JP2011128931A - Ticket discharging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ticket discharging apparatus that reliably discharges a ticket by reducing errors, with a simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: The ticket discharge apparatus includes: a storage box 10 for storing therein stacked card-shaped tickets P, a sucker 24 for holding the ticket by suction, an arm 23 for supporting the sucker 24, and a mechanism 20 for lifting and lowering the arm 23. The sucker 24, the arm 23 and the lifting mechanism 20 for moving the arm 23 between a suction position to place the sucker 24 by suction on the surface of the ticket P stored in the storage box 10 and a standby position constitute a discharge means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a ticket takeout device provided in a ticket issuing machine.

  Tickets printed and issued in advance, such as tickets such as boarding tickets and coupon tickets, are issued by cutting roll paper into a predetermined length, printing it, and writing magnetic data as necessary ( Patent Document 1). Conventionally, as a ticket take-out device provided in a ticket issuing machine such as various pre-issued tickets and prepaid cards, an adsorber is attached to the tip from the top of a storage container in which tickets are stacked vertically. An apparatus has been proposed in which a ticket is sucked and held by a sucking unit having the picked up unit (see Patent Document 2). In the take-out device described in Patent Document 2, the fact that the ticket is adsorbed and held by the adsorber is detected by a reflective photoelectric sensor disposed in the vicinity of the adsorber.

JP 2008-40554 A JP 2009-205574 A

  By the way, in many cases, a ticket issued in advance is curved in the long side direction due to the fact that the material of the ticket is roll paper, the issuing process by the issuing machine, or the like. In particular, a ticket issued from an issuing machine as described in Patent Document 1 is curved so that the surface on which characters or the like are printed is on the inside because the inside of the roll of the roll paper is the printing surface. When the preprinted ticket is taken out by the take-out device described in Patent Document 2, the distance between the surface of the ticket and the sensor is not constant depending on the degree of curvature of the ticket. As shown in FIG. 5B, if the distance between the surface of the ticket and the sensor is too close, the optical path of the reflective photoelectric sensor cannot be secured sufficiently. For this reason, there is a problem that a ticket detection signal is not output from the sensor even though the adsorber holds and holds the ticket, causing a ticket discharge error.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a ticket take-out device that can reduce the discharge error of tickets and the like and can discharge the sheets one by one with a simple configuration. Objective.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a type of a ticket in which card-like tickets stacked in a storage box in which a separating plate is formed at the opposite edge of the opening are sucked and held one by one from the top. In the take-out device, take-out means having an adsorber and a support member that supports the adsorber and is movable between an adsorbing position and a standby position, and is disposed on the support member and synchronized with the support member And a sensor that detects that the card-like tickets are attracted and held by the adsorber and the support member, and moves in synchronization with the sensor. An abutting member for keeping a distance between the sensor and the card-like ticket larger than a predetermined interval by contacting the surface of the ticket.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the contact member is a bracket that holds the sensor.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the sensor is a photoelectric sensor.

  According to the first to third aspects of the invention, since the sensor and the contact member that moves in synchronization with the sensor are provided, it is possible to reliably detect a ticket or the like that is held by suction. It is possible to reduce the occurrence of a ticket discharge error due to a detection failure of the sensor despite the fact that the ticket or the like is held by suction. Thereby, it is possible to reliably discharge a ticket or the like with a simple configuration.

It is a schematic diagram of the ticket taking-out device concerning this invention. 2 is a perspective view of a storage box 10. FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a remaining amount detection operation for a ticket P together with a sectional view of the storage box 10. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which takes out ticket P from the storage box 10 with sectional drawing of the storage box 10. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state of the ticket P adsorbed-held by the adsorption | suction element 24. FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing an outline of a ticket take-out device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the storage box 10, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing the remaining amount detection operation of the ticket P together with a longitudinal sectional view of the storage box 10. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the ticket P is taken out from the storage box 10 together with a longitudinal sectional view of the storage box 10.

  The ticket take-out device includes a storage box 10 for storing a ticket P, which is a card-like ticket, stacked therein, an adsorber 24 for adsorbing and holding the ticket, and a support member for supporting the adsorber 24. An arm 23 and an elevating mechanism 20 are provided. The elevating mechanism 20 moves the arm 23 between an adsorption position where the adsorbent 24 is adsorbed on the surface of the ticket P accommodated in the accommodation box 10 indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1 and a standby position indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. It can be moved. The adsorber 24, the arm 23, and the elevating mechanism 20 constitute an extraction unit in the present invention.

