JP7516153B2 - Paper processing method - Google Patents

Description

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a paper sheet processing method for processing paper sheets such as banknotes and securities.

In recent years, banks and large retailers handle large amounts of banknotes on a daily basis, and there is a business of classifying and organizing these banknotes according to their denomination and fitness (degree of damage).
A sheet processing device is used to automate the sorting of sheets (e.g., banknotes (bills) and securities). The sheet processing device includes, for example, an inspection unit that identifies the type of paper money and the degree of fitness of the paper money, a plurality of stacking units that classify and stack the paper money by denomination, and a transport mechanism that transports the paper money through a predetermined path.
In such paper sheet processing devices, the authenticity and degree of damage of banknotes are inspected, and reusable ones are stacked and sealed as normal banknotes, while non-reusable ones are shredded as damaged banknotes. Banknotes that cannot be determined as either, for example, banknotes that are taken in duplicate, are classified as rejected banknotes, and the number of such rejected banknotes is managed as data.

Patent No. 4093538 JP 2007-66059 A

Normally, rejected sheets are re-inserted into the sheet processing device and re-inspected. However, re-inserting rejected sheets every time they occur during re-inspection takes time and there is a high possibility that the rejected sheets will be rejected again. For this reason, in the current rejected sheet processing method, an operator manually inspects the rejected sheets and inputs the number of sheets, then hands them over to the outside of the processing device, where another operator manually destroys the rejected sheets. In this case, the processing efficiency of banknotes and rejected sheets is low and it is costly. In addition, due to the time difference and the distance between physical locations, it can be unclear who is responsible for destroying the rejected sheets.
An object of the embodiment of the present invention is to provide a paper sheet processing method capable of improving paper sheet processing efficiency while ensuring security.

According to an embodiment , a paper sheet processing method of a paper sheet processing device including a paper feeder, a take-out and transporting device, a determination device, a genuine note stacking device, a damaged note cutter, a rejected note stacking device, an information processing device, a display device, and an input device, comprises the steps of: taking out and transporting paper sheets one by one from a bundle of paper sheets input into the paper feeder by the take-out and transporting device , inspecting the transported paper sheets by the determination device to determine whether they are genuine, damaged, or rejected, sorting and stacking the genuine, damaged, and rejected notes by the genuine note stacking device , the damaged note cutter, and the rejected note stacking device, cutting the stacked damaged notes by the damaged note cutter , counting the damaged notes by an operator , and inputting the information by the input device. The information processing device compares the number of rejected sheets input into the processing device , the sum of the number of good sheets and the number of damaged sheets detected by the determination device , and the number of sheets in the inserted bundle of sheets, and if they match, the information processing device displays an instruction to re-insert the rejected sheets on the display device , the rejected sheets re-inserted into the paper feeding device all at once by the operator are sent by the removal and transport device through the determination device to the damaged sheet cutter, where they are cut by the damaged sheet cutter, the number of cut sheets is counted by the determination device , and the number of rejected sheets re- inserted is compared by the information processing device .

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a paper sheet processing apparatus. FIG. 2A is a flowchart showing a paper sheet processing method according to an embodiment. FIG. 2B is a flowchart showing a paper sheet processing method according to the embodiment.

The following describes the embodiments in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the disclosure is merely an example, and appropriate modifications that are within the spirit of the invention and that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art are naturally included within the scope of the present invention. In addition, in order to make the explanation clearer, the drawings may show the width, thickness, shape, etc. of each part in a schematic manner compared to the actual embodiment, but these are merely examples and do not limit the interpretation of the present invention. In addition, in this specification and each figure, elements similar to those described above with respect to the previous figures are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanations may be omitted as appropriate.

(Embodiment)
First, an example of a sheet processing apparatus will be described. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a sheet processing apparatus (sheet processing system). As shown in the figure, the sheet processing apparatus 10 includes a sheet feeder 12 capable of feeding multiple batches of banknotes, with each batch consisting of a predetermined number of banknotes, for example, 1000 banknotes, a take-out and transport device 14 that takes out and transports the banknotes fed into the sheet feeder 12 one by one, a determination device (inspection device) 16 that inspects (checks) the transported banknotes, a genuine banknote stacking device 18 that stacks the banknotes determined to be genuine by the determination device 16 and seals them in units of a predetermined number, a damaged banknote cutting device 20 that stacks and cuts the banknotes determined to be damaged, and a rejected banknote stacking device 22 that collects and stacks the banknotes determined to be rejected.

