JPH0373751A - Apparatus for loading article on container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To use non-rigid envelopes by driving a transporting means during one-way operation, operating other operating means during other-way operation to reciprocatingly move an actuating means and to move a pusher means from a fixed position to an operation position and providing a double-way driving means for moving them back to the fixed positions again. CONSTITUTION: The rotation of a motor to an opposite direction causes a driving shaft 78 to be driven counterclockwise. The rotation of the driving shaft 78 counterclockwise causes a shaft 92 and a crank arm 106 assembly to be rotated counterclockwise to move the pusher portion 116 of a pusher block 146 downward under the operation of a rod 108 connected to a link member 110. At this time, a transporting mechanism 16 is in a non-actuated condition. When the pusher block 146 is moved downward, it is put in contact with envelopes 122 supported by a flap 132 to be moved back to these fixed positions under the operation of a polymer block and a spring.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a device for loading articles into a container.

[Conventional technology]

The present invention has application, for example, to a deposit device included in an automatic teller machine (ATM) that dispenses and deposits banknotes at the request of a customer. In the operation of this type of ATM, a customer inserts an identification (ID) card into the machine and enters certain data (such as the identification number, the type of transaction, and the amount requested for payment) through a keyboard on the machine's console. The machine processes the withdrawal and pays the requested amount or accepts the deposit and returns the card to the customer, completing normal operation.

To make a deposit, the customer typically inserts the amount (cash or check) in an envelope through the console's deposit slot, and the ATM's deposit device transfers the envelope to a portable container within the ATM to make the deposit.

In known deposit devices, envelopes are simply placed one by one into a portable container by a transport mechanism. In such devices, envelopes are randomly deposited into the container, reducing the storage capacity of the container and preventing checking and post-processing when removing the envelopes from the container.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,263 discloses a deposit device for sequentially loading envelopes into containers. There, each envelope to be loaded is deposited by weight into a receiving zone separated from the storage zone by gate means configured to pass in one direction from the receiving zone to the storage zone. The envelopes in each receiving zone are arranged vertically with one end down.

That is, pusher means are used to force the envelope through the gate means towards the storage zone by the pressure of the vertical support plate resiliently pressing towards the gate means in the storage zone.

[Problems that the invention attempts to solve]

The device described above has the disadvantage that it does not work satisfactorily if envelopes are not sufficiently rigid, since each loaded envelope is propped up on one end in the receiving zone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an article loading device for containers which has a simple structure and eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks.

[Means to solve the problem]

This invention solves the above problems as follows. According to the invention, there is provided a device for loading goods into a container having a receiving zone and a storage zone, the resilient support means being attached to the storage zone and the entry hole provided in the device being connected to the receiving zone. transport means for conveying the articles; gating means separating said receiving zone from said storage zone and permitting one-way passage from said receiving zone to said storage zone; and pressure from said resilient support means pusher means movable from a home position to an operative position to push an article past the gate means into the receiving zone; actuating means for actuating the pusher means; actuating means for actuating the actuating means;
When operating in one direction, the transport means is driven; when operating in the other direction, the operating means is actuated to reciprocate the operating means, and the pusher means is moved from the home position to the operating position. bidirectional drive means adapted to move the article and return it to the home position.

〔Example〕

1 and 2 show a deposit device including a support frame 10 with side walls 12.14. The deposit device consists of an upper endless belt pair 18 and a lower endless belt pair 18 respectively cooperating therewith.
a transport mechanism 16 having a pair of belts 20; The cooperating belt 18.20 carries the envelope 122- as shown in FIG.
The entry hole 22 is connected to the ATM console 26 (the first
(not shown). As discussed below, the deposit container 24 can be easily removed from the frame IO and reinserted.

Each belt 18 passes through pulleys 28 and 30, respectively.

