WO2024262469A1 - Paper sheet binding device - Google Patents

Abstract

This paper sheet binding device comprises: a conveyance mechanism for conveying accumulated paper sheets; and a binding mechanism for binding the accumulated paper sheets conveyed by the conveyance mechanism. The binding mechanism has: a retention part in which the accumulated paper sheets conveyed by the conveyance mechanism are placed at placement positions according to the sizes of the accumulated paper sheets, and from which the placed accumulated paper sheets are transferred; and a binding part that binds the accumulated paper sheets transferred from the retention part.

Description

Paper sheet bundling device

The present disclosure relates to a paper sheet bundling device.
This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-100073, filed on June 19, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

There is a paper sheet processing device that includes a paper sheet counting device that identifies and counts paper sheets such as banknotes, and a paper sheet bundling device that bundles the paper sheets identified and counted by the paper sheet counting device (for example, Patent Document 1). This type of paper sheet bundling device has a stacking mechanism that stacks the paper sheets identified and counted by the paper sheet counting device, a transport mechanism that transports the paper sheets stacked in the stacking mechanism, and a bundling mechanism that bundles the paper sheets transported from the stacking mechanism by the transport mechanism.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-178509

In a paper sheet bundling device, when attempting to create a small bundle of paper sheets of different sizes, such as a small bundle of paper sheets formed by stacking and bundling one set of paper sheets of the same size, and a small bundle of paper sheets formed by stacking and bundling another set of paper sheets of the same size but different from the first set of paper sheets, there is a possibility that bundling may not be performed satisfactorily.

The present disclosure aims to provide a paper sheet bundling device that can effectively produce small bundles of paper sheets of multiple sizes.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a paper sheet bundling device that includes a transport mechanism that transports stacked paper sheets, and a bundling mechanism that bundles the paper sheets transported by the transport mechanism, the bundling mechanism placing the paper sheets transported by the transport mechanism on a placement position according to the size of the paper sheets, and having a storage section that transfers the placed paper sheets, and a bundling section that bundles the paper sheets transferred from the storage section.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a paper sheet bundling device that can effectively produce small bundles of paper sheets of multiple sizes.

1 is a front view showing a schematic diagram of a paper sheet processing apparatus including a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a portion of a paper sheet processing apparatus including a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 1 is a plan view illustrating a schematic diagram of a bundling mechanism of a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic view of a storage section and a chuck section of a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a state in which different sizes of stacked paper sheets are accommodated. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an adjustment unit of a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 1A to 1C are side views each showing a schematic diagram of a bundling mechanism of a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating changes in state of a conveying section. 11 is a front view showing the chuck mechanism of the paper sheet bundling device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a state in which the width of the second chuck portion is narrow. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the chuck mechanism of the paper sheet bundling device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a state in which the width of the second chuck portion is narrow. FIG. 1 is a front view showing a chuck mechanism of a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a state in which the second chuck portion is wide. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the chuck mechanism of the paper sheet bundling device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a state in which the second chuck portion is wide. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a chuck portion of a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a chuck base portion of a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 1 is a front view showing a bundling unit of a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 1 is a front view showing a chuck portion of a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 13 is a front view showing a winding strength setting screen of a modified example of the paper sheet bundling device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 13 is a partial front view showing a second chuck portion of a modified example of the paper sheet bundling device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure when the winding strength is different. FIG.

<Embodiment>
A paper sheet processing apparatus including a paper sheet bundling device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The paper sheet processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 performs a counting and sorting process in which banknotes as paper sheets S are counted and sorted, and a counting and bundling process in which the banknotes are counted and bundled. In the counting and sorting process, the paper sheet processing apparatus 1 classifies inserted paper sheets S into count target paper sheets S that are to be counted and rejected paper sheets S that are not to be counted, and further counts the count target paper sheets S by type and classifies and stores them by type. In the counting and bundling process, the paper sheet processing apparatus 1 classifies inserted paper sheets S into bundling target paper sheets S that are to be bundled and rejected paper sheets S that are not to be bundled, and accumulates and bundles the bundling target paper sheets S in a predetermined number of sheets to be bundled to form small bundles of paper sheets. In the following description, "front" refers to the side of the operator of the paper-sheet processing apparatus 1, "rear" refers to the opposite side from the operator of the paper-sheet processing apparatus 1, "right" refers to the right side as seen from the operator of the paper-sheet processing apparatus 1, and "left" refers to the left side as seen from the operator of the paper-sheet processing apparatus 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the paper sheet processing device 1 of this embodiment is configured by connecting a paper sheet counting device 2, a paper sheet stacking device 3, and a paper sheet bundling device 4 in this order from the right. The paper sheet processing device 1 can also be provided with an evacuation pocket section 5 at the left end of the paper sheet processing device 1, i.e., to the left of the paper sheet bundling device 4.

[Paper sheet counting device 2]
The paper sheet counting device 2 has an input port 11 that is located from the middle to the bottom in the vertical direction on the right side of the device and is always open to the outside of the paper sheet counting device 2 over the right side and front, and a reject section 12 that is located above the input port 11 on the right side of the device and is always open to the outside of the paper sheet counting device 2 over the right side and front.

In the input port 11, multiple sheets S are set in a vertically stacked state with their long sides aligned front to back and their short sides aligned left to right. The input port 11 separates and pays out the stacked sheets S set in this way one by one, starting from the bottom one, and takes them into the sheet counting device 2. The sheets S paid out from the input port 11 move in the direction in which their short sides extend.

Inside the paper sheet counting device 2, there is a counting device internal transport section 21 that transports the paper sheets S dispensed from the input port 11, and a recognition section 22 that recognizes and counts the paper sheets S being transported by the counting device internal transport section 21. The paper sheets S transported by the counting device internal transport section 21 move along the extension direction of their short sides. The recognition section 22 recognizes the transport state and type of the paper sheets S, such as the denomination.

The counting device internal transport section 21 has a left extension section 21a, an upward extension section 21b, a left extension section 21c, and a branch extension section 21d. The left extension section 21a extends from the input port 11 toward the left side surface of the paper sheet counting device 2. The upward extension section 21b extends upward from an end section near the left side surface of the left extension section 21a. The left extension section 21c extends from the upper end section of the upward extension section 21b toward the left side surface of the paper sheet counting device 2 and opens on the left side surface. The branch extension section 21d extends from the upper end section of the upward extension section 21b toward the right side surface of the paper sheet counting device 2 and connects to the reject section 12. The counting device internal transport section 21 has an identification section 22 provided on the upward extension section 21b that is aligned in the vertical direction. The reject section 12 receives paper sheets S from the branched extension 21d of the counting device internal transport section 21. The rejected section 12 stacks the paper sheets S thus fed from bottom to top.

The front of the sheet counting device 2 is provided with an operation display unit 25 that accepts operation inputs and displays information. Inside the sheet counting device 2 is a control unit 26 that controls the sheet counting device 2, the sheet stacking device 3 connected to the sheet counting device 2, and the sheet bundling device 4, i.e., the entire sheet processing device 1. Inside the sheet counting device 2 is also provided with a memory unit 27 that stores master data that serves as the basis for identification and data on the results of identification and counting.

[Paper sheet stacking device 3]
Inside the paper sheet stacking device 3, there is provided an in-stacking device transport section 31 that is connected to the left extension section 21c of the paper sheet counting device 2 and transports the paper sheets S fed from the left extension section 21c. The paper sheets S transported by the in-stacking device transport section 31 also move along the extension direction of their short sides.

The transport section 31 in the stacking device has a connecting transport section 31A that opens at the top of the right side of the paper sheet stacking device 3 and extends horizontally and linearly toward the left side of the paper sheet stacking device 3, opening at the top of the left side, and a branching transport section 31B that branches off downward from the left side of the connecting transport section 31A. The connecting transport section 31A and the branching transport section 31B each have their own drive motors and can be driven independently.

The branching conveying section 31B branches off from the left side of the connecting conveying section 31A and extends vertically downward, and has a downward extension section 31Ba that extends toward the right side of the paper sheet stacking device 3 at the end opposite the connecting conveying section 31A, and multiple, specifically three, branching extension sections 31Bb that branch off from the middle position of the downward extension section 31Ba and extend toward the right side of the paper sheet stacking device 3. A stacking section 32 is connected to each of the end sections of the downward extension section 31Ba and the three branching extension sections 31Bb. Thus, the paper sheet stacking device 3 is provided with multiple, specifically four, stacking sections 32. All of the stacking sections 32 are always open to the outside of the paper sheet stacking device 3 from the front of the paper sheet stacking device 3.

All of the stacking sections 32 have the same configuration. Each stacking section 32 has a bottom 35 that slopes downward to the right from the horizontal, and a support wall 36 that extends upward from the right end position of the bottom 35 perpendicular to the bottom 35. At the end of the bottom 35 of each stacking section 32 opposite the support wall 36, a blade wheel 37 is provided at each end position of the branching conveying section 31B and sends out paper sheets S into the stacking section 32. The blade wheel 37 rotates together with the paper sheets S conveyed by the branching conveying section 31B, sandwiching them between its blades. When the paper sheets S come into contact with the bottom 35 and come out from between the blades, the blade wheel 37 pushes the paper sheets S toward the support wall 36 with its blades. As a result, the paper sheets S are stacked in order on the support wall 36 with their short sides aligned vertically and standing on the bottom 35.

In the paper sheet processing device 1, the above-mentioned counting and sorting process is possible as a process using the paper sheet counting device 2 and the paper sheet stacking device 3. The counting and sorting process is a process in which the paper sheets S set in a stacked state in the input port 11 of the paper sheet counting device 2 are identified and counted in the identification unit 22 of the paper sheet counting device 2, and the paper sheets S to be counted and sorted are stacked in the multiple stacking units 32 of the paper sheet stacking device 3 while being sorted.

When a user inputs an operation to select the counting and sorting process on the operation display unit 25, the control unit 26 is configured to set, on the operation display unit 25, the type of paper sheets S to be stored in each stacking unit 32 as the target of the sorting and counting process. For example, the first stacking unit 32 of the multiple stacking units 32 is configured to store 10,000 yen notes as paper sheets S after counting in the recognition unit 22, the second stacking unit 32 is configured to store 5,000 yen notes as paper sheets S after counting in the recognition unit 22, the third stacking unit 32 is configured to store 1,000 yen notes as paper sheets S after counting in the recognition unit 22, and the fourth stacking unit 32 is configured to store 2,000 yen notes as paper sheets S after counting in the recognition unit 22.

When the stacked sheets S are set in the input port 11 and a start operation for the counting and sorting process is input to the operation display unit 25, the control unit 26 separates the stacked sheets S set in the input port 11 one by one and transports them by the left extension 21a and upper extension 21b of the counting device internal transport unit 21. Then, the control unit 26 causes the recognition unit 22 to recognize the sheets S while they are being transported by the upper extension 21b. If the recognition result of the recognition unit 22 identifies the sheets S as rejected sheets S that are not subject to the counting and sorting process and include sheets S with identification errors such as counterfeit bills, damaged bills, and bills with tape attached, the control unit 26 does not count the sheets S and transports them from the upper extension 21b to the branch extension 21d to the reject unit 12 for storage.

When the recognition result of the recognition unit 22 identifies a sheet S as a target for counting and sorting processing, the control unit 26 adds one to the count value of the type of sheet S, i.e., its denomination, and transports the sheet S to the stacking unit 32 corresponding to its type and stores it there, using the upward extension unit 21b, the left extension unit 21c, and the connecting transport unit 31A and branching transport unit 31B of the transport unit 31 within the stacking device of the sheet stacking device 3.

In this manner, the sheet processing device 1 classifies and stores the sheets S to be counted and sorted among the sheets S set in a stacked state in the input port 11 of the sheet counting device 2 into the multiple stacking sections 32 of the sheet stacking device 3. A sensor may be provided to detect that sheets S have been set in the input port 11, and the counting and sorting process may be started automatically when the sensor detects the sheets S.

[Paper sheet binding device 4]
Inside the paper sheet bundling device 4, a bundling device internal transport section 41 is provided which is connected to the connecting transport section 31A of the paper sheet stacking device 3 and transports the paper sheets S fed from the connecting transport section 31A. The paper sheets S transported by the transport section 41 in the binding device also move along the extending direction of their short sides.

The transport section 41 within the bundling device has a connecting transport section 41A and a branching transport section 41B. The connecting transport section 41A opens at the top of the right side of the paper sheet bundling device 4 and is connected to the connecting transport section 31A, extends horizontally and linearly toward the left side of the paper sheet bundling device 4, and opens at the top of the left side and is connected to the evacuation pocket section 5 if one is provided. The branching transport section 41B branches off downward from the left side of the connecting transport section 41A. The connecting transport section 41A and the branching transport section 41B each have their own drive motor and can be driven independently.

The branching conveying section 41B branches off from the left side of the connecting conveying section 41A and extends vertically downward. The end of the branching conveying section 41B opposite the connecting conveying section 41A has a downward extension section 41Ba that extends toward the right side of the paper sheet bundling device 4, and a branching extension section 41Bb that branches off from the middle position of the downward extension section 41Ba and extends toward the right side of the paper sheet bundling device 4. A stacking mechanism 42 is connected to the end of the downward extension section 41Ba and the end of the branching extension section 41Bb. Thus, the paper sheet bundling device 4 is provided with multiple stacking mechanisms 42, specifically two stacking mechanisms 42.

In the paper sheet processing device 1, the process using the paper sheet counting device 2, the paper sheet stacking device 3, and the paper sheet bundling device 4 is the counting and bundling process described above. The counting and bundling process is a process of bundling the paper sheets S to be bundled from among the paper sheets S set in a stacked state in the input port 11 of the paper sheet counting device 2.

When an operation to select the counting and bundling process is input on the operation display unit 25, the control unit 26 causes the paper sheets S to be bundled to be set on the operation display unit 25. For example, a 10,000 yen note, which is the Japanese currency, is set as the paper sheets S to be bundled.

When the stacked sheets S are set in the input port 11 and a start operation for the counting and bundling process is input to the operation display unit 25, the control unit 26 separates the stacked sheets S set in the input port 11 one by one and transports them by the left extension unit 21a and upper extension unit 21b of the counting device transport unit 21. Then, the control unit 26 causes the recognition unit 22 to recognize the sheets S while they are being transported by the upper extension unit 21b. If the recognition result of the recognition unit 22 indicates that the sheets S are counterfeit, damaged, taped, or other sheets with identification errors, the control unit 26 does not count the sheets S and transports them from the upper extension unit 21b to the reject unit 12 via the branch extension unit 21d and stores them therein.

When the recognition result of the recognition unit 22 indicates that the paper sheet S is a paper sheet S of a different denomination that has been correctly identified but is not to be bundled, the control unit 26 also transports this paper sheet S from the upward extension unit 21b to the reject unit 12 via the branch extension unit 21d and stores it therein. Paper sheets S that have been identified as paper sheets S of a different denomination that have been correctly identified but are not to be bundled can also be transported to a specified stacking unit 32 and stored therein via the upward extension unit 21b, the left extension unit 21c, and the connecting transport unit 31A and branch transport unit 31B of the transport unit 31 within the stacking device of the paper sheet stacking device 3. In other words, the destination for the paper sheets S of a different denomination that has been correctly identified but is not to be bundled can be arbitrarily selected and set from the reject unit 12 and multiple stacking units 32.

When the identification result of the identification unit 22 identifies the paper sheets S as paper sheets S to be bundled, the control unit 26 transports the paper sheets S to the stacking mechanism 42 via the upward extension unit 21b, the left extension unit 21c, the connecting conveying unit 31A of the paper sheet stacking device 3, and the connecting conveying unit 41A and branching conveying unit 41B of the paper sheet bundling device 4 to store the number of sheets to be bundled (specifically, 100 sheets). In the counting and bundling process, the control unit 26 first stacks the number of sheets S in the upper stacking mechanism 42 of the two stacking mechanisms 42 via the downward extension unit 41Ba and branching extension unit 41Bb of the connecting conveying unit 41A and branching conveying unit 41B. Next, the number of sheets S in the lower stacking mechanism 42 is stacked via the connecting conveying unit 41A and the downward extension unit 41Ba of the branching conveying unit 41B. Next, the bundled number of sheets S are accumulated in the accumulation mechanism 42 above the downward extension 41Ba and branch extension 41Bb of the connecting conveying section 41A and the branching conveying section 41B. In this way, the sheets S are accumulated alternately in the two accumulation mechanisms 42 by the bundled number. A sensor that detects that sheets S have been set in the input port 11 may be provided, and the counting and bundling process may be started automatically when this sensor detects sheets S.

The stacking mechanism 42 aligns the position in the short side direction of the right end long side of the paper sheets S sequentially discharged to the right from the connected one of the downward extension portion 41Ba and the branch extension portion 41Bb of the branching conveying section 41B by abutting it against a positioning wall portion (not shown) that extends perpendicularly to the left-right direction. At the same time, the stacking mechanism 42 aligns the position in the long side direction of the paper sheets S sequentially discharged by simultaneously tapping both short sides with a tapping mechanism (not shown) provided on both sides in the long side direction of the paper sheets S. The stacking mechanism 42 stacks the sequentially discharged paper sheets S from bottom to top while aligning the positions of their short sides and long sides.

The tapping mechanisms on both sides of the stacking mechanism 42 (not shown) each stroke toward the paper sheet S to a position corresponding to the long side length of the paper sheet S to be bundled that was set when the counting and bundling process began, and position the long side position of the paper sheet S so that the center position in the long side direction is located at a predetermined reference position in the front-to-rear direction within the paper sheet bundling device 4, regardless of the long side length of the paper sheet S to be bundled. That is, the stroke amount of the tapping mechanisms on both sides of the stacking mechanism 42 is shorter when sheets S having a longer long side length than sheets S having one long side length are to be bundled than when sheets S having one long side length are to be bundled, and the stroke amount of the tapping mechanisms on both sides of the stacking mechanism 42 is longer when sheets S having a shorter long side length than sheets S having one long side length are to be bundled. In either case, the center position of the long side direction of the sheets S is positioned at a predetermined reference position in the front-to-rear direction.

The paper sheet bundling device 4 has a transport mechanism 45 that transports the stacked paper sheets SS when the number of sheets S is 100, which is the number of sheets bundled, is accumulated in one of the multiple stacking mechanisms 42 to form the stacked paper sheets SS, and transports the stacked paper sheets SS when the number of sheets S is 100, which is the number of sheets bundled, is accumulated in the other of the multiple stacking mechanisms 42 to form the stacked paper sheets SS. The transport mechanism 45 has a gripping unit 46, a gripping operation drive mechanism 47 shown in FIG. 2, and a gripping unit movement drive mechanism 48 shown in FIG. 2. The gripping unit 46 grips the stacked paper sheets SS, which have been stacked vertically in the stacking mechanism 42 with their short sides and long sides aligned, from both the top and bottom. The gripping operation drive mechanism 47 causes the gripping unit 46 to perform gripping and releasing operations. The gripper movement drive mechanism 48 moves the gripper 46 shown in FIG. 1. The long sides of the sheets S that make up the stacked sheets SS are also referred to as the long sides in the stacked sheets SS, and the short sides of the sheets S that make up the stacked sheets SS are also referred to as the short sides in the stacked sheets SS.

As shown in FIG. 1, the conveying mechanism 45 has a gripping unit 46 that grips the stacked paper sheets SS that have been stacked in the stacking mechanism 42 according to the number of bundled sheets, pulls them out of the stacking mechanism 42 to the right, moves vertically downward, and then moves to the left to convey them. At this time, the gripping unit 46 grips the stacked paper sheets SS at a position a predetermined distance in the short side direction from the long side at the right end, regardless of the length of the short side. The gripping unit 46 also conveys the stacked paper sheets SS while maintaining the center position in the long side direction at the reference position in the front-to-rear direction.

The sheet bundling device 4 is provided to the left of the lower part of the transport mechanism 45, and has a bundling mechanism 51 that receives and bundles the stacked sheets SS from the gripping unit 46 that has moved to the left after descending as described above. In other words, the bundling mechanism 51 bundles the stacked sheets SS that have been transported by the transport mechanism 45. As shown in FIG. 3, the bundling mechanism 51 has a storage unit 52, a bundling unit 53, and a discharge unit 54.

Storage section 52
The storage section 52 temporarily stores the stacked paper sheets SS that have been transported by the gripping section 46 of the transport mechanism 45 a distance corresponding to the size of the short side, and then transfers the stored stacked paper sheets SS to the bundling section 53.

When stacked paper sheets SS are placed, the storage unit 52 adjusts the placement position of the stacked paper sheets SS transported by the gripping unit 46 of the transport mechanism 45 according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS in the short side direction, and adjusts the position relative to the bundling unit 53. In other words, the storage unit 52 places the stacked paper sheets SS transported by the gripping unit 46 of the transport mechanism 45 at a placement position according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS.

The storage section 52 is disposed on the left side of the transport mechanism 45 .
The storage unit 52 has a placement unit 61 , an adjustment unit 62 , and a transfer unit 63 .

<1-1. Placement section 61>
As shown in FIG. 3, the stack of paper sheets SS conveyed by the gripping portion 46 of the conveying mechanism 45 is placed on the placement portion 61 .
The placement unit 61 is, for example, a plate member, and is provided on the upper surface of a storage base unit (not shown) that is provided in a fixed position relative to the housing 60 of the paper sheet bundling device 4. Therefore, the position of the placement unit 61 is fixed relative to the housing 60. The placement unit 61 has a flat upper surface that extends horizontally. The center position of the placement unit 61 in the front-to-rear direction is the reference position described above. Therefore, the gripping unit 46 places the stacked paper sheets SS on the placement unit 61 so that the center position in the long side direction coincides with the center position of the placement unit 61 in the front-to-rear direction.

<1-2. Adjustment section 62>
As shown in parts (a) to (c) of FIG. 4, the adjustment unit 62 adjusts the placement position of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61 so that the short side of the stacked paper sheets SS is aligned with the short side of the stacked paper sheets SS. Specifically, the adjustment unit 62 adjusts the center position of the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61 according to the length of the stacked paper sheets SS in the short side direction. It is positioned so as to coincide with the left-right central position X of the binding portion 53 to be placed.

The adjustment unit 62, like the placement unit 61, is provided on the upper surface of a storage base unit (not shown).
The adjustment unit 62 is disposed on the left side of the placement unit 61 with a gap therebetween. In other words, as shown in Fig. 3, the adjustment unit 62 is provided downstream (rearward) of the placement unit 61 in the conveying direction of the stacked paper sheets SS by the conveying mechanism 45 (the left-right direction of the paper-sheet bundling device 4).

As shown in parts (a) to (c) of FIG. 4, the adjustment section 62 has a wall section 71 that is provided movably with respect to the placement section 61, and a movement section 72 that moves the wall section 71.
The wall portion 71 is an L-shaped plate member, and has a support portion 75 and a contact portion 76 .

The support portion 75 is rectangular in shape and is elongated in the front-to-rear direction, and is arranged horizontally. The upper surface of the support portion 75 is flat and extends horizontally. The upper surface of the support portion 75 is arranged on the same plane as the upper surface of the placement portion 61. The support portion 75 supports the stacked paper sheets SS together with the placement portion 61.

The abutment portion 76 is a long rectangle in the front-rear direction, and spreads vertically upward from the left edge of the support portion 75. The abutment portion 76 is flat with its right side spreading perpendicularly to the left-right direction. The abutment portion 76 abuts against the long side of the left end of the stacked paper sheets SS transported by the transport mechanism 45 as shown in FIG. 3. The stacked paper sheets SS transported by the transport mechanism 45 are placed on the placement portion 61 and the support portion 75 in this state of abutting against the abutment portion 76. The abutment portion 76 adjusts the placement position in the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement portion 61 and the support portion 75 in the abutted state as shown in parts (a) to (c) of FIG. 4. In other words, the abutment portion 76 adjusts the placement position of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement portion 61 and the support portion 75 according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement portion 61.

The transport mechanism 45 shown in FIG. 3 transports the stacked paper sheets SS by the gripping portion 46 toward the storage portion 52 a predetermined distance according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS in the short side direction. This predetermined distance is set so that the stacked paper sheets SS can reliably contact the contact portion 76.

The moving unit 72 can move the wall portion 71 in the direction in which the stacked paper sheets SS are transported by the transport mechanism 45 (left and right direction of the paper sheet bundling device 4), and can move the wall portion 71 in a direction away from and toward the placement portion 61 as shown in parts (a) to (c) of Figure 4. The moving unit 72 moves the wall portion 71 according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement portion 61.

As shown in FIG. 5, the moving section 72 has a moving base section 81, a first pin member 82, a second pin member 83, a first link member 84, a second link member 85, a connecting pin member 86, a third pin member 87, a fourth pin member 88, a support member 89, a moving block 90, and a moving drive mechanism 91.

The movable base portion 81 is fixed to a storage base portion (not shown). The movable base portion 81 has a base upper plate portion 101, a base side plate portion 102, a base intermediate plate portion 103, a base extension plate portion 104, and a base lower plate portion 105.

The base upper plate portion 101 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction, and is disposed horizontally.
The base side plate portion 102 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction, and spreads downward from the left edge portion of the base upper plate portion 101. The base side plate portion 102 spreads perpendicularly to the left-right direction.
The base intermediate plate portion 103 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction, and spreads out rightward from the lower edge of the base side plate portion 102. The base intermediate plate portion 103 spreads in parallel with the base upper plate portion 101, and is disposed horizontally.

