WO2019026644A1

WO2019026644A1 - Paper sheet processing system and paper sheet processing method

Info

Publication number: WO2019026644A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/027244
Authority: WO
Inventors: 原　博昭; 雅棋井上
Original assignee: グローリー株式会社
Priority date: 2017-07-31
Filing date: 2018-07-20
Publication date: 2019-02-07
Also published as: CN110945570A; JP2019028730A; CN110945570B; EP3664050A4; EP3664050A1

Abstract

In order to manage the identification information for a plurality of sheets of paper stored in a storage container, and the sequence of the identification information, a paper sheet processing system is formed from: a first storage part in which paper sheets are stacked; a second storage part in which paper sheets are stacked; a loading device for performing a loading process of removing paper sheets stacked in the first storage part and loading the paper sheets into the second storage part while maintaining the stacked state of the paper sheets; and a management device that, due to a loading process having been performed by the loading device, generates second data with which it is possible to identify, in the sequence in which the paper sheets are stacked, the identification information relating to each of the paper sheets stacked in the second storage part, the second data being generated from first data with which it is possible to identify, in the sequence in which the paper sheets are stacked, the identification information relating to each of the paper sheets stacked in the first storage part.

Description

Sheet processing system and sheet processing method

The present invention relates to a sheet processing system for processing sheets and a sheet processing method.

In recent years, systems that use a robot for processing sheets have appeared. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system in which a work robot loads a large amount of bills into a bill transport cassette. By using the work robot, the work of loading a large amount of bills into the cassette can be efficiently performed.

A serial number is printed on the bill as identification information for the purpose of preventing forgery and the like. Each bill can be distinguished based on the serial number printed on the bill. By reading the serial number of the bill in advance and storing it in the cassette, the bill stored in the cassette can be strictly managed based on the serial number.

JP, 2016-224664, A

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the order of serial numbers of a plurality of bills is not managed. Although the serial numbers of all the banknotes stored in the storage container such as the cassette are known, the serial numbers can not be specified in the order of arrangement of the banknotes. For example, when the banknotes stored in a state of being stacked in the vertical direction in the storage container are taken out sequentially from the top, the serial number of each banknote can not be specified.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems caused by the prior art, and it is possible to manage the order of identification information and identification information of a plurality of sheets stored in a storage container, and a sheet processing system and sheets The purpose is to provide a treatment method.

In order to solve the problems described above and achieve the object, according to the present invention, a first storage unit for stacking sheets, a second storage unit for stacking the sheets, and a first storage unit are used. A loading device for performing loading processing for loading the second storage section while removing the paper sheets and maintaining the stacked state of the paper sheets; and the loading processing performed by the loading apparatus From the first data which can identify the identification information on each sheet stacked in the first storage section in the stacking order of the sheets, each sheet stacked in the second storage section The information processing apparatus may further include: a management device that generates second data that can specify identification information on a type in the stacking order of the sheets.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, when the loading process is executed a plurality of times by the loading device, the management apparatus determines from the first data based on the contents of the loading process executed a plurality of times. Generating the second data.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the loading device includes a holding portion which holds the paper sheets stacked in the first storage portion and moves to the second storage portion. Do.

The present invention further includes a sheet processing apparatus for identifying a sheet and acquiring the identification information in the above invention, wherein the sheet processing apparatus includes the first storage unit. I assume.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the loading device pulls out the paper sheets when the number of paper sheets stacked in the first storage portion reaches a preset number. 2) It is characterized in that it is loaded into the storage unit.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the first storage portion includes a plurality of first storage spaces in which sheets are stacked, and the loading device is configured to store paper sheets among the plurality of first storage spaces. It is characterized in that the paper sheets are sequentially removed from the first storage space in which the number of sheets has reached a preset number of sheets and loaded into the second storage section.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned invention, the loading device removes sheets from the plurality of first storage spaces in the order set in advance.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the loading device does not change the front and back of the sheet and changes only the top and bottom of the sheet, the sheet being removed from the first storage section Is configured to perform a first loading process of loading the second storage unit, and the management device is configured to arrange the identification information of the second data when the first loading process is performed by the loading device. Generating the second data from the first data such that the second data matches the arrangement order of the identification information of the first data.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-described invention, the loading device changes the front and back of the paper sheet when the paper sheet removed from the first storage portion is loaded into the second storage portion. When the second loading process is performed by the loading device, the management device is configured to perform the loading process, the arrangement order of the identification information of the second data is the arrangement order of the identification information of the first data. And generating the second data from the first data in the reverse order of.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-mentioned invention, the loading device aligns the front and back of all the sheets loaded in the second storage section by the second loading process.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the paper sheet includes a first area and a second area thicker than the first area, and the loading device is a paper sheet in a state in which the second area is overlapped. A predetermined number of sheets are loaded in the second storage unit, and then a predetermined number of paper sheets are loaded in the second storage unit in a state where the second region does not overlap.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the second storage portion includes a plurality of second storage spaces into which paper sheets are loaded, and storage space information corresponds to the plurality of second storage spaces. The management apparatus is configured to identify the storage space information corresponding to a predetermined second storage space among the plurality of second storage spaces and to identify a sheet stored in the predetermined second storage space. It is characterized by associating information with information.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the first storage portion has a plurality of first storage spaces in which paper sheets are stacked, and the first data is generated for each of the plurality of first storage spaces, The management device is characterized in that the second data is generated from the first data based on the order in which the paper sheets are taken out from the plurality of first storage spaces.

In the invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the identification information includes at least serial number information of the paper sheet.

Further, the present invention is a sheet processing method, wherein the stacked sheets are extracted from the first storage unit, and identification information on each of the sheets stacked in the first storage section is the paper The first data that can be specified in order of the leaves being stacked in the first storage unit is acquired, and the paper sheets removed from the first storage unit are stored in the second storage unit in a state in which the stacked state is maintained. The loading process for loading is performed, and the loading process is performed, whereby the identification information on each of the sheets stacked in the second storage unit is determined based on the first data. It is characterized in that second data that can be identified in the order of being stacked in the storage unit is generated.

According to the sheet processing system according to the present invention, for example, the sheets can be extracted from the plurality of storage spaces of the first storage section and loaded into the second storage section by the loading device. The management device generates, from the first data including identification information of the paper sheets removed from each storage space, second data capable of specifying the identification information of the paper sheets loaded to the second storage unit. For example, the second data is generated based on the first data and the loading order of the sheets loaded in the second storage unit. By referring to the second data, identification information of each sheet in the second storage can be specified in the order of alignment in the second storage.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the bill processing. FIG. 2 is an external view showing a specific example of the bill processing system. FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the banknote handling system as viewed from above. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the bill processing system. FIG. 5 is a view showing the appearance of the bill arrangement area. FIG. 6 is a view showing the appearance of the bill loading area. FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a bill extraction and loading process performed by the bill processing system. FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of the bill processing system in which the bill binding device is installed in the bill arrangement area. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the banknote handling system shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, a sheet processing system and a sheet processing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. The types of paper sheets processed by the paper sheet processing system and the paper sheet processing method according to the present invention are not particularly limited as long as they have identification information that can distinguish each paper sheet. For example, various paper sheets such as banknotes on which serial numbers are printed, checks on which identification numbers are printed, gift certificates, etc. can be processed. In the present embodiment, a bill processing system and a bill processing method for processing bills will be described as an example.

[Banknote processing]
The bill processing performed by the bill processing system (paper sheet processing system) according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the bill processing. Fig.1 (a) is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a movement of the banknote actual thing. FIG. 1 (b) is a diagram showing an example of data processed as the bill moves. FIG. 1C is a diagram showing an example of data in the case where the front and back sides are aligned when moving the bill. As shown in FIG. 1A, the banknote handling system includes a loading device 10, a first storage unit 21, a second storage unit 22, and a management device 30.

The first storage portion 21 has at least one storage space. In each storage space, a plurality of bills are stored in an aligned state. Here, the storage in the aligned state referred to in the present embodiment means that the plurality of stored banknotes are stored so as not to change the order. The number of storage spaces included in the first storage part 21 is not particularly limited, but FIG. 1A shows an example in which the first storage part 21 has three storage spaces. In each storage space, a plurality of bills 100 (100a to 100c) are stored in an aligned state (stacked state) in which the bill faces are stacked in parallel.

Each storage space of the first storage portion 21 has a shape capable of extracting all the banknotes stored therein. Specifically, a container for storing bills, such as a container or a cassette, can be used as the first storage portion 21. In addition, for example, the opening stacking portion of the bill processing apparatus (paper sheet processing apparatus) can be used as the first storage section 21. An opening accumulation part is an accumulation part on which a bill processing device accumulates a bill, and it has what has an opening for taking out a bill out of a device. In the present embodiment, the opening and stacking portion of the banknote handling apparatus is simply referred to as a "stacking portion".

The second storage unit 22 has at least one storage space. In each storage space, a plurality of bills are stored in an aligned state. The number of storage spaces included in the second storage part 22 is not particularly limited, but FIG. 1A shows an example in which the second storage part 22 has one storage space. Each storage space has a shape capable of loading a plurality of bills. Specifically, a bill storage container such as a container or a cassette can be used as the second storage unit 22.

The loading device 10 removes bills from the storage spaces of the first storage unit 21 and loads the removed bills into storage spaces of the second storage unit 22. As shown in FIG. 1A, the loading device 10 removes all the plurality of stored bills from the storage spaces of the first storage section 21 in an aligned state. Then, all the removed bills are loaded in the second storage section 22 in the aligned state so that the order of the bills is not changed.

The loading device 10 controls the arm unit 11, which is an articulated robot, to grip and move the stacked bills. The arm unit 11 includes a hand unit (holding unit) capable of grasping an object, and can grasp and move a bundle of bills. The loading device 10 controls at least one arm portion 11 to grasp and extract a bill stored in the storage space of the first storage portion 21 and load the bill into the second storage portion 22.

The arm unit 11 of the loading device 10 is provided with a camera that picks up an object to be processed by the arm unit 11. The loading device 10 analyzes the image captured by the camera, and recognizes the position of each storage space of the first storage portion 21, the presence or absence of bills in the storage space, the storage state, and the like. Further, the loading device 10 recognizes the position of each storage space of the second storage section 22, the presence or absence of a bill in the storage space, the storage state, and the like. The loading device 10 controls the arm unit 11 based on the recognition results, and executes a bill withdrawal and loading process.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the information on the bills stored in the storage spaces of the first storage section 21 is stored in advance in the storage device 122 as the bill data 121 (121a to 121c). For example, in the case where the first storage unit 21 is a storage container such as a container or a cassette and the information of the bill stored in the storage container is stored in the data storage medium as the bill data 121, the data storage medium is stored as a storage device It can be used as 122. Also, when the bill data 121 is stored in an external device such as a server device, this external device can be used as the storage device 122.

