JP3688116B2 - Card dispensing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a card dispensing device in which a plurality of cards having a relatively small thickness such as a telephone card or an orange card are stacked and stored, and the plurality of stacked cards are discharged one by one from the bottom surface. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a card payout device for paying out a card corresponding to the amount of money is installed in the equipment case of a card vending machine that sells telephone cards and the like.
[0003]
This card dispensing device is roughly divided into a card storage unit for stacking and storing a large number of cards, and a card paying unit for pushing out the cards on the lowermost surface one by one from among the multiple cards stacked in the card storage unit. It consists of and.
[0004]
In the card dispensing unit of such a card dispensing device, a reciprocating slide that pushes the card in contact with a single card on the lowermost surface among a large number of cards stacked and accommodated in the card accommodating unit. The card is pushed out from the card accommodating portion one by one by the pushing force of the slide so as to be paid out from the card payout opening.
[0005]
By the way, the cards loaded and accommodated in the card accommodating portion may include cards whose postures are deformed. The contact between the deformed card and the slide is ensured, and the cards are surely paid out one by one. Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-82246 previously proposed by the applicant of the present application, the urging force of the card presser spring disposed in the card housing portion is set strongly, and the deformed card (especially in the width direction) is set by the urging force. Card), and the vertical width of the card discharge port formed in the card accommodating portion is set to a value larger than about one card thickness and smaller than two cards. By forcibly ejecting the card by sliding from the card ejection slot, it is possible to prevent reliable separation / payout of cards including deformed cards and double feed of ejected cards. .
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, according to the above-described conventional card dispensing device, the biasing force of the card pressing spring that presses a large number of cards loaded and accommodated in the card accommodating portion is set strongly in order to correct the posture of the deformed card. Friction force acting between each card stacked when paying out is large, which may cause damage such as scratches between adjacent cards, and the card pressing spring biasing force causes mutual card force Since they are in close contact with each other, the sliding load when the cards are separated and transported is also large, and there is a possibility that the card dispensing speed may be slow.
[0007]
Note that if the biasing force of the card holding spring is set weak, the frictional force acting on the stacked cards is reduced, so that the possibility of damage such as scratches is reduced during separation and transport, and the slide Since the running load is also reduced, the card payout speed can be improved, but in this case, the posture correction force of the deformed card by the card holding spring is weakened, so the vertical width is larger than about one card thickness. Deformed cards (especially cards that have been deformed in the width direction) collide with card outlets that are set to a value smaller than each two cards, which can easily cause card clogging. There arises a difficulty that cannot be performed stably.
[0008]
In view of the above-described circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a card dispensing device that can quickly and stably separate and dispense one by one without damaging a card including a deformed card.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problem, in the present invention, a card storage unit that stores and accommodates a large number of cards, and a plurality of cards that are stacked and accommodated in the card storage unit from the lowermost surface via a slide that reciprocates. A card dispensing device comprising card separating and conveying means for pushing out one by one to a card conveying path that communicates with a card dispensing outlet, and a card ejection port that is formed at the bottom of the card accommodating portion and ejects the card pushed out by the slide A card discharge port set to have a thickness of at least two cards to be discharged, and a card which is adjacent to the card discharge port and is conveyed via the slide is disposed on the card conveyance path. A card posture correcting roller that is pressed against the lower surface, and a card conveying path downstream of the card posture correcting roller. An upper / lower width regulating member that regulates a thickness that is thicker than one card and thinner than two cards, and expands the card transport path when the card is paid out, and the card transport path when the card is not paid out And a shutter means for pushing back a plurality of cards double-fed from the card discharge port through the slide into the card accommodating portion at the same time.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a card dispensing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0011]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a card dispensing apparatus 1 according to the present invention.
[0012]
The card dispensing device 1 is roughly composed of a card storage unit 2 for stacking and storing a plurality of cards, and a card paying unit 3 for paying out the cards stacked and stored in the card storage unit 2 one by one. .
[0013]
Among these, the card accommodating portion 2 is composed of a cassette base 4 positioned and mounted in the card dispensing portion 3 and a cassette box 6 fastened to the upper surface of the cassette base 4 by fastening means such as screws 5. A card insertion slot 7 formed on the front surface of the cassette box 6 is covered with a cassette door 8 so as to be freely opened and closed.
[0014]
A pair of latch levers 9 are mounted on both side surfaces of the cassette base 4 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 which is a front view of the card dispensing apparatus 1, and the latch levers 9 are rotated in one direction. Thus, the card accommodating portion 2 is configured to be detachable from the card dispensing portion 3. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 8 ′ denotes a display board that displays the number of cards accommodated in the cassette box 6.
[0015]
That is, when the pair of latch levers 9 is rotated counterclockwise as shown by the arrow about the shaft 4a from the state in which the card accommodating portion 2 is attached to the card dispensing portion 3 shown in FIG. 1, the card dispensing portion 3 and the cassette base 4 Therefore, if the entire card accommodating portion 2 is pulled upward, only the card accommodating portion 2 can be removed from the card dispensing portion 3 as shown in FIG.
[0016]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the latch lever 9 is rotatably supported by a shaft 4a formed to project from the side of the cassette base 4, and the tip end portion 9a projects inside the card dispensing portion 3. An engaging claw 9b that engages with the protrusion 3a is formed.
[0017]
A substantially U-shaped spring body 9d is integrally formed in the vicinity of the bearing hole 9c of the latch lever 9 to be inserted into the shaft 4a, and the free ends thereof are formed at symmetrical positions on the side of the cassette base 4. It engages with one step 4b of the pair of steps 4b and 4c. Therefore, the latch lever 9 is constantly applied with the urging force in the clockwise direction around the shaft 4a by the urging force of the spring body 9d.
[0018]
On the other hand, protrusions 9e are formed on the front and back surfaces of the engaging claws 9b formed on the latch lever 9, and the protrusions 9e are a pair of circular arcs formed at left and right symmetrical positions at the center portions on both sides of the cassette base 4. The guide groove 4d is engaged with one of the shape guide grooves 4d and 4e.
[0019]
Accordingly, when the tip 9f of the latch lever 9 extended to the cassette door 8 side is rotated about the shaft 4a, the projection 9e moves along the guide groove 4d, and thereby the latch lever 9 has a rotation angle greater than a predetermined rotation angle. The rotation is restricted.
[0020]
Note that the latch lever 9 is removed from the mounting position of the latch lever 9 shown in FIG. 3, the front and back are reversed, and the latch lever 9 is inserted into the shaft 4a again as shown in FIG. When the free end of the spring body 9d is engaged with the other step 4c formed on the cassette base 4 and the protrusion 9e is engaged with the other guide groove 4e, the leading end 9f of the latch lever 9 becomes the cassette door 8 Thus, the latch lever 9 can be operated from the direction opposite to the cassette door 8.
[0021]
That is, in the attachment position of the latch lever 9 shown in FIG. 3, the operation of the latch lever 9 can be performed from the cassette door 8 side, and in the attachment position of the latch lever 9 shown in FIG. The mounting mode is such that the latch lever 9 can be operated.
[0022]
In other words, according to the mounting mode of each latch lever 9 described above, when the card is replenished in the cassette box 6, the entire card accommodating portion 2 may be removed from the card dispensing portion 3 (FIG. 1). According to the attachment mode of the latch lever 9 shown in FIG. 5, when the operator operates the cassette door 8 on the card payout direction side indicated by the arrow A and removes the card storage portion 2 from the card payout portion 3, the operation is facilitated. In addition, according to the attachment mode of the latch lever 9 shown in FIG. 4, when the operator operates from the opposite side of the cassette door 8 and removes the card accommodating portion 2 from the card dispensing portion 3, the operation is facilitated. can do.
[0023]
On the other hand, the cassette box 6 described above is positioned around an isosceles triangular projection 4f formed on the upper surface of the central portion of the cassette base 4 as shown in FIG. Since the pair of bearing holes 4g for supporting the shaft 8a are also formed at symmetrical positions with the projection 4f as the center, it is possible to mount the cassette box 6 with respect to the cassette base 4 with the mounting position reversed. is there.
[0024]
That is, after removing the screws 5 as shown in FIG. 5 from the mounting position of the cassette box 6 shown in FIG. 3, the cassette box 6 and the cassette door 8 are removed from the cassette base 4, and then, as shown in FIG. When the box 6 and the cassette door 8 are turned upside down and attached to the cassette base 4 again, the cassette door 8 can be mounted in the direction opposite to the card payout direction indicated by the arrow A as shown in FIG.
[0025]
That is, according to the mounting mode of the cassette box 6, cassette door 8, and latch lever 9 shown in FIG. 7, the cassette door 8 is opened from the opposite direction to the card payout direction side indicated by the arrow A, and the card is placed in the cassette box 6. And the operation of removing the card housing portion 2 by operating the latch lever 9 from the card dispensing direction side indicated by the arrow A is facilitated.
[0026]
Further, when the mounting position of the latch lever 9 shown in FIG. 7 is turned upside down as shown in FIG. 8 from the mounting position of the latch lever 9, the cassette door 8 is moved in the direction opposite to the card dispensing direction shown by the arrow A. The operation of opening and replenishing the card into the cassette box 6 is facilitated, and the operation of removing the card accommodating portion 2 by operating the latch lever 9 from the direction opposite to the card dispensing direction indicated by the arrow A is facilitated.
[0027]
Next, the internal structure of the card accommodation unit 2 described above will be described in detail.
[0028]
FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the card accommodating portion 2 described above, and the same parts as those in FIG.
[0029]
As described above, the card storage unit 2 includes the cassette base 4 positioned and mounted in the card dispensing unit 3 (FIG. 1), the cassette box 6 fixed to the upper surface of the cassette base 4, and the cassette box 6 The cassette door 8 opens and closes the card insertion slot 7. In the cassette base 4 and the cassette box 6, pressing means 11 is provided for pressing a plurality of cards (not shown) to be replenished against the bottom surface 10 of the cassette base 4. A groove 10a is formed on the bottom surface 10 of the cassette base 4 in which a slide, which will be described later, reciprocates along the card dispensing direction.
[0030]
The pressing means 11 includes a base plate 12 having a U-shaped cross section, and a coil spring 13 that is a card pressing spring disposed between the base plate 12 and the ceiling 6 a of the cassette box 6. The base plate 12 is always biased downward (to the cassette base bottom surface 10 side) by the biasing force.
[0031]
On the other hand, on the upper surface of the base plate 12, there is disposed base plate lifting means 14 for forcibly pushing the base plate 12 upward during card replenishment, thereby expanding the entire card insertion slot 7 and facilitating the card replenishment operation. ing.
[0032]
The base plate lifting means 14 is composed of a plurality (six) of cylindrical bodies 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 14e, and 14f having different diameters that are engaged with each other only at the upper ends, and is located at the uppermost end. A cap 15 is fixed to the upper surface of the cylindrical body 14f with a screw 16. Since the diameter of the cap 15 is set larger than the cylindrical body insertion hole 6b formed in the ceiling 6a of the cassette box 6, the cap 15 does not fall into the cassette box 6 through the hole 6b. Absent.
[0033]
Note that the plurality of cylinders 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 14e, and 14f described above are sequentially set to have smaller diameters from the lowest cylinder 14a to the upper cylinder 14f.
[0034]
On the other hand, between the peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 14a having the maximum diameter installed at the lowermost position and the peripheral surface of the cylindrical body insertion hole 6b formed in the ceiling 6a of the cassette box 6, they are not shown. Engagement means are provided.
[0035]
According to this engaging means, when the card is replenished, the pair of tongue pieces 8b, 8c formed at the upper end of the cassette door 8 is pressed and shrunk, whereby the protrusion 8d formed on the tongue piece 8b and the cassette box 6 are After releasing the engagement with the engaging hole 6d formed in the tongue piece 6c and opening the cassette door 8, the cap 15 is picked up and the baie plate 12 is lifted upward against the urging force of the coil spring 13. The aforementioned engaging means (not shown) interposed between the peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 14a and the peripheral surface of the hole 6b of the cassette box 6 are engaged with each other, so that the cylindrical body 14a is positioned at the position of the cylindrical body insertion hole 6b. The positioning is stopped, and at the same time, as shown in FIG. 10, the base plate 12 stops at the upper end position in the cassette box 6, and the entire card insertion slot 7 is expanded. In FIG. 10, reference numeral 17 denotes an engagement release lever of the engaging means protruding below the tongue 6c of the cassette box 6, and reference numeral 18 denotes an inner peripheral surface of the cassette box 6 on both side surfaces in the width direction. It is a pair of box plates having a trapezoidal cross section. By attaching / detaching the pair of box plates 18, cards of various sizes having different widths can be stored in the cassette box 6.
[0036]
That is, when a wide card is stored in the cassette box 6, the pair of box plates 18 may be removed and replenished, and when a narrow card is stored, as in the embodiment. In addition, a pair of box plates 18 may be mounted in the cassette box 6.
[0037]
As shown in FIG. 10, when the picking-up operation of the cap 15 is released after the engaging means (not shown) is engaged and the cylinder 14 a is stopped at the position of the cylinder fitting insertion hole 6 b, the cylinder 15 a is released. The cylinders 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 14e, and 14f excluding the body 14a fall into the cylinder 14a and are all housed therein.
[0038]
Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, when the card supply operation into the cassette box 6 is performed, the base plate lifting means 14 does not protrude above the cassette box 6 and the size of the cassette box 6 in the height direction is changed. Therefore, the work for taking in and out the card storage unit 2 into the vending machine is further facilitated.
[0039]
Next, from the position shown in FIG. 10, the cassette door 8 is further expanded to largely release the card insertion slot 7, and then a plurality of cards 19 are inserted into the cassette from the card insertion slot 7 as shown in FIG. When the box 6 is replenished and then the card insertion slot 7 is closed again by the cassette door 8, the front end 8e of the cassette door 8 and the engagement release lever 17 collide with each other, and the engagement release lever 17 is pushed in. As shown in FIG. 12, the base plate 12 is moved downward by the urging force of the coil spring 13 constituting the base plate lifting means 14, and the plurality of cards 19 are removed from the upper surface thereof. The entire card 19 is pressed against the cassette base bottom surface 10 side.
[0040]
As shown in FIG. 12, a plurality of cards 19 loaded and accommodated in the cassette box 6 are placed one by one from the lowermost surface at the bottom of the card accommodating portion 2, that is, on the left side of the cassette base 4. A card discharge port 200 for discharging is formed, and in particular, the vertical width L of the card discharge port 200 formed in the card accommodating portion 2 is at least two sheets of the thickness t of the card to be discharged (L> 2t).
[0041]
Next, the card dispensing unit 3 will be described in detail.
[0042]
FIG. 13 is a top view of the card dispensing unit 3 with the card storage unit 2 removed.
[0043]
The card dispensing unit 3 includes a card separating / conveying means 21 housed in a flat rectangular casing 20 and a card discharging means for discharging the cards conveyed one by one by the card separating / conveying means 21 from the casing 20. 22.
[0044]
The card separating / conveying means 21 is disposed below the center base 23 covering the upper surface of the housing 20, and the card discharging means 22 is disposed below the exit bracket 24 covering the front end side of the housing 20. .
[0045]
The card separating / conveying means 21 is engaged with a card located on the lowermost surface of the plurality of cards 19 (FIG. 12) accommodated in the card accommodating portion 2 described above, and the engaged card is one sheet. Each of the components is a slide 25 that engages with the card, a slide drive means 26 that reciprocates the slide 25 in the horizontal direction of the drawing, and a slide guide means that guides the slide 25 in the horizontal direction of the drawing. 27, a slide posture changing means 28 for changing the posture of the slide 25 during traveling.
[0046]
Among these, the slide 25 is composed of a slide body 30 formed of a sintered metal member as shown in FIG. 14 shown in an enlarged plan view, and a slide holder 31 that accommodates the slide body 30. The tip 31a is rotatably supported by a reciprocating slider 34 of a reciprocating slider link mechanism 33 constituting a part of a slide driving means 26 described later via a shaft 32 as shown in FIG. Yes. A stepped portion 30b having a height difference slightly smaller than the thickness of a later-described card to be separated and conveyed is formed on the upper surface 30a of the slide body 30.
[0047]
On the other hand, an urging means 36 composed of a coil spring 35 constituting a part of a slide posture changing means 28 described later is wound around a shaft 32 that rotatably supports the slide holder 31, and one end 35 a of the coil spring 35 is wound around the shaft 32. The slide holder 31 is engaged, and the other end 35 b is engaged with the reciprocating slider 34.
[0048]
Therefore, according to the urging means 36 described above, as shown in FIG. 15, the slide holder 31 is always urged from the horizontal posture shown by the one-dot chain line to the inclined posture shown by the solid line by the urging force of the coil spring 35.
[0049]
In FIG. 14, reference numeral 31c denotes a pair of guide protrusions formed on both sides of the rear end 31b of the slide holder 31 that constitutes a part of the slide posture changing means 28 described later. The guide protrusions 31c are slides described later. The posture of the slide holder 31 is changed to a horizontal posture parallel to the payout card shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 15 and an inclined posture shown by a solid line away from the card.
[0050]
Next, the above-described slide driving means 26 will be described.