The base extension plate portion 104 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction, and spreads downward from the right edge portion of the base intermediate plate portion 103. The base extension plate portion 104 spreads perpendicularly to the left-right direction.
The base lower plate portion 105 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction, and spreads to the right from the lower end edge of the base extension plate portion 104. The base lower plate portion 105 spreads in parallel with the base upper plate portion 101 and the base intermediate plate portion 103, and is disposed horizontally. The base lower plate portion 105 of the movable base portion 81 is fixed to a storage base portion (not shown).

The first pin member 82 is supported by the base upper plate portion 101 and the base intermediate plate portion 103 of the movable base portion 81. The first pin member 82 is provided on the front end side of the movable base portion 81. The first pin member 82 is aligned in the vertical direction.
The second pin member 83 is supported by the base upper plate portion 101 and the base intermediate plate portion 103 of the movable base portion 81. The second pin member 83 is provided on the rear end side of the movable base portion 81. The second pin member 83 is aligned in the vertical direction.

The first link member 84 is a long, linear member that is disposed between the base upper plate portion 101 and the base intermediate plate portion 103, and one end portion in the longitudinal direction is rotatably supported by the first pin member 82. The first link member 84 extends from the first pin member 82 to the right and rear.
The second link member 85 is a long, linear member, and is disposed between the base upper plate portion 101 and the base intermediate plate portion 103. One end portion of the second link member 85 in the longitudinal direction is supported by the second pin member 83 so as to be rotatable and movable a predetermined distance along the longitudinal direction. The second link member 85 extends to the right and forward from the second pin member 83.

The first link member 84 and the second link member 85 intersect at the midpoint in their respective length directions, and a connecting pin member 86 connects the intersecting portion. The connecting pin member 86 is aligned in the vertical direction. Both the first link member 84 and the second link member 85 can rotate around the connecting pin member 86.

The third pin member 87 is supported at the other end of the first link member 84 opposite to the first pin member 82 so as to be movable a predetermined distance along the length direction of the first link member 84. The third pin member 87 is aligned in the vertical direction.
The fourth pin member 88 is provided at the other end of the second link member 85 opposite to the second pin member 83. The fourth pin member 88 is aligned in the vertical direction.

The support member 89 is a long, linear member, with one end in the longitudinal direction supported by the third pin member 87 and the other end in the longitudinal direction supported by the fourth pin member 88. In this state, the support member 89 extends in the front-rear direction, with the rear end side supported by the third pin member 87 and the front end side supported by the fourth pin member 88.
The support member 89 has an upper support plate portion 111 , a side support plate portion 112 , and a lower support plate portion 113 .

The upper support plate portion 111 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction, and is disposed horizontally.
The supporting side plate 112 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction, and spreads downward from the right edge of the supporting upper plate 111. The supporting side plate 112 spreads perpendicularly to the left-right direction.
The lower support plate portion 113 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction, and spreads out to the left from the lower edge of the side support plate portion 112. The lower support plate portion 113 spreads out in parallel with the upper support plate portion 111, and is disposed horizontally.

The support member 89 has one longitudinal end of the upper support plate portion 111 and the lower support plate portion 113 supported by the third pin member 87, and the other longitudinal end of the upper support plate portion 111 and the lower support plate portion 113 supported by the fourth pin member 88. Between the upper support plate portion 111 and the lower support plate portion 113 of the support member 89, the end of the first link member 84 on the third pin member 87 side and the end of the second link member 85 on the fourth pin member 88 side are arranged.

The wall portion 71 is fixed to the right side of the support side plate portion 112 of the support member 89, i.e., the side opposite the upper support plate portion 111 and the lower support plate portion 113, by abutting at the abutment portion 76. At this time, the wall portion 71 is oriented such that the support portion 75 extends from the abutment portion 76 to the side opposite the support member 89, i.e., to the right.

The moving block 90 is disposed between the upper support plate portion 111 and the lower support plate portion 113 of the support member 89, and is fixed at the position of the third pin member 87. The moving block 90 has a screw hole 115 formed along the left-right direction.
The movement drive mechanism 91 has a movement drive motor 121 , a first movement drive pulley 122 , a screw member 123 , a second movement drive pulley 124 , and a movement drive belt 125 .
The movement drive motor 121 has a drive shaft 127 and a motor body 128 that rotates the drive shaft 127 .

The movement drive motor 121 is attached to a portion of the movement base part 81 rearward of the second pin member 83. The movement drive motor 121 has a motor main body 128 fixed to the right side surface of the base side plate part 102 of the movement base part 81. The movement drive motor 121 has a drive shaft 127 protruding leftward from the base side plate part 102 of the movement base part 81.
The first moving drive pulley 122 is fixed to a drive shaft 127 of the moving drive motor 121 .

The screw member 123 penetrates the base side plate portion 102 of the moving base portion 81 and is rotatably supported by the base side plate portion 102. The screw member 123 is disposed so as to be perpendicular to the second pin member 83. The screw member 123 is screwed into the screw hole 115 of the moving block 90.
The second moving drive pulley 124 is fixed to a portion of the screw member 123 that protrudes to the left from the base side plate portion 102 .
The moving drive belt 125 is wound around the first moving drive pulley 122 and the second moving drive pulley 124 .

When the moving drive motor 121 rotates the drive shaft 127 in a first direction, the first moving drive pulley 122, the moving drive belt 125, the second moving drive pulley 124, and the screw member 123 rotate in the first direction, moving the moving block 90 to the right. Then, the moving unit 72 moves the wall portion 71 in a direction away from the base side plate portion 102 of the moving base portion 81, i.e., to the right, while the support member 89 connected to the moving block 90 swings the first link member 84 and the second link member 85. Specifically, when the moving block 90 moves to the right, the third pin member 87 moves to the right, and the first link member 84 slides relative to the third pin member 87 while rotating around the first pin member 82. At that time, the connecting pin member 86 connected to the first link member 84 rotates the second link member 85 while sliding it relative to the second pin member 83, moving the fourth pin member 88 to the right. This causes the third pin member 87 and the fourth pin member 88 to move to the right in sync. As a result, the moving section 72 moves its support member 89 and the wall section 71 fixed to the support member 89 to the right while maintaining their posture, front-to-rear position, and up-to-down position.

When the moving drive motor 121 rotates the drive shaft 127 in a second direction opposite to the first direction, the first moving drive pulley 122, the moving drive belt 125, the second moving drive pulley 124, and the screw member 123 rotate in the second direction, moving the moving block 90 to the left. Then, the moving unit 72 moves the wall portion 71 in a direction approaching the base side plate portion 102 of the moving base portion 81, i.e., to the left, while the support member 89 connected to the moving block 90 swings the first link member 84 and the second link member 85. Specifically, when the moving block 90 moves to the left, the third pin member 87 moves to the left, and the first link member 84 slides relative to the third pin member 87 while rotating around the first pin member 82. At that time, the connecting pin member 86 connected to the first link member 84 rotates the second link member 85 while sliding it relative to the second pin member 83, moving the fourth pin member 88 to the left. This causes the third pin member 87 and the fourth pin member 88 to move to the left in sync. As a result, the moving unit 72 moves its support member 89 and the wall portion 71 fixed to the support member 89 to the left while maintaining their posture, front-to-rear position, and up-to-down position. The moving unit 72 is a so-called pantograph mechanism.

The adjustment unit 62 has a moving unit 72 that positions the wall 71 at a position according to the length of the short side of the paper sheets S to be bundled. The wall 71 moves to a position according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61, as shown in parts (a) to (c) of Figure 4, and adjusts the placement position of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61.

<1-3. Transfer section 63>
The stacked paper sheets SS are positioned in the short side direction by the abutting portion 76 of the wall portion 71 of the adjustment portion 62, and are placed on the support portion 75 of the wall portion 71 of the adjustment portion 62 and the placement portion 61. The transfer section 63 transfers the stack of paper sheets SS thus placed on the support section 75 of the wall section 71 and the placement section 61 to the bundling section 53 .

The transport unit 63 is provided between the placement unit 61 and the adjustment unit 62 .
As shown in Fig. 6, the transfer section 63 has a first gripping member 131, a second gripping member 132, a transfer gripping drive mechanism 133 shown in Fig. 2, and a transfer drive mechanism 134 shown in Fig. 2. The transfer gripping drive mechanism 133 raises and lowers the first gripping member 131 to cause the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 to perform gripping and release operations. The transfer drive mechanism 134 moves the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 shown in Fig. 6 back and forth.

As shown in FIG. 6, the first gripping member 131 extends in the front-rear direction.
The transfer gripping drive mechanism 133 shown in FIG. 2 raises and lowers the first gripping member 131 shown in FIG.

The second gripping member 132 extends in the front-rear direction. The second gripping member 132 is provided vertically below the first gripping member 131, and includes a gripping main body 141, a support shaft 142, a movable block 143, and a spring member (not shown).
The grip body 141 extends in the front-rear direction. The grip body 141 extends further forward than the first grip member 131. The height position of the upper surface of the grip body 141 is aligned with the height positions of the upper surface of the placement portion 61 and the upper surface of the support portion 75 of the wall portion 71 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6 , the support shaft 142 is provided on the front end of the grip body 141 along the left-right direction.
The movable block portion 143 is supported by the support shaft 142 so as to be rotatable around the support shaft 142. The movable block portion 143 is rotatable between a forward-leaning state in which it extends forward from the grip body portion 141 as shown in part (a) of Fig. 6 and an upright state in which it stands vertically upward from the grip body portion 141 as shown in part (b) of Fig. 6. The height position of the upper surface of the movable block portion 143 when in the forward-leaning state as shown in part (a) of Fig. 6 matches the height position of the upper surface of the grip body portion 141.

A spring member (not shown) urges the movable block portion 143 to rotate so as to assume an upright position as shown in FIG.
When a stack of paper sheets SS is placed on the movable block portion 143 as shown in (a) of Fig. 6, the movable block portion 143 rotates forward against the biasing force of a spring member (not shown) due to the weight of the stack of paper sheets SS and falls forward. When the stack of paper sheets SS placed on top is removed as shown in (b) of Fig. 6, the movable block portion 143 rises to an upright position due to the biasing force of a spring member (not shown).

The transfer drive mechanism 134 shown in FIG. 2 moves the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 shown in FIG. 6 forward and backward together with the transfer grip drive mechanism 133 shown in FIG. 2. At that time, the transfer drive mechanism 134 shown in FIG. 2 moves the gripping body portion 141 of the second gripping member 132 shown in FIG. 6 in the front-rear direction while maintaining the vertical and horizontal positions.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transfer section 63 has the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 disposed between the placement section 61 and the support section 75 of the wall section 71 of the adjustment section 62. As shown in FIG. 6(a), the transfer section 63 positions the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 at a predetermined receiving position in the front-rear direction, and is in a standby state with the first gripping member 131 raised.

As described above, the transfer section 63 is adapted to grip the stacked paper sheets SS, which have been transported by the transport mechanism 45 with their long side positions determined in the stacking mechanism 42 shown in FIG. 1, at a position a certain distance forward from their rear end depending on the type of the stacked paper sheets SS. The positions at which the stacked paper sheets SS are gripped in this manner are the receiving positions in the front-rear direction of the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132. The transfer drive mechanism 134 shown in FIG. 2 changes the receiving positions of the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 depending on the size of the long side of the stacked paper sheets SS shown in FIG. 6. Specifically, the receiving positions of the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 for stacked paper sheets SS with a long long side length are set to a distance 1/2 the difference between the long side lengths of the stacked paper sheets SS and the receiving positions for stacked paper sheets SS with a shorter long side length.

When the transfer section 63 is in a standby state as shown in FIG. 6(a), the stacked paper sheets SS transferred by the transfer mechanism 45 as shown in FIG. 3 are abutted at the long side at the left end against the abutment portion 76 of the wall portion 71 of the adjustment section 62, the position in the short side direction is determined, and the stacked paper sheets SS are placed on the support portion 75 of the wall portion 71, the second gripping member 132, and the placement portion 61. Then, as shown in FIG. 6(a), the movable block portion 143 of the second gripping member 132 is tilted forward by the weight of the stacked paper sheets SS. Then, the transfer gripping drive mechanism 133 shown in FIG. 2 lowers the first gripping member 131, so that the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the support portion 75 of the wall portion 71 and the placement portion 61 are gripped from above and below by the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132.

At that time, the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 grip the center position in the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS, whose position in the short side direction has been determined by abutting against the abutment portion 76 of the wall portion 71 of the adjustment unit 62 as shown in FIG. 4. In other words, the adjustment unit 62 positions the position in the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS transported by the transport mechanism 45 as shown in FIG. 3 so that the center position in the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS matches the gripping positions of the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132.

When gripping the stacked paper sheets SS, the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 always grip a position at a constant distance from the rear end of the stacked paper sheets SS. In other words, when gripping the stacked paper sheets SS, the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 adjust their front-to-rear positions by the transfer drive mechanism 134 shown in FIG. 2 so that the distance L1 from the front end of the first gripping member 131 to the rear end of the stacked paper sheets SS is constant according to the length of the long side of the stacked paper sheets SS, as shown in parts (a) to (c) of FIG. 4.

