Abstract:
A bill handling machine includes a first unit having a depositing port for depositing bills; a second unit having a depositing cassette for holding deposited bills; and a bill transfer mechanism for transferring bills from the depositing port to a depositing cassette. At least one of the first and second units is installable and removable, and the bill transfer mechanism is provided with a first transfer mechanism provided in the installable and removable unit and a connecting transfer mechanism connected to the first transfer mechanism and enabled to control the connection with the transfer mechanism in the installable and removable unit in conjunction with the removal/installation of the unit.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a bill handling machine that handles various bills, more particularly a bill handling machine that can protect bills and components therein from damages; concretely, remaining bills, as well as guides that are structural components of transfer path connecting means of the machine are protected from damages when a unit that includes one of divided transfer means is pulled out from the machine.  
           [0002]    In any of conventional bill handling machines, for example, in an automatic cash handling machine, bills have had to be stacked in such a reinforced structure cabinet as a safe so as to be protected from robberies and other crimes. And, as one of such the general crime-preventive means, all of the bill handling mechanisms including the bill stackers, as well as depositing and withdrawing processors of bills are installed in a safe, so that customers are required to deposit and withdraw bills through an aperture of the safe.  
           [0003]    On the other hand, there is also another means that divides a bill handling machine into a bill processor block and a bill stacker block so that the bill stacker block is installed in a protective cabinet. For example, the JP-A-2000-172946 discloses an example that a bill depositing/withdrawing machine is divided into upper and lower units so that the lower unit is installed in a cassette cabinet so as to improve the security of the bill stackers therein.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    However, in the case where a bill handling machine is provided with transfer path connecting means enabled to dispose divided bill handling mechanisms inside and outside a protective cabinet and connect the divided transfer means to each other, bills remain around the transfer path connecting means sometimes. In such a case, the remaining bills or a bill guide, which is a part of the transfer path connecting means, is often damaged when the unit that includes one of the divided bill transfer means is pulled out from the machine so as to remove any jammed bill.  
           [0005]    Under such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bill handling machine that can protect bills and such the bill guides that are structural components of the transfer path connecting means from damages when the unit that includes one of the divided transfer means is pulled out from the machine.  
           [0006]    And, in order to attain the above object, the bill handling machine of the present invention includes bill transfer means that is divided into two units so that one of the divided units is provided inside a protective cabinet (safe cabinet) and the other is provided outside the protective cabinet; and transfer path connecting means provided between those divided bill transfer means, so that the unit that includes one of the bill transfer means is pulled out vertically to the direction in which bills are transferred. The transfer path connecting means is provided with a pair of guides that can be opened and closed respectively. And, the unit to be pulled out is provided with a first projection and the other guide is provided with a second projection, which is located at a position where one guide comes in contact with the first projection of the other guide that is pressed so as to open by a spring or the like. When the unit is pulled out/inserted from/into the machine, the first projection limits the position of the second projection, thereby allowing the opening/closing of the guide to be controlled.  
           [0007]    Because the guide is pressed by a spring or the like so as to open and the guide is limited in position such way, opening/closing of the guide is controlled. The pair of guides, when connected to each other via a gear, can also be controlled so as to open/close together.  
           [0008]    In addition, according to whether the unit is pulled out to the front or the rear of the machine, it is possible to change the position where the first projection is to be provided and one of the second projections provided at the pair of guides in the transfer path connecting means and used at that time. Consequently, the pair of guides can be opened/closed properly.  
           [0009]    Because the machine is composed in such way, it is possible to prevent bills remaining around the transfer path connecting means and the opening/closing guides from damages. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an appearance of an embodiment of an automatic cash handling machine to which the present invention is applied;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a control system of a control system of a bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a side view of the structure according to an embodiment of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining a control relation of an embodiment of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIGS. 5A to  5 C are illustrations of structures concerning the operator&#39;s controllability of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIGS. 6A to  6 F are views of concrete embodiments for a connecting transfer path (transfer path connecting means) according to the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIGS. 7A to  7 C are expanded views for easier understanding of the actions of the first and second projections and the opening/closing guides A and B shown in FIG. 6A through FIG. 6C; and  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a structure of a connecting portion where the connecting transfer path (transfer path connecting means) is connected to an upper bill transfer mechanism. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]    Hereunder, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an appearance of an embodiment of an automatic cash handling machine according to the present invention.  
