Gripper for holding and depositing a sheet-material stack, and method for holding and depositing a sheet-material stack by means of a gripper

Abstract

The invention relates to a gripper (10) for holding and depositing a stack (St) of sheet material, in particular of value documents (W), at a depositing location, in particular on a surface or on an existing stack, comprising at least one first grip element (20), which has or forms a first contact surface (F1) for contact with the stack (St), and at least one second grip element (30), which has or forms a second contact surface (F2) for contact with the stack (St). The first contact surface (F1) and the second contact surface (F2) are designed for contact with the stack (St) on both sides. The grip elements (20, 30) are guided adjustably with respect to one another such that the contact surfaces (F1, F2) are movable with respect to one another in the direction of the surface normal associated with the relevant contact surfaces (F1, F2) in order to hold the stack (St) between the contact surfaces (F1, F2). The first grip element (20) is mounted so as to be pivotable about a swivel pin (S) such that said element is pivotable between a gripping position, in which the first contact surface (F1) is oriented substantially in parallel with the second contact surface (F2), and a release position, in which the first contact surface (F1) is at an angle with respect to the second contact surface (F2).

Description

[0001] GRIPPER FOR HOLDING AND PLACING A STACK OF SHEETS, AND METHOD FOR HOLDING AND PLACING A STACK OF SHEETS BY MEANS OF A GRIPPER

[0002] The present invention relates to a gripper for holding and depositing a stack of sheet material, in particular value documents, at a deposit location, in particular on a base or on an existing stack of sheet material.

[0003] The invention further relates to a device for moving and depositing a stack of sheet material and a method for depositing a stack of sheet material, in particular value documents, at a deposit location, in particular on a base or on an existing stack of sheet material.

[0004] When processing stacked sheet material, it is known to place one or more stacks of sheet material with the aid of a gripper on a base or on an existing stack of sheet material that is stacked on a base, possibly in a container. The gripper typically has two gripping elements with gripping fingers that can be moved relative to one another, between which the stack to be deposited is clamped. The sheets constituting the sheet material are flat, usually flexible, sheets. The sheets can each be formed from a single layer or from several interconnected layers or individual sheets.

[0005] For example, when providing valuable documents such as banknotes, tickets, admission tickets, vouchers, checks, or similar for daily use, it is common practice to store them in stacks for dispensing in self-service devices, for example in automatic teller machines (ATMs), ticket vending machines, travel ticket vending machines, or similar. It has proven expedient to store the valuable documents as stacks, particularly in a shaft-shaped receptacle, in such a way that the stacking direction extends at least along the vertical direction. Self-service devices for banknotes, for example, have valuable document cassettes with such shaft-shaped receptacles that can be filled laterally and are oriented vertically or inclined relative to the gravitational field.A valuable document container (also known as a valuable document cassette) to be filled with stacks of valuable documents can, in particular, be positioned vertically or at an angle to the rear, as is known, for example, from WO 2018 / 210447 A1. Grippers are also used for the automated filling of such shaft-shaped receptacles.

[0006] The stack of sheets to be deposited is deposited with the help of the gripper in such a way that the bottom sheet of the stack lies with its surface on the base or on the existing stack of sheets. The gripper is then opened slightly and pulled out of the deposited stack in a lateral direction, i.e. essentially parallel to the surface of the bottom sheet. When the gripper fingers resting on the stack are pulled back or out, the problem arises that the lower gripping element, on which the stack to be deposited rests, can move sheets in a lateral direction due to frictional forces and thus pull them out of the stack, in particular the bottom sheet of the stack to be deposited and / or the top sheet of an existing stack on which it is deposited. The stack is then not deposited flush or in the exact position.

[0007] These frictional forces can be particularly high with used banknotes, as these tend to swell and therefore exert an increased frictional force on the gripper fingers being pulled out of the stack. The frictional force between the valuable documents and the gripper fingers can also be increased in valuable document cassettes for self-service machines, which have a base sprung in the stacking direction. As a result, it can happen, among other things, that the valuable documents deposited mechanically as a stack do not lie exactly flush on top of one another, which can lead to dispensing errors or similar problems, particularly in the case of self-service machines. In practice, it is therefore common for self-service machines, in particular, to continue to dispense banknotes manually, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

[0008] It is the object of the present invention to provide means by means of which a precise positioning of sheet material, in particular valuable documents, is made possible.

