Patent Description:
There has been conventionally proposed a conveyance apparatus that inclines a conveyance roller for conveying bank bills, with respect to a conveyance direction, for aligning bank bills up against one side in a width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction on a conveyance path of bank bills (for example, refer to Patent Literature <NUM> and <NUM>).

Patent Literature <NUM> discloses the preamble of claim <NUM> and relates to a registering device for an electrophotographic printing machine. A steerable pair of drive nips is located in the paper path. A lead edge sensor detects when a sheet is within the steerable drive nips. The steerable nips are turned so that the sheet is transported toward a side registration sensor located in the paper path. When the side registration sensor detects the edge of the sheet the actuator causes the steerable nips to be straightened. The sheet may be forwarded to a second, higher accuracy registration device for final registration.

Patent Literature <NUM> relates to a sheet conveyance part including a skew correction part for correcting skew of a sheet. The skew correction part includes: a first obliquely conveying roller pair including rollers capable of contacting to and separating from each other for obliquely conveying the sheet; a second obliquely conveying roller pair for obliquely conveying the sheet obliquely conveyed by the first obliquely conveying roller pair on the downstream side of the first obliquely conveying roller pair; a third obliquely conveying roller pair for obliquely conveying the sheet obliquely conveyed by the second obliquely conveying roller pair on the downstream side of the second obliquely conveying roller pair; and a reference member arranged along the sheet conveyance direction for correcting skew of the sheet by making a side end of the sheet obliquely conveyed by the respective obliquely conveying roller pairs abut thereon; and the first obliquely conveying roller pair releases catching of the sheet by separating the rollers from each other until the sheet is caught by the second obliquely conveying roller pair and caught by the third obliquely conveying roller pair.

Meanwhile, in an automatic dealing apparatus such as an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) that handles bank bill in various sizes, if conveyed bank bills are positioned closer to one side in the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, it becomes difficult to stably store the bank bills into a bank bill storage cassette or the like.

Thus, a conceivable method checks whether a bank bill is positioned closer to one side in the width direction, using a sensor, and if the bank bill is positioned closer to one side in the width direction, the method improves the slanted state by linearly moving a conveyance roller for conveying bank bills, in the width direction. The method will be described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>.

<FIG> and <FIG> are explanatory diagrams for describing centering of a bank bill B in a reference art.

As illustrated in <FIG>, a pair of conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM> for conveying the bank bill B in a conveyance direction D are arrayed at an interval in a width direction W orthogonal to the conveyance direction D. In addition, a pair of conveyance rollers <NUM> and <NUM> for conveying the bank bill B are arranged between the pair of conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM> in the width direction W. Note that the pair of conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM> are arranged over a region including an upstream side and a downstream side in the conveyance direction D of the pair of conveyance rollers <NUM> and <NUM>.

In a case where the center of the bank bill B is slanted toward a right direction in <FIG>, over a center C of a conveyance path in the width direction W, the slanted state is detected by a sensor (not illustrated) arranged on the upstream side in the conveyance direction D of the pair of conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM>. Based on the slanted state being a detection result of the sensor, as illustrated in <FIG>, the pair of conveyance rollers <NUM> and <NUM> linearly move in the width direction W (toward a left direction in <FIG>) while conveying the bank bill B. The center of the bank bill B in the width direction W thereby gets closer to the center C.

In this manner, in a configuration of linearly moving the pair of conveyance rollers <NUM> and <NUM> in the width direction W, by the pair of conveyance rollers <NUM> and <NUM> linearly moving in the width direction W while conveying the bank bill B, skew of the bank bill B easily occurs.

In addition, the pair of conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM> and conveyance members (not illustrated) such as conveyance rollers that face these conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM> convey the bank bill B while pinching the bank bill B at sufficiently-low pinch pressure (conveyance force) in such a manner as not to disturb centering of the bank bill B that is performed by linearly moving the pair of conveyance rollers <NUM> and <NUM> in the width direction W.

In addition, because the pair of conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM> are arranged over the region including the upstream side and the downstream side in the conveyance direction D of the pair of conveyance rollers <NUM> and <NUM>, pinch pressure of the bank bill B becomes weak over a long range. With this configuration, retention of the bank bill B also occurs easily.

The object of the present invention is to provide a centering mechanism and a paper sheet handling apparatus that can perform centering of paper sheets while surely conveying paper sheets.

