Patent ID: 8678387

Claim:
A paper-sheet handling apparatus comprising: a transport path of a paper sheet, including a loop portion capable of transporting and escrowing a bundle of paper sheet(s); a detecting unit located on the transport path at a position on an upstream side relative to the loop portion, the detecting unit being configured to detect at least one paper sheet to be transported to the loop portion; a drive unit configured to transport a paper sheet in the transport path, such that a paper sheet in the loop portion and a paper sheet in another part of the transport path are transported independently from each other or in synch with each other; and a control unit configured to control the drive unit in such a manner that when the detecting unit detects at least the one paper sheet, the detected paper sheet and a bundle of paper sheet(s) escrowed in the loop portion are merged to each other, such that a designated portion of the detected paper sheet and a designated portion of the escrowed bundle of paper sheet have a predetermined positional relationship, and that the merged paper sheets are escrowed in the loop portion; wherein the control unit is configured to control the drive unit such that the detected paper sheet and the escrowed bundle of paper sheet are merged or partly merged to each other at a constant speed, whereupon the merged or partly-merged paper sheets are accelerated further from the constant speed in at least the loop portion.