WO2024070081A1

WO2024070081A1 - Banknote processing device

Info

Publication number: WO2024070081A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/022836
Authority: WO
Inventors: 皓太郎大石
Original assignee: 沖電気工業株式会社
Priority date: 2022-09-29
Filing date: 2023-06-20
Publication date: 2024-04-04
Also published as: JP2024049812A

Abstract

A banknote processing device according to the present invention comprises: a housing; a device body which is provided so as to be able to be drawn out from the housing; a banknote storage container which is removably provided to the device body and which stores banknotes; and a drawing detection unit which detects that the device body has been drawn out from the housing. The banknote storage container includes a banknote storage space in which the banknotes are to be stored and a partitioning part which partitions the banknote storage space into a first storage space and a second storage space and moves in directions in which the first storage space is enlarged and narrowed, so as to switch a storage destination of the banknotes between the first storage space and the second storage space. When the drawing detection unit has detected that the device body has been drawn out from the housing, the partitioning part moves in the direction in which the first storage space is enlarged.

Description

Banknote Processing Device

This disclosure relates to a banknote processing device.

In recent years, it has become common to see the combination of a POS (Point Of Sales) register connected to a POS system or the like with a change machine that processes the deposit and withdrawal of banknotes and coins. Conventionally, a banknote processing device included in this type of change machine is designed to store rejected banknotes that are determined to be unsuitable for change due to dirt or other reasons among the deposited banknotes, and banknotes to be collected during the settlement process, in a collection cassette that is detachable from the device body.

The collection cassette has an internal space that is divided by a partition into a reject storage box that stores rejected banknotes and a collection storage box that stores collected banknotes, and this partition can be moved to switch the storage destination of banknotes transported to the collection cassette between the reject storage box and the collection storage box.

The collection cassette also has a banknote removal opening on one side that connects to the reject storage, so that rejected banknotes stored in the reject storage can be removed from this banknote removal opening while the collection cassette is still attached to the device body (see, for example, JP 2012-8811 A).

However, in conventional banknote handling devices, the size of the reject box is smaller than the collection box, and the banknote removal opening is narrow, making it difficult to remove banknotes.

The present disclosure provides a banknote processing device that makes it easy to remove banknotes.

A first aspect of the present disclosure is a banknote processing device comprising a housing, a device main body that can be withdrawn from the housing, a banknote storage vault that is detachably attached to the device main body and stores banknotes, and a withdrawal detection unit that detects that the device main body has been withdrawn from the housing, the banknote storage vault comprising a banknote storage space that stores banknotes, and a partition unit that divides the banknote storage space into a first storage space and a second storage space and switches the storage destination of the banknotes to the first storage space or the second storage space by moving in a direction that widens and narrows the first storage space, the partition unit moves in a direction that widens the first storage space when the withdrawal detection unit detects that the device main body has been withdrawn from the housing.

In this way, the first aspect of the present disclosure is such that when the device body is pulled out from the housing, the first storage space is widened, so that when the device body is pulled out and the banknotes stored in the first storage space need to be removed, the first storage space is widened, making it easier to remove the banknotes stored in the first storage space.

According to the first aspect, the banknote processing device of the present disclosure makes it easy to remove banknotes.

1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a depositing/dispensing machine according to a first exemplary embodiment; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing how the banknote unit according to the first exemplary embodiment slides; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing how the banknote unit according to the first exemplary embodiment slides; FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a bill unit according to a first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a bill unit according to a first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the banknote unit according to the first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a collection cassette according to a first exemplary embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a collection cassette according to a first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the banknote unit according to the first exemplary embodiment.

Below, the form for implementing the invention (hereinafter referred to as an exemplary embodiment) will be explained with reference to the drawings.

1. First Exemplary Embodiment
[1-1. External configuration of the deposit/withdrawal machine]
Fig. 1 shows the external appearance of a depositing/dispensing machine 1 as a first exemplary embodiment. The depositing/dispensing machine 1 shown in Fig. 1 is a self-service checkout machine capable of depositing and dispensing banknotes and coins, and is installed at checkout counters of retail stores such as supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations, etc. This depositing/dispensing machine 1 is connected to a cash register such as a POS register (not shown) and operates under the control of the cash register.

The deposit/dispensing machine 1 has a box-shaped housing 2. Here, of the surfaces forming the housing 2, the surface facing the user is referred to as the front surface 2a, and the surface above the user is referred to as the top surface 2b.

The housing 2 is box-shaped and is longer in the vertical direction than in the front-to-back and left-to-right directions, and in the center of the top surface 2b are a receipt printer 3 that outputs receipts containing transaction details, and an operation display unit 4 that functions as a display unit that displays various screens and an operation unit that accepts operation inputs for the various screens displayed on the display unit. The operation display unit 4 can be, for example, a display with a touch panel.

