JP2003223665A - Bill identification device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent pullout of a bill. <P>SOLUTION: This bill identification device is provided with an approximately cylindrical rotary shutter 15, which is laid across a passage 2 and has a hole 14 of almost same size as the passage 2 bored in the direction of penetrating through its circumferential surface, in a position close to an insertion hole 1 of the rear end of bill carrier means, and drive means axially rotating the rotary shutter 15 and opening/closing the passage 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bill validator used for validating bills in vending machines and gaming machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in addition to coins and tokens that have been conventionally used in vending machines, amusement machines, and the like, machines that can use banknotes have been increasing. A bill validator will be mounted on these devices, but a device used in an unmanned environment is required to have a function of preventing various mischiefs and crimes other than bill recognition / discrimination.

[0003] A typical example of mischief is the act of inserting a genuine banknote with a string or tape attached thereto, purchasing a product or service, and then pulling the string or tape from the outside to remove the banknote.

On the other hand, in the conventional bill discriminating apparatus, a method is commonly used in which a pull-out preventing claw that projects and retracts in the passage is provided.

A conventional bill validator will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 8 shows a sectional structure of a conventional bill validator. In FIG. 8, a bill insertion slot 1 is connected to a passage 2, and the passage 2 has a first conveying means 3 and a second conveying means 4.
Is provided. In this example, a rubber roller is used as the transporting means. Further, in the passage 2, a magnetic sensor 5 and an optical sensor 6a, which are used as bill identifying means,
6b is provided.

At the rear of the passage, there is an outlet 7 to the bill storage section, and one end is rotatably supported around a fulcrum 8 in the middle of the identifying means 5, 6a, 6b and the second conveying means 4, There is a pull-out prevention claw 9 whose other end projects into the passage.

The operation of the conventional bill validator will be described below. When a banknote is inserted from the insertion slot 1, an entrance sensor (not shown) detects the banknote and sends a signal to a control device (not shown), and the control device (not shown) causes the first conveyance means 3 to operate. The second transport means 4 is driven to transport the bill along the passage 2.

While the bill is being conveyed through the passage 2, the magnetic sensor 5 and the optical sensors 6a and 6b scan the bill to check whether or not it matches a predetermined characteristic of a genuine bill. The first conveying means 3 and the second conveying means 4 are reversed to return the bill to the insertion slot 1 side, and if they match, the bill is additionally conveyed further rearward.

When a bill is inserted into the passage 2, the leading edge of the bill is conveyed by pushing up the pull-out preventing claw 9, and the state is maintained until the bill is additionally conveyed and the rear end of the bill passes through the pull-out preventing claw 9. To be done.

When the rear end of the bill passes through the pull-out preventing claw 9, the pull-out preventing claw 9 projects into the passage 2 to prevent the backward flow of the bill. Therefore, even if a string or tape is tied to the rear end of the banknote, even if the banknote is inserted and the purchase of goods or services is completed, then the string or tape is unintentionally grasped and pulled through the insertion slot 1. The banknotes cannot be pulled out by being caught by the pullout prevention claws 9 and fraudulent acts can be prevented.

[0012]

However, although such a conventional pull-out preventing claw 9 does not cause a problem in processing one bill at a time, another metal strip or paper strip is used in combination, It is difficult to completely deal with the fraudulent act of pushing up the pull-out prevention claw 9 and retracting it from the passage 2 and pulling out the inserted and accepted banknotes. It was necessary to install a storage device.

The present invention solves such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to realize reliable fraud prevention by the bill validator alone.

[0014]

In order to achieve this object, the bill discriminating apparatus of the present invention has a substantially cylindrical shape laid across a passage instead of the pull-out preventing claw and penetrates the peripheral surface thereof. A rotary shutter having a hole substantially the same size as the passage in the direction of opening is used, and a drive means for rotating the rotary shutter about an axis to open and close the passage.

