JP7774584B2 - Paper handling device and foreign object detection method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a paper handling device and a foreign object detection method.

As a paper handling device, for example, a banknote handling device such as an automated teller machine is known. Foreign objects such as bill clips used to bundle bills together or coins may be mixed in with deposited bills, so some banknote handling devices of this type are known to have a detection unit that detects whether or not foreign objects have been mixed in with the bills.

Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2-142741

Some of the above-mentioned detection units have metal sensors that detect foreign objects based on the amount of metal mixed in the banknote. However, when handling banknotes with a high metal content, such as those with magnetic printing, the metal sensor may erroneously detect the presence of foreign objects in banknotes that do not contain any foreign objects. Furthermore, in banknote handling devices, the metal sensor may erroneously detect metal plates or other objects that are present around the location where the metal sensor is located as foreign objects.

The disclosed technology has been developed in light of the above, and aims to provide a paper handling device and foreign object detection method that can improve the accuracy of detecting the presence or absence of foreign objects mixed in a stack of paper sheets.

One aspect of the paper sheet handling device disclosed in this application comprises a transport mechanism that transports a stack of paper sheets, a feed mechanism that feeds paper sheets from the stack of paper sheets transported by the transport mechanism, and a detection unit that detects the presence or absence of foreign matter mixed into the stack of paper sheets. The detection unit has a vibrating body that comes into contact with paper sheets that are fed by the feed mechanism and dropped, and a detector that detects vibrations generated in the vibrating body, and detects the presence or absence of the foreign matter based on the detection results of the detector.

One aspect of the paper sheet handling device disclosed in this application can improve the accuracy of detecting the presence or absence of foreign matter mixed into a stack of paper sheets.

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing a bill handling machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a change in acceleration detected by the detection unit in the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the natural vibration when there is no foreign object. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the natural vibration when a foreign object is present. FIG. 6 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 12 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 14 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 15 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment. FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the bill handling machine of the embodiment.

The following describes in detail exemplary embodiments of the paper handling device and foreign object detection method disclosed herein, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the paper handling device and foreign object detection method disclosed herein are not limited to the following exemplary embodiments.

(Configuration of banknote handling device)
Fig. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing a bill handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the bill handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the banknote handling device 1 comprises an insertion slot (deposit slot) 4 into which a banknote bundle 2A to be deposited is inserted, a transport mechanism 6 that transports the banknote bundle 2A deposited from the insertion slot 4, a payout mechanism 7 that pays out banknotes 2 from the banknote bundle 2A transported by the transport mechanism 6, and a detection unit 8 that detects the presence or absence of foreign matter 3 mixed in the banknote bundle 2A. The banknote handling device 1 also comprises a storage unit 9 that stores banknotes 2 sent from the detection unit 8, a discrimination unit 10 that discriminates the authenticity of banknotes 2 sent from the storage unit 9, and a control unit 11 that controls each of the units 6 to 10.

For ease of explanation, in Figure 1, when viewing the banknote handling device 1 from the front side where the insertion slot 4 is located, the width direction of the banknote handling device 1 will be referred to as the X direction, the front-to-rear direction of the banknote handling device 1 will be referred to as the Y direction, and the up-to-down direction of the banknote handling device 1 will be referred to as the Z direction. As with Figure 1, the X, Y, and Z directions will also be indicated in Figures subsequent to Figure 1. Furthermore, in this embodiment, banknotes 2 are used as an example of paper sheets, but this is not limited to banknotes 2. Paper sheets also include, for example, negotiable instruments such as bills, checks, gift certificates, various securities, and stock certificates.

In addition, in this embodiment, the banknote bundle 2A refers to a bundle of, for example, 100 to 200 banknotes 2 stacked on top of each other, but the number of banknotes 2 in the banknote bundle 2A is not limited. The banknote bundle 2A in this embodiment includes, for example, a bundle of two banknotes 2 stacked on top of each other. The foreign objects 3 that the detection unit 8 detects are not limited to coins, paper clips, etc. present inside the banknote bundle 2A, but also include coins placed on the paper surface 2s of the banknote bundle 2A and paper clips located on the paper surface 2s of the banknote bundle 2A. Here, the paper surface 2s of the banknote bundle 2A refers to the printed surface of the banknote 2 placed on top of the banknote bundle 2A.

