Media handling devices

Abstract

To allow movement processing of a medium between a plurality of bill storages.SOLUTION: A bill dispenser 10 of an automatic cash dispenser 1 carries the bill stored in a movement source bill storage to a dispensing part 12 in movement processing, then, recognizes the bill by a recognition part 14 while carrying the bill to a temporary holding part 15 by a carrier part 13 and carries and stores normal bill to a movement destination bill storage. Thus, the bill dispenser 10 can carry the bill stored in the movement source bill storage to the movement destination bill storage and executes recognition processing by the recognition part 14 at that time so that a denomination or a degree of damage of each bill is re-recognized and a total number of the stored bill is collected again.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a medium handling device, and is suitably applied to, for example, an automatic teller machine (ATM) which allows a customer to insert a medium such as a bill and carries out a desired transaction. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, automated teller machines used in financial institutions and the like have been widely used to have customers deposit cash such as banknotes and coins and to dispense cash to customers according to the content of transactions with the customers. As such an automated teller machine, for example, one that has a control unit that controls the entire machine, a banknote deposit and withdrawal unit that transfers banknotes (medium) to and from customers, a transport unit that transports inserted banknotes, a recognition unit that recognizes the denomination and authenticity of the banknotes, a temporary storage unit that temporarily stores the banknotes, and a plurality of banknote storage vaults (medium storage vaults) that store banknotes by denomination has been proposed.

[0003] Also, an automated teller machine has been proposed in which each component is connected to a transport section configured so that the transport path is roughly in a straight line, thereby shortening the transport path as much as possible, thereby shortening processing time and reducing the frequency of malfunctions (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-200163 A (Fig. 2, etc.) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the above-mentioned automated teller machine, there are cases where a transfer process is required to transfer banknotes from one banknote storage vault to another banknote storage vault at the request of a financial institution, etc. This transfer process requires operations such as feeding and transporting banknotes from a source banknote storage vault, recognizing the denomination and fitness of the banknotes in a recognition unit, and then transporting the banknotes to a destination banknote storage vault for storage therein.

[0006] However, in an automated teller machine configured as in Patent Document 1, due to the structure of the transport section, it is not possible to form a path in which a banknote dispensed from one banknote storage vault is recognized by the recognition section and then the banknote is transported to another banknote storage vault, and there is a problem in that it is not possible to perform movement processing through continuous operations.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to propose a media handling device capable of transferring media between a plurality of bill storage vaults. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve such problems, the media handling device of the present invention comprises an input / output section for inputting and outputting paper-like media, a first transport section connected to the input / output section for transporting the media, a recognition section provided in the first transport section for recognizing the transported media, a second transport section connected to the first transport section via a connection section and for transporting the media, and a plurality of media storage cabinets connected to the second transport section for storing reusable media. a temporary holding unit that temporarily stores the media and delivers the media in the normal or reverse order in which they were stored; a reject storage unit that is connected to the first transport unit and that stores rejected media that have been recognized by the recognition unit as unreusable; a control unit that uses the recognition result by the recognition unit to control a transport path of the medium by the first transport unit, the connection unit, and the second transport unit; the connection unit is a temporary storage switching unit that switches a transport path of the medium between the first transport unit, the second transport unit, and the temporary storage unit; In a moving process of moving the medium stored in the source medium storage to the destination medium storage, the control unit feeds the medium from the medium storage, transports the medium to the input / output unit, and stores the medium therein, and feeds the medium from the input / output unit and transports the medium by the first transport unit. and have it stored in the temporary storage section. At the same time, the recognition unit obtains the recognition results for each of the media. Depending on the result of the recognition, if the medium is reusable, it is sent out from the temporary storage section and becomes the destination. Transport it to the media storage room. If it is a rejected medium, it is fed from the temporary storage section and transported to the rejected medium storage. We have made efforts to control it so that

[0009] In the present invention, when a transfer process is performed, the medium is transported from the source medium storage to the input / output section and stored therein, and then the medium is fed out from the input / output section and recognized by the recognition section. The recognition results obtained by the above process are stored and the media are stored in the temporary storage unit. Next, in accordance with the recognition results stored for each medium, the media that have been sequentially fed out from the temporary storage unit are transported to a media storage unit or a reject storage unit and stored there. As a result, the present invention can be used to store the media stored in the original media storage. Of these, reusable can be moved to a destination media storage, Rejected media is transported to a reject repository and stored separately from reusable media. It is possible. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a medium handling device capable of transferring media between a plurality of banknote storage vaults. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of an automated teller machine. [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a banknote depositing and dispensing machine according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a conveying unit. FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a schematic diagram showing a transport path of banknotes in a deposit counting process according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 5] 3 is a schematic diagram showing a transport path of banknotes in a deposit storage process according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 6] 3 is a schematic diagram showing a transport path of banknotes in a dispensing process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a banknote depositing and dispensing machine according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] 13 is a schematic diagram showing a transport path of paper money in a deposit process according to a second embodiment. FIG. [Figure 9] 13 is a schematic diagram showing a transport path of banknotes in a dispensing process according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] 1. First embodiment [1-1. Configuration of ATM and banknote deposit / withdrawal machine] As shown in FIG. 1, an automated teller machine 1 is composed mainly of a box-shaped housing 2 and is installed in, for example, a financial institution, etc., to carry out cash-related transactions such as deposit and withdrawal processing between the machine and users (i.e., customers of the financial institution, etc.).