A centering mechanism according to claim <NUM>.

Similarly, a paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim <NUM>.

According to the centering mechanism and the paper sheet handling apparatus of the present disclosure, centering of paper sheets can be performed while surely conveying paper sheets.

Hereinafter, a centering mechanism and a paper sheet handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings using a centering mechanism <NUM> and an automatic dealing apparatus <NUM> as an example.

<FIG> is a left side view illustrating an internal configuration of the automatic dealing apparatus <NUM>.

Note that up-down, front-back, and left-right directions illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG> to be described later merely indicate an example in a case where a client side of the automatic dealing apparatus <NUM> is regarded as a front direction. For example, the up-down direction corresponds to a vertical direction and the front-back and left-right directions correspond to a horizontal direction.

The automatic dealing apparatus <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> is, for example, an ATM, a Bill Recycle Unit (BRU), a Cash Dispenser (CD), a Teller Cash Recycler (TCR), or the like, and includes a main body unit <NUM>, an intermediate conveyance unit <NUM>, and a storage unit <NUM>. As an example, the main body unit <NUM> and the storage unit <NUM> are arranged in different spaces via a partition (not illustrated), and the intermediate conveyance unit <NUM> conveys a bank bill B (refer to <FIG>) in such a manner as to penetrate through the above-described partition. Note that the bank bill B is an example of a paper sheet.

The main body unit <NUM> includes the centering mechanism <NUM>, conveyance units <NUM> and <NUM>, a determination unit <NUM>, a temporary retention unit <NUM>, a reject unit <NUM>, and a bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM>. Note that only the main body unit <NUM> can be regarded as a paper sheet handling apparatus.

The details of the centering mechanism <NUM> will be described later. The centering mechanism <NUM> is arranged between the determination unit <NUM> and the conveyance unit <NUM>.

The conveyance unit <NUM> conveys the bank bill B from the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM> to the determination unit <NUM>, and also conveys the bank bill B between the determination unit <NUM> and the intermediate conveyance unit <NUM>.

The determination unit <NUM> determines true-false, dirt, corner bending, or the like of the bank bill B. In addition, the determination unit <NUM> also functions as an example of a slant detection sensor for detecting that the center of the bank bill B is slanted toward either side in a width direction over the center in the width direction of a conveyance path.

The conveyance unit <NUM> conveys the bank bill B between the centering mechanism <NUM> and the temporary retention unit <NUM>, and also conveys the bank bill B from the centering mechanism <NUM> to the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM>.

The temporary retention unit <NUM> temporarily stores the bank bill B that has been input to the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM>, and determined to be normal by the determination unit <NUM>.

The reject unit <NUM> stores the bank bill B not to be returned, among the bank bills B determined to be abnormal by the determination unit <NUM>.

The bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM> includes a front panel 116a, an inlet/outlet port 116b, and a shutter 116c.

The front panel 116a is arranged on an upper front surface of the automatic dealing apparatus <NUM> at a slant in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in such a manner as to be positioned rearward as getting upward. The inlet/outlet port 116b is provided on the front panel 1116a. The bank bill B input from the inlet/outlet port 116b is conveyed to the conveyance unit <NUM> by the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM>. In addition, the bank bill B conveyed from the conveyance unit <NUM> to the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM> is conveyed by the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM> up to a position at which the bank bill B is taken out from the inlet/outlet port 116b.

The shutter 116c openably blocks the inlet/outlet port 116b. Note that, in <FIG>, the shutter 116c in an opened state is indicated by a solid line, and the shutter 116c in a closed state is indicated by a dotted line.

The intermediate conveyance unit <NUM> conveys the bank bill B between the main body unit <NUM> and the storage unit <NUM>.

The storage unit <NUM> is arranged below the main body unit <NUM>, and includes a plurality of bank bill storage cassettes <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, and a storage conveyance unit <NUM>.

The plurality of bank bill storage cassettes <NUM> to <NUM> store the bank bills B of mutually-different money types, for example. The bank bill storage cassettes <NUM> to <NUM> can discharge the stored bank bills B. Thus, the bank bills B stored in the bank bill storage cassettes <NUM> to <NUM> are used for withdrawal.

The storage conveyance unit <NUM> conveys the bank bill B between the intermediate conveyance unit <NUM> and each of the bank bill storage cassettes <NUM> to <NUM>.