[0009] The present invention solves this problem by the appended independent claims. Preferred embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

[0010] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a gripper is provided for holding and depositing a stack of sheet material, in particular a stack of valuable documents, at a deposit location, in particular on a base or on an existing stack of sheet material, in particular a stack of valuable documents. The gripper comprises at least a first gripping element, which has or forms a first contact surface for contacting the stack, and at least one second gripping element, which has or forms a further, second contact surface for contacting the stack. The first contact surface and second contact surface are designed to contact the stack on both sides in such a way that the stack can be clamped between the first and second contact surfaces.The first and second gripping elements are guided so as to be adjustable relative to one another, wherein the first and second contact surfaces can be moved towards one another, in particular in the direction of the surface normal respectively assigned to the first and second contact surfaces, in order to hold the stack, in particular in a force-fitting manner between the first and second contact surfaces. According to the invention, the first gripping element is pivotally mounted about a pivot axis. The first gripping element can be pivoted, in particular pivoted downwards or pivoted away from the first gripping element, between a gripping position in which the first contact surface is aligned substantially parallel to the second contact surface, and a release position in which the first contact surface is aligned at an angle with respect to the second contact surface.

[0011] The gripper is advantageously designed to stack sheet material in general, and valuable documents in particular, such as banknotes, tickets, admission tickets, vouchers, checks, or the like, precisely and flush with one another using simple mechanical means. Precise stacking using automated devices is a challenge that the invention proposes to solve by simulating the function of the human thumb.

[0012] For this purpose, the first gripping element is designed to be pivotable so that it can be pivoted away from the gripping position of the second gripping element in order to release the stack held between the first and second contact surfaces or to deposit it at the desired storage location.

[0013] In particular, the first gripping element can be pivoted from the gripping position into the release position in such a way that the stack gripped by the gripper can slide into the release position with the aid of gravity along the first contact surface of the first gripping element and is thereby deposited at the deposit location. In this way, with suitable positioning of the gripper at a deposit position above the desired deposit location, the stack can be deposited precisely on the latter. For the movement of the first and second gripping elements towards one another and for the pivoting movement of the first gripping element from the gripping position into the release position, the gripper can have one or more actuators, e.g. electric motors. In particular, the first and second gripping elements can be moved towards one another by means of at least one actuator (e.g. electric motor) of the gripper in order to grip the stack and, if necessary,to compress it, thereby increasing the gripping force (and thus the reliability of the gripping). Preferably, the first and second gripping elements can also be moved away from each other by means of at least the gripper's actuator in order to increase their distance before gripping the stack. The gripper is thus configured to grip stacks of different sizes.

[0014] The gripper is designed to pick up and hold the stack in such a way that the two sheets, in particular value documents, which limit the stack at the ends in the stacking direction, are in frictional contact with their surfaces with the first contact surface or the second contact surface. The first or second contact surface is typically provided by a flat contact or several smaller, in particular linear or punctual supports for the stack to be held on the respective first or second gripping element. It is understood that the first and second contact surfaces relate to the structural entirety of the provided contact or support points on the stack to be held. In exemplary embodiments, for example, at least one of the gripping elements can exemplarily comprise several elongated gripping fingers which, in their structural entirety, define a first or second contact surface within the meaning of this description.The first and second contact surfaces are aligned essentially parallel to each other in the gripping position, i.e., the contact surfaces, which may only be defined at specific points or by linear structures, are designed and oriented in the gripping position such that the stack is held between two virtual planes that are at least partially plane-parallel. Deviations from this caused by the stack bending due to its own weight are therefore irrelevant and are included in this definition.

[0015] The phrase that the first and second contact surfaces are movable to one another in the direction of the surface normals assigned to the first and second contact surfaces is to be understood in particular to mean that the first contact surface and the second contact surface are movable towards and / or away from one another in the gripping position while maintaining the substantially parallel orientation.

[0016] Preferably, the first gripping element and the second gripping element are guided in a linearly adjustable manner relative to one another. This prevents shearing movements when gripping the stack. This ensures that the first contact surface and the second contact surface can be moved toward one another in the gripping position while reliably maintaining their parallel orientation, in particular to grip the stack without damage.

[0017] Preferably, the first contact surface in the release position is aligned at an angle of at least 45°, in particular substantially perpendicular, to the second contact surface. In other words, the first gripping element can be pivoted about the pivot axis through an angle of at least 45°, e.g., 90°. The first contact surface can be rotated from the gripping position, in which the first contact surface is aligned substantially parallel to the second contact surface, into the release position, in which the first contact surface is aligned at an angle of at least 45°, in particular substantially perpendicular, to the second contact surface. In the perpendicular case, the first contact surface in the release position extends parallel to the stacking direction of the deposited stack when the gripper is used as intended and can thus be used in a further development to apply pressure to the edges of the deposited stack, in particular to ensure that the sheets, e.g.,Valuable documents of the stack lie flush on top of each other.