Furthermore, a banknote insert 5 through which banknotes are inserted is provided near the upper left of the front surface 2a of the housing 2, and a banknote ejection outlet 6 through which banknotes are ejected is provided below the banknote insert 5. The banknote insert 5 and the banknote ejection outlet 6 are provided with shutters, for example, so that they are exposed or covered by opening and closing the shutters. The banknote insert 5 and the banknote ejection outlet 6 are incorporated in the deposit/dispense machine 1 as part of a banknote unit 7, which will be described later.

Furthermore, on the front surface 2a of the housing 2, to the right of the banknote insertion port 5, there is provided a coin insertion port 8 through which coins are inserted, and further below the banknote ejection port 6, there is provided a coin ejection port 9 through which coins are ejected. The coin insertion port 8 and the coin ejection port 9 are incorporated into the deposit/dispensing machine 1 as part of the coin unit 10.

The housing 2 also has a door 11 on the front side 2a that can be opened and closed, and opening this door 11 allows access to the inside (i.e. the banknote unit 7 and coin unit 10).

[1-2. Appearance and internal structure of the banknote unit]
2A to 4, the external appearance and internal configuration of the bill unit 7 will be described. As shown in the external perspective view of Fig. 2B, the bill unit 7 has a device main body 20 in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped that is long in the front-rear direction.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the banknote unit 7 is stored in a banknote unit storage section 12 provided inside the housing 2 of the depositing/dispensing machine 1. The banknote unit 7 is provided with slide rails 21 extending in the front-rear direction at the bottom of both the left and right sides of the device main body 20, and the slide rails 21 are engaged with slide guides 13 provided in the banknote unit storage section 12, thereby supporting the banknote unit 7 so that it can slide in the front-rear direction.

In other words, the banknote unit 7 can slide back and forth between a state in which the device body 20, except for the front end portion, is stored inside the banknote unit storage section 12 (hereinafter referred to as the stored state), as shown in FIG. 2A, and a state in which the device body 20 is pulled forward and almost the entire device body 20 is exposed to the outside of the banknote unit storage section 12 (hereinafter referred to as the exposed state), as shown in FIG. 2B.

In the deposit/dispense machine 1, for example, a maintenance person or the like opens the door 11 (see FIG. 1), pulls out the banknote unit 7 to the withdrawn state, and performs maintenance work on the banknote unit 7. When the work is completed, the maintenance person or the like pushes the banknote unit 7 back into the stored state and closes the door 11.

As shown in Figure 3A, this bill unit 7 has a bill insertion slot 5 through which bills are inserted at the upper front part of the device main body 20, and a bill ejection slot 6 through which bills are ejected at the lower front part. Note that the bill unit 7 shown in Figures 3A and 3B has the bill insertion slot 5 and bill ejection slot 6 covered by shutters. This bill unit 7 takes in bills inserted by a user into the bill insertion slot 5 and stores them inside the device main body 20, and ejects the bills stored inside from the bill ejection slot 6 as change.

Furthermore, as shown in the internal configuration diagram in Figure 4, inside the device body 20 of the banknote unit 7, there are provided sections for performing various processes related to banknotes, including a banknote deposit section 22, a banknote withdrawal section 23, a banknote recognition section 24, a 1,000 note vault 25, a 5,000 note vault 26, a 10,000 note vault 27, a collection cassette 28, a banknote transport path R connecting these, and a control section 29.

The banknote deposit unit 22 is provided at the upper front end inside the device main body 20 (i.e., the back side of the banknote insertion slot 5). This banknote deposit unit 22 is connected to the banknote insertion slot 5, and separates banknotes inserted by the user into the banknote insertion slot 5 (i.e., banknotes to be deposited) one by one and sends them out to the banknote transport path R. The banknote withdrawal unit 23 is provided at the lower front end inside the device main body 20 (i.e., the back side of the banknote discharge slot 6, below the banknote deposit unit 22). This banknote withdrawal unit 23 is connected to the banknote discharge slot 6, and discharges banknotes as change (i.e., banknotes to be dispensed) from the banknote discharge slot 6 in a state where they are stacked with the paper surface facing up and down.

The banknote transport path R transports rectangular banknotes in the short direction using rollers, belts, etc. Also, although not shown in the figure, a blade is provided at the branch point of the banknote transport path R to switch the destination of the banknote.

The banknote recognition unit 24 is provided behind the banknote deposit unit 22. While conveying banknotes inside the banknote recognition unit 24, it recognizes the denomination, authenticity, fitness (whether damaged or not), and conveying state of the banknotes using optical elements, magnetic detection elements, etc., and notifies the control unit 29 of the discrimination results. Based on the discrimination results notified by the banknote recognition unit 24, the control unit 29 determines the conveying destination of the banknote by controlling blades, etc.

