JP7797901B2 - Banknote storage cabinet - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a banknote storage vault, and is suitable for use in banknote storage vaults for cash register change systems used at checkout counters in retail stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores.

In recent years, cash register change systems that combine a POS (Point Of Sales) register connected to a POS system or the like with a change dispenser that processes the deposit and withdrawal of banknotes and coins have become common. Among these change dispensers, banknote deposit and withdrawal devices that process banknotes include a deposit and withdrawal unit that receives and delivers banknotes to and from a cashier, a transport unit that transports banknotes, a discrimination unit that discriminates the denomination and authenticity of inserted banknotes, a banknote storage vault that stores reusable banknotes by denomination, a rejection vault that stores banknotes that should be rejected, and a recovery vault that recovers some or all of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault as sales proceeds (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In addition, some banknote deposit and withdrawal devices are provided with a collection cassette that has a reject box and a collection box formed inside, and have doors that open and close to expose the inside of the reject box and the inside of the collection box to the outside of the collection cassette.

JP 2013-88860 A

In such a banknote deposit and withdrawal device, when the door is opened to remove rejected banknotes from the reject box from outside, the interior of the collection box is also opened along with the interior of the reject box, making it possible to access the collected banknotes in the collection box from outside, which could result in security being compromised.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above points and aims to propose a banknote storage vault that can improve security.

In order to solve this problem, the banknote storage vault of the present invention is provided with a first banknote storage space for storing banknotes, a second banknote storage space that is arranged vertically relative to the first banknote storage space and stores banknotes, a first door that opens and closes only the first banknote storage space while keeping the second banknote storage space closed, and a second door that opens and closes both the first banknote storage space and the second banknote storage space, the first banknote storage space stores rejected banknotes that are determined to be rejected among banknotes sent from a banknote unit that sends banknotes to the first banknote storage space and the second banknote storage space, and the second banknote storage space stores recovered banknotes that are recovered from the banknote unit, and the first door opens and closes only the first banknote storage space while the second banknote storage space remains closed by the second door .

This allows the present invention to prevent external access to banknotes in the second banknote storage space when banknotes are removed from the first banknote storage space from the outside.

The present invention makes it possible to realize a banknote storage vault that can improve security.

1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of the banknote deposit and withdrawal device in a state where the rejected banknote storage door is closed. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of the banknote deposit and withdrawal device in a state where the rejected banknote storage door is open. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of the banknote deposit and withdrawal device in a banknote deposit and withdrawal device storage state. 2 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of the banknote deposit and withdrawal device in a state where the banknote deposit and withdrawal device is pulled out. FIG. FIG. 2 is a right side view showing the configuration of the banknote deposit and withdrawal device. FIG. 10 is a left side view showing the configuration of the collection cassette. 10A and 10B are perspective views showing the external configuration of the collection cassette when the main storage door is closed and when the rejected banknote storage door is closed. 10 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of the collection cassette when the main storage door is open and when the rejected banknote storage door is closed. FIG. 10A and 10B show the configuration of the locking mechanism in a collection cassette detached state, a rejected banknote storage door locked state, and a rejected banknote storage door closed state, in which FIG. 10A is a perspective view from the left side, and FIG. 10B is a perspective view from the right side. 1A and 1B show the configuration of the locking mechanism in a state where a collection cassette is installed, a state where the rejected banknote storage door is unlocked, and a state where the rejected banknote storage door is closed, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view from the left side, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view from the right side. 10A and 10B show the configuration of the locking mechanism in a collection cassette attached state, a rejected banknote storage door unlocked state, and an open rejected banknote storage door, in which FIG. 10A is a perspective view from the left side, and FIG. 10B is a perspective view from the right side.

The following describes the form for implementing the invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") with reference to the drawings.

[1. Configuration of the banknote deposit and withdrawal device]
As shown in Fig. 1, a banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 serving as a banknote unit is installed at a checkout counter (a so-called cash register) in a retail store such as a supermarket or convenience store, and is a checkout machine operated by a cashier when a customer pays for products they wish to purchase. This banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is connected to a POS register (not shown) and operates under the control of the POS register. In the following description, the side of the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 that the cashier (hereinafter also referred to as a user) faces and the opposite side thereof are referred to as the front and rear, respectively, and left, right, and top and bottom are further defined as viewed from the user.

The banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 takes in banknotes inserted by a user into the banknote deposit and withdrawal port 2 and stores them in the banknote storage vault 12 (Figure 5), and also removes the banknotes from the banknote storage vault 12 (Figure 5) and dispenses them as change from the banknote deposit and withdrawal port 2.

The banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 also includes a change control unit 4. The change control unit 4 is primarily composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown), and by reading and executing various programs from a memory such as a flash memory, it controls the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 and performs various processes such as deposit transactions and withdrawal transactions.

