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TITLE OF INVENTION
AUTOMATIC BILL HANDLING SYSTEM AND AUTOMATIC BILL HANDLING METHOD
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001]
The present invention relates to the art for automatic bill handling systems
for conveying
and/or organizing bills.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002]
In the past, a "bill processing apparatus using an articulated robot arm with
a robot hand
(hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a "hand-attached arm ") has been
proposed (for example,
JP-A-62-92095 and the like). In such a bill processing apparatus, a bundle of
bills collected by a
bill collection unit is grasped by a robot hand of a hand-attached arm, and is
conveyed to a bill
count bill confirmation unit by an articulated robot arm; then, the number of
bills per
denomination is counted while the bundle of bills is being sorted by
denomination in the bill count
bill confirmation unit. The bundle of bills that has been sorted for each
denomination is
conveyed to a prescribed position by another hand-attached arm for each
denomination.
Prior Art Document
Patent document
[0003]
Patent Document 1: JP-A-62-92095
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004]
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic bill handling
system which
is easy to use.
Means of solving the problems
[0005]
A first aspect of the present invention provides an automatic bill handling
system
including a container conveying device configured to convey a storage
container in which bills are
to be stored, a first arm configured to unlock the storage container using a
key and open a lid of
the storage container, a second arm configured to extract bills stored in the
storage container a bill
conveying device configured to convey the bills extracted by the second arm, a
case configured to
accumulate bills whose amount corresponds to a plurality of the storage
containers, and a third arm
configured to grasp bills conveyed to the bill conveying device and accumulate
the bills in the
case.
Effect of the Invention
[0006]
As described above, the present invention provides an automatic bill handling
system
which is easy to use.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007]
Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of an automatic bill
handling
system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a right side view showing the overall configuration of the automatic
bill
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handling system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a bill storage container according to an
embodiment of the
present invention.
Fig. 4 is a side view of a first arm according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
Fig. 5 is a side view of a second arm according to an embodiment of the
present
invention.
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a robot hand according to an embodiment of the
present
invention.
Fig. 7 is a side view of a robot hand according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
Fig. 8 is a side view showing the bill storage container in a state in which a
front lid of
the bill storage container and the robot hand according to an embodiment of
the present invention
is opened.
Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the robot hand and the bill storage
container in a
state in which the robot hand according to an embodiment of the present
invention is inserted into
the bill storage container.
Fig. 10 is a side cross-sectional view showing the robot hand and the bill
storage
container in a state in which the robot hand according to an embodiment of the
present invention is
inserted into the bill storage container.
Fig. 11 is a side view showing a conveying device according to an embodiment
of the
present invention.
Fig. 12 is a plan view showing the conveying device according to an embodiment
of the
present invention.
Fig. 13 is a first side image diagram showing an operation of the conveying
device
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 14 is a first side image diagram showing an operation of the conveying
device
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 15 is a plan view showing a case and a third arm according to an
embodiment of the
present invention.
Fig. 16 is a side view of a third arm according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
Fig. 17 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control device
according to an
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 18 is an image diagram showing container type data according to an
embodiment of
the present invention.
Fig. 19 is an image diagram showing individual container data according to an
embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 20 is an image diagram showing key data according to an embodiment of the
present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0008]
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to
the
drawings. In the following description, the same components are denoted by the
same reference
numerals. The same applies to their names and functions. Thus, detailed
description thereof
will not be repeated.
[0009]
As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, an automatic bill handling system 1 according to
the present
embodiment mainly includes a BOX conveying device 800, a BOX sensor 850, a
reversing device
860, a first arm 200, a second arm 300, a bill conveying device 500, a printer
600, a fourth arm
700, a third arm 100, a photographing device 150, a storage unit 190, and a
control device for
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controlling them. In the present embodiment, these devices are mounted on a
base 50. More
specifically, the control device is housed under the base 50, and an operation
unit 930 and a
display unit 940 are disposed on the base 50.
[0010]
The conveying device 800 is disposed in front of the base 50. The first arm
200 is
disposed on the rear left side of the conveying device 800. The second arm 300
is disposed on
the rear right side of the conveying device 800. The fourth arm 700 is
disposed behind the first
arm 200, and the printer 600 is disposed behind the fourth arm 700. The third
arm 100 is
disposed behind the second arm 300, and the storage unit 190 is disposed
behind the third arm 100.
The bill conveying device 500 is disposed from a region between the first arm
200 and the second
arm 300 to a region between the fourth arm 700 and the third arm 100.
[0011]
Functions, configurations, operations, and the like of each part constituting
the automatic
bill handling system will now be described. In the following description, for
the sake of
explanation, a direction from the third arm 100 toward the second arm 300 is
referred to as a front
side direction; a direction from the second arm 300 toward the third arm 100
is referred as a rear
side direction; a direction from the first arm 200 toward the second arm 300
is referred as a right
side direction; a direction from the second arm 300 toward the first arm 200
is referred as a left
side direction; the vertical upward direction is referred as a upper side
direction; the vertical
downward direction is referred to as a lower side direction. In other words,
the upper side in Fig.
1 is referred to as the front side of each device; the lower side in Fig. 1 is
referred to as the rear
side of each device; the right side in Fig. 1 is referred to as the right side
of each device; the left
side in Fig. 1 is referred to as the left side of each device; the front
direction of the paper in Fig. 1
is referred to as the upper side of each device; the back direction of the
paper in Fig. 1 is referred
to as the lower side of each device.
<BOX Conveying Device 800>
[0012]
First, the configuration of the BOX conveying device 800 will be described. A
bill
storage container 400 as shown in Fig. 3 is placed on an end portion (upper
side in Fig. 1) of the
conveying device 800 by an employee of a shop. Bills are stacked and stored in
the bill storage
container 400. The conveying device 800 conveys the bill storage container 400
to the vicinity of
the first arm 200.
