DE69209418T2 - Sheet material transport device and automatic cash processing machine - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a transport device for paper sheets for holding and transporting at least one paper sheet between conveyor belts and a banknote dispenser with such a transport device.

Among the conventional paper sheet transport devices, the most basic one is disclosed in JP-A-62-219098. This conventional transport device is designed to support and convey one of a number of paper sheets at a time by two belts running around fixed rollers. JP-A-61-283993 discloses a paper sheet transport device that transports a large number of paper sheets in a stack. In the aforementioned devices, the conveyor belts for supporting and conveying the paper sheets run around fixed rollers and a fixed guide is used to guide the paper sheets. In an alternative design, the transport can be carried out without the guide.

However, the conventional paper sheet conveying devices have the following problems with respect to conveying a single paper sheet, a stack of multiple paper sheets, or paper sheets of different thicknesses.

In a transport device for paper sheets in which the rollers around which the conveyor belts run are fixed, A stack of paper with a large number of sheets of paper can stop in this roller area when passing through the rollers or can break up into individual sheets, making particularly good transport impossible.

In the paper sheet transport device in which a fixed guide for a single paper sheet is provided, when a stack of paper consisting of a large number of paper sheets is transported through such a guide, a jam may occur in that area. On the other hand, when a single sheet of paper is transported through a guide designed to guide a stack of paper, curling of the paper may occur because the guide cannot perform its function.

EP-A-0 499 458 discloses a transport device for paper sheets with at least one pair of endless belts, at least two rollers around which each endless belt runs and a drive device for driving at least one pair of endless belts, wherein at least one pair of endless belts has strands that are opposite one another and normally move in contact with one another to form a paper transport path, which hold and transport a paper sheet between them, and wherein at least one of the belts of the at least one pair of endless belts has an adjusting device for moving at least part of the strand of one belt away from the strand of the other belt when a force is exerted on one belt by the transported paper sheet.

In a transport device for paper sheets in which one of the belts is a drive belt and the other belt is a driven belt, a stack of paper may come apart at a bend in the belt or the sheets of paper making up the stack may become dislocated, making proper transport impossible.

When transporting a stack of paper with a large number of sheets of paper, if the paper stack holder is released, as is the case when placing the stack of paper in a receiving tray, the stack may expand due to its spring effect, making it impossible to pick up properly.

It is an object of the invention to provide a transport device for paper sheets which enables particularly good transport of a single paper sheet, a stack of paper with a large number of paper sheets or of paper sheets with different thicknesses.

It is a further object of the invention to create a banknote machine which enables a particularly good and flexible transport of a single banknote, a bundle of banknotes with a large number of banknotes or banknotes with different thicknesses.

A transport device for paper sheets according to the invention contains at least one pair of endless belts, at least two rollers around which each endless belt runs and a drive device for driving at least one pair of endless belts. At least one pair of endless belts has strands which lie opposite one another and normally move in contact with one another. The strands hold and transport a paper sheet conveyed between them. At least one belt of the at least one pair of endless belts has a device for moving at least a part of the strand of one belt away from the strand of the other belt when a force is exerted on one belt by the transported paper sheet.

One roller of one endless belt can be mounted in a floating manner. The adjusting device can contain an elastic element for elastically pressing one roller in the direction of the other endless belt.

Since one roller of one endless belt is elastically pressed against the other endless belt, when holding and transporting a stack of paper with a large number of paper sheets between the strands of the two belts, one roller and the belt running around this roller can be moved away from the other belt. Therefore, the transport device for paper sheets according to the invention can transport a single sheet of paper or a stack of paper with a large number of paper sheets, regardless of the thickness of the paper. The elastic element can be a spring element or an elastic material forming the belt.

Since the strands of the pair of endless belts are in contact with each other even when one of the endless belts is driven by the drive source, the driving force of the drive source is transmitted to the other endless belt. Therefore, the paper sheets can be held and transported between the strands of the two belts. However, when a large number of paper sheets are transported in a stack, the contact area of the two belts decreases, preventing sufficient transmission of the driving force from the drive belt to the driven belt. In this case, the stack of paper to be transported can break apart or its transport can be interrupted. To prevent such a disadvantage, it is desirable that the two endless belts are driven by the drive source at the same speed.

