JP7712604B2 - Paper handling equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a paper sheet processing device.

There is a paper sheet processing device that accumulates paper sheets in an input section of a base machine, takes in the accumulated paper sheets through an input port of the input section, identifies and counts the taken-in paper sheets using a recognition section, and transports the identified and counted paper sheets to a connection unit connected to the base machine, where the connection unit performs various processes (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2017-178509 A

Some of these paper sheet processing devices have a bill press that presses stacked paper sheets horizontally in the insertion section. As shown in FIG. 10, some paper sheets are bills S that have small protrusions B formed on them to identify the type by touch with a finger or to prevent counterfeiting, making them uneven in thickness. When such bills S are stacked in the insertion section, the parts where the protrusions B overlap are higher than the other parts, causing the bill press to hit only the parts of the bill S where the protrusions B overlap, and there is a risk that the bills S cannot be pressed accurately and the bills S cannot be fed smoothly into the machine.

Therefore, the present invention provides a paper sheet processing device that can smoothly feed paper sheets into the machine body.

In order to achieve the above object, the paper sheet processing device of the present invention is a paper sheet processing device that presses paper sheets placed in an intake section toward a feed roller with a bill press and takes in the paper sheets into the machine body, and the bill press is provided with a main pressing section that is capable of moving up and down within the intake section and is capable of pressing approximately the center of the paper sheets, and an auxiliary pressing section that is provided independently of the main pressing section and is capable of pressing areas other than approximately the center of the paper sheets.

With this configuration, even if there is height variation in the paper sheets stacked in the intake section, where the overlapping convex portions are locally higher, the main pressing section presses approximately the center of the paper sheets, and the auxiliary pressing section can press the paper sheets while oscillating according to the height of the paper sheets. This prevents the bill press from hitting only part of the paper sheets unevenly, and the paper sheets are pressed stably over a wide area toward the feed rollers, allowing the paper sheets to be fed smoothly into the machine.

According to the present invention, the paper sheets are pressed stably against the feed roller over a wide area, allowing the paper sheets to be fed smoothly into the machine body.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a banknote processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a plan view showing the input section in which the installation interval between the pair of guide members is recently set. FIG. 13 is a plan view showing an input section in which the installation distance between a pair of guide members is set to the furthest position. FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bill press with the first and second auxiliary pressing portions in a horizontal position. FIG. 1 is a side view showing a bill press with the first and second auxiliary pressing parts in a horizontal position. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bill press in a state in which the first and second auxiliary pressing portions are swung. FIG. 11 is a side view showing the bill press in a state in which the first and second auxiliary pressing portions are swung. FIG. 11 is a side view showing how stacked bills of varying heights are pressed by a bill press. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a banknote having a protrusion formed on an end portion in the longitudinal direction.

A banknote processing device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that in the following, when referring to the number, numerical value, amount, range, etc. of components, unless specifically stated or in principle clearly limited to a specific number, the number is not limited to that specific number and may be more or less than the specific number.

In addition, when referring to the shape or positional relationship of components, etc., this includes things that are substantially similar or approximate to those shapes, etc., unless otherwise specified or considered to be clearly different in principle.

In addition, drawings may exaggerate characteristic parts to make the features easier to understand, and the dimensional proportions of the components may not necessarily be the same as in reality.

<Structure of the banknote handling device>
As shown in Fig. 1, the banknote processing device 1 includes a base machine 2 and a connection unit 3. The connection unit 3 is configured by selecting at least one of the number and type of units from among units each having a different function, and combining them with the base machine 2 in an appropriate order.

<Base unit configuration>
The base machine 2 identifies and counts the banknotes S inserted from outside the machine by an operator. The base machine 2 includes an intake unit 5 on a right side surface 4a of a machine body 4 when viewed from the operator of the banknote processing device 1.

Banknotes S are inserted into the take-in unit 5 by an operator from outside the machine. The take-in unit 5 has a bottom surface 6 on which the banknotes S are placed, and a rear wall surface 7 provided upward from the left end of the bottom surface 6 in the left-right direction. The bottom surface 6 and the rear wall surface 7 are formed substantially flat in the front-to-rear direction.

On the bottom surface portion 6, the banknotes S are stacked vertically with their short sides aligned in the left-right direction and their long sides aligned in the front-to-back direction (perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1). In addition, the bottom surface portion 6 is inclined downward to the left with respect to the horizontal plane when viewed from the front of the machine body 4, and the banknotes S stacked on the bottom surface portion 6 are shifted to one side with their long sides abutting against the rear wall surface portion 7 along the inclination of the bottom surface portion 6, and the positions of the short sides are aligned.

An intake port 8 is provided near the bottom surface 6, penetrating the rear wall surface 7 in the thickness direction. The length of the intake port 8 in the front-to-rear direction is set to be longer than the long side of the banknote S.

The intake section 5 includes a feed roller 9 provided on the bottom section 6, an intake roller 10 provided near the intake port 8, a separation roller 11 provided opposite the intake roller 10, and a detection section 12 that detects the taken-in banknotes S and the intake status.

The feed roller 9 is provided below the bottom surface portion 6 and partially protrudes upward from the bottom surface portion 6. The feed roller 9 separates the banknotes S one by one from the bottommost banknotes S stacked on the bottom surface portion 6, and sends them through the intake port 8 into the inside of the machine body 4. The intake roller 10 takes in the banknotes S kicked out by the feed roller 9 and transfers them to the identification and transport unit 13. The separation roller 11 separates the banknotes S taken in by the intake roller 10 one by one. The banknotes S are moved so that their short sides are aligned with the transport direction and are fed out to the left of the machine body 4, and move within the banknote processing device 1 while maintaining a posture in which their long sides are aligned in the front-to-rear direction.

The take-in unit 5 is equipped with a bill press 100 that can move up and down along the rear wall surface portion 7. The bill press 100 presses the banknotes S stacked on the bottom surface portion 6 from above toward the feed roller 9. As a result, in the take-in unit 5, the banknotes S in the bottom layer of the stacked banknotes S are brought into close contact with the feed roller 9 and are smoothly kicked out.

The base machine 2 is equipped with an identification and transport unit 13 that receives and transports banknotes S fed from the take-in unit 5, and an identification unit 14 that identifies banknotes S being transported by the identification and transport unit 13. The identification and transport unit 13 extends horizontally from the take-in unit 5 to the left in the left-right direction, and then extends vertically upward. The identification unit 14 is provided in a portion that extends upward from the identification and transport unit 13.

The base machine 2 is equipped with a connecting transport section 15 that extends from the upper end of the identification and transport section 13 toward the left side surface 4b of the body 4 and opens at the left side surface 4b. The connecting transport section 15 receives banknotes S that have been identified by the identification section 14 as being to be processed by the connecting unit 3 from the identification and transport section 13, and transports them from the base machine 2 toward the connecting unit 3.

The base machine 2 is provided with a reject conveying section 17 that extends from the upper end of the identification and conveying section 13 towards the right side and is connected to a reject section 16 provided above the intake section 5. The reject conveying section 17 conveys to the reject section 16 banknotes S that have not been identified in the identification section 14 as being to be processed by the connection unit 3.

The reject unit 16 stacks the banknotes S fed from the end of the reject transport unit 17 so that they can be removed to the outside. The reject unit 16 drops the banknotes S fed from the reject transport unit 17 toward the bottom surface 19 using the impeller 18, and the fed banknotes S are stacked on the bottom surface 19 in a state where each long side is abutted against the wall surface 20 along the slope of the bottom surface 19 and biased to one side.

The base unit 2 includes a control unit 21 that controls the components that make up the base unit 2. The control unit 21 controls the entire base unit 2 and is also communicatively connected to the connection unit 3 via an interface to output control commands.

In this way, in the base machine 2, the feed roller 9 kicks the banknotes S inserted into the intake section 5 towards the intake port 8, and the intake roller 10 and separation roller 11 separate the banknotes one by one and hand them over to the identification and transport section 13. The identification and transport section 13 then transports the banknotes S, and the recognition section 14 counts them while identifying them. The connecting transport section 15 then transports the banknotes S identified by the recognition section 14 as those to be processed to the connecting unit 3, and the reject transport section 17 transports the banknotes S that were not identified by the recognition section 14 as those to be processed to the reject section 16.

<Configuration of connecting unit>
The connecting unit 3 receives the banknotes S transported by the connecting transport section 15. The connecting unit 3 is configured by combining a stacking unit 3a that performs a stacking process of sorting the banknotes S according to their denominations and stacking them so that they can be removed from the machine, and a bundling unit 3b that performs a bundling process of stacking a predetermined number of banknotes S (for example, 100 sheets) and wrapping them with a bundling tape to form bundles. The operator can arbitrarily select whether to perform the stacking process by the stacking unit 3a or the bundling process by the bundling unit 3b.

The connecting unit 3 is not limited to having both the stacking unit 3a and the bundling unit 3b, but may have only one of the stacking unit 3a or the bundling unit 3b. The number of stacking units 3a and bundling units 3b installed is not limited to one, but may be two or more.

The stacking unit 3a includes a connecting transport section 22a connected to the connecting transport section 15, and a processing transport section 22b that branches off from the middle position of the connecting transport section 22a and extends downward. The connecting transport section 22a receives and transports banknotes S from the connecting transport section 15. The stacking unit 3a can be connected to another stacking unit 3a on the side opposite the base machine 2, and in that case, the connecting transport section 22a transports banknotes S to this other stacking unit 3a.

The processing and transporting section 22b includes a main transport section 22c that receives banknotes S from the connected transport section 22a and transports them downward, and four branch sections 22d to 22g that branch off from the main transport section 22c.

The stacking unit 3a includes stacking sections 23a to 23d, each of which receives and stacks the banknotes S fed from the main transport section 22c. The stacking sections 23a to 23d are arranged to the right of the branching sections 22d to 22g in correspondence with them, and are arranged vertically in a line with their left-right positions roughly aligned.

The stacking unit 23a has a bottom surface 24a that is inclined slightly downward to the right from the horizontal, a wall plate portion 24b that is arranged vertically above the bottom surface 24a, and an impeller 24c that is arranged on the left side of the bottom surface 24a and pushes the banknotes S fed from the branching unit 22d toward the wall plate portion 24b by abutting them against the bottom surface 24a. The stacking units 23b to 23d have the same structure as the stacking unit 23a.

The stacking units 23a to 23d are open to the front of the stacking unit 3a, and the banknotes S can be removed from the front. That is, the stacking unit 23a stacks the banknotes S fed from the branching unit 22d so that they can be removed to the outside, the stacking unit 23b stacks the banknotes S fed from the branching unit 22e so that they can be removed to the outside, the stacking unit 23c stacks the banknotes S fed from the branching unit 22f so that they can be removed to the outside, and the stacking unit 23d stacks the banknotes S fed from the branching unit 22g so that they can be removed to the outside.

The accumulation unit 3a is provided with a control unit 25 inside which receives control commands from the control unit 21 and controls the accumulation unit 3a.

In this way, the stacking unit 3a transports the banknotes S received from the base machine 2 to the stacking sections 23a to 23d by the connecting transport section 22a and the processing transport section 22b. The stacking sections 23a to 23d then perform the stacking process on the banknotes S identified as the banknotes to be processed.

The bundling unit 3b includes a connecting transport section 26a connected to the connecting transport section 22a, and a processing transport section 26b that branches off from the middle position of the connecting transport section 26a and extends downward. The connecting transport section 26a receives and transports banknotes S from the connecting transport section 22a. The bundling unit 3b can be connected to another bundling unit 3b on the opposite side to the stacking unit 3a, and in that case, the connecting transport section 26a transports banknotes S to this other bundling unit 3b.

The processing and conveying unit 26b includes a main conveying unit 26c that receives banknotes S from the connecting conveying unit 26a and conveys them downward, and a branching unit 26d that branches off from the main conveying unit 26c.

An alignment stacking section 27a is provided at the end of the main transport section 26c, and an alignment stacking section 27b is provided at the end of the branch section 26d. The alignment stacking sections 27a and 27b each receive banknotes S fed from the processing transport section 26b, and perform an alignment stacking process in which the banknotes S are aligned in a horizontal position and vertically in a predetermined number of bundling units and stacked.

The bundling unit 3b includes a bundling section 28 that stacks and bundles a predetermined number of banknotes S. The bundling section 28 includes a downward transport section 29 that places the stacked banknotes S sent out from the alignment/stacking section 27a, 27b in a horizontal state and transports them downward in the vertical direction. The bundling section 28 also includes a bundling mechanism section 30 that, below the alignment/stacking section 27a, bundles the stacked banknotes S that have been transported downward by the downward transport section 29 and sent out from the downward transport section 29 in a horizontal state with a bundling tape, thereby bundling loose banknotes S in a predetermined number of bundling units to create a bundle of banknotes integrated with the bundling tape.

Furthermore, the bundling unit 28 is provided with an external discharge unit 31 below the bundling mechanism unit 30, which discharges the bundle of banknotes produced by the bundling mechanism unit 30 outside the machine. The external discharge unit 31 is, for example, capable of receiving the bundle of banknotes and being pulled out from the front surface of the machine body 32 of the bundling unit 3b. Note that the external discharge unit 31 may be configured to be provided in front of the bundling mechanism unit 30, transport the bundle of banknotes to a bundle of banknotes discharge port (not shown) provided on the front surface of the machine body 32, and discharge the bundle of banknotes from the bundle of banknotes discharge port outside the machine.

The binding unit 3b is provided therein with a control unit 33 that receives control commands from the control unit 21 and controls the binding unit 3b.

In this way, the bundling unit 3b transports the banknotes S received from the stacking unit 3a to the alignment/stacking units 27a and 27b by the connecting transport unit 26a and the processing transport unit 26b, and transports the banknotes S from the alignment/stacking units 27a and 27b to the bundling unit 28 by the descending transport unit 29. The bundling unit 28 then performs bundling processing on the banknotes S identified as targets for processing.

<Configuration of the capture unit>
2, a touch panel type operation display unit 35 is provided on a front surface 34 of the base unit 2. The operation display unit 35 displays information to the operator and receives operation input from the operator. The base unit 2 also includes a gesture sensor 36 that detects the movement of the operator.

The feed roller 9 has a pair of roller bodies 9a spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction. The pair of roller bodies 9a rotates about the same axis along the front-rear direction. The take-in unit 5 has a residual sensor 37 between the pair of roller bodies 9a that detects the presence of banknotes S remaining on the bottom surface unit 6.

A pair of guide grooves 38 extending vertically to the bottom surface 6 are formed in the rear wall surface 7. The pair of guide grooves 38 are disposed at equal intervals in front and behind the center position of the rear wall surface 7 in the front-to-rear direction.

Between the pair of guide grooves 38, there is provided a remaining amount sensor 39 arranged at a predetermined distance from the bottom surface portion 6. The remaining amount sensor 39 detects whether the height of the banknotes S placed on the bottom surface portion 6 is equal to or higher than the position of the remaining amount sensor 39, or whether it is lower than the position of the remaining amount sensor 39. Hereinafter, the quantity of banknotes S according to the height of the banknotes S that can be detected by the remaining amount sensor 39 is referred to as the "detectable quantity".

The take-in section 5 is configured so that the spacing between them can be changed in multiple stages, and is equipped with a pair of guide members 40, 41 that position the banknotes S placed on the bottom section 6 in the front-to-rear direction.

3 and 4, the guide member 40 includes a flat guide wall portion 40a, a flat mounting portion 40b that extends in the thickness direction of the guide wall portion 40a, and a flat extension portion 40c that extends at an angle relative to the guide wall portion 40a. The mounting portion 40b has a plurality of elongated mounting holes (not shown).

The guide wall portion 40a is formed in an approximately L-shape with its upper portion protruding further to the left in the left-right direction than the mounting portion 40b, thereby forming an opening 40d through which the end of the bill press 100 can be inserted.

Guide member 41 has a configuration similar to that of guide member 40, except that it is a different size and is formed symmetrically. Guide member 41 has a flat guide wall portion 41a, a flat mounting portion 41b that extends in the thickness direction of guide wall portion 41a, and a flat extension portion 41c that extends at an angle relative to guide wall portion 41a. Mounting portion 41b has a plurality of elongated mounting holes (not shown) that are aligned with the mounting holes of mounting portion 40b in the front-rear direction.

The guide wall portion 41a is formed in an approximately L-shape with its upper portion protruding further to the left in the left-right direction than the mounting portion 41b, thereby forming an opening 41d through which the end of the bill press 100 can be inserted.

The bottom surface portion 6 is provided with four lower guide positioning openings 42 near the front end in the front-to-rear direction to which the lower ends of the guide wall portions 40a are attached. The bottom surface portion 6 is also provided with four lower guide positioning openings 43 near the rear end in the front-to-rear direction to which the lower ends of the guide wall portions 40a are attached. The lower guide positioning openings 42, 43 are through holes that penetrate the bottom surface portion 6 or concave grooves that are recessed from the bottom surface portion 6. The lower guide positioning openings 42, 43 are each arranged symmetrically about the center of the bottom surface portion 6 in the front-to-rear direction.

Figure 3 illustrates the state in which the guide wall portions 40a, 41a are attached to the innermost of the four lower guide positioning openings 42, 43, respectively, and Figure 4 illustrates the state in which the guide wall portions 40a, 41a are attached to the outermost of the four lower guide positioning openings 42, 43, respectively.

The intake section 5 has a front upright wall 44 rising from the front edge of the rear wall 7 to the right in the left-right direction, and a rear upright wall 45 rising from the rear edge of the rear wall 7 to the right in the left-right direction. The front upright wall 44 and the rear upright wall 45 are formed perpendicular to the bottom section 6 and the rear wall 7.

The front standing wall 44 is provided with a guide mounting portion 46 for mounting the mounting portion 40b. The guide mounting portion 46 extends from the right edge of the front standing wall 44 in the left-right direction to the front in the front-rear direction. The guide mounting portion 46 is formed with a plurality of screw holes (not shown). With the mounting portion 40b overlapping the guide mounting portion 46, the mounting holes of the mounting portion 40b and the screw holes of the guide mounting portion 46 are fastened with mounting screws (not shown) to attach the guide member 40 to the guide mounting portion 46.

In addition, the rear standing wall 45 is provided with a guide mounting portion 47 for mounting the mounting portion 41b. The guide mounting portion 47 extends from the right edge of the rear standing wall 45 in the left-right direction to the front-rear direction. The guide mounting portion 47 is provided with a plurality of screw holes (not shown) that are aligned with the plurality of screw holes of the guide mounting portion 46 in the front-rear direction. With the mounting portion 41b overlapping the guide mounting portion 47, the mounting holes of the mounting portion 41b and the screw holes of the guide mounting portion 47 are screwed together with mounting screws (not shown) to attach the guide member 41 to the guide mounting portion 47.

In this way, the spacing between the guide members 40, 41 attached to the lower guide positioning openings 42, 43 can be adjusted as appropriate according to any of the longitudinal dimensions of the banknotes S that can be processed by the banknote processing device 1, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The upper ends of the guide walls 40a, 41a are supported by upper guide positioning openings 48, 49 (see Figure 9) formed in the rear wall surface portion 7, respectively.

<Bill Press 100>
Next, a detailed description will be given of the configuration of the bill press 100. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the bill press 100 includes a main pressing unit 110, a first auxiliary pressing unit 120, and a second auxiliary pressing unit 130. The main pressing unit 110 includes a cover 111 that covers a frame 112.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the main pressing section 110 comprises a frame 112 and a weight 113 detachably attached to the frame 112. A pair of support arms 114 protrude from the left end of the frame 112 in the left-right direction. The support arms 114 pass through a pair of guide grooves 38 and are connected to a pressing drive mechanism (not shown) in the base machine 2. The pressing drive mechanism drives the pair of support arms 114 to rise and fall, thereby sliding the bill press 100 up and down along the rear wall surface portion 7.

A support roller 115 capable of rotating on the rear wall surface portion 7 is provided on the rear surface of the frame 112. The support roller 115 is supported so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis 115a along the front-rear direction. The bottom surface 116 of the frame 112 is formed substantially flat and can contact the approximate center of the banknote S. In this embodiment, the approximate center of the banknote S means the area that includes the center of the banknote S when the banknote S is divided evenly into three areas in the longitudinal direction, but is not limited to this.

The first auxiliary pressing section 120 and the second auxiliary pressing section 130 are provided on opposite sides in the front-rear direction, sandwiching the main pressing section 110. The base end of the first auxiliary pressing section 120 and the base end of the second auxiliary pressing section 130 are supported at both ends by the frame 112 and are each supported so as to be swingable around a rotation axis 117 along the left-right direction.

The first auxiliary pressing portion 120 has a generally flat wing shape that is gradually narrowed from the center to the front in the front-rear direction. The first auxiliary pressing portion 120 is formed with an L-shaped cross section from the center to the middle, and a bent portion 121 is formed at the right end in the left-right direction to improve strength. The tip of the first auxiliary pressing portion 120 is provided with a tip portion 122 formed with a width that can pass through the opening 40d. The bottom surface 123 of the first auxiliary pressing portion 120 is generally flat and can contact the front region of the banknote S. In this embodiment, the front region of the banknote S means the front region in the front-rear direction when the banknote S is evenly divided into three regions in the longitudinal direction, but is not limited to this.

The second auxiliary pressing portion 130 has a generally flat wing shape that is gradually narrowed from the center to the rear in the front-rear direction. The second auxiliary pressing portion 130 is formed with an L-shaped cross section from the center to the middle, and a bent portion 131 is formed at the right end in the left-right direction to improve strength. The tip of the second auxiliary pressing portion 130 is provided with a tip portion 132 formed with a width that can pass through the opening 41d. The bottom surface 133 of the second auxiliary pressing portion 130 is formed generally flat and can contact the rear region of the banknote S. In this embodiment, the rear region of the banknote S means the rear region in the front-rear direction when the banknote S is evenly divided into three regions in the longitudinal direction, but is not limited to this.

The length in the front-to-rear direction from the tip 122 of the first auxiliary pressing portion 120 to the tip 132 of the second auxiliary pressing portion 130 is set to be approximately the same as the distance between the front upright wall 44 and the rear upright wall 45. The length in the front-to-rear direction from the front end of the bent portion 121 of the first auxiliary pressing portion 120 to the rear end of the bent portion 131 of the second auxiliary pressing portion 130 is set to be approximately the same as the minimum distance between the guide members 40, 41.

When the bill press 100 is on standby, the first auxiliary pressing portion 120 and the second auxiliary pressing portion 130 are configured to maintain a horizontal posture when on standby by their own weight or a downward biasing force in the vertical direction by a coil spring (not shown), and at this time, the bottom surfaces 116, 123, 133 are approximately flush.

On the other hand, when an upward force acts on the bottom surface 123, the first auxiliary pressing portion 120 swings clockwise on the page in Fig. 8 around the rotation shaft 117 as the center, as shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. Also, when an upward force acts on the bottom surface 133 , the second auxiliary pressing portion 130 swings counterclockwise on the page in Fig. 8 around the rotation shaft 117 as shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8.

In this embodiment, the first auxiliary pressing section 120 and the second auxiliary pressing section 130 are arranged side by side in the front-to-rear direction in order to stably press a wide area of banknotes S that are long in the front-to-rear direction; however, in cases where banknotes S having a relatively short longitudinal dimension can be stably pressed using only either the first auxiliary pressing section 120 or the second auxiliary pressing section 130, the other of the first auxiliary pressing section 120 or the second auxiliary pressing section 130 may be omitted.

<Operation>
Next, a description will be given of the operation of the banknote processing device 1. First, the distance between the guide members 40, 41 is adjusted in accordance with the width dimension of the banknotes S to be taken into the connection unit 3.

3 and 4, the tip portion 122 passes through the opening 40d and extends to the vicinity of the front standing wall 44 without interfering with the guide member 40, and the tip portion 132 passes through the opening 41d and extends to the vicinity of the rear standing wall 45 without interfering with the guide member 41. That is, the main pressing portion 110, the first auxiliary pressing portion 120, and the second auxiliary pressing portion 130 are arranged to cover the bottom surface portion 6 in the front-rear direction when viewed from above.

When the bill press 100 is on standby, it is positioned in a predetermined retracted position that is approximately in the vertical center of the rear wall portion 7. At this time, each bottom surface 116, 123, 133 is positioned above the remaining amount sensor 39.

When the operator places the banknote S to be processed in a stacked state between the guide members 40, 41 and on the bottom portion 6, the banknote S is positioned by the guide members 40, 41 at approximately the center in the front-to-rear direction within the intake section 5.

Next, when the operator presses the "up/down" button (not shown) displayed on the operation display unit 35, the control unit 21 causes the remaining amount sensor 39 to detect the number of banknotes S placed on the intake unit 5, on condition that the remaining sensor 37 detects banknotes S and the gesture sensor 36 detects that the position of the operator's hand has moved a predetermined distance away from the gesture sensor 36.

When the number of banknotes S is less than the detectable quantity, the control unit 21 moves the bill press 100 downward by a pressing drive mechanism (not shown), and presses the banknotes S with the bill press 100. At this time, when the banknotes S are stacked substantially horizontally, the main pressing unit 110, the first auxiliary pressing unit 120 and the second auxiliary pressing unit 130 contact the banknotes S with their mutually flush bottom surfaces 116, 123 and 133, and press the banknotes S uniformly downward.

However, as shown in Figure 10, when banknotes S having non-uniform thickness are stacked due to fine protrusions B formed on the longitudinal ends of the banknotes S to identify the type or prevent counterfeiting, height variations occur as shown in Figure 9, where the portions of the stacked banknotes S where the protrusions B overlap (the right side of the page in Figure 9) are locally higher.

Therefore, the second auxiliary pressing unit 130 swings around the rotation axis 117 in response to the variation in height of the stacked banknotes S. As a result, the main pressing unit 110 and the first auxiliary pressing unit 120 press the banknotes S in a horizontal position, and the second auxiliary pressing unit 130 presses the banknotes S in an inclined position, so that the banknotes S are pressed over their entire surfaces in the front-to-rear direction.

On the other hand, if the number of banknotes S is equal to or greater than the detectable quantity, the control unit 21 does not press the bill with the bill press 100 and leaves the bill press 100 in the retracted position.

Next, when the operator presses the "Start" button (not shown) displayed on the operation display unit 35, the control unit 21 causes the banknotes S accumulated in the intake unit 5 to be taken in through the intake port 8 by the feed roller 9, the intake roller 10 and the separation roller 11.

At this time, if the number of banknotes S is less than the detectable quantity, the control unit 21 causes the bill press 100 to press the banknotes S against the bottom surface portion 6 while taking in the banknotes S. As the taking in of the banknotes S progresses, the control unit 21 causes the bill press 100 to lower by the pressing drive mechanism.

On the other hand, if the number of banknotes S is equal to or greater than the detectable quantity, the control unit 21 first causes the bill press 100, which is positioned in the retracted position, to take in the banknotes S through the intake port 8 while not pressing the banknotes S, and then, when the number of banknotes S placed on the bottom portion 6 falls below the detectable quantity, moves the bill press 100 downward using the pressing drive mechanism, and takes in the banknotes S through the intake port 8 while pressing the banknotes S with the bill press 100.

The control unit 21 cooperates with the control units 25 and 33 to have the banknotes S taken into the banknote processing device 1 recognised and counted by the recognition unit 14 while being conveyed by the recognition and transport unit 13, and of the recognised and counted banknotes S to be processed by the connection unit 3, the connection transport unit 15 transports them to the connection unit 3, where they are stacked or bundled. On the other hand, the reject transport unit 17 transports banknotes S other than those to be processed by the connection unit 3 to the reject unit 16.

In addition, when the banknote S is re-inserted (additionally inserted) into the take-in unit 5, when the control unit 21 detects via the gesture sensor 36 that the operator's hand is within a predetermined distance from the gesture sensor 36, it moves the bill press 100 upwards a predetermined distance using the pressure drive mechanism.

When the operator re-inserts (additionally inserts) banknotes S into the take-in section 5, in the same manner as in the procedure described above, the banknote processing device 1 causes the control section 21 to detect the quantity of banknotes S placed in the take-in section 5 using the remaining amount sensor 39, on condition that the residual sensor 37 detects banknotes S and the gesture sensor 36 detects that the position of the operator's hand has moved a predetermined distance away from the gesture sensor 36.

If the number of banknotes S is less than the detectable quantity, the bill press 100 is moved downward by the pressing drive mechanism, and the bill press 100 presses the banknotes S toward the bottom portion 6.

On the other hand, if the number of banknotes S is equal to or greater than the detectable quantity, the bill press 100 does not press the banknotes S, and the bill press 100 is placed in the retracted position. When the banknotes S are re-inserted while the banknotes S are being taken in by the take-in unit 5, the take-in of the banknotes S is not temporarily stopped. When the take-in of the banknotes S by the take-in unit 5 progresses and the residual sensor 37 no longer detects the banknotes S, the control unit 21 moves the bill press 100 upwards by the pressing drive mechanism and returns it to the retracted position.

In this way, the banknote processing device 1 of this embodiment is a banknote processing device 1 that presses the banknotes S placed in the intake section 5 toward the feed roller 9 with the bill press 100 and takes in the banknotes S into the body 4, and the bill press 100 is configured to be capable of moving up and down within the intake section 5 and to be equipped with a main pressing section 110 that is capable of pressing approximately the center of the banknotes S, and a first auxiliary pressing section 120 and a second auxiliary pressing section 130 that are provided independently of the main pressing section 110 and are capable of pressing areas excluding approximately the center of the banknotes S.

With this configuration, even if the convex portions B of the banknotes S overlap and cause height variations in the banknotes S stacked in the intake section 5, the main pressing section 110 presses approximately the center of the banknote S, and the first auxiliary pressing section 120 and the second auxiliary pressing section 130 can press the banknote S while oscillating according to the height of the banknote S. This prevents the bill press 100 from hitting a part of the banknote S unevenly, and the banknote S is pressed stably over a wide area toward the feed roller 9, allowing the banknotes S to be fed smoothly into the body 4.

In addition, the banknote processing device 1 is configured such that the first auxiliary pressing section 120 and the second auxiliary pressing section 130 are respectively arranged in the front-to-rear direction along the longitudinal direction of the banknote S with the main pressing section 110 as a reference.

With this configuration, the first auxiliary pressing section 120 and the second auxiliary pressing section 130 are arranged on both sides of the main pressing section 110 in the front-to-rear direction, so that banknotes S that are long in the front-to-rear direction can be stably pressed over a wide area, allowing the banknotes S to be smoothly fed into the machine body 4.

In addition, in the banknote processing device 1, the first auxiliary pressing section 120 and the second auxiliary pressing section 130 are connected to the main pressing section 110 via a rotating shaft 117 arranged along the left-right direction, and are configured to be able to move up and down within the intake section 5 in conjunction with the main pressing section 110, and are also configured to be able to swing around the rotating shaft 117.

With this configuration, the first auxiliary pressing section 120 and the second auxiliary pressing section 130 can move up and down within the intake section 5 in conjunction with the main pressing section 110 and swing around the rotation axis 117 depending on the height of the banknote S, thereby preventing the bill press 100 from hitting the bill unevenly with a simple configuration and allowing the banknote S to be fed smoothly into the body 4.

<Modification>
Furthermore, the bill press 100 is not limited to the configuration described above, and may be of any configuration that is capable of locally pressing the banknotes S according to the height of the banknotes S when the height of the stacked banknotes S is not uniform.

For example, the first auxiliary pressing unit 120 and the second auxiliary pressing unit 130 are not limited to those connected to the main pressing unit 110 via a rotating shaft 117 and moving up and down in the intake unit 5 in conjunction with the main pressing unit 110, but may be configured to be able to move up and down in the intake unit 5 independently of the main pressing unit 110. The first auxiliary pressing unit 120 and the second auxiliary pressing unit 130 may be configured to be connected to a pressing drive mechanism (not shown) and to slide up and down along the rear wall surface unit 7, for example, in the same manner as the main pressing unit 110.

According to this configuration, the first auxiliary pressing section 120 and the second auxiliary pressing section 130 rise and fall within the intake section 5 independently of the main pressing section 110, thereby making it possible to accommodate variations in the height of the banknotes S accumulated within the intake section 5, thereby enabling the banknotes S to be accurately fed into the body 4.

In addition, when processing banknotes S with convex portion B formed at the end in the short side direction, a third auxiliary pressing portion may be provided on the right side in the left-right direction along the short side direction of the banknote S, with the main pressing portion 110 as the reference. In this case, the left end portion of the third auxiliary pressing portion is supported by the frame 112 so as to be swingable around a rotation axis (not shown) along the front-rear direction, and the third auxiliary pressing portion maintains a horizontal position during standby by its own weight or a downward biasing force in the up-down direction by a coil spring (not shown), and when the right side in the left-right direction of the stacked banknotes S is locally higher, the right side in the left-right direction of the banknote S is locally pressed.

According to this configuration, the third auxiliary pressing section arranged on the right side of the main pressing section 110 in the left-right direction can stably press the banknote S formed at the end in the short direction and smoothly send it into the machine body 4.

In addition, the present invention can be modified in various ways other than those described above without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention extends to such modifications. Furthermore, any or all of the above-described embodiments and modifications may be combined.

The paper sheet processing device according to the present invention can process not only banknotes, but also gift certificates, checks, bills and other vouchers, securities, and other paper sheets in general.

1: Banknote processing device 2: Base machine 3: Connection unit 4: Machine body 5: Intake section 6: Bottom surface section 7: Back wall surface section 8: Intake port 9: Feed roller 100: Bill press 110: Main pressing section 111: Cover 112: Frame 113: Weight 114: Support arm 115: Support roller 116: Bottom surface 117: Rotating shaft 120: First auxiliary pressing section 121: Bent section (of first auxiliary pressing section) 122: Tip section (of first auxiliary pressing section) 123: Bottom surface (of first auxiliary pressing section) 130: Second auxiliary pressing section 131: Bent section (of second auxiliary pressing section) 132: Tip section (of second auxiliary pressing section) 133: Bottom surface (of second auxiliary pressing section)

Claims (5)

A paper sheet processing apparatus that presses paper sheets placed on an intake section toward a feed roller with a bill press and takes the paper sheets into a machine body,
The Bill Press is
a main pressing section that is provided in the intake section so as to be capable of moving up and down and that is capable of pressing approximately the center of the paper sheet;
an auxiliary pressing portion provided on the main pressing portion and capable of pressing an area of the paper sheet excluding approximately the center thereof;
Equipped with
The auxiliary pressing unit is connected to the main pressing unit via a rotating shaft, and is configured to be able to move up and down in the intake unit in conjunction with the main pressing unit, and is configured to be able to swing around the rotating shaft and maintain a horizontal position when the bill press is on standby.
A bottom surface of the main pressing portion and a bottom surface of the auxiliary pressing portion are formed flat,
The paper sheet processing apparatus , wherein, when the bill press is on standby, a bottom surface of the main pressing portion and a bottom surface of the auxiliary pressing portion are substantially flush with each other . The paper sheet processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the auxiliary pressing units are arranged in the front-rear direction along the longitudinal direction of the paper sheet with respect to the main pressing unit. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the rotation shaft is provided along a left-right direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the auxiliary pressing portions are disposed in a left-right direction along a short side direction of the paper sheet with respect to the main pressing portion. The paper sheet conveying device further includes an intake port for taking in the paper sheets placed on the intake section into the machine body,
The paper sheet processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary pressing portion is provided on the opposite side of the intake port in the intake portion with respect to the main pressing portion in the left-right direction along the short side direction of the paper sheet.