[0051]
As shown in FIG. 16 shown in the CC cross section of FIG. 13, the slide drive means 26 includes a first drive motor 40, a gear transmission mechanism 41 that decelerates and transmits the rotation of the drive motor 40, and the gear transmission mechanism 41. The reciprocating slider link mechanism 33 converts the rotational force transmitted from the output shaft 42 into the reciprocating motion of the slide body 30 in the left-right direction.
[0052]
The reciprocating slider link mechanism 33 includes a disk 43 that is rotated by the rotational force transmitted from the output shaft 42 of the gear transmission mechanism 41, a protrusion 43a that protrudes from the outer periphery of the upper surface of the disk 43, and the protrusion 43a. The reciprocating slider 34 has a guide groove 34a to be joined.
[0053]
Of these, the disk 43 has a shaft center portion 43b rotatably supported in a bearing hole 44a formed in a partition wall 44 that vertically defines the inside of the housing 20, and as shown in FIG. The guide groove 34 a is formed in a guide bar 34 b formed integrally with the reciprocating slider 34.
[0054]
A first detection means (not shown) for detecting whether or not the reciprocating slider 34 is in the initial position shown in FIG. 16 is disposed between the guide bar 34b and the housing 20. When the reciprocating slider 34 is at the initial position shown in FIG. 16, the detecting means sends an OFF signal to a control device (not shown), and when it moves from the initial position shown in FIG. 16, sends an ON signal to the control device.
[0055]
According to such a reciprocating slider link mechanism 33, when the disc 43 rotates once and the projection 43a reciprocates once along the guide groove 34a, the reciprocating slider 34 moves from the initial position shown in FIG. A reciprocating motion is performed in which the robot moves in the left direction (forward direction), then moves in the right direction (return direction), and returns to the initial position shown in FIG.
[0056]
Next, the slide guide means 27 for guiding the slide 25 in the horizontal direction of the drawing via the reciprocating slider 34 of the drive means 26 described above will be described in detail.
[0057]
As shown in FIG. 13, the slide guide means 27 is in the center of the center base 23, and is formed with a roller guide groove 23a formed along the horizontal direction of the drawing, and a guide roller that is inserted and guided in the guide groove 23a. 45 and a slider guide groove 23b for guiding the reciprocating slider 34 shown in FIG. 16 in the left-right direction of the drawing. Of these, the roller guide groove 23a and the slider guide groove 23b are both formed on the center base 23, and the guide roller As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, 45 is rotatably attached to a flat rectangular reciprocating slider 34 via a mounting screw 46.
[0058]
According to such a slide guide means 27, when the reciprocating slider 34 of the driving means 26 moves from the initial position of FIG. 13 to the left in the drawing, the reciprocating slider 34 is first guided along the slider guide groove 23b, and then. The reciprocating slider 34 is guided along the roller guide groove 23a into which the guide roller 45 is inserted.
[0059]
Accordingly, the slide 25 mounted on the reciprocating slider 34 is also smoothly guided in the left-right direction in FIG. 13 along the slider guide groove 23b and the roller guide groove 23a and reciprocates.
[0060]
Next, the slide posture changing means 28 for changing the posture of the slide body 30 during the reciprocating travel of the slide 25 will be described in detail.
[0061]
As shown in FIG. 13, the slide posture changing means 28 includes an urging means 36 comprising a coil spring 35 as described above, and a pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51 disposed opposite to each other with the reciprocating slider 34 interposed therebetween. As shown in FIG. 14, a guide protrusion 31c projecting from the rear end of the slide holder 31 guided by engagement with the slide attitude switching guides 50 and 51, and a housing as shown in FIG. It is composed of an inclined wall 52 fixed to a partition wall 44 that vertically defines the interior 20 and in sliding contact with the lower surface of the slide holder 31.
[0062]
As shown in FIG. 13, each of the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51 is formed by a guide rail having a substantially L-shaped cross section, and one of the slide posture switching guides 50 is parallel to the traveling direction of the reciprocating slider 34. It is supported rotatably about a pair of shafts 50a, 50b formed at various positions. The other slide attitude switching guide 51 is also supported rotatably about a pair of shafts 51a and 51b formed at positions parallel to the traveling direction of the reciprocating slider 34.
[0063]
Further, return springs 53 and 54 are fitted on one shaft 50 a and 51 b of each slide posture switching guide 50 and 51, respectively. Of the return springs 53 and 54, each free end of one return spring 53 is inserted. One end is engaged with the center base 23, and the other end is engaged with one slide attitude switching guide 50. One end of the free ends of the other return spring 54 is engaged with the center base 23, and the other end is engaged with the other slide posture switching guide 51.
[0064]
Therefore, of the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51 described above, one of the slide posture switching guides 50 is constantly biased clockwise around the pair of shafts 50a and 50b by the biasing force of the return spring 53. In addition, a biasing force that always rotates counterclockwise about the pair of shafts 51 a and 51 b acts on the other slide posture switching guide 51 by the biasing force of the return spring 54.
[0065]
On the other hand, the inclined wall 52 fixed to the partition wall 44 as shown in FIG. 16 is shown when the reciprocating slider 34 moves rightward to return to the initial position shown in FIG. An inclined surface 52a that rises to the right is formed so that the slide main body 30 in the inclined posture shown by the solid line 15 is positioned parallel to the accommodated card surface (in the position of the dashed line).
[0066]
According to the urging means 36 comprising the coil spring 35 constituting the slide attitude changing means 28, the pair of slide attitude switching guides 50 and 51, the guide protrusion 31c, and the inclined wall 52, the reciprocating slider 34 shown in FIG. When the reciprocating slider 34 starts moving forward as indicated by an arrow A from the initial position, the guide protrusion 31c of the slide holder 31 supported by the reciprocating slider 34 has a pair of sliding postures. Since the slide holder 31 and the slide body 30 are mounted on the switching guides 50 and 51 and are guided, the left side of FIG. 13 (arrows) is maintained while maintaining the posture parallel to the card, in other words, the horizontal posture shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. Move in the forward direction indicated by direction A).
