Patent Application
20120132505
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior International Application No. PCT/JP2009/002997 filed on Jun. 29, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a technique of conveying a paper sheet bundle in which one or more paper sheets are separably stacked, in a direction crossing the stacking direction of the paper sheets along a conveying path.
Paper sheet handling apparatuses that handle paper sheets are widely prevalent in the society. For example, paper sheet handling apparatuses that handle paper currencies as the paper sheets are widely prevalent as automated machine such as cash processors used in teller operations, automatic depositors (AD), or automatic teller machines (ATM).
A large part of the paper sheet handling apparatuses are configured to convey the paper sheets one by one. In recent years, some paper sheet handling apparatuses with a sheet bundle conveying apparatus mounted thereon have been put into commercial reality, the sheet bundle conveying apparatus conveying a paper sheet bundle in which one or more paper sheets are separably stacked, in a direction crossing the stacking direction of the paper sheets. A conventional sheet bundle conveying apparatus (paper sheet handling apparatus) is described in, for example, Patent Document 1. In the conventional sheet bundle conveying apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a carrier including a plurality of contact members (plates) for coming into contact with a paper sheet bundle to push the paper sheet bundle is moved on a conveying path, whereby the paper sheet bundle is conveyed.
In a configuration of the carrier 10, five push-out plates 12 are attached to a plate-like member 11 produced by bending a metal plate. With this configuration, when the carrier 10 is moved in a direction toward the paper sheet bundle P, the paper sheet bundle P is conveyed while being pushed by the push-out plates 12.
A standing piece 12a protruding downward is provided to a lower portion of each push-out plate 12, that is, a lower wall 22 side thereof. Similarly, a standing piece 12b protruding upward is provided to an upper portion of each push-out plate 12, that is, an upper wall 21 side thereof. Accordingly, a groove 22a having a shape for housing each standing piece 12a is formed on a conveying path 20 side surface of the lower wall 22, and similarly, a groove 21a having a shape for housing each standing piece 12b is formed on a conveying path 20 side surface of the upper wall 21.
The push-out plates 12 each need to avoid contact with the lower wall 22 and the upper wall 21. The paper sheet bundle P between the lower wall 22 and the upper wall 21 is conveyed with a bottom thereof being in contact with the lower wall 22. Depending on the number of paper sheets in the paper sheet bundle P, a state of each paper sheet, and the like, the topmost paper sheet may come into contact with the upper wall 21. This is because, if the number of paper sheets is large, the total thickness (hereinafter, the “thickness” is used to refer to the width in the stacking direction of the paper sheets in the stacking direction of the paper sheets, unless otherwise defined) is large, and even if the number of paper sheets is small, if a folded paper sheet exists, the total thickness may be increased by the folded paper sheet. For this reason, the standing piece 12a and the groove 22a, and the standing piece 12b and the groove 21a are provided in order to prevent the paper sheets from entering a gap between each push-out plate 12 and the lower wall 22 and a gap between each push-out plate 12 and the upper wall 21. In
The paper sheets in the paper sheet bundle P to be conveyed by the carrier 10 are not necessarily appropriately stacked. Some of the paper sheets may have a sticking-out portion in some cases. If the paper sheet having such a sticking-out portion exist in a lower portion of the paper sheet bundle P, part of the sticking-out portion may enter the gap L1. As illustrated in
Paper sheets located at the lower portion receive the weight of paper sheets located thereon. Accordingly, unlike paper sheets located at an upper portion of the paper sheet bundle P, the paper sheets located at the lower portion tend to have a stronger force for maintaining an original state thereof. For this reason, a sticking-out portion of the paper sheets located at the lower portion more easily enters any of the gaps L1 to L3 (hereinafter, collectively referred to as “gap L”).
The paper sheet that has partially entered the gap (space) L is stacked in an inappropriate state, and thus needs to be brought into a more appropriate state. Unfortunately, the placement of the paper sheet that has partially entered the gap L is less likely to be improved into a more appropriate state during the conveyance. This is because frictions are caused between the respective members of the push-out plates 12 and the lower wall 22 that define the gap L. When the carrier 10 is moved back after the conveyance, these frictions may bring the paper sheet that has partially entered the gap L, into a worse state (less aligned state).
