JPS6133770B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a paper sheet separation and conveyance device for separating and conveying paper sheets stored in a hopper one by one in, for example, an automatic teller machine or an optical reader. It is.

There are various methods for separating paper sheets stored in the hopper one by one, such as a method using frictional force and a method using vacuum suction force.

In a mechanism that separates and conveys paper sheets, the most important things are the multiple feed in which the sheets are conveyed in an overlapping manner, and the skew of the sheets that occurs when taking out the sheets (hereinafter referred to as skew). ) is to be eliminated. Here, as a means for correcting the skew of paper sheets, there is a method in which the paper sheets are separated and taken out one by one, and then the skew of the paper sheets is corrected using a conveyor belt or a conveyor roller during conveyance. There is, but
This method has the disadvantage that the transport path becomes long.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 54, which was previously proposed by the applicant
No. 32222 (hereinafter referred to as conventional banknote separation and conveyance device)
This method attempts to correct the skew of banknotes when separating the banknotes, and has the advantage that the device can be made more compact compared to the above-mentioned system that corrects skew on the conveyance path.

1 to 3 are simplified illustrations of the main parts of a conventional banknote separation and conveyance device, in which banknotes 2 stored in an upright position in a hopper 1 are fed out by a pick-up roller 3. It is supplied to a gate section composed of a feed roller 4 and a gate roller 5. For example, the gate portion can be configured such that the groove of the feed roller 4 and the gate roller 5 fit into each other as shown in FIG. 2, but it is also possible to simply press the feed roller without a groove and the gate roller. good. When two stacked banknotes 2 enter the gate, they are separated into banknotes that are fed into the rear conveyance path by the feed roller 4 and banknotes that are stopped at that position by the frictional force of the gate roller 5. In order to correct the skew of the banknotes being conveyed, a stopper roller 6 having a groove and a gate roller 7 that fit into the groove are provided on both sides of the gate roller 5. It takes advantage of the resistance to the paper money that is generated.

The feed roller 4, the gate roller 5, the stopper roller 6, and the gate roller 7 are arranged as shown in FIG. Therefore, the amount of roller overlap between the feed roller 4 and the gate roller 5, and between the stopper roller 6 and the gate roller 7 is the same, and the engagement center point of the four roller entry portions is as shown by arrow A in Fig. 3. They will line up in a straight line. For example, banknote 2
When the banknote 2 enters the gate in an inclined state (solid line in Figure 3), the resistance force generated at the engagement point between the stopper roller 6 and the gate roller 7 located outside prevents the banknote 2 from entering. As a result, a rotational force M is generated in the banknote 2, and the banknote 2 rotates so as to approach the state shown by the broken line. After correcting the skew of the banknotes 2 in this way, the banknotes are sent to the next banknote separation process.

The conventional banknote separation and conveyance device shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 has the function of correcting the skew of banknotes, but the engagement point between the stopper roller 6 and the gate roller 7 that corrects the skew by temporarily stopping the banknote 2 In other words, since the skew correction point A ₁ and the engagement point of the feed roller 4 and gate roller 5 that separate the banknotes, that is, the separation action point A ₂ are located in a straight line as shown in FIG. They will be held at the same time.

Therefore, for example, when the separation gate roller 5 is made larger than the skew correction gate roller 7, the separation action point _A2 becomes the skew correction point.
Since the banknote 2 enters the separating engagement portion first before A ₁ , a problem arises in that the skew correction operation does not work satisfactorily.

In order to avoid this problem, the processing precision of the rollers used must be extremely high, but it is necessary to line the circumferential surface of the roller with a rubber material to generate frictional force. It is very difficult to obtain, and there are major problems in processing and assembly.

Furthermore, if the resistance force against the banknote 2 generated at the engagement point A ₂ between the feed roller 4 and the gate roller 5 is small, the banknote 2 passes through the engagement point A ₂ between the feed roller 4 and the gate roller 5 without sufficiently correcting the skew. I will do it. That is, as mentioned above, since the separation point A ₂ and the skew correction point A ₁ are on the same line, the banknote 2 is separated from the separation point A _{2 .}
Immediately after passing through, it enters the skew correction point _A1 and is fed out, so it is separated and conveyed in the tilted state, and the subsequent process, for example, the accuracy of identification in the case of banknotes and the accuracy of character reading in the case of forms. It will have a negative impact.

