Banknote processing device and coin handling device

Abstract

To realize detailed audit processing using a banknote storage.SOLUTION: There is provided a banknote processing device comprising: a plurality of banknote storages for storing banknotes; a recognition unit for counting the number of sheets of the banknotes; and a control unit for conveying the banknotes stored in the plurality of storages to the recognition unit and executing detailed audit processing for counting the number of sheets of the banknotes stored in the plurality of banknote storages. Before executing the detailed audit processing, the control unit determines whether banknotes are stored in a specific banknote storage among the plurality of banknote storages, and when it is determined that banknotes are stored in the specific banknote storage, reports an operator to extract the banknotes from the specific banknote storage and executes the detailed audit processing after the banknotes are extracted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a banknote processing device and a currency handling device. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, currency handling devices that process cash withdrawals and deposits have been installed in distribution facilities and commercial facilities such as retail stores and supermarkets, as well as financial facilities such as banks. Such currency handling devices are composed of a coin handling device that processes coins, and a banknote handling device that processes banknotes.

[0003] A banknote processing device has a banknote storage container that stores banknotes. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a banknote processing device having multiple banknote storage containers. Such a banknote processing device may perform a reconciliation process for counting the number of banknotes stored in the multiple banknote storage containers.

[0004] For example, the banknote processing device transports the stored banknotes to another location within each banknote storage vault, and then transports them again to the banknote storage vault to be counted. At this time, the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault are counted by transporting the banknotes through a recognition unit that counts the banknotes. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-124644 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Here, it is conceivable that a banknote storage vault other than the banknote storage vault to be counted may be used as the destination of the banknotes in the reconciliation process. However, if banknotes are already stored in the banknote storage vault to be used for the reconciliation process, there is a problem that the reconciliation process cannot be executed.

[0007] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved banknote processing device and currency handling device that are capable of performing reconciliation processing using a banknote storage vault. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a banknote processing device comprising a plurality of banknote storage containers for storing banknotes, a recognition unit for counting the number of the banknotes, and a control unit for transporting the banknotes stored in the plurality of banknote storage containers to the recognition unit and executing a reconciliation process for counting the number of the banknotes stored in the plurality of banknote storage containers, wherein the control unit determines whether or not banknotes are stored in a specific banknote storage container among the plurality of banknote storage containers before executing the reconciliation process, and if it determines that banknotes are stored in the specific banknote storage container, notifies an operator to remove the banknotes from the specific banknote storage container, and executes the reconciliation process after the banknotes have been removed.

[0009] The control unit may execute a transport process in which, during the reconciliation process, banknotes stored in a source banknote storage container, which is a banknote storage container other than the specific banknote storage container among the plurality of banknote storage containers, are transported to the specific banknote storage container, and then the banknotes are transported from the specific banknote storage container to the source banknote storage container, and during the transport process, the control unit may transport the banknotes via the recognition unit.

[0010] The banknote processing device may further include a temporary holding unit that temporarily holds the banknotes, and the control unit may execute a transport process in which, during the reconciliation process, the banknotes are transported from a source banknote storage container, which is a banknote storage container other than the specific banknote storage container among the multiple banknote storage containers, to the specific banknote storage container, and then the banknotes are transported from the specific banknote storage container to the source banknote storage container via the temporary holding unit, and during the transport process, the banknotes are transported via the recognition unit.

[0011] The recognition unit determines whether the banknote is normal or not, and the banknote processing device further includes a rejection storage unit that stores the banknotes that are determined to be abnormal by the recognition unit, and if, during the reconciliation process, the control unit determines that the source banknote storage unit has become full while the banknote is being transported from the specific banknote storage unit via the temporary holding unit to the source banknote storage unit and the banknote is held in the temporary holding unit, the control unit transports the banknote to the rejection storage unit, and the rejection storage unit further stores the banknotes transported from the temporary holding unit.

[0012] The control unit may, after transporting the banknote from the specific banknote storage container to the reject container, notify the operator to remove the banknote from the reject container and to insert it together with the banknote removed from the specific banknote storage container.

[0013] The control unit may store the banknote inserted by the operator in one of the plurality of banknote storage vaults or in the reject vault via the recognition unit.

[0014] Of the plurality of banknote storage vaults, banknote storage vaults other than the specific banknote storage vault may store banknotes that can be dispensed to a customer, and the specific banknote storage vault may store banknotes that are not to be dispensed to the customer.

[0015] In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a currency handling device comprising a banknote processing device comprising: a plurality of banknote storage containers for storing banknotes; a verification unit for counting the number of the banknotes; and a control unit for transporting the banknotes stored in the plurality of banknote storage containers to the verification unit and executing a reconciliation process for counting the number of the banknotes stored in the plurality of banknote storage containers, wherein the control unit determines whether or not a banknote is stored in a specific banknote storage container among the plurality of banknote storage containers before executing the reconciliation process, and if it determines that a banknote is stored in the specific banknote storage container, notifies an operator to remove the banknote from the specific banknote storage container, and executes the reconciliation process after the banknote is removed. Effect of the Invention

[0016] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a reconciliation process using a banknote storage vault. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of a currency handling device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a currency handling device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 2 is a diagram showing a schematic internal configuration of the banknote processing device 20. FIG. [Figure 4] 13 is a diagram showing an example of an instruction screen displayed on the operation and display unit 3 for removing banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205D. FIG. [Diagram 5] 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205A and the banknote storage vault 205B. FIG. [Figure 6] 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205A and the banknote storage vault 205B. FIG. [Figure 7] 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205A and the banknote storage vault 205B. FIG. [Figure 8] 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205C. FIG. [Figure 9] 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205C. FIG. [Figure 10] 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205C. FIG. [Figure 11] 13 is a diagram for explaining the flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205C. FIG. [Figure 12] 13 is a diagram showing an example of an instruction screen for removing and inserting banknotes stored in a reject container 206, which is displayed on the operation and display unit 3. FIG. [Figure 13] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an operational flow of a reconciliation process of the banknote processing device 20 according to the present embodiment. FIG. [Figure 14] 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the operational flow of the bill counting process in the bill storage vaults 205A to 205C in S108 in the flowchart of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configurations are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted.

[0019] In addition, in this specification and drawings, multiple components having substantially the same functional configuration may be distinguished by adding different letters or numbers after the same reference numeral. However, when there is no need to particularly distinguish each of multiple components having substantially the same functional configuration, each of the multiple components is given only the same reference numeral.

[0020] <<1. Overview of currency handling equipment>> An embodiment of the present invention is applied to a currency handling device installed in a financial facility such as a bank. The currency handling device according to this embodiment is used, for example, behind the business branch of a financial facility, and is capable of performing a dispensing process for dispensing banknotes and coins, and a depositing process for depositing coins and banknotes. The currency handling device according to the embodiment of the present invention may also be installed in distribution facilities and commercial facilities such as retail stores and supermarkets, and may perform a dispensing process for change reserves used in cash registers and a depositing process for currency collected from cash registers. The configuration and operation of such a currency handling device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

[0021] <1.1. Structure of currency handling equipment> First, an example of the structure of a currency handling device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of a currency handling device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the currency handling device 1 according to this embodiment includes an operation and display unit 3, a coin handling device 10, and a banknote handling device 20.

[0022] (Operation display section 3) The operation display unit 3 includes a function as an operation unit that accepts operations by an operator such as a staff member, and a function as a display unit that displays various screens. The function as the display unit is realized, for example, by a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display device, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) device. The function as the operation unit is realized, for example, by a touch panel. The functions of the display unit and the operation unit may be configured separately.

[0023] (Coin processing device 10) The coin processing device 10 processes coins among the currencies handled by the currency handling device 1. The coin processing device 10 has a coin deposit port 11, a coin withdrawal safe 16, and a coin return box 17, as shown in FIG.

[0024] The coin deposit port 11 accepts coins inserted by an operator. The coins inserted into the coin deposit port 11 are separated one by one and a coin recognition unit (not shown) judges whether the coins are normal and counts the number of coins.

[0025] The coin dispensing safe 16 dispenses the coins to be dispensed to the operator during a dispensing process.

[0026] The coin return box 17 returns coins when a sales deposit is cancelled, etc.

[0027] (Banknote processing device 20) The banknote processing device 20 processes banknotes among the currencies handled by the currency handling device 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the banknote processing device 20 has a banknote deposit / withdrawal port 21. The banknote deposit / withdrawal port 21 accepts banknotes inserted by an operator. The banknote deposit / withdrawal port 21 also returns banknotes when a deposit process is canceled, returns banknotes as change generated during a withdrawal process, and returns rejected banknotes among the banknotes deposited during a deposit process. The details of the banknote processing device 20 will be described in detail later.

[0028] <1.2. Configuration of currency handling device 1> Next, an example of the configuration of a currency handling device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a currency handling device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 2, the currency handling device 1 further includes a control unit 110, a card reader unit 120, a communication unit 130, and a memory unit 140, in addition to the operation and display unit 3, the coin processing device 10, and the banknote processing device 20 described with reference to Fig. 1.

[0029] (Control unit 110) The control unit 110 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which is an arithmetic processing device, a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs and arithmetic parameters used by the CPU, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores programs used in the execution of the CPU and parameters that change appropriately during the execution of the programs.

[0030] The control unit 110 controls the overall operation of the currency handling device 1. For example, the control unit 110 causes the operation display unit 3 to display a menu screen that functions as a processing selection screen for allowing the operator to select a desired processing, and controls the execution of the processing selected by the operator on the menu screen.

[0031] For example, the control unit 110 can execute a withdrawal process, a deposit process, an inspection process, etc. A "withdrawal process" is a process of dispensing currency stored in the currency handling device 1 to an operator. A "deposit process" is a process of accepting a deposit of currency from an operator.

[0032] The "reconciliation process" refers to a process of counting the currency stored in the currency handling device 1. Of the reconciliation process, the counting of banknotes, which are a type of currency stored in the currency handling device 1, is carried out by the banknote handling device 20. The reconciliation process carried out by the banknote handling device 20 will be described in detail later.

[0033] The card reader unit 120 reads card information such as an ID for verifying the authority to operate from an ID card inserted into a card insertion / ejection slot (not shown). Note that the present invention is not limited to the above example, and instead of or in addition to the card reader unit, a fingerprint recognition unit for recognizing a fingerprint and a PIN input unit for inputting a PIN may be provided.

[0034] The communication unit 130 transmits and receives data to and from a management device, etc., via, for example, a dedicated network.

[0035] The memory unit 140 is realized by a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and stores control programs for controlling the operation of the currency handling device 1, input data during processing by the currency handling device 1, display screens, etc.

