JP2020125212A - Paper sheet storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a paper sheet storage device that converts a position of a paper sheet from the received first position to the second position. and then store the sheet.SOLUTION: The paper sheet storage device includes a temporary storage part 91 that is integrally formed so that its paired grooves face to each other and is shaped so that it receives and stores a paper sheet in the first position between the paired grooves with the ends of the paper sheet supported by the paired grooves for storage. By rotating the temporary storage part 91, the position of the stored paper sheet is converted from the first position to the second position (for example, from the standing position to the lying position). An elevator part 92 transports the paper sheet put in the second position keeping them in the second position in a predetermined transport direction that the paper surface faces, thereby separating the paper sheet from the temporary storage part 91 and transporting them to a storage part 201. The storage part 201 stacks and stores the paper sheets separated from the temporary storage part 91 in multiple pieces in the second position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 31

Description

The present invention accepts the paper sheet, such as a banknote, to the paper sheet storing apparatus having a function for accommodating and converts the posture.

Inside the gaming machine island that accommodates multiple sets of a gaming ball lending machine that lends gaming balls (pachinko balls, etc.) to players upon receipt of banknotes and a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine, A transport device for transporting bills inserted into each gaming ball lending machine to a safe provided at the end of the gaming machine island is provided along the longitudinal direction of the gaming machine island.

In addition to the belt type, there is a conveying device for conveying paper sheets such as banknotes, which conveys paper sheets by the action of the air flow generated by an air blower inside a cylindrical conveying tube (for example, , Patent Document 1.). In addition, a conveying device that conveys paper sheets by sending a cylindrical conveyance auxiliary body that moves by receiving the airflow generated in the conveyance pipe into the conveyance pipe and pushing the paper sheets from the rear side by the conveyance auxiliary body. (For example, see Patent Document 2).

Patent No. 4130697 JP 2012-82062 A

Conventionally, it only has the function of collecting banknotes from each game ball lending machine in the gaming machine island and transporting them to the safe at the island edge, so the banknotes stored in the safes of each gaming machine island dispersed in the game arcade. Must be collected after traveling around each gaming machine island after the store is closed and put in the main safe box in the store's office, which is troublesome and easily causes a safety problem.

Therefore, it is required to provide a transfer system that transfers the banknotes collected on each gaming machine island in the game arcade to the safe in the office. However, it is difficult to continuously carry bills from each gaming ball lending machine in the gaming machine island to the safe in the office by one carrying device.

For example, paper balls are ejected from each game ball lending machine at any time, so banknotes ejected from each game ball lending machine are transported to an office safe box without collision or competition. Difficult to do. In addition, the posture of the bill when the bill is conveyed in the gaming machine island (for example, the standing posture), and the posture of the bill suitable for conveying the bill from each gaming machine island in the game arcade to the office (for example, when lying down). Attitude) may be different.

Even in a paper sheet storage device that receives and stores paper sheets such as banknotes, the posture of the paper sheets at the time of receiving (for example, the standing posture) and the paper sheets when accommodating a plurality of sheets in a stack. If the posture is different from the posture (for example, the lying posture), the posture of the paper sheet must be changed. In such a case, in the conventional apparatus, since a posture is changed by providing a conveyance path for conveying the paper sheets while twisting the sheets, a wide space is required for the posture change, resulting in an increase in size of the apparatus.

The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a paper sheet storage device capable of storing the received paper sheet after changing its posture .

The gist of the present invention for achieving such an object resides in the following invention.

[1] A pair of grooves are integrally formed so as to face each other, and the paper sheet is received and stored in the first posture between the pair of grooves, and the edge portion of the paper sheet is supported by the pair of grooves. And a temporary storage part with a shape to store,
An attitude converter unit for converting the posture of the paper sheets accommodated in the temporary storage portion in said first position and a second position,
A transport unit that removes the paper sheets stored in the temporary storage unit in the second posture from the temporary storage unit by transporting the paper sheets in the predetermined transport direction facing the paper surface in the second posture.
A storage unit that stores a plurality of paper sheets that have been separated from the pair of grooves by the conveyance unit and have been separated from each other in the second posture ,
Have
The sheet storage device , wherein the transport section transports the sheet between the support member on the downstream side in the transport direction and the holding member on the upstream side in the transport direction .

It is a figure which shows an example of the in-store layout of the game hall in which the paper sheet collection conveyance system using the conveyance relay apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention is installed. It is a figure showing the whole sheet collection transportation system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which a conveyance auxiliary body pushes the banknote in a conveyance pipe from the rear end side of this banknote. It is a perspective view which shows the conveyance pipe of a linear part. It is a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the extending direction of the straight portion of the transport pipe. It is a figure which shows the plane and front of a conveyance auxiliary body. It is sectional drawing which shows the conveyance pipe and the conveyance auxiliary body in the state which inserted the conveyance auxiliary body in the conveyance pipe. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a transport pipe around a safe and the inside of the safe in the paper sheet collecting and transporting system shown in FIG. 2. It is the perspective view which looked at a bill separation / conveyance auxiliary body circulation device from the discharge mouth side of the separated bill. It is the perspective view which looked at a bill separation / conveyance auxiliary body circulation device from the connecting part side of a conveyance pipe. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline|summary of the isolation|separation operation|movement by the banknote separation/conveyance auxiliary body circulation device, and an insertion operation. It is a figure which expands and shows the vicinity (vicinity of the point A) of the taking-in device on the most upstream side among the paper sheet collection and conveyance systems shown in FIG. It is a figure which expands and shows the vicinity of the curve C in the paper sheet collection conveyance system shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the conveyance pipe of a sub conveyance apparatus, and the conveyance pipe in the part of an intake device. It is a figure which expands and shows the vicinity of the curve D and the curve E in the paper sheet collection conveyance system shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conveyance path of a curved portion corresponding to a curve D. It is a top view which shows the conveyance pipe corresponding to the curve E and the twist part before and behind it. It is a perspective view which shows the conveyance pipe corresponding to the curve E and the twist part before and behind it. It is a figure which shows the curve F and the auxiliary blower 17. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a sub-transport device and a take-in device connected to an upper end thereof. It is sectional drawing which shows the subconveyor apparatus and the taking-in device connected to the upper end. It is sectional drawing which shows the upper part of a subcarrier, and an intake device. It is sectional drawing which shows the lower part of a subcarrier. It is a figure which shows the inside of the passage part of the banknote taking-in part of a subcarrier. It is a plan view showing an in-island banknote transport device installed in a gaming machine island. It is a front view which shows the banknote conveyance apparatus in an island installed in the gaming machine island. It is a figure which shows the inside (state which removed the door) of a relay box. It is sectional drawing which shows a temporary storage device. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure and operation|movement of a temporary storage apparatus typically. It is a flowchart which shows operation|movement of a temporary storage device. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure and operation|movement of a paper sheet storage apparatus typically. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other structure and operation|movement of a paper sheet storage apparatus typically.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an in-store layout of a game hall 2 in which a paper sheet collecting and conveying system 10 (see FIG. 2) using a conveying relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed. In the store of the game arcade 2, a plurality of game machine islands 3 are arranged with passages therebetween. In each gaming machine island 3, a set of a gaming ball lending machine 4 for lending a gaming ball (pachinko ball) to a player upon receipt of a bill and a gaming machine 5 such as a pachinko machine are set back to back. And multiple sets are housed side by side. Inside the gaming machine island 3, there is provided an in-island banknote transporting device 8 that takes in banknotes discharged from the back surface of each gaming ball lending machine 4 and transports them to one end of the gaming machine island 3. At the end of the gaming machine island 3, a relay box 6 having a function of temporarily storing the bills conveyed by the in-island bill conveying device 8 (a function as a conveying relay device) is provided.

FIG. 2 shows a paper sheet collecting/conveying system 10 for collecting banknotes from the relay box 6 of each gaming machine island 3 shown in FIG. The paper sheet collecting and conveying system 10 has a function of collecting bills from the relay boxes 6 of the plurality of gaming machine islands 3 in the game arcade 2 and conveying the bills to a predetermined destination. In the example of FIG. 2, each gaming machine island 3 is installed on the first floor of the game arcade 2, and the office is on the second floor. The paper sheet collecting/transporting system 10 has a function of collecting banknotes from the relay box 6 of each gaming machine island 3 installed on the first floor and transporting them to the safe 11 of the office on the second floor, which is the destination. ..

The paper sheet collecting/transporting system 10 is piped so as to return to the safe 11 and the safe 11 on the upper floor after passing through the safe 11 and extending downstairs and passing above the location where each relay box 6 is present. The transport pipe 12 that constitutes the main transport path, the sub-transport device 13 that transports the banknotes from the relay box 6 to the transport pipe 12 that passes above the relay box 6, and the banknotes transported from the relay box 6 by the sub-transport device 13. It is configured to include a take-in device 14 that feeds the paper into the conveying pipe 12 in a posture in which the paper surface extends along the extending direction of the conveying pipe 12.

A portion of the transfer pipe 12 that constitutes the main transfer route, which goes around the floor where the gaming machine island 3 is arranged, is piped behind the ceiling of the floor (or at a high position near the ceiling). That is, the carrier pipe 12 is installed at a position higher than the area where people are active (games or passing) in the game arcade 2. In addition, the game ball lending machine 4 in the game machine island 3 is installed at a height according to the player who plays the game, and the relay box 6 of the game machine island 3 is also installed at the same height. The sub-conveying device 13 conveys banknotes from the box 6 to the conveying pipe 12 above it.

