JP2011053914A - Paper sheet detector, and paper sheet processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a paper sheet detector and a paper sheet processing apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The paper sheet detector includes a light-emitting part arranged in a conveyance path for paper sheets, a light-receiving part for receiving light from the light-emitting part, and a reflection part that is arranged at least in the upper or lower of the conveyance path and introduces the light from the light-emitting part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a paper sheet detector that detects the presence or absence of paper sheets such as various forms and various paper sheets, and a paper sheet processing apparatus including the paper sheet detector.

  Conventional paper sheet detectors use a transmission type optical sensor having a light emitting part and a light receiving part to detect the presence or absence of various forms and various sheets (hereinafter collectively referred to as forms) conveyed. (See Patent Document 1). The light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are arranged above and below the form conveyance path, and the presence (presence / absence) of the form is detected when the light output from the light emitting unit to the light receiving unit is blocked by the conveyed form.

JP-A-8-157084

However, if a form with holes due to breakage or the like passes over the sensor, the form cannot block the light from the light emitting unit, and it is judged that there is no form, or one form is judged as two sheets. Such problems occur.
The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a paper sheet detector and a paper sheet processing apparatus capable of detecting the presence or absence of a form even with a form having a hole. .

  A paper sheet detector according to an aspect of the present invention is disposed in at least one of a light emitting unit disposed in a paper sheet transport path, a light receiving unit that receives light from the light emitting unit, and a top and bottom of the transport path. And a reflecting section for introducing light from the light emitting section into the light receiving section.

  A paper sheet processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a take-in roller that takes a paper sheet into a transport path, a transport roller that is disposed on the transport path and transports the captured paper sheet, and a transport path. A paper sheet detection unit having an arranged light emitting unit, a light receiving unit that receives light from the light emitting unit, and a reflection unit that is arranged at least one above and below the conveyance path and introduces light from the light emitting unit to the light receiving unit And a sorting unit that sorts the paper sheets detected by the paper sheet detection unit, and a stacker unit on which the paper sheets sorted by the sorting unit are stacked.

  According to the present invention, it is an object to provide a paper sheet detector and a paper sheet processing apparatus that can detect the presence or absence of a form even with a hole.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the paper sheet processing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the paper sheet processing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the structure of the form detection part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the structure of the form detection part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the form detection part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the form detection part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the structure of the form detection part which concerns on a comparative example. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the form detection part which concerns on a comparative example. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the form detection part which concerns on a comparative example. It is a figure which shows the structure of the paper sheet processing apparatus which concerns on other embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a paper sheet processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the paper sheet processing apparatus 1. The paper sheet processing apparatus 1 includes a hopper 11, a take-in roller 12, a transport path 13, a transport roller 14, a form detection unit 15 (paper sheet detector), a form reading unit 16, a branch gate 17 (sorting unit), a discharge A roller 18, a stacker unit 19, a control unit 21, and driving units of each unit (not shown) are provided. The form A loaded on the hopper 11 is read, and the read image data (image file) is transferred to the control host 200.

  On the hopper 11, a form A (form bundle) to be read is stacked. The hopper 11 moves upward until the stacked form A reaches a predetermined position (take-in position of the take-in roller 12). When the loaded form A is taken into the transport path 13 by the take-in roller 12, the hopper 11 is driven upward so that the loaded form A becomes a predetermined position. The take-in roller 12 takes the form A stacked on the hopper 11 into the transport path 13 at a predetermined interval by rotating. The conveyance path 13 is a path for conveying the form A taken in by the take-in roller 12 to the stacker unit 19.

    A plurality of transport rollers 14 are arranged on the transport path 13. The conveyance roller 14 includes a driving roller and a driven roller, and is arranged on the conveyance path 13 at intervals at which the smallest form (minimum size) of forms A processed by the paper sheet processing apparatus 1 can be conveyed. Be placed. When the transport roller 14 rotates, the form A is transported between the driving roller and the driven roller. The transport roller 14 transports the forms A to the designated stacker unit 19 sequentially. Which stacker unit 19 is discharged is determined based on, for example, the recognition processing result of the image read by the form reading unit 16.

  The form detection unit 15 is arranged on the transport path 13 and at the subsequent stage of the branch gate 17 to detect the form A. The form detection unit 15 is an optical sensor having a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit. The presence or absence of the form A is detected by receiving the infrared light from the light emitting unit by the light receiving unit. The form detection unit 15 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3D.