The paper sheets fed to the strands of the endless belt pair in a stack can be transported individually and separately or overlapping each other by taking advantage of the phenomenon that the paper stack breaks up into the respective sheets during transport when one belt of the endless belt pair is driven.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a transport device for paper sheets according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic side view showing the operation of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are schematic side views, respectively, of a second embodiment of the invention;

Figs. 5 and 6 are side views of a third embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 7 to 9 are each schematic side views of a fourth embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 10 to 14 are side views of a banknote dispenser with the first and second embodiments of the transport device for paper sheets according to the invention

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A first embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

A transport device for paper sheets 1 shown in Fig. 1 contains a pair of endless belts 1a and 1b for holding and transporting paper sheets, rollers 2a, 2b; 2c, 2d around which the belts 1a and 1b run, shafts 3a, 3b; 3c, 3d for holding the rollers 2a, 2b; 2c, 2d, a guide arm 4 for holding the movable shaft 3a, a spring element 5 for elastically coupling the guide arm 4 to a frame (not shown) and a drive device (not shown) which comprises a stepping motor and a drive mechanism.

The shafts 3b, 3c and 3d are directly attached to or held by the frame and are thus not adjustable. The guide arm 4 is pivotally mounted at one of its ends on a shaft 4a arranged on the frame and coupled at its other end to the spring element 5. The shaft 3a is positioned by the spring 5 in such a way that the strands of the conveyor belts 1a and 1b are in opposite contact with each other. In this embodiment, the shaft 3c is driven by a toothed belt drive from the stepping motor (not shown) as a drive device in a direction shown by an arrow in Fig. 1. In the vicinity of the roller 2d, a paper stack 6 consisting of at least one paper sheet between the conveyor belts 1a and 1b, as shown in Fig. 1. In this embodiment, when the paper stack 6 passes between the rollers 2b and 2d, the two belts 1a and 1b transport the paper stack 6 without breaking it up into individual sheets because the distance between the rollers 2b and 2d is sufficiently large and because both conveyor belts 1a and 1b have sufficient transport force. When the paper stack 6 passes between the rollers 2a and 2c, the guide arm 4 for supporting the roller 2a is subjected to a force from the paper stack 6 and is thereby pivoted about the shaft 4a in a direction in which it moves away from the roller 2c to allow the passage of the paper stack 6, as shown in Fig. 2. The shaft 3a of the roller 2a is consequently displaced, whereby the belts 1a and 1b can convey or transport the paper stack 6 to a subsequent transport path without it breaking up into individual sheets. After the paper stack 6 has passed the rollers 2a and 2c, the guide arm 4 for holding the roller 2a is pivoted into its original position shown in Fig. 1 by the restoring force of the spring element 5.

A second embodiment of the invention is explained below with reference to Fig. 3. The second embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 in that no spring element is used. In this embodiment, a transport device 10 contains endless belts 11a and 11b, which consist of an elastic material (rubber) and are designed to hold and transport a stack of paper between them, rollers 12a, 12b, 12c; 12d, 12e, around which the transport belts 11a and 11b run, shafts 13a, 13b, 13c; 13d, 13e for supporting the rollers, a guide arm 14 for supporting the adjustable shaft 13d with a toothed belt 15 and a toothed pinion 16 for driving the roller 12d, a frame, a drive device and a drive mechanism, which are not shown.