[0013]
In the present embodiment, the bill storage container 400 has an IC tag or the
like for
storing information that is embedded in a place where a key hole is disposed
in the bill storage
container 400 or a place on the back surface of the front lid in the bill
storage container 400. For
example, the IC tag stores various types of information relating to the bill
storage container 400;
examples of the information relating to the bill storage container 400 include
a type of the bill
storage container 400, identification information of the device that has been
set, and the like. The
type of the bill storage container 400 is specified by photographing the bill
storage container 400
with a camera 851 in the vicinity of the conveying device 800. In addition,
the BOX sensor 850
in the vicinity of the conveying device 800 performs communication using
optical sensor(s) and
RFID communication, thereby reading out various types of information of the IC
tags. In the
present embodiment, the control device 900 (see Fig. 17) obtains the type, the
size, the position of
the key hole, and the angle of the key hole with respect to the bill storage
container 400 to be
targeted based on data from the BOX sensor 850 and an image from an imaging
unit 350 attached
to the second arm 300, and transfers these pieces of information to the first
arm 200 and the second
arm 300.
[0014]
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When the direction of the key hole is not on a side where the first arm 200 is
disposed,
the control device 900 changes the direction of the bill storage container 400
using the reversing
device 860.
[0015]
Note that the BOX sensor 850 may read various information about the bill
storage
container 400 by using infrared rays or the like, instead of the bill storage
container 400 in which
the IC tag has been embedded. For example, the BOX sensor 850 preferably
includes an IC
sensor, an infrared sensor, a bar code sensor, a proximity sensor, or the
like.
<First Arm 200>
[0016]
In the present embodiment, as shown in Fig. 4, the first arm 200 includes a
key 210 for
unlocking a front lid 420 of the bill storage container 400. For example, the
first arm 200 inserts
a key 210 into the key hole of the bill storage container 400 by moving the
position of the key 210
back and forth, left and right, and/or up and down, or rotating the key 210
based on information on
the position and angle of the key hole from the control device 900. The first
arm 200 unlocks the
bill storage container 400 by rotating the key 210 based on a command from the
control device
900, and opens the front lid 420 as it is. More specifically, the control
device 900 transmits a
control command to the first arm 200 so that the key 210 is inserted into the
key hole by accurately
specifying the up, down, left, and right positions of the key hole and the
rotation angle of the
keyhole based on the image that has been obtained and transmitted from the
imaging unit 350 of
the second arm 300.
<Second Arm 300>
[0017]
As shown in Fig. 5, the second arm 300 has a robot hand 302 attached to the
tip of an
articulated robot arm 301 for graspping bills.
[0018]
The robot hand 302 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a
two-finger
type robot hand as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and is attached to the tip of the
second arm 300 as
shown in Fig. 5. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the robot hand 302 mainly includes
a movable finger
310, a fixed finger 320, a movable finger lifting mechanism 330, a connecting
portion 340, and an
imaging unit 350. Hereinafter, these components will be described in detail.
[0019]
The movable finger 310 is formed with a base portion 311, an intermediate
portion 312
and a claw portion 313 as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The base portion 311 is a
thick plate portion
having a substantially rectangular shape as shown in Fig. 6. The intermediate
portion 312 is a
substantially trapezoidal thick plate portion as shown in Fig. 6, and extends
from the tip of the
base portion 311 toward the front Dy. Note that the width of the intermediate
portion 312
narrows toward the front Dy. The claw portion 313 is an elongated
substantially rectangular thick
plate portion as shown in Fig. 6, and extends from the tip of the intermediate
portion 312 toward
the front Dy. Here, the tip portion of the claw portion 313 has a shape
protruding downward as
shown in Fig. 7. In the movable finger 310, as shown in Fig. 7, the upper
surface of the movable
finger 310 is inclined downward from the base end of the intermediate portion
312 toward the tip
of the claw portion 313 in a region from the base end of the intermediate
portion 312 to the tip of
the claw portion 313. As shown in Fig. 7, a rubber sheet Sr is attached to the
lower surface of the
claw portion 313. The movable finger 310 is fixed to a front lifting plate
332f (described later) of
the movable finger lifting mechanism 330 on the base end side of the base
portion 311. Further, a
reinforcing plate 315 is provided to enhance the coupling strength between the
movable finger 310
and the front lifting plate 332f (see Figs. 6 and 7). The reinforcing plate
315 is fixed to both the
movable finger 310 and the front lifting plate 332f.
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[0020]
As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the fixed finger 320 is formed with a base portion
321, an
intermediate portion 322, a claw portion 323, and a protruding portion 324.
The base portion 321
is a thick plate portion having a substantially rectangular shape as shown in
Fig. 6. The
intermediate portion 322 is a substantially trapezoidal thick plate portion as
shown in Fig. 6, and
extends from the tip of the base portion 321 toward the front Dy. Note that
the width of the
intermediate portion 322 narrows toward the front Dy. The claw portion 323 is
an elongated
substantially rectangular thick plate portion as shown in Fig. 6, and extends
from the center in the
width direction of the side surface on the tip side of the intermediate
portion 322 toward the front
Dy. As
shown in Fig. 7, a notch Cv is provided on the upper side of the claw portion
323. As a
result, the tip portion of the claw portion 323 has a shape protruding upward
as shown in Fig. 6.
Further, in the fixed finger 320, as shown in Fig. 7, the lower surface of the
fixed finger is inclined
upward from the intermediate position toward the tip in a region from the
intermediate position to
the tip of the claw portion 323. As shown in Fig. 6, the protruding portion
324 is a substantially
rectangular thick plate portion having the same width as that of the claw
portion 323, and extends
from the tip of the claw portion 323 toward the front Dy. As shown in Fig. 7,
the tip position Ts
of the protruding portion 324 is located in front of the tip position Tm of
the claw portion 313 of
the movable finger 310. In other words, the protruding portion 324 of the
fixed finger 320
protrudes forward in a direction of Dy compared with a position of the claw
portion 313 of the
movable finger 310. Further, a rubber sheet Sr as a slip prevention material
is attached to the
protruding portion 324. As shown in Fig. 6, a portion to which the rubber
sheet Sr has been
attached does not face a region where the rubber sheet Sr of the movable
finger 310 has been
attached. The fixed finger 320 is fixed to a support plate 331 (described
later) of the movable
finger lifting mechanism 330. Further, a pair of reinforcing plates 325 are
disposed on the left
and right sides in order to enhance the bonding strength between the fixed
finger 320 and the
support plate 331 (see Figs. 6 and 7). The reinforcing plates 325 are fixed to
both the fixed finger
320 and the support plate 331. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the fixed finger 320
faces the movable
finger 310 in the lifting direction of the movable finger 310.
