JPS6158380B2 - - 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.

Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1983-1983, which was previously proposed by the applicant of the present application.
No. 49765 (Special Publication No. 54-32222) (hereinafter referred to as conventional banknote separation and conveyance device) attempts to correct the skew of banknotes when separating banknotes, and corrects the skew in the aforementioned conveyance path. It has the advantage that the device can be made smaller compared to the conventional method.

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 temporarily stops the banknote 2 to correct the skew 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. It will be done 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 that the paper sheet inclination correction point _A1 is located on the paper sheet entry side, that is, on the opposite side of the paper sheet delivery side with respect to the paper sheet separation action point _A2 . By doing so, it is possible to provide sufficient time and space to correct the skew of the paper sheets, and to perform the next stage of separation and conveyance operations after the paper sheets are properly aligned. .

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

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the device of the present invention is employed in an automatic teller machine, in which a depositor inserts banknotes as paper sheets into the hopper from the input 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. Reference numeral 14 denotes a reversing belt as a friction member which is wound around the feed roller 11 at an appropriate angle and is in contact with the reversing belt 1.
4 constitutes paper sheet separating means, and the feed roller 1 is moved by rotation of the pick up roller 10.
1 and the reversing belt 14, the banknotes are conveyed to the rear conveyance path. The pressing force of the reversing belt 14 is adjusted by a tensioner 15. Further, the pulley 16 around which the reversing belt 14 is wound is rotated around a shaft 17 by a motor 18 in a direction opposite to the bill feeding direction by the feed roller 11, and a friction member such as rubber is attached to the peripheral surface of the pulley 16. Therefore, the reversing belt 14 is rotated in the opposite direction to the rotation of the feed roller 11.

The reversing belt 14 is made of a material with an appropriate coefficient of friction, and when two or more banknotes enter the contact area with the feed roller 11 at the same time, the friction force causes the banknotes to stop at that position, and the feed roller 11 This works to prevent multiple feeds from occurring when sending out banknotes. This separation ability can be appropriately adjusted by adjusting the wrapping angle and pressing force between the feed roller 11 and the reversing belt 14.
Further, by connecting the pulley 16 to its shaft 17 via a one-way clutch (not shown) and configuring the feed roller 11 to rotate only in the opposite direction to the banknote feeding direction,
If the reversing belt 14 is allowed to move only in the opposite direction to the banknote feeding direction, the engagement position of the reversing belt 14 with respect to the feed roller 11 can be sequentially updated by utilizing the fact that the feed roller 11 slightly reverses when stopped. can do.

As shown in FIG. 5, a stopper roller 19 and a gate roller 20 are disposed on both sides of the reversing belt 14 that applies separation force to the banknotes 8, that is, at both ends of the banknotes 8 to be conveyed. 19 and the gate roller 20 constitute a paper sheet inclination correction means. The stopper roller 19 is made of metal, for example,
The frictional force with the banknotes 8 is reduced, so that no conveying force is applied to the banknotes 8 due to its rotation. In addition, the gate roller 20 is made of a member having high frictional resistance, such as a rubber roller, and is configured to stop or reverse during the banknote feeding operation.

In addition, as a means of applying a skew correction force to the banknote 8, the stopper roller 19 and the gate roller 20 that 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.

Then, the skew correction point on the banknote 8 by the paper sheet inclination correction means composed of the stopper roller 19 and the gate roller 20 is A ₁ , and the skew correction point of the paper sheet separation means composed of the feed roller 11 and the reversing belt 14 is A 1 . Separation point of action on banknote 8
A ₂ , the paper sheet inclination correction means and the paper sheet separation means are such that the skew correction point _A1 is located on the paper sheet entry side, that is, on the opposite paper sheet delivery side from the separation action point _A2 . It is set up like this.

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. The banknotes then try to move in the banknote feeding direction.

As shown by the solid line in FIG. 5, the left side of the banknote 8 advances in advance, and when it reaches the engagement point _A1 between the left stopper roller 19 and the gate roller 20, the stopper roller 19 rotates in the forward direction, but the friction Since the gate roller 20 with a large coefficient is stopped, movement of the left end portion of the banknote 8 is prevented.

As a result, a rotational force is generated in the banknote 8 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 5, and the banknote 8 rotates to the state shown by the broken line and is properly 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 reversing belt 14. Feed up to A ₂ . As a result, the banknotes 8 whose posture has been corrected to a correctly aligned state are separated one by one at the separation action point _A2 .
It is sent out to the subsequent conveyance path.

In the above-described embodiment, the reversing belt 14 is used as the friction member constituting the sheet separation means, but the friction member is not limited to the reversing belt 14. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a roller 22 having an appropriate friction coefficient is used as the friction member constituting the sheet separating means. In the drawing, a belt 21 is used to convey banknotes to the next stage regardless of separation or skew, and the same reference numerals as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 indicate the same parts.

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 on the paper sheet entry side of the separation application point, that is, on the sheet opposite side to the paper sheet delivery side. As a result, it is possible to always stably align paper sheets without being affected by variations in paper sheet entry resistance at the skew correction point, making it easier for subsequent conveyance, discrimination, recognition, etc. In addition to significantly improving performance and reliability, the paper sheet separation means and paper sheet value skew correction means can be configured separately, increasing the degree of freedom in processing parts and selecting materials. It has a big 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. FIG. 5 is a sectional side view showing a skewed state, and FIG. 6 is a partially sectional side view showing another embodiment of the paper sheet separation and conveyance apparatus of the present invention. 8... Paper sheets (banknotes), 9... Hotsupa, 11...
...Feed roller, 14...Reverse belt, 19...
...Stopper roller, 20...Gate roller, A ₁
... Skew correction point, A ₂ ... Separation action point.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Paper sheets 8 stored in the hopper 9 are separated and conveyed one by one by a sheet separation means composed of a feed roller 11 and friction members 14 and 22 facing the feed roller 11. In the paper sheet separating and conveying device, the paper sheets 8 are separated on both sides of the paper sheet separating means.
Stopper rollers 19 are located on both sides of the paper sheet and correct the inclination of the paper sheet by providing resistance to the movement of the paper sheet.
and a gate roller 20, the paper sheet inclination correcting means is configured to adjust the correction point A ₁
is disposed so as to be located on the side opposite to the paper sheet delivery side with respect to the separation action point _A2 of the paper sheet separation means.