JPH03200664A - Article processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To store certainly the rejected articles by mounting an article transporting mechanism in a housing having an article distributing hole, furnishing a rejected article storing part equipped with a lid upstream of the outlet, and retreating the transporting mechanism from over the lid and opening the lid in the event of sensing any article to be rejected. CONSTITUTION: A sheet transporting mechanism 4 is supported by a housing 1, wherein the forefront of the mechanism 4 is made a distribution outlet 33. A rejected article storing part 34 is furnished at one end of the housing 1, and a lid 35 is installed rotatably upward. If the article (stack) 32 transported by the transporting mechanism 4 remains normal, the mechanism 4 moves over the closed lid 35 and is discharged from the outlet 33. When any failure with the stack is detected, the mechanism is retreated from over the lid 35, and a solenoid 36 is energized to open the lid 35 in such a way as blocking the transport path, and the rejected stack 32 is dropped onto a storage 34 and stored. This permits removing certainly the stack 32 to be rejected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention relates to article handling apparatus, and more particularly to article dispensing apparatus such as sheet and bill dispensing apparatus.

[Prior art and issues to be solved by the invention]

A wide variety of article dispensing devices have been developed to automatically dispense large quantities of articles in response to customer requirements. For various reasons, it is necessary to prevent articles from being dispensed during a dispensing operation. For example, in the case of a sheet dispensing device, it is detected by this device that more than one sheet has been withdrawn from the storage at the same time or that a miscount has occurred. Other reasons include the lack of confirmation to be valid, where this confirmation step occurs during the preparation of a set of articles for dispensing, or the user for some reason removes the dispensed articles from the dispensing outlet. Sometimes there isn't.

[Means and actions to solve the problem]

For these reasons, article dispensing devices typically include an article removal location where rejected articles are stored. In the case of items consisting of banknotes and similar valuable instruments, it is important that this removal position is securely stored and that the rejected sheets are accurately fed into the removal position and cannot be retrieved by unauthorized personnel. It is. Hitherto, this has been difficult to do because the article feed path has been equipped with a deflection device that is actuated to redirect the limp article along the auxiliary feed path to a removal position when necessary. This is because it is normal. An example of such a device is described in US Pat. No. 4,095,781.

This not only means that the rejected items are disposed of in other parts of the device that are accessible to unauthorized users, but also adds to the risk of jamming.

To address this problem and in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an article transport device is provided which is attached to a housing having an article dispensing outlet and adapted to supply articles to the article dispensing outlet; cooperating article removal positions;
control means for actuating the transport device and the storage lid, the control means controlling the removal position when the removal position is upstream of the dispensing outlet and proximate the transport device so that articles are removed; An article processing apparatus is provided, wherein a lid of a reservoir at a location is opened to a path of articles being transported toward a dispensing outlet so that the transport device dispenses rejected articles into the reservoir. Ru.

In contrast to the above-mentioned known dispensing devices, this new device:
selectively inserting the storage lid into the passageway of the articles being fed by the transport device so that the rejected articles are dispensed directly into the storage without the need for other transport devices; . The present invention further overcomes the problem of certain known devices that rely on chutes or the like to dispense articles into exclusion storages where the articles become stuck in the chute.

In one example, the control means includes a lid motor and a coupling means that engages the reservoir lid in its ejected position in use. In a preferred embodiment, the control means includes a solenoid operated lid actuator. Both of these have an additional safety feature since the movement of the lid is performed by a separately controlled actuator from the rest of the transport device, so that the lid cannot be moved without the action of a motor or solenoid. can get.

Preferably, the device further comprises sensing means for detecting when the reservoir lid is in the closed position. This makes it possible to detect incorrect feeding of articles into the storage, since in such a situation the lid will not close.

This also allows full storage conditions to be sensed.

In a preferred system, the article transport device is movably mounted to the housing such that during a dispensing operation the transport device moves over the removal position so that the lid of the reservoir at the removal position cannot be opened.

In this regard, according to a second aspect of the invention, the housing comprises a housing and an article transport device movably attached to the housing, the housing being provided with a dispensing outlet through which articles are supplied by the transportation device. and further comprising an article removal position cooperating with the removal storage in use, the removal storage having an openable lid to provide access thereto;
An article handling device is provided in which during a dispensing operation the transport device moves over a removal position thereby preventing the reservoir lid from opening.

