Supports – Brackets – Article holding means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-12-02
2004-06-22
Ramirez, Ramon O (Department: 3632)
Supports
Brackets
Article holding means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06752367
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a banknote handling device having a cash deposit/withdrawal port which is exposed to the outdoor.
Among automatic teller machines (which will be hereinbelow abbreviated to “ATM”), the one which is embedded in a wall of a building, having a manipulation panel (front face) alone exposed to the outside of the wall of the building but the remainder portions (of the body housing) located inside of the wall in view of security.
Usually, the housing body of an ATM embedded in a wall, is substantially parallelepiped, having a manipulation panel which is laid substantially in parallel with a vertical surface of the housing body.
JP-A-11-232527 discloses an ATM which is embedded in a wall having a thickness of 13 inches, greater than a usual wall thickness which is 6 inches, and which incorporates a transfer unit having a length of 7 inches corresponding to a value by which the wall thickness is greater than the usual wall thickness, and adapted to transfer banknotes from the manipulation panel to a process portion for banknotes.
JP-A-6-282724 discloses an ATM having a cash deposit/withdrawal port in such a configuration that a door (which will be hereinbelow referred to as “shutter”) is laid in a vertical plane, for shielding the deposit/withdrawal port from rain water which runs down the shutter, which is then trapped in a rail portion in the lower part of the shutter, and which is finally drained outside through a drain port formed in the rail portion.
Meanwhile, JP-A-2000-172946 discloses an ATM having a banknote storage portion for depositing or withdrawing cash, in which banknotes are accommodated in an upright posture, and accordingly, the user can carry out both deposit and withdrawal of cash. This ATM has been widely used, being in general located outdoor.
In a deposit transaction portion for cash or a withdrawal transaction portion, banknotes which are cash to be transacted are led out one by one for transaction after they are charged by the user through the deposit/withdrawal port in a deposit transaction portion.
JP-A-2000-99795 discloses such a configuration in which a storage portion for dispensing banknotes to a user is arranged in a substantially upright posture.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a banknote handling apparatus embedded in an outer wall of a building, in which a shutter for a deposit/withdrawal port can be stably operated in a rainy weather atmosphere.
In the case of the ATM embedded in a wall as disclosed in the above-mentioned JP-A-11-232527, since the front face part is substantially vertical, banknotes are discharged, substantially perpendicular to the front face part, that is, substantially horizontal as viewed by the user when the user withdraw cash. Meanwhile, upon withdrawal of cash, one or a plurality of banknotes which are discharged, substantially horizontal, are pinched with the fingers of the user, and pulled out toward the user. Thus, the user can obtain cash on hand. This procedure is carried out in general.
In such a configuration, as to the size of an opening for withdrawal of cash, it has a thickness which is greater than the thickness of a maximum number of banknotes, for example, about fifty banknotes by an extra thickness so that the banknotes is prevented from being caught at their ends, that is, it is a slit having a thickness of, for example, about 10 mm. Banknotes whose front end is projected from the opening by, for example, about 30 mm can be simply pinched and pulled out with the fingers of the user.
By the way, with the opening which is opened so that banknotes are discharged, substantially horizontal as viewed by the user, since the size of the opening is small, the interior of the ATM is not substantially affected by the ambient temperature, and since the opening is substantially vertical, rain water is not accumulated in the opening even in a rainy weather condition, and further, rain water scarcely enters the inside of the ATM through the opening.
With this configuration in which the shutter is laid in a vertical plane, no seal member is used in the deposit/withdrawal port, as disclosed in JP-A-6-282724, and rain water falling on to the shutter is trapped in a rail portion in the lower part of the shutter which is then drained outside through a drain port formed in the rail portion.
However, there has been possibly caused a problem in the case of insertion of banknotes into a port which is horizontally opened.
For example, when a banknote which is inelastic, or a banknote which is prone to fold or bend is inserted into the port, the leading end part of the banknote or the part thereof, which is prone to fold or bend droops, and accordingly, it is likely to be caught to the opening of the port. In particular, if a bundle of several banknotes which are horizontally aligned, are to be inserted into the opening of the port in order to deposit then at one time, the insertion thereof can hardly be made by one hand of the use, and accordingly, the user uses his both hands for the deposit so as to cause inconvenience.
Meanwhile, as disclosed in JP-A-2000-172946, there has been, in general, widespreadly used an ATM which is configured such that a storage portion for deposit and withdrawal of banknotes, can store therein banknotes in an upright posture, and which can be installed outdoor, thereby the user has conventionally been able to carry out both deposit and withdrawal of banknotes.
In the ATM having the above-mentioned configuration, the shutter (that is, a deposit/withdrawal door) for the deposit/withdrawal port is extended substantially horizontally, or is slightly inclined downward forward. The shutter is slid, for example, in the inward direction, so as to be opened. In order to readily insert banknotes, the dimensions of the shutter are more or less grater than that of banknotes. For example, it has a length of about 100 mm and a width of about 200 mm. The shutter is slid, for example, in the inward direction in order to open the shutter.
However, with the deposit/withdrawal port having such a configuration that the shutter is laid horizontally or inclined, and applied to an outdoor installation type ATM in an environment in which it is exposed to the ambient air, rain water falls onto the shutter in, for example, a rainy weather condition. Accordingly, it is required to continuously drain rain water in order to avoid accumulation of rain water by a large quantity on the shutter. A required quantity of rain water to be drained is determined so as to drain rain water in a rainy weather condition with an expected maximum rain fall. Should rain water comes into the ATM, the interior of the ATM becomes wet, and accordingly, a roller or the like would become wet so as to change its frictional coefficient from that in its dry condition. As a result, a banknote transfer function could not be ensured or components made of iron would rust. Thus, it has to prevent rain water from coming into the ATM.
As stated above, the deposit/withdrawal door (shutter) of the ATM embedded in an outer wall, through which banknotes can be inserted or discharged, requires to drain water falling on the door.
Next, explanation will be made of the configuration and operation of a cash deposit/withdrawal transaction portion which is located inside (underside) of the deposit/withdrawal port, for receiving banknotes for deposit and discharging banknotes for withdrawal. The deposit/withdrawal transaction portion is composed of a storage part which can receive banknotes to be deposited and accumulate banknotes to be withdrawn, a separation mechanism for carrying out deposit transaction by separating banknotes received in the storage part, from one another, and a stack mechanism for arranging in order and accumulating banknotes to be discharged during withdrawal transaction.
In the cash deposit/withdrawal transaction portion, cash to be deposited is transacted such that banknotes are paid out one by one for transaction after they are inserted by the use
Katou Riichi
Yamashita Taichiro
Yoshida Kazushi
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