[0036] <<2. Configuration of the banknote handling device 20>> From here, a detailed description will be given of the configuration of the banknote handling device 20. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic internal configuration of the banknote handling device 20. As shown in Fig. 3, the banknote handling device 20 includes a customer service unit 201, a recognition unit 203, a temporary holding unit 204, banknote storage vaults 205 (205A to 205D), a rejected vault 206, transport paths W (W1 to W12), and blades P (P1 to P8).

[0037] The customer service unit 201 functions as a deposit unit that separates banknotes inserted by an operator, and as a dispensing unit that dispenses banknotes to the operator during a dispensing process. The customer service unit 201 has a shutter. The shutter opens the banknote deposit / withdrawal port 21 in Fig. 1, allowing the operator to insert banknotes into the customer service unit 201 and receive banknotes dispensed to the customer service unit 201.

[0038] The customer service unit 201 also has a container 202 that stores banknotes. The container 202 is configured as a hollow rectangular parallelepiped with an open top, and can store banknotes in a state where the paper faces of the stored banknotes are aligned along the front-rear direction, i.e., in a stacked state.

[0039] The recognition unit 203 recognizes banknotes transported within the banknote processing device 20. The recognition unit 203 recognizes, for example, banknotes deposited by an operator and banknotes to be dispensed to an operator. The recognition unit 203 determines the denomination, authenticity, normality, running state, etc. of the banknotes transported through the transport path W. The recognition unit 203 may also determine whether the banknote is a banknote that can be dispensed to a customer (a genuine note) or a banknote that should not be dispensed to a customer. More specifically, the recognition unit 203 may determine that a banknote that is normal but not suitable for dispensing to a customer due to a problem with its shape or dirt is a banknote that should not be dispensed to a customer.

[0040] The escrow unit 204 temporarily holds the banknotes recognized by the recognition unit 203. The banknotes held in the escrow unit 204 are transported to the banknote storage vaults 205A-205D or the like via the recognition unit 203, and the deposit process is completed. The escrow unit 204 may also be used when transferring banknotes between the escrow unit 204 and the banknote storage vaults 205A-205D.

[0041] The banknote storage vaults 205A to 205D are a plurality of banknote storage vaults that store banknotes deposited by an operator, banknotes to be dispensed by an operator, and banknotes separated from other banknote storage vaults 205. Banknotes that have been recognized as normal by the recognition unit 203 are stored in the banknote storage vaults 205. In the following description, the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205D may be referred to by combining an alphabet suffixed to the reference numeral with the word "cassette." For example, the banknote storage vault 205A may be referred to as "A cassette."

[0042] 3, the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205D are set in a row in the front-rear direction on the lower frame of the banknote processing device 20. However, the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205D may be set in a row in the front-rear direction on the lower frame of the banknote processing device 20.

[0043] Banknotes of the same denomination may be stored in each of the banknote storage vaults 205. Also, the multiple banknote storage vaults 205 may store banknotes of different denominations, or some of the multiple banknote storage vaults 205 may store banknotes of the same denomination.

[0044] Also, some of the banknote storage vaults 205A-205D may store banknotes that can be dispensed to customers, and the remaining banknote storage vaults 205 may store banknotes that are not to be dispensed to customers. The banknotes that are not to be dispensed to customers may include banknotes that are determined by the recognition unit 203 to have shape problems or stains as described above, and may include banknotes of denominations that are not in circulation, such as 2,000 yen notes.

[0045] As an example of the types of banknotes stored in each of the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205D, 1,000 yen notes may be stored in the banknote storage vault 205A, 5,000 yen notes in the banknote storage vault 205B, 10,000 yen notes in the banknote storage vault 205C, and banknotes that are not to be dispensed to customers may be stored in the banknote storage vault 205D.

[0046] A sensor is provided above the banknote storage vault 205 to detect whether the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205 are full (full) or near-full. The sensor may be realized by an optical sensor or the like. The control unit 110 determines whether the banknote storage vault 205 is full or not based on the detection result by the sensor.

[0047] The rejected bill vault 206 is a vault that stores rejected bills that have been determined to be abnormal by the recognition unit 203 .

[0048] The conveying path W is a component for conveying banknotes. The conveying path W can convey banknotes to a target destination by rotating a DC servo motor, a pulse motor, or the like under the control of the control unit 110.

[0049] The blade P is a switching unit for switching the transport destination of banknotes, which is provided at each branch point of the transport path W. The blade P rotates under the control of the control unit 110 to switch the transport destination of the banknotes.

[0050] The control unit 110 controls the transport of banknotes for operations such as deposit, accumulation, withdrawal, and banknote movement by controlling the transport path W and the blade P. The transport of banknotes may be controlled by the control unit 110 based on an instruction by an operator operating the operation display unit 3. For example, the control unit 110 controls the transport of banknotes from the banknote storage 205 to the customer service unit 201 in response to an instruction to the customer service unit 201 to dispense banknotes.

[0051] <<3. Checking process by the banknote processing device 20>> Next, a banknote inspection process executed by the banknote processing device 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0052] The control unit 110 executes a reconciliation process to count the amount of banknotes in the banknote processing device 20, based on an instruction to start the reconciliation process by an operator operating the operation display unit 3. More specifically, the control unit 110 counts the number of banknotes stored in the banknote storage vaults 205A-205D and the rejected vault 206 as the reconciliation process.

