U.S. patent application number 11/449639 was filed with the patent office on 2007-01-04 for bill processor.
This patent application is currently assigned to Aruze Corp.. Invention is credited to Kazuei Yoshioka.
Application Number | 20070001384 11/449639 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37036986 |
Filed Date | 2007-01-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070001384 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Yoshioka; Kazuei |
January 4, 2007 |
Bill processor
Abstract
A bill processor includes a housing, a bill insertion slot, a
bill transfer mechanism, a bill container and a bill pressing
mechanism. The bill transfer mechanism transfers the bill inserted
from the bill insertion slot and discharges the bill toward a bill
pushing area positioned downstream. The bill pressing mechanism
presses the bill discharged into the bill pushing area toward the
bill container. The bill pressing mechanism includes a supporter
attached to the housing, a pressing plate movable toward the bill
container, a link member joining the supporter and the pressing
plate. The link member has an opening and a moving member movable
in the opening, and the moving member has a first end portion
supported with respect to the supporter and a second end portion
engaged with the pressing plate and movable with respect to the
supporter.
Inventors: |
Yoshioka; Kazuei; (Koto-ku,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
C. IRVIN MCCLELLAND;OBLON, SPIVAK, MCCLELLAND, MAIER & NEUSTADT, P.C.
1940 DUKE STREET
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22314
US
|
Assignee: |
Aruze Corp.
Koto-ku
JP
Seta Corp.
Koto-ku
JP
|
Family ID: |
37036986 |
Appl. No.: |
11/449639 |
Filed: |
June 9, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
271/177 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65H 29/46 20130101;
G07D 11/14 20190101; B65H 2701/1912 20130101; B65H 2403/533
20130101; B65H 2402/31 20130101; B65H 2601/523 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
271/177 |
International
Class: |
B65H 29/38 20060101
B65H029/38 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 17, 2005 |
JP |
2005-178270 |
Claims
1. A bill processor comprising: a housing; a bill insertion slot
provided at a front face of the housing and opened for inserting a
bill; a bill transfer mechanism for transferring the bill inserted
from the bill insertion slot along an inserting direction and
discharging the bill toward a bill pushing area positioned
downstream; a bill container provided in the housing; and a bill
pressing mechanism for pressing the bill discharged into the bill
pushing area toward the bill container, wherein the bill pressing
mechanism includes: a supporter attached to the housing, a pressing
plate movable toward the bill container, a link member joining the
supporter and the pressing plate and having an opening and a moving
member movable through the opening, the moving member having a
first end portion supported with respect to the supporter and a
second end portion engaged with the pressing plate and movable with
respect to the supporter.
2. The bill processor according to claim 1, wherein the bill
container includes an engaging claw engageable with both
longitudinal edge parts of the bill, and the pressing plate
includes a flange abuttable against the engaging claw.
3. The bill processor according to claim 2, wherein the flange of
the pressing plate is parallel to the supporter when the flange is
abutted against the engaging claw of the bill container.
4. The bill processor according to claim 1, wherein the pressing
plate is supported by one side of the lid via the link member.
5. The bill processor according to claim 1, wherein the moving
member of the link member is attached to the center portion of the
supporter.
6. The bill processor according to claim 1, wherein the pressing
plate includes a protruded member attached to a face thereof and
having a long groove, and wherein the second end portion of the
moving member has an engaging protrusion engaging with the long
groove of the protruded member.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of
priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No.
2005-178270, filed on Jun. 17, 2005; the entire contents of which
are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a bill processor which is
placed in an arcade where pachinko machines, slot machines, and the
like (hereinafter collectively referred to as "game machines") are
installed, and is adapted to be arranged between the game
machines.
[0004] 2. Related Background of the Invention
[0005] In general, for convenience of gamers in arcades such as
pachinko parlors, game media lending machines in a tall form (also
called "sandwich machines") for lending out pachinko balls and
coins (game media) are placed between adjacent game machines in
areas where a number of game machines are installed (also called
"banks"). Such a game media lending machine is mounted to a frame
fixed between the game machines, and actually lends out game media
or sends a signal to the game machine in order to lend out the game
media when a bill, coin, prepaid card, or the like is inserted
through its corresponding insertion slot. For example, a bill
processor constricted so as to be able to process bills comprises a
bill identifier for identifying bills inserted therein, and a bill
container (safe) for accommodating the bills determined valid by
the bill identifier.
[0006] The bill processor is also equipped with a mechanism for
pushing bills inserted through a bill insertion slot into the bill
container. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
No. 2002-284368 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei.
10-21441, a pressing plate for pushing a bill is operated
horizontally by way of a pantograph formed by crossing at least one
pair of link members.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] For effectively utilizing the space, arcades are desired to
install a lot of game machines efficiently. Accordingly, bill
processors placed between the machines as mentioned above are
demanded to be made as small as possible. Namely, it is desirable
that gaps between adjacent game machines be narrower and that the
bill processors be placed efficiently in these gaps.
[0008] However, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application
Laid-Open No. 2002-284368 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
No. Hei. 10-21441 employ a structure in which both sides of a
pressing plate are supported with respect to a predetermined
supporter by way of a pantograph, whereby a space to be secured for
installing and operating the pantograph becomes greater. This
causes a problem of increasing the size of the bill processor
itself or limiting the space for installing other machines
(machines for processing coins and prepaid cards).
[0009] In view of the circumstances mentioned above, it is an
object of the present invention to provide a compact bill processor
which can accommodate bills in a bill container efficiently and
reliably with a tiny space.
[0010] For achieving the above-mentioned object, a bill processor
according to the present invention comprises: a housing; a bill
insertion slot provided at a front face of the housing and opened
for inserting a bill; a bill transfer mechanism for transferring
the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot along an inserting
direction and discharging the bill toward a bill pushing area
positioned downstream; a bill container provided in the housing;
and a bill pressing mechanism for pressing the bill discharged into
the bill pushing area toward the bill container, wherein the bill
pressing mechanism includes: a supporter attached to the housing, a
pressing plate movable toward the bill container, a link member
joining the supporter and the pressing plate and having an opening
and a moving member movable through the opening, the moving member
having a first end portion supported with respect to the supporter
and a second end portion engaged with the pressing plate and
movable with respect to the supporter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall structure
of a bill processor according to the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where the lid
shown in FIG. 1 is opened and the pressing mechanism is
removed;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the inner structure of the
bill processor;
[0014] FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the structure of a
bill pressing mechanism in a state where a pressing plate is opened
with respect to the lid;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a view showing a plate driving motor and a
deceleration mechanism thereof;
[0016] FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the structure of a
mechanism for joining the pressing plate to the lid;
[0017] FIG. 7 is views showing operations of the pressing plate,
illustrating unpressed state in (a) and pressed state in (b);
[0018] FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the structure of a
mounting tray, wherein (a) and (b) illustrate a state where a bill
is discharged into a bill pushing area and a state where bills are
stacked, respectively;
[0019] FIG. 9 is a view explaining the pressure plate pushing a
bill into the mounting tray, wherein (a), (b), and (c) illustrate
the states before pushing the bill, during pushing the bill, and
after pushing the bill, respectively;
[0020] FIG. 10 is a view showing the structure of a mounting tray
driving mechanism;
[0021] FIG. 11 is a front view showing structures of a shutter
mechanism and a lock mechanism;
[0022] FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the structure of a
shutter driving mechanism;
[0023] FIG. 13 is a view explaining the shutter mechanism and the
lock mechanism wherein (a) is a side view showing a locked state of
the shutter mechanism, and (b) is a side view showing a state when
the lock of the shutter mechanism is released;
[0024] FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a componential example of
controller for controlling operations of the bill processor;
[0025] FIG. 15 is a view showing a state where the mounting tray is
discharged; and
[0026] FIG. 16 is a view conceptually showing examples of
inclinations which may occur in the front to rear direction in the
pressing plate.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0027] In the following, an embodiment of the present invention
will be explained with reference to the drawings.
[0028] FIGS. 1 to 3 are views showing structures of the bill
processor in accordance with the embodiment. FIG. 1 is a
perspective view showing the overall structure, FIG. 2 is a view
showing a state where the lid shown in FIG. 1 is opened and the
pressing mechanism is removed. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the
inner structure.
[0029] The bill processor 1 is constructed so as to be mountable to
a game media lending machine installed between game machines such
as pachinko machines (not depicted), for example. In this case,
while the game media lending machine is mounted with other devices
(e.g., coin identifier, recording media processor, and power
supply) on the upper or lower sides of the bill processor 1, the
bill processor 1 may be constructed integrally with or separately
from these devices. Alternatively, the bill processor 1 may be
placed alone or together with the above-mentioned devices in spaces
other than the gap between the game machines. When a bill is
inserted in such a bill processing machine and is determined valid,
processing for lending game media corresponding to the value of the
bill, writing into a recording medium, and the like are
performed.
[0030] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bill processor 1 is equipped
with a housing 1a formed into a rectangular parallelepiped, whereas
the housing 1a is attached to an engaging part of a game media
lending machine which is not depicted. The front face (the face to
be exposed) 1b of the housing 1a is formed with a bill processing
area 3. The bill processing area 3 comprises a bill insertion slot
3A opened like a slit into which a bill P is inserted, and a
shutter 91 which can be opened and closed so that a mounting tray
(bill container) 60, which is provided in the housing 1a and stacks
bills P, can be discharged. In this case, the bill P is inserted
into the bill insertion slot 3A along the direction of arrow D1
while in a state where the shorter side of the bill is oriented
vertically (in the erect state).
[0031] As clearly shown in FIG. 3, a bill identifier 5 for
determining whether the inserted bill P is valid or not and a bill
transfer mechanism 7 for transferring the inserted bill P are
provided within the housing 1a. The bill identifier 5 is placed at
a position near the bill insertion slot 3A in the inserting
direction D1, whereas the bill transfer mechanism 7 is provided
over a region extending from the bill identifier 5 along the
inserting direction D1. In this case, the bill transfer mechanism 7
is equipped with a function of transferring the inserted bill P
while holding the same, and has such dimensions as to be contained
within a region shorter than the longitudinal length of the bill P,
preferably within a half of the length of the bill P at a position
near the bill insertion slot 3A in the inserting direction D1.
[0032] Provided on the downstream side of the bill transfer
mechanism 7 is a bill pushing area 10 for sliding the bill P, which
is discharged by a downstream roller pair of the bill transfer
mechanism 7. The bill transfer mechanism 7 has substantially the
same size as with the bill P so that the bill P discharged from the
downstream roller pair can be transferred as it is in the direction
of arrow D2 orthogonal to the discharging direction without any
restrictions. Thus, the bill pushing area 10 is positioned on the
downstream side of the bill transfer mechanism 7, whereas a bill
pressing mechanism 30 and the mounting tray 60 are provided on one
side and the other side of the housing 1a, respectively, so as to
hold the bill pushing area 10 therebetween (see FIG. 2). Namely, as
will be explained later, the bill P discharged into the pushing
area 10 when the bill transfer mechanism 7 is driven is pressed as
it is in the direction of arrow D2 by the pressing plate of the
bill pressing mechanism 30, so as to be successively stacked into
the mounting tray 60.
[0033] As FIG. 3 clearly shows in particular, the bill transfer
mechanism 7 comprises a pair of transfer belts 17a, 17b which
extend along the bill inserting direction D1 and are placed with a
predetermined gap therebetween. The transfer belts 17a, 17b have
respective one ends wound about tension rollers 18a, 18b attached
to a shaft 18 which is rotatably supported by an inner frame 1d on
the bill insertion slot 3A side, and the respective other ends
wound about tension rollers 19a, 19b attached to a shaft 19 which
is rotatably supported by the inner frame 1d on the inner side of
the bill identifier 5.
[0034] The shaft 19 is driven to rotate by a transfer motor 20
mounted to the inner frame 1d. Namely, the shaft 19 is driven to
rotate by way of a gear 20G fixed to a driving shaft of the
transfer motor 20 and a gear 19G which is in mesh with the gear 20G
and fixed to an end part of the shaft 19. The transfer motor 20 is
driven by the controller, which will be explained later, so as to
rotate normally/reversely, thereby functioning as a driving source
for the bill transfer mechanism 7.
[0035] Pinch rollers 21a, 21b and 22a, 22b abut against the tension
rollers 18a, 18b and 19a, 19b, respectively (see FIG. 2). Namely,
the bill P inserted into the bill insertion slot 3A is transferred
while being held between the transfer belts 17a, 17b and the pinch
rollers 21a, 21b and 22a, 22b abutting thereagainst, and is finally
discharged into the bill pushing area 10 through a nip part between
the pinch rollers 22a, 22b and the transfer belts 17a, 17b.
[0036] The bill identifier 5 is equipped with a sensor board 5A,
which is provided with a bill insertion sensor 25 positioned nearer
to the bill insertion slot 3A than the shaft 18. The bill insertion
sensor 25 is constituted by an optical sensor, for example, and
detects the insertion of the bill P into the bill insertion slot
3A. When the bill insertion sensor 25 detects the insertion of the
bill P, the controller, which will be explained later, drives the
transfer motor 20 so as to rotate in the bill feeding direction
(rotate normally).
[0037] Between the shafts 18 and 19, the sensor board 5A is
provided with bill identification sensors 26. Each bill
identification sensor 26 is constituted by an optical sensor so as
to emit light to the bill P transferred by the bill transfer
mechanism 7. The bill identification sensors 26 are placed at a
plurality of positions along a direction orthogonal to the bill
inserting direction D1, and sends detection data obtained by light
reflected by or transmitted through the bill P to a CPU of the
controller to be explained later. The CPU compares the detection
data with data concerning a normal bill stored beforehand in a ROM,
and determines whether the inserted bill is valid or not.
[0038] As mentioned above, the bill pressing mechanism 30 is
provided on one side of the housing 1a with respect to the bill
pushing area 10. The bill pressing mechanism 30 comprises a lid 31
as a supporter attached to the housing 1a such as to be openable
and closable, a planar pressing plate 32 which is attached to the
lid 31 and presses the bill P in the direction of arrow D2 when the
bill P is located in the bill pushing area 10 while the lid 31 is
closed with respect to the housing 1a, and a plate driving motor 33
for driving the pressing plate 32.
[0039] The structure of the bill pressing mechanism 30 will now be
explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. In these drawings, FIG. 4
is an explanatory view showing the state where the pressing plate
32 is opened with respect to the lid 31. In FIG. 4, a part of the
pressing plate 32 (flanges 32c) is omitted for the purpose of
explanation. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing structures of
the plate driving motor 33 and a deceleration mechanism 37 of the
plate driving motor 33. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing the
structure of a mechanism for joining the pressing plate 32 to the
lid 31 (while omitting the control circuit board and the like), and
FIG. 7 are views showing operations of the pressing plate 32 in the
unpressing state shown in (a) and the pressing state shown in
(b).
[0040] The pressing plate 32 has substantially the same size as
that of the bill P, and is supported rotatably with respect to the
lid 31 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow D2 by a link
member 35 joining the rear face on one end side of the pressing
plate 32 and the rear face on the other end side of the lid 31 to
each other (see FIG. 6). Both end parts of the link member 35 are
rotatably supported by shafts 31A, 32A attached to the lid 31 and
pressing plate 32, respectively (that is, the pressing plate 32 is
supported by only one side of the lid 31 via the link member 35),
whereby the pressing plate 32 is supported by the link member 35 so
as to move toward/away from the lid 31 as shown in FIGS. 6 and
7.
[0041] As shown in FIG. 4, the plate driving motor 33 is placed on
the rear face of the lid 31, whereas the pressing plate 32 is
driven in a reciprocating fashion in the direction of arrow D2 when
the plate driving motor 33 is driven to rotate a depressing arm 38
attached to the center portion of the lid 31.
[0042] Specifically, the rear face of the lid 31 is provided with
the deceleration mechanism (gear train) 37 for decelerating the
rotation of the plate driving motor 33 and transmitting the
decelerated rotation toward the pressing plate 32, and the
depressing arm 38 as a moving member rotatably driven by a final
gear 37a of the deceleration mechanism 37 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). As
apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5, the depressing arm 38 is supported at
a base end part thereof (a first end portion of the moving member)
with respect to the lid 31 and rotatably driven about the base end
part since the final gear 37a is attached to the base end part,
whereas a leading part (a second end portion of the moving member)
is mounted with an engaging protrusion 38a. The engaging protrusion
38a engages with a long groove 32b formed in a protruded member 32a
attached to the rear face of the pressing plate 32. When the
depressing arm 38 is driven to rotate about the base end part, the
engaging protrusion 38a is displaced along the long groove 32b and
moves upward and downward with respect to the lid 31. Accordingly,
the pressing plate 32 is driven in a reciprocating fashion along
the direction of arrow D2 while keeping its parallel state. In
addition, the flanges 32c of the pressing plate 32 are parallel to
the lid 31 when the flanges 32c are abutted against engaging claws
61c of the mounting tray 60 (See FIGS. 7 to 9). For favorably
maintaining the parallel reciprocation of the pressing plate 32,
the depressing arm 38 pressing the pressing plate 32 at one
position is prevented from rotating by 45.degree. or more. As shown
in FIG. 4, the protruding member 32a is exposed through the opening
35a formed in the link member 35 and is placed so as not to
interfere with the link member 35. The deceleration mechanism 37 is
constructed by combining a number of small gears, which reduces the
size of the deceleration mechanism 37.
[0043] The pressing plate 32 has such a form as to descend by a
predetermined length in the pressing direction (direction D2),
whereas flanges (overhangs) 32c are longitudinally formed on both
sides thereof. Consequently, when driven downward by the depressing
arm 38, the pressing plate 32 enters an opening of the tray 60
which will be explained later. While the pressing plate 32 is on
the inside of the opening to a certain extent, the flanges 32c abut
against engaging claws 61c of the mounting tray 60 which will be
explained later, thereby preventing the pressing plate 32 from
further entering the opening of the mounting tray 60 (see FIG. 9).
In the case where such flanges 32c are provided, even though the
pressing plate 32 is supported on only one side by the link member
35, the pressing plate 32 finally becomes parallel to the bill P
when the flanges 32c and the engaging claws 61c abut against each
other, whereby a uniform pressure can be exerted on the bill P
along a longitudinal direction thereof. Also, slight inclinations
may occur in the front to rear direction even when the pressing
plate 32 is held parallel by the depressing arm 38, but such
inclinations are corrected, whereby the bill P can reliably be
accommodated in the mounting tray 60 regardless of their conditions
(wrinkles, folds, flexures, and the like).
[0044] As can be seen from the foregoing, the pressing plate 32 is
supported on only one side with respect to the lid 31 by way of the
link member 35 in this embodiment. Therefore, slight inclinations
may occur in the front to rear direction in the pressing plate 32
even though it is held parallel by the depressing arm 38. Two
examples of such a case are conceptually shown in (a) and (b) of
FIG. 16. In these examples, the flanges 32c and engaging claws 61c
are provided such that the pressing plate 32 finally becomes
parallel to the bill P (lid 31) so as to be able to exert a uniform
pressure on the bill P even if such a state (where an inclination
occurs in the front to rear direction in the pressing plate 32) is
caused.
[0045] In this embodiment, a control circuit board 40 (constituting
controller; control means) for controlling the driving of various
driving mechanisms in the bill processor 1 is attached to the rear
face of the lid 31. An optical sensor (rotation detecting sensor)
42 for detecting the amount of rotation of the depressing arm 38 is
connected to the control circuit board 40 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), and
controls the plate driving motor 33 such as to stop driving the
plate driving motor 33 when the amount of rotation of the
depressing arm 38, i.e., the amount of descent of the pressing
plate 32, reaches a predetermined threshold. This prevents
unnecessary loads from acting on the plate driving motor 33.
[0046] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the mounting tray 60 is provided
on the other side of the housing 1a with respect to the bill
pushing area 10. The mounting tray 60 is constructed such as to
successively stack the bills P pressed by the pressing plate 32.
The structure of the mounting tray 60 will now be explained with
reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.
[0047] The mounting tray 60 has a body 61 comprising a bottom wall
61a and side walls 61b formed on both sides of the bottom wall 61a.
A mounting plate 62 for mounting a bundle of bills is provided
between the side walls 61b of the body 61, and is pressed by a
biasing spring 63 placed between the mounting plate 62 and the
bottom wall 61a of the body 61. A pair of engaging claws 61c
extending along the longitudinal direction of the bill P to be
accommodated are respectively formed on the side walls 61b so as to
project inward at the end parts on the opening side. As shown in
FIGS. 8(a) and 9(a), the engaging claws 61c function to sort bills
discharged into the bill pushing area 10 by way of the bill
transfer mechanism 7 from the bundle of bills contained in the body
61. Namely, when a bill P discharged into the bill pushing area 10
is pressed by the pressing plate 32, the bill P is transferred
above the mounting plate 62 while being flexed at the center by the
engaging claws 61c as shown in FIG. 9(b). Having ridden over the
engaging claws 61c, the bill P is mounted onto the mounting plate
62 against the urging force of the biasing spring 63 as shown in
FIGS. 8(b) and 9(c). When the pressing plate 32 returns to the
initial position, both end parts of the bundle of bills stacked on
the mounting plate 62 are pressed against the pair of engaging
claws 61c under the urging force of the biasing spring 63. This
forms a gap R between the topmost bill in the bills stacked on the
mounting plate 62 and the pressing plate 32 as shown in FIG. 9(a),
whereby sorting is done. The gap R is used for receiving the bill P
discharged thereafter by way of the bill transfer mechanism 7. As
mentioned above, the bill P fed to the gap R is stacked into the
mounting tray 60 when the pressing plate 32, located at the initial
position, is driven.
[0048] A jam may occur if the bill P has wrinkles and the like when
the gap R is too wide, whereas the bill P may not be fed stably
when the gap R is too narrow. Specifically, a preferred size of the
gap R falls within the range of about 3 to 5 mm. Preferably, the
bill pressing mechanism 30 and the mounting tray 60 are arranged so
as to form such a gap R in the bill pushing area 10.
[0049] In this embodiment, the bill P stacked in the main body 61
of the mounting tray 60 is held by the urged mounting plate 62 and
the engaging claws 61c, whereas such a structure exposes the front
end side of the bundle of bills (see (b) in FIG. 8). Therefore, the
leading end part of the bundle of bills stacked on the mounting
plate 62 is exposed (see FIG. 15) when the mounting tray 60 is
driven such that the front end side thereof projects out of the
front face 1b of the housing 1a as will be explained later, whereby
an operator can easily pull out the bundle of bills in front
thereof, so as to perform a collecting operation.
[0050] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8(b), it will be preferred if
the longitudinal length (i.e., the length of the bill mounting
surface) of the body 61 (mounting plate 62) is formed shorter than
the length of the bill P to be inserted. When the length of the
mounting plate 62 is thus made shorter, the bundle of bills stacked
thereon expose the upper and lower faces on the leading end side,
whereby the operator can easily pick and pull out the bundle of
bills. Such a structure keeps the operator from touching the
mounting plate 62 formed from a metal such as SUS with fingers;
therefore, the safety during the collecting operation is improved.
As shown in FIG. 8, a recession 62a may be formed at the center of
the leading edge of the mounting plate 62. Such a configuration
also makes it easier to grasp the bundle of bills, whereby the
operations and effects mentioned above can be obtained.
[0051] On the leading end side of both side walls 61b of the body
61, cutouts 61d extending in the bill inserting direction are
formed over a predetermined range in the portions opposing the
housing 1a. When the shutter 91 is opened by a shutter mechanism
which will be explained later, while the mounting tray 60 is driven
to project, such cutouts 61d can keep the opened shutter 91 and the
body 61 from interfering with each other, whereby the space
efficiency can effectively be improved. In the mounting tray 60, a
bill detecting sensor 128 (see the block diagram of FIG. 14) for
detecting the existence of the bill P may be mounted on the
mounting plate 62.
[0052] With reference to FIGS. 3 and 10, a mounting tray driving
mechanism 70 for driving the mounting tray 60 will now be
explained.
[0053] The mounting tray driving mechanism 70 comprises a tray
driving motor 71 fixed to the inner frame 1d of the housing 1a, and
a driving shaft (worm shaft) 72 which is driven by the tray driving
motor 71 to rotate. The driving shaft 72 is rotatably supported by
the inner frame 1d so as to extend in the bill inserting direction
(D1) and has an outer peripheral face formed with a male thread
72a. On one end side, the driving shaft 72 is connected to the
output shaft of the tray driving motor 71 by way of a gear train
73.
[0054] A connector 66 is formed at the rear end part of the body 61
of the mounting tray 60, whereas a sliding member 75 arranged so as
to surround the driving shaft 72 is joined to the connector 66. The
sliding member 75 is formed with a female thread (not depicted) in
mesh with the male thread 72a of the driving shaft 72, whereby the
sliding member 75, i.e., the mounting tray 60, can be driven to
reciprocate axially. For preventing the sliding member 75 from
rotating during its reciprocating movement, a guide rod 76 arranged
parallel to the driving shaft 72 is inserted through the sliding
member 75.
[0055] The mounting tray driving mechanism 70 is provided with
moving amount detector 80 which can detect the amount of movement
of the mounting tray 60. The moving amount detector 80 can be
constructed, for example, by a disk-shaped rotor 81 attached to the
opposite side of the output shaft of the tray driving motor 71 and
a rotational amount sensor (photosensor) 82 arranged so as to hold
the rotor 81 with a predetermined gap. The rotor 81 is formed as an
encoder 81a provided with a plurality of detection openings at
predetermined intervals along its circumferential direction. When
the encoder 81a (rotor 81) rotates as the tray driving motor 71
revolves, pulses corresponding to the amount of rotation can be
obtained by the rotational amount sensor 82. Therefore, the amount
of movement of the mounting tray 60 can be grasped from the number
of pulses. Providing such moving amount detector 80 makes it
possible to accurately control the position at which the mounting
tray 60 stops in the projecting direction, and alleviate the load
on the tray driving motor 71.
[0056] The mounting tray driving mechanism 70 is further equipped
with position detector 85 which can detect an accommodating
position of the mounting tray 60 (a position where bills can be
contained; containing position). Such position detector 85 can be
constructed, for example, by attaching a latch (not depicted) to
the sliding member 75 for driving the mounting tray 60 and
providing the inner frame 1d with a limit switch 86 which turns
ON/OFF when the latch comes into/out of contact therewith.
Providing such position detector 85 makes it possible to grasp the
state of the mounting tray 60 (whether it is at the accommodating
position or a collecting position), and appropriately drive the
mounting tray 60 during the bill collecting operation.
[0057] In this embodiment, the bill P stacked in the mounting tray
60 can be collected when a shutter mechanism 90 arranged adjacent
to the bill insertion slot 3A in the bill processing area 3 is
driven to open. The structure of the shutter mechanism 90 will now
be explained with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 11 to 13.
[0058] The shutter mechanism 90 comprises the shutter (shielding
plate) 91 for closing a rectangular opening formed in the bill
processing area 3, and a shutter driving mechanism 92 for driving
the shutter 91 to rotate. The shutter 91 is constructed as a
substantially rectangular plate, whereas a base end part thereof is
fixed to a shaft 91a rotatably supported by the inner frame 1d of
the housing 1a.
[0059] The shutter driving mechanism 92 is equipped with a shutter
driving motor 95, which is connected to the shaft 91a by way of a
gear train 96 constituting a deceleration mechanism connected to a
driving shaft 95a of the shutter driving motor 95 and arm-like link
members 97a, 97b successively connected to the gear train 96.
Therefore, when the shutter driving motor 95 is driven to rotate
the driving shaft 95a, its rotational driving force is decelerated
by the gear train 96. The shaft of the link member 97a is connected
to an output gear 96a of the gear train 96. When the shutter
driving motor 95 is driven to rotate normally, the link member 97a
is driven to rotate from the state shown in FIG. 13(a) to the state
shown in FIG. 13(b). A leading end part of the link member 97b
whose base end part is connected to the shaft 91a is joined to the
link member 97a. When the link member 97a is driven to rotate as
depicted, the shutter 91 is driven to rotate by about 90.degree. by
way of the link member 97b from a vertical state toward the inside
of the housing.
[0060] The shutter driving mechanism 92 is provided with rotational
amount detector 100 which can detect the amount of rotation of the
shutter 91. The rotational amount detector 100 can be constructed,
for example, by providing the surface of an input gear 96b of the
gear train 96 with a plurality of detection openings 101 at
predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction
thereof, so as to form an encoder, and placing a rotational amount
sensor (reflection-type photosensor) 102 for detecting the amount
of rotation of the encoder. Such rotational amount detector 100
makes it possible to accurately control a stop position where the
shutter 91 attains a rotational angle of about 90.degree. after
being rotated, whereby the load on the shutter driving motor 95 can
be alleviated.
[0061] In connection with the shutter mechanism 90, a lock
mechanism 110 for locking the closed state of the shutter 91 is
provided in this embodiment.
[0062] The lock mechanism 110 is constituted by teeth 112
continuously formed at a leading edge of the shutter 91, which is
driven to open and close, along its longitudinal direction, a lock
plate 113 supported by the inner frame 1d of the housing 1a (so as
to get into the groove of the housing 1a, specifically) and movable
along the longitudinal axis (direction of arrows) of the shutter
91, and driving mechanism (for example, solenoid 116) for moving
the lock plate 113 along its longitudinal axis (the longitudinal
axis of the shutter 91).
[0063] The lock plate 113 is formed with teeth 114 corresponding to
the teeth 112, and is always pressed by a biasing spring 117 so as
to attain such a state that the teeth 112, 114 do not mate (see
FIG. 12). When the solenoid 116 is driven in order to collect the
bill P, the lock plate 113 moves against the urging force of the
biasing spring 117, whereby the teeth 112, 114 mate with each other
(see FIG. 11). This releases the shutter 91 from its locked state,
so that the shutter 91 can be rotated toward the inside of the
housing 1a by the shutter driving mechanism 92, whereby the
mounting tray 60 can be set to a dischargeable state.
[0064] FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a componential example of
controller for controlling operations of the bill processor 1.
[0065] As mentioned above, the controller is equipped with the
control circuit board 40, attached to the rear face of the lid 31,
for controlling operations of various actuators mentioned above.
The control circuit board 40 comprises a CPU 130, a ROM 131 and a
control RAM 132. The CPU 130 functions to control various driving
devices such as the transfer motor 20, plate driving motor 33, tray
driving motor 71, shutter driving motor 95, and solenoid 116. The
ROM 131 stores operational programs for the above-mentioned various
driving devices, detection data concerning valid bills, etc.
[0066] Motor driving circuits 140 to 143 for driving various motors
mentioned above are connected to the CPU 130 by way of an I/O port
135, whereas driving operations (normal rotation, reverse rotation,
and stop) of the driving motors are controlled according to the
operational programs or by control signals from the CPU 130. Fed
into the CPU 130 by way of the I/O port 135 are signals from the
bill insertion sensor 25 detecting the insertion of bills,
detection signals from the bill identification sensors 26
concerning the identification of bills, detection signals from the
rotation detecting sensor 42 concerning the pressing position of
the pressing plate 32, detection signals from the rotational amount
sensor 82 concerning the position of the mounting tray 60,
detection signals from the limit switch 86 concerning whether the
mounting tray 60 is located at the accommodating position or not,
and detection signals from the rotational amount sensor 102
concerning the rotating position of the shutter 91. According to
these detection signals, driving operations of the above-mentioned
transfer motor 20, plate driving motor 33, tray driving motor 71,
shutter driving motor 95, and solenoid 116 are controlled.
[0067] The CPU 130 is connected to a control circuit 200 disposed
in a game machine body which is not depicted, whereby game value
information corresponding to the value of the inserted bill is
transmitted to the game machine.
[0068] Further, a release signal for releasing the locked state in
the lock mechanism 110 (for driving the solenoid 116) is fed into
the CPU 130 of the control circuit board 40. For example, signal
transmitter 300 for transmitting the release signal can be
constructed as a part of functions of a management server which is
connected to a communication network 400 and manages bank
equipments. This makes it possible to collectively release the
individual shutters 91 in bill processors present in the bank
equipment at the time of a collecting operation, for example.
