Patent Publication Number: US-6712219-B2

Title: Bill receiving and dispensing device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a bill receiving and dispensing device incorporated into an automatic teller machine, and particularly to a technique for replenishment, collecting, and changing of bills in a bill receiving and dispensing device. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In recent years, automatic teller machines are installed in convenience stores or the like. Customers can easily carry out a deposit or withdrawal transaction, a transfer transaction, and the like using the automatic teller machine without going to any branch offices of a banking facility, which contributes to improvement in convenience. 
     FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional bill receiving and dispensing device incorporated into such an automatic teller machine. In FIG. 9, reference numeral  51  denotes a housing of the device, and reference numeral  52  denotes a door provided at the front side of the housing  51 . Reference numerals  53  and  54  each denote a bill accommodation box for respective types of bills, for example, a bill accommodation tray for 1,000-yen bills and a bill accommodation tray for 10,000-yen bills, in which bills for being received and dispensed are accommodated. 
     In the above-described structure, when replenishment or collecting of bills for the bill accommodation boxes  53  and  54  is performed, first, locking of the door  52  is released using a special key. 
     The door  52  is opened and the bill accommodation boxes  53  and  54  are pulled out from the housing  51  toward an operator. Bills for replenishment are supplied in the bill accommodation boxes  53  and  54  and bills for collecting are taken out from the bill accommodation boxes  53  and  54 . Thereafter, the bill accommodation boxes  53  and  54  are pushed in into the housing  51  and the door  52  is closed and locked. 
     However, the above-described conventional device has the problem that even in a case of replenishment and collecting of a small amount of bills, it is necessary to open the door of the housing, pull out the bill accommodation boxes, and push in the bill accommodation boxes into the housing after replenishment or collecting of bills, which causes troublesome operation and increases the burden on the operator. 
     Further, the bill accommodation boxes are pulled out from the front side of the device. Therefore, cash is exposed to the customer&#39;s eye in a store such as a convenience store, which is not preferable from the standpoint of security. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to realize a bill receiving and dispensing device which can solve the above-described problems. 
     In order to achieve the above-described object, the first aspect of the present invention is a bill receiving and dispensing device in which at the time of replenishment of bills, a bill cassette, in which a fixed number of sheets of bills can be accommodated, is set at an inlet/outlet opening, the bills within the bill cassette are inserted into the device, and the inserted bills are accommodated in bill accommodation boxes for respective types of bills. 
     The second aspect of the present invention is a bill receiving and dispensing device in which at the time of collecting bills, a bill cassette, in which a fixed number of sheets of bills can be accommodated, is set at an inlet/outlet opening and bills drawn out from bill accommodation boxes for respective types of bills, are accommodated in the bill cassette. 
     The third aspect of the present invention is a bill receiving and dispensing device in which at the time of changing bills, a bill cassette, in which bills to be changed can be accommodated, is set at an inlet/outlet opening, the bills within the bill cassette are inserted into the device, and the inserted bills are accommodated in a corresponding bill accommodation box, and bills drawn out from another bill accommodation box are accommodated in the bill cassette. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of a bill cassette shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view of an inlet/outlet opening shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of the inlet/outlet opening shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing replenishment processing of bills. 
     FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing collecting processing of bills. 
     FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing changing processing of bills. 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a principal portion showing a second embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional device. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the attached drawings, embodiments of a bill receiving and dispensing device according to the present invention will be described. 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of a bill cassette used in the first embodiment and FIGS. 3 and 4 are a plan view and a front view, respectively, of an inlet/outlet opening in the first embodiment. 
     In these drawings, reference numerals  1  and  2  respectively denote a housing body of the device and a bill (note) inlet/outlet opening provided at an upper portion on the front side of the housing body  1 . 
     Reference numerals  3  and  4  are a conveying path unit and a separating and taking-in portion, respectively. The conveying path unit  3  (which will generally be called simply the “conveying path  3 ” for the rest of this description) and the separating and taking-in portion are provided within the housing body  1 . 
