CN108431874B

CN108431874B - Paper money processing device

Info

Publication number: CN108431874B
Application number: CN201680077826.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 桐林寿成; 手岛政春; 小川源太
Original assignee: Hitachi Omron Terminal Solutions Corp
Current assignee: Hitachi Financial Systems Co.,Ltd.
Priority date: 2016-02-04
Filing date: 2016-10-11
Publication date: 2021-02-02
Anticipated expiration: 2036-10-11
Also published as: CN108431874A; JP2019061294A; WO2017134860A1

Abstract

It is possible to continuously perform a deposit process for a large number of banknotes. Comprising: a feeding mechanism (125-127, 128, 129) for sequentially conveying the banknotes (B) stacked in the depositing section (120) to the inside; a sensor (401) which is provided at a predetermined position and detects bills stacked in the deposit unit; a control part (10) for judging whether supplementary paper money is added to the deposit part by using a detection signal of the sensor during the deposit process; and a notification means (19) for notifying the user of the addition of the supplementary banknotes in response to the determination by the control unit, and taking in the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit to the inside to perform the deposit process.

Description

Paper money processing device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a banknote handling apparatus, and more particularly to a banknote deposit process capable of handling a large number of banknotes.

Background

In an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), there is an increasing demand for depositing and dispensing a large number of banknotes. In order to respond to this demand, for example, in patent document 1, the following automatic transaction is disclosed: in order to realize a transaction of an amount exceeding the payment amount in one transaction, the dispensing and withdrawal of banknotes are continuously performed a plurality of times in one transaction operation, and the counting status is displayed on the display unit. For example, in the case of dispensing 250 ten thousand yens, the user is notified of the progress of the transaction by displaying on the guidance screen the effect of dispensing in 3 times, namely, 100 ten thousand yens, and 50 ten thousand yens, and by blinking a chart showing which stage the user is currently processing.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese unexamined patent publication No. 8-221499

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

Patent document 1 describes a process for dispensing a large amount of money, but does not suggest a mechanism or process for depositing a large amount of banknotes. In the case of depositing a large number of banknotes, the number of banknotes that can be deposited in the deposit port at one time is limited, and therefore, the banknotes are divided several times and additional banknotes are deposited in the deposit port. In this case, it is desirable to shorten the time for placing banknotes continuously as much as possible, and to achieve a reduction in transaction time.

The invention aims to provide a paper money processing device which can continuously perform deposit processing on a large number of paper money.

Means for solving the problems

A banknote handling apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is a banknote handling apparatus that takes in banknotes stacked in a deposit unit and performs a deposit process, and is configured as a banknote handling apparatus including: a feeding mechanism for sequentially feeding the banknotes stacked in the depositing section; a sensor provided at a predetermined position and detecting the banknotes stacked in the depositing section; a control unit for determining addition of supplementary banknotes to the deposit unit by using a detection signal of the sensor during the deposit process; and a notification unit that notifies the user of the additional supplementary note in accordance with the determination by the control unit.

A banknote handling apparatus according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention is a banknote handling apparatus for carrying out a deposit process by taking in banknotes stacked in a deposit unit, the banknote handling apparatus including: a feeding mechanism for sequentially feeding the banknotes stacked in the depositing section; a counting unit that counts the number of banknotes transported by the feeding mechanism; a control unit for determining whether the number of banknotes counted by the counting unit exceeds a predetermined value; and a notification unit that notifies the user of the additional supplementary note by an instruction from the control unit when the control unit determines that the predetermined value is exceeded during the deposit process.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, when there are a large number of banknotes deposited, the banknotes sequentially added to the deposit port can be sequentially fed into the inside, and the deposit process can be performed on a large number of banknotes without extending the time of the deposit transaction.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an external appearance of a banknote handling apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a control structure of the banknote handling apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the banknote deposit mechanism 12.

Fig. 4 is a side sectional view showing the structure of the banknote deposit mechanism 12.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of the state display unit 19.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a control operation (example 1) for additional replenishment of banknotes in the deposit process.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a control operation (example 2) for additional replenishment of banknotes in the deposit process.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a control operation (example 3) for additional replenishment of banknotes in the deposit process.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Example 1

< integral Structure of paper money handling apparatus >

Fig. 1 shows an external appearance of a banknote handling apparatus for depositing and dispensing banknotes. In the banknote handling apparatus, the deposit unit 120 is a part of the banknote deposit mechanism 12, and banknotes to be deposited are placed thereon. In the deposit process, the banknotes are stacked and placed in the deposit unit 120, and are sequentially taken in one by one from the banknotes located below. The dispensing unit 140 is a part of the banknote dispensing mechanism 14, and the banknotes fed one by one from the inside of the apparatus are stacked therein. The deposit unit and the withdrawal unit may be not separate units but may be a unit common to the units.

The card inlet/outlet 150 is a portion for inserting or discharging a transaction card (for example, an IC card) held by a user, and includes a card reading mechanism 15 for reading information recorded in the transaction card therein.

The customer operation unit 16 is, for example, a liquid crystal touch panel, and includes a display unit that displays a transaction screen for deposit, withdrawal, or the like, and an input unit that can input an operation by a customer. The receipt slot 170 is a portion for outputting a receipt on which a transaction result of deposit or withdrawal is printed, and includes a receipt issuing mechanism 17 for printing a transaction result on the receipt therein. The numeric keypad mechanism 18 is an input unit constituted by numeric keys for inputting a password or an amount of money by a customer. The state display unit 19 is, for example, a liquid crystal display for displaying the operation state or transaction state of the device. The status display unit 19 displays the status of the apparatus shown in fig. 5 or an instruction to the customer.

The customer operation unit 16 is provided with a display unit, and therefore the operation of the apparatus and the transaction status can be originally displayed on the customer operation unit 16, but the state display unit 19 is provided near the deposit unit 120 and the dispensing unit 140 in order to give a sense of security to the customer and improve operability when a large number of banknotes are continuously deposited. That is, by arranging the hand for performing the deposit or withdrawal operation on the same operation surface (horizontal surface) as the deposit unit 120 or the withdrawal unit 140 and in the vicinity thereof so as not to be substantially separated from the display for operation confirmation, the customer can easily confirm the status display such as the status display during the deposit process or the withdrawal process or the current number of deposited banknotes or the number of withdrawn banknotes displayed on the status display unit 19, and the customer can input the input operation from the numeric keypad mechanism 18 without the eyes being substantially separated from the deposited or withdrawn banknotes. Thus, the customer can speed up the operation of making a deposit transaction without substantially moving the line of sight.

The control unit 10 is a part for controlling the above-described units (including the mechanisms), and mainly includes a CPU for executing a program and a memory for storing the program and various data associated with transactions. The customer operation unit 16 displays transaction information based on an instruction from the control unit 10 on the display unit, and transmits the transaction information input from the input unit to the control unit 10. The interface unit 11 connects the control unit 10 to an upper device such as a host computer via a network, and transmits and receives information related to a transaction to and from the upper device. The card reading means 15 reads a customer's card and acquires information on the transaction card and an embossed image.

The banknote deposit mechanism 12 includes an authentication unit that counts the number of banknotes and determines the denomination or authenticity of the banknotes. The banknotes transported from the deposit unit 120 are counted and discriminated by the discriminator, and stored in a storage provided in the apparatus (deposit process). The banknote dispensing mechanism 13 counts the banknotes to be dispensed by the differentiating section and sends the banknotes to the dispensing section 130 (dispensing process). The voucher issuing entity 17 prints information related to the transaction to the voucher and sends out the voucher through the voucher port 170. The numeric key mechanism 18 allows the customer to enter a password or amount, etc.

