Bill device

A bill device of the type which discriminates a true bill from a false bill among bills inserted into a bill insertion slit, which temporarily retains a true bill which has been accepted after discrimination, and which has selective capability for returning the retained bill toward the bill insertion slit and for accepting the same into a bill accumulating device as required, characterized in that:

• a main body of said bill device is constituted of a relatively elongated casing, said bill insertion slit is formed substantially in the center of said casing in its longitudinal direction,
• a first U-shaped bill conveying passage communicating with said bill insertion slit is provided in one half of said casing and a second U-shaped bill conveying passage communicating with said first U-shaped bill conveying passage is provided in another half of said casing,
• bill discrimination means is disposed in the half of said first U-shaped bill conveying passage nearest said bill insertion slit, and
• said bill accumulating device is disposed in the half of said second bill conveying passage furthest from said bill insertion slit,
• said bill conveying passages being sufficiently long so that a plurality of bills after discrimination can be retained in said two U-shaped bill conveying passages, and wherein:
• said casing is elongated in the vertical direction,
• said insertion slit is disposed substantially in the center of a front panel of said casing,
• said first U-shaped bill conveying passage is inverted U-shaped and said second U-shaped bill conveying passage is uninverted U-shaped, one end of said inverted U-shaped bill conveying passage communicates with said bill insertion slit and the other end thereof communicates with one end of said uninverted U-shaped bill conveying passage thereby forming a substantially S-shaped conveying passage as a whole, and wherein:
• said inverted U-shaped bill conveying passage is provided with a first bill conveying belt and a first motor for driving said belt, said uninverted U-shaped bill conveying passage is provided with a second bill conveying belt and a second motor for driving said second bill conveying belt,
• a communicating section between said inverted U-shaped bill conveying passage and said uninverted U-shaped bill conveying passage consists of a bill passage space where there is no bill conveying belt and is provided with a first sensor in a position nearer to said inverted U-shaped bill conveying passage and a second sensor in a position nearer to said uninverted U-shaped bill conveying passage, and
• outputs of said first and second sensors are used for driving control of said first and second motors.

A bill device of the type which discriminates a true bill from a false bill among bills inserted into a bill insertion slit, which temporarily retains a true bill which has been accepted after discrimination, and which has selective capability of returning the retained bill toward the bill insertion slit and for accepting the same into a bill accumulating device as required, characterized in that:

• a main body of said bill device is constituted of a relatively elongated casing, said bill insertion slit is formed substantially in the center of said casing in its longitudinal direction,
• a first U-shaped bill conveying passage communicating with said bill insertion slit is provided in one half of said casing and a second U-shaped bill conveying passage communicating with said first U-shaped bill conveying passage is provided in another half of said casing,
• bill discrimination means is disposed in the half of said first U-shaped bill conveying passage nearest said bill insertion slit, and
• said bill accumulating device is disposed in the half of said second bill conveying passage furthest from said bill insertion slit,
• said bill conveying passages being sufficiently long so that a plurality of bills after discrimination can be temporarily retained in said two U-shaped bill conveying passages, and which further comprises:
• bill return control means for returning a temporarily retained bill toward and through said bill insertion slit in response to a bill return signal;
• accumulating control means for accepting a temporarily retained bill into said bill accumulating device in response to an accumulating signal;
• and
• bill return and accept control means for generating said bill return signal when the temporarily retained bill is to be returned and for generating said bill accumulation signal when the temporarily retained bill is to be accepted, and for supplying said generated bill return and bill accumulation signals to said bill return control means and to said bill accumulation control means respectively, and
• said bill return and accept control means generates, in case of accepting some temporarily retained bills and returning the rest, said bill return signal prior to said bill accumulation signal and supplies said bill return signal to said bill return control means, thereby returning a required number of bills first from among the temporarily retained bills, and thereafter supplies said subsequently generated bill accumulation signal to said accumulation control means for then accepting the rest of said temporarily retained bills into said bill accumulating device.

A bill validator of the type in which a bill is conveyed along a bill passage said validator comprising:

• a housing,
• said validator including a true bill discrimination part having validation sensors and a bill accumulation part both disposed within said housing said bill passage comprising a first path passing through the discrimination part and a second path continuing the first path and passing through the accumulation part,
• guide members within said housing defining said bill passage, the guide members including a plurality of belts, for conveying the bill along the bill passage;
• said housing having a relatively stationary first portion and a relatively moveable second portion mounted for movement relative to the first portion, said second portion constituting a relatively moveable bill accumulating box forming a portion of said bill accumulation part, said bill accumulating box including compression means for compressively holding bills therein;
• certain of the guide members of said bill passage being attached to said stationary first portion and others of the guide members being attached to said relatively moveable second portion,
• wherein movement of said second portion away from said first portion moves said other guide members away from said certain guide members so as to expose portions of the bill accumulation part and the bill passage passing therethrough and thereby permit removal of bills lodged in said exposed portions of the bill accumulation part and bill passage.

A bill validator in which a bill is conveyed along a bill passage to a bill accumulation area, said validator comprising:

• a housing having a relatively stationary section and other relatively moveable sections, said bill accumulation area being within said housing,
• at least one validation sensor disposed within said housing;
• said bill passage being defined by a plurality of guide members, the guide members including a plurality of belts for conveying the bill along the bill passage, certain guide members being situated on one side of said bill passage and others of said guide members being situated on the other side of said bill passage,
• at least one of the guide members on one side of said bill passage being attached to one section of said housing and at least another of the guide members, situated on the opposite side of said bill passage from said at least one guide member, being attached to another of said sections, so that when said one and another housing sections are moved relative to one another, the correspondingly defined bill passage will be opened and exposed so as to permit removal of a bill lodged therein,
• said bill accumulation area including a bill accumulating box having compression means for compressively accumulating and holding bills therein, the bill accumulating box being formed of a first of said relatively moveable housing sections, such that movement of said first section forming the bill accumulating box relative to another second section will expose said bill accumulating box to permit removal of accumulated bills therefrom.

A bill validator in which a bill is conveyed along a bill passage to a bill accumulation area, said validator comprising:

• a housing having a relatively stationary section which includes validation sensors, a second section which includes means for conveying a bill past the validation sensors and which is relatively moveable with respect to said stationary section and a third section which includes reciprocating means for pushing bills into the bill accumulation area and which is relatively movable with respect to said stationary and second sections, said bill accumulation area being within said housing and including means for compressively holding bills,
• said bill passage being defined by a plurality of guide members, the guide members including a plurality of belts for conveying the bill along the bill passage, certain of which guide members are situated on one side of said bill passage and others of which are situated on the other side of said bill passage,
• wherein a first set of said guide members on one side of said passage are attached to said stationary housing section, and a second set of said guide members are attached to said second housing section, so that when said second section is moved relative to the said stationary section the region of said bill passage defined by said first and second sets of guide members will be exposed so as to permit removal of a bill lodged therein.