[0021]
As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the movable finger lifting mechanism 330 is a two-
stage
stroke type lifting mechanism, and mainly includes a support plate 331, a
front lifting plate 332f, a
rear lifting plate 332r, a front air cylinder mechanism 333f, and a rear air
cylinder mechanism 333r.
The support plate 331 supports the rear air cylinder mechanism 333r. The rear
air cylinder
mechanism 333r operates in a double-acting manner, and is a driving source for
raising and
lowering the rear lifting plate 332r. The rear air cylinder mechanism 333r is
attached to the
support plate 331 as described above. A front air cylinder mechanism 333f is
attached to the rear
lifting plate 332r. The front air cylinder mechanism 333f operates in a double-
acting manner and
is a driving source for raising and lowering the front lifting plate 332f. As
described above, the
movable finger 310 is attached to the front lifting plate 332f. In other
words, the rear air cylinder
mechanism 333r raises and/or lowers the rear lifting plate 332r, thereby
raising and/or lowering the
front air cylinder mechanism 333f, the front lifting plate 332f, and the
movable finger 310. In
contrast, the front air cylinder mechanism 333f raises and/or lowers the front
lift plate 332f,
thereby raising and/or lowering the movable finger 310. Also, as shown in
Figs. 6 and 7, the air
supply/exhaust ports 335 and 336 are provided in the front air cylinder
mechanism 333f and the
rear air cylinder mechanism 333r, respectively. The air supply/exhaust ports
335 and 336 are
each connected to an air supply/exhaust pipe (not shown).
[0022]
The connecting portion 340 is a portion for connecting the robot hand 302 to
the second
arm 300, and is, for example, a flange or the like.
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[0023]
The imaging unit 350 is, for example, a small camera such as a CCD camera, and
is fixed
to the right side of the movable finger lifting mechanism 330 with a support
arm SA extending
from a support plate 331 of the movable finger lifting mechanism 330 as shown
in Figs. 6 and 7.
The imaging unit 350 transmits, to a control device (not shown), electronic
data of an image
captured while intermittently capturing images.
[0024]
Next, as an example, a case in which the second arm 300 according to the
present
embodiment extracts a bundle of bills from a bill storage container 400 will
be described.
Prior to the description of the second arm 300, the bill storage container 400
will be
described.
[0025]
As shown in Fig. 3, the bill storage container 400 mainly includes a housing
410, a front
lid 420, a holding plate 411, and support bases 412a and 412b. As shown in
Fig. 3, the housing
410 is a rectangular parallelepiped box having an open front side. The depth
dimension of the
housing 410 is sufficiently longer than the length of the fixed finger 320.
The front lid 420 is a
plate member having a substantially rectangular shape, and is rotatably
supported on the upper side
of the opening edge of the housing 410 via an opening/closing mechanism such
as a hinge. The
holding plate 411 is a member for holding the bill bundle MT in cooperation
with the support
bases 412a and 412b, and is disposed so as to be movable up and down slightly
above the center in
the height direction of the housing 410. A semicircular notch Rs is provided
at the center of the
front side of the holding plate 411. The support bases 412a and 412b are left
and right separation
type support members that hold the bill bundle MT in cooperation with the
holding plate 411, and
are fixed to the left and right of the lower side of the housing 410. A slit
Rt is formed between
the support bases 412a and 412b. The slit Rt extends in the depth direction.
In the bill storage
container 400, the holding plate 411 is pushed downward by an urging member (a
helical spring or
the like) placed on the upper side. In other words, the bill bundle MT
accommodated in the bill
storage container 400 is pressed toward the support bases 412a and 412b by the
holding plate 411.
As shown in Fig. 3, the bill storage container 400 stores the bill bundle MT
between the support
bases 412a and 412b and the holding plate 411 such that the longitudinal
direction of the bill is
along the depth direction.
[0026]
When the second arm 300 extracts the bill bundle MT in the bill storage
container 400,
the second arm 300 is, for example, operated by the control device as follows.
[0027]
First, the control device 900 controls the operation of the second arm 300 to
move the
robot hand 302 to a prescribed position and move it in a prescribed direction
(see Fig. 7). Here,
the prescribed position is a position on the front side of the bill storage
container 400, and the
prescribed direction is a direction in which the imaging unit 350 can image
the front side of the bill
storage container 400.
[0028]
Next, the control device 900 controls the second arm 300 and the robot hand
302 to raise
the movable finger 310 to the highest position, and then inserts the tip
portion of the fixed finger
320 into the slit Rt of the support bases 412a and 412b (see Figs. 9 and 10).
At this time, the
movable finger 310 is positioned above the notch Rs of the holding plate 411,
and the fixed finger
320 is positioned directly below the bill bundle MT, as shown in Fig. 10.
Further, at this time, the
fixed finger 320 is inserted to an intermediate position of the slit Rt,
whereas the movable finger
310 is inserted only to a position above the notch Rs of the holding plate
411, as shown in Fig. 10.
In other words, the fixed finger 320 contacts the lower surface of the bill
bundle MT over a length
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of about half of the bill bundle MT in the longitudinal direction, whereas the
movable finger 310
contacts only the upper surface of the bill bundle MT on the near side of the
bill bundle MT, as
shown in Fig. 10.
[0029]
Subsequently, the control device 900 moves the movable finger 310 downward to
grasp
the bill bundle MT together with the fixed finger 320. The control device 900
controls the
operation of the second arm 300 to retract the robot hand 302, thereby
extracting the bill bundle
MT from the bill storage container 400.
[0030]
In particular, in the present embodiment, as will be described later, the
control device 900
controls the operation of the second arm 300 to deliver the bill bundle MT to
the bill conveying
device 500 without changing the posture of the robot hand 302. This allows the
second arm 300
to quickly shift to the process of photographing the key hole for the next
bill storage container 400
and the process of taking out bills.
