GB2170165A - Ticket transport mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

A mechanism for transporting 24 ticketing or other flat, strip-like media comprises at least one pair of opposed elastic belts defining a ticket path. The belts are driven by a suitable drive mechanism to transport tickets along the path, the tickets being gripped between opposed surfaces of the belts. The belts are deflected out of a straight line path so as to form a slight arch between opposite ends of the path, the deflection acting to stretch the belts and bias them against each other along the entire ticket path so that tickets are positively restrained between the belts. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Ticket transport mechanism Background ofthe invention The present invention relates to a mechanism for transporting tickets or other thin flat strips of material such as paper, plastic, card, and other strip material.

Major public transportation systems are now completely or at least partially automated for ticket or fare card purchase and collection. Automatic machines are provided for the traveller to purchase a ticket to the intended destination, and the ticket is then often used to release automatic barriers either at the outset or completion of the journey. Often a single ticket can be purchased for multiple rides on trains, buses, subways and the like. These sysems avoid the necessity for an individual ticket purchase for each ride, do not require personnel to handle large amounts of money, and ease time delays in moving passengers onto and off conveyances.

Such systems require ticket transport and processing mechanism for quickly and efficiently handling a a large number of tickets. When a ticket is purchased information is encoded on each ticket regarding the fare paid and other details, such as the date and/or time, the location of the sale, and possibly the ultimate destination of the passenger. This informa tion tin is normally encoded magnetically on each ticket or fare card at a ticket handling terminal mechanism by moving it past a magnetic write head. The ticket must then be moved out of the terminal for dispensing to the passenger.

At each ticket checking location some form of ticket handling terminal mechanism is required for receiving tickets, handling the ticket such as reading printed or magnetically encoded information on the ticket, verifying the information and possibly deducting one or more fares from the ticket, putting printed or magnetically encoded information onto the ticket and either returning the ticket to the passenger or retaining it when the entire fare has been used.

These steps generally involve moving tickets past magnetic read and/or write heads or other processing devices in a quick efficient manner. It is necessary that the tickets are orientated in the correct alignment so that the magnetic information, which is usually encoded in a magnetic strip on the ticket on card, will always pass across the magnetic heads.

Transport mechanisms for transporting strip-like media are also required, for example, in credit or bank card handling terminals such as instant teller machines and other machines where goods can be automatically purchased using a credit card. Additionally, many airlines now have machines for automatically dispensing tickets, which also require a quick and efficient ticket transport mechanism.

In such transport mechanisms, particularly in those where a ticket or card is inserted by hand possibly at skewed angles, the transport mechanism must be capable of aligning the ticket and moving it in alignment across the magnetic heads or other ticket processing devices, without causing any jamming or other problems.

Ticket transport mechanisms in the past have generally been of relatively high cost and complexity. In some transport mechanisms spaced pairs of upper and lower movable belts are used, which are pinched together at the entrance and exit from the mechanism by pinched rollers. A mechanism of this type is shown, for example, in U.S. Patent No.

4,181,920, assigned to the assignee of this application, where the tickets are normally moved in a substantially straight line path past one or more processing stations. Often tickets are passed from one such transport mechanism to another, or diverted according to information received, and this means that the belts from one station to the next must be driven at substantially the same speed to avoid buckling, jamming, or tearing of tickets in the mechanism.

In a conventional pinched rollertypetransport, there is normally a relatively large gap at the feed and exit ends of such transport mechanisms, so that the ticket enters or exits from the spacing between the pinch rollers. The upper and lower belts may be spaced apart by a distance equivalent to the ticket thickness, so each ticket is sandwiched between the belts. However, tickets often tend to move rotationally or slip between processing stations. Thus alignment devices must be provided between such stations, and pinch rollers are provided adjacent each processing station to hold the tickets in the correct orientation.

The belts used in such transport mechanisms in the past have generally comprised a rubberized fabric material having a biased belt construction which is suitable for driving only in one direction and are unsuitable for bi-directional use due to the wearing of the fabric strands. Such belts give rise to alignment problems, are relatively unstable as a result of friction caused by the fabric strands, and are subject to wear and relatively frequent replacement.

