1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper money guide apparatus of an ATM (automatic teller machine), and more particularly, to a paper money guide apparatus that can adjustably guide various kinds of paper money having different widths.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a cash dispenser unit (CDU) and a billing recycling machine (BRM) have been used as automatic teller machines that quickly and conveniently provide various financial services at anytime without consulting with a person. The CDU has been used since the financial services have been computerized, and is used to withdraw only cash. The BRM has a deposit function in addition to a cash dispensing function.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a structure of a known ATM, and FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic side and plan views of a deposit/withdrawal unit.
An automatic teller machine includes a deposit/withdrawal unit 10 into/from which a client puts or withdraws paper money, a conveyance path 20 on which the paper money to be put into or withdrawn from the deposit/withdrawal unit 10 is transferred, a discriminating unit 30 that is provided on the conveyance path 20 and discriminates paper money, a temporary storing unit 40 in which paper money deposited through the discriminating unit 30 is temporarily loaded, and a plurality of recycleboxes 50 where paper money deposited by a client is loaded and withdrawn to be circulated.
Each of the deposit/withdrawal unit 10 and the temporary storing unit 40 has a paper money stacking space 12 in which paper money is stacked. The paper money stacking space 12 is divided into a first paper money stacking space 12a and a second paper money stacking space 12b, which are formed on right and left sides of a stack plate 13, and a transfer plate 14 is provided on the right side of the second paper money stacking space 12b.
When paper money is deposited, paper money deposited by a client is stacked in the first paper money stacking space 12a of the deposit/withdrawal unit 10. When the transfer plate 14 is moved by a driving unit and pushes the paper money against a front guide plate 15, an elevation plate 16 descends to move the deposited paper money to an upper portion of a separating unit 17. Then, the paper money is separated one by one.
Further, when the paper money is stacked in the second paper money stacking space 12b of the deposit/withdrawal unit 10 and the temporary storing unit 40 by stacking wheels 18, the transfer plate 14 is moved to push the paper money against the front guide plate 15.
When the paper money is stacked in the paper money stacking space 12 and moved by the transfer plate 14 as described above, there is a demand for a guide apparatus that guides the paper money so as to correspond to a width difference of paper money depending on the kinds of the paper money.
That is, paper money has different widths depending on the kinds thereof. If paper money having a small width is stacked and moved when the transfer plate 14 or the front guide plate 15 corresponds to paper money having a large width, as shown in FIG. 2B, both ends of paper money are not aligned with each other. Therefore, when the paper money is separated from each other by the separating unit 17, there is a problem in separating the paper money.
Further, when the transfer plate 14 or the front guide plate 15 corresponds to paper money having a small width, paper money having a large width cannot be stacked. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to adjustably guide various kinds of paper money.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds