JP3258509B2 - Banknote recognition device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bill validating apparatus suitable for use in vending machines and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A bill discriminating device used in a vending machine or the like discriminates inserted bills, takes them in when the bills are genuine, and takes out the bills from the insertion port in the case of forgery or alteration. I try to discharge it. FIG. 6 shows a banknote transport mechanism in a conventional banknote recognition device. Reference numeral 10 denotes a feed belt formed by a timing belt, which is stretched between pulleys. Reference numeral 12 denotes a back pulley disposed at the back opposite to the bill insertion slot. The back pulley 12 is rotated by a drive unit (not shown), and rotates the feed belt 10 in the direction of an arrow at the time of taking in bills.

[0003] Reference numerals 14a and 14b denote pressing rollers which are urged by a spring and pressed against the feed belt 10 so as to pinch the bill between the feed belt 10 and feed the bill. When discharging banknotes, of course, the back pulley 1
2 is rotated in the opposite direction. The pressing roller is also provided at a portion other than that shown. Reference numeral 15 denotes a reversing guide, which is disposed so as to cover the outer side of the inner pulley 12, guides the leading end of the fed bill on the arc-shaped guide surface, reverses the bill, and sends the bill to the stocker 16.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional bill validator has the following problems. That is, immediately before the bill 18 is fed into the stocker 16, the bill 18 is fed by the feed belt 10 and the pressing roller 14b disposed immediately before the stocker 16. Therefore, when the last end of the bill 18 passes through the contact point between the feed belt 10 and the stocker 16, the feeding force from the feed belt 10 is not applied to the bill 18. The bill 18 is discharged further forward with some inertial force. However, when the leading end side of the bill 18 comes into contact with a bill or the like sent in advance, the bill is not sufficiently fed forward, and the trailing end of the bill is the edge of the stocker 16. In addition to the above, there is a problem that not only the following bills 18 are jammed and the apparatus is broken down, but also the bills are damaged.
In particular, in a mechanism in which bills are compressed and stacked in the stocker by a push-up mechanism (not shown) provided in the stocker, bills are easily jammed in the stocker. The above problem is caused by the fact that the contact point between the feed belt 10 and the pressing roller 14b is always separated from the edge of the stocker 16 because the pressing roller 14b is a roller.

In order to solve the above problem, as shown in FIG. 7, a lever 22 is urged by a spring 22, and a frictional force is applied between the tip of the lever 20 and the feed belt 10 further forward of the pressing roller 14b. There is known a device devised so as to act. According to this device, the bill 18 passing through the pressing roller 14b is sandwiched between the feed belt 10 and the tip of the lever 20, so that the feed belt 10
Is slightly further maintained. However, even in this conventional device, the action of the lever 20 on the bill 18 tends to be local and insufficient, and the inertia force opposite to the above-described inertia force is applied between the tip of the lever 20 and the bill 18. Due to the frictional resistance of the banknotes 18, the banknotes 18 may not be reliably sent to the stocker 16, and a complete solution has not been reached.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a bill discriminating apparatus capable of reliably feeding bills a predetermined distance.

[0007]

The present invention has the following arrangement to achieve the above object. That is, an endless feed belt that is stretched between pulleys and is rotated by the rotation of the pulley by a driving unit, and a bill inserted into the insertion port by being pressed against the endless belt and sandwiched between the endless belt. A pressing element that presses and sends a bill, and an identification unit that is disposed on the bill feeding path and identifies the bill, and among the pulleys,
In the bill validator, which is provided so as to cover the outside of the inner pulley located on the opposite side to the bill insertion slot and guides the fed bill on the inner guide surface and reverses the bill, A plurality of feed claws, which are fixed coaxially to the rotation shaft of the back pulley and the back pulley, are formed at predetermined intervals on the outer circumference, and the outer diameter of the feed claw is located outside the guide surface of the reversing guide. A feed member set to a size that protrudes, and a groove formed on the guide surface of the reversing guide to allow a feed claw of the feed member to escape is provided. It is characterized by sending by the frictional force between.

Further, according to the present invention, an endless feed belt which is stretched between pulleys and rotated by the rotation of the pulley by a drive unit, and a bill which is pressed against the endless belt and inserted from an insertion slot A presser that presses the bill between the endless belt and feeds the bill, an identification unit that is disposed on the bill feeding path and identifies the bill, and among the pulleys, the pulley is located on a side opposite to the bill inlet. A bill identification device that is disposed so as to cover the outside of the back pulley to be guided and that guides the fed bill on the inner guide surface and reverses the bill, wherein the rotation axis of the back pulley is coaxial with the back pulley. A plurality of feed claws are formed at predetermined intervals on the outer periphery, and a feed member whose outer diameter is set to a size protruding outward from the guide surface of the reversing guide, Inversion guide A groove formed in the guide surface and allowing a feed claw of the feed member to escape, at least a region of the reversing guide where the groove is formed is urged toward the feed member, and is fed into the reversing guide. The bill is fed by frictional force between the feed claw and the bill.

In each of the bill validators, it is preferable that the guide surface is set on the side where the leading end of the bill enters, so that there is a space between the guide surface of the reversing guide and the feed claw to allow the leading end of the bill to enter.

[0010]

When the leading end of the bill reaches the reversing guide, the leading end of the bill is elastically sandwiched between the guide surface of the reversing guide and the leading end of the feed claw (FIG. 4). The bill is fed further forward by the frictional force between the bill and the bill. The next feed claw that is pressed against the rear end of the bill and elastically deformed rearward after rotation is located in the groove of the reversing guide, so that the last end of the bill is pressed by the feed claw, and the bill is stored in the stocker. It is reliably released to the part. Alternatively, at least the area where the groove portion of the reversing guide is formed is elastically urged in the direction of the feeding member, whereby the bill is pressed against the tip of the feeding claw by the reversing guide, and the bill is between the bill and the feeding claw. The paper is sent forward by frictional force, and is also forcibly pushed into the stocker by a feed claw located rearward from the rear end of the bill. By setting the guide surface so that a space where the tip of the bill enters between the guide surface of the reversing guide and the feed claw is provided on the side where the tip of the bill to be fed enters, While being able to guide the bill to the guide surface reliably,
The area of the bill pressed against the guide surface by the feed claw can be reduced, and the bill can be smoothly fed in with reduced frictional resistance.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of the bill validator 30 with the side plate removed. In the drawing, reference numeral 32 denotes a feed belt composed of a timing belt, which is arranged in two rows in parallel between a pulley 35 on the bill insertion slot 34 side and a back pulley 36 located on the back side opposite to this. See). 37a, 37b, 3
Reference numeral 7c denotes a pressing roller (pressing element) similar to the above, which is urged by a spring to press the feed belt 32. The pressing rollers 37 a, 37 b, and 37 c are rotatably supported by the shaft 41 at one upper end of the casing 40, and are disposed on the back side of the lid 42 that covers the feed belt 32 so as to be openable. The rotating shaft of each of the pressing rollers 37a, 37b, 37c is supported by a long hole (not shown) provided in the lid 2, and is pressed against the feed belt 32 by being urged by a spring.

The pressing roller 37a is opposed to the pulley 35, and presses the feed belt 32 with the pulley 35. The pressing roller 37b faces the receiving roller 38b rotatably supported by the casing 40, and receives the pressing roller 38b.
b, the feed belt 32 is pressed. Press roller 37
c is a receiving roller 3 rotatably supported on a casing 40.
8c, and presses the feed belt 32 between itself and the receiving roller 38c. The pressing element is preferably formed on a roller, but is not necessarily a roller. The pressing element has an arc-shaped curved surface, and the curved surface is urged by a spring and is a pressing body (not shown) that presses the feed belt 32 into pressure. There may be.

Reference numeral 43 denotes a bill validator, which is a pressing roller 37.
a and the pressing roller 37b, and between the two feed belts 32, the banknotes inserted through the insertion port 34 are identified. The banknote recognition unit 43 can adopt a known mechanism, and has a control unit that receives a detection signal from various sensors and sensors and compares the input detection signal with data that has been input in advance to identify the sensor. For example, it adopts a mechanism that detects the magnetism of magnetic powder mixed in the printing ink of banknotes and identifies it based on the presence or absence of mixing and the mixing pattern, and detects and identifies the reflection pattern of infrared light from the printing ink. it can.

Reference numeral 45 denotes a reversing guide. Reverse guide 45
Is formed in a plate shape having a semi-circular cross section, and the bill enters between the inner arc surface (guide surface) and the inner pulley 36 (the surface of the feed belt 32) covering the front side of the inner pulley 36. It is set so that there is a gap. Reference numeral 46 denotes a disk-shaped feed member, which is coaxial with and fixed to the rotation shaft 39 of the inner pulley 36. The feed member 46 is formed of an elastic member such as rubber.
The feed member 46 has a plurality of elastic feed claws 46a formed on the outer periphery thereof at predetermined intervals.
Is set to a size protruding outward from the guide surface of the reversing guide 45. Further, two feed members 46 are provided in contact with each of the two inner pulleys 36, 36 (FIG. 2).

The reversing guide 45 is provided with a slit-shaped groove (groove) 48 (FIG. 3) into which the tip of the feed claw 46a of the feed member 46 enters and escapes. Reverse guide 4
The upper end side of 5 is slightly warped upward so that the bill can easily enter between the feed claw 46a and the reversing guide 45. The reversing guide 45 has a feeding member 46 as shown in FIG. 3 so that the upper side, which is the bill entry side, forms a space in which the bill can enter between the guide surface and the tip of the feeding claw 46a. It is preferable to dispose it slightly upward with respect to. By doing so, the leading end of the groove 48
The feed claw 46a corresponding to the lower half of the reversing guide 45 has a leading end that does not enter the groove 48.

Reference numeral 50 denotes a stocker unit. Stocker unit 50
Is disposed in the casing 40 below the feed belt 32. Reference numeral 51 denotes a push-up plate for pushing up a bill, which is urged upward by a spring 52 and pressed against two rails 53 (only one is shown) at both ends. A space between the push-up plate 51 and the two rails 53 is formed in the bill storage unit. The bills fed by the feed member 46 are once sent to the two rails 53 in a bridge state. 54 is a pushing device. Reference numeral 55 denotes a push-in plate, which is pushed down by a disk-shaped cam 56 to push down bills located on the rails 53 below the rails 53 so that bills are stocked between the push-up plate 51 and the rails 53.

The pushing plate 55 has two levers 58, 60 pivotally mounted on a shaft 59 at the center thereof so as to be freely rotatable.
The other end of the lever 58 is connected to a shaft 61 fixed to the casing 40 via a long hole, and one end of the lever 60 is connected to a rotating shaft 63 on which the cam 56 is eccentrically mounted. The other end of the lever 60 is connected to a shaft 64 provided on the push plate 55 via a long hole. That is, the lever 58 and the lever 60 form a pantograph. A spring 65 is wound around a shaft 59 at the center, one end is locked by a lever 58 and the other end is a lever 6.
The push lever 55 is raised in the closing direction, and the pushing plate 55 is raised to form a space between the pushing plate 55 and the rail 53 for a bill to enter.

FIG. 2 shows a drive system. 67 is the back pulley 3
The rotation shaft 39 of the back pulley is rotated by a motor that drives the rotation of the pulley 6 through a worm 68 and a worm wheel 69. Reference numeral 70 denotes a motor for rotating the cam 56, and rotates the shaft 63 via the worm 71 and the worm wheel 72.

Next, the operation will be described. Bills are inserted in the slot 34
From the feed belt 32 and the pressing roller 37a. When the bill is detected by a sensor or a switch (not shown), the motor 67 is driven,
As the feed belt 32 is rotated, the bill is fed until the bill passes through the bill recognition unit 43 over a predetermined range. The bill identifying unit 43 identifies whether or not the bill is genuine or, if necessary, the amount of the bill by a known mechanism.
When the bill is forged or altered, the motor 67 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, and the bill is discharged from the insertion slot 34. When it is determined that the bill is genuine, the motor 67 is driven to take the bill into the stocker 50.

At this time, when the bill is nipped by the feed belt 32 and the pressing roller 37c at the rear end side and the leading end is further fed in, the bill tip is guided by the inner side surface of the reversing guide 45 and guided downward. The bill tip side is the reversing guide 45
In the vicinity of the lower half, since the feed claw 46a enters the groove 48 of the reversing guide 45 at this portion,
The leading end of the bill is guided by the guide surface of the reversing guide 45 and the feeding claw 46a.
The bill is resiliently sandwiched between the leading end (FIG. 4), and the bill is fed further forward by the frictional force between the feed claw 46a elastically deformed rearward and the bill. That is, the bill is transferred from the feed belt 32 and the pressing roller 37c to the feed claw 46a and the reversing guide 45 and is sent forward.

Between the bill and the guide surface of the reversing guide 45
Generates frictional resistance, but feeds more than this frictional resistance.
In order to increase the frictional force between the claw 46a and the bill,
The rolling guide 45 should be made of a material having a small friction coefficient.
No. For example, the reversing guide is made of a synthetic resin plate, or
Or use a metal plate with a Teflon sheet attached
Can be. Note that the tip of the bill is the reversing guide 45.
Is pressed by the feed claw 46a for the first time near the lower half of
The bill is pressed against the guide surface by the feed claw.
Area is shortened and the frictional resistance between the bill and the guide surface is reduced.
The bill can be fed smoothly with reduced drag.
FIG. 4 shows that the front end of the bill enters the stocker section 50 and
This shows a situation where the rear end side is being fed by the feed claw 46a. Figure
As is clear from FIG.
6a is elastically deformed rearward. Pressing the bill to the end
Feeding claw 46a₁The trailing end of the bill is
When it is sent to 50, the feed claw 46a ₁Is the rotation front side
The bills are released to the stocker 50 because they return to elastic
And the rear end of the bill is hooked on the edge of the stocker unit 50
No failure occurs.

[0022] In addition, the following feed pawl 46a of the feed pawl 46a _1
2 is located in the groove 48, and its leading edge locus is a chain line m shown in FIG. 4, and the trailing end of the bill is discharged toward the stocker unit 50, and the trailing edge is within the locus m (see FIG. 4). between p)
Bill rearmost is pressed, whereby the banknote is fed into securely stocker unit 50 by the feed pawl 46a _2. Further, in the present embodiment, it is not necessary to arrange a pressing roller in which the contact point with the feed belt is far from the stocker unit just before the stocker unit as in the related art, and the feed claw 46a rotates and moves just before the stocker unit 50. Since the feeding member 46 is provided, the bill can be reliably fed into the stocker unit 50.

When it is confirmed by a sensor or a switch (not shown) that the bill has been fed into the stocker section 50, the feed belt 32 is immediately stopped, and then the motor 70 is driven, and the cam 56 is rotated to rotate the cam. The pushing plate 55 is pressed by the surface against the urging force of the spring 65 and is pushed down below the rail 53, so that the bills fed on the rail 53 are moved below the rail 53 by this, and the pushing plate 51 is pushed up. It is stocked in a state of being sequentially stacked on top. When the cam 56 rotates to the original position, the pushing plate 55 is urged by the spring 65 to return to the original position. The above series of operations can be performed by microcomputer control by the control unit.

The lower end of the reversing guide 45 is a free end, and the reversing guide 45 is formed of an elastic member, and at least the area where the groove 48 is formed is urged toward the feed member 46 by its own elastic force. Then, the tip of the feed claw 46a may enter the groove 48 (not shown). In this case, when the bill enters between the feeding claw 46a and the reversing guide 45, the reversing guide 45 is pressed outward against the elastic force of the feeding claw 46a and the bill, and conversely, the bill is Due to the elastic force, the feed pawl 46a is pressed against the feed pawl 46a.
a is sent forward due to the frictional force between the a. When the bill is fed by the feed claw 46a in contact with the bill's last end, the reversing guide 45 returns to the feed member 46 direction by its elastic force, so that the next feed claw 46a enters the groove 48,
The trailing end of the bill is pressed by the feed claw 46a, and is reliably fed into the stocker unit 50. Therefore, in the above case, the feed member 46 does not necessarily have to be formed of an elastic member.

FIG. 5 shows that the lower half 45a of the area where the groove 48 of the reversing guide 45 is formed is rotatably provided by a shaft 70, and the lower half 45a is urged toward the feed member 46 by a spring 71. I am trying to do it. Also in this embodiment,
The same effect as when the reversing member 45 is formed of an elastic member is obtained. The spring 71 can use rubber or another urging member. In each of the above embodiments, the feed belt 3
2. The feeding members 46 and the like can be provided in a plurality of rows of three or more rows, or can be provided in a single row by using a relatively wide one at the center. The feed member 46 may be formed integrally with a rubber plate, or may be formed by attaching a feed claw formed of an elastic material such as rubber to the outer periphery of a disk made of a metal plate or the like. Further, the stocker unit 50 does not necessarily need to be provided with a pressing mechanism. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and it goes without saying that many modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. .

[0026]

According to the bill validator of the present invention, when the leading end of the bill reaches the reversing guide, the leading end of the bill is elastically sandwiched between the guide surface of the reversing guide and the leading end of the feed claw, and is rotated. The bill is fed further forward by the frictional force between the bill and the feed claw elastically deformed to the rear side, and the next feed claw of the feed claw elastically deformed rearward by pressing against the rear end of the bill is inverted. Because it is located in the groove of the guide,
The bill end is pressed by the feed claw, and the bill is reliably discharged to the stocker. Also, by resiliently urging at least the area where the groove portion of the reversing guide is formed in the direction of the feeding member, the bill is pressed against the tip of the feeding claw by the reversing guide, and the bill is between the bill and the feeding claw. The paper is sent forward by frictional force, and is also forcibly pushed into the stocker by a feed claw located rearward from the rear end of the bill. By setting the guide surface of the reversing guide such that there is a space between the guide surface of the reversing guide and the feeding claw on the side where the leading end of the fed bill enters, the guide surface of the reversing guide is set. The guide surface can reliably guide the bill, and the area of the bill pressed against the guide surface by the feed claw can be reduced, and the bill can be fed smoothly with reduced frictional resistance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a state where a side plate of a bill validator is removed.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a drive system.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a reversing guide and a feeding member.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of sending bills by a sending member.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which the lower half of the reversing guide is urged toward the feed member by a spring.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a bill feeding mechanism of a conventional device.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a bill feeding mechanism of another conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 Bill Recognition Device 32 Feed Belt 34 Insertion Port 35 Pulley 36 Inner Pulley 37a, 37b, 37c Press Roller (Presser) 43 Bill Recognition Unit 45 Reverse Guide 46 Feed Member 46a Feed Claw 48 Groove 50 Stocker Unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07D 9/00 B65H 29/22 G07D 7/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An endless feed belt which is wound between pulleys and rotated by a rotation of a pulley by a drive unit, and a bill inserted into an insertion port by pressing against the endless belt and the endless belt. A presser for nipping and sending the bill, a discriminator disposed on the bill feeding path and identifying the bill, and among the pulleys, outside the inner pulley located on the opposite side to the bill insertion slot. A bill recognizing device provided with a reversing guide for guiding and reversing a bill to be fed by an inner guide surface, wherein the bill is fixed coaxially to a rotation axis of the back pulley and coaxially with the back pulley, A plurality of feed claws having elasticity are formed at predetermined intervals, and a feed member whose outer diameter is set to a size protruding outward from the guide surface of the reversing guide; Guide of Are formed on, comprises a groove for releasing the feed pawl of the feed member, the bill validator, wherein the sending by the frictional force between the fed into the reversing guide bill the feed pawl and the bill. 2. An endless feed belt which is stretched between pulleys and rotated by the rotation of a pulley by a drive unit, and a bill inserted into an insertion port by being pressed against the endless belt and connected to the endless belt. A presser for nipping and sending the bill, a discriminator disposed on the bill feeding path and identifying the bill, and among the pulleys, outside the inner pulley located on the opposite side to the bill insertion slot. A bill recognizing device provided with a reversing guide for guiding and reversing a bill to be fed by an inner guide surface, wherein the bill is fixed coaxially to a rotation axis of the back pulley and coaxially with the back pulley, A large number of feed claws are formed at predetermined intervals in
A feed member having an outer peripheral diameter of the feed claw set to a size protruding outward from the guide surface of the reversing guide , wherein the reversing guide is provided with a guide on the ingress side of the fed bill;
The guide surface has a bill tip between the guide surface and the feed claw.
It is set to allow entering space, the guide surface of the reversing guide groove for releasing the feed pawl of the feed member the shape
Made is, a region in which at least the groove of said reversing guide is formed is biased to the feeding member direction, that the bill fed into the reversing guide Send by frictional forces between the feed pawl and the bill Characteristic banknote recognition device. Wherein said reversing guide entrance side of the guide surface coming fed bill, that it is configured to allow space for bill tip enters between the guide surface and the feed pawl The bill validator according to claim 1, wherein: