Currency Processing Device

Abstract

To provide a currency processing device that enables an operator to easily recognize handling of currency removed from a conveyance path when an error occurs.SOLUTION: A bill processing machine 1 includes: a control unit 28 that counts bills as either an internally managed currency, payment of which has been established or an externally managed currency, payment of which has not been established; and an illumination unit 29 that, in order to enable a remaining currency left in a machine body 2 due to an error occurred in payment processing to be determined as the internally managed currency or the externally managed currency, emits light in different modes between a case in which the remaining currency corresponds to the internally managed currency and a case in which the remaining currency corresponds to the externally managed currency, in the vicinity of the remaining currency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] A known currency processing device is a coin depositing and dispensing machine equipped with a passage detection means for detecting the passage of coins on a conveying path, and in the event of an abnormality in the coin conveyance, issues an alert to remove from the machine coins for which the passage detection means has not detected the passage and which are to be handled outside the machine, and also issues an alert to store inside the machine coins for which the passage detection means has detected the passage and which are to be handled inside the machine (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-249840 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in currency processing devices, errors caused by abnormal currency transport can occur during all processes involving the movement of currency, such as depositing, withdrawing, inspection, and sorting loose currency into bundles or rolls.In error recovery operations, it is necessary to remove all currency remaining on the currency transport path, such as the transport path from the source to the destination.

[0005] The handling of coins removed from the coin transport path can be confirmed by guidance displayed on the display screen of the coin handling device, but in the event of an error occurring when multiple processes are performed in parallel, the handling of each removed coin will differ depending on the process, and the handling of the coins displayed on the display screen will only show the handling of some of the coins remaining on the coin transport path, making it difficult to accurately grasp the handling of all coins remaining on the coin transport path.

[0006] Furthermore, even if the handling instructions for a currency were displayed on the display screen, it was a cumbersome task for the operator to remove the relevant currency from the transport route while checking the display screen for the handling instructions for the currency remaining on the transport route.

[0007] Therefore, a technical problem arises that must be solved to enable operators to easily recognize the handling of currency that is removed from the transport path when an error occurs, and the present invention aims to solve this problem. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the currency processing device of the present invention is a currency processing device comprising a deposit port for inserting currency, an identification unit for identifying the currency, a storage cabinet capable of storing the currency, a transport path for transporting the currency within the machine, and an input unit for accepting input operations from outside, and is also provided with a control unit that counts the currency as either on-machine managed currency whose deposit has been confirmed or externally managed currency whose deposit has not been confirmed, and an illumination unit that irradiates light of different types in the vicinity of residual currency, which is currency that remains within the machine due to an error that occurred during the deposit process, depending on whether the residual currency is on-machine managed currency or externally managed currency, so as to be able to determine whether the residual currency is on-machine managed currency or externally managed currency.

[0009] With this configuration, it is possible to determine whether the remaining coins inside the machine are on-board managed coins or off-board managed coins depending on the type of light emitted by the lighting unit, so the operator can easily understand how to handle the remaining coins removed from the machine without having to visually check the handling of the remaining coins on the display screen of the coin processing device, etc., and errors can be resolved in a short amount of time.

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a currency processing device comprising: a storage cabinet capable of storing currency; an identification unit that identifies the currency; a dispensing port that ejects the currency; a transport path that transports the currency within the machine; an opening / closing unit that opens and closes the dispensing port; and an input unit that accepts input operations from outside, wherein the currency is counted into either on-machine managed currency whose dispensing has not been confirmed or externally managed currency whose dispensing has been confirmed, and the withdrawal confirmation operation input to the input unit during the dispensing process is input to the input unit. The device is equipped with a control unit that opens the opening / closing unit and counts the on-board managed currency stored in the withdrawal port as off-board managed currency based on the operation, and an illumination unit that irradiates light of different types in the vicinity of residual currency, which is currency that remains in the device due to an error that occurred during the withdrawal process, depending on whether the residual currency is on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency, so that it can be determined whether the residual currency is on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency.

[0011] With this configuration, it is possible to determine whether the remaining coins inside the machine are on-board managed coins or off-board managed coins depending on the type of light emitted by the lighting unit, so the operator can easily understand how to handle the remaining coins removed from the machine without having to visually check the handling of the remaining coins on the display screen of the coin processing device, etc., and errors can be resolved in a short amount of time. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] The present invention can determine whether the remaining coins in the machine are on-board managed coins or off-board managed coins depending on the type of light emitted by the lighting unit, allowing the operator to easily understand how to handle the remaining coins removed from the machine and to resolve errors in a short period of time. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the configuration of a banknote processing device that is one embodiment of a currency processing device according to the present invention. [Figure 2]1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote processing device that is one embodiment of a currency processing device according to the present invention, in which a banknote transport route for a loose banknote deposit process is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 3] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote handling apparatus that is one embodiment of a currency handling apparatus according to the present invention, in which a banknote transport route for a first process of a storage process is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 4] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote handling apparatus that is one embodiment of a currency handling apparatus according to the present invention, in which a banknote transport route for a second process of a storage process is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 5] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote processing device that is one embodiment of a currency processing device according to the present invention, in which a banknote transport route for a return process is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 6] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote processing device that is one embodiment of a currency processing device according to the present invention, in which a banknote transport route for dispensing loose banknotes is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 7] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote processing device that is one embodiment of a currency processing device according to the present invention, in which a banknote transport route for a bundle banknote dispensing process is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 8] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote processing device that is one embodiment of a currency processing device according to the present invention, in which a banknote transport route for a local sorting process is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 9] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote processing device that is one embodiment of a currency processing device according to the present invention, in which a banknote transport route for a collection process is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 10] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote processing device that is one embodiment of a currency processing device according to the present invention, in which a recovery / reject banknote transport route in a recovery process is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 11] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a banknote processing device that is one embodiment of a currency processing device according to the present invention, in which the outgoing route of the inspection process is indicated by a thick line. [Figure 12]FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the installation position of an illumination unit provided on the surface of the transport path. [Figure 13] 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 12. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a plan view schematically showing the installation position of an illumination unit provided on the side of the transport path. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a side view schematically showing the installation position of an illumination unit provided above the transport path. [Figure 17] FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the structure of an illumination unit of the identification unit. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an error window relating to on-board management banknotes. [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an error window relating to externally managed banknotes. [Figure 20] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an error window relating to an unknown banknote. [Figure 21] FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a counting machine which is a modified example of the currency handling device according to the present invention. [Figure 22] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the internal structure of the counter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] A banknote processing machine 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that, hereinafter, when referring to the number, numerical value, amount, range, etc. of components, unless otherwise specified or when it is clearly limited to a specific number in principle, the number is not limited to that specific number and may be more or less than the specific number.

[0015] Furthermore, when referring to the shape or positional relationship of components, etc., it includes things that are substantially similar or approximate to those shapes, etc., unless otherwise specified or when it is clearly considered otherwise in principle.

[0016] In addition, the drawings may exaggerate characteristic parts to make the features easier to understand, and the dimensional ratios of the components may not be the same as in reality.

[0017] A banknote handling machine 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The banknote handling machine 1 of this embodiment performs deposit and withdrawal processes for banknotes. Hereinafter, loose banknotes will be simply referred to as banknotes, and banknotes bundled together in a predetermined bundling unit of 100 will be referred to as a banknote bundle.

[0018] 1, a banknote processing machine 1 of this embodiment has a deposit port 3 and a withdrawal port 4 provided at the upper part of the front side of its body 2. The withdrawal port 4 is provided above the deposit port 3.

[0019] The deposit port 3 has an openable shutter (not shown), and when the shutter is open, banknotes are inserted from outside the machine, and then the shutter is closed to feed the banknotes into the machine. When viewed from the front side of the machine, banknotes are stacked from bottom to top with their lengthwise direction aligned in the left-right direction, and a deposit and feed unit 5 is provided at the bottom that separates the banknotes stacked on the deposit port 3 one by one, starting from the bottom, and feeds them into the machine at specified intervals. Within the banknote processing machine 1, banknotes are basically transported with their short edges aligned in the transport direction.

[0020] The deposit and feed unit 5, which feeds out banknotes from the deposit port 3, is equipped with a kick roller 5a that abuts against the middle part of the short edge of the bottommost banknote among the banknotes stacked in the deposit port 3 and kicks it out toward the inside of the machine, a feed roller 5b that feeds the banknotes kicked out by the kick roller 5a into the machine, and a separation roller 5c that stops relative to the feed roller 5b and separates the banknotes fed into the machine by the feed roller 5b one by one. Immediately after the deposit and feed unit 5, an entrance sensor 6 is provided that optically detects whether the banknotes fed from the deposit and feed unit 5 have any transport abnormalities such as multiple feeding in which multiple banknotes are stacked on top of each other, skew in which the banknotes are oriented diagonally with respect to the transport direction, or near feed in which the transport interval between adjacent banknotes is narrow, and whether there are any shape abnormalities such as stubs.

[0021] The withdrawal port 4 has an openable / closable shutter (not shown), and when the shutter is closed, banknotes to be withdrawn are dispensed from the machine, and then when the shutter is opened, the banknotes are taken out of the machine. In other words, the withdrawal port 4 enables banknotes to be taken out of the machine. When the withdrawal port 4 has its shutter closed, banknotes dispensed from the machine are stacked and placed from bottom to top with their longitudinal direction aligned in the left-right direction when viewed from the front side of the machine. When the shutter is closed, the withdrawal port 4 is capable of storing banknotes, and the stored banknotes can be dispensed into the machine.

[0022] At the rear of the banknote processing machine 1, there is provided a recognition unit 7 that recognizes whether the banknotes dispensed from the deposit port 3 are genuine, the denomination of the genuine banknotes, and whether there are any transport abnormalities such as double feeding, skewing, or near feeding. The recognition unit 7 also recognizes the front and back, top and bottom (top and bottom), left and right, etc. of the banknotes.

[0023] Behind the deposit port 3 and the withdrawal port 4, there are provided a plurality of alignment units 8, 9, specifically two alignment units 8, 9, which align banknotes and accumulate them in a predetermined number of bundling units. Behind these alignment units 8, 9, there is provided an elevation conveying unit 10 which conveys upward the number of banknotes accumulated in the alignment units 8, 9 in a bundling unit. Above the alignment units 8, 9, there is provided a bundling unit 11 which wraps bundling tape around the number of banknotes accumulated in the alignment units 8, 9 and conveyed by the elevation conveying unit 10 to form a bundle of banknotes. In front of this bundling unit 11, there is provided a bundle dispensing unit 12 which feeds out the bundle of banknotes created in the bundling unit 11 so that it can be taken out of the machine. The bundle dispensing unit 12 also has an openable / closable shutter (not shown); the shutter is closed to feed the bundle of banknotes from the machine, and then the shutter is opened to take the bundle of banknotes out of the machine. A bundle storage unit (not shown) for storing the bundle of banknotes bundled by the bundling unit 11 is provided on the side of the bundling unit 11.

[0024] Below the banknote processing machine 1, multiple storage cabinets 13, specifically four, with similar structures are arranged front to back, aligned vertically and horizontally. These storage cabinets 13 are capable of temporarily storing banknotes and dispensing the temporarily stored banknotes, and are capable of storing banknotes and dispensing the stored banknotes. These storage cabinets 13 cannot be removed from the machine body 2, but can be pulled out from the machine body 2 as a unit.

[0025] In the banknote processing machine 1, storage cabinet 13A located at the farthest back, storage cabinet 13B located second from the back, and storage cabinet 13C located third from the back all store undamaged banknotes of a predetermined denomination in a state where they can be dispensed in a stacked state from bottom to top. Storage cabinet 13D located fourth from the back stores other predetermined banknotes in a state where they can be dispensed in a stacked state from bottom to top.

[0026] Storage 13A stores, in a retrievable manner, predetermined first-class banknotes (for example, undamaged normal banknotes of current 10,000 yen notes) among acceptable banknotes that can be received by banknote handling machine 1, storage 13B stores predetermined second-class banknotes (for example, undamaged normal banknotes of current 5,000 yen notes), storage 13C stores predetermined third-class banknotes (for example, undamaged normal banknotes of current 1,000 yen notes), and storage 13C stores fourth-class banknotes other than the first to third classes (for example, all 2,000 yen notes, soiled current 10,000 yen notes, all old 10,000 yen notes, soiled current 5,000 yen notes, all old 5,000 yen notes, soiled current 1,000 yen notes, and all old 1,000 yen notes). In other words, banknote handling machine 1 is provided with multiple storage bins 13A to 13C for current undamaged normal banknotes of a single denomination, sorted by denomination. It should be noted that a plurality of storage boxes 13 may be provided so as to be able to sort and store banknotes, and the storage pattern is not limited to the above.

