CARD ELEVATING/LOWERING DEVICE, CARD CARRYING-OUT/CARRYING-IN DEVICE AND CARD ISSUING/COLLECTING APPARATUS

• US 20110236172A1
• Filed: 09/26/2009
• Published: 09/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nidec Sankyo Corporation (Nidec Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nidec Sankyo Corporation (Nidec Corporation)
• Inventors: Hiyama, Chisato, Ohta, Keiji, Watanabe, Takeki
• Granted Patent: US 8,727,694 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 414/794.8
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 1/04 adapted to support articles substantially horizontally, e.g. for separation from top of pile
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 1/12 comprising spring B65H1/022 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2403/72 Clutches, brakes, e.g. one-way clutch +F204
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2701/1914 Cards, e.g. telephone, credit and identity cards
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 83/025 onto and from the same side of the pile or stack
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/14 with means for raising the stack of articles to permit delivery of the topmost

Abstract

A card elevating/lowering device for use with cards may include a card storage part in which the cards are stacked and accommodated, and an elevating/lowering mechanism by which the cards accommodated in the card storage part are elevated and lowered. The elevating/lowering mechanism may be provided with a placing table on which the cards accommodated in the card storage part are placed and an urging member which urges the placing table in an upper direction, and a spring constant of the urging member may be substantially equal to a weight per unit thickness of the card.

Claims

1. A card elevating/lowering device for use with cards, the device comprising:

a card storage part in which the cards are stacked and accommodated; and

an elevating/lowering mechanism by which the cards accommodated in the card storage part are elevated and lowered;

wherein the elevating/lowering mechanism is provided with a placing table on which the cards accommodated in the card storage part are placed and an urging member which urges the placing table in an upper direction; and

wherein a spring constant of the urging member is substantially equal to a weight per unit thickness of the card.

2. The card elevating/lowering device according to claim 1, wherein the urging member is a tension coil spring.

3. The card elevating/lowering device according to claim 2, wherein the elevating/lowering mechanism is provided with a pulley for spring over which the tension coil spring is hanged.

4. The card elevating/lowering device according to claim 2, wherein one end of the tension coil spring is attached to the placing table and the other end of the tension coil spring is attached to a spring end fixing member which is movable in an up-and-down direction.

5. The card elevating/lowering device according to claim 4, wherein the spring end fixing member is attached to a belt stretched over at least two pulleys for belt which are disposed in a separated state in the up-and-down direction.

6. The card elevating/lowering device according to claim 5, wherein the pulley for belt is a toothed pulley and the belt is a toothed belt.

7. The card elevating/lowering device according to claim 4, wherein the elevating/lowering mechanism is provided with a holding mechanism for holding a position of the spring end fixing member in the up-and-down direction and a releasing mechanism for releasing a holding state of the spring end fixing member by the holding mechanism.

8. The card elevating/lowering device according to claim 7, wherein

the holding mechanism is provided with a rack having a plurality of rack teeth and disposed with the up-and-down direction as a longitudinal direction, an engagement pawl which is attached to the spring end fixing member in a relatively movable state and is capable of being engaged with the rack tooth, and an engagement pawl urging member which urges the engagement pawl toward the rack tooth, and

the releasing mechanism is provided with a releasing member which is turned with the up-and-down direction as an axial direction to move the engagement pawl in a direction that engagement of the rack tooth with the engagement pawl is released and a turning mechanism for turning the releasing member.

9. The card elevating/lowering device according to claim 1, further comprising a detection mechanism for detecting that an uppermost card of the cards which are accommodated in the card storage part is located at a predetermined position,

wherein the detection mechanism is disposed so that a predetermined space is formed between the uppermost card which is detected by the detection mechanism and an upper end of the card storage part.

10. The card elevating/lowering device according to claim 1, further comprising a flat spring which is disposed on an upper end side of the card storage part for pressing a card dropped from an upper side of the card storage part toward one side.

11. A card issuing/collecting apparatus comprising:

the card elevating/lowering device described in claim 1; and

a card carrying-out/carrying-in device in which a card is carried out from the card storage part and a card is carried into the card storage part.

12. A card carrying-out/carrying-in device in which a card is carried out from or carried into a card storage part in which cards are stacked and accommodated, the device comprising:

a carrying roller which is abutted with the card to carry the card;

a counter roller which is oppositely disposed to the carrying roller and urged toward the carrying roller to be abutted with the card carried by the carrying roller;

a motor which drives the carrying roller and the counter roller; and

a power transmission mechanism which transmits power of the motor to the counter roller;

wherein the power transmission mechanism is structured so that the counter roller is capable of rotating in same direction as a rotating direction of the carrying roller by power of the motor; and

wherein the power transmission mechanism is provided with;

a torque limiter which intermits power transmission from the motor to the counter roller depending on a magnitude of the power transmitted from the motor to the counter roller when the carrying roller is rotated in a direction that the card is carried out; and

a one way clutch which disconnects power transmission from the motor to the counter roller when the carrying roller is rotated in a direction that the card is carried into inside.

13. The card carrying-out/carrying-in device according to claim 12, wherein the torque limiter is structured so that, when one piece of card is sandwiched between the carrying roller and the counter roller, power transmission from the motor to the counter roller is disconnected and, when two pieces of card are sandwiched between the carrying roller and the counter roller, power is transmitted from the motor the counter roller.

14. The card carrying-out/carrying-in device according to claim 12, further comprising

a taking-out roller which is abutted with an upper face of an uppermost card of the cards stacked in the card storage part that is disposed on an under side of the taking-out roller to send out the uppermost card toward the carrying roller, and

a support member which is abutted with the upper face of the uppermost card for supporting the uppermost card,

wherein the taking-out roller is provided with a large diameter part which is formed over a predetermined angular range with respect to a rotation center, and a small diameter part having a smaller radius than the large diameter part, and

wherein a radius of the large diameter part is set to be a size so that the large diameter part is capable of abutting with the upper face of the uppermost card which is supported by the support member, and a radius of the small diameter part is set to be a size so that the small diameter part is unable to be abutted with the upper face of the uppermost card which is supported by the support member.

15. The card carrying-out/carrying-in device according to claim 14, wherein the support member comprises three support members and the uppermost card is supported by three points.

16. The card carrying-in/carrying-out device according to claim 14, wherein the support member is a support roller which is rotatably abutted with the upper face of the uppermost card.

17. The card carrying-out/carrying-in device according to claim 14, wherein the taking-out roller is turned so that the large diameter part begins to abut with a roughly center position in a carrying-in direction of the card at a timing when the card sandwiched between the carrying roller and the counter roller during a carrying-in operation is separated from between the carrying roller and the counter roller.

18. A card issuing/collecting apparatus comprising:

the card carrying-out/carrying-in device described in claim 12; and

a card elevating/lowering device which is provided with a card storage part that is disposed on an under side of the card carrying-out/carrying-in device and by which the cards in the card storage part are elevated and lowered.