<FIG> are explanatory diagrams for describing conveyance paths R1 to R4 of the bank bill B of the automatic dealing apparatus <NUM>.

First of all, as illustrated as the conveyance path R1 indicated by a thick solid arrow in <FIG>, the bank bill B input to the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM> is conveyed to the determination unit <NUM> by the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM> and the conveyance unit <NUM>. In addition, the bank bill B determined to be normal by the determination unit <NUM> is conveyed to the temporary retention unit <NUM> by the centering mechanism <NUM> and the conveyance unit <NUM>.

On the other hand, as illustrated as the conveyance path R2 indicated by a thick dotted arrow in <FIG>, the bank bill B (bogus bill, etc.) determined to be abnormal by the determination unit <NUM> is returned to the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM> by the conveyance unit <NUM>.

As illustrated as the conveyance path R3 indicated by a thick solid arrow in <FIG>, the bank bills B temporarily stored in the temporary retention unit <NUM> are conveyed to the bank bill storage cassettes <NUM> to <NUM> by the conveyance unit <NUM>, the centering mechanism <NUM>, the determination unit <NUM>, the conveyance unit <NUM>, the intermediate conveyance unit <NUM>, and the storage conveyance unit <NUM>.

As illustrated as the conveyance path R4 indicated by a thick solid arrow in <FIG>, the bank bills B stored in the bank bill storage cassettes <NUM> to <NUM> are discharged to the bank bill deposit/withdrawal unit <NUM> at the time of withdrawal by the storage conveyance unit <NUM>, the intermediate conveyance unit <NUM>, the conveyance unit <NUM>, the determination unit <NUM>, the centering mechanism <NUM>, and the conveyance unit <NUM>.

Next, the centering mechanism <NUM> will be described.

<FIG> is a front view illustrating the centering mechanism <NUM>. <FIG> is a front side perspective view illustrating the centering mechanism <NUM>. <FIG> is a rear side perspective view illustrating the centering mechanism <NUM>. <FIG> is a cross-sectional view taken along a line VI-VI in <FIG>.

Here, as described above, the centering mechanism <NUM> conveys the bank bills B in both directions from the determination unit <NUM> to the conveyance unit <NUM> (refer to <FIG> and <FIG>), and from the conveyance unit <NUM> to the determination unit <NUM> (refer to <FIG>). The description will be given assuming that <FIG> and <FIG> to be described later illustrate a conveyance direction D set when a centering unit <NUM> centers the position of the bank bill B in a width direction W orthogonal to the conveyance direction D, and a conveyance unit on an upstream side in the conveyance direction D is an upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> and a conveyance unit on a downstream side is a downstream side conveyance unit <NUM>. Note that, in a case where directions in which the centering unit <NUM> centers the position of the bank bill B in the width direction W include both forward and backward directions of the conveyance direction D, the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> functions not only as an upstream side conveyance unit but also as a downstream side conveyance unit, and the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> functions not only as a downstream side conveyance unit and but also as an upstream side conveyance unit.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the centering mechanism <NUM> includes two centering units <NUM> and <NUM>, the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM>, the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM>, an arm <NUM> (an example of a first power transmission unit), a drive unit <NUM>, a crown gear <NUM> (an example of a fourth gear), two power transmission belts <NUM> and <NUM> (an example of second power transmission units), and an entry detection sensor <NUM>.

The two centering units <NUM> and <NUM> are arrayed at an interval in the width direction W (left-right direction). The number of the centering units <NUM> may be one or plural number, but is desirably set to two. Each of the two centering units <NUM> and <NUM> conveys the bank bill B in a pinched state. In addition, the two centering units <NUM> and <NUM> center the position of the bank bill B in the width direction W by inclining with respect to the conveyance direction D (up-down direction) of the bank bill B, which will be described in detail later.

Each of the two centering units <NUM> and <NUM> includes a conveyance roller <NUM>, a ball roller <NUM>, a rotational shaft <NUM>, a spur gear <NUM> (an example of a first gear), a crown gear <NUM> (an example of a second gear), and a support portion <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the conveyance roller <NUM> and the ball roller <NUM> face each other in the front-back direction, and convey the bank bill B while pinching the bank bill B at pinch pressure P1 (refer to <FIG>). Note that the pinch pressure can be adjusted based on urging force (pressing force) of an elastic member pressing at least one of mutually-facing two conveyance members (rollers or belts) against the bank bill B. In addition, the pinch pressure can also be adjusted based on an inter-axial distance of mutually-facing two conveyance members, or tensile force of a belt (conveyance member).

