JP3432682B2 - Ticket issuing machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention dispenses cards one by one from a hopper by a dispensing means, conveys the dispensed cards by a conveying means, prints on the card by a printing means, and then discharges from the issuing port. Regarding ticket issuing machines.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some of the above ticket issuing machines are provided with a hopper, a feeding means, a conveying means, a printing means, a sensor for detecting the position of a card, a control section and a power supply circuit as constituent elements. And, the feeding means, the conveying means and the printing means,
Each has a motor as a power source and a transmission belt or a gear as a transmission means. Further, in the ticket issuing machine, it is necessary to replenish or replace consumable items such as a card and an ink ribbon, and it may be necessary to eliminate a jam of the card and inspect and maintain each part.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of an arrangement structure of components of a conventional ticket issuing machine. In this ticket issuing machine, the hopper A has a bottom wall 1 on which the cards c are placed and piled up, and a peripheral wall 2 which stands up from the periphery of the bottom wall and surrounds the cards. The front end of the bottom wall 1 and the peripheral wall 2 are provided. The feeding port 3 is provided between the front end portion and the front end portion. The feeding means B has an upper portion fitted in a groove formed in the bottom wall 1 of the hopper, and the feeding roller 4 that comes into contact with the card at the lowermost end, and behind the feeding port 3,
A feed roller 5 and a pressure roller 6 which are placed opposite to each other with the feeding surface sandwiched therebetween, and a reverse roller which is arranged between the pressure roller 6 and is rotated in the opposite direction to the feeding direction by a slight force on the upper surface of the card to be fed. It has a roller 7 and a feeding motor M1 for applying a rotational force to these rollers.

The conveying means C comprises pulleys 8a to 8c and 9a which are arranged downstream of the feed roller 5 along a horizontal plane.
Conveyor belts 8 and 9 stretched between 9c and the issuing port 12
It has a feed roller 10 and a pressure roller 11 which are placed immediately in front of each other, and a conveyor motor M2 which gives a rotational force to the pulley 9c and the feed roller 10. The printing means D is a print head 13 fixed to a carriage (not shown) slidably held by a guide rod (not shown), and detachably mounted on the carriage.
A ribbon cassette 14 fixed at a predetermined position with respect to the print head 13, a platen 15 provided at a position facing the print head 13 with the transport surface of the transport means sandwiched therebetween, and the print head 13 extending in the longitudinal direction of the guide rod. And a third motor M3 that reciprocates in the direction. Since the platen 15 also serves as a carrying roller, it is rotated by the carrying motor M2. Also, the ribbon cassette 14
Is a two-color ribbon, a solenoid 16 is provided for changing the position (color switching) of the portion of the ribbon facing the print head.

As described above, the arrangement structure of the components of the conventional ticket issuing machine is such that the hopper A, the feeding means B, the conveying means C, the printing means D and the issuing port 12 are linear from right to left. The feeding motor M1 of the feeding means B is arranged below the hopper A.
2 is a printing motor M3 of the printing means C on the lower side of the conveying surface.
Are provided on the upper side of the transporting means C and at the ends of the print head 13 in the moving direction. In addition, each motor M
1, M2 and M3 are stepping motors.

[0006]

As described above, in the related art, each component is linear so as to horizontally convey the card c from the bottom of the hopper A to the issuing port 12 formed in the front door FD. Since they are arranged in a line, naturally, the depth of the ticket issuing machine must be increased. This point is
This is inconvenient when the ticket issuing machine is installed on a road or a shoulder on which a vehicle or a person passes, such as a parking ticket issuing machine. That is, since the depth of the ticket issuing machine is large, the hopper A installed at the innermost position of the housing is
In order to make it possible to replenish a card to the drawer unit, it is necessary to attach the above-mentioned respective components to the drawer unit DU, and to withdraw the drawer unit DU to the maximum extent with the front door FD opened, and therefore, the vehicle or the There is a risk that it will obstruct the passage of people. Further, when the printing means D uses the ribbon cassette 14, the ribbon needs to be replaced. However, since the withdrawal amount of the withdrawing unit is different between the card replenishment and the ribbon exchange, when the work is performed, The work content is complicated because it is necessary to identify whether it is card supply or ribbon replacement. Further, in particular, in order to ensure the stability of the ribbon replacement work, it is necessary to provide means for fixing the intermediate drawing position of the drawing unit at the time of ribbon replacement.

The present invention has been made on the basis of the above background. A first object of the present invention is that the constituent elements are the same as the conventional ones and the arrangement structure of the constituent elements is improved.
Depth can be shortened, and at the time of card replenishment and ribbon cassette exchange, simply open the front door of the case,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a ticket issuing machine that can easily perform card replenishment or ribbon cassette exchange without pulling out from the housing or by pulling out a fixed single distance.

A ticket issuing machine that achieves the above object conveys a card fed from a hopper at a corner along a laterally U-shaped conveying path. As shown in FIG. 6, the card C fed from the hopper may be curved such that its upper surface is recessed in a plane perpendicular to the traveling direction. Conventionally, regarding conveyance at such a corner portion, there are an open type without a guide and a regulation type provided with a guide. In the case of the open type,
When a curved card is conveyed by turning the corner of the conveying path by the conveying belt or roller in the direction opposite to the curving direction of the card, the conveying belt or roller forcibly faces the waist reinforced by the curving of the card. As a result, the wrinkles and other deformations of the card caused the waist to break, causing jams.

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show an example of a regulation type corner portion provided with a guide. In the figure, 8'and 9'are
Pulleys P1 to P3 and P4, P2, P5, P6 respectively
Is a conveyor belt wound around the conveyor belt 8'and 9'in the pulley P2, and curved guides g1 and g2 are provided inside and outside the conveyor belts 8'and 9 ', respectively. There is. However, since the card has various curvatures, the tip of the card comes into contact with the guide g1 or g2 and is not smoothly inserted between the guides, and the fear of jamming is not eliminated. Further, there is a problem that the guide increases the number of parts and complicates the structure. further,
Since the card contacts the guide, the transport load increases.
Thus, a second object of the present invention is to provide a card issuing machine which conveys a card at a corner portion along a laterally U-shaped conveying path and prints and issues the card on the card at the corner portion of the conveying path. It is an object of the present invention to provide a ticket issuing machine that is smoothly conveyed without wrinkles or other deformations.

[0010]

In order to achieve the first object, the present invention provides a hopper, a feeding means for feeding cards one by one from the hopper, and a feeding card for feeding the fed cards to an issuing port. In a ticket issuing machine having a conveying means and a printing means for printing on a card in front of the issuing slot, the hopper is located near the front door so that the card can be replenished when the front door of the housing is opened. The feeding means is provided for feeding from the hopper in a direction opposite to the front door, and is provided behind the feeding port of the feeding port of the hopper and behind the feeding port. A feeding motor for rotating the feed roller is provided, the feeding motor is installed behind the hopper, and the conveying means moves the card fed by the feeding means downward in the first corner portion. Deflection is carried along the vertical carrying path, and horizontal deflection is carried out in the direction of the front door at the second corner part to carry the horizontal carrying path to the issuing port provided on the front door. It has a conveyance motor for rotating a belt and a feed roller provided immediately before the issuing port, the conveyance motor is installed below the horizontal conveyance path, and the printing means is supported by a carriage. Between the hopper and the horizontal transport path of the transport means, the print head having the above-mentioned print head, a print motor for moving the print head in the print direction, and a ribbon cassette detachably supported by the print head. Is installed in the space formed by the printing head, the printing motor is mounted behind a print head provided for printing on a card conveyed through the horizontal conveyance path, and the ribbon cassette is placed in front of the head. It is characterized in that from the front in the open state of the front door is detachable from the print head. With the above configuration, the feeding motor of the feeding means is activated based on the issuing command, and one card at the lowermost end of the hopper is fed. The fed-out card is deflected downward in the first corner portion and conveyed in the vertical conveyance path by the conveying means, and is deflected in the issuing direction in the second corner portion, and conveyed in the horizontal conveyance path. When the card reaches the print position in front of the issuing slot, transportation is stopped,
Printing is performed on the card by the printing means while the conveyance control during printing is being performed. When printing is completed, the card is transported to the issuing port. The hopper is on the front side when the front door is opened, so it is possible to easily supply cards to the hopper. Similarly, the ribbon cassette is also located on the front surface, so that it can be easily replaced. Since the hopper, the feeding means, the conveying means, and the overturning U-shape are arranged, and the printing means is arranged in the space formed between the hopper and the horizontal conveying path, the packing density is large and the size is small. Can be realized, and the depth is small.

The hopper, the feeding means, the conveying means, the printing means, and the motors of the above-mentioned means are attached to one drawer unit that can be drawn and stored from the housing with the front door of the housing being opened. desirable. With the above configuration, if the drawer unit is pulled out with a short fixed length, both card replenishment and ribbon cassette replacement can be performed more easily. Further, maintenance and inspection can be easily performed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shaft for supporting a pulley or a conveyor roller for supporting a conveyor belt existing inside a corner portion of a conveyor path of a conveyor, and an intermediate portion of the pulley or the roller. It is characterized in that a bending correction roller having substantially the same diameter as the pulley or roller is attached. When the card is curved so as to be recessed in the upper surface along the longitudinal direction at the center in the width direction, the curving straightening roller supports the lower surface at the center in the width direction and guides the corner while correcting the curving. Therefore, the card is not deformed such as bent.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to illustrated examples. The same reference numerals are used for the same components as those of the conventional machine shown in FIGS. In the present invention, the hopper A is attached to the upper part of the drawer unit DU on the side closer to the front door FD, and the feeding means B is on the back side of the hopper A, that is, from the feeding port of the hopper in the direction opposite to the front door FD, That is, it is provided so as to be extended backward. As a result, a space is formed above the feed roller 5 and the pressure roller 6 of the feeding means, and the reverse roller 7, and the feeding motor M1 of the feeding means is used by the back surface of the peripheral wall 2 of the hopper A or It is attached to the side wall 24 of the drawer unit DU. 17
Is a transmission belt that applies the rotational force of the feeding motor M1 to the feeding roller 4 and the feed roller 5.

The conveyor belts 8 and 9 of the conveyor means C are respectively wound around pulleys 8a to 8e and 9a to 9d, of which the pulleys 8a and 9a deliver the card from the feed roller 5 and the pressure roller 6 of the delivery means. Is arranged so as to have an axis on an oblique line that intersects with the horizontal plane at an angle of approximately 45 degrees, and the pulley 8b has a diameter as large as possible, and the conveyor belts 8 and 9 are Between the pulleys 8a and 9a, through a part of the pulley 8b, and between the pulleys 8c and 9b, they are stretched so as to come into contact with each other to form a vertical conveyance path C1 and a horizontal conveyance path C2. Then, the pulleys 8a and 9a arranged on the diagonal line
A first corner portion is formed by the conveyor belt portion that is wound around to vertically deflect the card delivered in the horizontal back direction downward. Further, the conveyor belt portion half-turned by the pulley 8b having a large diameter forms a second corner portion that deflects from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction, that is, in the direction of the issuing port 12 opposite to the feeding direction. .

The conveying means C includes a platen 15 also serving as a conveying roller, which is arranged on an extension of the horizontal conveying path C2 between the pulleys 8c and 9b and the issuing port 12, a feed roller 10 and a pressure roller 11. Have The carrying motor M2 for driving the carrying means C is provided below the horizontal carrying path C2. And the transport motor M
The rotational force of 2 is applied to the feed roller 10 via the transmission belt 18 and to the pulley 9b via the transmission belt 19, respectively. Further, in the present invention, a pulley 20 is provided near the reverse roller 7 of the feeding means B, the transmission belt 21 transmits the rotational force of the conveying motor M2 to the pulley 20, and the gear 20g coupled to the pulley 20 is
By meshing with the gear 7g coupled to the reverse roller 7, even after the feeding motor M1 is stopped, the reverse rotation of the reverse roller 7 is continued by the transport motor M2 while the transport means C is transporting the card. In this way, the card immediately above the card at the lowermost end of the hopper A is prevented from being fed out.

The vertical conveyance path C1 of the conveyance means C is set to have a distance slightly larger than the height of the printing means D, whereby a space is secured between the horizontal conveyance path C2 and the hopper A. The printing means D is attached to the space. Moreover, in this case, the print head 13 mounted on the carriage 23 movably supported by the guide rod 22 is positioned closer to the front door than the guide rod 22, and the print head 13 is driven. The motor M3 is attached to the front door so that it is located behind the print head. Thus, the print head 13
The ribbon cassette 14 fixed to the carriage 23 that supports the carriage can be detachably mounted from the front door side without any obstruction by opening the front door FD.

Reference numeral 16 is for selectively moving the ribbon cassette from the solid line position to the chain line position in the drawing in order to switch colors when the ribbon cassette 14 uses a two-color ribbon. Is the solenoid of. This solenoid is also provided on the same side as the printing motor M3.

As in the conventional case, the hopper A is provided with a near empty detector S1 and an empty detector S2,
In the middle of the transport path, card detectors S3, S4, S6 for transport control and a card detector S for print control are provided.
5, the take-out detector S7 is attached at a required position. The control for feeding out, conveying and printing the card according to the above-mentioned configuration is performed in the same manner as in the conventional case. That is,
When the amount of money inserted from the coin insertion slot (not shown) satisfies the ticketing condition, the control unit (not shown) controls the driver of the feeding motor M1 and the conveyance motor M.
By outputting a driving pulse signal to each of the two drivers, one card at the lowermost end of the hopper A of the feeding means is fed. When the leading edge of the card is detected by the detector S3, the control unit stops supplying the pulse signal to the feeding motor M1, and the feeding motor M1 is stopped. However, the reverse roller 7 is
Since the reverse rotation is continued by 2, when the rear end of the card which is delivered first and conveyed by the conveyor belts 8 and 9 is drawn out between the feed roller 5 and the pressure roller 6,
The reverse roller 7 prevents the card overlapping the card from being pulled out.

The cards fed by the feed roller 5 and the pressure roller 6 of the feeding means are pulleys 8a, 9
At the same time when it enters between the conveyor belts 8 and 9 supported by a, it is deflected downward at the first corner portion, and the vertical conveyor path C
1 is conveyed downward. And the card detector S4
This is for jam detection provided in the middle of the vertical transport path. The card conveyed downward is continuously deflected at the second corner portion from the vertical conveyance path C1 to the horizontal conveyance path C2 and conveyed in the direction of the issuing port 12.

Then, the rear end of the card is at the horizontal transport path C2.
When it is detected by the card detector S5 provided immediately before the end portion of the print head 13, the carry motor M2 is once stopped, and subsequently, the carry motor M2 and the print motor M3 are controlled and driven, respectively, and the print head 13 is concerned. X-axis direction and Y
Axial coordinate axis control is performed and the print head 1
The printing control of No. 3 is performed, and the required printing is performed on the card surface. At this time, when it is necessary to switch the print color, the solenoid 16 is energized to make the ribbon cassette 1
4 is swung, and the portion of the ribbon facing the lower surface of the print head is moved forward or backward.

When the predetermined printing is completed, the transport motor M
The carrying control during printing for No. 2 is switched to the carrying control during normal operation. Then, the card that has passed the print position is issued by the feed roller 10 and the press roller 11 to the issuing port 1.
2 from the time when the leading edge of the card is detected by the card detector S6 and after the card is continuously conveyed, that is, the predetermined length of the first half of the card is from the issuing port 12 to the front door FD. When it is projected forward, the driving of the transport motor M2 is stopped. Then, when the next money insertion amount reaches a predetermined amount, the card detector S7 turns off.
When it is FF, that is, when there is no card in the issuing slot 12, the ticket issuing conditions for the next card are satisfied.

As described above, the ticket issuing machine is used,
When the card in the hopper A operates the near empty sensor S1 or operates the empty sensor S2, the control unit indicates that the card supply is necessary or the card is out. The information is displayed on a display (not shown) provided on the front door or the like. Based on this display, when replenishing the card to the hopper A, the locking device of the front door FD is unlocked to open the front door FD, and as it is, or if necessary, the drawer unit DU is pulled out,
Cards can be supplied to the hopper A whose upper surface is open. If the print quality of the card is deteriorated due to ink consumption during the trial printing, the front door FD is opened and the ribbon cassette 14 is taken out from the front side of the drawer unit UD in the same manner as in the conventional case. Alternatively, a new ribbon cassette can be installed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pulley 8a is provided at the first corner portion composed of the conveyor belts 8 and 9 of the conveyor means B and pulleys 8a and 9a supporting the conveyor belts 8 and 9. A curl straightening roller 82 having substantially the same diameter as that of the pulley 8a is fixed on the shaft 81 supporting the roller 8a in the middle of the left and right (front and rear in FIG. 2) pulleys 8a. When the curl correction roller 82 is not provided, the card c fed from the hopper A is curved in a trough shape concaved in the upper surface as shown by a chain line in FIG. 4 and as shown in FIG. When it is present, its curvature reinforces the strength of the waist that resists the deflection of the card, and both widthwise ends of the card are disengaged from the conveyor belt, and the conveyor belts 8 and 9 do not support the curved portion of the card. It is unavoidable that the card is bent at the waist to cause undesired deformation.

On the other hand, as described above, when the curving roller 82 is provided, when the card c fed from the hopper A has a trough shape that is recessed upward as described above, the curving straightening roller is used. The roller 82, as shown by the thick solid line in FIG.
Since the bottom curved surface of the card c is supported, the curvature is deflected while being corrected. Therefore, even when the card c fed from between the feed roller 5 and the pressure roller 6 of the feeding means B is curved, the card is smoothly taken into the vertical conveyance path C1 without being deformed due to an excessive bending force. Be done. In addition, since the large-diameter pulley 8b is provided in the second corner portion, deformation such as card wrinkle due to the above-mentioned curving of the card does not occur.

According to the above embodiment, the parts from the hopper A to the feeding means B are arranged above the drawing unit DU,
Further, since the feeding motor M1 is attached to the front door FD side of the hopper A and the rear surface of the hopper, the card can be easily supplied to the hopper simply by opening the front door. The transport means C is arranged so that the card is transported along a substantially U-shaped transport path, and the printing means D is provided in the space formed between the hopper and the horizontal transport path C2. The components of the ticket issuing machine can be mounted densely without forming a space, the overall volume can be made much smaller than before, and the depth of the ticket issuing machine is shortened by almost half compared to the conventional one. can do. In addition, the hopper and ribbon cassette are installed on the front side of the drawer unit at approximately the same position from the front door, so you can identify which work is to be performed when replenishing cards or when replacing the ribbon cassette. Since it is sufficient to pull out the drawer unit by an equal short distance without needing to do so, the work is easy. Further, conventionally, it was necessary to provide a means for stopping the withdrawal amount of the withdrawal unit in two steps in the case of the first step, but in the present invention, there is no need for it, and the withdrawal unit has a simple structure. Become. Furthermore, since the depth is small, maintenance and inspection performed by pulling out all the drawer units and work to remove cards jammed in the middle of the transportation path can be done calmly and efficiently without worrying about road traffic obstruction. .

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the hopper, the feeding means and the conveying means are arranged in a lateral U-shape,
Since the space is formed between the hopper and the conveying means and the printing means is provided in the space, the constituent elements of the ticket issuing machine can be densely arranged and the miniaturization can be realized. As a result, the depth dimension is shortened, so that the front door of the housing can be opened without any need for withdrawal from the housing, or with one of the drawer units, during both card supply and ribbon cassette replacement. Card replenishment or ribbon cassette exchange can be easily performed by pulling out only one fixed short distance. Further, since the depth is shortened, there is no risk of obstructing traffic before and after the ticket issuing machine when the drawer unit is pulled out to perform card replenishment, ribbon cassette replacement, maintenance or the like.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in a ticket issuing machine which conveys a card along a laterally U-shaped conveying path, prints on the card and issues the card, the inside of the corner portion of the conveying path. Between the pulleys around which the existing conveyor belts are wound, on the shaft supporting the pulleys, there is provided a straightening roller having a diameter substantially equal to that of the pulleys. When the card is curved, the curl correction roller supports the curved surface of the card at its corner and deflects it, so that the card is transported smoothly without bending or other deformation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part showing an arrangement structure of constituent members according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a first corner portion of a card transport path in an extracted manner.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the operation of the curl correction roller as viewed in the direction of arrow X in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an arrangement structure of components of a conventional ticket issuing machine.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of the form of a delivered card and the carrying direction.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a conventional conveyance guide in a corner portion.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

DU drawer unit FD front door A hopper B feeding means 4 Feeding roller 5 Feed roller 6 Pressure roller 7 Reverse roller M1 feeding motor C transportation means 8,9 Conveyor belt 8a-8e pulley 9a-9d pulley 10 Feed roller 11 Pressure roller M2 transport motor 12 Issue account D printing means 13 print head 14 Ribbon cassette 16 solenoid 23 carriage M3 printing motor

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-7-249135 (JP, A) JP-A-7-244752 (JP, A) JP-A-4-106688 (JP, A) JP-A-6-203232 (JP , A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07B 1/00 G07B 5/00 G07F 7/08 G06K 13/06

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hopper for accumulating cards, a feeding means for feeding the cards one by one from the hopper, a feeding means for feeding the fed cards to an issuing slot, and printing on the card in front of the issuing slot. In a ticket issuing machine having a printing means, the hopper is provided at a position near a rear surface of a front door of a housing, and the feeding means feeds the hopper in a direction opposite to the front door. A feeding roller provided below the feeding port and a feeding motor for rotating a feed roller provided behind the feeding port, wherein the feeding motor is installed behind the hopper, The transport means deflects the card delivered by the delivery means downward in the first corner portion to transport the card along the vertical transport path, and horizontally in the second corner portion in the direction of the front door. And a conveyance motor that rotates a conveyance belt and a feed roller provided immediately in front of the issuance port to convey the horizontal conveyance path to the issuance port provided in the front door. The transport motor is installed below the horizontal transport path, and the printing means includes a print head attached to a carriage, a print motor for moving the print head in a print direction, and the print head. A ribbon cassette that is detachably supported by the card, and is installed in a space formed between the hopper and the horizontal transport path of the transport means, and the printing motor is transported through the horizontal transport path. Is attached to the back of a print head provided so as to print on, and the ribbon cassette is attachable to and detachable from the print head from the front side with the front door opened. Ticket issuing machine. 2. A hopper, a feeding means, a conveying means, a printing means, and a feeding motor, a feeding motor and a printing motor of each of the above means can be pulled out from the housing and stored while the front door of the housing is open. The ticket issuing machine according to claim 1, wherein the ticket issuing machine is attached to one drawer unit. 3. A straightening curve having a diameter substantially equal to that of a pulley or a roller supporting a conveyor belt existing inside a corner portion of a conveying path, and a shaft supporting a conveyor roller, the intermediate diameter of the pulley or the roller. A ticket issuing machine with a roller attached.