Below the banknote recognition unit 24, a collection cassette 28 is provided, and further behind the collection cassette 28, the 1,000 note vault 25, the 5,000 note vault 26, and the 10,000 note vault 27 are provided. The 1,000 note vault 25, the 5,000 note vault 26, and the 10,000 note vault 27 are collectively referred to as banknote storage vaults. The 1,000 note vault 25, the 5,000 note vault 26, and the 10,000 note vault 27 each have space inside for accumulating and storing banknotes. When banknotes that have been determined by the banknote recognition unit 24 to be only slightly damaged and reusable (i.e. usable as change) are transported by denomination, the 1,000 note vault 25, the 5,000 note vault 26, and the 10,000 note vault 27 accumulate and store them inside. When the 1,000 note vault 25, the 5,000 note vault 26, and the 10,000 note vault 27 are instructed by the control unit 29 to feed banknotes, they separate the stored banknotes one by one and feed them to the banknote transport path R.

The collection cassette 28 is a cassette having an upper reject box 28A and a lower collection box 28B, and is detachably mounted on the device body 20 of the banknote unit 7. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the collection cassette 28 is mounted on a cassette mounting section 20C (see FIG. 2B) on the device body 20 so that a portion of the collection cassette 28 is exposed from an opening 20H provided on the left side surface 20L of the device body 20. As shown in FIG. 2B, the collection cassette 28 can be removed from the cassette mounting section 20C by pulling it out to the left from the opening 20H (omitted in FIG. 2B) of the device body 20, and can be mounted on the cassette mounting section 20C by pushing it into the opening 20H of the device body 20.

Returning to FIG. 4, when rejected banknotes that have been conveyed from the banknote storage vaults (the 1,000-note vault 25, the 5,000-note vault 26, and the 10,000-note vault 27) and determined by the banknote recognition unit 24 to be unsuitable for change due to dirt, multiple feeding, etc. are conveyed to the collection cassette 28, the collection cassette 28 stores the banknotes in the collection vault 28B when they are conveyed thereto. A detailed description of the collection cassette 28 will be given later.

The banknote unit 7 is also provided with a sensor 30 at a predetermined location (for example, the rear end side of the device main body 20) that detects the sliding state of the banknote unit 7, and this sensor 30 detects the sliding state. Specifically, this sensor 30 is, for example, a switch-type sensor that is ON when the banknote unit 7 is in the stored state shown in Figure 2A and is OFF when the banknote unit 7 is pulled out forward from the stored state. The output of this sensor 30 is notified to the control unit 29.

The banknote unit 7 is also provided with a sensor 31 near the collection cassette 28 for detecting the attachment/detachment state of the collection cassette 28, and this sensor 31 detects the attachment/detachment state. Specifically, this sensor 31 is, for example, a switch-type sensor, which is ON when the collection cassette 28 is attached to the cassette attachment section 20C and is OFF when the collection cassette 28 is removed from the cassette attachment section 20C. The output of this sensor 31 is also notified to the control section 29.

The banknote unit 7 is configured as described above, and the control unit 29 controls each unit based on the results of banknote authentication by the banknote recognition unit 24 and the outputs (ON, OFF) of the sensors 30, 31, etc., to perform processes such as depositing, withdrawing, and collecting banknotes.

[1-3. Configuration of collection cassette]
Next, the configuration of the recovery cassette 28 will be described in more detail with reference to Figures 5 and 6. As shown in the external perspective view of Figure 5, the recovery cassette 28 has a cassette housing 40 that is a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the left-right direction. More specifically, the cassette housing 40 has a shape in which a central portion 40LC in the up-down direction of a left side surface 40L protrudes to the left, forming a T-shape when viewed from the rear and front.

As shown in FIG. 6, a partially omitted left side view of the cassette housing 40, a slit-shaped receiving opening 41 is provided at the top of the front surface 40F to receive banknotes transported along the banknote transport path R, and as shown in FIG. 5, a banknote removal opening 42 is provided at the top of the left side surface 40L (above the central portion 40LC) to remove banknotes stored in the reject storage 28A (see FIG. 6).

The banknote removal outlet 42 is rectangular and long in the front-to-rear direction, and as shown in FIG. 6, the lower edge 42B slopes downward from the rear end to the front end, with the front end side (right side of FIG. 6) being a wider opening in the vertical direction than the rear end side (left side of FIG. 6). The top and left and right edges of the banknote removal outlet 42 other than the lower edge 42B are provided along the top and left and right wall surfaces of the reject vault 28A located at the back of the banknote removal outlet 42. The banknote removal outlet 42 is covered by an openable door 43 (not shown in FIG. 6, see FIG. 5), and is exposed by opening this door 43.

