Classifying – separating – and assorting solids – Sorting special items – and certain methods and apparatus for... – Sorting paper money
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-11
2004-11-30
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Classifying, separating, and assorting solids
Sorting special items, and certain methods and apparatus for...
Sorting paper money
C194S207000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06823995
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a paper processing device that transfers as well as discriminates papers such as bills and the like while transferring, and changes the transfer routes of papers according to the discriminating result, and more particularly to a device that is built in an automatic teller machine (hereinafter shortly referred to as “ATM”) that carries out transactions such as receipt of money, payment of money and the similar, and thereby processes bills.
BACKGROUND ART
In an ATM, optical sensors and magnetic sensors and the similar are arranged in its discriminating portion, and dimensions of papers that go through the discriminating portion, patterns and shading and the like of bills are detected and compared with a dictionary prepared in advance, thereby whether a bill is genuine or not is discriminated.
In such a discriminating portion of ATM, generally, an optical line sensor wherein multiple optical sensor devices are arranged in the direction crossing the passing direction of a bill that passes there is arranged, but when paper powder or a paper chip remains on the line sensor, sensor device output becomes faulty, which may lead to failure in correct detection on a bill that is to be transferred in next time and may cause a wrong discriminating result, or if the size of such residue is rather large, it may become an obstacle in transfer and cause transfer failure, or sensor devices may be considered to have been deteriorated, as a result, the emission light amount of light source that radiates light onto a bill in the case of the detection by the line sensor may be increased to excess, which has become problems.
Then, conventionally, countermeasures are taken such that, before the start of one transaction (receipt of money, payment of money and the similar), the output conditions of the line sensor are checked out, and if there is a faulty output, then the transaction is suspended.
However, according to the conventional methods, even when, for example, paper powder or a small paper chip (hereinafter represented by paper powder) which does not cause any transfer failure remains and the output of a sensor device configuring the line sensor is faulty, the transaction stops, therefore, in machines that often handle bills that have been circulated for a certain period, the number of stop failures owing to paper powder extremely increases, which has become another problem.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a paper processing device wherein efforts are made so as to decrease stop failures.
A paper processing device of the present invention to achieve the above object is a paper processing device which comprises a discriminating portion to sense papers passing by a specified sensor, and by carrying out a discriminating process according to the result of the sensing to apply one of discriminating results plurally classified to the sensed papers, and wherein, in every process, one paper or more to be objectives of the one process is transferred one by one along a transfer route that passes through the discriminating portion, and a transfer route of each paper after passing through the discriminating portion is changed according to discriminating results at the discriminating portion, the paper processing device comprising,
a sensor output abnormality detecting portion that carries out a detecting process to detect that the output of the sensor is in a specified abnormal status according to the output of the sensor before the start of one process, and when the specified abnormal status is detected in the detecting process conducted before the start of the one process, further carries out a detecting process to detect the output of the sensor also after the start of the one process, and
a transfer control portion that starts the one process even when either of the specified abnormal status or normal status is detected in the initial detecting process conducted before the start of the one process by the sensor output abnormality detecting portion, and in the case where the specified abnormal status is detected in the initial detecting process, transfers papers that pass through the discriminating portion after the start of the one process until normal status is detected in the detecting process of the sensor output carried out after the start of the one process, along a transfer route corresponding to the specified abnormal status after they pass through the discriminating portion.
Paper powder (including a paper chip) left in the discriminating portion is transferred, while some papers are passing, with attached to the papers passing, or goes out of the view of the sensor.
A paper processing device according to the present invention is so made as to start paper transfer even when a specified abnormal status, for example when a sensor output abnormal status, to an extent that any transfer trouble is not caused, is detected. As a consequence, according to a paper processing device of the present invention, it is possible to greatly reduce the number of stop failures.
In a paper processing device according to the present invention, in the case where paper transfer is started though a sensor output abnormal status has been detected, papers that are transferred until the sensor output is recovered to normal status thereafter are transferred along a transfer route corresponding to such papers, thereby, it is possible to process these papers in manner as is different from the process for papers in normal status.
Herein, in the paper processing device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the discriminating portion carries out a discriminating process including a discriminating result that the paper is abnormal as one of the discriminating results, and
the transfer control portion transfers, in the case where the specified abnormal status is detected in the initial detecting process conducted before the start of one process by the sensor output abnormality detecting portion, papers that pass through the discriminating portion after the start of the one process until normal status is detected in the detecting process carried out after the start of the one process, along the same transfer route as the case wherein discriminating result that the paper is abnormal is obtained at the discriminating portion.
As mentioned above, at the moment when sensor output is abnormal owing to paper powder and the like, it is possible to handle papers that have passed through the discriminating portion in the same manner as when the discriminating portion obtains that papers are abnormal, without setting a separate transfer route.
In the paper processing device according to the present invention, it is preferred that the paper processing device further comprises a pool portion for storing papers that have been transferred along the transfer route corresponding to the specified abnormal status, and
the transfer control portion transfers again papers stored in the pool portion, after the sensor output abnormality detecting portion detects normal status, along the transfer route that passes through the discriminating route.
In this case, papers stored in the pool portion may be taken out from the pool portion and transferred again in the one process wherein they are stored in the pool portion, or may be stored in the pool portion in the one process, and papers stored in the pool portion may be transferred again in the next process.
Papers that pass through the discriminating portion when the sensor output is in an abnormal status cannot be discriminated correctly, accordingly, they are handled apart from normal papers, in the same manner as for abnormal papers for example, however, almost all of such papers are actually normal papers. Therefore, they are stored in the pool portion and transferred again as described above, thereby effective use of resources of papers in a device can be made.
Herein, in the paper processing device
Fujitsu Limited
Rodriguez Joseph C
Walsh Donald P.
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