         [0020]    An automatic cash handling machine  101  is housed in a machine cabinet  101 ′. In a left side inside the case  101 ′ are provided a card/detail slip processing mechanism  102  communicated with a card slot  102   a  located at a top front panel  101   a  and enabled to process customer cards and print out transaction detail slips, then discharge the slips; and a customer panel  105  enabled to display and enter contents of each transaction. In the right side inside the machine is provided a bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  that processes bills. And, a bill slot  20   a  is provided at the top-inclined front board  101   b.    
         [0021]    The lower bill stacker of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  is housed in a safe cabinet  106  composed of an iron plate of a few tens of millimeters in thickness separately from the machine cabinet  101 ′. Although the machine cabinet  101 ′ is strong in structure, the safe cabinet  106  is structured more strongly so as to improve the security. This automatic cash handling machine  101  enables users to deposit, withdraw, and transfer money with use of cards, bills, and detail slips.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a control relation of an embodiment of the automatic cash handling machine  101 . As described above, the card/detail slip processing mechanism  102 , the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1 , and the customer panel  105  housed in the automatic cash handling machine  101  are connected to a main controller  107  via a bus  107   a  so as to enable the customers to execute necessary operations under the control of the controller  107 .  
         [0023]    In addition to the above items, the controller  107  is also connected to an interface unit  107   b,  an operator panel  107   c,  and an external memory  107   d  via the bus  107   a  so as to send/receive necessary data. Reference number  108  in FIG. 2 denotes a power unit that supplies a power to each of the components of the machine  101 .  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 is a side view showing a configuration of an embodiment of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  in FIG. 1. The bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  is composed of a depositing/withdrawing port  20  that enables users to deposit/withdraw bills; a bill checker  30  for checking bills; a temporary stacker  40  for holding deposited bills until the transaction is established; a depositing cassette  60  for holding bills after the depositing transaction is established; a withdrawing cassette  70  for holding bills to be withdrawn; two recycling cassette  80  used for both depositing and withdrawing respectively; a loading/collecting cassette  81  for holding bills to be replenished in the recycling cassette  80  and collected from the two recycling saves; a bill transfer path  50  for transferring bills to the depositing/withdrawing port  20 , the temporary stacker  40 , the depositing cassette  60 , the withdrawing cassette  70 , the recycling cassettes  80 , and the loading/collecting cassette  81  respectively via the bill checker  30 ; and a controller (not shown).  
         [0025]    In the above example, while the bill depositing/withdrawing port  20  is composed so as to be used as both a depositing port and a withdrawing port, it is not necessarily composed such way; the depositing port for transferring bills deposited by customers into the machine may be provided separately from the withdrawing port for holding bills to be withdrawn by customers.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4 is a controlling block diagram for explaining a control relation of an embodiment of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1 . As shown in FIG. 4, the controller  10  of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  is connected to the main controller  107  of the automatic cash handling machine  101  via the bus  107   a,  so that the controller  10  controls the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  according to the instruction from the main controller  107  and the detected state of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1 . The controller  10  also sends the state of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  to the main controller  107  via the bus  107   a  as needed. In addition, in the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1 , the controller  10  is connected to the driving motor, the electromagnetic solenoid, and the sensor (not shown) of each unit (depositing/withdrawing port  20 ; bill checker  30 ; temporary stacker  40 ; bill transfer path  50 ; depositing cassette  60 ; withdrawing cassette  70 ; recycling cassettes  80 ; and loading/collecting cassette  81 ), so that the controller  10  controls driving of an actuator for each transaction while monitoring the state of the unit via the sensor.  
         [0027]    The bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1 , as shown in FIG. 3, is composed of an upper bill mechanism  1   a  and a lower bill mechanism  1   b.  The upper bill mechanism  1   a  is composed of a depositing/withdrawing port  20 ; a bill checker  30 ; a temporary stacker  40 ; and a bill transfer path  50 . The lower bill mechanism  1   b  is composed of a depositing cassette  60 ; a withdrawing cassette  70 ; two recycling cassettes  80 ; a loading/collecting cassette  81 ; and a transfer path  90  disposed in front of each bill stacker.  