[0018] In advantageous embodiments, the second gripping element is mounted on the gripper in a rotationally fixed manner. For example, the first gripping element and the second gripping element are guided so as to be linearly adjustable relative to each other with respect to a carrier, with the first gripping element being pivotable about the pivot axis with respect to the carrier, and the second gripping element being arranged in a rotationally fixed manner with respect to the carrier.

[0019] The first gripping element and the second gripping element are preferably designed such that they support the center of gravity of the stack held by the gripper, at least when the stacking direction of the stack in the holder is oriented at least approximately along the vertical direction with respect to the gravitational field in space.

[0020] In this description, the vertical direction is defined in the usual way with regard to the gravitational field.

[0021] In advantageous embodiments, the first contact surface is formed by at least one elongated first gripping finger of the first gripping element and the second contact surface is formed by at least one elongated second gripping finger of the second gripping element, wherein a longitudinal extent of the at least one first gripping finger is shorter than a longitudinal extent of the at least one second gripping finger. The longitudinal extent of the first gripping finger is preferably at most 80% of the longitudinal extent of the second gripping finger. The pivotably mounted, first gripping element is preferably shorter in order to reduce the area taken up by the pivoting movement and to enable the stack to be deposited at the deposit location in a precisely positioned manner from a relatively low height.

[0022] In some embodiments, the gripper can comprise a plurality of elongated, first gripping fingers that define the first contact surface and are thus pivotably mounted about the pivot axis. In some embodiments, the second contact surface can also be defined by a plurality of second gripping fingers that run, for example, parallel to the first gripping fingers.

[0023] Preferably, the first gripping element is movable away from the second gripping element by pivoting about the pivot axis in the direction of the release position in such a way that the distance between the first contact surface and the second contact surface continually increases when pivoting from the gripping position to the release position. In this way, undesirable shear forces acting on the stack, which can be caused in particular by the pivoting of the first gripping element when depositing the stack, can be avoided.

[0024] In order to avoid that valuable documents of the existing stack are displaced by the pivoting movement of the first gripping element, the deposit position of the gripper is selected such that in the deposit position the vertical distance of the pivot axis from the deposit location is greater than the longitudinal extent of the first contact surface of the first gripping element.

[0025] According to a second aspect of the invention, a device for moving and depositing a stack of sheet material is provided, comprising the gripper described above and a control device for controlling the movement of the first and second contact surfaces or the first and second gripping elements relative to one another, in particular with regard to the distance and / or orientation. The control device is designed to control the pivoting movement of the first gripping element from the gripping position to the release position by controlling corresponding actuators, such as electric motors or the like.

[0026] The device preferably comprises a transport device designed to move the gripper to different positions in space and to align it in different orientations in space, particularly with respect to the gravitational field. In this case, the control device is designed to control the movement and orientation of the gripper in space by controlling corresponding actuators, such as electric motors or the like. In the simplest case, this requires the control of at least one additional degree of freedom of movement of the transport device.

[0027] In particular, the control device is designed to control the at least one actuator of the gripper in such a way that the first and the second gripping element are moved away from each other before gripping the stack in order to increase their distance from each other and / or to control the at least one actuator of the gripper in such a way that the first and the second gripping element are moved towards each other in order to grip the stack and, if necessary, also to control them in such a way that the stack is compressed between the first and the second gripping element during gripping, e.g. by a certain distance or until a certain counterforce of the stack is reached.

[0028] In advantageous embodiments, the transport device for moving and orienting the gripper in space has several axes that can be adjusted linearly and / or rotatably relative to one another. In this way, for example, complex movements of the gripper with a plurality of degrees of freedom can be implemented. For example, the gripper is arranged at the end of an articulated multi-arm robot or is otherwise mounted in a suitable manner for rotation and / or movement.

[0029] In one embodiment, the device is designed to remove a stack formed as a stack of valuable documents from a valuable document container, for example from an upwardly open transport container for banknotes, by means of the gripper, transport it to a valuable document cassette, for example of an ATM, and insert it into the valuable document cassette at the storage location. The device is preferably designed to fill laterally loadable valuable document cassettes or valuable document containers, wherein the loading takes place in a lateral direction, i.e. with a movement component perpendicular to the gravitational field, preferably in such a way that the stacking direction of the stack is oriented at least approximately along the vertical direction.Particularly common are value document cassettes that are positioned vertically or slightly tilted backwards at an angle in self-service cash dispensers, which have correspondingly aligned slots that can be loaded with stacks of value documents, in particular stacks of banknotes.

