GB2102394A - Processing apparatus for a paper sheet bundle with a tape wound therearound - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a processing apparatus for a paper sheet bundle (P) with a tape wound therearound. The bundle is carried one by one into a bundle receiving section (21) provided in the apparatus. In the bundle receiving section (21) the bundle is retained by a vertical stop member (50) and the tape around the bundle is cut by a knife member (86) of a tape cutting mechanism. During this period of time, an urging roller (54) is pressed against the upper surface of the bundle so as to keep the bundle in its retained position. The paper sheets of the untied bundle, from a lowermost one thereof, are sequentially delivered from the receiving section and, at the section of shredder rolls (56, 57), are cut into fine pieces to destroy their paper value. The paper pieces thus produced are accumulated in a receiving chamber (15) located in the lower part of the apparatus. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Processing apparatus for a paper sheet bundle with a tape wound therearound This invention relates to a processing apparatus for a paper sheet bundle, which is designed to take thereinto a taped bundle of paper sheets such as bank notes or securities, and invalidate the paper sheets by a paper invalidating mechanism.

In recent years, such type of paper sheets have been usually subjected on a periodic basis to necessary examination by an examining apparatus, and have been judged on a sheet by sheet basis. As a result of this examination, they are generally classified into three kinds of paper sheets normal sheets, damaged sheets and rejected sheets. The normal sheets are defined as effective paper sheets which are normal enough in contour to keep their paper value and which are suitable for reuse. The damaged sheets are defined as effective paper sheets which, though effective, are highly damaged or soiled and are therefore unsuitable for reuse.The rejected sheets are defined as including the paper sheets which can not be normally judged by the examining apparatus, such as those which fall outside the scope of normal judgement or those which were erroneously sent, in overlapped form, into the judging section. The three kinds of paper sheets mentioned above are accumulated into their corresponding accumulating sections provided. In each of the normal and damaged sheet accumulating sections, the paper sheets of a specified number, for example, one hundred, are bundled and wound with tape.

Of the paper sheet bundles thus taped, the damaged paper sheet bundles are invalidated or made void and are thus made unsuitable for reuse. They are usually invalidated by being mechanically or physically punched to have a plurality of punched holes. An alternative method of invalidation is under consideration in which the damaged paper sheet bundle is immersed and thus dissolved in a chemical solution. With the latter method, however, the necessity arises from the viewpoint of manipulation to put the paper invalidating device in a separate place. This and other drawbacks are troublesome. Under the present circumstance, therefore, the former method of invalidation is generally adopted.

However, various problems occur with this conventional method of invalidation, as seen in the following example of a prior art bank-note processing system which refers to Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1, a taped paper sheet bundle P discharged from a preprocessing device a (only one is shown) such as a bank note rearranging device, is carried into a post processing device c through a common bundle-carrying path b.

The above post processing device c is designed to classify the taped bundles P carried through the bundle carrying path b, into two kinds: normal paper sheet bundles and damaged paper sheet bundles, the latter bundles being made void so that they cannot be reused. Device c then divides the two kinds of bundles respectiveiy accumulated into units of ten bundles, packs the bundles, and then binds these packs of bundles around both the ends and the sides thereof. The device c is constructed as follows: d is a carrying section constituting the abovementioned bundle carrying path b. The carrying section d receives the bundle P sent from a transferring and stamping section (not shown) of the preprocessing device a, and carries the bundle P, which is kept vertical, in the arrow-indicated direction.Bundle P is then carried to a tape color sensor (not shown), to a normal paper sheet bundle gate e and to a damaged paper sheet bundle gate f. The tape color sensor is designed, for example, to optically sense the color of the tape over the bundle P carried thereto, and is provided at the midway position of the carrying section d. The normal paper sheet bundle gate e is also provided at the midway position of the carrying section d, and operates in response to a green detection signal indicating the normal bundle from the tape color sensor, It stops the corresponding normal bundle P carried thereto and keeps it stationary until a normal bundle extruding member g starts to operate.When a yellow detection signal indicating the damaged bundle is issued from the tape color sensor, the normal bundle gate e is kept inoperative and the carrying section d continues to carry the corresponding damaged bundle up to a damaged bundle extruding member h. The normal bundle extruding member g starts to operate when the normal bundle gate e stops the normal bundle P, and extrudes the normal bundle from the carrying section to cause it to fall down and lie horizontally. When the next normal bundle comes, to this spot, it is also caused by the normal bundle extruding member g to fall down and be piled upon the preceding normal bundle. The bundles thus piled are carried by a normal bundle carrying path i to a normal bundle accumulating section where they are accumulated ten in number.The ten normal bundles thus accumulated are extruded by an extruding mechanism q to a normal bundle stay section k. At this time, if there is no bundle in a bundle pack supply section 1, the section k carries said ten normal bundles into the section 1. On the other hand, the damaged bundle gate f is provided at the terminal end portion of the carrying section d. When it has received a yellow detection signal from the tape color sensor, it operates to stop the corresponding damaged bundle P carried thereto and keeps it stationary until the damaged bundle extruding member h starts to operate.