Inside the cassette housing 40, there is a banknote storage space 44 which occupies most of the interior, an internal transport path 45 which connects the upper front side of the banknote storage space 44 with the receiving port 41, an accumulation roller section 46 provided on the internal transport path 45, and a reject storage plate 47 which divides the banknote storage space 44 into an upper reject storage 28A and a lower collection storage 28B.

The accumulation roller section 46 is composed of two rollers arranged facing each other in the vertical direction with the internal transport path 45 in between, and the banknotes are sandwiched between the two rollers and discharged from the internal transport path 45 to the banknote storage space 44. Although not shown in the figure, the lower roller of the accumulation roller section 46 is, for example, a tongue roller with tongues extending radially from the outer periphery of a cylindrical roller.

The reject storage plate 47 is provided behind the internal transport path 45 and can rotate around a rotation axis 47S provided at the rear end between a first position (position shown by a solid line) where the front end is above the internal transport path 45 and a second position (position shown by a dotted line) where the front end is below the internal transport path 45. The reject storage plate 47 is biased to the first position by a biasing member such as a spring (not shown), and rotates from the first position to the second position by receiving a driving force from a plate driving unit 101 (see FIG. 7) described later.

Here, when the reject storage plate 47 is in the first position, the reject storage 28A is the narrowest and the recovery storage 28B is the widest. At this time, the position of the rear end of the reject storage plate 47 in the vertical direction is approximately the same as the rear end of the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal outlet 42, and the position of the front end in the vertical direction is higher than the front end of the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal outlet 42. On the other hand, when the reject storage plate 47 is in the second position, the reject storage 28A is the widest and the recovery storage 28B is the narrowest. At this time, the position of the rear end of the reject storage plate 47 in the vertical direction is approximately the same as the rear end of the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal outlet 42, and the position of the front end in the vertical direction is also approximately the same as the front end of the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal outlet 42. In other words, at this time, the reject storage plate 47 is parallel to the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal outlet 42 and is approximately the same position in the vertical direction.

When the collected banknotes are to be stored in the collection cassette 28B, the reject storage plate 47 is rotated to the first position and stopped there. At this time, the front end of the reject storage plate 47 is located above the internal transport path 45, so the banknotes entering from the receiving port 41 are transported by the accumulation roller unit 46 from the internal transport path 45 through the underside of the reject storage plate 47 and accumulated in the collection storage 28B located below the reject storage plate 47.

On the other hand, in the collection cassette 28, when reject banknotes are to be stored in the reject storage 28A, the reject storage plate 47 is rotated to the second position and stopped. At this time, the front end of the reject storage plate 47 is below the internal transport path 45, so the banknotes entering from the receiving port 41 are transported by the accumulation roller unit 46 from the internal transport path 45 through the upper side of the reject storage plate 47 and accumulated in the reject storage 28A located above the reject storage plate 47.

Also provided inside the cassette housing 40 is a sensor 48 for detecting the presence or absence of banknotes stored in the rejected storage 28A. Specifically, this sensor 48 is, for example, a photoelectric sensor, which is ON when a banknote is stored in the rejected storage 28A and is OFF when no banknotes are stored. The output of this sensor 48 is also notified to the control unit 29 of the banknote unit 7.

Furthermore, as shown in Figures 3A and 3B, when the collection cassette 28 is attached to the device body 20 of the banknote unit 7, the left side 40L of the cassette housing 40 is exposed from an opening 20H provided on the left side 20L of the device body 20. At this time, the collection cassette 28 can expose the banknote removal opening 42 by opening the door 43, and rejected banknotes stored in the rejected storage 28A can be removed from this banknote removal opening 42.

In other words, when the banknote unit 7 is pulled out from the housing 2 of the depositing/dispensing machine 1, rejected banknotes can be removed from the banknote removal opening 42 of the collection cassette 28 with the collection cassette 28 still attached.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, the rear surface 40B of the cassette housing 40 of the collection cassette 28 is an openable and closable door 49, and when the collection cassette 28 is removed from the device body 20 of the banknote unit 7, the inside can be accessed by opening this door 49, and banknotes stored in the reject box 28A and collection box 28B can be removed. The collection cassette 28 is configured as described above.

[1-4. Functional configuration of the banknote unit 7]
Next, the functional configuration of the banknote unit 7 will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Note that, among the functional configuration of the banknote unit 7, only the functional configuration related to the operation of the rejected bill storage plate 47 of the collection cassette 28 will be described here, and the description of the other functional configurations will be omitted.