The paper sheet recovery/conveyance system 10 generates a flow of air in the transfer pipe 12 that constitutes the main transfer path, and receives the air flow to move the transfer auxiliary body 16 (see FIG. 3) in the transfer pipe 12. The banknote P is inserted into the transport pipe 12 on the upstream side of the take-in device 14, and the bill P that has been taken into the transport pipe 12 by the take-in device 14 is pushed from the rear by the carrying auxiliary body 16 to be carried downstream (the carrying direction FW). It is supposed to do. In the present embodiment, the transfer auxiliary body 16 is sent out from the safe 11, and the transfer auxiliary body 16 is returned to the safe 11 after going around the transfer pipe 12.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, an airflow generator 21 and a bill separating/conveying auxiliary body circulating device 22 are provided inside the safe 11. The bill separating/conveying auxiliary body circulation device 22 has the function of the conveying auxiliary body inserting device 23 for sending the conveying auxiliary body 16 to the conveying pipe 12, and the conveying auxiliary body 16 that has conveyed the bill P by moving it from the rear side. It has a function of the separation and collection device 24 that separates and collects each of them, and also has a function of passing the transport auxiliary body 16 collected by the separation and collection device 24 to the transport auxiliary body insertion device 23 to be used cyclically. The banknotes P collected by the separation/collection device 24 are stored in the banknote storage unit 25 in the safe 11.

The airflow generation device 21 generates an airflow by rotating a blade with a motor. The air outlet side of the air flow generator 21 is connected to the air inlet side of the auxiliary carrier insertion device 23, and the start end of the carrier pipe 12 is connected to the air outlet side of the auxiliary carrier inserter 23. The end of the carrier pipe 12 is connected to the air inlet side of the separation/collection device 24, and the air suction side of the air flow generator 21 is connected to the air outlet side of the separation/collection device 24.

As shown in FIG. 2, the main transport path of the paper sheet collecting and transporting system 10 is configured by connecting a plurality of transport tubes 12 with a connecting portion 15. The take-in device 14 also has a function of connecting the front and rear carrier pipes 12.

The bill P sent out from the relay box 6 is conveyed upward by the sub-conveying device 13 and then sent out into the conveying pipe 12 by the taking-in device 14. The take-in device 14 sends out the banknote P into the transport tube 12 with its paper surface along the extending direction of the transport tube 12. Here, the take-in device 14 sends out the banknote P into the transport tube 12 so that the paper surface is in a horizontal posture with the top and bottom facing up. The bill P sent out into the transport tube 12 by the take-in device 14 stays at the delivery completion position. The transfer pipe 12 in a portion passing from the plurality of intake devices 14 (from the point A in FIG. 2 to immediately before the curve C) is horizontally laid and arranged in a straight line. The horizontal orientation is the orientation of the transport tube 12 such that the paper surface of the banknote P in the transport tube 12 is horizontal.

The transport auxiliary body 16 is fed into the transport pipe 12 from the transport auxiliary body insertion device 23 in the safe 11 in order to transport the banknote P staying in the transport pipe 12 to the safe 11 and collect it. The transfer auxiliary body 16 sent into the transfer pipe 12 moves in the transfer pipe 12 under the action of the air flow generated by the air flow generation device 21, makes one round of the transfer pipe 12 and returns to the safe 11. come. In the middle of the transfer, the transfer auxiliary body 16 pushes the banknote P from the rear end side and transfers the banknote P toward the end of the transfer tube 12 (in the transfer direction FW in the drawing), as shown in FIG.

In this way, the transport auxiliary body 16 moves under the action of the air flow, and the bill P is pushed by the transport auxiliary body 16 from the rear end side to be transported, so that the bill P itself obtains propulsive force from the air flow. No need. Therefore, the bill P can be conveyed by the air flow without taking measures such as bending the bill P to receive the air flow. Further, since the conveyance assisting body 16 can obtain the propulsive force from the airflow more efficiently than the bill P, the bill P can be efficiently conveyed.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, an auxiliary blower 17 for enhancing the air flow flowing in the transfer tube 12 is provided at an appropriate position in the transfer tube 12. In the example of FIG. 2, the auxiliary blower 17 is provided at the curved portion of the conveying pipe 12 and at the base point of the ascending portion for conveying the banknote P upward. The auxiliary blower 17 may be provided in the middle of the curve or in the middle of the uphill part. The auxiliary blower 17 is controlled to be turned on immediately after the bill P or the conveyance assisting body 16 has passed through the portion to enhance the air flow.

A curve C in FIG. 2 is a place where the banknote P and the conveyance assisting body 16 are moved. Moreover, since the path is curved and the bill P and the auxiliary conveyance body 16 are conveyed upward at the beginning of the curve, a particularly strong air flow is required. Therefore. An auxiliary blower 17 is provided to send the air flow to the beginning of the curve C.

The paper sheet collecting and conveying system 10 includes a control unit 27 (see FIG. 8) including CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The unit 27 controls the operations of the airflow generation device 21, the bill separating/conveying auxiliary body circulation device 22, the sub-conveying device 13, the taking-in device 14, the auxiliary blower 17, the sub-conveying device 13, the relay box 6, and the like.

Next, the shapes of the transport tube 12 and the transport auxiliary body 16 will be described in detail.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the transport pipe 12 in the straight portion, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the extending direction FW (=the transport direction FW of the banknote P=the air flow direction) of the transport pipe 12 of the same portion. FIG. The carrier tube 12 is made of a resin having a thickness of about 1.5 mm. The carrier tube 12 is formed by extrusion molding, for example.

The shape of the cross section perpendicular to the extending direction FW of the straight portion of the transport pipe 12 is such that the central portion of the long side of the rectangle is expanded outward into a rectangle. More specifically, the transport pipe 12 has a wall portion 31 having a rectangular short side in a cross section, a side wall portion 32 having a long side having a rectangular shape in cross section, and an extension projecting outward in a rectangular shape at a central portion of the side wall portion 32. And part 33. The short side direction and the long side direction in a substantially rectangular cross section perpendicular to the extending direction of the transport pipe 12 (transport direction FW) are the X direction and the Y direction, respectively. In each of the X direction and the Y direction, the direction toward the center of the carrier tube 12 is referred to as the inside, and the direction from the center toward the inner wall is referred to as the outside.

The expansion portion 33 is divided into two parts by a separation wall 34 that is erected inward of the transfer tube 12. The separation wall 34 is formed by attaching a T-shaped member to the inner wall of the expanded portion 33.

On the side wall portion 32, a plurality of ribs 35 protruding inward of the transport tube 12 are formed so as to extend along the transport direction. In this example, ribs 35 projecting inward of the transport tube 12 are formed along the transport direction FW at the boundary between the side wall portion 32 and the expanded portion 33. The separation wall 34 has the same height as the rib 35, and the top of the separation wall 34 acts as a rib.

The side wall portions 32 are a pair of inner walls facing the paper surface of the banknote P being conveyed. The banknote P has a rectangular shape and is transported in the transport tube 12 in a direction in which the long side is the transport direction FW. In other words, the paper surface P faces the side wall portion 32 of the transport tube 12, and one short side of the banknote P is transported in the direction of the leading end side in the transport direction FW and the other short side is transported in the rear end side.

The interval Dy between the pair of opposing wall portions 31 of the transport tube 12 is slightly longer than the short side of the banknote P. Further, the distance Dx between the pair of opposing side wall portions 32 (a portion where the rib 35, the expansion portion 33, and the separation wall 34 are not formed (referred to as a reference plane portion)) is set to about 21 mm. The extension portion 33 provided on each side wall portion 32 extends about 6 mm outside the side wall portion 32 (reference plane portion). The ribs 35 and the tops of the separation walls 34 are located at a height of about 2 mm inward from the side wall portion 32 (reference plane portion). The height of the rib 35 may be set appropriately.

The transport pipe 12 can be installed by using the longitudinal direction of the transport pipe 12 vertically and horizontally and at an arbitrary angle, and the transport auxiliary body 16 can smoothly move in the transport pipe 12 at any angle. it can. For example, the banknote P and the auxiliary transfer member 16 can be smoothly conveyed also in the twisting portion 51 (see FIG. 18) described later. FIG. 5 shows the carrier tube 12 in a vertical position installed so that the long side of the rectangular cross section is vertical.

FIG. 6 shows a plan view and a front view of the transport auxiliary body 16. The conveyance assisting body 16 has a columnar shape with a circular cross section having a different diameter in each part. The transport auxiliary body 16 is used by being inserted into the transport tube 12 such that the central axis of the cylinder is in the Y direction of the transport tube 12. The conveyance assisting body 16 has a symmetrical shape with respect to its center in the length direction, and in order from one end, the head 16a, the neck 16b having a slightly smaller diameter than the head, and the large diameter having a diameter larger than that of the head 16a. It is configured to have a constricted portion 16d having the same diameter as the portion 16c and the neck portion 16b and located at the center in the length direction, a large diameter portion 16c, a neck portion 16b, and a head portion 16a. The transport assisting body 16 is lightweight and durable, and has a hollow interior made of, for example, plastic. If it is lightweight and durable, it may be formed of expanded polystyrene or extruded expanded polystyrene.

FIG. 7 shows a cross section in a state where the auxiliary transport body 16 is inserted into the transport pipe 12. The drawing is a cross section that is perpendicular to the extending direction FW and that passes through the central axis of the transport auxiliary body 16. The diameter of each part of the transfer auxiliary body 16 corresponds to the inner edge shape of the transfer tube 12. That is, the cross-sectional shape passing through the central axis of the conveyance assisting body 16 is a shape corresponding to the inner edge shape of the conveyance pipe 12 in a cross section perpendicular to the extending direction FW, and the inside of the conveyance pipe 12 is separated from the inner wall. It is shaped so as to close a predetermined clearance.

