Abstract:
The invention relates to a device for locking and unlocking the roller shutter ( 12, 15 ) of a container ( 10 ) that can be inserted into a rack ( 11 ) and removed therefrom. The roller shutter ( 12, 15 ) is pulled open by a stationary pin engaging therewith during insertion of the container ( 10 ), it is pulled shut by the same engagement of the pin ( 14 ) when the container ( 10 ) is pulled out of the rack ( 11 ). In the closed position, the roller shutter ( 12, 15 ) shall be locked reliably and accurately. Two locking pins ( 21, 22 ) that can be actuated by cam tracks ( 35, 36 ) extending in longitudinal direction of the rack ( 11 ) and provided at the rack ( 11 ) serve for this purpose. The first locking pin ( 21 ) serves to lock the roller shutter ( 12, 15 ), the second locking pin ( 22 ) keeps the roller shutter ( 12, 15 ) in its exactly defined closed position during the locking by the first locking pin ( 21 ). As a result thereof, position errors of the roller shutter ( 12, 15 ) during locking and unlocking are prevented.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/EP2009/060613, filed Aug. 17, 2009. This application claims the benefit and priority of German application 10 2008 044 838.9 filed Aug. 28, 2008. The entire disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference. 
     This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The invention relates to a device for locking and unlocking the roller shutter of a container which can be inserted into a rack and removed therefrom, the closed roller shutter being unlocked at its longitudinal edge when the container is inserted into the rack and being pulled from its closed position into its open position by means of engagement with an engagement element arranged stationarily in the rack and, when the container is removed from the rack, the roller shutter being pulled from its open position into its closed position by means of this engagement and being locked. 
     2. Discussion 
     A device of this type is, for example, used in containers which are inserted or, respectively, removed from the rack of an automated teller machine or another apparatus for the input or withdrawal of valuables. Mostly, the containers have the form of a cassette that is closed at its front side by a roller shutter. In terms of the highest possible safety, the roller shutter is only automatically opened upon insertion of the cassette into a rack in that, during insertion, it is held by cams or pins that are arranged stationarily in the rack and is thus pulled into its open position. When the container is removed, the roller shutter is pulled into its closed position according to the same principle. 
     A device for opening and closing as well as for unlocking and locking the roller shutter of a cassette for valuables is described in document DE 690 04 906 T2. The roller shutter is automatically unlocked in order to be opened when the cassette is inserted into the rack, and it is pulled into the closed position and automatically locked when the cassette is removed from the rack. The automatic unlocking and locking is, however, not particularly described here, and mostly electromechanical devices that operate dependent on a contact actuation and are controlled by electronic circuits are used for this purpose. 
     In order to limit the expense combined with the highest-possible safety, a purely mechanical unlocking and locking of the roller shutter is aimed at. When using the principle of opening the roller shutter by means of engagement with an engagement element arranged stationarily in the rack, this element being formed as a cam or pin that engages with a corresponding opening in the roller shutter, then, as a result, the roller shutter can indeed be opened and again closed by the sliding movement of the cassette but a precise coordination of the functions of the cam engagement and the unlocking or, respectively, locking of the roller shutter is difficult as several mechanical elements have to be actuated independent of one another but in exact coordination with one another during the movement of the cassette. So that the stationary cam can reliably open the roller shutter during insertion of the cassette into the rack, the roller shutter has to be unlocked shortly before the engagement of the cam. As a result of mechanical tolerances and an imprecise movement of the cassette, the point of engagement of the cam with the roller shutter may be displaced. When the cassette is pulled out of the rack, the exact point at which the cam is to be released from engagement with the roller shutter cannot be defined precisely as the roller shutter might not yet be in the exact closed position in which it can be locked. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, it is the object of the invention to specify a device with which the roller shutter of a container that can be inserted into a rack and removed therefrom can be reliably locked and unlocked with purely mechanical means and, at the same time, mutual disturbances between the locking mechanism and the cam mechanism that opens and closes the roller shutter are avoided. 
     The invention solves this object for a device of the type mentioned at the beginning in that the container includes at least one longitudinal side two stationarily mounted locking elements that can be actuated by cam elements provided at the rack upon a sliding movement of the container, the first one of these locking elements locks and unlocks the roller shutter and the second one rests, when actuated, against a control element provided at the roller shutter and keeps the roller shutter in the closed position during locking and unlocking. 