4 moves the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 gripping the stacked paper sheets SS forward by a fixed distance regardless of the type of the stacked paper sheets SS by driving the transport drive mechanism 134, thereby transporting the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61 to the bundling unit 53. As a result, the stacked paper sheets SS gripped at a position a fixed distance forward from the rear end by the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 regardless of the type of the stacked paper sheets SS will have a bundling position where the band T is wrapped by the bundling unit 53 at a fixed distance L2 forward from the rear end as shown in part (b) of FIG. 6, regardless of the type of the stacked paper sheets SS. In other words, the transport unit 63 transports the stacked paper sheets SS to the bundling unit 53 so that the stacked paper sheets SS are positioned at a position in the long side direction that is preset according to the type of the stacked paper sheets SS. That is, the transfer section 63 transports the stacked sheets SS to the bundling section 53 so that the bundling position where the band T is wrapped by the bundling section 53 corresponds to the length of the stacked sheets SS in the long side direction.
The transfer section 63 transfers the small bundle of paper sheets formed by bundling the stacked paper sheets SS in the bundling section 53 from the bundling section 53 to the release section 54 located in front of the bundling section 53 .

<2. Binding portion 53>
As shown in FIG. 3, the bundling unit 53 bundles the stacked sheets SS transferred from the adjustment unit 62 and the placement unit 61 of the storage unit 52 by the transfer unit 63 to form small bundles of sheets.
The binding portion 53 is disposed in front of the placement portion 61 .
The binding unit 53 has a chuck mechanism 161 , a pressing unit 162 , a band supplying unit 163 , a band fixing unit 164 , a cutter unit 165 , a band holding unit 166 , and a heater unit 167 .

<2-1. Chuck mechanism 161>
As shown in FIG. 3 , the chuck mechanism 161 receives the stacked paper sheets SS transferred from the adjustment unit 62 and the placement unit 61 of the storage unit 52 by the transfer unit 63 .
As shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10, the chuck mechanism 161 has a base portion 171 and a chuck portion 172.

The base portion 171 is provided in a fixed position relative to the housing 60 shown in FIG.
3, the chuck portion 172 places the stacked paper sheets SS when the stacked paper sheets SS are transferred from the adjustment portion 62 and the placement portion 61 by the transfer portion 63. The chuck portion 172 has a first chuck portion 175 and a second chuck portion 176, as shown in FIGS.

The first chuck portion 175 has a chuck base portion 181 and a cover portion 182 .
The chuck base portion 181 is attached to the upper surface of the base portion 171 so as to be in a fixed state.
As shown in FIG. 11, the chuck base portion 181 has a first inclined support portion 191, a second inclined support portion 192, a connecting portion 193, a first engaging protrusion portion 194, a second engaging protrusion portion 195, and multiple, specifically three, support protrusion portions 196.

As shown in FIG. 11, the first tilt support portion 191 and the second tilt support portion 192 are mirror images in the left-right direction. The first tilt support portion 191 constitutes the left side of the chuck base portion 181. The second tilt support portion 192 is located to the right of the first tilt support portion 191 and constitutes the right side of the chuck base portion 181. The connecting portion 193 connects the first tilt support portion 191 and the second tilt support portion 192, and constitutes the center portion of the chuck base portion 181 in the left-right direction.

The first inclined support portion 191 extends in the front-rear direction. The upper surface of the first inclined support portion 191 is inclined with respect to the horizontal so that the vertical height position becomes lower on the left side, i.e., the side opposite the second inclined support portion 192.
The second inclined support portion 192 extends in the front-rear direction. The upper surface of the second inclined support portion 192 is inclined with respect to the horizontal so that the vertical height position becomes lower on the right side, i.e., on the opposite side to the first inclined support portion 191.
The connecting portion 193 connects the lower portion of the first inclined support portion 191 and the lower portion of the second inclined support portion 192 .

The chuck base portion 181 has a recess 198 between the first inclined support portion 191 and the second inclined support portion 192, which recesses downward from the upper end of the first inclined support portion 191 and the upper end of the second inclined support portion 192 to the position of the connecting portion 193. The recess 198 extends in the front-rear direction and penetrates the chuck base portion 181 in the front-rear direction. The height of the upper end of the chuck base portion 181 matches the height of the upper surface of the gripping body portion 141 of the second gripping member 132 shown in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the first engagement protrusion 194 protrudes forward from a lower portion of the front end portion of the first inclined support portion 191 .
The second engagement protrusion 195 protrudes forward from a lower portion of the front end portion of the second inclined support portion 192 .
12, the multiple support protrusions 196 all protrude downward from a lower part of the right end of the second inclined support portion 192. The multiple support protrusions 196 are aligned in the front-rear direction with their positions aligned in the left-right direction.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the cover portion 182 is a plate member, and has a cover main body portion 200 , an inclined plate portion 201 , a first engaging portion 202 , and a second engaging portion 203 .
The cover body portion 200 has a generally flat plate shape and is disposed horizontally below the chuck base portion 181. The cover body portion 200 abuts against the multiple support protrusions 196 of the chuck base portion 181. At that time, a gap is provided in the vertical direction between the cover body portion 200 and a portion of the chuck base portion 181 excluding the multiple support protrusions 196. The portions of the cover body portion 200 that abut against the multiple support protrusions 196 of the chuck base portion 181 are reinforced by these support protrusions 196.

The inclined plate portion 201 extends from the front end portion of the cover body portion 200 at an upward incline toward the front.
The first engagement portion 202 extends upward from the left portion of the front end portion of the inclined plate portion 201. The first engagement portion 202 is formed with a first engagement hole 204 penetrating therethrough in the front-rear direction.
The second engaging portion 203 extends upward from a right portion of the front end portion of the inclined plate portion 201. The second engaging portion 203 is formed with a second engaging hole 205 penetrating therethrough in the front-rear direction.

The cover portion 182 is attached to the chuck base portion 181 in a fixed state with the first engagement protrusion 194 of the chuck base portion 181 inserted into the first engagement hole 204 of the first engagement portion 202 and the second engagement protrusion 195 of the chuck base portion 181 inserted into the second engagement hole 205 of the second engagement portion 203 as shown in Figures 7 and 9. In this fixed state, a vertical gap is provided above the cover body portion 200 of the cover portion 182 shown in Figure 11 and between the cover body portion 182 and the chuck base portion 181 excluding the multiple support protrusions 196.

The second chuck portion 176 has a first adjustment plate 211, a second adjustment plate 212, a first engagement member 213, a second engagement member 214, a first shaft member 215 shown in Figures 7 and 9, a second shaft member 216, and a chuck drive mechanism 217 shown in Figures 7 to 10.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the first adjusting plate 211 is a plate-shaped member, and has a first chuck adjusting portion 221 and a first mounting portion 222 .
The first chuck adjustment portion 221 has a flat plate shape and is disposed horizontally.
The first mounting portion 222 extends downward from the rear end of the first chuck adjustment portion 221. The first mounting portion 222 has a flat plate shape and extends perpendicular to the front-rear direction.

As shown in Figures 7 and 9, the first adjustment plate 211 is disposed below the chuck base portion 181 of the first chuck portion 175. The first adjustment plate 211 has a first chuck adjustment portion 221 disposed in the gap between the first inclined support portion 191 of the chuck base portion 181 and the cover body portion 200 of the cover portion 182.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the second adjusting plate 212 is a plate-shaped member, and has a second chuck adjusting portion 231 and a second mounting portion 232 .
The second chuck adjustment portion 231 is flat and disposed horizontally.
The second mounting portion 232 extends downward from the rear end of the second chuck adjustment portion 231. The second mounting portion 232 has a flat plate shape and extends perpendicular to the front-rear direction.

The second chuck adjustment portion 231 has multiple, specifically three, passing grooves 233 formed therein. All of the multiple passing grooves 233 penetrate the second chuck adjustment portion 231 from top to bottom. All of the multiple passing grooves 233 are elongated holes that are long in the left-right direction. The multiple passing grooves 233 are aligned in the front-rear direction with their left-right positions aligned.

7 and 9, the second adjustment plate 212 is disposed below the chuck base portion 181 of the first chuck portion 175. The second adjustment plate 212 is disposed to the right of the first adjustment plate 211. Therefore, the second chuck adjustment portion 231 is disposed to the right of the first chuck adjustment portion 221. The second chuck adjustment portion 231 is disposed in the gap between the second inclined support portion 192 of the chuck base portion 181 and the cover body portion 200 of the cover portion 182. At this time, the second chuck adjustment portion 231 is disposed on the same plane as the first chuck adjustment portion 221. At this time, one of the multiple support protrusion portions 196 of the chuck base portion 181 is inserted into each of the multiple passing grooves 233 shown in FIG. 11 of the second chuck adjustment portion 231. As a result, the multiple support protrusions 196 penetrate the multiple passage grooves 233 and abut against the cover body 200 of the cover part 182 from above.

The first fitting member 213 is attached in a fixed state to the rear surface of the first mounting portion 222 of the first adjustment plate 211. A first through hole 241 and a first screw hole 242 are formed in the first fitting member 213. The first through hole 241 is a straight hole with a cylindrical inner circumferential surface, and penetrates the first fitting member 213 in the left-right direction. The first screw hole 242 has a female thread formed on the inner circumferential portion, is positioned below the first through hole 241, and penetrates the first fitting member 213 in the left-right direction.

The second fitting member 214 is attached to the rear surface of the second mounting portion 232 of the second adjustment plate 212 so as to be in a fixed state. The second fitting member 214 is formed with a second through hole 246 and a second screw hole 247. The second through hole 246 is a straight hole with a cylindrical inner surface, and penetrates the second fitting member 214 in the left-right direction. The second through hole 246 has the same diameter as the first through hole 241 and is arranged coaxially. The second screw hole 247 has a female thread formed on the inner surface, is arranged below the second through hole 246, and penetrates the second fitting member 214 in the left-right direction. The second screw hole 247 is arranged coaxially with the first screw hole 242. The second screw hole 247 has a reverse screw relationship in which the helical pitch is the same as that of the first screw hole 242, but the helical direction is opposite. Here, the first screw hole 242 is a right-handed thread, and the second screw hole 247 is a reverse-handed thread.

The first shaft member 215 shown in Figs. 7 and 9 is supported by the base portion 171. The first shaft member 215 is columnar with a cylindrical outer circumferential surface, and slidably fits into the first through hole 241 of the first fitting member 213 shown in Fig. 11 and the second through hole 246 of the second fitting member 214. In other words, the first shaft member 215 shown in Figs. 7 and 9 slidably supports the first fitting member 213 and the second fitting member 214 shown in Fig. 11.

The second shaft member 216 shown in Figs. 7 and 9 is rotatably supported by the base portion 171. The second shaft member 216 has a first screw shaft portion 251 and a second screw shaft portion 252. In the second shaft member 216, the second screw shaft portion 252 is formed to the right of the first screw shaft portion 251. The first screw shaft portion 251 and the second screw shaft portion 252 are coaxial and have a reverse thread relationship. The first screw shaft portion 251 is a right-handed thread and is screwed into the first screw hole 242 shown in Fig. 11, which is also a right-handed thread. The second screw shaft portion 252 shown in Figs. 7 and 9 is a reverse-handed thread and is screwed into the second screw hole 247 shown in Fig. 11, which is also a reverse thread.

As shown in Figures 8 and 10, the chuck drive mechanism 217 has a chuck drive motor 261, a first chuck drive pulley 262, a second chuck drive pulley 263, and a chuck drive belt 264.

The chuck drive motor 261 has a drive shaft 267 and a motor main body 268 that rotates the drive shaft 267 .
The chuck drive motor 261 has a motor main body 268 fixed to the base portion 171 in an orientation such that the drive shaft 267 protrudes to the right.

The first chuck drive pulley 262 is fixed to a drive shaft 267 of the chuck drive motor 261 .
The second chuck drive pulley 263 is fixed to the second shaft member 216 .
The chuck drive belt 264 is wound around the first chuck drive pulley 262 and the second chuck drive pulley 263 .

When the chuck drive motor 261 rotates the drive shaft 267 in a first direction, the first chuck drive pulley 262, the chuck drive belt 264, the second chuck drive pulley 263, and the second shaft member 216 of the chuck drive mechanism 217 rotate in the first direction, and the first engaging member 213 and the first adjustment plate 211, and the second engaging member 214 and the second adjustment plate 212 shown in FIG. 11 move away from each other in the left-right direction. Then, the first chuck adjustment portion 221 of the first adjustment plate 211 and the second chuck adjustment portion 231 of the second adjustment plate 212 move away from each other in the left-right direction on the same horizontal plane from the state shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 to the state shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. As a result, the second chuck portion 176, which has the first adjustment plate 211 and the second adjustment plate 212, becomes wider in the left-right direction.

