Patent Abstract:
Disclosed is an automatic teller machine (ATM) including a clutch device for selectively supplying power to a pick-up roller for extracting banknotes from a banknote storage cassette located within the ATM. The clutch device includes a driving gear rotatably mounted to the frame for receiving the rotational driving force from the drive motor to rotate the plurality of driving rollers, an idle gear engaged with the driving gear for rotating in response the rotational movement of the driving gear, a pick-up roller gear fixedly mounted on a rotating shaft of the pick-up roller and engaged with the idle gear for rotating the pick-up roller and, and a motor control means adapted to allow the idle gear to be engaged with or disengaged from the pick-up roller. Therefore, since the transmission of a rotational driving force to the pick-up roller is performed by means of gears, not friction plates, the control performance of power transmission of the clutch device is uniformly maintained even after use for extended period of time. Also, the pick-up roller can rapidly respond to the power transmission of the clutch device by employing an actuator for allowing the gears to be selectively engaged with or disengaged from each other. Further, extra rotation of the pick-up roller due to rotational inertia thereof is prevented by employing stopping means for exclusively controlling the overall operation of the pick-up roller, thus allowing the pick-up roller to perform the correct extraction of banknotes.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to an automatic teller machine, and more particularly, to an automatic teller machine (hereinafter, referred to as “ATM”) including a clutch device for selectively supplying power to a pick-up roller for extracting banknotes from a banknote storage cassette located within the ATM  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    ATMs are convenient automated banking machines in widespread use which allow a user to easily withdraw or deposit money from or into his or her account anytime. An ATM is constructed such that a banknote storage cassette containing banknotes is installed at a certain location within the machine and a plurality of sets of driving rollers and driven rollers are driven to discharge banknotes stacked within the storage cassette to the outside  
           [0005]    [0005]FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view illustrating a banknote discharging mechanism of a typical ATM. As shown in FIG. 1, the ATM includes a banknote storage cassette  12  detachably mounted to a frame  10  defining an internal space for stacking banknotes therein, a pick-up roller  14  for extracting individual banknotes from the banknote storage cassette located within the ATM, a plurality of sets of driving and driven rollers  18  and  16  for feeding banknotes extracted from the pick-up roller  14  to be discharged to the outside  
           [0006]    The banknote storage cassette  12  is detachably mounted to the frame  10  and is managed such that it is always filled with banknotes. Also, the banknote storage cassette  12  is provided with a banknote extracting port for allowing a banknote to escape therefrom, and a pick-up roller  14  is disposed in front of the banknote extracting port. The pick-up roller  14 , which forms a pair of rollers together with a driven roller  16 , serves to extract banknotes one by one from the banknote storage cassette  12  and begin to feed the extracted banknotes.  
           [0007]    The banknotes extracted by the pick-up roller  14  from the banknote storage cassette  12  are fed through a plurality of sets of driving and driven rollers  18  and  16  and are discharged one by one to the outside. A rotational driving force from a separate drive motor (not shown) is transmitted through a power transmission means such as gears, a belt or the like to a driving shaft for rotating each of the driving rollers  18 .  
           [0008]    In the meantime, the drive motor (not shown) rotates each of the driving rollers  18  and the pick-up rollers  16 . At this time, a clutch device (not shown) is provided between the drive motor and the pick-up roller  14 . The clutch device interrupts or permits transmission of a rotational driving force to the pick-up roller  14  from the drive motor so that a desired number of banknotes can be discharged to the outside. Accordingly, the pick-up roller  14  rotates only during the extraction of banknotes and waits in a stationary state where banknotes are not being extracted.  
           [0009]    For example, in the case where five banknotes are withdrawn, the pick-up roller  14  extracts them from the banknote storage cassette  12  and then must stop its extracting operation. At this time, each of the driving rollers  18  continuously operates irrespective of the stopping of the extracting operation of the pick-up roller  14  and rotates until the fifth banknote extracted from the banknote storage cassette  12  is completely discharged to the outside of the ATM.  