The rotational shaft <NUM> rotates integrally with the conveyance roller <NUM>. Note that the rotation means being rotatable in both forward and backward directions.

The spur gear <NUM> is provided on the rotational shaft <NUM>.

The crown gear <NUM> includes teeth provided on the front side, and engages with the spur gear <NUM>. Being driven by the drive unit <NUM> to be described later, the crown gear <NUM> rotates around a swing center (front-back direction) around which the centering unit <NUM> swings. By the crown gear <NUM> rotating based on power transmitted from the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM>, the spur gear <NUM> engaging with the crown gear <NUM>, and the rotational shaft <NUM> and the conveyance roller <NUM> that rotate together with the spur gear <NUM> rotate, which will be described in detail later. In other words, the conveyance roller <NUM> rotates based on power transmitted from the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the support portion <NUM> has a U-shape opened toward the front side, and rotatably supports both ends of the rotational shaft <NUM>.

As illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG>, the support portion <NUM> includes an extension portion 16a protruding downward, and an elongated hole 16b provided in the extension portion 16a. The elongated hole 16b is elongated in the conveyance direction D than in the width direction W, and provided in such a manner as to penetrate through the extension portion 16a in the front-back direction. In addition, a pin <NUM> of the arm <NUM> to be described later is inserted into the elongated hole 16b.

The upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> includes two conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM>, four conveyance rollers <NUM>, two rotational shafts <NUM>, four pulleys <NUM>, and a spur gear <NUM> (an example of a third gear).

The two conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM> are arrayed at an interval in the width direction W. The number of the conveyance belts <NUM> can be set to an arbitrary number equal to or larger than <NUM>. Each of the two conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM> is stretched around the two pulleys <NUM> and <NUM> to be described later.

The four conveyance rollers <NUM> are arranged in such a manner as to face the respective pulleys <NUM>. The two conveyance belts <NUM> and the four conveyance rollers <NUM> face each other in the front-back direction, and convey the bank bill B while pinching the bank bill B at pinch pressure P2 (refer to <FIG>). The pinch pressure P2 is weaker than the pinch pressure P1 generated by the conveyance roller <NUM> and the ball roller <NUM> (P2 < P1). Note that the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> delivers the bank bill B to the centering unit <NUM> in a state in which the centering unit <NUM> pinches the bank bill B. In other words, the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> is arranged in such a manner as to neighbor the centering unit <NUM> at an interval shorter than the length of the bank bill B in the conveyance direction D.

The two rotational shafts <NUM> extend in the width direction W, and are arrayed at an interval in the conveyance direction D.

The two of the four pulleys <NUM> are provided on each of the rotational shafts <NUM>, and the pulleys <NUM> rotate integrally with the rotational shafts <NUM>.

The spur gear <NUM> is provided on a rotational shaft <NUM> on the centering unit <NUM> side (lower side), and rotates integrally with the rotational shaft <NUM>. Note that the spur gear <NUM> may be provided on a rotational shaft <NUM> of the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM>. In this case, the crown gear <NUM> and the two power transmission belts <NUM> and <NUM>, which will be described later, are arranged not on the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> side but on the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> side.

The downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> includes two conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM>, four conveyance rollers <NUM>, two rotational shafts <NUM>, and four pulleys <NUM>.

The four conveyance rollers <NUM> are arranged in such a manner as to face the respective pulleys <NUM>. The two conveyance belts <NUM> and the four conveyance rollers <NUM> face each other in the front-back direction, and convey the bank bill B while pinching the bank bill B at pinch pressure P3 (refer to <FIG>). The pinch pressure P3 is stronger than the pinch pressure P1 generated by the conveyance roller <NUM> and the ball roller <NUM> (P3 > P1). Thus, the pinch pressures P1 to P3 satisfy relationship of P3 > P1 > P2. Note that the bank bill B is delivered to the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> from the centering unit <NUM> in a state in which the centering unit <NUM> pinches the bank bill B. In other words, the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> is arranged in such a manner as to neighbor the centering unit <NUM> at an interval shorter than the length of the bank bill B in the conveyance direction D.