<Bill Conveying Device 500>
[0031]
As shown in Fig. 1, the bill conveying device 500 is disposed at a
substantially central
portion of the base 50, and quickly moves the bill bundle MT received from the
second arm 300 to
the vicinity of the third arm 100 while maintaining the state of the bill MT.
Referring to Figs. 11
and 12, the bill conveying device 500 includes a storage unit 510 for storing
bills, a slide
mechanism 520 for moving the storage unit 510 from a side of the first arm 200
to a side of the
third arm 100, and an arranging mechanism 530 for arranging bills.
[0032]
The storage unit 510 includes a bottom surface 511 on which bills are to be
placed, and
wall portions 512, 512, 512, and 512 for surrounding four corners of the bills
so that the bills do
not protrude from the storage unit 510. It is preferable that the width and
the positional
relationship of the wall portions 512, 512, 512, and 512 can be easily
adjusted for a plurality of
bills in a plurality of countries. In other words, for a relatively large-
sized bill, a gap between the
bill and the wall portions 512, 512, 512, 512 is small, whereas for a
relatively small-sized bill, a
gap between the bill and the wall portions 512, 512, 512, 512 is large. For
example, the size of
the space surrounded by the wall portions 512, 512, 512, and 512 is set to be
slightly larger than
the inner dimension of the bill storage container.
[0033]
As will be described later, a groove portion 511X for pulling out the fixed
finger 320 of
the robot hand 302 of the second arm 300 toward the rear side is formed on the
bottom surface 511
in the front-rear direction. A groove 511Y into which the fixing finger 120 of
the third arm 100 is
to enter is formed on the bottom surface 511 in the left-right direction.
[0034]
Note that the storage unit 510 according to the present embodiment is opened
upward, the
gap for which the second arm 300 for inserting the bill bundle MT passes, that
is, a space between
the two wall portions 512 and 512 on the back side is provided on a side
thereof, and the gap for
which the third arm 100 for extracting the bill bundle MT passes, that is,
between a space between
the two wall portions 512 and 512 on the right side is provided on a side
therof; however, the
shape of the storage unit 510 may be any shape with which the bill bundle MT
can be quickly
inserted, and it should not be limited to such a form. For example, a
configuration in which a gap
is formed only on one side surface and the first arm 200 and the second arm
300 share the gap may
be employed.
[0035]
Further, for the slide mechanism 520, its configuration should not be
particularly limited
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as long as the storage unit 510 can be slid in the front-rear direction. For
example, an actuator
having the storage unit 510 attached to its tip end may be slid by a motor;
alternatively, a chain or
a belt moving together with the storage unit 510 may be driven by using a
drive roller or a driven
roller driven by the motor.
[0036]
The operation of the bill conveying device 500 according to the present
embodiment will
be described with reference to Figs. 13 and 14. First, in a normal state, the
storage unit 510 of the
bill conveying device 500 stands by in the vicinity of the third arm 100. In
this state, the bill
storage container 400 is conveyed to the vicinity of the second arm 300 by the
BOX conveying
device 800, and is unlocked by the first arm 200, and then the front lid 420
is opened.
[0037]
As shown in Fig. 13(A), the second arm 300 inserts the robot hand 302 into the
bill
storage container 400 to grasp the bill bundle MT. Note that it is preferable
that the second arm
300 inserts the robot hand 302 into the bill storage container 400, pulls the
bill bundle MT slightly
forward, and then re-inserts the robot hand 302 into the bill storage
container 400 to firmly grasp
the bill bundle MT.
[0038]
As shown in Fig. 13(B), the second arm 300 pulls out the bill from the bill
storage
container 400.
[0039]
In the present embodiment, as shown in Fig. 13(C), the second arm 300 pulls
out the bill
from the bill storage container 400, and then photographs the inside of the
bill storage container
400 by the imaging unit 350 to confirm whether or not a bill remains.
[0040]
When it is confirmed that no bill remains, the control device 900 moves the
storage unit
510 forward, that is, to the vicinity of the second arm 300 by using the slide
mechanism 520, as
shown in Fig. 13(D). More specifically, the slide mechanism 520 moves the
storage unit 510 to
the left of the base of the second arm 300.
[0041]
As shown in Fig. 14(A), the articulated robot arm 301 of the second arm 300
moves the
robot hand 302 directly above the storage unit 510 without changing the
posture of the robot hand
302.
[0042]
As shown in Fig. 14(B), the articulated robot arm 301 of the second arm 300
moves the
robot hand 302 into the storage unit 510 without changing the posture of the
robot hand 302. In
the present embodiment, the articulated robot arm 301 of the second arm 300
lowers the robot
hand 302 without changing the posture of the robot hand 302. In other words,
the robot arm 301
moves the robot hand 302 downward while maintaining the direction and
inclination of the robot
hand 302 itself.
[0043]
At this time, the claw portions 313 and 323 of the robot hand 302 falls within
the storage
unit 510, that is, the inside of the wall portions 512, 512, 512, and 512, and
the base portions 311
and 321 of the robot hand 302 falls outside of the storage unit 510. In other
words, the
intermediate portions 312 and 322 or the base portions 311 and 321 of the
robot hand 302 falls
between the two wall portions 512 and 512 on the rear side.
[0044]
As shown in Fig. 14(C), when the robot hand 302 reaches the bottom surface 511
of the
storage unit 510, the second arm 300 finish grasping the bill bundle MT, and
pulls out the robot
hand 302 from the storage unit 510. In other words ,the claw portions 313 and
323 are pulled out
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rearward through the groove portion 511X and a region between the two wall
portions 512 and 512
on the rear side. The articulated robot arm 301 of the second arm 300 moves
the robot hand 302
to a position deviated from a path of the bill conveying device 500, for
example, to a
photographing position of the key hole of the bill storage container 400.
[0045]
As shown in Fig. 14(D), the control device 900 uses the slide mechanism 520 to
move the
storage unit 510 rearward, that is, to the vicinity of the third arm 100. In
particular, in the present
embodiment, the arranging mechanism 530 for arranging corners of the bill
bundle MT surrounded
by the wall portions 512, 512, 512, and 512 is attached to the rear end
portion of the slide
mechanism 520.
