Paper processing apparatus

A paper processing apparatus includes a setting section which sets a piece of paper, a feeding device which takes in the piece of paper set at this setting section, a transport device which transports the piece of paper took in by the feeding device, a judging section (detector) which discriminates whether or not the piece of paper transported by the transport device is a damaged note and discriminates types of damage and dirt of the piece of paper discriminated to be the damaged note, and a plurality of stacking boxes which carry out sorting and collection according to the types of damage and dirt discriminated by the judging section (detector).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-178064, filed Jun. 17, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a paper processing apparatus for sorting and stacking paper money in a plurality of stacking boxes according to its type of money.

2. Description of the Related Art

A paper money processing apparatus of this type sets various sheets of paper (hereinafter, referred to as notes) at a setting section in a mixed state; feeds notes from this setting section on a one by one basis; judges its type of note, front/back, top or bottom, authentic/counterfeit, breakage or the like at a judging section; and sorts and stacks the notes in a plurality of stackers based on a result of the judgment.

In the meantime, conventionally, all notes other than those discriminated to be fit note at the judging section (detector) are stacked in a rejection box (hereinafter, referred to as a “reject stacker”).

The notes to be stacked in such a reject stacker (hereinafter, referred to as a “rejected note”) include: a taped note, a corner folded note, a cut note, a punched note, and a wrinkled note or the like. In addition, the rejected notes include a stained note, a wholly dirty note, and a scribed note or the like. Further, the rejected notes include: a note skewed due to transport performance; a plurality of notes fed due to feeding performance; or a counterfeit note and the like. A variety of these rejected notes are all collected in the reject stacker in their mixed state.

However, conventionally, in the case where a note quality is poor, a majority of the notes are transported to the reject stacker, the reject stacker becomes full immediately, and a process for removing a note from the reject stacker may be hard work for operator and not efficient. In this case, there is a problem that a feeding operation by a paper processing apparatus is stopped, and then, processing efficiency is lowered.

In addition, the rejected notes skewed due to the feeding and transporting performance or the rejected notes caused by the multiple feeding in a pile are often free of breakage or dirt on appearance, and are often supposed to be handled as fit notes. If such notes are collected in the reject stacker, the reject stacker together with poor quality notes becomes full immediately, and processing efficiency is lowered.

In addition, a fit note rejected in the rejected note is removed from the reject stacker, is set again at a feeding section, and is reprocessed.

However, in order to remove a fit note from the reject stacker, an operator must manually sort such a fit note to be classified from a damaged note or a counterfeit note. This sorting is cumbersome, and processing efficiency is extremely lowered.

On the other hand, a paper money processing apparatus has its own unique product standard for judging a corner folded note, a cut note, a punched note, a dirty note, and a taped note or the like, or alternatively, a criterion for discrimination is set by an operator. However, discrimination between a note to be void after being returned as a damaged note (unfit) to a central bank and note to be circulated again in a market is often made by a customer manually checking and sorting such a rejected note.

However, in addition to a note to be processed as a fit note and a counterfeit or the like, the reject stacker includes various types and dirt levels of damaged notes such as a corner folded note, a cut note, a punched note, a dirty note, and a taped note, and manual sorting is very cumbersome.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper money processing apparatus capable of: sorting a note to be essentially handled as a fit note and a damaged note (unfit) from each other without a specific sorting work; sorting between a note to be void and a note to be circulated again; and further, storing and collecting a damaged note according to its breakage and its dirt type and level.

A paper processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: a setting section which sets a piece of paper; a feeding device which takes in the piece of paper set at this setting section; a transport device which transports the piece of paper took in by the feeding device; a judging device (detector) which discriminates whether or not the piece of paper transported by the transport device is a damaged note and discriminates types of damage and dirt of the piece of paper discriminated to be the damaged note; and a plurality of stacking boxes which carry out sorting and collection according to the types of damage and dirt discriminated by the judging device (detector).

A paper processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: a setting section which sets a piece of paper; a feeding device which takes in the piece of paper set at this setting section; a transport device which transports the piece of paper took in by the feeding device; a judging device (detector) which discriminates whether or not the piece of paper transported by the transport device is a damaged note and discriminates levels of damage and dirt of the piece of paper discriminated to be the damaged note; and a plurality of stacking boxes which carry out sorting and collection according to the levels of damage and dirt discriminated by the judging device.

A paper processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: a setting section which sets pieces of paper; a feeding device which takes in the piece of paper set at this setting section; a transport device which transports the piece of paper took in by the feeding device; a judging device (detector) which discriminates whether or not the piece of paper transported by the transport device is a damaged note and discriminates types and levels of damage and dirt of the piece of paper discriminated to be the damaged note; and a plurality of stacking boxes which carry out sorting and collection according to the types and the levels of damage and dirt discriminated by the judging device (detector).