For example, in the case where the first storage unit 21 is a bill processing device, and information on bills being accumulated in each stacking unit of the paper sheet processing device is managed as bill data 121 in the bill processing device, the bill processing device Can be used as the storage device 122. In addition, when the bill data 121 is stored in an external device such as an operation terminal or a server device connected to the bill processing apparatus, this external device can be used as the storage device 122.

The bill data 121 is managed for each storage space of the first storage unit 21. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), as shown in FIG. 1 (b), corresponding to the bills 100a to 100c being stored in a bundle state in the three storage spaces of the first storage section 21 as shown in FIG. Three bill data 121a to 121c are managed in the device 122.

The bill data 121a includes the number of bills constituting the bundle of bills 100a, the denomination of each bill, the integrity, the front and back direction, the orientation of the top and bottom, the serial number and the like. The serial numbers included in the bill data 121a are managed so that the correspondence with the alignment order of the bills constituting the bundle of bills 100a can be known. When the bills constituting the bundle of bills 100a are taken out sequentially from the end, the serial number of each bill can be specified by referring to the bill data 121a.

Similarly, the bill data 121b includes the number of bills constituting the bundle of bills 100b, the denomination of each bill, correctness, front and back direction, top and bottom direction, serial number, etc., and the serial number is It manages so that correspondence with the alignment order of each bill may be known. The bill data 121c includes the number of bills constituting the bundle of bills 100c, the denomination of each bill, the integrity, the front and back direction, the orientation of the top and bottom, the serial number, etc. It is managed so that the correspondence with the alignment order can be understood.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the management device 30 is communicably connected to the loading device 10. The management device 30 acquires the loading data 110 from the loading device 10. The loading data 110 includes information on the movement of the arm unit 11.

For example, when the loading device 10 controls the arm portion 11 to move the banknote 100a removed from the first storage portion 21 to the second storage portion 22, the loading device 10 loads the information indicating the movement into the loading data 110. And transmit it to the management device 30.

When the first storage unit 21 has a plurality of storage spaces, the loading data 110 includes information indicating the position of the storage space at which the arm unit 11 removes the bill 100. Based on this information, the management device 30 can specify which of the banknotes 100a to 100c the banknote 100 has been pulled out.

When the second storage unit 22 includes a plurality of storage spaces, the loading data 110 includes information indicating the position of the storage space in which the arm unit 11 loads the banknote 100. Based on this information, the management device 30 may specify in which storage space of the plurality of storage spaces of the second storage portion 22 the banknote 100 removed from the first storage portion 21 is loaded. it can.

As shown in FIG. 1 (b) as the extracted banknote data, the management device 30 acquires, from the storage device 122, the banknote data 121 (first data) corresponding to the banknote 100 that the loading device 10 has withdrawn from the first storage section 21. Do. As shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the management device 30 acquires the bill data 121 of the loaded bill 100 every time the loading device 10 removes and loads the bill 100, as shown in FIGS. 1 (b) and 1 (c). Data 130 (130a, 130b) is generated. The stored banknote data (second data) 130 includes the number of banknotes 200 stored in the second storage section 22, the denomination of each banknote, the fitness, the front and back direction, the orientation of the top and bottom, the serial number, etc. Be

For example, it is assumed that the loading device 10 controls the arm portion 11 to load bills from the first storage section 21 to the second storage section 22 in the order of the

bills

100a, 100c, and 100b. The management device 30 acquires, from the storage device 122, banknote data 121a to 121c corresponding to the banknotes 100a to 100c, based on the loading data 110 received from the loading device 10. The management device 30 recognizes the loading order of the banknotes 100a to 100c to the second storage unit 22 based on the loading data 110. The management device 30 combines the bill data 121a to 121c in the order of the

bill data

121a, 121c, and 121b in the order of loading to generate stored bill data 130a shown in FIG. 1 (b).

Specifically, for example, the bill data 121 in which the serial numbers are arranged in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 1 (b) corresponds to the alignment order of the bills 100 stacked in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 1 (a). It shall be done. The loading device 10 controls the arm portion 11 to stack and load the

banknotes

100a, 100c, and 100b in the storage space of the second storage portion 22 sequentially from the bottom. In accordance with this, the management device 30 combines the

bill data

121a, 121c and 121b to generate the stored bill data 130a as shown in FIG. 1 (b). As a result, the serial number of the lowest bill among the bills 200 stacked and loaded in the second storage section 22 in the vertical direction is the lowest serial number of the stored bill data 130a shown in FIG. 1 (b). And the serial number of the uppermost banknote is the top serial number of the stored banknote data 130a. However, this is an example for explanation, and if it is possible to specify the serial numbers of all the banknotes 200 loaded in the second storage unit 22 in the order of alignment loaded in the second storage unit 22, the stored banknotes The management method of the serial number in the data 130 is not particularly limited. For example, each serial number included in the stored bill data 130a may be managed by attaching a number indicating the order of alignment of the bill actual items in the second storage section 22. Further, the present invention is not limited to the example in which bills are extracted once from different storage spaces, and also in the case where bills are extracted multiple times from one storage space, or when multiple bills are extracted multiple times from each of a plurality of storage spaces. 130 can be generated and managed.

When the loading device 10 finishes loading the banknotes into the second storage unit 22 and the stored banknote data 130 is determined, the notes of all the banknotes 200 loaded into the second storage unit 22 are recorded based on the stored banknote data 130. The numbers can be specified in the order of arrangement of the bills. Thereby, when the banknotes 200 stored in the second storage unit 22 are sequentially taken out from the end, the serial numbers of all the banknotes taken out can be specified in the order of being taken out.

For example, with the stacking unit of the banknote handling apparatus as the first storage unit 21, the banknote handling apparatus prepares a banknote to be used for dispensing processing at an ATM (a cash dispenser). Then, the ATM cassette mounted on the ATM is used as the second storage unit 22, and the banknotes for ATM payment prepared in the stacking unit of the banknote processing apparatus are loaded into the ATM cassette. When the process of loading the banknotes into the ATM cassette is completed, the serial numbers of all the banknotes loaded into the ATM cassette can be specified in the order of arrangement of the banknotes in the ATM cassette by referring to the stored banknote data 130. When the ATM cassette is attached to the ATM, the ATM dispenses the banknotes stored in the ATM cassette one by one in order to perform dispensing processing. At this time, based on the stored banknote data 130, the serial number of each banknote dispensed from the ATM can be specified.

When the loading device 10 controls the arm portion 11 to move the banknote 100 from the first storage unit 21 to the second storage unit 22, the direction of the front and back of the banknote 100 can be reversed. Specifically, for example, it is assumed that the bills stored in the first storage unit 21 are three bills aligned in the order of A, B, and C from the top. The loading device 10 grasps all the three bills A to C by the arm portion 11 and removes it from the first storage portion 21 and loads the same into the second storage portion 22. The loading device 10 can load the grabbed banknotes A to C into the second storage unit 22 in the order of A, B, and C from the top in order. Further, the loading device 10 controls the arm portion 11 to vertically flip the gripped banknotes A to C while keeping them in a bundle, and sequentially arrange the second storage units 22 in the order of C, B, and A from the top. Can also be loaded.

By utilizing this, it is possible to make the front and back sides of all the banknotes 200 loaded in the second storage unit 22 uniform. When setting the front and back directions of the banknotes to be aligned, the loading device 10 recognizes whether the banknotes 100 removed from the first storage section 21 are front-side alignment or back-side alignment. Then, the loading device 10 aligns the front and back sides of all the banknotes by reversing only one of the frontalized banknotes and the frontalized banknotes.

Regarding the method of the loading device 10 to recognize the orientation of the front and back of the banknote 100, the loading device 10 may recognize the front and back from the image obtained by imaging the banknote 100 with a camera, or the banknote data 121 of the storage device 122. The aspect which recognizes the front and back with reference to may be sufficient. Further, when the loading device 10 removes the banknote 100 from the first storage section 21, the management device 30 acquires the banknote data 121 corresponding to the banknote 100 based on the loading data 110 received from the loading device 10. The orientation of the front and back may be recognized, and the loading device 10 may be notified.

For example, when the bills 100 stored in each storage space of the first storage portion 21 are stored with the front and back sides aligned, for example, they are recognized with reference to the bill data 121 shown in FIG. can do. In the example shown in FIG. 1C, the banknote 100a and the banknote 100c of the first storage section 21 are face-to-face banknotes aligned so that the front surface is upward, and the banknote 100b is aligned so that the back surface is upward It is a justified banknote.

When the front and back of the bills 200 to be loaded into the second storage unit 22 are set to be aligned, the loading device 10 loads, for example, all the bills 100 in a face-to-face arrangement. It is assumed that the banknotes 100a to 100c stored in the first storage unit 21 are loaded into the second storage unit 22 in the order of the

banknotes

100a, 100c, and 100b. The bill data 121a to 121c shown in FIG. 1 (c) correspond to the bills 100a to 100c, respectively. The loading device 10 recognizes that the

banknotes

100a and 100c removed from the first storage unit 21 are face-to-face banknotes, and loads the

banknotes

100a and 100c into the second storage unit 22 without being reversed. On the other hand, the loading device 10 recognizes that the banknote 100 b is a justified banknote, and loads the banknote 100 b extracted from the first storage portion 21 into the second storage portion 22 after reversing it in a bundle state. As a result, in the second storage section 22, all the bills 200 are stored in a state in which the front and back are aligned.

Based on the loading data 110 received from the loading device 10, the management device 30 recognizes that the arm unit 11 loads the bills 100a to 100c into the second storage portion 22 in the order of the

bills

100a, 100c, and 100b. As shown in FIG. 1C, the management device 30 combines the bill data 121a to 121c in the loading order of 121a, 121c, and 121b to generate stored bill data 130b.

The loading data 110 includes information indicating that the arm unit 11 has performed a reversing operation when loading the banknote 100b, that is, data indicating that the front and back of the banknote 100b has been reversed. When generating the stored bill data 130 b, the management device 30 recognizes that the front and back of the bill 100 b has been reversed based on the loading data 110. The management device 30 changes the order of the serial numbers of the banknote data 121 b so as to correspond to the alignment order of the banknotes 100 b loaded in the second storage unit 22. Specifically, for example, the serial numbers arranged in the order of "AB 789 ..." to "BC 123 ..." from the bottom are reversed, and in the order of "BC 123 ..." to "AB 789 ..." from the bottom. As a result, the stored bill data 130 b is data in which the order of arranging the bills being stored in the second storage unit 22 corresponds to the order of the serial numbers. Thereby, when the banknotes 200 of the second storage unit 22 are sequentially taken out from the end, the serial numbers of the respective banknotes taken out can be specified in the order of being taken out.

