JP2001006017A - Device for storing bill - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently store a large number of bills by means of aligning them in a laminated state without a gap by elevating a bill support member in accordance with the number of the bills stored in a storing part and pressuriz ing a bill group toward an upper lid from a lower part. SOLUTION: When the prescribed number of bills B are temporarily stored on the bottom lid 4a of a stacker 4, the bottom lid 4a is opened, the stored bill group B is made to fall and discharged and they are supported in the laminated state on the bill support member 5b in a storing vessel 5. The support member 5b is lowered inside the vessel 5 along a guide rod 10 to the lowest stage and stopped and, then, the bottom lid 4a of the stacker 4 is closed. Then it is judged whether the number of bills B stored in the vessel 5 is >= prescribed number or not, the upper lid 5a of the vessel 5 is closed when it is >= prescribed number, the elevating amount of the member 5b, which is required for pressing the bills B, is calculated, the bill group B is controlled to be pressurized upward against the upper lid 5a by the support member 5b so that bending or a wrinkle or the like in the respective bills B is extended to store them.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bill storage device for storing bills of a plurality of denominations for each denomination or in a mixed manner. Related to those that can be stored in

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In many banks, superstores, department stores, and the like, a banknote sorter is used to randomly mix banknotes of a plurality of denominations (for example,
10,000 yen bills, 5,000 yen bills and 1,000 yen bills) are automatically sorted by denomination. That is, the banknote sorting apparatus identifies the denomination of each banknote by a denomination sensor, and sorts the banknotes by denomination by operating a mechanical sorting mechanism according to the identification result. The bills sorted in this way are stored in the bill storage device connected to the bill sorting device. The bill storage device includes a denomination storage unit at a predetermined position corresponding to each distribution path of the distribution mechanism.

[0003] In a conventional banknote storage device, a banknote storing operation performed in a storage unit for one denomination will be schematically described with reference to FIG. The storage unit is roughly divided into a temporary stacker 4 for temporarily storing the banknotes B transferred from the hopper 2 through the distribution path 3 in a stacked state, and a storage container 5 detachably provided below the stacker 4. It is composed of

In the bill storage device, when the storage container 5 for the denomination is set in a detachable manner, the upper cover 5a of the storage container 5 is moved in the direction of arrow Z by an upper cover opening / closing mechanism (not shown), and the storage container 5 is closed. The upper surface is opened. for that reason,
The banknotes B transferred from the hopper 2 are temporarily stored in the stacker 4 from the upper surface of the temporary stacker 4 (see FIG. 4A). A predetermined number of banknotes B in the temporary stacker 4
When the banknote group B is stored, the temporary stacker 4
The bottom cover 4a is opened from a horizontal position to a vertical position by a bottom cover opening / closing mechanism (not shown), and the bottom surface of the temporary stacker 4 is opened. Then, the banknote group B temporarily stored in the stacker 4 until then falls onto the banknote support member 5b in the storage container 5 (see FIG. 4B). The dropped banknote group B is:
It is supported by the bill support member 5b. When the banknote group B falls from the temporary stacker 4 to the storage container 5, the banknote support member 5b is moved downward in preparation for processing of the next banknote group B. That is, the banknote supporting member 5b is lowered until the banknote group B in the storage container 5 does not block the upper sensor (not shown), so that a space for storing the next banknote group B can be formed in the storage container 5 ( Usually, this space is configured to keep the falling distance appropriately in order to stably accumulate the falling banknotes B in the storage container 5 and prevent the banknotes from leaning against the inner wall of the container.) When the upper sensor passes through the lowering of the banknote support member 5b, the stacker 4 of the next banknote group B is transmitted.
By repeating the above-described operation of storing the banknotes B in the storage container 5 and dropping the banknote group B into the storage container 5, a large amount of banknotes B are stored in the storage container 5 in a stacked state. On the other hand, when the bill support member 5b that moves downward is detected by the lower sensor (not shown) and reaches the lower limit, if the bill group B in the storage container 5 continues to shield the upper sensor, LED lighting not shown when the container 5 is full (at the same time, an alarm sound (for example, a beeping sound) may be emitted)
For example, it is displayed on the operation panel (not shown). At this time, the upper lid 5a of the storage container 5 is closed. In this state, the empty storage container 5 is replaced. In addition, before displaying the full state of the storage container 5, it may be possible to display that the storage container 5 is almost full (for example, lighting of a near full LED).