A paper processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: a setting section which sets a piece of paper; a feeding device which takes in the piece of paper set at this setting section; a transport device which transports the piece of paper took in by the feeding device; a judging device (detector) which discriminates whether the piece of paper transported by the transport device is a fit note or a damaged note (unfit) and discriminates type of the piece of paper discriminated to be the fit note and types and levels of damage and dirt of the piece of paper discriminated to be the damaged note; and a plurality of stacking boxes which carry out sorting and collection according to the type of the piece of paper and the types and the levels of damage and dirt discriminated by the judging device.

A paper processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: a setting section which sets a piece of paper; a feeding device which takes in the piece of paper set at this setting section; a transport device which transports the piece of paper took in by the feeding device; a judging device (detector) which discriminates whether or not the piece of paper transported by the transport device has been damaged, skewed or fed in plurality; and a first stacking box which collects a piece of paper discriminated to be a damaged note by the judging device and a second stacking box which collects pieces of paper discriminated to be skewed or fed in plurality by the judging device.

According to the present invention, damaged notes are sorted and collected in a plurality of collecting stackers based on its breakage and its dirt type or degree (level). Thus, the sorting of the damaged notes can be automated without dependency on an operator's feeling, and sorting processing efficiency and sorting precision can be improved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1is a schematic structural view showing a paper money processing apparatus serving as a paper processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral1denotes an apparatus main body. A setting section1afor setting paper money P serving as a piece of paper (hereinafter, referred to as a note) is provided at one side of this apparatus main body1. The note P set at this setting section1ais designed to be took in by a feeding section2serving as a feeding device. A take-in roller4is provided at the feeding section2. In a note feeding direction of this capture roller4, there are arranged a feed roller6and a separating roller7to be rolled in contact with the upper side of this feed roller6.

The note P fed by the feed roller6is transported along a transport path9serving as a transport device. In the transport path9, there are arranged: a first detector section11(optical system sensor section, thickness sensor section, magnetic sensor section); a sorting gate12; a second sensor section13a,13b(CCD optical system sensor section); and first to sixth sorting gates14to19.

The first detector section11(optical system sensor section, thickness sensor section, magnetic sensor section) optically and magnetically senses the shape and contents or the like of a note, and senses thickness or the like. The second detector section13a,13bhas high resolution, is configured to have a CCD optical system which is deep in an object field depth, and detects a note with high precision.

The first to sixth sorting gates selectively guide a note to first to sixth branch paths21to26. First to sixth stacking boxes (first stacking box)28to33serving as stacking boxes are arranged at a note ejection side of the first to sixth branch paths21to26.

On the other hand, a counterfeit note stacking box35for collecting counterfeit notes is provided at the transport side of the transport path9. In addition, a return stacker (second collecting stacker)39is provided at the above-described distributing gate12via a return path37. The return stacker39is designed to collect notes rejected after being skewed or multiple fed in a pile.

FIG. 2is a block diagram depicting a drive control system of the above-described sorting gate12and first to sixth sorting gates14to19.

The above-described first and second detector sections11,13a,13bare connected to a judging section41serving as a judging device via a transmitter circuit for transmitting a sense signal, and a control section42is connected to this judging section41via a transmitter circuit for transmitting a discrimination result. The sorting gate12and the first to sixth sorting gates14to19are connected to the control section42via a control circuit. In addition, an operating section44is connected to the control section42via a transmitter circuit.

The judging section41discriminates authenticity of a note based on detected information from the first detector section11and discriminates whether or not note is skewed or whether or not a plurality of notes are fed and transported. In addition, this judging section discriminates breakage based on detected information from the second detector section13a,13band discriminates note breakage and dirt type, and further, level thereof.

Types of damage of damaged notes include: a taped note, a corner folded note, an end face curled note, a broken note, a punched note, and a wrinkled note or the like, as shown inFIG. 4.

Types of dirt of damaged notes include a scribed note, a wholly dirty note, and a partially dirty or stained note or the like, as shown inFIG. 5.

The levels of damage include: a size of corner folding or breakage in the case of a corner folded note or a damaged note; and a size of a punched diameter in the case of a punched note.

The levels of dirt include: a size of scribing in the case of a scribed note; a degree of dirt in the case of a wholly dirt note; and a size or the like of diameter dimensions of dirt or stain in the case of a partially dirty note or a stained note.

A processing operation of the above-described paper money processing apparatus will be described with reference to a flow chart ofFIG. 3.