When the chuck drive motor 261 rotates the drive shaft 267 in a second direction opposite to the first direction, the first chuck drive pulley 262, the chuck drive belt 264, the second chuck drive pulley 263, and the second shaft member 216 rotate in the second direction, and the first engaging member 213 and the first adjustment plate 211, and the second engaging member 214 and the second adjustment plate 212 shown in FIG. 11 move closer to each other in the left-right direction. Then, the first chuck adjustment portion 221 of the first adjustment plate 211 and the second chuck adjustment portion 231 of the second adjustment plate 212 move closer to each other in the left-right direction on the same horizontal plane from the state shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 to the state shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. As a result, the second chuck portion 176, which has the first adjustment plate 211 and the second adjustment plate 212, has a narrower width in the left-right direction.

As described above, the second chuck portion 176 has a pair of first and second adjustment plates 211 and 212 that are movable in the approaching and separating directions. The first and second adjustment plates 211 and 212 of the second chuck portion 176 are disposed below the chuck base portion 181 of the first chuck portion 175 and are slidably movable relative to the chuck base portion 181. The second chuck portion 176 is movably disposed relative to the first chuck portion 175, whose position is fixed relative to the base portion 171.

The second chuck portion 176 adjusts the distance between the first chuck adjustment portion 221 of the first adjustment plate 211 and the second chuck adjustment portion 231 of the second adjustment plate 212 to a distance that corresponds to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS to be bound. In other words, the second chuck portion 176 moves to a position that corresponds to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS to be bound that are placed on the chuck portion 172.

As shown in parts (a) to (c) of Figure 4, the adjustment unit 62 abuts against the abutment portion 76 of the wall portion 71 to align the center position in the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the support portion 75 and the placement portion 61 with the center position X in the left-right direction of the first chuck portion 175 and the second chuck portion 176 of the chuck portion 172 of the binding portion 53 on which the stacked paper sheets SS will later be placed. That is, the adjustment unit 62 abuts against the abutment portion 76 of the wall portion 71 and moves to a position according to the size of the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the support portion 75 and the placement portion 61 to adjust the placement position of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the support portion 75 and the placement portion 61, and aligns the center position in the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the support portion 75 and the placement portion 61 with the center position X in the left-right direction of the first chuck portion 175 and the second chuck portion 176 of the chuck portion 172. The adjustment unit 62 moves the wall portion 71 to adjust the position of the abutment portion 76 so that the distance from the center position X in the left-right direction of the first chuck portion 175 and the second chuck portion 176 to the abutment portion 76 of the wall portion 71 is W/2 with respect to the length W in the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS.

The second chuck portion 176 has a width according to the size of the short side of the stacked paper sheets SS, as shown in parts (a) to (c) of Figure 4. That is, the second chuck portion 176 has a width according to the size of the short side of the stacked paper sheets SS, so that the width is wider for stacked paper sheets SS that are longer in the short side direction as shown in part (a) of Figure 4 than the stacked paper sheets SS shown in part (b) of Figure 4, and the width is narrower for stacked paper sheets SS that are shorter in the short side direction as shown in part (c) of Figure 4 than the stacked paper sheets SS shown in part (b) of Figure 4.

<2-2. Pressing portion 162>
As shown in FIG. 3, the pressing portion 162 has a front pressing main body portion 271, a rear pressing main body portion 272, and the pressing drive mechanism 273 shown in FIG.
13, the front pressing body 271 has a first front pressing piece 281 and a second front pressing piece 282. The first front pressing piece 281 and the second front pressing piece 282 are aligned in the front-to-rear direction and are mirror symmetrical in the left-to-right direction.

The first front pressing piece 281 is disposed to the left of the second front pressing piece 282. The first front pressing piece 281 is disposed vertically above the first inclined support portion 191 of the chuck base portion 181. The lower surface of the first front pressing piece 281 is inclined in the same manner as the upper surface of the first inclined support portion 191. In other words, the lower surface of the first front pressing piece 281 is inclined relative to the horizontal so that the vertical position is lower on the left side, i.e., the side opposite the second front pressing piece 282.

The second front pressing piece 282 is disposed vertically above the second inclined support portion 192 of the chuck base portion 181. The lower surface of the second front pressing piece 282 is inclined in the same manner as the upper surface of the second inclined support portion 192. In other words, the lower surface of the second front pressing piece 282 is inclined relative to the horizontal so that the vertical position is lower on the right side, i.e., the opposite side to the first front pressing piece 281.

The rear pressure body 272 shown in FIG. 3 has a first rear pressure piece (not shown) and a second rear pressure piece 286 shown in FIG. 6. The first rear pressure piece (not shown) and the second rear pressure piece 286 are aligned in the front-to-rear direction and are mirror images in the left-to-right direction.

The first rear pressing piece (not shown) is disposed to the left of the second rear pressing piece 286. The first rear pressing piece (not shown) is disposed vertically above the first inclined support portion 191 of the chuck base portion 181, similar to the first front pressing piece 281 shown in FIG. 13. The lower surface of the first rear pressing piece (not shown) is inclined similarly to the upper surface of the first inclined support portion 191. That is, the lower surface of the first rear pressing piece (not shown) is inclined relative to the horizontal so that the vertical position is lower on the left side. The lower surface of the first rear pressing piece (not shown) is disposed on the same plane as the lower surface of the first front pressing piece 281, with the vertical and horizontal positions aligned.

The second rear pressing piece 286 shown in FIG. 6 is disposed vertically above the second inclined support portion 192 of the chuck base portion 181, similar to the second front pressing piece 282 shown in FIG. 13. The lower surface of the second rear pressing piece 286 shown in FIG. 6 is inclined similar to the upper surface of the second inclined support portion 192 shown in FIG. 13. That is, the lower surface of the second rear pressing piece 286 shown in FIG. 6 is inclined with respect to the horizontal so that the vertical position is lower toward the right. The lower surface of the second rear pressing piece 286 is disposed on the same plane as the lower surface of the second front pressing piece 282 shown in FIG. 13, with the vertical and horizontal positions aligned.

The pressing drive mechanism 273 shown in FIG. 2 raises and lowers the front pressing body 271 and the rear pressing body 272 shown in FIG. 6 as a unit. The pressing unit 162 is in a standby state when the front pressing body 271 and the rear pressing body 272 are in the uppermost position, the furthest above the chuck unit 172, as shown in FIG. 6(a).

In a standby state in which the pressing unit 162 has positioned the front pressing main body unit 271 and the rear pressing main body unit 272 at their upper limit positions, the transfer unit 63 holds the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS, which has been positioned in the short side direction by the adjustment unit 62, i.e., the center in the left-right direction, from above and below with the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132, and transfers the stacked paper sheets SS forward while maintaining the left-right position. Then, as shown in Figure 3, the stacked paper sheets SS is placed on the chuck base unit 181 with its short side direction, i.e., center position in the left-right direction, being the left-right center position X of the chuck base unit 181 of the first chuck unit 175, which coincides with the left-right center position X between the first chuck adjustment unit 221 and the second chuck adjustment unit 231 of the second chuck unit 176. The bundling unit 53 binds the stacked paper sheets SS placed in this manner to the chuck base portion 181 of the chuck unit 172.

With the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the chuck base 181, the pressing unit 162 shown in FIG. 6 lowers the front pressing body 271 and the rear pressing body 272. Then, as shown in FIG. 13, the front pressing body 271 and the rear pressing body 272 sandwich the stacked paper sheets SS from above and below with the first inclined support portion 191 and the second inclined support portion 192 of the chuck base 181, and deform the stacked paper sheets SS into a mirror-symmetrical, approximately inverted V-shape in which the center portion in the short side direction, i.e., the left side of the center portion, slopes downward to the left, and the right side of the center portion slopes downward to the right.

At this time, the left end of the second chuck portion 176 of the chuck portion 172, i.e., the left end of the first chuck adjustment portion 221, is located vertically below or slightly to the left of the lower end of the left side of the stacked paper sheets SS, and the right end, i.e., the right end of the second chuck adjustment portion 231, is located vertically below or slightly to the right of the lower end of the right side of the stacked paper sheets SS. In other words, when the type of item to be bound is set, the second chuck portion 176 sets the distance between the left end of the first chuck adjustment portion 221 and the right end of the second chuck adjustment portion 231 to a distance that is the same length as the distance between the lower end of the left side and the lower end of the right side of the stacked paper sheets SS to be bound when gripped by the pressing portion 162 and the chuck portion 172, or a distance that is slightly longer than this distance by a specified amount. As a result, the second chuck unit 176 has a wider gap between the left end of the first chuck adjustment unit 221 and the right end of the second chuck adjustment unit 231 when a stack of paper sheets SS with a long short side length as shown in part (a) of FIG. 4 is set as the bundling target, compared to when a stack of paper sheets SS with a short side length as shown in part (b) of FIG. 4 is set as the bundling target. Also, the second chuck unit 176 has a narrower gap between the left end of the first chuck adjustment unit 221 and the right end of the second chuck adjustment unit 231 when a stack of paper sheets SS with a short short side length as shown in part (c) of FIG. 4 is set as the bundling target, compared to when a stack of paper sheets SS with a short short side length as shown in part (b) of FIG. 4 is set as the bundling target.

<2-3. Strip supply unit 163>
13, the band supplying section 163 has a band roll setting section 291. The band supplying section 163 also has a band supply driving mechanism 292 shown in FIG. 2, and a band guide section 293 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 13, the band roll setting section 291 is provided to the left of the chuck section 172. The band roll setting section 291 has a band set shaft 295. The band set shaft 295 extends in the front-to-rear direction. In the band roll setting section 291, a band roll TR formed by winding a band T, which is a binding tape, into a roll is set on the band set shaft 295. The band roll TR is set on the band set shaft 295 in a direction that pays out the band T from the top to the right.

The band supply drive mechanism 292 shown in FIG. 2 has a band supply roller (not shown) that clamps the band T extending from the band roll TR set on the band set shaft 295 shown in FIG. 13 from both sides in the thickness direction. The band supply drive mechanism 292 pulls out and pays out the band T from the band roll TR by rotating the band supply roller (not shown) forward, and pulls back the paid-out band T by rotating the band supply roller in the reverse direction.

The band guide section 293 shown in Fig. 6 guides the band T unwound by the band supply drive mechanism 292 from the band roll TR shown in Fig. 13. The band guide section 293 shown in Fig. 6 guides the band T unwound by the band supply drive mechanism 292 from the band roll TR shown in Fig. 13 so that, as shown in Fig. 13, the band T moves to the right, passes above the chuck section 172, moves downward on the right side of the chuck section 172, moves left below the chuck section 172, moves upward on the left side of the chuck section 172, moves right above the chuck section 172, moves downward on the right side of the chuck section 172, and moves left below the chuck section 172. At that time, the band guide section 293 shown in Fig. 6 guides the band T so that the leading end side rotates more inward than the trailing end side, as shown in Fig. 13. At that time, the band guide portion 293 shown in FIG. 6 guides the band T so that the band T moves at a predetermined fixed position in the front-rear direction. This fixed position is the binding position where the bundling portion 53 wraps the band T around the stacked paper sheets SS. This binding position is between the front pressing body portion 271 and the rear pressing body portion 272 of the pressing portion 162, as shown in FIG. 6.

In addition, in the band supply unit 163 shown in FIG. 13, the axial direction of the band set shaft 295 coincides with the long side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS when bundled, and the axial position of the band roll TR set on the band set shaft 295 coincides with the bundling position. The band supply unit 163 moves the band T to a predetermined fixed position in the front-to-rear direction without twisting it along the way, in other words, with the width direction always aligned with the front-to-rear direction, and supplies it to the chuck unit 172. As a result, curling due to twisting of the band T is suppressed.

<2-4. Belt fixing part 164>
The band fixing section 164 includes a band fixing member 301 and a band fixing drive mechanism 302 shown in FIG.
As shown in Fig. 13, the band fixing member 301 is a plate-like member and is provided so as to extend perpendicularly to the left-right direction. In the front-rear direction, the band fixing member 301 is disposed at the binding position, and is disposed vertically below the multiple support protrusions 196 of the chuck base portion 181 of the first chuck portion 175. The band fixing member 301 has an upper surface that extends horizontally in the front-rear direction. The band fixing member 301 has a passage hole 303 that penetrates in the left-right direction a predetermined distance downward from the upper surface. The passage hole 303 is long in the front-rear direction, and its width in the front-rear direction is set to a width that allows the band T to pass through.