[0030] In the narrower sense, a value document cassette is considered, within the scope of this description, to be a container for value documents that is designed to store the value documents in stacks in a shaft-shaped receptacle that is oriented at least approximately along the vertical direction. The phrase "the shaft-shaped receptacle or the stacking direction of the stack is oriented at least approximately along the vertical direction" is to be understood in particular as meaning that the stacking direction deviates from the vertical direction by less than 30°. It is advantageous to arrange the stacking direction slightly tilted with respect to the gravitational field, as this promotes the sliding of the stack on the first support surface under the influence of gravity when it is placed down.

[0031] It can be provided that the base in the security document cassette is spring-loaded in the stacking direction of the valuable documents to be inserted. The pivoting movement of the first gripping element then makes it possible to avoid physical contact of the first gripping element with elements at the storage location during deposit, for example, with valuable documents already stacked there, so that increased friction caused by spring-loading in the stacking direction is insignificant in this respect.

[0032] Preferably, the movement and orientation of the gripper in space can be controlled with the aid of the control device independently of the movement and orientation of the first and second contact surfaces relative to one another. In other words, the movement sequences for opening and closing the gripper on the one hand and the movement sequences for moving or orienting the gripper in space on the other hand can be controlled independently of one another in such a way that opening and closing of the gripper is possible regardless of its position and orientation in space.

[0033] The control device is particularly designed to position the gripper holding the stack in a deposit position in which the first contact surface is arranged below the second contact surface, and to deposit the stack held by the gripper by the gripper located in the deposit position, wherein in order to deposit the stack the first contact surface is pivoted from the gripping position into the release position in which the first contact surface is aligned at an angle with respect to the second contact surface, preferably at an angle of at least 45°.

[0034] The control device can further be designed to select the storage position of the gripper in such a way that

[0035] - that in the deposit position, the center of gravity of the stack held by the gripper is arranged vertically above the deposit location of the stack, and / or

[0036] - that in the storage position the vertical distance of the pivot axis from the storage location is greater than the longitudinal extent of the first contact surface of the first gripping element.

[0037] The control device can also be designed to control the gripper in such a way that the first contact surface is moved in a direction perpendicular to a stacking direction of the stack after the stack held by the gripper has been deposited in order to apply pressure to the edge of the stack and thus align it flush.

[0038] According to a third aspect of the invention, a method is proposed for depositing a stack of sheet material, in particular valuable documents, at a deposit location, in particular on a base or on an existing stack of sheet material, in particular valuable document stack. The method comprises the steps:

[0039] - Holding a stack of sheet material, in particular valuable documents, between a first and a second contact surface of a gripper, in particular the gripper already described above, in a gripping position, wherein the first and the second contact surface are arranged parallel to one another in the gripping position;

[0040] - Positioning the gripper in a depositing position in which the center of gravity of the stack held by the gripper is arranged vertically above the depositing location at which the stack held by the gripper is to be deposited, wherein the gripper is oriented in the depositing position such that the first contact surface is arranged vertically below the second contact surface;

[0041] - depositing the stack held by the gripper, wherein, in order to deposit the stack, the first contact surface is pivoted from the gripping position into a release position in which the first contact surface is aligned at an angle with respect to the second contact surface and is thus tilted.

[0042] Due to the arrangement and orientation of the gripper in the deposit position above the deposit location, and the fact that the gripper is opened by tilting the first contact surface into the release position, it is possible for the stack to slide along the first contact surface with the help of gravity to the deposit location, which is predetermined, for example, by the base or by an already existing stack. The lower, first gripping element, which supports the stack, is thus pivoted out of the stack before it comes into contact with the base underneath or the already existing stack. In this way, a precisely positioned deposit of the stack of sheet material, in particular valuable documents, is provided by mechanical means.

[0043] In particular, the stack can be deposited in a security document cassette or in an input compartment of a security document processing device (which is intended to process the stack), in which the base or the existing stack can be located. In both cases, the stack is placed with its rear side facing away from the gripper (with the security document edges facing away from the gripper) against a rear wall of the security document cassette or input compartment (which is stationary with respect to the gripper). The rear wall, which can be touched by the rear side or rear edges of the stack during depositing or is located a very short distance from it during depositing, ensures the correct alignment of the edges in the deposited stack. In order to be able to deposit the stack as close as possible to the rear wall of the security document cassette or input compartment, the gripper grips / holds the stack only via the front side of the stack, which is opposite the rear side of the stack.While the gripper grips / holds the stack, the back of the stack gripped / held at the front is neither gripped nor held by the gripper or any other device. The back of the stack remains free so that the gripper can insert it into the security document cassette or input compartment.