[0027] At the top of each of storage cabinets 13A to 13D is provided an intake and feed unit 14 that takes in banknotes and stacks them from bottom to top, and separates the banknotes inside one by one starting from the top one and feeds them out at predetermined intervals. Each of storage cabinets 13A to 13D is provided with a separator 15 (bottom) that can be raised and lowered and opened and closed to divide the internal space that stores banknotes into upper and lower parts, and an elevator 16 that moves up and down within the internal space.

[0028] The take-in and pay-out unit 14 is equipped with a kick-out roller 14a that abuts against the middle part in the short direction of the topmost banknote among the banknotes stacked on the separator 15 or the elevator 16 and kicks it out of the storage 13, a pay-out roller 14b that pays out of the storage 13 the banknotes kicked out by the kick-out roller 14a, and a separation roller 14c that stops relative to the pay-out roller 14b and separates into one banknote each the banknotes that the pay-out roller 14b pays out of the storage 13. The pay-out roller 14b rotates in the opposite direction to when it is being paid out, and thereby holds the banknote between itself and the separation roller 14c that rotates together with the pay-out roller 14b and takes it into the storage 13.

[0029] The separator 15 includes a pair of lifting shafts 15a arranged horizontally at the same height, and a pair of plate-shaped separator bodies 15b. One separator body 15b is supported by one of the lifting shafts 15a and is rotatable about this lifting shaft 15a. The other separator body 15b is supported by the other lifting shaft 15a and is rotatable about this lifting shaft 15a. When the separator 15 is in the closed state, one separator body 15b extends horizontally from one lifting shaft 15a toward the other lifting shaft 15a, and the other separator body 15b extends horizontally from the other lifting shaft 15a toward one of the lifting shafts 15a.

[0030] When separator 15 is in the open state, one separator body 15b rotates 90 degrees from the closed state and extends vertically downward from one lifting support shaft 15a, and the other separator body 15b rotates 90 degrees from the closed state and extends vertically downward from the other lifting support shaft 15a. Separator 15 rises and falls so that the pair of lifting support shafts 15a always match in height, and the pair of separator bodies 15b open and close in sync. Each separator 15 in storage cabinets 13A to 13D is driven by an individual drive mechanism, and its lifting, lowering, and opening / closing are controlled independently.

[0031] When separator 15 is in a closed state, it divides storage 13 into temporary storage section 17 above separator 15, including separator 15, and storage section 18 below separator 15. In other words, storage 13 is divided by separator 15 into temporary storage section 17, which is a temporary storage area, and storage section 18, which is a storage area directly below it.

[0032] When in the closed state, separator 15 forms the bottom of temporary storage unit 17, and banknotes taken in by intake and feed unit 14 are placed on separator 15, which accumulates them from bottom to top. At this time, separator 15 descends in accordance with the amount of banknotes taken in by intake and feed unit 14. Separator 15 also raises the topmost banknote among the banknotes placed on it to abut against kick-out roller 14a of intake and feed unit 14. In this state, intake and feed unit 14 separates the banknotes one by one and feeds them out of temporary storage unit 17. At this time, separator 15 rises in accordance with the amount of banknotes fed out by intake and feed unit 14.

[0033] When separator 15 is in the open state, temporary storage section 17 and storage section 18 of storage 13 in which separator 15 is provided are connected to each other. In this state, elevator 16 deposits banknotes taken in by take-in and pay-out section 14 and accumulates them from bottom to top. At that time, elevator 16 rises to a receiving position where it accepts the banknote taken in by take-in and pay-out section 14 above it or on top of the banknote above it, and then descends according to the amount of banknotes taken in by take-in and pay-out section 14.

[0034] Therefore, when separator 15 is in the open state, storage 13A receives banknotes taken in by take-in / feed-out unit 14 into successive temporary storage unit 17 and storage unit 18, and accumulates them in temporary storage unit 17 on elevator 16. Thereafter, when elevator 16 descends and the banknotes on elevator 16 reach storage unit 18 and separator 15 is closed, storage 13A enters a state in which storage unit 18 stores banknotes.

[0035] Similarly, when separator 15 is in the open state, storage 13B receives banknotes taken in by take-in / feed-out unit 14 into successive temporary storage unit 17 and storage unit 18, and accumulates them in temporary storage unit 17 on elevator 16. Thereafter, when elevator 16 descends and the banknotes on elevator 16 reach storage unit 18 and separator 15 is closed, storage 13B enters a state in which storage unit 18 stores banknotes.

[0036] Similarly, when separator 15 is in the open state, storage 13C receives banknotes taken in by take-in / feed-out unit 14 into successive temporary storage unit 17 and storage unit 18, and accumulates them in temporary storage unit 17 on elevator 16. Thereafter, when elevator 16 descends and the banknotes on elevator 16 reach storage unit 18 and separator 15 is closed, storage 13C enters a state in which storage unit 18 stores banknotes.

[0037] Similarly, when separator 15 is in the open state, storage 13D receives banknotes taken in by take-in / feed-out unit 14 into successive temporary storage unit 17 and storage unit 18, and accumulates them in temporary storage unit 17 on elevator 16. Thereafter, when elevator 16 descends and the banknotes on elevator 16 reach storage unit 18 and separator 15 is closed, storage 13D enters a state in which storage unit 18 stores banknotes.

[0038] When separator 15 is in the open state and temporary storage section 17 and storage section 18 of storage 13 in which separator 15 is provided are connected, elevator 16 of storage section 18 rises, elevator 16 brings the uppermost banknote among the banknotes placed thereon into contact with kick-out roller 14a of intake and feed section 14. In this state, intake and feed section 14 separates the banknotes one by one and feeds them out of the connected temporary storage section 17 and storage section 18 into temporary storage section 17. At that time, elevator 16 rises in accordance with the amount of banknotes fed out from intake and feed section 14. Elevators 16 of storage 13A to 13D are driven by individual drive mechanisms, and their elevation is controlled independently.

[0039] Each of storage vaults 13A to 13D is in a standby state in which elevator 16 is located in the lowest standby position, banknotes on elevator 16 are located below separator 15, separator 15 is closed, separator 15 is located in a predetermined standby position at the top, and banknotes taken in by take-in and pay-out unit 14 can start to be accumulated on separator 15. Therefore, when each of storage vaults 13A to 13D is in a standby state, temporary storage unit 17 is empty. The standby state of storage vaults 13A to 13D is a storage receiving state in which stored banknotes are received into temporary storage unit 17.

[0040] In addition, each of the multiple storage cabinets 13A to 13D is in a stored banknote dispensing state in which the banknotes placed on the separator 15 of the temporary storage unit 17 are dispensed when the elevator 16 is positioned in the lowest standby position, the separator 15 is closed, and the banknote in the uppermost position on the separator 15 is abutted against the kick-out roller 14a of the intake and dispensing unit 14.

[0041] Furthermore, each of the plurality of storage vaults 13A-13D has separators 15 open, and banknotes taken in by the take-in and feed-out unit 14 are stacked on the elevator 16 or on the topmost banknote on the elevator 16, which is a direct storage receiving state in which banknotes are received in the continuous temporary storage unit 17 and storage unit 18. Each of the plurality of storage vaults 13A-13D receives banknotes onto the elevator 16 with separator 15 in the open state, then lowers the elevator 16, and closes the separator 15 when all the banknotes on the elevator 16 are positioned below the open separator 15. In this state, the banknotes are stored in the storage unit 18. Each storage unit 18 of the plurality of storage vaults 13A-13D receives and stores banknotes via the temporary storage unit 17 above, whose separator 15 is in the open state.

[0042] In addition, each of the multiple storage cabinets 13A to 13D is in a storage / acceptance state in which banknotes that have been stored on the separator 15 of the temporary storage section 17 and are dropped when the separator 15 is opened can be accumulated on the elevator 16 or on top of the banknote in the highest position on the elevator 16, and the banknotes placed on the separator 15 of the temporary storage section 17 can be accepted onto the elevator 16 of the storage section 18.

[0043] In addition, each of the multiple storage cabinets 13A to 13D is in a stored banknote dispensing state in which the separator 15 is opened and the banknote in the uppermost position on the elevator 16 is brought into contact with the kick-out roller 14a of the intake and dispensing section 14, in which the banknotes stored in the storage section 18 are dispensed via the temporary storage section 17.

[0044] As described above, temporary storage sections 17 are provided above storage sections 18 of each of the storage cabinets 13A to 13D, with separators 15 at the bottom that can be opened and closed and that temporarily store banknotes so that they can be fed out. Also, each of storage sections 18 of the multiple storage cabinets 13A to 13D receives and stores banknotes via the upper temporary storage sections 17 with separators 15 in an open state. In other words, each of storage sections 18 of the multiple storage cabinets 13A to 13D receives and stores banknotes via the upper temporary storage sections 17 with separators 15 at the bottom that are in an open state.

[0045] Storage cabinets 13A to 13D can be pulled out sideways as a unit from body 2, and temporary storage section 17 can be opened and closed when pulled out as a unit from body 2. When temporary storage section 17 of each of storage cabinets 13A to 13D is opened, banknotes temporarily stored in temporary storage section 17 can be taken out. Note that even if temporary storage section 17 of storage cabinets 13A to 13D is opened, banknotes stored in storage section 18 below separator 15 cannot be taken out from temporary storage section 17 as long as separator 15 is closed.

[0046] At the bottom of the banknote processing machine 1, in front of the storage vault 13D, there is provided a cassette 19 as a temporary bulk storage unit that temporarily stores banknotes of mixed denominations that can be accepted by the banknote processing machine 1 during the deposit process. The cassette 19 is removable from the machine body 2 and takes in and stores banknotes dispensed from the storage units 18 for each denomination during the collection process, and during the replenishment process, banknotes for refilling are loaded outside the machine and the loaded banknotes are dispensed. The cassette 19 is aligned vertically and horizontally with the storage vaults 13A to 13D for each denomination. The storage capacity of the cassette 19 for banknotes is larger than the storage capacity of each of the storage vaults 13A to 13D.

[0047] Cassette 19 temporarily stores banknotes in a mixed denomination state stacked from bottom to top and stores the temporarily stored banknotes so that they can be fed out later, and is provided at its top with an intake and feed unit 20 that takes in banknotes and separates the banknotes inside one by one starting from the top one and feeds them out at specified intervals. Cassette 19 is provided with a separator 21 (bottom) that can be raised and lowered and opened and closed, dividing the internal space that stores banknotes into upper and lower parts, and an elevator 22 that moves up and down within the internal space.

[0048] The take-in and pay-out unit 20 is equipped with a kick-out roller 20a that abuts against the middle part in the short direction of the topmost banknote among the banknotes stacked on the separator 21 or the elevator 22 and kicks it out of the cassette 19, a pay-out roller 20b that pays out of the cassette 19 the banknotes kicked out by the kick-out roller 20a, and a separation roller 20c that stops relative to the pay-out roller 20b and separates the banknotes that the pay-out roller 20b pays out of the cassette 19 one by one. The pay-out roller 20b rotates in the opposite direction to when paying out, and thereby sandwiches the banknotes between itself and the separation roller 20c that rotates together, and takes them into the cassette 19.

[0049] The separator 21 includes a pair of lifting shafts 21a arranged horizontally at the same height, and a pair of plate-shaped separator bodies 21b. One separator body 21b is supported by one of the lifting shafts 21a and is rotatable about this lifting shaft 21a. The other separator body 21b is supported by the other lifting shaft 21a and is rotatable about this lifting shaft 21a. When the separator 21 is in the closed state, one separator body 21b extends horizontally from one lifting shaft 21a toward the other lifting shaft 21a, and the other separator body 21b extends horizontally from the other lifting shaft 21a toward one of the lifting shafts 21a.

[0050] When separator 21 is in the open state, one separator body 21b rotates 90 degrees from the closed state and extends vertically downward from one lifting support shaft 21a, and the other separator body 21b rotates 90 degrees from the closed state and extends vertically downward from the other lifting support shaft 21a. Separator 21 moves up and down so that the pair of lifting support shafts 21a always matches the height, and the pair of separator bodies 21b open and close synchronously. Separators 21 of cassette 19 are driven by a drive mechanism separate from that of separators 15 of storage cabinets 13A-13D, and are independently controlled for lifting, lowering, opening, and closing.

[0051] When the separator 21 is in the closed state, the cassette 19 is divided into a temporary storage section 23 above the separator 21, including the separator 21, and a storage section 24 below the separator 21. In other words, the cassette 19 is divided by the separator 21 into the temporary storage section 23, which is a temporary storage area, and the storage section 24, which is a storage area directly below the temporary storage section 23.

