JP3219431B2 - Sheet handling equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet handling apparatus for removing sheets one by one from a bundle of sheets held in a container and sending the sheets to a delivery station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present invention can be applied to, for example, a bill payment unit used in an automatic teller machine (ATM). The automatic teller machine is provided with a bill extracting device for extracting bills from one or more bundled cassettes mounted in a bill payment unit. As is well known, in an automatic teller machine, a user inserts a customer identification card into a machine and then transmits certain data (for example, encryption, the amount of money to be paid, the form of transaction, etc.) to the keyboard of the machine. Use to enter. The machine then processes the transaction as a prescribed procedure,
The customer's account data is updated based on the transaction, payment is made from one or more cash cassettes, and the card is returned to the customer.

[0003] One form of a cash dispenser of a known automatic teller machine includes a bill extracting mechanism. The mechanism includes a rotatable pick arm located adjacent to the cash cassette. This pick arm pulls a part of the bill at the end of the bundle of bills in the cassette by applying a suction force to the bill, and engages the pulled-out part with a transfer device prepared for removing the bill from the cassette. Then, the bill is taken out. A typical cash payment process includes a process in which a transfer mechanism sends a plurality of bills one by one to a bill stacking device for stacking bills in a bundle. The bundled bills are then sent to a dispensing station, called a cash removal slot, so that they can be picked up by an automatic teller machine user.

In a bill removing mechanism, a so-called "swallowing phenomenon", that is, a phenomenon in which a plurality of bills are mistakenly removed from a cassette instead of a single bill in one cycle of the removing mechanism, often occurs due to abnormal operation of the mechanism. Such an anomaly occurs, for example, when the cassette is not properly loaded, or when a bill pushing mechanism in the cassette is jammed. When a swallowing event occurs, the gear driving the bill transfer device is subjected to significantly greater stress, and one or more gears fail. Even if only one gear failed due to the swallowing phenomenon,
All other gears in the drive system are subjected to very high stresses and further use results in greater failure. Therefore, once the swallowing phenomenon occurs, the main gear needs to be replaced in order to be able to use the reliable take-out mechanism again.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet handling apparatus for removing sheets one by one from a bundle of bills and sending the sheets to a delivery station. The device includes a device that protects the device from damage in the event of a swallowing event.

[0006]

For this purpose, the present invention takes out sheets one by one from a sheet bundle (18) held in a container (14), and removes the sheets one by one from a delivery station (1).
30) sheet transport means (74, 78, 8)
6) and a sheet engaging device (36) configured to pull out a part of the sheet bundle from the bundle, separate it from the remaining sheets, and deliver a part of the sheet bundle to the conveying means.
Wherein the sheet engaging device (36) draws out the terminal sheet of the sheet bundle from the bundle by sucking the terminal sheet of the sheet bundle and delivers the terminal sheet to the conveying means. The sheet conveying means has a first shaft (76) and a second shaft (80), and a pick-up arm (36) configured on the first shaft and the second shaft, respectively. A mounted first roll (74) and a second roll (78), an electric motor for driving the roll device, and a spatial relative movement in the direction of the second axis. A switch for releasing the drive to the electric motor in conjunction with one end of the first shaft mounted on the second shaft, and the second roller receives a terminal sheet of a sheet bundle from the sheet engaging device. Low edge (82 And a high peripheral portion (84) contacting the first roller surface, wherein the first roll and the second roll are separated by the sheet engaging device. Captures the terminal sheet of the sheet bundle passed between the lower portions, and when the high portion of the periphery of the second roll contacts the terminal sheet of the sheet bundle, the terminal sheet thickness is equal to or more than a predetermined amount. The present invention provides a sheet handling apparatus characterized in that the first roll is pushed up and the switch is actuated via the first shaft when there is.

[0007] This and other objects will become apparent from the following description. The present invention includes novel features with respect to configuration and combination of parts, and preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The cash dispensing unit 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes two similar withdrawal mechanisms 12 associated with two banknote cassettes 14 in a vertical relationship with each other.
The bill cassette 14 is detachably mounted in the support frame 16 of the cash payment unit 10. Each bill cassette 14 accommodates a bundle of bills 18, and its long side is supported on a horizontal support plate 20 mounted in the cassette 14. Each of the two cassettes 14 stores bills 18 having different face values.