The banknote unit 7 has a control unit 29, a status detection unit 100, a plate driving unit 101, and a reject storage plate 47 as functional components related to the operation of the reject storage plate 47.

The status detection unit 100 includes sensors 30, 31, and 48, and notifies the control unit 29 of the outputs of each of the sensors 30, 31, and 48. The plate driving unit 101 has, for example, a solenoid for rotating the reject container plate 47, and by turning the solenoid ON (i.e., energizing the solenoid) in accordance with instructions from the control unit 29, the reject container plate 47 is rotated to the second position (a position where the storage destination is the reject container 28A), and by turning the solenoid OFF (i.e., stopping the energization of the solenoid), the reject container plate 47 is rotated to the first position (a position where the storage destination is the recovery container 28B). In other words, the reject container plate 47 is normally biased to the first position, and is configured to rotate from the first position to the second position by the solenoid.

The control unit 29 controls the rotation of the reject storage plate 47 (i.e., the operation of the plate driving unit 101) based on the outputs of the sensors 30, 31, and 48 notified by the status detection unit 100. The functional configuration of the banknote unit 7 is as described above.

[1-5. Operation of Reject Storage Plate]
Next, the operation of the reject storage plate 47 will be described. Here, as the operation of the reject storage plate 47, the operation of the reject storage plate 47 when storing banknotes in the collection cassette 28 and the operation of the reject storage plate 47 when removing rejected banknotes from the reject storage 28A of the collection cassette 28 will be described. Note that, as described above, the operation of the reject storage plate 47 is controlled by the control unit 29 via the plate driving unit 101.

First, the operation of the reject storage plate 47 when storing banknotes in the collection cassette 28 will be described. This operation has been described above, so it will be explained briefly. When storing collected banknotes in the collection storage 28B, the control unit 29 rotates the reject storage plate 47 to the first position, and when storing rejected banknotes in the reject storage 28A, the control unit 29 rotates the reject storage plate 47 to the second position.

Next, the operation of the reject storage plate 47 when removing rejected banknotes from the reject storage 28A of the collection cassette 28 (i.e., removing banknotes from the banknote outlet 42) will be described. As described above, in order to remove rejected banknotes from the banknote outlet 42 of the reject storage 28A, it is necessary to pull the banknote unit 7 forward from the housing 2 of the deposit/withdrawal machine 1 to expose the left side surface 40L of the cassette housing 40 of the collection cassette 28 (i.e., the surface where the banknote outlet 42 is provided).

For this reason, when the control unit 29 determines from the output result of the sensor 30 that the banknote unit 7 has been pulled forward from the housing 2 of the depositing/dispensing machine 1, it rotates the reject container plate 47 to the second position (i.e., rotates it in the direction that widens the reject container 28A) and stops it.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the reject storage plate 47 is parallel to the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal outlet 42 and is positioned approximately equal in the vertical direction. Here, the upper side of the reject storage plate 47 becomes the reject storage 28A, so the size of the reject storage 28A as seen from the banknote removal outlet 42 side (i.e., the left side of the collection cassette 28) has expanded to approximately the same size as the banknote removal outlet 42.

In other words, when the reject storage plate 47 is in the first position, the front end of the reject storage plate 47 is located higher than the front end of the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal outlet 42, so the area Ar1 of the entire banknote removal outlet 42 where one can actually insert their hand to remove rejected banknotes (the area surrounded by the reject storage plate 47 and the top and left and right edges of the banknote removal outlet 42) becomes narrower than the banknote removal outlet 42.

In contrast, when the reject storage plate 47 is in the second position, the area Ar1 of the entire banknote removal opening 42 into which one can actually insert one's hand to remove rejected banknotes (the area surrounded by the reject storage plate 47 and the top and left and right edges of the banknote removal opening 42) is approximately the same as the banknote removal opening 42, and is wider than when the reject storage plate 47 is in the first position.

In this way, when the banknote unit 7 is pulled forward from the housing 2 of the depositing/dispensing machine 1, the control unit 29 rotates the reject storage plate 47 to the second position, expanding the size of the reject storage 28A as viewed from the banknote removal outlet 42 side to approximately the same size as the banknote removal outlet 42, making it easier to remove rejected banknotes from the banknote removal outlet 42.

After that, for example, when the collection cassette 28 is removed from the banknote unit 7, the power supply from the banknote unit 7 to the collection cassette 28 is cut off, the solenoid is turned off, and the reject storage plate 47 returns to the first position. Also, at this time, when the control unit 29 on the banknote unit 7 side determines from the output result of the sensor 31 that the collection cassette 28 has been removed, it cuts off the power supply to the collection cassette 28.

