JPH067383B2 - Paper handling device - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sheet handling apparatus having a discharging mechanism whose discharging operation is controlled by a controller.

[Background of the Invention]

A prior art relating to a discharging mechanism in an automatic teller machine, which is a paper handling apparatus, is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-141863. However, this technology is unaware of a solution to the abnormal termination caused by the customer's mistaken removal of the paper sheet.

Abnormal termination due to a mistaken removal of a paper sheet by a customer is likely to occur in a model in which the paper sheet discharge port is directed upward in order to downsize the apparatus as shown in FIG.

In addition, the conventional automatic teller machine starts the initialization operation of the receiving port at the time when the sensor detects that the paper sheet discharged to the receiving port is pulled out, and the shutter after the initialization operation is closed, At this time, the system had an abnormal stop if paper sheets remained for some reason.

That is, as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 3, when paper money and bills, which are paper sheets, are fed onto the tray 8, the tray 8 rises, and the shutter 2 opens in conjunction with this. (Step 301) Next, the fork 7 advances along the tray 8 and stops at the extraction position (Step 30).
2).

In this state, whether or not the paper sheet is pulled out is detected by the pull-out sensor 5 (step 303), and the operation of returning the receiving port to the initial state is started. That is, it is retracted to the initial position along the fork 7 and the tray 8 (step 30
4) Next, the tray 8 is lowered, and the shutter 2 is closed in conjunction with the lowering of the tray 8 (step 305). After the tray 8 has been lowered, the residual detection sensor 6 detects residual paper sheets (step 306). If there is no residual paper, the next transaction is started (step 307). I called a person in charge to remove the cause of the abnormality and restart the equipment. In addition, it takes about 1 second to operate each mechanism in each step. Therefore, in a model in which the paper sheet discharge port faces upward, the customer may fail to grasp the discharged paper sheet, the paper sheet may fall into the receiving port, and the shutter may also close.
In this case, the customer can not take out the paper sheet,
Since the automated teller machine detects the residual paper sheets that have fallen to the receiving port and makes an abnormal stop, you must call a staff member each time to remove the cause of the abnormality and restart the device. There was a problem in the service to the customer in the automatic teller machine installed in a remote place.

A method was also considered to close the receiving port shutter after a sufficiently long time after removing the sheets so that they can be taken out even if they are dropped into the receiving port, but the discharged sheets are removed. Since not all of them necessarily make a mistake in the sampling operation, there is a problem that the time when the receiving port shutter is open is wasted for the customer who normally operates, and the transaction time increases.

[Object of the Invention]

The object of the present invention is to re-execute the paper ejection operation within a predetermined value range even if the customer fails to remove the paper sheet ejected to the reception port and drops the paper sheet into the reception port. An object of the present invention is to provide a paper sheet handling apparatus capable of reducing the number of abnormal stoppages due to the remaining paper sheets without increasing the transaction time.

[Outline of Invention]

According to the present invention, a paper sheet discharging mechanism having a paper sheet discharging port, a paper sheet residual detecting means for detecting residual paper sheets in the paper sheet discharging mechanism, and a predetermined number of paper sheets at an initial position by a transaction operation. After being fed to the paper sheet discharging mechanism, the paper sheet discharging mechanism is caused to perform a paper sheet discharging operation so that the paper sheet can be taken out from the discharging port, and the paper sheet is taken out. A control unit for controlling the paper sheet discharging mechanism to return the paper sheet discharging mechanism to an initial state, wherein the control unit is provided in the paper sheet discharging mechanism by the paper sheet residual detecting means after the paper sheet is taken out. The remaining sheet is detected, and the sheet discharging mechanism is configured to retry the sheet discharging operation when the remaining sheet is detected. After the paper is ejected, the paper ejection mechanism returns to the initial state. The residue detecting means may be configured to perform residual detection of a paper sheet in the paper sheet release mechanism.

Further, the control unit may be configured to perform residual detection of a sheet in the sheet discharging mechanism in a process in which the sheet discharging mechanism returns to an initial state after the sheet is taken out, Further, the control unit may be configured to include a counting unit that counts the number of retries of the sheet discharging operation of the sheet discharging mechanism.

Example of Invention

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 4.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

An automated teller machine, which is a paper handling device, generally has a bill payment mechanism, a bill deposit mechanism, a passbook printing mechanism including an operation mechanism, a slip card mechanism, and a paper ejection mechanism, as shown in FIG.
And a control unit 22 for controlling them and a power supply unit, and the control unit is connected to a central system by a communication line or the like. However, some models lack at least one of the banknote depositing mechanism and the passbook printing mechanism, and various models are produced according to the needs of customers.
Further, the control unit 22 includes a CPU 22a and a storage mechanism 2.
2b, which itself has a counting function and various processing functions, and further, a predetermined number of sheets are fed to the sheet discharging mechanism at an initial position by a transaction operation, and then the sheets are transferred. The paper sheet discharging mechanism is made to perform a paper sheet discharging operation so that the paper sheet discharging mechanism can be removed from a discharge port provided in the discharging mechanism, and the paper sheet discharging mechanism is returned to the initial state after the paper sheet is taken out. It is configured to control the paper ejection mechanism. Further, the control unit performs residual detection of the paper in the paper discharge mechanism by the paper residual detection means after the paper is removed, and when the residual is detected, the paper discharge mechanism detects the paper. The ejection operation is configured to be retried. The control unit 22 performs the above control according to the flow stored in the storage mechanism 22b.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of the first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a model in which a paper sheet discharge port is directed upward in order to downsize the apparatus.

In the present embodiment, the front panel of the apparatus is provided with a handling indicator 14 indicating whether or not a transaction is possible, a card insertion slot 15 for taking in and returning a card, and an operation panel for the customer to operate on the projecting surface to the front side. 16. A guidance panel 17 is provided for giving guidance to customer operations, and a discharge port 1 for discharging paper sheets such as banknotes and specifications is provided at the boundary between the front panel and the overhanging surface. In this embodiment, the sheet discharging mechanism 21 is composed of the discharging port 1, the shutter 2, the guide 3, the fork 7, and the tray 8. Also, the control unit 2
2 is built in the main body.

The operation of the paper discharge mechanism in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4A shows the flow of operation in this embodiment, and FIG. The operation flow is stored in the storage mechanism 22b. FIG. 5 shows the standby state of the discharge port. A tray 8 which is vertically rotatable around a fulcrum not shown is held in a horizontal state, and a conveyance path 4 conveys paper sheets 9 such as bills and slips downward onto the tray 8 so that they can be accumulated. Held in the state of. The fork 7 slidably provided along the tray 8 is retracted so as not to hinder the accumulation of paper sheets. The receiving port 1 is provided with a shutter 2 that moves up and down the tray 8 to open and close. The transaction is started by the operation of the customer, and as shown in FIG.
When the sheet 9 is deposited on the upper side and the sheet is discharged, as shown in FIG. 4, the retry counter for counting the number of discharging operations by using the counting function in the control unit is set to 0.
(Step 401). Next, as shown in FIG. 7, when the tray 8 is raised, the shutter 2 is raised in conjunction with this (step 402). At this time, the conveyance path 4 also rises so as not to hinder the discharge of the paper sheet 9. A guide 3 is provided above the tray 8 to facilitate the discharge of the paper sheet 9. The residual detection sensor 6, which is a residual paper detection unit that detects residual paper, is attached to the tray 8. Therefore, the residual detection sensor 6 rises as the tray 8 moves up. Next, as a sheet discharging operation, the fork 7 advances as shown in FIG. 8 to push the sheet 9 into the receiving port 1 (step 403).

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, when the customer pulls out the paper sheet 9, the pull-out sensor 5 detects the pull-out. Photoelectric elements such as phototransistors are usually used for the residual detection sensor 6 and the sampling sensor 5. When the sampling sensor 5 detects a residue,
The output of the take-out sensor 5 is read until the paper sheet 9 is taken out, and when the take-out is completed, the process proceeds to the next step (step 404). When the paper sheet is removed, the fork is returned to the initial position as shown in FIG. 10 as an initialization operation (step 405), then the tray 8 is lowered to the initial position and the shutter 2 is closed (step 40).
6).