  The elevating mechanism 20 uses a slide screw, and a nut (not shown) that is connected to the motor 21 at one end and screwed to the screw shaft 22 arranged perpendicular to the housing box 10 is added to the screw shaft 22. It is moved up and down by the generated rotational driving force. The nut is provided in the arm 23, and the arm 23 is connected to the screw shaft 22 via the nut. The arm 23 moves between the suction position of the ticket P and the standby position by raising and lowering the nut. The raising / lowering operation of the arm 23 by the raising / lowering mechanism 20 is controlled by the control unit 25.

  At the tip of the arm 23, an adsorber 24 and an adsorption detection sensor S1 are disposed. The adsorber 24 is connected to the control unit 25 via a suction adjustment unit 26 including a suction pump and the like. The suction adjustment unit 26 adjusts the suction force in the adsorber 24 by controlling the operation of a suction pump or the like in accordance with the suction / discharge signal of the ticket P output from the control unit 25.

  The adsorption detection sensor S <b> 1 is a photoelectric sensor that includes a projector and a light receiver for detecting the ticket P that is adsorbed and held by the adsorber 24, and is held by the bracket 30. The bracket 30 is formed with an arm connecting portion 31, a sensor holding portion 32, and a ticket abutting portion 33 by bending, welding, cutting or the like a plate material. The adsorption detection sensor S <b> 1 is connected to the arm 23 via the arm connection portion 31 and is disposed in the vicinity of the adsorption element 24. Note that the shape of the ticket contact portion 33 is not limited to a plate shape, and may be a cylindrical shape or a prism shape corresponding to the outer shape of the photoelectric sensor.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the storage box 10 has a box shape whose bottom surface corresponds to the size of the ticket P stored inside. Separation plates 11 are respectively formed on the opposing edges on the short side of the opening 13 of the storage box 10. The separation plate 11 faces the upper end of the side plate on the short side of the storage box toward the inside of the box. It is formed by bending at a substantially right angle. Further, a notch 12 for confirming the remaining amount of the stacked tickets P is formed at one upper end of the side plate on the long side of the storage box 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, two coil springs 17, a ticket receiving plate 14 whose lower surface is supported by the coil springs 17, and a ticket receiving plate 14 are suspended inside the storage box 10. A detection plate 15 is provided. Each coil spring 17 is disposed in the housing box 10 by fitting both ends thereof to a pair of coil support portions 16 disposed at corresponding positions on the bottom surface of the housing box 10 and the lower surface of the ticket receiving plate. The ticket receiving plate 14 is supported in a well-balanced manner. As the ticket P sandwiched between the ticket receiving plate 14 and the separating plate 11 is discharged from the opening 13 of the storage box 10, the ticket receiving plate 14 is raised by the restoring force of the coil spring 17. When the detection plate 15 suspended from the ticket receiving plate 14 reaches the notch 12 of the storage box 10, the detection plate 15 is detected by the remaining amount detection sensor S2, as shown in FIG.

  The remaining amount detection sensor S2 is a reflective sensor including a projector and a light receiver, and is disposed at a position spaced apart from the notch 12 of the storage box 10 by a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction. The remaining amount detection sensor S2 projects light onto the side surface of the stacked ticket P and the detection plate 15 located in the cutout portion 12 of the storage box 10, and receives the reflected light on the light receiver. . Since the reflected light of the light projected on the side surface of the stacked ticket P made of paper is weaker than the reflected light from the detection plate 15 made of a metal plate material, the light receiver receives only light having a certain intensity or more. Thus, the detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 25 only when the remaining amount detection sensor S2 receives only the light reflected from the detection plate 15. In addition, the surface of the detection plate 15 that receives light from the remaining amount detection sensor S2 is made of an aluminum foil or the like that reflects more light than the side surface of the stacked tickets in order to improve detection accuracy. The material is affixed. Thus, when the detection plate 15 reaches the notch 12 of the storage box 10 and the reflected light from the detection plate 15 is detected by the remaining amount detection sensor S2, the detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 25, and further the control is performed. A signal is issued from the section 25 to warn that the remaining amount of the ticket is low.

  Next, an operation for taking out the ticket P from the storage box 10 will be described.

  The ticket P stored in the storage box 10 is issued in advance by a ticket issuing machine that cuts roll paper and performs printing and magnetic writing. First, one separation plate 11 and a ticket receiving plate are formed from a bundle of tickets P curved so that the printing surface is on the inside using the elastic force of the coil spring 17 from the opening 13 of the storage box 10. 14 is inserted with the printing surface facing upward, and then the entire bundle of tickets P is stored in the storage box 10 by being manually pushed between the other separation plate 11 and the ticket receiving plate 14. To do. In this way, the ticket is accommodated between the separation plate 11 and the ticket receiving plate 14 of the storage box 10 with the printing surface visible from the opening 13 of the storage box 10. In addition, by accommodating in a state where the printing surface can be seen from the opening 13 of the storage box 10, the replenisher does not mistake the storage box 10 to which the ticket P should be replenished when the remaining amount of the ticket is low. Further, in this embodiment, since a photoelectric sensor is used as the adsorption detection sensor S1, the printing surface that reflects light better than the magnetic writing surface of the ticket, which is generally black or brown, is placed on the storage box. It is possible to detect the ticket P adsorbed on the adsorber 24 more favorably.