[0044] In preferred embodiments of the method, the first contact surface is oriented at an angle of at least 45°, in particular perpendicularly, to the second contact surface in the release position. In the vertical position, the first contact surface thus extends essentially along the stacking direction after the stack has been deposited as intended.

[0045] In particular, the deposit position is selected such that, in the deposit position, the center of gravity of the stack held by the gripper is positioned vertically (directly) above the stack's deposit location, i.e., above the base or above the existing stack. This allows for simple and safe deposit of the stack at the deposit location by means of gravity.

[0046] After depositing, it is preferably provided that the deposited stack is loaded onto the edges with the first contact surface aligned in the release position in order to correct any stacking errors that may include sheets that are not exactly flush with one another in the stack, e.g., valuable documents. For the edge-loading of the deposited stack, the first contact surface is moved laterally in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction.

[0047] In advantageous embodiments of the method, the step of positioning the gripper in the deposit position is further preceded by the movement of the gripper in space from a receiving position, in which the stack is gripped by the gripper, to the deposit position, in particular with the aid of the transport device already described above.

[0048] A stack of valuable documents can, for example, be removed from a valuable document container at the receiving position using the gripper and transported to the storage position above the storage location using the gripper in order to, for example, insert the stack in a vertically aligned filling shaft of the valuable document cassette in a precisely positioned manner.

[0049] Further features and advantages of the method also emerge from the previous and following description with reference to the gripper and the device, which is designed in particular to control the movement and the depositing of the gripper in accordance with the method presented.

[0050] Further aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and variants of the present invention with reference to the accompanying figures, which show:

[0051] Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a gripper according to a

[0052] Embodiment of the invention in a gripping position; Fig. 2 shows the gripper of Fig. 1 in a release position;

[0053] Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the gripper positioned in a deposit position for depositing a stack of value documents in the gripping position;

[0054] Fig.4 is a perspective view of the gripper after depositing the stack in the release position; and

[0055] Fig. 5 is a block diagram which schematically illustrates the sequence of a method for depositing a stack of value documents.

[0056] The embodiments described below are not mutually exclusive, but rather complement one another. In this respect, a certain feature, a certain structure, or a certain property described in connection with one embodiment can also be implemented in connection with other embodiments without departing from the subject matter of the invention. Furthermore, the position or arrangement of individual elements or steps within the described embodiments can, of course, be modified without departing from the subject matter of the invention. Therefore, the following description of the attached figures is not to be understood as limiting the scope of the invention, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and also includes variants and equivalents not expressly described below.

[0057] Fig. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of a gripper 10 according to the present disclosure in a schematic side view. The gripper 10 is designed to deposit a stack St of sheet material W, which is shown schematically in dashed lines in Fig. 1. For gripping and holding the stack St, the gripper 10 comprises a first gripping element 20 and a second gripping element 30, which are guided so as to be adjustable relative to one another in order to clamp or non-positively fix the stack St in an intermediate region between the first and second gripping elements 20, 30.

[0058] The first gripping element 20 and the second gripping element 30 form first and second contact surfaces F1, F2 for contacting the sheets bordering the ends of the stack St. The first gripping element 20 is pivotally mounted about a pivot axis S, so that it can be arranged in at least two different angular orientations with respect to the second gripping element 30.

[0059] Fig. 1 shows the gripper 10 with a gripping element 20 arranged in the gripping position. In the gripping position, the first contact surface F1 and the second contact surface F2 are aligned essentially plane-parallel to one another. The gripping elements 20, 30 are also guided so as to be linearly adjustable relative to one another, so that, at least in the gripping position, they can be moved towards and away from one another in a direction RI, as indicated by the double arrow in Fig. 1, along the surface normal assigned to the contact surfaces F1, F2. This enables, in particular, damage-free gripping of the stack St with the aid of first and second contact surfaces F1, F2 aligned essentially plane-parallel to one another in the gripping position.

[0060] The gripping elements 20, 30 are adjustably guided in a carrier 40 so that they can be moved linearly towards and away from one another, in particular for opening and closing the gripper. The first gripping element 20 is additionally mounted so as to be rotatable about the pivot axis S, whereas the second gripping element 30 is fastened in a rotationally fixed manner with respect to the carrier 40. The first gripping element 20 is rotatable about the pivot axis S such that the first contact surface F1 can be moved downwards away from the second contact surface F2 to open the gripper 10 by pivoting about the pivot axis S away from the second gripping element 30. The first gripping element 20 is arranged, as shown for example in Fig. 2 or Fig. 4, tilted by approximately 90° relative to the gripping position in Fig. 1 or 3 in a release position.In order to deposit the stack St at a deposit location O in a precise position, the first gripping element 20 is tilted from the gripping position into the release position, whereupon the stack St can slide under the influence of gravity along the first contact surface F1 to the desired deposit location O.