Further, in such systems, belt tensioning devices are required since the belts require re-tensioning when they become stretched and floppy through prolonged use.

Summary of the invention According to the present invention a ticket transport mechanism is provided which comprises at least one pair of opposed elastic belts which are elastically biased against each other so as to grip tickets between them and driven so as to move tickets along a path through the mechanism. Preferably the card or ticket path is slightly arced so as to create and maintain elastic pressure between the belts along the entire path with sufficient force to grip the tickets. In this mechanism it is the elasticity of the belts which acts positively to restrain the tickets along the entire path, so that pinch rollers and special alignment devices are not essential. The mechanism is self-tracking and may be readily driven in opposite directions.In the past ticket transport mechanisms were not reversible, but with this mechanism the belts may be driven in forward or reverse, so that a card can be fed in, processed, and then ejected via the feed opening if desired.

The belts are preferably continuous elastic belts stretched around feed rollers at opposite ends of the ticket path of a given transport section. Desired ticket or card processing or handling stations may be provided along the ticket path or between adjacent transport sections such as magnetic read/write heads or printing devices.

A single pair of belts may be used to grip tickets so that they project out at one or both sides for processing, or two pairs of belts may be used to grip opposite side areas of the tickets, leaving the central area open. The ticket is normally provided with magnetically encoded data along a strip or strips on one or both faces, or has such data on one entire face. The encoded or magnetic strip areas must normally be left exposed during transportation for reading and/or writing of information on those areas.

In one specific embodiment of the invention each belt is an continuous elastic belt stretched around feed rollers at opposite ends of the ticket path, one of the belts being driven by a suitable drive motor and pulley mechanism with the opposed belt rotating as a result of friction between the belts. The pair of feed rollers at at least one end of the path are offset and rotated, or interleaved, relative to one another. This so-called "interleaving" ofthe belts provides a smaller gap between the feed roller for receiving or ejecting tickets from a given transport section, thus reducing the risk of jamming or misalignment of tickets, and aids in biassing the belts against one another.

The belt material is chosen to provide the necessary coefficient of friction to hold and advance the ticket while allowing some slip by the ticket between the belts at the entrance and exit of a transport section to accommodate manual insertion or removal of the ticket, or the transfer of a ticket from one transport section to another transport section having a different transport speed. A suitable elastic belt material is silicone rubber.

Suitable guides such as guide rollers are provided along the path to define the substantially arced path to slightly deflect and stretch the belt thus causing the belts to press resilently against one another.

In this mechanism no belt tensioning device is required as the belts are substantially self-aligning.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved ticket transport mechanism.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a transport mechanism for tickets or other strip-like media which requires no special orientation devices in the ticket path.

It is another object of this invention to provide a ticket handling mechanism which allows tickets to feed into and out of the mechanism relatively easily and reduces the risk of jamming.

Brief description of the drawing Other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent on reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts and in which: Figure lisa side elevational view with parts broken away of a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the mechanism of Figure 1, partially broken away; Figure 3 is an enlarged view showing an inlet or outlet pair of feed rollers for the mechanism of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a schematic side elevational view showing two modular ticket handling stations for sequential ticket processing, each station including a ticket transport mechanism according to the invention; and Figure 5 is a schematic view similar two Figure 4 showing a modified embodiment of the invention.

Description of the preferred embodiment The drawings show a ticket or card transport mechanism 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention which is mounted on a metal plate 12. The plate 12 may be secured in an enclosed housing if desired, and several such transport sections or mechanisms, each of which include the structure of this invention, may be provided in a series of modular units for successive ticket handling operations if desired for certain alternative applications.

The transport section or mechanism basically comprises a pair of opposed elastic belts 14, 16 between which tickets are held and transported along a ticket path 18 in a conveyor belt like fashion.

In the illustrated embodiment a single pair of opposed belts is used and the card or ticket projects out at one or both sides of the belts for processing.