When the damaged bundle gate f stops the damaged bundle P, the damaged bundle extruding member h starts to operate and extrudes the bundle P from the carrying path b to cause it to fall down and lie horizontally. When the next damaged bundle has come to the gate f, it is also caused by the extruding member h to fall down and be piled upon the preceding damaged bundle. The bundles thus piled are carried to a damaged bundle accumulating section n through a damaged bundle carrying path m. In this path m, an invalidating or paper-value cancelling mechanism o is provided. The cancelling mechanism o cancels the paper-value of the damaged bundle and makes the paper unable to be reused by, for example, boring the tape bundle at a specified portion with a number, such as a security number or a stock number.The damaged bundles thus cancelled are carried to the damaged bundle accumulating section n through the damaged bundle carrying path m and are accumulated therein ten in number. When ten damaged bundles are accumulated in the damaged bundle accumulating section n, they are extruded to a damaged bundle stay section p through an extruding mechanism r.

The bundle pack supply section I mentioned above receives the ten bundles from the normal bundle stay section k or the damaged bundle stay section p and sends that pack of ten bundles into a packing or binding section s for binding the pack into a package.

The binding section s binds the pack of ten bundles from the bundle-pack supply section I by winding a piece of paper tape around both the ends and the sides thereof. The ten bundles thus bound, or the pack of bundles R, are delivered from the binding section s passing through a pack delivering path t to reach a pack detecting section u. In the pack detecting section u, it is checked whether or not the pack carried thereto has ten bundles by measuring its weight or thickness.

After the number of bundles contained in each pack has been checked by the pack detecting section u, if it is confirmed that the pack R has ten bundles, the pack R is extruded by a pack extruding member v, or v2 onto a pack accumulating section w comprised of a table.

Packs R are thus accumulated on this pack accumulating section w. On the other hand, the pack R confirmed not to have ten bundles is carried through a pack carrying path x into a rejected pack accumulating section y.

The tape color sensor is designed to sense, in addition to the tape color, the length, width, etc., of the bundle P thereby in order to discern a defective bundle, such as a bundle in which a paper sheet irregularly protrudes from the bundle body. When such a defective bundle has been sensed, the extruding members g and h are kept inoperative in order to permit that bundle P to go along the carrying path b into a rejected bundle accumulating section z provided at the terminal end thereof.

As described above, in the prior art, when the paper sheet bundle P sent in a taped state from a preprocessing device a, such as a banknote rearranging device, is cancelled, it is carried through the carrying path b to the post processing device c together with the bundle not required to be cancelled. Both kinds of bundles are then carried into the post processing device c. In the post processing device c, the bundle P required to be cancelled is bored by the paper-value cancelling mechanism o in a state wherein it is kept taped.

As stated above, the prior art carries even the bundles P to be cancelled, which are discharged from a plurality of preprocessing devices a, over the common elongate carrying path b together with the bundle which are not required to be cancelled. Thus, the probability that a jam will occur in the mid course increases. Further, if the bundle P is untied for some reason in the midcourse, it is impossible to determine from which preprocessing device a the bundle came. It is also impossible to discharge the bundles from the preprocessing devices a. In such an event, the system may cease to operate.