[0061] The release position is shown in particular in the schematic side view of Fig. 2 and in the perspective view of Fig. 4. In the release position, the first contact surface F1 extends substantially perpendicular to the second contact surface F2 and, as can be seen in particular from Fig. 4, immediately after the intended deposit of the stack St, parallel to the stacking direction of the deposited stack.

[0062] In the illustrated embodiment, the first gripping element 20 is formed by a pivotable gripping finger 21, which accordingly forms the first contact surface F1 for contact with the stack St. The second gripping element 30 has two or more elongated second gripping fingers 31 aligned parallel to one another, which define the second contact surface F2 for mutual contact with the stack St. The first gripping finger 21 and the second gripping fingers 31 extend parallel to one another in the gripping position, so that in the gripping position they define two contact surfaces F1, F2 oriented plane-parallel to one another.

[0063] In other embodiments not explicitly shown, it is provided, for example, that the first contact surface F1 is formed or defined by a plurality of first gripping fingers 21 which are mounted so as to be pivotable about the pivot axis S.

[0064] In the illustrated embodiment, the first gripping finger 21 of the first gripping element 20 has a shorter longitudinal extent than the second gripping finger 31, wherein the term longitudinal extent refers to the length of the gripping fingers 21, 31 from their proximal free end to their support-side attachment, wherein the support-side attachment in the first gripping element is predetermined by the pivot joint about the pivot axis S. The pivotably mounted, first gripping element is shorter in order to reduce the area taken up by the pivoting movement and thus to enable the stack to be deposited in a precise position, for example on an already existing stack, as illustrated for example in Fig. 3 or 4, from a relatively low height.

[0065] To control the movement of the first and second gripping elements 20, 30 relative to one another, a control device 50 is provided which controls actuators (not shown in detail), such as electric motors or the like, for adjusting the orientation of the first contact surface F1 about the pivot axis S and for adjusting the distance between the first and second contact surfaces. The control device is designed in particular to move the first contact surface F1 and the second contact surface F2 towards one another in the gripping position, wherein the movement preferably occurs in the direction RI of the surface normal assigned to the contact surfaces, particularly when gripping the staple St.

[0066] Fig. 1 also schematically shows a transport device 100 for moving the gripper 10 in space. The transport device 100 is designed to move the gripper 10 to different positions in space and to align it in different orientations in space and, for this purpose, has at least one adjustable degree of freedom of movement, which can be controlled by the control device 50.

[0067] In some embodiments, the transport device 100 has a plurality of adjustable axes equipped with correspondingly controllable actuators, such as the electric motors already mentioned above, in order to suitably position the gripper 10 in space. The transport device 100 is designed, for example, as a controllable multi-arm robot, which has at least one pivotable and / or movable robot arm 101, to the end of which the gripper 10 is attached.

[0068] With the aid of the transport device 100, the gripper 10 can be arranged in almost any position and orientation in space or with respect to the gravitational field. The transport device 100 is designed, for example, to pick up the stack St at a pick-up position and transport it to a deposit position A, where the stack St is deposited at the desired deposit location O, for example, on an existing stack.

[0069] Figures 3 and 4 show a special embodiment in which the gripper 10 deposits a stack of valuable documents into a valuable document cassette 200.

[0070] Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the gripper 10 in a storage position A. In the storage position A, the gripper 10 is inserted into the security document cassette 200, which has a shaft-shaped receptacle for the security documents with a rear wall against which the back edges of the security documents have been deposited. In order to be able to deposit the security documents as close as possible to the rear wall, the gripper 10 grips the stack St only via the front of the stack, which is opposite the back of the stack. The security document cassette 200 or its shaft-shaped receptacle is arranged slightly inclined with respect to the gravitational field, so that it extends at an angle of approximately 5° to 30° with respect to the vertical direction. In other embodiments, the security document cassette 200 is oriented such that its shaft-shaped receptacle 201 extends in the vertical direction V.

[0071] As intended, the value documents W are stacked in the shaft-shaped receptacle 201 of the value document cassette 200 such that their stacking direction corresponds to the orientation of the shaft-shaped receptacle 201. In some embodiments, the value document cassette 200 has a spring-loaded base on which the value documents W T are or are to be stored. The stack of valuable documents stored in the valuable document cassette 200 can thus be spring-loaded in the stacking direction.