[0052] When in the closed state, separator 21 constitutes the bottom of temporary storage unit 23, and banknotes taken in by intake and feed unit 20 are placed on separator 21, which accumulates them from bottom to top. At this time, separator 21 descends in accordance with the amount of banknotes taken in by intake and feed unit 20. Separator 21 also raises the topmost banknote among the placed banknotes to bring it into contact with kick-out roller 20a of intake and feed unit 20. In this state, intake and feed unit 20 separates the banknotes one by one and feeds them out of temporary storage unit 23. At this time, separator 21 rises in accordance with the amount of banknotes fed by intake and feed unit 20.

[0053] When separator 21 is in the open state, temporary storage section 23 and storage section 24 of cassette 19 are connected to each other. In this state, elevator 22 places banknotes taken in by taking in and feeding section 20 and accumulates them from bottom to top. At that time, elevator 22 first rises to a receiving position where it accepts the banknote taken in by taking in and feeding section 20 above it or on top of the banknote above it, and then descends according to the amount of banknotes taken in by taking in and feeding section 20.

[0054] When separator 21 is in the open state, cassette 19 receives banknotes taken in by take-in / feed-out unit 20 into successive temporary storage unit 23 and storage unit 24, and accumulates the banknotes in temporary storage unit 23 on elevator 22. After that, when elevator 22 descends and the banknotes on elevator 22 reach storage unit 24 and separator 21 is closed, cassette 19 enters a state in which storage unit 24 stores banknotes.

[0055] When separator 21 is in the open state and temporary storage section 23 and storage section 24 of cassette 19 are connected, elevator 22 of storage section 24 rises, this elevator 22 brings the uppermost banknote among the banknotes placed thereon into contact with kick-out roller 20a of intake and feed section 20. In this state, intake and feed section 20 separates the banknotes one by one and feeds them out of the connected temporary storage section 23 and storage section 24 into temporary storage section 23. At that time, elevator 22 rises in accordance with the amount of banknotes fed out from intake and feed section 20. Elevator 22 of cassette 19 is driven by a drive mechanism separate from elevators 16 of each of storage cabinets 13A to 13D, and its elevation is controlled independently.

[0056] The standby state of cassette 19 is when elevator 22 is located at the lowest standby position, the banknotes on elevator 22 are located below separator 21, separator 21 is closed, and separator 21 is located at a predetermined standby position at the top, so that banknotes taken in by take-in and pay-out unit 20 can start to be accumulated on separator 21. Therefore, when cassette 19 is in the standby state, temporary storage unit 23 is empty. The standby state of cassette 19 is a storage receiving state in which stored banknotes are received into temporary storage unit 23.

[0057] In addition, the cassette 19 is in a stored banknote dispensing state in which the banknotes placed on the separator 21 of the temporary storage section 23 are dispensed when the elevator 22 is positioned in the lowest standby position, the separator 21 is closed, and the banknotes in the uppermost position on the separator 21 are abutted against the kick-out roller 20a of the intake and dispensing section 20.

[0058] Furthermore, when cassette 19 has separator 21 open and banknotes taken in by take-in / feed-out unit 20 are accumulated on elevator 22 or on the topmost banknote on elevator 22, this state corresponds to a direct storage receiving state in which banknotes are received in temporary storage unit 23 in succession to temporary storage unit 23 and storage unit 24. After cassette 19 receives banknotes on elevator 22 with separator 21 in the open state, cassette 19 lowers elevator 22 and closes separator 21 when all banknotes on elevator 22 are positioned below separator 21 in the open state. In this state, banknotes are stored in storage unit 24. Therefore, storage unit 24 receives and stores banknotes via temporary storage unit 23 above, which is the bottom, and whose separator 21 is in the open state.

[0059] In addition, when the cassette 19 opens the separator 21 and brings the banknote at the top position on the elevator 22 into contact with the kick-out roller 20a of the intake and pay-out section 20, it is in a stored banknote pay-out state in which the banknotes stored in the storage section 24 are paid out via the temporary storage section 23.

[0060] As described above, a temporary storage section 23 is provided above the storage section 24 of the cassette 19, with the separator 21 at the bottom being openable and closable, for temporarily storing banknotes so that they can be fed out. Furthermore, with the separator 21 in the open state, the cassette 19 stores the banknotes taken in by the take-in and feed-out section 20 in the storage section 24 below the separator 21 via the temporary storage section 23. In other words, below the separator 21 at the bottom of the temporary storage section 23, there is provided a storage section 24 that receives and stores banknotes via the temporary storage section 23 when the separator 21 is in the open state.

[0061] Inside the banknote processing machine 1, a transport unit 25 that transports banknotes including banknotes dispensed from the deposit port 3 by the deposit and feed unit 5 is provided so as to appropriately connect each unit. The transport unit 25 basically moves the banknotes with their short edges aligned along the transport direction.

[0062] The transport unit 25 is provided with a transport path 25A that transports banknotes from the deposit port 3 provided at the front of the body 2 towards the recognition unit 7 provided at the rear of the body 2, and further towards the cassette 19 provided at the front of the body 2. The transport path 25A extends rearward from the deposit and payout unit 5 of the deposit port 3 to between the transport paths 25J and 25M described below, then extends downward, then extends rearward to pass through the recognition unit 7, turns forward at the bottom, extends forward, and extends downward from the front end of the banknote processing machine 1 to be connected to the take-in and pay-out unit 20 of the cassette 19.

[0063] In addition, the conveying section 25 is equipped with a conveying path 25C that branches downward from between the connection position to the cassette 19 on the conveying path 25A and the identification section 7 and connects to the intake and feed section 14 of the storage cabinet 13A, a conveying path 25D that branches downward from between the connection position to the cassette 19 on the conveying path 25A and the branching position of the conveying path 25C and connects to the intake and feed section 14 of the storage cabinet 13B, a conveying path 25E that branches downward from between the connection position to the cassette 19 on the conveying path 25A and the branching position of the conveying path 25D and connects to the intake and feed section 14 of the storage cabinet 13C, and a conveying path 25F that branches downward from between the connection position to the cassette 19 on the conveying path 25A and the branching position of the conveying path 25E and connects to the intake and feed section 14 of the storage cabinet 13D.

[0064] The conveying section 25 also includes a conveying path 25G that branches upward from the closest position to the cassette 19 on the conveying path 25A, then extends rearward and connects to the lower part of the portion of the conveying path 25A that extends downward from the deposit port 3 toward the recognition section 7; a conveying path 25H that branches upward from a position between the branching position of conveying path 25F on the conveying path 25A and the branching position of conveying path 25G and connects to an intermediate position on conveying path 25G; and a conveying path 25J that branches upward from a position between the connection position of conveying path 25H on the conveying path 25G and the connection position of the rear conveying path 25A and connects to the rear connection position of conveying path 25G on the conveying path 25A and the entrance sensor 6.

[0065] In addition, the conveying section 25 has a conveying path 25L that branches rearward from between the connection position of the conveying path 25J on the conveying path 25A and the connection position at the rear of the conveying path 25G, then extends upward, and then extends forward to connect to the withdrawal port 4.

[0066] The conveying unit 25 also includes a conveying path 25M that branches upward from a position on the conveying path 25A between the connecting position at the rear of the conveying path 25G and the recognition unit 7 and is connected to an intermediate position of the conveying path 25L, and a conveying path 25N that branches from a position on the conveying path 25A between the branching position of the conveying path 25M and the recognition unit 7 and is connected to an intermediate position of the conveying path 25M. The conveying path 25N is provided with a front / back reversing unit 26 that reverses the front and back of banknotes.

[0067] The conveying section 25 also includes a conveying path 25P that branches off rearward from between the withdrawal port 4 and the confluence of the conveying path 25M on the conveying path 25L and leads to the alignment section 8, and a conveying path 25Q that branches off rearward from between the confluence of the conveying path 25P on the conveying path 25L and the confluence of the conveying path 25M and leads to the alignment section 9.

[0068] The recognition unit 7 recognizes the banknotes transported by the transport unit 25, and the storage cabinets 13A to 13D and the cassette 19 store the banknotes recognized by the recognition unit 7 in a manner that allows them to be fed out based on the recognition result of the recognition unit 7.

[0069] The banknote handling machine 1 is provided with an operation display unit 27 to which an operator inputs operations and which displays information to the operator, and a control unit 28 that controls the banknote handling machine 1 as a whole.

[0070] The banknote processing machine 1 is equipped with an illumination unit 29 provided on a path along which banknotes are transported. The illumination unit 29 is, for example, an LED light or an LED sticker, but is not limited to these. The illumination unit 29 is installed on or near the banknote transport path within the machine body 2. The banknote transport path collectively refers to various devices and transport units 25 within the machine body 2 along which banknotes can be transported, and is, for example, the deposit slot 3, the withdrawal slot 4, the recognition unit 7, storage cabinets 13A to 13D, cassettes 19, transport units 25, etc., but is not limited to these.

[0071] The lighting unit 29 can arbitrarily change the mode of light it emits using the control unit 28. Note that the "mode of light" refers to, for example, the color of light emitted by the lighting unit 29 or the light emission time when the lighting unit 29 turns on or blinks the light. A detailed description of the lighting unit 29 will be given later.

[0072] Next, each process of the banknote handling machine 1 of this embodiment will be described.

[0073] When in the standby state, all temporary storage sections 17 of storage cabinets 13A to 13D are empty, and banknotes are normally stored in storage sections 18. Separators 15 of storage cabinets 13A to 13D are in the closed state and are located at standby positions where they can accept banknotes and start stacking, and elevators 16 are located at the lowest standby position. Cassette 19 has temporary storage sections 23 empty, and may store banknotes in storage sections 24. Separators 21 of cassette 19 are in the closed state and are located at the upper standby position where they can accept banknotes and start stacking, and elevators 22 are located at the lowest standby position.

[0074] [Deposit Processing] The thick lines in Figure 2 indicate the banknote transport route for the deposit process, which transports banknotes inserted into the deposit slot 3 from outside the machine, while identifying, counting, and temporarily storing them. That is, when banknotes are inserted into the deposit slot 3 and a deposit process selection operation is performed on the operation display unit 27, the control unit 28 starts the deposit process and drives the deposit and payout unit 5, the transport unit 25, and the take-in and pay-out unit 20 of the cassette 19, which is in a standby state. The deposit and pay-out unit 5 then feeds out the banknotes inserted into the deposit slot 3, starting from the bottom, at predetermined intervals while separating them one by one with the kick-out roller 5a, the feed-out roller 5b, and the separation roller 5c, and the fed-out banknotes are transported by the transport path 25A. The banknotes fed from the deposit and pay-out unit 5 are detected by the entrance sensor 6 immediately after being fed for any transport abnormalities and shape abnormalities.

[0075] The control unit 28 conveys deposit-rejected banknotes for which the entrance sensor 6 has detected abnormal transport or abnormal shape to the withdrawal outlet 4 via the portion of the conveyance path 25A on the deposit opening 3 side and conveyance paths 25M and 25L, as shown by the thick solid line and the thick dashed dotted line in Fig. 2. In other words, deposit-rejected banknotes for which the entrance sensor 6 has detected abnormal transport or abnormal shape are conveyed to the withdrawal outlet 4 via conveyance paths 25M and 25L that branch off from the conveyance path 25A that runs from the deposit opening 3 to the recognition unit 7 and that do not intersect with the conveyance path 25A after branching, without being conveyed to the recognition unit 7.

[0076] On the other hand, banknotes for which neither transport abnormality nor shape abnormality is detected by the inlet sensor 6 are transported to the recognition unit 7 via the transport path 25A, as shown by the thick solid line in Fig. 2. During this transport, the recognition unit 7 recognizes and counts the banknotes, and the control unit 28 transports banknotes that the recognition unit 7 has identified as acceptable, i.e., genuine, normally-deposited banknotes of a handleable denomination, to the standby cassette 19 via the transport path 25A, as shown by the thick solid line in Fig. 2. As a result, the cassette 19 accumulates banknotes of mixed denominations on the separator 21, which is in the standby position with the temporary storage unit 23 in the closed state, by means of its intake and feed unit 20. In other words, the normally-deposited banknotes that have been identified as acceptable are temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19. At this time, the control unit 28 monitors the amount of banknotes stored in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19, and lowers the separator 21 in a closed state by an amount corresponding to the amount of stored banknotes.

[0077] On the other hand, the control unit 28 treats banknotes that have been identified as unacceptable by the recognition unit 7, i.e., banknotes whose denominations cannot be identified and banknotes that have been transported abnormally, such as double-fed, skewed, or near-fed, as rejected banknotes, and diverts them from the cassette 19 side of the transport path 25A to the transport path 25H, as shown by the thick solid line, thick dashed line, and thick dot-dash line in Figure 2, and transports them to the withdrawal port 4 via the transport path 25H, the transport path 25G, the transport path 25A, the transport path 25M, and the transport path 25L.

