JP2000118750A - Medium transferring conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To convey mediums one by one irrespective of fluctuation of the medium thickness by sucking the medium for conveying it to an intake port and providing a thickness detection means detecting the medium thickness in a clamping position for a clamping means arranged in the intake port. SOLUTION: In intake of a pack 20, an intake arm 37 provided with an impeller 36 at the tip is refuged, and then, the uptake arm 37 is moved to the uptake port 35 position when the pack 20 is led in a vertical state to the position for an uptake roller 38, and subsequently, the pack 20 in a vertical state is clamped between the uptake roller 38 and the impeller 36 on its both sides so as to be taken in directly upward. A displacement sensor S7 installed to the arm base end part is tilled integrally with the uptake arm 37 so as to face a fixed reflection plate 40. The tilting angle of the uptake arm 37 is proportional to a thickness of the clamped pack 20, and according to the tilting angle, the displacement sensor S7 can recognize presence/absence or a sort of the pack 20 from the thickness converted into a photoelectric signal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medium delivery / transportation device for delivering / conveying a medium such as a traveler's check (travel check), an envelope (pack), a bill, a card, a gift certificate, a book voucher, and the like. The present invention relates to a medium delivery / conveyance apparatus that improves the delivery performance of a medium that is sucked and delivered / conveyed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 13, a conventional roller-type medium delivery / conveying apparatus is configured to feed a medium from a plurality of medium storage portions 132... One sheet of medium 131 is taken out based on the rotation of 133, and this feeding is detected and confirmed by the thickness detection sensor 134, and the fed medium 131 is temporarily stored in the front bucket 136 via the transport belt 135. After the delivery and accumulation, the bucket 136
Is moved upward to the medium discharge port 137,
Rotate it to the extraction position. In the drawing, 138 indicates a collection box, and 139 indicates a control unit.

[0003] In the case of such a roller-type medium delivery / conveyance apparatus, a dimension between rollers corresponding to the type and thickness of the medium has been required. For example, when a pack containing a plurality of travel checks is fed out, the thickness tends to fluctuate depending on the number and type of enclosing, and each time, it is necessary to change the dimension between rollers.

[0004] However, the thickness of the medium varies, and the roller-to-roller dimensions are slightly changed due to fluctuations in the frictional contact force of the roller surface, changes in temperature and humidity, and changes over time, and the medium is emptied when the medium is fed. Dispensing and repetition could occur.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention focuses on a suction / conveying means capable of taking out a medium from a plurality of medium storage sections in common. The object of the present invention is to provide a medium transfer / conveyance apparatus which has high reliability in transfer / conveyance by transferring and conveying one sheet at a time without emptying or taking out.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
What is claimed is: 1. A medium delivery / transportation device for delivering / conveying media one by one to a medium accumulation unit, comprising: a suction / conveyance unit which adsorbs the medium and conveys the medium to an intake port of the medium accumulation unit; And a thickness detecting means disposed at the holding position of the capturing means for detecting the thickness of the medium. And

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an intake means provided with an intake roller for sandwiching and taking in the medium when the medium is transferred from the suction / conveyance means to the medium stacking section.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the thickness detecting means detects a medium thickness different from a predetermined thickness, the medium detecting means is provided with a recovering means for recovering the medium having a different thickness based on the detected thickness. .

[0009]

According to the present invention, when the medium is sucked and transferred one by one by the suction and conveyance means and transferred to the medium stacking section, the take-in means transfers the medium to the medium stacking section via the suction and conveyance means. The sheet is delivered while being held at the position of the intake port. At this time, the thickness detecting means detects the thickness of the medium guided to the holding position.

As described above, since the medium is transferred using the suction and conveyance means which does not hinder the variation in the thickness of the medium, it is possible to transfer and transfer various kinds of media having different thicknesses by using the single suction and conveyance means. it can. Also, at the time of delivery to the intake of the medium stacking unit, the thickness of the medium can be detected to determine whether the medium is a proper one or a plurality of inappropriate ones. Can be delivered one by one. Therefore, highly reliable delivery that eliminates empty delivery and multiple deliveries can be performed.