[0005]

However, in the above-described banknote storage device, the banknote group dropped into the storage container may not be in a close lamination state due to folding or curling of the banknote. . For this reason, the actual banknote stacking height is higher than the banknote stacking height determined by the product of the banknote thickness and the number of stored banknotes. As a result, when the above-mentioned bill support member reaches the lowering limit, there is a problem that the storage container is detected to be full with a smaller number than the set storage number. In addition, when the banknote is folded too much, the banknote may be inclined and fall into the storage container to lean against the inner surface of the storage container. In this case, there is a problem in that the banknotes that fall next are stored diagonally even if they are not folded, and the storage container becomes full with a small number of banknotes. In addition, a method is known in which when a banknote group in a temporary storage box is stored in a storage container, the banknotes are moved to the storage container while the banknotes are collectively grasped, thereby maintaining the stacked state of the banknotes. In this case, there is a problem that the apparatus is inevitably increased in size and cost due to the bill holding means for preventing the bills from shifting when the bill holding, moving means and bill holding means are retracted from the storage container. was there. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a simple and compact configuration allows a large number of banknotes to be efficiently stored in a storage container by storing a large number of banknotes in a stacked state with no gap. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bill storage device as described above.

[0006]

A bill storage device according to the present invention stores the inserted bills in a stacked state on an openable bottom cover and stores the bottom cover when an arbitrary number of bill groups are stored. A temporary storage unit that opens to drop and discharge the banknote group, a storage unit with an openable top lid to store the banknote group discharged from the temporary storage unit in a stacked state, A banknote support member provided below the upper cover in the storage unit to receive and support the banknote group discharged into the storage unit in a stacked state; and a lifting drive unit for raising and lowering the banknote support member in the storage unit. And closing the upper cover, raising the banknote support member by a movement amount determined according to the number of stored banknotes stored in the storage unit, and pressing the banknote group against the upper cover from below. Bill press It is obtained by a control means for performing control.

According to the present invention, the amount of movement of the bill support member in the storage section is determined according to the number of stored bills stored in the storage section, and the bill support member is moved by the movement stroke amount. Since the control means for performing the press control of the bill is provided, an excessive load is not applied to the bill support member and the upper lid of the storage unit against which the bill is pressed. That is, the control means determines a moving stroke amount of the bill supporting member by performing a predetermined calculation based on the number of stored bills. The moving stroke amount is calculated every time the press control is performed, that is, since the moving stroke amount is determined in accordance with the banknote storage amount in the storage unit at each time,
Regardless of the amount of stored bills, the bills are always pressed with a constant force. Therefore, each bill is reliably pressed into the extended state. As a result, the stacked height expanded by the folded or curled banknotes stored in the storage unit is reduced, and the number of storages assumed from the storage height of the storage unit can be reliably stored.

Further, the control means performs press control when a predetermined number or more of bills are stored in the storage unit or at predetermined intervals, so that the banknotes are stored every time the bills are stored as in the related art. Pressing is not performed, and a banknote storage device with extremely high operating efficiency, such as storing banknotes continuously, can be configured. Note that the predetermined number interval of each banknote for which the press control is performed is an interval of the number of each banknote that can be pressed in a sufficiently extended state by the banknote support member.
As described above, according to the present invention, a simple and compact configuration has an excellent effect of providing a bill storage device capable of efficiently storing a large amount of bills without gaps.