The belt fixing drive mechanism 302 shown in FIG. 2 drives the belt fixing member 301 shown in FIG. 13 to move up and down in a straight line while remaining in the above-mentioned state. The belt guide portion 293 shown in FIG. 6 of the above-mentioned belt supply unit 163 guides the belt T moving leftward below the chuck portion 172 so as to enter the passage hole 303 of the standby state belt fixing member 301, which is in the lower limit position and is in the standby state, so as not to interfere with the lifting and lowering of the belt fixing member 301 shown in FIG. 13. The belt fixing drive mechanism 302 shown in FIG. 2 raises the belt fixing member 301 shown in FIG. 13 from the standby state, thereby pressing the tip side portion of the belt T against the cover body portion 200 of the cover portion 182 with the upper surface of the belt fixing member 301. As a result, the tip side portion of the belt T is clamped between the upper surface of the belt fixing member 301 and the lower surface of the cover body portion 200 of the cover portion 182. Here, the portion of the cover body 200 that clamps the leading end of the band T with the band fixing member 301 abuts against the support protrusion 196 of the chuck base 181 and is reinforced by the support protrusion 196. As a result, the support protrusion 196 prevents the cover body 200 from bending when the leading end of the band T is clamped with the band fixing member 301.

<2-5. Cutter section 165>
The cutter unit 165 includes a cutter 311 and a cutter drive mechanism 312 shown in FIG.
13, the cutter 311 is provided near the left side of the band fixing member 301. The cutter 311 is provided at the binding position in the front-rear direction.

The cutter drive mechanism 312 shown in FIG. 2 raises and lowers the cutter 311 shown in FIG. 13 in a straight line while keeping it positioned near the left side of the band fixing member 301. The cutter drive mechanism 312 shown in FIG. 2 raises the cutter 311 shown in FIG. 13 relative to the band fixing member 301, and the cutter 311 cuts the band T inserted in the passage hole 303 of the band fixing member 301.

<2-6. Belt holding portion 166>
The band pressing section 166 includes a band pressing member 321 and a band pressing drive mechanism 322 shown in FIG.
13, the band pressing member 321 has a pressing member body 325 and a support shaft 326. The band pressing member 321 is provided at the binding position in the front-rear direction.

The support shaft 326 is provided to the left of the belt fixing member 301 and the cutter 311 in a fixed position relative to the housing 60 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 13, the support shaft 326 is aligned in the front-to-rear direction. The pressing member body 325 is a plate-shaped member that extends to the right from the support shaft 326, i.e., in the direction of the belt fixing member 301 and the cutter 311. The pressing member body 325 spreads out along the support shaft 326. As shown in FIG. 13, the belt pressing member 321 is in a standby state when the portion of the pressing member body 325 opposite the support shaft 326 is lowered below the support shaft 326.

The band presser drive mechanism 322 shown in FIG. 2 rotates the presser member body 325 around the support shaft 326 so as to raise and lower the right end of the presser member body 325 shown in FIG. 13. The band presser drive mechanism 322 shown in FIG. 2 raises the right end of the presser member body 325 of the band presser member 321, which is in a standby state as shown in FIG. 13. Then, the right end of the band presser member 321 clamps the rear end and the leading end of the cut side of the band T after it has been cut by the cutter 311 between the cover body 200.

<2-7. Heater section 167>
The heater section 167 includes a heater main body 331 and a heater lifting and lowering drive mechanism 332 shown in FIG.
13, the heater body 331 is inclined downward to the left and has an upper surface that spreads horizontally. The heater body 331 mainly generates heat from the upper surface. The heater body 331 is provided at a binding position in the front-rear direction.

The heater lift drive mechanism 332 shown in Fig. 2 drives the heater main body 331 shown in Fig. 13 to rise linearly to the upper right and to fall linearly to the lower left while remaining in the above state. The heater lift drive mechanism 332 shown in Fig. 2 moves the heater main body 331 shown in Fig. 13 toward the portion reinforced by the support protrusion 196 of the cover main body 200 when it is raised. The heater main body 331 shown in Fig. 13 raised by the heater lift drive mechanism 332 shown in Fig. 2 clamps the rear end and leading end portions of the cut side of the band T after it has been cut by the cutter 311, which are sandwiched between the band pressing member 321 and the cover main body 200, between the cover main body 200 and heated to thermally bond them. Here, the cover body 200 has a portion that clamps the leading and trailing ends of the band T with the heater body 331 in contact with the support protrusion 196 of the chuck base 181 and is reinforced by the support protrusion 196. As a result, the support protrusion 196 prevents the cover body 200 from bending when the leading and trailing ends of the band T are clamped with the heater body 331.

<3. Emission section 54>
As shown in FIG. 3 , the discharge unit 54 discharges the small bundles of paper sheets produced by the bundling unit 53 to the outside of the paper sheet bundling device 4 from a small bundle outlet 340 formed on the front surface of the housing 60 .
6, the release section 54 has an upper release belt 341 and a lower release belt 342, and has a belt swing drive mechanism 343 and a release drive mechanism 344 shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 6, the upper release belt 341 and the lower release belt 342 are both provided in front of the chuck portion 172.

The upper release belt 341 has a first upper release belt body 351 and a second upper release belt body 352 as shown in FIG. 3, and has a plurality of upper release pulleys 353 as shown in FIG.
As shown in Fig. 3, the first upper release belt body 351 is disposed on the left side of the second upper release belt body 352. The first upper release belt body 351 and the second upper release belt body 352 are wound around a plurality of upper release pulleys 353 shown in Fig. 6, so that both of them extend in the front-rear direction. As shown in Fig. 3, the first upper release belt body 351 and the second upper release belt body 352 are aligned in the front-rear direction and are mirror symmetrical in the left-right direction.

As shown in FIG. 6 , the lower release belt 342 has a first lower release belt body (not shown), a second lower release belt body 356 , and a plurality of lower release pulleys 357 .
The first lower release belt body (not shown) is disposed on the left side of the second lower release belt body 356. The first lower release belt body (not shown) and the second lower release belt body 356 are both extended in the front-rear direction by being wound around a plurality of lower release pulleys 357. The first lower release belt body (not shown) and the second lower release belt body 356 are mirror-symmetrical in the left-right direction by matching the positions in the front-rear direction. The first lower release belt body (not shown) is disposed vertically below the first upper release belt body 351 shown in FIG. 3, and the second lower release belt body 356 shown in FIG. 6 is disposed vertically below the second upper release belt body 352.

The belt swing drive mechanism 343 shown in Fig. 2 raises and lowers the rear end portions of the first upper release belt body 351 and the second upper release belt body 352 shown in Fig. 3 by raising and lowering the rearmost upper release pulley 353 shown in Fig. 6. The upper release belt 341 is in a standby state when the rearmost upper release pulley 353 is raised and lowered.
The release drive mechanism 344 shown in Figure 2 rotates the upper release pulley 353 shown in Figure 6 so as to move the lower edges of the first upper release belt body 351 and the second upper release belt body 352 shown in Figure 3 forward.

When the small bundle of paper sheets is pushed forward from the bundling section 53, the release section 54 in the standby state has the upper release belt 341 driven by the release drive mechanism 344 shown in FIG. 2 and the belt swing drive mechanism 343 lowers the rearmost upper release pulley 353 shown in FIG. 6. As a result, the upper release belt 341 sandwiches the small bundle of paper sheets pushed out from the bundling section 53 between the lower release belt 342 and moves it forward, and releases it from the small bundle outlet 340 shown in FIG. 3 to the outside of the paper sheet bundling device 4. The release section 54 can also temporarily store the small bundle of paper sheets by stopping the upper release belt 341 and the lower release belt 342 while they are sandwiched between them, making it possible to release the small bundle of paper sheets from the small bundle outlet 340 at any time.

Next, the operation of the counting and bundling process for producing small bundles of paper sheets by the paper sheet processing apparatus 1 will be described.
In this case, in the sheet processing device 1, first, the denomination of the small bundle of sheets to be produced by the bundling process by the sheet bundling device 4 is set. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 1, an operation to select the counting and bundling process is input on the operation display unit 25 provided in the sheet counting device 2, and the type of sheets S to be counted and bundled, i.e., the type of small bundle of sheets to be produced, for example, "yen" is selected and input as the currency type, and a denomination of "yen", for example, 10,000 yen, is selected and input. Then, the control unit 26 provided in the sheet counting device 2 sets this denomination as the denomination of the small bundle of sheets to be produced. Hereinafter, this set denomination will be referred to as the first denomination.

The control unit 26 controls the paper sheet bundling device 4 in accordance with the set first denomination.
The paper sheet bundling device 4 first moves the wall portion 71 of the adjustment unit 62 by the moving unit 72 to a position according to the size of the first denomination of paper sheets S (see parts (a) to (c) in FIG. 4). In other words, the paper sheet bundling device 4 moves the wall portion 71 by the moving unit 72 so that the short side direction, i.e., the center position in the left-right direction, of the stacked paper sheets SS of the first denomination, which will be placed on the placement unit 61 in the counting and bundling process, coincides with the center position X in the left-right direction of the first chuck portion 175 and the second chuck portion 176 of the chuck portion 172.

9 to rotate the second shaft member 216 in one direction or the other, thereby moving the first chuck adjustment portion 221 of the first adjustment plate 211 and the second chuck adjustment portion 231 of the second adjustment plate 212 to positions corresponding to the size of the first denomination of paper sheet S (see FIGS. 8 to 10). In other words, the paper sheet bundling device 4 moves the first adjustment plate 211 and the second adjustment plate 212 to positions corresponding to the size of the first denomination of paper sheet S placed on the chuck base portion 181. Specifically, the chuck driving mechanism 217 rotates the drive shaft 267 in a first direction by the chuck driving motor 261, thereby rotating the first chuck driving pulley 262, the chuck driving belt 264, the second chuck driving pulley 263 and the second shaft member 216 in the first direction, thereby moving the first engaging member 213 screwed into the first screw hole 242 of the first screw shaft portion 251 and the first adjustment plate 211 fixed thereto, and the second engaging member 214 screwed into the second screw shaft portion 252 in the first screw hole 242 and the second adjustment plate 212 fixed thereto, away from each other in the left-right direction, thereby moving the first chuck adjustment unit 221 and the second chuck adjustment unit 231 to positions corresponding to the size of the short side direction of the first denomination of paper sheet S. Alternatively, the chuck drive mechanism 217 rotates the drive shaft 267 in the second direction using the chuck drive motor 261 to move the first engaging member 213 and the first adjustment plate 211, and the second engaging member 214 and the second adjustment plate 212 closer to each other in the left-right direction, thereby moving the first chuck adjustment unit 221 and the second chuck adjustment unit 231 to positions according to the size of the short side of the paper sheet S of the first denomination.

Furthermore, as shown in part (a) of FIG. 6, the paper sheet bundling device 4 positions the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 of the transfer section 63 at a receiving position according to the size of the long side of the first denomination of paper sheet S, and puts it into a standby state.

Next, the sheet processing apparatus 1 is controlled by the control unit 26 to carry out the following counting and stacking process.
1, when sheets S are set in the input port 11 of the sheet counting device 2 and a "start counting and bundling" button on the operation display unit 25 is operated, the input port 11 separates and takes in the set sheets S one by one, the left extension 21a and the upward extension 21b of the counting device transport unit 21 transport them, and the recognition unit 22 recognizes and counts them. The sheet counting device 2 stops taking in the sheets S when a "stop" button on the operation display unit 25 is operated. The sheet counting device 2 may be configured so that the input port 11 automatically takes in the sheets S when a set detection unit (not shown) provided in the input port 11 detects that sheets S have been set in the input port 11.

The sheet processing device 1 transports specific sheets S set as bundled among the sheets S determined to be acceptable by the identification unit 22, i.e., sheets S of the first denomination, to the stacking mechanism 42 of the sheet bundling device 4 by the upward extension 21b and left extension 21c of the counting device internal transport unit 21, the connecting transport unit 31A of the stacking device internal transport unit 31 of the sheet stacking device 3, and the connecting transport unit 41A and branching transport unit 41B of the bundling device internal transport unit 41 of the sheet bundling device 4. On the other hand, the sheet processing device 1 transports and stores sheets S other than the specific sheets S set among the sheets S determined to be acceptable by the identification unit 22, and sheets S determined to be unacceptable by the identification unit 22, to the reject unit 12 by the upward extension 21b and branching extension 21d.

The sheet processing device 1 may transport sheets S that are determined to be unacceptable by the recognition unit 22 to the reject unit 12. On the other hand, the sheet processing device 1 may transport and store sheets S other than the specific sheets S set as bundled among the sheets S that are determined to be acceptable by the recognition unit 22 from the upward extension unit 21b and the left extension unit 21c of the counting device internal transport unit 21 to a predetermined stacking unit 32 of the sheet stacking device by the connecting transport unit 31A and the branching transport unit 31B of the stacking device internal transport unit 31 of the sheet stacking device 3.

As described above, the stacking mechanism 42 aligns the position in the short side direction of the paper sheets S sequentially discharged from the branching conveying section 41B by abutting them against a positioning wall section (not shown). At the same time, the stacking mechanism 42 aligns the position in the long side direction of the paper sheets S sequentially discharged from the branching conveying section 41B by hitting them from both sides with a hitting mechanism (not shown) that strokes according to the long side length of the first denomination. The paper sheets S are then stacked vertically with the center position in the long side direction positioned at the reference position in the front-to-rear direction.