In this way, the auxiliary conveyance body 16 has a shape (substantially the same shape with a slight clearance) corresponding to the inner edge shape of the conveyance tube 12 and closes almost the entire cross section of the conveyance tube 12, so that the action of the air flow is exerted. Can receive and move efficiently. Further, the auxiliary transport body 16 plays a role of preventing an air flow from the upstream from reaching the downstream side of the auxiliary transport body 16 and suppressing turbulence of the air flow on the downstream side.

The banknote P tends to stick to the side wall portion 32 when being affected by the air flow in the transport tube 12. That is, the distance between one paper surface of the banknote P and the side wall portion 32 facing the paper surface and the distance between the other paper surface and the side wall portion 32 facing the paper surface rarely become equal, and any distance is It will be narrower than the other. Since the flow velocity of the air flow is higher on the narrow gap side than on the wide gap side, the air pressure on the narrow gap side is lower than the air pressure on the wide gap side, and due to this pressure difference, the banknote P is adsorbed and pressed against the side wall portion 32 on the narrow gap side. To be done. Then, the interval on the narrow interval side becomes narrower, and a phenomenon occurs in which the banknote P sticks to the side wall portion 32 and is adsorbed.

When the banknote P sticks strongly to the side wall portion 32, it becomes difficult to push and move the banknote P by the transfer auxiliary body 16, but the transfer auxiliary body 16 blocks the air flow to the downstream side thereof as described above ( Since the action of reducing the amount of paper money P is performed, the force of sticking and adsorbing the bill P becomes small, and smooth conveyance is realized.

The two large-diameter portions 16c of the transfer auxiliary body 16 engage with the two expanded portions 33 partitioned by the separation wall 34 of the transfer tube 12, respectively. In this example, the expansion portion 33 is divided into two by the separation wall 34, and these expansion portions 33 are provided near the center of the transport pipe 12 in the Y direction, so that the transport auxiliary body 16 is maintained in a stable posture. Can be moved. Further, since the posture of the transport auxiliary body 16 is stable, the large-diameter portion 16c of the transport auxiliary body 16 can be appropriately brought into contact with the rear end of the banknote P to give a stable transport force. Further, it becomes difficult for the banknote P to be caught between the transport tube 12 and the transport auxiliary body 16.

In addition, by providing the large-diameter portion 16c, the conveyance assisting body 16 expands the area of the portion affected by the air flow, and can efficiently receive the force for moving. Further, since the large-diameter portion 16c is provided to efficiently receive the action of the air flow, the diameter of the head portion 16a can be reduced accordingly. By reducing the diameter of the head portion, the interval (width (Dx)) between the pair of side wall portions 32 facing each other in the transport tube 12 can be narrowed, and the banknote P can be prevented from falling.

Furthermore, the presence of the plurality of ribs 35 provided on the side wall portion 32 prevents the banknote P from sticking to the side wall portion 32 exactly. That is, the contact area between the banknote P and the side wall portion 32 is reduced, friction is reduced, and generation of static electricity can be suppressed. Further, even when the bill P sticks to the side wall portion 32, the bill P is supported by the tip portion of the rib 35, so that a gap is secured between the side wall portion 32 and the bill P around the rib 35. The sticking force can be kept small. Further, since the banknote P is supported by the separation wall 34, the banknote P is prevented from falling into the recess of the expansion portion 33.

Further, the plurality of ribs 35 protruding inward from the side wall portion 32 and the tops of the separation walls 34 define the substantial passage width W of the banknote P in the width direction (X direction) of the transport tube 12 as the reference plane portion distance Dx. Play a role of narrowing. This makes it difficult for the banknote P to fall toward the one side wall portion 32 side in the transport tube 12, and holds the attitude of the banknote 6 along the Y direction. In particular, by providing a plurality of ribs 35, it is possible to appropriately prevent the banknote P from falling down and effectively prevent the banknote P from sticking to the side wall portion 32. It should be noted that Dx can be increased by the amount of the ribs 35 provided, thereby increasing the cross-sectional area of the transfer tube 12 and making the transfer auxiliary body 16 more susceptible to the action of air flow.

In the case of the conveyance assisting body 16 according to the present embodiment, since the diameter of the large diameter portion 16c is the largest, as shown in FIG. Become.

Next, the internal structure of the safe 11 will be described in more detail.

FIG. 8 shows the safe 11 with the front cover removed and the transfer tube 12 in the vicinity thereof. The cashbox 11 has a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped shape, an airflow generation device 21 is arranged at a lower portion inside thereof, and a bill separating/conveyance auxiliary body circulation device 22 is attached at an upper portion thereof. In addition, inside the safe 11, a banknote storage unit 25 that stores the banknotes P, a banknote transfer unit 26 that transfers the banknotes P that have been separated and collected by the separation and recovery device 24 to the banknote storage unit 25, and the paper sheet recovery and transfer system 10 A control unit 27 that controls the operation of the power supply unit, a power supply unit, and the like are housed. The banknote P discharged from the rear end of the separation/collection device 24 travels along the path indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 8 and is delivered to the banknote transport unit 26 provided side by side, and is transported to the banknote storage unit 25 by the banknote transport unit 26. To be done.

9 and 10 show an overview of the bill separating/conveying auxiliary body circulation device 22. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the bill separating/conveying auxiliary body circulation device 22 as seen from the outlet side of the separated bills, and FIG. It is the perspective view seen from the part side.

The banknote separation/conveyance auxiliary body circulation device 22 is arranged above the conveyance auxiliary body insertion device 23 for feeding the conveyance auxiliary body 16 into the conveyance pipe 12, and above the conveyance auxiliary body insertion device 23 so as to overlap the conveyance auxiliary body 16 and the banknotes. It is configured integrally with a separation and collection device 24 that separates and collects P.

The transport auxiliary body 16 separated and collected from the banknote P by the separation/collection device 24 falls downward from the separation/collection device 24 through the guide passage 28 (see FIG. 10) to the standby location 29 in the transport auxiliary body insertion device 23. Delivered. As a result, the collected transport auxiliary body 16 is used for the next delivery, and the transport auxiliary body 16 is repeatedly used.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 11, the separation/collection device 24 has a function of passing the banknote P pushed and moved by the transfer auxiliary body 16 to the downstream side and abutting the transfer auxiliary body 16 to stop it. The holding unit 41 is provided. The holding portion 41 has a receiving portion 42 having a U-shaped cross section for receiving the conveyance assisting body 16 at the tip of an arm that rotates about one end within a predetermined angle range. At the center of the receiving portion 42, a slit 43 for passing the banknote P is provided. Further, a discharge port for dropping the auxiliary transport body 16 is provided on the bottom surface of the receiving portion 42.

Normally, the holding portion 41 is located at a position (the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 11) with the tip with the receiving portion 42 facing the end of the transport tube 12. When the bill P that has been pushed and moved by the conveyance assisting body 16 passes through the slit 43 of the receiving portion 42 and is received by the receiving portion 42, the holding portion 41 is driven by the motor to rotate, and the receiving portion 41 is rotated. 42 is moved to a position (a position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 11) which is aside from the extension of the transport tube 12. At this position, the opening at the bottom of the receiving portion 42 communicates with the guide passage 28, and the transport auxiliary body 16 drops downward through the guide passage 28.

The banknote P that has passed through the slit 43 is transported by a transport belt (not shown) and discharged from the discharge port at the rear end of the separation/collection device 24. The discharged banknotes P are transported to the banknote transport unit 26 and sent to the banknote storage unit 25, as described above.

The transport auxiliary body 16 that has fallen through the guide passage 28 enters the waiting place 29 of the transport auxiliary body insertion device 23 and is received.

The transport assisting body insertion device 23 is provided with a movable arm 46 that rotates around one end and that has a delivery section 45 having a U-shaped cross section that holds the transport assisting body 16 at the other end. The delivery section 45 is provided with a large opening for smoothly flowing the air flow from the air flow generation device 21.

The movable arm 46 has a standby position (position shown by a broken line in FIG. 11) in which the delivery section 45 is housed in the standby location 29, and a delivery position in which the delivery section 45 is an extension of the start end of the transport tube 12 (in FIG. 11, a solid line). (Position indicated by) and is driven by the motor to rotate. The movable arm 46 is normally set to the standby position, and the delivery unit 45 receives the transport auxiliary body 16 that has fallen from the separation/collection device 24 through the guide passage 28. When the transfer auxiliary body 16 is sent out into the transfer tube 12, the movable arm 46 is rotated to move the delivery section 45 to the delivery position. Then, due to the air flow from the air flow generation device 21, the auxiliary transfer body 16 is separated from the delivery section 45 and is sent out into the transfer pipe 12.

In this way, the auxiliary body 16 that returns while moving around the transport tube 12 while pushing and moving the bill P is separated and collected from the bill P by the separation/collection device 24, and is delivered to the transport auxiliary body insertion device 23. And is reused for the next transmission.

Next, the installation and configuration of the carrier tube 12 will be described.

Here, as shown in FIG. 1, four gaming machine islands 3 are provided side by side with a passage, and in order to collect the banknotes P from the relay boxes 6 of these gaming machine islands 3, as shown in FIG. The case where the carrier pipe 12 is piped will be described as an example.

In FIG. 2, the carrier pipe 12 is extended downward after exiting the safe 11, and when its lower end reaches the height above the ceiling on the first floor where the gaming machine islands 3 are arranged, the carrier pipe 12 is horizontally drawn while drawing an arc. Change direction. Then, after going around the ceiling above the relay box 6 of each gaming machine island 3, it is extended to extend upward and is piped so as to return to the safe 11 on the second floor. The portion of the transfer pipe 12 that is piped behind the ceiling extends horizontally (or substantially horizontally) along the ceiling. Here, the portion extending along the back of the ceiling is piped in a shape that returns from the lower end of the T-shaped vertical bar around the outer edge of the T-shaped portion. The T-shaped horizontal bar portion is a portion that passes above the relay box 6 of each gaming machine island 3.

In the section from the safe 11 to the point A (see FIG. 2) immediately before the first take-in device 14, only the auxiliary transfer member 16 passes through the transfer tube 12 and the bill P does not pass. Therefore, the radius (curvature radius) of the curve can be reduced. For example, the curve B (see FIGS. 2 and 12) has a smaller radius than the curve C (see FIGS. 2 and 13) downstream of the point A.

Further, in the curved portion before reaching the point A, as shown in FIG. 16, the transport pipe 12 can be shaped so that the transport auxiliary body 16 passes through in a posture in which the axis of the transport auxiliary body 16 is in the radius direction of the curve. For example, the curve D in FIGS. 2 and 15 corresponds to this.

On the other hand, the curve of the portion through which the banknote P passes (for example, the curve C in FIG. 2 and FIG. 13) is limited in the direction in which the banknote P can be bent, so that the paper surface of the banknote P faces the inside and outside of the arc (paper surface). It becomes necessary to pass the banknote P in a posture in which the curve is perpendicular to the radius of the curve.

For example, in a curving portion (horizontal curving portion, such as the curve E in FIG. 2 and FIG. 15) that changes the course in a horizontal plane, the transport tube 12 is vertically oriented so that the banknote P passes in a posture in which the paper surface is vertical. Need to

On the other hand, in a curve (horizontal vertical curved portion; curve C in FIGS. 2 and 13 and curve F in FIGS. 2 and 19) of a portion that changes the course between the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, a predetermined vertical The transport pipe 12 is curved so as to draw an arc between a horizontal direction and a vertical direction while maintaining a posture in which the paper surface is perpendicular to the surface. That is, in the portion that enters the horizontal vertical curved portion from the horizontal path, the transport tube 12 needs to be in a horizontal posture in which the paper surface of the banknote P in the transport tube 12 is horizontal.

Therefore, between the horizontal curved portion and the horizontal vertical curved portion, the posture of the bill P is changed by gradually twisting (90-degree twist) between a posture in which the paper surface is horizontal and a posture in which the paper surface is vertical. A twisting portion 51 for transporting is provided. The twisting portion 51 plays a role of smoothly changing the posture of the transport tube 12 from the horizontal posture to the vertical posture or vice versa.

In the example of FIGS. 2 and 15, the twisted portion 51 is provided between the curve E and the curve F and between the curve C and the curve E.

In the main transport path of the paper sheet collecting and transporting system 10, the portion where the bill P is likely to be jammed is considered to be the curved portion and the twisted portion 51. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the twisted portions 51 are arranged before and after the curve, and these are collectively arranged. By concentrating the curve and the twisted portion 51, inspection and work for clearing clogging become easier. Further, when piping is installed in the back of the ceiling, it is sufficient to provide an inspection port at a location where the curve and the twisted portion 51 are concentrated.

FIG. 17 is a front view showing the transport path 12 in a portion where the twisted portion 51 is connected to the front and rear of the horizontal curved portion (curve E), and FIG. 18 is a perspective view thereof. The twisted portion 51 is formed by connecting a plurality of pipe lines that are twisted little by little.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 8, since the transport tube 12 that goes in and out of the safe 11 is in the vertical posture, it is also between the curve G that changes the course between horizontal and vertical and the safe 11. A twisted portion 51 is provided.

Next, a portion where the bill P conveyed from the sub-conveying device 13 is sent into the conveying pipe 12 by the taking-in device 14 will be described.

In the portion of the transport pipe 12 that passes above the relay box 6 (between the point A in FIG. 2 and the position immediately before the curve C), the paper P of the banknote P transported in the pipe is in a vertical position (the paper surface is horizontal). (Posture) (see FIG. 12). That is, the transfer pipe 12 in this portion is extended in a horizontal posture. Further, the transport pipe 12 in this portion is horizontally and straightly extended.

FIG. 14 shows the periphery of the take-in device 14 inserted in the transfer pipe 12 in a portion passing above the relay box 6. As described above, the transfer pipes 12 in front of and behind the take-in device 14 are extended in a horizontal position so that the paper surface of the banknote P (Pa in the figure) to be transferred is in the vertical position, and the relay box is provided. The sub-conveying device 13 that conveys the banknote P (Pb in the drawing) from 6 to the take-up device 14 upward has a paper sheet on one side of the paper money Pb in the extending direction of the conveying pipe 12 at the place where the take-up device 14 exists. It is conveyed in a position that faces Fw.

The conveying pipe 12 and the sub-conveying device 13 in the portion passing through the take-in device 14 have a width direction Da of the bill Pa conveyed in the conveying pipe 12 and a width direction Db of the bill Pb conveyed by the sub-conveying device 13. It is installed so that and are parallel. The take-in device 14 changes the course of the banknote P in the extension direction Fw without twisting the banknote Pb conveyed by the sub-conveyor device 13 and sends it out into the conveyor tube 12.

That is, the positional relationship between the transport pipe 12 and the sub-transport device 13 in the portion passing through the take-in device 14 is the width direction Da of the banknote Pa transported in the transport pipe 12 and the banknote Pb transported by the sub-transport device 13. By setting the width direction Db to be parallel to the width direction Db, the take-in device 14 can change the course of the banknote P and send it out to the transport tube 12 without twisting the banknote P.

In addition, in order to establish the above-described positional relationship with the sub-transport device 13 that transports the banknote P upward, the transport tube 12 needs to be in a horizontal position. Therefore, when a horizontal curved portion is provided downstream of the take-in device 14, it is necessary to provide the twisted portion 51 before reaching the horizontal curved portion so that the conveying tube 12 is in the vertical posture. In the example of FIG. 2, since the curve E exists downstream of the section that passes through the capturing device 14 (the section from the point A to the point immediately before the curve C), the twisted portion is present in front of the curve E (in this example, immediately before). 51 is provided.

Next, the sub-transport device 13 will be described.

20 is a perspective view showing the sub-transport device 13 and the intake device 14 connected to its upper end, FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view of the sub-transport device 13 and the intake device 14 connected to its upper end, and FIG. 23 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the upper part of the sub-transport device 13 and the take-in device 14, and FIG. 23 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the lower part of the sub-transport device 13 of FIG.

The sub-transport device 13 transports the banknote P by using a separate transport auxiliary body 16. In the sub-transport device 13, one transport auxiliary body 16 reciprocates in one transport tube 61. The cross-sectional shape of the carrier pipe 61 is the same as the straight portion of the carrier pipe 12.

The sub-transport device 13 includes a transport pipe 61 (sub-transport pipe) extending in the vertical direction, a transport auxiliary body 16 that reciprocates vertically in the transport pipe 61, and a bill attached to the lower end of the transport pipe 61. It is provided with a take-in unit 63 and an upward flow generating unit 62 that sends an upward air flow through the bill take-in unit 63 into the conveying pipe 61. As described above (see FIG. 14 ), the relative positional relationship between the transport pipe 61 and the portion of the transport pipe 12 that passes through the take-in device 14 is the width direction Da of the banknote P transported in the transport pipe 12, as described above. , The width direction Db of the banknote P transported by the transport tube 61 of the sub-transport device 13 is parallel. In other words, the Y direction (longitudinal direction) of the cross section of the carrier pipe 61 and the Y direction (longitudinal direction) of the cross section of the carrier pipe 12 are parallel. In this example, since the transport pipe 61 is vertical and the transport pipe 12 is horizontal and in a horizontal posture, the paper surface of the banknote P transported through the transport pipe 61 is in the extension direction FW of the portion of the transport pipe 12 that passes through the pick-up device 14. And is oriented vertically.

As shown in FIG. 23, the bill taking-in portion 63 has a passage portion 64 having a cross-sectional shape similar to that of the conveying pipe 61 and communicating with the lower end of the conveying pipe 61 and having a length of about 15 cm, and the passage portion 64. It is provided with an opening 64b for taking in the banknotes P, which is provided on one side wall of the one side, and a conveying section 65 for sending the banknotes P obliquely upward into the passage section 64 from the opening 64b. The bill taking unit 63 is a conveyance base point of the sub conveyance device 13.

The transport unit 65 has a bill passage 65a communicating with the opening 64b, a transport roller 65b for transporting the bill P toward the opening 64b of the passage unit 64a through the bill passage 65a, and the transport roller 65b sending the bill P into the passage unit 64. A conveyor belt 65c that serves to send the bill P completely into the passage 64 to the end thereof, and is provided in the middle of the bill passage 65a to prevent the air flow from leaking from the bill passage 65a and opens and closes the bill passage 65a. The shutter 65d is provided with a motor, etc. for driving the conveying roller 65b and the conveying belt 65c. The shutter 65d is biased to the closed position by a spring or the like.

The lower end of the passage portion 64 has a narrow width, and receives and holds the auxiliary conveyance body 16. Further, at the lower end of the passage portion 64, an inflow port 64c for the air flow from the upward flow generating portion 62 is provided.

FIG. 24 shows the bill taking-in portion 63 with the lid (the wall portion facing the opening 64b) of the passage portion 64 removed, as viewed from the side facing the opening 64b. .. The conveyor belts 65c are provided on the left and right sides of the passage portion 64 in the width direction. Since the bills P are sent out into the passage 64 by the left and right conveyor belts 65c, the bill P can be sent straight out into the passage 64 without tilting the bill P obliquely when the bill P is sent upward.

The upflow generator 62 includes a motor and a blade 62a rotated by the motor (see FIG. 23). The air outlet 62b of the upflow generator 62 is connected to the lower end of the passage 64 of the bill acceptor 63.

As shown in FIG. 22, the upper end of the transfer tube 61 is provided with a narrowed opening 61a, and the auxiliary transfer member 16 comes into contact with the narrowed portion of the upper end of the transfer tube 61 and stops, so that the bill P passes through the opening 61a and advances to the intake device 14.

The sub transport device 13 operates as follows.

The ascending flow generation unit 62 is normally stopped, and the transport auxiliary body 16 is held at the lower end of the passage portion 64 of the bill intake unit 63 (see FIG. 23). Further, the shutter 65d of the bill taking unit 63 is closed. When the bill P is sent into the transport pipe 61 by the bill take-in unit 63, the motor of the bill take-in unit 63 is driven to send the bill P received from the outside toward the opening 64b of the passage unit 64 through the bill passage 65a. .. At this time, the shutter 65d is opened by being pushed by the bill P passing through the bill passage 65a. When the bill P is completely sent into the passage portion 64, the upward flow generating portion 62 is operated to generate an upward air flow. Due to the action of this air flow, the conveyance assisting body 16 moves up inside the conveyance pipe 61 while pushing the bill P from the rear end.

The banknote P transported to the upper end of the transport tube 61 by the transport assisting body 16 advances into the loading device 14 through the opening 61a and is loaded into the loading device 14. The transport auxiliary body 16 comes into contact with the narrow portion at the upper end of the transport pipe 61 and stops. After that, when the ascending flow generation unit 62 is stopped, the transport auxiliary body 16 naturally falls and returns to a state in which it is held at the lower end of the passage portion 64 of the bill taking unit 63. This completes a series of operations for transporting the banknote P to the upper pickup device 14.

The sub-transport device 13 has a transport capability of transporting a plurality of (for example, three to five) banknotes P upward at a time. For example, the bill take-in unit 63 performs the operation of feeding the bills P one by one into the passage unit 64 a plurality of times to form a state in which a plurality of bills P stay in the passage unit 64. When the upward flow generating unit 62 is operated in this state, the conveyance assisting body 16 conveys the plurality of banknotes P to the take-up device 14 at the upper end at one time.

Next, the capturing device 14 will be described.

The intake device 14 has a cross-sectional shape similar to that of the transfer tube 12 and has a passage portion 71 to which the transfer tube 12 is connected in the front and rear. The transport auxiliary body 16 can pass through the passage portion 71. The passage portion 71 has a rectangular cross section in a horizontally long direction. An opening 71b for taking the banknote P into the passage 71 is formed on the wall surface on the lower side of the passage 71. The take-in device 14 is provided with a carrying section 72 for sending the banknotes P into the passage section 71 from the opening 71b.

The conveyance unit 72 conveys a bill guide path 73 leading to the opening 71b, a conveyance belt 74 that conveys the bill P conveyed by the sub-conveyance device 13 toward the opening 71b of the passage unit 71 through the bill guide passage 73, The payout belt 75 that completely sends the bill P sent into the passage 71 by the belt 74 to the end of the bill P, and the bill guiding passage 73 to prevent the air flow from leaking from the bill guiding passage 73. A shutter 76 provided in the middle of 73 for opening and closing the bill guiding path 73, a motor for driving the conveying belt 74 and the feeding belt 75, and the like are provided. The shutter 76 is biased to the closed position by a spring or the like.

When a plurality of banknotes P are conveyed at once from the sub-conveying device 13, the take-in device 14 can take in the plurality of banknotes P into the banknote guide path 73 at once and make them stand by. When receiving the command to send the bill P into the transport tube 12 from the control unit 27, the take-in device 14 sends the bill P waiting in the bill guiding path 73 into the passage 71.

Next, the collection of bills P in the gaming machine island 3 and the relay box 6 will be described.

The in-island banknote transfer device 8 that takes in the banknotes discharged from the back surface of each game ball lending machine 4 in the game machine island 3 and transfers them to one end of the game machine island 3 also moves the transfer assisting body 16 by the air flow to transfer the banknotes. It is a system in which P is pushed and moved from the rear end by the conveyance assisting body 16 and conveyed.

FIG. 25 is a plan view showing the in-island banknote transporting device 8 installed in the gaming machine island 3, and FIG. 26 is a front view showing the in-island banknote transporting device 8 installed in the gaming machine island 3. FIG. 27 is a diagram showing the inside of the relay box 6.

Inside the gaming machine island 3, a carrier pipe 80 having the same sectional shape as the carrier pipe 12 is installed. The transfer tube 80 is in a vertical position, and the banknote P transferred through the transfer tube 80 is transferred in an upright position. On the gaming machine island 3, the gaming ball rental machine 4 is formed in a box shape with a narrow front width in order to increase the number of installed machines. Therefore, the bill insertion slot provided in the game ball lending machine 4 is also usually vertically long. The banknote P is inserted into the banknote insertion slot in an upright position, and the banknote P is discharged from the back surface of the game ball lending machine 4 in an upright position. Therefore, the transport pipe 80 of the in-island banknote transport device 8 is configured to receive the banknote P from the game ball lending machine 4 in an upright posture and transport it in that posture.

The carrier pipe 80 extends from the relay box 6 and then extends toward the other end of the gaming machine island 3, and is piped so as to make a U-turn at the other end and return to the relay box 6. In the middle of the portion of the carrier pipe 80 that makes a U-turn and then returns to the relay box 6 (return path), the balls are discharged from the back surface of the game ball rental machine 4 to a position corresponding to each game ball rental machine 4. A bill taking-in device 82 for taking the bills P into the conveying pipe 80 is provided. The bill taking device 82 is a bill P from the gaming ball lending machine 4 arranged on the front surface side of the gaming machine island 3, and a bill P from the gaming ball lending machine 4 arranged on the back surface side of the gaming machine island 3. Are provided on both sides of the side wall of the transfer tube 80 to take in the. The paper money P taken into the conveyance pipe 80 from the paper money take-in device 82 stays at a predetermined take-in completion position with its paper surface along the extending direction of the conveyance pipe 80.

In the relay box 6, an air flow generating device 84 similar to the air flow generating device 21 provided in the safe 11, and a bill separating/conveying device having the same configuration as the bill separating/conveying auxiliary body circulation device 22 provided in the safe 11. An auxiliary body circulation device 85 is provided. The bill separating/conveying auxiliary body circulating device 85 has a conveying auxiliary body inserting device 86 similar to the conveying auxiliary body inserting device 23, and a separating/collecting device 87 similar to the separating/collecting device 24 (see FIG. 26).

Furthermore, the relay box 6 is provided with a banknote transport unit 88 (see FIG. 27) that transports the banknotes P discharged from the separating and collecting apparatus 87, and a temporary storage device 90 that temporarily stores the banknotes P. The temporary storage device 90 functions as a transfer relay device of the present invention, and temporarily stores the banknotes P received from the banknote transport unit 88, and also temporarily stores one banknote P at a predetermined timing. It has a function of feeding the bills one by one and feeding them to the bill taking unit 63 of the sub-transport device 13 described above, and a function of determining the denomination of the bill P during the feeding.

When the banknotes P discharged from the rear surface of the game ball rental machine 4 in the gaming machine island 3 are transported to the relay box 6 and collected, the transport auxiliary body insertion device 86 in the relay box 6 into the transport tube 80. The transport auxiliary body 16 is sent out. The transport auxiliary body 16 sent out into the transport pipe 80 receives the air flow generated by the air flow generation device 84 and moves downstream in the transport pipe 80, and collects the bill P and relays it along the way. It returns to the separation/collection device 87 in the box 6. The separation/collection device 87 separates the banknote P conveyed by the conveyance auxiliary body 16 from the conveyance auxiliary body 16, and delivers the conveyance auxiliary body 16 to the conveyance auxiliary body inserting device 86. On the other hand, the separated banknotes P are transported by the banknote transport unit 88 to the temporary storage device 90 in the relay box 6. FIG. 27 shows a path M through which the bill transport unit 88 transports the bill P. At this time, the banknote P is conveyed in an upright posture.

FIG. 28 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the temporary storage device 90. The temporary storage device 90 receives and stores the banknotes P transported by the banknote transport unit 88 in an upright posture, and at the same time, changes the orientation of the banknotes P from a vertical plane (upright posture) to a horizontal plane. A posture conversion unit 91 that converts the paper money to a (sleeping posture), an elevator unit 92 that conveys the banknotes P whose paper surface is horizontal to a lower feeding position, and a posture in which the banknotes P at the feeding position are laid one by one. A payout conveying unit 93 that draws out and conveys the bill toward the bill take-in unit 63 of the sub-conveying device 13, and a bill that is provided in the middle of the conveying route of the payout conveying unit 93 and that determines the denomination of the bill P that passes through the conveying route. It has a denomination discrimination unit 94.

The feeding/conveying unit 93 branches the banknote P whose denomination cannot be discriminated by the banknote denomination discriminating unit 94 from the conveying path and ejects it to the bill ejecting unit 95. The broken line 96 shown in FIG. 28 indicates the conveyance path of the banknote P. A broken line 97 indicates a discharge path to the bill discharging unit 95.

FIG. 29 schematically shows the configuration and operation of the temporary storage device 90. As shown in FIG. 29, the posture changing portion 91 is provided with a pair of rectangular cross-section grooves facing each other along both long sides of a U-shaped base plate having one short side and a pair of long sides. As described above, the L-shaped projection is formed along both long sides. The posture changing unit 91 is configured to be able to store a plurality of banknotes P between the pair of grooves. The posture changing section 91 supports and stores only the edge portion of the banknote P by the pair of grooves.

As shown in FIG. 29A, the posture changing unit 91 is in a vertical vertical standing posture (a posture in which the stored banknotes P are in a standing posture) during standby. In this state, the bill conveyed from the bill conveying unit 88 in an upright posture is received and stored between the pair of grooves. The posture conversion unit 91 has a vertical posture shown in FIG. 29A, and a horizontal posture in which the vertical posture is rotated 90 degrees about the lower end and horizontally collapsed (a posture in which the stored banknote P is in a lying posture, FIG. 29). (See (b)). The posture conversion unit 91 is displaced into a vertical posture and a horizontal posture by a motor (not shown).

