JP2621462B2 - Paper transport device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Table of Contents] Overview Industrial application Field of the Invention Prior Art Problems to be Solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems Action Embodiment Effects of the Invention [Summary] Sheets in a carrier at a station Media transport device that can detect the presence or absence of a carrier and determine whether or not the carrier can be started.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper sheet transport device capable of preventing empty carriers from being transported and improving transport efficiency. The transport device includes a carrier on which the transported paper sheets are mounted, and a plurality of carriers on which the carrier starts and stops. A transport device that connects a station and a plurality of stations, and includes a transport path through which the carrier is transported, and transports the carrier loaded with the paper sheets between the plurality of stations by the transport path. A plurality of transmitting portions provided on at least one pair of two surfaces of each surface so that light beams can be transmitted therethrough; and a plurality of stations, each of which transmits a light beam through the transmitting portion when the carrier is stopped in the station, and is provided in the carrier. And a detecting means for detecting whether or not a paper sheet is present, and determining whether or not the carrier can be started based on a detection output by the detecting means.

[Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a device for transporting paper sheets such as banknotes in a financial institution or the like, and in particular, detects the presence or absence of paper sheets in a carrier at a station, and can determine whether or not to start the carrier. The present invention relates to a transport device.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automatic depositing and dispensing systems for automatically dispensing and automatically storing cash to be handled at windows of financial institutions and the like are becoming widespread.

This system employs a linear motor conveyor,
2. Description of the Related Art A system has been put to practical use in which cash or a check is conveyed at a high speed to a cashier station which is remote from a window and traded.
In the distribution industry, point-of-sale information management (Point Of
For example, a linear motor transport system that carries out transaction processing by mounting a price tag, cash, a credit card, or the like of a sales product on a carrier and transporting it to an accounting unit distant from a sales floor in a sales: POS system or the like is employed.

In such a system, for example, the carrier may be started erroneously without loading paper sheets such as bills and slips on the carrier, or the storage may be terminated in a state where there is a storage remaining for the bills or the like on the carrier, There is a demand for a method of preventing this and ensuring transport and storage of bills and the like.

[Conventional technology]

An automatic deposit and withdrawal system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 59-106283, and FIG. 4 shows an example of such a system. In the figure, Sa indicates that a teller has a carrier 2a with a check, a slip, etc. In addition, a window station that takes out banknotes 1a and checks sent on the carrier 2a and delivers them to the customer, Sb counts cash and uses a depositing machine (Auto-Deposit: AD) 4 mounted on the carrier 2a. A loading station, Sc is a storage station with a storage machine 5 for storing banknotes 1a from the arriving carrier 2a, and a rear station for loading checks, slips, etc. from the carrier 2a to which the teller has arrived, and a return slip, etc. It is. (Hereinafter, the window station Sa, the mounting station Sb, the storage station Sc, and the rear station Sd are collectively referred to as a station St.) These stations St are connected by a traveling rail 10a and provided at each station St. The opening and closing of the shutter 8 of the carrier 2a and the communication with a control device 13 described later are controlled by a station control unit (not shown).

FIG. 5 shows an outline of the carrier 2a and the running rail 10a. The running rail 10a is provided with a stator 10b at a predetermined interval as a primary iron core having a magnetic field generating coil (not shown). The carrier 2a having the storage box 20a, the secondary-side conductor plate 20b, and the wheels 20a runs. That is, the carrier 2a is a linear motor car, and travels by a thrust caused by the interaction between the traveling magnetic field generated by energizing the magnetic field generating coil and the eddy current induced on the secondary-side conductor plate 20b provided on the carrier 2a. .

The carrier 2a is arranged at the counter station Sa and the mounting station Sb when waiting for the customer.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the traveling carrier 2a reaches the position of the station St, it is braked by a stator (not shown), and the lift function provided at the station St is provided.
By 11, it rises together with a part of the traveling rail 10 a and stops at a position level where the teller can be operated or a position where the AD 4 and the storage device 5 can be mounted / stored. After the traveling rail 10a has been lifted, it is supplementally laid by the auxiliary rail 10b so that the other carrier 2a can travel.

A door opening mechanism 23a that opens the shutter 8 of the carrier 2a that has risen and stopped above the loading station Sb, the storage station Sc, and the rear station Sd (shown in FIG. 6 for explanation).
Is provided, and when the carrier 2a rises, the shutter 8 automatically opens, and the loading station Sb and the storage station Sc are opened.
Then, the shutter 8 is closed by the mounting / storage operation end signal.