     The conveying path  3  is comprised of an endless belt disposed so that an upper portion and a lower portion of the belt face each other in a vertical direction, and rollers for supporting the belt, and the like. In the conveying path  3 , bills are conveyed between the inlet/outlet opening  2  and the separating and taking-in portion  4  while being nipped. 
     The separating and taking-in portion  4  is formed by a plurality of rollers, and the like. The separating and taking-in portion  4  serves to separate bills, which have been conveyed together by the conveying path  3  from the inlet/outlet opening  2  at the time of receiving (deposit) or replenishment of bills, one by one by cooperative movement of the plurality of rollers, and convey the bills to a discriminating portion, which will be described later. The separating and taking-in portion  4  also serves to take in bills conveyed via the discriminating portion at the time of dispensing (withdrawal) or collecting of bills, and accumulate the bills between facing portions of the belt in the conveying path  3 . 
     Reference numeral  5  denotes the discriminating portion in which the genuineness of each bill, the kind of each bill, and the like are determined, abnormality in conveying of bills is detected, and counting of bills is carried out. Reference numeral  6  denotes a temporary accumulating portion, reference numerals  7  and  8  each denote a bill accommodation box for respective types of bills, and reference numerals  9   a  to  9   e  each denote a conveying path for conveying bills. The separating and taking-in portion  4 , the discriminating portion  5 , the temporary accumulating portion  6 , and the bill accommodation boxes  7  and  8  are connected by the conveying paths  9   a  to  9   e.    
     Reference numeral  10  denotes a door provided at the front side of the housing body  1 . 
     Reference numeral  11  denotes a bill cassette. The bill cassette  11  includes an upper cover  13  which opens and closes by swinging around a shaft  12  provided at a rear end of the cassette, as shown in FIG. 2. A tray  14  is provided at a bottom side of the bill cassette  11  so as to be movable in forward and backward directions, and bills are placed in the cassette  11  with the upper cover  13  opened, and set on the tray  14 . 
     A guide shaft  15  is supported along forward and backward directions at the inner side of the upper cover  13 , and a moving body  17  having a knob  16  is mounted on the guide shaft  15 . The knob  16  protrudes outside of the upper cover  13  and is operated by operator&#39;s fingers or the like. 
     Further, the moving body  17  is formed so as to be engageable with the rear end of the tray  14  when the upper cover  13  is closed. A compression spring  18  is provided at a leading end of the guide shaft  15  so as to return the knob  16  with the moving body  17  to an initial position A. 
     Moreover, a swingable lid body  19  which closes an inlet/outlet opening for bills is provided at the leading end of the bill cassette  11 . 
     The lid body  19  is locked by a mechanism (not shown) when the bill cassette  11  is not set at the inlet/outlet opening  2 . When the bill cassette  11  is inserted into the inlet/outlet opening  2 , locking is released. Then, when the bill cassette  11  is pulled out, the lid body  19  is locked again. 
     Locking can be set by a key in the state in which the upper cover  13  is closed. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, a guide groove  21  and a movable guide  22  are provided at each of both sides of the inlet/outlet opening  2  of the housing body  1 . The guide groove  21  guides insertion of the bill cassette  11  and the movable guide  22  guides bills while regulating the position of bills at the inlet/outlet opening  2  at the time of deposit transaction by a customer. 
     The movable guide  22  is supported so as to swing around a shaft  23  disposed at one end thereof as shown in FIG. 2, and is urged by a torsion spring  24  so as to protrude from the inlet/outlet opening  2 . When the bill cassette  11  is inserted into the inlet/outlet opening  2 , the movable guide  22  is pushed by the bill cassette  11  and swings downward so as to retreat from the inlet/outlet opening  2 . 
     Further, a protrusion  25  is formed at the front side of the inlet/outlet opening  2 . When the bill cassette  11  is inserted and set in the inlet/outlet opening  2 , the protrusion  25  is provided so as to push to open the lid body  19  located at the leading end of the bill cassette  11 . A push-in member  26  is disposed at the back side of the inlet/outlet opening  2  and is provided so as to push in bills on the conveying path  3  into the bill cassette  11  at the time of collecting or the like of bills. 