This action can be performed indirectly via a coupling mechanism, but is preferably performed by a transport device located directly on the lid.

Preferably, this sheet transport device is similar to that described in the co-pending Japanese patent application claiming priority of the same date from British Patent Application No. 8904569.4, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. It has been combined.

(Example) An example of the article dispensing device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The device shown in the drawings comprises a support housing containing a main side plate 1 (one part of which is shown in the drawings), which supports a carriage 2 by means not shown, thereby supporting the carriage 2. The carriage is able to move back and forth between the main side plates 1 in direction A (FIG. 2). The carriage comprises a pair of side plates 3 (one of which is shown in FIG. 2), which are suspended between the main side plates 3. A sheet conveyance mechanism 4 is installed between them.

The sheet transport mechanism 4 (shown principally in FIG. 2) comprises a pair of belts 5.6 wrapped around each of the idler rollers 7.8 and the drive rollers 9.10. The belt 5.6 defines a sheet feed path 11 with adjacent surfaces of the belt being urged together via an idler roller 8 which is spring biased towards the idler roller.

The drive roller 10 has a shaft 11 carrying a drive gear 12
The shirt (11) is rotatably mounted between the carriage side plates (3). A second shaft 13 is further rotatably mounted between the carriage side plates 3 and non-rotatably carries a gear 14 meshing with the gear 12 and a drive roller 9.

A first drive mechanism is provided to move the carriage 2 back and forth. This first drive mechanism comprises a drive motor 15 connected via a pulley 16 and a toothed drive belt 17 to a pulley 18 rotatably mounted on the side plate 1 . A toothed drive belt 20 is passed around the pulley 8 and another pulley 19 attached to the side plate 1, and passes through a groove (not shown) in the main side plate 1 to the carriage side plate. The platen 1-21 is connected to one of the three.

The movement of the sheet transport mechanism 4 is controlled by a second drive mechanism, which includes a pulley 23 and a belt 24.
and a drive motor 22 connected to a drive pulley 25 rotatably mounted on the side plate 1 opposite to the side to which the first drive mechanism is connected.

A toothed belt 26 runs around the drive pulley 25 and around an idler wheel 27 which is rotatably mounted on the same side plate 1 as the drive pulley 25 . Furthermore, this toothed belt 26 runs around pulleys 28, 29 which are rotatably mounted on the side plate 3 of the carriage and around a pulley 30 which is non-rotatably mounted on the shaft 13. The pitch circle diameter of pulley 30 is pulley 9.
is the same as the pitch circle diameter.

If motor 15 is held stationary, operation of motor 22 in the direction of arrow 31 will move belts 5, 6 so that the sheet held at point P between these belts will move as shown in the drawing. It will move to the right.

By stopping the motor 22 and starting the motor 15, the carriage 2 is moved to the right or left depending on the direction of rotation of the motor 15.

In operation, the stack of sheets is moved to position 3 by means not shown.
2. It is held motionless. The stack of sheets may be formed in any manner, but in the preferred apparatus is formed by a mechanism similar to that described in the above-mentioned co-pending Japanese patent application and incorporated herein by reference. motor 2
With 2 held stationary and thus pulley 25 stationary, motor 15 is actuated to move carriage 2 to the left as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This movement is caused by the Boo U attached to the carriage.
2 Move B~30 to the left, thus rotating them since the belt 26 does not move. This causes the shaft 13 to rotate and therefore the belt 5
．． 6 is subjected to caterpillar track action and thereby the supply passage 1
The image portion of the belt defining section 1 remains stationary and effectively keeps belts 5, 6 self-feeding to stack 32. Since there is no relative linear movement between the stack 32 and the heald 5.6, wear and tear problems do not arise. Once the stack 32 is firmly gripped between the belts 5.6, the rotation of the motor 22 causes the stack 32 to be moved towards the right as shown in the drawings. The carriage 2 can now be advanced to the right by the rotating motor 15 (the position shown in phantom in FIG. 1), after which the motor 22 can be rotated to dispense the stack to the right through the dispensing outlet 33. I can do it. The stack of banknotes and the carriage can only move in unison if these two motors are driven in unison; any other advancement must be done in a series of steps related to the transport length of the carriage. .

During the first stacking operation, the device checks in the usual way that the correct number of sheets has been stacked.

If an incorrect number is detected, then the device passes through the stack 32 and reaches the rejection reservoir 34.