Furthermore, when the control unit 29 of the collection cassette 28 determines from the output result of the sensor 30 that the banknote unit 7 pulled forward has been stored back into the housing 2 of the depositing/dispensing machine 1, it rotates the reject storage plate 47 from the second position to the first position during the mechanical initial operation (initialization operation) performed at this time. The operation of the reject storage plate 47 is as described above.

[1-6. Summary]
As described so far, in the first exemplary embodiment, a deposit/withdrawal machine 1 as a banknote processing device is provided with a housing 2, a device main body 20 that is arranged so as to be able to be withdrawn from the housing 2, a collection cassette 28 that is arranged so as to be detachable from the device main body 20 and serves as a banknote storage vault for storing banknotes, and a sensor 30 that serves as a withdrawal detection unit that detects when the device main body 20 has been withdrawn from the housing 2.

The collection cassette 28 is also provided with a banknote storage space 44 for storing banknotes, and a reject storage plate 47 which divides the banknote storage space 44 into a reject storage space 28A as a first storage space and a collection storage space 28B as a second storage space for storing banknotes, and which moves (rotates) the reject storage space 28A in a direction to widen and narrow the reject storage space 28A, thereby switching the storage destination of the banknotes between the reject storage space 28A and the collection storage space 28B.

When the sensor 30 detects that the device main body 20 has been pulled out from the housing 2, the reject container plate 47 moves in a direction that widens the reject container 28A (i.e., from the first position to the second position).

In this way, when the device main body 20 is pulled out from the housing 2, the reject storage plate 47 is moved to widen the reject storage 28A. When the device main body 20 is pulled out and rejected banknotes stored in the reject storage 28A need to be removed, the reject storage 28A can be widened to make it easier to remove the rejected banknotes stored in the reject storage 28A.

In other words, when the reject vault plate 47 is moved from the first position to the second position in a direction that widens the reject vault 28A, the size of the reject vault 28A becomes the largest when viewed from the banknote removal opening 42 side that is provided on one side of the cassette housing 40 as the storage vault housing and is connected to the reject vault 28A.

As a result, compared to when the reject storage plate 47 is in the first position, the area Ar1 of the entire banknote removal opening 42 where one can actually insert one's hand to remove rejected banknotes (the area surrounded by the reject storage plate 47 and the top and left and right edges of the banknote removal opening 42) is wider, making it easier to remove banknotes stored in the reject storage 28A.

In addition, in this exemplary embodiment, the depositing/dispensing machine 1 is provided with a plate driving unit 101 as a driving unit that rotates the reject storage plate 47. Then, when the sensor 30 detects that the device main body 20 has been pulled out from the housing 2, electricity is applied to the plate driving unit 101 to drive the plate driving unit 101 (the solenoid is turned ON), thereby rotating the reject storage plate 47 to the second position, and when the sensor 30 detects that the pulled out device main body 20 has been attached to the housing 2, electricity is cut off to the plate driving unit 101 to stop driving the plate driving unit 101 (the solenoid is turned OFF), thereby returning the reject storage plate 47 to the first position.

This prevents the plate drive unit 101 from being continuously energized, reducing the power consumption of the plate drive unit 101 and reducing heat generation by the plate drive unit 101.

2. Second Exemplary Embodiment
Next, a second exemplary embodiment will be described. In this second exemplary embodiment, the operation of rotating the reject storage plate 47 to the second position where rejected banknotes can be easily removed is performed under more limited conditions than in the first exemplary embodiment. That is, in this second exemplary embodiment, the operation of the reject storage plate 47 when removing rejected banknotes from the reject storage 28A of the collection cassette 28 is different from that of the first exemplary embodiment, but the configurations of the depositing/dispensing machine 1, the banknote unit 7, the collection cassette 28, etc. are the same as those of the first exemplary embodiment. Therefore, here, the operation of the reject storage plate 47 when removing rejected banknotes from the reject storage 28A of the collection cassette 28 will be described.

[2-1. Operation of the rejected storage plate]
As described in the first exemplary embodiment, in order to remove rejected banknotes from the banknote removal outlet 42 of the rejected storage 28A, it is necessary to pull the banknote unit 7 forward from the housing 2 of the deposit/withdrawal machine 1 to expose the left side surface 40L of the cassette housing 40 of the collection cassette 28 (i.e., the surface on which the banknote removal outlet 42 is provided).

Furthermore, in order to remove rejected banknotes from the banknote removal outlet 42, there must at least be rejected banknotes stored in the rejected storage 28A. On the other hand, if the collection cassette 28 is removed from the banknote unit 7, there is no need to remove rejected banknotes from the banknote removal outlet 42 (because the door 49 of the collection cassette 28 is opened to remove them).