     The push-in member  26  is formed into, for example, a substantially L-shaped configuration, and is movable, by a mechanism (not shown) including a driving source such as a motor, in upward and downward directions and forward and backward directions. During a normal operation, the push-in member  26  is placed in a waiting state at the upper side. 
     Next, operation of the above-described structure will be described. 
     FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing bill replenishment processing. 
     First, when a replenishment button of an operation indicating portion (not shown) is pressed by an operator (S 1 ), a shutter provided at the inlet/outlet opening  2  is opened. Therefore, the bill cassette  11 , in which a fixed number of sheets (for example, 50 sheets) are set, is inserted into the inlet/outlet opening  2  along the guide grooves. 
     Accompanied with the insertion of the bill cassette  11 , the movable guides  22  are pushed by the bill cassette  11 , and retreat into the housing body  1  in such a manner as to swing around the shaft  23 . When the bill cassette  11  is inserted to a predetermined position, the lid body  19  abuts against the protrusion  25  and is pushed to open. As a result, the bill cassette  11  is brought into a state of being set at the inlet/outlet opening  2  (S 2 ). 
     When the knob  16  is pushed by fingers toward the front side, that is, in the direction indicated by arrow B in FIG. 2 from the above-described state, the moving body  17  moves along the guide shaft  15  integrally with the knob  16 , and the tray  14  engaged with the moving body  17  also moves to push the rear end of a bundle of bills set in the cassette  11 . Therefore, the bills are inserted into the housing body  1  (S 3 ). 
     When the leading end of the bundle of bills is detected by a sensor (not shown), the bills are nipped together by the conveying path  3  and conveyed until the leading end thereof reaches the separating and taking-in portion  4 . 
     The position at which the bills have reached the separating and taking-in portion  4 , is set as a separation and accumulation position. Thereafter, the conveying path  3  is opened and the bills are released from the state of being nipped thereby. 
     When the bills thus come out from the bill cassette  11 , an instruction for prompting to pull out the bill cassette  11  is displayed in the operation indicating portion. When the operator pulls out the bill cassette  11  from the inlet/outlet opening  2  based on the above-described instruction (S 4 ), this state is detected by a detecting means such as a sensor and a micro-switch (which are both not shown) provided at the inlet/outlet opening  2 , and the shutter is closed. 
     The bills are separated by the separating and taking-in portion  4  one by one and conveyed by the conveying path  9   a  to the discriminating portion  5  in which the genuineness of each bill, the kind thereof, and the like are determined, and abnormality in conveying bills is detected (S 5 ). Based on the determination and the like, it is determined whether each bill is a reject bill (S 6 ). 
     Bills which are not reject bills, that is, bills which are genuine and of which kinds are determined, are counted and conveyed by the conveying paths  9   b  and  9   c  to the temporary accumulating portion  6  in which the bills are temporarily accumulated. 
     Subsequently, it is determined whether there is any more bill in the separating and taking-in portion  4  (S 7 ). When there exist bills therein, the bills are conveyed to the discriminating portion  5  and processed in the same manner as described above. 
     On the other hand, when in the above-described step S 5  it is determined that a bill is a reject bill, for example, a false bill (green goods), or that abnormality in conveying bills is detected, the conveying path  9   a  is driven in a reverse direction and the reject bill is conveyed to the separating and taking-in portion  4 . Thereafter, the reject bill is taken in by the separating and taking-in portion  4  at the separation and accumulation position. 
     At this time, when a bill exists at the separation and accumulation position, the reject bill is placed on top of the bill previously located thereat. 
     Thereafter, the bills located at the separation and accumulation position are nipped by the conveying path  3  and conveyed to the inlet/outlet opening  2 . Then, the shutter is opened and the bills are returned to the operator (S 8 ). 
     Further, the returned bills may be set again in the bill cassette  11  and processed in the above-described steps S 1  to S 7 . 
