GB2235676A

GB2235676A - A paper slip conveyor

Info

Publication number: GB2235676A
Application number: GB9018747A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Takatoshi Takemoto; Kazunari Kawashima
Original assignee: Ace Denken KK
Current assignee: Ace Denken KK
Priority date: 1989-08-28
Filing date: 1990-08-28
Publication date: 1991-03-13
Anticipated expiration: 2010-08-28
Also published as: JP2753567B2; HK44894A; MY106453A; JPH0383747A; GB9018747D0; KR910004449A; GB2235676B

Abstract

An endless belt 25, Fig 4, of circular cross section extends between a drive or driven pulley and a driven pulley, and pairs of holding pulleys 27, 28 Figs 3 & 4 are arranged in two rows in the paper slip transporting direction, each pair oppositely facing each other through the endless belt, and each holding pulley being adapted to hold a paper slip N, Fig 4, against the endless belt for transporting the paper slip to an adjacent downstream holding pulley. <IMAGE>

Description

PAPER SLIP TRANSPORTING APPARATUS Background of the Invention The present invention relates to a transporting apparatus for transporting a slip of paper such as a bank note (hereinafter referred to as note), a ticket or the like slip.

Conventional bank note transporting apparatuses are disclosed in (unexamined) Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publications Nos. 52(1977)-84889 and 52(1977)-20297 and (unexamined) Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No.

59(1984)-135586, for example. In these publications, a conveyor belt is arranged along a note transporting path, and notes are transported by bringing them in frictional contact with the conveyor belt.

In the conventional note transporting apparatus, it is however necessary to positively hold notes against the conveyor belt. This makes the apparatus rather complicated and costly. Moreover, there is a drawback in that notes are liable to be wrinkled since they are urged over the whole transporting path against the conveyor belt.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a paper slip transporting apparatus which is less complicated in structure and hence less expensive than the paper slip transporting apparatus of the prior art.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a paper slip transporting apparatus which is capable of transporting notes without deteriorating the condition of the notes.

Summary of the Invention According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper slip transporting apparatus comprising: a drive pulley; a driven pulley spaced apart from the drive pulley in a paper slip transporting direction; an endless belt extending between the drive pulley and the driven pulley, the endless belt having a circular cross section; drive means for driving the drive pulley; and paper slip transporting means for transporting the paper slip in cooperation with the endless belt, the paper slip transporting means including pairs of holding pulleys arranged in two rows in the paper slip transporting direction, each pair of the holding pulleys being arranged to oppositely face each other through the endless belt, each holding pulley being adapted to hold a paper slip against the endless belt for transporting the paper slip to an adjacent downstream holding pulley.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a paper slip transporting apparatus comprising: a pair of driven pulleys spaced apart in a paper slip transporting direction; an endless belt extending between the driven pulleys, the endless belt having a circular cross section; paper slip transporting means for transporting the paper slip in cooperation with the endless belt, the paper slip transporting means including pairs of holding pulleys arranged in two rows in the paper slip transporting direction, each pair of the holding pulleys being arranged to oppositely face each other through the endless belt, each holding pulley being adapted to hold a paper slip against the endless belt for transporting the paper slip to an adjacent downstream holding pulley; a drive pulley arranged to engage the endless belt; drive means for driving the drive pulley; a pinch pulley arranged to pinch the endless belt against the drive pulley for moving the endless belt by the drive pulley; and tensioning means for apply a tension to the endless belt.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a note transporting apparatus according to the present invention, the note transporting apparatus being used for pachinkos; FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the note transporting apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line III-III in FIG.

2; FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is a side view of the transporting unit of FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is a view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG.

5; FIG. 7 is a view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG.

5; FIG. 8 is a side view of the introducing unit of FIG.

2; FIG. 9 is a view taken along the line IX-IX in FIG.

8; FIG. 10 is a view taken along the line X-X in FIG. 9; FIG. 11 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of a modified form of the transporting unit of FIG. 2 showing a biasing mechanism of the holding pulleys; FIG. 12 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of another modified form of the transporting unit of FIG. 2; FIG. 13 is a vertical cross-sectional view of another modified form of the transporting unit of FIG. 2; FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a modified form of the note transporting apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 15 is an enlarged diagrammatic side view of the note transporting apparatus of FIG. 14; FIG. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of a modified formed of the tension applying mechanism of FIG.

