JP4396056B2 - Bill recognition device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bill recognition device, and more particularly to a bill recognition device provided in a device that handles bills in a vending machine, a ticket vending machine, an automatic teller machine, or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A vending machine or the like includes a bill identifying device that takes in, identifies, and stores inserted bills. In such a bill recognition device, while being used for a long time, external dust, bill deposits, dirt, and the like adhere to the conveyor belt and rollers and accumulate. Usually, banknotes are conveyed by a conveyance belt or a roller, and identification is performed by reliable conveyance. However, when the conveyor belt and the rollers are contaminated, slippage occurs during the conveyance, and a reliable conveyance cannot be performed. Only when a slippage occurs during transportation and the card cannot be recognized or accepted, the user or administrator notices deposits and dirt on the conveyor belt and rollers, and performs maintenance such as cleaning. become. In the cleaning method, the conveyance unit of the banknote recognition apparatus is opened, and the internal reaction roller or the conveyance belt is wiped by hand using gauze or the like.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the conventional banknote recognition device, when the acceptance of banknotes becomes poor, the conveyance section is opened to check the state of contamination of the conveyance belt or roller, and cleaning is performed when the conveyance belt or roller is dirty. ing. However, cleaning must be performed by opening the conveyance unit of the banknote recognition apparatus, and since it is performed after the conveyance belt and rollers are in a certain state of contamination, cleaning is difficult. Until this is done, the acceptance rate of banknotes deteriorates. For example, in the case of a banknote identification device mounted on a vending machine, there has been a problem that sales opportunities have been missed.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a banknote recognition apparatus that can easily perform cleaning work without opening a transport unit for cleaning a transport belt or a roller.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the present invention, in order to solve the above problem, a first sensor that is provided in the banknote transport unit and detects the passage of banknotes and a second sensor that is disposed downstream of the first sensor and detects the passage of banknotes. In the bill discriminating apparatus including a sensor, a third sensor for detecting an open / closed state of the bill storage unit, and a transport motor for driving the bill transport unit, the third sensor is continuously repeated a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time. The cleaning start is detected by detecting the opening / closing operation, and in response to the detection of the cleaning start, the entrance lamp attached to the bill insertion slot is switched from the normal lighting state to the blinking operation to enter the cleaning mode. a cleaning start detection processing means for notifying that are accepting the sheet conveyance motor is driven a predetermined time cleaning when the cleaning mode When the cleaning sheet is inserted performs includes a cleaning sheet accepting processing means to disable the return operation to insert other than the bill was to capture the cleaning sheet to the inside conveying path, said cleaning sheet And a cleaning operation processing means for performing a return operation after reciprocating a predetermined number of times between a position passing through the second sensor and a position passing through the first sensor. An identification device is provided.
[0006]
According to such a bill recognition device, when opening and closing of the bill storage unit is continuously performed a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time, the cleaning start detection processing means switches the entrance lamp to the blinking operation when the cleaning start is detected , and performs cleaning. The cleaning sheet reception processing means drives the conveyance motor for a predetermined time and receives the cleaning sheet. The cleaning operation processing means conveys the cleaning sheet received with the return operation for the insert other than banknotes invalidated, and first stops once the cleaning sheet has passed through the second sensor. Next, the transport motor is reversely rotated and transported toward the bill insertion slot, and is temporarily stopped at the position where the first sensor has been passed. This is repeated a predetermined number of times, and the banknote transport path is cleaned by reciprocating the cleaning sheet a plurality of times in the banknote transport path. Thereby, the cleaning operation can be performed simply by inserting the cleaning sheet (with the adhesive material) having the same shape as that of the banknote without opening the transport unit.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an internal configuration of a bill identifying apparatus according to the present invention.
[0008]
The bill validator has a bill insertion slot 1 on the front. In the back of the banknote insertion slot 1, an entrance lamp 2 is provided so as to light up in the normal operation state of the banknote identification device. In the back of the banknote insertion path, a conveyor belt 3, a plurality of rollers 4, and a conveyor motor 5 that constitute a banknote conveyance section are provided. A shutter lever 6 is disposed in the middle of the conveyance path of the bill conveyance unit, and a shutter sensor 7 that opens and closes in conjunction with the operation of the shutter lever 6 is provided. A bill position detection sensor 8 is provided on the downstream side of the shutter lever 6.