     In a device according to the invention, the first locking element serves to lock the roller shutter at the container when the roller shutter has reached its closed position and to unlock the roller shutter when it is to leave its closed position. When actuated, the second locking element rests against the control element and keeps the roller shutter in the closed position until it is reliably unlocked or locked. Thus, the second locking element serves as an auxiliary element for the first locking element and prevents that displacements may occur during the locking and unlocking operation as a result of mechanical tolerances or an imprecise movement of the container, which displacements might disturb the mutual coordination of the function of the locking elements and the function of pulling the roller shutter open and shut. The point in time and the length of the actuation of the locking elements only depend on how the cam elements actuating the locking elements are positioned to each other at the rack and how long they are as their position determines the sequence of actuation during the insertion of the container into the rack and during its removal from the rack. 
     The inventive device may be arranged at only one longitudinal side of the container. Advantageously, however, it is provided at opposite longitudinal sides of the container, corresponding cam elements being arranged at the two opposite longitudinal sides of the rack. The roller shutter is then locked and unlocked at its two longitudinal sides, which increases the safety of its closure and prevents that it gets jammed in the course of reaching its closed position. The exact coordination of the function of the locking elements of both longitudinal sides of the container is guaranteed by the corresponding placement of the cam elements at the two longitudinal sides of the rack. 
     Advantageously, the cam elements are a first and a second cam track extending at the rack in sliding direction, and the length of the first cam track is dimensioned in accordance with the length of the unlocking state of the roller shutter during the insertion of the container, whereas the length of the second cam track is dimensioned in accordance with the length of the locking and unlocking operation. 
     When the container is inserted into the rack in this development of the invention, then the first locking element runs onto the first cam track and, as a result thereof, is actuated in order to be unlocked and remains in this position during the length of the unlocking state, i.e. during the inserted state of the container. During the insertion of the container, the second locking element runs onto the second cam track approximately simultaneously with the actuation of the first locking element, which second cam track only has to be dimensioned in accordance with the length of the locking and unlocking operation. The mutual positioning of the two cam tracks thus effects a very easy coordination of the unlocking and locking function as well as of the auxiliary function which is exerted by the second locking element when it keeps the roller shutter in its closed position during locking and unlocking. 
     This development of the invention in particular shows that an easy but very reliable and accurate coordination of the locking and unlocking of a roller shutter and its opening and closing operation becomes possible, for which purely mechanical elements are used so that expenses for electronic circuits and electro-mechanic switching elements can be saved. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
       In the following, the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective partial illustration of a cassette which is inserted into a rack with closed roller shutter. 
         FIG. 2  shows a perspective partial illustration of the cassette according to  FIG. 1  from another angle of view. 
         FIG. 3  shows a perspective partial illustration of the cassette shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  with open roller shutter. 
         FIG. 4  shows a perspective partial illustration of a detail of  FIGS. 1 to 3 . 
     
    
    
     Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  shows a perspective partial illustration of a container for valuables in the form of a cassette  10  which is inserted into a rack  11  in the direction of arrow A. The cassette  10  is illustrated without a top cover to make its inner structure visible. At its front side, in the insertion direction A, the cassette  10  has a roller shutter  12  which, upon further insertion of the cassette  10  into the rack  11 , is opened in that a pin  14  arranged stationarily at the bottom  13  of the rack  11  engages with a recess at the lower portion  15  of the roller shutter  12 , which recess cannot be seen in  FIG. 1 , so that the roller shutter is pulled open by the insertion movement of the cassette  10  until it reaches an open position ( FIG. 3 ) when the cassette  10  has reached its inserted rest position. Thus, for opening, the roller shutter  12  is pulled with its lower portion  15 , which is guided parallel to the cassette bottom  16 , to the right with respect to the illustration in  FIG. 1  until its upper actual closing portion is likewise parallel to the cassette bottom  16 . The pulling of the roller shutter  12 ,  15  relative to the cassette bottom  16  during opening is illustrated by the direction of arrow B. In its upper closing portion, the roller shutter  12  is made up of slats and guided in a guideway  17  in the side wall  18  of the cassette  10 . The guideway  17  has a curved section as well as straight sections corresponding to the predetermined path of the roller shutter  12 , as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
     During its sliding movement, the cassette  10  is guided in a guide groove  19  in the side wall  20  of the rack  11 , for which a corresponding guide protrusion is provided on the outside of the side wall  18  of the cassette  10 . 
       FIG. 1  shows the cassette  10  and the rack  11  in broken illustration. This entire arrangement can be similarly designed for the other side of the cassette  10  and the rack  11  not illustrated in  FIG. 1 , in particular a second stationary pin can be provided in addition to the pin  14 , as a result whereof the roller shutter  12  is pulled open without getting jammed in its guideways  17  when the cassette  10  is inserted into the rack  11 . 