[0014] A customer service unit 3 is provided on the front of the housing 2 in a location where a user can easily insert bills and operate the touch panel while facing the front. The customer service unit 3 directly exchanges cash, cards, etc. with the user (customer), notifies the user of transaction information and receives operation instructions, and is provided with a card slot 4, a deposit / withdrawal slot 5, an operation display unit 6, a numeric keypad 7, and a receipt issuing slot 8.

[0015] The card slot 4 is a section where various cards such as cash cards are inserted or ejected. At the rear of the card slot 4, a card processing section (not shown) is provided which reads account numbers and the like magnetically recorded on various cards. The cash slot 5 is used for inserting banknotes to be deposited by users and ejecting banknotes to be dispensed to users. The cash slot 5 is opened or closed by driving a shutter. Incidentally, banknotes are formed into the shape of a leaf, for example, from rectangular paper.

[0016] The operation display unit 6 is a touch panel that integrates an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays the operation screen during a transaction, and a touch sensor that allows the selection of the type of transaction and input of a PIN number, transaction amount, etc. The numeric keypad 7 is a physical key that accepts input of numbers such as "0" to "9", and is used when inputting a PIN number, transaction amount, etc. The receipt issuing port 8 is a section that issues a receipt on which the transaction details, etc. are printed when the transaction process is completed. Incidentally, at the back of the receipt issuing port 8, there is provided a receipt processing unit (not shown) that prints the transaction details, etc. on a receipt.

[0017] In the following, the side of the automated teller machine 1 that a user faces will be referred to as the front side, and the opposite side will be referred to as the rear side, and the left and right sides as seen from a user facing the front side will be referred to as the left side and right side, respectively, and upper and lower sides will be further defined and explained.

[0018] The housing 2 contains a main control unit 9 that controls the entire automated teller machine 1, a banknote deposit / withdrawal machine 10 that performs various processes related to banknotes, and the like. The main control unit 9 is mainly composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown), and performs various processes such as deposit processing and withdrawal processing by reading and executing predetermined programs from a ROM (Read Only Memory) or flash memory (not shown). The main control unit 9 also has an internal storage unit made up of a RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk drive, flash memory, etc., and stores various information in this storage unit.

[0019] As shown in a side view in Fig. 2, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 incorporates a number of internal sections which perform various processes relating to banknotes as a medium. The banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 is broadly divided into an upper unit 10U which occupies the portion above approximately the center in the vertical direction, and a lower unit 10L which occupies the portion below the upper unit 10U. For convenience of explanation, hereinafter, the automated teller machine 1 or the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 will also be referred to as a medium handling device.

[0020] The upper unit 10U is provided with a banknote control unit 11 which provides overall control, a deposit / withdrawal unit 12 which receives and delivers banknotes to and from users, a transport unit 13 and an upper transport unit 18 which transport banknotes to each unit, a recognition unit 14 which recognizes banknotes, a temporary holding unit 15 which temporarily stores banknotes, and an upper storage unit 19 which stores banknotes.

[0021] The banknote control unit 11, like the main control unit 9, is mainly composed of a CPU (not shown), and performs various processes such as determining the transport destination of banknotes and controlling the operation of each unit by reading and executing predetermined programs from a ROM, flash memory, etc. (not shown). The banknote control unit 11 also has an internal memory unit made up of RAM, flash memory, etc., and stores various information in this memory unit and reads various information from this memory unit.

[0022] The deposit / withdrawal section 12 is located at the upper front part of the upper unit 10U. The deposit / withdrawal section 12 has an internal container 12A for storing bills received from a user and bills to be handed over to a user, and the upper part can be opened and closed by a shutter 12B. A plurality of bills are stored in the container 12A in a state where the bills are stacked with their faces facing the front-to-rear direction. The deposit / withdrawal section 12 separates the bills in the container 12A one by one and delivers them to the transport section 13, and also releases the bills received from the transport section 13 into the container 12A for stacking.

[0023] The transport section 13 is located at the lower end of the upper unit 10U, and is generally thin in the vertical direction and elongated in the front-rear direction. In the transport section 13, transport guides for guiding the banknotes and a number of rotating rollers (not shown) are appropriately arranged, and a linear transport path is formed that transports the banknotes mainly in the front-rear direction with the short sides of the banknotes aligned with the traveling direction.

[0024] 3, the transport unit 13 is roughly divided into an escrow switching unit 20 disposed near the center, and a front transport unit 21 and a rear transport unit 22 disposed in front of and behind the escrow switching unit 20, respectively. That is, the escrow switching unit 20 connects the front transport unit 21 and the rear transport unit 22. Therefore, hereinafter, the escrow switching unit 20 is also referred to as a connection unit. Based on the control of the banknote control unit 11, the escrow switching unit 20 switches the transport path of banknotes so as to transport banknotes between the front transport unit 21, the rear transport unit 22, and the escrow unit 15.

[0025] In the front conveying section 21 as the first conveying section, a reject switching section 24, a recognition section 14 and a switching section 25 are arranged in series from the front side, forming a generally straight front conveying path 21Y along the front-rear direction. In the rear conveying section 22, switching sections 26, 27, 28 and 29 are arranged in series from the rear side, forming a generally straight rear conveying path 22Y along the front-rear direction. Each switching section appropriately switches the conveying path of the banknotes based on the control of the banknote control section 11. In addition, the front conveying section 21 and the rear conveying section 22 are each capable of storing several banknotes in the conveying path.