           [0010]    Accordingly, the rotational driving force transmitted to the pick-up roller  14  and the driving rollers  18  from the drive motor must be continuously transmitted to the driving rollers  18  during the discharge of the extracted banknotes, but must not be transmitted to the pick-up roller  14  immediately after the last one of the extracted banknotes is discharged to the outside. For the purpose of carefully controlling the rotational operation of the pick-up roller, a clutch device is installed between the drive motor (not shown) and the pick-up roller  14 .  
           [0011]    However, for a conventional clutch device employing a pair of oppositely faced friction plates, there has been a problem that if the friction plates are worn, performance and reliability of the clutch device are degraded. In addition, if the operation of the clutch device is interrupted in order to stop the pick-up roller  14  after discharge of the last banknote, the pick-up roller  14  is not stopped immediately by virtue of rotational inertia so that an extra banknote may be further extracted to some extent from the banknote storage cassette and then its extraction may be stopped. As a result, in the case where the next user withdraws banknotes from the ATM, the machine may malfunction and there may be a banknote jam due to the extraction of two or more overlapped banknotes between the pick-up roller and the driven roller, or the withdrawing operation may not be performed cleanly.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    To solve the above-described problems, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an automatic teller machine (ATM) including a clutch device in which the control performance of power transmission of the clutch device is no longer degraded even after use for an extended period of time by using gears, rather than friction plates in transmitting rotational driving force to a pickup roller, in which the pick-up roller can rapidly respond to the power transmission by the clutch device by employing an actuator for selectivity engaging or disengaging the gears, and which can prevent undesired extra rotation of a pick-up roller due to ordinary rotational inertia thereof by means of a stopping means for stopping the pick-up roller, to allow the pick-up roller to perform the correct extraction of banknotes.  
           [0013]    In order to accomplish the primary object, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic teller machine (ATM) having a frame for defining an internal space, a banknote storage cassette installed within the frame for containing a plurality of banknotes, a pick-up roller for extracting the plurality of banknotes one by one, a plurality of driving rollers for feeding the banknotes extracted from the banknote storage cassette together with a plurality of driven rollers along a predetermined banknote traveling path to discharge them, the plurality of driving rollers each being rotated by means of a rotational driving force transmitted thereto from a drive motor, and a clutch device for selectively transmitting the rotational driving force generated from the drive motor to the pick-up roller, the clutch device including a driving gear rotatably mounted to the frame for receiving the rotational driving force from the drive motor to rotate the plurality of driving rollers, an idle gear engaged with the driving gear, a pick-up roller gear fixedly mounted on a rotating shaft of the pick-up roller and capable of being engaged with the idle gear for rotating the pick-up roller and, and a motor control means adapted to allow the idle gear to be engaged with or disengaged from the pick-up roller.  
           [0014]    The motor control means may include an actuator laterally and fixedly mounted to the frame and having an actuator rod which operate in response to the external application of electric power thereto, and a support plate rotatably mounted to the frame such that a rotating shaft of the driving gear penetrates the support plate, the support plate supporting the idle gear and the driving gear such that they are engaged with each other and rotate about the rotating shaft of the driving gear in response to a longitudinal movement of the actuator rod so that the idle gear is engaged with or disengaged from the pick-up roller gear.  
           [0015]    Also, the actuator and the support plate are coupled to each other by means of a link member such that the link member is coupled at one end to the actuator rod and at the other end to the upper end portion of the support plate with the other end of the link member having an extended slot formed therein, and a holding projection is formed at the upper end portion of the support plate so that it fits into the slot of the link member.  
           [0016]    Preferably, the support plate includes a first elastic means for providing rotation momentum in a direction in which the idle gear is moved toward the pick-up roller, and a second elastic means for providing rotation momentum in a reverse direction to the direction of the first elastic means.  