         [0028]    Furthermore, the lower bill mechanism  1   b  is housed in a cassette cabinet (protective cabinet)  106  made of an iron plate having a thickness of about 50 mm. The (upper) transfer path of the upper bill mechanism  1   a  and the (lower) transfer path of the lower bill mechanism  1   b  are connected to each other via a connecting transfer path (transfer path connecting means)  540 , so that bills are transferred between the upper and lower bill mechanisms  1   a  and  1   b  via the connecting transfer path  540 .  
         [0029]    More concretely, the connecting transfer path  540  is built in the top iron plate of the cassette cabinet (protective cabinet)  106  in which the lower bill mechanism  1   b  is housed at a place where the transfer path  501   i  of the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is connected to the transfer path  901   a  of the lower bill mechanism  1   b  as shown in FIG. 3. The slit opened at the top iron plate is sized enough to pass bills and equally to the width of the transfer roller attached so as to pinch and transfer bills passed through the slit.  
         [0030]    The driving source (motor) of the transfer path may be provided at the (upper) transfer path of the upper bill mechanism  1   a  and at the (lower) transfer path of the lower bill mechanism  1   b  separately. However, it is also possible to use a single driving source for transmitting a driving power to each of the transfer paths with use of a gear provided in the transfer paths  501   i,    540 , and  901   a  respectively.  
         [0031]    The bill transfer path  50  that passes through both sides of the bill checker  30  is connected to the depositing/withdrawing port  20 ; the temporary stacker  40 ; the depositing cassette  60 ; the withdrawing cassette  70 ; the recycling cassettes  80 ; and the loading/collecting cassette  81  via the transfer paths denoted by arrows  501   a  to  501   h  and arrows  901   a  to  901   e.  Each one-way arrow denotes a one-way bill transfer path for transferring bills only in that direction and each two-way arrow denotes a two-way transfer path switchable in any of the two directions in which bills are transferred in each transaction. In this embodiment, all the transfer paths are two-way paths, since the bill handling machine is used for depositing and withdrawing bills. When the bill handling machine is used only for withdrawing bills, however, those transfer paths may be one-way paths.  
         [0032]    Furthermore, at each branch of the bill transfer path  50  are provided two selector gates  502  and  503 , as well as other five selector gates  902 . Each gate is positioned at a or b at each processing so as to select a bill transfer direction. With such the configuration employed for the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1 , each user is enabled to deposit/withdraw bills while the operator is enabled to load/collect bills.  
         [0033]    At first, a depositing processing for the automatic cash handling machine will be described. When a user deposits bills through the depositing/withdrawing port  20 , the bills are separated one by one and each bill is checked for both type and authenticity in the bill checker  30 . Each bill checked by the bill checker  30  is transferred through the selector gate  503  positioned appropriately to the bill type and held in the temporary stacker  40 .  
         [0034]    A bill, when it is rejected by the bill checker  30  because of an error (abnormally eccentric, abnormal spacing (bills are stacked on top of one another)), is not transferred into the temporary stacker  40 , but it is returned to the depositing/withdrawing port  20  through the selector gate  503  positioned in accordance with the rejection. The user is thus requested to take the rejected bill from the port  20 .  
         [0035]    When the depositing processing is established, the bills held in the temporary stacker  40  are transferred in the reverse direction in the reverse order they are held there to pass the bill checker  30 . Each bill, which passes the bill checker  30 , goes through the selector gate  502  positioned so as to select the direction  502   a  into the specified safe through the gate  903  of any of the depositing cassette  60 , the recycling cassettes  80 , and the rejection cassette  90 . The selector gate  903  is positioned so as to select the direction  903   b  at this time. This completes the depositing processing.  
         [0036]    Next, a withdrawing processing will be described. A withdrawing processing begins first with unloading the predetermined number of bills from the safe of each bill type provided in the withdrawing cassette  70  and the recycle cassettes  80  respectively. The bills are then transferred to the bill checker  30  and checked for bill type respectively. Then, the selector gate  503  is positioned so as to transfer the checked bills towards the depositing/withdrawing port. The bills, when passing the bill checker  30 , are held at the depositing/withdrawing port  20  so that the user can take them by opening the upper shutter of the slot  20   a.  When the user picks up the bills from the port  20 , the withdrawing processing is terminated.  