[0053] In the reconciliation process, for each of the banknote storage vaults 205, the control unit 110 may transport the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205 to be counted to another banknote storage vault 205 different from the banknote storage vault 205 to be counted. Then, after transporting the banknotes to the other banknote storage vault 205, the control unit 110 may transport the banknotes from the other banknote storage vault 205 to the banknote storage vault 205 from which they were transported.

[0054] The banknote storage vault 205 that temporarily stores the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205 to be counted in the reconciliation process is also referred to as the "reconciliation storage vault." In addition, the transport process in which the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205 to be counted are temporarily moved to the reconciliation storage vault and then returned to the original banknote storage vault 205 is also referred to as the "round-trip transport process." In addition, the transport process in which the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205 to be counted are temporarily moved to the reconciliation storage vault is also referred to as the "outbound transport process," and the transport process in which the banknotes are returned to the banknote storage vault 205 to be counted is also referred to as the "return transport process."

[0055] The control unit 110 carries out counting of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205 to be counted by transporting the banknotes via the recognition unit 203 in the reciprocating transport process.

[0056] As the reconciliation storage, a specific banknote storage 205 is used among the multiple banknote storages 205. In this embodiment, an example in which the banknote storage 205D is used as the reconciliation storage will be mainly described.

[0057] In order to execute the reciprocating transport process, the reconciliation storage vault needs to be empty at the start of the reconciliation process. Therefore, in this embodiment, the control unit 110 first determines whether or not there are banknotes in the banknote storage vault 205D before executing the reconciliation process.

[0058] Then, when the control unit 110 determines that a banknote is present in the banknote storage vault 205D, it notifies the operator to remove the banknote from the banknote storage vault 205D. The control unit 110 may notify the operator to remove the banknote, for example, by controlling the operation and display unit 3 to display an instruction screen for removing the banknote stored in the banknote storage vault 205D. Note that the method of notification by the control unit 110 is not limited to displaying an instruction screen, and for example, a sound instructing the operator to remove the banknote may be output from a sound output unit (not shown).

[0059] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an instruction screen for removing banknotes stored in banknote storage vault 205D, which is displayed on operation display unit 3. The operator removes the banknotes stored in banknote storage vault 205D based on the instruction "Please remove the banknotes from cassette D" displayed on operation display unit 3 shown in Fig. 4.

[0060] 4, the instruction screen for removing the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205D includes a removal completion button 30 for confirming that the operator has removed the banknotes. The control unit 110 may start the reconciliation process when the operation display unit 3 detects that the removal completion button 30 has been pressed. However, whether or not the banknotes have been removed may be determined by the control unit 110. In this case, the control unit 110 may automatically start the reconciliation process when it is determined by various sensors that the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205D have been removed.

[0061] The removed banknotes are counted by being inserted from the customer service unit 201 by the operator after the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205C have been counted, and then being stored in each banknote storage vault 205 or the rejected vault 206 via the recognition unit 203. The process of inserting the removed banknotes from the customer service unit 201 and storing them in each banknote storage vault 205 or the rejected vault 206 is also referred to as the "return process".

[0062] On the other hand, when the control unit 110 determines that no banknotes are present in the banknote storage vault 205D, it starts the reconciliation process.

[0063] In this way, even if there are banknotes in the banknote storage vault 205D, the control unit 110 determines whether or not there are banknotes in the banknote storage vault 205D, and if there are banknotes, it is possible to perform the inspection process by notifying the operator to remove the banknotes from the banknote storage vault 205D.

[0064] Hereinafter, a process of inspecting (counting) the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205C using the banknote storage vault 205D as an inspection storage vault will be specifically described. In the following explanation, first, the counting of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vaults 205A and 205B will be described, and then the counting of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205C will be described.

[0065] (Counting of bills stored in bill storage vaults 205A and 205B) The flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vaults 205A and 205B will be described with reference to Fig. 5 to Fig. 7. Fig. 5 to Fig. 7 are diagrams for explaining the flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vaults 205A and 205B.

[0066] First, the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205A will be described. As shown in Fig. 5, the control unit 110 separates the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205A, which is the source banknote storage vault, one by one and transports them to the recognition unit 203 via transport paths W6A, W5, and W12.

[0067] The control unit 110 transports banknotes that have been recognized as genuine by the recognition unit 203 to the banknote storage vault 205D via the transport paths W11, W10, W8, and W6D, and stores them in the banknote storage vault 205D. In addition, the control unit 110 transports banknotes that have been recognized as rejected by the recognition unit 203 to the rejected vault 206 via the transport paths W11, W10, and W9.

[0068] 6, the control unit 110 separates the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205D one by one and transports them to the recognition unit 203 via transport paths W6D, W8, W10, and W11. The control unit 110 transports the banknotes that have been recognized as genuine by the recognition unit 203 to the banknote storage vault 205A, which is the source banknote storage vault, via transport paths W12, W5, and W6A, and stores them therein.

[0069] On the other hand, when a banknote recognized as a rejected note by the recognition unit 203 occurs, the control unit 110 stops separation of banknotes from the banknote storage vault 205D and stops the rejected note and the succeeding banknotes following the rejected note on the transport path W. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 110 reverses rotation of the transport path W to transport the rejected note to the rejected vault 206 via transport paths W7A, W5, W12, W11, W10, and W9. The control unit 110 also returns the succeeding banknote to the banknote storage vault 205D via transport paths W5, W12, W11, W10, W8, and W6D. After this, the control unit 110 returns the rotation of the transport path W to the original position and resumes transport of banknotes from the banknote storage vault 205D to the banknote storage vault 205A. The rejected note and the following banknote may pass through the branch point where the blade P7 is provided and be stopped on the transport path W7A.