In the case where a pickup roller for holding the medium while holding it is provided when transferring the medium from the suction conveyance means to the medium stacking unit, the suctioned medium is subsequently held by the pickup roller for delivery. Then, the data is reliably taken into the medium stacking unit.

Further, when the thickness detecting means detects a medium thickness different from the specified thickness, the recovery operation is performed based on the detected thickness, and when the taken-out medium is delivered, the taken-out medium is recovered. Thus, an inappropriate delivery operation can be eliminated.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a foreign currency vending machine 11, which is connected to a host computer via a network and includes a main control unit 12, a communication processing unit 13, a power control unit 14, It has a customer service operation control unit 15, a bill receiving / dispensing processing unit 16, a coin dispensing processing unit 17, a slip processing unit 18, and a pack release processing unit 19, and the units are connected by internal transmission.

In this case, in order to exchange Japanese yen for travel checks or foreign currencies, the pack release processing unit 19 packs the packages in advance and waits for storage. When there is a request to issue travel checks or foreign currencies, the pack release processing unit 19 responds accordingly. Issue different types of packs.

When the foreign currency vending machine 11 starts its operation, it receives and stores rate data and commission data from the host computer upon startup, and transmits data such as the total amount of sales to the host computer at the end of business, Data management on the computer side.

FIG. 2 shows a pack release processing unit 19. The pack release processing unit 19 moves in a direction in which a plurality of pack storage lanes 21... Bucket 2
2 is provided.

Each of the pack storage lanes 21 has a partition plate 23 having a width capable of storing the packs in a plurality of lane connecting directions for each lane.
The lane 21 is opened to open the upper surface, and a plurality of packs 20 are stacked and stored in the lane 21 in the vertical direction.
In addition, the pack 2 is moved up and down from the upper open portion of the lane 21.
A pack extracting device 24 for extracting 0 is connected to the bucket 22. In the drawing, reference numeral 22a denotes a shutter for opening and closing the upper surface of the bucket.

FIG. 3 shows a pack unloading device 24. The pack unloading device 24 includes upper and lower parallel rails 25 and 26, which are installed along the direction in which the pack storage lanes 21 are connected, and the upper and lower rails. A horizontal slider 27 which is vertically supported between and moves horizontally between 25 and 26;
And a vertical slider 28 attached to the horizontal slider 27.

The horizontal slider 27 comprises upper and lower rails 25, 2
6, a vertical rail 29 is provided vertically interposed therebetween, and an upper travel guide block 30 attached to the upper end of the vertical rail 29 and a lower travel guide block 31 attached to the lower end thereof.
The horizontal slider 27 is guided by upper and lower rails 25 and 26 so as to travel freely, and the horizontal slider 27 travels horizontally between an initial position and a pack unloading position based on driving of a horizontal transport motor described later. . This horizontal slider 27
, A vertical slider 28 is attached to freely move up and down.

The vertical slider 28 is supported on the vertical rail 29 of the horizontal slider 27, and the vertical transport motor M
It moves up and down based on the drive of 1. The vertical slider 28 includes an electric suction fan 32 and a direction changing mechanism 33 for the electric suction fan 32.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the electric suction fan 32 has a pair of left and right suction pads 32a made of an annular rubber at the lower part, and lowers the pair of left and right suction pads 32a to lower the pack storage lane 21. And at this time, the stored uppermost pack 20 is sucked and taken out upward. The removed pack 20 is raised and kept in a horizontal state, and the direction of the pack 20 in the horizontal state is changed to a vertical state via the direction changing mechanism 33.

The direction changing mechanism 33 includes a suction pad 32a.
The plate cam 34 is disposed at the holding position, and the suction pad 32a is turned 90 ° from the downward direction to the lateral direction and rotated along the cam surface 34a of the plate cam 34. This is because the suction operation is performed from the time when the pack near detection sensor S1 detects the detection lever L and turned on at the time of the pack removal, the vertical slider 28 is raised after the suction operation is completed, and the suction pad is raised when the pack removal completion position is reached. When the detection sensor S4 detects and turns ON, the suction pad 32a is rotated by 90 ° in conjunction with driving means such as a solenoid (not shown) or a driving system of a pack take-in motor M3 described later.

At this time, the pack 20 sucked and held by the suction pad 32a becomes substantially vertical as the suction pad 32a rotates, and the pack 20 in this vertical state faces the intake port 35 of the bucket 22 as it is. 22 are set. The bucket 22 is connected to the front of the upper traveling guide block 30 and travels integrally with the horizontal slider 27 to vertically take in the pack 20 taken out through the suction pad 32a.

When taking in the pack 20, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 6, the take-up arm 37 having the tip of the impeller 36 is retracted to the retracted position, and the pack 20 is taken up vertically. When guided to the position of the feed roller 38, FIG.
As shown by a solid line, the take-in arm 37 is moved to the position of the take-in port 35, and the vertical pack 20 is sandwiched between the take-up rollers 38 and the impeller 36 on both sides to take in the pack 20 right above. It is configured as follows.

As a result, the pack 20 taken into the bucket 22 is replaced with the pack 2 already stacked vertically.
0 is accumulated in a direction substantially parallel to the already accumulated surface,
When the packs 20 are transferred from the suction pad 32 a to the bucket 22, the packs 20 are stacked so as to correspond to the vertical stacking surface in the bucket 22. Therefore, during the accumulation in the bucket 22, a taking operation in which the leading end of the pack abuts on the accumulation surface is avoided, so that a stable accumulation process can be performed.

The completion of the taking into the bucket 22 is detected by the taking completion detecting sensor S2.
The shutter 22a installed above the bucket 22 is opened, and the customer waits for the removal of the pack from the upper opening of the bucket 22.
Since the pack is already in the vertical position suitable for extracting from above in 2, the pack changing operation in the bucket is unnecessary.

By the way, the above-described take-in arm 37 is allowed to tilt around a tilt fulcrum pin 39 in the middle of the arm, and the displacement sensor S7 attached to the base end of this arm is
7 and is opposed to the fixedly installed reflector 40, and the tilt angle of the take-in arm 37 is proportional to the thickness of the pack when the pack is sandwiched.
7 is a pack 2 from the thickness information converted into an optical electric signal.
The presence or absence of 0 or the type of pack can be read.

FIG. 7 shows a holding structure at the time of pack delivery formed in the intake port 35 of the bucket 22. The holding structure at the time of pack delivery is provided with take-in arms 37 parallel to three rows, At the tip of the built-in arm 37,
A pressure roller 41 is mounted coaxially with the pressure roller 41 and faces the take-in roller 38 to form a pack holding portion.
It takes in operation.

Further, a thickness detecting roller 43 opposed to the feed roller 42 is provided at the end of the take-in arm 37 at the intermediate portion, and when the pack is nipped between the rollers 42 and 43, the thickness of the pack is reduced. Is formed in accordance with the distance. In the drawing, M3 indicates a pack take-in motor.

When a pack having a thickness different from the prescribed thickness is guided to the pack taking-in position, for example, the displacement sensor S7 detects that the take-out pack has been superposed and guided on one regular pack.
Is detected, the bottom plate 22b of the bucket 22 guided above the pack collection lane 44 is opened, the pack is dropped downward, and the pack is collected in the pack collection lane 44 facing below. Thereby, even if there is a taken-out pack, it is possible to immediately perform the collection process and prevent an inappropriate delivery operation.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the pack release processing unit 19. The CPU 81 controls each circuit device in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 82, and stores the control data in the RAM 83 in a readable manner.

The EEP-ROM 84 records sales data and correction data of the foreign currency vending machine, and the timer 85 measures the suction time of the electric suction fan 32 and the descent time of the suction pad 32a. Further, the transmission control unit 86 and the input / output control unit 87 perform internal transmission between the main control unit 12 and each circuit device.

The vertical transport motor M1 moves the vertical slider 28 up and down to take out the pack, and the horizontal transport motor M2 moves the horizontal slider 27 horizontally to move the bucket 22.
The reciprocating movement of the pack removing device 24 integrated with the original position and the pack removing position is performed. The transport distance at this time can be obtained by counting the number of pulses during transport, and the pack removing device 24 can be accurately moved to the target position.

The pack take-in motor M 3 rotates the take-up roller 38 and the feed roller 42 provided at the take-in port 35 of the bucket 22 to take the pack 20 guided therein into the bucket 22. I do. The vacuum pump drive motor M4 drives a vacuum pump provided in the electric suction fan 32 to perform a suction operation, and drives a solenoid valve of the vacuum pump to release suction.

