GB2466688A

GB2466688A - An adjustable bill slot panel

Info

Publication number: GB2466688A
Application number: GB0913441A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sheng-Yen Tsao; Ya-Hui Yang
Original assignee: International Currency Technologies Corp
Current assignee: International Currency Technologies Corp
Priority date: 2009-01-05
Filing date: 2009-07-31
Publication date: 2010-07-07
Also published as: DE202009011196U1; GB0913441D0; ITRM20090202U1

Abstract

An adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2 includes a bill slot panel 21 in communication with a bill passage (11, Fig 1) defined in a bill acceptor body (1, Fig 1) a sensor unit 22 having bill sensors 222 that sense the width of an inserted bill, an actuation mechanism 24 mounted in the bill slot panel 21 and carrying two adjustment members 243 that are movable relative to each other along slits 2111 at two sides of the bill slot panel 21, and a power drive 23 controllable by the bill sensors 222 to move the adjustment members 243 along the slits 2111 in adjusting the gap between the adjustment members 243 subject to the width of the inserted bill. The power drive 23 is preferably able to move a rack 241 back and forth which forces movement of the adjustment members by means of oblique sliding slots 2414. The sensors 222 detect when the inserted bill to larger than a predetermined width and actuates the power drive 23 and the actuation mechanism 24 accordingly to widen the bill slot. This means that bills input to the bill passage are aligned so are less likely to be crumpled or rejected.

Description

ADJUSTABLE BILL SLOT PANEL ASSEMBLY FOR BILL

ACCEPTOR

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates to bill acceptors and more particularly, to an adjustable bill slot panel assembly for bill acceptor, which detects the width of the inserted bill and automatically adjusts the width of the bill slot subject to the width of the inserted bill for enabling the inserted bill to be guided into the bill passage smoothly.

2. Description of the Related Art:

Following fast development of technology, our mode of living has been changed, and non-shop business has become popular. Nowadays, various automatic vending machines (card dispensers, ticket vending machines, coin exchanging machines, etc.), auto teller machines, bill acceptors are intensively used in public places. These machines save much labor cost, and bring convenience to consumers.

Further, to avoid receiving counterfeit bills, a bill acceptor has installed therein a recognition device for checking the authenticity of every inserted bill. Regular bill acceptors are commonly designed to accept one single type of bills. Further, the bill slot panels of conventional bill acceptors are not adjustable.

However, bills of different face values or from different countries have different sizes (lengths, widths, or thicknesses) and different anti-counterfeit characteristics. If the width of the bill slot panel of a bill acceptor does not fit the size of acceptable bills perfectly, a bill may be biased when it is inserted into the bill slot panel. The recognition device may reject a genuine bill being inserted into the bill slot panel in a biased manner. In this case, the user must insert the bill into the bill slot panel again.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide an adjustable bill slot panel assembly for bill acceptor that eliminates the aforesaid problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished to provide an adjustable bill slot panel assembly for bill acceptor, which eliminates the aforesaid problems.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the adjustable bill slot panel assembly comprises a bill slot panel in communication with a bill passage defined in a bill acceptor body, a sensor unit having bill sensors for sensing the width of an inserted bill, an actuation mechanism mounted in the bill slot panel and carrying two adjustment members that are movable relative to each other along slits at two sides of the bill slot, and a power drive controllable by the bill sensors to move the adjustment members

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along the slits in adjusting the gap between the adjustment members subject to the width of the inserted bill. Because the adjustable bill slot panel assembly automatically adjusts the width of the bill slot subject to the width of the bill being inserted therein, the inserted bill can be smoothly guided into the bill passage without wrinkle.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the adjustable bill slot panel assembly, the adjustment members block the slits, prohibiting insertion of an external object by an evil person to damage the internal component parts of the bill slot panel.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the adjustment members are respectively disposed at the inner ends of the slits and the motor drive does no work when a relatively smaller size of bill is inserted into the bill slot panel. Thus, the operation frequency of the power drive is minimized, prolonging the work life.