First, the operating section (or PC)44sets a handling mode, for example, a fitness or unfitness category, and sets assignment of notes to be sorted into the stacking boxes28to33(step S1). In assignment, for example, the first to third stacking boxes28to30are used for fit notes, and the fourth to sixth stacking boxes31to33are used for damaged notes (unfit). Taped notes are set to be collected in the fourth stacking box31; punched notes are set to be collected in the fifth stacking box32; and scribed notes are set to be collected in the sixth stacking box33.

After these settings, the take-in roller4of the feeding section2is rotated, and notes P are took in (step S2). These notes are fed after separated on a one by one basis by means of the feed roller6and the separating roller7. The fed notes are transported along the transport path9, and its shape and contents or the like are optically and magnetically sensed by means of the first detector section11and the thickness or the like is sensed by the same sensor (step S3). Based on this detected information, the authenticity of notes is discriminated at the judging section41and it is discriminated whether or not the notes are skewed or took in plurality. The notes discriminated to have been skewed or fed in plurality are distributed into the return path37by an operation of the distributing gate12(step S4), and the distributed notes are returned to the return stacker39via this return path37(step S5).

The notes discriminated to have not been skewed or multiple fed in a pile are transported to the second detector section13a,13bwithout being distributed by means of the sorting gate12, and the fed notes are optically detected by the same sensor (step S6). Fitness or unfitness (damaged/dirty) is discriminated based on the detected information, and type and level of a damaged note is discriminated.

The notes discriminated to be fit notes are subjected to operation of the first to third sorting gates14to16for each note type (steps S7, S9, S11), and are collected to be sorted into the first to third stacking boxes28to30(step S8, S10, S12).

The notes discriminated to have been taped are subjected to operation of a fourth sorting gate17(step S13), and are collected to be sorted into a fourth stacking box31(step S14). The notes discriminated to have been punched are subjected to an operation of a fifth sorting gate18(step S15), and are collected to be sorted into a fifth stacking box32(step S16). The notes discriminated to have been scribed are subjected to an operation of a sixth sorting gate19(step S17), and are collected to be sorted into a sixth stacking box33(step S18).

In addition, in the case where the notes are discriminated to be counterfeit, such notes are transported to end of the transport path9without the operations of the first to sixth sorting gates14to19, and the notes are collected in a counterfeit note stacking box35as they are (step S19).

In the above-described embodiments, the first to third stacking boxes28to30have been set so as to collect fit notes, and the fourth to sixth stacking boxes31to33have been set so as to collect damaged notes (unfit). The fourth stacking box31has been set so as to collect taped notes; the fifth stacking box32has been set so as to collect punched notes; and the sixth stacking box33has been set so as to collect scribed notes. Without being limited thereto, all of the first to sixth stacking boxes28to33may be set for damaged notes. For example, as shown inFIG. 6A, the first stacking box28may be set so as to collect taped notes; the second stacking box29may be set so as to collect corner folded notes; the third stacking box30may be set so as to collect end face curled notes; the fourth stacking box31may be set so as to collect damaged notes and punched notes; the fifth stacking box32may be set so as to collect wrinkled notes; and the sixth stacking box33may be set so as to collect scribed notes, wholly dirty notes, and partially dirty and/or stained notes, respectively.

In addition, as shown inFIG. 6B, the first stacking box28may be set so as to collect partially dirty and/or stained notes; the second stacking box29may be set so as to collect wholly dirt notes; the third stacking box30may be set so as to collect scribed notes; the fourth stacking box31may be set to collect wrinkled notes; the fifth stacking box32may be set so as to collect taped notes, broken notes, and punched notes; and the sixth stacking box33may be set so as to collect corner folded notes and end face curled notes or the like, respectively.

In addition, as shown inFIG. 7A, damaged notes may be collected to be sorted according to their quality and condition and breakage levels. That is, the first stacking box28may be set so as to sort and collect corner folded notes whose corner fold length is less than 3 mm; the second stocking box29may be set to sort and collect corner folded notes whose corner fold length ranges from 3 mm to 10 mm; the third stacking box30may be set to sort and collect corner folded notes whose corner fold length is 10 mm or more; the fourth stacking box31may be set to sort and collect end face curled notes whose curl length is less than 3 mm; the fifth stacking box32may be set to sort and collect end face curled notes whose curl length is 3 mm or more; and the sixth stacking box33may be set so as to collect taped notes, broken notes, punched notes, wrinkled notes, scribed notes, wholly dirty notes, and partially dirty and/or stained notes.

In addition, as shown inFIG. 7B, damaged notes may be collected to be sorted according to their dirt levels. That is, the first stacking box28may be set so as to collect scribed notes whose size of scribing is less than 3 mm; the second stacking box29may be set so as to collect scribed notes whose size of scribing ranges from 3 mm to 10 mm; the third stacking box30may be set so as to collect scribed notes whose size of scribing is 10 mm or more; the fourth stacking box31may be set so as to collect partially dirty and/or stained notes whose size of dirt is less than 2 mm; the fifth stacking box32may be set so as to collect partially dirty and/or stained notes whose size of dirt is 2 mm or more; and the sixth stacking box33may be set so as to collect taped notes, corner folded notes, end face curled notes, broken notes, punched notes, wrinkled notes, and wholly dirty notes.