[0072] As shown in particular in Fig. 3, the stack St to be deposited is held in the gripping position by the gripper 10 in the deposit position A. The stack St is held in particular with its center of gravity in the vertical direction above the deposit location O. In the deposit position A, the gripper 10 is oriented such that the first contact surface F1 is located in the vertical direction V below the second contact surface F2 and the stack St to be deposited is thus supported by the first gripping element 20.

[0073] The stack St is deposited by pivoting the first gripping element 20 or the first contact surface F1 about the pivot axis S from the gripping position of Fig. 3 downwards into the release position of Fig. 4. When the gripper 10 is opened by pivoting the first gripping element 20, the stack St slides off the first gripping element 20 under the influence of gravity and thus reaches the deposit location O, which in the example shown is predetermined by the valuable documents already stacked in the valuable document cassette 200. To prevent valuable documents from the stored stack from being displaced by the pivoting movement of the first gripping element 20, the vertical distance of the pivot axis S from the deposit location O in the deposit position A is selected to be greater than the longitudinal extent of the first contact surface F1 of the first gripping element 20 or the gripping finger 21.

[0074] Fig. 5 shows a method for depositing the stack St of sheet material, e.g., valuable documents W, at the deposit location O in a schematic block diagram. The method comprises the following steps:

[0075] - Holding S1 of the stack St between the first contact surface F1 and the second contact surface F2 of the gripper 10 in a gripping position, as illustrated for example in Fig. 3 for a value document stack W, wherein the first and the second contact surface F1, F2 are arranged parallel to one another in the gripping position;

[0076] - Positioning S2 of the gripper 10 in a deposit position A, as particularly illustrated in Fig. 3, wherein the center of gravity of the stack St held by the gripper 10 is arranged in the vertical direction V above the deposit location C) and the gripper 10 is oriented in the deposit position A such that the first contact surface F1 is arranged in the vertical direction V below the second contact surface F2; and

[0077] - Depositing S3 of the stack St held by the gripper, wherein when depositing the stack St the first contact surface F1 is moved from the gripping position into the release position (e.g. illustrated in Fig. 4). In the release position the first contact surface F1 is aligned at an angle with respect to the second contact surface F2 so that the stack St can slide under the influence of gravity on the first contact surface F1 inclined with respect to the gravitational field to the deposit location O. As can be seen in particular from Fig. 4, the first contact surface F1 is aligned perpendicular to the second contact surface F2 in the release position. After depositing the stack held by the gripper 10, it is provided to apply pressure to the edges of the deposited stack in a loading step S4 in order to ensure in particular a flush alignment of the deposited stack.For this purpose, the gripper 10 is moved in a lateral direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the deposited stack in order to apply the first contact surface F1, which is aligned essentially parallel to the stacking direction, to the edge of the stack.

[0078] The step S2 of positioning the gripper 10 into the storage position A is optionally preceded by the movement of the gripper 10 in space from a receiving position, in which the stack is picked up or gripped by the gripper 10, to the storage position A, in particular the storage position A shown in Fig. 3. This is done by controlling the degrees of freedom of movement of the previously described transport device 100, which is designed to move and orient the gripper 10 in space.

[0079] The above description discloses the invention with reference to specific embodiments. However, the components, elements, and process sequences described therein may be deviated from within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the subject matter of the present invention. Accordingly, the description and drawings are to be understood as illustrative but not restrictive.

Claims

P a t e n t a n s p r ü c h e 1. Gripper (10) for holding and depositing a stack (St) of sheet material, in particular of valuable documents (W), at a storage location, in particular on a base or on an existing stack, comprising at least a first gripping element (20) which has or forms a first contact surface (F1) for contact with the stack (St), at least a second gripping element (30) which has or forms a second contact surface (F2) for contact with the stack (St), wherein the first contact surface (F1) and second contact surfaces (F2) are designed for contact with the stack (St) on both sides and the first and the second gripping element (20, 30) are guided adjustably relative to each other such that the first and second contact surfaces (F1, F2) can be moved towards each other in order to hold the stack (St) between the first and the second contact surfaces (F1, F2), characterized bythat the first gripping element (20) is pivotably mounted about a pivot axis (S) and is pivotable between a gripping position in which the first contact surface (F1) is oriented substantially parallel to the second contact surface (F2) and a release position in which the first contact surface (F1) is oriented at an angle to the second contact surface (F2) in order to place the stack at the storage location, in particular on a base or on an existing stack, 2. Gripper (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the first contact surface (F1) in the release position is aligned at an angle of at least 45°, preferably substantially perpendicular, to the second contact surface (F2).