As a result, even if a piece of paper or the like is used in combination, the bill once sent to the exit cannot be pulled out, and fraud can be prevented.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a bill insertion slot, a passage connected to the insertion slot, a conveying means and an identification means provided in the passage. An outlet provided at the rear of the passage, and a shielding means provided at a position closer to the insertion opening than the rear end of the conveying means, the shielding means having a substantially cylindrical shape laid across the passage. A rotary shutter having a hole having substantially the same size as the passage in a direction passing through the peripheral surface thereof, and a drive means for rotating the rotary shutter about an axis to open and close the passage. It has the effect of preventing the stored bills from being pulled out using a string or tape.

The invention according to claim 2 is the bill discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hole penetrates the center of the circumferential surface of the rotary shutter, and the hole is shortened every time the rotary shutter is rotated by 90 to 180 degrees. It is easy to close or open the passage in time.

The invention according to claim 3 is the bill validator according to claim 1 in which a regulating means for regulating the rotating direction of the rotary shutter in one direction is provided, and when the string or the like is pulled with a strong force, the rotary is realized. It is possible to prevent the shutter from being reversed, resulting in the passage being opened and the banknote being pulled out.

The invention according to claim 4 is the bill discriminating device according to claim 3, wherein the regulating means is a ratchet mechanism.
It has the effect of preventing the reverse rotation of the rotary shutter with a simple and inexpensive structure.

The invention according to claim 5 is the bill discriminating apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a releasing means for temporarily releasing the restricting means so as to freely rotate the rotary shutter in both directions. Even when the banknotes or strings are entangled in the rotary shutter, the administrator can easily remove the entangled foreign matter.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the cylindrical surface of the rotary shutter is composed of a plurality of cylindrical surfaces having different outer shapes, and the rotary shutter fitting portion of the passage is formed following the plurality of cylindrical surfaces. The bill validator according to item 1, which has an effect of preventing the bill from getting stuck in a gap between the rotary shutter and the passage even when a bill having a curl or a partial fold is inserted.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a drive source, a gear clutch connected to the drive source, and an attracting electromagnetic magnet for restraining movement of the gear clutch in one direction. The bill discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying means is connected to the output shaft on the side connected when the magnet is activated, and the other output shaft is used as the driving means for the shielding means, and a drive source for the rotary shutter is newly provided. Instead, the bill withdrawal prevention structure is realized with a small and inexpensive structure.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, a gear is provided on the output shaft connected to the conveying means, and when the gear clutch is connected to the other output shaft, the stopper meshes with the gear and restrains the conveying means. The bill discriminating apparatus according to claim 7 is formed integrally with the clutch, and has an effect of eliminating the risk that the conveyance means becomes free to rotate and the movement of the bill cannot be controlled even when the power is switched by the gear clutch.

(Embodiment 1) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the passage of the bill discriminating apparatus according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, a bill insertion slot 1 is connected to a passage 2, and a first conveyance means 3 and a second conveyance means 4 are arranged in the passage 2. In this example, rubber rollers having auxiliary rollers 11 and 12 that face each other with the passage 2 interposed therebetween and press the bills with each other are used as the conveying means. Further, a magnetic sensor 5 with a bill pressing member 13 as a bill identifying means and optical sensors 6a and 6b are arranged in the passage 2.

At the rear of the passage 2, there is an outlet 7 to the bill storage section, and in the middle of the identifying means 5, 6a, 6b and the second conveying means 4, there is a substantially cylindrical shape laid across the passage 2. There is a rotary shutter 15 in which a hole 14 having substantially the same size as the passage 2 is formed in a direction penetrating the peripheral surface.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure in the passage 2 from the upper surface of the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, the rotary shutter 15 is provided with a hole 14 that is slightly wider than the entire width of the passage 2, and is rotatably fitted into the outer wall surfaces 17 and 18 of the housing 16 that constitutes the passage 2.

An impeller 19 necessary for detecting a rotation angle using an optical sensor (not shown) is arranged at one end of the rotary shutter 15, and a ratchet 20 for restricting the rotation direction of the rotary shutter is provided. Click 21
And are provided.