The meaning and function of the status display unit 19 are as described above, but the status display unit functions as a notification means to the customer when the other term is used. As shown in fig. 5, "in deposit" is displayed in the deposit process, and "can be added" is displayed in a state where the banknotes can be added. Further, "dispensing is in progress" is displayed during the dispensing process, and "withdrawal waiting" is displayed when the dispensing is completed or when the banknotes need to be withdrawn once. Are displayed by an instruction from the control unit 10.

In the above example, a liquid crystal display is used as the state display unit 19, but other display members may be used. For example, it is also possible to prepare the display items of fig. 5 on the surface in advance, provide LEDs corresponding to the display items, and control so as to light the LEDs of the corresponding display items. As another example, the number of banknotes deposited can be displayed numerically or by an indicator on the status display unit 19 as a liquid crystal display. In addition, the same sound guidance as that of fig. 5 can be provided from a speaker (not shown) in accordance with the display of the state display unit 19.

< detailed construction of the banknote deposit mechanism 12 >

Next, the detailed structure of the banknote deposit mechanism 12 will be described with reference to fig. 3 and 4.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a roller structure related to the bill feeding in the deposit unit 120, and fig. 4 is a sectional view showing a main roller structure related to the bill feeding from the deposit unit 120 to the upstream side deposit path 181.

As shown in the drawing, the deposit unit 120 has no openable shutter at the upper portion, and is configured to facilitate addition of additional banknotes during the deposit process. The deposit unit 120 includes an open recess 121 whose upper end is open. The opening recess 121 holds the received bill B by stacking it on the inclined bottom wall, and the bill B is surrounded by the side wall 122 and the bill end side wall 123 around the recess. In the deposit section 120, a feed path section 124 is formed by the lower end of the banknote end side wall 123 and the inclined bottom wall of the open recess 121, and the open recess 121 is connected to an upstream deposit path (not shown) at the bottom corner of the feed path section 124. The deposit unit 120 includes a plurality of banknote feeding first rollers 125, banknote feeding second rollers 126, and banknote feeding third rollers 127 on the inclined bottom wall of the open recess 121. These feed rollers rotate the roller peripheral walls so as to protrude from the inclined bottom surface of the opening recess 121.

A sensor 401, for example, an optical sensor, for detecting the amount of banknotes (the number of approximate banknotes) is provided on the banknote end side wall 123. Strictly speaking, the sensor 401 detects the presence or absence of the bill, and does not directly detect the amount of the bill (e.g., n bills). The sensor 401 is provided at a predetermined height from the bottom surface (the opening recess 121 shown), that is, at a position (predetermined position) where n banknotes are stacked from the bottom surface. Accordingly, when the sensor 401 detects the banknotes, the control unit 10 determines that n or more banknotes are stacked. The meaning of the arrangement of the sensor 401 and the function thereof will be described later. The sensor 401 is not shown in fig. 2 because it is included in the banknote deposit mechanism 12.

Further, although not shown, a sensor (not shown) for detecting the bill fed from the deposit unit 120 is provided in the feed path unit 124. If the sensor does not detect any banknote, the control unit 10 can determine that all the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit 120 are missing.

The deposit unit 120 rotationally drives the above-described feed rollers in the direction of the arrow shown in fig. 4, and feeds the banknotes B stacked in the open recess 121 one by one from the banknote B on the stacking lower side to the feed path unit 124 and further to the upstream deposit path connected thereto. Since the radius of the arc of the outer periphery of a part of the first banknote sending-out roller 125 is made larger than the radius of the other arc portions, the banknotes B stacked in the open recess 121 are moved up and down and sent out from the banknotes B on the stacking lower side to the sending-out path portion 124. Further, the deposit unit 120 includes a first auxiliary banknote feed roller 125a having a circular shape, which is arranged in parallel with the first banknote feed roller 125.