The shafts 13a, 13b, 13c and 13e are mounted directly on the frame and are therefore not adjustable. The shaft 13d is rotatably supported by the guide arm 14 which in turn is pivotable on a shaft 14a. The shafts 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d and 13e are arranged to have the positional relationship shown in Fig. 3. The idler roller 12d is arranged to bring the strands of the conveyor belts 11a and 12b into contact with each other due to the elastic force of the conveyor belt 11b. In this embodiment, the driving force from the drive device (not shown) is transmitted through the toothed belt 15, the pinion 16, etc. to the shaft 13d for driving the idler roller 12d. The toothed belt 15 is loose enough not to cause idling so that the shaft 13d is adjustable. In this paper sheet transport device 10, a paper stack 17 consisting of at least one paper sheet is transported, as shown in Fig. 3. When the paper stack 17 consisting of several paper sheets comes close to the part of the belt 11a bent by the roller 12b, a force is exerted on the guide arm 14 for holding the roller 12d by the paper stack 17 and this is therefore pivoted about the rotation axis 14a in a direction in which it is moved away from the roller 12b so that the stack 17 can pass the bent area, as shown in Fig. 4. Therefore, the paper stack 17 can be conveyed or transported to a subsequent transport path without it falling into the respective sheets. After the paper stack 17 has passed between the rollers 12a and 12d, the arm 14 for holding the roller 12d is returned to its original position shown in Fig. 3 by the elastic restoring force of the conveyor belt 11b, since the axis of the shaft 13d is closer to the belt 11a than the connecting line between the axis 13e and the axis of the shaft 14a.

In the second embodiment, only one conveyor belt 11b of the two conveyor belts is driven, while the other conveyor belt 11a is driven by the power of the conveyor belt 11b. If the roller 12a is also driven by the drive device so that both conveyor belts 11a and 11b can be driven, reliable transport of the paper stack 17 is ensured. This also applies to the embodiment according to Fig. 1.

A third embodiment of the invention will be explained below with reference to Fig. 5. In this embodiment, a transport device for paper sheets 20 includes endless transport belts 21a, 21b made of an elastic material and designed to hold and transport the paper stack between them, rollers 22a, 22b, 22c; 22d, 22e, 22f around which the transport belts 21a, 21b respectively run, shafts 23a, 23b, 23c; 23d, 23e, 23f for holding the rollers, a curved guide 24 for guiding the paper stack transported by the belts 21a and 21b, a spring element 25 for coupling the guide 24 to a frame (not shown), a drive device (not shown), and a drive mechanism (not shown). At least one conveyor belt 21a of the conveyor belts consists of an elastic material.

One end of the guide 24 is pivotally mounted on a shaft 24a which is mounted on the frame between the shafts 23a and 23b and close to the shaft 23f, while the other end of the guide 24 is coupled to one end of the spring element 25, the other end of which is mounted on the frame. The normal position of the guide 24 is that in which it enables a sheet of paper to be guided (see Fig. 5). This normal position is determined by a stop (not shown). In this embodiment, the rollers 22a and 22d are driven by the drive device and the drive mechanism (not shown), i.e. both conveyor belts 21a and 22b are driven.

In the paper sheet transport device 20, a paper stack 26 consisting of at least one single paper sheet is transported, as shown in Fig. 5. When the paper stack with multiple paper sheets is transported, a force is exerted on the guide 24 by the paper stack 26 and its free end is thereby displaced around the shaft 24a in a direction in which it moves away from the impeller 22f as shown in Fig. 6, so as to enable the passage of the paper stack 26 through the guide 24 and thus define the transport direction of the paper stack 26. After the paper stack 26 has passed through, the guide 24 is moved back to its original position shown in Fig. 5 by the restoring force of the spring element 25.

The transport devices 1, 10 and 20 described above are designed to transport a stack of paper from a large number of paper sheets or sheets of different thicknesses, e.g. thick paper sheets. The transport devices 1, 10 and 20 transport, for example, a stack of paper sheets. However, when the number of paper sheets to be transported in a stack increases, a transport belt may come off a roller. In addition, when the holding or pressing force of the paper stack decreases during stacking of the paper sheets, the stack may expand due to its spring effect, thereby preventing the paper sheets from being properly stacked. A fourth embodiment for eliminating such a disadvantage is described below.