[0069] Operations of thus constructed bill processor 1 will now be
explained.
[0070] First, a procedure of successively stacking bills P into the
mounting tray 60 will be explained.
[0071] When a bill P is inserted into the bill insertion slot 3A in
a standing state with the shorter sides standing vertically as
shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the insertion is detected by the bill
insertion sensor 25. When the bill insertion sensor 25 detects the
insertion of the bill P, the transfer motor 20 is driven to rotate
normally, whereby the bill P is transferred into the housing 1a
while being held by the transfer belts 17a, 17b constituting the
bill transfer mechanism 7 and the pinch rollers 21a, 21b, 22a, 22b
abutting against the transfer belts 17a, 17b.
[0072] When the bill P is transferred into the housing 1a, the bill
identification sensors 26 detect the bill P, whereby its validity
is determined by the controller. When the bill identification
sensors 26 fail to determine the validity of the bill P, the
transfer motor 20 is driven to rotate in reverse, whereby the bill
P in the process of transfer incurs a returning action, so as to be
discharged as it is from the bill insertion slot 3A.
[0073] When the bill P is determined valid, the transfer motor 20
is driven to rotate until the rear end of the bill P passes the nip
part between the transfer belts 17a, 17b and pinch rollers 22a,
22b. Here, as shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 9(a), the bill P is
discharged into the gap R between the pressing surface of the
pressing plate 32 in the bill pushing area 10, which is positioned
on the downstream side of the transfer belts 17a, 17b and pinch
rollers 22a, 22b, and the plane including the engaging claws 61c of
the mounting tray 60. As mentioned above, the gap R is set to such
a range that jams and the like do not occur.
[0074] When the bill P is located in the pushing area 10 after
passing the nip part, the normal rotation of the transfer motor 20
is stopped, and the plate driving motor 33 is driven to rotate.
Consequently, the depressing arm 38 drives the pressing plate 32
downward, whereby the lower face of the pressing plate 32 presses
the bill P (see FIG. 9(b)). The bill P pressed by the pressing
plate 32 moves beyond a pair of engaging claws 61c of the mounting
tray 60 thereafter, and is pressed onto the mounting plate 62
against the urging force of the biasing spring 63. Though the
pressure of the pressing plate 32 in the bill direction varies
depending on the supporting position of the link member 35, a
substantially uniform pressure acts on the bill P along its
longitudinal direction since the flanges (overhangs) 32c formed on
both sides of the pressing plate 32 abut against the engaging claws
61c. Namely, the bill as a whole can be pressed uniformly, whereby
a predetermined number of bills can reliably be accommodated even
when the bills are folded or when the bills are tenacious (because
of an increased number of stacked bills). The position of the
depressing arm 38 is detected by the rotation detecting sensor 42.
When the depressing arm 38 is located at an appropriate position
(when the flanges 32c of the pressing plate 32 abut against the
engaging claws 61c), the plate driving motor 33 is stopped. After
the flanges (overhangs) 32c abut against the engaging claws 61c
under a predetermined pressure on the pressing plate 32, the plate
driving motor 33 is driven to rotate in reverse, whereby the
pressing plate 32 returns to the initial position. Here, the urging
force of the biasing spring 63 presses the mounting plate 62 toward
the engaging claws 61c, whereby the topmost bill P is pressed
against the engaging claws 61c as shown in FIG. 9(c), so as to be
sorted from the next bill to be transferred. As the foregoing
action is repeated, the bills P are stably stacked on the mounting
plate 62 in the mounting tray 60.
[0075] A procedure of collecting the bills P accommodated in the
mounting tray 60 will now be explained.
[0076] When collecting the bills P, for example, a management
server (signal transmitter 300) managing an arcade as a whole
transmits a signal for releasing the lock mechanism 110 to each
bill processor 1 installed in a bank. In this case, for example,
the management server may be controlled such as to release the lock
mechanisms 110 of all the bill processors 1 in the whole bank or
the lock mechanisms 110 in one row of bill processors 1 in the
bank. When the bill processor 1 receives the release signal, the
solenoid 116 is driven, whereby the lock plate 113 is driven in the
longitudinal direction of the shutter 91 against the urging force
of the biasing spring 117. Consequently, the teeth 114 of the lock
plate 113 and the teeth 112 formed in the shutter 91 mate with each
other. When the shutter driving motor 95 is driven to rotate in
this state, the shutter 91 attains an open state (see FIG. 13(b)).
The shutter driving motor 95, whose amount of rotation is detected
by the rotational amount sensor 102, is stopped at an appropriate
position (a position tilted at about 90.degree.).
[0077] When the shutter driving motor 95 is stopped, the tray
driving motor 71 is driven to rotate, whereby the front end side of
the mounting tray 60 is discharged from the front face of the
housing 1a. Since both side walls 61b are formed with the cutouts
61d as mentioned above, the body 61 of the mounting tray 60 does
not interfere with the tilted shutter 91, and is discharged from
its front end side. The amount of rotation of the tray driving
motor 71 is detected by the rotational amount sensor 82, whereby
the mounting tray 60 is stopped at an appropriate position.
[0078] In the state where the mounting tray 60 is stopped, the
bundle of bills mounted on the mounting plate 62 are held such as
to expose the front end side as shown in FIG. 15, whereby the
operator can pick the exposed bundle of bills and pull them out as
they are, and thus can efficiently perform an operation of
collecting bills. In particular, as shown in FIG. 8, the length of
the mounting plate 62 mounting the bill P is shorter than the
length of the bill P, while the recession 62a is formed at the
center of the leading edge of the mounting plate 62, so that the
bundle of bills in the stacked state can easily be picked by the
leading end part when the mounting tray 60 projects, which
facilitates the operation of collecting the bills P in this
embodiment.