Further, in order to invalidate or void the bundle one at a time in a taped state, it is necessary to use a large-sized cancelling mechanism o, for example, a large boring machine. This raises the problem of an increase in the cost of the processing system.

The object of the invention is to provide a constructionally simplified and inexpensive processing apparatus for a paper sheet bundle with a tape wound therearound which permits the paper sheet bundle to be carried over a short carrying path with almost no jam occurring in the mid-course and, by using a compact-sized paper invalidating mechanism, permits the paper value of the paper sheets of that damaged bundle to be totally cancelled or made void.

To attain the above object, the processing apparatus according to the invention is constructed such that the paper sheet bundle to be invalidated is selectively taken into a bundle receiving section and retained in that section. The tape which has been wound around the bundle thus retained is cut by a tape cutting mechanism so as to untie the bundle. The paper sheets of the untied bundle are then consecutively carried from the receiving section into a paper invalidating mechanism where they are invalidated or cancelled in regard to their paper value. In the bundle receiving section, the bundles are retained in their aligned position by a retaining means which engages leading ends of the bundles.

In the processing apparatus according to the invention, the paper sheet bundle is not carried as it stands into the paper invalidating mechanism, but is carried thereinto sheet by sheet after it has been untied in advance. Therefore, the paper invalidating mechanism is not required to have large capacity and thus can be constructed of, for example, shredder rolls. Further, when the paper sheets are delivered to the paper invalidating mechanism, since they have been previously aligned in the bundle receiving section, no jam occurs in the mid-course of carrying. Furthermore, the distance between the receiving section and the invalidating mechanism can be shortened to an appreciable extent.

The processing apparatus according to the invention has a characterizing feature in that during the tape cutting operation the bundle in the receiving section is pressed from above, thereby being kept in an absolutely aligned position. Thus, it is kept motionless during the cutting operation.

Further, in the processing apparatus according to the invention, a receiving chamber opened at the top is disposed in the lower part of the apparatus so as to permit fine pieces of the paper sheets from the invalidating mechanism located in the upper part of the apparatus to fall by their own weight in to that receiving chamber. Still further, a receiving box which is removable from the apparatus is stored in said receiving chamber.

Alternatively, an air duct may be connected to the receiving box so that the fine pieces of paper are discharged from the box through the duct. Thus, the paper sheets as processed can be disposed more speedily.

The detailed construction and other advantages of the processing apparatus according to the invention will be understood from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention taken in connection with Figs. 2 to 7.

This invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a prior art bank note processing system; Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view, as seen from the front side of the processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the processing apparatus shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged view of a bundle receiving section of the processing apparatus shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an enlarged top view of the tape cutting mechanism of the processing apparatus shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged top view of a protecting cover of the processing apparatus shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 2, a housing 11 of the processing apparatus for a paper sheet bundle P with a tape T wound therearound according to the invention is divided by a partitioning wall 1 2 into an upper part 13 and a lower part 14. In the upper part 13 a main portion of the processing apparatus is provided. The lower part 14 is a receiving chamber in which a receiving box 1 5 is removably disposed. The receiving box 1 5 opens at the top.

The box 1 5 can be easily removed from the housing by a castor 1 6 which is attached to the lower part of the box.

Fig. 2 is a partially sectional view of the apparatus, as viewed from the front side. The receiving box 1 5 may be removed through an opening 1 7 made in the lower half portion of the rear side of the said housing 11.

In the upper half of the processing apparatus, a take-in gate 1 8 for selectively taking a processing paper sheet bundle into the apparatus is provided at the right upper end portion. At the take-in gate 18 there is provided a guide mechanism 20 for selecting or sorting the paper sheet bundles and guiding from the gate 1 8 into the processing apparatus only the paper sheet bundle to be processed of those paper sheet bundles P discharged from the above-mentioned preprocessing apparatus a. Those of said paper sheet bundles P which are not to be processed are carried into a prescribed position by means of a carrying roller d disposed in the bundle carrying path b.

In the portion inside the processing apparatus contiguous to the guide mechanism 20 there is provided a bundle receiving section 21, below which a bundle tape cutting mechanism 22 is provided and above which a bundle urging mechanism 23 is provided.

In the portion contiguous to the bundle receiving section 21 there is provided a tape cut or untied paper sheet delivering mechanism 24, in the portion contiguous to which is provided a paper invalidating mechanism 25. The abovementioned section and mechanisms, as shown in Fig. 3, are incorporated into one unit 27 of mechanisms by being given a pair of frames 26, 26 fixed onto the side wall 11 a of said housing 11.

At the back of the paper invalidating mechanism 25 there is disposed a duct 28 for guiding the fine pieces Q of the invalidated paper sheets into the receiving box 1 5 located below the mechanism 25.

The guide mechanism 20 has a selective rotary shaft 30 supported on the pair of frames 26,26, said shaft 30 being connected at one end to a selecting mechanism such as a rotary solenoid. To the selecting shaft 30 there are connected four guide bars 31, the respective base end portions of which are rigidly fixed on the shaft 30 in such a manner that they are spaced, axially of the shaft 30, from each other. The respective free end portions of the four guide bars 31 are extended into the bundle take-in gate 1 8.

When in the position shown in Fig. 3 and by the solid-line of Fig. 2, the guide bars 31 are carried into the interspaces between the teeth portions of a comb-shaped gate member 32 defining the gate 18. At this time, the gate 18 is closed by the guide bars 31. That is, when the guide bars 31 are kept in this raised position, the bundle P carried toward the gate 1 8 abuts on the guide bars 31 and is prevented by them from reaching the gate 18, faliing onto the carrying roller d, thus being carried to the prescribed position.

When, on the other hand, the guide bars 31 are rocked by rotation of the selecting shaft 30 to their lowered position indicated by the chain line of Fig. 2, the gate 18 is opened. The bundle P carried toward gate 1 8 is guided by the guide bars 31 into the receiving section 21 through its sliding movement over and along the upper surface of the thus inclined guide bars 31.

Between the guide mechanism 20 and the paper invalidating mechanism 25 various belt conveyor mechanisms are provided, each being of belt-roller combination. As shown in Fig. 3, parallel roller shafts 33, 34, 35 and 36, which are each supported on both or either of the pair of frames 26, 26, are disposed between the mechanisms 20 and 25 in such a manner that they are spaced from each other. A plurality of carrying belts 37 are stretched, such that they are mutually spaced crosswise with respect to the carrying direction of the bundle P, over their corresponding rollers supported on the parallel roller shafts 35 and 36. Since, as seen in Fig. 3, the carrying belt 37 and the guide bar 31 are kept in an "interdigital" state, neither of them interferes with the other.Further, there is the advantage of reliably carrying the bundle P as well as the structural merit of shortening the carrying distance of the bundle P.

The drive source for the carrying belts 37, as shown in Fig. 2, is a motor 38, which, though not shown in detail, is provided in the abovementioned mechanisms unit 27.

In the bundle receiving section 21, a pair of endless belts 40, 40, the outer surfaces is of which are irregular, are disposed among the carrying belts 37, in such a manner that they are horizontally stretched over rollers 41, 42 supported respectively on the roller shafts 35, 36.

These endless belts 40, 40 and the carrying belts 37 define a horizontal bundle loading plane 43 of the bundle receiving section 21.

The belt-conveyor structure itself of the above-belt conveyor mechanisms described above may be of a known type. As shown in Fig.

4, at the exit portion of the bundle receiving section 21 another set of carrying belts 44 are disposed above and opposing the carrying belts 37. The untied paper sheets are introduced between the two sets of carrying belts 44 and 37, toward the paper invalidating mechanism 25.

Thus described is the above-mentioned paper sheet delivering mechanism 24. The upper carrying belts 44 are stretched over a roller 46 supported on a roller shaft 45.