[0026] The recognition unit 14 is incorporated in the front transport unit 21, and is located on the banknote transport path between the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 and the temporary hold switching unit 20. The recognition unit 14 has multiple types of sensors incorporated therein, such as a thickness sensor, an image sensor, and a magnetic sensor, and acquires various information from the transported banknotes, and based on this information recognizes the denomination, authenticity, fitness (whether or not it is damaged), etc. of the banknotes, and notifies the banknote control unit 11 of the recognition results.

[0027] The temporary holding unit 15 (Fig. 2) employs a so-called tape escrow system, in which banknotes are stored by wrapping the banknotes together with a tape around the circumferential side of a cylindrical drum, and the banknotes are then paid out by peeling off the banknotes together with the tape from the circumferential side. At this time, the temporary holding unit 15 pays out the banknotes in the reverse order to that in which they were stored.

[0028] The upper transport unit 18 is disposed near the rear end on the upper side of the transport unit 13, and transports banknotes from the lower end toward the upper front side. The upper storage cabinet 19, which serves as a first medium storage cabinet, is provided at a location toward the rear on the upper side of the transport unit 13, adjacent to the front side of the upper transport unit 18. The upper storage cabinet 19 receives the banknotes transported by the upper transport unit 18 and stores them therein.

[0029] Incidentally, the upper storage chamber 19 is used, for example, as a counterfeit note storage chamber that stores banknotes that have been determined to be counterfeit (forged banknotes) by the recognition unit 14 separately from other banknotes, a rejected note storage chamber that stores rejected banknotes (described later), or a forgotten note storage chamber that stores banknotes that users forget to remove from the deposit / withdrawal unit 12.

[0030] The lower unit 10L has all its peripheral sides covered by a sturdy safe housing 10S. Five bill storage boxes 16 and a reject box 17 are provided inside the safe housing 10S from the rear to the front.

[0031] Incidentally, the lower unit 10L is provided with a loading section (not shown) having a plurality of slots for loading the banknote storage vault 16 and the reject vault 17 from above, and this loading section is attached to the safe housing 10S via a predetermined slide rail (not shown). Therefore, in the lower unit 10L, the banknote storage vault 16 and the reject vault 17 can be attached to and detached from this loading section by sliding the loading section back and forth and pulling it out to the outside of the safe housing 10S.

[0032] The banknote storage vault 16, which serves as a medium storage vault, is formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped that is long in the vertical direction, and has a space inside for accumulating and storing banknotes. Furthermore, the denominations of banknotes to be stored in each banknote storage vault 16 are preset. When the banknote storage vault 16 receives banknotes from the transport unit 13, it accumulates and stores them inside. Furthermore, when the banknote storage vault 16 receives an instruction from the banknote control unit 11 to feed banknotes, it separates the accumulated banknotes one by one, feeds them, and hands them over to the transport unit 13.

[0033] The rejected banknote vault 17 is formed in a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped shape and has a space inside for accumulating and storing banknotes. When a banknote that has been determined by the recognition unit 14 and the banknote control unit 11 to be severely damaged and therefore not to be reused (hereinafter referred to as a rejected banknote or a rejected medium) is transported by the transport unit 13, the rejected banknote vault 17 stores the banknote inside.

[0034] [1-2. Each process in the banknote deposit / withdrawal machine] When the automated teller machine 1 performs a deposit transaction with a user, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 performs a deposit process (hereinafter also referred to as an intake process). When the automated teller machine 1 performs a withdrawal transaction with a user, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 performs a withdrawal process (hereinafter also referred to as an ejection process).

[0035] Furthermore, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 performs a transfer process for transferring banknotes from one banknote storage vault 16 to another banknote storage vault 16 based on an operation instruction from a financial institution employee, a maintenance worker, or the like (hereinafter referred to as the user). The deposit process, withdrawal process, and transfer process in the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 will be described below.

[0036] [1-2-1. Deposit processing] In the deposit process, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 (Figure 2) first performs a deposit counting process in which the number of deposited banknotes is counted while recognizing the denomination of the banknotes, based on the control of the banknote control unit 11, and then performs a deposit storage process in which the banknotes are transported to an appropriate storage location and stored therein.

[0037] Specifically, when the banknote control unit 11 receives, for example, a user's operation input via the operation display unit 6 (FIG. 1) to start a deposit transaction, it starts the deposit counting process and transports the banknotes along the transport path shown by arrow W1 in FIG. 4.

[0038] The deposit / withdrawal unit 12 first opens the shutter 12B, and when a user inserts banknotes into the container 12A, closes the shutter 12B to separate and take in the banknotes one by one, and sequentially hands them over to the transport unit 13. The transport unit 13 sequentially transports the banknotes received from the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 rearward by the front transport unit 21, while having the recognition unit 14 recognize each banknote in sequence, and sequentially hands them over to the temporary hold switching unit 20. At this time, the recognition unit 14 sends the obtained recognition result to the banknote control unit 11.

[0039] If the banknote control unit 11 determines based on the acquired recognition result that each banknote can be accepted and subsequent processing can be continued, it designates the banknote as a banknote to be deposited, and if it determines that the banknote cannot be accepted and should be returned to the user, it designates the banknote as a banknote to be rejected. Furthermore, the banknote control unit 11 determines the final transport destination for the banknotes to be deposited, with relatively little damage and therefore reusable, to each banknote storage vault 16 for each denomination, and for the banknotes to be rejected, with relatively much damage and therefore not to be reused, to the reject vault 17, and stores these destinations.