The elevator unit 92 conveys the banknote P, which has been laid down by the banknote conversion unit 91, in the direction in which the paper surface faces (downward here) in the laid position. The elevator section 92 holds the lower plate 92a for supporting the banknotes P from below (downstream side in the transport direction) and the lower plate 92a by pressing the banknotes P placed on the lower plate 92a from above (upstream side in the transport direction). It has a pressing portion 92b for being sandwiched between the two. Although not shown in FIG. 29, the pressing portion 92b is provided with a pressing roller 92d at a position corresponding to a notch 92c in the lower plate 92a described later. In the standby state, the lower plate 92a is stopped at a position just in contact with the lower surface of the posture converting unit 91 in the horizontal posture (the surface on the rotation destination side of the banknote converting unit 91 rotated in the horizontal posture), and is pressed down. The portion 92b is located immediately above the lower plate 92a and is stopped at a position higher than the vertical posture changing portion 91. The pressing portion 92b is sized and positioned so as to pass through between the pair of opposed grooves of the posture changing portion 91 (referred to as penetrating portions). The pressing portion 92b passes through the penetrating portion of the bill converting unit 91 in a direction intersecting the paper surface of the bill P stored in the bill converting unit 91.

When the bill P stored in the posture changing unit 91 is conveyed downward by the elevator unit 92 and is fed out to the bill taking-in unit 63 of the sub-conveying unit 13 by the feeding-out conveying unit 93, the temporary storage device 90 operates as follows. To work.

First, as shown in FIG. 29( a ), the banknote conversion unit 91 stands by in a vertical posture, and in this state, the banknote P conveyed from the banknote transport unit 88 in an upright posture is received and stored. Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the posture conversion unit 91 falls to the horizontal posture. After that, the pressing portion 92b of the elevator portion 92 starts to descend (FIG. 29(c)). The holding portion 92b passes through the penetrating portion of the posture changing portion 91 and holds the banknote P stored in the posture changing portion 91 between the lower plate 92a and the bill P.

After that, the lower plate 92a and the pressing portion 92b are integrated and continue to descend in the sandwiched state (FIG. 29(d)). Since the banknote converting unit 91 holds only the edge of the banknote P, when the lower plate 92a and the pressing unit 92b are sandwiched between them and descend, the edge of the banknote P comes out of the groove of the banknote converting unit 91. Then, the bill P is removed from the bill converting unit 91.

The posture changing unit 91 returns to the vertical posture when the elevator unit 92 descends below the posture changing unit 91. The elevator part 92 stops when it descends to the lowest position (FIG. 29(e)).

The lower plate 92a is shaped so as to escape the delivery belt 93b. Specifically, the lower plate 92a is provided with a cutout 92c from the discharging direction of the banknote P (see FIG. 29A), and the feeding belt 93b is provided at a position corresponding to the cutout 92c. .. At the lowermost position, the feeding belt 93b comes into contact with the banknote P through the notch 92c. Further, the pressing portion 92b has a function of pressing the banknote P toward the feeding belt 93b by the pressing roller 92d.

When the feeding belt 93b is driven in a state where the elevator section 92 is stopped at the lowest position, the banknotes P are fed from the elevator section 92 in a lying position and are conveyed along the conveyance path of the feeding conveyance section 93. (FIG.29(f)).

The bills P are fed out one by one. Therefore, when a plurality of banknotes P are stored in the posture conversion unit 91 in the state of FIG. 29B, the state of FIG. 29F is maintained until all the banknotes P have been delivered. ..

When the payout of the bills P is completed, the elevator section 92 (the lower plate 92a and the pressing section 92b) starts to rise (FIG. 29(g)). When the lower plate 92a rises to the height of the lower end of the posture changing unit 91 (height during standby) (FIG. 29(h)), it stops at that position. The pressing portion 92b continues to rise, moves to a standby position, which is higher than the posture converting portion 91, and stops (FIG. 29(i)).

In the temporary storage device 90, by rotating the posture conversion unit 91 between the vertical posture and the horizontal posture, the posture of the banknote P is changed from the state where the paper surface is vertical (the standing posture) to the state where the paper surface is horizontal (the lying posture). Since the paper money P is converted, the attitude of the paper money P can be converted in a smaller space as compared with a case where a mechanism for changing the attitude of the paper money P from a vertical state to a horizontal state is conveyed while twisting the paper money P. it can.

Further, when the posture changing unit 91 is in the horizontal posture, the holding unit 92b immediately starts descending, and as soon as the holding unit 92b is lowered from the posture changing unit 91, the posture changing unit 91 immediately returns to the vertical posture. The period in which the bill P cannot be accepted from the bill transport unit 88 is only for a short period of time, and does not hinder the collection of the bill P in the gaming machine island 3. In the present embodiment, the return of the posture changing unit 91 to the vertical posture is a condition for the in-island banknote transport device 8 to send out the next transport auxiliary body 16.

Further, since the posture changing section 91 can store a plurality of banknotes P, the elevator section 92 is lowered for a long time, and the banknote conveying section 88 conveys a plurality of banknotes P during that time. , They can be received and stored.

For example, when the elevator unit 92 simultaneously conveys a plurality of banknotes P downward, it takes a long time to complete the feeding of the plurality of banknotes P. Further, since the paper sheet collecting/conveying system 10 collects the banknotes P in the other relay box 6, there are cases where the payout of the banknotes P from the relay box 6 is delayed. In such a case, the elevator unit 92 stays at the lowest position for a long time. However, as described above, even if a plurality of banknotes P are sequentially transferred by the banknote transfer unit 88, the posture conversion is performed. Since these can be stored in the portion 91, no problem occurs. The holding portion 92b of the elevator portion 92 being in the standby position is a condition for starting the operation of tilting the posture changing portion 91 to the horizontal posture.

FIG. 30 is a flow chart showing the process of controlling the movement of the temporary storage device 90. First, as an initial operation, the bill converting unit 91 is set to the vertical posture and the elevator unit 92 is set to the standby position to form a standby state (step S101). Next, a transportation permission is issued to the in-island banknote transportation device 8 (step S102). The in-island banknote transfer device 8 that has received the transfer permission sends out the transfer auxiliary body 16 when necessary and collects the banknotes P in the gaming machine island 3.

The temporary storage device 90 waits for the arrival of the banknote P from the in-island banknote transport device 8 (step S103; No), and when the banknote converting unit 91 receives the banknote P from the inland island banknote transport device 8 via the banknote transport unit 88 (( (Step S103; Yes), the temporary storage device 90 instructs the in-island banknote transfer device 8 to prohibit transfer (step S104). The in-island banknote transport device 8 that has received the transport prohibition instruction stops the delivery of the next transport auxiliary body 16.

Next, the temporary storage device 90 displaces the bill conversion unit 91 in the horizontal posture (step S105). When the bill converting unit 91 is in the horizontal position, the holding unit 92b of the elevator unit 92 is lowered. When the banknote P is sandwiched between the pressing portion 92b and the lower plate 92a, the lower plate 92a and the pressing portion 92b are integrated and lowered to the lowest position (step S106).

The temporary storage device 90 returns the bill converting unit 91 to the vertical posture when the elevator unit 92 descends to the lowest position (step S107). In addition, a transportation permission is issued to the in-island banknote transportation device 8 (step S108). In addition, after the pressing part 92b of the elevator part 92 moves below the banknote converting part 91, the banknote converting part 91 may be returned to the vertical posture at an arbitrary timing.

The temporary storage device 90 operates the feeding/conveying unit 93 to feed the banknotes P held by the elevator unit 92 at the lowest position one by one (step S109). This feeding operation is continued until feeding of all the bills P is completed (step S110; No). When all the bills P have been delivered (step S110; Yes), the elevator section 92 is raised and the lower plate 92a and the pressing section 92b are returned to their respective standby positions (step S111). When the elevator part 92 returns to the standby position, the process proceeds to step S103 and the process is continued.

When the elevator section 92 is at the lowest position and the banknotes P have accumulated up to the upper limit number in the banknote conversion section 91 before the payout of the banknotes P is completed, the following operation (1) or (2) is performed. Correspond.

(1) Instructing the in-island banknote transfer device 8 to prohibit transfer until all the banknotes P have been delivered and the elevator unit 92 returns to the standby position.

(2) While instructing the intra-island banknote transfer device 8 to prohibit transfer, the elevator section 92 is raised and the banknotes P accumulated in the banknote conversion section 91 are moved to the elevator section 92. More specifically, the in-island banknote transfer device 8 is instructed to prohibit transfer, and the elevator section 92 is raised. When the pressing portion 92b reaches the standby position of the lower plate 92a, the lower plate 92a is stopped, and the pressing portion 92b is lifted to the standby position of the pressing portion 92b and stopped. That is, when the banknote P placed on the lower plate 92a reaches the height of the lower surface of the banknote converting unit 91 in the horizontal position, the lower plate 92a is stopped from rising. Then, it transfers to step S103 and continues a process. In this way, since a large number of banknotes P can be sandwiched between the lower plate 92a of the elevator section 92 and the pressing section 92b, the elevator section 92 temporarily functions as a storage section for the banknotes P.