14; FIG. 17 is a perspective view of another modified form of the note transporting apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. 18 is an enlarged diagrammatic side view of the note transporting apparatus of FIG. 17; FIG. 19 is a side view of another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 20 is a plan view on a reduced scale of the note transporting apparatus of FIG 19; FIG. 21 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one side part of the introducing unit of FIG. 19; FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a modified form of one side part of the introducing unit of FIG. 21; FIG. 23 is a perspective view of another modified form of one side part of the introducing unit of FIG. 21; FIG. 24 is an enlarged side view of the pulley biasing mechanism of FIG. 23; FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a modified form of the note transporting apparatus of FIG. 1;; FIG. 26 is an enlarged plan view of the intermittent transporting unit of FIG. 25; FIG. 27 is side view of the intermittent transporting unit of FIG. 26; and FIG. 28 is a view taken along the line XXVIII-XXVIII in FIG. 27.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments The invention will be described with reference to the drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by the same reference characters throughout views and descriptions thereof are omitted after once given.

A note transporting apparatus 5 of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 10. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the note transporting apparatus 5 is arranged between two rows of pachinkos 10, 10, ... although two pachinkos of one row are shown. Note processing units 11, 11, are provided between adjacent pachinkos 10 and 10. The note transporting apparatus 5 includes a note collecting line 20 which collects and transport notes. A note receiving case 21 is provided at a forward end 5a of the note collecting line 20. Notes are collected and transported from the note processing units 11, 11, ... to the note receiving case 21 through the note collecting line 20.

Each of the note processing units 11 is provided at its upper portion with a note slot 13 which opens to a front panel 11a thereof for receiving notes. The note detecting unit 12 is provided at its rear portion with a note outlet 14 which opens rearward.

The note collecting line 20 is provided at its opposite ends with a drive pulley 22 and a driven pulley 23, respectively. The drive pulley 22 and the driven pulley 23 are rotatably supported within a casing 20a. A solid endless belt 25 having a circular cross-section extends between and over the drive pulley 22 and driven pulley 23 along the note collecting line 20. Many pairs of holding pulleys 27 and 28, ... are arranged between the drive pulley 22 and driven pulley 23 in such a manner that each pair of the holding pulleys 27 and 38 hold the endless belt 25 between their circumferential surfaces.

The pairs of the holding pulleys 27 and 28. are disposed at a pitch smaller than the length of the notes so that the notes are positively transported by holding them against the endless belt 25. A pinch pulley 24 is arranged to hold the endless belt 25 against the drive pulley 22 so that frictional force from the drive pulley 22 to the endless belt 25 increases for positively move the endless belt 25 even if the endless belt 25 becomes loose.

In this embodiment, the following embodiments and modifications, the note transporting line 20 is symmetrical about the endless belt 25 unless other wise stated. Description will be hence given only to the note transporting line 20 on the side of the holding pulleys 27, and description of the note transporting line 20 on the side of the holding pulleys 28 will be omitted or simplified.

The note collecting line 20 includes note transporting units 30 for transporting notes to the note receiving case 21. Each of the note transporting units 30 is connected to a corresponding note introducing unit 40 which communicates to the note outlet 14 of a corresponding note processing unit 11. A length. adjusting member or units 60 are provided in the note collecting line 20 but may be omitted. The corresponding note introducing units 40 and note transporting units 30 are connected in such a fashion that they are movable in a note transporting direction T for adjusting in length.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4-7, each note transporting unit 30 is provided with a transporting passage defining member 31 made of a synthetic resin. Each transporting passage defining member 31 has two rectangular openings 31c and 31d. A pair of joint members 35 is fastened to opposite ends of each transporting passage defining member 31 as illustrated in FIG. 5. The holding pulleys 27 and 28 are disposed in many pairs in predetermined positions to oppositely face to each other with their axes directed vertically although only five pairs thereof are shown in FIG. 2.

As clearly shown in FIG. 6, each of the transporting passage defining members 31 has a partition wall 32 vertically projecting from a horizontal web 34 thereof to define transporting grooves 33 and 33 on opposite sides thereof. The partition walls 32 and 32 extend toward each other.

The holding pulleys 27 and 28 of each pair are supported on corresponding pulley supporting plates 36 and 36 for rotation about vertical axes. Each transporting passage defining member 31 is provided with four pulley supporting plates 36, each of which is mounted at its one end 36a to a side wall 31a of the transporting passage defining member 31 to horizontally angularly move. The other end 36b of each pulley supporting plate 36 is detachably hooked by a pair of hooks 31b mounted to the side wall 31a to close the corresponding opening 31c.