         [0037]    Next, processings for loading and collecting bills in/from the recycling cassettes  80  will be described. Loading and collecting of bills are done by transferring bills among the loading/collecting cassette  81 , the temporary stacker  40 , and the recycle cassettes  80 .  
         [0038]    At first, loading of bills will be done as follows. Bills are set in the loading/collecting cassette  81  at a time, then they are held in the recycle cassettes  80  automatically in the machine. A collecting processing is done so as to collect the predetermined number of bills from the recycle cassettes  80 , then load them in the loading/collecting cassette  81  automatically, for example, when the recycle cassettes  80  become full. Collecting of bills is thus done in the reverse order of the loading of bills.  
         [0039]    This completes the description of the basic processings of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1 . This bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  is installed in the right side in the automatic cash handling machine  101  as shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0040]    Next, a configuration of the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A to  5 C with respect to the controllability from the viewpoint of the operator. The automatic cash handling machine  101  in this embodiment can take any of the configuration for doing maintenance from the front side of the machine  101  (front side operation type) and the configuration for doing maintenance from the rear side (rear side operation type). In any configuration, the upper and lower bill mechanisms  1   a  and  1   b  can be installed in and removed from the machine  101  as needed with use of an employed sliding mechanism such as a sliding rail or the like. While both of the upper and lower bill mechanisms  1   a  and  1   b  are installed and removed such way in this embodiment, this embodiment is not limited to this and the present invention also enables just one of the mechanisms  1   a  and  1   b  to be removed.  
         [0041]    When a maintenance work is done for the upper bill mechanism  1   a  from the front side of the machine  101  (front side operation type), a lock mechanism (not shown) is reset from the front side of the machine  101 , then the surface-inclined top panel  101   b  is raised so as to open as shown in FIG. 5A, then the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is pulled out from the machine  101  towards the front side along the sliding rail mechanism  151 . Thus, the maintenance work is enabled.  
         [0042]    A maintenance work for the lower bill mechanism  1   b  can be done as follows. The lock mechanism (not shown) is reset so as to open the front door  101   c  of the machine  101 . Then, the front door  106   a  of the cassette cabinet  106  is opened by unlocking the lock (not shown). After this, the lower bill mechanism  1   b  is pulled out to this side from the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  along the sliding rail mechanism  152 . Now, the maintenance work can be done.  
         [0043]    When a maintenance work is done from the rear side of the machine  101  (rear side operation type), the lock mechanism (not shown) is reset from the rear side as shown in FIG. 5B, then the rear door  101   d  of the machine  101  is opened. After this, the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is pulled out from the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  along the sliding rail mechanism  151  as shown in FIG. 5C. Now, the maintenance work can be done.  
         [0044]    Furthermore, the lock (not shown) of the rear door  106   b  of the cassette cabinet  106  is unlocked so as to open it, then the lower bill mechanism  1   b  is pulled out from the depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  along the sliding rail mechanism  152 . Now, the maintenance work can be done.  
         [0045]    As described above, the bill depositing/withdrawing mechanism  1  in this embodiment is enabled for any of the front side operation configuration that enables maintenance from the front side and the rear side operation configuration that enables maintenance from the rear side of the machine  101 .  
         [0046]    [0046]FIGS. 6A to  6 F show a concrete example of the connecting transfer path (transfer path connecting means)  540  in this embodiment with respect to an operation for returning the removed upper bill mechanism  1   a  to the reference position. FIG. 6A through FIG. 6C show how the upper bill mechanism  1   a,  which has been pulled out for a maintenance work, is slid in the direction of the arrow  601  and returned to the reference position  610  from the rear side of the machine  101 .  