According to the bill processing system, a plurality of areas for processing shown in FIG. 1 are provided, and movement of bills from the stacking unit of the bill processing apparatus to a storage container such as a container, a storage container such as a container The movement of the bill to another storage container etc. can be performed. Specific examples will be described below.

[Note processing system]
The bill processing system to be described below is a system for loading a bill that meets a predetermined condition, which has been identified and counted by the bill processing apparatus, into a cassette for bill conveyance. A bill processing system is built, for example, at a base called a cash center. The bill processing system is used to load a bill that can be used as a bill for withdrawal at an ATM into a cassette attached to an ATM (automatic cash dispenser). In addition, the bill processing system is used to load a bill that can be used as a bill for withdrawal at a window of a financial institution into a cassette that transports the bill to a financial institution such as a bank. Cash centers collect cassettes from many ATMs and financial institutions. If the bill processing system is used, a predetermined number of bills satisfying the predetermined condition can be loaded into each of the plurality of cassettes. The type of bills to be loaded into the cassette and the number of bills can be set for each cassette. Below, the case where the banknote for ATM payment is loaded in the cassette for ATM is demonstrated to an example.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing a specific example of the bill processing system. As shown in FIG. 2, the bill processing system includes a container conveyance path 51 and a cassette conveyance path 52. The container conveyance path 51 and the cassette conveyance path 52 are configured by, for example, a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor. However, the conveyance method is not limited to the conveyor type, and may be an aspect using a rotary table, or an aspect using a chute or a lift.

The container conveyance path 51 conveys the container 24. In the container 24, a plurality of storage spaces are formed. It is possible to store a plurality of banknotes stacked in parallel in the form of bundles in parallel in each storage space. The container 24 is a case having a box-like shape whose upper surface is open. The container 24 is not provided with a mechanism for taking in and out banknotes, and the loading device 10 performs withdrawal and loading of banknotes from the upper surface side which is always open, which will be described in detail later.

The container 24 is a bill storage container used by the bill processing system to transport bills for cassette loading. The bill processing system utilizes the container 24 for delivering the sorted bills between the bill sorting area 40 for sorting the bills and the bill loading area 42 for loading the sorted bills into the cassette 25, but the details are I will mention later.

In the bill rearranging area 40, the bill processing device 23 corresponds to the first storage unit 21 shown in FIG. 1, and the container 24 corresponds to the second storage unit 22. Further, in the bill loading area 42, the container 24 corresponds to the first storage portion 21 shown in FIG. 1, and the cassette 25 corresponds to the second storage portion 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the container conveyance path 51 includes two linear conveyance paths arranged in parallel. The container conveyance path 51 has a loop shape in which both ends of these two linear conveyance paths are connected by the reversing part 41, and circulates and conveys the container 24. Specifically, at both ends of the container conveyance path 51, reversing parts 41 that connect two linear conveyance paths are provided. The transport direction of the container 24 transported on one linear transport path is reversed by the reversing unit 41, and the other linear transport path is transported in the reverse direction. By repeating this, each container 24 can be continuously transported so as to circulate on the looped transport path. While being transported through the container transport path 51, a process of loading a bill into the container 24 and a process of removing the bill from the container 24 are performed, which will be described in detail later.

The cassette transport path 52 transports the cassette 25 for ATM. The cassette 25 is a bill storage container used by the ATM for dispensing processing. The cassette 25 stores a large amount of bills. The cassette 25 is provided with a lid for closing the storage space. Usually the lid is closed. When a bill is loaded, the lid is removed from the cassette 25 to open the storage space, and the bill is loaded into the storage space.

After the banknotes for ATM withdrawal are loaded into the cassette 25 by the banknote handling system, the cassette 25 is transported to the installation place of the ATM and mounted on the ATM. The cassette 25 has a feeding mechanism for feeding the bills stored therein to the outside one by one. When the cassette 25 is attached to the ATM, the ATM can control the feeding mechanism of the cassette 25 to feed the bills stored in the cassette 25 one by one. At the time of dispensing processing, the ATM dispenses bills one by one from the cassette 25 for dispensing.

The cassette transport path 52 includes two linear transport paths arranged in parallel. The cassette conveyance path 52 has a substantially U-shape in which one end is connected by the reversing unit 43. Specifically, at one end side of the cassette conveyance path 52, a reversing unit 43 that connects two linear conveyance paths is provided. The other ends of the two linear conveyance paths are open. In the area where the linear conveyance path is open, the worker performs an operation of placing the empty cassette 25 on the conveyance path and an operation of lowering the cassette 25 loaded with the bills from the conveyance path. The transport direction of the container 24 transported on one linear transport path is reversed by the reversing unit 43, and the other linear transport path is transported in the reverse direction. The cassette 25 placed on the linear conveyance path by the operator is conveyed along the substantially U-shaped conveyance path and returns to the operator. While being transported through the cassette transport path 52, a loading process for loading the banknotes into the cassette 25 is performed, the details of which will be described later.

A bill sorting area 40 is provided on one side (lower right in FIG. 2) of the container conveyance path 51, and a bill loading area 42 is provided on the other side (upper left in FIG. 2). The plurality of banknote arrangement areas 40 are provided along the container conveyance path 51. The bill loading area 42 is provided between the container conveyance path 51 and the cassette conveyance path 52. A plurality of bill loading areas 42 are provided along both the container conveyance path 51 and the cassette conveyance path 52.

The bill arrangement area 40 is an area where the bill processing device 23 arranges bills. The bill processing device 23 discriminates and counts the bills, and accumulates, in the stacking unit, the bills satisfying the conditions set in advance as the bills for dispensing ATM. At this time, the banknotes which do not satisfy the condition are discharged to the reject unit.

The bill processing unit 23 feeds out a plurality of bills placed by the worker at the receiving port into the unit one by one, and the identification unit in the unit performs identification and counting, and based on the identification result Classify and integrate. Also, the identification unit can read the serial number of each bill. Although bill processing device 23 shown in Drawing 2 accumulates a bill to four accumulation parts which have an opening in the front of an apparatus, the number in particular of an accumulation part which bill processing device 23 has is not limited. Since the function and operation of such a bill processing apparatus are conventionally known, the detailed description will be omitted.

The bills accumulated in the accumulation unit of the bill processing device 23 are extracted by the arm unit 11 which is an articulated robot and loaded into the container 24. The container 24 in which the bills have been loaded is delivered to the container transport path 51 and transported toward the bill loading area 42.

The operation of the arm unit 11 is controlled by the loading device 10. The arm unit 11 is fixed on a table that is aligned with the height of the container conveyance path 51, and the loading device 10 is housed inside the table.

The bill loading area 42 is an area for loading the sorted bills into the cassette 25. The container 24 containing the sorted bills, which has been sent out from the bill sorting area 40 and transported through the container conveyance path 51, is taken into the bill loading area 42. The arm unit 11, which is an articulated robot, removes bills stored in the container 24 and loads the bills into the cassette 25. The cassettes 25 having been loaded with the banknotes are sent out to the cassette conveyance path 52 and conveyed to a worker who performs loading and unloading operations of the cassettes 25.

The operation of the arm unit 11 is controlled by the loading device 10. The arm portion 11 is fixed on a table which is aligned with the heights of the container transfer path 51 and the cassette transfer path 52, and the loading device 10 is accommodated inside the table.

In the example of FIG. 2, two banknote arrangement areas 40 and three banknote loading areas 42 are shown. The number of each area is not particularly limited, but by adjusting the number of bill arrangement areas 40 in which the bill processing apparatus 23 and the arm unit 11 operate and the number of bill loading areas 42 in which only the arm unit 11 operates The processing system can be operated efficiently.

Specifically, for example, if the speed at which the bill is processed in the bill loading area 42 is slower than the speed at which the bill is processed in the bill organizing area 40, the processing of the bill organizing area 40 is interrupted and the bill loading area 42 is processed. There is time to wait for completion. Even in such a case, by increasing the number of the bill loading areas 42 from the number of the bill sorting areas 40, the number of processed banknotes in the entire bill organizing area 40 per unit time and the number of bill processed in the entire bill loading area 42 Balance. Specifically, for example, the number of bill arrangement areas 40 and the bill loading area 42 so that the bill handling number of the whole bill arrangement area 40 per unit time and the bill handling number of the whole bill loading area 42 become substantially the same. Determine the number of As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation where one of the bill arrangement area 40 and the bill loading area 42 waits for the completion of the other process for a long time.

[Flow of bill processing by bill processing system]
Next, the flow of processing performed by the banknote handling system shown in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the banknote handling system as viewed from above. Along the container conveyance path 51, a plurality of banknote arrangement areas 40 (40a to 40c) are provided as shown by broken lines in FIG. In each bill sorting area 40, bill handling devices 23 (23a to 23c) and loading devices 10 (10a to 10c) are arranged. The loading device 10 controls the arm unit 11 shown in FIG. 2 to execute a bill withdrawal process, a loading process, and the like.

A plurality of bill loading areas 42 (42a to 42c) are provided between the container conveyance path 51 and the cassette conveyance path 52, as indicated by a broken line. In each bill loading area 42, loading devices 10 (10d to 10f) are arranged.

In FIG. 3, for convenience of explanation, the bill arrangement area 40 and the bill loading area 42 are shown three by three, but as described above, the numbers of the bill arrangement area 40 and the bill loading area 42 should be processed. It is determined according to the amount of bills, the processing speed of the bill processing apparatus 23, the processing speed of bills of the loading apparatus 10, and the like. Also, FIG. 3 shows the containers 24 (24a to 24h) and the cassettes 25 (25a to 25e) necessary for the explanation, but the number of containers 24 transported through the container transport path 51 and the cassette transport path 52 The number of cassettes 25 transported is not particularly limited. The number of containers 24 and cassettes 25 actually transported is determined according to the amount of bills to be processed, the processing speed of the bill processing device 23 and the loading device 10, and the like.

The arm unit 11 controlled by the loading device 10 is used to recognize the positions and shapes of the bill processing device 23, the container 24, the cassette 25, etc., and the position and storage state of bills to be removed and loaded between them. Camera is attached. The loading device 10 analyzes the image captured by the camera and realizes various processing by the arm unit 11. A process of controlling a robot arm using an image captured by a camera and grasping or moving an object is a conventionally known technique, and therefore the details thereof will be omitted.

In the container loading / unloading area shown in the lower right of FIG. 3, the worker can perform an operation of placing the container 24 on the container conveyance path 51 and an operation of collecting the container 24 from the container conveyance path 51. The container 24 placed on the container conveyance path 51 is circularly conveyed in a loop-like conveyance path. As indicated by an arrow in the bill arrangement area 40a of FIG. 3, the loading device 10a controls the arm portion 11 to take an empty container 24a from the container conveyance path 51 into the area. In addition, taking in of the container 24 is not limited to the aspect performed by the arm part 11 of the loading apparatus 10. For example, a mode may be adopted in which a branch member is provided in the transport path and the container 24 is taken in by the branch member. Alternatively, for example, a branch transport path for loading the container 24 may be provided in the transport path, and the branch transport path may be controlled to load the container 24 into the area.

The conveyance surface on which the container conveyance path 51 conveys the container 24 and the upper surface of the table on which the container 24 is disposed in the bill arrangement area 40 have substantially the same height. As a result, using the arm portion 11, the container 24 can be easily taken in and sent out between the container conveyance path 51 and the bill arrangement area 40. Similarly, the transport surface on which the container transport path 51 transports the container 24 and the upper surface of the table on which the container 24 is disposed in the bill loading area 42 have substantially the same height. Thus, the container 24 can be easily taken in and out between the container conveyance path 51 and the bill loading area 42. Further, the transport surface on which the cassette transport path 52 transports the cassette 25 and the top surface of the table on which the cassette 25 is disposed in the bill loading area 42 have substantially the same height. Thereby, the cassette 25 can be easily taken in and sent out between the cassette conveyance path 52 and the bill loading area 42.

In FIG. 3, the storage amount of the banknotes is shown in the rectangle on the left side of the rectangle showing the container 24. The white rectangle of the container 24a indicates that the container 24a is empty. The black rectangles of the container 24d indicate that the bill loading process into the container 24d is completed, and a predetermined number of bills are stored in the container 24d. A rectangle in which half of the container 24b is white and the other half is black indicates that the processing for loading the bills into the container 24b is started and the loading of bills is being continued until the predetermined number of sheets is reached. Similarly, with regard to the rectangle indicating the cassette 25, the storage amount of the bill is shown in the left rectangle.

In the bill arrangement area 40, a bill arrangement process by the bill processing device 23 is performed. Specifically, the worker places a large number of banknotes at the inlet of the banknote handling apparatus 23. The bill processing device 23 feeds out the banknotes of the receiving slot one by one into the device for identification and counting. The bill processing device 23 accumulates, in the stacking unit, the bills which match the conditions preset to be stored in the cassette 25. Specifically, for example, banknotes in a good condition that can be used for ATM withdrawal processing (spun banknotes) are classified and accumulated in a plurality of stacking units according to the direction of the front and back. Also, for example, when preparing banknotes of a plurality of denominations for ATM, the banknote processing device 23 classifies the banknotes into denominations and accumulates them in a plurality of stacking units.

As indicated by the arrows in the bill rearranging area 40b of FIG. 3, the loading device 10b controls the arm portion 11 to extract and load the bills accumulated in the accumulation part of the bill processing device 23b into the container 24b. For example, when the stacking unit full of bills is generated, the bill processing device 23 interrupts the stacking of the bills on the stacking unit. The loading device 10 that has recognized this removes all the bills from the full stack section and loads them into the container 24b. In addition, for example, when performing batch processing in which bills are stacked in a predetermined number (for example, 100 sheets) in the stacking unit, the bill processing device 23 generates a stacking unit in which a predetermined number of bills are stacked. Interrupt the accumulation of banknotes. The loading device 10 that has recognized this removes all the bills from the stacking unit in which a predetermined number of bills are stacked and loads the bills into the container 24b. When the arm unit 11 removes the bill from the stacking unit, the bill processing device 23 detects that the stacking unit has been emptied by the bill detection sensor provided in the stacking unit. And bill processing device 23 restarts accumulation of a bill in an accumulation part which became empty. As a result, the process of loading the predetermined number of bills satisfying the predetermined condition into each storage space of the container 24 automatically advances only by the worker placing the bills in the inlet of the bill processing apparatus. Be

When there are a plurality of storage spaces in the container 24, the loading device 10 can load all the storage spaces with bills. When the process of loading the bills into the container 24 is finished, the loading device 10c controls the arm unit 11 to convey the container 24c containing the bills into the container conveyance path as shown by the arrow in the bill arrangement area 40c of FIG. Send to 51 The container 24c sent out to the container conveyance path 51 is conveyed leftward.

In the reversing portion 41a at the left end of the container transport path 51, the transport direction of the container 24d is reversed. The container 24d whose transport direction is reversed is transported in the right direction. As indicated by the arrow in the bill loading area 42a of FIG. 3, the loading device 10d controls the arm unit 11 to control the container 24e, which has been transported in the right direction through the reversing unit 41a, in which the bills are stored. Get inside.

In the cassette loading area 45 shown in the upper right of FIG. 3, a worker carries out an operation of placing an empty cassette 25 on the cassette transport path 52. The cassette 25 loaded by the operator is transported leftward. As indicated by an arrow in the bill loading area 42a of FIG. 3, the loading device 10d takes the empty cassette 25a, which has been transported in the left direction of the cassette transport path 52, into the area by controlling the arm unit 11.

In the bill loading area 42, processing is performed for removing bills from the container 24 and loading the bills into the cassette 25. As indicated by an arrow in the bill loading area 42b of FIG. 3, the loading device 10e controls the arm portion 11 to withdraw the bill from the container 24f and load it into the cassette 25b.

When there are a plurality of storage spaces in the container 24, the loading device 10 can extract bills from all the storage spaces of the container 24 and load them into the cassette 25. In addition, when there are a plurality of storage spaces in the cassette 25, the loading device 10 can load bills into all the storage spaces of the cassette 25.

When the container 24 is emptied, the loading device 10f controls the arm unit 11 to send out the emptied container 24g to the container conveyance path 51, as shown by the arrow in the bill loading area 42c of FIG. Further, when processing for loading a predetermined number of bills into the cassette 25 is completed, the loading device 10f sends out the bill-loaded container 25c to the cassette conveyance path 52, as indicated by an arrow in the bill loading area 42c.

For example, in the bill arrangement area 40, the bills corresponding to the number stored in one cassette 25 are stored in each container 24. Specifically, for example, in order to load the cassette 25 for storing 3,000 banknotes, 500 banknotes in total of 500 are stored in the six storage spaces of the container 24. Then, in the bill loading area 42, all bills are removed from the container 24 and loaded into the empty cassette 25. As a result, at the same time as the container 24 becomes empty, a predetermined number of bills are loaded in the cassette 25. After that, the empty container 24 is sent out to the container conveyance path 51, and the cassette 25 which has finished the bill loading is sent out to the cassette conveyance path 52.

The container 24 which has been emptied and sent out from the bill loading area 42 to the container transport path 51 is transported rightward. In the reversing portion 41b at the right end of the container transport path 51, the transport direction of the container 24h is reversed. The container 24h whose transport direction is reversed is transported leftward. The container conveyance path 51 circulates and conveys the container 24 clockwise on the loop-like conveyance path. As a result, it is possible to continue transporting the empty container 24 extracted from the bill in the bill loading area 42 and use it again for storing the bill in the bill arrangement area 40. In addition, the empty container 24 which has not been taken into the bill arrangement area 40 can be continued to be transported as it is, and when necessary, it can be taken into the bill arrangement area 40 and used for storing bills.

The cassette 25 sent out from the bill loading area 42 to the cassette conveyance path 52 in the state of storing a predetermined number of bills is conveyed leftward. In the reversing unit 43 at the left end of the cassette transport path 52, the transport direction of the cassette 25d is reversed. The cassette 25d whose transport direction is reversed is transported rightward. When the cassette 25e conveyed to the right in the cassette conveyance path 52 reaches the left end of the conveyance path, the operator in the cassette carry-out area 46 collects the cassette 25e. The cassette 25 collected by the worker is transported to the installation site of the ATM, mounted on the ATM, and used for dispensing processing.

[Device Configuration of Banknote Processing System]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the bill processing system. As shown in FIG. 4, the loading device 10, the bill processing device 23, the container conveyance path 51, and the cassette conveyance path 52 are communicably connected to the management device 30 via the network 50. Note that, since the loading devices 10a to 10f shown in FIG. 3 have the same configuration, FIG. 4 shows one loading device 10. Similarly, since the bill processing apparatuses 23a to 23c shown in FIG. 3 have the same configuration, one bill processing apparatus 23 is shown in FIG. The management device 30 can control the bill processing device 23, the loading device 10, the container conveyance path 51, the cassette conveyance path 52, and the like.

The bill processing device 23 includes a control unit 124, a bill processing unit 125, a storage unit 126, a communication unit 127, and an operation display unit 128. The bill processing unit 125 feeds out a plurality of bills received in the receiving tray into the apparatus one by one, identifies and counts them, performs reading of serial numbers, etc., and then sorts the bills according to types into a plurality of stacking units. Accumulate. The communication unit 127 transmits / receives data to / from the loading device 10 and the management device 30 via the network 50. The operation display unit 128 includes, for example, a touch panel liquid crystal display device, and is used for operations such as creation, confirmation, and change of settings regarding the operation of the bill processing unit 125. Further, the operation display unit 128 is used to receive an instruction operation such as a bill processing start by the operator. The control unit 124 receives an operation on the operation display unit 128 and controls the bill processing unit 125 based on various settings stored in the storage unit 126 to process bills such as bill identification, counting, and reading of serial numbers. Is executed.

The storage unit 126 includes, for example, a semiconductor memory, and stores various data and programs related to the bill processing. The storage unit 126 is also used to store the bill data 121 shown in FIG. The bill data 121 includes the number of bills being accumulated in each accumulation unit, the denomination of each bill, the integrity, the orientation of the front and back, the orientation of the top and bottom, the serial number, and the like.

The management device 30 includes a control unit 31, a communication unit 32, an operation display unit 33, and a storage unit 34. The communication unit 32 transmits and receives data to and from the bill processing device 23 and the loading device 10 via the network 50. The operation display unit 33 includes, for example, a touch panel liquid crystal display device, and is used for operations such as creation, confirmation, and change of settings relating to the operation of the bill processing system, and confirmation of the stored bill data 130.

The storage unit 34 includes, for example, a semiconductor memory, and stores various data and programs related to the operation of the banknote handling system. The storage unit 34 is also used to store the bill data 121 and the stored bill data 130 shown in FIG. 1.