At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, if the customer fails to remove the paper sheet 9 and the left-over paper sheet 9 ′ remains at a position where the extraction sensor 5 is not cut off, the extraction sensor 5 judges that the extraction is completed and the fork 7 As the tray moves backward, the paper sheet 9 ′ slides down along the tray 8 due to the inclination of the tray, and then the first sheet
As shown in FIG. 2, the tray 8 is lowered and the shutter 2 is closed, and the residual detection sensor 6 detects the residual paper sheet 9 '(step 407). When the remaining sheet is detected, the number of the retry counter using the counting function in the control unit is checked (step 408). If it is less than the predetermined value, 1 is added to the number of the retry line counter (step 409), and the step is performed. 40
Returning to step 2, the remaining paper sheet 9'is discharged to the receiving port 1 again as shown in FIG.

In addition, when the residual of the paper sheet is not detected in step 407, this flow is exited (step 410) and the next transaction is started. If the number of retry counters reaches the predetermined value in step 408, it is determined that the customer did not intentionally receive it even if the paper sheet was re-emitted, or left without receiving it. Then, the flow is exited (step 411) and the apparatus is abnormally stopped. The predetermined value n of the retry counter may be any value.
However, if the number of times is too large, the transition time to the next transaction may be long, and the re-emitted paper sheet may be pulled out by a third party, so about 2-3 times is appropriate. In addition,
The operation flow is not limited to that shown in FIG. 4 (A), but if it is as shown in FIG. 4 (B), the retry time can be shortened.

FIG. 14 shows an external view of a paper sheet handling apparatus using the second embodiment of the present invention. The paper sheet handling apparatus in this embodiment lacks the banknote depositing mechanism and the passbook printing mechanism from the configuration of FIG. 2, and has only a payment function. The paper sheet discharging mechanism 21 'of this embodiment comprises a discharging port 1', a spindle 10 and a receiving port 11. The control unit 22 is built in the main body case.

In this embodiment, a handling indicator 14 'indicating whether or not transaction is possible on the front of the apparatus, a card insertion slot 15' for taking in and returning a card, an operation panel 16 'for the customer to operate, and guidance for giving guidance to the customer's operation. A panel 17 ', a statement discharge port 18 for discharging the specification, and a discharge port 1'for discharging a sheet are provided respectively. In this embodiment, the statement and the paper sheet are discharged from different discharge ports, and the paper currency, the banknote, is discharged from the discharge port 1.

The discharge port 1'comprises a substantially U-shaped receiving port 11 which is rotatably supported by a support shaft 10, and a bill is discharged by a rotating operation of the receiving port 11 about the support shaft 10. Is. The operation of the discharge port 1'in this embodiment is shown in FIGS. 15 to 18, and the operation flow in this embodiment is shown in FIG. The operation flow is stored in the storage mechanism 22b.

Before the paper sheet discharging operation, bills 13 are supplied from the bill cassette (not shown) to the receiving port 11 through the conveying path (not shown) as shown in FIG. When the banknote 13 is supplied,
The retry counter used by the counting function of the control unit is set to zero (step 501). Next, as a sheet discharging operation, the receiving opening 11 is rotated toward the customer as shown in FIG. 16 (step 502), and the customer removes the banknote 13. At this time, the sensor 12 incorporated in the receiving port 11 detects the removal of the bill (step 503). In the present embodiment, the sensor 12 which is the paper sheet residual detection means also serves as the extraction sensor. When the withdrawal of bills is detected, the receiving port 11 rotates in the opposite direction to the customer as an initialization operation and returns to the initial state (step 50).
4). At this time, as shown in FIG. 16, if the customer misses the bill after the sensor 12 detects the bill withdrawal and some of the bills fall into the receiving port 11 again, the receiving port 11 is rotated as it is. Then, as shown in FIG. 17, the bill 13 'may be taken into the inside of the apparatus. In the present embodiment, after the receiving port 11 returns to the initial state, the sensor 12 detects again whether or not the banknotes remain (step 50).
5). If no remaining banknotes are detected in this step, the flow exits this flow and moves to the next transaction (step 508).
When the remaining bills are detected, it is checked whether the value of the retry counter has reached the predetermined value n (step 506). When the value of the retry counter reaches the predetermined value n, this flow is exited and the device is abnormally stopped (step 50).
9).