However, alternative embodiments are possible in which two spaced pairs of opposed belts are used, with the tickets being gripped for example, on opposite sides, leaving their central regions free for processing.

The belts 14 and 16 are of elastic material selected to provide the necessary coefficient of friction to hold and advance tickets properly. The material is relatively smooth. One suitable material for the belts is silicone rubber, which is elastic over an operating temperature range of about -10 C to +50 C and from 0% to 90% relative humidity. A suitable silicone rubber material for the belt is compound number BlC-S-50 manufactured by B & R Industries. This compound is a liquid silicone material which is spun cast to specifications in a high heat spinner. Once the desired thickness is reached by an injection process the belt is brought up to the curing cycle to allow for stabilization of the silicone material.

The belts 14 and 16 are each continuous belts stretched around feed rollers 20, 22, and 24, 26, respectively, at opposite ends of the path 18. The belts are preferably stretched to about 15% extension. One of the rollers 20 around which the belt 14 passes is driven by a motor 28 and associated belt pulley drive 30, and the other rollers and belt 16 are driven to rotate via the driven belt 14. Alternatively one of the belts may be driven directly by passing it around a motor driven roller or belt pulley drive, which may be mounted on the plate or externally to it. In another possible arrangement both of the feed rollers 20 and 24 of belt 14 are driven directly, which limits or eliminates stretching if the motor is reversed.

Suitable guide rollers 32 are provided in the ticket path 18 as shown in Figures 1 and 2 to define a slightly arched or deflected ticket path. These rollers bear on an outer face of the belt 16 so as to deflect both belts out of alignment with a straight line path defining the shortest possible distance between opposite ends of the path. Thus the belts are both stretched and elastically biassed against one another to retain tickets in place.

The belt rollers 20 and 24 or 22 and 26, defining opposite ends of the ticket path, are preferably not aligned as pinch rollers would be but rather are offset from one another in he ticket path and interleaved, as best illustrated in Figure 3. The offset allows tickets to slip on and off the belts more easily, and reduces the risk of tickets jamming, tearing, or bunching up between the inlet or outlet feed rollers.

The offset angle X between the rollers, i.e., the angle between the perpendicular to the ticket path and the line joining the centers of the two feed rollers, is preferably of the order of 10 to 14", but larger or small offsets may be used.

The so-called "interleaving" of the inlet and outlet pair of feed rollers insures that the belts are biased into contact with one another at the inlet and outlet.

The ticket path does not coincide with the common tangent 34 to both rollers but would intersect one of the rollers if extended as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3. The distance between the centers of the two rollers is preferably equal to the sum of the radius R1 R2 of each roller, the thickness of both belts 2T and a value Z which will normally be less than the average card or ticket thickness, or R1 + R2 + 2T + Z.

The smallest spacing beween the rollers, i.e., the spacing between them if they were aligned in the ticket path, is preferably less than the thickness of two belts.

Since the feed rollers are interleaved and the belts are deflected out of the common tangent direction at the feed rollers and into a substantially arched path by the subsequent guide rollers, the belts are biassed against each other at each end of the ticket path to ensure that tickets are taken up and gripped between the belts along the entire ticket path. The interleaving and offset of the inlet and outlet feed rollers allows tickets to slip on and off the belts more easily, and there is a smaller feed gap at the inlet end so that orientation problems are reduced.

The guide rollers are therefore arranged to deflect the belt both out of the straight line path so that they are stretched, and out of the common tangent direction at the inlet and outlet feed rollers, so that the belts are urged against each other and will apply a positive pressure to a card carried between them to carry it along the feed path. The belts must be in contact at the inlet and outlet end when no card is between them to ensure that they press against each other along the entire ticket path, while at the same time they are preferably also arranged to allow tickets to slip on and off the belts more easily. This is achieved by the offset and interleaving of the feed rollers and the deflection of the ticket path, as described above. The ticket path, if taken overall, will appear slightly arched.