Referring to FIG. 2, a bundle of bills 18 in each cassette 14 is stopped by a spring-loaded push-out member 22 (FIG. 1) mounted in front of the cassette 14 (to the left in FIGS. 1 and 2). It is urged toward member 24 (FIG. 2). An opening 26 (FIG. 2) is formed at the front end of each cassette 14 and is normally opened by a conventional shutter device (not shown) when the cassette 14 is not mounted in the cash dispensing unit 10. It is closed. The cassette 14 in the correct operating position in the cash dispensing unit 10
Is installed, the associated shutter device is automatically retracted from the closed position so that the corresponding removal mechanism 12 can withdraw the bill 18 from the opening 26. A brush 28 is provided at the front end of the support plate 20 of each cassette 14, which will be further described later.

Each take-out mechanism 12 is provided with a side wall 32 of the frame 16.
And a tubular member 30 extending between and rotatably mounted with respect to the walls. The conventional pick arms 36 each include a rubber suction pad 38 and are fixed on each tubular member 30, and each pick arm 36 opens into the corresponding tubular member 30. The corresponding end of the tubular member 30 projects beyond the side wall 34 and is connected to a respective rubber tube 42 with a respective rotary elbow connector 40. During operation, reduced pressure is applied to each tubular member 30 via the rubber tube 42.

A gear portion 44 is fixed to a portion extending beyond the side wall 34 of each tubular member 30.
It engages cooperatively with the toothed end portion 46 of the first arm of the bell crank lever 48. Bell crank lever 4
8 is rotatably mounted on a stud 50 fixed to the outer surface of the side wall 34. Each bell crank lever 48 is caused to rotate counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 2 by a spring 52, and both ends of the spring 52 are mounted on the side wall 34 and the end of the second arm of the bell crank lever 48, respectively. A stud 54 is fixed to one side of each bell crank lever 48,
The stud 54 engages a cam track 56 formed in a corresponding cam member 58. Each cam member 58 is fixed to a respective gear 60. The gear 60 is rotatably mounted on each shaft 62 projecting from the outer surface of the side wall 34. The gear 60 is driven by a gear mechanism 64 operated by a main motor 66 (FIG. 6). In operation, when the electric motor 66 is operated, the gear 60 is rotated clockwise in FIG. The stud 54 engages the cam track 56 and the spring 52
This rotation of the gear 60 causes the movement of the bell crank lever 48 to be a reciprocating rotational movement, as the stud 54 remains engaged with the inner edge of the cam track 56. Because the gear portion 44 engages the toothed portion 46 of the bell crank lever 48, the reciprocating rotational movement of the bell crank lever 48 results in the reciprocating rotational movement of the tubular member 30 and the associated pick arm 36. As will be described later, the reciprocating movement of both the tubular member 30 and the associated pick arm 36 is effective in removing banknotes 18 one by one from the bundle of banknotes 18 held in the banknote cassette 14.

A timing disk 68 is fixed to a surface on the far side of each gear 60 when viewed from the cam member 58. Each timing disk 68 is largely transparent and includes an arcuate opaque strip 70 extending just over half the circumference of the timing disk 68. Each timing disk 68 is associated with an optical sensing device that includes an LED (not shown) and a cooperative phototransistor sensor 73 positioned to sense the opaque strip 70. In operation, as the assembly of gear 60, its associated cam member 58, and timing disk 68 rotate in response to operation of motor 66, in response to detecting the leading and trailing edges of opaque strip 70. An associated phototransistor sensor 73 generates an output signal. It should be understood that this signal generated by sensor 73 indicates the exact position of its associated pick arm 36 at the time these signals were generated.

Referring now to FIG. 3, each take-out mechanism 12 also includes a first set of rolls 7 fixed to a drive shaft 76.
4 and a second set of rolls 78 (hereinafter referred to as cam rolls) having a cooperative relationship with the rolls 74 and fixed to the drive shaft 80. The periphery of roll 78 includes a lower portion 82 and a higher portion 84. Drive shaft 76 and drive shaft 80 extend between side walls 32 and 34 and are rotatably mounted to these walls and are driven by two wheels 85 forming part of gear mechanism 64. As a result,
Roll 74 and roll 78 rotate clockwise and counterclockwise in FIG. 2, respectively. In this case, the roll 74 and the roll 78 rotate twice each for one rotation of the timing disk 68. During a normal unloading operation, the lower long side of the first bill 18 'of the bundle of bills 18 is partially pulled out of the cassette 14 under the action of suction exerted by the respective pick arm 36, As the arm 36 rotates clockwise from the position 36 'shown by the dashed line 2 to the position shown by the solid line, it is fed between the lower portion 82 of each roll 78 and its associated roll 74. Banknote 18 '
Is then pulled completely out of the cassette 14 because it is sandwiched between the roll 74 and the high portion 84 of the roll 78.