  The form reading unit 16 reads (scans) the form A transported on the transport path 13. The read image data is transferred to the control host 200 as an image file. The branch gate 17 is provided at a branch position between the transport path 13 and each stacker unit 19. The branch gate 17 has a rotary solenoid as a drive mechanism, and has a structure in which the tip portion thereof is movable between two positions around the axis by controlling the current flowing through the solenoid with a driver 38. The branch gate 17 has a gate function for switching the transport direction of the form A transported according to the position where the front end portion has moved.

  The discharge roller 18 is provided at the subsequent stage of the branch gate 17. The discharge roller 18 rotates in one direction, and discharges the form A sorted by the branch gate 17 to the stacker unit 19. The form A discharged by the discharge roller 18 is stacked on the stacker unit 19.

  The control unit 21 controls the operation of the paper sheet transport apparatus 1 based on an instruction from the control host 200. The control unit 21 controls the hopper 11, the take-in roller 12, the conveyance path 13, the conveyance roller 14, the form detection unit 15, the form reading unit 16, the branch gate 17, the discharge roller 18, and driving units of each unit (not shown). Then, the image of the form A loaded on the hopper 11 is read and conveyed to the stacker unit 19.

  The control unit 21 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21a, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 21b, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 21c, an NVRAM (Non Volatile RAM) 21d, and the like. The ROM 21b stores an operation code of the CPU 21a. The RAM 21c is used as a work area for the CPU 21a. The NVRAM 21d holds a program (firmware) and the like necessary for controlling the paper sheet transport apparatus 10. The CPU 21a controls the paper sheet processing apparatus 1 by loading the firmware held in the NVRAM 21d into the RAM 21c and executing the firmware.

  The control host 200 implements an application software program for character recognition. Then, based on the character recognition processing result of the image read from the form A, the controller 21 is instructed so that the stacker designation of the discharge destination of the form A is performed for each read form A. Based on this instruction, the controller 21 controls the operation of various drivers. It is also possible for the control unit 21 to mount the character recognition application software program and perform the above-described image recognition processing.

  3A and 3B are a side view and a plan view showing the configuration of the form detection unit 15 according to the first embodiment, respectively. The form detection unit 15 includes a light emitting unit 15a, a light receiving unit 15b, and reflection units 15c and 15d. The light emitting unit 15a emits infrared light I. The reflecting portions 15c and 15d are mirrors that introduce the infrared light I emitted from the light emitting portion 15a into the light receiving portion 15b. The reflectors 15c and 15d are arranged opposite to each other so as to sandwich the transport path 13 above and below the transport path 13, respectively. The light receiving unit 15b receives the infrared light I from the light emitting unit 15a. The infrared light I emitted from the light emitting unit 15a is reflected a plurality of times between the reflecting units 15c and 15d and then introduced into the light receiving unit 15b.

  The light emitting unit 15 a emits infrared light I under the control of the control unit 21. The light receiving unit 15 b receives the infrared light I from the light emitting unit 15 a and inputs a signal to the control unit 21. The control unit 21 detects the presence / absence of the form A based on a signal input from the light receiving unit 15b. Specifically, the control unit 21 determines that there is no form A when a signal is input from the light receiving unit 15b and that there is a form A when no signal is input from the light receiving unit 15b.

  The arrangement positions of the light emitting unit 15a and the light receiving unit 15b may be reversed. The light receiving unit 15b may be configured to input a signal to the control unit 21 when the infrared light I from the light emitting unit 15a is not received. In this case, the control unit 21 determines that there is a form A when a signal is input from the light receiving unit 15b and no form A when no signal is input from the light receiving unit 15b.

  Furthermore, only one of the reflecting portions 15c and 15d may be arranged so that the infrared light I from the light emitting portion 15a is introduced into the light receiving portion 15b. In this case, the infrared light I from the light emitting unit 15a is reflected only once by the reflecting unit 15c or the reflecting unit 15d and introduced into the light receiving unit 15b.

3C and 3D are diagrams illustrating the operation of the form detection unit 15 according to the first embodiment.
As shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, even when the form A has a hole B due to breakage or the like, the form detection unit 15 causes the reflection parts 15c and 15d to transmit the infrared light I emitted from the light emitting unit 15a. After being reflected a plurality of times, the light is introduced into the light receiving portion 15b, so that the infrared light I emitted from the light emitting portion 15a is blocked (shielded) by the form A in the process of being reflected by the reflecting portions 15c and 15d. .