According to still another aspect of the preset invention, the sensor unit further comprises a displacement sensor adapted to detect the angle of rotation of the power drive and then the distance of displacement of the adjustment members can be driven from the rotation angle. The displacement sensor comprises an encoder wheel rotatable with the power drive, and an optical transmitter and receiver module adapted to detect the direction and angle of movement of the encoder wheel. Thus, the adjustment members are accurately adjusted subject to the width of the inserted bill.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, each adjustment member has a beveled guide portion adapted for guiding the inserted bill into accurate alignment with the bill passage so that the inserted bill can be smoothly carried forwards by a bill transfer mechanism in the bill acceptor body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other advantages and features of the present invention will be fully understood by reference to the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters denote like elements of structure.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a bill acceptor embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the adjustable bill slot panel assembly shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is another exploded view of the adjustable bill slot panel assembly in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of the bill acceptor shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional top view of the bill acceptor in accordance with the present invention, showing a relatively smaller size of bill inserted into the bill slot panel.

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5, but showing a relatively bigger size of bill inserted into the bill slot panel.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional top view of the bill acceptor in accordance with the present invention, showing the position of the adjustment members adjusted.

FIG. 8 corresponds to FIG. 6, showing the relatively bigger size of bill inserted into the gap between the two adjustment members.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a part of the present invention, showing the arrangement of the sensor unit, the power drive and the actuation mechanism.

FIG. 10 corresponds to FIG. 9, showing the position of the adjustment members adjusted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 15, a bill acceptor is shown comprising a bill acceptor body 1 and an adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2.

The adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2 is mounted on the front side of a bill acceptor body I in front of a bill passage 11 that is defined in the bill acceptor body 1. The bill acceptor body 1 has installed therein a bill transfer mechanism 12 adapted for carrying a bill being inserted into the adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2 through the bill passage 11 to a bill box (not shown), and a recognition device 13 adapted for recognizing the authenticity and face value of an inserted bill. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2 comprises a bill slot panel 21, a sensor unit 22, a power drive 23, and an actuation mechanism 24.

The bill slot panel 21 is formed of a bottom shell 211 and a top shell 212. The top shell 212 is mounted on the top side of the bottom shell 211 in such a manner that a bill slot is defined between the top shell 212 and the bottom shell 211 for the insertion of a bill into the bill passage 11. The bottom shell 211 has a plurality of slits 2111 at two distal ends thereof, and a plurality of guide portions 2112 and one shaft pin 2113 downwardly extended from the bottom wall. The slits 2111 extend in direction perpendicular to the bill insertion direction. The bottom shell 211 and the top shell 212 may be separately made and then fixedly fastened together. Alternatively, the bottom shell 211 and the top shell 212 can be made in integrity.

The sensor unit 22 comprises a circuit board 221 mounted in the bill slot panel 21 at a suitable location. According to the present preferred embodiment, the circuit board 221 is mounted in the bottom side of the bottom shell 211 of the bill slot panel 21.

The sensor unit 22 further comprises a plurality of bill sensors 222 mounted on the circuit board 221 and adapted for sensing the width of a bill, and a displacement sensor 223, which is comprised of an optical transmitter and receiver module 2231 and an encoder wheel 2232.

The power drive 23 is set between the circuit board 221 of the sensor unit 22 and the actuation mechanism 24, comprising a motor 231, a transmission gear set 232 and a bracket 233. The motor 231 has an output shaft 2311 adapted for rotating the encoder wheel 2232. The transmission gear set 232 is rotatable by the output shaft 2311 of the motor 231, comprising a worm 2321 fixedly mounted on the output shaft 2311 of the motor 231 and a step gear 2322 meshed with the worm 2321. The bracket 233 has a horizontally extending mounting plate 2331 disposed at one end and fixedly fastened to the bottom shell 211 of the bill slot panel 21 above the encoder wheel 2232, and a vertically extending motor mount 2332 disposed at the other end for supporting the motor 231, and an axle hole 2333 cut horizontally through the vertically extending motor mount 2332 for the passing of the output shaft 2311 of the motor 231.