The rear station Sd is provided with a return button 12c, and after loading a check or the like, the shutter 8 is closed by pressing the return button 12c of the teller. The window station Sa is provided with a shutter open button 12a and a start button 12b. A mechanism is provided for opening the shutter 8 by pressing the teller and closing the shutter 8 by pressing the start button 12b.

When the shutter 8 is closed, it is lowered by the lift mechanism 11 and started.

The control device 13 controls the start / stop of the AD 4 and the storage device 5 including the opening and closing of the shutter of the carrier 2a at each station St, and the running.

With such a configuration, when the teller inserts the bills received from the customer into the AD 4, the bills are automatically counted and mounted collectively on the storage box 9 of the carrier 2 a with the shutter 8 open. The controller 8 is notified of the completion of the mounting operation, the shutter 8 is closed by a command from the controller 13, the completion of the closing is notified again to the controller 13, and the carrier 2 a is moved by the lift mechanism 11 by the lift mechanism 11. Descends on 10a,
It travels and is transported to the storage station Sc.

When the carrier 2a arrives at the storage station Sc and rises to a predetermined position, the shutter 8 is opened, and the banknote 1a is taken out by the hand of a storage robot (not shown) and stored in the storage device 5.

When the storing operation is completed, the shutter 8 is closed and notified to the control device 13, and a command is issued from the control device 13 to the carrier 2a.
Descends and travels on the traveling rail 10a to AD station Sb
And returned to the original position.

When the teller receives a check or the like from the customer at the counter station 4a, the shutter open button 12a is pressed to open the shutter 8 of the carrier 2a, and the check or the like is stored in the storage box 20a.
When it is mounted on a and the start button 12a is pressed, the shutter 8 closes, and the carrier 2a descends and is transported to the rear station Sd. The arriving carrier 2a rises to the operation position and the shutter 8 opens. The teller takes out a check or the like from the carrier 2a. When the return button 12c is pressed upon completion of the removal, the shutter 8 closes, the carrier 2a descends, is conveyed to the counter station Sa, and returns to the original position.

In this way, the banknote 1a and the paper such as a check are mounted on the carrier 2a, and are conveyed and stored.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the above-described conventional method, since the detection of whether or not the paper sheet is present in the carrier is not performed, the bill automatically transported to the carrier by the AD of the window at the time of bill transport is carried to the rear storage machine and stored. In this case, the banknotes may not be completely removed due to the bending of the banknotes, etc., and the banknotes remaining in the carrier that could not be completely stored may be returned to the window AD station without being stored because the storing operation is completed. There is a difference between the already counted amount and the stored amount, and manual post-processing becomes complicated, which is not preferable in cash management.

When transporting a check or the like from the counter station to the rear station, the teller pressed the shutter open button at the counter station to open the shutter, but forgot to load the check etc. and pressed the start button, the empty The carrier travels to the rear station, and the transport efficiency is reduced.

There is a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a paper sheet transport apparatus capable of reliably transporting and storing bills and the like by a carrier and preventing transport of an empty carrier to enhance transport efficiency.

[Means for solving the problem]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. In the figure, 2
Is a carrier, 23 is a plurality of stations at which the carrier 2 starts and stops, 10 is a transport path connecting the plurality of stations 23 and the carrier 2 is transported, and 14, 15 are at least one pair of two surfaces of each surface of the carrier 2. A plurality of transmission sections provided so that light rays can be transmitted through each of the plurality of stations 23.
When the carrier 2 is stopped, the light is transmitted through the transmitting portions 14 and 15 to detect whether or not the paper sheet 1 exists in the carrier 2.

Therefore, based on the detection output by the detection means 16, the carrier 2
It is configured to determine whether the vehicle can be started.

[Action]

When the carrier 2 is stopped in the station 23, the detecting means 16 transmits the light beam through the transmitting portions 14 and 15 to detect whether or not the sheet 1 is present in the carrier 2, and starts the carrier 2. Is determined. That is, when the sheet 1 is loaded on the carrier 2 at the station 23, the presence is detected by the detection means 16 and if the presence is recognized, the vehicle can be started,
If the presence is not recognized, it is determined that the vehicle is not mounted and the vehicle cannot start. When the carrier 2 carrying the sheet 1 arrives at the station 23 and the sheet 1 is taken out, the detecting means
If the presence of the paper sheet 1 in the carrier 2 is not recognized by the carrier 16, the start is enabled, and if the presence is recognized, the start is prohibited and the paper sheet 1 is erroneously set.
Or start Carrier 2 without the
Also, it is possible to prevent the paper sheet 1 from being taken out of the transported carrier 2 but to leave the paper sheet 1 and to start the carrier 2 as it is, and to prevent a decrease in the transport efficiency due to the transport of the empty carrier. The paper sheets 1 can be securely stored, and the reliability of cash management can be improved.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. The same reference numerals indicate the same objects throughout the drawings. Second
In the figure, those corresponding to FIG. 1 are surrounded by dashed lines.