The removal storage 34 is located in the carriage 2 upstream of the distribution outlet 33.
It is located at the bottom of the passageway. The exclusion storage section 34 is 1f
35, which is pivotable between an open position shown in solid lines in FIG. 1 and a closed position shown in dashed lines in FIG.

The structure of the reservoir 34 and the method of operating the lid will be described later.

When this device tried to remove the stack of banknotes, M2S
is opened by actuating solenoid 36, while
The transport mechanism 2 is in its completely shifted position to the left. 1
35 is opened, the carriage 2 moves to the right towards the position shown in the drawings and the belt 3.4 accordingly carries the stack of banknotes to the right, where the banknotes are dispensed directly into the storage 34. It will be seen that no extra intervening chute or transport mechanism is required.

After the expulsion action, the carriage 2 moves to the left so that the lid 35 can be closed.

When the device is not in use and during dispensing operations, the carriage 2 is moved to the right, so that the carriage 2
5 to eliminate the possibility of the lid being opened by unauthorized personnel.

Reservoir 34 is shown in more detail in FIGS. 3-6. As seen in FIG. 3A, the lid 35 is hinged to the main body 38 of the reservoir at points 37.

The lid 35 has a depending projection 39 with a hole 40 in which a locking member 41 engages. The locking member 41 constitutes a part of a locking mechanism, and this locking mechanism further includes a cylinder body 42.
The cylinder body 42 includes a pin 43 that can freely slide therein, but a compression spring 4 as seen in FIG. 3A.
4 is biased to the left. The locking member 41 is a part of a plate 45, and this plate 45 is connected to the pin 43.
If the pin 43 is moved to the right, the locking member 41 will be removed from the protrusion 39 and the lid 35 will be lifted.

A cylindrical collar 46 is provided around the stepped reduced diameter portion of pin 43 and is slidable therealong. The collar 46 is biased to the left by a weak compression spring 47, as shown in FIG. 3A, so that the collar 46 is restrained by a shoulder formed on the stepped reduced diameter portion of the pin 43.

As best seen in FIG. 3B, there is provided a sliding plate 48, known as a tamper-indication slider, which is securely secured to the body 38, as shown in FIG. 3A. It is free to slide laterally on a pin 49 which is omitted for clarity. The pin 49 is received in a corresponding groove 50 formed in the plate 48.

Plate 48 is 1. It has communicating pairs of holes 51 and 52. Larger hole 51
has sufficient clearance for the brass collar 46 to pass through, whereas the smaller hole 52 is a slip fit around the stepped diameter of the pin 43 along which the collar 46 slides. .

The plate 48 has a pair of depending arms 53, 54, each of which is movable into alignment with a window 55 in the wall of the body 38 for visibility. Arm 5
3 is colored green and arm 54 is colored red.

A lock 56 operated by a key 57 is provided on the wall of the main body 38 so that an arm 58 can be operated. As seen in Figure 3B, when arm 58 is rotated clockwise, plate 48 slides to the right. This plate is the third
As seen in Figure B, it is biased to the left by a compression spring 59 that acts to press against the wall of the main body 38. However, in the position shown in FIG. 3B, the plate 4 is restrained from moving to the right by the brass collar 46 inserted into the bore 51 under the action of the compression spring 47.

The lock 56 is this "illegal set" after the key 57 is removed.
Or remain in the “activation°” condition. Green arm 53 is window 5
5 and the lid 35 has a locking member 41 in the hole 4.
The closed state is maintained by being engaged with 0. The position of plate 48 in this state is further shown in FIG. 6A.

In this activation condition, the reservoir 34 is inserted into the main device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The reservoir is inserted until it engages an activation button 60 mounted on the wall 1 of the device. Further movement of the reservoir will unlock the lid 35 and "launch" the plate 48, leaving the reservoir in the inserted position as shown in FIG. The reservoir is held in this position by a spring catch (not shown) on the main device.

As seen in FIG. 4, when the reservoir 34 is fully inserted, the locking member 41 is pushed past the protrusion 39 allowing the lid 35 to be raised or lowered at will. The brass collar 46 also passes through the hole 51 in the plate 48 and the plate 48 is inserted into the pin 43 (as seen in No. 3B).
The hole 51 rests on the axis of the stepped diameter reduction section in Figure 6B).
Allow it to slide to the left until it hits the tip of 52.

