Paper sheet feed-out device for a paper sheet counting apparatus

In apparatus for counting the number of the paper sheets in which paper sheets are fed-out from the inside of the hopper by a feed-out roll assembly and are extracted from the feed-out roll assembly by extracting rolls operating at a speed faster than the speed of the feed-out assembly, the feed-out roll assembly comprises a pair of first payout rolls having a frictional surface and a slippery surface on their peripheries and a second payout roll intermediate the first payout rolls which has a frictional surface on its entire periphery. The rolls are mounted on a driving shaft, and at least the second payout roll is connected to the driving shaft through an overrunning clutch. When the trailing end of the paper sheet being removed from the hopper is in contact with the slippery surfaces of the first payout rolls, the sheet is extracted by the extracting rolls at a constant speed equal to the speed of the extracting rolls and thus, without being affected by the peripheral speed of the feed-out roll assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an apparatus for counting the number of paper 
sheets in which the sheets fed out by a set of payout rolls are extracted 
by a set of extracting rolls. More particularly, it relates to an 
improvement in the payout rolls employed in such apparatus. 
Heretofore, in this type of the counting apparatus for paper sheets, the 
payout rolls are fixed on their driving shaft, so that the paper sheets 
are affected by these payout rolls rotating at a slower speed than that of 
the extracting rolls during the time the sheets contacted by the payout 
rolls are extracted by the extracting rolls. This means that the sheets 
are braked by the payout rolls during transport and hence are transported 
at a variable speed thus rendering it difficult to accurately sense the 
abnormal transport state of the paper sheets at the sensing device. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide means for effectively 
obviating the aforementioned drawback of the prior-art apparatus. 
According to the invention, a payout roll assembly comprising of a pair of 
first feed-out or payout rolls having a frictional surface and a slippery 
surface on its periphery and a second feedout or payout roll positioned 
intermediate these first payout rolls and having a frictional surface on 
its overall periphery is mounted on a payout roll shaft provided adjacent 
to the paper sheet outlet of the hopper. At least said second payout roll 
is mounted on the payout roll shaft through an overrunning clutch. The 
arrangement is so made that, while the one end of the paper sheet being 
taken out is contacted with the slippery surface of the first payout roll, 
the sheet is extracted by the extracting rolls at a constant speed equal 
to the speed of the extracting rolls and thus without being affected by 
the peripheral speed of the payout roll assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Reference is now had to the accompanying drawings for describing certain 
preferred embodiments of the paper sheet counting device according to the 
present invention. 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the numeral 1 designates a hopper base plate on 
which to stack the paper sheets. In the neighborhood of the lower end of 
the hopper base plate 1, and on a payout roll shaft 2, which is mounted 
for rotation on a main body, not shown, there are securely mounted a pair 
of spaced apart first payout rolls 3, 4. The peripheral surface of each of 
said first payout rolls 3, 4 is formed by a frictional surface 5 formed of 
frictional material such as rubber and a slippery surface 6 which is less 
frictional than the surface 5. The circumferential length of the 
frictional surface 5 is selected to be shorter than the length of the 
paper sheet in the transport direction of the sheet. Intermediate the 
first payout rolls 3, there is mounted a second payout roll 7 on the 
payout roll shaft 2 by means of a well-known overrunning clutch 8 so that 
the second payout roll 7 may be rotated freely in the sheet payout 
direction or in the direction of the arrow mark A relative to the payout 
roll shaft 2 but locked against rotation in the opposite direction. The 
entire peripheral surface of the second payout roll is formed by a second 
frictional surface 9 formed of the same material as the aforementioned 
first frictional surface 5. A pair of separating rolls 10, 11 are mounted 
in the neighborhood of both ends of the second payout roll 7 and are 
adapted to be rotated for separating the paper sheets in the same 
counterclockwise rotational direction as the first and second payout rolls 
3, 4 by means of a driving shaft, not shown. A paper sheet receiving 
surface 12 is mounted upright close to these separating rolls 10, 11 or at 
the upstream side relative to the advancing direction of the paper sheets. 