(Transport mechanism)
The transport mechanism 6 has a transport path 12 along which the banknote bundle 2A is transported from the insertion slot 4 to the storage unit 9, a shuttle tray 13 that moves back and forth along the transport path 12, a transfer belt 14 that moves the banknote bundle 2A in the Y direction relative to the shuttle tray 13, and a transport belt 15 that transports the shuttle tray 13 in the Y direction along the transport path 5. The transport mechanism 6 also has a shuttle lifting mechanism (not shown) that lifts and lowers an upper shuttle member 13B (described below) that the shuttle tray 13 has, and a stopper opening/closing mechanism (not shown) that opens and closes a stopper member 13C (described below) that the shuttle tray 13 has.

The banknote bundle 2A is inserted by the user into the insertion slot 4 along the short side of the rectangular banknotes 2. The transport path 12 is arranged along the insertion direction (Y direction) of the banknote bundle 2A into the insertion slot 4. Therefore, the banknote bundle 2A is transported along the transport path 12 along the short side of the banknotes 2.

The shuttle tray 13 has a pair of lower and upper shuttle members 13A and 13B that sandwich and transport the bill bundle 2A in the thickness direction (Z direction) of the bill bundle 2A, and a stopper member 13C that regulates the position of the bill bundle 2A placed on the lower shuttle member 13A.

The lower shuttle member 13A has a loading surface 16 on which the banknote bundle 2A inserted through the insertion slot 4 is placed. The upper shuttle member 13B is movable up and down (Z direction) so as to sandwich the banknote bundle 2A between itself and the loading surface 16 of the lower shuttle member 13A. The shuttle tray 13 is provided with an insertion sensor (not shown) that detects the insertion of the banknote bundle 2A into the shuttle tray 13, and when insertion of the banknote bundle 2A through the insertion slot 4 is detected, the shuttle lifting mechanism (not shown) lowers the upper shuttle member 13B toward the lower shuttle member 13A. As a result, the transport mechanism 6 transports the banknote bundle 2A sandwiched between the upper shuttle member 13B and the lower shuttle member 13A in the thickness direction (Z direction) of the banknote bundle 2A.

The stopper member 13C is provided at the end of the shuttle tray 13 facing the storage unit 9 and is slidable in the vertical direction (Z direction) relative to the shuttle tray 13. When the shuttle tray 13 moves toward the storage unit 9, the stopper member 13C opens the opening at the end of the shuttle tray 13 facing the storage unit 9, allowing the banknote bundle 2A to be fed from inside the shuttle tray 13 into the storage unit 9 through this opening.

The transfer belt 14 is provided on the lower shuttle member 13A so as to move in the conveying direction (Y direction) along the placement surface 16 of the lower shuttle member 13A. The transfer belt 14 moves the banknote bundle 2A placed on the placement surface 16 so as to pull it toward the back of the shuttle tray 13 (towards the storage section 9).

The conveyor belts 15 are arranged along the conveying direction (Y direction) on both sides of the width direction (X direction) of the conveying path 5. The conveying mechanism 6 transports the bill bundle 2A inserted through the insertion slot 4 along the conveying path 5 to the storage unit 9 by feeding the shuttle tray 13 on which the bill bundle 2A is placed using the conveyor belts 15. After the shuttle tray 13 has been transported to the storage unit 9, the conveying mechanism 6 moves the bill bundle 2A toward the storage unit 9 relative to the shuttle tray 13 using the transfer belts 14, thereby sending out the end of the bill bundle 2A facing the storage unit 9 (hereinafter also referred to as the front end of the bill bundle 2A) from the opening of the shuttle tray 13.

(Feed-out mechanism)
The payout mechanism 7 has a pick roller 17 that pays out banknotes 2 one by one from the banknote bundle 2A on the shuttle tray 13, a blade wheel 18 as a knocking member that knocks banknotes 2 one by one from the banknote bundle 2A and drops them onto a vibration plate 21 described later, a roller drive mechanism (not shown) that rotates the pick roller 17, and a knocking mechanism (not shown) that rotates the blade wheel 18.

The pick roller 17 is positioned above the front end of the bill bundle 2A fed from the shuttle tray 13 so as to contact the paper surface 2s of the bill bundle 2A. The impeller 18 is rotatably supported on a rotation shaft 18a and has multiple plate-shaped blades 18b that rotate along the Y-Z plane. Each blade 18b of the impeller 18 is positioned so as to contact the front end of the bills 2 fed from the bill bundle 2A by the pick roller 17.

The payout mechanism 7 knocks down the banknotes 2 with the blades 18b of the impeller 18, allowing the banknotes 2 paid out from the banknote stack 2A to fall quickly and to a predetermined position. The knocking member is not limited to the impeller 18, and may be any member of any other shape that is capable of knocking down the banknotes 2. Furthermore, the payout mechanism 7 is not limited to a configuration that includes a knocking member, and may be configured to pay out the banknotes 2 from the shuttle tray 13 to the vicinity of the vibration plate 21 without using a knocking member.

The dispensing mechanism 7 is not limited to dispensing banknotes 2 one by one from the banknote bundle 2A, but may dispense two or more banknotes 2 simultaneously. For example, even if banknotes 2 are dispensed one by one from the banknote bundle 2A, dispensing multiple banknotes 2 bound together with a clip is also considered dispensing banknotes 2 one by one.

(Detection unit)
The detection unit 8 has a vibration plate 21 as a vibrating body that comes into contact with the banknotes 2 that are dispensed by the dispensing mechanism 7 and dropped, and a detector 22 that detects the vibrations generated in the vibration plate 21, and detects the presence or absence of foreign objects 3 based on the detection results of the detector 22.

The vibration plate 21 has a contact surface 21a with which the banknotes 2 come into contact, and the contact surface 21a is inclined relative to the vertical direction (Z direction) so that banknotes 2 and foreign objects 3 that fall from the shuttle tray 13 onto the contact surface 21a slide down the contact surface 21a and are sent to the storage unit 9. In this way, the banknotes 2 and foreign objects 3 are sent from the vibration plate 21 to the storage unit 9 by their own weight, eliminating the need for a mechanism to send the banknotes 2 and foreign objects 3 from the vibration plate 21 to the storage unit 9, thereby simplifying the structure of the banknote handling device 1.

The detector 22 is, for example, an acceleration sensor (vibration sensor) and is fixed to the backside of the contact surface 21a of the vibration plate 21. The detector 22 is electrically connected to the control unit 11 and transmits to the control unit 11 the detected value of the acceleration generated in the vibration plate 21 due to contact with the banknote 2 or foreign object 3.

(Storage section)
The storage unit 9 has a stage 25 as a platform on which the banknotes 2 sent from the detection unit 8 are placed, a pusher 26 that presses the banknotes 2 placed on the stage 25 in their thickness direction (Z direction), a lifting mechanism 27 that raises and lowers the stage 25 together with the pusher 26, and a sending mechanism 28 that sends the banknotes 2 from the stage 25 to the validation unit 10.

The stage 25 has a placement surface 25a on which banknotes 2 that have come into contact with the contact surface 21a of the vibration plate 21 are placed, and the banknotes 2 are stacked and placed on the placement surface 25a. A restriction wall (not shown) that restricts the position of the banknotes 2 sent from the vibration plate 21 to the stage 25 is formed on the outer periphery of the stage 25, except for the side adjacent to the vibration plate 21, and the restriction wall (not shown) prevents the position of the banknotes 2 sent onto the stage 25 from being disturbed. Although not shown, instead of forming a restriction wall on the stage 25, the peripheral wall of the storage unit 9 may also serve as the restriction wall.

The stage 25 also has a discharge unit 31 that discharges foreign objects 3 sent from the vibration plate 21 onto the stage 25 from the storage unit 9 to the outside of the banknote handling apparatus 1. The discharge unit 31 has a discharge port 31a formed on the stage 25, a discharge path 31b that sends foreign objects 3 from the discharge port 31a to the outside of the banknote handling apparatus 1, and a return port (not shown) that is connected to the discharge path 31b and is located on the outside of the banknote handling apparatus 1. This makes it possible to easily recover foreign objects 3 that have become mixed in with the banknote stack 2A from the storage unit 9, and to easily recover foreign objects 3 from the return port (not shown) on the outside of the banknote handling apparatus 1.

In the embodiment, the storage unit 9 includes a foreign object 3 discharge unit 31, but is not limited to this configuration. When a foreign object 3 is detected by the detection unit 8, the banknote handling device 1 may be configured to, for example, stop the banknote handling device 1 and notify a maintenance worker of the detection of the foreign object 3 using a notification unit such as a display panel (not shown), so that the maintenance worker can remove the foreign object 3 from inside the banknote handling device 1.

The feeding mechanism 28 has a feeding roller 28a that feeds out the banknotes 2 on the stage 25 one by one. After the stage 25 is lowered to a position adjacent to the feeding mechanism 28, the feeding mechanism 28 feeds out the banknotes 2 from the stage 25 one by one.

The validator 10 has a transport path 10a along which banknotes 2 sent by the delivery mechanism 28 of the storage unit 9 are sent, and an image sensor 10b that validates the banknotes 2 sent along the transport path 10a.

The control unit 11 may be a control circuit on a control board installed inside the banknote handling device 1, but is not limited to this and may also be an external computer connected to the banknote handling device 1.

(Principle of detecting foreign objects in a banknote stack)
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a change in acceleration detected by the detection unit 8 in the embodiment, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the natural vibration when there is no foreign object, and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the natural vibration when there is a foreign object.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the detection unit 8 detects a change in acceleration that occurs in the vibration plate 21 when a banknote 2 or foreign object 3 that has fallen from the shuttle tray 13 of the transport mechanism 6 comes into contact with the vibration plate 21 of the detection unit 8. For example, the detection unit 8 transmits the detected acceleration value to the control unit 11, which then calculates the natural frequency of the vibration plate 21 based on the detected acceleration value, and determines whether the banknote 2 or the foreign object 3 has come into contact with the vibration plate 21 based on the natural frequency. Note that the control unit 11 is not limited to a configuration in which it calculates and determines the natural frequency; for example, the detection unit 8 may be configured to include a processing circuit that performs at least one of calculating and determining the natural frequency.

As shown in Figure 4, when the amplitude of the natural vibration generated in the vibration plate 21 falls below the threshold value T and gradually decays, the control unit 11 determines that a banknote 2 has come into contact with the vibration plate 21, and no foreign object 3 mixed in the banknote stack 2A is detected, resulting in a determination that no foreign object is present.

As shown in Figure 5, when the amplitude of the natural vibration generated in the vibration plate 21 exceeds the threshold value T and the amplitude rapidly attenuates, the control unit 11 determines that a foreign object 3 has come into contact with the vibration plate 21, detects a foreign object 3 mixed in the banknote bundle 2A, and determines that a foreign object is present.

(Operation of the banknote handling device)
The operation of the banknote handling apparatus 1 of the embodiment configured as above will now be described. Figures 6 to 15 are schematic vertical cross-sectional views for explaining the operation of the banknote handling apparatus 1 of the embodiment. Figure 16 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the banknote handling apparatus 1 of the embodiment.

As shown in Figures 6 and 16, a user inserts a banknote bundle 2A into the insertion slot 4 of the banknote handling device 1 (step S1). As shown in Figures 7 and 16, the banknote handling device 1 pulls the banknote bundle 2A inserted into the insertion slot 4 into the shuttle tray 13, and then lowers the upper shuttle member 13B toward the lower shuttle member 13A, thereby sandwiching the banknote bundle 2A in the shuttle tray 13 (step S2).

Then, the banknote handling system 1 moves the shuttle tray 13 into the banknote handling system 1 using the transport mechanism 6 (step S3) and sends the banknote bundle 2A to the storage unit 9. After sending the banknote bundle 2A to the storage unit 9, the banknote handling system 1 lowers the stopper member 13C to open the opening of the shuttle tray 13 on the storage unit 9 side, as shown in Figures 8 and 16 (step S4). Next, the banknote handling system 1 uses the transfer belt 14 to feed the front end of the banknote bundle 2A from inside the shuttle tray 13 and move the banknote bundle 2A to a position where it contacts the pick roller 17 (step S5).

Next, the banknote handling device 1 separates the banknotes 2 from the banknote bundle 2A one by one using the pick roller 17 of the dispensing mechanism 7, and dispenses the banknotes 2 one by one from the shuttle tray 13 (step S6). As shown in Figures 9, 10, and 16, the banknote handling device 1 knocks down the banknotes 2 dispensed from the shuttle tray 13 with the blades 18b of the impeller 18, causing them to fall onto the vibration plate 21 so that they come into contact with the contact surface 21a of the vibration plate 21 (step S7).

When a banknote 2 falls onto the vibration plate 21, the banknote handling device 1 measures the vibration of the falling banknote 2 by detecting the acceleration generated on the vibration plate 21 using the detector 22 of the detection unit 8 (step S8). Similarly, if a foreign object 3 mixed in the banknote stack 2A falls onto the vibration plate 21 as banknotes 2 are dispensed from the shuttle tray 13, the banknote handling device 1 measures the vibration of the falling foreign object 3 by detecting the acceleration generated on the vibration plate 21 using the detector 22 of the detection unit 8.

The control unit 11 of the banknote handling machine 1 then converts the measurement data sent from the detection unit 8 (step S9) and calculates the natural frequency. Next, the banknote handling machine 1 determines whether the amplitude of the natural vibration obtained from the measurement data is equal to or less than the threshold value T (step S10). If the amplitude of the natural vibration is equal to or less than the threshold value T (Yes) in step S10, the control unit 11 determines that a banknote 2 has fallen onto the vibration plate 21, i.e., that no foreign object is present.

As shown in Figures 10 and 11, the banknotes 2 that have fallen onto the vibration plate 21 slide down the contact surface 21a of the vibration plate 21 and are sent onto the stage 25. Next, the banknote handling device 1, for example, drives the lifting mechanism 27 to shake the stage 25, thereby arranging the banknotes 2 on the stage 25 so that they are in a predetermined position (step S11). The storage unit 9 of the banknote handling device 1 may be equipped with a swinging mechanism (not shown) for shaking the banknotes 2 placed on the stage 25 and aligning the positions of the banknotes 2.

Then, as shown in FIG. 12, when all of the banknote bundles 2A on the shuttle tray 13 have been stacked on the stage 25, the banknote handling apparatus 1 lowers the pusher 26 as shown in FIG. 13, and sandwiches the banknote bundle 2A on the stage 25 between itself and the pusher 26. Next, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 16, the banknote handling apparatus 1 lowers the pusher 26 and the stage 25 to the position of the delivery mechanism 28 (step S12), and the delivery mechanism 28 delivers the banknotes 2 one by one from the banknote bundle 2A on the stage 25 to the validation unit 10. After delivering all of the banknote bundles 2A on the stage 25 to the validation unit 10, the banknote handling apparatus 1 starts the next handling process (step S13).

Furthermore, in step S10 described above, if the amplitude of the natural vibration exceeds the threshold value T (No), the control unit 11 determines that a foreign object 3 has fallen onto the vibration plate 21, i.e., that a foreign object is present. If the banknote handling device 1 determines that a foreign object is present, it may, for example, terminate the handling process of the banknote bundle 2A with an error (step S14), stop the handling process, and wait for an inspection by a maintenance worker. Note that in this embodiment, the foreign object 3 that has fallen onto the vibration plate 21 slides down the contact surface 21a of the vibration plate 21 and is sent onto the stage 25, and is then discharged, for example, from the discharge unit 31 of the stage 25 to a return port (not shown).

(Foreign object detection method)
A foreign object detection method for detecting foreign object 3 mixed in banknote bundle 2A in banknote handling apparatus 1 of the embodiment configured as described above will be described below. In the foreign object detection method of the embodiment, banknote bundle 2A is transported by transport mechanism 6, banknotes 2 are fed by feed mechanism 7 from banknote bundle 2A transported by transport mechanism 6 so as to fall onto vibration plate 21, and the presence or absence of foreign object 3 mixed in banknote bundle 2A is detected based on the detection result of vibration generated in vibration plate 21.

(Effects of the Example)
As described above, the banknote handling device 1 of the embodiment includes a transport mechanism 6 that transports a banknote bundle 2A, a payout mechanism 7 that pays out banknotes 2 from the banknote bundle 2A transported by the transport mechanism 6, and a detection unit 8 that detects the presence or absence of foreign matter 3 mixed in the banknote bundle 2A. The detection unit 8 includes a vibration plate 21 that comes into contact with banknotes 2 that are paid out by the payout mechanism 7 and dropped, and a detector 22 that detects vibrations generated in the vibration plate 21, and detects the presence or absence of foreign matter 3 based on the detection result of the detector 22. This makes it possible to improve the accuracy of detecting the presence or absence of foreign matter 3 mixed in the banknote bundle 2A compared to when a metal sensor is used to detect foreign matter 3.

The payout mechanism 7 of the banknote handling device 1 of this embodiment also has a vane wheel 18 that strikes banknotes 2 one by one from the banknote bundle 2A and causes them to fall onto the vibration plate 21. This allows the banknotes 2 paid out from the banknote bundle 2A to fall quickly and to a predetermined position. As a result, the efficiency of the handling process of the banknote handling device 1 can be improved, and the detection accuracy of the detection unit 8 can be increased.

The vibration plate 21 of the detection unit 8 of the banknote handling device 1 of the embodiment has a contact surface 21a with which the banknote 2 comes into contact, and the contact surface 21a is inclined relative to the vertical direction (Z direction) so that a banknote 2 that falls onto the contact surface 21a slides down the contact surface 21a and is sent to the storage unit 9. In this way, the banknote 2 and foreign object 3 are sent from the vibration plate 21 to the storage unit 9 by their own weight, eliminating the need for a mechanism to send the banknote 2 and foreign object 3 from the vibration plate 21 to the storage unit 9, thereby simplifying the structure of the banknote handling device 1.

The storage unit 9 of the banknote handling device 1 of the embodiment also has a stage 25 on which banknotes 2 fed from the contact surface 21a of the vibration plate 21 are placed, and the stage 25 has a discharge unit 31 that discharges foreign matter 3 fed from the vibration plate 21 to the stage 25 from the storage unit 9. This makes it possible to easily recover foreign matter 3 mixed in with the banknote stack 2A from the storage unit 9.

In addition, the discharge section 31 of the stage 25 in the storage unit 9 of the banknote handling device 1 of this embodiment has a discharge outlet 31a formed in the stage 25 and a discharge path 31b that sends foreign objects 3 from the discharge outlet 31a to the outside of the banknote handling device 1. This makes it easy to collect foreign objects 3 from the outside of the banknote handling device 1.

1. Banknote handling device (paper sheet handling device)
2. Banknotes (paper sheets)
2A Bundle of banknotes (bundle of paper sheets)
3 Foreign object 6 Conveying mechanism 7 Feeding mechanism 8 Detecting section 9 Storage section 18 Impeller 21 Vibrating plate (vibrator)
21a Contact surface 22 Detector 25 Stage (mounting table)
31 Discharge part 31a Discharge port 31b Discharge path

Claims (6)

a conveying mechanism for conveying a bundle of paper sheets;
a feeding mechanism that feeds out paper sheets from the bundle of paper sheets transported by the transport mechanism;
a detection unit that detects whether or not a foreign object is mixed in the bundle of paper sheets,
The detection unit has a vibrator that comes into contact with paper sheets that are fed out by the feeding mechanism and dropped, and a detector that detects vibrations generated in the vibrator, and detects the presence or absence of the foreign object based on the detection results of the detector. The feeding mechanism has a knocking member that knocks down the paper sheets one by one from the bundle of paper sheets and drops them onto the vibrator.
2. The paper sheet handling device according to claim 1. The paper feeder further includes a storage unit for storing the paper sheets sent from the detection unit,
the vibrator has a contact surface with which the paper sheet comes into contact, and the contact surface is inclined with respect to the vertical direction so that the paper sheet that has fallen onto the contact surface slides down the contact surface and is sent to the storage section.
3. The paper sheet handling device according to claim 1 or 2. the storage unit has a placement table on which the paper sheets fed from the contact surface of the vibrator are placed,
the mounting table has a discharge section that discharges the foreign matter sent from the vibrator to the mounting table from the accommodation section.
4. The paper sheet handling device according to claim 3. The discharge unit has a discharge port formed in the placement table and a discharge path that sends the foreign object from the discharge port to the outside of the paper sheet handling device.
5. The paper sheet handling device according to claim 4. A bundle of paper sheets is transported by a transport mechanism,
a feeding mechanism is used to feed paper sheets from the bundle of paper sheets conveyed by the conveying mechanism so that the paper sheets fall onto a vibrator;
A foreign matter detection method for detecting whether or not a foreign matter has entered the stack of paper sheets based on the detection result of vibrations generated in the vibrator.