As shown in Figure 5, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 incorporates multiple internal components that perform various banknote-related processes, and the change control unit 4 (Figure 1) provides overall control of each component (banknote deposit and withdrawal unit 6, transport unit 8, classification unit 10, banknote storage vault 12, and collection cassette 14).

The banknote deposit/withdrawal unit 6 is located near the front end of the banknote deposit/withdrawal device 1. This banknote deposit/withdrawal unit 6 takes in banknotes inserted by the user into the banknote deposit/withdrawal slot 2 (Figure 1), separates them one by one, and feeds them to the transport unit 8. It also stores banknotes to be dispensed to the user in a stacked state with the paper surface facing up or down, i.e., aligned vertically, and dispenses them as change from the banknote deposit/withdrawal slot 2.

The transport unit 8 transports rectangular banknotes in the short-edge direction along the transport path using rollers, belts, etc. A blade (not shown) is provided at the branching point of the transport unit 8, and rotates under the control of the change control unit 4 (Figure 1) to switch the destination of the banknote.

The validator 10 is located behind the banknote deposit/withdrawal unit 6. While the validator 10 transports deposited, dispensed, and collected banknotes within it, it uses optical elements, magnetic detection elements, etc. to recognize the denomination, authenticity, fitness (damaged or not), and transport status of the banknotes, and notifies the change controller 4 of the validation results. In response, the change controller 4 determines the destination of the banknotes based on the obtained validation results.

The collection cassette 14 is located behind the banknote deposit/withdrawal unit 6 and has a banknote storage space 15 inside for storing and accumulating banknotes. This collection cassette 14 is an integrated storage unit in which an upper rejected banknote storage unit 16 and a lower recovered banknote storage unit 17 are integrated and separated from each other by a reject stage 18, and is detachable from the banknote deposit/withdrawal device 1.

Furthermore, when a rejected banknote is transported by the transport unit 8, the rejected banknote storage unit 16 stores the rejected banknote, which is a banknote that has been determined by the validation unit 10 and change control unit 4 to have an abnormality, such as being transported in a tilted position on the transport unit 8 compared to normal, or being transported with multiple banknotes stacked on top of each other, among the banknotes dispensed from the banknote storage vault 12. When a recovered banknote is transported by the transport unit 8 during a collection process in which some or all of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 12 are collected as sales proceeds, the recovered banknote storage unit 17 stores the recovered banknote.

A banknote storage vault 12 is provided behind the collection cassette 14. The banknote storage vault 12 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and has a space inside for collecting and storing banknotes. When banknotes that have been determined by the validator 10 and change controller 4 to be minimally damaged and reusable are transported by the transport unit 8 according to their denominations, the banknote storage vault 12 collects and stores the banknotes inside. Furthermore, when the banknote storage vault 12 receives an instruction from the change controller 4 to dispense banknotes, it separates the stored banknotes, dispenses them one by one, and hands them over to the transport unit 8.

In this configuration, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 performs processes such as depositing, withdrawing, and collecting banknotes, with the change control unit 4 controlling each unit based on the results of banknote validation by the validation unit 10.

The banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is configured to be movable in the front-to-rear direction relative to the change machine housing 20 by slide rails 19 shown in Figure 3. When maintenance personnel or the like are performing internal maintenance work on the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is pulled out forward from the change machine housing 20 as shown in Figure 4, entering a banknote deposit and withdrawal device pulled-out state, making it possible to perform internal maintenance work on the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1. On the other hand, when the maintenance work is completed and the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is pushed rearward by the maintenance personnel or the like as shown in Figure 3, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 enters a banknote deposit and withdrawal device stored state in which it is stored inside the change machine housing 20.

The change machine housing 20 has a change machine housing left side wall 20L formed on its left end. When the banknote deposit and withdrawal device is stored (FIG. 3), the change machine housing left side wall 20L faces the left side of the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 with its right side facing the left side of the device. Therefore, when the banknote deposit and withdrawal device is stored (FIG. 3), the collection cassette 14 attached inside the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 faces the left side of the change machine housing left side wall 20L with its left side facing the left side of the device. Therefore, when the banknote deposit and withdrawal device is stored (FIG. 3), the collection cassette 14 is restricted from moving leftward from inside the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 by the change machine housing left side wall 20L.

Furthermore, when the banknote deposit and withdrawal device is in the stored state (FIG. 3), the collection cassette 14 faces the left-right direction with the rejected banknote storage door 48 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in close proximity to the left side wall 20L of the change machine housing. Therefore, the left side wall 20L of the change machine housing is located on the rotation trajectory of the rejected banknote storage door 48. As a result, when the banknote deposit and withdrawal device is in the stored state (FIG. 3), the rejected banknote storage door 48 is restricted from transitioning from a closed state to an open state (details will be described later).

[2. Configuration of the collection cassette]
6, 7, and 8, the collection cassette 14 is configured as a rectangular parallelepiped overall, and is surrounded by a collection cassette housing 22. The collection cassette housing 22 has a collection cassette housing top plate 22U, a collection cassette housing bottom plate 22D, a collection cassette housing left plate 22L, a collection cassette housing right plate 22R, and a collection cassette housing front plate 22F.

This collection cassette 14 is configured to be attachable and detachable in the left-right direction to a collection cassette mounting section (not shown) provided in the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1. That is, when the collection cassette 14 is grasped by a maintenance person and pushed into the collection cassette mounting section in a mounting direction Ds (Figure 4) from left to right, and mounted in the collection cassette mounting section, it enters the collection cassette mounted state shown in Figure 1. In this collection cassette mounted state, the collection cassette 14 has its receiving opening 22A (Figure 6) facing the transport section 8 (Figure 5). This allows the collection cassette 14 to receive banknotes from the transport section 8.

The collection cassette 14 can also be grasped by a maintenance technician and pulled out of the collection cassette mounting section in the removal direction Dr (Figure 4), which is to the left, to remove it from the collection cassette mounting section and enter the collection cassette removal state.

Furthermore, the collection cassette 14 has a slit-shaped receiving opening 22A near the upper end of the collection cassette housing front side panel 22F for receiving banknotes from the transport unit 8, and has a banknote storage space 15 inside.

A reject stage 18 is provided within the banknote storage space 15, and above the reject stage 18, a rejected banknote storage space 30 is formed, which is a space for storing rejected banknotes. The reject stage 18 and the rejected banknote storage space 30 form the rejected banknote storage section 16. The rejected banknote storage section 16 accumulates rejected banknotes released from the receiving port 22A on the reject stage 18 so that they overlap in the accumulation direction, which is approximately up-down (approximately vertical). The reject stage 18 is configured to be rotatable around a rotation axis at its rear end.

A collection stage 32 is provided below the reject stage 18 within the banknote storage space 15, and a collected banknote storage space 34, which is a space for storing collected banknotes, is formed between the upper side of the collection stage 32 and the lower side of the reject stage 18. The collection stage 32 and the collected banknote storage space 34 form the collected banknote storage unit 17. The collected banknote storage unit 17 accumulates collected banknotes discharged from the receiving opening 22A on the collection stage 32 so that they overlap in the up-down direction (vertical direction), which is the accumulation direction. The collection stage 32 is supported from below by a spring 36, which compresses in accordance with the number of rejected banknotes accumulated on the collection stage 32 to ensure an appropriate accumulation space. The upper transport guide 38 is formed upward from the receiving opening 22A to the banknote storage space 15 and guides the upper side of the rejected banknotes being transported.

When storing collected banknotes in the collected banknote storage unit 17, the collection cassette 14 lifts the front end of the reject stage 18 to enable the collected banknotes to be transported from the transport unit 8 to the collected banknote storage unit 17, while when storing rejected banknotes in the rejected banknote storage unit 16, the collection cassette 14 lowers the front end of the reject stage 18 to enable the rejected banknotes to be transported from the transport unit 8 to the rejected banknote storage unit 16.

The collection cassette 14 also has a banknote removal opening 40 (Figure 8) formed on the entire rear side. This opening connects the banknote storage space 15 to the outside and allows rejected and collected banknotes to be removed from the banknote storage space 15 to the outside.

The collection cassette housing 22 is provided with a second door, a plate-shaped hinged door 42 that covers the banknote removal opening 40 and swings open on a hinge at the right end, where it can be opened and closed. When a transaction is processed between the collection cassette 14 and a customer, the collection cassette 14 closes the main storage door 42 and the banknote removal opening 40 as shown in FIG. 7 to protect the various components within the banknote storage space 15, as well as rejected and recovered banknotes. This state is also referred to below as the main storage door closed state. Meanwhile, when a rejected banknote recovery operation is performed in which rejected banknotes are recovered from the collection cassette 14 removed from the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1, or when a recovered banknote recovery operation is performed in which recovered banknotes are recovered from the collection cassette 14 removed from the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1, the main storage door 42 is opened rearward to open the banknote removal opening 40, thereby enabling the rejected and recovered banknotes to be removed. Hereinafter, this will also be referred to as the full storage door open state.

A banknote storage door lock 44 is provided as a door lock on the door leading end (left end) of the main storage door 42 on the left side panel 22L of the collection cassette housing. The collection cassette 14 locks the banknote storage door lock 44 by inserting a specified key into the banknote storage door lock 44 and twisting it in one direction. On the other hand, the collection cassette 14 unlocks the banknote storage door lock 44 by inserting a specified key into the banknote storage door lock 44 and twisting it in the other direction. In this way, the collection cassette 14 prevents access to the collection banknote storage space 34 by anyone who does not have the key to unlock the banknote storage door lock 44.

The collection cassette 14 also has a rejected banknote removal opening 46 formed near the top of the collection cassette housing left side plate 22L. This opening connects the rejected banknote storage space 30 to the outside and allows rejected banknotes to be removed from the rejected banknote storage space 30 to the outside. The rejected banknote removal opening 46 is formed on the left side of the rejected banknote storage space 30 and is formed so that it connects only the rejected banknote storage space 30 to the outside, but does not connect the collected banknote storage space 34 to the outside.

The collection cassette housing 22 is provided with a rejected banknote storage door 48, a plate-shaped hinged door that covers the rejected banknote removal opening 46 and swings open to one side. The rejected banknote storage door 48 is capable of opening and closing by pivoting about a pivot shaft 48S (Figure 9) provided at the upper end where it hangs. The rejected banknote storage door 48 is positioned above the lower end of the reject stage 18 when its front end is in its lowest position. When the rejected banknote storage door is in its open state (Figure 2), the rejected banknote storage space 30 is open to the outside, allowing access to the rejected banknote storage space 30 from the outside, but the collected banknote storage space 34 is not open to the outside, making the collected banknote storage space 34 inaccessible from the outside. In other words, when the rejected banknote storage door is in its open state (Figure 2), the rejected banknote storage door 48 opens the rejected banknote storage space 30 to the outside while keeping the collected banknote storage space 34 closed.

When a transaction is being processed with a customer, the collection cassette 14 protects the various parts inside the rejected banknote storage space 30 and the rejected banknotes by closing the rejected banknote storage door 48 and closing the rejected banknote removal opening 46 as shown in FIG. 1. Hereinafter, this state is also referred to as the rejected banknote storage door closed state. On the other hand, when a rejected banknote removal operation is performed to remove rejected banknotes from the collection cassette 14 that is attached to the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 in the collection cassette attached state (FIG. 2), the collection cassette 14 opens the rejected banknote storage door 48 and opens the rejected banknote removal opening 46, making the rejected banknotes removable. Hereinafter, this state is also referred to as the rejected banknote storage door open state.

6, the collection cassette 14 is provided with an accumulation roller unit 50 behind the receiving port 22A that receives banknotes from the transport unit 8 and in front of the banknote storage space 15. The accumulation roller unit 50 is composed of a tension roller 51 and a feed roller 52, is formed in a cylindrical shape with its shaft facing left and right, and is driven by a motor (not shown). The tension roller 51 rotates clockwise (accumulation direction) in FIG. 6, thereby accumulating banknotes transported from the transport unit 8 into the rejected banknote storage unit 16 or the recovered banknote storage unit 17. The feed roller 52 is disposed below and facing the tension roller 51, and rotates counterclockwise (accumulation direction) in FIG. 6, thereby accumulating banknotes transported from the transport unit 8 into the rejected banknote storage unit 16 or the recovered banknote storage unit 17. The feed roller shaft, which is the rotation axis of the feed roller 52, has multiple tongues 53 made of an elastic material such as rubber, which are provided at predetermined intervals in the left and right direction. This tongue 53 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 6 together with the feed roller 52, striking the front end of a banknote sent to the rejected banknote storage space 30 or recovered banknote storage space 34 of the rejected banknote storage unit 16 or recovered banknote storage unit 17, causing the banknote to accumulate on the reject stage 18 or recovered stage 32.

[3. Configuration of locking mechanism]
9, 10, and 11, a locking mechanism 60 is provided on the collection cassette 14 and the change machine housing 20. The locking mechanism 60 is composed of a movable mechanism 62 provided on the collection cassette 14 and a rack 64 provided on the change machine housing 20.

[3-1. Configuration of the Movable Mechanism]
The movable mechanism 62 is made up of the rejected bill storage door 48 , a lock plate 66 , a spring 68 , a spring 70 , a gear 72 , a gear 74 , a bevel gear 76 and a bevel gear 78 .

The rejected banknote storage door 48 is a plate-shaped member that is thin in the left-right direction and extends in the front-to-rear direction when the rejected banknote storage door is closed (Figure 1). It is configured to be rotatable around a pivot shaft 48S that extends in the front-to-rear direction at the top end in the counterclockwise direction in Figure 9 (the rejected banknote storage door opening direction Do) and the clockwise direction in Figure 9 (the rejected banknote storage door closing direction Dc).

A cylindrical coil winding portion of a torsion spring 68 is wound on the rotating shaft 48S forward of the rejected banknote storage door 48. The spring 68 biases the rejected banknote storage door 48 in the rejected banknote storage door closing direction Dc by abutting one arm against the rejected banknote storage door 48. When the rejected banknote storage door is closed (Figures 9 and 10), the rejected banknote storage door 48 abuts against the collection cassette housing left side panel 22L (Figure 7), thereby restricting its rotation in the rejected banknote storage door closing direction Dc and covering and closing the rejected banknote removal opening 46. A lock plate engaging portion 48T is formed at the front lower end of the rejected banknote storage door 48. The lock plate engaging portion 48T is an arc-shaped groove that follows the rotational path of the lock plate 66L of the lock plate 66 and is recessed toward the rotating shaft 48S.

A lock plate 66 is provided below the rejected banknote storage door 48. The lock plate 66 is configured to be rotatable around a pivot shaft 66S extending in the left-right direction in the unlocking direction Du, which is clockwise in FIG. 9(A), and the locking direction Dl, which is counterclockwise in FIG. 9(A). Furthermore, the lock plate 66 has a lock plate 66L that protrudes radially outward.

A cylindrical coil winding portion of spring 70, which is a torsion spring, is wound around the rotating shaft 66S to the right of the lock plate 66. The spring 70 urges the lock plate 66 in the locking direction Dl by abutting one arm against the lock plate 66. When the rejected banknote storage door is locked (Figure 9), the lock plate 66 is restricted from rotating in the locking direction Dl by inserting the lock plate 66L into the lock plate engaging portion 48T and abutting against the abutment portion within the lock plate engaging portion 48T. This also restricts the rotation of the rejected banknote storage door 48 in the rejected banknote storage door opening direction Do when the rejected banknote storage door is closed.

A bevel gear 76 is rotatably mounted on the rotating shaft 66S between the lock plate 66 and the spring 70. The bevel gear 76 rotates in synchronization with the lock plate 66.

To the right of bevel gear 76, bevel gear 78, which meshes with bevel gear 76, is rotatable around rotating shaft 78S. In front of bevel gear 78, gear 72 is rotatable around rotating shaft 78S. Gear 72 rotates in sync with bevel gear 78. To the right of gear 72, gear 74, which meshes with gear 72, is rotatable around rotating shaft 74S.

[3-2. Rack configuration]
Meanwhile, in the change dispenser housing 20, a rack 64 serving as a drive mechanism extending in the left-right direction is provided on the right side of the lower end of the gear 74. The rack 64 engages with the gear 74 to rotate it when the collection cassette 14 transitions between the collection cassette mounted state (shown by the dashed line in FIG. 4 ) and the collection cassette detached state (shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 ).

[3-3. When the collection cassette is removed]
In the collection cassette detached state ( FIG. 9 ), the locking mechanism 60 locks the rejected banknote storage door by fitting the locking plate 66L of the locking plate 66 into the locking plate engaging portion 48T of the rejected banknote storage door 48. When the rejected banknote storage door 48 rotates in the rejected banknote storage door opening direction Do in the rejected banknote storage door locked state, the locking plate 66L of the locking plate 66 abuts against the locking plate engaging portion 48T of the rejected banknote storage door 48, thereby restricting the rotation of the rejected banknote storage door 48 in the rejected banknote storage door opening direction Do. In this way, the locking mechanism 60 keeps the rejected banknote storage door closed, and causes the rejected banknote storage door 48 to cover and close the rejected banknote storage door removal opening 46.

Thus, the locking mechanism 60 prevents the rejected banknote storage door 48 from being opened when the collection cassette is detached. Therefore, when a maintenance person wants to remove rejected banknotes from the rejected banknote storage section 16 when the collection cassette is detached, they must unlock the banknote storage door lock 44 and open the general storage door 42 to set the general storage door in the open state (Figure 8).

[3-4. When the collection cassette is installed]
On the other hand, when the collection cassette 14 is pushed into the collection cassette mounting portion in the mounting direction Ds ( FIG. 9 ) to enter the collection cassette mounted state ( FIG. 1 ), the rack 64 engages with the gear 74, causing the gear 74 to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 10 (B) as shown in FIG. 10 . Subsequently, the gear 72 and the bevel gear 78 rotate clockwise, causing the bevel gear 76 and the lock plate 66 to rotate counterclockwise against the biasing force of the spring 70. As a result, the lock plate 66 rotates in the unlocking direction Du and moves the lock plate 66L from the inside to the outside of the lock plate engaging portion 48T, thereby changing the rejected banknote storage door 48 from a closed state to a state in which it can rotate in the rejected banknote storage door opening direction Do ( FIG. 9 ).

As a result, the locking mechanism 60 allows the rejected banknote storage door 48 to be opened when the collection cassette is installed, without the need for a maintenance person or the like to unlock the rejected banknote storage door 48. Therefore, when a maintenance person removes rejected banknotes from the rejected banknote storage section 16 when the collection cassette is installed, they do not need to unlock the rejected banknote storage door 48; instead, as shown in FIG. 11 , they simply rotate the rejected banknote storage door 48 with their fingers in the rejected banknote storage door opening direction Do until the door is in a substantially horizontal position, thereby placing the rejected banknote storage door in an open state and opening the rejected banknote storage door 48.

[4. Effects, etc.]
Incidentally, when money is dispensed from the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1, rejected banknotes stored in the rejected banknote storage unit 16 may have been determined to be rejected due to, for example, the occurrence of duplicate feeding, and therefore their denominations may not have been identified by the discriminator 10. In response to this, there has been a demand to reduce the number of banknotes whose denominations have not been identified by removing the rejected banknotes from the rejected banknote storage space 30 while the collection cassette 14 is still attached, inserting them from the banknote deposit and withdrawal unit 6, and recounting them in the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1, and storing the banknotes whose denominations have been determined in the collected banknote storage space 34, before the collection cassette 14 is removed from the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1.

However, in such a case, if the door on the collection cassette 14 is opened, opening both the rejected banknote storage space 30 and the collected banknote storage space 34, the collected banknotes in the collected banknote storage space 34 could be accessed from outside, posing a risk of security being compromised.

In response to this, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 divides the banknote storage space 15 in the collection cassette 14 into an upper and lower rejected banknote storage space 30 and a collected banknote storage space 34, and is provided with a rejected banknote storage door 48 that opens and closes only the rejected banknote storage space 30 while keeping the collected banknote storage space 34 closed.

As a result, when the rejected banknote storage space 30 is opened to the outside, making the rejected banknotes accessible, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 can prevent access from the outside to the recovered banknote storage space 34.

This allows the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 to prevent external access to collected banknotes when rejected banknotes are removed, preventing collected banknotes from being taken from the collected banknote storage space 34 and improving security.

Furthermore, when the collection cassette is installed in the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 (shown by the dashed line in FIG. 4), the rejected banknote storage door 48 (FIG. 1) can be opened and closed, but when the collection cassette is removed (shown by the solid line in FIG. 4), the rejected banknote storage door 48 cannot be opened or closed.

As a result, when the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is changed from the banknote deposit and withdrawal device stored state (Figure 3) to the banknote deposit and withdrawal device drawn state (Figure 4), and when the collection cassette is installed, the rejected banknote storage door 48 is opened to set the rejected banknote storage door open state (Figure 2), thereby improving access to the rejected banknote storage space 30 without unlocking the banknote storage door lock 44. At the same time, when the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is changed from the banknote deposit and withdrawal device stored state to the banknote deposit and withdrawal device drawn state and further changed from the collection cassette installed state to the collection cassette detached state, and a maintenance worker or the like is able to carry the collection cassette 14, by keeping the rejected banknote storage door 48 in an unopenable state and maintaining the rejected banknote storage door closed state (Figure 7), access to the rejected banknote storage space 30 is disabled unless the banknote storage door lock 44 is unlocked, thereby maintaining security. In this way, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 can achieve both accessibility and security to the rejected banknote storage space 30.

Furthermore, when the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is in the banknote deposit and withdrawal device storage state (Figure 3), the collection cassette 14 is stored inside the change machine housing 20, making it inaccessible from the outside, and the collection cassette 14 is placed close to the left side wall 20L of the change machine housing, making it unable to move in the removal direction Dr and unable to open the main storage door 42.

As a result, when the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is in the banknote deposit and withdrawal device storage state (Figure 3), the rejected banknotes and recovered banknotes in the collection cassette 14 cannot be accessed from the outside, and the rejected banknotes and recovered banknotes cannot be removed from the collection cassette 14.

On the other hand, when the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is in a banknote deposit and withdrawal device withdrawn state (Figure 4) in which the collection cassette 14 can be removed from the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1, the collection cassette 14 is exposed to the outside on the left side of the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1, making the rejected banknote storage door 48 accessible from the outside.

In addition, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is configured so that the rejected banknote removal opening 46 and the rejected banknote storage door 48 correspond to the rejected banknote storage unit 16 and are located to the left of the rejected banknote storage unit 16. Therefore, when the rejected banknote storage door is in the open state (Figure 2), the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 allows maintenance personnel to easily access the rejected banknote storage space 30 from outside.

Furthermore, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is configured so that a locking mechanism 60 that restricts the opening and closing of the rejected banknote storage door 48 is formed by a movable mechanism 62 provided in the collection cassette 14 and a rack 64 serving as a drive mechanism provided in the change dispenser housing 20.

In addition, when the collection cassette 14 is pulled out in the removal direction Dr from the collection cassette attached state (shown by the dashed line in Figure 4), the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 locks the rejected banknote storage door 48 by engaging the lock plate 66L of the lock plate 66 in the movable mechanism 62 with the lock plate engaging portion 48T of the rejected banknote storage door 48, thereby locking the rejected banknote storage door (Figure 9).

On the other hand, when the collection cassette 14 is pushed in the installation direction Ds from the collection cassette detached state (shown by the solid line in Figure 4), the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 disengages the lock plate 66L of the lock plate 66 in the movable mechanism 62 from the lock plate engaging portion 48T of the rejected banknote storage door 48, thereby setting the rejected banknote storage door in an unlocked state (Figure 10).

In this way, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 switches between a locked state (Figure 9) and an unlocked state (Figure 10) of the rejected banknote storage door in accordance with the movement of the collection cassette 14 when the collection cassette 14 is inserted into or removed from the collection cassette mounting section. As a result, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 can switch between a locked state (Figure 9) and an unlocked state (Figure 10) of the rejected banknote storage door without using a power source for switching between the locked and unlocked states of the rejected banknote storage door 48.

With the above configuration, the collection cassette 14 is provided with a rejected banknote storage space 30 for storing rejected banknotes, a collected banknote storage space 34 arranged vertically alongside the rejected banknote storage space 30 for storing collected banknotes, and a rejected banknote storage door 48 that opens and closes only the rejected banknote storage space 30 while leaving the collected banknote storage space 34 closed.

This allows the collection cassette 14 to prevent external access to the collected banknotes in the collected banknote storage space 34 when rejected banknotes are removed from the rejected banknote storage space 30 from the outside.

5. Other Embodiments
In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the rejected banknote storage door 48 is switched between a closed state ( FIG. 1 ) and an open state ( FIG. 2 ) by rotating the rejected banknote storage door 48. The present invention is not limited to this, and the rejected banknote storage door 48 may be switched between the closed state and the open state by sliding the rejected banknote storage door 48, for example, in the front-to-rear direction.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, a lock may be provided to lock the rejected banknote storage door 48.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the rejected banknote storage unit 16 is arranged on the upper side inside the collection cassette 14, and the collected banknote storage unit 17 is arranged on the lower side. The present invention is not limited to this, and the rejected banknote storage unit 16 may be arranged on the lower side inside the collection cassette 14, and the collected banknote storage unit 17 may be arranged on the upper side. In this case, a rejected banknote storage door 48 for opening and closing the rejected banknote storage space 30 may be provided in a position opposite the rejected banknote storage space 30 of the lower rejected banknote storage unit 16.

However, since the number of rejected banknotes is generally smaller than the number of collected banknotes, the collection cassette 14 is designed so that the space for the collected banknote storage section 17 is larger than the space for the rejected banknote storage section 16. For this reason, if the collected banknote storage section 17 occupies most of the upper part of the collection cassette 14 and the rejected banknote storage section 16 is located near the bottom of the collection cassette 14, it will be difficult to transport rejected banknotes from the accumulation roller unit 50 located near the top of the collection cassette 14 to the rejected banknote storage section 16. For this reason, the effects of the present invention will be more pronounced if the rejected banknote storage section 16 is located at the top inside the collection cassette 14 and the collected banknote storage section 17 is located at the bottom, and the present invention is applied to a rejected banknote storage door 48 that opens and closes only the rejected banknote storage space 30 of the rejected banknote storage section 16.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the interior of the collection cassette 14 is divided into two banknote storage spaces: the rejected banknote storage space 30 and the collected banknote storage space 34. The present invention is not limited to this, and the interior of the collection cassette 14 may be divided into any number of banknote storage spaces, three or more. Even in this case, it is sufficient to provide a rejected banknote storage door 48 for opening and closing the rejected banknote storage space 30 at a position opposite the rejected banknote storage space 30 in the rejected banknote storage unit 16.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the rejected banknote storage door 48 is rotated in the rejected banknote storage door closing direction Dc ( FIG. 9 ) by the biasing force of the spring 68, and the rejected banknote storage door 48 is transitioned from the rejected banknote storage door open state ( FIG. 11 ) to the rejected banknote storage door closed state ( FIG. 10 ). The present invention is not limited to this, and the rejected banknote storage door 48 may be rotated in the rejected banknote storage door closing direction Dc by the weight of the rejected banknote storage door 48 itself.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the rejected banknote storage door 48 is switched between a locked state (FIG. 9) and an unlocked state (FIG. 10) in accordance with the movement of the collection cassette 14 when the collection cassette 14 is inserted into or removed from the collection cassette mounting section, without using a power source for switching between a locked state and an unlocked state. The present invention is not limited to this, and a power source for switching between a locked state and an unlocked state of the rejected banknote storage door 48 may be provided.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned movable mechanism 62 and rack 64 may be configured in various other ways to switch between a locked state (Figure 9) and an unlocked state (Figure 10) of the rejected banknote storage door in accordance with the movement of the collection cassette 14 when the collection cassette 14 is inserted into or removed from the collection cassette mounting section.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the collection cassette 14 is provided with a movable mechanism 62 that moves in conjunction with the movement of the collection cassette 14 when the collection cassette 14 is inserted into or removed from the collection cassette mounting section, and a rack 64 that moves the movable mechanism 62 is provided in the change machine housing 20. The present invention is not limited to this, and the change machine housing 20 may be provided with a movable mechanism that moves in conjunction with the movement of the collection cassette 14 when the collection cassette 14 is inserted into or removed from the collection cassette mounting section, and a drive mechanism that moves the movable mechanism may be provided in the collection cassette 14.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which one banknote storage vault 12 is provided in the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 may be provided with any number of banknote storage vaults 12, two or more.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 is provided with a banknote deposit and withdrawal unit 6 that integrates a banknote deposit unit that takes in inserted banknotes and feeds them to the transport unit 8, and a banknote withdrawal unit that accumulates banknotes to be withdrawn. The present invention is not limited to this, and the banknote deposit and withdrawal unit may be provided separately in the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention has been described as being applied to the banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1 of a change dispenser, which is a settlement machine operated by a cashier. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may also be applied to the banknote deposit and withdrawal device of a self-service settlement machine or semi-self-service settlement machine operated by the customer themselves.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention has been described as being applied to a banknote deposit and withdrawal device 1, a change dispenser that is connected to a POS register used in checkout areas such as supermarkets and convenience stores and processes the deposit and withdrawal of banknotes. The present invention is not limited to this, and may also be applied to various devices such as automated teller machines (counter terminals) used in banks, which are terminals used by bank employees.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and other embodiments. In other words, the scope of application of the present invention extends to embodiments that arbitrarily combine all or part of each of the above-described embodiments with the other embodiments. Furthermore, the scope of application of the present invention also extends to cases where a portion of the configuration described in any of the above-described embodiments and other embodiments is extracted and replaced or diverted with a portion of the configuration of any of the above-described embodiments and other embodiments, or where a portion of the extracted configuration is added to any of the embodiments.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the collection cassette 14 as a banknote storage container is configured with the rejected banknote storage space 30 as the first banknote storage space, the collected banknote storage space 34 as the second banknote storage space, and the rejected banknote storage door 48 as the first door. The present invention is not limited to this, and the banknote storage container may be configured with a first banknote storage space, a second banknote storage space, and a first door having various other configurations.

The present invention can also be used in various conveying devices that convey and distinguish media such as banknotes.

1...Banknote deposit and withdrawal device, 2...Banknote deposit and withdrawal port, 4...Change control unit, 6...Banknote deposit and withdrawal unit, 8...Transport unit, 10...Validation unit, 12...Banknote storage vault, 14...Collection cassette, 15...Banknote storage space, 16...Rejected banknote storage unit, 17...Collected banknote storage unit, 18...Reject stage, 19...Slide rail, 20...Change machine housing, 20L...Left side wall of the change machine housing, 22...Collection cassette housing, 22U...Collection cassette housing top plate, 22D...Collection cassette housing bottom plate, 22L...Collection cassette housing left side plate, 22R...Collection cassette housing right side plate, 22F...Collection cassette housing front side plate, 22A...Receiving port, 30...Rejected banknote storage space, 32...Collection stage page, 34...recovered banknote storage space, 36...spring, 38...upper transport guide, 40...banknote removal opening, 42...main storage door, 44...banknote storage door lock, 46...rejected banknote removal opening, 48...rejected banknote storage door, 48S...rotating shaft, 48T...lock plate engaging portion, 50...accumulating roller portion, 51...tension roller, 52...feed roller, 53...tongue, 60...lock mechanism, 62...movable mechanism, 64...rack, 66...lock plate, 66L...lock plate, 66S...rotating shaft, 68...spring, 70...spring, 72...gear, 74...gear, 74S...rotating shaft, 76...bevel gear, 78...bevel gear, 78S...rotating shaft.

Claims (1)

In a bill storage vault detachably provided to a bill unit,
a first bill storage space for storing bills;
a second banknote storage space provided along the vertical direction of the first banknote storage space and configured to store banknotes;
a first door that opens and closes only the first bill storage space while leaving the second bill storage space closed;
a locking mechanism that switches between an unlocked state in which the first door can open and close the first banknote storage space and a locked state in which the first door keeps the first banknote storage space closed,
The locking mechanism is
a banknote storage container that switches between the unlocked state and the locked state in accordance with movement of the banknote storage container when the banknote storage container is attached to or detached from the banknote unit that sends the banknotes to the first banknote storage space and the second banknote storage space, and is in the unlocked state when the banknote storage container is attached to the banknote unit, and is in the locked state when the banknote storage container is detached from the banknote unit.