A substantially J-shaped first guide plate 13 is mounted so as to extend 
from the right upper side to the left lower side of the payout rolls 3, 4 
and 7 when seen in FIG. 2 and a second guide plate 14 configured similarly 
to the first guide plate 13 is mounted above and with a predetermined gap 
B from a flat portion 13a of first guide plate 13. It is through this gap 
B that the paper sheets are conveyed. A paper sheet sensor 15 made up of a 
light emitting element 16 and a light receiving element 17 is mounted at 
the ends of the first and second guide plate 13, 14 downstream of the 
advancing direction of the paper sheets. A pair of extracting rolls 18, 19 
is mounted adjacent to and downstream of the paper sheet sensor for 
rotation in the direction of the arrow mark shown in FIG. 2. 
The outer periphery of the second payout roll 7 is contacted by a pinch 
roll 22 rotatably supported by a supporting shaft 20, as shown in FIG. 2. 
The lever 21 is biased by a spring 23 which is connected to the opposite 
side of the lever 21 in such a manner that the pinch roll 22 abuts on the 
second payout roll 7 with a sufficient pressure. 
With the aforementioned construction, the operation of the paper sheet 
payout device of the paper sheet counting apparatus according to the 
present invention is hereafter described. The paper sheets, not shown, 
stacked on the hopper base plate 1 are separated and taken out one by one 
through cooperation of the separating rolls 10, 11 and the first 
frictional surfaces 5 of the first payout rolls 3, 4 when the paper sheets 
are contacted with the surfaces 5. When the leading edge of the advancing 
paper sheet has arrived at the pinch roll 22, the sheet is clamped between 
the frictional surface 9 provided on the overall periphery of the second 
payout roll 7 and the similar frictional surface of the pinch roll 22 and 
is advanced further in this state. When the trailing half of the paper 
sheet has arrived at a position contacting with the slippery surfaces 6 of 
the first payout rolls 3, 4, the leading edge of the paper sheet has 
already travelled beyond the guide plates 13, 14 and are forcibly 
extracted by the extracting rolls 18, 19 rotated at a constant speed 
faster than the peripheral speed of the payout rolls 3, 4. At this time, 
since the second payout roll 7 is free to rotate in the direction A under 
the operation of the overrunning clutch 8, it is rotated by the sheets at 
a peripheral speed faster than that of the first payout rolls 3, 4. 
Therefore, the speed of the paper sheet travelling through the sensor 15 
is practically not governed by the peripheral speed of a payout roll 
assembly essentially comprising the first payout rolls 3, 4. In other 
words, since the second payout roll 7 is incapable of braking the movement 
of the paper sheet, the latter may be transported at a constant speed 
approximately equal to the peripheral speed of the extracting rolls 18, 
19. 
FIG. 3 shows in perspective a second embodiment of the present invention. 
In the preceding embodiment, the first and second payout rolls 3, 4, 7 are 
separate from one another, only the second payout roll 7 being mounted on 
the payout roll shaft 2 through the overrunning clutch 8, and the 
separating rolls 10, 11 are mounted at each end of the first payout rolls 
3, 4. In the second embodiment, the first and second payout rolls 3, 4, 7 
are integral with one another as shown. Hence, all of these rolls 3, 4, 7 
are mounted on the roll shaft 2 through the intermediary of the 
overrunning clutch 8, and the separating rolls 10, 11 are positioned close 
to the outer ends of the first payout rolls 3 and 4 or ends thereof spaced 
from the second payout roll 7. The detailed structure of the present 
second embodiment is otherwise similar to that of the aforementioned first 
embodiment. 
In the payout roll assembly shown in FIG. 5, a pair of circumferential 
grooves 24, 25 are formed on the roll periphery and the separating rolls 
10, 11 are positioned opposite to these grooves. 
The operation of the paper sheet counting apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 
is similar to that of the preceding first embodiment. 
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the arrangement according to 
the present invention provides a paper sheet feed-out device for the paper 
sheet counting apparatus in which the paper sheets may be conveyed through 
the sensor at a constant speed which is not influenced substantially by 
the operation of the payout rolls but which is determined only by the 
peripheral speed of the extracting rolls thus allowing the abnormal 
transport state of the paper sheets at the paper sensor to be detected 
accurately, thus enhancing the operational reliability of the paper sheet 
counting apparatus. 
In addition, when the paper sheet payout rolls are not separated but are 
integral with one another, the paper sheets can be extracted more reliably 
by means of the extracting rolls, the overall structure may be simplified 
and the manufacture costs lowered without affecting the operational 
reliability.