When the value of the retry counter has not reached the predetermined value n, 1 is added to the value of the retry counter (step 50
7) Then, returning to step 502, as shown in FIG.
The receiving port 11 is rotated toward the customer to eject the remaining banknote 13 '. In the present embodiment, the sensor 12 has both functions of the extraction sensor and the residual detection sensor according to the reading timing, so that the number of sensors can be small.

FIG. 20 shows the appearance of the third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the paper sheet discharging mechanism 21 ″ is composed of the discharging port 1 ″, the shutter 2 ′, and the tray 8 ′, and the control unit 22 is built in the main body case. In this embodiment, bills 13 are supplied to a tray 8'provided inside the shutter 2'provided at the discharge port 1 "so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction via a transport path 4 '.

In the present embodiment, a handling indicator 14 ″ on the front panel of the device,
Guidance panel 17 ″, card insertion slot 15 ″, statement discharge slot 18 ′ are provided, and an operation panel is provided on the projecting surface to the front side.
A 16 ″, outlet 1 ″ for ejecting bills is provided. Also in this embodiment, the bill and the bill are discharged from different discharge ports, respectively, and the bill, which is a paper sheet, is discharged from the discharge port 1 ″.

The operation of the paper discharge mechanism in this embodiment is shown in FIGS.
The operation flow is shown in FIG. 6 and that in FIG. 27. The operation flow is stored in the storage mechanism 22b in the control unit 22.

FIG. 21 shows the initial state. Banknote 1 through the transport path 4 '
3 is conveyed and deposited on the tray as shown in FIG. When the supply of bills is completed, the retry counter using the counting function of the control unit is set to zero (step 601). Then the tray 8'is raised (step 60
2), the shutter 2'opens (step 603), and the 23rd
It will be in the state shown in the figure. At this stage, when the customer withdraws the banknote 13, the sensor 12 'provided on the tray 8'detects the withdrawal (604), and the tray 8'is lowered (step 605) as shown in FIG. When 2'is closed (step 606), the state returns to the state shown in FIG. 21. Then, it is detected by the shutter 12 'which is a paper sheet residual detection means whether or not banknotes remain in the tray 8' (step 608). At this time, if no banknotes remain in the tray, this flow is exited and the next transaction is started (step 613).

If the customer mistakenly drops the banknote 13 'onto the tray 8'after the removal is detected in step 604 and the shutter 2'closes in that state, the sensor 12' detects the banknote remaining and the value of the retry counter is set to a predetermined value. If the value n has not reached n, the retry counter is incremented by 1 and the process returns to step 612 to raise the tray 8'and open the shutter 2'to allow the customer to take out the bill 13 '. When the value of the retry counter reaches the predetermined value n, the flow exits and abnormally stops (step 614). The sensor 12 'functions as both a sampling sensor and a residual detection sensor according to the reading timing.