         [0047]    Here, a description will be made first for the structure of the connecting portion between the connecting transfer path (transfer path connecting means)  540  and the upper bill mechanism  1   a  with reference to FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, an end portion of each transfer guide  605  is formed like a comb at the connecting portion of the upper bill mechanism  1   a.  The transfer guides  605  are provided at both sides of the transfer path in the upper bill mechanism  1   a.  And, a first projection  602  is fixed to the end portion of each transfer guide  605  with screws, etc. The fixing position of the first projection  602  is varied according to whether the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is pulled out towards the front side or rear side of the machine  101 . When the mechanism  1   a  is pulled out towards the front side, the first projection  602  is fixed to the position denoted by a solid line in FIG. 8. When the mechanism  1   a  is pulled out towards the rear side, the first projection is fixed to the position denoted by a dotted line in FIG. 8.  
         [0048]    The connecting transfer path (transfer path connecting means)  540  is provided with comb-like opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  to be engaged with the right and left comb-like transfer guides  605  respectively. The opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  are enabled to rotate around an axis respectively. Usually, each of the guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  is pressed to open by such an elastic mechanism as a spring.  
         [0049]    The guide A  603   a  is provided with a second projection  6071  at a place where the guide A  603   a  comes in contact with the first projection  602 . The guide B  603   b  is provided with a second projection  6072  denoted by a dotted line in FIG. 8 at a place where the guide B  603   b  comes in contact with the first projection  602  whose position is changed to a position denoted by a dotted line as described above so as to enable the upper bill mechanism  1   a  to be inserted from the other direction (for example, from the front side of the machine  101 ).  
         [0050]    When the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is inserted into the machine  101  from one direction, the first projection  602  presses the second projection  6071  to come in contact with a guide. For example, when the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is installed from the rear side of the machine  101 , the first projection  602  located this side in FIG. 8 is pressed against the transfer path by the second projection  6071  provided at the opening/closing guide  603   a  located at the rear side of the machine  101 , thereby the projection  602  rotates counter-clockwise around the axis. On the contrary, when the mechanism  1   a  is installed from the front side of the machine  101 , the second projection  6072  provided at the opening/closing guide  603   b  located at the front side of the machine  101  is pressed against the transfer path by the first projection  602  located at the other side in FIG. 8, thereby the projection  6072  rotates clockwise around the axis. When the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is slid, therefore, the opening/closing guides  603   a  and  603   b,  against the spring elastic powers, come to be engaged with the transfer guides  605  of the upper bill mechanism.  
         [0051]    Although not shown in FIG. 8, the guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  are connected to each other via a gear (see  606  in FIGS. 6A to  6 F) so as to open together in this embodiment. Consequently, due to this configuration, when one opening/closing guide ( 603   a  or  603   b ) is pressed, two opening/closing guides  603   a  and  603   b  can be engaged together with the transfer guides  605  of the upper bill mechanism.  
         [0052]    Next, a description will be made for an operation for returning the pulled-out upper bill mechanism  1   a  to the reference position with reference to FIGS. 6A to  6 F. FIG. 7A through FIG. 7C are expanded views of the first projection  602 , the second projection  6071 , the opening/closing guide A  603   a,  and the opening/closing guide B  603   b  shown in FIG. 6A through FIG. 6C so as to make it easier to understand the above operation.  
         [0053]    In FIGS. 6A to  6 F or  7 A to  7 C, the opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  are different from each other in length. This is because the transfer guides  605  of the upper bill mechanism  1   a,  to be engaged with them respectively, are also different from each other in length. Concretely, the transfer guide  605  to be engaged with the guide B  603   b  is provided with the function of a selector gate for selecting a direction of the two-way transfer described above. The transfer guide  605  thus rotates to a position denoted by a dotted line in FIG. 6A according to the selected transfer direction. And, one of the transfer guides  605  is formed shorter than the other so as not to come in contact with other peripheral members when the transfer guide  605  rotates.  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 6A and FIG. 7A show how the upper bill mechanism  1   a,  which is pulled out to the rear side of the machine  101 , is pushed into the machine  101  (rear side operation type). In this case, the first projection  602  of the upper bill mechanism  1   a  presses the second projection  6071  of the opening/closing guide A  603   a,  thereby the opening/closing guide A  603   a  is rotated in the direction of the arrow  604   a  (see FIG. 6B/FIG. 7B). As described above, the opening/closing guide A  603   a  is connected to the opening/closing guide B  603   b  via the gear  606 , so that the guide A  603   a  is rotated in the direction of the arrow  604   b  (see FIG. 6B/FIG. 7B).  