           [0017]    Further, the first elastic means is preferably a first tension coil spring disposed in parallel with the link member such that the first tension coil spring is coupled at one end to the actuator rod and at the other end to the support plate so as to provide a tensile force, and the second elastic means is preferably a second tension coil spring fixedly coupled at one end to the lower end of the frame and at the other end to the frame so as to provide a tensile force.  
           [0018]    The support plate may include a stopping means for stopping the pick-up roller gear at the moment when the idle gear is moved away from the pick-up roller gear in response to the rotation of the support plate.  
           [0019]    Also, the stopping means may include a latch gear fixedly mounted on the rotating shaft of the pick-up roller and having a plurality of V-shaped grooves, and a stopper fastened to the support plate, the stopper being moved into engagement with one of the plurality of V-shaped grooves to stop the pick-up roller gear at the moment when the idle gear is moved away from the pick-up roller gear in response to the rotation of the support plate.  
           [0020]    The support plate is preferably composed of a rotatable support plate positioned between the frame and the driving gear, and a cover plate having the same shape as the rotatable support plate and rotatably mounted on the rotating shaft of the driving gear in parallel with the rotatable support plate such that the driving gear and the idle gear are engaged with each other between the rotatable support plate and the cover plate. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]    The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view illustrating a banknote withdrawing mechanism of a conventional ATM;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the construction of a clutch device according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective view illustrating the construction of the clutch device of FIG. 2; and  
         [0025]    [0025]FIGS. 4 through 6 are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of the clutch device within an ATM according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]    Hereinafter, the present invention will be in detail described with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the construction of a clutch device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, there is shown the clutch device  70  of the ATM including an actuator  20 , a rotatable support plate  28  and a cover plate  30 , and a latch gear  32 .  
         [0028]    The actuator  20  is laterally mounted to the outer side wall of a frame  10 . The rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30  are coupled to the actuator  20  and rotate about a rotating shaft  68 . The latch gear  32  is positioned at the lower portion of the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30 . Also, a driving gear  40 , an idle gear  42  (see FIG. 4) and a stopper  46  (see FIG. 3) are disposed between the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30 . The rotational center axis of the latch gear  32  is the rotating shaft of a pick-up roller (not shown) within the frame  10   
         [0029]    The clutch device  70  is basically constructed such that the actuator  20  is driven to transmit a rotational driving force generated by a drive motor (not shown) to a pick-up roller shaft  34  or to interrupt the transmission of the rotational driving force thereto. Accordingly, the clutch device  70  serves to stop the pick-up roller shaft  34  immediately after a desired number of banknotes are completely extracted from a banknote storage cassette.  
         [0030]    The actuator  20  is laterally and fixedly mounted to the frame  10  so that an actuator rod  22  thereof reciprocates in the horizontal direction. The actuator  20 , which is supplied with electric power externally for its own operation, includes a well-known solenoid installed therein and is driven by means of an electromagnetic force generated from the solenoid.  
         [0031]    The rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30  rotate about the rotating shaft  68 , have the same shape, are disposed in parallel with each other, and their upper end portions are coupled to the actuator  20 . Also, the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30  are coupled to each other by means of a holding projection  58  (see FIG. 3) and an idle gear supporting shaft  48  (see FIG. 3). The idle gear  42  (see FIG. 3) is rotatably mounted on the idle gear supporting shaft  48 .  
         [0032]    The rotating shaft  68  receives a rotational driving force from the drive motor (not shown) for rotation, and the driving gear  40  is fixedly mounted on the rotating shaft  68  which penetrates the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30 . That is, the rotating shaft  68  is fastened to the driving gear  40  but is not fastened to the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30 , so that when the rotating shaft  68  rotates, only the driving gear  40  rotates between the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30 .  
         [0033]    The upper portions of the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30  are coupled to each other by means of the holding projection  58 . Also, the holding projection  58  and the actuator rod  22  are coupled to each other by means of a link member  26 . Accordingly, when electric power is applied to the actuator  20  so that the actuator rod  22  is moved in the longitudinal direction, the support plate  28  and the cover plate  30  rotate about the rotating shaft  68  of the driving gear  40 .  
         [0034]    Further, The upper portions of the support plate  28  and the cover plate  30  are coupled to a first tension coil spring  24  which is coupled to at one end to the actuator rod  22 . The first tension coil spring  24  is disposed in parallel with the link member  26 , and when the actuator rod  22  is moved in the direction of arrow “b” the first tension coil spring  24  pulls the cover plate  30  to rotate it in the direction of arrow “s”.  
         [0035]    In the meantime, the idle gear  42  (see FIG. 3) is rotatably mounted on the fixed shaft  64  between the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30 . The idle gear  42  is engaged with the driving gear  40  so that it rotates during the rotation of the driving gear  40 . Also, when the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30  rotate in the direction of arrow “s” or “t”, the idle gear  42 , being engaged with the driving gear  40 , rotates about the rotating shaft  68  like a planetary gear.  
         [0036]    A second tension coil spring  36  is provided at the lower end portion of the cover plate  30 . The lower end of the second tension coil spring  36  is fixed to a fixed hook  38  and the upper end thereof is fixed to the cover plate  30 . The second tension coil spring  36  imparts torque to the cover plate  30  so that the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30  rotate in the direction of arrow “t”, i.e., in the clockwise direction.  
         [0037]    Consequently, when the actuator rod  22  is moved in the direction of arrow “b”, the first tension coil spring  24  pulls the upper end portion of the cover plate  30  so that torque acts on the cover plate  30  in the direction of arrow “s”, i.e., in the counter-clockwise direction. At this time, the second tension coil spring  36  is maintained in an extended state. On the contrary, when the actuator rod  22  is moved in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow “b”, the second tension coil spring  24  is returned to an original state to rotate the cover plate  30  in the direction of arrow “t”.  
         [0038]    The fixed hook  38  is a typical supporting member fastened to the frame  10  to support the lower end of the second tension coil spring  24 .  
         [0039]    A latch gear  32  and a pick-up roller gear  44  (see FIG. 3) are provided just under the driving gear  40  and the idle gear  42 . The latch gear  32  and the pick-up roller gear  44  are both fixedly mounted on the pick-up roller shaft  34  such that they have the same rotational center axis. The pick-up roller shaft  34  is extended to the pick-up roller  14  (see FIG. 1) included within the frame  10 , and as shown in FIG. 1, laterally protrudes from the outer side wall surface of the frame  10  so that it is fixedly coupled to the latch gear  32  and the pick-up roller gear  44 .  
         [0040]    The latch gear  32  and the pick-up roller gear  44  may be constructed such that they are integral with each other or are spaced apart from each other.  
         [0041]    As will be described later, the pick-up roller gear  44  is selectively engaged with the idle gear  42  in response to the rotation of the cover plate  30  in the direction of arrow “s”.  
         [0042]    The latch gear  32  is a type of disc having a series of alternating gear teeth and V-shaped grooves  66 . The latch gear  32  can rotate in only one direction, namely, the clockwise direction, similar to a typical latch gear, and does not rotate in the reverse direction, namely, the counterclockwise direction, due to being latched by the stopper  46 . The latch gear  32  is intercepted and stopped by the stopper  46  (see FIG. 3) so that the rotation of the pick-up roller  14  is interrupted.  
         [0043]    Accordingly, when the stopper  46  is received in a V-shaped groove  66  formed on the outer surface of the latch gear  32 , the latch gear  32  no longer rotates in the direction of arrow “a”. Thus, when the cover plate  30  rotates in the direction of arrow “t” in FIG. 2 so that the stopper  46  is received in the V-shaped groove  66  of the latch gear  32 , the rotation of the latch gear is interrupted immediately which, in turn, stops the rotation of the pick-up roller shaft  34 .  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective view illustrating the construction of the clutch device  70  of FIG. 2.  
         [0045]    Referring to FIG. 3, each of the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30  is penetrated by the rotating shaft  68 . A well-known bearing (not shown) may be provided between the outer surface of the rotating shaft  68  and the inner surface of the hole of each plate to more smoothly rotate the rotating shaft  68  with respect to each of the plates  28  and  30 .  
         [0046]    A holding projection  58 , an idle gear supporting shaft  48  and a stopper  46  are fastened on the outer surface of the rotatable support plate  28 . The holding projection  58  having a cylindrical shape is provided with a threaded opening into which a corresponding screw  60  is inserted At this time, the screw  60  is engaged with the threaded opening  60 . That is, the screw  60  is screwed into a hole formed in the cover plate  30  to engage with the holding projection  58  so that the cover plate  30  is fixedly coupled to the rotatable support plate  28 .  
         [0047]    Also, the idle gear supporting shaft  48  of a cylindrical shape serves to rotatably support the idle gear  42  and to maintain the spacing between the rotatable support plate  28  and the cover plate  30 . At this time, a well-known bearing (not shown) may be provided between the idle gear supporting shaft  48  and the idle gear  42  to more smoothly rotate the idle gear  42  with respect with the idle gear supporting shaft  48 .  
         [0048]    The stopper  46  is positioned between the driving gear  40  and the latch gear  32  and is fastened to the inner side surface of the rotatable support plate  28 . The stopper  46  is formed of an iron piece of the type downwardly bent, and when the cover plate  30  rotates in the direction of arrow “c” by means of a tensile force of the second tension coil spring  36  the stopper  46  is latched by one of the V-shaped grooves  66  on the latch gear  32 .  
         [0049]    Similar to the holding projection  58  and the idle gear supporting shaft  48  of the idle gear  42 , the stopper  46  also acts to maintain the spacing between the rotatable plate  28  and the cover plate  30 . For this purpose, the stopper  46  is provided with two fitting protrusions  54  formed at both free ends thereof, and the cover plate  30  is provided with stopper fitting slots  52  into which the fitting protrusions  54  are inserted in a such a fashion that each of the stopper fitting slots  52  receives one of the fitting protrusions  
         [0050]    Accordingly, the spacing between the rotatable plate  28  and the cover plate  30  is maintained uniform by means of the holding projection  48 , the idle gear supporting shaft  48  and the stopper  46  so that a parallel relationship is maintained between the rotatable plate  28  and the cover plate  30 , and the driving gear  40  and the idle gear  42  are engaged with each other and rotate together.  
         [0051]    In the meantime, the link member  26 , one end of which is coupled to the actuator rod  22  of the actuator  20 , is formed of a rod that extends longitudinally and horizontally, and is provided with an extended slot  56  formed at the other end thereof. The extended slot  56  is formed as an elliptical hole that extends in the longitudinal direction of the link member  26  so that the holding projection  58  fits into the extended slot  56 .  
         [0052]    Moreover, a fixed hook  62  laterally protrudes from one side wall of the actuator rod  22  such that one end of the first tension coil spring  24  is fixedly mounted on the fixed hook  62 . Also, an upper spring coupling hole  65  is formed at the upper end portion of the cover plate  30  so that the first tension coil spring  24  is fixedly coupled at the other end thereof to the upper spring coupling hole  65 . That is, the first tension coil spring  24  is fixedly coupled to the fixed hook  62  of the actuator rod  22  and the upper spring coupling hole  65  such that it is positioned in parallel with the link member  26 .  
         [0053]    When the actuator rod  22  is pulled in the direction of arrow “b” to be moved toward the inside of the actuator  20 , the first tension coil spring  24  pulls the upper end portion of the cover plate  30  so that the idle gear  42  is moved into engagement with the pick-up roller gear  44 .  
         [0054]    In addition, a lower spring coupling hole  64  is formed at the lower end portion of the cover plate  30  so that the second tension coil spring  36  is fixedly coupled at the one end thereof to the lower spring coupling hole  64  and at the other end thereof to the fixed hook  38  that is fastened to the frame  10 . The fixed hook  38  is positioned below the lower spring coupling hole  64 . The second tension coil spring  36  provides a tensile force to rotate the cover plate  30  in the direction of arrow “c” such that it is extended when the actuator rod  22  is moved in the direction of arrow “b”, whereas it is retracted and returned to an original state when the actuator rod  22  is moved in the reverse direction relative to the arrow “b” direction to provide torque to rotate the cover plate  30  in the direction of arrow “c”.  
         [0055]    [0055]FIGS. 4 through 6 are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of the clutch device within an ATM according to an embodiment of the present invention. Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals and letters are used to designate like or equivalent elements having the same function.  
         [0056]    [0056]FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operational state of the clutch device before the pick-up roller shaft  34  starts rotating in the direction of arrow “a” or immediately after it finishes rotating in the direction of arrow “a”, in which the actuator  20  is not operated so that its actuator rod  22  is extended from the actuator  20  in the reverse direction relative to arrow “f” direction by means of a tensile force of the second tension coil spring  36 .  
         [0057]    Referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the stopper  46  is received in the V-shaped groove  66  of the latch gear  32  fixedly mounted on the pick-up roller shaft  34 . Like this, since the stopper  46  blocks the V-shaped groove  66 , the latch gear  32  no longer rotates in the direction of arrow “a” so that the pick-up roller shaft  34  does also not rotate, which makes it impossible to extract any sheet of banknote.  
         [0058]    Furthermore, the idle gear  42  is spaced apart from the pick-up roller gear  44  while it is engaged with the driving gear  40 . Accordingly, although the driving gear  40  rotates, the rotational driving force of the driving gear  42  is not transmitted to the pick-up roller shaft  34 .  
         [0059]    Accordingly, the state in which the idle gear  42  is spaced apart from the pick-up roller gear  44  and the stopper  46  is engaged with the V-shaped groove  66  is maintained by the second tension coil spring  36  unless the actuator  20  is operated. As is well known in the prior art, when electric power is not applied to the actuator  20 , an electromagnetic force is also not generated from the actuator  20  so that the actuator rod  22  can be easily moved under the influence of an external force.  
         [0060]    Accordingly, when the application of electric power to the actuator  20  is interrupted so that its operation is stopped, the second tension coil spring  36  pulls the cover plate  30  downward in the direction of arrow “k”. As a result, the cover plate  30  is maintained in a state in which it rotates about the rotating shaft  68  of the driving gear  40  in the clockwise direction.  
         [0061]    In this standby state, when electric power is applied to the actuator  20  to activate it, the actuator rod  22  is moved in the direction of arrow “f”, and simultaneously, the first tension coil spring  24  rotates the cover plate  30  in the direction of arrow “g” so that the operational state of the clutch device  70  is switched into the state shown in FIG. 6.  
         [0062]    [0062]FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an intermediate operation during which the operational state of the clutch device is changed from the state as shown in FIG. 4 to the state as shown in FIG. 6, in which the idle gear  42  is not engaged with the pick-up roller gear  44 .  
         [0063]    When a user externally commands the ATM to discharge banknotes, the driving gear  40  of the clutch device  70  begins to rotate and, at the same time, electric power is applied to the actuator  20 . Then, the actuator rod  22  is moved in the direction of arrow “f” and, simultaneously, the first tension coil spring  24  pulls the cover plate  30  in the arrow “f” direction so that the cover plate  30  rotates in the direction of arrow “g”. Of course, in this case, while the first tension coil spring  24  is moved in the direction of arrow “f”, the link member  26  also is moved in the same direction simultaneously.  
         [0064]    In the meantime, as the link member  26  is moved in the direction of arrow “f” along a certain longitudinal path, the holding projection  58  is also pulled by the first tension coil spring  24  together with the cover plate  30  in the same direction as that of the arrow “f” so that the holding projection  58  leans toward one side within the extended slot  56 . At this time, the holding projection  58  is optionally moved within the extended slot  56  depending on a degree of rotation of the cover plate  30 .  