When a predetermined number of sheets S, specifically 100 sheets, are stacked in the stacking mechanism 42, the sheet bundling device 4 performs the following bundling process under the control of the control unit 26.

In the bundling process, the paper sheet bundling device 4 first has the transport mechanism 45 transport the stacked paper sheets SS stacked in the stacking mechanism 42 to the transfer section 63 as shown in Figure 3. That is, in the transport mechanism 45, first, the gripping section 46 shown in Figure 1 moves forward by being driven by the gripping section movement drive mechanism 48, and then grips the stacked paper sheets SS stacked in the stacking mechanism 42 by being driven by the gripping operation drive mechanism 47. Next, the conveying mechanism 45 has the gripper 46 move to the right driven by the gripper movement drive mechanism 48 to pull out the gripped stacked paper sheets SS from the stacking mechanism 42, and then move down driven by the gripper movement drive mechanism 48, and then move to the left as shown in FIG. 3 to convey the gripped stacked paper sheets SS between the first gripper member 131 and the second gripper member 132 of the transfer section 63 in a standby state located to the left, and place them on the placement section 61 of the storage section 52 and the support section 75 of the wall section 71 of the adjustment section 62.

During this time, the gripping unit 46 transports the stacked paper sheets SS with the center position in the long side direction positioned at the reference position in the front-to-rear direction. The gripping unit 46 then abuts the stacked paper sheets SS against the abutment portion 76 of the wall portion 71, causing them to be placed on the placement portion 61 of the storage unit 52 and the support portion 75 of the wall portion 71 of the adjustment unit 62. As a result, the left-to-right center position of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement portion 61 and the support portion 75 of the wall portion 71 coincides with the left-to-right center position X of the first chuck portion 175 and the second chuck portion 176 of the chuck unit 172. Furthermore, the front-to-rear center position of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement portion 61 and the support portion 75 of the wall portion 71 coincides with the reference position in the front-to-rear direction. When the stacked paper sheets SS are placed on the placement section 61 of the storage section 52 and the support section 75 of the wall section 71, as shown in part (a) of FIG. 6, they are also placed on the second gripping member 132 of the transfer section 63, which is in a standby state, and the movable block section 143 is rotated so that it is in a forward-leaning state aligned with the gripping main body section 141.

In the paper sheet bundling device 4, in parallel with the transport of the stacked paper sheets SS, as shown in FIG. 13, the band supply unit 163 rotates the band supply roller (not shown) in the forward direction by driving the band supply drive mechanism 292 to pull out the band T from the band roll TR and pay it out toward the band fixing unit 164. Then, the leading end of the band T, which was formed by cutting with the cutter 311 in the previous bundling process and was located near the right side of the cutter 311, is guided by the band guide unit 293 and extends leftward from the passage hole 303 of the band fixing member 301, and travels around the first chuck portion 175 of the chuck portion 172 in the order of left, upper, right, lower, and left, passing between the band fixing member 301 and the cover portion 182 of the first chuck portion 175, and extending to the space between the band pressing member 321 and the cover portion 182.

Next, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the band fixing section 164 raises the band fixing member 301 by driving the band presser drive mechanism 322, and the leading end of the band T is clamped between the upper end of the band fixing member 301 and the cover body 200 of the cover section 182. At this time, the band fixing member 301 clamps the leading end of the band T between the portion of the cover body 200 that is reinforced by the multiple support protrusions 196 of the chuck base section 181.

When the above-mentioned state is reached, the paper sheet bundling device 4 transfers the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61 to the bundling unit 53 by the transfer unit 63 as shown in FIG.
That is, the transfer section 63 first lowers the first gripping member 131 of the transfer section 63, which is in a standby state as shown in part (a) of Fig. 6, by driving the transfer gripping drive mechanism 133. As a result, the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 grip the stacked paper sheets SS, which are in contact with the contact portion 76 of the wall portion 71 of the adjustment section 62 and placed on the placement section 61 and the support portion 75 of the wall portion 71 as shown in Fig. 3. At this time, the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 of the transfer section 63 grip the center position in the short side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS. Also, at this time, the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 of the transfer section 63 grip a position in front of the stacked paper sheets SS that is a certain distance from the rear end portion of the stacked paper sheets SS according to the length of the long side direction of the stacked paper sheets SS.

Next, the paper sheet bundling device 4 releases the grip of the stacked paper sheets SS by the gripping section 46 by driving the gripping operation drive mechanism 47 of the transport mechanism 45. Thereafter, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the transport section 63 advances the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 a certain distance by driving the transport drive mechanism 134 while maintaining their left-right and up-down positions. As a result, the stacked paper sheets SS gripped by the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 are positioned between the pressing section 162 and the chuck section 172 in a standby state as shown in part (a) of Figure 6, with their left-right central position coinciding with the left-right central position X of the first chuck section 175 and the second chuck section 176 of the chuck section 172. At that time, as shown in FIG. 6B, the stacked paper sheets SS are positioned so that the bundling position of the band T by the bundling part 53 is located at a position a certain predetermined distance L2 forward from the rear end. When the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 move forward, the second gripping member 132 moves within the recess 198 of the chuck base part 181 shown in FIG. 3.

Next, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the pressing section 162, by driving the pressing drive mechanism 273, lowers the front pressing body section 271 and the rear pressing body section 272 as shown in Fig. 13, with the front pressing body section 271. Then, as shown in Fig. 13, the front pressing body section 271 and the rear pressing body section 272, together with the first inclined support section 191 and the second inclined support section 192 of the chuck base section 181, deform the stacked paper sheets SS into a mirror-symmetrical, approximately inverted V-shape in which the center in the left-right direction is curved, the left side of this center is slanted downward to the left, and the right side of this center is slanted downward to the right. In this deformed state, the stacked paper sheets SS has a left lower end located vertically above or slightly to the right of the left end of the second chuck portion 176 arranged corresponding to the first denomination of the chuck portion 172, i.e., the left end of the first chuck adjustment portion 221, and a right lower end located vertically above or slightly to the left of the right end of the second chuck portion 176 arranged corresponding to the first denomination, i.e., the right end of the second chuck adjustment portion 231. In other words, the left lower end and the right lower end of the stacked paper sheets SS are covered vertically from below by the second chuck portion 176.

Next, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the transfer section 63, by driving the transfer grip drive mechanism 133, raises the first grip member 131, and releases the grip of the stacked paper sheets SS by the first grip member 131 and the second grip member 132. Next, by driving the transfer drive mechanism 134, the transfer section 63 moves the first grip member 131 and the second grip member 132 to the receiving position and returns them to the standby state, as shown in part (b) of FIG. 6. When the first grip member 131 and the second grip member 132 are positioned at the receiving position, the second grip member 132 moves backward from the stacked paper sheets SS, and the movable block section 143 rotates about the support shaft 142 by the biasing force of the spring member (not shown) and stands up from the grip main body section 141.

Next, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the band supply unit 163 shown in FIG. 13 reverses the band supply roller (not shown) by driving the band supply drive mechanism 292 to pull back the unwound band T. Then, the band T, the leading end of which is clamped and fixed between the band fixing member 301 and the cover body 200 of the cover unit 182, is pulled back to the band roll TR side while passing through the passage hole 303 of the band fixing member 301, and is wrapped around the upper parts from the left and right ends of the stacked paper sheets SS, the lower left end of the first chuck adjustment unit 221 and the lower right end of the second chuck adjustment unit 231, and the underside of the cover body 200, as shown in FIG. 14, and tightened. Then, the upper part of the band T takes a shape that follows the shape of the upper surface of the stacked paper sheets SS. At this time, as shown in part (b) of FIG. 6, the band T is wrapped around the stacked paper sheets SS at a position a predetermined fixed distance L2 forward from the rear end, regardless of the length of the long side of the stacked paper sheets SS. In other words, the transfer unit 63 transfers the stacked paper sheets SS toward the bundling unit 53 so that the bundling position of the band T by the bundling unit 53 is a fixed position a predetermined distance L2 from the rear end of the stacked paper sheets SS, regardless of the length of the long side of the stacked paper sheets SS.

As shown in FIG. 14, the left and right lower ends of the stacked paper sheets SS are covered by the second chuck portion 176 and therefore do not come into contact with the band T that is wrapped and tightened as described above. In other words, the second chuck portion 176 regulates the contact between the ends of the stacked paper sheets SS on the opposite side of the center of bending in the thickness direction of the stacked paper sheets SS and the band T on both sides of the short side of the stacked paper sheets SS. Therefore, the left and right lower ends of the stacked paper sheets SS do not rub against the band T and are not rolled up by the band T when the band T is rolled up.

Next, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the band presser 166 shown in FIG. 13 rotates the band presser member 321 around the support shaft 326 by driving the band presser drive mechanism 322, and raises the tip of the presser member body 325 on the opposite side to the support shaft 326. Then, the tip of the presser member body 325 clamps and fixes the tip side portion of the band T located below the underside of the underside of the cover body 200 and the middle portion located below this portion between the underside of the cover body 200.

Next, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the cutter section 165 raises the cutter 311 by driving the cutter drive mechanism 312, and cuts the middle portion of the strip T near the left side of the passage hole 303 of the strip fixing member 301. Even when cut in this way, the strip T wrapped around the stacked paper sheets SS does not loosen because the rear end portion, which is the side cut by the cutter 311, and the front end portion on the opposite side are clamped and fixed between the pressing member main body 325 and the cover main body 200.

Next, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the cutter section 165 drives the cutter drive mechanism 312 to lower the cutter 311, and the band fixing section 164 drives the band fixing drive mechanism 302 to lower the band fixing member 301. After that, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the heater section 167 drives the heater lift drive mechanism 332 to raise the heater main body 331 and position it at the bonding position. Then, the heater main body 331 clamps, between the underside of the cover main body 200 of the cover section 182, the rear end portion of the portion of the band T wrapped around the stacked paper sheets SS that extends to the right of the pressing member main body 325, and the front end portion opposite the rear end portion. As a result, the rear end portion and the front end portion of the band T are thermally bonded together by the heat of the heater main body 331. At this time, the heater body 331 clamps the cut side and tip side of the strip T between the portion of the cover body 200 that is reinforced by the multiple support protrusions 196 of the chuck base 181.

Next, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the heater section 167 drives the heater lift drive mechanism 332 to lower the heater main body 331 and place it in the standby position. At the same time, the band presser section 166 drives the band presser drive mechanism 322 to rotate the band presser member 321 and lower the tip end of the presser member main body 325 opposite the support shaft 326 to the standby position. As a result, as shown in FIG. 14, the band T is wrapped around the stacked paper sheets SS, the second chuck section 176, and the cover main body 200, and the rear end portion and the front end portion are fixed.

Next, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the chuck drive mechanism 217 is driven to move the second chuck portion 176 so that the first chuck adjustment portion 221 and the second chuck adjustment portion 231 are brought closer together. Specifically, the chuck drive motor 261 shown in Figures 8 and 10 rotates the drive shaft 267 in the second direction, thereby rotating the second shaft member 216 in the second direction via the first chuck drive pulley 262, the chuck drive belt 264, and the second chuck drive pulley 263. As a result, the first fitting member 213 and the first adjustment plate 211 screwed into the first screw shaft portion 251 of the second shaft member 216 shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 at the first screw hole 242 shown in FIG. 11, and the second fitting member 214 and the second adjustment plate 212 screwed into the second screw shaft portion 252 of the second shaft member 216 shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 at the second screw hole 247 shown in FIG. 11 move closer to each other, bringing the first chuck adjustment portion 221 and the second chuck adjustment portion 231 closer to each other.

In this way, the second chuck portion 176 moves in the approaching direction after the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the chuck portion 172 are bound by the binding portion 53 as shown in FIG. 14. This loosens the state in which the band T wrapped around the stacked paper sheets SS is pressed by the first chuck adjustment portion 221 and the second chuck adjustment portion 231 of the second chuck portion 176. As a result, the fastening of the band T to the stacked paper sheets SS and the chuck portion 172 loosens slightly. This makes it easier to remove the band T from the chuck portion 172. At this time, the band T is in contact with the cover body portion 200 of the first chuck portion 175 of the chuck portion 172.

Next, the pressing section 162 of the paper sheet bundling device 4 raises the front pressing body section 271 and the rear pressing body section 272 by driving the pressing drive mechanism 273, returning the stacked paper sheets SS to the standby state. Even in this state, the tension of the band T presses the stacked paper sheets SS against the upper surfaces of the first inclined support section 191 and the second inclined support section 192 of the chuck base section 181, causing the center section in the left-right direction to curve, and the left side of this center section slopes downward to the left, and the right side of this center section slopes downward to the right, maintaining a mirror-symmetrical, approximately inverted V-shape.