In view of the above-mentioned points, it is an object of the present invention to provide a high-performance paper sheet separation and conveyance device by making the skew correction operation more effective.

The feature of the present invention is the skew correction
By arranging A ₁ in advance of the separating point A ₂ , it provides sufficient time and space for the skew correction of the paper sheets to be performed, and after the paper sheets are properly aligned. , to perform the next-stage separation and conveyance operations.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 shows the device of the present invention applied to an automatic teller machine, with a depositor inserting banknotes into the hopper from the slot.

In FIG. 4, banknotes 8 deposited by a depositor
are all stored in the hopper 9 in an upright position.
This hopper 9 is composed of a front plate 9a, a push plate 9b that moves in the front-rear direction, a bottom plate 9c, and a side plate (not shown). A gap is provided for sending out the frontmost bill 8 downward by a pick-up roller, which will be described later. Further, a long hole 9d is bored in the horizontal direction slightly below the center of the front plate 9a of the hopper 9, and the frontmost banknote 8 of the group of banknotes in the hopper 9 is inserted into this long hole 9d. Pick-up roller 1 for feeding into the gap
0 is facing, this pick-up propeller 10
The circumferential surface of is a friction member 10 made of rubber, for example.
a is attached over the entire width and is in contact with the banknote 8 at the forefront of the group of banknotes. Reference numeral 11 denotes a feed roller provided on a shaft 11a that is close to the gap provided at the lower end corner of the hopper 9, is arranged at the center in the width direction of the banknote, and is rotatably supported by the machine frame. A friction member 11b made of rubber or the like having a required length is attached to a part of the circumferential surface of the feed roller 11, and the banknotes 8 are scraped out by this friction member 11b. The shaft 11a of this feed roller 11 is driven by an electric motor via a clutch brake. The rotation of the shaft 11a of the feed roller 11 is transmitted to the pick-up roller 10 via a rubber roller 13 from a roller 12 having a convex portion 12a integrally attached to the end of the shaft 11a.

The feed roller 11 has a friction member 1 as a resistance imparting means attached to an L-shaped arm 15 as a swinging member pivotably mounted on a shaft 14.
It is in contact with 6. The pressing force of this L-shaped arm 15 is adjusted by a spring 17, and the feed roller 11 and friction member 16 constitute bill separating means. When the feed roller 11 cooperates with the pick-up roller 10 to feed out the banknotes, a resistance force is generated on the banknotes by the friction member 16 against the movement of the banknotes, and the banknotes are separated one by one.

On both sides of the feed roller 11 that applies separation force to the banknotes 8, that is, at both ends of the banknotes 8 to be conveyed, fifth
As shown in the figure, a stopper roller 18 and a gate roller 19 are provided which are inserted into each other through a groove.
This constitutes a skew correction means. The stopper roller 18 is made of metal, for example, and is designed to reduce the frictional force with the banknote 8 and not to apply a conveying force to the banknote 8 due to its rotation. On the other hand, the gate roller 19 is made of a member with high frictional resistance such as a rubber roller, and the shaft 19 is set so that it stops or reverses when the bill is fed out.
It is attached to 9a.

In addition, as a means of applying a skew correction force to the banknote 8, the stopper roller 18 and the gate roller 19 which overlap each other at the groove portion are used in FIG. It is clear that a skew correction force can be generated, and it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to overlapping rollers.

When the point where the separation action force is generated by the feed roller 11 and the friction member 16 is defined as _A2 , the skew correction point _A1 of the banknote 8 caused by the stopper roller 18 and the feed roller 19 is a location that precedes the separation action point _A2 . Set it as follows. That is, the point _A1 where the stopper roller 18 and the gate roller 19 engage is the point where the feed roller 11 and the friction member 1
6 is located upstream of the point _A2 where the paper sheet is conveyed.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained.

Among the banknotes 8 inserted into the hopper 9 by the depositor, the frontmost banknote 8 that comes into contact with the pick-up roller 10 is picked up by the pick-up roller 10, and the second and subsequent banknotes 8 are picked up by the frictional force between the banknotes 8. Attempts to move in the banknote feeding direction.

As shown in FIG. 7, for example, when the left side of the banknote 8 advances and reaches the engagement point _A1 between the left stopper roller 18 and the gate roller 19, the stopper roller 18 rotates in the forward direction, but the friction coefficient Since the large gate roller 19 is stopped, movement of the left end portion of the banknote 8 is prevented.

As a result, a rotational force is generated in the banknotes 8 in a clockwise direction around the engagement point _A1 between the left stopper roller 18 and the gate roller 19, and the banknotes 8 are correctly aligned.

In this state, the feed roller 11, which has a friction member 11b attached to its circumferential surface, cooperates with the pick-up roller 9 to move the banknote 8 past the skew correction point _A1 to the separation point composed of the feed roller 11 and the friction member 16. Feed up to A ₂ . As a result,
The banknotes 8 whose posture has been corrected so that they are correctly aligned are separated one by one at the separation action point _A2 and sent to the subsequent conveyance path.

In the above embodiment, the friction member 16 is used as a resistance applying means for shifting the phase between the skew correction point _A1 and the separation point _A2 , but the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 6, a separation mechanism using a gate roller 21 incorporating a one-way clutch 20 can also be applied.
Note that this gate roller 21 is the same as the feed roller 1.
It is possible to rotate only in the opposite direction to the first rotation direction.

Since the drive system of the feed roller 11 uses a timing belt or the like, when the feed roller 11 stops, the energy stored in this belt system in the form of belt elongation is released, causing the feed roller 11 to rotate slightly in reverse. Accordingly, the gate roller 21 which is in pressure contact with the feed roller 11 is reversed at the same time, and a new contact surface appears between it and the feed roller 11. In this way, it becomes possible to reduce wear and deterioration of the gate roller 21.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the banknotes 8 in the hopper 9 are placed in an upright position, but the banknotes 8 in the hopper 9 may be piled up in a plane direction without being limited thereto.

In addition, in the above embodiment, it was explained that the paper sheet separation and conveyance device of the present invention is adopted in an automatic teller machine to separate and convey banknotes. It goes without saying that it may be used in other things.

According to the present invention, compared to the conventional method in which the skew correction point and the separation application point are aligned on the same straight line, the skew correction point is located in front of the separation application point, so that paper sheets can be easily removed at the skew correction point. It can be expected that paper sheets will always be aligned stably without being affected by variations in the entry resistance of the paper sheets, which will significantly improve the performance and reliability of subsequent conveyance, identification, recognition, etc. Since the separating means and the skew correcting means can be configured separately, the degree of freedom in processing parts and selecting materials increases, which has a great effect on production.

This effect is particularly significant when the paper sheets to be handled are banknotes as in this embodiment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 3 show a conventional paper sheet separation and conveyance device, with Figure 1 being a partially sectional side view and Figure 2
The figure shows the layout of the rollers, FIG. 3 shows the skew state, and FIGS. 4 and 5 show an embodiment of the paper sheet separation and conveyance device of the present invention, and FIG. 4 shows a part of it. 5 is a front view of the main parts thereof, FIG. 6 is a partially sectional side view of another embodiment of the paper sheet separation and conveyance device of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an example operation. 8...Paper leaves (paper leaves), 9...Hotsupa, 10...
... Pick up roller, 11 ... Feed roller, 14 ... Shaft, 15 ... Swing member (L-shaped arm), 16 ... Resistance applying means (friction member), 17 ...
... Spring, 18 ... Stopper roller, 19 ...
... Gate roller, 21 ... Resistance applying means (gate roller), B ₁ ... Skew correction point, A ₂ ... Separation action point.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A paper sheet separation and conveyance device that separates and conveys paper sheets 8 stored in a hopper 9 one by one, comprising: a feed roller 11 that feeds out the paper sheets 8; and a resistor that presses against the feed roller 11; The resistance applying means 16, 21 and the swinging member 15 on which the resistance applying means 16, 21 are arranged.
A stopper roller 18 disposed on both sides of the paper sheet separation means and a gate roller 19 disposed opposite the stopper roller 18 separate the paper sheets. By providing resistance to the entry of paper sheets 8
sheet skew correction means for correcting the inclination of the paper sheet skew correction means, the swinging center position of the swinging member 15 of the paper sheet separation means is located at a position spaced apart from the axis of the gate roller 19 of the paper sheet skew correction means. The point _A1 where the paper sheet skew correction means generates the skew correction force is located upstream in the paper sheet delivery direction from the point _A2 where the paper sheet separation means generates the separating action force. A paper sheet separation and conveyance device characterized in that it is arranged as follows.