[0046]
The arranging mechanism 530 is a vertically long resin member and is
configured to be
movable in the front-rear direction. The arranging mechanism 530 is disposed
at a position
where the front end portion of the arranging mechanism 530 enters the inside
of the wall portions
512 and 512 when the storage unit 510 moves to the rear end portion of the
slide mechanism 520.
As a result, even if the storage unit 510 moves backward vigorously and
suddenly stops at the rear
end portion of the slide mechanism 520, the bill first comes into contact with
the arranging
mechanism 530 and loses its momentum, thereby allowing for reducing the
possibility that the bill
jumps out from the space between the rear wall portions 512 and 512, or that
the bill collides with
the rear wall portions 512 and 512 and jumps out upward from the storage unit
510.
[0047]
When the storage unit 510 stops at the back end of the slide mechanism 520,
the paper is
placed by the fourth arm 700, and the arranging mechanism 530 vibrates in the
front-rear direction.
As a result, the front end portion of the arranging mechanism 530 presses the
bill against the front
wall portions 512 and 512, thereby causing the corner of the bill bundle MT to
be aligned.
[0048]
In this way, in the present embodiment, as shown in Figs. 13(A) and 13(B), the
robot arm
301 enters into the bill storage container 400 and grasps the bill bundle MT
while maintaining the
state in which the robot hand 302 is horizontalized and is oriented in the
front-rear direction. As
shown in Fig. 13(C), the robot arm 301 directs the robot hand 302 in the
vertical direction
(up-and-down direction) to photograph the inside of the bill storage container
400, but preferably
does not swing in the horizontal direction (left-and-right direction).
Subsequently, as shown in
Figs. 13(D) to 14(C), while maintaining the state in which the robot hand 302
is horizontalized and
is oriented in the front-rear direction, the robot arm 301 moves the bill
bundle MT directly above
the storage unit 510 and then moves it down to the inside of the storage unit
510. In other words,
in the present embodiment, reducing the operation of swinging the robot hand
302 in the direction
perpendicular to the direction in which the bill is grasped, for example, in
the left-right direction in
a plan view allows the robot hand 302 to be moved at high speed without
spilling bills.
[0049]
Note that the robot hand 302 may not be swung in the vertical direction (up-
and-down
direction). In other words, while maintaining the state in which the robot
hand 302 is
horizontalized and is oriented in the front-rear direction, the robot arm 301
may be inserted into
the bill storage container 400 to grasp the bill bundle MT, move the bill
bundle MT directly above
the storage unit 510, and then lower the bill bundle MT to the inside of the
storage unit 510. In
other words, reducing the operation of swinging the robot hand 302 allows the
robot hand 302 to
be moved at high speed without spilling bills.
<Printer 600>
[0050]
The printer 600 prints, on a sheet, information indicating that the bill
bundle MT has been
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taken out from the bill storage container 400 to be targeted, and then
discharges the sheet. More
specifically, in the present embodiment, the control device 900 acquires
various information about
the bill storage container 400 from the BOX sensor 850. The control device 900
transmits the
identification information of the bill storage container 400 to the printer
600. The printer 600
prints the identification information of the bill storage container 400 on a
sheet, and discharges the
sheet.
<Fourth Arm 700>
[0051]
The fourth arm 700 grasps a sheet in the sheet discharge portion of the
printer 600 when
the bill conveying device 500 conveys the bill backward. Note that the
identification information
of the bill storage container 400 storing the bill has been printed on the
sheet; the identification
information had been printed by the printer 600. The fourth arm 700 places the
grasped sheet on
the top surface of the bill in the storage unit 510. Subsequently, the sheet
and the bill bundle MT
are arranged together by the arranging mechanism 530.
[0052]
More specifically, in the present embodiment, the bill bundle MT is arranged
in the
front-rear direction by the arranging mechanism 530, and the bill bundle MT is
arranged in the
left-right direction by the fourth arm 700. In the present embodiment, the
bill bundle MT is
arranged in the upper right corner of the storage unit 510 by the above-
describe two operations.
<Third Arm 100>
[0053]
As shown in Figs. 15 and 16, the third arm 100 mainly includes a robot hand
110 and a
robot arm RA. Hereinafter, these components will be described in detail.
[0054]
As shown in Figs. 15 and 16, the robot hand 110 is a two-finger robot hand.
The robot
hand 110 is fixed to the tip of the robot arm RA. As shown in Fig. 16, the
robot hand 110 mainly
includes a movable finger 111, a fixed finger 112, a movable finger
reciprocating mechanism 113,
a drag preventing unit 117, a drag preventing unit reciprocating mechanism
118, and a connecting
unit 119.
[0055]
As shown in Figs. 15 and 16, the movable finger 111 is a bifurcated portion
for grasping
the bundle of bills MT. Both of the two fingers of the movable finger 111 are
thick plate portions
that face each other substantially in parallel with the fixed finger 112,
which will be described later.
The movable finger 111 is fixed to a first lifting plate 114 (to be described
later) of a movable
finger reciprocating mechanism 113. A marker is displayed on the side surface
of the movable
finger 111.
[0056]
As shown in Fig. 16, the fixed finger 112 is a bifurcated portion for grasping
the bundle
of bills MT. Both of the two fingers of the fixed finger 112 are thick plate
portions that face each
other substantially in parallel with the movable finger 111. The fixed finger
112 is fixed to a
support plate 116 (to be described later) of the movable finger reciprocating
mechanism 113. In the
fixed finger 112, a marker is displayed on the side surface of same side with
the marker display
surface of the movable finger 111. The markers displayed on the movable finger
111 and the fixed
finger 112 are aligned along a direction parallel to the opposite direction of
the movable finger 111
and the fixed finger 112.
[0057]
As shown in Fig. 16, the movable finger reciprocating mechanism 113 mainly
includes a
first lifting plate 114, a second lifting plate 115, and a support plate 116.
The second lifting plate
115 supports the first lifting plate 114, and the support plate 116 supports
the second lifting plate
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115. The first lifting plate 114 and the second lifting plate 115 are each
moved up and down by a
mechanism (for example, an air cylinder mechanism or the like) (not shown)
disposed respectively.
That is, when the first lifting plate 114 and the second lifting plate 115 are
moved up and down,
the movable finger 111 fixed to the first lifting plate 114 is also moved up
and down. Therefore, it
is possible to grasp the bundle of bills MT between the fixed finger 112 and
the movable finger
111 which moves up and down, and it is also possible to release the grasping
state.
[0058]
As shown in Fig. 16, the drag preventing unit 117 is a rectangular plate-like
member, and
is fixed to the tip of a drag preventing unit reciprocating mechanism 118,
which will be described
later. The drag preventing unit 117 is reciprocated in the front-rear
direction by drag preventing
unit reciprocating mechanism 118.
[0059]
The drag preventing unit reciprocating mechanism 118 is a mechanism to prevent
the
robot hand 110 from dragging the bundle of bills MT when the robot hand 110
withdraws from the
conveying destination of the bundle of bills MT. As shown in Fig. 18, The drag
preventing unit
reciprocating mechanism 118 is positioned between the two fingers of the fixed
finger 112 and is
disposed to be substantially parallel with the fixed finger 112, and is fixed
to the support plate 116
of the movable finger reciprocating mechanism 113. Further, the drag
preventing unit reciprocating
mechanism 118 is a reciprocating mechanism (for example, an air cylinder
mechanism or the like)
(not shown), and reciprocates the drag preventing unit 117 in the front-rear
direction.
[0060]
Since the drag preventing unit 117 and the drag preventing unit reciprocating
mechanism
118 are configured as described above, when the robot hand 110 grasping the
bundle of bills MT
conveys the bundle of bills MT to the conveying destination, releases the
grasping state, and
withdraws from the conveying destination, the drag preventing unit
reciprocating mechanism 118
moves forward, whereby the drag preventing unit 117 prevents the drag of the
bills. Therefore, it is
possible to prevent the bundle of bills MT from collapsing when the robot hand
110 withdraws.
[0061]
As shown in Fig. 16, the connecting unit 119 is a portion for connecting the
robot hand
110 to the robot arm RA, and is, for example, a flange or the like.
[0062]
The robot arm RA is, for example, an existing multi-axis robot arm. As shown
in Figs. 15
and 16, the proximal end of the robot arm RA is rotatably attached to a fixed
table.
[0063]
The photographing device 150 is, for example, a digital camera such as a CCD
camera,
and as shown in Fig. 15, is disposed at a position where the side surface of
the robot hand 110 can
be photographed when the robot hand 110 grasps a bundle of bills MT (a broke
line) indicated by a
dotted line. The photographing device 150 acquires photographing data by
photographing the side
surfaces of the movable finger 111 and the fixed finger 112 of the robot hand
110 in a state of
grasping the bundle of bills MT so as to fit in one image. Then, the
photographing device 150
transmits photographing data to the acquisition unit 240 of the control device
900 in accordance
with a control signal from the control device 900. The series of processes in
the photographing
device 150 is carried out between the time when the robot hand 110 grasps the
bundle of bills MT
and the time when the conveyance of the bundle of bills MT is started.
[0064]
In the present embodiment, the control device 900 measures the thickness of
the bundle
of bills MT from the distance between the markers of the movable finger 111
and the fixed finger
112 of the robot hand 110 based on the photographing data sent from the
photographing device 150.
The control device 900 measures the thickness of the bundle of bills MT by
analyzing and
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calculating the distance between the markers when the robot hand 110 grasps
the bundle of bills
MT from the photographing data. The control device 900 derives the conveying
speed and the
swirling radius of the bundle of bills MT according to the thickness data of
the bundle of bills MT
(hereinafter referred to as "thickness data"). For example, the control device
900 may compare the
thickness data with the control table stored in a memory, which will be
described later, to derive
the conveying speed and the swirling radius corresponding to the thickness
data, or may substitute
the thickness data into a calculation formula for calculating the conveying
speed from the
thickness data and a calculation formula for calculating the swirling radius
from the thickness data
to derive the conveying speed and the swirling radius corresponding to the
thickness data. Then,
the control device 900 transmits the data of the conveying speed and the
swirling radius of the
bundle of bills MT to the third arm 100. Controlling the conveying speed and
the swirling radius of
the bundle of bills MT controls the conveying speed and the swirling radius of
the robot hand 110.
[0065]
Next, a control example of bill storage processing performed by the third arm
100 will be
described. Here, as an example of the conveying destination of the bundle of
bills MT, a case CA
mounted on the turntable TA as shown in Fig. 15 is adopted. It should be noted
that this example
does not limit the present invention.
[0066]
First, the control device 900 controls the robot arm RA to move the robot hand
110 to a
position where the robot hand 110 waiting at a predetermined position can
grasp the bundle of bills
MT (see a broken line in Fig. 15). Then, the control device 900 controls the
movable finger
reciprocating mechanism 113 of the robot hand 110 to move the movable finger
111 of the robot
hand 110, which has been pulled upward in advance, downward to grasp the
bundle of bills MT
together with the fixed finger 112. Here, it is preferable that the bundle of
bills MT is prepared in
advance so that the robot hand 110 can easily grasp the bundle of bills MT.
[0067]
Next, in a state where the robot hand 110 grasps the bundle of bills MT, the
photographing device 150 photographs the side surfaces of the movable finger
111 and the fixed
finger 112 of the robot hand 110 so as to fit in one image. The photographing
device 150 transmits
the photographing data to the acquisition unit 240 of the control device 900.
A series of these
processes are performed between the time when the robot hand 110 grasps the
bundle of bills MT
and the time when the third arm 100 starts conveying the bundle of bills MT.
[0068]
Subsequently, the control device 900 receives the photographing data
transmitted from
the photographing device 150, and transmits the photographing data to the
derivation unit 220 of
the control device 900. The control device 900 measures the thickness of the
bundle of bills MT
based on the positional relationship between the movable finger 111 and the
fixed finger 112 of the
robot hand 110 in the photographing data. Then, the control device 900 derives
the conveying
speed and the swirling radius of the bundle of bills MT corresponding to the
thickness data, and
transmits the data of the conveying speed and the swirling radius of the
bundle of bills MT to the
control unit of the third arm 100. A series of these processes is also
performed between the time
when the robot hand 110 grasps the bundle of bills MT and the time when the
third arm 100 starts
conveying the bundle of bills MT. Then, the third arm 100 executes the control
described below
using the derived conveying speed and swirling radius of the bundle of bills
MT.
[0069]
The control device 900 controls the conveying speed and the swirling radius of
the
bundle of bills MT by using the derived data of the conveying speed and the
swirling radius of the
bundle of bills MT. For example, as the thickness of the bundle of bills MT
increases, the control
device 900 decreases the conveying speed of the bundle of bills MT and shorten
the swirling
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radius of the bundle of bills MT. In addition, as the thickness of the bundle
of bills MT decreases,
the control device 900 increases the conveying speed of the bundle of bills MT
and lengthen the
swirling radius of the bundle of bills MT. However, the control device 900
controls the conveying
speed and the swirling radius of the bundle of bills MT within the ranges of
the maximum value
and the minimum value set for the conveying speed and the swirling radius of
the bundle of bills
MT, respectively. Then, the control device 900 controls the robot arm RA to
convey the bundle of
bills MT to the case CA as the conveying destination. The control device 900
controls the robot
arm RA so that the bundle of bills MT are sequentially stacked in the case CA.
[0070]
Subsequently, the control device 900 controls the robot arm RA to insert the
movable
finger 111 and the fixed finger 112 of the robot hand 110 into the back side
of the case CA, and
then controls the drag preventing unit reciprocating mechanism 118 to move the
drag preventing
unit 117 forward. Later, the control device 900 controls the movable finger
reciprocating
mechanism 113 to move up the movable finger 111, to release the grasping
state, and to release the
bundle of bills MT. Then, the control device 900 controls the robot arm RA to
retract the robot
hand 110 from the case CA while maintaining the inclination angle of the robot
hand 110. At this
time, since the drag preventing unit reciprocating mechanism 118 has moved
forward, the drag
preventing unit 117 prevents dragging of the bundle of bills MT. After the
robot hand 110 is
completely retracted from the case CA, the control device 900 controls the
drag preventing unit
reciprocating mechanism 118 to pull the drag preventing unit 117 backward.
Finally, the control
device 900 controls the robot arm RA to move the robot hand 110 to a
predetermined position in
preparation for the conveyance of the next bundle of bills MT.
<Storage Unit 190>
[0071]
Referring to Fig. 15, the storage unit 190 includes a turntable TA and a
plurality of cases
CA. In the present embodiment, the two cases CA are arranged on the turntable
TA so as to be
back-to-back with each other. The first case CA faces towards the third arm
100 and the second
case faces away from the third arm 100.
[0072]
The control device 900 calculates a thickness of the bill bundle MT grasped by
the third
arm 100 based on image data from the photographing device 150, and calculates
an amount of bills
stacked in the first case CA by integrating the thickness of the bill bundle
MT. When a
predetermined amount or more of bills are stacked on the first case CA, the
control device 900
rotates the turntable TA to direct the second case CA toward the third arm
100. During this time
period, an operator removes the first case CA from the turntable and moves it
to a device for
performing the next operation.
<Control Device 900>
[0073]
Next, the configuration of the control device 900 will be described with
reference to Fig.
17. The control device 900 includes a CPU 910, a memory 920, a display 930, an
operating unit
940, a communication interface 960, and the like. The CPU 910 controls each
unit of the
automatic bill handling system 1 and each unit of the control device 900 in
accordance with
programs stored in the memory 920. The CPU 910 receives an instruction from
the operation
unit 940, and/or displays an operation status of the automatic bill handling
system 1 on the display
930. The CPU 910 acquires data from each unit of the automatic bill handling
system 1 via the
communication interface 960, and/or controls each unit of the automatic bill
handling system 1.
[0074]
For example, the memory 920 stores container type data 921 as shown in Fig.
18. The
container type data 921 stores, for each type of the bill storage container, a
size of the bill storage
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container, a position of the key hole, an angle of the key hole, a type of the
key, and the like.
[0075]
The memory 920 also stores individual container data 922 as shown in Fig. 19.
For
each bill storage container, identification information, a type of the bill
storage container, data for
a device that has been set, data for the date and time when the bill was
collected last time, and the
like are stored in the individual container data 922 stores.
[0076]
As a result, the CPU 910 identifies the type of the bill storage container 400
to be
targeted by referring to the individual container data 922 based on the
information received from
the BOX sensor 850, and/or identifies the position and angle of the key hole
by referring to the
container type data 921. The CPU 910 then transmits the position and angle of
the key hole to
the first arm 200 via the communication interface 960.
[0077]
In addition, based on the data from the photographing device 150 of the third
arm 100,
the CPU 910 calculates the thickness of the bill bundle MT grasped this time,
stores the thickness
of the accumulated bills in the memory 920, and/or rotates the turntable TA
when a predetermined
quantity of bills accumulates in the case CA.
<Second Embodiment>
[0078]
The first arm 200 may have a plurality of types of keys corresponding to a
type of the bill
storage container 400. The front lid 420 may be unlocked by a key
corresponding to the bill
storage container 400 by detection by the BOX sensor 850.
[0079]
More specifically, the memory 920 of the control device 900 stores key data
923 as
shown in Fig. 20. For each type of key, identification information, a
correction value for the
position of the key with respect to the position of a key serving as a
reference, a correction value
for the angle of the key with respect to the angle of a key serving as a
reference, and a size, that is,
a width, a height, a depth, and the like of the key are stored in the key data
923.
[0080]
As a result, based on the data received from the box sensor 850, the CPU 910
identifies
the type of the bill storage container 400 to be targeted by referring to the
individual container data
922, identifies the position and angle of the key hole by referring to the
container type data 921,
and identifies the type of the key and various corrected values corresponding
to the bill storage
container 400. The CPU 910 then transmits the position, angle, key type,
and/or corrected values
of the key hole to the first arm 200 via the communication interface 960. As a
result, the first
arm 200 unlocks the key specified in the key hole of the bill storage
container 400 by inserting the
key while correcting the position and the angle using the corrected values.
<Third Embodiment>
[0081]
In the above embodiment, the second arm 300 grasps the bill bundle MT in the
bill
storage container 400 and inserts the bills into the storage unit 510 while
maintaining the posture
of the bills. However, the second arm 300 may change the posture of the bills
and insert the bills
into the storage unit 510.
[0082]
More specifically, it is preferable that the second arm 300 can grasp bills in
one bill
storage container 400 and then photograph a key hole of the next bill storage
container 400 more
quickly, or grasp bills in the next bill storage container 400 more quickly.
To achieve this, it is
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sufficient that the conveying device 500 can quickly move bills grasped by the
first arm 200 away
from the bill storage container 400 even when the posture is slightly changed.
<Fourth Embodiment>
[0083]
In addition to the configuration of the above embodiment, the role of each
device may be
performed by another device, the role of one device may be shared by a
plurality of devices, or the
role of a plurality of devices may be performed by one device.
[0084]
For example, the second arm 300 may have the function of the first arm 200, or
conversely, the first arm 200 may have the function of the second arm 300.
Alternatively, only
the imaging function of the second arm 300 may be included in the first arm
200 and/or another
arm.
[0085]
Alternatively, for example, the control configuration of the automatic bill
handling
system 1 should not be limited to that described above. For example, at least
one of the BOX
conveying device 800, the BOX sensor 850, the reversing device 860, the first
arm 200, the second
arm 300, the bill conveying device 500, the printer 600, the fourth arm 700,
the third arm 100, the
photographing device 150, and the storage unit 190 may be directly controlled
by the control
device 900 without having its own computer.
[0086]
Alternatively, in contrast, at least one of the BOX conveying device 800, the
BOX sensor
850, the reversing device 860, the first arm 200, the second arm 300, the bill
conveying device 500,
the printer 600, the fourth arm 700, the third arm 100, the photographing
device 150, the storage
unit 190, and the like may have a computer such as a processor or a memory by
itself, so that a
configuration in which only a rough command is received from the control
device 900, and fine
processing or calculation is locally executed or determined may be employed.
<Summary of the Embodiments>
[0087]
In the above embodiments, there is provided an automatic bill handling system
including
a container conveying device configured to convey a storage container in which
bills are to be
stored, a first arm configured to unlock the storage container using a key and
open a lid of the
storage container, a second arm configured to extract bills stored in the
storage container a bill
conveying device configured to convey the bills extracted by the second arm, a
case configured to
accumulate bills whose amount corresponds to a plurality of the storage
containers, and a third arm
configured to grasp bills conveyed to the bill conveying device and accumulate
the bills in the
case.
[0088]
Thus, a series of operations from the unlocking of the bill storage container
to the
accumulation of the bills in the case can be achieved with the present system.
In particular, in the
present system, components are selected and functionally coupled to each other
in consideration of
effective utilization of limited space and conveying speed of bills.
[0089]
Preferably, the automatic bill handling system further includes a printer
configured to
print a sheet for recognizing the bills for each storage container; and a
fourth arm configured to,
for each of the conveying devices, place the sheet on the bills after being
conveyed by the bill
conveying device. The third arm grasps the bills with the paper and
accumulates the bills with
the paper in the case.
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[0090]
Preferably, the automatic bill handling system further includes an arranging
mechanism
configured to arrange bills on the bill conveying device. The fourth arm
places the paper on the
bills that has been arranged.
[0091]
Preferably, the automatic bill handling system further includes a camera
configured to
measure a thickness of bills grasped by the third arm, a control unit
configured to calculate a
thickness of the bills accumulated in the case based on an image obtained by
the camera, and a
device configured to replace the case with another case when the thickness of
the bill accumulated
in the case exceeds a predetermined amount.
[0092]
Preferably, the automatic note handling system further includes a sensor
configured to
determine a type of the storage container, the sensor being provided in the
vicinity of the container
conveying device. The first arm, by identifying a key type based on the type
of the storage
container, unlocks the storage container using the key for the storage
container.
[0093]
Preferably, the automatic bill handling system 1 further includes a sensor
configured to
determine a type of the storage container, the sensor being provided in the
vicinity of the container
conveying device. The first arm, by identifying a position and/or an
inclination of a key hole
based on the type of the storage container, unlocks the storage container
using the key for the
storage container.
[0094]
In the above embodiments, there is provided an automatic bill handling method
including
a first step of unlocking a bill storage container using a key with a first
arm, a second step of
opening a lid of the unlocked bill storage container with the first arm, a
third step of extracting,
using a second arm, bills stored in the bill storage container in a state in
which the lid of the bill
storage container has been opened, a fourth step of conveying the extracted
bills by a bill
conveying device, and a fifth step of grasping bills conveyed by the bill
conveying device with a
third arm and accumulating the bills in a case.
[0095]
The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered as illustrative in all
respects and
not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated not by the
above description but
by the claims, and it is intended that all modifications within meaning and
scope equivalent to the
claims are included.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0096]
1 automatic bill handling system
50 base
100 third arm
110 robot hand
111 movable finger
112 fixed finger
113 movable finger reciprocating mechanism
114 first lifting plate
115 second lifting plate
116 support plate
117 prevention portion
118 prevention portion reciprocating mechanism
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119 connecting portion
120 fixed finger
150 photographing device
190 storage unit
200 first arm
210 key
300 second arm
301 articulated robot arm
302 robot hand
310 movable finger
311 base portion
312 intermediate portion
313 claw portion
315 reinforcing plate
320 fixed finger
321 base portion
322 intermediate portion
323 claw portion
324 protruding portion
325 reinforcing plate
330 movable finger lifting mechanism
331 support plate
332f front lifting plate
332r rear lifting plate
333f front air cylinder mechanism
333r rear air cylinder mechanism
335 air supply/exhaust port
336 air supply/exhaust port
340 connecting portion
350 imaging unit
400 bill storage container
410 housing
411 holding plate
412a support base
412b support base
420 front lid
500 bill conveying device
510 storage unit
511 bottom surface
511X groove portion
511Y groove portion
512 wall portion
520 slide mechanism
530 arranging mechanism
600 printer
700 fourth arm
800 BOX conveying device
850 BOX sensor
860 reversing device
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900 control device
910 CPU
920 memory
930 display
940 operation unit
960 communication interface
CA bill storage case
MT a bundle of bills (bill bundle)
Date Recue/Date Received 2021-09-17