[0067]
Then, when the guide protrusion 31c of the slide holder 31 is separated from the left end of the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51, the slide holder 31 is quickly centered about the shaft 32 by the biasing force of the coil spring 32 as shown by the solid line in FIG. At the same time, the slide main body 30 is changed to an inclined posture separated from the card as indicated by a solid line.
[0068]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13, when the reciprocating slider 34 shifts to the backward traveling that moves in the right direction (return direction) of the drawing as indicated by the arrow D, the slide holder 31 is indicated by the solid line in FIG. 15 as described above. Since the guide protrusion 31c and the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51 are not in a horizontal positional relationship because they are in an inclined posture, they are not engaged with each other and the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 are maintained while maintaining the same inclined posture. , 51, but when the rear end of the slide holder 31 reaches the start end of the inclined wall 52 shown in FIG. 16, the slide holder 31 resists the urging force of the coil spring 35 shown in FIG. When the reciprocating slider 34 finally returns to the initial position shown in FIG. 16, the slide holder 34 is rotated counterclockwise around the shaft 32 to change its posture. 1 is returned to the parallel initial attitude and the card.
[0069]
That is, according to the slide posture changing means 28 described above, each time the reciprocating slider 34 reciprocates in the left-right direction, the slide holder 31 and the slide body 30 repeatedly perform the posture change described above.
[0070]
Next, the card discharge means 22 will be described in detail.
[0071]
As shown in FIG. 16, the card discharge means 22 is rotated by the second drive motor 60, a gear transmission mechanism 61 that reduces and transmits the rotational force of the drive motor 60, and the rotational force of the gear transmission mechanism 61. And a pair of drive rollers 63 fixed to the shaft 62 at a predetermined interval, and a driven roller 64 that is in pressure contact with the circumferential surface of the roller 63.
[0072]
As shown in FIG. 16, the driven roller 64 is rotatably supported by a shaft 65, and the shaft 65 is constantly urged toward the drive roller 63 by the elastic force of the coil spring 66a. The coil spring 66a is prevented from coming off by a pressing plate 67 disposed on the outlet bracket 24 covering the front end side of the housing 20, and the pressing plate 67 is fixed to the outlet bracket 24 by screws 68. .
[0073]
As shown in FIG. 16, an elastic body 63a such as rubber having a large friction coefficient is wound around the peripheral surface of the drive roller 63 described above, and a part of the wound elastic body has a large diameter. Since the projecting portion 63b is formed, even when the card deformed in the width direction is conveyed to the card payout port 66, the driving roller 63 is surely brought into close contact with the card surface and the card is surely secured. Conveying is planned.
[0074]
As shown in FIG. 16, the shaft 65 for supporting the driven roller 64 is supported so that the driven roller 64 always follows the shape of the peripheral surface of the drive roller 63, and is always moved downward by the elastic force of the coil spring 66a. Is pressed.
[0075]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 16, between the card discharge means 22 and the front end side 19a of the plurality of cards 19 accommodated in the card accommodating portion 2, a plurality of cards are discharged from the card discharge port 200 shown in FIG. A double conveyance preventing means 80 (to be described later) for preventing the card 19 from being conveyed at one time, that is, a double feed, and a shutter means 70 for opening and closing a card conveyance path 68 formed between the driving roller 63 and the driven roller 64 are provided. It is arranged.
[0076]
The shutter means 70 has a lever 71 having a substantially L-shaped cross section that protrudes and appears in the card transport path 68, and a link means 72 that rotates the lever 71 about a shaft 71a, thereby expanding the card transport path 68. It is composed of
[0077]
Of these, the link means 72 comprises a link 73 having a long hole 73 a that engages with a protrusion 71 b formed on the side of the lever 71, and the rear end 73 b of this link 73 is the rear end of the inclined wall of the slide posture changing means 28. It extends to the position exceeding 52b.
[0078]
Further, the rear end 73b of the link 73 abuts against the rear end of the slide holder 31 at the initial position of the slide holder 31 shown in FIG. 16, and moves to the right side of the drawing by its urging force. The card conveyance path 68 is rotated by a predetermined angle clockwise about 71 a and protrudes into the card conveyance path 68 to close the card conveyance path 68.
[0079]
When the contact between the rear end 73 b of the link 73 and the slide holder 31 is released, the link 73 is attached with a coil spring 74 that is an urging means stretched between the partition wall 44 and one end of the link 73. Due to the force, the card is moved to the left side of the drawing, and at the same time, the lever 71 is rotated counterclockwise by a predetermined angle about the shaft 71a to widen the card transport path 68.
[0080]
The operation of the shutter means 70 described above will be described in detail in conjunction with the card payout procedure of the card payout device 1 described later.
[0081]
Next, the card double conveyance preventing means 80 will be described in detail.
[0082]
As shown in FIG. 16, the double conveyance preventing means 80 is substantially conveyed over the card posture correcting roller 81 disposed adjacent to the leading end side 19a of the plurality of cards 19 and the vertical width of the card conveying path 68. It is composed of a thickness screw 82 which is a vertical width restricting means for limiting the thickness of one card.
[0083]
Among these, as shown in FIG. 13, a pair of card posture correcting rollers 81 are provided along the width direction of the card transport path with a predetermined interval (interval narrower than the card width being transported).
[0084]
The card posture correcting roller 81 is rotated via a shaft 85 to one end 84a of a roller arm 84 whose intermediate portion is rotatably supported by a shaft 83 as shown in FIG. It is supported freely. Since the other end 84b of the roller arm 84 is always urged upward by the coil spring 86, the entire roller arm 84 is urged clockwise about the shaft 83, whereby the card posture correcting roller 81 is always carded. It is in pressure contact with the lower surface of the conveyance path 68. As described above, since each pair of card posture correction rollers 81 is an independent suspension system using independent roller arms 84, even if the card is deformed in the width direction or the like, the posture of the card warped by its urging force. Effectively correct.