The deposit unit 120 includes an impeller 128 on the lower end side of the banknote end side wall 123. As shown in fig. 6, a plurality of impellers 128 are provided on the banknote end side wall 123, and the tips of the blades 129 are projected from the opening 123h of the banknote end side wall 123 into the opening recess 121. The blade 129 provided so as to protrude can come into contact with the bill B held in the open recess 121. The impeller 128 is rotationally driven under the control of the control unit 10 described later when the bill B is fed from the deposit unit 120, and has a plurality of blades 129 which come into contact with the lower bill B stacked in the open recess 121, specifically, the end portion side of the bill B.

In the present embodiment, since the impeller 128 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in the figure shown in fig. 4, the blade 129 is brought into contact with the end portion of the banknote B stacked on the lower side in the opening recess 121 from the upper side to the lower side of the banknote stack. Therefore, the banknotes B stacked in the open recess 121 are fed out one by one from the banknote B on the stacking lower side to the feeding-out path portion 124 in sequence by the rotation of the feeding-out roller such as the banknote feeding-out first roller 125 and the contact of the end of the blade 129. When the banknotes are fed, there is a possibility that one banknote B is received in the open recess 121 or one banknote B remains at the uppermost part of the stacked banknotes. If one banknote B or several banknotes B on the left and right are folded as shown in the figure and are not in contact with the first and second banknote feeding rollers, the banknote B may be in a stop posture with the leading end of the banknote in contact with the outer surface of the banknote end portion side wall 123 and may remain in the open recess 121. The deposit unit 120 causes the blade 129 to contact the banknote end of the banknote B in the stop posture, as described above, and thus changes the posture of the banknote B from the stop posture, and the banknote end is pressed against the bottom corner side of the open recess 121. Thus, the bill B which has been in the stopped posture and is not in contact with the feed-out roller is in contact with either or both of the bill feed-out first roller 125 and the bill feed-out second roller 126.

The significance of the installation position and installation height of the sensor 401 will be described.

In order to accurately detect the amount of banknotes stacked in the deposit unit 120, in the illustrated example, the sensor 401 is provided on a wall surface on the side from which banknotes are fed out, among wall surfaces extending in the direction in which banknotes are stacked in the deposit unit 120. The bottom surface (the opening recess 121) on which the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit 120 are placed is inclined in the dispensing direction, and the tips of the plurality of banknotes can be easily aligned. Therefore, the amount of the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit 120 can be detected with high accuracy by the sensor 401. The location where the sensor 401 is provided is not limited to the above example, and for example, the amount of the bill can be detected even if the sensor is provided on a wall surface (a wall surface on the short side of the bill) perpendicular to the direction in which the bill B is fed.

As for the installation height of the sensor 401, the sensor 401 is preferably located at a position higher than the height of the leading end of the blade 129 of the impeller 128 that sends out the bill. That is, when additional banknotes are permitted to be added from the control unit 10 while the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit 120 are being fed out into the apparatus by the blades 129 of the impeller 128, the additional banknotes are stacked on the banknotes being fed out by the customer. At this time, when the fingers of the customer holding the additional banknote come into contact with the blades 129, the banknote feeding may be hindered. Therefore, the height of the sensor 401 is set to a position higher than the height of the tip of the blade 129 of the impeller 128, and the presence or absence of a banknote at this height is detected, and in the case of no banknote, the control unit 10 can "add an additional banknote, thereby preventing the contact of the customer's finger with the blade 129.

The control section 10 determines whether or not additional banknotes can be added.

The sensor 401 detects the amount of the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit 120, that is, whether the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit 120 have reached a predetermined height. When the sensor 401 provided at a predetermined height detects the bill, a detection signal thereof is transmitted to the control section 10. The control unit 10 can thereby determine whether or not a predetermined amount (i.e., a predetermined number of banknotes) has been stacked in the deposit unit 120, and whether or not additional banknotes can be added based on the detection result of the presence or absence of banknotes by the sensor 401.