Further, in FIG. 2, a second optical sensor 22 and a third optical sensor 23, which are added for strictly identifying bills, are also shown.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the shape of the hole 14 formed in the rotary shutter 15.

4 and 5 show driving means for the rotary shutter 15. In FIG. 4, the worm 25 is fitted on the output shaft of the motor 24, and
It meshes with the worm wheel 27 arranged on the No. 6 side.
A drive gear 50 is coaxially fixed to the drive shaft 26, and
The crank arm 28 is rotatably arranged with slight axial friction.

The shaft 30 of the planetary gear 29, the movable iron piece 31, and the roller lock claw 32 are integrally assembled to the crank arm 28. The planetary gear 29 always meshes with the drive gear 50, and also changes the mating partner according to the rotational position of the crank arm 28. That is, at the position corresponding to the case where the crank arm 28 rotates clockwise (hereinafter, referred to as the first position), the planetary gear 29 moves the planetary gear 29 to the second transport means 4.
It meshes with the conveyance drive gear 33 that rotates integrally with. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, at a position corresponding to counterclockwise rotation of the crank arm 28 (hereinafter, referred to as a second position), the planetary gear 29 has a shutter drive gear 34 arranged coaxially with the rotary shutter 15. Will be engaged.

The movable iron piece 31 is the first part of the crank arm 28.
There is a relationship of closely contacting the electromagnetic attraction magnet 35 at the position.

At the second position of the crank arm 28 shown in FIG. 5, the roller lock claw 32 meshes with the second conveying means 4 and the gear 36 integrally formed with the conveying drive gear 33, and the second conveying means 4 Has a relationship of restraining.

In FIG. 6, the second conveying means 4 and the first conveying means 3 are connected by a series of gears 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, and always rotate in the same direction in conjunction with each other. To do.

The operation of the bill validator according to the first embodiment will be described below. When a bill is inserted from the insertion slot 1 in FIG. 4, an entrance sensor (not shown) detects the bill and sends a signal to a control device (not shown), and the control device causes the motor 2 to move.
4 is driven to rotate the drive shaft 26 clockwise. At the same time, the electromagnetic attraction magnet 35 is energized to attract the movable iron piece 31, and the crank arm 28 is fixed to the first position.

In this way, the second conveying means 4 and the gear 3
The 1st conveyance means 3 connected by 7,38,39,40,41 also rotates clockwise, and a banknote is pulled in.

The bill is a magnetic sensor 5 and an optical sensor 6a,
6b or the like is used for scanning, and if a bill position sensor (not shown) or a bill feed amount detection device determines that the bill rear end has passed through the hole 14 of the rotary shutter 15, the motor 24 is temporarily stopped. , Stop the bills.

If the data collected by the various sensors does not match the data range of a genuine bill, the motor 24 is reversed while the electromagnetic attraction magnet 35 is energized, and the second
The bill feeding means 4 and the first feeding means 3 are rotated counterclockwise to return and eject the bill from the insertion slot 1.

When the data range of a genuine bill coincides, when the electromagnetic attraction magnet 35 is de-energized and the motor 24 is rotated in the reverse direction, the crank arm 28 moves the drive shaft 26.
Is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and moves to the second position shown in FIG. At this time, the roller lock claw 32 engages with the gear 36 to restrain the gear 36, the second conveying means 4 interlocking with the gear 36, and the first conveying means 3 and fix the bill so that it does not move.

At the second position of the crank arm 28, the rotation of the drive shaft 26 causes the shutter drive gear 34 to rotate counterclockwise, and thus the rotary shutter 15 to rotate counterclockwise.

The rotary shutter 15 can be rotationally controlled by an optical sensor using an impeller 19, is stopped at a predetermined angle positioned by a ratchet 20 and a click 21, and a string or tape attached to a bill is attached. Prevents reversal due to pulling back force when pulled.

When the rotary shutter 15 is rotated by 90 degrees, the passage 2 is completely closed, and an illegal act carried out by inserting a foreign matter from the insertion opening side is invalidated. If the foreign matter is caught and the rotary shutter 15 does not rotate by a predetermined angle, it is detected by the impeller 19 and the optical sensor, and it can be warned that mischief or misconduct has occurred.