[0085]
That is, as shown in FIG. 17, a plurality of cards are transported at a time as indicated by a one-dot chain line due to factors such as frictional force interacting from the front end side 19a of the plurality of cards 19, that is, the card discharge port 200. Even in such a case, the card posture correction roller 81 forcibly presses the card against the lower surface of the card transport path by the biasing force of the coil spring 86 to correct the transport posture.
[0086]
Note that the card posture correcting roller 81 retracts upward as indicated by a one-dot chain line when a plurality of cards are conveyed.
[0087]
In FIG. 17, reference numeral 91 denotes a second detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a card passing through the card transport path 68. The second detection means 91 is a card supported so as to be rotatable about an axis 92. The card detection lever 93 is engaged by a detection lever 93, a return spring 94 that engages with the lower end 93a of the detection lever 93 and constantly urges the lever 91 clockwise about the shaft 92, and the lower end 93a of the detection lever 93. The sensor 95 includes a light emitting and light receiving element that detects whether or not a predetermined rotation angle has been rotated.
[0088]
According to the second detection means 91 described above, one card 90 travels in the card transport path 68, and at this time, the card 90 comes into contact with the tip 93b of the card detection lever 93 and the lever 93 is indicated by a one-dot chain line. As shown in the figure, when rotating counterclockwise about the shaft 92, the rear end 93a of the lever 93 also rotates counterclockwise about the shaft 92 and crosses the sensor 95 as shown by the alternate long and short dash line. The means 91 sends an ON signal to a control device (not shown) and detects the presence of the card 90 at the position of the card detection lever 93 on the card transport path 68.
[0089]
When the card 90 passes on the card transport path 68 and the lever 93 returns to the initial position shown by the solid line in FIG. 17, the rear end 93a of the lever 93 is retracted from the sensor 95, so the second detecting means 91 is turned off. A signal is transmitted to detect that the card 90 is not at the position of the card detection lever 93.
[0090]
Next, the thickness screw 82 constituting the other of the above-described double conveyance preventing means 80 will be described in detail.
[0091]
As shown in FIG. 13, a pair of the thickness screws 82 is provided along the width direction of the card conveying path with a predetermined interval (an interval narrower than the width of the card to be conveyed). Further, as shown in FIG. 18 shown in the FF enlarged conceptual sectional view of FIG. 13, the thickness screw 82 is formed by a screw having a triangular pyramid shape at the tip, and the distance from the tip 82a to the lower surface 68a of the card transport path 68 is separated. It is set to about 1.5 times the thickness of the card 90 to be conveyed.
[0092]
Therefore, according to the above-described thickness screw 82, even when the card posture correction roller 81 cannot prevent the conveyance (double feed) of a plurality of cards as indicated by the one-dot chain line, the card conveyance path 68 is Since the upper and lower widths are limited to about 1.5 times the thickness of the card 90 to be conveyed, only one card can pass through the thickness screw 82, so that more reliable card separation is possible. Can be transported.
[0093]
The vertical width of the card transport path 68 can be easily adjusted by operating the thickness screw 82 in accordance with the card thickness.
[0094]
Next, the card payout procedure of the card payout apparatus 1 described above will be described.
[0095]
When a card payout signal is sent to the control device of the card payout device 1 (not shown), the control device turns on the power, and after that time T1 elapses, the first drive motor 40 of the slide drive means 26 shown in FIG. And a drive signal is sent to the second drive motor 60 of the card ejecting means 22 to start driving at the same time. As a result, the slide holder 31 is moved from the initial position in FIG. 16 to the left (outward direction) in the drawing by the reciprocating slider 34 of the reciprocating slider link mechanism 33. The pair of drive rollers 63 of the card discharge means 22 also rotate counterclockwise at a constant rotational speed as indicated by an arrow G via the gear transmission mechanism 61.
[0096]
When the slide holder 31 moves from the initial position in FIG. 16 to the left in the drawing, the slide holder 31 initially has a pair of guide projections 31c formed at the rear end thereof as shown in FIG. 51, moving while being guided. FIG. 19 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing a state in which the pair of guide protrusions 31 c move while being guided on the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51.
[0097]
Therefore, the slide main body 30 moves to the left side (arrow A direction) in FIG. 13 while maintaining the posture parallel to the card, in other words, the horizontal posture shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG.
[0098]
Thus, when the slide body 30 moves in the arrow A direction (forward direction) while maintaining the horizontal posture via the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51, first, after the link of the shutter means 70, as shown in FIG. Since the contact between the end 73b and the rear end of the slide holder 31 is released, the link 73 is moved to the left in the drawing by the urging force of the coil spring 74 as urging means, and at the same time, the shutter lever 71 is moved around the shaft 71a. The card conveying path 68 is expanded by rotating counterclockwise.
[0099]
Next, the step portion 30 b formed on the upper surface of the slide main body 30 comes into contact with the rear end of one card 90 located on the lowermost surface among the plurality of cards 19 stacked and accommodated in the card accommodating portion 2. At this time, the detection signal of the first detection means (not shown) for detecting whether or not the reciprocating slider 34 is in the initial position shown in FIG. 16 changes from OFF to ON.
[0100]
Thereafter, when the first drive motor 40 of the slide drive means 26 continues to rotate, a single card 90 that contacts the stepped portion 30b of the slide body 30 is removed from the lower surface of the card accommodating portion 2 as shown in FIG. It is pushed out horizontally and moves to the card payout exit 66 side through the card transport path 68.
[0101]
As described above, when the card 90 is pushed out horizontally and moves to the card payout exit 66 side through the card transport path 68, the card detection lever 93 of the second detection means 91 is rotated counterclockwise to thereby perform the second operation. The detection signal of the detection means 91 is changed from OFF to ON.
[0102]
When the detection signal by the second detection means 91 changes to ON, the control device (not shown) thereafter drives the first drive motor 40 of the slide drive means 26 for the time T2 based on the ON signal.
[0103]
That is, when the drive motor 40 is subsequently driven for a time T2, the slide body 30 mounted on the slide holder 31 during that time maintains a horizontal posture from the position of FIG. 21 via the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51. While moving further to a predetermined distance in the direction of arrow A (outward direction) (to the travel operation switching point from forward travel to return travel), the slide holder 31 moves further in the direction of arrow A in FIG. As shown, the guide protrusion 31c (FIG. 13) of the slide holder 31 is separated from the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51, so that the slide holder 31 is quickly turned around the shaft 32 by the biasing force of the coil spring 35. At the same time, the slide body 30 is inclined at a predetermined rotation angle about the shaft 32, and separated from the card 90. It is positioned in the attitude.
[0104]
As described above, when the slide body 30 is positioned in the inclined posture inclined by the predetermined rotation angle, the contact between the stepped portion 30b of the slide body 30 and the card 90 is released, and the extrusion conveyance of the card 90 by the slide body 30 is released. At the same time, the sliding contact with other cards is also released, but the tip 90a of the card 90 is gripped between the pair of driving rollers 63 and the driven rollers 64 of the card discharging means 22 during that time. The card 90 is further conveyed to the card payout exit 66 side by the conveying force.
[0105]
In this way, when the card 90 is further discharged from the position shown in FIG. 22 to the card payout exit 66 side by the conveying force of the driving roller 63, the rear end of the card 90 is the second detecting means as shown in FIG. 91, the card detection lever 93 returns to the initial position and changes the detection signal of the second detection means 91 from ON to OFF.
[0106]
Thus, when the detection signal of the second detection means 91 changes from ON to OFF, the control device (not shown) starts driving the first drive motor 40 of the slide drive means 26 again based on this OFF signal, Further, based on this OFF signal, the driving of the second drive motor 60 of the card ejection means 22 is stopped after the time T3 has elapsed. During this time, as shown in FIG. 23, one card 90 is driven by a pair of drive rollers 63 and a follower. It is dropped from between the rollers 64 and discharged.
[0107]
On the other hand, when the driving of the first drive motor 40 of the slide drive means 26 is started again, as shown in FIG. 24, the reciprocating slider 34 starts traveling in the backward direction, and the right direction in the drawing, that is, the arrow D direction (return direction). Move to.
[0108]
At that time, the slide main body 30 mounted on the slide holder 31 moves while maintaining the inclined posture, so that the pair of guide protrusions 31c (FIG. 13) formed on the rear end 31b of the slide holder 31 and the pair of slide postures are switched. The slide holder 31 passes below the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51 while maintaining the inclined posture without engaging with the guides 50 and 51.
[0109]
When the rear end 31b of the slide holder 31 reaches the start end of the inclined wall 52 shown in FIG. 25, the slide holder 31 gradually opposes about the shaft 32 against the urging force of the coil spring 35 by the inclined surface 52a. It rotates clockwise and gradually returns its posture to a horizontal posture.
[0110]
When the slide holder 31 passes below the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51, the guide protrusion 31c of the slide holder 31 is a pair of slide posture switching guides as shown in FIG. 50 and 51 are brought into contact with the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51, and one of the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51 is rotated counterclockwise about the shaft 50a. Further, the other slide posture switching guide 51 is rotated clockwise around the shaft 51a to release the return path through which the slide holder 31 passes.
[0111]
Thereafter, the slide holder 31 returns to the initial position shown in FIG. 16, and at the same time, the pair of slide posture switching guides 50 and 51 also return to the horizontal initial position.
[0112]
When the slide holder 31 returns to the horizontal position at the initial position parallel to the card shown in FIG. 16, the slide rear end 73b of the shutter means 70 and the slide holder 31 come into contact with each other. The link 73 is moved to the right side of the drawing, whereby the shutter lever 71 is rotated clockwise by a predetermined angle about the shaft 71a, and the card transport path 68 is closed again.
[0113]
When the shutter lever 71 of the shutter means 70 rotates clockwise about the shaft 71a to close the card transport path 68 again, the double transport shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. The plurality of cards 100 thus positioned are again positioned at the initial position of the card accommodating portion 2 indicated by the solid line.
[0114]
Therefore, according to the shutter means 70, the plurality of cards 100 that are transported twice are accurately positioned again at the initial position in the card housing portion 2. The positional relationship between the single card 90 and the slide 25 is appropriate, and therefore, the contact between the single card 90 and the slide 25 to be dispensed next located on the lowermost surface of the card housing portion 2 is reliable, For this reason, a card conveyance mistake is prevented as much as possible.
[0115]
In addition, the card dispensed from the card storage unit 2 has some simple factor, for example, the contact angle between the stepped portion 30b of the slide body 30 and the rear end of the card is bad, and the card to be dispensed is the card in the card storage unit 2. If the jammed card is jammed immediately after the discharge port 200 (FIG. 17), the jammed card can be positioned again at the initial position of the card accommodating portion 2 shown by the solid line in FIG. The payout operation by the stepped portion 30b of the slide main body 30 can be performed again, that is, the retry can be performed. This time, the contact angle between the stepped portion 30b of the slide main body 30 and the rear end of the card is made good, and the card once jammed is smoothly discharged. It will also be possible.
[0116]
When the slide holder 31 returns to the initial position shown in FIG. 16 to pay out the next card, the first detection means (not shown) detects whether or not the reciprocating slider 34 is in the initial position shown in FIG. The detection signal changes from ON to OFF, and based on the detection signal, the control device (not shown) stops driving the first drive motor 40 of the slide drive means 26, and the control device further detects the first detection means. After a time T4 from when the detection signal changes from ON to OFF, power-on (not shown) is stopped.