[0040] Next, depending on the judgment result of the banknote delivered from the front transport unit 21 to the escrow switching unit 20, if the banknote is a deposit-accepted banknote, the banknote control unit 11 continues to transport it along the arrow W1 to the escrow unit 15 for storage. If the banknote is a deposit-rejected banknote, the banknote control unit 11 advances it into the rear transport unit 22 along the arrow W2 and stores it in the rear transport path 22Y.

[0041] When the banknote control unit 11 has finished taking in all the banknotes from the container 12A of the deposit / withdrawal unit 12, if any deposit-rejected banknotes are stored in the rear transport path 22Y of the rear transport unit 22, the banknote control unit 11 returns the banknotes to the user. Specifically, the banknote control unit 11 transports the deposit-rejected banknotes in the rear transport path 22Y to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 along the arrow W3, and opens the shutter 12B etc. to allow the user to remove the banknotes. At this time, the user removes the banknotes from the container 12A, checks their state, and re-inserts them into the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 as necessary. If the banknotes are re-inserted into the deposit / withdrawal unit 12, the banknote control unit 11 repeats the series of processes described above. On the other hand, if no deposit-rejected banknotes are stored in the rear transport path 22Y of the rear transport unit 22, the banknote control unit 11 completes the deposit counting process.

[0042] At this time, the banknote control unit 11 calculates the deposit amount based on the results of tallying up the denominations and numbers of banknotes inserted into the deposit / withdrawal unit 12, and displays a prescribed operation instruction screen on the operation display unit 6 (Fig. 1), presenting this deposit amount to the user and allowing the user to choose whether or not to continue the deposit transaction. If the user instructs the banknote control unit 11 to cancel the deposit transaction, the banknote control unit 11 transports all banknotes held in the temporary holding unit 15 by the transport unit 13 to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 and returns them to the user.

[0043] On the other hand, when the user instructs the banknote control unit 11 to continue the deposit transaction, the banknote control unit 11 starts the deposit storage process. Specifically, the banknote control unit 11 first starts the payout process in the escrow unit 15, sequentially pays out the stored banknotes (deposit-accepted banknotes), and hands them over to the escrow switching unit 20 as shown by the arrow W4 in Fig. 5.

[0044] At this time, the banknote control unit 11 appropriately switches the banknote transport path in the escrow switching unit 20 and each switching unit according to the transport destination of each banknote determined in the deposit counting process based on the stored contents, thereby transporting each banknote to its respective destination and storing it. In this way, the banknote control unit 11 can classify normal banknotes to be reused by denomination and store them in each banknote storage vault 16 (16A to 16E), and can store rejected banknotes that should not be reused in the rejected vault 17.

[0045] [1-2-2. Withdrawal process] In a dispensing process, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 (Fig. 2) dispenses banknotes according to a dispensing amount specified by a user, under the control of the banknote control unit 11. Specifically, the banknote control unit 11 first accepts a predetermined operation input including the dispensing amount from the user via the operation and display unit 6 (Fig. 1), and determines the denomination and number of banknotes according to the dispensing amount.

[0046] Next, the banknote control unit 11 sequentially feeds out the banknotes stored in each banknote storage 16 according to the determined denomination and number, and delivers them sequentially to the transport unit 13. The transport unit 13 recognizes the banknotes traveling forward in the front transport unit 21 using the recognition unit 14, as shown by arrow W5 in FIG. 6, and sends the recognition result to the banknote control unit 11.

[0047] The banknote control unit 11 controls the switching of the reject switching unit 24 depending on the banknote recognition result, and if there is no problem with the banknote, it proceeds to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 as indicated by arrow W5 for storage, and if there is a problem with the banknote, such as the banknote being a rejected banknote or having been fed in duplicate, it proceeds to the rejected vault 17 as indicated by arrow W6 for storage. When the banknote control unit 11 has finally transported all the banknotes corresponding to the withdrawal amount to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12, it opens the shutter 12B etc. to allow the user to remove them.

[0048] [1-2-3. Movement process] When a transfer process is performed in the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 (Fig. 2), a source banknote storage vault from which the banknotes are to be transferred and a destination banknote storage vault to which the banknotes are to be transferred are each specified by an operation instruction from a user via the operation display unit 6 (Fig. 1). Incidentally, in the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10, the banknote storage vaults 16A-16D can be specified as the source banknotes, and the banknote storage vaults 16A-16E and the upper storage vault 19 can be specified as the destination banknotes. The following description will be given taking as an example a case where the source banknote storage vault is the banknote storage vault 16A and the destination banknote storage vault is the banknote storage vault 16D.

[0049] In addition, in this movement process, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 sequentially performs three stages of processing, namely, a movement and pay-out process, a movement recognition process, and a movement and storage process, under the control of the banknote control unit 11. Of these, the movement and pay-out process in the first stage is a process of transporting banknotes from a source banknote storage vault to the deposit and withdrawal unit 12. The movement and recognition process in the middle stage is a process of transporting banknotes from the deposit and withdrawal unit 12 to the temporary holding unit 15 and recognizing them in the recognition unit 14. The movement and storage process in the latter stage is a process of transporting banknotes from the temporary holding unit 15 to a destination banknote storage vault and storing them therein.

[0050] Specifically, in the preceding moving and paying-out process, the banknote control unit 11 performs a process of transporting banknotes along the arrow W5, similar to the case of the dispensing process (FIG. 6). Specifically, the source banknote storage vault (banknote storage vault 16A) feeds out banknotes one by one and hands them over to the transport unit 13. The transport unit 13 transports the received banknotes and hands them over to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12. The deposit / withdrawal unit 12 stores the received banknotes in the container 12A. Incidentally, at this time, the recognition unit 14 is configured not to perform recognition processing of the banknotes transported by the transport unit 13.

[0051] Next, in the middle stage movement recognition process, the banknote control unit 11 performs a process of transporting the banknotes along the arrow W1, generally similar to the case of the deposit counting process (FIG. 4). Specifically, the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 separates the banknotes in the container 12A one by one and hands them over to the transport unit 13. The transport unit 13 transports the banknotes to the temporary holding unit 15. At this time, the recognition unit 14 performs a recognition process on the transported banknotes, similar to the case of the deposit counting process, and sends the obtained recognition result to the banknote control unit 11. Based on the obtained recognition result, the banknote control unit 11 stores the destination of the transport to the destination banknote storage vault if the banknote is normal, or the destination of the transport to the reject vault 17 if the banknote is rejected.

[0052] Furthermore, in the subsequent moving and storing process, the banknote control unit 11 performs a process of transporting the banknotes along the arrow W4, similar to the case of the deposit storing process (FIG. 5). Specifically, the escrow unit 15 pays out the banknotes one by one and hands them over to the transport unit 13. The transport unit 13 switches the escrow switching unit 20 under the control of the banknote control unit 11, and transports the banknotes to the destination banknote storage vault (banknote storage vault 16D) for storage if they are normal, or transports them to the rejected vault 17 for storage if they are rejected.

[0053] Incidentally, when the number of banknotes stored in the source banknote storage vault is equal to or greater than the maximum number (e.g., 200) that can be stored in the receptacle 12A of the deposit / withdrawal unit 12, the banknote control unit 11 repeats the movement process for each maximum number of banknotes, thereby moving all of the banknotes stored in the source banknote storage vault in multiple batches.

[0054] Thereafter, the banknote control unit 11 notifies the user that the transfer process is complete by displaying on the operation display unit 6 (Figure 1) a predetermined message indicating the completion of the transfer process and the number of banknotes transferred to the destination banknote storage vault and the reject vault 17, respectively, and then completes the transfer process.

[0055] [1-3. Effects, etc.] In the above configuration, in the banknote deposit / withdrawal machine 10 of the automated teller machine 1 according to the first embodiment, in a transfer process, the banknotes stored in the source banknote storage vault are transported to the deposit / withdrawal section 12, and then the banknotes are transported by the transport section 13 to the temporary holding section 15 while being recognized by the recognition section 14, and normal banknotes are transported to the destination banknote storage vault for storage.

[0056] Therefore, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 can move banknotes that were stored in the source banknote storage vault to the destination banknote storage vault, and at that time, by performing a recognition process using the recognition unit 14, it is possible to re-recognize the denomination and degree of damage of each banknote, and also to re-tally the total number of banknotes stored.

[0057] From another perspective, in the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10, in order to miniaturize the device configuration and shorten the length of the transport path, the transport section 13 is formed as a single straight line roughly along the front-to-rear direction, and is connected to the banknote storage vault 16 etc. via each switch, and a recognition section 14 is provided on the transport section 13.

[0058] For this reason, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 has a relatively short banknote transport distance for processes that are performed relatively frequently, such as deposit and withdrawal processes, and is able to reduce the processing time and the frequency of failures that accompany the shortened transport distance. On the other hand, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 can perform processes that are performed relatively infrequently, such as banknote movement processes, by using the deposit and withdrawal unit 12 and temporary holding unit 15, even though the processes take a relatively long time due to a relatively complicated transport path.

[0059] In other words, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 can shorten waiting times and reduce the frequency of malfunctions in response to requests from priority users such as customers of a financial institution, and can automatically perform banknote movement processing, although this may take some time, for users with relatively low priority such as employees and maintenance workers of the financial institution.

[0060] Furthermore, in the movement processing, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 performs processing equivalent to part of the withdrawal processing (FIG. 6) in the movement and pay-out processing in the first stage, performs processing equivalent to part of the deposit counting processing (FIG. 4) in the movement recognition processing in the middle stage, and performs processing equivalent to part of the deposit storage processing (FIG. 5) in the movement and storage processing in the second stage. Therefore, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 does not need to perform special control in the banknote control unit 11 just for the movement processing, and can perform control similar to the withdrawal processing, deposit counting processing, and deposit storage processing that are executed as basic processing.

[0061] From another perspective, the shape and layout of each part of the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 are designed so that the basic processes of withdrawal process, deposit counting process, and deposit storage process can be performed as smoothly as possible. Therefore, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 effectively utilizes the withdrawal process, deposit counting process, and deposit storage process in the movement process, and transports banknotes along the same path as each process, so that these processes can also be performed smoothly. In other words, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 does not cause problems such as banknote jamming due to the formation of an unnatural transport path.

[0062] According to the above configuration, in the transfer process, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 of the ATM 1 transports the banknotes stored in the source banknote storage vault to the deposit and withdrawal unit 12, then transports the banknotes to the temporary holding unit 15 by the transport unit 13 while being recognized by the recognition unit 14, and transports normal banknotes to the destination banknote storage vault for storage. Thus, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 can transfer the banknotes stored in the source banknote storage vault to the destination banknote storage vault, and by performing the recognition process by the recognition unit 14 at that time, it is possible to re-recognize the denomination and degree of damage of each banknote, and also to re-tally the total number of stored banknotes.

[0063] 2. Second embodiment The automated teller machine 201 according to the second embodiment differs from the automated teller machine 1 (FIG. 1) according to the first embodiment in that it has a banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 instead of the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10, but is otherwise configured in the same way.

[0064] As shown in Fig. 7 corresponding to Fig. 2, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 differs from the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 according to the first embodiment in that it has an upper unit 210U instead of the upper unit 10U, but the lower unit 10L is configured in the same way. The upper unit 210U differs from the upper unit 10U (Fig. 2) in that it has a banknote control unit 211 and a transport unit 213 instead of the banknote control unit 11 and the transport unit 13, and in that the temporary holding unit 15 is omitted, but in other respects they are configured in the same way.

[0065] The banknote control unit 211, like the banknote control unit 11 (Fig. 2), is configured mainly around a CPU (not shown), and performs some processing different from that of the banknote control unit 11 by reading and executing a predetermined program from a ROM, flash memory or the like (not shown). Also, like the banknote control unit 11, the banknote control unit 211 has an internal memory unit that stores various information. Compared to the transport unit 13 (Figs. 2 and 3), the transport unit 213 has a configuration in which the front transport unit 21 and the rear transport unit 22 are connected by a connection unit 220 that replaces the temporary hold switching unit 20.

[0066] [2-1. Each process in the banknote deposit / withdrawal machine] The banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 is different from the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 according to the first embodiment in that it does not have the temporary storage unit 15, and therefore the processing operations in the deposit process and the transfer process are different. Each process, including the withdrawal process, will be explained below. Incidentally, in the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210, in addition to the rejected banknotes in the rejected storage 17, the upper storage 19 can also store rejected banknotes.

[0067] [2-1-1. Deposit processing] In the deposit process, unlike the first embodiment, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 counts and stores banknotes as a series of processes based on the control of the banknote control unit 211. Specifically, when the banknote control unit 211 receives an operation input from a user via the operation display unit 6 (FIG. 1) to start a deposit transaction, for example, it starts the deposit process and transports the banknotes along a transport path as shown by an arrow W11 in FIG.

[0068] First, when a user inserts banknotes into the container 12A, the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 separates and takes them in one by one, and delivers them sequentially to the transport unit 13. The transport unit 13 sequentially transports the banknotes received from the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 rearward by the front transport unit 21, while sequentially recognizing each banknote by the recognition unit 14, and sends the obtained recognition results to the banknote control unit 211.

[0069] Based on the acquired recognition results, the banknote control unit 211 determines that each banknote can be accepted and subsequent processing can be continued, and marks it as a deposited banknote, or determines that it cannot be accepted and should be returned to the user, and marks it as a deposited rejected banknote.

[0070] Furthermore, the banknote control unit 211 determines the final transport destination of the deposited and accepted banknotes to be each banknote storage vault 16 of each denomination for banknotes that are relatively less damaged and can be reused, and the upper storage vault 19 for rejected banknotes that are relatively more damaged and should not be reused, and controls the transport unit 213. The transport unit 213 appropriately switches the transport path of the banknotes at each switching unit based on the control of the banknote control unit 211, transporting normal banknotes along the arrow W11 to each banknote storage vault 16 for storage, and transporting rejected banknotes along the arrow W12 to the upper storage vault 19 for storage.

[0071] Incidentally, when a deposit-rejected banknote occurs, the banknote control unit 211 temporarily stops conveyance of the banknote and reverses the conveying direction, and immediately returns the deposit-rejected banknote to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12.

[0072] [2-1-2. Withdrawal process] In the dispensing process, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 (Fig. 7) transports and dispenses banknotes in the same manner as in the first embodiment, based on the control of the banknote control unit 211. That is, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 sequentially feeds out banknotes stored in each banknote storage 16 according to the denomination and number of banknotes to be dispensed, and sequentially hands them over to the transport unit 213. The transport unit 213 recognizes banknotes traveling forward in the front transport unit 21 using the recognition unit 14, as shown by arrow W13 in Fig. 9, and sends the recognition result to the banknote control unit 211.

[0073] The banknote control unit 211 controls the switching of the reject switching unit 24 depending on the banknote recognition result, and if there is no problem with the banknote, it proceeds to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 as indicated by arrow W13 for storage, and if there is a problem with the banknote, such as the banknote being a rejected banknote or having been fed in duplicate, it proceeds to the rejected vault 17 as indicated by arrow W14 for storage. When the banknote control unit 211 has finally transported all of the banknotes corresponding to the withdrawal amount to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12, it opens the shutter 12B etc. to allow the user to remove them.

[0074] [2-1-3. Movement process] In the transfer process, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 (FIG. 7) transfers banknotes through a process that is partially different from that of the first embodiment, based on the control of the banknote control unit 211. Specifically, the banknote control unit 211 sequentially performs two-stage processes, namely a transfer-feed process and a transfer-storage process. In the following, as in the first embodiment, an example will be described in which the transfer source banknote storage vault is the banknote storage vault 16A and the transfer destination banknote storage vault is the banknote storage vault 16D.

[0075] In the previous moving and paying-out process, the banknote control unit 211 performs a process of transporting banknotes along the arrow W13, similar to the case of the dispensing process (FIG. 9). Specifically, the source banknote storage vault (banknote storage vault 16A) feeds out banknotes one by one and hands them over to the transport unit 213. The transport unit 213 transports the received banknotes and hands them over to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12. The deposit / withdrawal unit 12 stores the received banknotes in the container 12A. Incidentally, at this time, the recognition unit 14 is configured not to perform a recognition process of the banknotes transported by the transport unit 213.