For example, when the sensor 401 detects that there is a banknote, the control unit 10 sets the banknote to "not" because a predetermined amount (predetermined height) of the banknote is stacked in the deposit unit 120. On the other hand, when the sensor 401 detects that there is no banknote, the control unit 10 makes the addition "possible" because a predetermined amount of banknotes is not stacked in the deposit unit 120. This makes it possible to add additional banknotes before banknotes become empty while suppressing the number of times banknotes are added by the customer (labor), thereby improving the efficiency of the deposit process.

In the illustrated example, the opening/closing shutter is not provided above the deposit unit 120, but in the case of a banknote handling apparatus having the opening/closing shutter, the control unit 10 may control the opening/closing shutter to be closed during the process of taking in the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit 120 into the apparatus, and control the opening/closing shutter to be opened when the addition of additional banknotes is permitted.

< other example of arrangement of sensor 401 >

This example is an example in which two sensors are disposed at positions having different heights. For example, the first sensor 401 (the above-described example) is provided at a position higher than the height of the tip of the blade 129 of the impeller 128, and the second sensor 402 is provided at a position higher than the position.

When the second sensor detects the presence of the banknotes, the control unit 10 determines that the banknotes cannot be added because a second predetermined amount of the banknotes (a sufficient amount of the banknotes) are stacked in the deposit unit 120. In addition, when the second sensor detects no banknotes and the first sensor detects the presence of banknotes, the control unit 10 determines that "banknotes can be added" because the first predetermined amount of banknotes is stacked in the deposit unit 120, but the second predetermined amount of banknotes is not stacked. When the first sensor detects that there is no banknote, the control unit 10 determines that the banknote cannot be added because the first predetermined amount of banknotes is not stacked in the deposit unit 120. This can suppress the time and effort (excessive number of times of addition) of additional banknotes by the customer, and the additional banknotes can be added before the banknotes become empty. Further, the hand of the customer can be prevented from coming into contact with the bill feeding roller such as the impeller 128.

< control action (example 1) for additional replenishment of banknotes in deposit processing >

Referring to fig. 6, control of additional replenishment of deposited banknotes in the deposit process will be described.

This example assumes that one sensor 401 for detecting the amount of banknotes is provided in fig. 3 or 4. Each control operation is based on control by the control unit 10. The operation up to this deposit process is, as is well known, based on the premise that a customer selects, for example, the ATM for deposit, inserts a transaction card from the card slot 150, inputs the customer's password from the numeric keypad mechanism 18, and the host computer determines that the customer is a legitimate customer based on the password, and permits the deposit transaction to the customer.

The deposit process is started in a state where the banknotes B are stacked in the open recess 121 of the deposit unit 120. In this deposit process, the denomination or authenticity of the banknote is determined by the discriminator in association with the banknote B being transported from the deposit unit 120 to the inside. The same applies to examples 2 and 3 below. At this time, the state display unit 19 displays "deposit is in progress". When the deposit process is started, the banknotes B stacked on the lower side are sequentially fed to the feeding path unit 124 one by the rotation of the feeding roller such as the banknote feeding first roller 125 and the contact of the end of the blade 129. The stacking height of the banknotes B becomes gradually lower. At this time, the control unit 10 checks whether or not the deposit process is in progress (S601). Whether or not the banknote is being deposited is checked, for example, based on whether or not the sensor (not shown) provided in the feeding path unit 124 detects the banknote fed from the depositing unit 120, or whether or not the sensor (not shown) provided in the transport path from the feeding path unit 124 to the banknote storage box detects the presence of the banknote. If the check result indicates that the deposit process is in progress, the state of the sensor 401 is checked (S602). If the sensor 401 detects the bill B as a result of the confirmation (yes in S602), the system waits until the sensor 401 cannot detect the bill B. When the sensor 401 detects that the bill is missing (no in S602), it reports that the bill can be replenished (replenishment is permitted) (S603). The report is made by the control unit 10 displaying the status display unit 19 as "add-able". In addition, similar sound guidance may be performed by a speaker.