The present invention can be constructed and implemented not only as an apparatus invention but also as a method invention. Further, the present invention can be implemented in the form of a program of a computer or a processor such as a DSP, and can also be implemented in the form of a recording medium storing such a program.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing a bill storage device according to the present invention, which is used by being connected to a bill sorting device. The control of the overall operation of this device is performed by a control unit including a microcomputer or the like (not shown). FIG.
Although only one storage unit R for a denomination is shown for simplicity, this banknote storage device stores the storage unit R as illustrated in each denomination (10,000-yen bill, 5,000-yen bill and The storage unit R for each denomination is configured according to the size of the medium to be stored. Since the short side dimensions of the three denominations are the same at 76 mm (mm), they have the same configuration and operation. Therefore, here, only one denomination storage section R will be described with reference to FIG.

The storage section R includes a box-shaped temporary stacker 4 for temporarily storing the bills B transferred from the hopper 2 of the bill sorting apparatus via the sorting path 3 (see FIG. 4A) in a stacked state. And a box-shaped storage container 5 which is detachably provided below the stacker 4. The temporary stacker 4 has a bottom cover 4a that can be opened and closed 90 degrees from a horizontal position to a vertical position, and the storage container 5 has an upper cover 5a that can be opened and closed in a sliding manner.

When the storage container 5 is set at a predetermined position of the banknote storage device while the power of the banknote storage device is turned on, the upper lid 5a of the storage container 5 moves in the direction of arrow Z as shown in the figure. Open state. In the bill storage device, similarly to the related art, after the bill storage mode of the operation panel (not shown) of the device is manually operated by the operator, the bills B are placed on the hopper 2 of the bill sorting device (not shown).
(Normal bills B in which a plurality of denominations are mixed at random) are set, and when a start button on an operation panel (not shown) is pressed, the bills B supplied from the hopper 2 are sorted into denominations and denominated. The bill B is introduced into the temporary stacker 4 of the storage unit R corresponding to the denomination via the distribution path 3. In this manner, one kind of banknotes B are sequentially stored in a stacked state on the bottom cover 4a of the temporary stacker 4 (FIG. 4).
(A)).

Next, when a predetermined number, for example, 100, of one kind of bills B is stored on the bottom cover 4a of the temporary stacker 4, or when all the bills B of the hopper 2 are emptied, a controller (not shown) is used. The control unit (not shown) starts the banknote storing process in response to the storing command signal generated from. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a bill storing process performed by the control unit. In step S1, a bottom cover opening / closing drive mechanism (not shown) operates to open the bottom cover 4a of the temporary stacker 4. Then, the banknote group B temporarily stored in the stacker 4 is dropped and discharged, and is received and supported in a stacked state on the plate-shaped banknote supporting member 5b in the storage container 5 (FIG. 4).
(B)). The bill support member 5b is lowered in the storage container 5 along the guide rod 10 by an elevating drive mechanism (not shown) provided immediately beside the storage container 5. The optical sensor 8 provided at the upper end of the storage container 5 determines whether or not the banknote group B is stored up to the upper part in the storage container 5 by the light blocking action of the banknote group B stacked and supported on the banknote support member 5b. And outputs a predetermined signal. The bill support member 5b is configured such that the optical sensor 8 is used for the bill group B.
Is continued until a light-transmitting state in which light is not blocked by the light source. That is, it descends together with the banknote group B stored in the storage container 5 to a position where the optical sensor 8 becomes a light transmitting state. When the light sensor 8 is in the light transmitting state or when the bill supporting member 5b is lowered to the lowest stage, the lowering of the bill supporting member 5b is stopped. And temporary stacker 4
Is closed again (step S2).

Next, it is determined whether or not the number of banknotes B stored in the storage container 5 is equal to or more than a predetermined number (step S3). For example, it is determined whether or not the total number of banknotes B stored in the storage container 5 is 1000 or more. A predetermined number of stored banknotes B (for example, 1000
If not (NO in step S3), the bill storing process ends. That is, the process ends without pressing the bill B. On the other hand, if the number of stored banknotes B is equal to or more than the predetermined number (YE in step S3).
S), the upper lid 5a of the storage container 5 is closed (Step S)
4) A bill processing to be described later is performed (step S).
5).