Pulley 28 is fixed to shaft 32 and pulley 30 to shaft 34, which shaft 32.34 is rotatably mounted between side walls 12.14. Each belt 20 has a respective pulley 36, 38.4
Pass through 0. Pulley 36 is mounted on a shaft 42 rotatably mounted between side walls 12.14, and pulley 38 is mounted on a first pair of support arms 46.47, each proximate to side wall 12.14.
The pulleys 40 are rotatably mounted on shafts 44 extending between corresponding ends of a second pair of support arms 50.51, respectively, near the side walls 12.14. Can be installed freely. The ends of support arms 46.47 remote from shaft 44 are rotatably mounted on shaft 42, and the ends of support arms 50.51 remote from shaft 48 are rotatably mounted on shaft 44.

The assembly of support arm 46.4'7 and shaft 44 is rotated clockwise (in FIG. 2) about shaft 42 by a spring 52 connected between a stud 54 fixed to side wall 14 and a projection 56 extending from arm 47. is biased towards.

Hereinafter, clockwise direction and counterclockwise direction will refer to FIG. 2. The support arm 50.51 and shaft 48 assembly is biased clockwise about the shaft 44 by a spring 58 connected between a stud 59 of arm 51 and a second stud 60 fixed to side wall 14. be done.

The upper portions of the belt 20 extending between the pulleys 40, 38 are each disposed in cooperative relationship with a corresponding portion of the belt 18, and the upper portions of the belt 20 extending between the pulleys 38, 36 are spaced apart from the belt 18 to form an entry hole 22. An entry cavity is formed nearby. The entry hole 22 normally has a shutter 64 (first
(not shown). When a customer wishes to deposit an envelope containing money into the ATM, the shutter 64 is opened upwardly to the position shown in FIG. 2 by actuation solenoid 65 (FIG. 6). Then, the customer enters the envelope 122 through the entry hole 22.
' is inserted into the entry cavity so that the envelope is clamped between the cooperating belts 18, 20.

Shafts 32.42 are driven by gears 66.68 in the directions indicated by the respective arrows (FIG. 2). Gears 66,68 are driven by gear 70 through a gear train 72, which is mounted on a shaft 74 that is rotatably mounted between side walls 12,14. Axis 32.42 is gear 66.6
8, the belt 18.20 conveys the envelope 122' from the entry hole 22 to the deposit container 24, as described below. Shaft 4 with pulley 38.40 attached
4.48 is attached to a resilient support arm 46.47°so,st so that envelopes with a wide range of thicknesses (
(up to approximately 1.25 cm thick) is conveyed to container 24 by belt 18.20.

An ink jet printer 76 is mounted on support means (not shown) between the belts 18 and in the entry holes 2.
Identification information is printed on each envelope transported from 2 to container 24.

The drive shaft 78 is rotatably mounted between the side walls 12.14 and is located near the rear of the frame IO. It is mounted at the end of the frame IO remote from the Frey console 26 and is driven by a bi-directional motor 80 (FIG. 6) via transmission means including a pulley 82 (others not shown). Endless belt 84 goes around a pulley 86 fixed to drive shaft 78 and around a first pulley portion 88 of pulley 90 . Pulley 90 is attached to a shaft 92 by a roller clutch 94, and shaft 92 is rotatably mounted between two support brackets 96.

Brackets 96 are each secured to side walls 12,14 remotely therefrom.

When the drive shaft 78 is rotated clockwise by the motor 80,
Roller clutch 94 allows pulley 90 to rotate freely on shaft 92 without imparting drive to shaft 92. As drive shaft 78 is rotated counterclockwise by motor 80, roller clutch 94 transmits drive to shaft 92, causing shaft 92 to rotate counterclockwise. Second endless belt 98
around the second bobbin portion 100 of pulley 90 and around pulley 102 which is attached to shaft 74 by a roller clutch 104. As pulley 90 rotates clockwise on belt 84, roller clutch 104 transmits drive to shaft 74, causing shaft 74 to rotate clockwise and pulley 90 to rotate clockwise.
When rotated counterclockwise by belt 84, pulley 1
02 rotates freely on shaft 74 and does not transmit drive to shaft 74.

When motor 80 drives drive shaft 78 clockwise, it drives belt 84.9g, pulley 90.102. Shaft 74 and gear? 0,72,66°68 to the transport mechanism 16 and not to the shaft 92.