[0009]
On the downstream side of the banknote transport unit, a banknote storage unit 9 that stores the transported banknotes is attached to the back cover 10 of the banknote recognition device provided so as to be freely opened and closed. Furthermore, a back cover opening / closing detection switch 11 is provided which is disposed inside the banknote storage unit 9 and operates in accordance with opening / closing of the back cover 10. The back cover open / close detection switch 11 is in a pressed state when the banknote storage unit 9 for storing banknotes and the back cover 10 of the banknote recognition apparatus are closed.
[0010]
In the banknote recognition apparatus having the above configuration, when in the normal operation mode, the entrance lamp 2 is in a lighting state, and when a banknote is inserted from the banknote insertion slot 1, the banknote transporting section transports the banknote into the apparatus. A bill recognition unit (not shown) identifies the denomination and authenticity during the conveyance, and if it is a valid bill, it is transported as it is first and stored in the bill storage unit 9, and if it is not a valid bill, the bill transport unit is operated in reverse. Return to the bill insertion slot 1.
[0011]
In the cleaning mode, the entrance lamp 2 is in a blinking state, the function of a bill recognition unit (not shown) is disabled, and the reception of the cleaning sheet 12 is permitted. When the cleaning sheet 12 is inserted from the banknote insertion slot 1, the banknote transport unit pulls and transports the cleaning sheet 12 into the apparatus, and when the banknote position detection sensor 8 confirms the passage of the cleaning sheet 12, The conveyance motor 5 is stopped, the conveyance motor 5 is reversely operated, and the cleaning sheet 12 is returned to the bill insertion slot 1 side. When the shutter sensor 7 detects that the cleaning sheet 12 is detached from the shutter lever 6, the transport motor 5 is stopped. Further, the operation of rotating the transport motor 5 in the forward direction to send the cleaning sheet 12 back to the banknote storage unit 9 and returning it is repeated a predetermined number of times, and finally the cleaning sheet 12 is returned from the banknote insertion slot 1. .
[0012]
Next, the structure of the cleaning control apparatus which controls such a banknote identification apparatus is demonstrated.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the cleaning control device.
[0013]
The cleaning control device 20 includes a cleaning start detection processing unit 21 that detects the start of cleaning from the operating state of the back cover open / close detection switch 11, a cleaning sheet reception processing unit 22 that receives the cleaning sheet 12, and the received cleaning sheet. And a cleaning operation processing unit 23 that performs normal / reverse conveyance by the bill conveyance unit to clean the bill conveyance unit. The cleaning sheet reception processing unit 22 and the cleaning operation processing unit 23 are connected to the entrance lamp 2, and the entrance lamp 2 blinks when entering the cleaning mode, and lights up when the cleaning operation is finished. The cleaning operation processing unit 23 is connected to the shutter sensor 7, the bill position detection sensor 8, and the transport motor 5, and the transport motor 5 is moved forward and backward according to the detection operation of the shutter sensor 7 and the bill position detection sensor 8. The cleaning sheet 12 is transported into the banknote transport unit by rotation, thereby cleaning the banknote transport unit.
[0014]
Next, the processing flow of the cleaning control device will be described in detail.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the cleaning start detection processing unit.
[0015]
First, it is determined whether or not the back cover open / close detection switch 11 is opened (step S1). If the back cover open / close detection switch 11 is not open, normal product processing is continued. If it is detected that the back cover open / close detection switch 11 is open, a timer is started and the counter is cleared to zero (step S2). Next, it is determined whether or not the back cover open / close detection switch 11 is closed (step S3). If it is closed, the counter is incremented by 1 (step S4). If the back cover open / close detection switch 11 remains open, or if the counter is incremented by 1, it is determined whether the content of the counter is 3 or more (step S5). Here, if the content of the counter is less than 3, it is determined whether or not the timer started in step S2 has passed 1.5 seconds or more (step S6). Here, if the timer is less than 1.5 seconds, the process returns to step S3. For example, when the back cover 10 is opened and the banknotes are collected from the banknote storage unit 9, the timer has elapsed 1.5 seconds or more. If so, return to normal product processing. In step S5, if the content of the counter is 3 or more, it is determined whether or not the timer is 1.5 seconds or less (step S7). If the timer is 1.5 seconds or less, the process proceeds to the cleaning mode. If it is longer than 5 seconds, return to normal product processing. In this way, when the back cover 10 is opened and closed three times or more within 1.5 seconds and the closing operation is finally performed, the mode is shifted to the cleaning mode.