Next, a flux release process is performed.
That is, in the paper sheet bundling device 4, the transfer section 63 first advances the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132, which have retreated to the receiving position as shown in part (b) of Fig. 6, a fixed distance by driving the transfer drive mechanism 134 regardless of the type of the stacked paper sheets SS. As a result, the second gripping member 132 pushes the stacked paper sheets SS from rear to front by the movable block section 143 in the upright position. Then, the stacked paper sheets SS advances together with the band T due to frictional force caused by the tension of the wrapped band T, and the band T is released forward from the chuck section 172. At this time, the second gripping member 132 also moves in the recess 198 of the chuck base section 181.

In this way, when the stacked paper sheets SS and the band T move forward together and the band T comes off the front of the chuck portion 172, the portion of the band T that was wrapped around the cover main body portion 200 becomes slack. As a result, the stacked paper sheets SS, which had been pressed by the band T against the upper surfaces of the first inclined support portion 191 and the second inclined support portion 192 of the chuck base portion 181 to assume a mirror-symmetrical, approximately inverted V-shape, returns to a flat state. In this way, a small bundle of paper sheets is produced in which the stacked paper sheets SS are bound together with the band T.

In the bundle release process, the second gripping member 132 of the paper sheet bundling device 4, which advances further, pushes the small bundle of paper sheets prepared as described above from the chuck portion 172 toward the release portion 54.

In the paper sheet bundling device 4, in the bundle discharge process, the discharge section 54 rotates the upper discharge belt 341 and the lower discharge belt 342 by driving the discharge drive mechanism 344 in parallel with the operation of the transport section 63 to advance the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132. At the same time, the paper sheet bundling device 4 drives the belt swing drive mechanism 343 to lower the upper discharge pulley 353 at the rear end of the upper discharge belt 341, which had been in the uppermost standby position to facilitate the entry of the accumulated paper sheets SS. As a result, the small bundle of paper sheets moved forward by the transport section 63 is clamped between the upper discharge belt 341 and the lower discharge belt 342 and is moved further forward to be discharged outside the paper sheet bundling device 4 from the small bundle outlet 340 formed in the housing 60.

The paper sheet bundling device 4 advances the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 to a predetermined position to deliver the small bundle of paper sheets to the release section 54, and then moves the first gripping member 131 and the second gripping member 132 backwards to the receiving position and enters a standby state. After the paper sheet bundling device 4 releases the small bundle of paper sheets from the small bundle outlet 340, it stops the release drive mechanism 344 to stop the upper release belt 341 and the lower release belt 342, and drives the belt swing drive mechanism 343 to raise the upper release pulley 353 at the rear end of the upper release belt 341 and return it to the standby position.

According to the paper sheet bundling device 4 described above, the storage section 52 of the bundling mechanism 51 places the stacked paper sheets SS transported by the transport mechanism 45 on a placement position according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS, and then transfers them to the bundling section 53, which then bundles them. Therefore, even when small bundles of paper sheets of multiple sizes are produced, the paper sheet bundling device 4 can bundle the sheets according to their size, and can produce small bundles of paper sheets well.

In addition, according to the paper sheet bundling device 4, when the storage unit 52 places the stacked paper sheets SS transported by the transport mechanism 45 on the placement unit 61, the adjustment unit 62, which is provided movably relative to the placement unit 61, adjusts the placement position of the stacked paper sheets SS according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61. Then, the transfer unit 63 transfers the paper sheets S placed on the placement unit 61 to the bundling unit 53, which then bundles them. Therefore, the paper sheet bundling device 4 can better bundle the paper sheets according to the size, even when multiple sizes of small bundles of paper sheets are produced, and can better produce small bundles of paper sheets.

Furthermore, according to the paper sheet bundling device 4, the adjustment unit 62 moves to a position according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61, adjusts the placement position of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61, and aligns the center position of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61 with the center position X of the chuck unit 172 on which the stacked paper sheets SS transferred from the adjustment unit 62 by the transfer unit 63 are placed. Therefore, the paper sheet bundling device 4 can better bundle the sheets according to size, even when producing small bundles of paper sheets of multiple sizes, and can better produce small bundles of paper sheets.

Furthermore, according to the paper sheet bundling device 4, the adjustment unit 62 adjusts the placement position of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the placement unit 61 by moving the wall portion 71 that comes into contact with the stacked paper sheets SS when the stacked paper sheets SS transported by the transport mechanism 45 are placed on the placement unit 61 according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS to be placed on the placement unit 61, with the movement unit 72 moving the wall portion 71. Therefore, even when small bundles of paper sheets of multiple sizes are produced, the paper sheet bundling device 4 can perform bundling according to size with a simple structure.

Furthermore, according to the paper sheet bundling device 4, the bundling mechanism 51 that bundles the stacked paper sheets SS moves the second chuck portion 176 of the chuck portion 172 on which the stacked paper sheets SS are placed to a position according to the size of the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the chuck portion 172. Therefore, even when small bundles of paper sheets of multiple sizes are produced, the paper sheet bundling device 4 can position the second chuck portion 176 at a position according to the size, and can perform bundling according to the size, thereby successfully producing small bundles of paper sheets.

Furthermore, according to the paper sheet bundling device 4, the second chuck portion 176 has a pair of first and second adjustment plates 211 and 212 that are movable in the approaching and separating directions. Therefore, even when small bundles of paper sheets of multiple sizes are produced, the paper sheet bundling device 4 can position the second chuck portion 176 at a position according to the size with a simple structure, and can appropriately perform bundling according to the size.

In addition, according to the paper sheet bundling device 4, after the stack of paper sheets SS placed on the chuck section 172 is bound by the bundling section 53, the pair of first and second adjustment plates 211 and 212 can slightly loosen the band T by bringing the first and second adjustment plates 211 and 212, around which the band T is wrapped together with the stack of paper sheets SS, closer to each other. This allows the small bundle of paper sheets to be smoothly dispensed from the bundling section 53.

[Modification]
In the paper sheet bundling device 4, the second chuck section 176 may be configured to change the winding strength of the band T when the bundling section 53 wraps the band T around the stacked paper sheets SS placed on the chuck section 172 to bind them. That is, when the winding strength of the band T is to be made stronger than a reference winding strength, the width of the second chuck section 176 is made narrower than the reference. When the winding strength of the band T is to be made weaker than the reference winding strength, the width of the second chuck section 176 is made wider than the reference. In this case, for example, the winding strength of the band T may be set for each denomination of currency. For example, the winding strength may be set in multiple stages for each currency, specifically, 11 stages including the reference winding strength of "0" from "-5" to "+5".

When a winding strength setting operation is input to the operation display unit 25, the paper sheet bundling device 4 displays a winding strength setting screen 370 as shown in FIG. 15 on the operation display unit 25. This winding strength setting screen 370 has a currency type display unit 371 that displays the currency type, a denomination display unit 372 that displays the denomination, and a winding strength display unit 373 that indicates the winding strength. In addition, this winding strength setting screen 370 has a first selection operation unit 374, a second selection operation unit 375, a decision operation unit 376, and a cancellation operation unit 377.

When the currency type display section 371 is touched on the winding strength setting screen 370, the screen enters a mode in which the currency type can be changed. In this state, when the first selection operation section 374 is touched or the second selection operation section 375 is touched, the display on the currency type display section 371 is switched sequentially to other currency types (dollars, euros, etc.).

In addition, when the denomination display unit 372 is touched on the winding strength setting screen 370, the screen goes into a mode in which the denomination of the currency type displayed on the currency type display unit 371 can be changed. In this state, when the first selection operation unit 374 is touched or the second selection operation unit 375 is touched, the denomination display unit 372 switches sequentially to each denomination of the currency type displayed on the currency type display unit 371.

In addition, when the winding strength display section 373 is touched on the winding strength setting screen 370, the screen goes into a mode in which the winding strength in the bundling process can be changed for the currency type displayed on the currency type display section 371 and the denomination displayed on the denomination display section 372. In this state, when the first selection operation section 374 is touched or the second selection operation section 375 is touched, the winding strength display section 373 switches in sequence between "-5", "-4", "-3", "-2", "-1", "0", "+1", "+2", "+3", "+4", and "+5".

When the decision operation unit 376 is touched on the winding strength setting screen 370, the paper sheet bundling device 4 performs the bundling process using the settings displayed at that time in the currency type display unit 371, denomination display unit 372, and winding strength display unit 373.

When the winding strength is to be increased for the same currency type and denomination, such as "+1" rather than "0" and "+2" rather than "+1", the bundling unit 53 of the paper sheet bundling device 4 narrows the gap between the first adjustment plate 211 and the second adjustment plate 212. This shortens the length of the band T used to wrap the band T, and the winding strength of the band T when it is in a small bundle of paper sheets becomes stronger. For example, in FIG. 16, the first chuck adjustment unit 221 of the first adjustment plate 211 is illustrated and explained. When the position of the left end of the first chuck adjustment unit 221 when the winding strength is "0" is as shown in FIG. 16(b), the position of the left end of the first chuck adjustment unit 221 when the winding strength is "+1" is as shown in FIG. 16(a), which is a predetermined amount to the right of the position when the winding strength is "0".

Conversely, when the winding strength is to be weakened for the same currency type and denomination, such as "-1" rather than "0" or "-2" rather than "-1", the sheet bundling device 4 has the bundling section 53 widen the gap between the first adjustment plate 211 and the second adjustment plate 212. This increases the length of the strip T used to wrap the strip T, and weakens the winding strength of the strip T when it is in a small bundle of sheets. For example, compared to the position of the left end of the first chuck adjustment section 221 when the winding strength is "0" as shown in part (b) of Figure 16, the position of the left end of the first chuck adjustment section 221 when the winding strength is "-1" is as shown in part (c) of Figure 16, a predetermined amount to the left of the position when the winding strength is "0".

In addition to setting the winding strength of the band T for each currency denomination, it may also be possible to set different winding strengths for genuine bills and damaged bills of the same denomination.

In the above embodiment, the number of types of items to be bound in one counting and bundling process is not described, but it is possible to set not only one type but multiple types of items to be bound in one counting and bundling process. In this case, the control unit 26, for example, stores a first type of paper sheet S in one stacking mechanism 42 and a second type of paper sheet S different from the first type of paper sheet S in the other stacking mechanism 42. At this time, the control unit 26 moves various components of the bundling mechanism 51 to positions corresponding to the size of the first type of paper sheet S while a predetermined number of bundling units (e.g., 100 sheets) of the first type of paper sheets S are stacked in one stacking mechanism 42 or while the stacked first type of paper sheets S are being transported by the transport mechanism 45. In addition, while a predetermined number of second-type paper sheets S (e.g., 100 sheets) are being stacked in the other stacking mechanism 42, or while the stacked second-type paper sheets S are being transported by the transport mechanism 45, the control unit 26 moves various components of the bundling mechanism 51 to positions according to the size of the second-type paper sheets.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the paper sheet processing device 1 having the paper sheet counting device 2, the paper sheet stacking device 3, and the paper sheet bundling device 4 has been described as an example, but it is also possible to combine the paper sheet counting device 2 and the paper sheet bundling device 4 to form a paper sheet bundling device dedicated to counting and bundling without providing the paper sheet stacking device 3. In this case, the left extension 21c of the paper sheet counting device 2 is connected to the connecting transport section 41A of the paper sheet bundling device 4.

4...paper sheet bundling device 45...transport mechanism 51...bundling mechanism 52...storage section 53...bundling section 61...placement section 62...adjustment section 63...transfer section 71...wall section 72...moving section 172...chuck section 175...first chuck section 176...second chuck section 211...first adjustment plate 212...second adjustment plate S...paper sheet SS...accumulated paper sheets

Claims (4)

A conveying mechanism for conveying the stacked paper sheets;
a bundling mechanism that bundles the paper sheets conveyed by the conveying mechanism;
Equipped with
The binding mechanism includes:
a storage unit that places the paper sheets conveyed by the conveying mechanism on a placement position corresponding to the size of the paper sheets and transfers the placed paper sheets;
a bundling unit that bundles the paper sheets transferred from the storage unit;
A paper sheet bundling device having the same. The storage section includes:
a placement unit on which the paper sheets conveyed by the conveying mechanism are placed;
an adjustment unit that is movably provided with respect to the placement unit and adjusts a placement position of the paper sheets placed on the placement unit in accordance with a size of the paper sheets placed on the placement unit;
a transfer section that transfers the paper sheets placed on the placement section to the bundling section;
The paper sheet bundling device according to claim 1 , further comprising: the bundling unit has a chuck unit on which the paper sheets are placed when the paper sheets are transferred from the adjustment unit by the transfer unit,
The paper sheet bundling device according to claim 2, wherein the adjustment unit moves to a position according to the size of the paper sheets placed on the placement unit to adjust the placement position of the paper sheets placed on the placement unit, and aligns the center position of the paper sheets placed on the placement unit to the center position of the chuck unit. The adjustment unit is
A wall portion that comes into contact with the paper sheet;
a moving unit that moves the wall unit according to a size of the paper sheets placed on the placement unit;
having
The paper sheet bundling device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the wall portion moves to a position according to a size of the paper sheet placed on the placement section to adjust a placement position of the paper sheet placed on the placement section.

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