JPH05294516A - Apparatus for testing stiffness of sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To accurately test the stiffness of a sheet by, among a plurality of roller pairs for sheet feeding, allowing the rotational speed of some roller pairs to be different from others so that a sheet is deflected from a feeding path, which deflection state is detected. CONSTITUTION: When applied to fatigue currency notes detecting mechanism 10, a pair of, upper and lower, rubber feeding rollers 26 and 28; 30 and 32 are arranged with an interval back and forth along the currency note transportation direction. Between the roller pairs, back and forth, a pair of, upper and lower, polyethylene foam rollers 36 and 38 are arranged, with an axis 40 of the foam roller 38 provided for free displacement along the vertical slot. Here, the rollers 26, 28, 30, and 32 are rotated at the same circumferential speed while the foam rollers 36 and 38 rotated at the speed about 2.25 times the circumferential speed. Thus, a currency note is deflected from a feeding path depending on degradation state of it, and the deflection blocks the light from light sources 67 and 69, which is detected with optical sensors 66 and 68 for judging a degradation state of a currency note.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting the rigidity of a sheet, and more particularly to an apparatus for inspecting the rigidity or hardness of paper sheets such as banknotes. However, it is not limited to the rigidity inspection of banknotes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is important to simultaneously inspect bills in order to detect the state of bills before the bills are filled in a bill cassette used in an automatic teller machine (ATM). In particular, it is necessary to detect and reject bills that have holes or other defects or bills that have deposits such as tape and clasps. It is also important to detect whether the bill has the rigidity or hardness necessary to satisfactorily process the bill with a cash dispenser. If it does not have such rigidity, the bill should be rejected so that it will never be filled in the bill cassette.

An apparatus for determining the condition of a bill by inspecting the rigidity of the bill is described in European Patent Application No. 007313.
No. 3 is disclosed. This prior art device is based on the noise generated by the bill as it is bent around the bobbin drum. This prior art method has the drawback that the interference of the noise results in an inaccurate determination of the rigidity of the banknote.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a seat rigidity inspection device having a simple structure.

[0005]

An apparatus for inspecting the rigidity of a sheet provided in accordance with the present invention is a transfer apparatus (26, 28, 3) for feeding a sheet (46) along a feed path (48).
0, 32, 36, 38) and the transfer device is arranged to engage the sheet (46) to facilitate the sheet along the feed path (48). The device (36, 38; 28, 32) into the second rotating device (2
The peripheral speeds of the first and second rotating devices and the first rotating device, which are separated from each other by 8, 32) downstream of the first rotating device (36, 38), are higher than the peripheral speed of the second rotating device. So as to drive the first and second rotating devices (42, 4,
4), wherein the first rotating device (36, 38) engages the sheet, and the second rotating device (28, 32) applies a force to the sheet along the feed path. Arranged to apply a small feed force to the sheet along the sheet feed path, and the inspection apparatus further comprises:
Between the first and second rotating devices, there is provided a sheet deflection sensing device (66, 68) for sensing at least a predetermined amount of deflection from the feed path generated in a part of the sheet. To do.

In the present invention, the feed path means a path when the sheet is conveyed without being bent or otherwise deformed.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0008]

1 and 2, there is shown a mechanism 10 for detecting fatigued banknotes (hereinafter referred to as a fatigued banknote detection mechanism) 10. This mechanism is configured to inspect the quality of the bills sent one by one to the mechanism 10 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 by an external transfer means (not shown). It should be understood that each banknote sent to the fatigue banknote detection mechanism 10 has its long edge arranged perpendicular to the feed direction. The fatigue bill detection mechanism 10 includes a frame 12 having side walls 14 and 16. Two upper drive shafts 18, 20 and two lower drive shafts 22, 24 extend between and rotatably between these side walls 14, 16. The lower drive shafts 22 and 24 are located directly below the upper drive shafts 18 and 20, respectively. Axis 1
Four sets of rubber feed rollers 2 on 8, 20, 22, 24
6, 28, 30, 32 are fixed respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, feed roller 26 engages roller 30 in cooperation and roller 28 engages roller 32 in cooperation.

Another drive shaft 34, on which two polyethylene foam rollers 36 are mounted, extends rotatably between and relative to the side walls 14, 16, the shaft 34 being the upper drive shaft 18, 20. Located in between. Each roller 36 is disposed between adjacent feed roller-to-feed rollers 26 as shown in FIG. Two other polyethylene foam rollers 38 are rotatably mounted on the shaft 40 by bearings 39.
Roller 38 engages in cooperation with roller 36 as shown in FIG. The end of the shaft 40 is slidably mounted in two vertically extending slots (not shown) formed in each of the sidewalls 14,16. As a result, there is a certain amount of vertical movement on axis 4.
Allowed to zero. The rollers 36 and 38 are rubber rollers 26,
It should be appreciated that it is relatively compressible compared to 28, 30, 32.

The drive shafts 18, 20, 22, 24, 34 are driven by a gear mechanism 42 (FIG. 1). The gear mechanism 42 is driven by an electric motor 44 (FIG. 7). As a result, the rollers 26, 28, 30, 32, 36 are operatively rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Roller 3 rotatably mounted
Since 7 is also biased against the roller 36, it rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The gear mechanism 42 includes rollers 26, 28,
Rotate 30, 32 at the same peripheral speed, but rotate polyethylene foam roller 36 (and thus roller 38) at a peripheral speed of 2.25 times the peripheral speed of rubber feed rollers 26, 28, 30, 32.

As will be described in more detail later, the bill 46
A bill such as (Figs. 3 and 4) is fed in the direction of arrow A 4
8 through the fatigue banknote detection mechanism 10, banknotes 46 are co-rolled against rollers 26,30 and against rollers 36,38.
And between the pair of rollers 28 and 32. The cooperating feed rollers 26, 30 and 28, 32 exert a constant pressure on each other, while the pressure between the polyethylene foam rollers 36, 38 can be adjusted by an adjusting device 50. The adjusting device 50 has a shaft 5
4 includes an arm 52 whose one end is rotatably mounted.
The shaft 54 extends between the side walls 14,16. The arm 52 is biased by a vertically extending compression spring 56 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction (with reference to FIG. 2), so that the upper surface 58 of the arm 52 remote from the shaft 54 of the shaft 40 between the rollers 38. Engage with some. The upper end of the compression spring 56 engages with a recess 60 formed on the lower side of the arm 52. On the other hand, compression spring 5
The lower end of 6 engages with a collar 62 provided on an adjusting screw 64 screwed onto a support rod 65 fixed to the frame 12.
It should be appreciated that the compression spring 56 serves to resiliently engage the roller 38 with the roller 36. The upward force exerted on the shaft 40 by the surface 58 of the arm 52 can be varied by adjusting the adjusting screw 64 and thus the force with which the polyethylene foam roller 38 is biased against the roller 36. Can change.

As will be described in more detail below, a banknote 4 of deteriorated quality.
6 '(FIG. 5, FIG. 6) is a polyethylene foam roller 3
There is a tendency to bend in the area between 6, 38 and the feed rollers 28,32. The deflection of the banknote 46 'generated above the feed path 48 in this region by at least a predetermined amount (typically 4.5 millimeters in this embodiment) is caused by the first optical sensor 66 and the associated light source 67. Sensed and at least a predetermined amount (4.5 in this example) in this area.
The deflection of the bill 46 ', which is typically millimeters below the feed path 48, is sensed by a second optical sensor 68 and an associated light source 69 associated therewith. Banknote is axis 2
After passing 0, 24, the leading edge of the banknote is sensed by light sources 73 and 74 and two further optical sensors 70, 72 respectively associated therewith. The optical sensor 72 is separated from the optical sensor 70 in the direction of arrow A. The outputs of all sensors 66, 68, 70, 72 are applied to electronic controller 76 (FIG. 7).

Fatigue bill detecting mechanism 10 and electronic control unit 7
The operation of the device of the present invention including 6 will be further described with reference to FIGS. Before a banknote such as a banknote 46 reaches the fatigue banknote detection mechanism 10, the electronic control unit 76 activates the electric motor 44 to cause the rollers 26, 28, 30, 3 to operate.
Rotate 2, 36, 38. The leading long edge of the bill 46 (the right-hand side edge in FIGS. 3 and 4) is fed into the nip (interlocking portion) of the feed rollers 26 and 30 by the external transfer device (not shown) described above. Then, the bill 46 is fed by the rollers 26 and 30 as shown in FIG.
In the direction of, until the bill 46 is engaged by 36, 38. Polyethylene foam rollers 36, 38
Is rotated at a higher peripheral speed than the rollers 26, 30, but the bill 46 is more likely than the rollers 36, 38.
0 is more tightly caught so that the bill 46 is
6, 38 for slidable engagement. Roller 3 at this time
The circumference of 6, 38 slides on the surface of the bill 46 while rubbing against it.

The bill 46 has rollers 26, 30 and roller 3.
6, 38, the leading edge of the bill 46 enters the nip of the rollers 28, 32 and is fed until it is captured by these rollers. Immediately after the banknote 46 is captured by the rollers 28, 32, the trailing edge of the banknote 46 leaves the rollers 26, 30 and the banknote 46 becomes a polyethylene foam roller 3 as shown in FIG.
6, 38 and the feed rollers 28, 32 only. When the leading edge of the bill 46 is detected by the optical sensor 70, the electronic control unit 76 starts monitoring the outputs of the sensors 66 and 68, and the light sources 67 and 69 and the respective sensors 6 are detected.
Check if there is any interruption in the optical path between 6 and 68. The monitoring of the outputs of the sensors 66, 68 by the electronic control unit 76 continues until the leading edge of the bill 46 is sensed by the optical sensor 72. Monitoring ends when the leading edge is sensed.

During the monitoring of the outputs of the sensors 66, 68, the rollers 28, 32 reliably capture the bill 46 and the rollers 36, 3
8 frictionally engages the bill, resulting in both rollers 28, 32
And the rollers 36, 38 urge the bill 46 in the direction of arrow A along the feed path 48 (FIG. 2). Related to this, the rollers 36, 38 are arranged along the feed path 48 so that the bill 46
The feeding force applied to the rollers 28, 3 along the feeding path 48.
Note that 2 is weaker than the feeding force applied to bill 46. As described above, the peripheral speeds of the rollers 36 and 38 are higher than the peripheral speeds of the rollers 28 and 32. Due to this peripheral speed difference, the rollers 36, 38 tend to bend the bill 46 in the region between the rollers 36, 38 and the rollers 28, 32,
That is, the bill 46 tends to be bent to one side or the other side of the feed path 48. The ability of a banknote to resist such bending depends on its quality, especially its rigidity. In the situation shown in FIG. 4, the bill 46 has sufficient rigidity to resist any noticeable curving, and there is no interruption in the optical path between the light sources 67, 69 and the sensors 66, 68. The bill 46 is the roller 36,
38 is positively captured by both 38 and rollers 28, 32, but banknote 46 is more
The rollers 36, 38 are more firmly captured by 8, 32.
It should be understood that the lap of s1 slides over the bill 46.

In the situation just described with respect to FIG. 4, electronic controller 76 determines that bill 46 is of acceptable rigidity. This decision is based on the fact that there is no bending of the bill 46 sufficient to cause an interruption of the optical path between the light sources 67, 69 and the cooperating sensors 66, 68. Therefore, after the trailing edge of the bill 46 leaves the rollers 28, 32, the AT
In order to fill the bills into the bill cassette used for M, a station 78 is provided by another transfer device (not shown).
The electronic control unit 76 permits sending to a bill filling station such as (FIG. 8).

Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. If the banknote 46 ′ with the deteriorated sheet structure is sent to the fatigue banknote detecting mechanism 10, the banknote 46 ′ is fed to the rollers 36, 48 and the roller 2.
Rollers 36, 38 when engaging only 8, 32, i.e. after the trailing edge of bill 46 'has left rollers 26, 30.
The frictional force applied to the bill 46 'by the roller 36,
Sufficient to bend the bill 46 'in the area between 38 and rollers 28,32. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the roller 3 is arranged so as to interrupt the optical path between the light source 67 and the light source 68.
6, 38 are capable of bending bills 46 'above the feed path 48. When such an interruption occurs, sensor 66 applies a signal REJECT to electronic controller 76. This signal indicates to the electronic controller 76 that the inspected bill 46 'has failed to meet the stiffness criteria needed to be sent to the filling station (eg station 78). In response to the received signal REJECT, the electronic controller 76 produces a signal on its output line 79 (FIG. 7) indicating that the inspected bill is less than the standard stiffness condition. This signal is applied to the gate device 80 (FIGS. 7 and 8) to operate the gate device 80 to separate the bills 46 'into rejected bill containers such as the container 82 shown in FIG.

As an alternative to the device described above, as shown in FIG. 6, rollers 36, 38 are provided while poor quality banknotes 46 'engage only rollers 36, 38 and rollers 28, 32.
Bends the banknote 46 ′ downward in the feed path 48 and
0 can be activated to separate 46 'into the reject bill container (container 82, etc.) described above.

During the monitoring period, which corresponds to the period between the time when the leading edge of the bill 46 'is sensed by the optical sensor 70 and the trailing edge thereof is sensed by the optical sensor 72, the electronic control unit 76 is provided with the sensor 66. Or, it will be appreciated that the signal REJECT is applied by the sensor 68.

In the above embodiment, the sensor 6 is used during the monitoring period.
6, 68 sense a displacement of the bill from the feed path 48 of about 4.5 millimeters. Thus, during this period, any displacement (curvature) of the bill from the feed path 48 of at least this size gives the electronic controller 76 a signal REJECT, and thus the bill is rejected. The adjusting screw 64 allows the fatigue banknote detection mechanism 10 to be adjusted to provide lower quality banknotes (quality represented by the rigidity of the banknotes) and to allow only high quality banknotes. You can also In this way, if the adjusting screw 64 is relaxed by the polyethylene foam rollers 36, 38 to develop the pressure exerted on the banknote under inspection, the frictional force exerted on the banknote by the rollers 36, 38 is reduced, As a result, there is less tendency for the rollers 36, 38 to bend the bill. In other words, by loosening the adjusting screw 64, the quality condition of the bill permitted by the fatigue bill detecting mechanism 10 becomes low. On the other hand, if the adjusting screw 64 is tightened, the quality condition of the bill permitted by the fatigue bill detecting mechanism 10 becomes high.

Use optical sensor 70 because optical sensor 70 ensures that electronic controller 76 monitors only the outputs of sensors 66 and 68 after the bills engage rollers 28 and 32. is important. With this configuration, the bill 46 can be used for the rollers 36, 38 and the rollers 28, 3.
As a result of the leading edge of the bill being separated from the feed path 48 while moving between the two, it is possible to prevent the electronic control unit 76 from receiving an erroneous REJECT signal and responding thereto.

In the preferred embodiment described above, the feed rollers 26, 30 and the feed rollers 28, 32 along the feed path 48.
Is the distance at which the leading edge of the banknote is captured by the feed rollers 28, 32 before the trailing edge of the banknote leaves the rollers 26, 30 for the narrowest banknote to be inspected by the mechanism 10.

In the modified design example of the fatigue bill detecting mechanism 10 described above, the drive shaft 34 is driven by a motor different from the electric motor 44 for driving the feed rollers 26, 28, 30, 32. This design change has been made to reduce the peripheral speed of the polyethylene foam rollers 36, 38 and the feed rollers 26, 28, 30, 32 in order to obtain optimum operation of the fatigue banknote detection mechanism 10 when inspecting banknotes of various thicknesses or surface textures. Allows you to change the ratio.

The fatigue bill detecting mechanism 10 has an advantage that its structure is simple. In this regard, it should be noted that the rollers 36, 38 and the rollers 28, 32, which serve to check the degree of rigidity of the bill, also serve to feed the bill to the fatigue bill detection mechanism 10.

FIG. 8 shows a fatigue bill detecting mechanism 1 according to the present invention.
A banknote cassette filling system including 0 is shown in block form. The fatigue bill detection mechanism 10 is located downstream of the feeding mechanism 84 that functions to feed the bills held in the feeding mechanism 84 to the fatigue bill detection mechanism 10 one by one. Fatigue bill detection mechanism 10 and electronic control unit 7 related thereto
The bill determined to have the rigidity less than the required standard rigidity by 6 is transferred to the detector 85 via the gate device 80. The detector 85 detects the presence of clasps and other deposits attached to bills. After passing through the detector 85, the banknote further passes through a detector 86 for detecting wrinkles, where holes, folds,
It passes through a detector 88 that detects a rip and a detector 90 that detects the amount of a bill. If the bill is a detector 85,
If either 86, 88 finds it unacceptable, or if detector 90 finds the wrong amount, the note is moved along the branch line to another note container 92. It Otherwise, it is sent to the filling station 78 where the bills are filled into the bill cassette.

[0026]

[Effect] Although the present invention has a simple structure as described above, the rigidity can be inspected from the curvature based on the rigidity of a bill or the like.

The rigidity inspection mechanism can also function as a bill feeding mechanism.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a mechanism for detecting a non-rigid banknote.

2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the mechanism of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a part of the mechanism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and is a view showing a state in which a bill is partially contained in the mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a diagram similar to FIG. 3, but showing how a good-quality bill is at the rigidity inspection position of the mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing a banknote that is not rigid at the rigidity inspection position and is curved in a first direction with respect to a normal banknote feed path.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but showing a bill curving in the opposite direction to the normal feed path.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection of the device of the present invention in relation to a gate device for branching rejected banknotes.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the features of a banknote cassette filling system including the apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Fatigue bill detection mechanism 12 Frame 14 Side wall 28, 32, 36, 38 Cooperative roller 46 Bill 48 Sheet feeding path 66, 68 Sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transfer device (26, 28, 30, 32, 36, 38) for feeding a sheet (46) along a feed path (48).
A device for inspecting the stiffness of the sheet, the transfer device being arranged to engage the sheet (46) to facilitate the sheet along the feed path (48). And the second rotating device (36, 38; 28, 32) and the second rotating device (28, 32) is the first rotating device (36,
38) driving the first and second rotating devices such that the peripheral speeds of the first and second rotating devices and the first rotating device separated downstream from each other are higher than the peripheral speed of the second rotating device. A drive device (42, 44), and wherein the first rotating device (36, 38) engages the seat and the second rotating device (28, 32) engages the seat along the feed path. Is arranged to apply a feeding force less than the feeding force applied to the sheet along the sheet feeding path, and the inspection apparatus further includes the sheet between the first and second rotating devices. A sheet deflection sensing device (66, which senses at least a predetermined amount of deflection from the feed path generated in a part of
68) is provided.