[0070] Here, it is also possible to transport rejected notes that have passed through the recognition unit 203 via transport paths W12, W5, W7, and W8. However, such a transport path overlaps with the transport path W8 for banknotes separated from the banknote storage vault 205D, so there is a possibility that rejected notes will be transported to the wrong place. For this reason, it is preferable to transport them via the transport paths described with reference to FIG. 7.

[0071] So far, the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205A has been described. In the counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205B, the control unit 110, as shown in Fig. 5, transports the banknotes from the banknote storage vault 205B, which is the transport source banknote storage vault, to the banknote storage vault 205D via the transport paths W6B and W7A and merges with the same transport path as the counting process for the banknote storage vault 205A, and stores them therein. Then, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the control unit 110 transports the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205D to the branch point where the blade P7 is provided, after passing through the same transport path as the counting process for the banknote storage vault 205A, to the banknote storage vault 205B via the transport paths W7A and W6B.

[0072] Here, in the return path transport process, gaps may be formed between the banknotes transported to and stored in the banknote storage vault 205A or 205B. This may cause the control unit 110 to determine that the banknote storage vault 205A or 205B is full before all the banknotes in the banknote storage vault 205D are moved to the banknote storage vault 205A or 205B.

[0073] When the control unit 110 determines that the banknote storage vault 205A or 205B is full in the return path transport process, it transports the remaining banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205D to the rejected vault 206 without storing them in the banknote storage vault 205A or 205B.

[0074] More specifically, when the control unit 110 determines that the banknote storage vault 205A or 205B is full, similarly to the method described using Fig. 7, it temporarily stops the transport and then reverses the transport path W to transport the banknotes present on the transport path W to the rejected vault 206. Then, the control unit 110 transports the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205D to the rejected vault 206. The transport path from the banknote storage vault 205D to the rejected vault 206 is the same as the transport path described later using Fig. 9.

[0075] (Counting bills in bill storage 205C) Next, a description will be given of a flow of transport of banknotes in a counting process of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205C. The control unit 110 may execute the counting process for the banknote storage vault 205C by transporting the banknotes along the same transport path as the banknote storage vaults 205A and 205B.

[0076] However, depending on the processing power of the CPU executing the counting process by the control unit 110, when a rejected note occurs during the return transport process, the process of stopping the rejected note on the transport path W may not be completed in time, and the rejected note may end up being stored in the banknote storage vault 205C.

[0077] Therefore, in the return transport process of the counting process for the banknote storage vault 205C, the control unit 110 may transport the banknotes via the escrow unit 204. More specifically, the control unit 110 may transport the banknotes from the banknote storage vault 205C, which is the transport source banknote storage vault, to the banknote storage vault 205D, and then transport the banknotes from the banknote storage vault 205D to the banknote storage vault 205C via the escrow unit 204. The flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of the banknotes stored in such a banknote storage vault 205C will be described with reference to Figs. 8 to 11.

[0078] 8 to 11 are diagrams for explaining the flow of transport of banknotes in the counting process of banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205C. First, as shown in Fig. 8, in the counting process of banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205C, the control unit 110 causes banknotes recognized as genuine by the recognition unit 203 to be transported to the banknote storage vault 205D via transport paths W6C, W7B, W7A, W5, W12, the recognition unit 203, W11, W10, W8, and W6D, and stored therein.

[0079] 9, the control unit 110 separates the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205D one by one and transports them to the recognition unit 203 via transport paths W6D, W7, W5, and W12. The control unit 110 transports banknotes recognized as genuine by the recognition unit 203 to the temporary holding unit 204 via transport paths W11, W2, and W3. The control unit 110 also transports banknotes recognized as rejected by the recognition unit 203 to the rejected vault 206 via transport paths W11, W10, and W9.

[0080] 10, the control unit 110 transports the banknotes stored in the temporary storage unit 204 to the recognition unit 203 via transport paths W3, W2, and W11. The control unit 110 causes the banknotes recognized as genuine by the recognition unit 203 to be transported to the banknote storage vault 205C via transport paths W12, W5, W7A, W7B, and W6C, and stored therein.

[0081] On the other hand, the control unit 110 transports banknotes recognized as rejected notes by the recognition unit 203 along a transport path similar to the transport path for banknotes recognized as genuine notes to a branching point where blade P5 is provided, and then transports the banknotes to the rejected storage 206 via transport paths W7C, W8, and W9.

[0082] Here, in the return transport process, gaps may be formed between the banknotes transported and stored in the banknote storage vault 205C. This may result in the control unit 110 determining that the banknote storage vault 205C is full before all the banknotes stored in the temporary storage unit 204 are moved to the banknote storage vault 205C. The transport path in such a case will be described with reference to FIG. 11.

[0083] When the control unit 110 determines that the banknote storage vault 205C is full, as shown in FIG. 11, it transports all of the banknotes stored in the temporary storage unit 204 to the rejected vault 206 via a transport path similar to the transport path for rejected notes described using FIG. 10.

[0084] It is possible to have an operator remove banknotes from the temporary storage unit 204 when the temporary storage unit 204 is full, but the task of removing banknotes from the temporary storage unit 204 is complicated. On the other hand, removing banknotes from the rejected storage unit 206 is a task performed in normal inspection processing, and is a simple task compared to removing banknotes from the temporary storage unit 204. Therefore, by transporting banknotes that do not fit into the banknote storage unit 205C to the rejected storage unit 206 and having the operator remove the banknotes, the burden on the operator in the inspection processing can be reduced.