As shown in the configuration diagram of FIG. 2A, a see-through hole 14a is provided at the bottom of the storage box 20 'of the carrier 2b, and a see-through hole 15a is provided at the shutter 8a. The see-through hole 14a is provided at the bottom corresponding to the substantially central position of the bill 1a when the bill 1a is mounted on the carrier 2b, and the see-through hole 15a is in a state where the shutter 8a is open,
When the banknote 1a is mounted on the carrier 2b, the optical axis with the see-through hole 14a is provided at a position where the optical axis is shielded by the banknote 1a.

The window station Sa, the storage station Sc, and the rear station Sd face the light-emitting elements S1 to S3 on the extension of the optical axis of the transparent hole 14a at the bottom of the storage box 20 'and the transparent hole 15a of the open shutter 8a. And transmission-type optical sensors (hereinafter, referred to as optical sensors) 16a to 16c in which light-receiving elements S4 to S6 are arranged, respectively.

Also, in the control block diagram of FIG.
7d is a station control unit provided at each station St, 18a to 18d are mechanism control units that control a mechanism for opening and closing the shutter 8a of the carrier 2b provided at the top of the station St, and 19a to 19d are connected to the control device 13. Communication control unit for communication,
Reference numerals 21a to 21d denote a carrier drive control unit, 22a and 22b denote shutter closing prohibition units, and 24 denotes a panel provided with a shutter open button 12a and a start button 12b. The station explained in the conventional example
The Sd return button 12c is omitted.

The shutter closing prohibition section 22a is configured such that the optical sensor 16a
When a signal that detects the absence of a check, slip, or the like is received, the mechanism controller 18a invalidates the pressing of the start button 12b by the teller and prohibits the shutter 8a from closing.

The shutter closing prohibition section 22b is configured such that the optical sensor 16b
When it is detected that the banknote 1a remains in the mechanism controller 18c
Invalidates the take-out operation end signal sent from the control device 13 and received by the communication control unit 19c for closing the shutter 8a, and sends a residual presence signal to the communication control unit 19c.
To send to.

Having such a mechanism and function, the operation will now be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

1) Banknotes mounted on carrier 2b at storage station Sc
When storing 1a (FIG. 3 (a)) First, when the shutter 8a of the arriving carrier 2b is opened, whether the paper money 1a is present in the carrier 2b through the transparent holes 14a, 15a when the optical sensor 16b is opened. Detect whether or not.

If it is detected that the banknote 1a is not present (it is determined that the banknote 1a has been lost due to a drop or the like in the middle of the transport), a transport abnormal signal is sent to the control device 13.

The control device 13 sends an abnormality notification instruction signal to the storage device 5, and the storage device 5 notifies the abnormality by an alarm lamp and a buzzer (not shown).

When the bill 1a is present, a bill present signal is sent to the control device 13, and the control device 13 instructs the storage device 5 to start a take-out operation.

The storage machine 5 grasps and takes out the banknote 1a from the carrier 2b by the robot hand and stores it. When the removal operation is completed, the control unit 13 is notified.

The optical sensor 16b detects the presence or absence of the banknote 1a in the carrier 2b through the see-through holes 14a and 15a.

When there is no remaining bill 1a, based on the shutter closing instruction signal sent from the control device 13, the mechanism control unit 18c closes the shutter 8a, sends the closing completion to the control device 13 again, and issues a command from the control device 13. As a result, the cap drive control unit 19c is activated to transport the carrier 2b to the mounting station Sb.

If the remaining of the bill 1a is detected due to the remaining, the shutter closing prohibition unit 22b is notified, the shutter closing instruction signal sent from the control device 13 is invalidated, and the remaining signal is sent to the control unit device 13.

The control device 13 instructs the storage device 5 to perform a re-take operation.

Then, the subsequent flow is repeated to store the remaining bills 1a.

2) When a check or the like is mounted on the carrier 2b at the counter station Sa (FIG. 3 (b)) First, when the teller presses the shutter open button 12a, the mechanism control unit 18a is activated and the shutter 8a is opened.

Then, the teller mounts the check or the like received from the customer on the carrier 2b and presses the start button 12b.

The optical sensor 16a detects the presence or absence of a check or the like in the carrier 2b.

When the presence of a check or the like is detected, a mounting end signal is notified to the control device 13, and based on a shutter closing instruction signal sent from the control device 13, the mechanism control unit 18a closes the shutter 8a and completes closing. It is sent to the controller 13 again, and the controller 13
The carrier drive control unit 19a is activated by a command from the controller and conveys the carrier 2b to the rear station Sd.

If the absence of a check or the like is detected due to forgetting to mount, a mounting incomplete signal is sent to the control device 13, and an invalid signal for invalidating the pressing of the start button 12b is sent from the control device 13 to the shutter closing prohibition portion 22b. And the activation of the mechanism control unit 18a is prohibited, and the shutter 8a does not close.

Since the shutter 8a does not close even when the teller presses the start button 12b, the teller notices that he / she has forgotten to install the checker, loads a check or the like, and presses the start button 12b. That is, the subsequent flow is repeated.

3) When a check or the like is taken out of the carrier 2b at the rear station Sd (FIG. 3C) First, the teller takes out the check or the like from the carrier 2b with the shutter 8a opened.

The optical sensor 16c detects the presence or absence of a check or the like in the carrier 2b.

When the absence is detected, a detection signal is sent to the control device 13, a shutter closing instruction signal is sent from the control device 13, the mechanism control unit 18d is activated, and the shutter 8a is closed.

The completion of closing is sent to the control device 13 again, and the carrier drive control unit 19d is activated by a command from the control device 13 to
b is conveyed to the counter station Sa.

In this way, at the storage station Sc, it is confirmed whether or not there is a transport abnormality, and the banknote 1a can be securely stored by detecting a residue at the time of automatic storage by the mackerel storage machine 5, and no check or the like is mounted at the counter station Sa. The transport efficiency can be increased by preventing the empty carrier 2b from being transported, and the operator needs to press the start button 12c as in the conventional example after removing a check or the like from the carrier 2b at the rear station Sd. And the operation can be simplified.

In the above-described example, the case where the transparent holes 14a and 15a are provided in the bottom portion of the storage box of the carrier 2b and the shutter 8 respectively, and the optical sensors 16a to 16c are provided in the storage box, has been described.
In order to further ascertain the presence or absence of a bill 1a or a check or the like in the 20 ', two opposing surfaces or two adjacent surfaces are provided with transparent holes, respectively, or a plurality of transparent holes are provided in each of the two surfaces. It is also possible to provide a plurality of optical sensors corresponding to each other, and to detect the presence or absence of a bill or a check by any one of the optical sensors, or to detect the absence or presence of all the optical sensors. Of course.

In addition, at least the surface of the carrier on which the transparent holes 14a and 15a are formed is formed of a material through which light rays transmit, or the transparent holes 14a and
A method of forming a position corresponding to 15a with a material that transmits light may be used.

Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to a case where a carrier for holding a loaded paper sheet with a holding member without a shutter is conveyed.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, when the shutter of the carrier is open at the station, whether or not a sheet is present in the carrier is detected by the optical sensor from the bottom of the carrier and the transparent hole provided in the shutter. Can detect whether or not the carrier can be started, so that automatic storage of paper sheets can be prevented from being left behind, and storage can be reliably performed. There is an effect that carrier conveyance can be prevented and the carrier efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the embodiment, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a transport system to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a carrier, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of carrier movement in a station. In the figure, 1 is a paper sheet, 1a is a bill, 2, 2a, 2b is a carrier, 8, 8a is a shutter, 10 is a transport path, 10a is a running rail, 14, 15 is a transmissive part, and 14a, 15a is a transparent hole. , 16 is a detecting means, 16a to 16c are optical sensors, 23, St is a station, Sa is a window station, Sb is a loading station, Sc is a storage station, and Sd is a rear station.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A carrier (2) on which sheets (1) to be conveyed are mounted, a plurality of stations (23) where the carrier (2) starts and stops, and a plurality of stations (23). And a transport path (10) through which the carrier (2) is transported. The carrier (2) on which the paper sheet (1) is mounted is connected to the transport path (1).
(0), a transport device for transporting between the plurality of stations (23), wherein at least one pair of two surfaces of the carrier (2) is provided with a plurality of transmitting portions ( 14,15)
When the carrier (2) is stopped at each of the plurality of stations (23), light is transmitted through the transmitting portions (14, 15) to the inside of the carrier (2) when the carrier (2) is stopped. Detecting means (16) for detecting whether or not a sheet (1) is present in the vehicle, and determining whether or not the carrier (2) can be started based on a detection output by the detecting means (16). A paper sheet conveying device characterized by the above-mentioned.