On the other hand, when motor 80 drives drive shaft 78 counterclockwise, that drive is not transmitted to transport mechanism 16, but is transmitted to shaft 92, rotating it counterclockwise.

Two crank arms 106 are each fixed to the end of the shaft 92, each crank arm 106 attached to the side wall 12, or one
4 and an adjacent bracket 96. Rod 108 is supported by and passes through corresponding ends of two link members 110. The other ends of link members 110 are rotatably connected to free ends of crank arms 106, respectively. The ends of the rods 108 are slidably engaged in two grooves (not shown) formed in respective side walls 12.14 extending perpendicularly to the top surface 112 of the container 24. In this manner, rotation of shaft 92 is caused by rotation of crank arm 106.
and reciprocates the rod 108 in the direction just mentioned above via the link member 110. In the following description of the container 24, it is assumed that the direction just mentioned above is the vertical direction.

3 to 5, the deposit container 24 has an envelope storage bin 114 with an open top, and a pusher part 116 installed on the top of the bin 114. It has a downwardly extending side wall 118 that slides into engagement. Storage bin 114 is envelope 122
The long side of each envelope is aligned with the side wall 120 and the wide side of each envelope is aligned with the front wall 124 and the back wall 12 of the bin 114.
Arrange them close to 6. The bottom of the stack of envelopes is in bin 114.
It is supported on a plate 127 mounted on top of a block of polymeric plastic material, such as polyurethane, which is supported on a base 129. plate 127
An extension arm 130 attached to the rear wall 126 passes through a vertically extending 'IRI3+ formed in the back wall 126. Typically, as shown in FIG. 4, the topmost envelopes in the stack 122 are rotatably mounted to the inner surfaces of the side walls 120 and engage the undersides of two horizontally extending flaps 132.

The polymer block 128 is in a somewhat compressed state, and the envelope bundle [
The uppermost envelope of 22 is resiliently supported against the flap (32). The polymeric block 122 is provided with a number of holes to enhance the compression effect. The flap 132 is normally maintained in a horizontal position (FIGS. 3 and 4) by two springs 136 (FIG. 3). The stud 13g fixed to the outer surface of the flap 126 is connected to a protrusion 140 formed on the flap 132.
26 through two holes 142 formed in it.

Rotation of the flaps 132 upwards from their horizontal position is prevented by two lugs 144, each secured to the flaps 132, which engage the side walls 12 of the bin 114 when the flaps 132 are in the horizontal position.
It is arranged so as to be in contact with the inner surface of 0.

The flap 132 can be rotated downwardly from its normal horizontal position against the action of the spring 136 and the pressure exerted by the polymeric block 122 so that the envelope is in the receiving zone A of the container 24 above the flap 132 (FIG. 5). From flap 132
can be passed to the storage zone B (FIG. 5) of the container 24 below. As will be discussed below, flap 132 acts as a gate means to permit one-way passage of envelopes from reception zone A to storage zone B one at a time.

The pusher block 146 is the upper wall 1 of the pusher section 116.
48 , its cross section is rectangular, and it extends roughly along the entire length of the earthen wall 148 .

The upper surface of the wall 14g continues to the upper surface of the container 24 (Fig. 1,
Figure 2). The width of block 146 is somewhat greater than the portion occupied by flap 132 and can engage flap 132 to rotate flap 132 downwardly. Pusher block 146 is normally disengaged from engagement with flap 132 by two pairs of springs 150, each pair of springs 150 being connected to a stud 154 secured to a respective one of side walls 120 of bin 114 and pusher portion 116. Adjacent side wall 118
The stud 156 is fixed to the stud 156.

Each stud 154 passes through a respective groove 160 (FIG. 2) formed in the associated sidewall 118. Each side wall +20 has l pairs of guide studs +62 placed above each other.
are provided, with each pair of guides, studs 162, slidably engaging respective grooves 164 (FIG. 2) formed in the associated side walls 1!8. The pusher portion 16 moves downwardly relative to the bin 114 against the action of the spring 150 and the two pairs of guide studs 162 slide along the grooves 164.

When container 24 is not loaded in the ATM, bin 1
The upward movement of the pusher portion 116 relative to the side wall 118
The closed lower ends of the two grooves 166 formed in the two plates 167 which are fixed to the studs 162 are limited by contact with the upper ones of the studs 162. Section 2.4.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the container 24 is loaded into the correct position of the ATM, the rod 108 engages the upper surface of the upper wall 148 of the pusher portion 116, and the pusher portion 116
50 is resiliently pressed against the rod 108.

As a result, in operation, the upward and downward movement of the pusher portion 116 relative to the bin 114 is generally responsive to the upward and downward movement of the rod 108.

The inner surfaces of the side walls 12, 14 of the frame 10 are each provided with approximately two horizontally extending guide rails 168.170. Two stop members 172, each having a stop surface 174, are each fixed to the inner surface of the side wall 12.14 and are arranged on the rail 168.170 near the rear of the frame 10. Two latch members 176 (not shown in FIG. 1) in the form of bell crank levers are rotatably mounted on two studs 178 fixed to the inner surface of the side walls 12.14, respectively, and the rails 168, It is located near the bottom of the pulley 40 above 170. Each latch member 176 consists of a forward protruding arm 180 and a lower protruding arm +82 connected at its upper portion with a rearwardly facing recess 184. Each latch member 176 is biased counterclockwise by a respective spring 186 connected between the arm 180 and a stud 188 secured to the associated side wall 12 or 14 to secure the arm 180 to the side wall 12 or 14. the second stud 189 that has been inserted.

The first pair of support studs 190 are connected to the front wall 12 of the bin 114.
4 and a second pair of support studs 192 are secured to the back wall 12.
It is fixed at 6. The central portion of the upper end of the front wall 124 is formed as a curved guide member 194 together with recesses 196 on both sides thereof. When the container 24 is installed in the correct position on the frame IO, the stud 192 is supported on the rails 168, 170 and engages the top surface 174 of the stop member 172, and the stud 190 is placed and supported in the recess 184 of the latch member 176. , the latch member 176 is held in a supported position relative to the stud 190 by a spring 186. When the container 24 is in the operating position described above, the adjacent end of the endless belt 20 extends close to the recess 196 and guide member 1
94 is aligned with the top surface of belt 20 (FIG. 2).

In order to take out the container 24 from the deposit device, the latch member 1
76 connects the arms 18 of the latch member 176 through openings 200 formed in the side walls 12, 14 of the frame IO, respectively.
0 is rotated clockwise against the action of spring 186. This rotational movement of latch member 176 separates recess 184 from stud 190, causing container 24 to rotate clockwise about the axis of stud 192 until stud 190 engages rails 168, 170. The container 24 is then removed from the deposit device through an open door means (not shown) at the front of the ATM and first slides along the rails 168.170 to the transport mechanism with the studs 190.192. 16 belts 20.

The manner in which the container 24 is inserted into an ATM is generally similar to the manner in which the container is removed. Therefore, the container 24 is first attached to the stud 192 and then the stud 190 is attached to the rail 168.
, 170 is inserted between the side walls 12 and 14 through the open door means described above to engage the top surface of the door. container 24
is slid along rails 168, 170 until stud 192 engages stop surface 174 of stop member 172.

Therefore, in the container 24, the stud 190 is connected to the latch member 1.
76 in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of the stud 192 until it engages the recess 184 of the stud 192 . During this rotation of the container 24, the stud 190 engages the cam surface 202 of the latch member 176.
, and the latch member 176 is rotated clockwise against the action of the spring 186. The stud 190 is in the recess 18
4, the latch member 176 snaps back into a supporting position relative to the stud 190;
To properly and securely latch the container 24 into the correct operating position of the frame 10.

The base 129 of bin 114 can be removed and bin 1
It can be held in place by latches 204 on the front and back of 14. When it is desired to remove an envelope from the deposit container 24 (e.g., when the display means indicates that the container 24 is full), the latch 204 is released to allow the base 129 to be removed from the rest of the bin 114. Make it. Envelope stack 122 can be removed from container 24 through the open bottom of bin 114 after polymer block 128 and plate 127 are first removed.

In an alternative embodiment of the deposit device, the container 24 can be incorporated into a backload ATM. In this case, the container 24 may be loaded into and removed from the deposit device via door means (not shown) at the rear of the ATM. In this embodiment, to remove the container 24 from the deposit device, the latch member 176 is removed from the stud 190 and the container 24 is rotated clockwise until the stud 190 contacts the rails 168,170. Container 24 is then moved slightly forward along rails 168, 170 to disengage stud 192 from stop member +72 and
The container 24 is slid rearwardly out of the frame 10 along the rails 168.degree. According to this embodiment, when inserting the container 24 into the deposit device, the container 24 is slid rearwardly along the rails 168, 170 and the studs 190, 192 are connected to the stop members +
A stop member along the inclined surface 206 of 72! Climb on top of 72. After the stud 192 moves over the stop member 172,
Container 24 moves slightly rearward to engage stud 192 and stop surface 174 of stop member 172. This insertion action causes the stud 190 to move into the recess 18 of the latch member 176.
4 by rotating container 24 counterclockwise about the axis of stud 192 until fully in position.

The operation of the deposit device will be explained below with reference to FIG.

Immediately before starting the envelope depositing operation, the motor 80 is in an inactive state, and the crank arm 106 and link member 110 are in the second
In the position shown, the pusher portion 116 is in its uppermost position relative to the bin 114, and the envelope stack (if any) 122 is held between the plate 127 and the underside of the flap 132 when inserted into the container 24. in a state. The envelope deposit operation begins by the customer inserting his/her ID card into a card insertion hole (not shown) and inserting the appropriate data from the console 26 keyboard (not shown). As a result of its initiation, the shutter actuation solenoid 65 is energized open by the electronic control means 210 included in the ATM.

Since the shutter 64 has been opened, the customer has opened the envelope 122 containing the money.
' is inserted through the entry hole 22 into the entry cavity between the belts 18 and 20. The insertion of the tip of the envelope 122' into the entry cavity is detected by the optical sensor means 212 (FIGS. 1 and 6), which sends a signal to the electronic control means 210, which activates the motor 8° to drive the drive shaft 78. clockwise to begin operation of the transport mechanism 16 and drive the belt 18.20 in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

When the transport mechanism 16 starts operating, the envelope 12
2' is held on the belt 18.20 and passed through the printer 76 into the container 24.

When the sensor means 212 senses the tail end of the envelope 122', the electronic control means 2 is activated in response to a second signal emitted therefrom.
10 deenergizes the shutter solenoid 65 and releases the shutter 6.
4 back to its shielding position. The printer 76 is the control means 21
0 and prints information on the envelope inserted from the keyboard, such as the amount of the envelope and the customer's identification information.

During the final portion of the movement of the envelope 122-, the envelope 122' is moved past the guide member 194 of the bin 114 and deposited into the container 24 by the transport mechanism 16;
The long sides of each envelope 122- are supported by flaps 132, as shown in FIG. When the envelope 122' is placed in the container 24, the tail end of the envelope 122' is sensed by a second optical sensor means 214 (FIGS. i and 6) located near the front wall 124 of the bin 114; When the sensor means 214 sends a signal to the control means 210, the control means 210 stops the motor 80 and then immediately rotates the motor 80 in the opposite direction.

Motor 80 rotations in the opposite direction drives drive shaft 78 counterclockwise. As mentioned above, the drive shaft 78
The counterclockwise rotation of the shaft 92 and the crank arm 1
06 assembly counterclockwise, first pusher part 116 of pusher block 146 is attached to link member 11.
It moves downward under the actuation of rod 108 which is maintained at zero.

At this time, the transport mechanism 16 is inactive. As the pusher block 146 moves downward, it contacts the envelope 122' supported by the flap 132 and continues to move the pusher block +46 downward against the pressure of the polymeric block 128 and spring 136, causing the flap 132 is rotated downwardly with the envelope 122, and the envelope 122 passes through the flap 132 and is in the same position as the top envelope of the stack of envelopes 122 already under the flap +32 of the bin 114. When pusher portion 116 reaches its lowest position relative to storage bin 114, seal 1122-, block 146 and flap 132 are in the position shown in FIG. Drive shaft 7
8 continues to rotate counterclockwise, the pusher part 11
6 and flap 132 can be returned to their home position shown in FIG. 4 under the action of polymer block 128 and spring 136.

Once the shaft 92 has made exactly one rotation counterclockwise, the electronic control means 210 stops the motor 80, the pusher portion 116 and the flap 132 return to their home positions, and the newly deposited envelopes are removed from the bundle of envelopes in the bin 114. becomes the top level. The envelope stack is supported by plate 127 and is held in position under flap 132 due to the upward pressure exerted by plate 127 by polymer block 128 . 1 and 6, the operation of motor 80 is controlled by a timing disk 218 fixed to drive shaft 78 (sensors 2!6 and disk 218 are not shown in FIG. 2).
This is done by electronic control means 210 under the control of timing signals from optical sensor 216 in cooperation with. The timing disk has a group of equally spaced radially extending marks, and the timing signal is generated in response to the marks being sensed by sensor 216. Therefore, the timing signal is generated synchronously with the rotation of shaft 78 and is synchronous with the rotation of shaft 92. When the second envelope is loaded into the container 24, all loaded envelopes are stacked in the bin 114 in order. The bin 114 is connected to the optical sensor means 220 (first.
6), a signal bin full is sent from the sensor means 220 to the control means 210. This signal inhibits further deposit operations until the container 24 is removed from the device and emptied or an empty container 24 is reinserted into the device.

The deposit device described above has the advantage that a single electric motor operates both the transport mechanism 16 and the pusher section 116, thereby simplifying the structure. Additionally, the polymer block 128 is attached to the envelope bundle 12 in the container 24.
2 can be provided with a very cheap and simple elastic support means.

Furthermore, this deposit device has the advantage that it can be configured with suitable door means so that the deposit container 24 can be inserted either from the front or from the rear of the device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the deposit device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the deposit device taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is included in FIGS. 1 and 2. Figure 4 is an enlarged front view of the upper part of the deposit container at the starting point of the envelope pushing operation for pushing envelopes into the storage bin of the deposit container; Figure 5 is a rear view of the deposit container with the front wall removed; FIG. 6 is a diagram similar to FIG. 4 showing the deposit container in the middle of an envelope pushing operation, and FIG. In the figure, lO...Support frame, 16...Transport mechanism, 18.20...Upper and lower endless belt mechanism, 22...Entry hole, 24...Deposit container, 26... Console, 28.30...Pulley,
32.34...axis, 36.38. tO...Pulley,
46.47...a pair of support arms, 50.51...
Second pair of support arms, 52... Spring, 64... Shutter, 66. 68... Gear, 80... Motor, 96
... Bracket, 94 ... Roller clutch, 11
6...Pusher part, 114...Storage bottle, 122...
...Bundle of envelopes, 128...Polymer block, 132...
·flap. Application agent Yoshishoichi Nishiyama FIG, 3 FIG, 4 FIG, 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A device for loading articles into a container having a receiving zone and a storage zone, comprising resilient support means attached to the storage zone, and loading the articles into the receiving zone from an entry hole provided in the device. transport means for conveying; gate means separating said reception zone from said storage zone and allowing one-way passage from said reception zone to said storage zone; and said gate means by pressure from said resilient support means. pusher means movable from a home position to an operative position so as to pass through the means and push an article in the receiving zone; actuating means for actuating the pusher means; actuating means for actuating the actuating means; When operating in the other direction, the transport means is driven; when operating in the other direction, the operating means is operated to reciprocate the operating means, and the pusher means is moved from the home position to the operating position. and bidirectional drive means adapted to return the article to said home position.