[0085] In addition, because the rejected vault 206 stores rejected notes that occur before the start of the reconciliation process or during the reconciliation process, when bills that do not fit into the banknote storage vault 205C are transported to the rejected vault 206, it is possible to have the operator remove both the rejected bills and the rejected notes. In other words, such a configuration reduces the number of times the operator has to remove bills, thereby reducing the burden on the operator during the reconciliation process. Furthermore, regardless of whether there are bills that do not fit into the banknote storage vault 205C, the operator's only task of removing bills after the reconciliation process is to remove bills from the rejected vault 206, making it easier for the operator to recognize the tasks he or she is performing.

[0086] Furthermore, the control unit 110 may transport the banknotes that do not fit into the banknote storage vault 205C to the banknote storage vault 205D instead of the rejected vault 206. However, as described above, in this case, the operator's work of removing the banknotes from the banknote storage vault 205D increases, so it is more preferable to transport the banknotes that do not fit into the banknote storage vault 205C to the rejected vault 206.

[0087] The transport paths in the counting process of the banknotes in the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205C have been described above. Every time a banknote is recognized by the recognition unit 203, the control unit 110 updates the inventory data stored in the memory unit 140, which is used as a result of the reconciliation process.

[0088] The transport paths in the counting process of the banknotes in the banknote storage vaults 205A-205C described above are merely examples. As long as the banknotes are counted by passing through the recognition unit 203 in at least one of the outbound transport process or the inbound transport process, the banknotes may be transported through other transport paths depending on the performance of the blade P, etc. Also, if the banknotes pass through the recognition unit 203 in both the outbound transport process and the inbound transport process, the counting by the recognition unit 203 may be performed in at least one of the processes. Also, by performing counting by the recognition unit 203 in both the outbound transport process and the inbound transport process, the possibility of counting errors occurring in the reconciliation process can be further reduced.

[0089] (Reversal) When the counting process of the banknotes in the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205C is completed, the control unit 110 causes the operator to remove the banknotes stored in the rejected storage vault 206. Then, the control unit 110 executes a return process in which the banknotes removed from the rejected storage vault 206 and the banknotes removed from the banknote storage vault 205D at the start of inspection are returned to the storage vaults while being counted.

[0090] Now, the return process will be specifically described. First, the control unit 110 notifies the operator to remove the banknotes stored in the rejected storage 206 after the counting process of the banknotes in the banknote storage 205A to 205C is completed. For example, the control unit 110 causes the banknotes that cannot fit in the banknote storage 205C because the banknote storage 205C is full to be transported from the banknote storage 205D to the rejected storage 206, and then notifies the operator to remove the banknotes.

[0091] The control unit 110 also notifies the operator that the banknotes removed from the rejected banknote vault 206 and the banknotes removed from the banknote storage vault 205D are to be inserted into the customer service unit 201 together.

[0092] The control unit 110 may notify the operator to remove and insert banknotes, for example, by controlling the operation and display unit 3 to display an instruction screen for removing banknotes stored in the rejected vault 206. Note that the method of notification by the control unit 110 is not limited to displaying an instruction screen, and for example, a sound instructing the operator to remove and insert banknotes may be output from a sound output unit (not shown).

[0093] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an instruction screen for removing and inserting banknotes stored in the rejected storage 206, which is displayed on the operation display unit 3. The operator removes and inserts the banknotes stored in the rejected storage 206 in accordance with the instruction "Please remove the banknotes from the rejected storage and insert them together with the banknotes removed from the D cassette" displayed on the operation display unit 3 shown in Fig. 12.

[0094] 12, the instruction screen for removing and inserting the banknotes stored in the rejected banknote vault 206 may include a insertion completion button 31 for the operator to confirm that the insertion of the banknotes is complete. The control unit 110 sequentially passes the inserted banknotes through the recognition unit 203 and transports them to one of the banknote storage vaults 205A-205D or to the rejected banknote vault 206 according to the recognition result by the recognition unit 203 until the operation display unit 3 detects that the insertion completion button 31 has been pressed. When the insertion completion button 31 has been pressed and all the removed banknotes have been counted, the reconciliation process is completed.

[0095] The removal of the banknotes stored in the rejected container 206 and the insertion of the removed banknotes may be notified separately, or the insertion of the banknotes may be notified after the removal is completed.

[0096] Here, it is assumed that during the return process, one of the banknote storage vaults 205A-205D may become full and some of the banknotes cannot be stored. In that case, the banknotes that do not fit inside the vault are counted manually by the operator. The operator inputs the counting result into the operation and display unit 3, and the inventory amount is determined. The banknotes that do not fit inside the banknote storage vault 205 are collected by the operator into a safe or the like outside the money handling device 1.

[0097] Although an example has been described in which the banknotes stored in the rejected banknote storage 206 and the banknotes stored in the banknote storage 205D at the start of the reconciliation process are inserted in the return process, other banknotes may also be inserted. For example, banknotes removed in the recovery process when a transport jam occurs in the counting process of the banknotes in the banknote storage 205A to 205C may also be inserted.

[0098] The reconciliation process executed by the banknote handling device 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Although an example in which the banknote storage container 205D is used as the reconciliation storage container has been described above, any of the banknote storage containers 205A to 205C may be used as the reconciliation storage container. However, by using the banknote storage container 205D as the reconciliation storage container, it is possible to shorten the time required for transporting banknotes. This point will be described in detail below.