     When bills located at the separation and accumulation position are all processed and counting thereof is completed, the result of counting is displayed on an image plane of the operation indicating portion, and it is determined whether the result has been confirmed based on pressing (touching) of a confirmation key or a cancel key on the image plane (S 9 ). 
     When the operator views the display of the result of counting and presses the confirmation key, it is determined the result has been confirmed and the bills temporarily accumulated in the temporary accumulating portion  6  are conveyed by the conveying paths  9   c  and  9   d  to the discriminating portion  5  in which the kind of each bill is determined. 
     After the above determination, the bills are conveyed by the conveying path  9   e  and accommodated in the bill accommodation boxes  7  and  8  in accordance with the result of the determination of the kind of each bill. For example, 1,000-yen bills are accommodated in the bill accommodation box  7  and 10,000-yen bills are accommodated in the bill accommodation box  8  (S 10 ), and the processing ends. 
     On the other hand, when the operator views the display of the result of counting and presses the cancel key, the bills temporarily accumulated in the temporary accumulating portion  6  are conveyed sequentially along the conveying paths  9   c ,  9   b , and  9   a  and taken in by the separating and taking-in portion  4  and accumulated at the separation and accumulation position. Thereafter, the bills are nipped by the conveying path  3  and conveyed to the inlet/outlet opening  2 . Then, the shutter is opened and the bills are returned to the operator, and the processing ends (S 11 ). 
     FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing collecting processing of bills. 
     First, a collecting button in the operation indicating portion (not shown) is pressed down by the operator (S 1 ). 
     As a result, the shutter provided at the inlet/outlet opening  2  is opened and the bill cassette  11  in an empty state is inserted into the inlet/outlet opening  2  along the guide grooves. 
     Accompanied with the insertion of the cassette, the movable guides  22  are pushed by the bill cassette  11  and retreat into the housing body  1  by swinging around the respective shafts  23 . 
     When the bill cassette  11  is inserted to the predetermined position, the lid body  19  abuts against the protrusion  25  and is pushed to open, and the bill cassette  11  is brought into a state of being set at the inlet/outlet opening  2  (S 2 ). 
     The state in which the bill cassette  11  is set, is detected by a sensor (not shown) provided at the inlet/outlet opening  2 . 
     Subsequently, when the kind of bills is specified by the operator&#39;s operating the operation indicating portion, bills corresponding to the specified kind are drawn out from the bill accommodation box  7  or  8  and conveyed by the conveying path  9   e  to the discriminating portion  5  (S 3 ). 
     After the determination of the kind of each bill, or the like is carried out in the discriminating portion  5 , normal bills are conveyed by the conveying path  9   a  to the separating and taking-in portion  4  and taken in and accumulated at the separation and accumulation position. 
     When a predetermined number (for example, 50) of sheets of bills is accumulated at the separation and accumulation position, the bills are nipped by the conveying path  3  and conveyed to the inlet/outlet opening  2 . 
     The bill cassette  11  is set at the inlet/outlet opening  2 , and therefore, the bills are pushed into the cassette  11  by the conveying path  3  from the end of the bill cassette  11 . However, the conveying path  3  cannot push the bills further than a predetermined position. The conveying path  3  merely can convey the bills to the predetermined position which is located at right side in FIG.  1 . Therefore, when a trailing end of the bills at this time in the direction in which the bills are conveyed, is detected by a sensor (not shown), the push-in member  26  moves downward and further moves the bills toward the inlet/outlet opening  2  (toward the inside of the cassette  1 ). 
     Due to the movement of the push-in member  26 , the bills are accommodated in a state of being completely pushed into the bill cassette  11  (S 4 ). 
     Thereafter, the push-in member  26  returns to an original position and an instruction for prompting to remove the bill cassette  11  is displayed in the operation indicating portion. When the bill cassette  11  is drawn out by the operator viewing the instruction (S 5 ), the shutter is closed and the processing ends. 