  When the arm 23 is lowered to the ticket P suction position by the elevating mechanism 20, the chuck 24 is in close contact with the uppermost ticket P of the storage box 10 and held by suction. Thereafter, the arm 23 is raised to the standby position for the ticket P by the lifting mechanism 20. As the arm 23 moves up, the uppermost ticket P of the storage box 10 held by suction is taken out of the storage box 10. Even if the lower-layer tickets are adsorbed to each other by static electricity or the like on the back surface of the uppermost ticket P, as shown in FIG. And a pair of separation plates 11 provided on the short side of the opening 13 of the storage box 10 are locked only to the end portions of the lower layer ticket. Thus, both tickets can be separated.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of the ticket attracted and held by the attractor 24. FIG. 5A shows a state of the ticket P when the ticket P is taken out by the arm 23 having the bracket 30 in the ticket take-out device according to the present invention, and FIG. The state of the ticket when the ticket P is taken out by the arm 23 provided is shown. In FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are given to the same components.

  As described above, the ticket P has a curved shape so that the printing surface is on the inside. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5B, the ticket P is curved even in a state where the ticket P is adsorbed and held by the adsorber 24. The conventional bracket 40 includes an arm contact portion 41 and a sensor holding portion 42 and does not have a ticket contact portion 33. For this reason, the surface of the curved ticket P is located at a very close distance from the suction detection sensor S1 due to the curvature of the ticket itself. Here, when a photoelectric sensor is adopted as the adsorption detection sensor S1, the optical path from the adsorption detection sensor S1 can be obtained even though the optical path cannot be sufficiently secured and the adsorber 24 holds the ticket P. A signal was not transmitted to the control unit 25 and a ticket discharge error occurred.

  On the other hand, in the ticket take-out device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5A, since the ticket contact portion 33 is provided on the bracket 30, the suction detection sensor S1 and the surface of the ticket P Can always be kept at a certain distance or more, and the optical path of the photoelectric sensor can be sufficiently secured. Note that the ticket contact portion 33 is preferably configured such that the distance between the suction detection sensor S1 and the surface of the ticket P is 1 mm to 10 mm, and more preferably 2 mm to 4 mm. It is good. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the ticket P discharge error from occurring because the signal from the suction detection sensor S1 is not transmitted to the control unit 25 even though the chuck 24 holds the ticket P. it can.

  The ticket take-out device according to the present invention is a ticket automatic equipped with a moving mechanism (not shown) that slides the storage box 10 from the lower part of the arm when the arm 23 sucks and holds the ticket P and moves up to the standby position. Can be installed in a vending machine. In this case, after the arm 23 is further moved from the standby position to the ticket discharge position and the adsorption of the ticket by the adsorber 23 is released, the ticket is placed on the ticket receiving tray or the like disposed at the lower part of the storage box 10. Will be dropped. The ticket take-out device according to the present invention is not only a ticket vending machine provided with a moving mechanism for the storage box 10, but also various ticket vending machines by combining with other ticket transport means using a belt conveyor or the like. Applicable to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Storage box 11 Separation plate 12 Notch part 13 Opening part 14 Ticket receiving plate 15 Detection board 16 Coil support part 17 Coil spring 21 Motor 22 Screw shaft 23 Arm 24 Adsorber 25 Control part 26 Adsorption adjustment part 30 Bracket 31 Arm connection part 32 Sensor holding portion 33 Ticket contact portion 40 Bracket S1 Adsorption detection sensor S2 Remaining amount detection sensor P Ticket

Claims (3)

In a ticket takeout device that takes out and holds card-like tickets stacked one by one from its uppermost portion in a storage box in which a separation plate is formed at the opposite edge of the opening,
Take-out means comprising an adsorber, and a support member that supports the adsorber and is movable between an adsorption position and a standby position;
A sensor that is disposed on the support member, moves in synchronization with the support member, and detects that the card-like tickets are sucked and held by the sticker.
The distance between the sensor and the card-like ticket is set at a predetermined interval by being arranged on the support member and moving in synchronization with the sensor and abutting against the surface of the card-like ticket. An abutment member to keep it larger,
A ticket take-out device comprising: In the ticket takeout device according to claim 1,
The ticket taking-out device, wherein the contact member is a bracket for holding the sensor. In the ticket takeout device according to claim 2,
The ticket taking-out device, wherein the sensor is a photoelectric sensor.

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