Each of the joint members 35 is provided with a channel-shaped upper rail portion 37, which fits over upper portions of the corresponding transporting passage defining member 31. The upper rail portion 37 has a web 37a and a pair of flanges 37b and 37b suspended from the web 37a. An L-shaped lower rail portion 38 is integrally formed with each flange 37b to suspend from it. Each of the lower rail portion 38 is provided at its lower edge with a horizontal flange 38b projecting outwardly.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4 and 8-10, each of the note introducing units 40 includes an introducing member 41 made of a synthetic resin. Each introducing member 41 is provided with a tubular transporting passage defining member 42 which extends along the endless belt 25. The transporting passage defining member 42 is connected at its opposite outer walls 42a and 42a to introducing paths 43 and 43, respectively. Each of the introducing paths 43 and 43 communicates at one end to the note outlet 14 of the corresponding note processing unit 11 and at the other end to the transporting passage defining member 42. Each of the introducing members 41 is fastened to a guide unit 44. The forward end of each introducing member 41 is fitted into transporting grooves 33 and 33 of the corresponding transporting passage defining member 31 as shown in FIG. 4.

Each of the guide units 44 includes an upper guide member 46, which is placed over and secured to a channelshaped guide rail member 45. The guide rail member 45 is fitted over the upper rail member 37 of the corresponding joint member 35. A guide through slot 46a is formed through both guide rail member 45 and upper guide member 46 to extend longitudinally. A machine screw 48 slidably passes through the guide slot 46a and is threaded to the upper rail member 37 of the joint member 35 to fasten the upper rail member 37 to the upper guide member 46. The guide unit 44 is further provided with a lower guide member 47 on which the lower rail portion 38 of the corresponding joint member 35 rests.The lower guide member 47 is provided with a pair of longitudinal guide through slots 47a and 47a, through which respective machine screws 48 pass to be threaded to the lower rail portion 38 of the joint member 35 for fastening the joint member 35 to the lower guide member 47. Thus, the note transporting unit 30 and the corresponding note introducing unit 40 are relatively movable within the length of the guide slots 46a and 47a by loosening the machine screws.

In FIGS. 8 and 10, a pair of holding pulleys 27 and 28 are provided in the vicinity of downstream ends of the introducing paths 43 and 43, respectively, whereas a feed pulley 50 is arranged close to an upstream end of each introducing path 43. Each of the feed pulleys 50 is coupled to the corresponding holding pulley 27 or 28 by a endless belt 49. Each feed pulley 50 and the corresponding holding pulley 27 or 28 are spaced not larger than a length of a note N. Each of the feed pulley 50 projects into the wall of the corresponding introducing path 43 from the outside and is in contact with an pinch pulley 51 which also project into the opposite wall of the introducing path 43. The pinch pulley 51 is spring biased against the feed pulley 50 to hold a note N between them.

FIGS. 2 and 3 clearly show a length adjusting unit 60 which fits at its joining portion 61 over an upstream end 42b of the corresponding introducing member 41. The joining portion 61 is provided with hooks 62, 62, which are detachably hooked in an engaging shoulder 42a formed in the upstream end 42b of the introducing member 41. A pair of holding pulleys 27 and 28 pass through walls of an intermediate portion of the length adjusting unit 60 and are spring biased to be brought into contact with each other.

The endless belt 25 passes between each pair of the holding pulleys 27 and 28 of the note collecting line 20 which includes the note introducing units 40, note transporting units 30 and the length adjusting units 60.

To assemble the note collecting line 20, a suitable number of the note introducing units 40 and the note transporting units 30 are connected in series as described. Then, the endless belt 25 is passed through between pairs of the holding pulleys 27 and 28 of the note introducing units 40 and note transporting units 30 and is extended between the drive pulley 22 and the driven pulley 23.

The note introducing units 40 and the note transporting units 30 may be adjusted in position in the note transporting direction T. More specifically, the introducing member 41 of each note introducing unit 40 is inserted into transporting grooves 33 and 33 of the transporting passage defining member 31 of the corresponding note transporting unit 30 by fitting the guide rail member 45 and the lower guide member 47 of the note introducing unit 40 over the joint member 35 of the note transporting unit 30. By loosening the machine screws 48, the note transporting unit 30 and the note introducing unit 40 may be relatively moved and hence the overlapping portion of the note transporting unit 30 and note introducing unit 40 may be adjusted in length within the length of the slots 46a and 47a. The note introducing unit 40 and the note transporting unit 30 are fastened together at respective suitable positions by tightening the machine screws 48.