[0079] After the lapse of a predetermined time from when the bill
detecting sensor 128 detects the absence of the bill P on the
mounting plate 62 (when the collecting operation is completed)
during the operation of collecting the bill P, a process which is
the reverse of the foregoing is performed. Namely, the tray driving
motor 71 is driven to rotate in reverse, so as to return the
mounting tray 60 to the accommodating position. At the time when
the limit switch 86 detects the existence of the mounting tray 60,
the shutter driving motor 95 is driven in reverse, so as to rotate
the shutter 91 to the closed state. Thereafter, the solenoid 116 is
deactivated, so as to return the lock plate 113 to the initial
position, and the lock mechanism 110 is actuated.
[0080] Since the lock mechanism 110 is thus automatically actuated
when the absence of bills on the mounting plate 62 is detected, it
is sufficient for the operator to perform only the bill collecting
operation, which makes it unnecessary to perform other operations,
whereby the bill collecting operation can efficiently be performed.
Also, such a structure reliably prevents the shutter 91 from being
unlocked (by human errors) during the bill collecting operation,
whereby security can be improved.
[0081] The above-mentioned controller may be configured such that
the lock mechanism 110 is not released if there is no bill P on the
mounting plate 62 when the signal for releasing the lock mechanism
110 is received. Namely, when there is no bill P, the lock
mechanism 110 is maintained as it is without driving the mounting
tray 60, whereby unintentional unlocking and the like can reliably
be prevented from happening.
[0082] The lock mechanism 110 may be released by a dedicated
portable terminal owned by the operator. For example, each bill
processor 1 may be provided with an infrared receiver 500 (see
FIGS. 1 and 14), and the lock mechanism 110 may be released when a
predetermined lock release signal is received from the portable
terminal. Such a structure makes it possible to release lock
mechanisms of a number of bill processors individually, so as to
perform the collecting operation. Alternatively, such releasing
operations may be performed collectively by the portable terminal
via a management server. Namely, lock mechanisms may be released
collectively in the whole bank or each row of the bank by an
operation of the portable terminal.
[0083] In the bill processor 1 in accordance with this embodiment,
since the pressing plate 32 for pressing the bill P toward the
mounting tray 60 is supported by only one side of the lid 31 by way
of the link member 35 as explained in the foregoing, a space to be
secured for installing and operating the bill pressing mechanism 30
including the pressing plate 32 and link member 35 can be reduced,
whereby the bill processor 1 itself can be made smaller. Since the
depressing arm 38 for moving the pressing plate 32 toward the
mounting tray 60 while keeping the pressing plate 32 substantially
parallel to the lid 31 is provided, the bill processor 1 in
accordance with this embodiment can eliminate the unstableness of
the pressing plate 32, which is supported by the lid 31 only in one
side of the pressing plate 32, whereby a uniform pressure can be
exerted on the bill P along the longitudinal direction thereof.
Namely, the bill P can be accommodated in the mounting tray 60
efficiently and reliably with a tiny space.
[0084] When the pressing plate 32 is moved by the depressing arm
38, the flanges 32c cause the pressing plate 32 to abut against the
engaging claws 61c of the mounting tray 60 and prevent the pressing
plate 32 from further entering the mounting tray 60. In the case
where such flanges 32c are provided, when a slight inclination
occurs in the front to rear direction in spite of the presence of
the depressing arm 38 for the parallel hold, the pressing plate 32
finally becomes parallel to the lid 31 (bill P) when the flanges
32c abut against the engaging claws 61c, even though the pressing
plate 32 is supported by the link member 35 only in one side of the
pressing plate 32. Accordingly, a uniform pressure can be exerted
on the bill P along the longitudinal direction thereof. Namely,
bills as a whole can be pressed uniformly, whereby a predetermined
number of bills can reliably be accommodated in the mounting tray
60 even when the bills are folded or when the bills are tenacious
(because of an increased number of stacked bills).
[0085] Also, in the case where a slight inclination occurs in the
front to rear direction in the pressing plate 32 even when the
pressing plate 32 is held parallel by the depressing arm 38, the
inclination is corrected by the abutment of flanges 32c and
engaging claws 61c in the bill processor 1 in accordance with this
embodiment, whereby bills P can reliably be accommodated in the
mounting tray 60 regardless of their conditions (wrinkles, folds,
flexures, and the like).
[0086] Without being restricted to the above-mentioned embodiment,
the present invention can be carried out while being modified in
various ways within the scope not deviating from the gist thereof
as a matter of course. For instance, constituent members such as
various driving mechanisms and sensors arranged within the housing
mentioned above are only examples thereof, and their specific
structures may be modified as appropriate as long as they can
perform the same processes and operations. The mounting tray 60 may
be anything as long as it can expose and hold a bundle of bills
such that their leading end can be picked out when projected out of
the housing, whereby the structure can be modified as appropriate.
The lock mechanism may be released for each bill processor without
the aid of external management servers and the like. Namely, the
collecting operation may individually be performed for each bill
processor.
[0087] As described above, the present invention can provide a
compact bill processor which can accommodate bills efficiently and
reliably in the bill container with a tiny space.
[0088] The bill processor of the present invention can be installed
not only between various game machines, but also in various
apparatus which handle bills, e.g., external apparatus such as
various vending machines.
* * * * *