After the rotary shutter 15 is properly closed, signal processing is performed assuming that a genuine bill has been deposited, and the electromagnetic attraction magnet 35 is energized again to rotate the motor 24 in the forward direction to transport the bill backward and store it. Just send it to the department.

Even after the genuine note signal is issued, if the banknotes need to be returned due to device control, the passage 2 is opened by further rotating the rotary shutter 15 by 90 degrees. A bill can be discharged from the insertion slot 1 by energizing the electromagnetic attraction magnet 35 and reversing the motor 24. This is an operation that was impossible with the above-mentioned conventional technique, and has the effect of increasing the degree of freedom in device design.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotary shutter 15 may be formed of a plurality of cylindrical surfaces having different outer shapes. In this case, a curl is formed by combining the joint with the passage 2 in a comb shape. It is possible to prevent such a problem that the leading edge of the bill or the bill having the fold enters the joint between the passage 2 and the rotary shutter 15 and is clogged.

With the above structure, a more reliable effect of preventing the withdrawal of bills can be obtained.

[0048]

As described above, the bill validator of the present invention is
At the position closer to the insertion opening than the rear end of the bill transporting means, a substantially cylindrical shape laid across the passage was formed, and a hole having substantially the same size as the passage was formed in a direction penetrating the peripheral surface thereof. Since the rotary shutter and the drive means for rotating the rotary shutter about the axis to open and close the passage are provided, it is possible to prevent the stored bills from being pulled out by using a string or tape.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a bill validator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top sectional view of the bill validator of the same.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rotary shutter alone.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a transport operation of the drive mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a rotary shutter operation of the drive mechanism.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a driving method of the transporting means of the same

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an improved shape of a rotary shutter.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of a conventional bill validator.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 insertion slot 2 passages 3 First transport means 4 Second transport means 5 Identification means (magnetic sensor) 7 exit 15 Shielding means (rotary shutter)

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Motoki Sugiyama             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3E040 AA01 BA13 BA20 DA01 FA05                       FG01 FG11                 3E041 AA02 DA01 DB02                 3E044 AA01 AA05 BA02 DD03 FA03                 3F049 AA10 DA12 EA27 LA08 LB04

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A bill insertion opening, a passage connected to the insertion opening, a conveying means and an identifying means provided in the passage, an outlet provided at the rear of the passage, and the conveyance. The shielding means is provided at a position closer to the insertion opening than the rear end of the means, and the shielding means has a substantially cylindrical shape laid across the passage, and the passage is formed in a direction penetrating the peripheral surface thereof. And a drive means for rotating the rotary shutter around an axis to open and close the passage. 2. The bill validator according to claim 1, wherein the hole penetrates a center of a circumferential surface of the rotary shutter. 3. The bill validator according to claim 1, further comprising a regulation unit that regulates the rotation direction of the rotary shutter in one direction. 4. The bill validator according to claim 3, wherein the restricting means is a ratchet mechanism. 5. The bill discriminating apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a releasing means for temporarily releasing the restricting means so that the rotary shutter is rotatable in both directions. 6. The bill identification according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical surface of the rotary shutter is composed of a plurality of cylindrical surfaces having different outer shapes, and the rotary shutter fitting portion of the passage is formed following the plurality of cylindrical surfaces. apparatus. 7. A side provided with a drive source, a gear clutch connected to the drive source, and an attracting electromagnetic magnet for restraining movement of the gear clutch in one direction, the side being coupled when the attracting electromagnetic magnet of the gear clutch operates. The bill discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying means is connected to the output shaft of the above, and the other output shaft serves as the driving means of the shielding means. 8. A stopper wheel is provided on an output shaft connected to the conveying means, and a stopper is formed integrally with the gear clutch so as to mesh with the ratchet wheel when the gear clutch is coupled to the other output shaft and restrain the conveying means. The bill validator according to claim 7.