The cash dispensing unit 10 includes two bill transport mechanisms 86, each associated with two withdrawal mechanisms 12. Each bill transfer mechanism 86 includes a guide device 87 and a set of feed rolls 88 for sending the bills drawn out by the take-out mechanism 12 to another transfer mechanism 100 located above the bill transfer mechanism 86 along a feed path 98. 90, 92, 94,
And 96. The transfer mechanism 100 serves to feed banknotes one by one to a conventional loading wheel 102. The set of rolls 78 and cooperating rolls 74 of each pick-up mechanism 12 feed the picked bills to a set of cooperating feed rolls 88 and 90. The bills are fed from the feed rolls 88 and 90 to the cooperative feed rolls 90
The two sets and the pair of cooperative feed rolls 94 and 96 are fed upward outside the respective bill transfer mechanisms 86.
The upper bill transport mechanism 86 further includes two other cooperative rolls 104. The roll 104 is a lower bill transfer mechanism 86
The banknote is transferred to the upper banknote transfer mechanism 8
The bill is sent from the upper bill transfer mechanism 86 to the transfer mechanism 100.

Referring now specifically to FIG. 1, it is shown that the loading wheel 102 is driven by an electric motor 66 and is arranged to rotate continuously counterclockwise. Upper Bill Transfer Mechanism 86 and Loading Wheel 102
Between them, there is provided a device (not shown) for detecting that the banknotes are supplied in an overlapped manner and for detecting all invalid or damaged banknotes. The loading wheel 102 includes a plurality of loading plates 110 spaced parallel to one another along an axis 112 of the loading wheel. Each loading plate 110 includes a series of curved vanes 114. Loading board 1
The ten blades 114 pass between portions 116 of a pivotally mounted stripper plate assembly 118. Operationally,
Each bill supplied to the loading wheel 102 by the transfer mechanism 100 enters between the adjacent blades 114 and is transported partially around the axis of the loading wheel 102. This bill is loaded by the loading wheel 10
2 and is loaded on the belt device 120 with the long side of the banknote resting on the stripper plate assembly 118.
Belt device 120 typically cooperates with belt device 122 held in the position shown in FIG. When a wad 18 "(or only one banknote) to be paid to the customer in response to a cash withdrawal request is loaded onto the belt device 120,
The belt device 122 is swung clockwise about an axis 124 such that the stack 18 "is captured between the belt devices 120 and 122. In the course of this rotational movement, the belt device 122 is constructed. Separate belts
It should be appreciated that the passage is between adjacent pairs of loading plates 110.

Assuming that none of the banknotes in the stack 18 "have been rejected for any reason, the belt devices 120,122 are activated to drive the stack 18" to a pair of drive belt devices 126,128. The drive belt devices 126, 128 serve to drive the bills 18 "through an exit slot 130 in the automatic teller housing 132 and to drive the automatic teller user to a position where they can acquire the bills 18". The shutter 134 serves to close the exit slot 130 when the automatic teller machine is inactive, but has already retracted to the open position. The belt devices 120, 122 are mounted in a resilient relationship with each other, and the drive belt devices 126, 128 are also mounted in a resilient relationship with each other, so that a bundle of bills of varying thickness is It can be held and moved between devices 120 and between drive belt devices 126,128. If a stack of bills is detected in the process of stacking the bills on the belt device 120, or if one or more bills in the bundle 18 "are rejected for other reasons, the stripper plate assembly 118 will be 1 and the belt devices 120 and 122 are operated to feed the bundle 18 ″ in a direction opposite to the normal feeding direction, and
8 "is dispensed into the rejected bill container 136 via the top opening.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 3, 4 (a) and 4 (b). The drive shaft 80 of each take-out mechanism 12 is mounted in a fixed bearing 138 fixed to the side walls 32 and 34, respectively, while the drive shaft 76 is fixed to the movable bearing 142 and the side wall 34 adjacent to the side wall 32. Fixed in the fixed bearing 140. Fixed bearing 1
40 and meshing gear 85 are fixed bearings 140
Allow a certain amount of rotational movement of the drive shaft 76 in a clockwise direction (with reference to FIG. 3). Movable bearing 142
Is a generally rectangular opening 146 formed in side wall 32
1 that penetrates and is slidably engaged therewith
44. This portion 144 is provided with a flange 148 that slidably contacts the outer surface of the wall 32. One end of the drive shaft 76 adjacent the side wall 32 operates in conjunction with a microswitch 150 mounted on the outer surface of the side wall 32 via a movable bearing 142. The stud 152 formed on the portion 144 is engaged with the actuation lever 154 of the micro switch 150. Usually, the movable bearing 142
Portion 144 is urged downwardly into contact with the lower edge of the opening 146 by a compression spring 156 disposed between the top of the portion 144 and the upper edge of the opening 146. Drive shaft 76, part 1
44, the normal position of the microswitch 150 is as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (a), and the microswitch 150 is in the open state in the normal position. As described later in detail, when the swallowing phenomenon occurs, the movable bearing 1
42 is displaced upward from the shaft 80 and displaced upward to the position shown in FIG. 4B against the action of the spring 156.
Portion 144 slides up along opening 146 in side wall 32 and drive shaft 76 rotates about the center of fixed bearing 140. When this upward movement of the movable bearing 142 is performed, the actuation lever 154 of the microswitch 150 is rotated counterclockwise (with reference to FIGS. 4A, B) by the stud 152, thereby closing the microswitch 150. .