[0076] Next, in the subsequent moving and storing process, the banknote control unit 11 performs a process of transporting the banknotes along the arrows W11 and W12, generally similar to the case of the deposit process (FIG. 8). Specifically, the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 separates the banknotes in the container 12A one by one and transfers them to the transport unit 213. The transport unit 213 transports the banknotes backwards, where they are recognized by the recognition unit 14, and sends the obtained recognition result to the banknote control unit 211.

[0077] At this time, the banknote control unit 211 controls the transport unit 213 based on the obtained recognition result to designate the destination banknote storage vault for normal banknotes, and to designate the destination banknote storage vault for rejected banknotes as the upper storage vault 19. The transport unit 213 switches the transport path of the banknotes in each switch based on the control of the banknote control unit 211, transporting normal banknotes along arrow W11 to the destination banknote storage vault (banknote storage vault 16D) for storage, and transporting rejected banknotes along arrow W12 to the upper storage vault 19 for storage.

[0078] [2-2. Effects, etc.] In the above configuration, the banknote deposit / withdrawal machine 210 of the automated teller machine 201 according to the second embodiment transports banknotes stored in the source banknote storage vault to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 in a transfer process, and then recognizes the banknotes using the recognition unit 14 while transporting them using the transport unit 213, and transports normal banknotes to the destination banknote storage vault for storage.

[0079] Therefore, similarly to the first embodiment, the banknote deposit / withdrawal machine 210 can move banknotes stored in a source banknote storage vault to a destination banknote storage vault, and at that time, by performing a recognition process using the recognition unit 14, the denomination and degree of damage of each banknote can be re-recognized, and the total number of banknotes stored can also be re-tallyed.

[0080] Furthermore, in the movement process, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 performs a process equivalent to a part of the withdrawal process (FIG. 9) in the movement and pay-out process in the previous stage, and performs a process equivalent to a part of the deposit process (FIG. 8) in the movement and storage process in the subsequent stage. Therefore, like the first embodiment, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 does not need to perform special control in the banknote control unit 211 just for the movement process, and can perform control similar to the withdrawal process and deposit process that are performed as basic processes.

[0081] In other respects as well, the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 210 according to the second embodiment can achieve the same effects as the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 according to the first embodiment.

[0082] 3. Other embodiments In the above-mentioned first embodiment, a case has been described in which the recognition process is not performed when the banknote passes through the recognition unit 14 in the moving and feeding process in the front stage of the moving process, and the recognition process is performed in the moving and recognition process in the middle stage. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, in the moving and feeding process in the front stage, the recognition process may be performed when the banknote passes through the recognition unit 14, and the obtained recognition result may be stored. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0083] In the above-mentioned first embodiment, the case where the source banknote storage in the transfer process is any one of the banknote storages 16A to 16D has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the banknote storage 16E may also be specified as the source banknote storage. When the banknote storage 16E is the source banknote storage, for example, in the transfer and pay-out process in the previous stage, the banknote paid out from the banknote storage 16E may be transported to the temporary storage unit 15 and temporarily stored therein, and the banknote may be paid out from the temporary storage unit 15 and transported to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12. The same applies to the second embodiment, and in this case, for example, the banknote may be temporarily stored in any one of the banknote storages 16A to 16D instead of the temporary storage unit 15, and then paid out and transported to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12.

[0084] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first embodiment, a case has been described in which the verification unit 14 acquires various information from banknotes using multiple types of sensors, recognizes the denomination, authenticity, fitness, etc. of the banknote based on this information, and notifies the obtained recognition results to the banknote control unit 11. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the verification unit 14 may directly notify the banknote control unit 11 of various information acquired from banknotes by multiple types of sensors, and the banknote control unit 11 may recognize the denomination, etc. of each banknote based on this information. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0085] Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, when a deposit-rejected banknote occurs during the deposit process, the banknote is stored in the subsequent conveyance path 22Y, and after all banknotes have been taken in from the container 12A, the banknote is conveyed to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12 and returned to the user (FIG. 4). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, each time a deposit-rejected banknote occurs during the deposit process, the banknote may be reversed and returned to the deposit / withdrawal unit 12.

[0086] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first embodiment, the temporary holding unit 15 is configured as a tape escrow system, and the banknotes are stored by winding the banknotes together with the tape around the circumferential side of a cylindrical drum. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the banknotes may be temporarily stored in various ways, such as a system in which the banknotes are accumulated and stored in the same manner as in the banknote storage vault 16. In this case, it is sufficient that the multiple banknotes can be paid out in the same forward order or the reverse order in which they were received.