     As explained in the bill collecting processing, the bills accumulated at the separation and accumulation position can be accommodated in such a manner as to be fed into the bill cassette  11 . Therefore, during the bill replenishment processing explained in FIG. 5, the bill cassette  11  in which reject bills or return bills are accommodated may be drawn out by the operator. 
     FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing change processing of bills. 
     First, when a change button of the operation indicating portion (not shown) is pressed down by the operator (S 1 ), the shutter provided at the inlet/outlet opening  2  is opened, and the bill cassette  11  with bills for change are set therein, is inserted into the inlet/outlet opening  2  along the guide grooves. 
     Accompanied with the insertion of the bill cassette  11 , the movable guides  22  are pushed by the bill cassette  11  and retreat into the housing body  1  by swinging around the respective shafts  23 . 
     When the bill cassette  11  is inserted to the predetermined position, the lid body  19  abuts against the protrusion  25  and is pushed to open, and the bill cassette  11  is brought into a state of being set at the inlet/outlet opening  2  (S 2 ). 
     When the knob  16  is pushed toward the front side, that is, in the direction indicated by arrow B in FIG. 2 from the above-described state, the moving body  17  moves along the guide shaft  15  integrally with the knob  16 , and the tray  14  engaged with the moving body  17  also moves to push the rear end of a bundle of bills set in the cassette  11 . As a result, the bills are inserted into the housing body (S 3 ). 
     When a leading end of the bundle of bills in the direction in which the bills are inserted, is detected by a sensor (not shown), the bills are nipped together by the conveying path  3  and conveyed to a position at which the leading end thereof reaches the separating and taking-in portion  4 , that is, the separation and accumulation position. Thereafter, the conveying path  3  is opened and the bills are released from being nipped thereby. 
     Subsequently, the bills are separated one by one by the separating and taking-in portion  4  and conveyed by the conveying path  9   e  to the discriminating portion  5  in which the genuineness of each bill, the kind thereof, and the like are determined, and abnormality in conveying of bills is detected (S 4 ). Based on the result of the determination and the like, it is determined whether each bill is a reject bill (S 5 ). 
     Bills which are not reject bills, that is, bills which are genuine and of which kind is determined, are counted and conveyed by the conveying path  9   b  and  9   c  to the temporary accumulating portion  6  in which bills are temporarily accumulated. 
     Thereafter, it is determined whether any bill exists in the separating and taking-in portion  4  (S 6 ). If bills exist therein, the bills are conveyed to the discriminating portion  5 , in which the bills are processed in the same manner as described above. 
     On the other hand, when in the above-described step S 5  it is determined that a bill is a reject bill, for example, a false bill (green goods), or that abnormality in conveying bills is detected, the conveying path  9   a  is driven in a reverse direction and the reject bills are conveyed to the separating and taking-in portion  4  and taken in by the separating and taking-in portion  4  at the separation and accumulation position. 
     At this time, when a bill exists at the separation and accumulation position, the reject bill is placed on top of the bill previously located thereat. 
     Thereafter, in the same way as in the case of the collecting operation, the bills located at the separation and accumulation position are accommodated in such a manner as to be fed into the bill cassette  11  by the conveying path  3  and the push-in member  26  (S 7 ). 
     In this case, it is determined by the operator whether the bills accommodated in the bill cassette  11  should be inserted again (S 8 ). When it is determined that the bills should be inserted again, the process returns to step S 3  in which the bills are sent out by pushing the knob  15  toward the front side. 
     When the bills are not reinserted, the bill cassette  11  is once removed from the inlet/outlet opening  2  and bills accommodated in the cassette are taken out therefrom. Thereafter, the bill cassette  11  in an empty state is set again at the inlet/outlet opening  2 . 
     When the bills located at the separation and accumulation position are all processed and counting thereof is completed, the result of counting, the kind of bills for which changing will be made, the number of sheets of bills, and the like are displayed on an image plane of the operation indicating portion. It is determined whether the displayed contents have been confirmed by pressing a confirmation key or a cancel key on the image plane (S 9 ). 