The paper sheets not being aligned may cause not only a paper jam but also damage of the paper sheets in some cases. In view of the above, assuming that all paper sheets to be conveyed are not appropriately aligned, it is important to suppress a portion of the paper sheets not being aligned from entering the gap L between the members that come into contact with the paper sheet bundle.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-255407
Patent Document 2: Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 07-965
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-151009
Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-172710
According to a configuration to which the present invention is applied, a carrier includes one or more contact members that come into contact with a paper sheet bundle in which one or more paper sheets are stacked, to push the paper sheet bundle, and the paper sheet bundle is conveyed by the carrier along a conveying path. Suppressing unit that suppresses the paper sheet constituting the paper sheet bundle from passing through a gap existing between a constituent member and the contact members to enter on an inner side of the carrier, the constituent member forming a space of the conveying path, the paper sheet bundle pushed by the carrier coming into contact with the constituent member.
The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.
As illustrated in
The money deposit/withdrawal apparatus 200 conveys the paper currency bundle P inserted by a customer from a money deposit/withdrawal port 201, while maintaining the state of the paper currency bundle P when being inserted, to the upper apparatus 300. The money deposit/withdrawal apparatus 200 receives the paper currency bundle P to be delivered or returned from the upper apparatus 300, and conveys received paper currency bundle P to the money deposit/withdrawal port 201. Hereinafter, configurations and behaviors are described mainly assuming the case where the customer deposits money.
The paper currency bundle P from the money deposit/withdrawal apparatus 200 is conveyed to a feeding unit 301 of the upper apparatus 300. More specifically, the paper currency bundle P is conveyed to a lifting stage 301a of the feeding unit 301. The lifting stage 301a is movable in the up-down direction, and is moved downward after the paper currency bundle P is conveyed thereto. As a result, the paper currencies constituting the paper currency bundle P are fed and conveyed one by one by a feeding mechanism 301c provided below the feeding unit 301. A pusher 301b provided above the lifting stage 301a serves to apply an appropriate pressure to the paper currency bundle P on the lifting stage 301a. The pusher 301b is movable in the up-down direction so as to enable such pressure application.
Each paper currency fed from the feeding unit 301 is checked by a paper currency checking unit 302. In this checking, whether or not the paper currency is a genuine banknote is determined, and the money type of the genuine banknote is identified. A counterfeit paper currency, an unidentifiable paper currency, or a damaged paper currency is determined as an abnormal banknote.
The upper apparatus 300 is provided with three reject boxes 307 to 309. The upper apparatus 300 is provided with an escrow unit 303 and a reservoir unit 304 for temporarily housing the paper currencies inserted by the customer. A paper currency determined as a genuine banknote by the checking is conveyed to the escrow unit 303 using switching nails 311 and 313, and a paper currency determined as an abnormal banknote is conveyed to the reservoir unit 304 using the switching nails 311 and 313.
The escrow unit 303 and the reservoir unit 304 are each provided with a stage movable in the up-down direction. After the stage is lifted, the paper currencies (paper currency bundle P) housed in each of the escrow unit 303 and the reservoir unit 304 are conveyed to the feeding unit 301 or the money deposit/withdrawal apparatus 200 through a conveying path 305 by a sheet bundle conveying apparatus 306. At the time of depositing money, the paper currencies are conveyed to the feeding unit 301 if the customer gives, at the end, an instruction to deposit the money, and are conveyed to the money deposit/withdrawal apparatus 200 if the customer gives an instruction to cancel the operation. The present embodiment is implemented as the sheet bundle conveying apparatus 306.
The paper currencies in the paper currency bundle P conveyed to the feeding unit 301 are fed one by one to be checked again similarly to the above. A paper currency determined as an abnormal banknote by the checking is conveyed and housed into any of the reject boxes 307 to 309 using switching nails 312, 314, and 315. A paper currency determined as a genuine banknote is conveyed to the lower apparatus 400.