The actuation mechanism 24 is set between the bottom shell 211 of the bill slot panel 21 and the circuit board 221 of the sensor unit 22, comprising a rack 241, which has an oblong main sliding hole 2411, toothed bars 2412 formed integral with the periphery of the oblong main sliding hole 2411, a plurality of sub-sliding holes 2413, a plurality of oblique sliding slots 2414 symmetrically disposed at two distal ends corresponding to the slits 2111 of the bottom shell 211 and two locating holes 2415 respectively extended from the two opposite ends of each of the oblique sliding slots 2414 in reversed directions that are perpendicular to the extending direction of the slits 2111 of bottom shell 211, a drive gear 242, which is a stepped gear wheel pivotally mounted on the shaft pin 2113 of the bottom shell 211 and having a bottom gear wheel 2421 meshed with the step gear 2322 of the power drive 23 right below the oblong main sliding hole 2411 and a top gear 2422 suspending in the oblong main sliding hole 2411 and meshed with the toothed bars 2412, and two adjustment members 243 bilaterally disposed above the bottom shell 211. Each adjustment member 243 has a beveled guide portion 2431, a plurality of bottom rods 2432 respectively inserted through the slits 2111 of the bottom shell 211 and the oblique sliding slots 2414 of the rack 241, and a barrel 2433 respectively sleeved onto each of the bottom rods 2432.

Further, the bill transfer mechanism 12 of the bill acceptor body 1 can be a motor-driven sheet-transfer roller set, belt transmission mechanism, or any transmission means capable of transferring an inserted bill. Further, the recognition device 13 can be infrared transmitter and receiver module, ultraviolet transmitter and receiver module or any other optical recognition designs. The recognition device 13 can be designed using a charge coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, or a contact image sensor to pick up the image of an inserted bill for recognition. Because the bill transfer mechanism 12 and the recognition device 13 are of the known designs, no further detailed description in this regard is necessary.

Referring to FIGS. 6-10 and FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 again, when started up the adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2, the power drive 23 rotates the transmission gear set 232 to move the bottom gear wheel 2421 of the drive gear 242, causing the top gear 2422 to rotate and to move the toothed bars 2412, and therefore the rack 241 is moved relative to the bottom shell 211. Further, the guide portions 2112 of the bottom shell 211 are respectively inserted through the sub-sliding holes 2413 of the rack 241. Therefore, the rack 241 is forced to move forwards or backwards when the top gear 2422 is rotated to move the toothed bars 2412. During forward or backward movement of the rack 241, the oblique sliding slots 2414 of the rack 241 forced to move the bottom rods 2432 of the adjustment members 243. Because the bottom rods 2432 of the adjustment members 243 are respectively inserted through the oblique sliding slots 2414 of the rack 241 and the slits 2111 of the bottom shell 211, the bottom rods 2432 are forced to move along the slits 2111 during displacement of the rack 241. Therefore, the two adjustment members 243 are moved along the slits 2111 of the bottom shell 211 toward each other or apart from each other during clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation of the motor 231 of the power drive 23 to narrow or widen the bill slot that is defined in the bill slot panel 21 between the adjustment members 243 in communication with the bill passage 11 of the bill acceptor body 1.