The arm <NUM> extends in the width direction W. Teeth <NUM> engaging with a spur gear <NUM> provided on an output shaft of the drive unit <NUM> to be described later are provided on the front surface of a right end (an example of one end) of the arm <NUM>.

In addition, two pins <NUM> and <NUM> to be inserted into elongated holes 16b and 16b of two support portions <NUM> and <NUM> described above are provided on the arm <NUM> integrally, for example, in such a manner as to protrude forward.

The drive unit <NUM> is a motor, for example, that rotates the spur gear <NUM> provided on the output shaft extending in the conveyance direction D. By rotating the spur gear <NUM>, the drive unit <NUM> moves, in the width direction W, the arm <NUM> including the teeth <NUM> engaging with the spur gear <NUM>. The support portion <NUM> (the centering unit <NUM>) including the elongated hole 16b into which the pin <NUM> of the arm <NUM> is to be inserted thereby swings in such a manner as to incline with respect to the conveyance direction D around a swing center corresponding to the front-back direction.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the crown gear <NUM> includes teeth provided on the front side, engages with the spur gear <NUM> of the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM>, and rotates around a rotational center (front-back direction) parallel to the swing center of the centering unit <NUM>.

The two power transmission belts <NUM> connect the crown gear <NUM> and the two crown gears <NUM> by being stretched around a rotational shaft of the crown gear <NUM> and rotational shafts of the two crown gears <NUM>.

The entry detection sensor <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG> detects the entry of the bank bill B into the centering mechanism <NUM>. As an example, the entry detection sensor <NUM> includes a light emitting unit that emits detection light forward, a prism that bends detection light emitted by the light emitting unit, in the width direction W and backward, and a light receiving unit that receives detection light bent backward by the prism.

Next, centering of the bank bill B using the centering mechanism <NUM> will be described.

<FIG> are front views for describing centering of the bank bill B.

Note that, in <FIG>, the illustration of components (part of the ball roller <NUM>, the four conveyance rollers <NUM>, the four conveyance rollers <NUM>, and the entry detection sensor <NUM>) provided on the front side of the bank bill B is omitted.

As illustrated in <FIG>, first of all, the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> and the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> convey the bank bill B by rotating two pairs of pulleys <NUM> and <NUM>, two pairs of pulleys <NUM> and <NUM>, the conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM>, and the conveyance belts <NUM> and <NUM> by a drive source (not illustrated) rotating two rotational shafts <NUM> and <NUM> and two rotational shafts <NUM> and <NUM>. In addition, by the spur gear <NUM>, the crown gear <NUM>, the two power transmission belts <NUM> and <NUM>, the two crown gears <NUM> and <NUM>, the two spur gears <NUM> and <NUM>, and the two rotational shafts <NUM> and <NUM> rotating in accordance with the rotation of the rotational shafts <NUM> of the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM>, the two conveyance rollers <NUM> rotate. The two centering units <NUM> thereby convey the bank bill B as well.

Here, as illustrated in <FIG>, for example, a case where the entry detection sensor <NUM> detects the bank bill B detected by the determination unit <NUM> to have a center slanted toward the left side in the width direction W over the center C of the conveyance path will be considered. Note that, as a slant detection sensor for detecting that the center of the bank bill B is slanted toward either side in the width direction W over the center C, a line sensor, an imaging unit, or the like that is arranged on an upstream side in the conveyance direction D of the centering mechanism <NUM> may be arranged aside from the determination unit <NUM>.

In this case, for matching the center of the bank bill B in the width direction W with the center C of the conveyance path by moving the bank bill B toward the right side, as illustrated in <FIG>, the drive unit <NUM> rotates the spur gear <NUM> in such a manner as to move the arm <NUM> in the right direction.

With this configuration, by the two support portions <NUM> and <NUM> including the elongated holes 16b and 16b into which the two pins <NUM> and <NUM> provided on the arm <NUM> are to be inserted, rotating counterclockwise in <FIG>, the entire centering units <NUM> rotate counterclockwise in <FIG>, and incline with respect to the conveyance direction D.

Note that, as described above, because the pinch pressure P1 of the centering unit <NUM> is stronger than the pinch pressure P2 of the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM>, if the centering unit <NUM> inclines with respect to the conveyance direction D, the bank bill B is conveyed with inclination with respect to the conveyance direction D in accordance with the inclination of the centering unit <NUM>.

