed (ST32) such that the paper sheet is placed on the placing plate 105. And, after the pressing process is completed, the presser plate 115 is again moved to the standby position and stopped to the position.
Further, in the above-mentioned process of ST22, when the paper sheet is judged as a non-legitimate one (ST22; No) or the operator presses the return button (ST24; No), a traveling route opening process is executed (ST51, refer to ST100 to ST102 of
According to the above-mentioned configuration of the bill processing apparatus 1, it is possible to judge the authenticity of the identification object to be conveyed in the traveling route based on the detection results by the first sensor 8 and the second sensor 88. In this case, since the light emitting part (first light emitting part 8a) of the first sensor 8 and the light emitting part (second light emitting part 88a) of the second sensor 88 have different irradiation directions as shown by the arrows D1 and D2 in
In particular, in this embodiment, since the first sensor 8 is installed in the first traveling route 3A, and the second sensor 88 is installed in the second traveling route 3B which is inclined at a predetermined angle to the first traveling route 3A, it is possible to easily change the irradiation directions of the first light emitting part 8a of the first sensor and the second light emitting part 88a of the second sensor 88. Further, since it is difficult for the light from the light emitting part of one of the sensors to reach the light receiving part of the other sensor due to its bent portion, it is possible to more effectively suppress the interference of light whereby the identification object can be read accurately.
As mentioned above, the embodiment of the present invention is described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications of the present invention can be implemented. In the present invention, it suffices that the irradiation direction D1 of the light emitting part of the first sensor 8 and the irradiation direction D2 of the light emitting part of the second sensor are arranged to be different and its specific authenticity identification method, and the types and the installation conditions of the light sources to be used may be modified as appropriate. Further, the driving sources that drive various types of driving members installed in the bill processing apparatus or the power transmission mechanism from the driving sources may be appropriately modified.
According to the bill processing apparatus 1 of the above-mentioned embodiment, it is possible to judge the authenticity of the identification object to be conveyed in the traveling route based on the detection results by the first sensor and the second sensor. In this case, since the light emitting part of the first sensor and the light emitting part of the second sensor have different irradiation directions, when the first light receiving part and the second light receiving part receive lights, the light interference is suppressed whereby the identification object can be read accurately.
Further, the apparatus comprises: a traveling route through which the identification object is conveyed, and the traveling route has a first traveling route and a second traveling route inclined at a predetermined angle to the first traveling route, and a first sensor may be installed in the first traveling route and a second sensor may be installed in the second traveling route.
According to such a configuration, since the second traveling route is bent from the first traveling route, by installing the second sensor in the second traveling route, it is possible to easily change the irradiation directions of the first light emitting part of the first sensor and the second light emitting part of the second sensor.
Further, the apparatus comprises: a conveyance mechanism which conveys and moves the identification object, and the control means for controlling the conveyance mechanism, and wherein the second sensor has a function to detect the existence of the identification object in the traveling route while the control means is capable of cancelling and disabling the operation of the conveyance mechanism based on the detection result from the second sensor and the period of time during which the identification object is moved by the conveyance mechanism to pass through the second sensor.
In such a configuration, it is possible to specify the passage time by the second sensor when the identification object is moved and passes through the portion. Once the second sensor detects the existence of the identification object and further the second sensor still detects the existence of the identification object even after the specified passage time, the operation of the conveyance mechanism is cancelled (disabled). Therefore, it is possible to detect jamming of the identification object, or effectively prevent a fraudulent activity such as an activity of drawing out the identification object.
Further, the apparatus comprises: a conveyance mechanism which conveys and moves the identification object, and control means which controls the conveyance mechanism, and wherein the control means is capable of cancelling (disabling) the operation of the conveyance mechanism when the second sensor detects a movement of the identification object supposedly staying at an escrow position, the identification object having been read by the first sensor and stopped thereat.
In such a configuration, after the reading of the identification object is completed by the first sensor, the identification object is conveyed toward the downstream side and then stopped at the escrow position until a predetermined process is completed thereat. In this state, when the second sensor detects a movement of the identification object, it is considered that a fraudulent process such as a drawing out activity is executed, and a process of cancelling (disabling) the operation of the conveyance mechanism is executed. That is, in a state that the identification object is stopped and staying at the escrow position, it is likely that a fraudulent activity may be committed. However, when a movement of the paper sheet is detected at the escrow position by the second sensor, the operation of the conveyance mechanism may be cancelled (disabled) such that it can be reliably prevent such a fraudulent activity.
As described above, the paper sheet processing apparatus capable of accurately reading the identification object may be provided.
The present invention can be incorporated into various types of apparatuses to provide products and services by inserting a bill thereinto, for example.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 015304 | Jan 2008 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2009/051127 | 1/23/2009 | WO | 00 | 7/23/2010 |