A plate-like stop member 50 is so vertically disposed as to define a terminal end of the bundle receiving section 21 and, though not shown, is fixed to the housing 11. To the lower edge portion of the stop member 50 another plate member 51 is fixed with bolts. The lower end portion of the member 51 is curved in the direction in which the bundle P is transferred. Between the lower edge portion of the curved plate member 51 and the bundle loading plane 43 there is defined, crosswise with respect to the advancing direction of the bundle P, a slit like delivering opening 52, the thickness of which is appreciably smaller than that of the bundle P and which permits only a few paper sheets to pass through.

In Fig. 4, when the paper sheet bundle P is carried into the receiving section 21 in the direction indicated by an arrow, a leading end of the bundle P abuts on and is stopped by the stop member 50. It is thus precisely retained within the receiving section 21 in its correct position. In other words, the stop member 50 serves as a means for aligning the bundle P.

The bundle urging mechanism 23 described above is connected at its base end to a rotary solenoid 53 and has at its free end an operating lever 55 provided with a urging roller 54. 9y selective operation of the rotary solenoid 53, the operating lever 55 is rocked from its raised position of Fig. 2 to the lowered bundle urging position of Fig. 4, thus causing the roller 54 to be pressed against the upper surface of the bundle P.

The urging operation of this roller 14 continues at least during the tape cutting operation of the bundle tape cutting mechanism 22.

The paper invalidating or voiding mechanism 25 described above is comprised of a pair of shredder rolls 56, 57, which are kept in opposing contact with each other, and in the outer circumferential surfaces of which are formed teeth for cutting into pieces the paper sheets passed between those rolls. Shafts 58, 59 of the rolls 56, 57 are disposed crosswise with respect to the advancing direction of the paper sheet, one shaft 59 being, as seen from Fig. 2, connected through a belt 61 to a motor 60 mounted in the housing 11.

The detailed view of the tape cutting mechanism 22 is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This mechanism 22 is also buiit into one mechanical unit and is installed on the mechanisms unit 27 through a vertical fixed frame 70. To the vertical fixed frame 70 there are welded, as seen from Fig.

5, a pair of arms 71, 71 at the free end portions of which a rockable frame 72 is rockably supported thereon by means of pivots 73, 73. The rockable frame 72 is urged by springs 74 so as to make a unidirectional rocking movement. To the underside of a base portion 72a of the rockable frame 72 there is provided a geared motor 75, motor shaft 76 of which vertically extends upwards through said base portion 72a and has a circular cam member 77 fixed thereto at the free end. At all times kept in rolling contact with the upper surface 77a of the cam member 77 is a follower roll 79 supported on a stub shaft 78 fixed onto the vertical fixed frame 70. Said springs 74 so act as to maintain such rolling contact.

On the upper surface 77a of the circular cam member 77, a connecting pin 80 is mounted and a tapered cam face 81 is also formed along the circumference over a specified angular range in the form of a sector. This sectorial tapered cam face 81 is tapered most sharply at the central zone and, toward the ends, becomes gradually gentle, to the flat zone of the upper surface 77a.

On the upper end portion of a supporting shaft 82 provided vertically at the center of the base portion 72a of the rockable frame 72, a horizontally rockable 2-armed connected lever 83 is mounted, the arms of which are forked at the free end portions. Said connecting pin 80 is engaged into a groove 83a of one forked arm thereof, while a connecting pin 85 provided on a carrier 84 is engaged into a groove 83b of the other forked arm. The carrier 84 vertically supports a knife member 86 and is slidably guided on a pair of parallel guide bars 87 fixed onto the rockable frame 72. The knife member 86, as seen in Fig. 6, approaches from below the paper sheet bundle P located in the receiving section 21 and cuts the tape T of that bundle P.

The knife member 86 is so supported as to be readily removed by a screw 88 from the carrier 84 and is moved in unison with the carrier 84. The movement of the knife member 86 at the time of its cutting operation is classified into two parts.