[0078] At this time, a banknote emerging from deposit slot 3 and heading toward recognition unit 7 on transport path 25A and a banknote heading toward transport path 25M from transport paths 25H and 25G via transport path 25A share a portion of transport path 25A, and therefore there is a possibility that they may cross each other at this portion. For this reason, when recognition unit 7 determines that a banknote is unacceptable, control unit 28 stops deposit / feeding unit 5 at the timing of intersection with this banknote, thereby suspending the feeding of banknotes from deposit slot 3. In other words, by the time that a deposit-rejected banknote determined to be unacceptable by recognition unit 7 enters transport path 25A from transport path 25G at the latest, deposit / feeding unit 5 is stopped so that no banknote is present on the deposit slot 3 side of the branching position of transport path 25A to transport path 25M. When a deposit-rejected banknote determined to be unacceptable by recognition unit 7 subsequently enters transport path 25M from transport path 25A, control unit 28 resumes driving deposit / feeding unit 5.

[0079] When the above-described operation of the deposit process is performed, the deposit port 3 is emptied of banknotes and all banknotes dispensed from the deposit port 3 are transported to either the temporary storage section 23 of the cassette 19 or the dispensing port 4, the control unit 28 opens the shutter of the dispensing port 4 to enable removal of banknotes from the dispensing port 4, and causes the operation and display unit 27 to display the number and total amount of banknotes by denomination that the recognition unit 7 has determined to be acceptable and that have been temporarily stored in the temporary storage section 23 of the cassette 19. The control unit 28 then enters a state of waiting for input of either a deposit confirmation operation or a deposit cancellation operation on the operation and display unit 27, thereby completing the deposit process. Note that, at the time the deposit process is completed, the banknotes transported to either the temporary storage section 23 of the cassette 19 or the dispensing port 4 are treated as externally managed currency that is outside the control of the banknote processing machine 1.

[0080] As described above, the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19 temporarily stores the banknotes that are fed from the deposit port 3 during a deposit process and that are identified as acceptable by the recognition unit 7 in a mixed denomination state so that they can be fed out.

[0081] [Storage Processing] The storage process is a process performed when a deposit confirmation operation is input to the operation and display unit 27 after a deposit process, and is a series of processes including the deposit process performed immediately before. After a deposit process, when a deposit confirmation operation is input to the operation and display unit 27, the control unit 28 handles the banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19 as in-machine managed currency managed by the banknote processing machine 1. When the deposit confirmation operation is input, the control unit 28 determines whether any of the storage units 18 of the storage vaults 13A to 13D will become full if the deposited banknotes are stored, based on the number of each type of deposited banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19 during the deposit process and the number of banknotes already stored in the storage units 18 of the storage vaults 13A to 13D. If any of the storage sections 18 of storage cabinets 13A to 13D becomes full, the bundle storage process described below is performed before the storage process is performed, and the number of banknotes stored in the storage section 18 of storage cabinet 13 where the full state will occur is reduced in advance to an amount that will not cause the storage section 18 to become full even after the storage process is performed, and then the storage process is performed.

[0082] 3 to 7 indicate the banknote transport route in the storage process. After the deposit process, when a deposit confirmation operation is input to the operation display unit 27, the control unit 28 confirms the deposit and places the deposited banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19 under control, and performs the storage process. In the storage process, first, a first process is performed in which the deposited banknotes in the temporary storage unit 23 are distributed to storage cabinets 13A to 13D, as shown by the thick lines in FIG. 3, based on the recognition result of the second recognition unit 7.

[0083] At the start of this first process, the control unit 28 sets the temporary storage unit 17 of the storage cabinet 13, which includes a predetermined one of the storage units 18 of each of the storage cabinets 13A to 13D that is the storage destination for banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19, as a temporary storage destination for rejected banknotes, which include banknotes with poor denomination recognition and banknotes with transport abnormalities.

[0084] Specifically, based on the breakdown of banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage units 23 determined from the recognition results of the recognition unit 7 in this storage process and the series of deposit processes executed immediately before this storage process, the temporary storage unit 17 of the storage vault 13 including the storage unit 18 with the smallest amount of banknotes to be transported for storage in this storage process is set as the temporary storage destination for the stored-rejected banknotes. The stored-rejected banknotes are banknotes rejected under management due to poor denomination recognition or transport abnormalities that occurred during movement under the management of the banknote processing machine 1. Here, as an example, a case will be described in which the storage unit 18 of the storage vault 13D that stores banknotes of a fourth type other than the first to third types is the storage unit 18 with the smallest amount of banknotes to be transported for storage during this storage process. In this case, the temporary storage unit 17 of the storage vault 13D that contains this storage unit 18 is set as the temporary storage destination for the stored-rejected banknotes.

[0085] Then, the control unit 28 raises the separator 21 at the bottom of the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19, bringing the uppermost banknote on the separator 21 into contact with the kick-out roller 20a of the intake and feed unit 20, thereby setting the cassette 19 into a stored-banknote-feeding state. Furthermore, the control unit 28 leaves the storage containers 13A to 13D, of which the temporary storage unit 17 is set as the temporary storage destination for stored-reject banknotes, in a standby state, and sets the separators 15 of all the remaining storage containers 13A to 13C of the storage containers 13A to 13D in an open state, and raises the elevators 16 to a position where they can receive and stack the banknotes taken in by the intake and feed unit 14, depending on the amount of banknotes stored in the elevators 16, thereby setting the cassettes into a direct storage receiving state. At the same time, the control unit 28 drives the intake and feed unit 20, the transport unit 25, and the intake and feed units 14 of the storage containers 13A to 13D.

[0086] Then, starting from the top banknote placed on separator 21 of temporary storage unit 23 of cassette 19, kick roller 20a separates the banknotes one by one using feed roller 20b and separation roller 20c and feeds them out at predetermined intervals. The fed banknotes are transported to recognition unit 7 via conveyance paths 25A, 25G, 25A as shown by thick solid lines in FIG. 3, and recognized by recognition unit 7. Then, control unit 28 transports banknotes recognized as normal stored banknotes other than the rejected banknotes by recognition unit 7 to the corresponding storage vaults 13A to 13D via conveyance path 25A and corresponding conveyance paths 25C to 25F based on the recognition result. Normal stored banknotes consist of banknotes that have neither a denomination recognition error nor a conveyance abnormality.

[0087] As a result, of the banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage section 23 of the cassette 19, those that are recognized as normal by the recognition section 7 after being fed out of the temporary storage section 23 are accumulated on the elevator 16 of the corresponding storage cabinet 13A to 13C if the storage destination is the storage section 18 of the storage cabinet 13A to 13C.

[0088] On the other hand, among the banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19, the fourth type of stored normal banknotes that are to be stored in the storage units 18 of the storage vault 13D based on the recognition result of the recognition unit 7 after being fed from the temporary storage unit 23 are temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 17 of the storage vault 13D with the separator 15 in the closed state. Also, among the banknotes temporarily stored in the cassette 19, the stored-reject banknotes that are recognized by the recognition unit 7 as having a transport abnormality or an incorrect denomination recognition after being fed from the temporary storage unit 23 are temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 17 of the storage vault 13D with the separator 15 in the closed state. That is, in the first process, the temporary storage unit 17 of the storage vault 13D contains a mixture of stored normal banknotes that are to be stored in the storage units 18 of the storage vault 13D and stored-reject banknotes that cannot be stored in the storage units 18 of the storage vaults 13A to 13D.

[0089] In other words, banknotes rejected for storage are banknotes that are fed from cassette 19 during the storage process and that are identified by the recognition unit 7 as banknotes that cannot be stored in the storage sections 18 of the plurality of storage cabinets 13A to 13D. Therefore, during the storage process, the banknotes rejected for storage are first temporarily stored in a first process in temporary storage section 17 with separator 15 in a closed state above storage section 18 of storage cabinet 13D, which is a predetermined one of the storage sections 18 of the plurality of storage cabinets 13A to 13D, together with banknotes that should be stored in the storage section 18 of that predetermined storage cabinet 13D.

[0090] Specifically, when the banknote fed from temporary storage unit 23 of cassette 19 is a properly stored banknote of the first type (for example, an undamaged current 10,000 yen note), control unit 28 stacks the banknote on elevator 16 of storage cabinet 13A, and when the banknote fed from temporary storage unit 23 is a properly stored banknote of the second type (for example, an undamaged current 5,000 yen note), control unit 28 stacks the banknote on elevator 16 of storage cabinet 13B. Also, when the banknote fed from temporary storage unit 23 is a properly stored banknote of the third type (for example, an undamaged current 1,000 yen note), control unit 28 stacks the banknote on elevator 16 of storage cabinet 13C.

[0091] Furthermore, when the banknotes fed from temporary storage unit 23 are fourth-class normally stored banknotes (for example, all 2,000 yen notes, damaged current 10,000 yen notes, all old 10,000 yen notes, damaged current 5,000 yen notes, all old 5,000 yen notes, damaged current 1,000 yen notes, and all old 1,000 yen notes), control unit 28 will temporarily store these normally stored banknotes in temporary storage unit 17 of storage vault 13D. Furthermore, when the banknotes fed from temporary storage unit 23 are rejected banknotes other than normally stored banknotes, which have been identified as not being able to be stored in storage vaults 13A to 13D, or as having been identified as having an abnormality in transport or as having a denomination sorting error, control unit 28 will temporarily store these banknotes in temporary storage unit 17 of storage vault 13D.

[0092] At this time, the control unit 28 will lower each elevator 16 according to the amount of banknotes transported to each of the storage units 13A to 13C, and will lower the separator 15 of storage unit 13D according to the amount of banknotes transported to storage unit 13D.

[0093] When the banknotes in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19 are exhausted in this manner and all banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 are stacked on the elevator 16 of one of the storage units 18 of the storage vaults 13A to 13C or temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 17 of the storage vault 13D, the control unit 28 returns the cassette 19 to the standby state and ends the first process. At the same time, if the recognition result of the recognition unit 7 in this first process indicates that no banknotes have been transported to the temporary storage unit 17 of the storage vault 13D, which serves as a temporary storage location for rejected banknotes, the control unit 28 lowers all of the elevators 16 of the storage vaults 13A to 13C to their lowest standby positions, and then returns all of the separators 15 of the storage vaults 13A to 13C to their standby positions and closes them, thereby placing the storage vaults 13A to 13C in the standby state. This causes the banknotes on the elevators 16 of the storage vaults 13A to 13C to be stored in the respective storage units 18.

[0094] Therefore, during the storage process, the storage units 18 of the plurality of storage cabinets 13A to 13C store the banknotes fed from the temporary storage units 23 of the cassettes 19 based on the recognition results of the recognition unit 7. At that time, the storage units 18 of the plurality of storage cabinets 13A to 13C each receive and store the banknotes via the temporary storage units 17 that constitute the same storage cabinet 13 and whose upper separators 15 are in an open state.

[0095] On the other hand, after the first process is completed, if there are any banknotes transported to temporary storage section 17 of storage vault 13D based on the breakdown of banknotes recognized by recognition section 7 in this first process, control section 28 stores the banknotes on elevators 16 of each of storage vaults 13A to 13C in each storage section 18, as described above, and performs second process in parallel with placing storage vaults 13A to 13C in a standby state. In the second process, control section 28 raises elevator 16 of storage vault 13D to a position where it can receive and stack banknotes from temporary storage section 17 of storage vault 13D, placing storage vault 13D in a storage / storage receiving state, opens separator 15, and stacks the banknotes that were on separator 15, i.e., the fourth type of normally stored banknotes that were temporarily stored in temporary storage section 17 of storage vault 13D, on elevator 16 of storage vault 13D, as shown by the thick solid line in Fig. 4. Thereafter, the storage box 13D is returned to the standby state, whereby the banknotes on the elevator 16 of the storage box 13D are stored in the storage section 18 of the storage box 13D, and the storage process including the first and second processes is completed.

[0096] [Return Processing] After the deposit process, when a deposit cancellation operation is input to the operation display unit 27 to cancel the deposit, the control unit 28 does not confirm the deposit, that is, the banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19 during the deposit process remain outside of control, that is, they are treated as externally managed currency, and a return process is performed in which all of the banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 are fed to the withdrawal port 4. The thick lines in Figure 5 indicate the banknote transport route for this return process.

[0097] In the return process, the control unit 28 raises the separator 21 at the bottom of the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19, and brings the uppermost banknote on the separator 21 into contact with the kick-out roller 20a of the take-in and feed-out unit 20, thereby bringing the stored banknote into a feed-out state. At the same time, the control unit 28 drives the transport unit 25 and drives the take-in and feed-out unit 20 of the cassette 19.

[0098] Then, the intake and payout unit 20 of cassette 19 will separate the banknotes placed on separator 21 of temporary storage unit 23 of this cassette 19 one by one starting from the top one and pay out the banknotes at predetermined intervals, and transport the paid-out banknotes to the dispensing port 4 via transport paths 25A and 25L as shown by the thick solid lines in Figure 5. At the end of the return process, the control unit 28 opens the shutter of the dispensing port 4 to enable the banknotes to be removed from the dispensing port 4. As a result, of the banknotes inserted into the deposit port 3 in this return process and the series of deposit processes, all banknotes other than the banknotes paid out to the dispensing port 4 in the deposit process are paid out to the dispensing port 4 in the return process.

[0099] [Loose bill withdrawal processing] 6 indicates the banknote transport route of the loose banknote dispensing process in which banknotes are dispensed from storage vaults 13A to 13D of a specified denomination based on the loose banknote dispensing operation input to operation display unit 27. Note that control unit 28 treats the loose banknotes to be dispensed as in-machine managed currency until they are ejected from dispensing port 4, and treats the loose banknotes as externally managed currency once they are ejected from dispensing port 4.

[0100] In the loose banknote dispensing process, the control unit 28 opens the separator 21 of the cassette 19, and then raises the elevator 22 of the cassette 19 to a position where it can receive and stack banknotes from the intake and feed unit 20, thereby setting the cassette 19 in a direct storage receiving state. The control unit 28 then drives the intake and feed unit 20 and the transport unit 25. At the same time, when feeding out first type banknotes stored in the storage unit 18 of the storage container 13A based on the input number of banknotes to be dispensed by denomination, the control unit 28 opens the separator 15 of the storage container 13A, and then raises the elevator 16 of the storage container 13A, causing the top banknote on the elevator 16 to abut against the kick-out roller 14a of the intake and feed unit 14 of the storage container 13A, thereby setting the storage banknote feeding state. At the same time, the take-in and pay-out unit 14 is driven to separate the bills placed on the elevator 16 of the storage 13A one by one from the top one and pay them out at predetermined intervals.

[0101] As a result, the banknotes fed from storage 13A are conveyed to the recognition unit 7 via conveyance paths 25C and 25A in the opposite direction to the deposit process, as shown by the thick solid lines in Figure 6, and based on the recognition result of the recognition unit 7 at that time, of the first type banknotes that have no denomination recognition errors and are normal to be dispensed and have no conveyance abnormalities, normal to be dispensed banknotes that do not need to be turned over are conveyed directly to the dispensing outlet 4 via conveyance paths 25A and 25L, and normal to be dispensed banknotes that need to be turned over are turned over by the face-to-face reversing unit 26 from conveyance path 25A via conveyance path 25N and then conveyed to the dispensing outlet 4 via conveyance paths 25M and 25L. In this way, the first type normal to be dispensed based on the loose banknote dispensing operation are fed to the dispensing outlet 4 with their faces aligned.

[0102] Note that dispense-rejected banknotes, which include banknotes with transport errors and banknotes other than those normally dispensed, including banknotes with denominations that have not been identified, are transported to cassette 19 via transport paths 25A, 25G, and 25A, as shown by the thick solid and thick dashed lines in FIG. 6. As a result, cassette 19 causes its intake and feed unit 20 to stack the dispense-rejected banknotes on elevator 22. At that time, control unit 28 monitors the amount of banknotes stored in cassette 19, and lowers elevator 22 by an amount corresponding to the amount of stored banknotes. Dispensing-rejected banknotes are also managed rejected banknotes (in-machine managed currency) that occur during movement under the management of the banknote processing machine 1.

[0103] Furthermore, in the bulk dispensing process, when second type banknotes stored in storage section 18 of storage cabinet 13B are to be dispensed, control section 28 similarly opens separator 15 for storage cabinet 13B, then raises elevator 16 to enter a stored banknote dispensing state, and the banknotes placed on this elevator 16 are dispensed in order from the topmost one by intake and dispensing section 14 and conveyed to recognition section 7 via conveying paths 25D and 25A. Based on the recognition result of recognition section 7, second type banknotes that are normally dispensed are conveyed to dispensing port 4 via conveying paths 25A and 25L or conveying paths 25A, 25N, 25M and 25L while aligning the front and back sides, and banknotes that are rejected for dispensing are stacked on elevator 22 of cassette 19 via conveying paths 25A, 25G and 25A.

[0104] Furthermore, in the bulk dispensing process, when third type banknotes stored in storage section 18 of storage cabinet 13C are to be dispensed, control section 28 similarly opens separator 15 for storage cabinet 13C, then raises elevator 16 to enter a stored banknote dispensing state, and the banknotes placed on elevator 16 are dispensed by intake and dispensing section 14 in order from the topmost one and conveyed to recognition section 7 via conveying paths 25E and 25A. Based on the recognition result of recognition section 7, third type banknotes that are normally dispensed are conveyed to dispensing port 4 via conveying paths 25A and 25L or conveying paths 25A, 25N, 25M and 25L while aligning the front and back sides, and banknotes that are rejected for dispensing are stacked on elevator 22 of cassette 19 via conveying paths 25A, 25G and 25A.

[0105] In the bulk dispensing process, the banknotes stored in the storage section 18 of the storage box 13D are not fed to the dispensing port 4.

[0106] In this way, the input number of normal banknotes to be dispensed for each denomination are fed to the dispensing port 4 with the front and back sides aligned according to the denomination. At the end of the loose banknote dispensing process, the control unit 28 returns the storage vaults 13A-13D and the cassette 19 to the standby state, stores the banknotes in the storage vaults 13A-13D in the respective storage units 18, and stores the banknotes in the cassette 19 in its storage unit 24. That is, in this case as well, the storage unit 24 of the cassette 19 receives and stores banknotes via the temporary storage unit 23 above, with the separator 21 in the open state. Thereafter, the control unit 28 opens the shutter of the dispensing port 4 to enable the normal banknotes to be removed from the dispensing port 4. At this time, the control unit 28 treats the banknotes fed to the dispensing port 4 as externally managed currency.

[0107] In the banknote processing machine 1, the only location provided for storing dispense-rejected banknotes that are identified as undispensable to dispense to the dispensing port 4 during the loose dispense process is the storage section 24 at the bottom of the cassette 19.

[0108] [Bundle banknote withdrawal processing] 7 indicates the banknote transport route of the banknote bundle dispensing process in which banknotes of a designated denomination are bundled and dispensed from storage containers 13A to 13C based on a banknote bundle dispensing operation input to operation display unit 27. Note that in the banknote bundle dispensing process, control unit 28 treats the banknotes initially stored in storage containers 13A to 13C as in-machine managed currency.

[0109] That is, in the banknote bundle dispensing process, the control unit 28 opens the separator 21 of the cassette 19, then raises the elevator 22 of the cassette 19 to set it in a direct storage receiving state, and sets the elevator 22 in a state where banknotes can be received from the intake and feed-out unit 20. At the same time, the control unit 28 drives the intake and feed-out unit 20 and the transport unit 25. When bundling and dispensing first-class banknotes stored in the storage unit 18 of the storage container 13A based on the input number of dispensing bundles per denomination, the control unit 28 opens the separator 15 of the storage container 13A, then raises the elevator 16 of the storage container 13A to set it in a stored banknote feed-out state, and brings the top banknote among the banknotes placed on the elevator 16 into contact with the kick-out roller 14a of the intake and feed-out unit 14 of the storage container 13A. At the same time, the take-in and pay-out unit 14 is driven to separate the banknotes placed on the elevator 16 of the storage 13A one by one from the top one and pay them out at predetermined intervals.

[0110] 7, the fed banknotes are conveyed to the recognition unit 7 via conveyance paths 25C and 25A, and based on the recognition result of the recognition unit 7, first type banknotes that have no denomination recognition errors and are bundled normally without any conveyance abnormalities are conveyed via conveyance paths 25A, 25L, and 25P to the aligning unit 8 if they do not need to be turned over, and conveyed via conveyance paths 25M, 25L, and 25P to the aligning unit 8 if they need to be turned over from conveyance path 25A to conveyance path 25N, whereafter they are turned over by the face-to-face reversing unit 26. In this way, the specified number of bundled normal first type banknotes corresponding to the number of bundling units are fed to the aligning unit 8.

[0111] Note that bundle-rejected banknotes, including banknotes with transport errors and banknotes of a denomination other than the normally bundled banknotes and banknotes of a denomination other than the one to be bundled, including banknotes with denominations that have failed to be identified, are transported to cassette 19 via transport paths 25A, 25G, and 25A, as indicated by the thick solid and dashed lines in FIG. 7 . Cassette 19 then stacks the bundle-rejected banknotes on elevator 22 via its intake and delivery unit 20. At this time, control unit 28 monitors the amount of banknotes stored in cassette 19 and lowers elevator 22 by an amount corresponding to the amount of stored banknotes. The designated number of banknotes for a bundling unit is then transported from alignment unit 8 via lifting and delivery unit 10, bundled by bundling unit 11, and delivered to bundle dispensing unit 12. At this time, control unit 28 treats the banknotes delivered as a bundle to bundle dispensing unit 12 as externally managed currency. Bundled rejected banknotes are also banknotes rejected under the control of the banknote handling machine 1 (money managed in the machine) that occur during movement under the control of the banknote handling machine 1.

[0112] Here, when the specified number of first-type normal banknotes to be dispensed is fed to alignment unit 8, if there are multiple bundles of this denomination to be dispensed, banknotes are subsequently fed from storage unit 18 of storage 13A, and bundled normal banknotes that do not need to be inverted are transported to alignment unit 9 via conveyance paths 25A, 25L, and 25Q, bundled normal banknotes that need to be inverted are transported from conveyance path 25A to conveyance path 25N, where they are inverted by face-to-face reversal unit 26, and then transported to alignment unit 9 via conveyance paths 25M, 25L, and 25Q, and bundle-rejected banknotes are transported to storage unit 24 via conveyance paths 25A, 25G, and 25A. In this way, the specified number of first-type normal banknotes to be dispensed is fed to alignment unit 9, and then bundled by bundling unit 11 in the same manner as above, and dispensed to bundle dispensing unit 12. In this manner, in the banknote bundle dispensing process, when dispensing a plurality of bundles of the same denomination, the banknotes are stacked alternately in the aligning units 8 and 9 by the number of banknotes per bundle.

[0113] In the bundle banknote dispensing process, the above process is performed for the specified number of bundles for each specified denomination, and the specified number of bundle banknotes for each of all the specified denominations is fed to the bundle dispensing unit 12. Then, the control unit 28 returns the storage cabinets 13A to 13C and the cassette 19 to the standby state. That is, in this case too, the storage unit 24 of the cassette 19 receives and stores banknotes via the temporary storage unit 23 above, whose separator 21 is in the open state. Thereafter, the shutter of the bundle dispensing unit 12 is opened, allowing the bundle banknotes to be removed from the bundle dispensing unit 12.

[0114] In the banknote processing machine 1, the only location provided for storing bundled rejected banknotes that are identified as uncollectible in the sorting units 8 and 9 during the loose dispensing process is the storage unit 24 at the bottom of the cassette 19.

[0115] [Bundle storage processing] Similar to the above-described banknote bundle dispensing process, bundling is performed in the bundling unit 11, but the bundled banknote bundle is not fed to the bundle dispensing unit 12 but is stored in a bundle storage unit (not shown).

[0116] [Local Cleanup] 8 indicates the banknote transport route of the local sorting process, which identifies, counts, and bundles banknotes inserted into the deposit slot 3 from outside the machine while transporting them. Note that the control unit 28 handles banknotes as externally managed currency in the local sorting process.

[0117] That is, in the local sorting process, when a selection operation for the local sorting process is performed on the operation display unit 27, the control unit 28 starts the local sorting process and drives the deposit and feed unit 5 and the transport unit 25. Then, the deposit and feed unit 5 separates the banknotes inserted into the deposit slot 3 one by one and feeds them at predetermined intervals, starting from the bottom banknote, and transports the fed banknotes to the recognition unit 7 via transport paths 25A, 25J, 25G, 25H, and 25A, where they are recognized by the recognition unit 7.