In order to confirm whether or not the banknote B is additionally replenished, the control unit 10 confirms whether or not the banknote B is detected by the sensor 401 (S604). If the sensor 401 detects the bill B as a result of the confirmation, it is determined that the bill B is additionally replenished, and the report of permission of additional replenishment is terminated (S605). In this case, the sensor 401 detects the operation of the bill B again (S602). If the sensor 401 does not detect the banknote B as a result, the banknote detection operation by the sensor 401 is repeated (S602 to S605) until the deposit process is completed. On the other hand, when the sensor 401 does not detect the bill (NO in S604), the control unit 10 determines whether or not the bill is being deposited (S606). This determination is made based on whether or not a banknote is detected by a sensor (not shown) provided in the delivery path unit 124 of the deposit unit 120 or the banknote conveyance path, for example. If the banknote is not being deposited (that is, the deposit process is completed), the report of permission to add supplementary banknotes is completed (S607).

According to the control operation of example 1, it is possible to effectively transmit to the customer that the banknote can be replenished, and it is possible to shorten the transaction time and improve the convenience of the customer. Further, additional supplementary banknotes can be provided by guidance using the state display unit 9, and further improvement in operability for the customer can be expected.

< control action (example 2) for additional replenishment of banknotes in deposit processing >

Referring to fig. 7, control of additional replenishment of deposited banknotes in the deposit process will be described.

Example 2 additional replenishment of banknotes in the deposit unit 120 was controlled using the information on the number of banknotes counted by the differentiating unit of the banknote deposit mechanism 12, without using the sensor 401 described above for detecting the amount of banknotes in the deposit unit 120. The process until the deposit transaction is permitted based on the password input by the customer is the same as in example 1.

When the deposit process is started, the banknotes B stacked on the lower side are sequentially fed one by one to the feed path unit 124 by the rotation of the banknote feed-out first roller 125 and the like and the contact with the end of the blade 129, and the denomination or authenticity of the banknotes is determined by counting the number of banknotes by the discriminating unit. The number of banknotes counted by the differentiating section is updated in sequence and temporarily stored in the memory of the control section 10.

Each time the number of banknotes is updated, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the number of updated banknotes exceeds a predetermined value (S701). The predetermined value corresponds to the above-described predetermined amount for determining the addition of banknotes. If the updated number of banknotes does not exceed the predetermined value as a result of the determination, it is checked whether the deposit process is continued (S702), and the process of S701 is repeated. On the other hand, when the updated number of banknotes exceeds the predetermined value, a report is made to permit additional replenishment (S703). The report is the same as in example 1. Then, whether or not the banknote is being deposited is checked (S704), and when the depositing process is completed, the report of permission of additional replenishment is completed (S705).

According to example 2, even if the sensor 401 is not used, the number of deposited banknotes can be determined, and control can be performed to permit additional replenishment. However, since the sensor 401 is not provided, it is not known how many banknotes are stacked in the deposit unit 120 and how many banknotes are added after the report. Therefore, in combination with the sensor 401, the state of the sensor 401 (that is, whether or not the sensor 401 detects a banknote) may be checked after the report of S703, and if a banknote is detected, it may be determined that the banknote is additionally replenished, and control may be performed so as to end the report of permission of additional replenishment.

< control action (example 3) for additional replenishment of banknotes in deposit processing >

Referring to fig. 8, control of additional replenishment of deposited banknotes in the deposit process will be described.

When the deposit amount is very large, the customer needs to add and replenish the deposit banknotes to the deposit unit in several separate operations. In this case, it is possible to confirm whether the customer can continue the deposit, and to allow the customer to input authentication information when the customer continues the deposit, thereby safely continuing the deposit process. However, if the determination of the continuation is made after accepting the deposit of the number of banknotes (hereinafter referred to as a predetermined number of banknotes) for which the determination of the continuation is required, the deposit process has to be suspended during the determination of the continuation (including the time for the customer to prepare information necessary for personal authentication), which results in an increase in transaction time.

Therefore, in example 3, the deposit process is executed using two predetermined sheets, a first predetermined sheet for requesting the customer to input information for determining whether or not the deposit of the banknote can be continued, and a second predetermined sheet for determining the interruption of the deposit, the second predetermined sheet being a sheet greater than the first predetermined sheet. The first predetermined number of banknotes and the second predetermined number of banknotes are information of a total number of banknotes counted by the differentiating section of the banknote deposit mechanism 12, which is updated one after another.

Specifically, in the deposit process, it is determined whether or not the number of deposited banknotes counted by the differentiating section exceeds a first predetermined number (S801). Note that the above-described conventional processing, that is, the processing until the deposit transaction is permitted based on the authentication information, for example, the password, input by the customer is the same as in example 1.

As a result of the above determination, when the number of deposited banknotes exceeds the first predetermined number, the control unit 10 displays a guidance screen on the display unit of the customer operation unit 16 as to whether or not to perform a deposit transaction exceeding the second predetermined number (S802). When a user inputs a decision to continue the deposit transaction exceeding the second predetermined number of sheets from the customer operation unit 16 or the ten-key mechanism 18 according to the guidance screen (yes in S803), the control unit 10 executes the processing after S804, and when a decision to not continue the deposit transaction is input (no in S803), the process proceeds to step S808.

When the customer operation unit 16 or the ten-key mechanism 18 inputs a fact that the deposit transaction exceeding the second predetermined number of sheets is to be continued (yes in S803), the control unit 10 displays a guide screen indicating that the authentication information of the customer is input in the customer operation unit 16 (S804). Here, the authentication information is information unique to the customer registered in advance in the storage unit of the host computer. The authentication information may be, for example, a password used for the first time, a password different from the password, fingerprint information of a finger of the customer, or finger vein information. Of course, in order to input the latter information, a reader of fingerprint information or finger vein information is provided in connection with the control unit 10.

When the authentication information is input, the control unit 10 transmits the authentication information to the host computer via the interface unit 11. Then, the host computer determines whether or not the authentication information is valid for the customer (S805). That is, the authentication information registered in advance in the storage unit is compared with the authentication information received this time, and thereby it is determined whether or not the customer of this time is a legitimate customer.

The control unit 10 receives the result of the determination from the host computer, and if the information is the legitimate authentication information (yes in S805), cancels the restriction on the number of banknotes deposited (S806), and continues the deposit process (S807). That is, the customer can add supplementary banknotes to the deposit unit 120. The deposit process is continued only when all the sensors (not shown) provided in the transport path detect the presence of the bill (S808: yes). However, when all the sensors (not shown) provided on the transport path fail to detect the presence of the banknote (no in S808), the control unit 10 determines that the deposit process is completed and ends the deposit process (S809).

If the authentication information is not legitimate in the previous determination (no in S805), the control unit 10 determines whether the deposited banknotes exceed the second predetermined number of banknotes (S810). If the result of the determination is that the second predetermined number of sheets is exceeded, the deposit process is stopped (S811). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S805. As a result, the process is repeated among steps S805 to S810 to S811, but in this case, the control unit 10 can perform control so that a screen including a "cancel button" is displayed on the customer operation unit 16 at an arbitrary timing, and the repeat of the process is canceled by causing the customer to select the "cancel button".

For example, an example will be described in which, when a customer deposits 300 banknotes, personal authentication (that is, authentication information input) is requested in the case of 200 or more transactions. Here, 100 sheets are set as a first predetermined number, and 200 sheets are set as a second predetermined number. The control unit 10 continues the deposit process until 200 banknotes when the number of deposited banknotes exceeds 100, and displays, in parallel, a guidance screen indicating that personal authentication is required when depositing 200 or more banknotes on the display unit of the customer operation unit 16. And requests input of authentication information required for personal authentication. When 200 sheets or more are processed, it is determined whether or not the deposit can be continued based on the authentication result of the authentication information received from the customer. By this control, it is possible to determine whether or not the processing can be continued before the 200 sheets processing is performed. When the deposit process of the banknotes ends before the 200 banknotes are processed, the process can be continued without being suspended. Even if the process of the personal authentication takes time, and the deposit process of 200 sheets is terminated and the deposit process is temporarily stopped, the total time taken can be shortened as compared with the case where the personal authentication is started after the deposit process is stopped.