For these reasons, in the second exemplary embodiment, when the banknote unit 7 is pulled forward from the housing 2 of the deposit/withdrawal machine 1, rejected banknotes are stored in the reject box 28A, and the collection cassette 28 is attached to the banknote unit 7, the reject box plate 47 is rotated to the second position.

Specifically, when the control unit 29 of the banknote unit 7 determines from the output results of the sensors 30, 31, and 48 that the banknote unit 7 has been pulled forward from the housing 2 of the depositing/dispensing machine 1, that the collection cassette 28 is attached to the banknote unit 7, and that banknotes (i.e. rejected banknotes) are stored in the rejected storage 28A, it rotates the rejected storage plate 47 to the second position (i.e., rotates it in the direction that widens the rejected storage 28A) and stops it. The operation of the rejected storage plate 47 is as described above.

[2-2. Summary]
As described so far, in the second exemplary embodiment, when the control unit 29 of the banknote unit 7 detects, as a situation where there is a high possibility of a rejected banknote being removed from the banknote removal outlet 42, that the sensor 30 serving as a withdrawal detection unit has detected that the device main body 20 has been withdrawn from the housing 2, and further that the sensor 31 serving as an attachment detection unit has detected that the collection cassette 28 has been attached to the device main body 20 of the banknote unit 7, and the sensor 48 serving as a banknote presence/absence detection unit has detected that there is a banknote stored in the rejected banknote storage 28A, the control unit 29 rotates the rejected banknote storage plate 47 to the second position to make it easier to remove the banknote from the banknote removal outlet 42.

In this way, in the second exemplary embodiment, the operation of rotating the rejected storage plate 47 to the second position, from which rejected banknotes can be easily removed, is performed under more limited conditions than in the first exemplary embodiment, thereby making it possible to further reduce the power consumption of the plate drive unit 101 and further reduce the heat generation of the plate drive unit 101.

3. Other Exemplary Embodiments
[3-1. Other exemplary embodiment 1]
In the above-described first exemplary embodiment, the rejected storage plate 47 is configured to rotate about the rotation shaft 47S on the rear end side, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the rejected storage plate 47 may be configured to be movable in the vertical direction. In this case, for example, the rejected storage plate 47 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction in a substantially horizontal state, and the banknote take-out port 42 is also configured to have a rectangular shape with the lower edge 42B being substantially horizontal.

When banknotes are to be stored in the collection box 28B, the reject box plate 47 is moved to a first position (a position above the internal transport path 45), and when banknotes are to be stored in the reject box 28A, it is moved to a second position (a position below the internal transport path 45). The reject box plate 47 in the second position is positioned approximately at the same vertical position as the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal opening 42.

Then, when removing banknotes from the banknote removal outlet 42, the reject storage plate 47 is moved to the second position. At this time, the area Ar1 of the entire banknote removal outlet 42 into which one can actually insert one's hand to remove rejected banknotes (the area surrounded by the reject storage plate 47 and the top and left and right edges of the banknote removal outlet 42) becomes approximately the same as the banknote removal outlet 42, making it easier to remove banknotes from the reject storage 28A.

Note that, although the reject storage plate 47 is configured here to be movable vertically in a horizontal state, it may be tilted rather than horizontal. Similarly, the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal opening 42 may be tilted rather than horizontal. The same applies to the second exemplary embodiment.

In the first exemplary embodiment described above, when the reject storage plate 47 is in the second position, the reject storage plate 47 is parallel to the lower edge 42B of the banknote removal opening 42 and is approximately equal in vertical position, but this is not limited thereto, and the reject storage plate 47 and the lower edge 42B may not be parallel, or their vertical positions may be misaligned.

[3-2. Other exemplary embodiment 2]
Furthermore, in the above-described first exemplary embodiment, the banknote take-out opening 42 is a rectangular opening whose front end is wider in the vertical direction than its rear end, but the shape of the banknote take-out opening 42 is not limited thereto, and may be a rectangular shape, an elliptical shape, or a racetrack shape as long as the shape is an opening through which banknotes can be taken out. The same applies to the second exemplary embodiment.

[3-3. Other exemplary embodiment 3]
Furthermore, in the above-described first exemplary embodiment, a solenoid is used as the plate driving unit 101 that rotates (moves) the reject container plate 47, but this is not limiting, and a plate driving unit other than a solenoid, such as a motor, may be used as long as it can rotate (move) the reject container plate 47. The same applies to the second exemplary embodiment.