Here, the bill pressing process performed in step S5 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the bill pressing process. In the bill press process, the bill support member 5b stopped in step S1 is further lowered to the lowermost stage of the storage container 5 (step S41). When the banknotes B are lowered to the lowest level, the stacking height of the bills B stored in the storage container 5 is calculated by the following formula (1.1) (step S42). Lbill = 0.09 * N * k (1.1) The constant 0.09 is the thickness of the new bill (circulated ticket) in circulation, and the variable N is the bill stored in the storage container 5. B
Is the number of sheets. Further, the variable k is a predetermined magnification with respect to the thickness of the circulation ticket, and is determined in consideration of the ratio of the accumulation height of the circulating bills to the accumulation height of only the new bills (the bills are in close contact with each other). This is set in the controller (not shown) of the device. This variable k can be arbitrarily set by the operator as needed, for example, within a setting allowable range. The predetermined magnification k is usually set to a value of about 1.0 to 1.4, but is not limited to this. For example, when the predetermined magnification k is set to 1.0, it represents the height when N new bills (distribution tickets) having no curving or wrinkles due to bending are accumulated. That is, the accumulation height Lbil of banknotes is the thickness (accumulation height) of the banknotes B stored in the storage container 5 occupying the storage container 5.
In this way, the banknote supporting member 5b is lowered to the bottommost portion, and the stacking height of the banknotes B in the number of the banknotes B currently stored in the storage container 5 in that state, Calculate the stacking height when pressed.

In step S43, the rising amount of the bill supporting member 5b required to press the bill B is calculated by the following equation (1.
Calculate from 2). Lpush = Lall-Lbill (1.2) Here, Lall is the total length (height dimension) of the storage container 5 in the direction in which the banknotes B are stacked. This “Lall” is the bill support member 5 b which has been lowered to the bottom of the storage container 5.
L0 (ie, bill B)
Of the storage container 5 that can effectively store therein: FIG.
(See FIG. 1) and the distance a (see FIG. 1) from the upper surface optical sensor 8 to the upper lid 5a, and has a predetermined fixed value determined by the shape of the storage container 5 and the like. Therefore, the rising amount of the bill supporting member 5b required to press the bill B is calculated by the above-described equation (1.2).

In step S44, the difference between the total length (height dimension) All of the storage container 5 and the accumulation height Lbil of the banknotes B stored in the storage container 5 (that is, the rising amount Lpush calculated in step S43). ), The bill supporting member 5b is raised. Thus, the bill support member 5b
To push the banknote group B on the banknote supporting member 5b against the upper lid 5a. That is, banknote group B
Is pressed upward (pressed) against the upper lid 5a by the bill support member 5b, so that the curvature, wrinkles, and the like of each bill B are elongated. At this time, the banknote supporting member 5b rises only by a minimum amount necessary to press the banknote group B, so that an unnecessary load is not applied to the banknote supporting member 5b and the upper lid 5a. Further, the banknote B stored diagonally in the storage container 5 is lifted, so that the storage posture of the banknote B is corrected. Banknote supporting member 5 by the amount of increase Lpush
When the banknote supporting member 5b has finished rising, the banknote supporting member 5b is lowered and stopped until the optical sensor 8 is in a light transmitting state in which the banknote group B does not block light (step S45).