     The roller shutter  12  of the cassette  10  shall, as already explained at the beginning, be automatically unlocked to be pulled open when the cassette  10  is inserted into the rack  11  and, after closing, be again automatically locked when the cassette  10  is removed from the rack  11 . For this, a locking mechanism illustrated in  FIG. 1  is provided whose interaction with the side wall  20  of the rack  10  is shown in that a portion of the side wall  18  of the cassette  10  has been broken away. The locking mechanism is located under a bottom plate of the cassette  10 , which bottom plate is not illustrated in  FIG. 1  and is parallel to the actual cassette bottom  16 . The bottom plate can lie in a plane that is approximately at the level of the guide groove  19  in the side wall  20  of the rack  11 . This bottom plate enables the undisturbed accommodation of objects in the cassette  10 , in particular the stacking of banknotes, as this is known per se for cassettes of the type described herein. 
     In  FIG. 1 , two locking pins  21  and  22  are illustrated which are mounted movably in their longitudinal direction at the underside of the non-illustrated bottom plate. The locking pin  21  is resiliently biased by means of a pressure spring  23  toward the outside of the cassette, this pressure spring  23  bears against a non-illustrated guide element for the locking pin  21  and acts upon the locking pin  21  at two side arms  24  and  25 . With one side arm  26 , the locking pin  22  can act upon a control lever  27  that is pivotally mounted at a pivot point  28  at the non-illustrated bottom plate. At its free end, the control lever  27  supports a pressure roller  29  and is acted upon by a spring  30  toward the cassette outside. The spring  30  bears against a point of support  31  at the non-illustrated bottom plate of the cassette  10 . 
     The pressure roller  29  of the control lever  27  can be pressed by the side arm  26  of the locking pin  22  against a control track  32  that is arranged in an inclined manner with respect to the opening direction B of the roller shutter  12  at the lower portion  15  of the roller shutter. This pressing is caused by a displacement of the locking pin  22  toward the inside of the cassette  10 , by means of which displacement the side arm  26  of the locking pin  22  acts upon the control lever  27 . The length of the control track is dimensioned such that it can be moved past the control lever  27  and the pressure roller  29  when the roller shutter  12  is pulled open and shut. 
     In  FIG. 1 , it can be seen that the two locking pins  21  and  22  are located at different heights above the cassette bottom  16 . The locking pin  21  is located close above the lower portion  15  of the roller shutter  12  and, in its position shown in  FIG. 1 , it is guided with a lower longitudinal edge  33  in a U-shaped locking element  34  ( FIG. 4 ) that is mounted on the roller shutter  12 . The locking pin  22  is located higher than the locking pin  21  and above the control lever  27 . 
     Corresponding to the different height levels of the two locking pins  21  and  22 , two cam tracks  35  and  36  are provided at the side wall  20  of the rack  11 , which cam tracks run parallel to the guide groove  19  in longitudinal direction and their mutual positioning in longitudinal direction of the cassette side wall  20  corresponds approximately to the mutual distance between the two locking pins  21  and  22 . When the cassette  12  is inserted into the rack  11  in the insertion direction A, then the locking pins  21  and  22  each run with a front flat driver  37  and  38 , respectively, onto the respective associated cam track  35  and  36 , respectively, and, as a result thereof, are pushed toward the interior of the cassette  10 . In doing so, the lower longitudinal edge  33  of the locking pin  21  is moved out of the locking element  34  to unlock the roller shutter  12 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the locking pins  21  and  22  run onto the cam tracks  35  and  36  when the cassette  10  has been inserted in insertion direction A so far that the stationary pin  14  on the rack bottom  13  can engage with the roller shutter  12 . 
     The second locking pin  22  is an auxiliary element for unlocking the roller shutter  12  and guarantees a high preciseness of the unlocking in coordination with the position of the pin  14  at the roller shutter  12 . The roller shutter  12  shall be unlocked at that point in time at which the pin  14  on the rack bottom  13  engages therewith. At this point in time, the roller shutter  12  however shall still be exactly in its closed position. In order to guarantee this, the locking pin  22 , as an auxiliary element for the unlocking, is displaced toward the interior of the cassette  10  by running onto its cam track  36  and, as a result thereof, it acts upon the control lever  27  against the force of the spring  30 . As a result thereof, the pressure roller  29  is pressed against the control track  32  that extends in an inclined manner to the opening direction B of the lower portion  15  of the roller shutter  12 , and thus this lower portion is kept in the closed position, even if the locking pin  21  has already unlocked the roller shutter  12 . Only when the opening movement of the roller shutter  12  starts by means of the engagement of the stationary pin  14  at the rack bottom  13 , the pressure roller  29  can roll along the control track  32 , and when, upon a further insertion movement of the cassette  10 , the locking pin  22  runs off its cam track  36  and is again pressed outward by the force of the spring  30  via the control lever  27 , the roller shutter  12  can finally be pulled open in an unimpeded manner. 