[0087] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first embodiment, a case has been described in which four banknote storage vaults 16 (16A to 16D) are connected to the rear transport section 22 (FIG. 2). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and three or less or five or more banknote storage vaults 16 may be connected. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0088] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first embodiment, the case where the upper conveying section 18 and one upper storage cabinet 19 are connected to the rear conveying section 22 has been described (FIG. 2). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a predetermined switch may be provided in the upper conveying section 18 and two or more upper storage cabinets may be connected, or the upper conveying section 18 and the upper storage cabinet 19 may be omitted. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0089] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first embodiment, a case has been described in which one banknote storage vault 16 (16E) is connected to the front transport section 21 (FIG. 2). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, two or more banknote storage vaults 16 may be connected to the front transport section 21, or no banknote storage vault 16 may be connected to the front transport section 21. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0090] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first embodiment, a case has been described in which one reject container 17 is connected to the front transport section 21 (FIG. 2). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, instead of or in addition to the reject container 17, a reject container connected to the rear transport section 22 may be provided, or the reject container 17 may be omitted and the upper storage container 19 may function as the reject container. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0091] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first embodiment, a case has been described in which the banknote control unit 11 (FIG. 2) of the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 controls each process such as the movement process of banknotes. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the banknote control unit 11 may control each process such as the movement process by cooperating with the main control unit 9 (FIG. 1). The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0092] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned first embodiment, the present invention has been described as being applied to the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 of the automated teller machine 1 that processes transactions between customers and the banknote as a medium. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to various devices that handle various paper-like media such as various types of coupons, securities, or admission tickets and train tickets as transaction objects. The same applies to the second embodiment.

[0093] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and other embodiments. That is, the scope of application of the present invention extends to embodiments in which the above-described embodiments and the other embodiments are combined in part or in whole in any manner, or to embodiments in which parts are extracted.

[0094] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a case has been described in which the banknote deposit and withdrawal machine 10 as a medium handling device is configured by the deposit and withdrawal section 12 as a deposit and withdrawal section, the front transport section 21 as a first transport section, the recognition section 14 as a recognition section, the rear transport section 22 as a second transport section, the banknote storage vault 16 as a medium storage vault, and the banknote control section 11 as a control section. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the medium processing device may be configured by the deposit and withdrawal section, the first transport section, the recognition section, the second transport section, the medium storage vault, and the control section having various other configurations. [Industrial Applicability]

[0095] The present invention can be used, for example, in a banknote deposit / withdrawal device incorporated in an automated teller machine which performs deposit and withdrawal transactions relating to banknotes with users. [Explanation of symbols]

[0096] 1, 201...automated teller machine, 6...operation display unit, 9...main control unit, 10, 210...banknote deposit and withdrawal machine, 11, 211...banknote control unit, 12...deposit and withdrawal unit, 13, 213...transport unit, 14...recognition unit, 15...temporary holding unit, 16...banknote storage cabinet, 17...reject cabinet, 18...upper transport unit, 19...upper storage cabinet, 20...temporary holding switching unit, 21...front transport unit, 22...rear transport unit, 24...reject switching unit, 25, 27, 28...switching unit, 220...connection unit.

Claims

1. an input / output section for inputting / outputting paper-like media; a first transport unit connected to the input / output unit and configured to transport the medium; a recognition unit provided in the first transport unit and configured to recognize the medium being transported; a second transport unit connected to the first transport unit via a connection unit and configured to transport the medium; a plurality of media storage containers connected to the second transport unit and configured to store the reusable media; a temporary holding unit that temporarily stores the medium and delivers the medium in the normal or reverse order in which the medium was stored; a reject storage connected to the first transport unit and configured to store rejected media that have been recognized as non-reusable by the recognition unit; a control unit that uses a recognition result by the recognition unit to control a transport path of the medium by the first transport unit, the connection unit, and the second transport unit; Equipped with the connection unit is a temporary storage switching unit that switches the transport path of the medium between the first transport unit, the second transport unit, and the temporary storage unit; In a transfer process for transferring the media stored in the media storage chamber that is the source of transfer to the media storage chamber that is the destination of transfer, the control unit controls the media to be fed out from the media storage chamber, transported to the input / output section and stored therein, the media to be fed out from the input / output section and transported by the first transport section and stored in the temporary storage section, and the recognition unit acquires and stores the recognition results for each of the media, and controls the media to be fed out from the temporary storage section and transported to the media storage chamber that is the destination of transfer according to the recognition results if the media is reusable, and to be fed out from the temporary storage section and transported to the rejected storage section if the media is rejected. A media handling device comprising:

2. The control unit, in the moving process, controls the first transport unit to transport the medium fed out from the input / output unit, acquires the recognition result of each of the media by the recognition unit, and controls the medium to be transported to one of the media storage units according to the recognition result.

2. The media handling device according to claim 1.

3. The control unit is In an import process for importing the medium from the outside, the medium is input into the input / output section, the medium is fed from the input / output section to the first transport section, the medium is transported by the first transport section, and the recognition section acquires the recognition result for each of the medium, and the medium is transported to one of the medium storage cabinets according to the recognition result. In a discharge process for discharging the medium to the outside, the medium is fed from the medium storage to the second transport unit, the medium is transported to the input / output unit by the second transport unit and the first transport unit, and the medium is discharged from the input / output unit; In the moving process, the medium is transported from the medium storage unit that is the source of the moving process to the input / output unit by a process equivalent to a part of the ejection process, and then the medium is transported to the medium storage unit that is the destination of the moving process by a process equivalent to a part of the input process.

2. The media handling device according to claim 1.

4. a first medium storage unit connected to the first transport unit and configured to store the reusable medium; Further comprising: The control unit controls the medium to be transported to any one of the medium storage units or the first medium storage unit in accordance with the recognition result in the movement process.

2. The media handling device according to claim 1.

5. The first conveying section has a conveying path along which the medium is conveyed in the recognition section, the conveying path being formed in a straight line along a conveying direction, The second transport unit has a switching unit for switching a transport path between the first transport unit and the first storage unit, and a transport path connecting the connection unit and the switching unit is formed in a straight line along the transport direction.

2. The media handling device according to claim 1.

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