         [0065]    As shown in FIG. 5, as the actuator  20  operates, the first tension coil spring  24  allows the cover plate  30  to rotate in the direction of arrow “g”, which causes the stopper  46  to be disengaged from the V-shaped groove  66 , and the idle gear  42  to be moved into engagement with the pick-up roller gear  44 . FIG. 5 shows a state directly before the pick-up roller  44  is engaged with the idle gear  42 .  
         [0066]    At this time, it is preferable that as the cover plate  30  rotates, the idle gear  42  and the pick-up roller gear  44  are smoothly engaged with each other, but smooth engagement is not always performed. As shown in FIG. 5, the gear teeth of the idle gear  42  and the pick-up roller gear  44  may momentarily come into contact with each other with engaging.  
         [0067]    Accordingly, contact between the gear teeth of the idle gear  42  and the pick-up roller gear  44  means that the cover plate  30  has not been completely rotated and the holding projection  58  is relatively moved in the direction of arrow “m” within the extended slot  56 .  
         [0068]    However, as described above, although the gear teeth of the idle gear  42  and the pick-up roller gear  44  come into contact with each other, the driving gear  40  continues to rotate so that the idle gear  42  further rotates by a half-pitch to be engaged with the pick-up roller gear  44 . Also, in this way, when normal engagement of the idle gear  42  with the pick-up roller gear  44  is achieved, the cover plate  30  completely rotates in the direction of arrow “g” and the holding projection  58  is also moved toward the leftmost portion within the extended slot  56  as shown in FIG. 6.  
         [0069]    Consequently, the aim of forming the extended slot  56  at one end of the link member  26  is to provide for the possibility of the idle gear  42  not immediately engaging the pick-up roller gear  4 .  
         [0070]    When the idle gear  42  is engaged with the pick-up roller gear  44 , as shown in FIG. 6, the stopper  46  is completely released from engagement with the V-shaped groove  66  and the rotational driving force of the driving gear  40  is transmitted to the pick-up roller gear  44  through the idle gear  42  to rotate the pick-up roller shaft  34  in the direction of arrow “n” so that the pick-up roller  14  (see FIG. 1) can extract banknotes from the banknote storage cassette.  
         [0071]    In the meantime, through the above processes, once a desired number of banknotes have been extracted, the supply of electric power to the actuator  20  is interrupted so that no extra banknotes are discharged. When the supply of electric power to the actuator  20  is interrupted, force applied to the actuator rod  22  in the direction of arrow “f” shown in FIG. 5 disappears, and the cover plate  30  rotates in the direction of arrow “p” by means of the second tension coil spring  36  and, simultaneously, the idle gear  42  is disengaged from the pick-up roller gear  44 .  
         [0072]    In addition, at the moment when the disengagement of the idle gear  42  from the pick-up roller gear  44  is achieved, the stopper  46  latches onto the V-shaped groove  66  of the latch gear  32  so that the pick-up roller shaft  34  being rotated in the direction of arrow “n” is stopped instantaneously. Like this, since the stopper  46  stops the rotation of the latch gear  32 , there is no extra rotation of the pick-up roller shaft  34  due to rotational inertia.  
         [0073]    Although the stopping of the latch gear  32  does not permit the rotation of the pick-up roller, the driving gear  40  continues to rotate. Accordingly, banknotes extracted from the banknote storage cassette  12  (see FIG. 1) can be continuously fed between the driving rollers and the driven rollers along a predetermined banknote traveling path to the outside of the ATM.  
         [0074]    In the meantime, although the rotatable support plate  28  (see FIG. 3) has not been described in FIGS. 4 through 6, it cooperates with the cover plate  30  and is moved together with the cover plate  30 .  
         [0075]    While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, such description is for illustrative purpose only, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, permutations and equivalents may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention, therefore, is to be determined solely by the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1