In addition, as shown inFIG. 7C, the first stacking box28may be set so as to collect scribed notes whose size of scribing is less than 3 mm; the second stacking box29may be set so as to collect partially dirty and/or stained notes whose dirt or stain diameter is less than 2 mm; the third stacking box30may be set so as to collect wholly dirty notes whose dirt level is low; the fourth stacking box31may be set so as to collect wholly dirty notes whose dirt level is middle; the fifth stacking box32may be set so as to collect scribed notes whose size of scribing is 3 mm or more, wholly dirty notes whose dirt level is high, and partially dirty and/or stained notes whose dirt or stain diameter is 2 mm or more; and the sixth stacking box33may be set so as to collect taped notes, corner folded notes, end face curled notes, broken notes, punched notes, and wrinkled notes.

In addition, as shown inFIG. 8A, the first stacking box28may be set so as to collect corner folded notes whose length of corner fold is 3 mm or less and end face notes whose curl length is 3 mm or less; the second stacking box29may be set so as to connect corner folded notes whose corner fold length is 5 mm or more and end face curl notes whose curl length is 10 mm or more; the third stacking box30may be set so as to collect scribed notes whose size of scribing is 5 mm or less; the fourth stacking box31may be set so as to collect partially dirty and/or stained notes whose dirt and/or stain diameter is 3 mm or less; the fifth stacking box32may be set so as to collect wholly dirty notes whose dirt level is low; the sixth stacking box33are set so as to collect taped notes, broken notes, punched notes, wrinkled notes, and wholly dirty notes whose dirt level is high.

In addition, as shown inFIG. 8B, the first stacking box28may be set so as to collect corner folded notes and end surface curled notes; the second stacking box29may be set to collect broken notes whose breakage size is less than 3 mm and punched notes whose punched diameter is less than 2 mm; the third stacking box30may be set so as to collect taped notes, notes whose breakage size is 3 mm or more and punched notes whose punched diameter is 2 mm or more; the fourth stacking box31may be set so as to collect scribed notes whose size of scribing is less than 3 mm and partially dirty and/or stained notes whose dirt and/or stain diameter is less than 2 mm; the fifth stacking box32may be set so as to collect scribed notes whose size of scribing is 3 mm or more and partially dirty and/or stained notes whose dirt and/or stain diameter is 2 mm or more; and the sixth stacking box33may be set so as to collect wrinkled notes and wholly dirty notes whose dirt level is high.

As has been described above, according to the present embodiment, the judging section (detector) discriminates types and degrees of damage of damaged notes (taped note, corner folded note, cut note, end face curled note, broken note, punched note, or wrinkled note) and dirt types and degrees (scribed note, wholly dirty note, and partially dirty and/or stained note or the like), and damaged notes are automatically collected to be sorted in an arbitrary number of stacking boxes in accordance of the type and degrees of the damage and dirt, based on its discrimination result of judging section (detector). Accordingly, the discrimination/classification work considering the types of damaged notes can be significantly efficiently performed. Further, even in the case where many poor notes are handled, the frequency of the reject stacker becoming full is extremely decreased, and efficiency of machine operation and throughput is improved.

In addition, damaged notes are automatically collected to be sorted into an arbitrary number of stacking boxes according to its damage and dirt types and levels (degrees), based on the discrimination result of the judging section. Thus, notes to be returned as damaged notes (unfit note) to a central bank and the notes which can be circulated again in a market can be efficiently classified and a criterion for categories of damaged notes which have been judged by an operator's feeling can be quantitatively clarified, and sorting precision can be improved. The notes which can be circulated again in a market include: corner folded notes and end face curled notes which can be manually corrected by, for example, an operator; and slightly damaged or dirty notes.

In addition, a work of classifying fit note to be circulated again in a market or very clean notes (super fit) to be set at an ATM and automatic vending machine or the like can also be significantly efficiently carried out.

Further, note type sorting of fit note and sorting based on types and degrees (levels) of damage and dirt of damaged notes can be carried out by a single processing operation, and processing efficiency can be improved.

Furthermore, notes which should be essentially handled as fit notes, i.e., the notes rejected after skewed and multiple fed in a pile due to feeding and transporting performances are collected to be sorted from other rejected notes. Thus, there is no need for operator to sort notes in manual to be essentially discriminated to be fit notes and rejected notes, and no cumbersomeness occurs.