The deflection angle 0 between one section of ticket path and the next is preferably of the order of 6 , i.e., the angle between portions of the belt before and after each guide roller, and the angle between the belt 14 before and after the feed roller 22, as shown in Figure 3, is of the order of 6".

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings there are three spaced sets of guide rollers 32 bearing against the belts to deflect them out of the straight line and common tangent directions.

However a greater or lesser number may be used according to the desired path length and application, or alternative deflection means may be used. The guide roller will normally have a relatively hard surface.

Any desired ticket processing devices may be provided in the ticket path. The devices such as magnetic read write heads may be suitably positioned in modular shoes (42, 44, 46) on one or both sides of the belts in the ticket path. The guide rollers 32 may also be mounted in the shoes in alignment with the belts. Alternatively separate mounting devices such as shoes may be provided for the guide rollers, which may or may not coincide with the positions of the processing devices such as magnetic read/write heads. Any number of shoes may be provided, and the shoes may be positioned in numerous configurations and sequences to obtain any desired arrangement for magnetically encoding and/or interrogating, or otherwise processing the ticket.

As seen in Figure 1 a shoe 44 positioned at the center of the ticket path carries a magnetic read/write head 48. The head 48 is positioned to bear against the exposed magnetic area on a card or ticket, while an opposed soft roller 50 is mounted as shown in Figure 1 so as to bear against the opposite face of the ticket. The other shoes 42 and 46 may also carry magnetic read/write heads or other card handling or processing devices, for example ticket imprinting or embossing mechanisms of hold punching mechanisms, or devices for applying an ink stripe or other visible identification to any incorrectly processed tickets, or they may simply carry guide rollers 32 for deflecting the belts.

Tickets may be inserted in the mechanism by hand or fed in from a preceding ticket handling unit. A suitable orientation device is preferably provided at the inlet end of the transport mechanism, so as to position tickets correctly between the belts, with the correct areas exposed and aligned with the processing devices. The mechanism may work with pre-cut tickets or tickets fed from a roll. In the latter case a suitable cutter may be is provided at the inlet or outlet to separate the tickets.

The belts are biassed into contact with each other all the way along the ticket path by the slightly arched or deflected path imposed on them by the feed and guide rollers.

Because of their elasticity no belt tensioning devices are required, and the tickets are positively gripped between the belts along the entire path so that they tend to remain in the correct orientation without separate orientation devices being required.

Because the belts are relatively smooth, tickets will be less inclined to stick to the belts when expelled from the mechanism and will slip offthe belts for easy removal. Thus there is less risk of ticket jamming or tearing.

The belts can be driven in either direction and thus the mechanism may be bi-directional for some applications. Ticket or card handling mechanisms as described above are of modular construction and may be provided as part of any machine for handling and/or processing tickets, cards or other thin strip media. The mechanism in a preferred embodiment is capable of ticket handling speed of up to 1 ticket per second.

The ticket transport mechanism as shown in the drawings may comprise a magnetic read/write station or module as shown, or may comprise a sorting station as illustrated schematically in Figure 5, described in detail below, or any other ticket handling station. A sorting station may be provided with a flapper to divert tickets along branched paths according to the information received in that or preceding stations. Tickets may be fed from a module containing a transport mechanism as described above to another transport module as illustrated schematically in Figure 4, described in detail below.

Figure 4 diagramatically illustrates a pair of modular units 51, 52 for successive ticket or card handling operations, each of which incorporates a ticket transport mechanism 54 according to this invention.

Each transport mechanism comprises an upper and lower continuous belt or pair of belts 56,58, driven around pairs of feed rollers 60,62 and 64,66 at opposite ends of the ticket path 68. The inlet and outlet rollers of each mechanism are interleaved as in the embodiment of Figures 1 to 3, and the ticket path is deflected or arched out of the common tangent and "straight line" directions by means of a single guide roller 70. Extra guide rollers may be used if desired.

It will be understood that the various rollers and belts of the transport mechanisms 54 may be mounted and driven as shown in the embodiment of Figures 1 to 3, and these details have therefore been omitted for simplicity in Figure 4. Any desired ticket processing devices may be provided in the ticket paths of the two units 50,52, such as card readers, encoders, printers or the like. These have also been omitted in Figure 4.