Further, when the banknote deposit mechanism 12 processes the first predetermined number of banknotes and the control unit 10 requests the customer to input the authentication information, the control unit 10 may display a confirmation of whether or not the second predetermined number of banknotes have been deposited in the customer operation unit 16 and request the customer to input the confirmation. The control unit 10 may request the customer to input the authentication information only when an input indicating that the number of deposits exceeding the second predetermined number is accepted from the customer. This can suppress the input of useless authentication information from the customer.

In order to facilitate the determination as to whether or not the second predetermined number of banknotes exceeds the second predetermined number of banknotes, a mark (display) indicating the height when the second predetermined number of banknotes is stacked may be indicated on the banknote end side wall 123 of the deposit unit 120. When the customer deposits the banknotes in the deposit unit 120, it is possible to predict whether authentication information is required. Further, a mark indicating the height when the banknotes are stacked based on the difference between the second predetermined number of banknotes and the first predetermined number of banknotes may be similarly indicated in the banknote end portion side wall 123. When the control unit 10 displays a message indicating that the customer is requested to input the authentication information in the customer operation unit 16, the customer can predict whether the authentication information is required based on the symbol.

Further, as a modification of example 3, when personal authentication is required during the deposit process, a report may be issued to request a customer to respond during the deposit process using the detection signal of the sensor 401. Specifically, when the sensor 401 detects that there is no banknote during the deposit process, an input guide of authentication information indicating that personal authentication is required may be displayed (S802).

Description of reference numerals:

10: a control unit; 11: an interface section; 12: a banknote deposit mechanism; 120: a deposit unit; 14: a paper money dispensing mechanism; 140: a dispensing unit; 15: a card reading mechanism; 150: a card entrance; 16: a customer operation unit; 17: a credential issuing authority; 170: a strip opening is formed; 18: a number key mechanism; 19: a state display unit; 401: a sensor.

Claims

1. A banknote processing device for carrying out a deposit process by taking in banknotes stacked in a deposit unit, comprising:

a feeding mechanism for sequentially feeding the banknotes stacked in the depositing section;

a sensor provided at a predetermined position and detecting the banknotes stacked in the depositing section;

a control unit for determining addition of supplementary banknotes to the deposit unit by using a detection signal of the sensor during the deposit process; and

a notification means for notifying the user of the additional supplementary note in accordance with the determination of the control section,

the delivery mechanism includes:

a roller configured to feed out banknotes one by one from a bottommost banknote of the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit; and

an impeller disposed at the bill feed-out port of the deposit section and having a blade contacting an end of the bill fed out by the roller,

the sensor is arranged at a higher position than the blade,

the control unit determines that supplementary banknotes are added to the deposit unit before the banknotes are not detected by the sensor and the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit are not present.

2. The banknote handling apparatus according to claim 1,

the notification means is a display section that displays a notification,

the display unit is provided on the same surface as the position where the deposit unit is provided, and in the vicinity of the deposit unit.

3. The banknote handling apparatus according to claim 1,

the sensor is provided on a wall surface with which the leading end of the banknotes stacked in the deposit unit comes into contact, and is at a height at which a predetermined amount of banknotes remain.

4. The banknote handling device according to claim 1, comprising:

a first sensor as the sensor; and

a second sensor disposed at a higher position than the first sensor,

when the second sensor does not detect the banknotes and the first sensor detects the banknotes, the control unit instructs the notification unit to notify additional supplementary banknotes.