[3-4. Other exemplary embodiment 4]
Furthermore, in the first exemplary embodiment described above, the reject storage plate 47 is rotated from the second position to the first position during the mechanical initial operation performed when the banknote unit 7 pulled out forward is stored in the housing 2 of the depositing/dispensing machine 1. However, this is not limited to the above, and when the control unit 29 determines from the output result of the sensor 30 that the banknote unit 7 pulled out forward has been stored in the housing 2 of the depositing/dispensing machine 1, the reject storage plate 47 may be rotated from the second position to the first position separately from the mechanical initial operation.

[3-5. Other exemplary embodiment 5]
Furthermore, in the above-described first exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure is applied to the collection cassette 28 that is detachable from the banknote unit 7, but is not limited thereto, and can also be applied to a storage cabinet other than the collection cassette 28 as long as the storage cabinet has two storage spaces and a partition that separates the two storage spaces. The same applies to the second exemplary embodiment.

[3-6. Other exemplary embodiment 6]
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure is applied to the deposit/withdrawal machine 1, which is a self-adjustment machine serving as a change dispenser, but the present disclosure may be applied to a banknote processing device such as an adjustment machine operated by a cashier, a semi-self-adjustment machine in which a customer only performs adjustment, and an automated teller machine (counter terminal) used in a bank. Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure is applied to the deposit/withdrawal machine 1, which is a banknote processing device that handles banknotes, but the present disclosure may be applied to a coin processing device that handles coins. In this case, too, it is sufficient that the coin processing device has a storage unit that has two storage spaces for storing coins and a partition that separates the two storage spaces. The same applies to the second exemplary embodiment.

[3-7. Other exemplary embodiment 7]
Furthermore, in the above-described first exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure is applied to the depositing and dispensing machine 1 having the banknote unit 7 and the coin unit 10, but is not limited thereto, and may be applied to a depositing and dispensing machine having only the banknote unit 7, or a banknote processing device having a banknote unit having only one of a deposit function and a dispensing function, etc. The same applies to the second exemplary embodiment.

[3-8. Other exemplary embodiment 8]
Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described exemplary embodiments and other exemplary embodiments. In other words, the scope of application of the present disclosure extends to exemplary embodiments in which the above-described exemplary embodiments and part or all of the above-described other exemplary embodiments are combined in any manner.

This disclosure can be widely used in banknote processing devices such as self-service payment machines.

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-156273, filed on September 29, 2022, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

All publications, patent applications, and technical standards described in this specification are incorporated by reference into this specification to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent application, and technical standard was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

Claims

A housing and
An apparatus main body provided so as to be removable from the housing;
a bill storage container that is detachably provided to the device body and that stores bills;
a drawer detection unit that detects that the device body is drawn out from the housing,
The banknote storage vault includes:
A bill storage space for storing bills;
a partition unit that divides the banknote storage space into a first storage space and a second storage space, and that switches the storage destination of the banknotes between the first storage space and the second storage space by moving in a direction to widen and narrow the first storage space,
The partition portion is
The banknote processing device moves in a direction to widen the first storage space when the withdrawal detection unit detects that the device body has been withdrawn from the housing.
The bill storage vault has a storage casing having the bill storage space,
The banknote processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising a banknote outlet port connected to the first storage space, the banknote outlet port being provided on one side of the storage cabinet housing.
The partition portion is
3. The banknote processing device according to claim 2, which moves between a first position in which a storage destination of banknotes is switched to the second storage space and a second position in which a storage destination of banknotes is switched to the first storage space, and which is configured so that the first storage space is widest when in the second position, and which moves to the second position when the withdrawal detection unit detects that the device main body has been withdrawn from the housing.
The banknote processing device according to claim 3, wherein the size of the first storage space as viewed from the banknote outlet side is at its largest when the partition is in the second position.
an attachment detection unit that detects whether the banknote storage vault is attached to the device body;
and a banknote presence/absence detection unit that detects the presence or absence of banknotes stored in the first storage space,
The partition portion is
5. The banknote processing device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the banknote processing device moves to the second position when the withdrawal detection unit detects that the device main body has been withdrawn from the housing, the installation detection unit detects that the banknote storage vault is installed in the device main body, and the banknote presence/absence detection unit detects that there is a banknote stored in the first storage space.
The partition portion is
The banknote processing device according to claim 3 or 4, which moves from the second position to the first position when the withdrawal detection unit detects that the device body, which has been withdrawn from the housing, has been returned to the housing.
A drive unit that moves the partition unit;
A control unit that controls the drive unit,
The partition is biased to the first position,
The banknote processing device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the control unit moves the partition unit from the first position to the second position by energizing the drive unit to drive the drive unit, and returns the partition unit from the second position to the first position by stopping the energization of the drive unit.
The partition portion is
The banknote processing device according to claim 3 or 4, which is rotatable about a rotation axis provided on one end side and rotates between the first position and the second position.