The operation of the cash payment unit 10 is shown in FIG.
(A), 5B, and FIG. This operation is controlled by the electronic control unit 158 (FIG. 6) of the cash dispensing unit 10. This electronic control device 158 is
6, each phototransistor 73, and the suction control device 160 of each takeout mechanism 12. The microswitch 150 of each take-out mechanism 12 is connected in series with the resistor 162 between the electronic control unit 158 and the positive voltage supply. In response to the cash withdrawal request made by the automatic teller machine user, the main automatic teller processor (not shown) sends a request to the electronic control unit 158 that one or more bills should be paid by the cash dispensing unit 10. Upon transmission, the controller 158 sends a signal to the motor 66 to turn on the motor 66 and initiate rotation of the assembly comprising the gear 60, the cam member 58, and the timing disk 68. Immediately thereafter, the control device 158 starts transmitting a signal to one of the suction control devices 160 of the selected removal mechanism 12. This is for connecting the selected tubular member 30 of the take-out mechanism 12 to a source of reduced pressure (not shown) in a controlled manner to initiate bill removal from the associated bill cassette 14. The timing of applying reduced pressure to the tubular member 30, and thus the timing of applying reduced pressure to the suction pad 38, is controlled by a signal generated from the phototransistor sensor 73 of the selected take-out mechanism 12.

In response to the rotational movement of gear 60 of pick-up mechanism 12 selected as described above, pick arm 36 of pick-up mechanism 12 performs an amplitude movement. While the removal of banknotes from the banknote cassette 14 occurs (FIG. 2)
For each rotational movement of the pick arm 36 in a clockwise direction (with reference to FIG. 3), the pick arm 36 is driven by the first bill 18 'of the bundle of bills held in the bill cassette 14.
, A suction force is applied in a well-known manner, and as a result
Withdraw the lower end of banknote 18 'from banknote cassette 14 until the lower end of 8' contacts roll set 74.

As the lower end of the bill 18 'approaches the roll 74, the lower portion 82 of the cam roll 78
8 faces the roll 74 so as not to interfere with the movement of the bill 18 '. High portion 84 of roll 78 is roll 74
The suction pad 38 disengages the bill 18 'when it is about to come to a cooperative relationship. And this bill 1
8 'is then captured between the roll 74 and the high portion 84 of the cam roll 78 as shown in FIG. 5 (a). The rolls 74 and 78 pull out the bill 18 ′ from the bill cassette 14 until the leading edge of the bill enters the nip of the rolls 88 and 90 of the transfer mechanism 86. The bill 18 'is then completely withdrawn from the bill cassette 14 and sent to the loading wheel 102 as described above.

Once the bill 18 'has been sent to the loading wheel 102, the controller 158 can proceed with another series of unloading operations. In this case, the bill is taken out of any of the bill cassettes 14. The controller 1 confirms that the bill with the correct face value has been drawn from the bill cassette 14.
Upon confirmation 58, controller 158 deactivates motor 66 and returns cash dispensing unit 10 to its stationary state.

Due to the constant porosity of the first banknote 18 ', the second banknote of the bundle of banknotes 18 together with the first banknote 18' together with the remaining banknotes when the first banknote 18 'is removed from its cassette. It can be pulled away from the bill and move forward. Under normal conditions, the brush 28 prevents the second bill along with the first bill 18 'from being pulled out of the cassette 14. The reason for this is that when the first and second bills are withdrawn from the cassette, the brush 28 bends the lower ends of these bills, thereby preventing suction from being applied to the second bill and thus the second bill. Is allowed to fall back to a normal position in the bill cassette 14.