Further, when a bill is inserted into the bill slot panel 21 (the bill slot defined between the bottom shell 211 and the top shell 212) of the adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2, the bill sensors 222 of the sensor unit 22 detect the width of the inserted bill. If a relatively smaller size of bill is inserted into the bill slot panel 21 to touch the two rear bill sensors 222 that are kept apart at a relatively shorter distance, the power drive 23 is not started, and the adjustment members 243 are respectively disposed in the inner ends of the associating slits 2111, and the relatively smaller size of bill can be directly inserted into the bill passage 11 of the bill acceptor body 1. If a relatively bigger size of bill is inserted into the bill slot panel 21 of the adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2 to touch the two front bill sensors 222 that are kept apart at a relatively bigger distance, the power drive 23 is started to rotate the transmission gear set 232 in moving the drive gear 242 to cause displacement of the rack 241, thereby causing the two adjustment members 243 to be moved part toward the outer ends of the associating slits 2111. When the bottom rods 2432 of the adjustment members 243 are moved along the oblique sliding slots 2414 of the rack 241 to the locating hole 2415 at one end of each of the respective oblique sliding slots 2414, the power drive 23 is stopped, allowing the relatively bigger size of bill to be inserted into the bill passage 11 of the bill acceptor body 1. Further, when inserting a bill into the bill slot panel 21, people usually will stop one side edge of the bill against one sidewall of the bill slot that is defined in the bill slot panel 21 to keep the bill straight. When a relatively smaller size of bill is inserted into the bill slot panel 21, the bill simply touches one of the two front bill sensors 222. When only one of the two front bill sensors 222 is touched by the inserted bill, the sensors 222 give no signal, and the power drive 23 does no work. Thus, the operation frequency of the power drive 23 is minimized, prolonging the work life. Further, when the two adjustment members 243 are in the initial position, the adjustment members 243 block the slits 2111 of the bottom shell 211, prohibiting insertion of a tool (cutter, iron wire or the like) by an evil person into the inside of the bottom shell 211 to damage the internal component parts.

Further, when the bottom rods 2432 of the adjustment members 243 are moved along the oblique sliding slots 2414 of the rack 241 to the locating hole 2415 at one end of each of the respective oblique sliding slots 2414, the adjustment reaches the limitation (maximum bill slot width or minimum bill slot width).

The locating holes 2415 may be eliminated from the oblique sliding slots 2414 of the rack 241. In this case, extra bill sensors 222 are used to detect different sizes of bills, and the optical transmitter and receiver module 2231 of the displacement sensor 223 detects the angle of rotation of the encoder wheel 2232 (i.e., the angle of rotation of the output shaft 2311 of the motor 231) indicative of the distance of the displacement of the toothed bars 2412, and therefore the moving distance of the adjustment members 243 can be calculated. After the adjustment members 243 have been moved to the position where the distance between the adjustment members 243 is equal to the width of the inserted bill measured by the bill sensors 222, the motor drive 23 is stopped. Thus, the adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2 automatically adjusts the distance between the adjustment members 243 subject to the width of the inserted bill.

According to the present preferred embodiment, the displacement sensor 223 consists of the aforesaid optical transmitter and receiver module 2231 and encoder wheel 2232.

Other alternate forms may be used to substitute for the arrangement of the optical transmitter and receiver module 2231 and the encoder wheel 2232. For example, the displacement sensor 223 can be comprised of a cam wheel, a lever and a micro switch. By means of

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rotating the cam wheel to force the lever to touch the micro switch and calculating the number of times in which the lever touches the micro switch, the displacement of the toothed bars 2412 that is indicative of the moving distance between the two adjustment members 243 can be calculated.

Further, when a user may insert a bill into the bill slot panel 21 in a biased manner, the beveled guide portions 2431 of the adjustment members 243 automatically guide the inserted bill into course, keeping the bill in perfect alignment with the bill passage 11 of the bill acceptor body 1. Thus, the inserted bill can be carried forwards accurately by the bill transfer mechanism 12. When the bill reached a predetermined position in the bill passage 11, to a bill box (not shown), the recognition device 13 is driven to scan the anti-counterfeit characteristics and mark of face value of the bill.

Because the distance between the adjustment members 243 is automatically adjusted subject to the width of the bill that is inserted into the bill slot panel 21 before the inserted bill reaches the adjustment members 243, the inserted bill will not be wrinkled by the adjustment members 243, avoiding bill jams.

According to the present preferred embodiment, the bill slot panel assembly 2 and the bill acceptor body 1 are separately made, and then the bill slot panel assembly 2 is affixed to the front side of the bill acceptor body 1 in front of the bill passage 11. Upon insertion of a bill into bill slot panel 21 of the bill slot panel assembly 2, the bill sensors 222 measure the width of the bill and then drive the power drive 23 to move the actuation mechanism 24 in adjusting the distance between the adjustment members 243 subject to the width of the inserted bill, enabling the inserted bill to be guided into the bill passage 11 smoothly. According to the present preferred embodiment, the power drive 23 uses the transmission gear set 232 to move the drive gear 242 of the actuation mechanism 24. Alternatively, linking means or belt transmission means may be used to substitute for the transmission gear set 232 and the drive gear 242, achieving adjustment of the distance between the adjustment members 243.