The determination device 16 inspects the banknotes by detecting the denomination, shape, thickness, front and back, authenticity, fitness, double taking, number of notes passed, etc. of the banknotes sent to it, and has various sensors, imaging devices, etc. for detecting these. The determination device 16 inspects the banknotes based on the detection information from the various sensors, imaging devices, etc., and determines that reusable banknotes are good notes, non-reusable banknotes are damaged notes, and further determines that banknotes that cannot be determined as either are rejected notes, and sorts these into the good note stacking device 18, the damaged note cutting device 20, and the rejected note stacking device 22.

The sheet processing device 10 further includes an information processing device (control unit) 24 connected to the determination device 16 and other devices, a database 26 that stores various data, a monitor 28 that displays various data, and an input device (e.g., a keyboard) 30 for inputting data to the information processing device 24. The information processing device 24 processes the detection information obtained by the determination device 16 and functions as a control device that controls the operation of each device.

Next, a processing operation of the above-mentioned sheet processing apparatus 10, that is, a sheet processing method will be described. Figures 2A and 2B are flowcharts showing the sheet processing method according to the embodiment.
As shown in the figure, in the paper sheet processing device 10, when an operator inserts banknotes, for example, a collation unit of 1,000 banknotes, into the paper feed device 12 (ST1), the removal and transport device 14 removes the banknotes one by one from the paper feed device 12 and transports them toward the judgment device 16 (ST2).

The determination device 16 inspects the transported banknotes and determines whether they are good, damaged, or rejected (ST3). The determination device 16 transmits detection information including the denomination, the number of processed notes, the determination result, the number of good notes (e.g., 900 notes), the number of damaged notes (e.g., 80 notes), etc. to the information processing device 24.
Under the control of the information processing device 24, the take-out and conveying device 14 sorts and conveys fit bills, unfit bills, and rejected bills to the fit bill stacking device 18, the unfit bill cutting device 20, and the rejected bill stacking device 22, respectively, depending on the judgment result, under the control of the information processing device 24 (ST4). The fit bill stacking device 18 stacks the fit bills by denomination and seals them in groups of a predetermined number, for example, 100 bills (ST5). The unfit bill cutting device 20 stacks the delivered unfit bills and then shreds them (ST6).

The rejected bills are sent to the rejected bill stacking device 22 and stacked (ST7). Next, the operator takes out the rejected bills from the rejected bill stacking device 22 and manually counts the number of rejected bills (ST8), and then inputs the counted number (e.g., 20 bills) into the information processing device 24 (ST9). The information processing device 24 collates the total of the number of good bills + the number of unfit bills + the number of rejected bills with the number of banknotes in one collation unit (e.g., 1,000 bills) that has been input (ST10), and checks whether they match (ST11).
If there is a mismatch, the information processing device 24 displays the mismatch on the monitor 28 and issues a warning (ST12). In this case, the operator inputs a correction or confirmation of the number of rejected bills into the information processing device 24 and cancels the mismatch warning (ST13).
If the verification is consistent, the information processing device 24 detects whether any banknotes inserted into the paper feeder 12 remain, i.e., whether the insertion of banknotes is complete or not (ST14). If the insertion of banknotes is not complete, the information processing device 24 repeatedly executes the above-mentioned processing operations ST2 to ST11. The paper feeder 12 is configured to be capable of continuously inserting, for example, 10 to 40 bundles of 1,000 banknotes in one batch.

When the insertion of banknotes (e.g., 10 bundles of 1000 banknotes) and processing are completed, the information processing device 24 displays an instruction to insert rejected bills on the monitor 28 (ST15). In response to this, the operator reinserts the collected rejected bills into the paper feeder 12 all at once (ST16). Under the control of the information processing device 24, the take-out and transport device 14 takes out the rejected bills one by one and transports them to the unfit bill cutter 20 through the determination device 16, and the unfit bill cutter 20 shreds the rejected bills sent thereto (ST17). During this time, the determination device 16 counts the number of rejected bills transported, i.e., the number of rejected bills cut, and transmits the number of cut bills to the information processing device 24.
The information processing device 24 collates the number of rejected cards input by the operator with the number of cards to be cut (ST18), and if they match, ends the processing operation.
If they do not match, the information processing device 24 displays the mismatch, and in response to this, the operator inserts the rejected bills again (ST16), and the rejected bills are shredded by the unfit bill shredder 20. Processes ST16 and ST17 are repeated until the number of rejected bills matches the number of cut bills.