As shown in Figure 4 tickets or cards may be fed automatically from one module 50 to the next 52 through a ticket handling device 72 such as a cutter, printer, ticket orientating device, or the like. Thus tickets 71 may, for example, be passed through the first transport mechanism in continuous strip form, and be cut to length by the device 72 before entering the second transport mechanism. Alternatively the tickets or cards may be pre-cut and passed sequentiallythrough both units. In each case the distance between the outlet of the first transport mechanism and the inlet of the subsequent transport mechanism will be less than one ticket length, to ensure that each ticket is continuously controlled and passed smoothly from one set of belts to the next.Because of the offset feed rollers, the belts from one section to the next do not have to be driven at the same speed, and in the example shown in Figure 4the belts in the second unit or section 52 are driven faster than those in the first unit or section so as to separate the tickets after they have been cut.

Any number of modular units may be provided one after the other in this fashion using transport mechanisms according to this invention. The transport mechanism with interleaved inlet and outlet feed rollers allows tickets to slip off one set of belts and onto the next easily, with a ticket handling device being provided between successive transport mechanism if desired. It is not necessary to match the belt speeds exactly. Several different or branched ticket paths may be provided for sending tickets to different locations by suitable ticket diverters on sorters positioned between a first transport mechanism and two or more following transport mechanisms. Tickets can then be diverted according to information received in the first transport mechanism or according to other control signals.

In Figure 5 a modified ticket transport mechanism is illustrated, which incorporates a sorter in which tickets may be diverted from a ticket path 80. In this embodiment tickets are guided between an upper continuous belt or pair of belts 82 and a spaced pair of lower belts 84 and 86. A suitable flapper mechanism 88 is provided between the lower belts 84 and 86. The upper belt 82 is driven around feed rollers 90, 92 at opposite ends of the path, and the two lower belts are also each driven around suitable spaced feed rollers 94 and 96. Only one roller need be directly driven, for example the first roller of the lower belt 84, as in the first embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 4, with the other belts and rollers being driven indirectly via the driven roller 94 and belt 84.

However both rollers 94 and 96 may be driven if desired, or the upper belt rollers may alternatively be driven directly. The ticket path 80 is deflected out of the straight line and common tangent directions by suitable positioning of the various feed rollers so as to urge the upper and lower belts against each other to retain tickets between them. Thus each section of the path is deflected by an angle 0, preferably of the order of 6 , relative to the preceeding section, as indicated in the drawing.

Preferably the upper belt and rollers may be raised automatically to separate the upper belt from the lower belts in order to hold or "escrow" tickets in position for a predetermined time. A suitable belt separating mechanism 97 as generally indicated in Figure 5 may be provided to raise the feed rollers.

This may also be provided in the transport mechanisms shown in Figures 1 to 4 if desired.

When the flapper mechanism 88 is positioned as shown in Figure 5, with flap 98 connecting the gap between the two lower belts, tickets will progress along the path 80 between the inlet and outlet ends of the mechanism. On receipt of control signals the flap 98 will be raised or lowered out of the line with the path 80, for example into the dotted line position shown, so that tickets will drop from the belt 84 into a separator bin 100, where they may be stacked. The control signal may be arranged to operate the flapper mechanism, for example, each time a damaged ticket is detected or each time a ticket has been used up, i.e., the passenger has completed travel corresponding to the total fare paid. Such a system may also be used, for example, to retain credit cards or bank automatic teller cards in cases of suspected fraud or misuse.

Roller and belt mounting and drive mechanisms have not been illustrated in detail in Figure 5 since it will be apparent that these may be arranged generally as illustrated in Figures 1 to 4. Suitable ticket or card handling devices may be provided in the ticket path if desired. The mechanism shown in Figure 5 thus forms a modular unit which includes a separation mecahnism for diverting certain tickets out of the ticket path. This unit may, for example, be provided in sequence with other modular units of the type shown in Figure 1 or 4 for successive ticket or card handling operations, according to the particular application.

Thus the ticket or card handling mechanisms described above may be provided in various modular units for typical tickets or card handling operations, and many different arrangements of such units are possible according to desired processing steps. Processing devices such as cutters, printers, or orientating devices may be provided between successive units, and tickets can be fed automatically from one unit to the next with relatively low risk of jamming or bunching up.

Claims (15)

1. A mechanism for transporting tickets or other striplike media, comprising: at least one pair of opposed elastic belts defining a ticket path; means for driving the belts to transport tickets along the path; and means for biassing the belts against one another so as to grip tickets between then, said biassing means comprising means for deflecting and stretching said belts out of a straight line path defining the shortest possible distance between opposite ends of the path.

2. The mechanism as claimed in Claim 1,wherein said belt driving means comprises at least two sets of feed rollers around which said belts are stretched, and means for directly driving at least one of said belts, each set of rollers including an inlet feed roller at an inlet end of said path and the deflecting means being positioned to deflect said belts out of line with a common tangent to said inlet feed rollers.

3. The mechanism as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said belts are continuous and said belt driving means comprises a first set of feed rollers around which one of said belts is stretched, a second set of feed rollers around which the other belt is stretched, and means for directly driving at least one roller of one of the sets to rotate, each set of rollers including an inlet feed roller defining one end of said ticket path and an outlet roller at the other end of said ticket path, the inlet and outlet rollers of each set being positioned so as to urge the belts into contact at opposite ends of said path.

4. The mechanism as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the inlet feed rollers of each set are offset relative to one another in the ticket path and are interleaved, said deflecting means further comprising means for deflecting said belts out of line with a common tangent to said inlet feed rollers.

5. The mechanism as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the outlet rollers of each set are offset relative to one another in the ticket path and interleaved, said deflecting means comprising means for deflecting said belts out of line with a common tangent to said outlet feed rollers.

6. The mechanism of Claim 5, wherein the offset angle between the inlet and outlet feed rollers in the ticket path is in the range of about 10 to 14 .

7. The mechanism as claimed in Claim 1, wherein one of said belts is continuous and the other belt comprises two spaced continuous belts defining a gap in the ticket path, and ticket diverting means is located in the gao for selectively diverting tickets out of the path or allowing them to proceed along the path, said biassing means comprising means for biassing said one belt against both of the opposing two belts and deflecting all of said belts out of a straight line path.

8. The mechanism of Claim 1, wherein said deflecting means comprises at least one guide roller acting against one of the belts to deflect both belts out of the straight line path and to define a slightly arched ticket path.

9. The mechanism of Claim 8, wherein the deflection angle between adjacent portions of said path before and after said guide roller is of the order of 6".

10. The mechanism of Claim 1, wherein said belts are of silicon rubber material.

11. The mechanism of Claim 1, including at least one ticket processing device positioned in the ticket path.

12. Aticket processing system including at least two ticket transport mechanisms as claimed in Claim 1 arranged in sequence with the spacing between an outlet end of one of the mechanisms and an inlet end of the next mechanism being less than the average ticket length, a ticket handling device being provided in the spacing in line with the ticket path between the two mechanisms.

13. The system of Claim 12, wherein the belts of the second transport mechanism in the ticket path are driven faster than the belts of the first transport mechanism.

14. A transport for tickets and the like comprising at least one pair of opposed elastic belts which are elastically biassed against each other and may be driven such that in use tickets or the like are gripped between them and moved along a path through the mechanism.

15. Atransport mechanism for tickets and the like substantially as herein before described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

New claims or amendments to claim filed on 7 November 1985.

Superseded claims 1.

New or amended claims: A mechanism for transporting tickets or other strip-like media, comprising: at least one pair of opposed elastic belts defining a ticket path; means for driving the belts to transport tickets along the path; and means for biassing the belts against one another so as to grip tickets between them, said biassing means comprising means for deflecting and stretching said belts out of a straight line path defining the shortest possible distance between opposite ends of the path and into a slightly arched ticket path.