[0118] Then, based on the recognition result of the recognition unit 7, bundled normal banknotes of the denomination to be bundled that do not require face-up reversal are transported to the alignment unit 8 via the transport paths 25A, 25L, and 25P, while those that require face-up reversal are transported from the transport path 25A to the transport path 25N by the face-up reversal unit 26, and then transported to the alignment unit 8 via the transport paths 25M, 25L, and 25P. In this way, bundled normal banknotes of the specified single denomination are fed to the alignment unit 8 by the number of sheets per bundling unit. Note that, based on the recognition result of the recognition unit 7, banknotes that have been found to have been bundled abnormally and banknotes other than the denomination to be bundled that have a denomination recognition error are fed as bundle-rejected banknotes to the outlet 4 via the transport paths 25A and 25L, as indicated by the thick solid line and the thick dashed line in FIG. 8 . Bundled normal banknotes of a specified single denomination, in the number of bundled units, are transported from the alignment unit 8 by the lifting and transport unit 10, bundled by the bundling unit 11, and fed to the bundle dispensing unit 12. The denomination specified for bundling may be manually input when selecting the local sorting process, or may be automatically set to the denomination first recognized by the recognition unit 7 when the local sorting process is executed.

[0119] When the specified number of bundled normal banknotes of a single denomination is fed to the aligning unit 8 by the number of bundling units, if the specified number of dispensing bundles is more than one, banknotes continue to be fed from the deposit port 3, and normal banknotes that do not need to be inverted are transported to the aligning unit 9 via conveyance paths 25A, 25L, and 25Q, and normal banknotes that need to be inverted are transported from conveyance path 25A to conveyance path 25N, inverted by face-to-face reversing unit 26, and then transported to the aligning unit 9 via conveyance paths 25M, 25L, and 25Q. In this way, the specified number of bundled normal banknotes of a single denomination are fed to the aligning unit 9 by the number of bundling units, and are bundled by the bundling unit 11 in the same manner as above and fed to the bundle dispensing unit 12. In this way, even in the local sorting process, when multiple bundles of a single denomination are dispensed, the normal banknotes are stacked alternately in the aligning units 8 and 9 by the number of bundling units. At the end of the local sorting process, the control unit 28 opens the shutters of the bundle dispensing unit 12 and the outlet 4 to enable the bundle of banknotes and the bundle-rejected banknotes to be removed from the bundle dispensing unit 12 and the outlet 4.

[0120] [Recovery processing] 9 indicates the banknote transport route of the collection process in which banknotes are collected from designated storage boxes 13A to 13D based on the collection operation input to operation display unit 27. Note that control unit 28 handles banknotes as in-machine managed currency during the collection process.

[0121] That is, in the collection process, when collecting first-class banknotes stored in storage unit 18 of storage 13A, control unit 28 opens separator 15 in the standby position for storage 13A, and then raises elevator 16 of storage 13A, placing the topmost banknote among the banknotes placed on elevator 16 in contact with kick-out roller 14a of take-in and pay-out unit 14 of storage 13A, on the condition that replacement with an empty cassette 19 has been confirmed. Also, for cassette 19, after opening separator 21, raises elevator 22, placing cassette 19 in a direct storage receiving state in which elevator 22 can receive banknotes.

[0122] At the same time, the transport unit 25, the take-in and feed-out unit 14, and the take-in and feed-out unit 20 are driven to separate the banknotes placed on the elevator 16 of the storage vault 13A one by one, starting from the top one, and feed them out at predetermined intervals. As shown by the thick solid line in FIG. 9, these are transported to the recognition unit 7 via transport paths 25C and 25A. Based on the recognition result of the recognition unit 7, recovered normal banknotes that are not found to have a transport abnormality or a denomination recognition error are transported to cassette 19 via transport paths 25A, 25G, and 25A. Note that, other than recovered normal banknotes, rejected banknotes that are identified by the recognition unit 7 as having a transport abnormality or a denomination recognition error are transported to the dispensing port 4 via transport paths 25A and 25L, as shown by the thick solid line and the thick dashed line in FIG. 9, and are temporarily stored in the dispensing port 4. The rejected banknotes are also rejected banknotes under management (in-machine managed currency) that occurred during movement under the management of the banknote processing machine 1.

[0123] Furthermore, in the collection process, when collecting second type banknotes stored in storage section 18 of storage cabinet 13B, control section 28 similarly puts storage cabinet 13B into a stored banknote dispensing state, and causes the banknotes placed on elevator 16 of storage cabinet 13B to be dispensed in order from the top banknote by intake and dispensing section 14, and transports the recovered normal banknotes among them via transport paths 25D, 25A, 25G, 25A to cassette 19 in a direct storage acceptance state.

[0124] Furthermore, in the collection process, when collecting third type banknotes stored in storage section 18 of storage cabinet 13C, control section 28 similarly sets storage cabinet 13C to a stored banknote dispensing state, and causes the banknotes placed on elevator 16 of storage cabinet 13C to be dispensed in order from the top banknote by intake and dispensing section 14, and transports the recovered normal banknotes among them via transport paths 25E, 25A, 25G, 25A to cassette 19 in a direct storage acceptance state.

[0125] Furthermore, in the collection process, when collecting fourth type banknotes stored in storage section 18 of storage cabinet 13D, control section 28 similarly sets storage cabinet 13D to a stored banknote dispensing state, and causes the banknotes placed on elevator 16 of storage cabinet 13D to be dispensed in order starting from the top banknote by intake and dispensing section 14, and transports the recovered normal banknotes among them via transport paths 25F, 25A, 25G, 25A to cassette 19 in a direct storage acceptance state.

[0126] In the collection process, the above process is performed for one or more designated types of banknotes, and as a result, only banknotes that have been recognized and counted by the recognition unit 7 are stored in the cassette 19. The cassette 19, which stores the banknotes to be collected with the current amount known, is removed from the machine body 2 and transported. Note that, when the cassette 19 is removed, the control unit 28 treats the banknotes to be collected in the cassette 19 as externally managed currency. Also, the rejected banknotes for collection that are temporarily stored in the dispensing port 4 are removed, for example, by an authorized administrator opening the shutter. Note that, when the shutter is opened, the control unit 28 treats the rejected banknotes for collection that are temporarily stored in the dispensing port 4 as externally managed currency. If it is desired to continue using the banknote processing machine 1 without removing the collected rejected banknotes from the machine, then, on the condition that it has been confirmed that the banknotes have been replaced with cassette 19 that stores the rejected banknotes under management generated during movement under the management of the banknote processing machine 1 in storage section 24, separator 21 of this cassette 19 is opened, elevator 22 is raised to a direct storage receiving state, and the collected rejected banknotes temporarily stored in dispensing port 4 are accumulated on elevator 22 via conveyance paths 25L and 25A, as shown by the thick solid lines in Fig. 10. Thereafter, cassette 19 is put into a standby state.

[0127] [Scrutiny Processing] The reconciliation process is a process for determining the amount of banknotes stored in storage vaults 13A to 13D. The reconciliation process is performed individually for each of storage vaults 13A to 13D. Here, as an example, the reconciliation process for determining the amount of banknotes in storage vault 13A will be described, with Type 1 storage vault 13A being the object of reconciliation. The thick lines in Figure 11 indicate the outbound route of the reconciliation process for determining the amount of banknotes in storage vault 13A based on the reconciliation operation input to the operation display unit 27. Note that the control unit 28 treats banknotes as on-board managed currency during the reconciliation process.

[0128] In the reconciliation process, the control unit 28 first opens the separator 21 of the storage cabinet 13A to be reconciled, while leaving the separator 21 of the cassette 19 in a standby state, raises the elevator 16, and brings the topmost banknote on the elevator 16 into contact with the kick-out rollers 14a of the take-in and pay-out unit 14 to enter a stored banknote pay-out state. At the same time, the control unit 28 drives the transport unit 25 to drive the storage unit 24 of the storage cabinet 13A and the take-in and pay-out unit 20 of the cassette 19.

[0129] Then, the intake and feed unit 14 of storage 13A separates the banknotes on elevator 16 of storage 13A one by one starting from the top one and feeds them out at predetermined intervals, and transports the fed banknotes to temporary storage unit 23 of cassette 19 via transport paths 25C, 25A, 25G, and 25A, as shown by the thick solid lines in Figure 11. As a result, cassette 19 causes its intake and feed unit 20 to accumulate the banknotes on separator 21, which is in a standby position with temporary storage unit 23 in a closed state. At that time, control unit 28 monitors the amount of banknotes stored in temporary storage unit 23 of cassette 19, and lowers separator 21, while keeping it in a closed state, by an amount corresponding to the amount of stored banknotes.

[0130] In this way, when storage 13A is depleted of banknotes and all banknotes stored in storage section 18 of storage 13A are temporarily stored in temporary storage section 23 of cassette 19, control section 28, as in the storage process, sets one of storage 13A-13D, other than storage 13A that is the target of inspection, as a first process, as a temporary storage destination for banknotes rejected for inspection that have been identified as having transport abnormalities or denominations that cannot be identified. Banknotes rejected for inspection are also banknotes rejected under management (in-machine managed currency) that occurred during movement under the management of banknote processing machine 1. Here, as in the above, temporary storage section 17 of storage 13D is set as a temporary storage destination for banknotes rejected for inspection. Storage cabinet 13D, which has been set as a temporary storage destination for these inspection-rejected banknotes, is left in a standby state where banknotes dispensed from intake and dispensing section 14 can be received on closed separator 15, and for the remaining storage cabinets 13A to 13C, separator 15 is opened and elevator 16 is positioned above elevator 16 to receive and accumulate banknotes dispensed from intake and dispensing section 14.

[0131] Then, control unit 28 raises separator 21 of cassette 19 to bring the banknote at the top position on separator 21 into contact with kick-out roller 20a of intake and feed unit 20, thereby setting cassette 19 into a stored-banknote feed-out state. At the same time, control unit 28 drives transport unit 25 to drive intake and feed unit 20 of cassette 19 and intake and feed units 14 of storage cabinets 13A to 13D.

[0132] Then, the take-in and pay-out unit 20 of cassette 19 separates the banknotes placed on separator 21 of cassette 19 one by one, starting from the top one, and pays them out at predetermined intervals, and transports them to the recognition unit 7 via conveyance paths 25A, 25G, and 25A as shown by the thick solid lines in Fig. 3 . Based on the recognition result of the recognition unit 7, of the inspected banknotes that are not inspected-rejected banknotes but have no transport abnormalities or denomination recognition errors, the first-class inspected banknotes are transported to storage 13A via conveyance paths 25A and 25C. As a result, storage 13A accumulates the banknotes on its elevator 16 by its take-in and pay-out unit 14.

[0133] Second-type inspected normal banknotes are transported to storage 13B via transport paths 25A, 25G, 25A, and 25D and are stacked on elevator 16. Third-type inspected normal banknotes are transported to storage 13C via transport paths 25A, 25G, 25A, and 25E and are stacked on elevator 16. Fourth-type inspected normal banknotes other than the first to third types are transported to storage 13D via transport paths 25A, 25G, 25A, and 25F and are stacked on closed separators 15 in the temporary storage section 17. In addition, banknotes that are rejected for inspection other than the first to fourth types of inspected banknotes are transported to the storage 13D via the transport paths 25A, 25G, 25A, and 25F, and are stacked together with the fourth type of inspected banknotes on the closed separator 15 of the temporary storage section 17.

[0134] During the above, control unit 28 monitors the amount of banknotes stored in each of storage containers 13A to 13C, and lowers each elevator 16 by an amount corresponding to the amount of stored banknotes. Also, control unit 28 monitors the amount of banknotes stored in temporary storage unit 17 of storage container 13D, and lowers separator 15 thereof by an amount corresponding to the amount of stored banknotes.

[0135] In this way, when the banknotes in temporary storage unit 23 of cassette 19 are used up and all banknotes temporarily stored in temporary storage unit 23 have been transported to storage units 18 of storage vaults 13A to 13C or temporary storage unit 17 of storage vault 13D, control unit 28 returns cassette 19 to the standby state. At the same time, if control unit 28 determines, based on the breakdown of banknotes recognized by recognition unit 7, that no banknotes have been transported to temporary storage unit 17 of storage vault 13D, it puts storage vaults 13A to 13C into the standby state and ends the reconciliation process for storage vault 13A.