The loading device 10 includes an arm unit 11, a control unit 12, a storage unit 13, a communication unit 14, and an operation display unit 15. The communication unit 14 transmits and receives data to and from the bill processing device 23 and the management device 30 via the network 50. The storage unit 13 includes, for example, a semiconductor memory, and stores various data and programs related to control and operation of the arm unit 11. The operation display unit 15 is formed of, for example, a touch panel liquid crystal display device, and is used to create settings for operations of the arm unit 11, to receive an operation such as confirmation or change, and to receive an instruction operation to operate the arm unit 11. . The control unit 12 analyzes an image captured by a camera provided to the arm unit 11 and controls the arm unit 11 based on the settings stored in the storage unit 13, thereby realizing various operations by the arm unit 11. .

[Loading device]
The loading device 10 of the bill rearranging area 40 detects the stacking unit filled with the bill processing unit 23 or the stacking unit on which a predetermined number of bills are stacked, and executes a bill extraction process. The detection of the stacking unit to be subjected to the sampling process is performed, for example, using the notification process of the banknote handling apparatus 23.

Specifically, the bill processing device 23 operates the operation display unit 128 when there is a stacking unit that requires the removal of the banknotes, such as a full stacking unit, a stacking unit after stacking a predetermined number of banknotes, and the like. This is notified to the worker using a notification lamp or the like. The notification to the worker is performed, for example, by displaying information indicating the stacking unit that requires the removal of the bill on the operation display unit 128 of the bill processing device 23. In addition, for example, the notification lamp such as the LED provided in each stacking unit is used to turn on or blink the notification lamp of the stacking unit that requires the removal of the bill.

The loading device 10 recognizes the presence or absence of notification based on the image obtained by imaging the bill processing device 23 with the camera of the arm unit 11. In the loading device 10, when notification is performed by the bill processing device 23, the occurrence of the stacking unit in which it is necessary to withdraw the bills based on the information displayed on the operation display unit 128 and the lighting state of the notification lamp Recognize the position of the accumulation unit. Then, the loading device 10 controls the arm unit 11 to execute a process of taking out the banknotes from the stacking unit and a process of loading the banknotes into the container 24.

However, the method for the loading device 10 to recognize the stacking unit that requires the removal of the banknotes is not limited to this. For example, the bill processing apparatus 23 may be configured to transmit, to the loading apparatus 10, information that can specify the stacking unit that requires the removal of bills. Also, for example, even if the management device 30 monitors the accumulation status of each stacking unit of the banknote processing device 23 and transmits information that can specify the stacking unit that requires the removal of the banknotes to the loading device 10 Good.

The loading device 10 of the bill rearranging area 40 and the bill loading area 42 detects the storage state of the bills of each container 24 and takes in the container 24 from the container conveyance path 51 or delivers the container 24 to the container conveyance path 51. I do. Further, the loading device 10 of the bill loading area 42 detects the storage state of the bills of each cassette 25, and performs loading of the cassette 25 from the cassette transport path 52 and delivery of the cassette 25 to the cassette transport path 52. The detection of the stored state of the bill is performed using the identification information of the container 24 and the identification information of the cassette 25.

All containers 24 are provided with container identification information for distinguishing the respective containers 24. Specifically, a barcode in which container identification information is encoded is attached to each container 24. The loading device 10 reads a barcode using the camera of the arm unit 11 to acquire container identification information of each container 24. Further, when the container 24 includes a plurality of storage spaces, setting information in which storage space identification information for distinguishing the storage spaces is set is stored in the storage unit 13 of the loading device 10 in advance. The setting information includes information indicating the correspondence between the position of each storage space and the storage space identification information based on the pasting position of the barcode. The loading device 10 recognizes the positional relationship between the attachment position of the barcode and each storage space from the image captured by the camera, and specifies storage space identification information of each storage space.

Similarly, barcodes encoding cassette identification information for identifying each cassette 25 are attached to all the cassettes 25. As in the case of the container 24, the loading device 10 reads a bar code using the camera of the arm unit 11 and acquires cassette identification information of each cassette 25. Further, even when the cassette 25 includes a plurality of storage spaces, the loading device 10 stores the storage spaces of the respective storage spaces based on the positional relationship between the application position of the barcode and each storage space, as in the case of the container 24. Recognize identification information.

When the worker places the empty container 24 on the container conveyance path 51, the worker reads the barcode attached to the empty container 24 using the barcode reader, and the obtained container identification The information is transmitted to the management device 30. Similarly, when the worker places an empty cassette 25 on the cassette conveyance path 52, the worker reads the cassette identification information from the cassette 25 and transmits it to the management device 30.

The loading device 10 of the bill collection area 40 acquires container identification information of the empty container 24 from the management device 30. Then, the loading device 10 detects the empty container 24 by reading the barcode of each container 24 transported on the container transport path 51 by using the camera of the arm unit 11. Thereby, as described above, the empty container 24 can be taken into the bill arrangement area 40.

The loading device 10 of the bill loading area 42 acquires cassette identification information of the empty cassette 25 from the management device 30. Then, the loading device 10 detects the empty cassette 25 by reading the barcode of each cassette 25 transported on the cassette transport path 52 using the camera of the arm unit 11. Thus, as described above, the empty cassette 25 can be taken into the bill loading area 42.

The management device 30 manages information such as the type and number of bills to be loaded into each cassette 25. The management device 30 transmits to the loading device 10 information on the banknotes that the loading device 10 of the banknote loading area 42 has to load into the cassette 25. Specifically, the management device 30 specifies the container 24 in which the banknotes of the type to be loaded into the cassette 25 are stored out of the plurality of containers 24 transported in the container transport path 51 in the state of storing the banknotes. The container identification information of the container 24 is transmitted to the loading device 10. The loading device 10 that has received the container identification information reads the barcode of each container 24 transported on the container transport path 51 using the camera of the arm unit 11 and loads the banknotes of the type to be loaded into the cassette 25. The detected container 24. As a result, as described above, it is possible to load the banknotes loaded container 24 into the banknote loading area 42 and load the banknotes removed from the container 24 into the cassette 25.

[Generation of stored bill data]
The loading device 10 of the bill rearranging area 40 transmits loading data 110 to the management device 30 as shown in FIG. 1B when loading a bill extracted from the stacking unit of the bill processing unit 23 into the container 24. The loading data 110 includes information specifying the stacking unit of the bill processing apparatus 23 from which a bill has been removed, and container identification information and storage space identification information identifying the storage space of the container 24 loaded with the removed bill. Based on the loading data 110 received from the loading device 10, the management device 30 acquires information on the banknotes extracted from the stacking unit of the banknote handling device 23. The loading data 110 also includes information indicating the movement of the arm unit 11. The management device 30 specifies the direction of the bill loaded in the storage space of the container 24 from the direction of the front and back and the direction of the top and bottom of the bill accumulated in the accumulation unit and the movement of the arm unit 11.

As described in FIG. 1, the management device 30 generates stored bill data 130 of the bill loaded in the container 24 from the bill data 121 regarding the bill accumulated in each stacking unit of the bill processing unit 23 as described in FIG. 1. Thus, the management device 30 can manage the correspondence between the serial numbers of the bills being stored in the storage spaces of the containers 24 and the order in which the actual banknotes are aligned. The generated stored banknote data 130 includes the number of banknotes stored in each storage space of the container 24, the denomination, the damage, the front and back direction, the orientation of the top and bottom, the serial number and the like of each banknote. The stored banknote data 130 is generated for all the containers 24 in which the loading device 10 has loaded banknotes. Further, when the container 24 has a plurality of storage spaces, stored bill data 130 is generated for each storage space.

Specifically, the loading device 10 transmits, to the management device 30, container identification information specifying the container 24 and storage space identification information specifying the storage space of the container 24 loaded with the banknotes. Using these pieces of information, the management device 30 generates and manages stored bill data 130 separately for the storage space of each container 24.

The loading device 10 of the banknote loading area 42 transmits loading data 110 to the management device 30 when loading a banknote removed from the container 24 into the cassette 25. The loading data 110 includes container identification information and storage space identification information for specifying the storage space of the container 24 from which the banknotes are removed, and cassette identification information and storage for identifying the storage space of the cassette 25 loaded with the banknotes removed from the container 24. Spatial information is included. The loading data 110 also includes information indicating the movement of the arm unit 11. The management device 30 specifies the direction of the bill loaded in the storage space of the cassette 25 from the direction of the front and back and the direction of the top and bottom of the bill stored in each storage space of the container 24 and the movement of the arm portion 11.

As described in FIG. 1, the management device 30 generates stored bill data 130 related to the bills loaded in the cassette 25 from the bill data 121 related to the bills stored in each storage space of the container 24 as described in FIG. 1. That is, in the bill loading area 42, the stored bill data 130 is generated for the cassette 25 using the stored bill data 130 generated for the container 24 in the bill arrangement area 40 as the bill data 121. Thus, the management device 30 can manage the correspondence between the serial numbers of the bills loaded in the storage spaces of the cassettes 25 and the order in which the actual banknotes are aligned. The generated stored banknote data 130 includes the number of banknotes stored in each storage space of the cassette 25, the denomination, the damage, the front and back direction, the orientation of the top and bottom, the serial number and the like of each banknote. The stored bill data 130 is generated for all the cassettes 25 loaded with bills by the loading device 10. When the cassette 25 has a plurality of storage spaces, stored bill data 130 is generated for each storage space.

Specifically, the loading device 10 transmits, to the management device 30, cassette identification information for identifying the cassette 25 and storage space identification information for identifying the storage space of the cassette 25 loaded with the banknotes. Using these pieces of information, the management device 30 generates and manages stored bill data 130 separately for the storage space of each cassette 25.

The method of acquiring the identification information of the container 24 and the cassette 25 is not limited to the method of using a code such as a bar code. For example, a wireless communication tag such as an IC tag recording identification information is attached to the container 24 and the cassette 25 and identification information is acquired using an IC tag reader attached to the arm unit 11 of the loading device 10 It is also good. The IC tag reader may be provided in the container conveyance path 51 or the cassette conveyance path 52 in addition to the aspect in which the IC tag reader is attached to the arm portion 11. Even in the case of using an IC tag, the container 24 and the cassette 25 are provided with predetermined marks at reference positions, so that the inside of the container 24 is based on the positional relationship between the mark captured by the camera of the arm unit 11 and the storage space. The storage states of the banknotes can be managed by specifying the storage spaces of each of the storage spaces and the storage spaces in the cassette 25.

[Banknote Arrangement Area and Banknote Loading Area]
FIG. 5 is a view showing an appearance of the bill arrangement area 40. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, for example, a bill processing apparatus 23 having four opening accumulation portions is used to prepare bills to be loaded into the container 24. The bills prepared by the bill processing device 23 are loaded into six storage spaces of the container 24. A rotatable hand unit 11 a is attached to the tip of the arm 11 of the loading device 10. The hand unit 11a includes two holding members. An object can be grasped by the hand unit 11a by changing the distance between the flat-plate shaped holding members by an actuator. The loading device 10 sandwiches and holds the banknotes stacked in a bundle on the stacking unit of the banknote processing device 23 from both outer sides with the hand unit 11a. Then, the gripped bill bundle is moved and loaded into each storage space of the container 24.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the appearance of the bill loading area 42. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, in the bill loading area 42, the container 24 is taken in and disposed on the container conveyance path 51 side, and the cassette 25 is taken in and disposed on the cassette conveyance path 52 side. A lid 26 is attached to the cassette 25. The loading device 10 controls the arm unit 11 to remove the lid 26 from the cassette 25 and place it on the table. After the bill storage space in the cassette 25 is exposed in this way, the loading device 10 starts the bill loading process. A rotatable hand unit 11 a is attached to the tip of the arm 11 of the loading device 10. The hand unit 11a includes two holding members. An object can be grasped by the hand unit 11a by changing the distance between the flat-plate shaped holding members by an actuator. The loading device 10 sandwiches and holds the banknotes stored in a bundle in the storage space of the container 24 from both sides with the hand unit 11a. Then, the gripped bill bundle is moved and loaded into the storage space of the cassette 25. When the loading process to the cassette 25 is completed, the loading device 10 controls the arm unit 11 to attach the lid 26 to the cassette 25. Then, the loading device 10 sends the cassette 25 to the cassette conveyance path 52.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a bill extraction and loading process performed by the bill processing system. Fig.7 (a) is a schematic diagram which shows the extraction process and the loading process of the banknote which the loading device 10 performs in the banknote arrangement area 40. As shown in FIG. The bill processing apparatus 23 prepares a plurality of bills 101 to 103 to be stored in the storage spaces 224 of the container 24 using the plurality of stacking units. The loading device 10 sequentially pulls out the bundle of banknotes 101 to 103 prepared in each stacking unit of the banknote handling device 23 and loads the banknotes 101 to 103 into the storage spaces 224 of the container 24. This process is not limited to the mode performed by one arm portion 11 as shown in FIG. 5, but may be performed by a plurality of arm portions 11 as shown in FIG. 7A.

FIG.7 (b) is a schematic diagram which shows the extraction process and the loading process of the banknote which the loading device 10 performs in the banknote loading area 42. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7A, the loading device 10 sequentially extracts the banknotes 201 stored in the storage spaces 224 of the container 24 in the banknote sorting area 40 as shown in FIG. Each storage space 225 is loaded. This process is not limited to the aspect performed by one arm portion 11 as shown in FIG. 6, but may be performed by a plurality of arm portions 11 as shown in FIG. 7.

The bill processing device 23 can collect bills in each stacking unit in a state in which the front and back are aligned. The management device 30 is extracted from the stacking unit and loaded into the container 24 based on the information on the banknotes stacked in the stacking unit and the information indicating the movement of the arm unit 11 of the loading device 10 in the banknote arrangement area 40. It manages the direction of the front and back of the bill. By using this, as described in FIG. 1, it is possible to align the front and back sides of the banknotes loaded in the cassette 25.

Specifically, in the case where the orientation of the front and back sides of the banknotes loaded in the cassette 25 is set to be uniform, the loading device 10 recognizes the orientation of the front and back sides of the banknotes stored in the storage spaces of the container 24. The loading device 10 controls the arm portion 11 to reverse the front and back sides of the bill, as necessary, when the bill taken out of the container 24 is loaded into the cassette 25. Thereby, the direction of the front and back of all the banknotes loaded to the cassette 25 can be arrange | equalized.

The bill processing device 23 can also collect bills in each stacking unit in a state in which both the front and back direction and the top and bottom direction are aligned. That is, the loading device 10 can be controlled in the same manner as in the case of aligning the front and back sides, and the orientation of the top and bottom of all the banknotes loaded in the cassette 25 can be aligned.

The bundle of banknotes 101 to 103 prepared by the banknote handling apparatus 23 may be directly loaded into the cassette 25 without using the container 24. FIG. 7C shows a process in which the loading device 10 sequentially removes the bundle of bills 101 to 103 prepared by the bill processing device 23 and directly stores them in the storage spaces 225 of the cassette 25. The number of arm portions 11 used by the loading device 10 is not limited and may be one or more. Also in this case, from the bill data 121 including the serial numbers and the like of the bills 101 to 103 prepared by the bill processing apparatus 23, the management device 30 sets the serial number of each of the bills 202 stored in each storage space 225 of the cassette 25 The storable stored bill data 130 can be generated.

[Note processing system including a note binding device]
Although FIG.2 and FIG.3 showed the example which installs the banknote processing apparatus 23 and the loading apparatus 10 in the banknote arrangement area 40, the apparatus which binds a banknote can also be installed in the banknote arrangement area 40. FIG. FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of a bill processing system in which the bill binding device 123 (123a to 123c) is installed in the bill arrangement area 40. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the banknote handling system shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, the binding banknote transport path 53 and the large bundle binding device 223 are connected to the management device 30. The management device 30 can control the container transport path 51, the cassette transport path 52, the binding banknote transport path 53, the loading device 10, the banknote processing device 23, the banknote binding device 123, the large bundle binding device 223, and the like.

The bill processing system shown in FIG. 8 has a point at which the bill processing device 23 in each bill arrangement area 40 is connected to the bill binding device 123, and a bound bill transport path for conveying the bound bills 27 bound by each bill binding device 123. A point provided with 53 and a point where a large bundle bundling device 223 is provided at the end of the transport path of the bundled bill transport path 53 are different from the bill processing system shown in FIG. 3.

The bill processing apparatus 23 and the bill binding apparatus 123 are connected, so that the bills identified and counted by the bill processing apparatus 23 can be sent to the bill binding apparatus 123 and stored in a predetermined storage unit in the bill binding apparatus 123 . When the number of banknotes stored in the storage unit reaches a predetermined number (for example, 100), the banknote bundling apparatus 123 bundles the banknotes with a bundling band to create a bound banknote 27. Then, the bill binding device 123 discharges the created bound bill 27 to the bound bill conveyance path 53. The bound banknotes 27 discharged to the bound banknote transport path 53 are transported rightward and sent to the large bundle bundling device 223. The large bundle bundling device 223 takes in the bound banknotes 27 transported through the bound banknote feeding path 53 into the device and stores the same in the predetermined storage unit. Then, when the number of stored bundled banknotes 27 reaches a predetermined number (for example, 10 bundles), the large bundle bundling device 223 bundles the bundled banknotes 27 with a binding band to create a large bundle.

In addition, about the bound banknote 27 discharged to the bound banknote conveyance path 53 from the banknote binding device 123, in addition to a mode of discharging the bound banknotes 27 one by one, a predetermined number (for example, 10 bundles) of bound banknotes in the banknote processing device 23. 27 may be discharged in a temporarily wound state in which the unit 27 is bound by a binding band. In this case, the large bundle bundling device 223 which has received the bundle of the temporarily wound bundle banknotes 27 transported in the banknote bundle transport path 53 bundles the bundle banknotes 27 with a bundling band to create a large bundle.

For example, the bill processing apparatus 23 accumulates, in the stacking unit, bills (good notes) in a good condition that can be used for dispensing processing of ATM as bills for loading the cassette 25. On the other hand, the bill processing device 23 sends a bill (bad note) in bad condition to the bill binding device 123. The banknote binding apparatus 123 that receives the unfit note creates a bound note 27 in which 100 unfit notes are bound. The large bundle bundling device 223 bundles the 10 bundles of banknotes 27 received from the banknote binding device 123 via the banknote bundle conveyance path 53 to create a large bundle. Thus, it is possible to proceed in parallel with both the process of loading an unimprinted note into the cassette 25 and the process of making an unfit note into a large bundle.

[Process when the bill type exceeds the number of bill accumulation units]
In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the container 24 is sent out from the bill arrangement area 40 to the container conveyance path 51 and conveyed to the bill loading area 42. Besides, in the bill processing system, the container 24 sent out from the bill arrangement area 40 to the container conveyance path 51 is taken into another bill arrangement area 40, and after bill processing is carried out, it is sent out again to the container conveyance path 51 and the bill loading area It can also be set to be transported to 42.

Specifically, for example, in the first bill rearranging area 40, eight kinds of bills of D1 to D8, a bill of D1 and a bill of D2 and a bill of D3 are used by using the four stacking units of the bill processing apparatus 23. A bill and a bill of D4, a bill of D5 and a bill of D6, and a bill of D7 and a bill of D8 are divided and accumulated. The loading device 10 of the first bill rearranging area 40 removes the stacked bills from each of the four stacking units, and loads them separately into four storage spaces of the container 24 having eight storage spaces. Of the eight storage spaces of the container 24, two types of bills are stored in a mixed state in four storage spaces respectively, and the remaining four storage spaces are empty. The loading device 10 sends the container 24 to the container conveyance path 51.

In the second bill rearranging area 40, the loading device 10 takes in the container 24 sent from the first bill rearranging area 40 from the container transport path 51 into the area. The loading device 10 extracts from the container 24 a bundle of banknotes in which the banknotes of D1 and D2 are mixed, and places the bundle of banknotes at the inlet of the banknote processing device 23 in the second banknote arrangement area 40. Similarly, the loading device 10 removes from the container 24 a bundle of banknotes in which the banknotes of D3 and D4 are mixed, and places the bundle of banknotes at the inlet of the banknote processing device 23. The bill processing device 23 detects the placement of the bills by the bill detection sensor provided in the receiving port, and feeds out the bills of the receiving slot into the apparatus one by one for identification and counting. The bill processing device 23 divides and accumulates the bills of D1, the bills of D2, the bills of D3, and the bill of D4 into the respective accumulating parts by using the four accumulating parts. The loading device 10 takes out the bills from the four stacking units of the bill processing device 23 and loads the bills into the empty storage space of the container 24. After the processing of the banknotes D1 to D4 is completed, the loading device 10 removes from the container 24 a bundle of banknotes in which the banknotes of D5 and D6 are mixed, and places the bundle of banknotes at the inlet of the banknote processing device 23. Further, the loading device 10 extracts a bundle of banknotes in which the banknotes D7 and D8 are mixed from the container 24 and places the bundle at the inlet of the banknote processing device 23. When the bill processing device 23 separates four types of banknotes D5 to D8 into four stacking units and sorts them, the loading device 10 removes the banknotes from each stacking unit and loads them into the empty storage space of the container 24. As a result, the bills D1 to D8 are loaded into the eight storage spaces of the container 24 by type. The loading device 10 sends the container 24 to the container conveyance path 51.