         [0055]    When the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is further pushed in, the opening/closing guide A  603   a  is closed and connected to the right transfer guide  605  provided in the upper bill mechanism  1   a.  Then, the opening/closing guide B  603   b  ganged with the opening/closing guide A  603   a  via the gear  606  is also connected to the left transfer guide  605  provided in the upper bill mechanism  1   a.  FIG. 6C and FIG. 7C show how the opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  are connected to the right and left transfer guides  605 . Because the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is connected to the connecting transfer path such way, loaded bills are transferred along a transfer belt  611 .  
         [0056]    [0056]FIG. 6D through FIG. 6F show how the upper bill mechanism  1   a,  which is pulled out to the front side of the machine  101 , is pushed into the machine  101  from the front side (front side operation type). The operation states as shown in FIG. 6D through FIG. 6F are the same as those shown in FIG. 6A through FIG. 6C except that the upper bill mechanism  1   a  is pushed into the machine from the front side. The description for the operation states will thus be omitted here. In the case of the operations shown in FIG. 6D through FIG. 6F, the fixing position of the first projection  602  must be changed from that shown in FIG. 6A through FIG. 6C. And, in this case, the second projection  6072  fixed to the opening/closing guide B  603   b  is used as shown in FIG. 6D through FIG. 6F.  
         [0057]    While a description is made for pushing the upper bill mechanism  1   a  up to the reference position  610  in the above embodiment, the lower bill mechanism  1   b  can also be pushed up to the reference position  610  in the same way, since a pair of guides to be opened/closed by the springs are also provided at the bottom face of the connecting transfer path (transfer path connecting means)  540 .  
         [0058]    Furthermore, the upper bill mechanism  1   a  or lower bill mechanism  1   b  pushed up to the reference position  610  in the machine  101  is pulled out from the machine  101  in the order as shown in “FIG. 6C or FIG. 7C”→“FIG. 6B or FIG. 7B”→“FIG. 6A or FIG. 7A” or FIG. 6F→FIG. 6E→FIG. 6D.  
         [0059]    As apparent from the above description, when the upper bill mechanism  1   a  or lower bill mechanism  1   b  is pulled out from the machine  101  (from the front side or rear side of the machine  101 ), no bill is broken and/or the opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  are prevented from damages even when a bill remains (jams) around the connecting transfer path (transfer path connecting means)  540 , since the opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  are pressed so as to open by springs, etc., thereby those guides A and B are opened step by step as the mechanism  1   a / 1   b  is pulled out.  
         [0060]    While both of the opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  are provided in the above embodiment, so that both of the guides A and B are opened when a unit is pulled out from the machine  101 , the present invention is not limited only to that configuration; it is also possible to use only one guide.  
         [0061]    Furthermore, while the opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  are different from each other in length in the above embodiment, those guides A and B may be equal in length, for example, when the transfer path is not two-way, when none of the transfer guides has a selector gate function, and when there is provided a space enough for enabling the selector gate to rotate. The present invention can apply even to such the case, of course.  
         [0062]    Furthermore, when a transfer guide to be engaged with an opening/closing guide A  603   a /B  603   b  is protruded from the unit, only one of the opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  may be opened so as to remove/install the unit. Concretely, the unit is installed while only the longer opening/closing guides A  603   a  is opened and the shorter opening/closing guide B  603   b  is closed. This is because no problem arises from the sliding of the unit even when the shorter opening/closing guide B  603   b  is closed in the case where the transfer guides are protruded from the unit. However, the unit is removed/installed only from the side where the longer opening/closing guide A  603   a  is located, that is, the guide to be opened is located. In this case, the gear used to connect opening/closing guides A and B to each other in the above embodiment may be omissible. And, as described above, when the opening/closing guides A  603   a  and B  603   b  are equal in length, any of the guides A and B may be closed, of course.  
         [0063]    According to the present invention, therefore, it is possible to prevent bills from jams around the transfer path connecting means used to connect divided bill transfer means, as well as prevent any of the divided transfer means and guides that are members of the transfer path connecting means from damages when any of the divided transfer means is pulled out from the machine for maintenance.