One part is the horizontal movement, crosswise with respect to the advancing or carrying direction of the bundle P, due to the sliding movement of the carrier 84 over the guide bars 87. The other part is the vertical movement due to the rocking movement of the rockable frame 72 about the pivots 73, 73. These two movements are made during one cycle of the cutting operation of the knife member 86. The driving means for causing the two movements is the circular cam member 77. This member 77 is driven by the geared motor 75 so as to make one rotation in one cutting operational cycle of the knife member 86.In Fig. 5, as the cam member 77 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow, the connecting lever 83 is rocked from its original position indicated by a chain line to the position indicated by a solid line, so that the knife member 86 reaches the terminal position of its forward stroke. During this period of time, the follower roll 79 comes, from its contact with one end of the tapered cam face 81, into rolling contact with the flat zone of the upper cam surface 77a, and continues to rotate over said flat zone. At the terminal end of said forward stroke of the knife member 86, it comes into rolling contact with the other end of the tapered sectorial cam face 81.

Accordingly, as the knife member 86 is raised during this period of time and moved crosswise while remaining in contact with the underside of the bundle P, the tape T is cut. The bundle P of Fig. 6 is shown with its tape T having been just cut.

In return stroke of the knife member 86, the follower roll 79 is kept only in rolling contact with the tapered cam face zone 81, and the rockable frame 72 is rocked from the position of Fig. 6 in the counterclockwise direction in accordance with the degree of inclination of the tapered cam face 81. Accordingly, the knife member 86 is kept spaced apart from the underside of the bundle P.

Note that because the ratio of one lever portion between the supporting shaft 82 and the connecting pin 80 to the other lever portion between the shaft 82 and the connecting pin 85 varies during the rotation of the cam member 77, the angle of rotation of the cam member 77 with regard to the forward stroke of the knife member 86 is greater than that with regard to the return stroke of the knife member 86.

Because, as described above, the knife member 86 is lowered during the return stroke thereof, the lowermost end paper sheet of the untied bundle can be quickly delivered from the bundle receiving section 21 during the return stroke, thus providing a time-saving effect.

The paper sheet of the tape cut bundle are consecutively delivered from the lowermost end thereof by being driven by the carrying belts. In this case, since the curved plate member 51 defines the narrow slit-like delivering opening 52, several paper sheets are prevented from being delivered at one time in overlapped form. In other words, this plate member 51 serves as a means to prevent the delivery of the overlapped paper sheets. Further, the member 51 permits a smooth delivery of the paper sheet by having a curved form.

Accordingly, the paper sheets are sequentially carried between the shredder rolls 56, 57 sheet by sheet. Thus, paper invalidating can be performed even with a small-sized roll.

Above the bundle receiving section 21, as shown in Fig. 7, an opening 90 is provided in the top wall of the housing 11 and is usually closed by a transparent protecting cover 91. This cover 91, at its closing position, is locked by a key member 92 to the housing 11. The lower end portion of the cover 91 is slidably engaged with a pair of rails which are provided on the upper surface of the housing 11 in such a manner that they extend in parallel with each other on both sides of the opening 90. Since the cover 91 is transparent, if some trouble occurs in connection, for example, with the bundle delivery, or if a jamming occurs, a person in charge can easily confirm the trouble and unlock and slide the cover 91 to open the opening 90 so as to put his hand into the housing 11.

On the upper surface portion of the housing covered by the protecting cover 91 kept in the closing position, there are juxtaposed near the opening 90 a manually operable switch 94 for manual operation of the internal mechanisms and a reset swtich 95 for use in the occurrence of a jamming.

Further, on the upper surface of the housing as shown in Fig. 2, a lamp 96 is provided which is designed to indicate by its flickering operation in response to the signal from a sensor (not shown) that the receiving box 1 5 has become full of the trash pieces Q.

In the apparatus explained above, the paper invalidating mechanism 25 is not limited to the shredder roll construction, but will function well as long as it is a construction in which the paper sheet is mechanically broken into fine pieces or punched many times.