The loading device 10 of the first bill loading area 42 takes the container 24 into the area, and the bills stored in the container 24 are loaded into the cassette 25. At this time, after only a part of the bills are extracted from the container 24 and loaded into the first cassette 25, the container 24 is sent out to the container conveyance path 51, and the remaining bills are removed from the container 24 in the second bill loading area 42. It is also possible to set to load the second cassette 25.

As described above, the detection of the container 24, the detection of the cassette 25, the detection of the bill to be processed, and the like performed by each loading device 10 are managed by each loading device 10 managing the container 24 and the cassette 25. This can be performed based on data transmitted to and received from the device 30. Furthermore, although an example is shown here in which bills are sorted by type in the two bill sorting areas 40 and each cassette 25 is loaded with bills of the predetermined type in the two bill loading areas 42, the number of bill sorting areas 40 and The number of bill loading areas 42 may be three or more.

For example, a large number of banknotes in which four denominations of first to fourth denominations are mixed with the front and back directions broken down are organized by denomination and front and back in the bill rearranging area 40. In the first bill rearranging area 40, bills are classified into denominations and stacked in four stacking units. Then, the bills are loaded in denominations in the four storage spaces of the container 24 and sent to the second bill rearranging area 40. Although the banknotes of the same denomination are loaded in the respective storage spaces, the front-facing banknotes and the back-facing banknotes are mixed. In the second bill rearranging area 40, the bills of each denomination are classified according to the direction of the front and back, and are accumulated as a front-to-back banknote and a front-to-back banknote. Thereby, the banknotes of 4 denominations can be loaded into the eight storage spaces of the container 24 in a state in which the front and back direction is aligned with the denominations.

In the bill loading area 42, bills are loaded into the four cassettes 25 of the first cassette 25 to the fourth cassette 25 in a state where the front and back direction is aligned according to the denomination. In the first bill loading area 42, the first denomination face-sorted notes are loaded into the first cassette 25 as they are, and the first denomination backed notes are loaded into the first cassette 25 after reversing the front and back. As a result, the banknotes of the first denomination are loaded into the first cassette 25 in a state in which the front and back sides are aligned. Subsequently, the container 24 is sent to the second bill loading area 42. Also in the second bill loading area 42 to the fourth bill loading area 42, processing of loading the bills of the same denomination in the same orientation of the front and back to the second cassette 25 to the fourth cassette 25 is executed. . As a result, bills of the first to fourth denominations can be loaded into the first to fourth cassettes 25 to 25 in a state in which the front and back sides are aligned according to the denomination.

In addition, about the method to arrange | equalize the direction of the front and back of the banknote loaded in the cassette 25, it is not limited to the aspect which the loading apparatus 10 of the banknote loading area 42 reverses the banknote loaded in the cassette 25 as needed. The loading device 10 of the bill rearranging area 40 may be configured to reverse the bills to be loaded into the container 24 to align the front and back directions as necessary.

[Modification]
In the present embodiment, the stored bill data 130 generated by the management device 30 is stored in the storage unit 34 of the management device 30, but the storage location of the stored bill data 130 is not particularly limited. For example, it may be stored in a server device or the like connected to the network 50. In addition, it may be stored in a portable storage medium such as a memory card. For example, the stored bill data 130 of the bill stored in the cassette 25 is stored in the memory card attached to the cassette 25. As a result, even if the ATM mounting the cassette 25 can not communicate with the management device 30, the ATM can read out the stored bill data 130 from the memory card and use it.

In this embodiment, in the bill arrangement area 40 shown in FIG. 3, an example is shown in which bills are loaded in all of a plurality of storage spaces of the container 24, but in this embodiment, bills are loaded only in a part of storage spaces. It is also good. Specifically, for example, in the bill arrangement area 40, bills are loaded only to a part of the storage space provided in the container 24 and sent out to the container conveyance path 51. When the container 24 is emptied before the predetermined number of bills are loaded into the cassette 25 in the bill loading area 42, the loading device 10 leaves the cassette 25 as it is and transports the emptied container 24 to the container transport path. Send to 51. Then, the loading device 10 loads another container 24 in which bills are stored into the bill loading area 42 from the container conveyance path 51, and continues the loading processing of the bills extracted from the container 24 into the cassette 25. In addition, when a predetermined number of bills have been loaded into the cassette 25, if any bills remain in the container 24, the loading device 10 leaves the container 24 as it is and loads the cassette 25 in which the bills have been loaded into a cassette. It sends out to the conveyance path 52. The operator of the cassette loading area 45 places the empty cassette 25 on the cassette conveyance path 52 when the cassette 25 is fed from the bill loading area 42. The loading device 10 that has delivered the cassette 25 that has finished loading the banknotes to the cassette transport path 52 takes in the empty cassette 25 transported on the cassette transport path 52 into the banknote loading area 42, and retains the banknotes remaining in the container 24. Is started to be loaded into the cassette 25. As a result, as described above, the cassette 25 can be loaded with a predetermined number of bills.

In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the loading device 10 aligns the front and back sides of the banknotes to be loaded by reversing the direction of the front and back sides of the withdrawn banknotes as necessary, but the orientation of the top and bottom can also be aligned. The bill processing apparatus 23 can identify not only the orientation of the front and back of each bill but also the orientation of the top and bottom. The bills are accumulated in a state in which the bill processing device 23 aligns the orientation of the top and bottom, and the loading device 10 reverses the orientation of the top and bottom of the bill as necessary when the bill is loaded. As a result, the orientation of the top and bottom of the banknote loaded in the second storage unit 22 shown in FIG. 1 can be made uniform. That is, in the bill processing system, when the bills are loaded into the container 24 or the cassette 25, at least one of the front and back direction and the top and bottom direction can be aligned. In the case of reversing the direction of the front and back of the bill, as shown in FIG. 1C, the arrangement of the serial numbers included in the bill data 121 is changed according to the actual bill, but the direction of the top and bottom of the bill is reversed. In the case of doing so, it is not necessary to change the sequence of the serial numbers included in the bill data 121.

For example, there is a bill including areas having different thicknesses. In the bill processing system, when loading such a bill into the cassette 25, it is set to reverse the direction of the bill so that only a part of the stacked bill is not too high compared to the other areas. Can. When the type of bills including the area having different thicknesses, the number of bills, and the method of loading the bills are set in advance, the loading device 10 loads the bills into the cassette 25 based on the settings. Specifically, when loading a set type of banknotes into the cassette 25, the loading device 10 sets the number of banknotes loaded in the same direction every time the number of loaded banknotes reaches the set number based on the loading method set. , Change the direction of the front and back of the bill and / or the direction of the top and bottom. The change of the orientation of the front and back and the orientation of the top and bottom is performed so that the thick regions do not overlap. For example, when loaded into the cassette 25, the loading device 10 changes the orientation of the banknote as necessary and loads the cassette 25 so that the thick region of the banknote is on the right. When 500 bills are loaded in this state, the loading device 10 changes the direction of the bills as needed and loads the cassette 25 so that the thick area is on the left side of the bills. When 500 bills are loaded in this state, the loading device 10 loads the bills again so that the thick area is on the right. By repeating this, it is possible to load the banknotes so that the left and right heights become substantially equal while avoiding that the thick regions of the banknotes are concentrated on one side in the cassette 25. Such a loading operation may be performed based on settings made through the operation display unit 15, or may be performed by controlling the loading device 10 by the management device 30. .

In the present embodiment, when the container 24 has a plurality of storage spaces, the storage banknote data 130 is generated using storage space identification information for distinguishing the storage spaces. Besides this, the stored bill data 130 may be generated based on the position information of the storage space. Specifically, for example, when the container 24 has three storage spaces arranged in the left and right, the bill data 121 of each storage space is managed in association with the positions of the storage spaces on the left side, the center, and the right side. . The loading device 10 takes out the bills from each of the three storage spaces and loads them into the cassette 25, and the loading order is in the order of the banknotes in the central storage space, the banknotes in the right storage space, and the banknotes in the left storage space. Do. The loading device 10 transmits information indicating this to the management device 30 as loading data 110. Based on the loading data 110, the management device 30 indicates that the banknotes loaded in the cassette 25 are the banknotes in the central storage space, the banknotes in the right storage space, and the banknotes in the left storage space stacked. recognize. Then, the management device 30 combines the bill data 121 of the central storage space, the bill data 121 of the right storage space, and the bill data 121 of the left storage space in this order to generate the stored bill data 130. As described above, if the bill data 121 is managed in association with the position information of each storage space, and the order of the loaded bills is input to the management device 30 as the order of each storage space, as described above, It is possible to generate stored bill data 130 that can specify the serial numbers of all the bills in the order of the bills in the cassette 25.

For example, the stored bill data 130 may be generated by loading the cassette 25 according to the type and stored state of the bills stored in the storage spaces of the container 24. When the banknotes include regions having different thicknesses, when the plurality of sheets are stacked in a bundle and stored in the storage space, the thickness on the left side of the banknotes may increase and the thickness on the right side may increase. For example, when a plurality of storage spaces are formed in the left and right two rows in the container 24 and the loading device 10 is loaded into the cassette 25 without performing the bill reversing operation, the bills whose height on the left side is stored in the left row , It is assumed that a bill whose right side is high is stored in the right side row. In such a case, the loading device 10 prevents the thick area of the bill from being biased to one side in the cassette 25 based on the control prepared by the setting or management device 30 prepared in advance, and the height of the left and right Load the banknotes so that is almost even. Specifically, the loading device 10 removes bills from the storage space in the left row of the containers 24 and loads them into the cassette 25, and removes bills from the right row of the containers 24 and loads them into the cassette 25. Repeat alternately. The loading device 10 transmits information indicating the position of the storage space from which the banknotes have been removed, such as the first stage on the left side and the first stage on the right side, as the loading data 110 to the management device 30. The management device 30 acquires bill data 121 corresponding to each storage space, combines them in the loading order, and generates stored bill data 130. Thus, the loading process can be performed such that the difference between the left and right heights of the bills stored in the stacked state in the cassette 25 falls within the predetermined range. In addition, it is possible to generate stored bill data 130 that can specify the serial numbers of all the bills in the cassette 25 in the order in which the bills in the cassette 25 are aligned.