[0117]
Thereafter, the above-described operation is repeated in response to a card payout signal for a control device (not shown).
[0118]
FIG. 27 is a time chart showing the card payout procedure described above.
[0119]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the card dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, the vertical width of the card discharge port formed in the card accommodating portion is set to be larger than the card thickness of two sheets and the card is discharged from the card discharge port. After correcting the card with the card posture correcting roller, the card is allowed to pass through the vertical width regulating member, and a large number of cards discharged from the card discharge port are pushed back into the card storage portion by the shutter means. Even if the biasing force (spring constant) of the card holding spring is set to a small value, cards including deformed cards can be smoothly discharged from the card discharge port with a large vertical width to the card transport path, and discharged from this card discharge port. Since the deformed card is corrected by the card posture correction roller and passed through the vertical width regulating member, the card including the deformed card can be securely It can be separated and conveyed one by one.
[0120]
Further, since the urging force (spring constant) of the card holding spring disposed in the card accommodating portion can be set small, the pressing force applied to the cards loaded and accommodated in the card accommodating portion is reduced, and therefore, between the cards. By reducing the applied frictional force, it is possible to prevent the card from being damaged as much as possible when the card is paid out, and the slide running load when the card is separated and transported is also reduced. Cards can be paid out quickly.
[0121]
Furthermore, since the card is ejected from the card outlet having a large vertical width via the slide, there is a risk that a large number of cards may be ejected from the card outlet at one time (so-called double feed). Since a large number of cards are pushed back to the initial position in the card accommodating portion by the shutter means, the contact position relationship between the one card to be dispensed next and the slide becomes appropriate, and the card to be dispensed next is slid. Thus, it is possible to reliably push out and pay out, thereby preventing as much as possible a card conveyance error caused by double feed. Further, the shutter means of the card dispensing device of the present invention can push the card once jammed in the vicinity of the card discharge port (jam card) back into the card accommodating portion, and then can perform the dispensing operation again on the jam card. It is also possible to provide a card dispensing device having a high failure recovery effect for jam cards.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a card dispensing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of a card dispensing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a side view of the card accommodating portion.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the card accommodating portion.
FIG. 5 is an exploded side view of a card accommodating portion.
FIG. 6 is an exploded side view of the card accommodating portion.
FIG. 7 is a side view of the card accommodating portion.
FIG. 8 is a side view of the card accommodating portion.
FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a card accommodating portion.
FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a card accommodating portion.
FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a card accommodating portion.
FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a card accommodating portion.
FIG. 13 is a top view of the card dispensing unit.
14 is an enlarged top view of the slide. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 14. FIG. 16 is a conceptual cross-sectional view taken along CC in FIG.
17 is a conceptual cross-sectional view of EE in FIG. 13;
18 is a conceptual cross-sectional view of the FF in FIG. 13;
FIG. 19 is a conceptual cross-sectional view of a slide posture changing means.
FIG. 20 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing the operation of the card dispensing unit.
FIG. 21 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing the operation of the card dispensing unit.
FIG. 22 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing the operation of the card dispensing unit.
FIG. 23 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing the operation of the card dispensing unit.
FIG. 24 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing the operation of the card dispensing unit.
FIG. 25 is a conceptual cross-sectional view showing the operation of the card dispensing unit.
26 is a conceptual cross-sectional view of HH in FIG. 25. FIG.
FIG. 27 is a time chart of card payout.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Card dispensing apparatus 2 ... Card accommodating part 3 ... Card dispensing part 21 ... Card separation conveyance means 25 ... Slide 66 ... Card dispensing outlet 68 ... Card conveyance path 70 ... Shutter means 71 ... L-shaped lever 72 ... Link means 74 86 ... Biasing means (coil spring)
81: Card posture correcting roller 82: Vertical width regulating member (thickness screw)
90 ... Card 200 ... Card outlet

Claims (4)

A card storage section for stacking and storing a large number of cards, and a card transport path for communicating a large number of cards stacked and stored in the card storage section one by one from the bottom surface through a slide that reciprocates to the card payout opening In a card dispensing device comprising a card separating and conveying means for pushing out to
A card discharge port formed at a lower portion of the card housing portion for discharging the card pushed out by the slide, wherein the card discharge port is set to have a thickness of at least two sheets of the card to be discharged at least in the vertical width; ,
A card posture correcting roller that is adjacent to the card discharge port and presses the card conveyed through the slide against the lower surface of the card conveying path;
Arranged in the card conveyance path downstream of the card posture correction roller, the vertical width of the card conveyance path is regulated to be thicker than the thickness of one card and thinner than the thickness of two cards. A vertical width regulating member to be
When the card is paid out, the card transport path is expanded, and when the card is not paid out, the card transport path is closed, and at the same time, a plurality of cards double-fed from the card discharge port through the slide are pushed back into the card accommodating portion. A card dispensing device comprising shutter means. The card posture correcting roller and the vertical width regulating member are disposed one by one along the width direction of the card transporting path with a narrower interval than the card width being transported, and the pair of card posture correcting rollers 2. The card dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cards are independently suspended and are constantly urged to the lower surface side of the card transport path via an urging means. The card dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vertical width regulating member is a thickness screw. The shutter means is
An L-shaped lever, one end of which is rotatably supported around an axis and the other end of which protrudes and disappears in the card transport path;
Urging means for always rotating the lever in a direction to expand the card transport path;
When the card is paid out by the forward travel of the slide, the lever is rotated in one direction about the axis via the biasing means to widen the card transport path, and the slide and 2. A link means for closing the card transport path by contacting the lever against the urging force of the urging means and rotating the lever in the other direction around the axis. ) The card dispensing device described.

Images