The reservoir 34 remains in this position during normal operation of the sheet dispensing machine, and the lid 35 is raised and lowered as required. The actuation button 60 covers the barrel 42 and thereby engages the pin 43.
spring 4 when inserted or the reservoir is removed.
To prevent the pin 43 from being pushed in even though it tries to withdraw under the influence of the pin 43.

As seen in FIG. 4, pin 43 engages pin 61 which is slidably mounted within button 60 such that pin 61 is depressed and reservoir 34 is present in the machine. The microswitch notch 62 instructs a microprocessor (not shown) to operate.

When the reservoir 34 is removed, the pin 43 retracts and the plate 48 pulls the brass collar 46 against the weak spring 47.
push back against it. When the diametric step of the pin 43 is reached, the plate 48 is lowered further so that the edge of the hole 52 is aligned with the pin 4 along which the brass collar 46 slides.
It fits perfectly on part 3. The reservoir is now locked as shown in Figure 6C. In this state, the red arm 54 appears on the right edge of the window 55, and the pin 4
3 cannot be pushed further because the shoulder of the pin is constrained within the smaller diameter circle of the hole 52. Reservoir 34 cannot be opened until key 57 is inserted and the tamper-set condition (FIG. 6A) is then re-initiated.

The manner in which the M2S of reservoir 34 is activated is best illustrated in FIG. In this figure, the reservoir 34 is shown mounted between the main side plates l of the device. A pin 64 is fixed to a depending flange 65 of the lid 35 and projects through a groove 66 in one wall 1. A seesaw lever 67 is attached to the same wall l via a pivot 68, and this lever 67
The rotational movement of is controlled by a solenoid 36 having a button member 69 rotatably connected to a lever 67. In its rest position, when the solenoid 36 is not actuated, the compression spring 70 causes the lever 67 to pivot clockwise as shown in FIG. switch 7
1 and actuates it, since in this position the lid 35 is in its closed position.

When solenoid 36 is actuated, member 69 is forced into the solenoid against the action of compression spring 70, thereby engaging pin 64 and causing lid 35 to open. moreover,
This movement activates microswitch 72, which acts as a "lid open" sensor.

Microswitches 71, 72 allow the microprocessor to check whether the lid is open or closed, which checks that the reservoir is not overflowing with banknotes (preventing the lid from closing). It also has the effect of being able to check that the banknotes are raised sufficiently when they are removed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a partial schematic diagram of the device; Figure 2 is an exploded view of the transport mechanism; Figures 3A and 3B are a partial schematic side view of the storage section and arrow B.
Figure 4 is a view in the unlocked position similar to Figure 3A; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the reservoir when placed in the device; Figures 6A to 6C are 3 FIG. 6 shows the lid locking mechanism in two positions. 1.3... Side plate, 2... Carriage,
4... Sheet transport mechanism, 5, 6... Belt,
15, 22... Motor 33... Distribution outlet, 34... Storage section, 35... Lid, 36
...Solenoid, 41...Lock member, 4
3...Pin, 46...Color 48.
...Sliding plate, 71...Micro switch.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. An article transport mechanism (2) attached to a housing (1) having an article dispensing outlet (33) through which articles are supplied;
an article removal position cooperating with an in-use removal storage (34);
comprising control means (15, 22, 36) for actuating the transport mechanism and the reservoir lid (35) in the removal position;
The removal position is upstream of the dispensing outlet and close to the transport mechanism, and when one article is ejected, the control means controls the storage lid (35) of the removal position to be transported towards the dispensing outlet. an article processing apparatus, the article handling apparatus being open into a passageway for articles disposed therein, the transport mechanism distributing the displaced articles into the storage section; 2. The article transport mechanism (2) is movably mounted on the housing so that during the dispensing operation the transport mechanism moves over the removal position and prevents the lid of the reservoir in the removal position from being opened. equipment. 3. comprising a housing (1) and an article transport mechanism (2) movably attached to the housing, said housing having a dispensing outlet (33) through which articles are supplied by said transport mechanism; , comprising an article removal position cooperating with a removal storage (34) having an openable lid (35) for access thereto in use, over which during a dispensing operation the transport mechanism moves and removes the storage. Article processing equipment whose lid is prevented from opening. 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the transport mechanism is located directly on the lid during the dispensing operation. 5. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means includes a solenoid operated lid actuator. 6. The device according to claim 1, further comprising detection means (71) for determining when the lid of the reservoir is in the closed position.