Claims (11)

Claims

1. In a processing apparatus for a paper sheet bundle with a tape wound therearound wherein the paper sheet bundle is mechanically invalidated by a. mechanical paper invalidating mechanism, said processing apparatus characterized in that: along the paper sheet bundle carrying path inside the apparatus a bundle receiving section is provided in a housing of the apparatus; into said bundle receiving section a paper sheet bundle to be processed is taken through a take-in gate; retaining means for retaining the taken-in bundle in said bundle receiving section by engaging a leading end of said taken-in bundle is provided; the tape around the bundle retained in said bundle receiving section is cut by tape cutting means to untie the bundle; and the paper sheets of the untied bundle are consecutively carried by delivering means into a paper invalidating mechanism.

2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises urging means movable between a pressing position for permitting said urging means to be pressed from above against the paper sheet bundle placed in said bundle receiving section and a raised position spaced from the bundle, the pressing operation of said urging means being kept effective at least during the tape cutting operation of said tape cutting means.

3. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises a selective guide means for selectively opening and closing said take-in gate so as to sort the bundle to be processed.

4. The processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a bundle loading plane of said bundle receiving section is defined by a plurality of carrying belts arranged parallel to each other.

5. The processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said selective guide means is comprised of a plurality of guide bars disposed parallel to each other and kept spaced apart from each other, said plurality of guide bars being combined with said plurality of carrying belts in an interdigital relation and having base end portions fixed to a common rotary shaft.

6. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said retaining means includes a plate like stop member vertically disposed crosswise with respect to the bundle transferring direction, said stop member having a lower edge portion defining with respect to the bundle loading plane of said plurality of carrying belts a delivering opening having a thickness smaller than the thickness of the paper sheet bundle and extending crosswise with respect to the bundle transferring direction.

7. The processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the lower edge portion of said stop member is curved in such a manner as to permit its lower end to extend projecting in the bundle transferring direction.

8. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said paper invalidating mechanism is comprised of shredder rolls disposed crosswise with respect to the bundle transferring direction.

9. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises a receiving chamber provided at the lower part of the apparatus and opened at the top so as to receive fine pieces of the paper sheets invalidated by said paper invalidating mechanism.

10. The processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a receiving box removatse from the apparatus is disposed in said receiving chamber.

11. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said tape cutting mechanism includes a knife member arranged to oppose, from below, the paper sheet bundle placed in said bundle receiving section and to make a horizontal reciprocating movement over a specified range so as to cut the tape around the bundle, a carrier for mounting said knife member thereon, a guide means for guiding the carrier so as to permit the same to make a linear reciprocating movement, a rotary cam member, means for changing the rotating movement of said rotary cam member to the linear reciprocating movement of said carrier, and vertically moving means for selectively and vertically moving said knife member during one horizontal reciprocating movement of said knife member from a raised position for permitting said knife member to abut on the tape of the paper sheet bundle located in said bundle receiving section to a lowered position for permitting said knife member to be spaced apart from the tape.

1 2. The processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said guide means for said carrier and said rotary cam member are supported on a rockable frame rockable about a horizontal pivot; and said horizontal pivot is mounted on a fixed frame.

1 3. The processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said vertically moving means for said knife member includes a follower roll supported on said fixed frame and a slanted cam surface circumferentially and partially formed in the surface of said rotary cam member, said follower roll being kept, during the rotation of said rotary cam member, in rolling contact with the surface thereof.

1 4. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said housing of the apparatus is formed, at the top part of said bundle receiving section, with an opening for permitting said bundle receiving section to be accessible therethrough from outside the apparatus, said opening being normally closed and able to be opened by a protecting cover, said protecting cover being locked in its closing position.

1 5. The processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said housing of the apparatus is provided, at its neighboring portion upon said opening, with a pair of parallel guide rails, said guide rails being slidably engaged with the lower end portion of said protecting cover to thereby permit said protecting cover to slide from its position for closing said opening to its position for opening said opening.

1 6. A processing apparatus for a paper sheet bundle with a tape wound therearound, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 2 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.