(Comparative example)
FIG. 4A is a side view showing the configuration of the form detection unit 25 according to the comparative example. The form detection unit 25 includes a light emitting unit 25a and a light receiving unit 25b. The light emitting unit 25a and the light receiving unit 25b are arranged opposite to each other so as to sandwich the conveyance path 13 above and below the conveyance path 13, respectively. The light emitting unit 25a emits infrared light I. The light receiving unit 25b receives the infrared light I from the light emitting unit 25a. In the case of this comparative example, unlike the form detection unit 15 described with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the reflection units 15c and 15d are not provided.

  The light emitting unit 25a emits infrared light I under the control of a control unit (not shown). When receiving the infrared light I from the light emitting unit 25a, the light receiving unit 25b inputs a signal to the control unit. The control unit detects the presence or absence of the form A based on the signal input from the light receiving unit 25b. Specifically, the control unit determines that there is no form A when a signal is input from the light receiving unit 25b and that there is a form A when no signal is input from the light receiving unit 25b.

4B and 4C are diagrams illustrating the operation of the form detection unit 25 according to the comparative example.
As shown in FIG. 4B, when a hole B due to breakage or the like exists in the form A, when the hole B passes between the light emitting part 25a and the light receiving part 25b of the form detecting part 25, light is emitted from the light emitting part 25a. The infrared light I is received by the light receiving unit 25b without being blocked by the form A. For this reason, the control unit determines that the form A does not exist or determines that one form A is two.

  As described above, the form detection unit 15 of the paper sheet processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment transmits the infrared light I emitted from the light emitting unit 15a to the conveyance path 13 above and below the conveyance path 13, respectively. After being reflected a plurality of times by the reflecting portions 15c and 15d arranged so as to face each other, the light receiving portion 15b is introduced.

  Therefore, even when the form A having a hole due to breakage or the like passes through the form detection unit 15 disposed on the transport path 13, the infrared light I emitted from the light emitting unit 15a is reflected by the reflection units 15c and 15d. In the process of reflection, light is blocked by the form A. As a result, it can be effectively suppressed that it is determined that the form A does not exist or that one form A is determined as two sheets.

(Other embodiments)
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the form detection unit 15 is disposed closest to the take-in roller 12, and the form detection unit 25 is disposed on the other conveyance path 13 and the subsequent stage of the branch gate 17. When the form A is conveyed, the form A is first detected by the form detection unit 15. At this time, the signal input time from the form detection unit 15 is measured (hereinafter, detection time).

  Thereafter, the form A is also detected by the form detection unit 25 arranged on the conveyance path 13. At this time, the form A is detected by using the detection time measured by the form detection unit 15. Specifically, when a signal is input from the form detection unit 15, the control unit 21 does not detect the presence or absence of a signal input from the form detection unit 15 within the previously measured detection time. Then, after the detection time has elapsed, detection of the presence or absence of signal input from the form detection unit 15 is started again.

  With this configuration, even when the hole B of the form A passes between the light emitting unit 25a and the light receiving unit 25b of the form detecting unit 25, it is determined that the form A does not exist, or one form A is selected. It can prevent effectively determining with two sheets. Furthermore, since only the form detection unit closest to the insert roller 12 is the form detection unit 15 and the other form detection unit is the form detection unit 25, it is less expensive than the paper sheet processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. Can be configured.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Paper sheet processing apparatus, 11 ... Hopper, 12 ... Take-in roller, 13 ... Conveyance path, 14 ... Conveyance roller, 15 ... Form detection part, 16 ... Reading part, 17 ... Branch gate, 18 ... Discharge roller, 19 ... Stacker unit, 21 ... Control unit, 200 ... Control host.

Claims (2)

A light emitting unit disposed in the paper path,
A light receiving portion for receiving light from the light emitting portion;
A reflecting portion that is disposed on at least one of the upper and lower sides of the transport path and introduces light from the light emitting portion to the light receiving portion;
A paper sheet detector. A take-in roller for taking paper sheets into the transport path;
A transport roller disposed on the transport path for transporting the captured paper sheet;
A light emitting unit disposed in the transport path, a light receiving unit that receives light from the light emitting unit, and a reflective unit that is disposed in at least one of the upper and lower sides of the transport path and introduces light from the light emitting unit to the light receiving unit. A paper sheet detection unit having
A sorting unit that sorts the paper sheets detected by the paper sheet detection unit;
A stacker unit on which the paper sheets sorted by the sorting unit are loaded;
A paper sheet processing apparatus comprising:

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