3. Gripper (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second gripping element (30) is attached to the gripper (10) in a rotationally fixed manner, 4. Gripper (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first contact surface (F1) is formed by at least one elongated first gripping finger (21) of the first gripping element (20) and the second contact surface (F2) is formed by at least one elongated second gripping finger (31) of the second gripping element (30), wherein a longitudinal extension of the at least first gripping finger (21) is shorter than a longitudinal extension of the second gripping finger (31).

5. Gripper (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first gripping element (20) can be moved away from the second gripping element (30) by pivoting about the pivot axis (S) in the direction of the release position such that the distance between the first contact surface (F1) and the second contact surface (F2) increases when pivoting from the gripping position to the release position.

6. Device for depositing a stack of paper material, in particular valuable documents, at a storage location (O), in particular on a base or on an existing stack, with - a gripper (10) according to one of the preceding claims and - a control device (50) for controlling the movement of the first gripping element (20) and second gripping element (30), in particular with regard to their distance from each other and / or with regard to their orientation to each other.

7. Device according to claim 6, characterized by a transport device (100) for moving the gripper (10), which is designed to to move gripper (10) to different positions in space and, if necessary, to orient it in different orientations in space, wherein the control device (50) is designed to control the movement and orientation of the gripper (10) in space, in particular independently of the movement of the first and second contact surfaces (F1, F2).

8. Device according to one of claims 6 to 7, characterized in that the control device is configured to position the gripper (10) holding the stack in a deposit position (A) in which the first contact surface (F1) is arranged below the second contact surface (F2), and to deposit the stack (St) held by the gripper (10) by means of the gripper located in the deposit position (A), wherein, for depositing the stack (St), the first contact surface (F1) is pivoted from the gripping position to the release position in which the first contact surface (F1) is aligned at an angle with respect to the second contact surface (F2).

9. Device according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the control device is configured to select the deposit position (A) of the gripper (10) in such a way, - that in the deposit position (A) the center of gravity of the stack (St) held by the gripper (10) is arranged in the vertical direction (V) above the deposit point (O) of the stack, and / or - that in the storage position (A) the vertical distance of the pivot axis (S) from the storage location (O) is greater than the longitudinal extent of the first contact surface (F1) of the first gripping element (20).

10. Device according to one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the control device is configured to apply pressure to the first contact surface (F1) after the stack (St) held by the gripper has been placed on the ground. to move the deposited stack (St) in a direction perpendicular to a stacking direction of the stack (St).

11. A method for depositing a stack (St) of paper material, in particular of valuable documents (W), at a storage location (O), in particular on a surface or on an existing stack, characterized by the steps: - Holding (S1) a stack (St) between a first and a second contact surface (F1, F2) of a gripper (10) in a gripping position, wherein the first and the second contact surfaces (F1, F2) are arranged substantially parallel to each other in the gripping position; - Positioning (S2) the gripper (10) holding the stack in a storage position (A), in which the gripper (10) is oriented such that the first contact surface (F1), in particular in the vertical direction (V), is arranged below the second contact surface (F2);- Depositing (S3) the stack (St) held by the gripper (10) by the gripper in the depositing position, wherein, for the purpose of depositing the stack (St), the first contact surface (F1) is pivoted from the gripping position into a release position, in which the first contact surface (F1) is aligned at an angle with respect to the second contact surface (F2).

12. Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the first contact surface (F1) in the release position is aligned at an angle of at least 45°, preferably substantially perpendicular, to the second contact surface (F2).

13. Method according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that when positioning the gripper (10) the deposit position (A) of the gripper is selected such that - that in the deposit position (A) the center of gravity of the stack (St) held by the gripper (10) is arranged in the vertical direction (V) above the deposit point (O) of the stack and / or - that in the storage position (A) the vertical distance of the pivot axis (S) from the storage location (O) is greater than the longitudinal extent of the first contact surface (F1) of the first gripping element (20).

14. Method according to one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that the first contact surface (F1) after the stack (St) held by the gripper has been placed down is designed to actuate the edge of the placed stack (St) in a direction is moved perpendicular to a stacking direction of the stack (St).

15. Method according to one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that the step of positioning (S2) the gripper (10) into the deposit position is preceded by the following step: - Moving the gripper (10) in space from a receiving position, in which the stack (St) is gripped by the gripper (10), to the deposit position (A).

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