[0099] When the banknote storage vault 205D is used as the reconciliation storage vault, in the outward transport process, the transport direction of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205 to be counted to the reconciliation storage vault is the same as the transport direction of rejected notes when they are transported via the recognition unit 203. This shortens the time required for transport compared to when these transport directions are opposite.

[0100] More specifically, a case where the banknote storage vault 205A is the reconciliation storage vault and a case where the banknote storage vault 205D is the reconciliation storage vault will be described. When the banknote storage vault 205A is the reconciliation storage vault, in the outward transport process, for example, banknotes are transported from the banknote storage vault 205B to be counted via transport paths W6B, W7B, W7C, W8, W10 and W11, the recognition unit 203, and transport paths W12, W5 and W6A to the banknote storage vault 205A. Here, when a rejected note occurs, the control unit 110 temporarily stops the transport by the transport path W, and reverses the transport path W to transport the rejected note to the rejected vault 206, in the same manner as described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7. When the banknote storage vault 205C and the banknote storage vault 205D are the counting targets, a process of temporarily stopping the transport is also required.

[0101] Here, the incidence rate of rejected notes in the outbound transport process is likely to be higher than the incidence rate of rejected notes in the return transport process, because banknotes determined as rejected notes by the recognition unit 203 in the outbound transport process are removed in the return transport process.

[0102] In addition, when a rejected note occurs, the time required for transport is shorter if the transport is not stopped and the rejected note is stored in the rejected note storage 206 via the transport path described using Figure 5, rather than temporarily suspending the transport and then transporting the banknote to the rejected note storage 206.

[0103] When the banknote storage container 205D is used as the reconciliation storage container, rejected notes can be transported to the rejected storage container 206 without stopping the transport during the outbound transport process, so the transport time can be shorter than when the banknote storage container 205A is used as the reconciliation storage container.

[0104] Note that even when the banknote storage vault 205C is used as the reconciliation storage vault, in the return transport process, the transport direction of the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205 to be counted to the reconciliation storage vault is the same as the transport direction of rejected notes when they are transported through the recognition unit 203. Therefore, the banknote storage vault 205C may be used as the reconciliation storage vault. However, when an operator removes banknotes stored in the reconciliation storage vault before starting reconciliation, the position of the banknote storage vault 205 located at the end as seen from the operator is easier for the operator to recognize. Therefore, by using the banknote storage vault 205D as the reconciliation storage vault, the occurrence of operator errors when removing banknotes can be reduced.

[0105] The time required for transport also differs depending on the degree of freedom of the switching direction of the blade P. More specifically, the blades P4 and P5 are so-called two-way switching blades that can switch the transport path of the banknotes into two ways. On the other hand, the blades P6 and P7 are three-way switching blades that can switch the transport path of the banknotes into three ways. As a result, using the banknote storage vaults 205C and 205D as the reconciliation storage vaults provides a wider range of transport path options than using the banknote storage vaults 205A and 205B as the reconciliation storage vaults, and therefore the time required for transport can be shortened.

[0106] <<4. Operation Processing>> Next, an example of the operation flow of the reconciliation process of the banknote processing device 20 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 13 and Fig. 14. Fig. 13 is a flow diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the reconciliation process of the banknote processing device 20 according to the present embodiment.

[0107] When the reconciliation process is started, first, the control unit 110 judges whether or not a banknote is present in the banknote storage vault 205D (D cassette) (S102). If no banknote is present in the banknote storage vault 205D (S102 / NO), the process proceeds to S108.

[0108] If there is a bill in the bill storage vault 205D (S102 / YES), the control unit 110 notifies the operator to remove the bill from the bill storage vault 205D (S104).

[0109] The operator who has confirmed the notification removes the bills from the bill storage vault 205D (S106). Next, the control unit 110 counts the bills in the bill storage vaults 205A to 205C (S108).

[0110] Next, the control unit 110 notifies the operator to remove the banknotes stored in the rejected banknote storage 206 (S110).

[0111] The operator who has confirmed the notification removes the banknotes from the rejected storage 206 (S112). Next, the control unit 110 notifies the operator that the banknotes removed from the rejected storage 206 and the banknotes removed from the banknote storage 205D are to be inserted together into the customer service unit 201 (S114).

[0112] The control unit 110 executes a return process for the bills inserted by the operator, and the process ends (S116).

[0113] Next, an example of the operational flow of the banknote counting process in the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205C in S108 of the flow diagram in Fig. 13 will be described with reference to Fig. 14. Fig. 14 is a flow diagram showing an example of the operational flow of the banknote counting process in the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205C in S108 of the flow diagram in Fig. 13.

[0114] When the process of S108 in the flow diagram of Fig. 13 starts, the control unit 110 causes the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205A to be transported to the banknote storage vault 205D (S202). Next, the control unit 110 causes the banknotes moved to the banknote storage vault 205D to be transported to the banknote storage vault 205A (S204). The banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205A are counted by passing the banknotes through the verification unit 203 in at least one of S202 and S204.

[0115] Next, the control unit 110 causes the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205B to be transported to the banknote storage vault 205D (S206). Then, the control unit 110 causes the banknotes moved to the banknote storage vault 205D to be transported to the banknote storage vault 205B (S208). The banknotes pass through the verification unit 203 in at least one of S206 and S208, whereby the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205B are counted.

[0116] Next, the control unit 110 causes the banknotes stored in the banknote storage vault 205C to be transported to the banknote storage vault 205D (S210). Then, the control unit 110 causes the banknotes moved to the banknote storage vault 205D to be transported to the escrow unit 204 (S212). The control unit 110 causes the banknotes stored in the escrow unit 204 to be transported to the banknote storage vault 205C (S214). At this time, the control unit 110 causes the banknotes stored in the escrow unit 204 to be transported via the recognition unit 203.

[0117] The control unit 110 judges whether all the banknotes stored in the temporary storage unit 204 have been transported to the banknote storage vault 205C (S216). If all the banknotes stored in the temporary storage unit 204 have been transported to the banknote storage vault 205C (S216 / YES), the counting process of the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205C is completed, and the process proceeds to S110 in the flow diagram of FIG. If all the banknotes held in the temporary holding unit 204 have not been transported to the banknote storage vault 205C (S216 / NO), the control unit 110 determines whether the banknote storage vault 205C is full (S218). If the banknote storage vault 205C is not full (S218 / NO), the control unit 110 repeats the processes of S216 and S218 until all the banknotes held in the temporary holding unit 204 have been transported to the banknote storage vault 205C or the banknote storage vault 205C is full.

[0118] When the banknote storage vault 205C is full (S218 / YES), the control unit 110 conveys the banknotes stored in the temporary storage unit 204 to the rejected vault 206 (S220). This completes the counting process for the banknote storage vaults 205A to 205C, and the process proceeds to S110 in the flow diagram of FIG.

[0119] Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to such an example. It is clear that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can conceive of various modified or altered examples within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims, and it is understood that these also naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0120] 1. Currency handling equipment 3 Operation display section 10 Coin processing device 110 Control section 120 Card reader section 130 Communications Department 140 Storage section 20 Banknote processing device 201 Customer Service Department 202 Container 203 Recognition part 204 Temporary Holding Department 205 Banknote Storage 206 Reject Warehouse P-Blade W Transport Path

Claims

1. A plurality of bill storage compartments for storing bills; A recognition unit that counts the number of banknotes; a control unit that carries out a reconciliation process of transporting the banknotes stored in the plurality of banknote storage vaults to the verification unit and counting the number of the banknotes stored in the plurality of banknote storage vaults; Equipped with The control unit is Before executing the reconciliation process, it is determined whether or not a banknote is stored in a specific banknote storage vault among the plurality of banknote storage vaults; when it is determined that a banknote is stored in the specific banknote storage vault, notifying an operator to remove the banknote from the specific banknote storage vault, and executing the reconciliation process after the banknote is removed. Banknote processing machine.

2. The control unit is a transport process for transporting banknotes stored in a source banknote storage vault, which is a banknote storage vault other than the specific banknote storage vault among the plurality of banknote storage vaults, to the specific banknote storage vault, and then transporting the banknotes from the specific banknote storage vault to the source banknote storage vault; In the conveying process, the banknote is conveyed via the recognition unit. The banknote processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The banknote processing device includes: The banknotes are further provided with a temporary storage unit for temporarily storing the banknotes. The control unit is a transport process is executed in which, in the reconciliation process, banknotes are transported from a source banknote storage vault, which is a banknote storage vault other than the specific banknote storage vault among the plurality of banknote storage vaults, to the specific banknote storage vault, and then the banknotes are transported from the specific banknote storage vault to the source banknote storage vault via the temporary holding unit; In the conveying process, the banknote is conveyed via the recognition unit. The banknote processing device according to claim 1 .

4. The recognition unit determines whether the banknote is normal or not, The banknote processing device includes: The banknote counter further includes a reject storage unit that stores the banknotes that are determined to be abnormal by the recognition unit. When the control unit determines that the source banknote storage vault is full during the reconciliation process while the banknote is being transported from the specific banknote storage vault to the source banknote storage vault via the temporary storage unit, and the banknote is stored in the temporary storage unit, the control unit transports the banknote to the reject storage vault, The reject storage further stores the banknotes transported from the temporary storage unit. The banknote processing device according to claim 3.

5. The control unit is after transporting the banknote from the specific banknote storage vault to the reject vault, notifying the operator to remove the banknote from the reject vault and to insert the banknote together with the banknote removed from the specific banknote storage vault; The banknote processing device according to claim 4.

6. The control unit stores the banknote inserted by the operator in one of the plurality of banknote storage vaults or in the reject vault via the recognition unit. The banknote processing device according to claim 4 or 5.

7. Among the plurality of banknote storage vaults, banknote storage vaults other than the specific banknote storage vault store banknotes that can be dispensed to customers; The specific banknote storage vault stores banknotes that are not to be dispensed to the customer. The banknote processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

8. A plurality of bill storage compartments for storing bills; A recognition unit that counts the number of banknotes; a control unit that carries out a reconciliation process of transporting the banknotes stored in the plurality of banknote storage vaults to the verification unit and counting the number of the banknotes stored in the plurality of banknote storage vaults; having The control unit is Before executing the reconciliation process, it is determined whether or not a banknote is stored in a specific banknote storage vault among the plurality of banknote storage vaults; a banknote processing device that, when it is determined that banknotes are stored in the specific banknote storage vault, notifies an operator to remove the banknotes from the specific banknote storage vault, and executes the reconciliation process after the banknotes are removed. Currency handling equipment.

Images