[0136] On the other hand, if the breakdown of banknotes identified by the recognition unit 7 shows that any banknotes have been transported to the temporary storage unit 17 of storage vault 13D, the control unit 28 will return storage vaults 13A to 13C to the standby state as described above, and at the same time, depending on the breakdown of banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 17 of storage vault 13D, if there are no inspection-rejected banknotes, perform a second process similar to the storage process to accumulate fourth-type inspection-normal banknotes on the elevator 16 of storage vault 13D, and if there are inspection-rejected banknotes, perform a third process similar to the storage process to accumulate fourth-type inspection-normal banknotes on the elevator 16 of storage unit 18 of storage vault 13D, and temporarily store the inspection-rejected banknotes, for example, in the temporary storage unit 17 of storage vault 13B, and then accumulate the inspection-rejected banknotes in the temporary storage unit 17 of storage vault 13B on the elevator 22 of storage unit 24 of cassette 19. In this case too, if the banknotes temporarily stored in the temporary storage section 17 of the storage cabinet 13D are only inspection-rejected banknotes that should be stored in the storage section 24 of the cassette 19, a fourth process similar to the storage process can be performed to accumulate the inspection-rejected banknotes in the temporary storage section 17 of the storage cabinet 13D on the elevator 22 of the storage section 24 of the cassette 19.

[0137] Here, before the reconciliation process, it is unlikely that other second to fourth type banknotes have been mixed into the storage container 13A for storing the first type of banknote to be inspected, and therefore, it is extremely rare that inspected normal banknotes other than the inspected first type banknotes are transported to the storage containers 13B to 13D. For this reason, all banknotes other than the inspected first type banknotes may be stored on the closed separator 15 of the temporary storage unit 17 of a storage container 13B other than the inspected first type banknotes, for example, the storage container 13A, which has the shortest transport distance to the cassette 19. In this case, the banknotes other than the inspected first type banknotes placed on the separator 15 of the storage container 13B in this way are subjected to a fourth process similar to the storage process, and are accumulated on the elevator 22 of the cassette 19 and stored in the storage unit 24.

[0138] [Guidance Mode] The banknote processing machine 1 has a guidance mode in which the illumination unit 29 irradiates light in a predetermined manner during the various processes described above (deposit process, storage process, loose banknote return process, reconciliation process, etc.).

[0139] The control unit 28 treats banknotes transported within the machine 2 by various devices as either on-machine managed currency whose deposit has been confirmed by the deposit confirmation operation, or off-machine managed banknotes whose deposit has not been confirmed, but when multiple processes are performed in parallel, the banknotes pass through the same transport unit 25 and recognition unit 7, etc., and on-machine managed currency and off-machine managed currency become mixed within the machine 2.

[0140] For example, if a 10,000 yen deposit results in a 1,000 yen withdrawal (change), when an operation to confirm the deposit of 10,000 yen is input to the operation display unit 27, the control unit 28 will treat the 10,000 yen banknote (externally managed currency) temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 23 of the cassette 19 during the deposit process as externally managed currency, but will treat the banknote as internally managed currency until the change banknote (1,000 yen) is transported to the withdrawal port 4, and when the opening / closing unit opens and the banknote is ejected from the withdrawal port 4, it will treat the banknote as externally managed currency.

[0141] Furthermore, for example, when 1,000 yen banknotes temporarily stored in temporary storage section 23 of cassette 19 during a deposit process are stored in storage vault 13, storage vault 13 becomes full. Therefore, when a bundle storage process is performed prior to a storage process that follows a deposit process, control section 28 treats banknotes positioned from deposit port 3 to cassette 19 during the deposit process as externally managed currency, while treating banknotes transported within body 2 from storage vault 13 to a storage section such as alignment section 9 during the bundle storage process as internally managed currency. Note that the destination of banknotes in processes (movement processes) that move internally managed currency within body 2, such as bundle storage process and reconciliation process, is referred to as a storage section.

[0142] In this state where on-machine managed currency and externally managed currency are mixed within the machine 2, if an error occurs such as a banknote getting jammed inside the machine 2 while being transported, the operator must remove the banknotes remaining in the transport section 25 etc. (residual banknotes) to resolve the error, and then, if the remaining banknotes are on-machine managed currency, return the remaining banknotes to the storage cabinet 13, or if the remaining banknotes are externally managed currency, remove the remaining banknotes from the machine 2; however, it is impossible to determine from the remaining position of the remaining banknotes whether the removed residual banknotes are treated as on-machine managed currency or externally managed currency.

[0143] Therefore, the lighting unit 29 can determine whether the remaining banknotes located nearby are on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency, i.e., the lighting unit 29 emits light in different modes depending on whether the remaining banknotes are on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency.

[0144] In this way, depending on the type of light emitted by the lighting unit 29, the operator can determine whether the remaining coins in the machine are on-board managed coins or off-board managed coins, thereby allowing the error to be resolved in a short period of time.

[0145] The light emitted by the lighting unit 29 may be set to emit different colored light depending on whether the remaining banknotes are on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency, for example by emitting blue light when the remaining banknotes are off-board managed currency and red light when the remaining banknotes are on-board managed currency.

[0146] Alternatively, the light emitted by the lighting unit 29 may be set to, for example, be on when the remaining banknotes correspond to externally managed currency, and to flash when the remaining banknotes correspond to internally managed currency, so that the emission time of the light to be emitted changes depending on whether the remaining banknotes correspond to internally managed currency or externally managed currency.

[0147] The color and duration of the light emitted by the illumination unit 29 can be changed as desired. This allows the illumination unit 29 to provide integrated guidance in conjunction with another device, or to accommodate the operator's preferences, and the manner of the light emitted by the illumination unit 29 can be changed to make it easier for the operator to determine how to handle the remaining coins in the machine 2. Furthermore, the control unit 28 may display on the operation display unit 27 that an error has occurred, and may set the background color and duration of the light emitted by the illumination unit 29 to be the same as the color and duration of the light emitted by the illumination unit 29. This allows the operator to recognize the operation display unit 27 and the illumination unit 29 in relation to each other.

[0148] The specific installation location of the lighting unit 29 is set on or near the conveyance path along which banknotes are conveyed within the machine body 2.

[0149] As shown in Figures 12 and 13, the illumination units 29 are provided at the center and both ends of the width direction of the transport unit 25. Specifically, ten ribs 25a are formed at approximately equal intervals across the width direction on the transport unit 25, and the illumination units 29 are provided in recesses 25b between adjacent ribs 25a, lower than the surfaces of the ribs 25a. The illumination units 29 extend along the transport direction of the banknotes. Note that reference numeral 25c in Figure 12 denotes transport rollers that transport banknotes in the transport direction. Note that instead of transport rollers, a transport belt or the like that transports banknotes in the transport direction may be used.

[0150] When an error occurs, the lighting unit 29 provided on the transport unit 25 emits different types of light depending on whether the remaining banknotes on the transport unit 25 correspond to on-machine managed currency or externally managed currency, allowing the operator to intuitively determine whether the remaining banknotes in the transport unit 25 should be treated as on-machine managed currency or externally managed currency according to the type of light from the lighting unit 29. Furthermore, by illuminating the transport unit 25 with light, the lighting unit 29 illuminates the operator's hands, making it easier to carry out recovery work.

[0151] Furthermore, it is preferable that the length of the illumination unit 29 is longer than the width of the banknotes. This allows the light irradiation range of the illumination unit 29 to be set over a wider area than the banknotes, making it easy to identify remaining banknotes on the transport unit 25. Also, since it is expected that dust will accumulate on the illumination unit 29, it is preferable to provide dustproofing measures for the illumination unit 29. Furthermore, the longitudinal ends of the illumination unit 29 may be tapered so that the gap between them and the recess 25b gradually narrows from the center toward the ends when viewed from above. This makes it less likely that banknotes will get caught during transport, allowing for smooth transport of banknotes.

[0152] 14 and 15, the illumination unit 29 may be provided on a side surface 25d on the side of the transport unit 25. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 16, the illumination unit 29 may be provided on a top surface 25e above the transport unit 25, which is opened when an error occurs. In this way, providing the illumination unit 29 on the side or above the transport unit 25 is preferable because dust is less likely to accumulate on the illumination unit 29.

[0153] Furthermore, if an illumination unit 29 is installed in the recognition unit 7, when an error occurs, the illumination unit 29 provided in the recognition unit 7 will emit light in different patterns depending on whether the remaining banknotes in the recognition unit 7 correspond to on-board managed currency or externally managed currency, so the operator can intuitively determine whether the remaining banknotes in the recognition unit 7 should be treated as on-board managed currency or externally managed currency depending on the pattern of light from the illumination unit 29.

[0154] Furthermore, it is preferable that the illumination unit 29 provided in the recognition unit 7 also serves as the light source of the CIS of the recognition unit 7. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 17 , the recognition unit 7 includes image sensors 7a and 7b that are disposed to face banknotes conveyed by the conveyance unit 25 and acquire two-dimensional image data of the faces of the facing banknotes. The image sensors 7a and 7b are, for example, contact image sensors (CIS) that are configured by arranging a large number of combinations of light sources such as LEDs that support multiple wavelengths, light-receiving lenses, and image sensor bodies such as CMOS image sensors in a row in a direction perpendicular to the banknote conveyance direction and parallel to the banknotes conveyed by the conveyance unit 25. Therefore, by using the light source of the CIS of the recognition unit 7 as the illumination unit 29, the number of illumination units 29 installed can be reduced, thereby reducing device costs.

[0155] In addition to the above-mentioned configuration, if an illumination unit 29 is provided on the side or bottom surface of the withdrawal port 4, different types of light will be emitted depending on whether the remaining banknotes in the withdrawal port 4 correspond to on-machine managed currency or externally managed currency, and the operator will be able to intuitively determine whether the remaining banknotes in the withdrawal port 4 should be treated as on-machine managed currency or externally managed currency in the event of an error, depending on the type of light from the illumination unit 29.

[0156] Furthermore, the banknote processing machine 1 is not limited to counting and processing the remaining banknotes in the machine body 2 into either on-machine managed banknotes or externally managed banknotes, but may also be configured to distinguish the remaining banknotes in the machine body 2 into either on-machine managed banknotes, externally managed banknotes or unknown banknotes.

[0157] Here, "unknown banknotes" refers to banknotes remaining in the machine 2 that do not belong to either on-machine managed banknotes or externally managed banknotes, and includes, for example, banknotes remaining in a device when a device that is the subject of an abnormality is detached without correcting the abnormality, banknotes remaining in a storage post when a locking abnormality occurs in a storage post into which non-cash notes such as bills and gift certificates or damaged notes that cannot be counted due to being torn or the like are deposited, banknotes remaining in the machine 2 when an abnormality occurs when the banknote processing machine 1 is not operating, or banknotes remaining in the machine 2 when an abnormality occurs during maintenance processing. Below, we will explain unknown banknotes remaining in the machine 2 when an abnormality occurs when the banknote processing machine 1 is not operating.

[0158] For example, when depositing banknotes into the banknote processing machine 1, the control unit 28 executes an "occupancy command," a "deposit counting start command," a "storage operation command," and a "release occupancy command" in response to input from the operator via the operation display unit 27.

[0159] When the "occupancy command" is executed and an error such as sensor light blocking occurs in the machine 2, the control unit 28 processes the banknotes remaining in the machine 2 when the abnormality occurs while the banknote processing machine 1 is stopped as unmanaged banknotes. Also, when the "occupancy release command" is executed and an abnormality occurs in the machine 2, the control unit 28 processes the banknotes remaining in the machine 2 when the abnormality occurs while the banknote processing machine 1 is stopped as unmanaged banknotes.

[0160] If an abnormality occurs in the machine 2 during counting when the "deposit counting start command" is executed, the control unit 28 processes the banknotes remaining in the machine 2 when the abnormality occurs during counting by the banknote processing machine 1 as externally managed clear banknotes. Also, if an abnormality occurs in the machine 2 during storage in the storage vault 13 when the "storage operation command" is executed, the control unit 28 processes the banknotes remaining in the machine 2 when the abnormality occurs during storage by the banknote processing machine 1 as internally managed clear banknotes.

[0161] In this way, when counting and processing the remaining banknotes as either on-machine managed banknotes, externally managed banknotes or unknown banknotes, the lighting unit 29 emits different types of light depending on whether the remaining banknotes are on-machine managed banknotes, externally managed banknotes or unknown banknotes, thereby allowing the operator to intuitively recognize whether the remaining banknotes are on-machine managed banknotes, externally managed banknotes or unknown banknotes.

[0162] Furthermore, control unit 28 may display on operation display unit 27 that an error has occurred, and may set the color of the window frame of the error message displayed on operation display unit 27 to the same color as the color of the light emitted by illumination unit 29. This allows the operator to recognize operation display unit 27 and illumination unit 29 in association with each other.

[0163] Specifically, if the remaining banknotes correspond to banknotes managed on-board, as shown in Figure 18, the control unit 28 displays an error window W1 on the operation display unit 27, which includes a message M1 explaining the type of device in which the remaining banknotes remain ("withdrawal port" in the figure) and the process in which the error occurred ("banknote withdrawal process" in the figure), a message M2 indicating that the remaining banknotes correspond to banknotes managed on-board, and a message M3 indicating how to handle the remaining banknotes, and also displays the color of the frame F1 of the error window W1 and the highlighted portion of the message M2 in the same color (e.g., red) as the color of the light emitted by the lighting unit 29.