In the present embodiment, the loading device 10 controls the arm unit 11 to take in the container 24 and the cassette 25 transported on the transport path and deliver the container 24 and the cassette 25 to the transport path. These aspects may be performed using the transport path. For example, the container conveyance path 51 is provided with a branch conveyance path for taking in and out the container 24 between each of the bill arrangement area 40 and the bill loading area 42. Then, the loading device 10 or the management device 30 may control the branch conveyance path to realize loading of the container 24 into each area and delivery of the container 24 from within each area. Similarly, the cassette conveyance path 52 is provided with a branch conveyance path for taking the cassette 25 into and out of each bill loading area 42. Then, the loading device 10 or the management device 30 may control the branch conveyance path to realize loading of the cassette 25 into each area and delivery of the cassette 25 from within each area.

In the present embodiment, the loading device 10 uses the camera attached to the arm unit 11 or the IC tag reader to acquire information from the bar code or the IC tag attached to the container 24. Information may be acquired by For example, a camera or an IC tag reader may be installed in the container conveyance path 51 to acquire information of each container 24. Also in this case, the loading device 10 or the management device 30 acquires information from the bar code or the IC tag of each container 24 with the camera or the IC tag reader provided in the container conveyance path 51 and takes the container 24 into the banknote arrangement area 40. And the container 24 to be taken into the bill loading area 42 can be specified. And based on a specific result, as mentioned above, taking in of the container 24 to each area, etc. can be performed. Alternatively, for example, a measurer for measuring the weight of the container 24 may be installed in the container conveyance path 51 to acquire information of each container 24. If the weight of the container 24 is measured by a measuring device provided in the container conveyance path 51, it can be determined whether the container 24 is empty or whether a bill is loaded inside. Then, based on the determination result, as described above, the loading of the container 24 loaded with bills into the bill loading area 42, the loading of the empty container 24 into the bill arrangement area 40, and the like can be performed.

In the present embodiment, an example in which the cassette transfer path 52 is U-shaped is shown, but the cassette transfer path 52 is formed in a loop like the container transfer path 51, and the cassette 25 is circulated and transferred. May be By forming the cassette transport path 52 in a loop, the functions and operations related to the above-described container transport path 51 can be realized in the cassette transport path 52 as well. For example, a camera, an IC tag reader, a weighing scale or the like, which functions as an information acquisition unit, is provided in the arm unit 11 of the loading device 10, the transport path, or the like. Then, the loading device 10 or the management device 30 acquires information on the cassette 25 being transported using the information acquisition unit, and specifies the cassette 25 to be taken into the bill loading area 42. As a result, the cassette 25 to be loaded with bills can be loaded into the bill loading area 42 to start loading processing, while the non-target cassettes 25 can be circulated and transported in an empty state. With regard to the empty cassette 25 being circulated and transported, a container 24 storing bills to be loaded into the cassette 25 is taken into the bill loading area 42 in accordance with being taken into the bill loading area 42. Then, the banknotes removed from the container 24 are loaded into the cassette 25. Further, on the downstream side of the bill loading area 42 in the middle of the cassette transport path 52, a transport path for circulating the empty cassette 25 and a transport path for transporting the bill 25 loaded cassette 25 to the cassette unloading area 46. It may be branched to For example, the loading device 10 or the management device 30 uses the information acquisition unit to specify whether the cassette 25 being transported upstream from the branch unit is empty or has been loaded with a bill. Then, the branch destination is controlled based on the specified result, the empty cassette 25 is circulated again to the bill loading area 42, and the bill 25 loaded cassette is conveyed to the cassette unloading area 46. As a result, the empty cassette 25 can recover the bill-loaded cassette 25 from the cassette carry-out area 46 while continuing the circulation transport.

As described above, in the bill processing system, bills are identified and counted by the bill processing device 23 in the bill arrangement area 40, and bills which can be loaded into the cassette 25 are accumulated in the stacking unit. The loading device 10 of the bill rearranging area 40 controls the arm portion 11 to extract the bills from the stacking portion of the bill processing device 23 and load the bills into the container 24. The container 24 loaded with bills is sent to the bill loading area 42 via the container conveyance path 51. In the bill loading area 42, the loading device 10 controls the arm unit 11 to extract bills from the container 24 sent from the bill sorting area 40 and load the bills into the cassette 25. At this time, based on the direction of the bill extracted from the container 24, the bill may be inverted as necessary, and loaded in the cassette 25 in a state where at least one of the front and back direction of the bill and the direction of the top and bottom is aligned. it can. By continuously performing these processes, the process of loading a predetermined number of bills satisfying the predetermined condition in each of the plurality of cassettes 25 can be accurately performed in a short time.

Further, a plurality of bill sorting areas 40 can be provided along the container conveyance path 51, and a plurality of bill loading areas 42 can be provided along both the container conveyance path 51 and the cassette conveyance path 52. For example, the number of bill arrangement areas 40 and the number of bill loading areas 42 are set so that the number of bills that can be processed in the entire bill arrangement area 40 per unit time and the number of bills that can be treated in the whole bill loading area 42 are substantially the same. Determine the number. As a result, it is possible to efficiently process a large number of bills while avoiding the situation where either one of the processing of the bill rearranging area 40 and the processing of the bill loading area 42 can not catch up with the other processing.

In the bill processing system, the bills stacked in parallel are arranged in parallel in the order of reading the serial number, and are extracted from the stacker of the bill processing device 23 or the storage container such as the container 24 or the cassette 25 to be aligned. , And can be loaded into a storage container such as another container 24 or cassette 25 or the like. And it is possible to manage the correspondence between the serial numbers of all the banknotes stored in the storage container and the order of alignment of the actual banknotes. Thereby, when drawing out the banknotes stored in the storage container in an aligned state one by one, it is possible to specify the serial number of the discharged banknote.

For example, a bill processing system is used to load bills into a cassette 25 for storing bills to be used for dispensing processing in an ATM. Thereby, the serial number of each bill dispensed from ATM can be specified.

As described above, the sheet processing system and sheet processing method according to the present invention are useful for managing the order of identification information and identification information of a plurality of sheets stored in a storage container.

10 (10a to 10f) Loading device 11 Arm

11a Hand unit

12, 31, 124

Control unit

13, 34, 126

Storage unit

14, 32, 127

Communication unit

15, 33, 128 Operation display unit 21 First storage unit 22 first 2 Storage section 23 (23a to 23c) Banknote processing unit 24 (24a to 24h) Container 25 (25a to 25e) Cassette 30 Management unit 40 (40a to 40c) Banknote area 42 (42a to 42c) Banknote loading area 51 Container transportation Path 52 cassette transport path 53 bound banknote transport path 122 storage device 123 banknote binding device 125 banknote processing unit 223 large bundle binding device

Claims

A first storage unit for stacking paper sheets;
A second storage unit for stacking the sheets;
A loading device for extracting the sheets stacked in the first storage section and performing a loading process for loading the second storage section while maintaining the stacked state of the sheets;
Since the loading processing by the loading device is performed, the first data from which identification information regarding each sheet stacked in the first storage unit can be specified in the stacking order of the sheets is described. (2) A sheet processing system comprising: a management device that generates second data capable of specifying identification information on each sheet stacked in the storage unit in the stacking order of the sheets.
If the loading process has been performed multiple times by the loading device:
The sheet processing system according to claim 1, wherein the management device generates the second data from the first data based on contents of the loading process performed a plurality of times.
The paper according to claim 1, wherein the loading device includes a holding unit that holds the sheets stacked in the first storage unit and moves to the second storage unit. Leaf processing system.
It further comprises a sheet processing apparatus for identifying a sheet and acquiring the identification information,
The sheet processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sheet processing apparatus includes the first storage unit.
The loading device is characterized in that when the number of sheets stacked in the first storage section reaches a preset number, the loading apparatus extracts the sheets and loads the second storage section. The sheet processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The first storage unit includes a plurality of first storage spaces in which paper sheets are stacked,
The loading device sequentially removes the paper sheets from the first storage space in which the number of paper sheets has reached a preset number of sheets among the plurality of first storage spaces, and transfers the paper sheets to the second storage section. The sheet processing system according to claim 5, characterized in that it is loaded.
The sheet processing system according to claim 6, wherein the loading device extracts sheets from the plurality of first storage spaces in a preset order.
The loading device is configured to load the paper sheet removed from the first storage section into the second storage section so that the front and back sides of the paper sheet are not changed and only the top and bottom of the paper sheet are changed. Configured to perform one loading process,
When the first loading process is performed by the loading device, the management device is configured such that an arrangement order of identification information of the second data matches an arrangement order of identification information of the first data. The sheet processing system according to claim 1, wherein the second data is generated from data.
The loading device is configured to perform a second loading process of changing the front and back of the paper sheet when loading the paper sheet removed from the first storage portion into the second storage portion,
When the second loading process is performed by the loading device, the management device is arranged such that the arrangement order of the identification information of the second data is reversed to the arrangement order of the identification information of the first data. The sheet processing system according to claim 1, wherein the second data is generated from first data.
The sheet processing system according to claim 9, wherein the loading device aligns the front and back of all the sheets loaded in the second storage unit by the second loading process.
The paper sheet includes a first area and a second area thicker than the first area, and
The loading device loads a predetermined number of paper sheets into the second storage section in a state in which the second areas overlap, and then a predetermined number of paper sheets in the second storage section in a state in which the second areas do not overlap The sheet processing system according to claim 9, characterized in that it is loaded.
The second storage unit includes a plurality of second storage spaces into which paper sheets are loaded,
Storage space information is associated with each of the plurality of second storage spaces,
The management device associates the storage space information corresponding to a predetermined second storage space among the plurality of second storage spaces with identification information of paper sheets stored in the predetermined second storage space. The sheet processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that
The first storage unit has a plurality of first storage spaces in which sheets are stacked,
The first data is generated for each of the plurality of first storage spaces,
The paper sheet according to claim 1, wherein the management device generates the second data from the first data based on the order of taking out the paper sheets from the plurality of first storage spaces. Processing system.
The sheet processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the identification information includes at least serial number information of the sheet.
It is a paper sheet processing method, and
Remove the stacked paper sheets from the first storage section,
The identification information on each sheet stacked in the first storage unit is acquired as first data that can be specified in the order in which the sheets are stacked in the first storage unit.
Performing a loading process of loading the paper sheets removed from the first storage section into the second storage section while maintaining the stacked state;
Since the loading process is performed, the paper sheets are stacked in the second storage section based on the first data, identification information on each of the paper sheets stacked in the second storage section. A sheet processing method characterized in that second data which can be specified in order is generated.