     When the operator views the above-described display and presses the confirmation key, it is determined that the displayed contents have been confirmed, and the bills temporarily accumulated in the temporary accumulating portion  6  are conveyed to the discriminating portion  5  in which the kind of each bill is determined. 
     After the above determination, the bills are conveyed by the conveying path  9   e , and based on the result of the determination of the kind of bills, they are accommodated in the bill accommodation boxes  7  and  8 . For example, when 1,000-yen bills are changed to 10,000-yen bills, the 1,000-yen bills are accommodated in the bill accommodation box  7 . Further, when 10,000-yen bills are changed to 1,000-yen bills, the 10,000-yen bills are accommodated in the bill accommodation box  8 . 
     Subsequently, the bills are drawn out from the bill accommodation box  7  or  8  and conveyed by the conveying path  9   e  to the discriminating portion  5  (S 10 ). 
     After the type of each bill and the like are determined in the discriminating portion  5 , normal bills are conveyed by the conveying path  9   a  to the separating and taking-in portion  4  and taken in by the separating and taking-in portion  4  and accumulated at the separation and accumulation position. 
     When bills which are collected by this changing operation are accumulated at the separation and accumulation position, the bills are sent and accommodated in the bill cassette  11  by the conveying path  3  and the push-in member  26  in the same manner as in the case of the collecting operation (S 11 ). 
     When the operator views the display which shows the result of counting and the like, and presses the cancel key, the bills temporarily accumulated in the temporary accumulating portion  6  are conveyed sequentially along the conveying paths  9   c ,  9   b , and  9   a , and taken in by the separating and taking-in portion  4  and accumulated at the separation and accumulation position. 
     The bills accumulated at the separation and accumulation position are also conveyed to and accommodated in the bill cassette  11  by the conveying path  3  and the push-in member  26  (S 12 ). 
     Thereafter, an instruction for prompting to remove the bill cassette  11  is displayed in the operation indicating portion. When the bill cassette  11  is pulled out by the operator viewing the above display (S 13 ), the shutter is closed and the processing ends. 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a principal portion of a second embodiment of the present invention. 
     In the second embodiment, a shutter operating button  27  and a signal generating means for generating a signal are provided in the bill cassette  11  and a receiving means  28  for receiving a signal is provided at the inlet/outlet opening  2  of the device. In the case of replenishment, collecting, and changing of bills, the shutter operating button  27  of the bill cassette  11  is pressed down to generate a signal from the signal generating means, and the signal is received by the receiving means  28  to allow opening of the shutter  29 . According to this structure, an opening operation of the shutter can be performed promptly. 
     In the above-described embodiments, the bills within the bill cassette  11  are inserted into the device by operating the knob  16  with fingers or the like. However, the bills within the bill cassette  11  can also be automatically inserted into the device. 
     Moreover, the above-described embodiments were each described in a case in which yen bills are processed. The present invention is not limited to the same and can also be applied to a case in which dollar bills or the like are processed. 
     As described above, in the bill receiving and dispensing device of the present invention, at the time of replenishment of bills, a bill cassette in which a fixed number of sheets of bills are accommodated is set at an inlet/outlet opening, the bills within the bill cassette are inserted into the device by a manual operation, and the inserted bills are accommodated in bill accommodation boxes for respective types of bills. Further, at the time of collecting bills, the bill cassette is set at the inlet/outlet opening and bills drawn out from the bill accommodation boxes are accommodated in the bill cassette. 
     According to this structure, replenishment and collecting of bills can be carried out without opening the door of the housing body and pulling out the bill accommodation boxes. As a result, it is possible to obtain an effect in that a complicated operation is eliminated to allow reduction of a burden on an operator. 
     Further, replenishment and collecting of bills are carried out using the bill cassette. Therefore, it is also possible to obtain another effect in that cash is exposed to the public eye and security is thereby excellent. 
     Moreover, changing can also be carried out by utilizing replenishing and collecting functions using the bill cassette. Therefore, if this bill receiving and dispensing device is installed in convenience stores and the like, it is highly convenient for the staff.