Four paper currency recycling cassettes 401 are mounted on the lower apparatus 400 in order to house the paper currencies on money type basis. Each cassette 401 is provided with a feeding/conveying mechanism 402 for feeding the paper currencies one by one and housing the same inside of the cassette 401. In addition, two switching nails 411 and 412 are provided in the conveying path for each cassette 401. With this configuration, each paper currency is conveyed and housed into the cassette 401 corresponding to the money type identified by the checking.
As illustrated in
In a configuration of the carrier 600, fives push-out plates 602 that come into contact with the paper currency bundle P when being conveyed are provided on an opposed side of a plate-like member 601 to the paper currency bundle P, the plate-like member 601 being produced by bending a metal plate punched into a predetermined shape. Hereinafter, for convenience, a contact side of each push-out plate 602 with the paper currency bundle P is referred to as a “front side”, and the opposite side thereof is referred to as a “back side”. The direction toward the front side is referred to as a “front-side direction” (or a “push-out direction”), and the opposite direction is referred to as a “back-side direction”.
Each push-out plate 602 is provided with a standing piece 602a protruding toward the lower wall 502 and a standing piece 602b protruding toward the upper wall 501. Accordingly, a groove 502b having a shape suited to that of each standing piece 602a is formed on a surface 502a of the lower wall 502 in accordance with a position of each standing piece 602a, and a groove 501b having a shape suited to that of each standing piece 602b is formed on a surface 501a of the upper wall 501 in accordance with a position of each standing piece 602b. 602c denotes a folded-back piece obtained by bending an upper portion of the metal plate forming the push-out plate 602. Such a folded-back piece exists also in a lower portion thereof.
Both ends of the plate-like member 601 are bent, and a roller 613 is attached to each of the ends. Rails 654 having a U-shape in cross-section are attached along the conveying path 305 in parallel with the conveying direction of the paper currency bundle P. The roller 613 is inserted into each rail 654. With this configuration, the use of the rails 654 suppresses unsteadiness, and the carrier 600 can be moved more smoothly.
Rollers 603 that come into contact with the surface 501a of the upper wall 501 are attached to the plate-like member 601. The rollers 603 are provided also in order to enable more smooth movement of the carrier 600.
In addition, totally four elastic members 614 that come into contact with the side walls 503 are attached to the plate-like member 601. The elastic members 614 serve to suppress the carrier 600 from moving in a direction in which the two side walls 503 face each other.
A plurality of cut-out parts 601a are provided at both the ends of the plate-like member 601. The cut-out parts 601a are provided in order to transmit power by means of bosses 651a protruding from each driving roller 651.
One or two pulleys 652 are attached to a shaft 655 coupled to each driving roller 651. A timing belt 653 is provided in a tense state between the pulleys 652 adjacent in the conveying direction. With this configuration, power from a power source (for example, stepping motor), which is not particularly illustrated, is transmitted to each driving roller 651 via the timing belt. The driving roller 651 is rotated by the power thus transmitted, and this rotation causes a change in position of the bosses 651a of the driving roller 651. Then, the power is transmitted to the carrier 600 along with this change in position, so that the carrier 600 is moved. During the movement of the carrier 600, the bosses 651a alternately repeat entrance into and exit from the cut-out parts 601a. The power is transmitted via the bosses 651a during a period between the entrance into and the exit from the cut-out parts 601a.
The configuration of the above-mentioned part is basically the same as that of the conventional sheet bundle conveying apparatus described in Patent Document 1. In this configuration, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The first and second elastic members 611a both serve as resistance (barrier) to an invasion of part of the paper currencies from the gap. The first elastic member 611a suppresses the paper currency from invading on the rear side of the push-out plate 602 from the gap, and the second elastic member 611a suppresses the paper currency that have entered from the gap from invading a deeper portion. Accordingly, the impeller 611 can suppress the paper currency from entering from the gap, without being rotated. This means that the conveyed paper currency bundle P can be positioned more appropriately in the feeding unit 301, that is, the paper currency bundle P in a more aligned state can be blocked with a higher accuracy.
