Banknote handling machine

• US 8,997,967 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2013
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Glory Limited
• Original Assignee: Glory Limited
• Inventors: Asada, Toshihide
• Primary Examiner(s): BEAUCHAINE, MARK J
• Application Number:
  US13/778,233
• Publication Number:
  US 20130220897A1
• Time in Patent Office: 769 Days
• Field of Search: 194/206, 194/217, 209/534, 235/379, 700/221, 700/226
• US Class Current: 194/206
• CPC Class Codes: B07C 5/34 Sorting according to other particular properties material testing per se G01N; quality control G07C3/14
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/50 Sorting or counting valuable papers

Abstract

In one embodiment, a banknote handling machine includes a recognition unit configured to recognize a kind of each banknote taken in a take-in unit, a plurality of stacking units, respectively configured to stack therein the banknotes, a transport unit configured to transport the banknotes, respectively recognized by the recognition unit, to any of the plurality of stacking units, an instruction accepting unit configured to accept an instruction concerning an automatic decision mode provided for deciding the kind of the banknotes to be stacked, by utilizing a recognition result obtained by the recognition unit, for each of the plurality of stacking units, and a control unit configured to control the transport unit to transport each banknote to a destination, which destination is decided based on the instruction accepted by the instruction accepting unit and on the recognition result obtained by the recognition unit.

Claims

1. A banknote handling machine comprising:

a take-in unit configured to take in a plurality of banknotes, one by one;

a recognition unit configured to recognize a kind of each banknote taken in by the take-in unit;

a plurality of stacking units configured to stack therein the banknotes;

a transport unit configured to transport the banknotes, recognized by the recognition unit to any of the plurality of stacking units;

an instruction accepting unit configured to accept an instruction concerning an automatic decision mode provided for deciding the kind of the banknotes to be stacked for one transaction by utilizing a recognition result obtained by the recognition unit, for each of the plurality of stacking units; and

a control unit configured to control the transport unit to transport each banknote to a destination, which destination is decided based on the instruction accepted by the instruction accepting unit and on the recognition result obtained by the recognition unit, wherein the automatic decision mode for the banknotes to be stacked includes a first automatic decision mode and a second automatic decision mode, the first automatic decision mode being provided for deciding a first kind of the banknotes that has been recognized first by the recognition unit, as the first kind of the banknotes to be stacked in any of the stacking units, and the second automatic decision mode being provided for deciding a second kind of the banknotes that is different than the first kind of banknotes and has been secondarily recognized by the recognition unit, as the second kind of the banknotes to be stacked in any of the stacking units,

wherein the first kind of the banknotes are transferred to a stacking unit which is set in the first automatic decision mode, and the second kind of the banknotes are transferred to a stacking unit which is set in the second automatic decision mode.

2. The banknote handling machine according to claim 1, wherein the instruction accepting unit is configured to accept an instruction concerning the kind of the banknotes to be stacked, for each of the plurality of stacking units.

3. The banknote handling machine according to claim 1, wherein

the instruction accepting unit accepts the instruction concerning the kind of the banknotes to be stacked, for each of the plurality of stacking units, and

when the kind of the banknotes to be stacked in a first stacking unit has been assigned and the first automatic decision mode has been set for a second stacking unit, the control unit controls the transport unit to transport, to the second stacking unit, banknotes whose kind is recognized first by the recognition unit and is different from the kind that has been assigned to the first stacking unit.

4. The banknote handling machine according to claim 1, wherein

the automatic decision mode for the banknotes to be stacked includes a dynamic decision mode provided for deciding the kind of the banknotes that has been recognized first by the recognition unit and is different from each kind of the banknotes assigned to certain stacking units, as the kind of the banknotes to be stacked in another stacking unit than the certain stacking units, and

when all of the banknotes are taken out from a first stacking unit for which the dynamic decision mode is set, the control unit newly decides the kind of the banknotes that is recognized first by the recognition unit after the banknotes are taken out and has not been assigned to any of the other stacking units, as the kind of the banknotes to be stacked in the stacking unit, from which all of the banknotes have been taken out.

5. The banknote handling machine according to claim 1, wherein the kind of the banknotes includes the kind related to at least one category of denomination, orientation, fitness and version.

6. The banknote handling machine according to claim 1, wherein

the kind of the banknotes includes the kind related to a plurality of categories selected from denomination, orientation, fitness and version, and

the instruction accepting unit accepts the instruction concerning the automatic decision mode, independently, for denomination, orientation, fitness and version.

7. The banknote handling machine according to claim 1, further comprising a reject unit configured to stack therein reject banknotes and banknotes not stacked in the plurality of stacking units.

8. The banknote handling machine according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit configured to display each kind of the banknotes to be stacked in each stacking unit.

9. The banknote handling machine according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of display units, wherein

each of the display units displays the kind of the banknotes to be stacked in the respective corresponding stacking unit.