Sheet feeding or delivering – Delivering – With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-04
2003-04-08
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Sheet feeding or delivering
Delivering
With transfer means between conveyor and receiver
C271S220000, C271S180000, C271S003200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06543763
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a bank-note processing device used for e.g. a vending machine, a money changing machine, a pachinko ball dispenser and a metal token dispenser.
BACKGROUND ART
In a main unit of dispensers handling bank-notes (including coupons), a bank-note processing device for judging the genuineness of an inserted bank-note and for storing only bank-notes regarded as genuine is normally equipped.
The bank-note processing device is generally comprised of bank-note transporting means, which guides a bank-note inserted from a bank-note slot to the main body of the unit, bank-note identification means which judges the genuineness of the transported bank-note, bank-note shifting means which sequentially parallel shifts the inserted bank-notes judged as genuine, and a stacker which sequentially stacks and stores the bank-notes parallel shifted via the bank-note transporting means.
FIG. 13
is a conceptual cross-sectional side view of a major portion of a bank-note processing device
1
, which the applicant of the present invention proposed in the Japanese Patent Application No. 10-141350.
This bank-note processing device is comprised of a rectangular main body
2
, and a front mask
4
, where a bank-note slot
3
is formed, is removably attached at the lower part of the front face
2
a
of the main body
2
.
The front mask
4
, where the bank-note slot
3
is formed, is attached such that the tip, that is, the bank-note slot
3
, is exposed to the outside from a front mask attachment hole formed on a door at the front face of such equipment as a dispenser, which is not illustrated.
A bank-note detection sensor
5
for judging whether a bank-note is inserted from the bank-note slot
3
is disposed directly behind the bank-note slot
3
formed in the front mask
4
, and a roughly L-shaped bank-note transporting route
6
, which is connected to the bank-note slot
3
and then rises upwards, is disposed in the front mask
4
directly behind the bank-note direction sensor
5
and in the main body of the unit
2
. And shutter means
7
for opening/closing the bank-note transporting route
6
is disposed upstream of the bank-note-transporting route
6
.
The shutter means
7
is comprised of a motor, which is not illustrated, and a shutter
7
a
which moves in the horizontal direction shown by the arrow A via the shutter driving means, such as a rack engaging with a pinion gear of the motor.
The bank-note transporting route
6
connected to the bank-note slot
3
is comprised of a horizontal portion
6
a
, which is roughly parallel with the bank-note insertion direction, and a vertical portion
6
b
, which rises up roughly in the vertical direction from the end of the horizontal portion
6
a.
The bank-note transporting means
6
for transporting the inserted bank-note upstream along with bank-note transporting route
6
is disposed on the L-shaped bank-note transporting route
6
.
This bank-note transporting means
8
is comprised of a looped bank-note transporting belt
9
, which is stretched along the horizontal portion
6
a
and the vertical portion
6
b
of the bank-note transporting route
6
, and belt driving means
10
, which is comprised of a motor
9
′ and other parts for driving and rotating of the bank-note transporting belt
9
.
The belt driving means
10
is also comprised of pulleys
11
and
12
for looping and stretching the bank-note transporting belt
9
, and slave pulleys
13
and
14
, which are pressed against the cylindrical surface of the pulleys
11
and
12
, and an idle pulley for adjusting the tension of the belt is pressed against a part of the bank-note transporting belt
9
.
The bank-note identification means
16
comprised of various sensors, including magnetic sensors for judging the genuineness of an inserted bank-note and photo sensors arranged facing each other, is disposed in the vertical portion
6
b
, which is positioned upstream of the bank-note transporting route
6
.
In accordance with this bank-note processing device
1
, when a bank-note is inserted into the bank-note slot
3
, the bank-note detection sensor
5
, which is disposed in the front mask
4
, detects the presence of the inserted bank-note, and the inserted bank-note is transported horizontally to the right as shown in the drawing, along the horizontal portion
6
a
of the bank-note transporting route
6
, by the bank-note transporting belt
9
of the bank-note transporting means
8
, which rotates counterclockwise, which is the normal rotation, based on the detection signal. When the inserted bank-note passes through the vertical portion
6
a
of the bank-note-transporting route
6
, the genuineness of the inserted bank-note is judged by the bank-note identification means
16
disposed therein.
If the bank-note identification means
16
judges the inserted bank-note as counterfeit, the bank-note transporting belt
9
rotates in reverse (clockwise rotation), so as to return the inserted bank-note back through the bank-note slot
3
.
If the bank-note identification means
16
judges the inserted bank-note as genuine, the bank-note transporting belt
9
continues normal rotation based on the detection signal, and the inserted bank-note is transported to the upper part of the main body
2
along the vertical portion
6
b
of the bank-note transporting route
6
.
In the main body
2
, bank-note shifting means
21
temporarily houses the bank-note transported via the bank-note transporting means
8
, and then parallel shifts the bank-note judged as genuine to the stacker
20
.
Even though the details on the structure of the bank-note shifting means
21
are the same in the Japanese Patent Application No. 5-276592, the structure will be briefly explained here.
FIG. 14
is a conceptual plan view of the above mentioned bank-note shifting means
21
viewed from the AA direction in FIG.
13
.
This bank-note shifting means
21
is disposed with a predetermined space (a space slightly wider than the width of the bank-notes to be handled) and comprises a pair of rotary drums
22
and
23
which rotate in opposite directions at a same phase, a pair of engaging protrusions
24
a
and
24
b
which engage with the engaging concave portions
22
a
and
23
a
formed at the center area of the pair of rotary drums
23
and
24
, and a stacker chute
24
which rotates at a predetermined angle in the vertical direction of the drawing with a shaft
25
as a center when the rotary drums
22
and
23
make one rotation.
On both sides of the shaft
25
, which rotatably supports the stacker chute
24
, a pair of pulleys
26
where a pair of bank-note transporting belts
9
constituting the bank-note transporting means
8
(
FIG. 13
) are looped, are secured. On both sides of the shaft
25
, another pair of pulleys
27
, constituting the bank-note transporting means
8
, are also secured.
On this pair of drive pulleys
27
, another pair of bank-note transporting belts
28
are looped respectively, and this pair of bank-note transporting belts
28
loop a pair of pulleys
30
respectively, which are rotatably supported on both sides of the shaft
29
disposed at the tip of the stacker chute
24
. Therefore, if the shaft
25
is rotated by the bank-note transporting belt
9
, the bank-note transporting belt
28
interlocking with the bank-note transporting belt
9
is driven and rotated at the same time.
According to such a bank-note shifting means
21
, a bank-note transporting belts
9
and
28
constituting the bank-note transporting means
8
are driven and rotated counterclockwise, as shown in
FIG. 15
, which is the conceptual BB cross-sectional view in
FIG. 14
, and when the inserted bank-note
31
is transported in the arrow C direction via the bank-note transporting route
6
(FIG.
13
), the bank-note
31
is inserted into the pair of bank-note guide slits
22
b
and
23
b
formed along the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical faces of the rotary drums
22
and
23
of the bank-note shifting means
21
, and then the longitudinal side of the inserted bank-note
Hatamachi Tadashi
Ito Yukio
Kodama Yasuyuki
Yamagishi Noboru
Deuble Mark A.
Ellis Christopher P.
Kabushiki Kaisha Nippon Conlux
Welsh & Katz Ltd.
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