When the impeller 611 is rotated in an arrow direction illustrated in
A force corresponding to the number (weight) of the paper currencies in the paper currency bundle P is applied to the paper currency that has entered from the gap. This force hinders the paper currency to which the second elastic member 611a applies the frictional force, from returning to the appropriate position. From this, the force that is applied by the other paper currencies to the paper currency to which the frictional force is applied may be reduced. This can be achieved, for example, in the following manner. Another impeller is provided at a portion that comes into contact with the paper currency bundle P, and the impeller is rotated in the same direction as the arrow illustrated in
As illustrated in
The two rollers 604 are respectively attached to both ends of a shaft 605. Gears 606 are attached to the shaft 605. With this configuration, the gears 606 are rotated by rotation of the rollers 604 in the same direction, and this rotation is transmitted to gears 607 respectively meshed with the gears 606.
Pulleys 608 are attached to a shaft 621 to which the gears 607 are attached. Similarly to the impellers 611, pulleys 610 are attached to a shaft 612, and a timing belt 609 is provided in a tense state between each pulley 608 and each pulley 610. With this configuration, as illustrated in
The above-mentioned configuration is adopted for a driving system of the impellers 611, that is, a unit (transmitting means) that rotates the impellers 611 using the rollers 604 as the power source. With the driving system as described above, however, when the carrier 600 is moved in the back-side direction, each impeller 611 is rotated in the opposite direction to the arrow direction illustrated in
The rotation in the opposite direction can be avoided by, for example, adopting a one-way clutch structure in which the gears 607 are rotated in only one direction. In addition, in the case where a configuration of a part A in
In a configuration illustrated in
Note that, in the present embodiment, the rollers 604 that are rotated along with the movement of the carrier 600 are used as the power source for the impellers 611, but a motor or the like may be used as the power source. In addition, the impellers 611 are used for two purposes of: suppressing the paper currency from invading from the gap; and eliminating the paper currency that has invaded from the gap, but may be used for, for example, only the latter purpose. The invasion of the paper currency from the gap may be suppressed by providing an elastic member so as to block the gap. Accordingly, a component (member) used for suppressing the paper currency from entering from the gap is not limited to the impeller. In this way, various modifications are possible. In addition, the configuration of the carrier 600 including the push-out plates 602 is not limited to the present embodiment. The paper sheet handling apparatus is not limited to an apparatus that handles paper currencies, such as the ATM.
In the present embodiment, the elastic members 611a of each impeller 611 come into contact with the paper currency that has entered from the gap (space) generated between the lower end of each push-out plate 612 and the surface 502a of the lower wall 502, and apply the frictional force to the paper currency. Because the gap is extremely small, the elastic members 611a come into contact with a portion of the paper currency in most cases, the portion having passed through the gap from the paper currency bundle P and entered on a deeper side of the push-out plate 612 (an inner side of the carrier 600). Owing to the gap, the frictional force applied by the elastic members 611a to the paper currency acts so as to push out the paper currency toward the paper currency bundle P.
If the number of the paper currencies constituting the paper currency bundle P is relatively small, the paper currency to which this frictional force is applied can be expected to change to a more appropriate state. If the number thereof is large, however, the paper currency to which the elastic members 611a apply the frictional force cannot be expected too much to change to a more appropriate state, due to a frictional force generated between the paper currencies. Accordingly, the following modification may be made. Another embodiment in which the modification is made is specifically described with reference to
As illustrated in
The cut-out part 602d enables the elastic members 611a to be in contact with the paper currency bundle P for a longer time in a longer distance range than the gap generated between the lower end of each push-out plate 612 and the surface 502a of the lower wall 502. Because the elastic members 611a can be in contact in the longer distance range, as illustrated in
The force in the direction in which the paper currency bundle P is lifted upward can also be applied by providing a groove like the groove 502b in the lower wall 502, instead of providing the cut-out part 602d in the push-out plate 612. Such a groove or the cut-out part 602d does not necessarily need to be provided in all the impellers 611. That is, both of the impellers 611 provided with the groove or the cut-out part 602d and the impellers 611 not provided therewith may exist. In the case where both types of the impellers 611 exist, it is desirable to decide a shape, arrangement, and the like for each impeller 611 depending on whether or not the impeller 611 is provided with the groove or the cut-out part 602d.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2009/002997 | Jun 2009 | US |
| Child | 13336166 | US |