The puck near detection sensor S1 performs a downward suction operation, a retry operation, a lifting operation of the suction pad 32a,
The take-in operation is detected, and the take-in completion detecting sensor S2 detects the take-in completion operation in which the pack 20 is taken into the bucket 22.
Further, the bucket original position detecting sensor S3 detects that the bucket 22 has been slid horizontally and returned to the original position at which the pack can be taken out after the bucket 22 has taken out the pack from an arbitrary pack storage lane 21 and completed the delivery. .

Further, the suction pad lift detecting sensor S4 detects that the suction pad 32a has reached the upper take-out completion position where the suction pad 32a has been sucked and taken out from the pack storage lane 21 when the pack is taken out. Further, the vacuum detection sensor S5 detects a vacuum state suitable for taking out the suction when the electric suction fan 32 performs the suction operation, and the bucket remaining detection sensor S6 detects and confirms the presence or absence of the pack 20 remaining in the bucket 22, The displacement sensor S7 is connected to the bucket 2 from the suction pad 32a.
It is detected whether or not the thickness of the pack 20 delivered to 2 is appropriate.

FIG. 9 shows a time chart at the time of delivery of a pack. When judging the thickness of the pack, the CPU 81 uses the displacement sensor to read the thickness data at a plurality of different positions of the pack during the taking-in operation of one pack. The average value of the remaining data extracted from S7 and obtained by removing the max value and the min value from the data is calculated, and the average value is determined as the pack thickness data. In this case, standard thickness data is stored for each pack storage lane 21... Stored in accordance with the type of the pack, and automatic reading is performed while checking the data against this data.

The foreign currency vending machine 11 constructed as described above
Will be described with reference to the time chart shown in FIG. 10 and the flowcharts shown in FIGS. When a pick-up signal for a designated type of pack is input, the CPU 81 first slides the horizontal slider 27 to the position of the designated pack storage lane 21 (steps n1 to n2), and the horizontal slider 27 In the direction of the arrow to remove the pack
When 4 reaches the position corresponding to the designated pack storage lane 21, the conveyance is stopped at that position (step n3).

Subsequently, the vertical slider 28 is driven so that the suction pad 32a faces the pack storage lane 21 facing downward.
The suction pad 32a is brought into contact with the uppermost surface of the pack 20 (steps n4 to n5).

Based on this, the CPU 81 drives the vacuum pump of the electric suction fan 32 to perform the suction operation. At this time, in order to secure stable suction performance, the suction pad 32
If the suction operation is not ensured, the suction pad 32a is further lowered to attempt the suction operation again (steps n6 to n7).

When the suction of the pack is ensured, it is determined that the suction pad 32a has normally sucked the pack 20, and the vertical slider 28 is driven to raise the suction pad 32a (step n8).

During this ascent process, the intake arm 37 is connected to the intake 3
The suction pad 32a is moved to a retreat position where there is no trouble in taking in the suction pad 5 (step n9), and when the suction pad 32a rises to the suction pad removal completion position, the direction changing mechanism 33 is driven.
The suction pad 32a is turned by 90 ° from the pack downward suction state to the pack sideways suction state and rotated. At this time, the pack 20 sucked and held in the vertical state is
In the state of facing the intake port 35 of FIG. In this state, the take-in arm 37 is returned to the position of the take-in port 35, and the pack 20 in the vertical state is held between the take-up rollers 38 and the impeller 36 on both sides thereof (steps n10 to n12). After releasing and releasing the suction holding of the pack 20, the take-in roller 38 is driven to take the pack 20 in the vertical state, and the pack 20 taken in the bucket 22 is already in the vertical state. The packs 20 are stacked in a direction substantially parallel to the stacking surface of the stacked packs 20. At this time, the thickness of the pack is detected by the displacement sensor S7 while taking in the pack (steps n13 to n15).

If it is detected that one pack having an appropriate thickness has been taken in (step n16), the operation proceeds to the next pack take-out operation, and the same take-out operation is repeated to finish taking out. When the bucket 22 is returned in the horizontal sliding direction by the same number of transport pulses and returned to the original position (steps n17 to n19), and when the bucket 22 is returned to the original position, the shutter 22a on the upper surface is opened and the customer One transaction is completed by removing the pack 20 in the bucket 22 (steps n20 to n21).