[0016]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the cleaning sheet reception processing unit.
When the mode is shifted to the cleaning mode, first, the entrance lamp 2 of the banknote identification device is changed from the lighting state to the blinking state, so that the user or the administrator is notified that the operation is different from the normal operation, that is, the mode is changed to the cleaning mode (step S11). ). Next, the conveyance motor 5 of the banknote identification device is rotated forward to rotate the conveyance belt 3 or the roller 4 in the banknote conveyance direction (step S12). Next, it is determined by the back cover open / close detection switch 11 whether or not the back cover 10 is open (step S13). If it is open, the transport motor 5 is immediately stopped (step S14), the back cover 10 is closed and the back is closed. It waits for the lid open / close detection switch 11 to close (step S15). If it is determined that the back cover 10 is closed, the transport motor 5 is rotated forward (step S16).
[0017]
When the back cover 10 is closed in step S13 or when the transport motor 5 is rotated forward in step S16, it is determined whether or not the cleaning sheet 12 has been inserted into the bill insertion slot 1 (step S17). . As the cleaning sheet 12, a white paper having the same shape as a banknote and having an adhesive material applied on both sides is used.
[0018]
Here, if it is determined that the cleaning sheet 12 has been inserted into the bill insertion slot 1, the cleaning operation mode is entered, and if the cleaning sheet 12 is not inserted, has the timer elapsed for a certain period of time, for example, 10 seconds or more? Whether or not is determined (step S18), if less than 10 seconds, the process returns to step S13, and if 10 seconds or more have elapsed, the transport motor 5 is stopped (step S19), and the normal product state is returned.
[0019]
As described above, when the cleaning mode is entered, the transport motor 5 is rotated forward for a certain period of time, waiting for the cleaning sheet 12 to be inserted into the bill insertion slot 1, and when the cleaning sheet 12 is inserted, the cleaning is performed. If the cleaning sheet 12 is not inserted after a certain period of time has entered the operation mode, the product state is restored.
[0020]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the cleaning operation processing unit.
In the cleaning operation, first, the counter is cleared to zero (step S21). Next, it is determined whether or not the cleaning sheet 12 has passed the banknote position detection sensor 8 (step S22). When the cleaning sheet 12 has passed the banknote position detection sensor 8, the transport motor 5 is stopped (step S22). S23), the transport motor 5 is reversely rotated (step S24). As a result, the cleaning sheet 12 that has passed through the bill position detection sensor 8 is conveyed to the bill insertion slot 1 side. Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the cleaning sheet 12 conveyed toward the bill insertion slot 1 has been released from the shutter lever 6 connected to the internal shutter sensor 7 (step S25). When the cleaning sheet 12 is released from the shutter lever 6, the transport motor 5 is stopped (step S26), and the counter is incremented by 1 (step S27). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the counter has counted three times (step S28). If it is less than three times, the process returns to step S22 to reciprocate the cleaning sheet 12, and when the count is completed three times, the conveyance motor 5 is reversed (step S29), and the entrance lamp 2 blinks. Is changed to a lighting state (step S30), and the normal product state is restored.
[0021]
In this way, in the cleaning operation, the inserted cleaning sheet 12 is temporarily stopped at the passage position of the banknote position detection sensor 8 inside the banknote recognition apparatus, and then the transport motor 5 is reversed to remove the cleaning sheet 12. It is conveyed in the direction of the bill insertion slot 1 and stopped once at a position disengaged from the internal shutter lever 6. This operation is repeated three times. Finally, the cleaning sheet 12 is returned from the bill insertion slot 1 and the transport motor 5 is stopped.
[0022]
The above processing contents can be described in a program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. By executing this program on a computer, the above processing can be realized on the computer. The program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and a read-only or rewritable semiconductor memory is used as the recording medium.
[0023]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a computer.