Fig. 7 shows the fourth embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, a paper sheet transport device 30 includes three endless transport belts 31a, 31b, 31c for supporting and transporting a stack of paper therebetween, idler rollers 32a, 32b, 32c; 32d, 32e; 32f, 32g, shafts 33a, 33b, 33c; 33d, 33e; 33f, 33g for supporting the idler rollers, respectively, a frame, a drive device and a drive mechanism, which are not shown. In this embodiment, the idler roller 32a is a drive idler roller. At least one transport belt 31a is made of an elastic material. The transport belt 31a is a drive belt, while the transport belts 31b and 31c are driven belts that are moved by contact with the transport belt 31a. When a paper stack 34 consisting of a large number of paper sheets is fed to the transport device 30, the paper stack 34 stops between the belts 31a and 31c and a location in front of the roller 32f in the transport direction as shown in Fig. 8, because the transport belt 31c is separated from the paper stack 34 in the direction shown in Fig. 8. shown and the load on the belt increases to create a slip between the belts 31a and 31c at a position where the transport belts 31a and 31c are in contact with each other and to move the transport belts 31a and 31c away from each other at the position of the idler roller 32c so that the belt 31c becomes free from the driving force. At this time, however, a transport force is exerted by the transport belt 31a on the paper stack 34 which is in contact with the transport belt 31a to transport the paper sheets one by one or in a state in which they are partially superimposed on each other as shown in Fig. 9. The paper sheets are therefore separated from each other or partially superimposed on each other when they pass between the idler rollers 32a and 32d, whereby it is possible to transport the paper stack without the pivotable guide arm for the idler roller shaft, contrary to the embodiment of Fig. 1. This effect can also be achieved by detecting the arrival of the paper stack 34 at a predetermined location and stopping the conveyor belt 31c, for example, by a brake actuated by a detection signal.

An embodiment of a banknote dispenser which has some of the aforementioned transport devices for paper sheets is explained below with reference to Figs. 10 to 14. Fig. 10 shows a schematic view of a banknote dispenser which has a transport device 1 and 10 for paper sheets shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This banknote dispenser is intended to transport the banknotes contained in a cassette 100 to a payout opening 102 and to pay them out to a customer. In this embodiment, the banknote dispenser contains six transport belts 103a to 103f, the transport tracks a plurality of idler rollers 104 around which the conveyor belts run, a guide (not shown) and a conveying direction reversing passage (not shown). Of the idler rollers shown in Fig. 10, the idler rollers 104a, 104b and 104c are driven idler rollers, ie the conveyor belts 103a, 103b and 103c are driven belts. Each of the idler rollers 104b and 104d is further mounted on a pivotable guide arm as described above.

In the bill vending machine 100, the bills requested by the customer are transported one by one from the cassette 100 to a stacking section 105 as shown in Fig. 11. The stacking operation is carried out by a stopper 106 or the like in the stacking section 105 to deposit the bills on a bottom plate (not shown) above the conveyor belt 103b. A double sheet detection roller 109 checks bills 108 which have not been separated at a separation section 107 in the cassette 100, and the direction reversing passage (not shown) in a section B changes the transport direction of the sheets from a direction a to a direction b to accommodate them in a receiving container 100.

When the desired number of banknotes is deposited in the stacking area 105, the stopper 106 retracts and the roller 104e moves in the manner shown in Fig. 12 so that the banknotes 101 to be paid out to the customer can be held between the conveyor belts 103a and 103b. The conveyor track is then driven at a low speed to pay out the banknotes as shown in Fig. 13. At this time, the roller 104b is displaced from the roller 104a to pay the banknotes 101 to the customer in a stack. When the banknotes 101 reach a position where the customer can reach them, the drive of the conveyor belts 103a and 103b is stopped in a state where the belts 103a and 103b slightly hold the banknotes 101. The banknotes 101 offered to the customer may not be taken by the customer. In this case, after a certain period of time has elapsed, a control unit recognizes that the customer has forgotten to take out the banknotes and reverses the drive direction of the drive source to transport the banknotes 101 back to the receiving container 110 (Fig. 14). When the banknotes 101 are stacked as shown in Fig. 14, the guide arm of the roller 104d pivots, allowing the banknotes 101 to be received in the receiving container 110 in the stack.