In conclusion, the invention provides an adjustable bill slot panel assembly for bill acceptor, which has the following advantages and features: 1. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2 uses bill sensors 222 in the bill slot panel 21 to measure the width of the inserted bill and to control the operation of the power drive 23 in moving the two adjustment members 243 subject to the width of the bill measured, so that the adjustment members 243 guide the inserted bill into the bill passage 11 of the bill acceptor body 1 smoothly without wrinkle.

2. Before insertion of a bill into the bill slot panel 21, the

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two adjustment members 243 are in the initial position to block the slits 2111 of the bottom shell 211, prohibiting insertion of a tool (cutter, iron wire or the like) by an evil person into the inside of the bottom shell 211 to damage the internal component parts.

3. The two adjustment members 243 are initially disposed at the inner ends of the associating slits 2111 of the bottom shell 211 of the bill slot panel 21. If a relatively smaller size of bill is inserted into the bill slot panel 21, it is not necessary to adjust the adjustment members 243. The power drive 23 will be started to move the actuation mechanism 24 only when a relatively bigger size of bill is inserted into the bill slot panel 21. Thus, the operation frequency of the power drive 23 is minimized, prolonging the work life.

4. The power drive 23 moves the rack 241 of the actuation mechanism 24 forwards/backwards by means of the transmission gear set 232 and the drive gear 242, enabling the adjustment members 243 to be moved relative to each other by the oblique sliding slots 2414 of the rack 241. Further, the rack 241 has locating holes 2415 respectively extended from the two opposite ends of each of the oblique sliding slots 2414 in reversed directions that are perpendicular to the extending direction of the slits 2111 of bottom shell 211. When the adjustment members 243 are moved along the respective oblique sliding slots 2414 into the locating holes 2415 at one end of each of the oblique sliding slots 2414, the adjustment reaches the limitation (maximum bill slot width or minimum bill slot width). Further, the locating holes 2415 may be eliminated from the oblique sliding slots 2414 of the rack 241. In this case, the optical transmitter and receiver module 2231 of the displacement sensor 223 detects the angle of rotation of the encoder wheel 2232 indicative of the distance of the displacement of the toothed bars 2412, so that the moving distance of the adjustment members 243 can be calculated. After the adjustment members 243 have been moved to the position where the distance between the adjustment members 243 is equal to the width of the inserted bill measured by the bill sensors 222, the motor drive 23 is stopped, and the adjustment members 243 are held in the adjusted position.

5. Each adjustment member 243 has a beveled guide portion 2431 that guides the inserted bill into accurate alignment with the bill passage 11 of the bill acceptor body 1 so that the inserted bill can be carried forwards accurately by the bill transfer mechanism 12.

Therefore, the invention provides an adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2 for mounting on the front side of a bill acceptor body 1 for guiding an inserted bill smoothly into a bill passage 11 in the bill acceptor body 1. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly 2 comprises a bill slot panel 21, a sensor unit 22 mounted in the bill slot panel 21 and adapted to detect the width of an inserted bill, an actuation mechanism 24 suspending inside the bill slot panel 21 and carrying two adjustment members 243 at two opposite lateral sides of the bill slot defined in the bill slot panel 21, and a power drive 23 controllable by the sensor unit 22 to move the adjustment members 243, thereby adjusting the width of the bill slot.

A prototype of adjustable bill slot panel assembly for bill acceptor has been constructed with the features of FIGS. 1-lO. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly for bill acceptor functions smoothly to provide all of the features disclosed earlier.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.