When it is detected that two sheets have been transferred and taken in at the same time when the pack is transferred from the suction pad 32a to the bucket 22 (step n22), the bucket 22 is fed back and returned to the original position. (Steps n23 to n2
5) The bottom plate 22a of the bucket 22 is opened, and the two unsuitable packs are taken into the lower pack collection lane 44.
(Step n26).

After the packs have been dropped and released, the bottom plate 22a is closed and returned to be ready for taking out the next pack (step n27).
To n28).

As described above, when the packs are sucked one by one by the suction pad and transferred to the bucket, the packs are held at the position of the intake port of the bucket via the suction pad and transferred. Sensor simultaneously detects the thickness of the pack guided to the holding position. As described above, since the packs are delivered using suction pads that do not hinder the variation in the thickness of the packs, packs having various thicknesses can be delivered and conveyed using this one suction pad in common, and the buckets can be transported. At the time of delivery to the intake, it is possible to detect the thickness of the pack and determine whether it is an appropriate pack or multiple unsuitable packs, and it is possible to reliably deliver packs one by one to this bucket it can. Therefore, it is possible to perform highly reliable delivery and conveyance that eliminates empty delivery and a plurality of inappropriate delivery.

Further, the combination of the suction pad and the take-in roller allows the delivery to be performed stably and the take-in operation to the bucket to be carried out reliably.

Further, when a pack thickness different from the specified thickness is detected, the pack is collected, and when the taken-out pack is delivered, the taken-out pack is collected to eliminate an inappropriate delivery operation. be able to.

In correspondence between the present invention and the configuration of the above-described embodiment, the medium delivery / conveying apparatus of the present invention is provided with the pack removing device 24 of the pack release processing unit 19 of the embodiment.
Similarly, the medium corresponds to the pack 20 enclosing the travel check, the medium stacking unit corresponds to the bucket 22, and the suction conveyance means includes the horizontal slider 27 and the vertical slider 27 of the pack unloading device 24. 28 and the electric suction fan 3
Corresponding to the two suction pads 32a and the direction changing mechanism 33, the thickness detecting means is composed of the displacement sensor S7 and the control system C7.
The collecting means corresponds to the PU 81 and the pack collecting lane 44
However, the present invention can be applied based on the technical idea described in the claims, and is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration block diagram of a foreign currency vending machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part showing a pack release processing unit of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the pack removing device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing a main part of the suction pad according to the present invention, showing a pack suction state;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing a main part of the suction pad according to the present invention in a pack suction state;

FIG. 6 is an essential part front view showing a state in which the suction pad of the present invention is taken out of the pack.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the intake port of the bucket according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a control circuit block diagram of the pack release processing unit of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a time chart when a pack is delivered according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a time chart at the time of removing a pack according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a pack removing operation of the foreign currency vending machine of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart subsequent to FIG. 11 of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a front view showing a conventional roller type medium delivery / conveyance device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Foreign currency vending machine 12 ... Main control unit 19 ... Pack discharge processing unit 20 ... Pack 21 ... Pack storage lane 22 ... Bucket 22b ... Bottom plate 24 ... Pack removal device 27 ... Horizontal slider 28 ... Vertical slider 32 ... Electric suction fan 32a: suction pad 33: direction changing mechanism 35: intake port 36: impeller 37: intake arm 38: intake roller 44: pack collection lane 81: CPU S7: displacement sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A medium delivery / conveyance device for transferring / conveying media one by one to a medium accumulation unit, comprising: a suction conveyance unit for adsorbing the medium and conveying the medium to an intake port of the medium accumulation unit; And a thickness detecting means disposed at the holding position of the capturing means to detect the thickness of the medium. Media transfer device equipped with. 2. The medium delivery / conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said take-in means is a take-in roller for sandwiching and taking in the medium at the time of medium transfer from the suction / conveyance means to the medium stacking section. 3. The medium delivery / conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said thickness detecting means includes a collecting means for performing a collecting operation based on the detected medium thickness which is different from a specified thickness.