When one of note transporting units 30 and the corresponding note introducing unit 40 cannot be placed at position by such adjustment, a length adjusting unit 60 is added to the note introducing unit 40. Several lengths of length adjusting units 60 are prepared, and hence it not necessary to cut them to a desired length.

In operation, a note N which has been discharged from the note outlet 14 of one of the note processing units 11 is clamped between the feed pulley 50 and the pinch pulley 51 of the corresponding note introducing unit 40 (FIG.

10). When it is necessary to return the note N to the note processing unit 11, the note N is brought back to the note processing unit 11 by a force exerted by pinch rollers (not shown) of the note processing unit 11, the force being larger than the clamping force of the pinch pulley 51.

When the note N is to pass to the note introducing unit 40, it is transported by the feed pulley 50 and pinch pulley 51 through the introducing path 43 and then reaches the holding pulleys 27 and 28 close the distal end of the introducing path 43. The note N is transported by the holding pulleys 27 and 28 into the transporting passage defining member 42, where the note N is held by the endless belt 25 and the succeeding holding pulley 27 or 28 of the downstream transporting unit 30 to move forwards.

When a jam of notes takes place, the hooked end 36b of the corresponding pulley supporting plate 36 is disengaged from the hooks 31b of the transporting passage defining member 31 and then the pulley supporting plate 36 is turned outwardly about its hinged end 36a to open.

This operation moves the holding pulleys 27 or 28, carried by the pulley supporting plate 36, away from the endless belt 25, so that the interior of the note transporting unit 30 is examined to remove the paper jam.

In the embodiment, a minimum tension is applied to the endless belt 25 to transport notes. An excessive tension causes the endless belt 25 to be made thinner and plastically deformed, so that the endless belt 25 must be replaced in a relatively short period.

FIG. 11 illustrates a biasing mechanism of holding pulleys 27 and 28 of the note transporting unit 30. Each of the pulley supporting members 36 has a channel-shaped cross-section, and a large part of each of the holding pulleys 27 is placed within the corresponding pulley supporting member 36. A rotary shaft 27a of each holding pulley 27 passes through guide slots 36c formed through the corresponding pulley supporting member 36 perpendicularly to the endless belt 25 so that the rotary shaft 27a is movable toward and away from the endless belt 25. The rotary shafts 27a are each spring biased toward the endless belt 25 by coil springs 70 fitted in the corresponding guide slots 36c. The holding pulleys 27 have each a concave circumferential surface, and hence the notes N bend arcuately inwardly as shown, so that the notes increase in rigidity.The holding pulleys 28 are spring biased by the same biasing mechanism of the holding pulleys 27. Although not illustrated, the holding pulleys 27 and 28 of the note introducing units 40 are also spring biased by the same biasing mechanism as described.

FIG. 12 illustrates a modified form of the supporting mechanism of holding pulleys 27 and 28 of FIG. 11. Pulley mounting plates 136 and 136 are mounted in. pairs to the casing 20a to close respective openings formed through the casing 20a. The pulley mounting plates 136 are vertically pivotally mounted at their upper edges to the casing 20a so that they may be opened as shown by the dots-and-dash line in FIG. 12. Thus, it is possible to access to the inside of the casing 20a. A rail member 132 having a trapezoidal cross-section is mounted on a beam 34a along the endless belt 25. The rail member 132 supports at its upper edge an upwardly placed portion 25a of the endless belt 25. The rail member 132 also serves to separate notes N and N.

Another rail member 132a is provided to the casing 20a in FIG. 13. The rail member 132a depends from a top wall 120a of the casing 20a to oppositely face the rail member 132 for separating upper portions of notes N and N.

Many rollers 145 are rotatably supported close to a bottom wall 120b of the casing 20a. The rollers 145 support a downwardly placed portion 25b of the endless belt 25.

Another note transporting apparatus with a modified endless belt mechanism of FIG. 2 is illustrated in FIGS.

14 and 15, in which the drive pulley 22 is omitted. A drive pulley 124 is rotatably supported on a bracket 102 which is suspended from the casing 20a. A pair of pinch pulleys 125a- and 125a are pivotally supported to the casing 20a through respective pivotal levers 140 and 140 so that the pinch pulleys 125a and 125a are movable towards and away from the drive pulley 124. Each of the pinch pulleys 125a is brought into contact with the drive pulley 124 through the endless belt 25 by a corresponding spring 142. The drive pulley 124 is connected to a drive unit 126 including an electric motor through a sprocket and chain mechanism. The endless belt 25 is held between the drive pulley 124 and the pinch pulleys 125a and 125a, and hence the driving force from the drive pulley 124 is transmitted to the endless belt 25 through the holding force, not tension applied to the endless belt 25.Thus, predetermined driving force is positively transmitted to the endless belt 25 without any slip. In the case of transmission of the driving force through tension, the endless belt 25 becomes thinner due to plastic deformation by long term use.