[0164] Furthermore, if the remaining banknotes correspond to banknotes managed outside the machine, as shown in Figure 19, the control unit 28 displays an error window W2 on the operation display unit 27, which includes a message M4 explaining the type of device in which the remaining banknotes remain ("deposit port" in the figure) and the process in which the error occurred ("banknote deposit process" in the figure), a message M5 indicating that the remaining banknotes correspond to banknotes managed outside the machine, and a message M6 indicating how to handle the remaining banknotes, and also displays the color of the frame F2 of the error window W2 and the highlighted portion of the message M5 in the same color (e.g., blue) as the color of the light emitted by the lighting unit 29.

[0165] 20, when the remaining banknotes are unknown banknotes, the control unit 28 displays an error window W3 on the operation display unit 27, which includes a message M7 explaining the type of device in which the remaining banknotes are left ("bundling unit" in the figure) and the process in which the error occurred ("standby" in the figure), a message M8 indicating that the remaining banknotes are unknown banknotes, and a message M9 indicating how to handle the remaining banknotes, and displays the color of the frame F3 of the error window W3 and the highlighted portion of the message M8 in the same color (e.g., white or gray) as the color of the light emitted by the illumination unit 29. Note that the mode of the light emitted by the illumination unit 29 when the remaining banknotes are unknown banknotes and the mode of the light emitted by the illumination unit 29 in the maintenance process described below may be the same or different. However, it is preferable that they be set to different modes, for example, the light emitted by the illumination unit 29 when the remaining banknotes are unknown banknotes is gray and the light emitted by the illumination unit 29 in the maintenance process is white.

[0166] In addition to the various processes described above, the banknote handling machine 1 may also perform maintenance processes such as operation checks (debug or training) using media simulating banknotes (dummy banknotes) and recognition adjustments.

[0167] If a medium becomes jammed or the like during such maintenance processing and remains inside the machine body 2, the lighting unit 29 may emit the same type of light as the light used to distinguish between externally managed currency and internally managed currency as described above, but by emitting a different type of light (for example, white light), the operator can intuitively recognize that an error has occurred during the maintenance processing.

[0168] In the embodiment, the banknote processing machine 1 is described as having a configuration including the bundle dispensing unit 12, but a configuration may also be provided in which, instead of the bundle dispensing unit 12, a horizontal conveyance unit is provided that conveys the banknotes horizontally to a bundle banknote deposit and withdrawal machine (not shown) that is installed next to the side of the banknote processing machine 1. In this case, the bundle of banknotes created in the bundling unit 11 of the banknote processing machine 1 is conveyed to the bundle banknote deposit and withdrawal machine (not shown) by the horizontal conveyance unit of the banknote processing machine 1, and then can be removed from the bundle banknote deposit and withdrawal machine via a bundle dispensing unit (not shown) provided on the bundle banknote deposit and withdrawal machine side, and can also be stored in a bundle storage unit (not shown) provided on the bundle banknote deposit and withdrawal machine side.

[0169] In addition, in the present embodiment, a banknote processing device that processes banknotes has been described as an example of the currency processing device, but the present invention can also be applied to a coin processing device that processes coins, etc. Furthermore, the currency processing device may be capable of processing both banknotes and coins, such as depositing banknotes while dispensing coins.

[0170] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an example was given in which the banknotes that have been deposited are temporarily stored in cassette 19, and then the banknote storage process is performed in response to a deposit confirmation operation input via operation and display unit 27. However, for example, the configuration may be such that the banknotes that have been deposited are temporarily stored in temporary storage unit 17, and then the banknote storage process is performed in response to a deposit confirmation operation input via operation and display unit 27, or the configuration may be such that the banknotes move on to storage processing without temporarily storing them, as in the counting machine described below.

[0171] Hereinafter, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to a counting machine 30 that sorts and counts banknotes stacked together by denomination as shown in Figs. 21 and 22.

[0172] The counter 30 includes a hopper 31, a recognition unit 32, a pocket 33, and a reject pocket 34.

[0173] The recognition unit 32 recognizes the authenticity and denomination of the banknotes accumulated in the hopper 31 and fed one by one by the take-in unit 31a.

[0174] Four pockets 33 are arranged one above the other at the rear of the counting machine 30. Pockets 33A to 33D each store current, undamaged, normal banknotes of a single denomination and other banknotes. Specifically, pocket 33A stores predetermined type 1 banknotes (for example, current 10,000 yen notes, undamaged normal banknotes) among the acceptable banknotes that can be received by the counting machine 30. Pocket 33B stores predetermined type 2 banknotes (for example, current 5,000 yen notes, undamaged normal banknotes). Pocket 33C stores predetermined type 3 banknotes (for example, current 1,000 yen notes, undamaged normal banknotes). Pocket 33D stores type 4 banknotes other than the first to third types (for example, all 2,000 yen notes, current 10,000 yen notes with damage, all old 10,000 yen notes, current 5,000 yen notes with damage, all old 5,000 yen notes, current 1,000 yen notes with damage, and all old 1,000 yen notes). It should be noted that the pockets 33 may be provided in a plurality so as to be able to sort and store banknotes, and the storage pattern is not limited to the above. Furthermore, the media stored in the pockets 33A to 33D are not limited to coins, and may include, for example, counterfeit bills.

[0175] A transport unit 35 for transporting banknotes is provided inside the counting machine 30 so as to appropriately connect each unit. The operation of the counting machine 30 is controlled by a control unit 36.

[0176] The counting machine 30 is equipped with an illumination unit (not shown) provided on or near a banknote transport path consisting of the hopper 31, pocket 33, and transport unit 35. The illumination unit is, for example, an LED light or an LED sticker, but is not limited to these. The banknote transport path collectively refers to the various devices in the counting machine 30 along which banknotes can be transported and the transport unit 35.

[0177] The lighting unit can arbitrarily change the mode of light it emits using the control unit 36. Note that the "mode of light" refers to, for example, the color of light emitted by the lighting unit or the light emission time when the lighting unit turns on or blinks the light.

[0178] In such a counting machine 30, when the operator presses the start / stop button 37, the recognition unit 7 recognizes and counts the banknotes, and the control unit 36 ​​transports banknotes that the recognition unit 32 has identified as acceptable, i.e., genuine banknotes of a denomination that can be handled, to the pocket 33 via the transport unit 35.

[0179] On the other hand, the control unit 36 ​​transports banknotes that the recognition unit 32 has recognized as unacceptable, that is, banknotes whose denominations cannot be recognized, to the reject pocket 34 as deposit-rejected banknotes.

[0180] The control unit 36 ​​treats banknotes in pocket 33 that have been identified and counted by the identification unit 32 to contain a predetermined number (e.g., 100 banknotes) as on-machine managed currency, and treats other banknotes (e.g., banknotes in pocket 33 that do not contain the predetermined number, banknotes being transported by the transport unit 35, etc.) as off-machine managed currency.

[0181] In such a counting machine 30, if an error occurs such as a banknote getting jammed inside the counting machine 30 while being transported, the operator must remove the banknotes remaining in the transport section 35, etc. (residual banknotes) to resolve the error, and if the remaining banknotes are externally managed currency, must remove the remaining banknotes from the counting machine 30.

[0182] Therefore, in order to enable the lighting unit to determine whether the remaining banknotes located nearby are on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency, the lighting unit emits light of different types depending on whether the remaining banknotes are on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency.

[0183] The light emitted by the lighting unit may be set to emit different colored light depending on whether the remaining banknotes are on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency, for example, by emitting blue light when the remaining banknotes are off-board managed currency and red light when the remaining banknotes are on-board managed currency.

[0184] Alternatively, the light emitted by the lighting unit may be set to, for example, be on when the remaining banknotes correspond to externally managed currency, and to flash when the remaining banknotes correspond to internally managed currency, so that the lighting duration of the light emitted varies depending on whether the remaining banknotes correspond to internally managed currency or externally managed currency.

[0185] The color and duration of the light emitted by the illumination unit can be changed as desired, which allows the operator to set multiple counters 30 to emit the same type of light, for example, making operation easier.

[0186] In this way, the lighting unit installed within the counting machine 30 emits different types of light depending on whether the remaining banknotes in the transport unit 35, etc. are on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency, allowing the operator to intuitively determine whether the remaining banknotes should be treated as on-board managed currency or off-board managed currency depending on the type of light from the lighting unit. [Explanation of symbols]

[0187] 1: Banknote processing machine 2: Aircraft 3: Deposit port 4: Withdrawal port 7: Identification unit 7a: First reflected light source 7b: First lens 7c: Transmitted light source 7d: Second reflected light source 7e: Second lens 13, 13A, 13B, 13C, 13D: Storage 19: Cassette (temporary storage) 25: Transport unit 27: Operation display section (input section) 28: Control unit 29: Lighting Department 30:Counting machine 31: Hopper 32: Identification unit 33, 33A, 33B, 33C, 33D: Pocket 34: Reject pocket 35: Transport section 36: Control section

Claims

1. A currency processing device comprising: a deposit port for inserting currency; an identification unit for identifying the currency; a storage cabinet capable of storing the currency; a transport path for transporting the currency within the device; and an input unit for receiving input operations from outside, a control unit that counts the currency into either on-board managed currency whose deposit has been confirmed or externally managed currency whose deposit has not been confirmed; an illumination unit that irradiates light in the vicinity of residual currency, which is currency that has remained in the machine due to an error that occurred during a deposit process, with light of a different type depending on whether the residual currency corresponds to the on-machine managed currency or the off-machine managed currency, so that it is possible to determine whether the residual currency is the on-machine managed currency or the off-machine managed currency; A currency processing device comprising:

2. Further provided is a temporary storage cabinet that stores the externally managed currency and transfers the externally managed currency to the storage cabinet, The currency processing device described in claim 1, characterized in that the control unit transfers the externally managed currency stored in the temporary storage cabinet to the storage cabinet based on the deposit confirmation operation input to the input unit during the deposit process, and counts the externally managed currency transferred to the storage cabinet as the internally managed currency.

3. The currency processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit counts the currency stored in the storage cabinet up to a predetermined number as the on-machine managed currency, and counts the remaining currency as the off-machine managed currency.

4. A currency processing device comprising: a storage cabinet capable of storing currency; an identification unit that identifies the currency; a dispensing port that dispenses the currency; a transport path that transports the currency within the device; an opening / closing unit that opens and closes the dispensing port; and an input unit that accepts input operations from outside, a control unit that counts the currency as either on-machine managed currency whose withdrawal has not been confirmed or externally managed currency whose withdrawal has been confirmed, and that opens the opening / closing unit and counts the on-machine managed currency stored in the withdrawal port as externally managed currency based on a withdrawal confirmation operation input to the input unit during the withdrawal process; an illumination unit that irradiates light in the vicinity of residual currency, which is currency that remains in the machine due to an error that occurred during a dispensing process, with light of a different type depending on whether the residual currency corresponds to the on-machine managed currency or the off-machine managed currency, so that it is possible to determine whether the residual currency is the on-machine managed currency or the off-machine managed currency; A currency processing device comprising:

5. Further provided is a storage unit capable of storing the on-board managed currency transported from the storage vault, A currency processing device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the lighting unit emits light that can distinguish the on-board managed currency that remains in the machine due to an error that occurs during a movement process that transports the on-board managed currency stored in the storage vault to the holding unit in parallel with a deposit process or a withdrawal process from the off-board managed currency that remains in the machine during a deposit process or a withdrawal process.

6. A currency processing device as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the type of light emitted by the lighting unit is set to either a different color or a different light emission time, or a combination of these, depending on the currency managed on-board or the currency managed off-board.

7. A currency processing device as described in claim 6, characterized in that the color or light emission time of the light emitted by the lighting unit can be changed as desired.

8. The currency handling device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the illumination unit is a CIS light source of the recognition unit.

9. the control unit counts the media in a maintenance process performed using the media simulating currency; A currency processing device as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that when the medium remains inside the machine due to an error that occurs during the maintenance process, the lighting unit emits light of a type different from the light used to determine whether the remaining currency is the currency managed inside the machine or the currency managed outside the machine.

10. The control unit counts the money that does not belong to either the on-board managed money or the externally managed money as unknown managed money, A currency processing device as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the lighting unit emits light of different types when the remaining currency corresponds to the on-board managed currency, the off-board managed currency, or the unknown managed currency, so as to enable determination of whether the remaining currency is the on-board managed currency, the off-board managed currency, or the unknown managed currency.

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