The computer 30 stores a microprocessor (CPU) 31, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 32 that stores a program describing an operating system and processing contents, and a program, operation data, and the like when the microprocessor 31 performs operations. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 33, an input / output interface circuit 34, and a bus 35 for connecting them are configured. Connected to the input / output interface circuit 34 are a shutter sensor 7, a bill position detection sensor 8, a back cover open / close detection switch 11, an entrance lamp drive circuit 36, and a motor control circuit 37 for the transport motor 5.
[0024]
In the cleaning process, a cleaning program is read from the ROM 32, loaded into the RAM 33, and executed by the microprocessor 31. At that time, the operation of the back cover open / close detection switch 11 is monitored to determine whether or not to enter the cleaning mode. If the cleaning mode is entered, whether or not to enter the cleaning operation is performed to enter the cleaning operation. Then, the process which controls the entrance lamp drive circuit 36 and the motor control circuit 37 is performed, monitoring the shutter sensor 7 and the banknote position detection sensor 8.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the present invention, the cleaning start detection processing means, the cleaning sheet reception processing means, and the cleaning operation processing are provided. It was configured to perform cleaning. If the conveyor belt or roller is contaminated, the conveyance of banknotes becomes abnormal, and there may be cases where the acceptance of banknotes is reduced and the sales opportunity is impaired. According to the present invention, the banknote identification is performed when cleaning is performed. The cleaning operation can be easily performed without opening the transport section of the machine and without pressing a special switch.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an internal configuration of a banknote recognition apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a cleaning control device.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a cleaning start detection processing unit.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a cleaning sheet reception processing unit.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a cleaning operation processing unit.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a computer.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bill insertion port 2 Entrance lamp 3 Conveyance belt 4 Roller 5 Conveyance motor 6 Shutter lever 7 Shutter sensor 8 Bill position detection sensor 9 Bill storage part 10 Back cover 11 Back cover open / close detection switch 12 Cleaning sheet 20 Cleaning control device 21 Cleaning Start detection processing unit 22 Cleaning sheet reception processing unit 23 Cleaning operation processing unit 30 Computer 31 Microprocessor 32 ROM
33 RAM
34 I / O interface circuit 35 Bus 36 Entrance lamp drive circuit 37 Motor control circuit

Claims (2)

A first sensor that is provided in the banknote transport unit and detects the passage of banknotes, a second sensor that is disposed downstream of the first sensor and detects the passage of banknotes, and detects the open / closed state of the banknote storage unit In the banknote identification apparatus provided with the 3rd sensor to perform and the conveyance motor which drives the banknote conveyance part,
The third sensor detects the start of cleaning by detecting a predetermined number of continuous opening / closing operations within a predetermined time, and in response to the detection of the start of cleaning, an inlet lamp attached to the bill insertion slot is normally Cleaning start detection processing means for switching from the lighting state to flashing operation to notify that the cleaning mode is entered ,
When in the cleaning mode, the conveying motor is driven for a predetermined time to receive a cleaning sheet, and when the cleaning sheet is inserted, the return operation for an insert other than banknotes is invalidated and the cleaning sheet is disabled. A sheet receiving processing means for cleaning that can be taken into the conveyance path ,
Cleaning operation processing means for performing a return operation after reciprocating a predetermined number of times between a position where the cleaning sheet has passed the second sensor and a position which has passed the first sensor;
It is provided with the banknote identification device characterized by the above-mentioned. Computer
  A third sensor that detects the open / close state of the bill storage unit detects the start of cleaning by detecting a predetermined number of continuous opening / closing operations within a predetermined time, and in response to the detection of the start of cleaning, A cleaning start detection processing means for notifying that the installed entrance lamp is switched from a normal lighting state to a blinking operation to enter the cleaning mode,
  When in the cleaning mode, the conveying motor is driven for a predetermined time to receive the cleaning sheet and when the cleaning sheet is inserted, the return operation for the insert other than banknotes is invalidated and the cleaning sheet is removed. Cleaning sheet reception processing means that can be taken into the conveyance path,
  The position where the cleaning sheet has passed the first sensor provided on the downstream side of the banknote transport unit and the position which has passed the second sensor provided on the upstream side of the banknote transport unit are detected and transported. A cleaning operation processing means for performing a return operation after repeating a predetermined number of times of normal / reverse motor operation,
  Program to function as.

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