By the way, in the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, the bill accepting portion 63 of the sub-transport device 13 is attached to the rear surface of the relay box 6 at a position biased to one of left and right in the width direction of the relay box 6. ing. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, depending on the arrangement of each gaming machine island 3 in the game arcade 2, there are cases where the relay box 6 is attached to the end of the gaming machine island 3 in the right direction and in the left direction. .. Therefore, even if the positions of the relay boxes 6 provided at the ends of the gaming machine island 3 are aligned on a straight line, when the right and left relay boxes 6 are mixed, the relay boxes 6 are attached to the rear surface of each relay box 6. The positions of the banknote take-in portions 63 thus obtained are not aligned on a straight line. Therefore, if the transport pipe 61 of the sub-transport device 13 is extended straight from the rear surface of each relay box 6, the positions of the intake devices 14 attached to the upper ends of the transport pipes 61 are not aligned, and the relay box 6 of the relay box 6 is not aligned. It becomes impossible to arrange the transfer pipe 12 in a straight line upward.

Therefore, the difference in the position of the bill accepting portion 63 when the relay box 6 is attached to the right side and when it is attached to the left side is absorbed by bending the transport tube 61. That is, in the sub-transport device 13 corresponding to each relay box 6, the transport tube 12 of the paper sheet collecting and transporting system 10 is present on the vertical line of the starting end (the bill accepting portion 63) of the transport path 61 of the sub-transporting device 13. For those provided in a place not to be used, the curved transport path 61 is used so that the end of the transport tube 61 of the sub-transport device 13 reaches the transport tube 12 that is hung above.

In the example of FIG. 2, only the relay box 6 installed near the point A has a different orientation from the other relay boxes 6. Therefore, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 12, the transfer pipe 61 extending upward from the rear surface of the relay box 6 is curved so as to shift in the direction along the rear surface of the relay box 6 by a distance Ds. There is. As a result, the positions of all the intake devices 14 attached to the upper ends of the transport pipes 61 of the respective sub-transport devices 13 are aligned in a straight line, so that the transport pipes 12 are straight and horizontal above each relay box 6. Piped.

In the sub-transport device 13 corresponding to the relay box 6 near the curve C, as shown in FIG. 13, the upper end of the transport pipe 61 is positioned so that the mounting position of the intake device 14 is before the curve C. The transport pipe 61 is curved in the middle so that it shifts toward the point A. For example, the above situation occurs when the relay box 6 is installed on one side island (a gaming machine island in which the gaming machines 5 and the like are arranged only on one side) installed along the wall.

As described above, the paper sheet collecting/conveying system 10 according to the present embodiment transfers the banknotes P collected in each of the plurality of gaming machine islands 3 arranged in the game hall 2 from each gaming machine island 3. Since the bills P can be collected and transported to the safe 11 of the office, the bills P can be safely and effortlessly collected from each gaming machine island 3 to the safe 11 of the office.

Further, since the relay box 6 is provided in the gaming machine island 3, the intra-island banknote transporting device 8 for collecting and transporting the banknotes P in the gaming machine island 3 and the paper sheet collecting and transporting system 10 are configured as separate devices. Meanwhile, the banknotes P collected in the gaming machine island 3 can be automatically conveyed to the safe 11 of the office. That is, since the relay box 6 converts the posture of the bill P from the standing posture to the lying posture, the bill P received from the intra-island bill transporting device 8 that transports the bill P in the standing posture is billed in the lying posture. The P can be smoothly delivered to the sub-transport device 13. Further, since the temporary storage device 90 has a function of temporarily storing and storing the banknotes P, the timing at which the banknotes P are transported by the in-island banknote transporting device 8 and the bills P are sent to the sub-transporting device 13. It is possible to absorb the deviation from the proper timing.

Since the carrier pipe 12 of the paper sheet collecting and conveying system 10 is provided in the back of the ceiling, even if the carrier pipe 12 is circulated in various places in the game arcade 2, the carrier pipe 12 does not hinder the player's activities and traffic. Absent.

In addition, since the twisted portion 51 is provided in the middle of the transport pipe 12, the vertical direction and the horizontal direction are mixed as the transport direction of the banknote P, and the course of the transport pipe 12 can be freely set within a plane such as the ceiling. You can

Further, the width direction of the banknotes P transported in the transport path 12 at a portion passing through the take-in device 14 provided at the end of the sub-transport device 13, and the width direction of the banknotes P transported by the sub-transport device 13. Since the bills P are arranged parallel to each other, the take-in device 14 changes the course of the bill P conveyed by the sub-conveyor 13 and twists the bill P into the conveying pipe 12 without twisting. You can In addition, in the embodiment, the transport pipe 12 of the portion passing through the take-in device 14 is installed in a horizontal posture in which the paper surface of the bill P to be transported faces up and down, and the transport pipe 61 of the sub-transport device 13 is By installing the bill P conveyed in the conveying pipe 61 so that the paper surface of the bill P faces the extending direction of the conveying pipe 12 that passes through the take-in device 14, the parallel positional relationship described above is formed. There is.

<Paper storage device>
The temporary storage device 90 provided in the relay box 6 converts the posture of the banknote P received from the in-island banknote transport device 8 from the standing posture to the lying posture and sends it to the sub transport device 13, but the posture is changed. A paper sheet storage device having a function of storing and storing a large number of bills P in the storage portion may be configured.

For example, when a safe is provided at the end of the gaming machine island 3 and the banknotes P collected in the gaming machine island 3 are stored in the safe, a paper sheet storage device is installed as the safe.

FIG. 31 shows a schematic configuration of the paper sheet storage device 200. The paper sheet storage device 200 includes a banknote conversion unit 91 having the same configuration as the temporary storage device 90, a holding unit 92b of the elevator unit 92, and a storage unit 201. The pressing portion 92b does not include the pressing roller 92d. The storage unit 201 has a function of storing a large number of banknotes P, and has a shape in which the upper surface of a hollow rectangular parallelepiped is opened. The pressing portion 92b functions as a detaching portion that detaches the bill P held by the bill converting unit 91 from the bill converting unit 91.

When the banknotes P stored in the posture changing unit 91 are changed in posture and stored in the storing unit 201, the paper sheet storage device 200 operates as follows.

First, as shown in FIG. 31A, the bill converting unit 91 stands by in a vertical posture, and in this state, the bill P conveyed from an external conveying device in an upright posture is received and stored. Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the posture conversion unit 91 falls to the horizontal posture. After that, the pressing portion 92b starts to descend (FIG. 31(c)). The pressing portion 92b passes through the penetrating portion of the attitude converting portion 91, contacts the paper surface of the banknote P stored in the attitude converting portion 91, and presses the banknote P in a direction intersecting the paper surface (here, a direction perpendicular to the paper surface). Then, it is detached from the bill converting unit 91 ((d) in the same figure). Since the banknote converting unit 91 holds only the edge of the banknote P, when pressed by the pressing unit 92b, the edge of the banknote P is disengaged from the groove of the banknote converting unit 91 and the banknote P is easily transferred from the banknote converting unit 91. To leave.

As shown in (d) of the figure, the pressing portion 92b stops the descent after falling a predetermined distance below the bill converting portion 91. The banknote P separated from the banknote conversion unit 91 is naturally dropped and stored in the storage unit 201.

The posture changing unit 91 returns to the vertical posture when the pressing unit 92b descends below the posture changing unit 91 and the banknote P is removed (FIG. 31(e)). Then, when the bill converting unit 91 returns to the vertical posture, the holding unit 92b moves up, and when the bill converting unit 91 reaches the standby position, the holding unit 92b stops (FIG. 31(f)). This completes a series of receiving and storing operations.

As described above, the paper sheet storage device 200 rotates the posture conversion unit 91 between the vertical posture and the horizontal posture, thereby changing the posture of the banknote P from the vertical state (standing posture) to the horizontal state ( The attitude of the banknote P is reduced in a smaller space as compared with a case where a mechanism for changing the attitude of the banknote P from a vertical state to a horizontal state by twisting the banknote P while twisting the banknote P is used. Can be converted and stored.

Note that, like the temporary storage device 90, the elevator section 92 may be configured by the lower plate 92a and the pressing section 92b. FIG. 32 shows an example of the configuration and operation of the paper sheet storage device 200B in this case. The lower plate 92a has no cutout 92c.

The standby state is the state shown in FIG. The elevator part 92 is stopped at a position where it is lowered to some extent, and holds the banknotes P stored so far between the lower plate 92a and the holding part 92b. The bill converting unit 91 has a vertical posture.

In the standby state, as shown in FIG. 2B, the banknotes P conveyed from the external conveying device in an upright posture are received and stored in the banknote conversion unit 91. When the banknotes P stored in the banknote conversion unit 91 are moved to the storage unit 201, the elevator unit 92 is raised and the holding unit 92b is in the horizontal posture as shown in FIG. When the height of the lower surface of 91 (or a little lower than this) is reached, the raising of the lower plate 92a is stopped. That is, when the banknote P placed on the lower plate 92a reaches the height of the lower surface of the banknote converting unit 91 in the horizontal position, the lower plate 92a is stopped from rising.

After that, as shown in FIG. 8D, the pressing portion 92b is raised to a position higher than the bill converting portion 91 in the vertical posture. Next, the bill converting unit 91 is displaced in the horizontal posture ((e) in the figure). Then, the pressing section 92b is lowered ((f) in the figure), and the banknote P stored in the banknote converting section 91 and the banknote P already stored are sandwiched between the lower plate 92a of the elevator section 92 and the pressing section 92b. Then, by further lowering the entire elevator section 92 while sandwiching it, the banknote P is detached from the banknote conversion section 91 ((g) in the figure).

After that, when the pressing portion 92b descends to a predetermined position (standby position shown in FIG. 32A) that is a predetermined distance below the bill converting portion 91, the descending of the elevator portion 92 is stopped. After that, the bill converting unit 91 is returned to the vertical position ((i) in the figure), and the state returns to the state in which the next bill P can be received (the state shown in (a) in the figure). The position of the elevator part 92 is maintained as it is in the lowered position. The position where the lower plate 92a is the lowest position may be the standby position. Alternatively, the position of the lower plate 92a shown in FIG. 32(d) may be the standby position of the lower plate 92a.

In this way, the banknote P is detached from the banknote conversion section 91 and conveyed into the storage section 201 in a state of being sandwiched between the lower plate 92a and the pressing section 92b, so that the banknote P is not dependent on the natural fall and the storage section 201 Can be moved inside. For example, it is possible to accommodate the case where the storage units 201 are arranged so that the openings are oriented horizontally and the banknotes P are stacked and stored in an upright state.

The paper sheet storage devices 200, 200B are not limited to the use for receiving and storing the banknotes P transported by the island banknote transporting device 8 in the safe at the end of the gaming machine island 3. For example, it may be used for storing banknotes in some vending machine, a ticket collecting device, and the like. Note that the paper sheet storage devices 200 and 200B are not limited to the configuration in which the bill converting unit 91 receives the paper sheets conveyed by the conveying device. For example, a bill inserted by a person from a bill insertion slot may be used. A configuration in which the bill converting unit 91 receives and stores the bill does not work.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, the specific configurations are not limited to those shown in the embodiments, and there are changes and additions within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. Also included in the present invention.

In the embodiment, the temporary storage device 90 as the transfer relay device is provided in the relay box 6, but only the part of the temporary storage device 90 may be configured as an independent transfer relay device. Further, in the embodiment, the temporary storage device 90 receives the banknotes P conveyed in the upright posture, converts them into the lying posture, and sends them out, but receives the bills P conveyed in the lying posture, It may be configured as a transfer relay device that converts this into an upright posture and sends it out. That is, for the purpose of receiving a paper sheet from a conveying device that conveys the paper sheet in a lying position and sending the paper sheet to another conveying device that conveys the paper sheet in an upright posture, the distance between these conveying devices is increased. When the transport relay device is provided in the above, the transport relay device may be configured to receive the banknote P transported in the lying posture, convert the bill P into the standing posture, and send it out. Similarly, the paper sheet storage devices 200 and 200B may be configured to receive the banknotes P conveyed in a lying position, convert the banknotes P into an upright position, and store the banknotes P in the storage unit 201.

In the temporary storage device 90 shown in the embodiment, the bill converting unit 91 is configured to support the edges of the bill P with the pair of grooves, but, for example, supports the three edges of the bill P with the grooves or the like. It may be configured. Further, although the notch 92c is provided on the lower plate 92a so as to escape from the payout belt 93b, the shape for escape is not limited to this. For example, the interval between the two feeding belts 93b is widened, the lower plate 92a is set to have an elongated shape so that the lower plate 92a exists only between them, and the feeding belts 93b are allowed to escape to both outsides of the lower plate 92a. May be.

In the embodiment, the transfer pipe 12 is installed in the back of the ceiling, but it may be configured to be installed near the ceiling or under the floor. In the case of being under the floor, the sub-transport device 13 may transport the banknote discharged from the back surface of the relay box 6 downward.

When the end of each gaming machine island 3 on the side of the relay box is located near the wall of the facility, the sub-conveying device 13 that conveys the banknotes P in the vertical direction is not provided, and the paper sheets are collected and conveyed. You may make it arrange|position the conveyance pipe 12 of the system 10 according to the height at which the banknote P is discharged from the relay box 6. For example, the transport pipe 12 may be arranged behind the wall.

In the embodiment, the carrier pipe 12 is arranged in the vertical direction and in the horizontal plane, but the carrier pipe 12 may be installed at an angle. For example, in the case of an inclined ceiling, the conveying pipe 12 may be inclined and piped along the ceiling.

The gaming machine island 3 is not limited to the configuration that accommodates the pachinko machine and the gaming ball lending machine illustrated in the embodiment, and may be a gaming machine island that houses a medal lending machine, a slot machine, and the like.

The shape of the transport assisting body 16 is not limited to that shown in the embodiment. For example, a pillar shape such as a rectangular or polygonal cross section may be used. Further, although the auxiliary conveyance body 16 has a symmetrical shape with respect to the central portion in the Y direction, it may have an asymmetrical shape in the Y direction.

In the embodiment, the paper money P is described as an example of the paper sheet, but other kinds of paper sheets such as a ticket and a card may be used. Further, the shape of the paper sheet is not limited to the rectangular shape. Further, the installation place of the paper sheet collecting and conveying system 10 is not limited to the game hall, and may be another facility.

In the embodiment, an example in which only one sheet is conveyed is shown in FIG. 3 and the like. However, when the conveyance assisting body 16 is inserted in the state where there are a plurality of banknotes P in the middle of the conveyance tube 12, It is also possible to convey the plurality of banknotes P at one time. For example, when three banknotes P are accumulated in the transport pipe 61 of the sub-transport device 13, the banknotes P are transported to the upper pick-up device 14 and collected through the transport pipe 12 of the paper sheet recovery and transport system 10. By doing so, the number of times the transfer auxiliary body 16 is sent to the transfer pipe 12 can be reduced, and deterioration of the transfer auxiliary body 16 can be suppressed. Further, by collecting a plurality of sheets at one time, it is possible to enhance the collecting ability of the paper sheet collecting and conveying system 10 per unit time.

A large transporting force capable of transporting a plurality of banknotes P is that the transport auxiliary body 16 has a shape that substantially closes the cross section of the transport tube 12, and thereby sticking and suction of the banknotes P is reduced, and the expansion part It is ensured by the presence of 38 that a large area is acted upon by the air flow, and the auxiliary blower 17 enhances the air flow.

In the embodiment, the cross section of the carrier tube 12 is substantially rectangular, but it may be circular or elliptical. However, it is preferable that the transport auxiliary body has a shape corresponding to the shape of the inner edge thereof and closes almost the entire cross section. In addition, a plurality of ribs may be provided to reduce the substantial passage width of the paper sheet.

In the embodiment, the safe 11 is used as the destination for conveying the paper sheets by the paper sheet collecting and conveying system 10, but the present invention is not limited to the safe.

In the embodiment, the paper sheet collecting/conveying system 10 of the conveying system by the air flow using the conveyance assisting body 16 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the air flow can be directly applied to the paper without using the conveyance assisting body 16. A method of acting on leaves and carrying them may be used. The sub-transport device 13 and the in-island banknote transport device 8 may be of any transport system, and may be a transport system of transporting paper sheets with a transport belt, for example.

2... Game hall 3... Gaming machine island 4... Gaming ball lending machine 5... Gaming machine 6... Relay box 8... Island banknote transporting device 10... Paper sheet collecting/transporting system 11... Safe box 12... Conveying pipe 13... Sub-transporting device 14 ...Intake device 15...Coupling part 16...Transportation assisting body 16a...Head 16b...Neck 16c...Large diameter part 16d...Narrowing part 17...Auxiliary blower 21...Air flow generating device 22...Bill separating/conveying assisting body circulation device 23 ... Auxiliary carrier insertion device 24... Separation and collection device 24b... Banknote outlet 25... Banknote storage part 26... Banknote transport part 27... Control part 28... Guide passage 29... Standby place 32... Side wall part 33... Wall part 34... Rib 34a ... slope 36 ... guide rail 37 ... connecting wall part 38 ... expansion part 41 ... holding part 42 ... receiving part 43 ... slit 45 ... holding part 46 ... movable arm 51 ... twisting part 61 ... conveying pipe (conveying path of sub-conveying device)
61a... Opening 62... Ascending flow generating part 62a... Wing 62b... Air blowing port 63... Banknote taking-in part 64... Passage part 64b... Opening 64c... Inflow port 65... Conveying part 65a... Banknote passage 65b... Conveying roller 65c... Conveying belt 65d... Shutter 71... Passage part 71b... Opening 72... Conveying part 73... Banknote guide path 74... Conveying belt 75... Feeding belt 76... Shutter 80... Conveying pipe (conveying path of the in-island bill conveying device)
82... Banknote separation/conveyance auxiliary body circulation device 84... Air flow generation device 85... Banknote separation/conveyance auxiliary body circulation device 86... Conveyance auxiliary body insertion device 87... Separation and collection device 88... Banknote conveyance section 90... Temporary storage device 91... Attitude changing unit 92... Elevator unit 92a... Lower plate 92b... Pressing unit 92c... Notch notch 92d... Pressing roller 93... Feeding transport unit 93b... Feeding belt 94... Banknote denomination determining unit 95... Banknote discharging unit 96... Feeding transport unit Conveyance path 97... Ejection path 200 to banknote ejection section 200, 200B... Paper sheet storage device 201... Storage section A to G... Curve Da... Width direction Db of banknotes in the conveyance pipe of a portion passing through the intake device... Width direction of banknotes transported by the sub-transport device Dx... Distance between reference plane portions of transport tube Dy... Inner dimension of transport tube in Y direction Ds... Shift amount FW... Extension direction of transport tube M... Route of banknote transport section P, Pa, Pb... Banknote W... Passage width X... Passage passage width direction Y... Transport pipe height direction

Claims (1)

The pair of grooves are integrally formed so as to face each other, and the paper sheet is received and stored in the first posture between the pair of grooves, and the pair of grooves stores the paper sheet while supporting the edge portion thereof. A temporary storage part with a shape to
An attitude converter unit for converting the posture of the paper sheets accommodated in the temporary storage portion in said first position and a second position,
A transport unit that removes the paper sheets stored in the temporary storage unit in the second posture from the temporary storage unit by transporting the paper sheets in the predetermined transport direction facing the paper surface in the second posture.
A storage unit that stores a plurality of paper sheets that have been separated from the pair of grooves by the conveyance unit and have been separated from each other in the second posture ,
Have
The sheet storage device , wherein the transport section transports the sheet between the support member on the downstream side in the transport direction and the holding member on the upstream side in the transport direction .