The paper sheet transport device according to the invention can transport a single paper sheet, a stack of paper sheets made up of a plurality of paper sheets or those with different thicknesses along the same transport path and thus prevents an increase in the overall size of the drive and the manufacturing costs. The banknote vending machine according to the invention can transport banknotes with different thicknesses particularly well and flexibly.

Claims (11)

1. Transport device for paper sheets (1, 10, 20, 30) with at least one pair of endless belts (1a, 1b; 11a, 11b; 21a, 21b; 31a, 31c; 103a, 103b), at least two rollers (2a, 2b; 2c, 2d; 12a to 12c; 12d to 12e; 22a to 22c, 22d to 22f; 32a to 32c, 32f to 32g; 104a, 104d; 104b, 104e) around which each endless belt runs, and a drive device for driving at least one pair of endless belts, wherein at least one pair of endless belts has strands which lie opposite one another and normally move in contact with one another to form a paper transport path, which hold a paper sheet between them and transport, wherein at least one of the belts of the at least one pair of endless belts has an adjusting device to move at least a part of the strand of one belt away from the strand of the other belt when a force is exerted on one belt by the transported paper sheet, and wherein at least one of the rollers (2a, 2c; 12d; 22a, 22d; 33a, 33d, 104a, 104b) is drivingly connected to the drive device. 2. Transport device for paper sheets according to claim 1, wherein the one roller (2a; 12d; 104b; 104d) of the one endless belt is mounted in a floating manner, and wherein the adjusting device has an elastic element (5; 11b) for elastically pressing the one roller in the direction of the other endless belt. 3. Transport device for paper sheets according to claim 2, wherein one (12d) of the rollers delimiting a discharge end of the paper transport path is mounted in a floating manner, and wherein means for transmitting the drive force (13d, 15, 16) are provided between the one roller (12d) and the drive device. 4. A paper sheet transport device according to claim 3, wherein the one roller (12d) has a shaft (13d) supported by a pivot arm (14), and wherein one (11b) of the two endless belts is made of an elastic material which forms the elastic element. 5. Transport device for paper sheets according to claim 2, wherein a shaft (3a) of the one roller (2a) is supported by a pivot arm (4), and wherein the elastic element comprises a spring element (5) acting on the arm. 6. A paper sheet transport device according to claim 2, wherein a shaft (13d) of the one roller (12d) is supported by a pivot arm (4), and wherein the one endless belt (11b) is made of an elastic material which forms the elastic element. 7. Transport device for paper sheets according to claim 1, wherein the one endless belt (21a) consists of an elastic material which forms the adjusting device, wherein the one roller (22f) of the other endless belt (21b) is arranged in the vicinity of the strand of the one endless belt (21a), and wherein a guide (24) is provided in the vicinity of the one roller (22f), one end of which is supported and the other end of which is elastically prestressed in the direction of the other endless belt (21b). 8. Transport device according to claim 1, wherein the one endless belt (31a) consists of an elastic material which forms the adjusting device, wherein the drive device drives the one endless belt (31a) and the other endless belt (31c) is driven by the one endless belt (31a) driven by the drive device, wherein the one roller (32f) of the other endless belt (31c) is normally arranged at a position where it ensures that the other endless belt is in contact with the strand of the one endless belt, and wherein the two endless belts are arranged such that the paper sheets of the paper stack arranged near the one endless belt are transported one after the other by the strand of the one endless belt. 9. Banknote dispenser with a transport device for paper sheets according to one of claims 1 to 6. 10. Banknote dispenser according to claim 9, further comprising a payout opening (102) and a cassette (100) for accommodating the banknotes (100) to be transported to the payout opening, wherein the transport device for the paper sheets forms at least a part of a paper transport path running between the cassette (100) and the payout opening (102). 11. Banknote dispenser according to claim 10, further comprising a paper container (110) arranged offset from the paper transport path and a reversing passage arranged in the middle of the paper transport path.