Claims

What the invention claimed is: 1. An adjustable bill slot panel assembly mounted on a bill acceptor body of a bill acceptor for the insertion of a bill therethrough into a bill passage defined in said bill acceptor body, the adjustable bill slot panel assembly comprising: a bill slot panel, said bill slot panel defining a bill slot in communication with said bill passage for the insertion of a bill; a sensor unit mounted in said bill slot panel, said sensor unit comprising a plurality of bill sensors adapted to detect the width of a bill being inserted into said bill slot of said bill slot panel and to produce a control signal when detected the width of an inserted bill to be bigger than a predetermined value; an actuation mechanism mounted in said bill slot panel, said actuation mechanism comprising two adjustment members arranged at two opposite lateral sides relative to said bill slot and movable relative to each other for guiding an inserted bill through the gap between said adjustment members into said bill passage; and a power drive controllable by the control signal of said bill sensors to move said actuation mechanism in adjusting the gap between said adjustment members subject to the width of the inserted.
2. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein bill slot panel comprises a bottom shell, a top shell covered on a top side of said bottom shell, and a bill slot defined between said bottom shell and said top shell in communication with said bill passage.
3. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bill slot panel comprises a bottom shell, a top shell covered on a top side of said bottom shell, and a bill slot defined between said bottom shell and said top shell in communication with said bill passage, said bottom shell having a plurality of slits symmetrically disposed at two opposite lateral sides relative to said bill slot and extending in direction perpendicular to the extending direction of said bill slot; said sensor unit comprises a circuit board mounted inside said bottom shell and carrying said bill sensors; said power drive and said actuation are set between said bottom shell and said circuit board; said adjustment members are suspending above said bottom shell at two opposite lateral sides relative to said bill slot, each having a plurality of bottom rods respectively inserted through said slits and movable along said slits by said power drive.
4. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein said bill sensors are arranged in pairs respectively disposed at two opposite lateral sides relative to said bill slot at different pitches for detecting different bills having different widths.
5. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein said sensor unit further comprises a displacement sensor adapted to detect the angle of rotation of said power drive, said displacement sensor comprising an encoder wheel rotatable with said power drive and an optical transmitter and receiver module adapted to detect the direction and angle of movement of said encoder wheel.
6. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein said bottom shell has a plurality of guide portions and one shaft pin downwardly extended from a bottom wall thereof; said actuation mechanism comprises a rack suspending between the bottom wall of said bottom shell and said circuit board, said rack having an oblong main sliding hole, a plurality of toothed bars formed integral with the periphery of said oblong main sliding hole, a plurality of sub-sliding holes for the passing of the guide portions of said bottom shell, a plurality of oblique sliding slots symmetrically disposed at two distal ends corresponding to said slits of said bottom shell for the passing of said bottom rods of said adjustment members into said slits of said bottom shell and a stepped drive gear pivotally mounted on said shaft pin of said bottom shell, said stepped drive gear having a bottom gear wheel suspending below said oblong main sliding hole and a top gearSmeshed with said toothed bars; said power drive comprises a motor having an output shaft, a worm mounted on said output shaft for synchronous rotation, and a step gear meshed between said top gear of said stepped drive gear and said worm.
7. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein said rack further has two locating holes respectively extended from two opposite ends of each of said oblique sliding slots in reversed directions that are perpendicular to the extending direction of said slits of said bottom shell.
8. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein said power drive further comprises a bracket adapted to support said motor on the bottom wall of said bottom shell, said bracket having a horizontally extending mounting plate disposed at one end and fixedly fastened to the bottom wall of said bottom shell, and a vertically extending motor mount disposed at an opposite end for supporting said motor, and an axle hole cut horizontally through said vertically extending motor mount for the passing of said output shaft of said motor.
9. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein each bottom rod of each said adjustment member has a barrel mounted thereon and suspending in one said oblique sliding slot.
10. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed inIclaim 9, wherein each said adjustment member has a beveled guide portion adapted for guiding an inserted bill into accurate alignment with said bill passage.S Amendments to the Claims have been filed as follows What the invention claimed is: 1. An adjustable bill slot panel assembly mounted on a bill acceptor body of a bill acceptor for the insertion of a bill there through into a bill passage defined in said bill acceptor body, the adjustable bill slot panel assembly comprising: a bill slot panel, said bill slot panel defining a bill slot in communication with said bill passage for the insertion of a bill; a sensor unit mounted in said bill slot panel, said sensor unit comprising a plurality of bill sensors adapted to detect the width of a bill being inserted into said bill slot of said bill slot panel and to produce a control signal when the width of an inserted bill is detected to be bigger than a predetermined value; an actuation mechanism mounted in said bill slot * * panel,. said actuation mechanism comprising two adjustment * .. .*S members arranged at two opposite lateral sides relative to * said bill slot and movable relative to each other for S..* 20 guiding an inserted bill through the gap between said * : adjustment members into said bill passage; and each adjustment member having a bevelled guide portion adapted for guiding an inserted bill into accurate alignment with said bill passage; a power drive controllable by the control signal of said bill sensors to move said actuation mechanism in adjusting the gap between said adjustment members subject to the width of the inserted bill.2. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in Claim 1, wherein bill slot panel comprises a bottom shell, a top shell covered on a top side of said bottom shell, and a bill slot defined between said bottom shell and said top shell in communication with said bill passage.3. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bill slot panel comprises a bottom shell, a top shell covered on a top side of said bottom shell, and a bill slot defined between said bottom shell and said top shell in communication with said bill passage, said bottom shell having a plurality of slits symmetrically disposed at two opposite lateral sides relative to said bill slot and extending in direction perpendicular to the extending direction of said bill slot; said sensor unit comprises a circuit board mounted inside said bottom shell and carrying said bill sensors; said power drive and a rack are set between said bottom shell and said circuit board; said adjustment members are suspended above said bottom shell at two opposite lateral sides relative to said bill S..* 20 slot, each having a plurality of bottom rods respectively S...inserted through slits and movable along said slits by said power drive.4. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein said bill sensors are arranged in pairs respectively disposed at two opposite lateral sides relative to said bill slot, each pair of bill sensors being spaced differently to the other pair or pairs of bill sensors for detecting different bills having different widths.5. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein said sensor unit further comprises a displacement sensor adapted to detect the angle of rotation of said power drive, said displacement sensor comprising an encoder wheel rotatable with said power drive and an optical transmitter and receiver module adapted to detect the direction and angle of movement of said encoder wheel.6. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein said bottom shell has a plurality of guide portions and one shaft pin downwardly extended from a bottom wall thereof; said actuation mechanism comprises a rack suspending between the bottom wall of said bottom shell and said circuit board, said rack having an oblong main sliding hole, a plurality of toothed bars formed integral with the periphery of said oblong main sliding *...hole, a plurality of sub-sliding holes for the passing of * .. I..the guide portions of said bottom shell, a plurality of oblique sliding slots symmetrically disposed at two distal * 20 ends corresponding to said slits of said bottom shell for c the passing of said bottom rods of said adjustment members into said slits of said bottom shell and a stepped drive gear pivotally mounted on said shaft pin of said bottom shell, said stepped drive gear having a bottom gear wheel suspending below said oblong main sliding hole and a top gear meshed with said toothed bars; said power drive comprises a motor having an output shaft, a worm mounted on said output shaft for synchronous rotation, and a step gear * 26 meshed between said top gear of said stepped drive gear and said worm.7. The adjustable bill slot panel as claimed in claim 6, wherein said rack further has two locating holes respectively extended from two opposite ends of each of said oblique sliding slots in reversed directions that are perpendicular to the extending direction of said slits of said bottom, shell.8. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein said power drive further comprises a bracket adapted to support said motor on the bottom wall of said bottom shell, said bracket having a horizontally extending mounting plate disposed at one end and fixedly fastened to the bottom wall of said bottom shell, and a vertically extending motor mount disposed at an opposite *** end for supporting said motor, and an axle hole cut horizontally through said vertically extending motor mount * for the passing of said output shaft of said motor.9. The adjustable bill slot panel assembly as claimed * 20 in claim 6, wherein each bottom rod of each said adjustment member has a barrel mounted thereon and suspending one said oblique sliding slot.