Note that the insertion of banknotes (e.g., 10 bundles of 1000 banknotes) and the insertion of rejected banknotes after processing can be performed at any time by the operator (e.g., to coincide with a break, etc.), but the information processing device 24 can also forcibly instruct the insertion of rejected banknotes in response to a change of operator, the end of work, the insertion of a set maximum continuous insertion unit (e.g., 40 bundles of 1000 banknotes), etc.

As described above, according to the paper sheet processing method according to the present embodiment,
1) As for rejected bills, the number of rejected bills can be registered after manual judgment, and banknote processing can be continued, so that inserted banknotes can be processed efficiently and continuously. Furthermore, the post-processing of rejected bills can be performed collectively by feeding the rejected bills collectively into the paper sheet processing device (system) 10, and the coordination efficiency of the post-processing is also good.
2) The number of rejected tickets registered can be strictly checked for matches or mismatches with the number of rejected tickets that were shredded when they were inserted, and the number of rejected tickets that were shredded is processed as data on damaged tickets, so there are no discrepancies in the count.
3) When a rejected ticket is input, some of the judgment items of the judgment device are relaxed so that rejected tickets that have already been manually judged can be shredded by re-inputting them (a minimum number is guaranteed), but the process can be started by entering an administrator password, etc.
4) It eliminates the need to cancel rejected tickets outside the system, and they can be canceled (shredded) all at once within the system, improving efficiency.
5) Security is improved because the process cannot be completed unless the same number of rejected tickets as the registered number are cut.
As described above, according to this embodiment, a paper sheet processing method can be obtained that can increase the efficiency of processing rejected sheets and ensure security.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and in the implementation stage, the components can be modified and embodied without departing from the gist of the invention. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining the multiple components and processing steps disclosed in the above embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, components and processing steps from different embodiments may be appropriately combined.
One collation unit (processing unit) is not limited to 1000 sheets, but can be set to any number. Paper sheets to be processed are not limited to banknotes, and the present invention can be applied to other paper sheets such as securities.

10: paper sheet processing device, 12: paper feed device, 14: take-out conveying device,
16: Determination device (inspection device), 18: Good note stacking device, 20: Bad note cutting device,
22: rejected ticket stacking device, 24: information processing device (control unit)

Claims (3)

A paper sheet processing method for a paper sheet processing apparatus including a paper feeder, a take-out and transporting device, a determination device, a fit sheet stacking device, a damaged sheet cutting device, a rejected sheet stacking device, an information processing device, a display device, and an input device, comprising:


The sheet pick-up and conveying device picks up and conveys the sheet one by one from the sheet bundle fed into the sheet feeder,
The conveyed paper sheets are inspected by the judgment device to judge whether they are good, damaged, or rejected.
the fit bills, the unfit bills, and the rejected bills are sorted and stacked by the fit bill stacking device, the unfit bill shredder device, and the rejected bill stacking device,
The stacked unfit bills are cut by the unfit bill cutter .
the number of rejected sheets counted by an operator and input to the information processing device by the input device, the number of fit sheets and the number of damaged sheets detected by the determination device are compared with the number of sheets in the inserted bundle of sheets by the information processing device ;
If the two match, the information processing device displays an instruction to re-insert the rejected ticket on the display device ;
The rejected bills that are re-inserted into the paper feeder all at once by an operator are sent by the take-out conveying device through the determination device to the unfit bill cutting device, the unfit bill cutting device cuts the unfit bills, and the determination device counts the number of cut bills;
the number of rejected sheets re- inserted is collated with the number of cut sheets counted by the determination device by the information processing device . 2. The paper sheet processing method according to claim 1, wherein, if the total number of rejected sheets, good sheets, and damaged sheets does not match the number of inserted paper sheets, the information processing device warns of the discrepancy in the numbers , and cancels the warning after the operator corrects or confirms the counted number of rejected sheets. 2. The paper sheet processing method according to claim 1, wherein, if the number of rejected sheets does not match the number of cut sheets, the information processing device displays the mismatch on the display device, the operator re-inserts the rejected sheets into the paper feeding device, the inserted rejected sheets are sent by the removal and transport device through the determination device to the unfit sheet cutter, the unfit sheet cutter is cut, the number of cut sheets is counted by the determination device, the number of re-injected rejected sheets is compared with the number of cut sheets counted by the determination device by the information processing device, and the re-injection, counting of rejected sheets, cutting of rejected sheets, and number comparison are repeated until the number of rejected sheets matches the number of cut sheets.

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