FIG. 28 shows a discharge port 1 '''in the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
Shows the appearance of. In this embodiment, the paper sheet discharging mechanism 2
1 ″ ″ is composed of a discharge port 1 ″ ″, a shutter 2 ″, a flapper member 19, and a discharge port bottom portion 20, and a control unit 22 is built into the main body case. The operation of the paper sheet discharging mechanism in this embodiment is as follows. 29 to 33, the flow of operation is shown in FIG.
Each is shown in the figure. Note that the operation flow is the storage mechanism 22.
It is stored in b. In this embodiment, the discharge port is not provided with a movable part such as a tray or a fork. When the transaction starts and the sheet is discharged, as shown in FIG. 29, the banknotes 13 which are the sheets are conveyed through the conveying path and accumulated on the bottom of the discharge port. In this embodiment, the banknotes 13 are aligned and accumulated on the bottom 20 of the outlet by the flapper member 19 pivotally supported inside the shutter 2 ″. When a predetermined number of banknotes 13 are accumulated, the counting function of the control unit is performed. Is set to zero (step 701), and the shutter 2 ″ is opened as a discharging operation (step 702). When the shutter 2 ″ is opened, as shown in FIG. 30, the flapper 19 is rotated and stored in the shutter 2 ″ so as not to hinder the taking out of bills. As shown in FIG. 31, the customer puts his / her hand in the discharge port 1 and grabs the deposited banknotes 13. When the sensor detects that the customer has taken out all the bills (step 703), the shutter 2 is closed as an initialization operation (step 704), and it is confirmed that the shutter 2'is closed (step 705). Sensor 12 ″
Thus, it is detected whether or not there are any banknotes left in the outlet 1 '''' (step 706). If no banknote remains,
This flow exits and moves to the next transaction (step 70).
9). If the customer mistakenly drops the banknote 13 'into the outlet after the sensor 12 "detects the banknote removal by the customer and the shutter 2" is closed as it is as shown in FIG. When the remaining amount of 13 'is detected and the retry counter has not reached the predetermined value n, 1 is added to the value of the retry counter, and the process returns to step 702 and the 33rd
As shown in the figure, the shutter 2 ″ is opened so that the customer can take out the banknote 13 ′. When the value of the retry counter reaches the predetermined value n, this flow is exited and abnormally stopped (step 710).

In this embodiment, the specification may be discharged to the same discharge port 1 ″ ′ as the bill, or may be discharged from a statement discharge port (not shown) provided separately from the discharge port 1 ″ ″. May be done. In the flow of the third embodiment and the fourth embodiment, if "Shutter closed?" Is NO, a judgment of time or number of times is made in the middle of the loop returning to "start of shutter closing operation", and a certain time or more than a certain number of times. If it becomes, it may terminate abnormally. Further, in the above embodiment, the time judgment is put in the loop of the judgment of the bill withdrawal detection, and when the withdrawal is not performed for a predetermined time or more, the abnormal termination or the sounding body, the voice, the screen to prompt the withdrawal,
The guidance may be given by a display device or the like.
Further, in the above embodiment, when re-emitting the paper sheet, the voice, the screen, the display device, etc., to give the guidance that "Please re-eject the bill. Please receive." Good. According to this, it is possible to give a feeling of security to the customer during the transaction.

Further, although the number of retries is counted by the counting function of the control unit in the above embodiment, the time may be counted as shown in the fifth embodiment of the present invention. A flow chart of the fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The hardware of this embodiment may be any of the hardware of the first to fourth embodiments.

The paper sheet discharging operation of this embodiment is as follows.

When a paper sheet is supplied to the paper sheet discharging mechanism, the paper sheet discharging mechanism performs a paper sheet discharging operation (step 801). Next, when it is detected that the paper sheet has been removed (step 802),
The paper sheet discharging mechanism performs an initialization operation for returning to the initial state (step 803). After the initialization operation is completed, it is detected whether or not the paper sheet remains in the paper sheet discharge mechanism (step 80).
4) If there is no residue, exit this flow and move to the next transaction (step 810). If the paper sheet remains, the timer that is the time counter is reset (step 806) and the paper sheet discharging operation is performed again (step 80).
6) After starting the discharging operation, the timer is started (step 807). Next, it is detected whether or not the paper sheet is pulled out (step 808). When the paper is pulled out, the flow returns to step 803 to initialize the discharge port, and if no residual is detected (step 804), this flow is exited ( Step 81
0) Move to the next transaction.

If the removal is not detected in step 808, it is determined whether the time t seconds set in the timer has elapsed (step 80
9) If it has not elapsed, the process returns to step 808, and if it has elapsed, this flow is exited (step 811) and an abnormal stop is performed. Note that the discharge port initialization operation may be performed before the abnormal stop is performed.

The set time of the timer may be set arbitrarily, but 10 to 30
Seconds are appropriate. In addition, at the time of the paper discharge operation after the residual detection, in parallel with this, sound, voice,
You may give guidance by screen display.

In the above embodiment, the control of the discharging operation of the sheet discharging mechanism after the residual detection may be performed by the software of the control unit, or the control unit 22 may perform the control by hardware such as a relay circuit or a semiconductor circuit. You may control.

According to the above-described embodiment, even if the customer accidentally drops the paper sheet into the discharge port after the paper sheet is taken out, the paper sheet is re-emitted, so that the customer can feel secure.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, even if the customer fails to extract the paper sheet discharged to the discharge port and drops the paper sheet at the discharge port, the discharge operation of the paper sheet can be retried a predetermined number of times. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the paper sheet handling apparatus in which the number of abnormal stops due to the remaining paper sheets is reduced without increasing the transaction time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of a paper sheet handling apparatus in a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a general configuration of a paper sheet handling apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 (A) is a flow chart of the operation of the paper sheet ejecting mechanism of the paper sheet handling apparatus in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 (B) is the present invention. 5 is a flow chart showing another example of the operation of the paper sheet discharging mechanism in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 5 to 13 are side cross-sectional views showing the operating process of the paper discharging mechanism of the paper sheet handling apparatus in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of the paper sheet handling apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 15 to 18 show the discharging mechanism of the paper sheet handling apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a side sectional view showing the operation process, and FIG. 19 is a paper sheet discharging device of the paper sheet handling apparatus in the second embodiment of the present invention. Flow chart of the operation of the structure,
FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of a paper sheet handling apparatus in a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 21 to 26 are the third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 27 is a side sectional view showing the operation process of the discharging mechanism of the paper sheet handling apparatus in the embodiment, FIG. 27 is a flowchart of the operation of the paper sheet discharging mechanism of the paper sheet handling apparatus in the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. A perspective view showing the vicinity of a discharge port of a paper sheet handling apparatus in a fourth embodiment of the invention, and FIGS. 29 to 33 are side cross-sectional views showing an operation process of a discharge mechanism of a paper sheet handling apparatus in a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 34 is a flow chart of the operation of the paper sheet discharging mechanism of the paper sheet handling apparatus in the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 35 is the flow chart of the paper sheet discharging mechanism of the paper sheet handling apparatus in the fifth embodiment of the present invention. It is a flow chart of operation. 1, 1 ′, 1 ″, 1: discharge port, 6, 12: paper sheet residual detection means, 21, 21 ′, 21 ″, 21: paper sheet discharge mechanism, 22:
Control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A paper sheet ejection mechanism having a paper sheet ejection port, a paper sheet residual detection means for detecting residual paper sheets in the paper sheet ejection mechanism, and a predetermined number of paper sheets are initially set by a transaction operation. After being fed to the paper sheet discharging mechanism at the position, the paper sheet discharging mechanism is caused to perform a paper sheet discharging operation so that the paper sheet can be taken out from the discharging port, and after the paper sheet is taken out. A control unit for controlling the paper sheet discharge mechanism to return the paper sheet discharge mechanism to an initial state is provided, and the control unit is provided in the paper sheet discharge mechanism by the paper sheet residual detection unit after the paper sheet is removed. The paper sheet handling apparatus is configured to detect the remaining paper sheet and to retry the paper sheet discharging operation when the residual paper sheet is detected. 2. The controller detects the residual amount of paper in the paper discharging mechanism by the residual detecting means when the paper discharging mechanism returns to the initial state after the paper is taken out. Claim 1 characterized in that it is configured to
The paper handling device according to the item. 3. The control unit, after the paper sheet is taken out,
The paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the paper sheet discharge mechanism is configured to detect residual paper sheets in the paper sheet discharge mechanism in a process of returning to the initial state. 4. The control unit comprises a counting unit for counting the number of retries of the sheet discharging operation of the sheet discharging mechanism. The paper sheet handling device according to any one of item 3.