If, for example, the loading of the cassette 14 is not correct, or if the push-out member 22 is clogged or the like, and the swallowing phenomenon occurs, the banknote lump 18 '''is pulled out from the banknote cassette 14, and FIG. Can be trapped between the leading edges of the high portions 84 of the rolls 74 and 78 as shown in FIG. The roll 78 continues to rotate after the banknote chunk 18 ′ ″ is captured between the high portion 84 and the roll 74 so that when the roll 74 is pushed upward from the roll 78, the movable bearing 142 opens the side wall 32. 14
It is moved upward along the direction 6 away from the shaft 80. This upward movement of the movable bearing 142 continues until the end of the drive shaft 76 adjacent the side wall 32 is separated from the drive shaft 80 by more than a predetermined amount. When the predetermined amount is reached, the microswitch 15
0 is closed and a high level signal is applied to the controller 158 via the closed microswitch 150. In response to the reception of the high-level signal, the control device 158 immediately starts the take-out mechanism 12, the transfer mechanism 86, and the transfer mechanism 100.
The power of the electric motor 66 is released in order to stop the operation of the gear mechanism 64 driving the motor 66. At the same time, the control device 158
4 to the main ATM processor (not shown). This signal indicates that a swallowing event has occurred in the cash dispensing unit 10. Note that when a swallowing event occurs, the motor 66 turns off the power to the gear 66 before the gear mechanism 64 and associated parts are subjected to significantly greater stress. As soon as the operator clears the paper jam, the automatic teller machine in which the cash dispensing unit 10 is concerned can be immediately activated again without requiring further repairs. In this way, the mechanism described above, including the movable bearing 142 and the associated microswitch 150, simply and effectively protects the cash dispensing unit 10 from damage in the event of a swallowing event.

In the above-described embodiment, when a swallowing phenomenon of a banknote lump having a total thickness exceeding 2 mm (about 20 bills) occurs, the microswitch 150 is turned off.
Closes. If one of the take-out mechanisms 12 pulls out multiple bills of 2 mm or less as a whole, the gear mechanism 64 will not be jammed and will not cause any damage. Such multiple banknotes are detected by the multiple banknote detector and separated into reject banknote containers 136.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a cash dispensing unit of an automatic teller machine including a bill handling apparatus according to the present invention, excluding some of the parts of the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional side view of a part of the cash dispensing unit of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a portion of the apparatus take-out mechanism of FIG. 2 when viewed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a portion of the take-out mechanism of FIG. 3 when viewed in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 3, showing different operating positions of parts of the mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a normal take-out operation and a take-out operation when a swallowing phenomenon occurs.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing electrical connections between components of the cash dispensing unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cash payment unit 12 Sheet take-out mechanism 14 Cassette 16 Cassette support frame 18 'Banknote 74 First roll 76 First roll axis 78 Second roll 80 Second roll axis 74, 78, 86 Banknote transfer device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Adam Jay. Lindsey Johnston UK, Scotland, Dundee D.D. 39 D.D., Bardauvan Rd. 10 (56) References JP-A-2-56334 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model 58-110642 (JP, U) (58) Investigated Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07D 1/00 B65H 3/08 G07D 9/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet conveying means (74, 78, 86) for taking out sheets one by one from a sheet bundle (18) held in a container (14) and sending the sheets to a delivery station (130). A sheet engaging device configured to pull out a part of the sheet bundle from the bundle to be separated from the remaining sheets, and to deliver a part of the sheet bundle to the conveying means. Wherein the sheet engaging device (36) is configured to pull out a terminal sheet of the sheet bundle from the bundle by sucking the terminal sheet of the sheet bundle, and deliver the terminal sheet to the conveying means. An arm (36), wherein the sheet conveying means includes a first shaft (76) and a second shaft (80), and a first shaft mounted on the first shaft and the second shaft, respectively. Roll ( 4) and a second roll (78)
And an electric motor for driving the roll device, and an electric motor coupled to one end of the first shaft mounted so as to be capable of spatially moving relative to the direction of the second shaft. A switch for releasing the drive of the second roller, wherein the second roller has a lower peripheral portion (82) for receiving a terminal sheet of the sheet bundle from the sheet engaging device.
And a high peripheral portion (84) in contact with the first roller surface
The first roll and the second roll, the sheet engagement device, the terminal sheet of the sheet bundle delivered between the lower portion of the peripheral edge of the first roll and the second roll, When the high portion of the peripheral edge of the second roll contacts the terminal sheet of the sheet bundle, the first roll is pushed up when the terminal sheet thickness is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, and the first roll is pushed up and the first roll is pressed. A sheet handling apparatus characterized in that said switch is operated via a shaft.