Paper sheet break detection apparatus

Abstract

A paper sheet break detection unit having a light source which emits light to a card deformed by the pressure of flanges of front- and back-side lower rollers, a control unit which judges that a card includes a break, based on the reception of light by a light-receiving sensor, and a moving mechanism which moves the flanges of upper and lower rollers along a conveying surface in a direction orthogonal to a direction of conveying a card K, by moving the upper and lower rollers.

1 . A paper sheet break detection unit comprising: 
 a conveying unit which conveys a paper sheet along a conveying surface;    a first pressing unit which presses one side of the paper sheet conveyed by the conveying unit in a first direction orthogonal to the conveying surface;    a second pressing unit which is provided in proximity to the first pressing unit, and presses the other side of the paper sheet conveyed by the conveying unit in a second direction reverse to the first direction;    a light-emitting unit which emits light to the paper sheet deformed by the pressure of the first and second pressing units;    a light-receiving unit which receives the light illuminated from the light-emitting unit;    a judgment unit which judges whether the paper sheet includes a break, based on the reception of the light by the light-receiving unit; and    a moving mechanism which moves the first and second pressing units along the conveying surface in a direction orthogonal to a direction of conveying the paper sheet.    
   
   
       2 . The paper sheet break detection unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the conveying unit has a pair of first conveying belts which holds and conveys one side of the paper sheet, and a pair of second conveying belts which is provided parallel to the first conveying belt with a predetermined interval, and holds and conveys the other end of the paper sheet; 
 the first pressing unit is composed of a flange of a first roller to contact the surface of one of the pair of first conveying belts and rotate following the belts, and a flange of a second roller to contact the surface of one of the pair of second conveying belts and rotate following the belts; and    the second pressing unit is composed of a flange of a third roller to contact the surface of the other of the pair of first conveying belts and rotate following the belts, and a flange of a fourth roller to contact the surface of the other of the pair of second conveying belts and rotate following the belts.    
   
   
       3 . The paper sheet break detection unit according to  claim 2 , wherein the moving mechanism has first and second drive shafts which rotate forward and backward, and moves the flanges of the first and second rollers in a direction of coming close to each other by the forward rotation of the first drive shaft, moves the flanges of the third and fourth rollers in a direction of coming close to each other by the forward rotation of the second drive shaft, moves the flanges of the first and second rollers in a direction of separating from each other by the backward rotation of the first drive shaft, and moves the flanges of the third and fourth rollers in a direction of separating from each other by the backward rotation of the second drive shaft.  
   
   
       4 . The paper sheet break detection unit according to  claim 3 , wherein the first and second drive shafts are interlocked through an interlock mechanism.  
   
   
       5 . The paper sheet break detection unit according to  claim 2 , wherein the amount of movement of the flanges of the first and second rollers and the flanges of the third and fourth rollers is controlled according to the size of the paper sheet or the length of a break to be detected.  
   
   
       6 . The paper sheet break detection unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the first pressing unit is composed of a first air nozzle to blow air to one side of the paper sheet, and a second air nozzle to blow air to the other side of the paper sheet; and 
 the second pressing unit is composed of a third air nozzle to blow air to one side of the paper sheet from a direction reverse to the first air nozzle, and a fourth air nozzle to blow air to the other side of the paper sheet from a direction reverse to the second air nozzle.    
   
   
       7 . The paper sheet break detection unit according to  claim 6 , wherein the first and second air nozzles are moved in a direction of coming close to or separating from each other, and the third and fourth air nozzles are moved in a direction of coming close to or separating from each other.  
   
   
       8 . The paper sheet break detection unit according to  claim 6 , wherein the amount of movement of the first and second air nozzle and third and four air nozzles is controlled according to the size of the paper sheet or the length of a break to be detected.  
   
   
       9 . The paper sheet break detection unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the paper sheet is rectangular, and conveyed along the longish side or shorter side.