     A mechanism of the type described above can also be provided at the second side of the cassette  10  that is not illustrated in  FIG. 1 . This enables a symmetric unlocking of the roller shutter  12  at two guiding sides. 
     In  FIG. 2 , the cassette  10  is shown without a top cover and with closed roller shutter  12  from another angle of view without the rack  11  ( FIG. 1 ) in broken illustration. At the side wall  18 , a dash-dotted line  40  is shown which shall indicate at which height above the locking mechanism a non-illustrated bottom plate covering the locking mechanism may approximately be located. A second side wall  41  of the cassette  10  in which the roller shutter  12  and its lower portion  15 , respectively, are likewise guided is also illustrated. The guide groove  17  of the roller shutter  12 ,  15  in the side wall  18  is curved at the junction between the front side of the cassette  10  and the cassette bottom  16 . A corresponding guidance is also provided on the inside of the side wall  41 , which however is not visible in  FIG. 2 . 
     In its curved portion, the roller shutter  12  has a recess  42  directed from the outside to the inside, which, in  FIG. 2 , forms a protrusion on the inside of the roller shutter  12 . This recess  42  serves for engagement with the stationary pin  14  at the rack bottom  13  ( FIG. 1 ), as a result whereof the roller shutter  12 , given a sliding movement of the cassette  10 , is pulled open to the right with respect to the illustration in  FIG. 2  in opening direction B. In doing so, it is guided in the guide groove  17  in the side wall  18  and in a like guide groove in the side wall  41 . 
     In  FIG. 2 , it can further be seen that the locking pins  21  and  22  project outwardly through windows  43  and  44  of the side wall  18  of the cassette  10 , where they can run on the cam tracks  35  and  36  ( FIG. 1 ). 
       FIG. 3  is an illustration similar to  FIG. 2 , the roller shutter  12 , however, being shown in its pulled-open open position. The lower portion  15  of the roller shutter  12  is located, with the locking element  34  mounted thereon, in the outermost right extreme position into which the roller shutter  12  has been pulled by the engagement of the pin  14  ( FIG. 1 ) with the recess  42 . In this state of the roller shutter  12 , the cassette  10  is completely inserted into the rack  11  ( FIG. 1 ), and the roller shutter  12  is completely pulled open. The pin  14  ( FIG. 1 ) remains engaged with the recess  42  of the roller shutter  12 . 
     When the cassette  10  is pulled out of the non-illustrated rack  11  ( FIG. 1 ) in the direction of arrow D shown in  FIG. 3 , then by way of the continued engagement of the stationary pin  14  ( FIG. 1 ) with the recess  42  the roller shutter  12  is pulled shut to the left in the closing direction C shown in  FIG. 3  so that it finally reaches its closed position which is illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The locking element  34  moves toward the first locking pin  21  until it is located below the pin in the closed position of the roller shutter  12 . At the same time, the driver  37  of the locking pin  21  moves to the right on the cam track  35  ( FIG. 1 ) until it run offs the cam track  35  at its right end and can engage with its lower longitudinal edge  33  into the locking element  34 . 
     The control track  32  moves with the lower portion  15  of the roller shutter  12  past the pressure roller  29 , and the latter is again pressed against the control track  32  when the driver  38  of the second locking pin  22  runs onto its cam track  36  from the left ( FIG. 1 ) so that, by the acting of the pressure roller  29  upon the control track  32 , the roller shutter  12 , in the case of a possible inaccurate guidance or an inaccurate engagement of the pin  14  ( FIG. 1 ) with the recess  42 , is again pressed into its exact closed position and is kept thereat until the first locking pin  21  is engaged with the locking element  34 . Then, the second locking pin  22  can likewise run off its cam track  36  to the right ( FIG. 1 ) so that it is pressed outwardly via its side arm  26  by the force of the spring  30  at the control lever  27 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a detail of  FIGS. 1 to 3  in perspective illustration. A part of the side wall  18  of the cassette  10  is illustrated in which the window  43  for the front driver  37  of the first locking pin  21  is located. With its lower longitudinal edge  33 , the locking pin is engaged with the locking element  34  that is located at the lower portion  15  of the roller shutter  12 . It can also be seen that the locking pin  21  has an upper longitudinal edge  48  with which it abuts the side wall  18  of the cassette  10  when it is engaged with the lower longitudinal edge  33  into the locking element  34 . 
       FIG. 4  also shows a part of the guide groove  17  for the roller shutter  12  and for its lower portion  15 , respectively. The guide groove  17  is formed by two longitudinal protrusions  46  and  47  at the side wall  18  of the cassette  10 , and a guiding block  45  of the lower portion  15  is guided therein. 
     The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the invention, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.