In the vicinity of the driven pulley 23 there is provided with a tensioning pulley 127 which is rotatably supported on one end of a pivotal arm 128. The pivotal arm 128 is vertically pivotally supported at the other end to the casing 20a. The endless belt 25 extends over the tensioning pulley 127. The pivotal arm 128 is spring biased to be substantially vertical by means of a spring 129, and hence the tensioning pulley 127 is normally placed in the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 15.

The spring 129 absorbs changes in the tension applied to the endless belt 25 due to the expansion of the endless belt 25, caused by a change in the ambient temperature, or a change in number of notes transported by the endless belt 25. According to such changes the tensioning pulley 127 changes its position as shown by the dots-and-dash line in FIG. 15. Reference numeral 125b designates a tension pulley.

In FIG. 16, the tensioning pulley 127 is not pivotally supported but vertically movably supported on a bracket casing 144 suspended from the casing 20a. More specifically, a pair of vertical slots 146 and 146 (only one of which is shown) are formed in the casing 144. A supporting shaft 148 of the tensioning pulley 127 slidably passes through the vertical slots 146 and 146 and is pulled downwards by a weight 129. The holding pulley 127 of the FIG. 16 achieves the same tensioning effect as the tensioning pulley 127 in FIG. 15.

FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate a modified drive and tension mechanism of FIGS. 14 and 15. In this modified form, a pair of driven pulleys 23 and 23 are rotatably supported on opposite ends of the casing 20a, and the drive pulley 124 is rotatably supported on a bracket 202b, mounted to the casing 20a, close to the downstream driven pulley 23. A pinch pulley 125a is rotatably supported on a free end of a pivotal arm 204 pivoted at its proximal end to the bracket 202b. The pivotal arm 204 is biased toward the drive pulley 124 by a spring 204, so that the pinch pulley 125a is urged against the drive pulley 124 to pinch the downwardly located part 25b of the endless belt 25. The drive pulley 124 is driven by a sprocket 124a which is concentrically secured to the drive pulley 124 and is engaged with another sprocket 226c through a chain 226. The sprocket 226c is connected to a speed reducer 226b coupled to an electric motor 226a. A tensioning pulley 127 is provided close to the drive pulley 124. The tensioning pulley 127 is rotatably supported on one arm of a bell crank 228 which is pivoted to the bracket 202b.

The other arm of the bell crank 228 is connected to the bracket 202b through a spring 229 to turn the bell crank 228 in a counter-clockwise direction in FIG. 18. Thus, the tensioning pulley 127 is always pulled downwardly so as to absorb changes in tension of the endless belt 25 due to expansion of the endless belt 25 to thereby provide a predetermined tension to the endless belt 25. The tensioning pulley 127 is swung between an upper limit position 127a and a lower limit position 127b shown by the dots-and-dash lines in FIG. 18. Reference numerals 231a, 231b, 231c and 231d designate tension or guide pulleys.

The tensioning pulley 127 and the bell crank 228 may be provided on the upper side of the casing 20a to apply tension to the upwardly located portion 25a of the endless belt 25.

FIGS. 19, 20 and 21 show another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a pulley supporting plate 136 of each transporting unit 302 engages with adjacent pulley supporting plates 136 of corresponding introduction units 304 and 304 by tenon-andmortise joints 306 and 306.

As best shown in FIG. 21, each of the introduction units 304 is provided at each pulley supporting plate 136 with an introducing path 43 which has opposite arcuate side walls 43a and 43b. The downstream side wall 43a has a through slot 341 laterally formed through it. The introducing path 43 of this embodiment is provided with a note feeding mechanism 340 having a star-shaped wheel 342.

The wheel 342 is rotatably mounted at its rotary shaft 343 to the downstream wall 43a so that it projects into the introducing path 43 through the through slot 341. The pivotal arm 344 is horizontally pivotally supported at its proximal end on a rotary shaft 27a, 28a of the corresponding holding pulley 27, 28 close to the outlet of the introducing path 43. The opposite ends of the rotary shaft 27a, 28a slidably pass through respective through slots 336a which is formed through a channel-shaped pulley supporting member 336 mounted on the pulley supporting plate 136 of the introduction unit 304. Each of the rotary shafts 27a, 28a is pushed toward the endless belt 25 by a spring 346 of which one end is fixed to a spring fixing member 345 mounted on the pivotal lever 344. Thus, the holding pulleys 27 and 28 are urged against the endless belt 25.An endless belt 348 is extended between pulleys 330 and 347; the former is mounted around the rotary shaft 27a and the latter around the shaft 343. The pulley 330 is larger in diameter than the pulley 347 and hence the pulley 347 is rotated faster than the pulley 330 for smooth feeding of notes.

Each of the wheel 342 is made of a rubber or a soft material such as a leather and is designed so that the free end of each arm 342a thereof makes slightly a contact with the inner wall of the upstream side wall 43b of the introducing path 43. Thus, any note is not prevented by the wheel 342 from returning back to the corresponding note processing unit 11 when the note should be returned to the note slot 13. This must be done when the note is judged to be false by a note detecting unit 12 of the note processing unit 11.

In FIG. 19, reference numeral 355 indicates a detecting hole formed through each pulley supporting plate 136. A photosensor (not shown) is provided to each pulley supporting plate 136 adjacent to the detecting hole 355 for detecting a jam of notes. The photosensor is adapted to provide a signal representing a note jam to an alarming unit when it detects a note for longer than a predetermined time. The alarming unit may include a buzzer or an electric lamp.

FIG. 22 illustrates a modified form of the introduction unit 304 of FIG. 21. The modified introduction unit is distinct from the introduction unit 304 in that another note feeding mechanism 340a is provided. The note feeding mechanism 340a has the same structure as the note feeding mechanism 340 but is arranged below the note feeding mechanism 340. That is, another wheel 342 projects into a lower through slot 341a formed through the downstream side wall 43a in parallel with the upper through slot 341, and another pivotal arm 344 supports the lower end portion of the rotary shaft 27a of the holding pulley 27.

Another modified form of the introduction unit 304 of FIG. 21 is illustrated in FIGS. 23 and 24, in which the shaft 343 of the wheel 342 is not secured to the downstream side wall 43a of the introducing path 43. In this modification, a channel-shaped bracket 350 is mounted to the pulley supporting plate 136, and an pivotal arm Al is pivotally supported at its channel-shaped proximal portion 349 on a shaft 352 mounted to the bracket 350.

The arm Al is provided at its free end with the rotary shaft 27a of a holding pulley 27. The arm Al is spring biased toward the pulley supporting plate 136 by a coil spring S1, wound around the shaft 352, so that the holding pulley 27, 28 is urged against the endless belt 25. An pivotal arm pivotal arm A2 is pivotally supported on the rotary shaft 27a, and the shaft 343 of the wheel 342 is supported on a free end of the pivotal arm A2 so that the wheel 342 is rotatable. The pivotal arm A2 is spring biased toward the downstream side wall 43a by a spring S2 so that the wheel 342 comes into contact with the upstream side wall 43b. A driving force is transmitted from the endless belt 25 to the holding pulley 27, 28 and then through the pulley 330, endless belt 348 and pulley 347 to the wheel 342 for rotating the latter.

A modified form of the note collecting line 20 of the FIGS. 1 and 2 is illustrated in FIG. 25, in which a note transfer line 421 is provided between the note receiving case 21 and the adjacent note transfer unit 30. As illustrated in FIGS. 26 and 27, the note transfer line 421 includes a pair of parallel endless belt conveyors 423 and 423. Each of the endless belt conveyors 423 includes an endless belt 423a extended between a drive pulley 422a and a driven pulley 422b. Notes N which have been transported by the endless belt 25 and the holding pulleys 27 and 28 are passed to the note transfer line 421 which then transports the notes to the note receiving case 21.

In the note receiving case 21, there is provided a note stacker 440 and an intermittent transport unit 430 arranged right above the note stacker 440. As shown in FIG. 26, a pair of endless belt conveyors 423 and 423 are oppositely arranged so as to carry notes in a sandwiched manner toward the intermittent transport unit 430. The intermittent transport unit 430 is spaced from the downstream end of the note transfer line 421 a distance substantially equal to a length of notes. A guide member 424 is arranged below the note transfer line 421 and intermittent transport unit 430 to bridge between them.

The intermittent transport unit 430 is provided with a pair of endless belt conveyors 431 and 431 oppositely faced. Each of the endless belt conveyors 431 includes an endless belt 434 extended between a drive pulley 432 and a driven pulley 433. The endless belt conveyors 431 and 431 are equal in circumferential length of the endless belts 434 and the diameter of the drive pulleys 432 and driven pulleys 433. Two holding members 436 and 436 are mounted to an outer surface of each endless belt 434 so that a pair of corresponding holding members 436 and 436 of the two endless belt conveyors 431 and .431 are brought into contact with each other when they enters the note passage NP. The holding members 436 may be provided more than two in number to each endless belt 434. The pitch of the holding members 436 and the speed of the endless belts 434 are determined to correspond to the speed of the transportation of the notes N by the note transfer line 421.

The drive pulleys 422a of the endless belt conveyors 423 and 423 and the drive pulleys 432 of the endless belt conveyors 431 and 431 are connected to a drive unit such as the drive unit 126 of FIG. 14 through suitable transmitting mechanisms. The drive pulleys 432 and 432 are adapted to rotated at an equal speed.

The note stacker 440 includes a rectilinear box shaped casing 442 having an inner circumferential flange 445 formed longitudinally in the inner surface thereof. A note stacking chamber 444 is formed on one side (right side in FIG. 28) of the flange 445 whereas a note receiving chamber 446 is formed on the other side. In the note stacking chamber 444, a pressing plate 443 is mounted to the side wall of the note stacking chamber 444 through a coil spring 450. A through slot 447 is formed through a ceiling wall of the note receiving chamber 446. A piston 449 is provided within the note receiving chamber 446 so as to slidably pass a rod 448 thereof through the side wall of the note receiving chamber 446.

Notes N which have been passed from the note transporting unit 30 of FIG. 1 to the note transfer line 421 one by one are transferred by the endless belt conveyors 423 and 423 in a sandwiched manner to a waiting position P1 in the guide groove 424a of the guide member 424 as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27. During transportation, the longer side of each note N is directed horizontally as illustrated by dots-and-dash line in FIG. 27. From the downstream end portion of the note transfer line 421, each note N is guided at its lower edge by the guide member 424 to the waiting position P1. At the position P1, several notes N are gathered with their forward ends partly inserted into a gap defined between oppositely facing surfaces of the endless belts 434 and 434.

When one pair of cooperating holding members 436 and 436 move to respective upstream end positions 434a and 434a, they clamp forward portions of the notes N at the position P1. Then, the notes N are transported to a released position P2 right above the through slot 447 of the note stacker 440. When the notes N reach the released position P2, the pair of holding members 436 and 436 move apart and the notes N drop through the slot 447 into the note receiving chamber 446. Each pair of the holding members 436 and 436 intermittently transport the notes in this manner.

The piston 449 is moved forwards to push the notes N which have been placed within the note receiving chamber 446 into the note stacking chamber 444 and place the notes against the pressing plate 443. When the piston 449 is retracted, the pressing plate 443 presses the peripheries of the notes N against the flange 445 by the spring 450 to hold the notes N as shown in FIG. 28.

In the preceding embodiments, the present invention is applied to a note transporting apparatus but may be applied to an apparatus for transporting other paper slips such as a ticket.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A paper slip transporting apparatus comprising: a drive pulley; a driven pulley spaced apart from the drive pulley in a paper slip transporting direction; an endless belt extending between the drive pulley and the driven pulley, the endless belt having a circular cross section; drive means for driving the drive pulley; and paper slip transporting means for transporting the paper slip in cooperation with the endless belt, the paper slip transporting means including pairs of holding pulleys arranged in two rows in the paper slip transporting direction, each pair of the holding pulleys being arranged to oppositely face each other through the endless belt, each holding pulley being adapted to hold a paper slip against the endless belt for transporting the paper slip to an adjacent downstream holding pulley.

2. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 1, further comprising a pinch pulley arranged to press the endless belt against the drive pulley for moving the endless belt.

3. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 2, wherein the holding pulleys of the paper slip transporting means are arranged at a pitch smaller than a length of the paper slip.

4. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 2, further comprising paper slip introducing means for introducing the paper slip from a paper slip processing unit into the paper slip transporting means for transporting the paper slip by the paper slip transporting means, the paper slip introducing means including a pair of holding pulleys arranged to oppositely face each other through the endless belt, each of the holding pulleys of the paper slip introducing means being adapted to hold a paper slip against the endless belt for transporting the paper slip to the paper slip transporting means.

5. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 4, further comprising length adjusting means, connected to the paper slip introducing means, for adjusting the paper slip introducing means in length in the paper slip transporting direction.

6. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 4, further comprising relative position adjusting means for adjusting the paper slip transporting means and the paper slip introducing means in relative position in the paper slip transporting direction, whereby the paper slip transporting means and the paper slip introducing means are adjustable to each other in relative position.

7. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 6, wherein the relative position adjusting means comprises: a joint member secured to the paper slip transporting means; and a guide member secured to the paper slip introducing means, the joint member being fitted in the guide member for adjusting the relative position of the paper slip transporting means to the paper slip introducing means.

8. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 4, wherein: the paper slip introducing means comprises a paper slip introducing passage defining means for defining a pair of paper slip introducing passages, each of the paper slip introducing passages communicating at one end thereof to a corresponding paper slip processing unit and the other end thereof extending close to a corresponding holding pulley of the paper slip introducing means; a feed roller arranged at a distance less than a length of the paper slip from the corresponding holding pulley and close to the one end of each paper slip introducing passage, the feed roller being operatively connected to the corresponding holding pulley for driving the feed roller; and an auxiliary pinch roller arranged to contact the feed roller to feed a paper slip in cooperation with the feed roller to the corresponding holding pulley.

9. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 4 or 8, wherein the paper slip transporting means comprises holding pulley pivoting means for supporting the holding pulleys of one of the two rows so that the holding pulleys of one row is swingable toward and away from the endless belt.

10. A paper slip transporting apparatus comprising: a pair of driven pulleys spaced apart in a paper slip transporting direction; an endless belt extending between the driven pulleys, the endless belt having a circular cross section; paper slip transporting means for transporting the paper slip in cooperation with the endless belt, the paper slip transporting means including pairs of holding pulleys arranged in two rows in the paper slip transporting direction, each pair of the holding pulleys being arranged to oppositely face each other through the endless belt, each holding pulley being adapted to hold a paper slip against the endless belt for transporting the paper slip to an adjacent downstream holding pulley; a drive pulley arranged to engage the endless belt; drive means for driving the drive pulley;; a pinch pulley arranged to pinch the endless belt against the drive pulley for moving the endless belt by the drive pulley; and tension applying means for apply a tension to the endless belt.

11. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 10, further comprising paper slip receiving means arranged close to one of the driven pulleys for receiving a paper slip transported by the paper slip transporting means, the one driven pulley arranged upstream of the other.

12. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 11, wherein: the pairs of the holding pulleys are arranged to hold a paper slip against an upwardly positioned portion of the endless belt; the drive pulley engages with a downwardly positioned portion of the endless belt, the pinch pulley arranged to hold the downwardly positioned portion of the endless belt against the drive pulley; and the tension applying means including a tension applying pulley engaging the downwardly positioned portion of the endless pulley.

13. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 1 or 10, further comprising: paper slip introducing means for introducing the paper slip from a paper slip processing unit into the paper slip transporting means for transporting the paper slip by the paper slip transporting means, the paper slip introducing means including: a pair of holding pulleys arranged to oppositely face each other through the endless belt, each of the holding pulleys of the paper slip introducing means being adapted to hold a paper slip against the endless belt for transporting the paper slip to the paper slip transporting means; guide passage defining means for defining a guide passage to guide the paper slip from the paper slip processing unit to corresponding one of the holding pulleys of the paper slip introducing means; and paper feeding means, operatively connected to the corresponding holding pulley of the paper slip introducing means, for feeding the paper slip from the paper slip processing unit through the guide passage to the corresponding holding pulley.

14. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 13, wherein the paper feeding means comprises: a paper feeding pulley for feeding the paper slip to the corresponding holding pulley; distance keeping means for keeping the distance between the paper feeding pulley and the corresponding holding pulley; and torque transmitting means for transmitting a torque from the corresponding holding pulley to the feeding pulley for rotating the feeding pulley to feed the paper slip.

15. A paper slip transporting apparatus as recited in Claim 1 or 10, further comprising intermittent feed means, arranged downstream of the paper slip transporting means, for intermittently feeding paper slips transported from the paper slip transporting means, the intermittent feed means including: a pair of endless belt conveyor oppositely faced to each other with a gap and arranged to receive paper slips, transported from the paper slip transporting means, therebetween; and clamping means, mounted on each of the endless belts at a predetermined pitch, the clamping means of each endless belt being adapted to clamp the paper slips, disposed between the endless belts, against the corresponding clamping means of the other endless belt for intermittently transportation of the paper slips, whereby the paper slips stay between the endless belts when the pairs of corresponding clamping means are apart from each other.