Returning to FIG. 2, when the banknote supporting member 5b is lowered (see step S45 described above), it is determined whether or not both the optical sensors 8 and 9 provided at the upper and lower ends of the storage container 5 are shielded from light. That is, it is determined whether or not the storage container 5 is full (full) of the bill B (step S).
6). When both the optical sensors 8 and 9 are shielded from light (YES in step S6), since the storage container 5 is in a full state, the bill pressing process (step S6) is performed.
5) is repeated a predetermined number of times (N in step S7).
O). If the optical sensors 8 and 9 are still shielded from light even though the bill pressing process has been repeated a predetermined number of times (YES in step S6 and step S7).
YES), it is determined that the banknote B can no longer be stored in the storage container 5 (that is, full), and a "full detection" signal is output (step S8). As a result, an LED is turned on on an operation panel (not shown) (alarm sound (for example, a beeping sound may be emitted at the same time)) or the like.
After displaying that the storage container 5 is full of the banknotes B, the banknote storing process is terminated. In this case, the storing process ends with both the upper cover 5a of the storage container 5 and the bottom cover 4a of the temporary stacker 4 closed. When the storage container 5 is full of banknotes B, the front door D of the banknote storage device is opened, the storage container 5 that stores the banknotes B fully is taken out, and the empty storage container 5 is newly stored. set. In addition,
When the banknote B is full, the predetermined number of stored storage containers 5 (for example, 2
(500 sheets) can be displayed at the time of accumulation.

In step S6, when the light sensor 8 is not shielded from light and the light sensor 8 transmits light (N in step S6).
O) is a maximum predetermined number of sheets (for example, 10) to be accumulated on the bottom lid 4a of the temporary stacker 4 in the storage container 5 at least.
Since there is still room to accommodate the (zero) bills B, the upper cover 5a of the storage container 5 is opened again (step S
9), the bill storing process ends. In this way, the next bill B transferred by the sorting path 3 can be temporarily stored. By repeating the above operation, storage of the banknotes B in the storage container 5 proceeds sequentially.

The bills may be pressed each time the number of bills B stored in the storage container 5 increases by a predetermined number. For example, as long as the number of banknotes B stored in the storage container 5 from the temporary stacker 4 is such that each banknote B can be pressed into a sufficiently extended state by the banknote support member 5b, only a predetermined number of stored banknotes (for example, 200). The bills may be pressed each time they increase. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the bill is pressed during the bill storing process.However, a dedicated button or switch is provided on the operation panel, so that only the bill pressing process can be arbitrarily performed. Is also good.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a bill taken in on the bill support member in the storage container is pressed between the bill support member and the upper lid of the storage container, the press of the bill support member is performed. Since the stroke amount is appropriately calculated from the current number of stored banknotes, an excellent effect of always being able to press the banknotes with an appropriate load is achieved. In addition, since the bill is pressed each time a predetermined number of bills are loaded onto the bill support member in the storage container, the bill storage amount can be effectively increased, and a large amount of bills can be efficiently stored.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the inside of a storage unit in a banknote storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of a bill storing process performed by the bill storing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of a bill pressing process.

FIG. 4 is a side view schematically illustrating an operation performed during a bill press process in a conventional bill storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... hopper, 3 ... sorting path, 4 ... temporary stacker, 4
a: bottom cover, 5: storage container, 5a: top cover, 5b: bill support member, 8, 9: optical sensor, 10: guide rod, B: bill (bill group), D: front door

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Seiichi Nagai 3-16-3 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo F-term in Hitachi Electronics Engineering Co., Ltd. (Reference) 3E040 AA01 FB01 FC02 FC09 FC10 FC14

Claims (4)

[Claims] A temporary storage unit for opening the bottom cover and dropping and discharging the banknote group when the inserted banknotes are stored in a stacked state on an openable bottom cover and an arbitrary number of banknote groups are stored; A storage unit having an openable top cover for storing the banknote group discharged from the temporary storage unit in a stacked state, and receiving and stacking the banknote group discharged from the temporary storage unit into the storage unit. In order to support, a bill support member provided below the upper lid in the storage unit, an elevating drive unit for raising and lowering the bill support member in the storage unit, and closing the upper lid to close the storage unit. Banknote storage means for raising the banknote support member by an amount of movement determined according to the number of stored banknotes and performing banknote press control for pressing the banknote group against the upper lid from below. apparatus. 2. The bill storage device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs the bill press control when a predetermined number of bills are stored in the storage unit. 3. The bill storage device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs the bill press control each time a predetermined number of bills are stored in the storage unit. 4. The number according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined number is such that each banknote is pressed against the top cover by the banknote support member so that the banknote can be sufficiently pressed into an extended state. Banknote storage device.