Thus, as illustrated in <FIG>, the bank bill B is centered in such a manner that the center in the width direction W matches the center C of the conveyance path.

The centering unit <NUM> that has performed centering of the bank bill B returns to the original position before the next bank bill B is conveyed. More specifically, the drive unit <NUM> rotates the spur gear <NUM> in such a manner as to move the arm <NUM> in the left direction, and rotates the two support portions <NUM> and <NUM> clockwise in <FIG>.

In the present embodiment described above, the centering mechanism <NUM> and the automatic dealing apparatus <NUM> serving as an example of a paper sheet handling apparatus including the centering mechanism <NUM> include the centering unit <NUM>, the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM>, and the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM>. The centering unit <NUM> conveys the bank bill B in a pinched state, and centers the position of the bank bill B in the width direction W orthogonal to the conveyance direction D of the bank bill B by inclining with respect to the conveyance direction D. The upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> is arranged on the upstream side of the centering unit <NUM> in the conveyance direction D set when the centering unit <NUM> centers the position of the bank bill B in the width direction W, and conveys the bank bill B. The downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> is arranged on the downstream side of the centering unit <NUM> in the conveyance direction D set when the centering unit <NUM> centers the position of the bank bill B in the width direction W, and conveys the bank bill B in a pinched state In addition, the bank bill B is delivered to the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> from the centering unit <NUM> in a state in which the centering unit <NUM> pinches the bank bill B, and the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> conveys the bank bill B while pinching the bank bill B at the pinch pressure P3 (> pinch pressure P1) stronger than the pinch pressure at which the centering unit <NUM> pinches the bank bill B.

In this manner, by the centering unit <NUM> centering the position of the bank bill B in the width direction W while inclining with respect to the conveyance direction D, the occurrence of skew in the bank bill B can be suppressed as compared with the configuration of centering the position of the bank bill B in the width direction W by the centering unit <NUM> linearly moving in the width direction W.

Meanwhile, in a case where the centering unit <NUM> performs centering of the bank bill B by inclining with respect to the conveyance direction D, an amount of movement in the width direction of the bank bill B that is caused by centering depends on the length of the bank bill B in the conveyance direction D. Nevertheless, in the present embodiment, the bank bill B is delivered to the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> from the centering unit <NUM> in a state in which the centering unit <NUM> pinches the bank bill B, and the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> conveys the bank bill B while pinching the bank bill B at the pinch pressure P3 (> pinch pressure P1) stronger than the pinch pressure at which the centering unit <NUM> pinches the bank bill B. Thus, if the leading end of the bank bill B reaches the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM>, the bank bill B is conveyed in the conveyance direction D irrespective of the inclination of the centering unit <NUM>. Thus, a conveyance distance required for centering the bank bill B in the width direction W (length required for the leading end of the bank bill B reaching the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> since the leading end reaches the centering unit <NUM>) can be made constant irrespective of the length of the bank bill B in the conveyance direction D. Furthermore, by the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM> conveying the bank bill B while pinching the bank bill B at the pinch pressure P3 (> pinch pressure P1) stronger than that of the centering unit <NUM>, the occurrence of retention of the bank bill B can be suppressed as compared with a configuration of using a conveyance unit that conveys the bank bill B while pinching the bank bill B at pinch pressure weaker than that of the centering unit <NUM> over a region including the upstream side and the downstream side in the conveyance direction D of the centering unit <NUM>.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, centering of the bank bill B can be performed while surely conveying the bank bill B.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the bank bill B is delivered to the centering unit <NUM> from the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> in a state in which the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> pinches the bank bill B, and the centering unit <NUM> conveys the bank bill B while pinching the bank bill B at the pinch pressure P1 (> pinch pressure P2) stronger than the pinch pressure at which the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> pinches the bank bill B.

With this configuration, as soon as the bank bill B is delivered to the centering unit <NUM> from the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM>, centering of the bank bill B is performed by the inclination of the centering unit <NUM> with respect to the conveyance direction D. Thus, a start timing of centering of the bank bill B can be made constant. The centering of the bank bill B can be accordingly performed more accurately.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the centering mechanism <NUM> and the automatic dealing apparatus <NUM> include two (an example of plural number) centering units <NUM> and <NUM> arrayed in the width direction W, the arm <NUM> (an example of a first power transmission unit) that swingably supports these two centering units <NUM> and <NUM> in such a manner as to incline with respect to the conveyance direction D, and the drive unit <NUM> that swings the two centering units <NUM> and <NUM> by moving the arm <NUM> in the width direction W.

With this configuration, the two centering units <NUM> and <NUM> can accurately perform centering of the bank bill B, and centering of the bank bill B can be performed with a simple configuration.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the centering mechanism <NUM> and the automatic dealing apparatus <NUM> include two (an example of plural number) centering units <NUM> and <NUM> arrayed in the width direction W, and each of these two centering units <NUM> and <NUM> includes the conveyance roller <NUM>, the spur gear <NUM> (an example of a first gear) provided on the rotational shaft <NUM> of the conveyance roller <NUM>, and the crown gear <NUM> (an example of a second gear) that engages with the spur gear <NUM>, and rotates around a swing center (front-back direction) around which the centering unit <NUM> swings in such a manner as to incline with respect to the conveyance direction D. In addition, the centering mechanism <NUM> and the automatic dealing apparatus <NUM> include the spur gear <NUM> (an example of a third gear) provided on the rotational shaft <NUM> of the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> (an example of the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> or the downstream side conveyance unit <NUM>), the crown gear <NUM> (an example of a fourth gear) that engages with the spur gear <NUM>, and rotates around a rotational center (front-back direction) parallel to the swing center of the centering unit <NUM>, and the two power transmission belts <NUM> and <NUM> (an example of a plurality of second power transmission units) connected to the crown gear <NUM> and two (an example of plural number) crown gears <NUM> and <NUM>.

With this configuration, because the rotational center of the crown gear <NUM> remains constant even if the centering unit <NUM> swings, the two crown gears <NUM> and <NUM> and the crown gear <NUM> can be stably connected. Thus, power for rotating the conveyance roller <NUM> can be transmitted from the upstream side conveyance unit <NUM> to the swinging centering unit <NUM> via the crown gear <NUM> and the two power transmission belts <NUM> and <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A centering mechanism (<NUM>) comprising:
a centering unit (<NUM>) configured to convey a paper sheet (B) in a pinched state, and center a position of the paper sheet (B) in a width direction (W) orthogonal to a conveyance direction (D) of the paper sheet (B) by inclining with respect to the conveyance direction (D);
an upstream side conveyance unit (<NUM>) that is arranged on an upstream side of the centering unit (<NUM>) in the conveyance direction (D) set when the centering unit (<NUM>) centers a position of the paper sheet (B) in the width direction (W), and is configured to convey the paper sheet (B); and
a downstream side conveyance unit (<NUM>) that is arranged on a downstream side of the centering unit (<NUM>) in the conveyance direction (D) set when the centering unit (<NUM>) centers a position of the paper sheet (B) in the width direction (W), and is configured to convey the paper sheet (B) in a pinched state,
wherein the paper sheet (B) is delivered to the downstream side conveyance unit (<NUM>) from the centering unit (<NUM>) in a state in which the centering unit (<NUM>) pinches the paper sheet (B), and the downstream side conveyance unit (<NUM>) conveys the paper sheet (B) while pinching the paper sheet (B) at pinch pressure (P3) stronger than pinch pressure (P1) at which the centering unit (<NUM>) pinches the paper sheet (B), characterised in that:
the centering mechanism (<NUM>) further comprises a plurality of the centering units (<NUM>) arrayed in the width direction (W), wherein each of the plurality of centering units (<NUM>) includes:
a conveyance roller (<NUM>);
a first gear (<NUM>) provided on a rotational shaft (<NUM>) of the conveyance roller (<NUM>); and
a second gear (<NUM>) configured to engage with the first gear (<NUM>), and rotate around a swing center around which the centering unit (<NUM>) swings in such a manner as to incline with respect to the conveyance direction (D), and
wherein the centering mechanism (<NUM>) includes:
a third gear (<NUM>) provided on a rotational shaft (<NUM>) of the upstream side conveyance unit (<NUM>) or the downstream side conveyance unit (<NUM>);
a fourth gear (<NUM>) configured to engage with the third gear (<NUM>), and rotate around a rotational center parallel to the swing center of the centering unit (<NUM>); and
a plurality of second power transmission units (<NUM>) connected to the fourth gear (<NUM>) and a plurality of the second gears (<NUM>).